US09331430B2
Power outlets adapted for installation within an enclosure are provided. Power outlets are provided having a safety interlock adapted to prevent the creation of a hazardous condition within the enclosure as a result of the continued operation of an electrical device within the enclosed space. The safety interlock may include current limiting circuitry and hardware, hazard sensing devices interconnected with such current limiting circuitry and hardware or other circuit breaker switches, and combinations of such safety interlocks. The power outlets may also be adapted for installation within a movable enclosure, such as, for example, a drawer.
US09331429B2
A shield and locking type board to board connector functioning to connect a first board and a second board to each other, the connector including: a first connector unit having both a first base and a first terminal; a second connector unit having a second base and a second terminal; two shield members each having a shell shape, the shield members respectively provided on front and rear bases facing the second base such that the shield members arrest EMI (electromagnetic interference) noise; and a locking member provided in the second connector unit so as to prevent the first connector unit from being removed outward by an outward movement thereof after the first connector unit is combined with the second connector unit in a close contact state.
US09331427B2
Electrical connecting device including an insulating body with parallel longitudinal seats and, respectively adapted to accommodate a connecting element with spring terminal and an actuator pin with profile cam facing a spring of the terminal to cause the opening and closing of said terminal by means of sliding in the corresponding seat, said spring being a ring-shaped spring with a curved lower portion, a back ascending portion engageable by a protruding portion of said cam profile of the actuator pin and an upper portion with a slot adapted to receive at least one electrical conductor, characterized in that in said actuator pin a hollow seat delimited by two lateral walls is provided adapted to receive the aforementioned ascending leg of the spring-shaped ring in condition of maximum extroversion of the spring, i.e. upon empty closed terminal.
US09331415B2
An electrical connector allowing a housing and a contact portion to be displaced relative to a mounting circuit board, parallel to a board surface, without a reinforcing plate separate from a contact member. A basal portion of a contact member is present along an upper surface of a base portion of a housing. A mounting-side elastic portion of the contact member is present along a lower surface of the base portion of the housing. A folding-back portion of the contact member is located at a rear of the base portion of the housing to connect the basal portion to the mounting-side elastic portion. First and second connecting leg portions extend downward from the mounting-side elastic portion. Each tip side of the leg portions acts as a mounting portion for a circuit board at positions different from each other in a front-back direction.
US09331402B2
The present disclosure describes a conductive fastener assembly, system, and method, wherein the fastener assembly comprises a fastener, a fastener sleeve, a nut, and a lubricant coating. The lubricant coating is deposited on a distal portion of a fastener shank and is omitted from the rest of the fastener. To overcome the stresses placed on the fastener sleeve by the insertion of the fastener shank largely devoid of a lubricant coating, the fastener sleeve is reinforced by one or more of an increased thickness, a high-strength alloy, and a soft metal coating.
US09331401B2
A piercing connector includes a connector body, a piercing insert, and a piercing cover. The connector body has a plurality of conductor apertures and a piercing aperture. The piercing insert has a plurality of piercing teeth and is inserted into the piercing aperture. The piercing cover is inserted into the piercing aperture and removably attached to the connector body. The piercing cover removably secures the piercing insert in the connector body. The piercing connector receives and electrically connects two or more conductors.
US09331399B2
It is aimed to enable a heat shrinkable tube to be mounted on a connected part of a core exposed portion of a wire and a terminal with high positioning accuracy. A terminal-fitted wire manufacturing method is for mounting a heat shrinkable tube on a connected part of a core exposed portion of a wire and a terminal. After the wire is inserted into the heat shrinkable tube, the terminal is connected to the core exposed portion. Thereafter, the heat shrinkable tube is moved to a position for covering the connected part of the core exposed portion and the terminal, and a part of the heat shrinkable tube is temporarily fixed to at least parts of the wire and the terminal. Thereafter, the heat shrinkable tube is mounted by being heated and thermally shrunk.
US09331398B2
The disclosure discloses a dual-mode terminal antenna, comprising a main antenna comprising a main antenna of a first mode and a main antenna of a second mode, an auxiliary antenna comprising an auxiliary antenna of the first mode and an auxiliary antenna of the second mode, and an antenna bracket. The main and auxiliary antennas are fixed on a same antenna bracket, each of which is configured with a spring lea. When the antenna bracket is clasped on a main board, four spring leaves of the main and auxiliary antennas contact with four antenna feeding points on the main board respectively, An LC resonant circuit is disposed ahead of each antenna feeding point, and four LC resonant circuits resonate at a working frequency band of the antenna corresponding to the antenna feeding point with which each said LC resonant circuits connects, respectively. The disclosure also discloses a signal processing method, which solves signal interference and loss problems existed in an antenna of the prior art in a reception mode, through high impedance of the LC resonant circuit to the signal at different frequency bands. Furthermore, the dual-mode terminal antenna of the disclosure simplifies the layout of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB).
US09331392B1
An apparatus includes an antenna element and a curved ground plane positioned beneath the antenna element. The antenna element has a height h and a first end with a tapered width, where h is approximately equal to the distance of a width-wise cross-sectional curve of the curved ground plane. The width of the curved ground plane is less than or equal to ½ h. A load may be positioned on top of a second end of the antenna element. The second end of the antenna element has a thickness greater than the first end and less than a thickness of the load. The curved ground plane may be substantially hemispherical in shape or may have a tapered height and increase in width from a first end to a second end.
US09331383B2
An antenna structure is provided. The antenna structure includes a radiating portion having an approximately quadrangular body, wherein the quadrangular body has a first side, a second side opposite to the first side, a third side, and a fourth side opposite to the third side; and a ground portion surrounding an entire length of the first side, an entire length of the fourth side, and at most a half of a length of the second side.
US09331373B2
Disclosed is a directional coupler including a first hollow portion that is disposed in a first ground conductor and is arranged directly above a first signal conductor and a second signal conductor, and that is constructed of a discontinuous structure that has a function of delaying the phase and that is small with respect to the one-quarter wavelength of an operating frequency.
US09331371B2
There is provided a waveguide connecting structure, including first, second, third and fourth waveguides. A first coupling window at one of magnetic field planes of the third waveguide couples the first and third waveguides in such a manner that the electric field planes of both are in parallel. A second coupling window formed at one of the electric field planes of the third waveguide couples the second and third waveguides in such a manner that the electric field planes of the second waveguide is in parallel with the magnetic field planes of the first waveguide. A third coupling window formed at the other one of the electric field planes couples the fourth and third waveguides in such a manner that the electric field planes of the fourth waveguide is in parallel with the magnetic field planes of the first waveguide.
US09331370B1
Integrated circuit packages with stripline structures are provided. An integrated circuit package substrate may include a core layer having top and bottom surfaces and dielectric layers formed on the top and bottom surfaces of the core layer. Stripline structures may be formed in at least some of the dielectric layers. A stripline trace may include signal routing conductors sandwiched between top and bottom ground planes. In particular, a dielectric layer may be formed between the signal conductors and the bottom ground plane to support the signal conductors, whereas a localized air region may be formed over the signal routing conductors separating the signal conductors from the top ground plane. If desired, the region above the signal routing conductors between the top ground plane and the signal routing conductors may be filled using other types of material having low loss and/or a dielectric constant that is frequency independent.
US09331367B2
Disclosed herein is a middle- or large-sized battery pack including a module assembly constructed in a structure in which a plurality of battery modules, each of which includes a plurality of battery cells or unit modules mounted in a module case while the battery cells or unit modules are connected in series to each other, are arranged such that the battery modules are disposed in contact with each other in the lateral direction, and a coolant flow channel is vertically formed, a plurality of support members for supporting opposite sides and the bottom of the module assembly and maintaining the arrangement state of the module assembly, and a pack housing for surrounding the module assembly and the support members.
US09331365B2
A battery pack can include a temperature sensor that can provide an output that is indicative of a temperature associated with the battery pack. A battery management unit can directly measure the temperature sensor when the battery pack is by itself or engaged with a tool. A charger can directly read the temperature sensor when the battery pack is engaged with the charger. Thus, the temperature sensor can be shared by the battery pack and the charger. The battery pack can utilize a same terminal that provides access to the temperature sensor to indicate a stop-charge signal. The charger can read the stop-charge signal on the same terminal used to directly access the temperature sensor.
US09331362B2
The battery includes an electrode having an active medium on a current collector. The active medium includes one or more active materials. The current collector includes or consists of carbon nanotubes. The electrical conductivity and weight of carbon nanotubes permit the weight of the battery to be reduced while the energy density and the power density of the battery are increased.
US09331358B2
The disclosed embodiments provide a battery cell which includes a set of jelly rolls enclosed in a pouch. Each jelly roll includes layers which are wound together, including a cathode with an active coating, a separator, and an anode with an active coating. The battery cell also includes a first set of conductive tabs and a second set of conductive tabs. Each of the first set of conductive tabs is coupled to the cathode of one of the jelly rolls, and each of the second set of conductive tabs is coupled to the anode of one of the jelly rolls. At least one of the first set and one of the second set of conductive tabs extend through seals in the pouch to provide terminals for the battery cell.
US09331356B2
Provided are an electrolyte for a redox flow battery, the electrolyte allowing suppression of generation of precipitate and suppression of generation of hydrogen during a battery reaction; and a redox flow battery including the electrolyte. In the electrolyte for a redox flow battery, the total concentration of impurity element ions contributing to generation of precipitate during a battery reaction is 220 mass ppm or less, and the total concentration of platinum-group element ions is 4.5 mass ppm or less. In a case where the impurity element ions contributing to generation of precipitate include metal element ions, the total concentration of the metal element ions may be 195 mass ppm or less.
US09331350B2
A diagnostic system for determining whether a rotor shaft of a compressor is unbalanced. The compressor includes a displacement sensor that measures the displacement of the rotor shaft as it is rotating. The sensor dynamic frequency signal is sent to a bandpass filter that filters out an eigen-frequency frequency that is a function of shaft elasticity and rotor dynamics. The filtered frequency signal is then rectified by a rectifier to make the filtered frequency signal positive. The rectified signal is then passed through a low pass filter that converts the rectified signal to a DC signal. The DC signal is then sent to a controller that determines if the amplitude of the signal is above a predetermined threshold, which indicates a problem with the balance of the compressor.
US09331348B2
To provide a fuel cell device capable of extending the years of service life of a reformer by suppressing thermal runaways. The present invention is a solid oxide fuel cell device, including a fuel cell module having multiple fuel cell units; a reformer disposed above the fuel cell units, for producing hydrogen by a partial oxidation reforming reaction and a steam reforming reaction; a vaporizing chamber disposed adjacent to the reformer; a combustion chamber for heating the vaporization chamber; a water supply device; a supply device for oxidant gas for electrical generation; and a controller for raising the fuel cell unit to a temperature at which electrical generation is possible; wherein fuel electrodes in each individual fuel cell unit are constituted to act as catalysts for a shift reaction, and the controller executes only the ATR step and SR step in the reformer.
US09331345B2
A bonded sheet to be applied to a membrane electrode assembly includes gaskets serving as a first sheet member and an electrolyte membrane serving as a second sheet member stacked on the gaskets. The gaskets each include a first bonded portion where grooves provided in a sheet surface direction at least partly face sheet end portions, and a second bonded portion having no groove. The electrolyte membrane is stacked on the gaskets in the first bonded portion and the second bonded portion.
US09331340B2
A catalytic ink preparation method comprises mixing a first ion conducting body and a catalyst, preparing a first ink, and concentrating the first ink. The method is characterized by further comprising a step of adding a second ion conducting body to the concentrated first ink. With such a catalytic ink preparation method, the quantity of solvent in the first ion conducting body is reduced by concentration. In other words, the first ion conducting body adheres to the catalyst, and re-dissolution is not prone to occurring with the first ion conducting body when the second ion conducting body is added. Thus, it is possible to efficiently manufacture an electrode catalyst in which a significant part of the surface of the catalyst is covered with two ionomer layers, and there is almost no portion which is covered with only one ionomer layer.
US09331336B2
Provided is a lithium-ion secondary battery that uses a non-carbonaceous negative electrode active material capable of exhibiting capacitance properties. The lithium-ion secondary battery includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a non-aqueous electrolyte solution. The negative electrode includes a mica group mineral having at least one transition metal in its composition as a negative electrode active material.
US09331335B2
A solid solution lithium-containing transition metal oxide includes a compound represented by chemical formula (1): Li1.5[NiaCobMnc[Li]d]O3, where a, b, c and d satisfy relationships: 0
US09331332B2
According to one embodiment, there is provided a nonaqueous electrolyte battery including a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a nonaqueous electrolyte. The negative electrode includes a first negative electrode active material containing a monoclinic β-type titanium composite oxide and a second negative electrode active material. The second negative electrode active material causes insertion and release of lithium ion in a potential range from 0.8 V to 1.5 V (vs. Li/Li+).
US09331328B2
A prosthetic stented heart valve which includes a compressible and expandable stent structure having first and second opposite ends, an expanded outer periphery, and a compressed outer periphery that is at least slightly smaller than the expanded outer periphery when subjected to an external radial force. The valve further includes a valve segment comprising a dual-layer sheet formed into a generally tubular shape having at least one longitudinally extending seam, and a plurality of leaflets formed by attachment of an outer layer of the dual-layer sheet to an inner layer of the dual-layer sheet in a leaflet defining pattern. The valve segment is at least partially positioned within the stent structure. The valve may further include at least one opening in the outer layer of the dual-layer sheet that is spaced from both the first and second ends of the stent structure.
US09331326B2
A battery pack includes a plurality of battery cells including an electrode portion; a holder case accommodating the plurality of battery cells; and a printed circuit module (PCM) mounted to an outer surface of the holder case, the holder case including a fastening portion fixing the PCM to the holder case, the fastening portion being at a region of the holder case corresponding to an edge portion of the PCM.
US09331317B2
A battery apparatus including a case, a battery cell, a battery-side terminal, and an engaging piece. The case has a width, a thickness, and a length. The battery cell is housed in an inside of the case. The battery-side terminal is disposed on a side surface at one end of the case in a length direction and electrically connected to the battery cell. The engaging piece is disposed at the one end of the case at which the battery-side terminal is positioned such that the engaging piece extends in a length direction a same distance as the case at the one end portion. The engaging piece is at an edge of the case in a width direction.
US09331314B2
An electrochemical cell includes a housing and a lid coupled to the housing. The electrochemical cell also includes a first member conductively coupled to the housing and configured to act as a first terminal for the electrochemical cell. The electrochemical cell further includes a second member electrically insulated from the lid and configured to act as a second terminal for the electrochemical cell. A first portion of the second member extends through the lid and a second portion of the second member extends in a direction generally perpendicular to the first portion.
US09331302B2
A blue light emitting device includes an electrode layer, a first metal layer, a second metal layer formed between the electrode layer and the first metal layer, and an organic material layer formed between the first metal layer and the second metal layer and including a blue shift light emitting sub-layer. A peak of a first light-emitting spectrum of the blue shift light emitting sub-layer, which ranges within 490-550 nm, is shifted to a peak of a second light-emitting spectrum, which is less than 510 nm, by the surface plasmon coupling between the first metal layer and the second metal layer. A light emitting device is further provided, which is sequentially stacked with a first metal layer, an organic material layer having a blue shift light emitting sub-layer, a second metal layer having a metal portion and an opening portion, an electrode layer, and a light emitting layer doped with a dopant material, to emit white light.
US09331300B2
A thin film transistor includes a semiconductor formed on a substrate and having a source region, a first drain region spaced apart from the source region by a first current channel, and a second drain region spaced apart from the source region by a second current channel which has the different length from that of the first current channel, a gate electrode insulated from the semiconductor by a gate insulating layer, a source electrode connected to the source region of the semiconductor, a first drain electrode connected to the first drain region of the semiconductor, a second drain electrode connected to the second drain region of the semiconductor, and a bypass line electrically connecting the first drain region and the second drain region.
US09331297B2
An organic EL display device comprising: an anode; a cathode that is a metal film; a light-emitting layer between the anode and the cathode; and a sealing layer that covers a side of the cathode opposite a side on which the light-emitting layer is provided. An oxidation inhibiting layer and a cathode protecting layer are stacked between the cathode and the sealing layer. The oxidation inhibiting layer is closer to the light-emitting layer than the cathode protecting layer is.
US09331287B2
The present invention relates to an organic light emitting diode and a method of manufacturing the same. An organic light emitting diode according to the present invention comprises an exciton blocking layer comprising a compound represented by Formula 1 to confine an exciton to a light emitting layer to prevent light emitting leakage, and thus there is an effect of implementing an organic electroluminescence diode having excellent light emitting efficiency. Accordingly, it is possible to implement an organic light emitting diode having a simple and economical manufacturing process, a low voltage, high efficiency, and a long life span as compared to the related art.
US09331285B2
An aromatic amine derivative represented by the following formula (1): wherein at least one of R1 to R8 is a group other than a hydrogen atom, Ar1 to Ar4 are a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group having 6 to 30 ring carbon atoms.
US09331282B2
The objective of the present invention is to provide a photovoltaic device which has high photoelectric conversion efficiency and an electron-donating organic material which comprises a conjugate polymer having a structure of a thieno[3,4-b′]thiophene skeleton with an alkoxycarbonyl group in which a specific alkyl group part is a straight chain alkyl group or an alkanoyl group in which the alkyl group part is a straight chain alkyl group and a benzo[1,2-b:4, 5-b′]dithiophene skeleton with a heteroaryl group.
US09331278B2
Forming memristors on imaging devices can include forming a printhead body comprising a first conductive material, forming a memory on the printhead body by performing an oxidation process to form a switching oxide material on the first conductive material, and forming a second conductive material on the switching oxide material.
US09331277B2
The present disclosure provides a resistive random access memory (RRAM) cells and methods of making the same. The RRAM cell includes a transistor and an RRAM structure. The RRAM structure includes a bottom electrode having a via portion and a top portion, a resistive material layer on the bottom electrode having a width that is same as a width of the top portion of the bottom electrode; a capping layer over the bottom electrode; a spacer surrounding the capping layer; and, a top electrode on the capping layer having a smaller width than the resistive material layer. The RRAM cell further includes a conductive material connecting the top electrode of the RRAM structure to a metal layer.
US09331272B2
Provided are 3D non-volatile memory devices and methods of fabricating the same. A 3D non-volatile memory device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of conductive lines, which are separated from one another in parallel; a plurality of conductive planes, which extend across the plurality of conductive lines and are separated from one another in parallel; and non-volatile data storage layer patterns, which are respectively arranged at regions of intersection at which the plurality of conductive lines and the plurality of conductive planes cross each others.
US09331271B2
A STT-RAM MTJ is disclosed with a MgO tunnel barrier formed by natural oxidation and containing an oxygen surfactant layer to form a more uniform MgO layer and lower breakdown distribution percent. A CoFeB/NCC/CoFeB composite free layer with a middle nanocurrent channel layer minimizes Jc0 while enabling thermal stability, write voltage, read voltage, and Hc values that satisfy 64 Mb design requirements. The NCC layer has RM grains in an insulator matrix where R is Co, Fe, or Ni, and M is a metal such as Si or Al. NCC thickness is maintained around the minimum RM grain size to avoid RM granules not having sufficient diameter to bridge the distance between upper and lower CoFeB layers. A second NCC layer and third CoFeB layer may be included in the free layer or a second NCC layer may be inserted below the Ru capping layer.
US09331270B2
A memory element includes a layered structure: a memory layer having a magnetization direction changed depending on information, the magnetization direction being changed by applying a current in a lamination direction of the layered structure to record the information in the memory layer, including a first ferromagnetic layer having a magnetization direction that is inclined from a direction perpendicular to a film face, a bonding layer laminated on the first ferromagnetic layer, and a second ferromagnetic layer laminated on the bonding layer and bonded to the first ferromagnetic layer via the bonding layer, having a magnetization direction that is inclined from the direction perpendicular to the film face, a magnetization-fixed layer having a fixed magnetization direction, an intermediate layer that is provided between the memory layer and the magnetization-fixed layer, and is contacted with the first ferromagnetic layer, and a cap layer that is contacted with the second ferromagnetic layer.
US09331269B2
Spin transfer torque memory cells and methods of forming the same are described herein. As an example, spin transfer torque memory cells may include an amorphous material, a storage material formed on the amorphous material, wherein the storage material is substantially boron free, an interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy material formed on the storage material, a reference material formed on the interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy material, wherein the reference material is substantially boron free, a buffer material formed on the reference material and a pinning material formed on the buffer material.
US09331258B2
Solar thermoelectric generators (STEGs) are solid state heat engines that generate electricity from concentrated sunlight. A novel detailed balance model for STEGs is provided and applied to both state-of-the-art and idealized materials. STEGs can produce electricity by using sunlight to heat one side of a thermoelectric generator. While concentrated sunlight can be used to achieve extremely high temperatures (and thus improved generator efficiency), the solar absorber also emits a significant amount of black body radiation. This emitted light is the dominant loss mechanism in these generators. In this invention, we propose a solution to this problem that eliminates virtually all of the emitted black body radiation. This enables solar thermoelectric generators to operate at higher efficiency and achieve said efficient with lower levels of optical concentration. The solution is suitable for both single and dual axis solar thermoelectric generators.
US09331255B2
A method can be used to produce a housing for an optoelectronic semiconductor device. A reflector part, which has an inner area configured to reflect electromagnetic radiation, is encased in places with a housing material using an injection molding method. The inner area of the reflector part remains free of the housing material at least in places. The reflector part is formed with a first plastic material and the housing material is formed with a second plastic material that is different than the first plastic material. The first plastic material and the second plastic material differ from one another with regard to at least thermal stability or resistance to electromagnetic radiation.
US09331253B2
A light emitting diode (LED) component comprises an LED having a dominant wavelength in a range of from about 425 nm to about 475 nm, and a first phosphor and a second phosphor are in optical communication with the LED. The first phosphor has a peak emission wavelength in the range of from about 600 nm to about 700 nm, and the second phosphor has a peak emission wavelength in the range of from about 500 nm to about 600 nm. An excitation spectrum of the first phosphor includes, at excitation wavelengths longer than 530 nm, no intensities greater than about 60% of a maximum intensity of the excitation spectrum.
US09331248B2
According to one embodiment, a semiconductor light emitting device includes a first semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type, a second semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type and a light emitting layer provided between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer. The device also includes a first electrode layer having electrical continuity with the first semiconductor layer and a second electrode layer provided on the second semiconductor layer, the second electrode layer including a metal portion having a thickness not less than 10 nanometers and not more than 100 nanometers along a direction from the first semiconductor layer to the second semiconductor layer. A plurality of apertures penetrates the metal portion along the direction, each of the apertures viewed along the direction having equivalent circle diameters of not less than 10 nanometers and not more than 5 micrometers, and a Schottky barrier is provided between the second semiconductor layer and the metal portion.
US09331242B2
An optoelectronic device comprises a substrate; pads on a surface of the substrate; semiconductor elements, each element resting on a pad; a portion covering at least the lateral sides of each pad, the portion preventing the growth of the semiconductor elements on the lateral sides; and a dielectric region extending in the substrate from the surface and connecting, for each pair of pads, one of the pads in the pair to the other pad in the pair. A method of manufacturing an optoelectronic device is also disclosed.
US09331232B2
A process for annealing photovoltaic polymer encapsulation film (3), the film comprising polymer molecules substantially oriented along a machine direction, characterized in that the film is heated, supported on a support surface of support means (12), with heating means to a relaxation temperature to increase the isotropy of the polymer molecules such that the film is at least partly annealed, the support means (12) comprising a fluid (13) between the film (3) and the support surface.
US09331228B2
A solar cell module to convert light to electricity. The module may include a housing with a first side and an opposing spaced-apart second side. A plurality of lenses may be positioned on the first side of the housing, and a plurality of solar cell receivers may be positioned on the second side of the housing. Each of the plurality of solar cell receivers may include a III-V compound semiconductor multifunction solar cell. Each may also include a bypass diode coupled with the solar cell. At least one optical element may be positioned above the solar cell to guide the light from one of the lenses onto the solar cell. Each of said solar cell receivers may be disposed in an optical path of one of the lenses. The lens and the at least one optical element may concentrate the light onto the respective solar cell by a factor of 1000 or more to generate in excess of 25 watts of peak power.
US09331226B2
A photovoltaic device is provided having a semiconductor substrate, an i-type amorphous layer formed over a front surface of the semiconductor substrate, a p-type amorphous layer formed over the i-type amorphous layer, an i-type amorphous layer formed over a back surface of the semiconductor substrate, and an n-type amorphous layer formed over the i-type amorphous layer. The i-type amorphous layer and the i-type amorphous layer have oxygen concentration profiles in which concentrations are reduced in a step-shape from regions near interfaces with the semiconductor substrate and along a thickness direction, and an oxygen concentration in the step-shape portion of the i-type amorphous layer is higher than an oxygen concentration in the step-shape portion of the i-type amorphous layer.
US09331220B2
A photovoltaic device and method include forming a plurality of pillar structures in a substrate, forming a first electrode layer on the pillar structures and forming a continuous photovoltaic stack including an N-type layer, a P-type layer and an intrinsic layer on the first electrode. A second electrode layer is deposited over the photovoltaic stack such that gaps or fissures occur in the second electrode layer between the pillar structures. The second electrode layer is wet etched to open up the gaps or fissures and reduce the second electrode layer to form a three-dimensional electrode of substantially uniform thickness over the photovoltaic stack.
US09331219B2
Disclosed is an integrated circuit comprising a substrate having a major surface; a directional light sensor, the directional light sensor comprising a plurality of photodetectors on a region of said major surface, said plurality of photodetectors comprising a set of first photodetectors for detecting light from a first direction and a set of second photodetectors for detecting light from a second direction, wherein a first photodetector is located adjacent to a second photodetector; and a light blocking structure comprising a first portion extending from said major surface in between the first photodetector and the second photodetector; and a second portion extending from the first portion and at least partially overhanging at least one of the first photodetector and the second photodetector. A device including such an IC and a method of manufacturing such an IC are also disclosed.
US09331218B2
Provided are a solar cell module and a method of manufacturing the same. The solar cell module including: a substrate; a bottom electrode layer discontinuously formed on the substrate; a light absorbing layer formed on the bottom electrode layer and including a first trench that exposes the bottom electrode layer; and a transparent electrode layer extending from the top of the light absorbing layer to the bottom electrode layer at the bottom of the first trench, and including a first oxide layer, a metal layer, and a second oxide layer, all of which are staked on the light absorbing layer and the bottom electrode layer.
US09331215B2
A transparent, fireproof thermoplastic composition which is free from halogen compounds and includes a polyamide-block graft copolymer formed by a polyolefin backbone and, on average, at least one polyamide graft. The grafts are attached to the backbone by the radicals of an unsaturated monomer (X) that has a function capable of reacting with a polyamide, and the radicals of the unsaturated monomer (X) are attached to the backbone by grafting or co-polymerisation from the double bond thereof. The composition includes, as a weight percentage of the total composition: 90 to 99 wt % of the polyamide-block graft copolymer, and 1 to 10 wt % of metal salts of phosphoric acid.
US09331212B2
A semiconductor device having a transistor gate length greatly reduced as a result of promotion of semiconductor integrated circuit miniaturization where leakage current generation in a gate insulating film can be inhibited to enhance the transistor function. The semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate having a main surface; a pair of source/drain regions formed over the main surface of the semiconductor substrate; a gate insulating film formed, over a region between the pair of source/drain regions, to be in contact with the main surface; and a gate electrode formed to be in contact with the upper surface of the gate insulating film. In the semiconductor device, the gate electrode has a length of less than 45 nm in a direction from a first one of the pair of source/drain regions to a second one of the pair of source/drain regions, and the gate insulating film has an antiferroelectric film.
US09331205B2
A thin film transistor includes a post on a substrate. The post has a height dimension extending away from the substrate to a top, and an edge along the height dimension. A cap covers the top of the post and extends to a distance beyond the edge of the post to define a reentrant profile. A conformal conductive gate layer is located on the edge of the post in the reentrant profile and not over the cap, and includes a portion that extends along the substrate. A conformal insulating layer is on the gate layer in the reentrant profile. A conformal semiconductor layer is on the insulating layer in the reentrant profile. First and second electrodes are located in contact with a first portion of the semiconductor layer over the cap and a second portion of the semiconductor layer not over the post, respectively.
US09331203B2
Disclosed are methods, systems and devices, including a method that includes the acts of forming a semiconductor fin, forming a sacrificial material adjacent the semiconductor fin, covering the sacrificial material with a dielectric material, forming a cavity by removing the sacrificial material from under the dielectric material, and forming a gate in the cavity.
US09331202B2
One illustrative method disclosed herein includes, among other things, forming a fin protection layer around a fin, forming a sacrificial gate electrode above a section of the fin protection layer, forming at least one sidewall spacer adjacent the sacrificial gate electrode, removing the sacrificial gate electrode to define a gate cavity that exposes a portion of the fin protection layer, oxidizing at least the exposed portion of the fin protection layer to thereby form an oxidized portion of the fin protection layer, and removing the oxidized portion of the fin protection layer so as to thereby expose a surface of the fin within the gate cavity.
US09331198B2
We have demonstrated controlled growth of epitaxial h-BN on a metal substrate using atomic layer deposition. This permits the fabrication of devices such as vertical graphene transistors, where the electron tunneling barrier, and resulting characteristics such as ON-OFF rate may be altered by varying the number of epitaxial layers of h-BN. Few layer graphene is grown on the h-BN opposite the metal substrate, with leads to provide a vertical graphene transistor that is intergratable with Si CMOS technology of today, and can be prepared in a scalable, low temperature process of high repeatability and reliability.
US09331192B2
Group III nitride semiconductor device structures are provided that include a silicon carbide (SiC) substrate and a Group III nitride epitaxial layer above the SiC substrate. The Group III nitride epitaxial layer has a dislocation density of less than about 4×108 cm−2 and/or an isolation voltage of at least about 50V.
US09331188B2
Systems, circuits, and methods for protecting an Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) from short-circuit events are provided. A short-circuit protection circuit is described that includes a switch, a resistor, a capacitor, and an optional current buffer that provide a strong pull-down to the IGBT in response to detecting a short-circuit event and then controls a rate at which turn-off current is decreased, thereby minimizing a peak voltage for the IGBT.
US09331186B2
The present invention provides a semiconductor with a multilayered contact structure. The multilayered structure includes a metal contact placed on an active region of a semiconductor and a metal contact extension placed on the metal contact.
US09331183B2
A semiconductor device including a first gate structure and a second gate structure immediately adjacent to each other with a spacer therebetween. Line width of the top of the second gate structure is not less than that of the bottom thereof. A fabrication method thereof is also disclosed. A transient first gate structure and a temporary gate structure are formed by etching through a first hard mask. A second gate structure is formed between a first spacer and a second spacer opposite to each other and disposed respectively on the transient first gate structure and temporary gate structure. The second gate structure is covered with a second hard mask. An etch process is performed through a patterned photoresist layer to remove exposed first hard mask and temporary gate structure and to partially remove exposed portion of first hard mask and transient first gate structure to form the first gate structure.
US09331181B2
A memory device and a method of making a memory device that includes a semiconductor channel, a tunnel dielectric layer located over the semiconductor channel, a floating gate located over the tunnel dielectric layer, the floating gate comprising a continuous layer of an electrically conductive material and at least one protrusion of an electrically conductive material facing the tunnel dielectric layer and electrically shorted to the continuous layer, a blocking dielectric region located over the floating gate, and a control gate located over the blocking dielectric layer.
US09331177B2
Diodes and resistors for integrated circuits are provided. Deep trenches (DTs) are integrated into the diodes and resistors for the purposes of thermal conduction. The deep trenches facilitate conduction of heat from a semiconductor-on-insulator substrate to a bulk substrate. Semiconductor fins may be formed to align with the deep trenches.
US09331158B2
The present disclosure includes transistor devices and methods. In one embodiment, a transistor includes a gate, a source, and a drain. According to one aspect of the disclosure, different resistive paths in the drain are compensated using different gate-to-drain capacitances. According to another aspect of the disclosure, current enters a drain at a center tap point and flows symmetrically outward under two adjacent gates to two adjacent sources.
US09331155B2
Disclosed is a semiconductor device comprising at least one active layer (14, 16) on a substrate (10) and a first contact (24, 26, 28) to the at least one active layer, the first contact comprising a metal in contact with the at least one active layer and a titanium tungsten nitride (TiW(N)) layer (30) on the metal. A method of manufacturing such a semiconductor device is also disclosed.
US09331144B2
A semiconductor device includes, on one semiconductor substrate: a first element isolation region having a first width, wherein a liner oxide film, a liner nitride film and a silicon dioxide film are provided in succession from an outer peripheral side of an upper surface of the first element isolation region; and a second element isolation region having a second width that is larger than the first width, wherein a liner oxide film and a silicon dioxide film are provided in succession from an outer peripheral side of an upper surface of the second element isolation region.
US09331138B2
A semiconductor device includes a first storage electrode, a second storage electrode that is arranged above the first storage electrode, a first landing pad that is arranged between a top surface of the first storage electrode and a bottom surface of the second storage electrode, the first landing pad connecting the first storage electrode and the second storage electrode, the first landing pad having a first landing surface, the first landing surface being larger than the bottom surface of the second storage electrode, and the second storage electrode being placed on the first landing surface, a capacitive insulating film that is laminated on the first and second storage electrodes and on an outer circumferential surface of the first landing pad, and a plate electrode that contacts the capacitive insulating film.
US09331137B1
An integrated circuit may include interconnects formed from alternating metal interconnect layers and inter-metal dielectric layers. A metal-insulator-metal capacitor may be formed within a selected inter-metal dielectric layer. The metal-insulator-metal capacitor may include first and second capacitor electrodes. The first capacitor electrode may contact a first conductive interconnect line in an underlying metal interconnect layer. The second capacitor electrode may overlap the first capacitor electrode and a portion of a second conductive interconnect line in the underlying metal layer. A via may be formed between the underlying metal interconnect layer and an additional metal interconnect layer. The via may simultaneously contact the second capacitor electrode and the second conductive interconnect line.
US09331136B2
An integrated circuit and a method of fabricating the integrated circuit are provided. In various embodiments, the integrated circuit includes a substrate and a polysilicon resistor. The polysilicon resistor is disposed on the substrate. The polysilicon resistor has at least one positive TCR portion and at least one negative TCR portion. The positive TCR portion is adjacent to the negative TCR portion, and the positive TCR portion is in direct contact with the negative TCR portion.
US09331132B2
A multiple layer pixel architecture for an active matrix display is provided in which a common bus line is formed on a metal level which is separate from that on which the gate electrodes of the thin-film transistors (TFTS) are formed. A multilayer electronic structure adapted to solution deposition, the structure includes a TFT for driving a pixel of an active matrix optoelectronic device and a capacitor for storing charge to maintain an electrical state of said active matrix pixel, wherein the structure includes a substrate bearing at least four conducting layers separeted by at least three dielectric layers, first and second ones of said conducting layers defining drain/source electrodes and a gate electrode of said transistor respectively, and third and fourth ones of said conducting layers defining respective first and second plates of said capacitor, and wherein said capacitor and said transistor are laterally positioned such that they overlap in a vertical direction.
US09331128B2
A display device, includes: a first substrate; an organic planarizing film that is made of an organic insulating material, and arranged on the first substrate; an electrode that comes in contact with a part of a surface of the organic planarizing film opposite to the first substrate side; an inorganic bank that is made of an inorganic insulating material, covers an end of the electrode, and comes in contact with a part of a surface of the organic planarizing film opposite to the first substrate side; an OLED layer that covers a side of the electrode and the inorganic bank opposite to a side that comes in contact with the organic planarizing film, and partially comes in contact with the organic planarizing film; and a sealing film that is configured to cover a side of the OLED layer opposite to the organic planarizing film side.
US09331123B2
A logic unit for security engines or content addressable memory including Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ) elements connected in series to form a NAND-type string, where each MTJ element includes a storage layer and a sense layer having different anti-ferromagnetic materials respectively having higher and lower blocking temperatures. During write/program, the string is heated above the higher blocking temperature, and magnetic fields are used to store bit values of a confidential logical pattern in the storage layers. The string is then cooled to an intermediate temperature between the higher and lower blocking temperatures and the field lines turned off to store bit-bar (opposite) values in the sense layers. During a pre-compare operation, the MTJ elements are heated to the intermediate temperature, and an input logical pattern is stored in the sense layers. During a compare operation, with the field lines off, a read current is passed through the string and measured.
US09331112B2
A solid-state image sensor which holds a potential for a long time and includes a thin film transistor with stable electrical characteristics is provided. When the off-state current of a thin film transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer is set to 1×10−13 A or less and the thin film transistor is used as a reset transistor and a transfer transistor of the solid-state image sensor, the potential of the signal charge storage portion is kept constant, so that a dynamic range can be improved. When a silicon semiconductor which can be used for a complementary metal oxide semiconductor is used for a peripheral circuit, a high-speed semiconductor device with low power consumption can be manufactured.
US09331107B2
A fabrication method of a pixel structure includes the following steps. A first metal layer is patterned to form a source electrode and a drain electrode. A semiconductor material layer is patterned to form a channel layer and a pixel pattern. A first insulation layer is formed to cover the channel layer, the source electrode, the drain electrode and the pixel pattern. A gate electrode is formed on the first insulation layer located above the channel layer. A second insulation layer is formed to cover the gate electrode and the first insulation layer. A pixel opening is formed in the first insulation layer and the second insulation layer to expose a partial region of the pixel pattern. The partial region of the pixel pattern exposed by the pixel opening is modified so as to form a pixel electrode electrically connected to the drain electrode.
US09331105B2
The invention discloses an array substrate, a manufacturing method thereof and a display device. The array substrate includes a gate, an active layer, a source and a drain on a substrate, and a pixel electrode located above the drain and lapped with the drain, and a part of the pixel electrode lapped with the drain is a lapping part of the pixel electrode; the array substrate further includes a first insulation layer located below the pixel electrode and in contact with the drain, the first insulation layer extends along the edge of the lapping part towards a direction away from the lapping part, part of the drain to be in contact with the lapping part is exposed from the first insulation layer, and the plane where the upper surface of the first insulation layer is located is lower than the plane where the upper surface of the drain is located.
US09331103B1
A liquid crystal display includes a substrate, a gate line disposed on the substrate and including a bottom gate electrode, a first insulating layer covering the gate line, an active member including a channel which is disposed on the first insulating layer and overlaps the bottom gate electrode and a source electrode and a drain electrode at both end sides of the channel, a pixel electrode on the same layer as the active member, a second insulating layer covering the active member and the pixel electrode, a data line on the second insulating layer and connected to the active member, a passivation layer covering the data line, where the active member and the pixel electrode include an oxide semiconductor and the first insulating layer is a silicon nitride layer which includes a fluorine atom in the range of about 10 atm % to about 35 atm %.
US09331100B2
A transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer can have stable electrical characteristics. In addition, a highly reliable display device including the transistor is provided. The display device includes a multi-layer film including an oxide layer and an oxide semiconductor layer; a gate insulating film in contact with the multi-layer film; and a gate electrode overlapping with the multi-layer film with the gate insulating film provided therebetween. The oxide semiconductor layer contains indium, and is in contact with the oxide layer. The oxide layer contains indium, and has a larger energy gap than the oxide semiconductor layer.
US09331099B2
An element substrate is provided with a substrate; a pixel electrode; a light shielding layer which is disposed between the substrate and the pixel electrode and has an opening in an area overlapping with the pixel electrode; a TFT that is disposed between the light shielding layer and the pixel electrode has a channel area which is disposed in an area overlapping with the light shielding layer; a light shielding layer that is disposed between the TFT and the pixel electrode and has an opening in an area overlapping with the pixel electrode; a micro lens that is disposed between the substrate and the light shielding layer and disposed in an area overlapping with the pixel electrode; and a micro lens that is disposed between the light shielding layer and the pixel electrode and disposed in an area overlapping with the pixel electrode.
US09331097B2
High speed bipolar junction transistor switches for high voltage operations. An example switch includes a bipolar junction transistor including a collector region positioned over a buried insulator region. The collector region includes dopants of a first conductivity type. A field effect transistor includes a source region also positioned over a buried insulator region. The source region electrically is coupled to the collector region such that all current passing the collector region enters the source region.
US09331089B2
The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate having a first active area defined by a first isolation layer; a gate insulating layer formed on the semiconductor substrate; a first conductive layer formed on the gate insulating layer; a dielectric layer formed on the first conductive layer; at least one first contact hole passing through the dielectric layer; a second conductive layer, formed on the dielectric layer, the second conductive layer filling the at least one first contact hole to contact the first conductive layer; and at least one first contact plug connected to the second conductive layer in the first active area, wherein the at least one first contact plug is offset from the at least one first contact hole to overlap the dielectric layer.
US09331087B2
A method of manufacturing a nonvolatile memory device comprises forming a gate insulating layer and a first conductive layer over a semiconductor substrate that defines a first area in which selection lines will be formed and a second area in which word lines will be formed, performing an etch process to lower a height of the first conductive layer in the first area, forming a dielectric layer and a second conductive layer over the first conductive layer with a height that is different from the height of the first conductive layer, and performing a gate patterning process to form the selection lines and the word lines.
US09331081B2
The present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a semiconductor structure. The method includes forming a first mask on a substrate; defining a first doped region through an opening of the first mask; forming a second mask on the first mask and filling in the opening of the first mask with the second mask; defining a second doped region through an opening of the second mask; and stripping the first mask and the second mask from the substrate. The present disclosure provides a semiconductor structure, including a substrate having a top surface; a first doped region having a first surface; and a second doped region having a second surface. The first surface and the second surface are coplanar with the top surface of the substrate. Either of the doped regions has a monotonically decreasing doping profile from the top surface of the substrate to a bottom of the doped region.
US09331079B2
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device is provided. The method includes providing a semiconductor substrate, forming a plurality of fins on the semiconductor substrate, forming a plurality of shallow trench isolation (STI) structures on the semiconductor substrate on opposite sides of the fins, forming a dummy gate on the fins, forming gate spacers on opposite sides of the dummy gate, etching a first portion of the STI structures disposed outside a gate region, the first portion having a first predetermined thickness, forming an interlayer dielectric over the semiconductor substrate, removing the dummy gate, etching a second portion of the STI structures disposed in the gate region, the second portion having a second predetermined thickness, and forming a high-k dielectric layer and a metal gate in an area where the dummy gate is removed.
US09331078B2
According to one embodiment, provided is a thin film transistor device with further improved area efficiency. First contact regions of a first semiconductor layer portion are formed with the first channel region therebetween in a predetermined direction and doped with an N-type impurity, one of the first contact regions electrically connected with a shared electrode, while the other electrically connected with a first electrode. Second contact regions of a second semiconductor layer portion are formed with the second channel region therebetween in the predetermined direction and doped with a P-type impurity, one of the second contact regions electrically connected with the shared electrode, while the other electrically connected with a second electrode. The first and second contact regions are partially disposed alternately and adjacently in a direction intersecting with the predetermined direction.
US09331068B2
A hybrid semiconductor bipolar switch in which a normally-on high-voltage wide-bandgap semiconductor bipolar switch and a normally-off field effect transistor are connected in a cascode (Baliga-pair) configuration. The switch may be constructed as a stacked hybrid device where a discrete transistor is bonded on top of a bipolar switch. Power systems may use plural switches paired with anti-parallel diodes.
US09331067B2
Embodiments of an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection device and a method of operating an ESD protection device are described. In one embodiment, an ESD protection device includes a bigFET configured to conduct an ESD pulse during an ESD event. The bigFET includes a backgate terminal, a source terminal, and a current distributor connected to the backgate terminal and the source terminal and configured to homogeneously activate a parasitic bipolar junction transistor of the bigFET in response to a current that is generated in the bigFET during the ESD pulse. Other embodiments are also described.
US09331066B2
A method of detecting a parasitic transistor detecting is provided. The method includes extracting several diodes from a selected area, selecting at least one diode pair from the diodes in accordance with signals connected to the diodes, and filtering the at least one diode pair in accordance with a threshold distance to determine whether at least one parasitic transistor is obtained.
US09331064B2
A fin diode structure includes a doped well formed in a substrate, a plurality of fins of first conductivity type and a plurality of fins of second conductivity type protruding from the doped well isolated from ins of first conductivity type by STIs, at least one doped region of first conductivity type in the substrate between the fins of first conductivity type, the STIs and the doped well and connecting with the fins of first conductivity type, and at least one doped region of second conductivity type in the substrate between the fins of second conductivity type, the STIs and the doped well and connecting with the fins of second conductivity type. The doping concentration of the fins of first conductivity type is greater than that of the doped region of first conductivity type whose doping concentration is greater than that of the doped well of first conductivity type.
US09331061B2
Parallel transistor circuits with reduced effects from common source induction. The parallel transistors include physical gate connections that are located electrically close to one another. The parallel circuits are arranged such that the voltage at the common gate connection resulting from transient currents across common source inductance is substantially balanced. The circuits include switching circuits, converters, and RF amplifiers.
US09331052B2
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an electronic package assembly comprising a solder mask layer, the solder mask layer having at least one opening, and a plurality of pads coupled to the solder mask layer, wherein at least one pad of the plurality of pads includes (i) a first side, (ii) a second side, the first side being disposed opposite to the second side, (iii) a terminal portion and (iv) an extended portion, wherein the first side at the terminal portion is configured to receive a package interconnect structure through the at least one opening in the solder mask layer, the package interconnect structure to route electrical signals between a die and another electronic device that is external to the electronic package assembly, and wherein the second side at the extended portion is configured to receive one or more electrical connections from the die.
US09331041B2
A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor chip, and a terminal connected with the semiconductor chip. The terminal has a first surface and a second surface spaced from each other in a thickness direction. The semiconductor device also includes a sealing resin covering the semiconductor chip and the terminal. The sealing resin is so configured that the first surface of the terminal is exposed from the sealing resin. The terminal is formed with an opening to be filled with the sealing resin.
US09331036B2
In a semiconductor device, a conductor pattern is disposed in a position overlapped by a semiconductor chip in a thickness direction over the mounting surface (lower surface) of a wiring board. A solder resist film (insulating layer) covering the lower surface of the wiring board has apertures formed such that multiple portions of the conductor pattern are exposed. The conductor pattern has conductor apertures. The outlines of the apertures and the conductor apertures overlap with each other, in a plan view, respectively.
US09331030B1
An integrated antenna package including a laminated structure and a multi-layered substrate is provided. The laminated structure includes at least a chip embedded therein and at least a plated through-hole structure penetrating the laminated structure. The multi-layered substrate is stacked on the laminated structure. The multi-layered substrate includes at least a metal layer located on one side of the multi-layered substrate away from the laminated structure and the metal layer includes at least an antenna pattern located above the chip. The multi-layered substrate includes at least a plated via and through-hole structure penetrating the multi-layered substrate and electrically connected to the chip, so that the antenna pattern is electrically connect with the chip. Also, the manufacturing method of the integrated antenna package is provided.
US09331028B2
Substrate material is oxidized around side walls of a set of channels. A shielding structure means there is more oxide growth at the top than the bottom with the result that the non-oxidized substrate material area between the channels forms a tapered shape with a pointed tip at the top. These pointed substrate areas are then used to form cathodes.
US09331027B2
An integrated circuit includes active circuitry disposed at a surface of a semiconductor body and an interconnect region disposed above the semiconductor body. A thermoelectric material is disposed in an upper portion of the interconnect region away from the semiconductor body. The thermoelectric material is configured to deliver electrical energy when exposed to a temperature gradient. This material can be used, for example, in a method for detecting the repackaging of the integrated circuit after it has been originally packaged.
US09331025B2
Die structures for electronic devices and related fabrication methods are provided. An exemplary die structure includes a diced portion of a semiconductor substrate that includes a device region having one or more semiconductor devices fabricated thereon and an edge sealing structure within the semiconductor substrate that circumscribes the device region. In one or more embodiments, the edge sealing structure includes a conductive material that contacts a handle layer of semiconductor material, a crackstop structure is formed overlying the sealing structure, wherein the crackstop structure and the edge sealing structure provide an electrical connection between the handle layer and an active layer of semiconductor material that overlies a buried layer of dielectric material on the handle layer.
US09331022B2
A pattern from a patterning device is applied to a substrate by a lithographic apparatus. The applied pattern includes product features and metrology targets. The metrology targets include large targets and small targets which are for measuring overlay. Some of the smaller targets are distributed at locations between the larger targets, while other small targets are placed at the same locations as a large target. By comparing values measured using a small target and large target at the same location, parameter values measured using all the small targets can be corrected for better accuracy. The large targets can be located primarily within scribe lanes while the small targets are distributed within product areas.
US09331010B2
A chip (2, 3) is arranged above a top side of a flexible support (1) and mechanically decoupled from the support. Electrical connections (8, 11) of the chip are embodied using a planar connection technique. The chip can be separated from the support by an air gap or a base layer (7) composed of a soft or compressible material.
US09331006B2
A semiconductor device includes a substrate that is made of a semiconductor material and has a main surface formed with a recess. The semiconductor device also includes a wiring layer formed on the substrate, an electronic element housed in the recess, and a sealing resin covering at least a part of the electronic element.
US09330990B2
Disclosed is a method for determining an endpoint of an etch process using optical emission spectroscopy (OES) data as an input. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) data are acquired by a spectrometer attached to a plasma etch processing tool. The acquired time-evolving spectral data are first filtered and demeaned, and thereafter transformed into transformed spectral data, or trends, using multivariate analysis such as principal components analysis, in which previously calculated principal component weights are used to accomplish the transform. A functional form incorporating multiple trends may be used to more precisely determine the endpoint of an etch process. A method for calculating principal component weights prior to actual etching, based on OES data collected from previous etch processing, is disclosed, which method facilitates rapid calculation of trends and functional forms involving multiple trends, for efficient and accurate in-line determination of etch process endpoint.
US09330970B2
The present disclosure provides an integrated circuit structure. The integrated circuit structure includes a substrate having an IC device formed therein; a first dielectric material layer disposed on the substrate and having a first trench formed therein; and a first composite interconnect feature disposed in the first trench and electrically coupled with the IC device. The first composite interconnect feature includes a first barrier layer disposed on sidewalls of the first trench; a first metal layer disposed on the first barrier layer; and a first graphene layer disposed on the metal layer.
US09330967B2
A method of fabricating a semiconductor device with reduced leak paths is disclosed. The method comprises etching a void in non-conductive material in the semiconductor device to provide a conduction path between isolated material, forming a non-conductive surface layer on an unintended conductive item adjacent to the void, and filling the void with a conductive material. Forming a non-conductive surface layer may comprise oxidizing a surface surrounding the void. Forming a non-conductive surface layer may comprise oxidizing a side wall of the void. Forming a non-conductive surface layer may comprise oxidizing a surface surrounding the void using plasma oxidation operations. Forming a non-conductive surface layer may comprise oxidizing a side wall of the void using plasma oxidation operations. The unintended conductive item may comprise a conductive impurity or conductive residue. The void may comprise a trench or a hole for a via.
US09330962B2
A metal layer is deposited over a material layer. The metal layer includes an elemental metal that can be converted into a dielectric metal-containing compound by plasma oxidation or nitridation. A hard mask portion is formed over the metal layer. A plasma impermeable spacer is formed on at least one first sidewall of the hard mask portion, while at least one second sidewall of the hard mask portion is physically exposed. Plasma oxidation or nitridation is performed to convert physically exposed surfaces of the metal layer into the dielectric metal-containing compound. A sequence of a surface pull back of the hard mask portion, cavity etching, another surface pull back, and conversion of top surfaces into the dielectric metal-containing compound are repeated to form a hole pattern having a spacing that is not limited by lithographic minimum dimensions.
US09330954B2
Wafer to carrier adhesion without mechanical adhesion for formation of an IC. In such formation, an apparatus has a bottom surface of a substrate abutting a top surface of a support platform without adhesive therebetween. A material is disposed around the substrate and on the top surface of the support platform. The material is in contact with a side surface of the substrate to completely seal an interface as between the bottom surface of the substrate and the top surface of the support platform to retain abutment of the top surface and the bottom surface.
US09330950B2
A substrate processing apparatus includes a processing unit performing a predetermined processing on a substrate; a transfer chamber; and a substrate accommodation unit including a substrate accommodation chamber communicating with the transfer chamber via a transfer opening, a gate provided at the transfer opening to separate the substrate accommodation chamber from the transfer chamber, and a gas supply unit supplying a gas into the substrate accommodation chamber. The substrate accommodation chamber accommodates therein substrates that have been processed by the processing unit, and the gas supply unit provides a gas flow suppressing an atmosphere of the transfer chamber from being introduced into the substrate accommodation chamber, thereby preventing undesired reaction between moisture in the atmosphere of the transfer chamber and deposits adhered on the processed substrates accommodated in the substrate accommodation chamber.
US09330940B2
There are provided a structure of a semiconductor device in which low power consumption is realized even in a case where a size of a display region is increased to be a large size screen and a manufacturing method thereof. A gate electrode in a pixel portion is formed as a three layered structure of a material film containing mainly W, a material film containing mainly Al, and a material film containing mainly Ti to reduce a wiring resistance. A wiring is etched using an IPC etching apparatus. The gate electrode has a taper shape and the width of a region which becomes the taper shape is set to be 1 μm or more.
US09330914B2
A method including forming a line pattern in a substrate includes using a plurality of longitudinally spaced projecting features formed along respective guide lines as a template in forming a plurality of directed self-assembled (DSA) lines that individually comprise at least one of (a): the spaced projecting features and DSA material longitudinally there-between, and (b): are laterally between and laterally spaced from immediately adjacent of the guide lines. Substrate material elevationally inward of and laterally between the DSA lines may be processed using the DSA lines as a mask.
US09330904B2
Provided are a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device and a substrate processing apparatus. The method includes: forming a first layer including a first element on a substrate by supplying a gas containing the first element; forming a second layer including first and second elements by supplying a gas containing the second element to modify the first layer; and forming a thin film having a predetermined thickness by setting the forming of the first layer and the forming of the second layer to one cycle and repeating the cycle at least once. Pressure, or pressure and a gas supply time in one process of the forming of the first layer and the forming of the second layer are controlled to be higher or longer, or lower or shorter than pressure, or pressure and a time in the one process when the thin film having a stoichiometric composition is formed.
US09330901B2
A method of forming a nitrogen-containing oxide film is disclosed. The method comprises (a) exposing a substrate to a first gas pulse having one of an oxygen-containing gas and a metal-containing gas; (b) exposing the substrate to a second gas pulse having the other of the oxygen-containing gas and the metal-containing gas to form an oxide film over the substrate; and (c) exposing the oxide film to a third gas pulse having a nitrogen-containing plasma to form a nitrogen-containing oxide film, wherein the nitrogen-containing oxide film has a nitrogen concentration between about 0.1 and about 3 atomic percent (at %).
US09330900B2
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to methods of forming carbon-doped oxide films. The methods generally include generating hydroxyl groups on a surface of the substrate using a plasma, and then performing silylation on the surface of the substrate. The hydroxyl groups on the surface of the substrate are then regenerated using a plasma in order to perform an additional silylation. Multiple plasma treatments and silylations may be performed to deposit a layer having a desired thickness.
US09330899B2
A method for forming a silicon germanium oxide thin film on a substrate in a reaction space may be performed using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process. The process may include at least one cycle comprising a germanium oxide deposition sub-cycle and a silicon oxide deposition sub-cycle. The germanium oxide deposition sub-cycle may include contacting the substrate with a germanium reactant, removing excess germanium reactant, and contacting the substrate with a first oxygen reactant. The silicon oxide deposition sub-cycle may include contacting the substrate with a silicon reactant, removing excess silicon reactant, and contacting the substrate with a second oxygen reactant. The films of the present disclosure exhibit desirable etch rates relative to thermal oxide. Depending on the films' composition, the etch rates may be higher or lower than the etch rates of thermal oxide.
US09330892B2
An inorganic mass spectrometer capable of measuring a relevant and large or the full mass spectral range simultaneously may include a suitable ion source (e.g., an ICP mass spectrometer with an ICP ion source), an ion transfer region, ion optics to separate ions out of a plasma beam, a Mattauch-Herzog type mass spectrometer with a set of charged particle beam optics to condition the ion beam before an entrance slit, and a solid state multi-channel detector substantially separated from ground potential and separated from the potential of the magnet.
US09330888B2
The present invention discloses a dry etching method. The dry etching method comprises: etching a first medium layer; introducing a second reaction gas in a reaction chamber, and exciting the second reaction gas into plasmas with a second radiofrequency power, so that the plasmas formed from the second reaction gas are combined with particulate pollutants in the reaction chamber, and in this case the reaction chamber is vacuumized to perform conversion processing; and etching a second medium layer. The technical solution of the present invention is capable of effectively preventing particulate pollutants from falling onto the glass substrate in the procedure of executing conversion processing, meanwhile, the effect of chamber purifying through vacuumizing is improved, and the amount of the particulate pollutants in the reaction chamber is effectively reduced.
US09330887B2
Correction of skew in plasma etch rate distribution is performed by tilting the overhead RF source power applicator about a tilt axis whose angle is determined from skew in processing data. Complete freedom of movement is provided by incorporating exactly three axial motion servos supporting a floating plate from which the overhead RF source power applicator is suspended.
US09330886B2
To control of an irradiation installation, a particle beam is generated with a beam intensity, and a beam quality of the particle beam is monitored with a beam monitoring device. One of several adjustable measurement ranges is selected, wherein the measurement range of the beam monitoring device is set depending on the beam intensity of the particle beam and/or depending on a particle count to be applied.
US09330883B2
Provided is a charged particle beam device with high sensitivity, capable of detecting charged particles emitted from a sample at high resolution. An absorption current detector arranged to contact with the sample makes an absorption current generated in the sample by an irradiated charged particle beam flow through the detector, thereby to detect the current. The charged particle beam scans the sample and the charged particle beam device acquires an absorption current image. In case the absorption current detector is arranged separated from the sample, the absorption current detector detects the incident charged particle beam as a signal current dependent on an angle θ formed in a direction from the irradiation position on the sample toward the absorption current detector relative to at least one of the normal line direction of the front surface of the sample and the incident direction of the charged particle beam.
US09330881B2
A blanking device for multi-beams includes a substrate, a dielectric film formed on the substrate, plural first electrodes, at positions each exposed in a corresponding opening, to be applied with a first deflection potential, plural second electrodes, at positions each opposite to a corresponding first electrode with respect to the corresponding opening, to be applied with a second deflection potential, including a ground potential, for deflecting a corresponding beam of the multi-beams by a difference between the first and second deflection potentials, and a conductive film arranged in, other than plural first regions on the dielectric film each along a corresponding first electrode and being shaded by each first electrode in a case of being viewed from a position where a corresponding beam passes through a corresponding opening, a second region on the dielectric film, wherein insulation is provided between the plural first and second electrodes.
US09330866B2
Electrical switching device having a housing, at least two switching chambers within the housing with contacts to interrupt at least one current path, an arc extinguishing device for each switching chamber, and at least one guide channel within the housing, which directs the arc gas exiting the arc extinguishing device towards at least one of the exhaust openings to allow the arc gases to exit the housing, whereby each switching chamber has a guide channel, and whereby the guide channels of the different switching chambers are separated from each other.
US09330862B2
The present invention discloses a keyboard device. The keyboard device includes a sheet, a membrane switch, an actuating component, and a protrusion keycap structure. The membrane switch is disposed on a side of the sheet. The actuating component is disposed on a side of the membrane switch far away from the sheet and is for pressing the membrane switch to actuate the membrane switch. The protrusion keycap structure is disposed on a side of the actuating component far away from the membrane switch and is for driving the actuating component to actuate the membrane switch upon being pressed. The protrusion keycap structure includes a mylar film.
US09330857B2
A safety switch may be mountable proximate to the floor and may include a switch that may be actuated by vertical movement of a generally horizontally-extending switch operator plate as by pivoting about a horizontal axis at one side thereof. The safety switch may further include a blocking arm pivotable about a horizontal axis, the axis being perpendicular to the pivotal axis of the switch operator plate, wherein the blocking arm is normally biased into a vertical blocking position to prevent vertical movement of the switch operator plate. The switch may be actuated by the switch operator plate by pivoting the blocking arm into a vertical orientation and then moving the switch operator plate vertically into actuating contact with the switch.
US09330856B2
A method of forming at least one Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) includes forming a beam structure and an electrode on an insulator layer, remote from the beam structure. The method further includes forming at least one sacrificial layer over the beam structure, and remote from the electrode. The method further includes forming a lid structure over the at least one sacrificial layer and the electrode. The method further includes providing simultaneously a vent hole through the lid structure to expose the sacrificial layer and to form a partial via over the electrode. The method further includes venting the sacrificial layer to form a cavity. The method further includes sealing the vent hole with material. The method further includes forming a final via in the lid structure to the electrode, through the partial via.
US09330854B2
A method for producing a dye-sensitized solar cell includes: preparing a first electrode comprising a transparent substrate and a transparent conductive film, and a second electrode comprising a metal substrate that is formed of a metal capable of forming a passivation film; forming an oxide semiconductor layer on the first electrode; supporting a photosensitized dye on the oxide semiconductor layer; disposing an electrolyte on the oxide semiconductor layer; facing the first electrode and the second electrode, and sealing the electrolyte by a sealing section; and fixing a connection member formed of a metal having lower resistance than the metal substrate, onto the surface of the metal substrate, with the surface being on the opposite side of the first electrode, in which method in fixing the connection member, the connection member is bonded to the metal substrate by resistance welding, and thereby the connection member is fixed onto the metal substrate.
US09330848B2
An electronic component includes a body and first and second external electrodes arranged on an external surface of the body. An edge portion of the first external electrode and an edge portion of the second external electrode face each other on the body. The first and second external electrodes each include a copper-metal-containing layer and a protective copper oxide layer covering the copper-metal-containing layer within the edge portion of the first and second external electrodes, respectively.
US09330841B2
The present invention provides a base metal combination electrode of electronic ceramic component and manufacturing method thereof, wherein said base metal combination electrode comprises a first base metal electrode layer covering on two sides of said electronic ceramic chip and a second base metal electrode layer covering on said first base metal electrode layer, the manufacturing method for base metal combination electrode of electronic ceramic component comprises using thermal spray equipment to spray the electrode material to the surface of electronic ceramic chip. Comparing with using silver paste or copper paste only, it reduces the cost of electrode material without destroying the function of the electrode. The manufacturing method for base metal combination electrode of the present invention has simple technological process, high preparation efficiency and low cost, and it reduces the production cost of electrode of the electronic ceramic component on the whole.
US09330839B2
A grain oriented electrical steel sheet is subjected to magnetic domain refining treatment by electron beam irradiation and exhibits excellent low-noise properties when assembled as an actual transformer, in which a ratio (Wa/Wb) of a film thickness (Wa) of the forsierite film on a strain-introduced side of the steel sheet to a film thickness (Wb) of the forsierite film on a non-strain-introduced side of the steel sheet is 0.5 or higher, a magnetic domain discontinuous portion in a surface of the steel sheet on the strain-introduced side has an average width of 150 to 300 μm, and a magnetic domain discontinuous portion in a surface of the steel sheet on the non-strain-introduced side has an average width of 250 to 500 μm.
US09330831B2
A common mode filter and a power supply device having the same are provided. The common mode filter includes a first inductor having a first winding number, a second inductor facing the first inductor and having a second winding number, a first intermediate terminal branching from an intermediate portion of a coil of the first inductor, and a second intermediate terminal branching from an intermediate portion of a coil of the second inductor. The effects of two filters are obtained from one common mode filter and the volume is reduced, so that a light, thin, short, and short module is provided.
US09330830B2
The present disclosure provides a semiconductor device. The semiconductor device includes a first inductor formed on a first substrate; a second inductor formed on a second substrate and conductively coupled with the first inductor as a transformer; and a plurality of micro-bump features configured between the first and second substrates. The plurality of micro-bump features include a magnetic material having a relative permeability substantially greater than one and are configured to enhance coupling between the first and second inductors.
US09330817B2
An enameled flat wire includes a flat wire and an enamel coating. The difference in thickness of the enamel coating on flat surfaces between a maximum thickness and a minimum thickness is equal to or less than 25% of the predetermined thickness. The enamel coating prior to baking includes a maximum surface curvature on each of the rounded corners of the wire, and a depression on at least one of the flat surfaces of the wire, the depression has a maximum surface curvature. The maximum surface curvature of the depression is larger than the maximum surface curvature of the enamel coating prior to baking on at least one of the rounded corners thereof.
US09330815B2
Cable structures with insulating tape and systems and methods for making the same are provided. In some embodiments, a cable may include a first group of conductors extending along a length of the cable, a tape wrapped directly around the first plurality of conductors along the length of the cable, and a second group of conductors extending along the length of the cable, where the tape electrically isolates the first group of conductors from the second group of conductors. The second group of conductors may extend around the tape or the tape may be wrapped directly around the second group of conductors. The tape may be a polymeric tape that may or may not include an adhesive.
US09330811B2
There is provided a transparent electrode comprising a supporting substrate, a first transparent electrically-conductive film provided on the supporting substrate, a transparent insulating film provided on the first transparent electrically-conductive film, and a second transparent electrically-conductive film provided on the transparent insulating film. In the transparent electrode of the present invention, all of the first transparent electrically-conductive film, the second transparent electrically-conductive film and the transparent insulating film provided therebetween comprise a metal compound, and the first transparent electrically-conductive film and the second transparent electrically-conductive film have a crystalline structure, whereas the transparent insulating film has an amorphous structure.
US09330810B2
A dielectric fluid composition for electrical apparatus comprises a functionalized methyl-12-carboxy methyl stearate having desirable properties including a pour point less than −30° C. and a fire point greater than 250° C. It may be prepared by a process wherein methyl-12-hydroxy methyl stearate is transesterified by reaction with a C3-C20 alcohol to form the hydroxy methyl ester, followed by reaction with a linear or branched C4-C20 carboxylic acid selected from free acid chlorides, fatty acids, carboxylic acid anhydrides, and combinations thereof. The second step serves to end-cap the hydroxyl groups, thereby producing the functionalized methyl-12-carboxy methyl stearate compound that exhibits improved thermoxidative stability and low temperature flowability, as well as increased fire point.
US09330806B2
There is provided a semiconductive ceramic sintered compact that has a conductivity high enough to attain static electricity removal and antistatic purposes and, at the same time, has excellent mechanical properties or stability over time. The semiconductive ceramic sintered compact includes at least a main phase and first and second phases contained in the main phase observed as a result of observation of any face of the sintered compact, the main phase being a ceramic sintered phase containing Al2O3 particles, the first phase being a grain boundary phase including a conductive substance-containing conductive phase and Al2O3 particles, the Al2O3 particles being present in an island-sea form in the conductive phase, the second phase being a grain boundary phase containing a conductive phase having the same composition as the conductive phase in the first phase and having a structure that electrically connects the first phases three-dimensionally to each other.
US09330785B1
In a static random access memory (SRAM), such as an SRAM cache in a processor or system-on-a-chip (SoC) device, an aging sensor is provided for testing degradation of SRAM cells comprising p-channel metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) transistors. The minimum power supply voltage VDDMIN for the SRAM may be dynamically scaled up as the SRAM ages by performing read tests with and without the wordline overdrive voltage VWLOD.
US09330784B2
Methods and apparatus to provide dynamic window to improve NAND (Not And) memory endurance are described. In one embodiment, a program-erase window associated with a NAND memory device is dynamically varied by starting with a higher erase verify (TEV) voltage and lowering the TEV voltage with subsequent cycles over a life of the NAND memory device based on a current cycle count value. Alternatively, the program-erase window is dynamically varied by starting with a higher erase verify (PV) voltage and erase verify (TEV) voltage and lowering the PV and TEV voltages with subsequent cycles over a life of the NAND memory device based on the current cycle count value. Other embodiments are also disclosed and claimed.
US09330783B1
Identifying word-line-to-substrate and word-line-to-word-line short-circuit events in a memory block
An apparatus includes a memory and a memory controller. The memory includes a memory block that includes memory cells connected by word lines. The memory controller is configured to store data in the memory cells, and to identify a suspected short-circuit event in the memory block by recognizing a deviation of a performance characteristic of at least a given word line in the memory block relative to the performance characteristic of remaining word lines in the memory block.
US09330780B1
A semiconductor device and method of operating the same are provided. The semiconductor device may include a memory block including drain select transistors connected to bit lines, source select transistors connected to a common source line, and memory cells connected between the drain select transistors and the source select transistors. The semiconductor device may include an operation circuit configured to repeatedly perform a program operation and a program verifying operation to increase threshold voltages of the drain select transistors to a target level. The operation circuit may be configured to apply a level lower than a verifying voltage initially applied to the drain select transistors for the program verifying operation. The level being lower than a normal level. The operation circuit may be configured to increase the verifying voltage to the normal level whenever the program verifying operation is repeated.
US09330776B2
A high voltage step regulator, such as would be used to provide a regulated low voltage (on the order of a few volts) from a high voltage external supply (e.g. 12V), is presented. To protect the output transistor, through which the output is provided from the input, from breakdown, a depletion type device is connected between the supply and the output transistor. The control gate of the depletion device is then connected to the output level of the regulator. This reduces the voltage drop across the output transistor, helping to avoid violating design rules (EDR) on how great a voltage differential can be placed across the output transistor. Examples of applications for such a circuit are for various operating voltages on a non-volatile memory chip operating with a high voltage power supply.
US09330775B2
A flash memory, a flash memory system, and an operating method thereof. The method of operating a flash memory includes counting the number of memory cells having threshold voltages included in a first adjacent threshold voltage range (defined by a first reference read voltage for distinguishing between initially separated adjacently located threshold voltage distributions and a first search read voltage having a first voltage difference from the first reference read voltage), and a second adjacent threshold voltage range (defined by the first reference read voltage and a second search read voltage having a second voltage difference from the first reference read voltage), and setting a first optimal read voltage based on the difference between the first and second counted numbers of the memory cells.
US09330770B2
Nonvolatile memory devices, operating methods thereof, and memory systems including the same. A nonvolatile memory device may include a memory cell array and a word line driver. The memory cell array may include a plurality of memory cells. The word line driver may be configured to apply word line voltages to a plurality of word lines connected to the plurality of memory cells, respectively. Magnitudes of the word line voltages may be determined according to locations of the plurality of word lines.
US09330764B2
A device, such as an integrated circuit including memory, includes an array of memory cells on a substrate. A row/column line, such as a local word line or local bit line, is disposed in the array. The row/column line includes a pass transistor structure comprising a semiconductor strip in a first patterned layer over the substrate. The semiconductor strip includes a semiconductor channel body, a contact region on one side of the semiconductor channel body, and an extension on another side of the semiconductor channel body, which reaches into the memory cells in the array. A select line in a second patterned layer crossing the semiconductor channel body is provided. The pass transistor structure can be implemented in a fanout structure for row/column lines in the array.
US09330749B1
In an example, a memory control device includes an output circuit, an output delay unit, and a write-levelization controller. The output circuit is coupled to provide an output signal comprising a data signal or data strobe signal for a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) system having a plurality of ranks. The output delay unit is coupled to apply an output delay to a bitstream to be transmitted to generate the output signal. The output delay includes an aggregate of a de-skew delay and a write-levelization delay. The write-levelization delay controller is coupled to adjust the write-levelization delay for each write transaction to the SDRAM system of a plurality of write transactions based on a selected rank of the plurality of ranks. The de-skew delay is the same across the plurality of ranks for each of the plurality of write transactions.
US09330748B2
A match-in-place-type compare operation utilizes a string of Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ) elements including storage layers and sense layers having different anti-ferromagnetic structures respectively having higher and lower blocking temperatures. Confidential data is written into the storage layers of the MTJ elements by heating the elements above the higher blocking temperature, and then orienting the storage and sense layers in first storage magnetization directions using field lines. The elements are then cooled to an intermediate temperature between the higher and lower blocking temperatures, and the field lines are turned off, setting the sense layers to preliminary storage magnetization directions opposite to the first directions. During a pre-compare phase, an input logic pattern is written into the sense layers by heating to the intermediate temperature. During a compare operation, with the field lines turned off, resistance of the MTJ string is detected by passing a read current through the string.
US09330747B2
Described is an apparatus of a non-volatile logic (NVL), the apparatus comprises: a sensing circuit to sense differential resistance; a first magnetic-tunneling-junction (MTJ) device coupled to the sensing circuit; a second MTJ device coupled to the sensing circuit, the first and second MTJ devices operable to provide differential resistance; and a buffer to drive complementary signals to the first and second MTJ devices respectively.
US09330746B2
A circuit that includes a current source module, a current sink module and a memory bank is disclosed. Each of the current source module, the current sink module and the memory bank is connected to the first bit/source line and the second bit/source line. The memory bank is bounded by the current source module and the current sink module. When the current source module and the current sink module receive a triggering pulse from the first bit/source line and a select signal with a first state, the current source module is activated to generate an operating current to the first bit/source line that transmits through a conducted memory cell of the memory bank and the current sink module is activated to drain the operating current from the second bit/source line.
US09330727B1
A method of determining whether a data object is stored on a storage device such as a disk includes a write operation that partitions the data object into sub-objects according to a random sequence of control bits, by (a) assigning a first block of the data object to an initially selected sub-object, and (b) assigning successive blocks to a currently selected sub-object or to a next selected sub-object based on the value of the corresponding control bit. The sub-objects are written to distinct physical regions of the storage device so that differential read latencies are experienced depending on the pattern of block access. An object read/verify operation includes reading the blocks of the data object sequentially, recording respective latencies, constructing a result word to record latency values, and calculating a difference between the control word and the result word.
US09330724B2
The objective of the present invention is to manage reference movies using an index file, without causing the user to be perplexed. The reference movies are generated because of, for instance, the upper limit of the file size. The index file manages sets of information regarding the files being managed. Examples of these sets of information are information for determining whether or not a file is presented to the user, information for determining whether or not a file is original, and information indicating whether or not nondestructive editing has been done. Based on such information, the erasure, displaying a list, and so on are carried out. Thus, it is possible to manage the reference movies using the index file, without causing the user to be perplexed.
US09330718B2
Techniques are disclosed for adding interactive features to videos to enable users to create new media using a dynamic blend of motion and still imagery. The interactive techniques can include allowing a user to change the starting time of one or more subjects in a given video frame, or only animate/play a portion of a given frame scene. The techniques may include segmenting each frame of a video to identify one or more subjects within each frame, selecting (or receiving selections of) one or more subjects within the given frame scene, tracking the selected subject(s) from frame to frame, and alpha-matting to play/animate only the selected subject(s). In some instances, segmentation, selection, and/or tracking may be improved and/or enhanced using pixel depth information (e.g., using a depth map).
US09330717B2
An editing device for connecting first and second streams containing variable length coded parameters, includes a decision unit operable to compare an encoded first parameter contained in the first stream with an encoded second parameter contained in the second stream, and decide whether at least one of the first parameter and the second parameter is to be changed, and a replacing unit operable to replace at least one of the first and second parameters with the other code word of the same length as the code words assigned to the first and second parameters, when the decision unit decides that at least one of the parameters is to be changed.
US09330714B2
A supplemental module that includes one or more read elements periodically engages a magnetic recording medium, and the read elements generate an electrical signal corresponding to transitions written to the magnetic recording medium by a write element. A computer receives information representative of the electrical signal and determines if a quality metric of the magnetic recording medium derived from the electrical signal is within a defined range. If the quality metric is not within the defined range, a defined action is performed by the computer.
US09330708B2
Techniques for reducing the time required for erasing specific data recorded on a tape medium. A specific group of records is erased without preliminarily locating the erasure end position. This is carried out by simultaneously utilizing three heads, that is, two read heads and one write head, to detect the erasure end position during data erasure. Various embodiments are applicable to tape media as well as other storage media. Various embodiments are not only applicable as a file system cooperating as a combination of hardware (H/W) and software (S/W), but also applicable in systems, such as databases, that directly use storage without an intermediary file system.
US09330681B2
Modulating a voice signal is provided. The voice signal corresponding to a voice communication is received from a sending voice communication device via a network. Voice signal features corresponding to the voice communication are extracted. A set of voice signal filters are selected to modulate the extracted voice signal features corresponding to the voice communication to an average voice signal associated with a geographic area where the voice communication is destined for. The voice signal features corresponding to the voice communication are modulated by applying the selected set of voice signal filters to generate the average voice signal associated with the geographic area where the voice communication is destined for.
US09330680B2
A system and method for the automatic, procedural generation of musical content in relation to biometric data. The systems and methods use a user's device, such as a cell phone to capture image data of a body part, and derive a biometric signal from the image data. The biometric signal includes biometric parameters, which are used by a music generation engine to generate music. The music generation can also be based on user-specific data and quality data related to the biometric detection process.
US09330677B2
A method and apparatus for generating a noise reduced output signal from sound received by a first and second microphone arranged as a microphone array. The method includes transforming sound received by the first microphone into a first input signal and sound received by a second microphone into a second input signal and calculating, for each of the frequency components, a weighted sum of at least two intermediate signals calculated from the input signals by means of complex valued transfer functions and real valued Equalizer functions. The method includes a weighing function with range between zero and one, with quotients of signal energies of the intermediate functions as arguments of the weighing function, and generating the noise reduced output signal based on the weighted sum of the intermediate functions and based on the weighted sum of the first and second intermediate function at each of the frequency components.
US09330674B2
Disclosed are a voice communication system and a voice communication method which set a subtraction weight for each of a plurality of frequency subbands split based on a particular frequency response characteristic set to the system, calculate a gain function for each frequency subband according to the particular frequency response characteristic based on the subtraction weight for each of the frequency subbands, and improve sound quality of a voice signal by reflecting the calculated gain function.
US09330672B2
A frame loss compensation method and apparatus for audio signals are disclosed. The method includes: when a first frame immediately following a correctly received frame is lost, judging a frame type of the first lost frame, and when the first lost frame is a non-multi-harmonic frame, calculating MDCT coefficients of the first lost frame by using MDCT coefficients of one or more frames prior to the first lost frame; obtaining an initially compensated signal of the first lost frame according to the MDCT coefficients of the first lost frame; and performing a first class of waveform adjustment on the initially compensated signal of the first lost frame and taking an adjusted time-domain signal as a time-domain signal of the first lost frame. The apparatus includes a frame type judgment module, an MDCT coefficient acquisition module, an initial compensation signal acquisition module and an adjustment module.
US09330669B2
A system and method is presented for performing dual mode speech recognition, employing a local recognition module on a mobile device and a remote recognition engine on a server device. The system accepts a spoken query from a user, and both the local recognition module and the remote recognition engine perform speech recognition operations on the query, returning a transcription and confidence score, subject to a latency cutoff time. If both sources successfully transcribe the query, then the system accepts the result having the higher confidence score. If only one source succeeds, then that result is accepted. In either case, if the remote recognition engine does succeed in transcribing the query, then a client vocabulary is updated if the remote system result includes information not present in the client vocabulary.
US09330665B2
Automatically adjusting confidence scoring functionality is described for a speech recognition engine. Operation of the speech recognition system is revised so as to change an associated receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve describing performance of the speech recognition system with respect to rates of false acceptance (FA) versus correct acceptance (CA). Then a confidence scoring functionality related to recognition reliability for a given input utterance is automatically adjusted such that where the ROC curve is better for a given operating point after revising the operation of the speech recognition system, the adjusting reflects a double gain constraint to maintain FA and CA rates at least as good as before revising operation of the speech recognition system.
US09330663B2
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, receiving audio data; determining that an initial portion of the audio data corresponds to an initial portion of a hotword; in response to determining that the initial portion of the audio data corresponds to the initial portion of the hotword, selecting, from among a set of one or more actions that are performed when the entire hotword is detected, a subset of the one or more actions; and causing one or more actions of the subset to be performed.
US09330659B2
A development system is described for facilitating the development of a spoken natural language (SNL) interface. The development system receives seed templates from a developer, each of which provides a command phrasing that can be used to invoke a function, when spoken by an end user. The development system then uses one or more development resources, such as a crowdsourcing system and a paraphrasing system, to provide additional templates. This yields an extended set of templates. A generation system then generates one or more models based on the extended set of templates. A user device may install the model(s) for use in interpreting commands spoken by an end user. When the user device recognizes a command, it may automatically invoke a function associated with that command. Overall, the development system provides an easy-to-use tool for producing an SNL interface.
US09330652B2
In one aspect, multiple adaptive W filters and associated adaptive filter controllers are provided that use multiple reference microphone signals to produce multiple, “component” anti-noise signals. These are gain weighted and summed to produce a single anti-noise signal, which drives an earpiece speaker. The weighting changes based on computed measures of the coherence between content in each reference signal and content in an error signal. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
US09330648B2
An electronic keyboard musical instrument includes a storage device, a musical tone generation unit, a resonating sound generation unit, and an adding unit. The musical tone generation unit reads out corresponding musical tone waveform data from the storage device according to key depression information to generate a musical tone waveform signal and a first register resonating sound waveform signal. The resonating sound generation unit receives the musical tone waveform signal to cause the resonating sound generation circuit to generate a second register resonating sound waveform signal according to damper pedal operator manipulation information and the key depression information, and outputs the second register resonating sound waveform signal. The adding unit is configured to add the musical tone waveform signal and the resonating sound waveform signal from the musical tone generation unit and the resonating sound generation unit respectively, and outputting a resulting signal.
US09330644B2
A pitched percussion idiophone instrument comprising first and second support members (12, 14) which interconnected, a plurality of hollow tubes (20), the tubes being parallel and having a pair of apertures (26, 28) towards each end (22, 24), first and second strings (34, 36) extending through the apertures (26, 28), pins (30) located on each of the first and second support members (12, 14) intermediate the hollow tubes (20) such that the strings (34, 36) are supported by pins (30), the arrangement being such that the hollow tubes (20) are suspended above said support members (12, 14) by the first and second strings (34, 36).
US09330640B2
A stringed instrument playing assistance implement which can be altered and mounted on a finger, can be adjusted and make a perfect fit of a location, an angle, and a size for any sort of player's finger for preventing slippage or falling off said finger. The stringed instrument playing assistance implement can be altered and used for a variety of string picking techniques. The stringed instrument playing assistance implement is employed when playing a stringed instrument by picking the strings thereof and includes a wire-shaped member, which can be altered and mounted on a finger and which is capable of retaining a shape.
US09330637B1
A bi-directional clamping device for string musical instruments includes a forward end closer the nut and a rearward end further the nut fashioned to be operable to receive a string inserted essentially unimpeded in a first direction, the first direction extending in the direction of the strings typically from the rearward end of the clamping device towards the nut and further fashioned to be operable to optionally receive a string inserted essentially unimpeded in a second direction, the second direction extending in the direction of the strings typically towards the rearward end of the clamping device from the nut. The arrangement further allows for larger diameter strings with taper cores, etc. to be clamped in order to meet requirements for extended range instruments.
US09330634B2
Techniques for presenting changing visual content, including video, animation and so on, as an overlay are discussed. Changing visual content, included in a visual presentation, may be identified from other visual elements included in the visual presentation. The changing visual content may be manipulated based on available resources associated with presenting the changing visual content as an overlay for a client.
US09330632B2
Embodiments of the invention generally provide an input device with display screens that periodically update (refresh) the screen by selectively driving common electrodes corresponding to pixels in a display line. In general, the input devices drive each electrode until each display line (and each pixel) of a display frame is updated. In addition to updating the display, the input device may perform capacitive sensing using the display screen as a proximity sensing area. To do this, the input device may interleave periods of capacitive sensing between periods of updating the display based on a display frame. For example, the input device may update the first half of display lines of the display screen, pause display updating, perform capacitive sensing, and finish updating the rest of the display lines. Further still, the input device may use common electrodes for both updating the display and performing capacitive sensing.
US09330630B2
Elements of the present invention relate to systems and methods for modifying or adjusting a display source light illumination level based on power consumption goals. In some embodiments, a rate control parameter may be used to limit the rate at which the illumination level is varied. In some embodiments, image content analysis may be used to determine the value of the rate control parameter.
US09330617B2
There is provided a method of driving a display panel. In the method, it is determined whether a driving mode is a two-dimensional image mode or a three-dimensional image mode. A first gate driving control signal and a second gate driving control signal are generated by converting an input control signal inputted in accordance with the driving mode. A first gate signal is outputted to an odd-numbered gate line connected to a first sub-pixel within a unit pixel of the display panel based on the first gate driving control signal. A second gate signal is outputted to an even-numbered gate line connected to a second sub-pixel within the unit pixel of the display panel based on the second gate driving control signal.
US09330616B2
An automatic correction function determining apparatus includes an output unit and a determining unit. The output unit sequentially outputs a first display image and a second display image to a display. The first display image includes a target area being a colorimetric target and formed of a first image and a non-target area not being a colorimetric target and formed of a second image. The second display image includes the target area formed of the first image and the non-target area formed of a third image different in mean gradation value from the second image. The determining unit determines that an automatic correction function is active on the display, if a colorimetric measurement result of the target area in the first display image displayed on the display is different from a colorimetric measurement result of the target area in the second display image displayed on the display.
US09330608B2
A power management method a display device utilizes the same are disclosed. The power management method, adopted by the display device, includes: increasing, by a control circuit, brightness of a lighting device, wherein the lighting device is configured to illuminate a display panel device; detecting, by an overload detection circuit, whether an overload has been triggered by the increased brightness; and when the overload has been triggered by the increased brightness, recording, by a power capacity determination circuit, a maximal predetermined brightness that is used prior to the overload is triggered, while showing an on-screen-display (OSD) warning message on a display of the display device for reminding the user. When the brightness of the lighting device reaches the maximal predetermined brightness and the power capacity determination circuit detects no overload, this indicates the power capacity is sufficient for supplying power to the display device.
US09330603B2
Discussed is an OLED display device that can compensate for the deviation of a threshold voltage and also prevent deterioration of an OLED, and a method of driving the same, wherein the OLED display device includes first to fifth transistors, a driving transistor including gate, source and drain electrodes, a capacitor for sensing a threshold voltage of the driving transistor, and an OLED.
US09330600B2
The present disclosure relates to a field of display technology, and provides an AMOLED pixel circuit, a method for driving the same, and a display device, which can improve an integration of an in-cell touch control circuit with an AMOLED driving circuit. The AMOLED pixel circuit comprises a light-emitting module, a touch control module, a control module, and a driving and amplifying module. The MOLED pixel circuit provided in embodiments of the present disclosure can be used in the manufacture of the AMOLED display device.
US09330596B2
A pixel capable of displaying an image with uniform brightness. The pixel includes an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a first transistor for controlling an amount of current supplied from a first power source coupled to a first electrode to the OLED, a second transistor coupled between a gate electrode of the first transistor and an initial power source to be turned on when a second scan signal is supplied to a second scan line, a first capacitor coupled between the gate electrode of the first transistor and the first power source, and a second capacitor whose first terminal is coupled to a first electrode of the first transistor.
US09330586B2
A display apparatus including a plurality of pixels arranged in association with a plurality of gate lines and a plurality of data lines crossing the gate lines, a data driver configured to drive the data lines, a gate driving unit configured to drive the gate lines in synchronization with a gate control signal, and a timing controller configured to control the data driver and the gate driving unit in response to an image signal and a control signal from an exterior. The timing controller outputs the gate control signal including a plurality of pulses respectively corresponding to the gate lines and an enable time of each pulse of the gate control signal is set according to a position of a corresponding gate line of the gate lines.
US09330578B2
An intelligent tissue mimicking ultrasonic phantom, which is a temperature-sensitive polymer gel having the following characteristics: acoustic velocity: 1500-1550 m/s; acoustic impedance: (1.50-1.60)×106 Pa·s/m; density: 1.01-1.06 g/cm3; and a denaturation temperature around which there is a reversible phase transformation between the opaque phase and the transparent phase. Said gel can be a polymer of isopropylacrylamide (NIPA). Said ultrasonic phantom has a transparent appearance, and an adjustable thermal denaturation temperature; the thermal denaturation region of the ultrasonic phantom is distinct and has a well-defined boundary; the material of the phantom is stable and deterioration-resistant, and can ensure the consistency of the quality; the phantom is thermal denaturable with the appearance thereof turning white, while the phantom recovers when the heat is removed, such that it can be used repeatedly.
US09330575B2
Embodiments of the present invention pertain to a computer program product and processor based computing system that provides processing means for executing coded instructions and input means for interacting with said processing means to create a virtual welding environment. The system establishes an objective to change a functional or operational state of a virtual article, and directs the end user to perform at least one virtual welding operation for changing its functional state. The system trains new users and inexperienced welders on the fundamental aspects of welding and other technical aspects.
US09330574B1
A on-aircraft computer device predicts aircraft states (e.g., altitude, speed, flight path angle, and fuel consumption) at any given time, while utilizing a Deterministic Genetic Algorithm to search 4-D flight path candidates that can comply with all path constraints to produce a feasible 4-D path candidate as a final OPD flight path to arrive at a metering waypoint in a specified time window.
US09330572B2
A warning control device is provided with a detection device for detecting a mobile body moving in a direction intersecting with the path of the host vehicle. The warning control device performs a warning operation when the host vehicle and the mobile body approach each other. The warning control device calculates the intersecting distance, which is the distance to the host vehicle from a predicted intersecting position between the path of the host vehicle and the path of the mobile body. The shorter the calculated intersecting distance, the earlier becomes the timing of the warning operation executed by the warning control device.
US09330570B2
An image assisted parking space availability searching and reservation method and system. An image capturing unit can be deployed onsite (e.g., parking lot, street side parking, etc.) to monitor parking spaces/spots. A parking space detection and reservation module can be configured in association with a mobile communications device to assist in the detection and selection of particular spaces. A destination street(s) can be located via a web browser installed associated with the mobile communications device. An IP address of the image-capturing unit monitoring the parking space can be obtained and a snapshot image/video of the street can be displayed. The captured video can be processed in real-time to report parking availability with respect to the street(s) and a parking space reserved.
US09330568B2
Parking occupancy detection methods, systems and processor-readable media. A laser device unit includes a laser range finder, and a programmable pan-tilt unit is deployable on site to monitor one or more parking spaces. A laser emitting and receiving unit associated with the laser range finder determines the distance of an object by estimating a time difference between an emitted laser and a received laser. The laser range finder is controllable by the programmable pan-tilt unit and scans the parking spaces. A signal-processing unit can convert the measured distance profile to a parking occupancy data to provide continuous parking space estimation data for use in parking occupancy detection.
US09330562B2
Systems and methods for local wireless network remote control of ancillary railway implements are described herein. In one implementation, a portable computing module uses a wireless module to control an ancillary railway implement. In one implementation, the portable computing module connects through ancillary railway implement to control one or more nodes, where the nodes are additional ancillary railway implements.
US09330557B2
Implementations for a system to receive a message indicating that an ambient light level measured by an ambient light sensor within a container exceeds a first threshold value or falls below a second threshold value; in response to the message indicating that the ambient light level exceeds the first threshold value, activate a cargo sensor; and in response to the message indicating that the ambient light level falls below the second threshold value, de-activate the cargo sensor.
US09330552B2
The invention relates to a method for adapting the signal processing of at least one sensor device arranged behind a window in a motor vehicle, wherein the adaptation of the signal processing comprises changing at least one detection threshold value if a probability of ice being on the window is detected on the basis of a determined temperature, characterized in that a temperature signal of at least one temperature sensor integrated in the sensor device is used to detect the probability of ice on the window.
US09330544B2
A system of the present disclosure may include a sensor configured to detect user interaction with a touch surface and transmit a sensor signal associated with the user interaction; a processor in communication with the sensor, the processor configured to: determine a position of the user interaction based on the sensor signal, determine a feature associated with the position of the user interaction, control a device associated with the feature, modify a display signal based in part on the user interaction, select a haptic effect to generate based at least in part on user interaction and the position, the haptic effect selected to simulate the feature, and transmit a haptic signal to generate the haptic effect, and a haptic output device in communication with the processor and coupled to the touch surface, the haptic output device configured to receive a haptic signal and output a haptic effect.
US09330541B1
An apparatus for locating misplaced keys and other objects designed with a signal transceiver and equipped with a GPS tracking chip. During use, when the user has lost an object, such as a set of keys, or any other object to which the tracking device is attached, the user may transmit signal to the tracking device on a smartphone or tablet belonging to the user via a downloadable mobile application synced for use with the tracking device in order to easily guide the user to the lost object.
US09330530B2
System and method are disclosed for conducting a group-wagering game in which players at several gaming terminals may play wagering games and win together. The method and system of the invention involves connecting a bank of gaming terminals to a bank server. The bank server automatically plays a group-wagering game on a periodic basis in which players at the gaming terminals in the bank of gaming terminals may participate. Depending on the outcome of the group-wagering game, eligible players may be awarded prizes outright, or they may be granted a group-bonus game. The prizes and awards won may depend on the amounts wagered at the gaming terminal.
US09330526B2
A gaming machine according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a display panel configured to display images of a game, the display panel including a screen facing downward; a partial mirror disposed under the display panel and inclined with respect to the screen to partially reflect the images from the display panel into a forward direction; a background member disposed rear to the partial mirror such that an image of the background member passes through the partial mirror into the forward direction to overlap the images from the display panel; and a controller configured to execute the game and to control the display panel.
US09330519B2
The present invention relates to an automatic dispensing machine having an elevator for transporting the products from the tray area to the collection box, which increases the capacity of the products that can be dispensed, in addition to increasing the machine's capacity due to the fact that it can store a larger number of products for being subsequently dispensed, due to the fact that the elevator comprises a rotatable upper lid which allows the rotating shaft of the product collection door to be disposed at a greater height than the upper lid of the elevator, thereby increasing the capacity of the elevator and that of the products that can be dispensed, as well as the number of tray rows.
US09330509B2
A feedback system for a motor vehicle infotainment system is disclosed in which information about the state of the motor vehicle, including the infotainment system, and the mobile device may be collected and sent to a remote server that is responsible for receiving and/or organizing such feedback. A user may initiate a feedback process by pressing a dedicated button, issuing a voice command, performing a specific gesture, or other input action. The feedback system may collect a variety of data and create a notice on the mobile device so that a user may submit feedback at a time during which the user will not be operating the motor vehicle.
US09330503B2
The use of visual cues associated with rendered visual items to cue a user on whether a rendered visual item has interactive capability and/or what type of interaction is possible with that visual item. The visual items may be rendered in a data driven way with each constructed using a corresponding parameterized view component. The parameter(s) are populated by data, perhaps by model variables obtained from an analytical model. The parameters then drive logic associated with the view component to thereby construct a visual item which may then be rendered. The rendering engine then renders the visual item with the visual cue. The user may then interact with the rendered visual item. Such interaction might cause some external action to occur, might change which visual items are displayed, and/or might change a value of the input parameters of one or more view components used to generate displayed visual items.
US09330500B2
An image into which one or more objects are to be inserted is obtained. Based on the image, both a 3-dimensional (3D) representation and a light model of the scene in the image are generated. One or more objects are added to the 3D representation of the scene. The 3D representation of the scene is rendered, based on the light model, to generate a modified image that is the obtained image modified to include the one or more objects.
US09330490B2
Methods and systems for visualization of 3D parametric data in a 2D image. The set of 3D parametric data includes a plurality of voxels in 3D space each associated with at least one parametric value, and the set of 2D image data includes information about a known camera position and a known camera orientation at which the 2D image was obtained. A graphical representation is generated of the parametric values of the voxels corresponding to a viewing surface in 3D space. A virtual 2D view of the viewing surface is determined. The 2D image is displayed registered with the graphical representation of the parametric values of the voxels corresponding to the virtual 2D view.
US09330481B2
A medical image processing apparatus is configured as follows. Namely the apparatus is provided with a first image generation unit which executes reconfiguration processing based on X-ray transmission data to generate a contrast blood vessel figure three-dimensional image data including a figure of a blood vessel in a subject having a contrast media injected thereto, a second image generation unit which executes reconfiguration processing based on the X-ray transmission data to generate a human anatomy figure three-dimensional image data including a figure of a human anatomy in the subject having no contrast media injected thereto, a black-and-white reverse processing unit which executes black-and-white reverse processing with respect to the contrast blood vessel figure three-dimensional image data to generate black-and-white reversed three-dimensional image data, and a combination processing unit which combines the human anatomy figure three-dimensional image data with the black-and-white reversed three-dimensional image data to generate combined image data.
US09330476B2
An image is displayed in a computer system. The image includes contents having a feature visible therein. The contents have a region thereof defined to be provided with additional content in generating a modified image. An input is received comprising a semantic mark to be placed on the image. The semantic mark indicates an inside-region part inside the region and an outside-region part outside the region. The additional content for the region is determined using a patch-based optimization algorithm applied to the image. The patch-based optimization algorithm (i) identifies the additional content for the inside-region part based on the outside-region part and not on an area of the image that the semantic mark does not indicate, and (ii) identifies the additional content for a remainder of the region without being restricted to the outside-region part. The modified image having the additional content in the region is stored.
US09330472B2
The invention provides an image processing method for processing a sequence of images, comprising the steps of: obtaining, from a visual sensor, at least two images of the sequence of images, detecting whether the images include a distortion, determining an image warping function at least partially compensating the distortion, applying the determined warping function to the image(s) including the distortion, and calculating by a processing unit, and outputting, an optical flow as a displacement vector field form the images.
US09330470B2
A method for modeling and tracking a subject using image depth data includes locating the subject's trunk in the image depth data and creating a three-dimensional (3D) model of the subject's trunk. Further, the method includes locating the subject's head in the image depth data and creating a 3D model of the subject's head. The 3D models of the subject's head and trunk can be exploited by removing pixels from the image depth data corresponding to the trunk and the head of the subject, and the remaining image depth data can then be used to locate and track an extremity of the subject.
US09330466B2
Methods and apparatus for three-dimensional (3D) camera positioning using a two-dimensional (2D) vanishing point grid. A vanishing point grid in a scene and initial camera parameters may be obtained. A new 3D camera may be calculated according to the vanishing point grid that places the grid as a ground plane in a scene. A 3D object may then be placed on the ground plane in the scene as defined by the 3D camera. The 3D object may be placed at the center of the vanishing point grid. Once placed, the 3D object can be moved to other locations on the ground plane or otherwise manipulated. The 3D object may be added as a layer in the image.
US09330459B2
A non-touch thermometer that includes a first circuit board that has a microprocessor, a battery operably coupled to the microprocessor and a single button operably coupled to the microprocessor, the non-touch thermometer also includes a camera operably coupled to the microprocessor that provides at least two images to the microprocessor, the non-touch thermometer also includes a second circuit board that has a digital infrared sensor operably coupled to the microprocessor with no analog-to-digital converter operably coupled between the digital infrared sensor and the microprocessor, the digital infrared sensor having only digital readout ports, the digital infrared sensor having no analog sensor readout ports, the microprocessor is operable to receive from the digital readout ports a digital signal that is representative of an infrared signal detected by the digital infrared sensor and the microprocessor is operable to determine a temperature from the digital signal that is representative of the infrared signal.
US09330455B2
The diagnostic support apparatus includes a feature quantity calculation unit vectorizing a test image into shift-invariant feature quantities, a base representation unit transforming the shift-invariant feature quantities of the test image into a linear combination of base vectors with first coefficients, the base vectors being calculated from a plurality of vectors representing shift-invariant feature quantities of a plurality of normal structural images including no lesion site, a lesion determination unit determining that the test image includes a lesion site when a difference between the first coefficients and second coefficients is greater than a determination threshold value, the second coefficients being used to transform shift-invariant feature quantities calculated from one of the normal structural images into a linear combination of the base vectors, and an output unit outputting a result of the determination by the lesion determination unit.
US09330452B2
Electromagnetic energy is deposited into a volume, an acoustic return signal from energy deposited in the volume is measured, and a parametric map that estimates values of at least one parameter as spatially represented in the volume is computed. A reference level of a region of interest is determined, and upper and lower color map limits are specified, with at least one of them being determined in relation to the reference level. The parametric map is then rendered in the palette of a color map by mapping the estimated values of the parametric map onto the color map according to the color map limits. Two wavelengths of energy can be applied to the volume, and the parametric map computation can be adapted by applying an implicit or explicit model of, or theoretical basis for, distribution of electromagnetic energy fluence within the volume pertaining to the two wavelengths. The actual electromagnetic energy fluence caused by each wavelength has a propensity, due to variability within the volume, to differ from the modeled or theoretical electromagnetic energy fluence.
US09330451B2
According to embodiments of the invention, there are disclosed a method and an apparatus for detecting defect of a backlight module. Images that show components in the backlight module are acquired with a plurality of preset angles relative to a surface of the backlight module. The acquired images that show the components in the backlight module are analyzed, so as to determine whether a defect presents in the components in the backlight module.
US09330449B2
A ground based wind turbine blade inspection system and method consists of a thermal imaging camera configured to detect propagating defects by acquiring thermal imaging data from a wind turbine blade when it is substantially at thermal equilibrium with respect to surrounding air and analyzing the thermal imaging data with a processor to identify thermal effects associated with latent defects caused by internal friction due to cyclic gravitational stresses and wind loads during normal turbine operation. The system permits latent defects to be identified using a ground-based in situ inspection before they become visually apparent, which allows repairs to be made economically while the blade is in place.
US09330448B2
The present invention provides an adaptive feature recognition tool that can be used to determine the location and/or count discrete features on an object being manufactured in a relatively quick time fashion. The tool can include an elongated rigid member that has a first end with a generally planar surface, the generally planar surface having a plurality of contrast targets thereon. The elongated rigid member can also have a second end for placement at a desired location, for example placement on a plurality of features whose number and/or location(s) on the object is desired. In addition, an exposure device that is operable to expose specific subsets of the plurality of contrast targets to a line-of-sight digital imaging device can be included.
US09330446B2
Provided are a monitoring system and an operating method thereof, and more particularly, an image processing method and apparatus for removing a motion blur of a wide dynamic range (WDR) image by using a machine learning algorithm. The image processing method includes: generating an overlap image by overlapping a first image having a predetermined exposure time and a second image having an exposure time different from that of the first image; detecting a region of interest (ROI) in which a motion blur occurs in the overlap image; and performing a motion blur removing operation of changing an image in the ROI to any one of the first image and the second image by applying a first machine learning algorithm.
US09330442B2
Provided are methods and apparatuses for reducing noise in an image, in which a kernel that gives a weight to a pixel value with respect to determination of a similarity between patches is adaptively changed according to a reference patch, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for recording the same, and an image processing apparatus using the same, in which noise in an image is removed according to a noise removal algorithm based on non-local means.
US09330432B2
Techniques are disclosed relating to arbitration of requests to access a register file. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a write queue and a register file that includes multiple entries. In one embodiment, the apparatus is configured to select a request from a plurality of requests based on a plurality of request characteristics, and write data from the accepted request into a write queue. In one embodiment, the request characteristics include: whether a request is a last request from an agent for a given register file entry and whether the request finishes a previous request. In one embodiment, a final arbiter is configured to select among requests from the write queue, a read queue, and multiple execution pipelines to access banks of the register file in a given cycle.
US09330428B2
A watermark encoder receives a current video image together with current metadata associated with the current image. A metadata delay also makes available to the watermark decoder delayed metadata associated respectively with four or more of the preceding. Then the watermark encoder modifies pixel values of the current image not only to encode the current metadata but also the delayed metadata. At a decoder, if metadata for the current image is corrupted or missing, it can be recovered from one of the succeeding images.
US09330427B2
Arrangements involving portable devices (e.g., smartphones and tablet computers) are disclosed. One arrangement enables a content creator to select software with which that creator's content should be rendered—assuring continuity between artistic intention and delivery. Another utilizes a device camera to identify nearby subjects, and take actions based thereon. Others rely on near field chip (RFID) identification of objects, or on identification of audio streams (e.g., music, voice). Some technologies concern improvements to the user interfaces associated with such devices. Others involve use of these devices in connection with shopping, text entry, sign language interpretation, and vision-based discovery. Still other improvements are architectural in nature, e.g., relating to evidence-based state machines, and blackboard systems. Yet other technologies concern use of linked data in portable devices—some of which exploit GPU capabilities. Still other technologies concern computational photography. A great variety of other features and arrangements are also detailed.
US09330413B2
Methods and apparatus are disclosed provide various enhancements and/or improvements to the conventional shopping process used by brick-and-mortar stores. In some embodiments, a customer may use a mobile computing device, such as a smart phone, to select and pay for items in a brick-and-mortar store. Such shopping process may permit the customer to purchase numerous items without the using of shopping basket or a wheeled shopping cart. The shopping process may further permit the customer to pay for items and leave the store with such items without waiting in a checkout line.
US09330405B2
Methods and apparatus are provided for fast item identification. A plurality of sensors capture data for an unknown item that is moved past the sensors. The data is processed to produce a plurality of physical attributes related to the unknown item. The physical attributes are used to search a database of physical attributes for a large number of known items where the unknown item is one of the known items. A small set of known items are selected where the physical attributes of the known items match the physical attributes of the unknown item. Further processing of the selected set of known items identifies the unknown item as one of the set of known items.
US09330403B2
A delivery control apparatus is connected to an electronic apparatus. The delivery control apparatus includes: an acquiring unit that acquires electronic apparatus information concerning the electronic apparatus from the electronic apparatus; a selecting unit that selects delivery information corresponding to the electronic apparatus information out of one or more pieces of delivery information; and a delivery processing unit that executes at least one of processing of delivering the selected delivery information to the electronic apparatus and processing of storing access information to the selected delivery information.
US09330392B2
The present invention discloses a solution for collecting interest data from conversations conducted on a mobile device to augment a user profile. Such a solution can include an interest data coordinator and a user profile. The interest data coordinator can be configured to analyze conversations conducted upon a mobile device for interest data. The user profile can represent a compilation of user data and interest data.
US09330391B1
Embodiments of the present invention relate to dynamic determination of membership duration based on ongoing interactions with online communities. In one embodiment of the present invention, a method of and computer program product for providing temporary membership in online communities are provided. A membership record is created corresponding to a user of an online community. An initial expiration date is assigned to the membership record. At least one activity of the user in the online community is detected. A revised expiration date is assigned to the membership record based on the at least one activity of the user.
US09330385B2
In one example embodiment, a card payment system includes a card payment apparatus, having an audio jack, configured to: read account information stored on a payment card, transmit the account information via a microphone contact of an audio jack, and receive an acoustic signal via at least one earphone contact of the audio jack; and a client device, having an audio jack socket to receive the audio jack, configured to: receive, from the card payment apparatus, the account information via a receptor for the microphone contact of the audio jack, and transmit, to the card payment apparatus, the acoustic signal via the at least one earphone contact.
US09330383B1
A payment reader includes a contactless interface for communicating with a contactless device. The payment reader has a processor that executes instructions stored in memory, and the instructions include instructions for a plurality of firmware modules including a message dispatcher module and a plurality of functional modules. The functional modules generate messages and the message dispatcher module stores the messages in a queued data structure such as a stack or a queue. The messages are provided to the functional modules from the queued data structure. Some of the messages are timed messages that are returned to the queued data structure.
US09330378B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide a system, method, and program product for managing and synchronizing electronic communications having one or more common topics. A computer system detects a first electronic communication involving a first user and a first set of users. The computer system analyzes the first electronic communication to identify a topic and determines whether the identified topic matches a topic of a second electronic communication involving the first user and a second set of users. Responsive to the identified topic of the first electronic communication matching a topic of the second electronic communication, the computer system provides to the first user an option to initiate an electronic communication involving the first user and the first and second sets of users.
US09330376B2
A system and method for managing information in an enterprise is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving a document from a component of an enterprise network, determining one or more characteristics associated with the document, assigning a priority score to a user associated with the document, assigning a business value rating to the document, and performing an operation with the document based on the business value rating. In another embodiment, the system includes a processor operable to receive a document, determine one or more characteristics associated with the document, determine a priority score to a user associated with the document, assign a business value rating to the document, and perform an operation with the document based on the business value rating.
US09330373B2
A method for storing inventory items in an inventory system includes detecting that an inventory holder is available for storage and determining a classification of the inventory holder. The method also includes determining a classification of each of a plurality of storage locations and selecting a storage location for the inventory holder based, at least in part, on the classification of the inventory holder and the classification of the selected storage location. The method additionally includes transmitting information identifying the storage location to a mobile drive unit associated with the inventory holder.
US09330371B2
In the method of processing documents relating to shipped articles, automatic means execute the following steps: performing character recognition in at least one document made available by a carrier of the articles; obtaining at least one article reference made up of characters; obtaining at least one character string associated with the reference and distinct therefrom; calculating respective match percentages between the string and templates in a database; determining whether at least one of the percentages satisfies at least one predetermined condition; and when the condition is satisfied, associating the article reference with a template of the database relating to said percentage, and executing an action concerning the article reference by means of the associated template.
US09330368B2
A method for providing a virtual cloud service at the lowest actual cost can begin with an optimal transaction handler of a federated virtual service cloud maintaining a virtual resource pool of transactional units. Each transactional unit can represent a service application deployed to a cloud service provided by a cloud service provider having a usage-based service cost model that allows transactional units to be placed in an inactive state to suspend its operating expense. Operational metrics data for the cloud service providers can be continuously captured. In response to a service request, the transactional unit that meets fulfillment requirements of the service request and incurs a lowest actual cost can be determined based upon cost factors derived from the operational metrics data, the usage-based service cost model, and a current usage state of the virtual resource pool. The received service request can be routed to the determined transactional unit.
US09330367B2
A frozen precipitation treatment analysis system may include, in one embodiment, an electronic mobile device and a Global Positioning System (GPS). The mobile device may have software that uses the GPS and inputted information to produce a work flow plan for treating frozen precipitation at a site. In another embodiment, a frozen precipitation treatment analysis system may include an electronic mobile device and a virtual map of a site requiring frozen precipitation treatment analysis. The mobile device may have software that uses the virtual map and inputted information to determine the area of the site and/or other factors related to the frozen precipitation treatment analysis.
US09330364B2
A system and methods for third-party access to a network-based system for providing location-based upcoming event information are described. The location-based upcoming event information may be accessed from the network-based system by a server-side web application implemented by a third party. The server-side web application may be configured to communicate with the network-based system that provides online marketplace and ticket fulfillment services and to generate a query based upon the location of a user and other event criteria. The server-side web application may communicate the query to the network-based system and, in response, receive location-based upcoming event information which may be displayed to a user as a list and/or information on a map. The location-based upcoming event information may comprise an aggregate of ticket inventory available from multiple online marketplaces providing the user with multiple purchasing options.
US09330359B2
In one example, a method may include monitoring contents of communications between a first user and a second user, determining a degree of closeness between the first user and the second user utilizing an ontological model, with the degree of closeness being based at least in part on the contents of communications between the first user and the second user, and updating the degree of closeness based at least in part on a frequency of communications between the first user and the second user.
US09330358B1
A system and method include comparing a context to cases stored in a case base, where the cases include Boolean and non-Boolean independent weight variables and a domain-specific dependency variable. The case and context independent weight variables are normalized and a normalized weight vector is determined for the case base. A match between the received context and each case of the case base is determined using the normalized context and case variables and the normalized weight vector. A skew value is determined for each category of domain specific dependency variables and the category of domain specific dependency variables having the minimal skew value is selected. The dependency variable associated with the selected category is then displayed to a user.
US09330357B1
Provided herein are systems, methods and computer readable media for classifying a provider of products, services or experiences as a provider that should be engaged based on a predicted return rate for any products, services or experiences that may be offered and purchased by a consumer. An example method may comprise supplying a classifying model with a dataset, wherein the dataset comprises an identification of a provider and a plurality of attributes corresponding to the provider and identifying a class of the provider in accordance with the plurality of corresponding attributes, wherein the identification is determined based on one or more patterns determinative of a return rate by the classifying model.
US09330347B2
An image that is robust against position shift and that has improved graininess is formed. In the embodiments, a halftone processor creates a first dot arrangement and a second dot arrangement from related weighting functions and weighting maps (S1508, S1509), evaluates the image quality when the first dot arrangement and the second dot arrangement are overlapped and combined (S1511, S1512), updates the weightings for only pixels where a dot is arranged in case where the evaluation results in the evaluating step are not within a specified range (S1513), obtains a first dot arrangement and a second dot arrangement that were recreated based on the updated weightings (S1508, S1509), and repeats steps S1508 to S1514 until it is determined that the change in image quality due to position shift when the recreated first and second dot arrangements are overlapped and combined is within a specified range.
US09330345B2
A memory card includes a card body, an interface terminal and an attachment mechanism for detachably mounting the card to an adaptor of an electronic device. The interface terminal is disposed at a central portion of a major surface of the card body. The attachment mechanism is located at an outer peripheral portion of the card body that surrounds the central portion. The adaptor has a recess whose shape complements that of the major surface of the card body, and socket exposed at a central portion of the bottom of the recess. Thus, the memory card may be inserted face down into the adaptor.
US09330341B2
Embodiments of the present application relate to an image index generation method, system, a device, and a computer program product. An image index generation method is provided. The method includes selecting an image included in an image library for which an image index is to be generated, determining at least one target region included in the image, extracting visual features from the determined at least one target region, determining a similarity value of the selected image and image included in the image library based on the extracted visual features, determining image categories to which the images belong to based on the determined similarity values among the images, and assigning category identifiers to the images in accordance with an identifier assignment method, the identifier assignment method assigns the same category identifiers to images belonging to the same image category, and different category identifiers to images belonging to different image categories.
US09330339B2
Systems and methods are disclosed for detecting container seals. In one implementation, a processing device receives one or more images and processes the one or more images to identify one or more areas of interest within at least one of the one or more images, the one or more areas of interest including one or more areas of the one or more images within which a container seal is relatively likely to be present. The processing device compares the one or more identified areas of interest with one or more templates, each of the one or more templates being associated with one or more respective seal types. The processing device identifies, based on the comparison, one or more matches between the one or more identified areas and the one or more templates, and provides, based on the identification of the one or more matches, an identification of the container seal.
US09330336B2
Systems, methods, and media for on-line boosting of a classifier are provided, comprising: receiving a training sample; for each of a plurality of features, determining a feature value for the training sample and the feature, using the feature value to update a histogram, and determining a threshold for a classifier of the feature; for each of the plurality of features, classifying the training sample using the threshold for the classifier of the feature and calculating an error associated with the classifier; selecting a plurality of best classifiers from the classifiers; and, for each of the plurality of best classifiers, assigning a voting weight to the one of the plurality of best classifiers.
US09330329B2
An image matching technique locates feature points in a template image such as a logo and then does the same in a test image. Feature points of a template image are determined under various transformations and used to determine a set of composite feature points for each template image. The composite feature points are used to determine if the template image is present in a test image. A covering set for a template image is used to optimize processing of test images.
US09330326B2
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.
US09330323B2
A system and method to error correct extant electronic documents is disclosed. An electronic document may be rasterized to obtain a pixel representation of the electronic document (e.g., raster image). One or more optical character recognition (OCR) tasks may be performed on the raster image of the electronic document. Errors discovered by the OCR tasks may be corrected and a customized error corrected version of the electronic document may be created and stored. If the author of the electronic document is known, the raster image may be compared to a personalized tf*idf error dictionary associated with the author to determine known OCR errors specific to the author. The raster image may also be compared to a personalized electronic error dictionary associated with the author to determine known typographical errors specific to the author.
US09330320B2
An object detection apparatus mountable to a moveable apparatus for detecting an object existing outside the moveable apparatus by capturing a plurality of images using a plurality of imaging devices mounted to the moveable apparatus and generating a disparity image from the captured images includes a map generator to generate a map indicating a frequency profile of disparity values correlating a horizontal direction distance of the object with respect to a movement direction of the moveable apparatus, and a distance to the object in the movement direction of the moveable apparatus based on the disparity image, an isolated area detection unit to detect an isolated area based on the frequency profile, an isolated area divider to divide the isolated area into two or more isolated areas based on the frequency profile in the isolated area, and an object detector to detect an object based on the divided isolated area.
US09330310B2
A server system with one or more processors and memory obtains, from a client device, a card image which includes an image of a card, and identifies a card configuration type corresponding to the card in the card image based on a database of stored card configuration types. Each stored card configuration type in the database is associated with layout information regarding respective features and information regions for the stored card configuration type. In accordance with the identified card configuration type, the server system determines one or more information regions of the card image containing respective card information of the card. The server system extracts at least a portion of the card information of the card from the one or more information regions of the card image and transmits, to the client device, at least the extracted portion of the card information.
US09330308B2
An apparatus for recognizing a user's gesture for carrying out an operation of a vehicle may include: an image generator that generates an object image by photographing a user's hand; a feature point candidate detector that generates a hand image including a hand region by eliminating a background of the object image; a palm detector that detects a palm region by performing a morphology operation on the hand region; a finger detector that detects a finger region by eliminating the palm region from the hand region; a feature point detector that detects the finger valleys located within the palm region and the fingertips located within the finger region as feature points; and a gesture recognizer that recognizes a number of unfolded fingers based on the hand model, and recognizes the user's gesture by selecting a category that corresponds to the number of unfolded fingers among a plurality of categories.
US09330302B2
Embodiments that relate to determining gaze locations are disclosed. In one embodiment a method includes shining light along an outbound light path to the eyes of the user wearing glasses. Upon detecting the glasses, the light is dynamically polarized in a polarization pattern that switches between a random polarization phase and a single polarization phase, wherein the random polarization phase includes a first polarization along an outbound light path and a second polarization orthogonal to the first polarization along a reflected light path. The single polarization phase has a single polarization. During the random polarization phases, glares reflected from the glasses are filtered out and pupil images are captured. Glint images are captured during the single polarization phase. Based on pupil characteristics and glint characteristics, gaze locations are repeatedly detected.
US09330296B2
An entity interaction recognition system algorithmically recognizes a variety of different types of entity interactions that may be captured in two-dimensional images. In some embodiments, the system estimates the three-dimensional spatial configuration or arrangement of entities depicted in the image. In some embodiments, the system applies a proxemics-based analysis to determine an interaction type. In some embodiments, the system infers, from a characteristic of an entity detected in an image, an area or entity of interest in the image.
US09330294B2
An optical module includes a housing with a lighting mechanism, an aperture formed therein, and a window that frames a transparent surface adapted to contact a skin surface of a person, for example, a fingertip. The lighting mechanism provides light to illuminate the skin surface placed upon the transparent surface. A prism has a first side facing the lighting mechanism, a second side at the window, and a third side through which a dactylographic image exits the prism. One or more light reflecting surfaces are disposed within the housing to reflect the dactylographic image towards the housing aperture. The optical module is coupled to a mobile device having a camera, with the aperture of the housing aligning with a lens of the camera. The camera acquires the dactylographic image, and the mobile device adjusts this dactylographic image to produce a dactylographic image suitable for biometric matching.
US09330293B2
An article to which a visual code is attached, wherein the visual code includes: a frame pattern which is formed in the shape of a polygonal or round ring by arranging multiple pattern elements; a symbol pattern placing area which is formed inside the frame pattern, and in which a symbol pattern can be placed; an internal information pattern which is formed as a part of the frame pattern and indicates the presence or the absence of the symbol pattern in the symbol pattern placing area; and a guide pattern which is placed on, inside or near the frame pattern, and is used for a visual code reading apparatus having an optical reading function to recognize a positional relationship between the frame pattern and the visual code reading apparatus.
US09330287B2
A system including a detector, a reader, and a tag. The detector includes a sensor to detect a user event, and a communication circuitry to communicate at a first frequency band. The reader includes communication circuitry to communicate at a second frequency band. The tag includes a first communication circuitry to communicate at the first frequency band and a second communication circuitry to communicate at the second frequency band. The detector is to communicate with the tag via the communication circuitry of the detector. The detector is to determine whether to associate the tag with the user event. The detector is to communicate the determined association. The tag is to communicate using the second communication circuitry of the tag with the reader.
US09330281B2
A method for performing coding resource management is provided, where the method is applied to a processing circuit. The method includes: with regard to a specific coding operation, selecting a specific module from a hardware module and a program module; and performing the specific coding operation by utilizing the specific module. In particular, the step of selecting the specific module from the hardware module and the program module further includes: based upon at least one characteristic of the specific coding operation, default settings, and/or user settings, selecting the specific module from the hardware module and the program module. An associated processing circuit is also provided.
US09330280B2
A system and method are provided for identity management of applications on computing devices. A set of applications is registered at an identity management system. Each application allows a different level of access permission to the application based on a user role associated with a user accessing the application. A set of user profiles associated with users are received. Each user profile includes a login credential for allowing access to the applications and a user role for defining a user level of access permission to the applications. An access request to access an application is received at the identity management system and responsive to the access request, a user associated with the access request is authenticated. Upon successful authentication, the user role associated with the authenticated user is determined and the user is allowed to access functions of the application corresponding to the determined user role.
US09330279B2
A method, system and computer program product for blocking access to restricted elements of application interface and covering the restricted elements by trusted interface elements. The system includes an analyzer module, a database of restricted elements and a blocking module. The analyzer module is configured to detect interface elements of an active application rendered on a computer or a mobile device. The analyzer module determines if an application interface element is restricted by comparing the application interface element against the known restricted interface elements from the database. If the restricted element is detected, the analyzer module sends the data about the restricted element to the blocking module. The blocking module covers the restricted interface element by a trusted interface element or by an image.
US09330275B1
Described herein are systems, devices and methods for decrypting content based on location. A media device may decrypt content based on determination of a location-based decryption event. The location-based decryption event may include the media device being located within a location previously defined as authorized to decrypt the content. The location-based decryption event may also include the media device being located within a predetermined distance of a designated reference object.
US09330274B2
A computer-implemented method may intercept a file-system call associated with a media file. The computer-implemented method may determine an attribute of the media file. The computer-implemented method may also identify a parental-control policy associated with the attribute of the media file. The computer-implemented method may further apply the parental-control policy to the media file. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US09330273B2
A computer-implemented method for increasing compliance with data loss prevention policies may include (1) identifying a file that is subject to a data loss prevention policy, (2) determining a classification of the file according to the data loss prevention policy, (3) identifying a graphical user interface that is configured to display a representation of the file, and (4) enhancing the representation of the file within the graphical user interface with a visual indication of the classification of the file according to the data loss prevention policy. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US09330272B2
There are provided a head-mounted display (HMD) apparatus and a method for accessing encrypted information by the apparatus, in which the head-mounted display apparatus with enhanced security according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a biometric information input unit that receives biometric information of a user; a communication module that transmits or receives information to or from a server; a memory that stores encrypted information; a processor that transmits the biometric information received through the biometric information input unit to a user authentication server through the communication module, receives access privilege information from the user authentication server, and decrypts the encrypted information stored in the memory based on the received access privilege information; and a display unit that displays the decrypted information through the processor.
US09330271B1
A remote distributed data store may be configured to process data updates received through invocation of a common API with reference to a common schema. Local data stores may also be configured to process updates using a common API and schema. Data for multiple users may be stored in a common collection of items maintained by a remote distributed data store. User identity may be verified through a public identity service. User identity and access permissions may be associated with items stored in a remote distributed data store.
US09330261B2
Systems and methods are disclosed which enable the establishment of file dates and the absence of tampering, even for documents held in secrecy and those stored in uncontrolled environments, but which does not require trusting a timestamping authority or document archival service. A trusted timestamping authority (TTSA) may be used, but even if the TTSA loses credibility or a challenger refuses to acknowledge the validity of a timestamp, a date for an electronic document may still be established. Systems and methods are disclosed which enable detection of file duplication in large collections of documents, which can improve searching for documents within the large collection.
US09330259B2
A process for identifying potentially harmful malware, comprises the steps of: a) identifying an executable that is about to run; b) providing a monitoring agent that monitors all threads that are descendent of a thread initiated by the process of said executable; and c) configuring said monitoring agent to conclude that a high probability of malware presence exists, if one of said descendent threads reaches a target process in which suspicious patches are created.
US09330247B2
A memory card having a memory resident on the memory card and having stored thereon multiple isolated user accounts each having an associated user account data, and a firmware stored in memory, the firmware including coded instructions, which when executed, selectively manages each isolated user account so that an account access data for a predetermined isolated user account is accessed from the associated user account data when the firmware determines a predetermined condition is satisfied.
US09330243B2
A method and device for user authorization is presented herein. The authorization device may be integrated in a display interface configured to receive an infrared input signal. The device may include a means for converting the infrared signal into an electric signal. The device may further include a processor configured to analyze the electrical signal. The processor may further be configured to provide an authorization of a user based on the analysis of the electrical signal.
US09330241B2
A method begins with a processing module of a centralized digital video storage (DVS) system that supports a plurality of subscriber units, receiving a request for playback of a stored multi-media file from a subscriber unit. The method continues with the processing module determining whether the stored multi-media file is a subscription based file or a publically available file. When the stored multi-media file is the subscription based file, the method continues with the processing module accessing digital rights management data regarding subscription based multi-media files to determine the subscriber unit's digital rights to the stored multi-media file. When the subscriber unit's digital rights include playback of the multi-media file, the method continues with the processing module sending a unique copy of the stored multi-media file to the subscriber unit in accordance with a unique slice retrieval pattern of the subscriber unit.
US09330239B2
Disclosed herein are techniques and systems for recognizing a user via a networked fitness system and initiating a customized exercise routine for the recognized user. The process includes receiving, at the networked fitness system, identification data associated with the user, and transmitting the identification data over a network to one or more remotely located servers. The networked fitness system may receive a user identification (ID) from the remotely located server(s) at least partly in response to the transmitted identification data, and receive a confirmation from the user that the user ID corresponds to the user. At least partly in response to the confirmation, the networked fitness system may automatically download a customized exercise routine associated with the user from the remotely located server(s) and initiate the customized exercise routine by the networked fitness system.
US09330238B2
Performance intensity zones are disclosed. An apparatus comprises one or more processors, and one or more memories storing instructions, that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to: obtain performance intensity data measured from a user with at least one measurement sensor during a first activity and/or a second activity; and classify the performance intensity data in relation to a plurality of predetermined performance intensity zones, wherein each performance intensity zone is predetermined by a first numerical range for the first activity, and a second numerical range for the second activity, wherein the first activity and the second activity are different types of sports or different types of physical activities.
US09330233B2
Systems and methods are disclosed for identifying image acquisition parameters. One method includes receiving a patient data set including one or more reconstructions, one or more preliminary scans or patient information, and one or more acquisition parameters; computing one or more patient characteristics based on one or both of one or more preliminary scans and the patient information; computing one or more image characteristics associated with the one or more reconstructions; grouping the patient data set with one or more other patient data sets using the one or more patient characteristics; and identifying one or more image acquisition parameters suitable for the patient data set using the one or more image characteristics, the grouping of the patient data set with one or more other patient data sets, or a combination thereof.
US09330223B2
A method and system is provided for detecting at risk structures due to mask overlay that occur during lithography processes. The method can be implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium having programming instructions. The programming instructions are operable to obtain a simulation of a metal layer and a via, and determine a probability that an arbitrary point (x, y) on the metal layer is covered by the via by calculating a statistical coverage area metric followed by mathematical approximations of a summing function.
US09330222B2
Disclosed are methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for implementing electronic circuit designs with electro-migration awareness. Some embodiments perform schematic level simulation(s) to determine electrical characteristics, identifies physical parasitics of a layout component, determines the electrical or physical characteristics associated to electro-migration analysis on the component, and determines whether the component meets EM related constraint(s) while implementing the physical design of the electronic circuit in some embodiments. Some embodiments further determine adjustment(s) to the component or related data where the EM related constraints are not met and/or and present the adjustment(s) in the form of hints. Various data and information, such as currents in various forms or voltages, are passed between various schematic level tools and physical level tools.
US09330220B1
Clock region partitioning and clock routing includes creating partitions for a plurality of clocks of a circuit design, and legalizing the partitions using a processor according to a number of clocks in each partition and assignment of clock distribution tracks. Roots for implementing clock trees of the clocks are selected within the partitions.
US09330218B1
An integrated circuit such as a programmable integrated circuit may include input-output circuits each having respective memory controller circuitry. The memory controller circuitry of the input-output circuits may be electrically coupled via a backbone path and configured to collectively form a memory controller. Each memory controller circuitry may include a protocol control circuit and input-output lanes. Memory access requests from on-chip circuitry may be provided to only a selected input-output circuit. The protocol control circuit of the selected input-output circuit may receive the memory access requests and generate memory control signals and local control signals from the memory access requests. The memory control signals may be provided to external memory. The local control signals may be provided to input-output circuits over the backbone path and synchronize the input-output circuits in conveying data between the integrated circuit and the external memory.
US09330207B2
A design support method includes: executing by a computer operations of: moving, in an arbitrary direction, a first particle that is placed at a position in an internal space of a three-dimensional model of a design target and has a diameter of a size; recording a movement trace of the first particle; and calculating a volume of a first spatial region formed by the recorded movement trace.
US09330206B2
Determining a shape of a medical device to be implanted into a subject produces an image including a defective portion and a non-defective portion of a surface of a tissue of interest included in the subject. The tissue of interest is segmented within the image. A template, representing a normative shape of an external anatomical surface of the tissue of interest, is superimposed to span the defective portion. An external shape of an implant, is determined as a function of respective shapes of the defective portion as seen in the template, for repairing the defective portion.
US09330205B2
Computer-implemented method for digitally designing a dental restoration for a rest tooth, wherein the rest tooth is described by data of the rest tooth and wherein a tooth template is described by data of the tooth template, by means of an Laplacian surface deformation to deform the tooth template towards the surface of the rest tooth, wherein the method uses, for the Laplacian surface deformation, an angle weighting function depending on: the angle between the normal direction of a target on the surface of the rest tooth or the normal direction of a handle on the tooth template; and the direction of a line connecting the target and the handle; wherein the angle weighting function is used to weight the handle for deforming the tooth template towards the rest tooth. Further, the invention is related to a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which when executed by a processor, are adapted to perform the method steps of the inventive computer-implemented method.
US09330201B2
Various example embodiments are provided for inferring relationships between queries. In an example, queries are related based on the identification of common terms between the queries. Another example is to relate queries based on the identification that the queries are associated with a single search session. Yet another example is to infer relationships based on the identification of relationships between item attributes retrieved from the submission of the queries.
US09330200B2
Systems and methods display input suggestions on web pages having an input field for receiving a specific type of user input. A module stored on a user device is remote from a database containing the input suggestions. The module detects the presence of any input fields of a specific type in a web page. For each detected input field of the specific type, the module generates a combo box that is displayed so as to cover and visually replace the input field. The combo boxes display input suggestions contained in the database. The database can be updated to add or remove input suggestions for particular websites determined to be valid or invalid at those websites. Analysis of the validity of the input suggestions can be based on page analyses sent from the module and performed before and after any submission of an input suggestion.
US09330185B2
Provided are a point of interest (POI) related information processing system and method and an apparatus for supporting the same. The POI related information processing system includes at least one POI related information providing device that provides POI related information including specific business name information and at least a part of address information, and a POI related information processing device that creates a query based on business name information of at least one piece of specific POI information and at least a part of address information thereof, collects the POI related information associated with corresponding POI information based on a corresponding query from the at least one POI related information providing device, collects a predefined certain amount of the POI related information by performing at least one filtering in accordance with a predefined rule, and then stores and operates the collected information in conjunction with the POI information.
US09330179B2
Web crawling configuration includes: obtaining a webpage comprising a plurality of receiving a user selection of a node in the webpage; presenting a set of web crawling configuration options pertaining to a web crawling action to be performed with respect to the node, the set of web crawling configuration options depending at least in part on a type of an element included in the node and comprising: a first option to perform a first web crawling action in the event that the node include a first type of the element; and a second option to perform a second web crawling action in the event that the node includes a second type of the element; receiving a user input specifying the web crawling configuration option; and storing user specified web crawling configuration option, performing the web crawling action on the node according to the user input, or both.
US09330171B1
A method includes receiving, by a processing device of a content sharing platform, a video content, selecting at least one video frame from the video content, subsampling the at least one video frame to generate a first representation of the at least one video frame, selecting a sub-region of the at least one video frame to generate a second representation of the at least one video frame, and applying a convolutional neuron network to the first and second representations of the at least one video frame to generate an annotation for the video content.
US09330163B2
A horizontal anomaly detection method includes receiving at plurality of objects described in a plurality of information sources, wherein each individual information source captures a plurality of similarity relationships between the objects, combining the information sources to determine a similarity matrix whose entries represent quantitative scores of similarity between pairs of the objects, and identifying at least one horizontal anomaly of the objects within the similarity matrix, wherein the horizontal anomalies are anomalous relationships across the plurality of information sources.
US09330154B2
Systems, methods and computer program products for multicast database replication are described herein. An embodiment includes creating a replication group for replication of data. One or more replicate (or target) databases are subscribed to the replication group and the replication group may include one or more subscribed replicate databases. The replication group is associated with a replication group address. Embodiments send (or publish) data that is to be replicated to the replication group multicast address causing automatic replication of the data to the subscribed replicate databases. In this way, by sending data to be replicated once to a replication group address, the data is automatically replicated to several subscribed replicate databases and a replication server need not establish distinct point-to-point connections with each replicate database.
US09330153B2
A system includes a first storage apparatus and a second storage apparatus. The first storage apparatus includes: a generating unit to generate logs, in response to updates performed on a database in the first storage apparatus, related to the updates; a storage unit to store the logs and data representing the order of generation of each of the logs; and a transmitting unit to transmit, when the logs and the data are stored in the storage unit, the log and the data to the second storage apparatus. The second storage apparatus includes: a receiving unit to receive the logs and the data transmitted by the transmitting unit; and an updating unit to update a database in the second storage apparatus based on the logs in accordance with the order represented by the data.
US09330144B2
Returning a tagged facet tree to an end user who is only authorized to access an authorized portion of the facet tree is provided. A facet tree is received from a facet tree database. A first rule for the facet tree and a second rule for a plurality of tagging scenarios based on a characteristic of the end user is acquired. The first rule is applied to the facet tree before presentation to the end user on a user interface such that only the authorized portion of the facet tree is displayed to the end user. The second rule is applied to the plurality of tagging scenarios such that only a tagging scenario that is applicable to the characteristic of the end user is displayed to the end user. The tagging scenario is made available to the end user at a user interface.
US09330142B2
The present disclosure concerns a method of identifying a biometric record of an individual in a database (108), the database comprising at least first and second sets of records, each set comprising at least one record, the method comprising: receiving by a processing device (102) at least first and second input biometric samples of said individual; performing on the records of said first set a first matching process comprising a first filtering operation followed by a second filtering operation, and performing on the records of said second set a second matching process comprising said second filtering operation followed by said first filtering operation, wherein said first filtering operation comprises comparing said first input biometric sample to a first reference biometric sample of each record, and said second filtering operation comprises comparing said second input biometric sample to a second reference biometric sample of each record; and identifying a biometric record of said individual based on results of the first and second matching processes.
US09330132B2
A system and method to share data associated with a transaction are disclosed. In some embodiments, a database record may be associated with a transaction corresponding to a product. The database record may include a plurality of data fields and the transaction may be associated with a plurality of entities. The data fields of the record may be made available to each of the entities based on a role of the entities in the transaction. As such, different data fields may be displayed to different entities. Furthermore, various sharing techniques may be performed with the data fields of the record.
US09330130B1
A method includes receiving a request to lookup a record in a database having dynamic record updates, performing a binary search with a basket set of sorted values as a middle key range set of records, determining if an input key value is within the middle key range set of records, and if the input key value is not within the middle key range set of records, shifting the middle key range set of records such that it includes a record corresponding to the input key value.
US09330127B2
The present invention provides a method and system for automatically identifying and selecting preferred classification and regression trees. The invention is used to identify a specific decision tree or group of trees that are consistent across train and test samples in node-specific details that are often important to decision makers. Specifically, for a tree to be identified as preferred by this system, the train and test samples must both agree on key measures for every terminal node of the tree. In addition to this node-by-node criterion, an additional tree selection method may be imposed. Accordingly, the train and test samples rank order the nodes on a relevant measure in the same way. Both consistency criteria may be applied in a fuzzy manner in which agreement must be close but need not be exact.
US09330119B2
Data can be categorized into facts, information, hypothesis, and directives. Activities that generate certain categories of data based on other categories of data through the application of knowledge which can be categorized into classifications, assessments, resolutions, and enactments. Activities can be driven by a Classification-Assessment-Resolution-Enactment (CARE) control engine. The CARE control and these categorizations can be used to enhance a multitude of systems, for example diagnostic system, such as through historical record keeping, machine learning, and automation. Such a diagnostic system can include a system that forecasts computing system failures based on the application of knowledge to system vital signs such as thread or stack segment intensity and memory heap usage. These vital signs are facts that can be classified to produce information such as memory leaks, convoy effects, or other problems. Classification can involve the automatic generation of classes, states, observations, predictions, norms, objectives, and the processing of sample intervals having irregular durations.
US09330116B2
Methods, machines, and stored instructions are provided for determining hierarchical paths to nodes based on stored information about the nodes. A node analyzer analyzes a hierarchy to create mappings that represent the hierarchy. The mappings may include a “parent mapping” that maps selected-level nodes to parent nodes of the selected-level nodes, and a “path mapping” that maps a plurality of nodes other than the selected-level nodes to a plurality of paths, within the hierarchy, to the plurality of nodes. A path module then determines path(s) to specified node(s) at least in part by mapping the specified node(s) to particular parent node(s) of the specified node(s) using the parent mapping. The path module also maps the particular parent node(s) to particular path(s) using the path mapping. The information from the path and parent mappings may be assembled to form path(s) within the hierarchy to the specified node(s).
US09330113B2
A device may analyze an image and identify an image item included in the image based on analyzing the image. The device may identify content relating to the image item. For example, the device may identify an application, of the device, relating to the image item. The device may provide, for display with the image, information indicating that the content is available and receive input indicating a desire for the content. The device may provide the content for display based on receiving the input indicating the desire for the content. For example, the device may initiate the application and cause the content to be provided via the application.
US09330108B2
A first server system identifies a first storage area of the first server system, the first storage area being associated with a first heat value and storing at least a portion of a file. The first server system determines an identifier corresponding to the portion of the file. The first server system associates the portion of the file with the first heat value. The first server system sends the identifier corresponding to the portion of the file and the associated heat value to a second server system, wherein the second server system includes a duplicate copy of the portion of the file.
US09330098B2
A user interface operating method, an electronic device with the user interface and a program product storing a program for operating the user interface are disclosed. A user interface operating method includes steps of displaying a time image, a multimedia object corresponding to a time point in the time image, and first information of the multimedia object corresponding to the time point on a user interface of an electronic device; triggering a search process if the time image and the multimedia object corresponding to the time point in the time image overlap with each other on the user interface, the search process including searching for, based on the first information, multimedia objects corresponding to other time points in the time image related to the first information; and displaying on the user interface the multimedia objects corresponding to other time points in the time image and found in the search process.
US09330092B2
Exemplary systems, apparatus, methods and computer-accessible medium for generating information regarding at least one sample can be provided. For example, it is possible to receiving first data which is based on at least one first radiation provided to the sample(s) and at least one second radiation provided from the sample(s) that is/are associated with the first radiation(s) It is also possible to generate second data by reducing the influence of first optical effects induced on the first radiation(s) prior to reaching the sample(s), and second optical effects induced on the second radiation(s) after leaving the sample(s).
US09330074B2
Methods for preloading for a web page externally specified resources of a style sheet are provided. In one aspect, a method includes identifying at least one externally specified resource specified by a style sheet for a web page during download of at least one of the style sheet or the web page. The at least one externally specified resource includes at least one of an image, font, audio data, or video data. The method also includes determining whether the web page includes instructions to load the at least one externally specified resource, and loading the at least one externally specified resource specified by the style sheet for the web page when the determination indicates the web page includes instructions to load the at least one externally specified resource. Systems and machine-readable media are also provided.
US09330073B2
A computer system includes a processor; and a memory storage device in communication with the processor. The processor is adapted to: receive via a computer communications network a user identification and an identification of an electronic file having user-generated insurance-related data; provide an output signal for display to the user a prompt for the user to provide mapping data mapping a plurality of insurance-related data fields data identifiers in the user-data electronic file; receive mapping data in response to the prompt; access the user electronic file; employing the received mapping data, map data elements identified in the user-data electronic file, to a document in a predetermined format; verify that the received mapped data constitutes complete data to submit in connection with an insurance transaction; and provide an output signal including data constituting the document in a predetermined format to a system for further processing in accordance with an insurance transaction.
US09330069B2
One embodiment includes a portable e-book reading device for reading a paginated e-book, with at least a page including a section including text linked to an illustration. The device can layout the section by keeping the text with the illustration to be displayed in one screen, and maintaining the pagination of the e-book if the page is displayed in more than one screen. Another embodiment includes a paginated e-book with a text sub file with texts, an illustration sub file with illustrations, and a logic sub file with rules on displaying the e-book. Either the text or the illustration sub file includes position information linking at least an illustration to a corresponding piece of text. Yet another embodiment includes an e-book with a logic sub file that can analyze an attribute of, and provide a response to, a reader.
US09330065B2
A graphical user interface 30 that includes a template design area is displayed. Based on one or more commands received through the graphical user interface 30, a layout of template elements (44-50) is arranged with respective relative positions and sizes in the template design area (34), where at least one of the template elements (44-50) is designated for receiving variable document content 16. Through the graphical user interface 30, values of parameters characterizing one or more associated adaptive layout variables that constrain adaptability of respective ones of the template elements (44-50) to different document content 16 are received. At least one of the parameters characterizes a degree of variability of the associated adaptive layout variable. The relative positions of the template elements (44-50) are encoded in the template design area in association with the respective parameter values in a variable document template data structure (18).
US09330063B2
A sparsifier is generated from a union of multiple spanners of a graph. The edges of the sparsifier are weighted based on a measure of connectivity called robust connectivity. The robust connectivity of a node pair is the highest edge sampling probability at which a distance between the pair is likely to drop below a specified length. Each spanner is generated from a subgraph of the graph that is generated using a decreasing sampling probability. For the weight of each edge, a spanner is determined where an estimated distance between the nodes associated with the edge is greater than a threshold distance. The sampling probability of the subgraph used to generate the spanner is an estimate of the robust connectivity of the edge. The weight of the edge is set to the inverse of the estimated robust connectivity.
US09330057B2
A reconfigurable processor includes a plurality of mini-cores and an external network to which the mini-cores are connected. Each of the mini-cores includes a first function unit including a first group of operation elements, a second function unit including a second group of operation elements that is different from the first group of operation elements, and an internal network to which the first function unit and the second function unit are connected.
US09330054B2
A processor of a plurality of processors includes a processor core and a message manager. The message manager is in communication with the processor core. The message manager to receive a message from a second processor of the plurality of processors, to identify a classification rule for the message based on bits in a header of the message, and to create a queue identifier for the message using bits of a payload of the message, wherein the queue identifier is associated with a queue of the processor core.
US09330050B2
A method and apparatus are provided for collecting deployment information from a user for a multi-tier computer system. The method includes the steps of receiving a deployment size of the multi-tier system from the user and identifying a set of virtual appliances by function based upon the deployment size received from the user. The method further includes the steps of prompting the user for a name for each identified virtual appliance, collecting network information of each virtual appliance based upon the name and generating a deployment configuration file for a mandatory virtual appliance of the set of virtual appliances.
US09330044B2
A high-speed data transmission interface circuit used in a network switch device is provided. The high-speed data transmission interface circuit comprises a main circuit hoard, a connector and a daughter circuit board. The main circuit board comprises a transmission port interface module and a first wire. The transmission port interface module comprises a reduced pin extended attachment unit interface (RXAUI). The first wire connects the connector and the main circuit board. The daughter circuit board comprises a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) module and a second wire. The HDMI module is connected to an external network device through a HDMI signal wire. The second wire connects the connector and the HDMI module. The transmission port interface module communicates with the external network device through the connector and the daughter board.
US09330041B1
An island-based network flow processor (IB-NFP) integrated circuit includes rectangular islands disposed in rows. In one example, the configurable mesh data bus is configurable to form a command/push/pull data bus over which multiple transactions can occur simultaneously on different parts of the integrated circuit. The rectangular islands of one row are oriented in staggered relation with respect to the rectangular islands of the next row. The left and right edges of islands in a row align with left and right edges of islands two rows down in the row structure. The data bus involves multiple meshes. In each mesh, the island has a centrally located crossbar switch and six radiating half links, and half links down to functional circuitry of the island. The staggered orientation of the islands, and the structure of the half links, allows half links of adjacent islands to align with one another.
US09330040B2
A reconfigurable instruction cell array (RICA) includes a plurality of switch boxes. Each switch box includes an instruction cell and a switch fabric configurable according to a configuration word stored in each switch box. The switch boxes are arranged into serial loading sets such that the switch boxes in each serial loading set are configured to form a multi-bit shift register chain for serial shifting the corresponding configuration words.
US09330034B2
In a memory system in which a system clock signal is forwarded from the memory controller to multiple memory devices, the phase of the system clock signal forwarded to the slower memory device is advanced relative to the system clock signal forwarded to the faster memory device by a phase corresponding to the skew on the data links corresponding to the memory devices. This causes the state machine of the slower memory device to change states and advance earlier than the state machine in the faster memory device, and as a result, the data read from both the slower memory device and the faster memory device are unskewed on the data links between the memory controller and the memory devices.
US09330027B2
A system employs a white list of authorized transactions to control access to system registers. In an embodiment, the white list is loaded into filter registers during system boot. Routing logic monitors a logical interconnect fabric of the system for register access requests. The routing logic parses source, destination information from a request to index the white list. If the white list includes an entry corresponding to the processing entity indicated in the source information and the register indicated in the destination information, the routing logic will permit the requested access.
US09330024B1
A processing device comprises inter alia a monolithic memory accumulator unit, which exposes a virtual memory space to an interconnect bus and comprises a conversion table with translation information to translate requests with virtual addresses into requests with physical addresses. The MMA is configured to receive a transaction request; to translate the address of the received request into physical address(es); and to pass on transaction request(s) to storage locations of an integrated peripheral.A processing device comprises at least one integrated peripheral, IP, with an accessibility adapter unit, AA, which exposes a virtual memory space to the interconnect bus 650 and which comprises a conversion table with translation information. The AA 150 is configured to receive a transaction request; to translate the address of the received request into physical address(es); and to route transaction request(s) to storage locations of the IP.
US09330016B2
Embodiments for managing read-only memory. A system includes a memory device including a real memory and a tracking mechanism configured to track relationships between multiple virtual memory addresses and real memory. The system further includes a processor configured to perform the below method and/or execute the below computer program product. One method includes mapping a first virtual memory address to a real memory in a memory device and mapping a second virtual memory address to the real memory.
US09330007B2
In various embodiments, a storage device includes a magnetic media, a cache memory, and a drive controller. In embodiments, the drive controller is configured to establish a portion of the cache memory as an archival zone having a cache policy to maximize write hits. The drive controller is further configured to pre-erase the archival zone, direct writes from a host to the archival zone, and flush writes from the archival zone to the magnetic media. In embodiments, the drive controller is configured to establish a portion of the cache memory as a retrieval zone having a cache policy to maximize read hits. The drive controller is further configured to pre-fetch data from the magnetic media to the retrieval zone, transfer data from the retrieval zone to a host upon request by the host, and transfer read ahead data to the retrieval zone to replace data transferred to the host.
US09330006B2
A system for managing correspondence between a cache memory, subdivided into a plurality of cache areas, and a main memory, subdivided into a plurality of memory areas, includes: a mechanism allocating, to each area of the main memory, at least one area of the cache memory; a mechanism temporarily assigning, to any data row stored in one of the areas of the main memory, a cache row included only in one cache area allocated to the main memory area wherein the data row is stored; and a mechanism generating and updating settings of the allocation by activating the allocation mechanism, the temporary assigning mechanism configured to determine a cache row to be assigned to a data row based on the allocation settings.
US09329989B2
A method and system for operating a memory device in programming mode is disclosed. The memory device includes a programming mode and a normal mode. The memory device in programming mode increases the number of physical planes that can be programmed in parallel than can be programmed in normal mode. In this way, the memory device may be programmed more quickly at various times of operation of the memory device (such as during manufacturing). The host system may send rearranged data to the memory device in programming mode with the rearranged data accounting for the increased number of physical planes programmed in parallel.
US09329979B2
A first computer receives a first and a second test sample. The first computer executes the first and second test sample. The first computer determines that the value exposed by a first parameter in the second test sample is different from the value exposed by the first parameter in first test sample. The first computer creates a first value driven equivalence class. The first computer determines the value exposed by the second parameter in the second test sample is different from the value exposed by the second parameter in the first test sample and the value exposed by the second parameter in the second test sample is equivalent to the value exposed by the first parameter in the second test sample. The first computer adds the second parameter to the first value driven equivalence class and creates a generalized test case, including at least the first value driven equivalence class.
US09329973B2
A system for discovering, or at least providing information that might assist in discovering, compromised computers involved in a malicious distributed program. The system is based around a test computer which is deliberately infected by a component of the malicious distributed program. Traffic sent by that test computer when under control of that component is recorded. More sophisticated malicious programs alter the system files or system programs on the computer which they infect—this creates a problem in that automation of the discovery process is difficult to achieve. Embodiments described here overcome this problem by running through a list of malicious program components, and in between executing (58) each one, refreshing (52, 64) the environment (system files and system programs) in which the malicious program component runs. Such techniques could be used by network operators or groups of network operators in discovering and thereafter disabling harmful distributed programs which run on computers connected to the network they operate.
US09329969B2
A method and a system of associating a runtime event with a component. The method includes catching the runtime event; catching the context of the current running environment and determining the current component based on said context; and getting the associating policy of current component and determining the responsible component associated with said runtime event based on said associating policy.
US09329966B2
An electronic device detects occurrence of an error condition and selects a matrix code to include in an error message to transmit to a display device based on the error condition. A reader device decodes the displayed matrix code to present information regarding resolution of the error condition. The electronic device may select the matrix code by looking up the error condition in a table or by dynamically generate the matrix code. In various implementations, the electronic device may determine that the information regarding resolution of the error condition has been utilized to unsuccessfully resolve the error condition. If so, the electronic device may select and transmit and additional matrix code that may be decoded by the reader device to access and present an additional set of information regarding resolution of the error condition or to initiate an electronic device support request.
US09329955B2
A method for maintaining a data storage system is disclosed. The method may include monitoring for receipt of a first broadcast message from a first data storage node, where the first broadcast message may indicate that the first data storage node is operating correctly. The method may also include detecting that the first data storage node is malfunctioning based on not receiving the first broadcast message for a predetermined period of time. The method may also include initiating a data replication procedure based on detecting that the first data storage node is malfunctioning. The data replication procedure may include sending a first multicast message to a plurality of data storage nodes requesting identification of a second data storage node that maintains a copy of a file stored on the first data storage node.
US09329948B2
An NVM controller measures cell damage for wear leveling in an NVM, thus improving performance, reliability, lifetime, and/or cost of a storage sub-system, such as an SSD. In a first aspect, the controller determines that an error reading a page of NVM was caused by cell damage and/or cell leakage. The controller reprograms and immediately reads back the page, detecting that the error was caused by cell damage if an error is detected during the immediate read. In a second aspect, the cell damage is tracked by updating cell damage counters for pages and/or blocks of NVM. In a third aspect, wear leveling is performed based at least in part upon measured cell damage for pages and/or blocks of NVM.
US09329939B2
Provided is a two-way RAID controlled storage device of a serial attached small computer system interface/serial advanced technology attachment (SAS/SATA) type, which provides data storage/reading services through a PCI-Express interface. The RAID controller typically includes a plurality of disk mounts coupled disk connect controller, which itself is coupled to a set (e.g., at least one) of PCI-Express SSD memory disk units. In a typical embodiment, the plurality of PCI-Express SSD memory disk units comprising a plurality of volatile semiconductor memories. The RAID controller further comprises a plurality of disk monitoring units coupled to the plurality of disk mounts for monitoring the plurality of PCI-Express memory disk units; a plurality of disk plug and play controllers coupled to the plurality of disk monitoring units. A plurality of high-speed host interfaces are coupled to: the plurality of disk mounts, the plurality of disk monitoring units, and to a plurality of disk controllers. Further coupled to the plurality of disk controllers is a two-way RAID controller, which is also coupled to the disk connect controller and to a host connect controller. The host connect controller is further coupled to a plurality of host interfaces, which themselves are coupled to the plurality of disk controllers.
US09329936B2
A system, processor and method to increase computational reliability by using underutilized portions of a data path with a SuperFMA ALU. The method allows the reuse of underutilized hardware to implement spatial redundancy by using detection during the dispatch stage to determine if the operation may be executed by redundant hardware in the ALU. During execution, if determination is made that the correct conditions exists as determined by the redundant execution modes, the SuperFMA ALU performs the operation with redundant execution and compares the results for a match in order to generate a computational result. The method to increase computational reliability by using redundant execution is advantageous because the hardware cost of adding support for redundant execution is low and the complexity of implementation of the disclosed method is minimal due to the reuse of existing hardware.
US09329931B2
An apparatus includes a non-volatile memory and a controller. The non-volatile memory includes a user area and a non-user area. The user area is generally enabled to store and retrieve data in a logical block address space of a host. The non-user area stores a failure-specific recovery routine. The controller may be communicatively coupled to the non-volatile memory. The controller is generally enabled, when operationally coupled to the host, (i) to respond to host commands to read and to write data into the user area of the non-volatile memory and (ii) upon detection of a predefined failure of a controller boot process, to respond to host read requests by returning the failure-specific recovery routine stored in the non-user area of the non-volatile memory.
US09329926B1
A data integrity (DI) protection circuit and method provide overlapping DI protection without increasing memory requirements. Write data parity is checked after write data error correcting code (ECC) check bits are generated, which is stored with the write data in memory without storing the write data parity. A corrupt location cache stores the write address and a write response error is generated when a write data parity error or write address parity error is detected. Read data and read data ECC check bits retrieved from the memory are checked and single bit errors are corrected, while double-bit errors result in a read error response. Read data parity is generated, and the corrected read data and corrected read data ECC check bits are then checked for bit errors. The corrupt location cache is searched for the read address, and a cache hit results in a read error response.
US09329925B2
A transmission/reception system includes first to Nth channels, where N is an integer equal to or greater than 3; a transmission chip suitable for transmitting first to (N−1)th signals through the first to (N−1)th channels and transmitting a correction signal generated by using the first to (N−1)th signals to the Nth channel; and a reception chip suitable for receiving signals of the first to Nth channels and generating restored signals of the first to Nth channels by using the first to Nth channels.
US09329916B2
A method and system for determining availability of a software application using Composite Hidden Markov Model (CHMM). The software application is divided into a plurality of layers which are further divided into sub-components. The configurations and dependencies of the sub-components are identified and also the state of the sub-components is determined. The state of the sub-components is represented in CHMM using state space diagram. The failure rate and recovery time of the sub-components is computed using the state space diagram and the respective transition tables are derived from the CHMM to determine the availability of the layers. The availability of the layers is combined to determine the availability of the software application.
US09329914B2
A method for all-to-all message exchange between program tasks including N>1 hierarchy levels ln, n=1 to N, in which a first level l1 includes a plurality of group tasks and each higher level l(n>1) includes at least one group of level l(n−1) groups to which that task belongs in respective hierarchy levels of the network topology; sending a message via the interconnection network to a respective destination task whose hierarchical identifier is determined; and using the hierarchical identifier to send the program task and the network topology, such that the resulting exchange pattern for the all-to-all message exchange exploits a hierarchical distance in the network topology in a desired manner.
US09329891B2
In a communication apparatus, a communication processor rebuilds, with switching of communication systems, a communication bearer to perform communication. An application processor outputs, when background communication occurs or a display unit is shifted from an off state to an on state while notification from the communication processor is stopped, a request signal to the communication processor. The application processor starts the background communication based on information of a latest communication bearer output from the communication processor in response to the request signal.
US09329888B2
A method for determining allocation of virtual machines includes: at least one of generating and accessing a list of virtual machines (VMs) configured to run on a network, each VM having at least one network resource requirement, each VM in the list associated with a size of the at least one network resource requirement; selecting at least one equivalence set of VMs having a resource requirement size that is at least substantially identical; generating a plurality of meta-combinations from the at least one equivalence set of VMs, each meta-combination representing all possible combinations of a selected number of individual VMs from the equivalence set; determining a maximum resource capacity of a node in the network; and providing a meta-combination assignment to the node, the meta-combination assignment including a group of meta-combinations having a cumulative resource requirement size value that is less than or equal to the maximum resource capacity.
US09329884B2
A processing device with tracing functionality for a virtual machine is described. The processing device includes a tracing register to store a value indicative of whether tracing is enabled or disabled, a tracing module to generate trace data while tracing is enabled, and an internal buffer to store the trace data. When tracing is disabled, the processing device removes the trace data from the buffer. Mechanisms are described to ensure that the trace data is not corrupted during this process, despite the presence of page faults that may result from trace output writes.
US09329883B2
Systems and methods for tracing an emulated execution order of non-native instructions based on natively executing code on a computing system having a native instruction set architecture are provided. One method includes, during emulated execution of non-native program code, maintaining a jump history in the computing system, the jump history including a listing of non-native jump instructions for which execution is emulated in the computing system. The method includes, for each of the non-native jump instructions included in the jump history, accessing non-native program code including the non-native instructions to determine one or more non-native instructions executed between the non-native jump instruction and a last-executed non-native jump instruction, and aggregating the non-native jump instruction and the one or more non-native instructions into an instruction trace.
US09329870B2
A method and circuit arrangement tightly couple together decode logic associated with multiple types of execution units and having varying priorities to enable instructions that are decoded as valid instructions for multiple types of execution units to be forwarded to a highest priority type of execution unit among the multiple types of execution units. Among other benefits, when an auxiliary execution unit is coupled to a general purpose processing core with the decode logic for the auxiliary execution unit tightly coupled with the decode logic for the general purpose processing core, the auxiliary execution unit may be used to effectively overlay new functionality for an existing instruction that is normally executed by the general purpose processing core, e.g., to patch a design flaw in the general purpose processing core or to provide improved performance for specialized applications.
US09329862B2
Method, apparatus, and program means for nonlinear filtering and deblocking applications utilizing SIMD sign and absolute value operations. The method of one embodiment comprises receiving first data for a first block and second data for a second block. The first data and said second data are comprised of a plurality of rows and columns of pixel data. A block boundary between the first block and the second block is characterized. A correction factor for a deblocking algorithm is calculated with a first instruction for a sign operation that multiplies and with a second instruction for an absolute value operation. Data for pixels located along said block boundary between the first and second block are corrected.
US09329842B1
Method, system, and programs for providing a user interface are disclosed. In one example, a plurality of candidate user interfaces is determined. Each candidate user interface is associated with one or more parameters related to a user interface. Each of the plurality of candidate user interfaces is provided to a subset of users selected from the plurality of users. Inputs are obtained from the plurality of users with respect to each of the plurality of candidate user interfaces. One or more candidate user interfaces are selected from the plurality of candidate user interfaces based on the inputs. A new candidate user interface is generated based on the selected one or more candidate user interfaces. A user interface is identified based on the new candidate user interface and the selected one or more candidate user interfaces. The identified user interface is provided to the plurality of users.
US09329827B2
Cropping source images for display on user devices. A source image is cropped and/or resized to correspond to dimensions of a display screen of a device by selecting an area of interest of the source image which will not be lost in the process of resizing the image. Coordinate points are positioned within the image to correspond to dimensions of the display screen on which the image will be displayed and the image is then cropped at the boundaries defined by the coordinate points which include a crop height and a crop width. If needed, the image is then scaled down proportionally to resize the image to a size that corresponds to the dimensions of the display screen of the device.
US09329824B2
A system and method for determining and displaying energy saving information associated with a printing device, including a processor and a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium operably connected to the processor. The computer-readable non-transitory storage medium contains a set of instructions that, when executed, instruct the processor to determine a first energy usage by the printing device in a normal operating mode, determine at least one second energy usage for the printing device in at least one energy saving mode, compare the first energy usage and the at least one second energy usage, determine at least one energy savings based upon the comparison, and cause the at least one energy savings to be displayed.
US09329817B2
Device identification information for causing a device to execute a job, and owner information for specifying the owner of the device are stored in association with each other. When the state of the device satisfies a predetermined condition, a display apparatus is controlled to display a screen for prompting a user to input the owner information. When the stored owner information is not input in the displayed screen, the device identification information is invalidated. When the owner information has been input or when the state of the device does not satisfy the predetermined condition, the device is controlled to be able to execute the job in accordance with the stored device identification information.
US09329813B2
Provided is a processing management method including: causing a management server to execute Step (S2-14) in which a server side account specified from user information is acquired and Step (S2-15) in which server side permission processing correlating to the server side account is read out; and causing a multi-function printer to execute Step (S2-16) in which the user information is transmitted to the management server, Step (S1-17) in which an apparatus side account is acquired, Step (S1-18) in which apparatus side permission processing correlating to the apparatus side account is read out, Step (S1-22) in which execution of processing, usage of which is permitted by both of the management server and the multi-function printer, is permitted, and a Step in which, when execution of the permitted processing is requested, the requested processing is executed.
US09329807B2
In one embodiment, an instruction to share a printer is received at a print service, via a network, from a first user that is a member of a social networking service. A print job is received at the print service, via the network, from a second user that is a member of the social networking service. The print job is sent, via the network, to the printer to print.
US09329805B1
A method of verifying that a storage system is complying with best practices guide includes a software program running in host servers for determining the host server configuration parameters, and comparing the host server configuration to the storage system configuration. If a newly added best practices rule is found to be different than either the current configuration of the storage system or the host server configuration, then an alert may be generated, and sent to a storage system user or manager. In addition, a suggested change notice may be generated and transmitted to the storage system user or manager. There may also be a suggested change notice sent to the host server. Best practices rules may be stored in a data base and updated frequently.
US09329799B2
Examples described herein include a system for storing data. The data storage system stores data in one or more storage locations of a storage drive and generates context information that identifies the data associated with each of the one or more storage locations. The context information is stored in a data buffer, and may include at least one of: an index node, a file block number, or a generation count. Further, the data buffer may be a FIFO circular buffer. The data storage system then uses the context information in the data buffer to verify the data stored in the one or more storage locations during an idle time of the storage drive.
US09329793B2
A method (1000) of operation of a storage system includes: partitioning a first virtual disk volume by allocating a first portion, a first low performance storage capacity, and a first reserved capacity; establishing, based on a user policy register, a partition bias for the first virtual disk volume; and adjusting a capacity of the first portion and the first low performance storage capacity based on usage statistics, the partition bias, and limiting the capacity adjustment by a dynamic partitioning module.
US09329792B2
A storage system includes a plurality of storage modules. Each storage module may be interconnected by a module interconnect switch and may include a memory, a central processing unit, a cache, and a plurality of storage devices. Storage space may be reclaimed in the storage system by a storage module requesting a copy of a file system bitmap, receiving a request to write data to a partition of the storage module, updating a write table to indicate the partition write, querying the copy of the file system bitmap and the write table to determine if the partition has been written to and if the partition may be reclaimed, and reclaiming the partition for subsequent reallocation and reuse.
US09329781B2
A disk array apparatus using an SAS can transfer data without lowering a transfer efficiency of data even if rates of a plurality of physical links connected to a controller and storage device are different. A plurality of HDDs are connected to a controller through an expander. Data are transferred from the controller to the expander and then to HDD. In this connection, the controller and the expander transfers a set of transfer data in a plurality of the HDD-side physical links. The controller-side physical link integrates the transfer data, and multiplexes them to transfer. A plurality of HDDs-side physical links separates the transfer data to transfer in parallel.
US09329777B2
A method for providing a background image to a virtual key input device for display on an information communication terminal thereof supporting a touch user interface (TUI). The method includes receiving, via the information communication terminal, a selection of settings by a user for a virtual key input unit, generating the virtual key input unit using the selected settings, the virtual key input unit being transparent, receiving, via the information communication terminal, a selection of background contents by the user for the virtual key input unit, and generating a background skin based on the selected background contents, and combining the transparent virtual key input unit and the background skin.
US09329759B1
Systems and methods for providing customized content display and interaction to a user on a user device display are disclosed. The customized display and interaction may be based at least in part on user related information and information related to the displayed content.
US09329758B2
Sensory inputs of a user can be received by a computing device. At least one of the sensory inputs can include a physiological input providing a physiological measurement from a body of the user. Each sensory input can be processed in a unique one of a set of standards-defined sensory channels, each corresponding to a specific emotion dimension. Processing the sensory inputs can transform the physiological measurement into an emotion dimension value. The emotion dimension values from each of the sensory channels can be aggregated to generate at least one emotion datum value, which is a standards-defined value for an emotional characteristic of the user. Historical data for a user can be optionally collected and used by a learning and calibration component to improve the accuracy of the generated emotion datum values for a specific individual. A programmatic action driven by the emotion datum value can be performed.
US09329757B1
The present disclosure provides systems, methods, and machine-readable media for concurrent communication. One method includes displaying an interactive application on a first device of a user during a break in an entertainment segment displayed on a second device, sending a request for interaction from the user through the interactive application, pausing the interactive application when the break in the entertainment segment is over, and notifying the user when an additional break begins so the user can commence interacting with the interactive application.
US09329742B2
A capacitive touch panel provides a partially high-resolution by mixing multiple resolutions. The capacitive touch panel includes a first electrode layer, a second electrode layer, an insulating layer, and a single one integrated circuit chip. The first electrode layer and the second electrode layer respectively include multiple sensor electrodes disposed with uneven density, so that a part of the touch panel has higher resolution, and other part of the touch panel has lower resolution. The capacitive touch panel provides partially higher resolution by adjusting the distribution of the electrodes without increasing the number of pins of the integrated circuit chip.
US09329729B2
Provided herein is a capacitive-type touch panel. The capacitive-type touch panel may include a first transparent substrate, a first conductive layer positioned on the first transparent substrate, a sensor layer having a second conductive layer spaced from the first conductive layer by a spacer, and a second transparent substrate positioned on the sensor layer. The first conductive layer and the second conductive layer may be transparent.
US09329724B2
The present disclosure relates to a signal processing circuit for a touch screen, which is capable of processing a sensing signal outputted from a touch screen panel, and a method for controlling the same. When pulses containing noise exist in the sensing signal, the signal processing circuit compensates for an integral signal in response to the pulses containing noise.
US09329721B1
An interference suppression module coordinates devices susceptible to interference such as a touch sensor with potentially interference generating devices such as a display drive matrix, an active haptic device, and so forth. As a result of status signals generated by the interference suppression module, controllers of the susceptible devices may modify the input received to mitigate or avoid interference.
US09329717B2
Apparatus and methods are disclosed for simultaneously tracking multiple finger and palm contacts as hands approach, touch, and slide across a proximity-sensing, multi-touch surface. Identification and classification of intuitive hand configurations and motions enables unprecedented integration of typing, resting, pointing, scrolling, 3D manipulation, and handwriting into a versatile, ergonomic computer input device.
US09329711B2
An information processing method for a touch screen device includes in response to contact of a user's finger with a touch screen of the touch screen device, identifying the finger contacting the touch screen; determining key(s) corresponding to the identified finger based on set correspondence relationship(s) between the finger(s) and the key(s); and displaying at least one character represented by the key(s) corresponding to the identified finger.
US09329710B2
There are provided a touchscreen panel and a touchscreen device. The touchscreen panel includes: a plurality of first electrodes extended in a first axis direction; a plurality of second electrodes extended in a second axis direction intersecting with the first axis direction; and a third electrode formed between one first electrode and another first electrode adjacent thereto among the plurality of first electrodes, wherein the third electrode may be engaged with the plurality of first electrodes and formed such that one of either side of the respective first electrodes is exposed.
US09329709B2
A touch display device includes a transparent substrate, a light-blocking frame layer and a transparent protecting layer. The transparent substrate includes a frame area and a visual area. The light-blocking frame layer is disposed above the frame area of the transparent substrate. The transparent protecting layer is disposed above the transparent substrate and the light-blocking frame layer, and includes a gap having a projection on the transparent substrate, wherein the projection of the gap has one of conditions of at least partially overlapping the light-blocking frame layer and being located at a distance less than 2 millimeters from the light-blocking frame layer.
US09329703B2
An intelligent stylus is disclosed. The stylus can provide a stylus condition in addition to a touch input. The stylus architecture can include multiple sensors to sense information indicative of the stylus condition, a microcontroller to determine the stylus condition based on the sensed information, and a transmitter to transmit the determined condition to a corresponding touch sensitive device so as to cause some action based on the condition.
US09329690B2
A method can include commencing a petrotechnical analysis workflow that includes a plurality of tasks; initializing one or more touch modules associated with the workflow; accessing data associated with the workflow; rendering one or more visualizations of the data to a touchscreen; and sensing multiple touches via the touchscreen for controlling one or more actions associated with the workflow according to the one or more touch modules. Various other apparatuses, systems, methods, etc., are also disclosed.
US09329686B2
The present invention discloses a haptic feedback method, a haptic feedback apparatus, an electronic device and a stylus The haptic feedback method applicable to an electronic device including a touch input unit includes: when an operation is performed on the touch input unit by an operating object, obtaining a first parameter indicating the type of the operating object; determining a feedback parameter of a force feedback unit at least based on the first parameter, wherein the force feedback unit is arranged on the touch input unit or the operating object; and controlling the force feedback unit based on the feedback parameter to generate and output to a user a feedback force corresponding to the type of the operating object.
US09329683B2
A gaze point detection device 1 has four cameras 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, light sources 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, control circuits 4, 5, 6, and an image processor 7. The image processor 7 calculates vectors r, each of which is from a corneal reflection point to the center of a pupil, on a plane that is vertical to base lines. The image processor 7 also calculates angles θ of the line of sight on the basis of the vectors r and by using a function f including M parameters. Moreover, the image processor 7 determines the M parameters based on the angles θ, and detects a point of gaze Q based on the line of sight direction calculated using the determined parameters. The number of cameras is set at M×½ or higher.
US09329664B2
Embodiments include a method for managing power in a computer system including a main processor and an active memory device including powered units, the active memory device in communication with the main processor by a memory link, the powered units including a processing element. The method includes the main processor executing a program on a program thread, encountering a first section of code to be executed by the active memory device, changing, by a first command, a power state of a powered unit on the active memory device based on the main processor encountering the first section of code, the first command including a store command. The method also includes the processing element executing the first section of code at a second time, changing a power state of the main processor from a power use state to a power saving state based on the processing element executing the first section.
US09329659B2
A power monitoring system includes a plurality of current sensors suitable to sense respective changing electrical current within a respective conductor to a respective load and a conductor sensing a respective voltage potential provided to the respective load.
US09329658B2
In one embodiment, a processor includes at least one sleep block and a central sleep controller. The at least one sleep block may include at least one execution unit, at least one processor component, and sleep logic. The central sleep controller may be to program the sleep logic to perform at least one sleep transition for the at least one sleep block, and to operate in a first sleep mode. The sleep logic may be to perform the at least one sleep transition for the at least one sleep block without waking the central sleep controller from the first sleep mode. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09329648B2
An approach is provided in which a subsystem cooling manager detects an increased workload indicator corresponding to a computer subsystem's forthcoming workload requirement. The forthcoming workload requirement corresponds to future computing resources required by the subsystem to support one or more software programs executing on the computer system. The subsystem cooling manager determines that the forthcoming workload requirement exceeds a utilization threshold and in turn, directs one or more cooling systems towards the corresponding subsystem according.
US09329637B2
A configurable keyboard. The configurable keyboard includes a base with a top face, and a first edge. A position adjustable panel containing keyboard keys. The position adjustable panel is attached to the base by a position adjustment device. The position adjustment device includes a shaft and a first connector. The shaft is attached, towards a bottom end, to the base. The first connector connects the position adjustable panel to the shaft.
US09329633B2
A modular docking station for receiving a mobile device is disclosed. The docking station includes a base component having a plurality of modular apertures configured to receive hardware to perform a specific function. The docking station also includes a receiving component having a protective enclosure configured to receive and protect the mobile device in from environmental containment. The docking station further includes a coupler for coupling the receiving component to the base component.
US09329632B2
A docking station for a portable electronic device is provided. The docking station includes a main body, a supporting structure and a pivot. The pivot includes a first fixing portion, a second fixing portion and a pivot portion. The first fixing portion is disposed at the supporting structure, the second fixing portion is disposed at the main body. The pivot portion is connected to the first fixing portion and the second fixing portion. When the portable electronic device is disposed at the supporting structure, the portable electronic device and the supporting structure can rotate relative to the main body via the pivot. The docking station allows the portable electronic device disposing at the docking station drives the supporting structure to rotate relatively to the main body alone the axis of the pivot to stand in vertical, and then the horizontal space of the portable electronic device is saved.
US09329631B2
A tablet computer heated case has a body with a cavity in which a tablet computer may be received and includes a window to allow the screen of the tablet computer to be seen and to allow input to the tablet computer. A heating element may be provided opposite the window for heating a back face of the tablet computer when the tablet computer is in the cavity. A method of operating a tablet computer in an environment in which it is normally too cold for the tablet computer to operate employs the heated case by activating the heating element to warm the tablet computer.
US09329627B2
Provided is a method of recognizing a control command based on finger motion involving: (a) obtaining coordinate data of a pointer corresponding to a position of a finger in contact with a touch input device of a mobile terminal; (b) obtaining an input continuance time of the coordinate data, and setting values of timer variables based on the input continuance time; (c) setting logic values of a plurality of command logic variables whose logic values of True or False are based on values of the respective timer variables; and (d) recognizing an operation control command of the pointer based on the respective timer variable values and the command logic variable values.
US09329618B2
An apparatus for reducing an effort of a clutch pedal for a vehicle may include a hinge pipe provided in an upper portion of a pedal arm so that a pedal hinge penetrates the hinge pipe and having a plurality of pipe protrusions which protrude in a radial direction along a circumferential direction of the hinge pipe on an outer peripheral surface of the hinge pipe, a spring housing fixedly installed on an inside of a pedal member facing the hinge pipe, and a leaf spring positioned in an inner space of the spring housing and fixedly installed in the spring housing to be flexibly bent and having a curve portion contacting one or each of the pipe protrusions.
US09329615B2
A trimmed thermal sensing system can include a temperature sensitive circuit configured to provide an output that varies as a function of temperature and in response to a trimmed bandgap reference signal. A trim network is coupled to the temperature sensitive circuit. The trim network trims the temperature sensitive circuit in an opposite direction of trimming implemented to provide the trimmed bandgap reference signal, such that temperature tolerance of the temperature sensitive circuit is reduced.
US09329602B2
A cold start valve for a hydraulic circuit has a valve slide with two counteracting control faces. It is possible to load a first control face with a control pressure and to load a second control face with a feed pressure. In addition, the first control face is loaded with the spring force of a valve spring. A damping space is configured to damp a stroke movement of the valve slide. The damping space is delimited by a damping face formed on the valve slide and oriented in accordance with the first control face. The damping face is configured to be loaded via the damping space with a damping pressure to damp the stroke movement. The damping space is connected in a throttled manner to a pressure space. The second control face of the valve slide is configured to be loaded with the feed pressure via the pressure space.
US09329599B1
An automatic guided vehicle includes a vehicle body and a positioning identification module which being furnished in the vehicle body further includes a three-axis magnetic signal sensing unit and a logic operation processing unit. The logic operation processing unit is connected to the three-axis magnetic signal sensing unit by signal transmitted therefrom. A magnetic pointer unit is furnished adjacent to the marching route of the automatic guided vehicle. The three-axis magnetic signal sensing unit senses the magnetic field of magnetic pointer unit and generates a magnetic field information that transmits to the logic operation processing unit.
US09329597B2
Autonomous data machines and systems may be provided, which may be deployed in an environment. The machines may roam within the environment and collect data with aid of one or more sensors. The data may be sent to a control center, which may optionally receive information from additional data sources, such as other on-site sensors, existing static data, or real-time social data. The control center may send instructions to the machines to perform one or more reaction based on the received information. The autonomous data machines may be capable of reacting autonomously to one or more detected condition. In some instances, the autonomous data machines may be employed for security or surveillance.
US09329596B2
A method for controlling an autonomous vehicle includes: Receiving data relating to a plurality of proposed vehicle locations; generating a simulated vehicle path based on the received data; determining a simulated vehicle orientation for at least one point on the simulated vehicle path; presenting at least the simulated vehicle orientation in a user-discernable form; receiving a user verification of the simulated vehicle orientation for at least one point on the simulated vehicle path; and producing approved vehicle control commands from the simulated vehicle path and simulated vehicle orientation, the approved vehicle control commands controlling the autonomous vehicle to follow the simulated vehicle path and the simulated vehicle orientation.
US09329595B2
A remote pendant for a metrology machine. The pendant comprises a non-configurable user interface which is an extension of the main computer monitor wherein the screens shown on a monitor of the pendant are created by application and/or control software running on the computer control of the machine. The remote pendant further comprises camera and/or webcam features as well as voice recording capabilities. With the remote pendant, the machine operator can view messages appearing on the main computer screen and respond to any prompts via a touch screen on the pendant thereby eliminating the need to return to the machine operator station.
US09329582B2
A method for providing independent static and dynamic models in a prediction, control and optimization environment utilizes an independent static model (20) and an independent dynamic model (22). The static model (20) is a rigorous predictive model that is trained over a wide range of data, whereas the dynamic model (22) is trained over a narrow range of data. The gain K of the static model (20) is utilized to scale the gain k of the dynamic model (22). The forced dynamic portion of the model (22) referred to as the bi variables are scaled by the ratio of the gains K and k. Thereafter, the difference between the new value input to the static model (20) and the prior steady-state value is utilized as an input to the dynamic model (22). The predicted dynamic output is then summed with the previous steady-state value to provide a predicted value Y.
US09329581B2
A safety control system is provided, which is capable of monitoring many more drive circuits by using a single controller without modifying the configurations of the controller and the drive circuit. An a-contact of a relay is electrically connected between a FB (feedback) output terminal and a FB input terminal of a safety controller. A b-contact of the relay is electrically connected between a signal output terminal (safety output (1) terminal) of the safety controller and a signal input terminal (safety input (1) terminal) of a safety drive circuit. A coil of the relay is connected to a FB monitor output terminal of the safety drive circuit. No factor in a large voltage drop is present between the FB output terminal and the FB input terminal, thus making it possible to monitor many more drive circuits by using a single controller.
US09329580B2
An electronic control by frequency inverter of the displacement system of an irrigation or fertirrigation set is made up of structured pipelines, in which the water distribution sprayers are mounted, and which are coupled to each other, and supported by movable towers which are moved by gear motors driving by means of cardans the wheel gear that in turn drive pneumatic wheels, moving the structure about a fixed point, or pivot point, which is the central tower. The driving of the gear motors of each tower is performed by an electric control unit via a frequency inverter, with analogic signal, preferably a potentiometer, or position encoder digital sensor or optical sensor of alignment with relation to the front and back tower.
US09329579B2
A wireless sensor device includes a processor connected to a wireless transmitter and at least one sensor, and a power source connected to power the processor and the wireless transmitter. The processor has two or more states. An internal control element senses at least one predetermined condition. The internal control element switches the processor between states based on the occurrence of at least one predetermined condition. A molded body encloses at least the processor, the wireless transmitter, and the internal control sensor. The internal control sensor is physically isolated within the molded body.
US09329572B2
A timepiece hand for abrupt acceleration is mounted to pivot around a staff so as to be able to indicate an item of information. The hand is made from an at least partially amorphous metal alloy.
US09329546B2
A fixing device includes an endless belt, a backup roller, and a nip member having a first slide contact surface, a second slide contact surface, and a connecting surface connecting the first and second slide contact surfaces. A curvature radius of the second slide contact surface is greater than that of the backup roller in cross section perpendicular to an axis of the backup roller. The connecting surface is disposed between a first imaginary plane and a second imaginary plane, the first imaginary plane including an edge of the endless belt and extending perpendicularly to the axis of the backup roller, the second imaginary plane including an end of a maximum image area proximate to the edge of the endless belt and extending perpendicularly to the axis of the backup roller.
US09329545B2
A fixing device includes a fixing rotator and an opposed rotator disposed opposite the fixing rotator to form a fixing nip therebetween through which a recording medium bearing a toner image is conveyed. A heater disposed opposite the fixing rotator heats the fixing rotator. A nip formation pad disposed opposite an inner circumferential surface of the fixing rotator includes a decreased thermal conduction portion having a decreased thermal conductivity to conduct heat in a thickness direction of the nip formation pad perpendicular to an axial direction of the fixing rotator and an increased thermal conduction portion having an increased thermal conductivity to conduct heat in the thickness direction of the nip formation pad. The increased thermal conduction portion is disposed opposite an overheating span of the fixing rotator in the axial direction thereof where the fixing rotator is susceptible to overheating.
US09329538B2
A fixing device includes a heat rotor with a heat source, a pressure rotor forming a fixing nip with the heat rotor and expandable by heat given from the heat rotor, a drive section configured to rotate the pressure rotor, a control section configured to control the drive section, thus controlling a rotational speed of the pressure rotor, and a heat quantity detecting section configured to determine a quantity of heat from the heat rotor to the pressure rotor since a reference time point when the fixing device transitions from outage to operating state. The control section performs a first rotation control for allowing the pressure rotor to rotate at a first rotational speed after the heat quantity detecting section detects the quantity of heat has reached a predetermined specified value and at a second rotational speed before the heat quantity detecting section detects the specified value has been reached.
US09329529B2
A system with a container including a protrusion, and a receiver to receive the container. The receiver includes a slide block that is movable relative to a body of the receiver, the slide block including two surfaces, a first surface, initially contacted by the protrusion of the container during insertion of the container into the receiver, having a first slope to resist movement of the container towards the receiver, and a second surface, subsequently contacted by the protrusion of the container during the insertion of the container into the receiver, having a second slope to interact with the protrusion of the container to assist movement of the container towards the receiver. This construction provides the user with a changing insertion force to indicate proper mounting of the container.
US09329528B2
An image forming apparatus includes a development section, a toner replenishment section, a toner sensor, and a determination section. The new toner container is filled with first and second toners that have different magnetic characteristics. The new container supplies the first toner to the toner replenishment section prior to the second toner. The determination section determines replacement of an existing toner container by a new one upon the output value of the toner sensor changing from a value out of a first-toner output value range to a value therewithin. The first-toner output value range is a range of an output value of the toner sensor in response to the magnetic characteristic of the first tone.
US09329524B2
A deaerator and a density detector are provided in a liquid developer circulating path through which the liquid developer in a main tank is circulated, wherein the deaerator includes a bundle of hollow fibers each forming a hollow fiber membrane whose inside is depressurized and over whose outer peripheral surface the liquid developer is forced to flow under pressure, thereby sufficiently removing dissolved air in the liquid developer, and a toner density of the liquid developer is detected when the liquid developer of which dissolved air is sufficiently removed is passed through the density detector utilizing ultrasonic waves, making it possible to detect the toner density with a high degree of precision.
US09329523B2
A developing apparatus includes a developer carrying member configured to carry a developer including a toner and a carrier, a supply chamber provided opposite to a peripheral surface of the developer carrying member, and a collection chamber provided opposite to the peripheral surface of the developer carrying member. In addition, a first conveyance member is provided in the supply chamber, a second conveyance member is provided in the collection chamber, and a third conveyance member is provided opposite to the second conveyance member. The third conveyance member and the second conveyance member are directly opposed to each other in a predetermined position which overlaps with a developer carrying area of the developer carrying member, and the third conveyance member conveys a part of the developer conveyed by the second conveyance member in the predetermined position in the direction opposite to the second conveyance member.
US09329520B2
A multibeam light source unit, a method of adjusting the same, a light scanning unit, and an image forming apparatus are provided. The multibeam light source unit includes light sources that emit multiple beams, a flange that includes installation surface on which holder installation holes are provided, and middle holders on which a light source is installed. The middle holder includes a light source mounting unit, a cylinder-shape insertion unit that is inserted into a holder installation hole, and fixing protrusion units protruding outside from a light source mounting unit and fixed to the flange, and a jig coupling unit that is coupled with a jig when adjustment is performed.
US09329518B2
An image forming apparatus includes image forming units, static eliminating sections, a mode switching section, and an exposure switching section. The static eliminating sections outputs first and second light. The mode switching section switches a state a between a first mode in which all of the image forming units are operated and a second mode in which only a first image forming unit is operated. In a second image forming unit located upstream next to the first image forming unit, the exposure switching section causes the image bearing member of the second image forming unit not to be irradiated with the first light and causes the image bearing member of the first image forming unit to be irradiated with the second light in the second mode.
US09329515B2
Provided is a resin-coated carrier for an electrophotographic developer, wherein the surface of a magnetic particle is coated with a mixed resin composed of two resins, and when the two resins are denoted by the resin 1 and the resin 2, respectively, the relative difference between the respective adsorbed moisture amounts of the resin 1 and the resin 2 at a temperature of 30° C. and a relative humidity of 80% satisfies the following formula (1): 1≦|ax−b(100−x)|≦10 (1) a: the adsorbed moisture content (% by weight) of the resin 1 b: the adsorbed moisture content (% by weight) of the resin 2 x: the content percentage of the resin 1 (0
US09329512B1
Bio-based toner compositions that exhibit excellent performance and provide high print quality. More specifically, the present bio-based toner compositions comprise greater than 20% bio-resins but avoid the moisture sensitivity issues that bio-resins are prone to by also including one or more oil additives.
US09329507B2
An electrostatic latent image developing toner containing a plurality of toner particles, each including a binder resin and a release agent, is provided. The surface hardness of the toner particle, measured by a nanoindentation method, satisfies the following conditions (1) and (2): (1) The surface hardness of the toner particle attained with a displacement of 10 nm is 1 GPa or more and 3 GPa or less; and (2) the surface hardness of the toner particle attained with a displacement of 100 nm is 1 GPa or less.
US09329501B2
A lithographic apparatus includes a projection system, a substrate table, a plurality of sensors, an actuator and a controller. The projection system is configured to project a patterned beam of radiation onto a substrate. The substrate table is configured to support the substrate and to move relative to the projection system. The plurality of sensors is configured to measure a deformation of the substrate table. The actuator is configured to deform the substrate table. The controller is configured to control the actuator to deform the substrate table based on measurements made by the sensors. The plurality of sensors is located on a first side of the substrate table opposite to a second side of the substrate table facing the projection system. The plurality of sensors is substantially stationary relative to the projection system.
US09329496B2
An exposure apparatus exposing a substrate with exposure light through liquid, including: an optical member having an emitting surface from which exposure light is emitted; a substrate holding apparatus that includes: a first holding portion holding a lower surface of substrate so that lower surface of substrate can be released, and a first member that defines an opening where substrate can be arranged, and that has an upper surface which is arranged at a vicinity of an upper surface of the substrate in a state which the substrate is held by the first holding portion; and a porous member of which at least a part is arranged at a gap between the substrate and the first member, and which has an upper surface liquid-repellent with respect to the liquid, wherein at least a part of the liquid which flows into the gap is recovered through the porous member.
US09329494B2
A lithographic apparatus includes a first table to support a substrate; a second table, not being configured to support a substrate, including a sensor unit to sense a property of a patterned beam of radiation from a projection system, the second table to move under the projection system when the first table is moved out from under the projection system during a substrate exchange, the first and second tables being independently movable from each other; and a liquid supply system to supply a liquid to a space between the projection system and the substrate, the first table, and/or the second table, wherein the second table is configured to provide a confining surface at a bottom of a liquid confinement structure when the first table is removed from under the projection system so as to prevent the liquid from leaking out into the remainder of the lithographic apparatus.
US09329492B2
An immersion liquid confinement apparatus confines an immersion liquid in an immersion area that includes a gap between a projection system and an object of exposure in an immersion lithography system. The apparatus also recovers the immersion liquid from the immersion area. The apparatus includes an aperture through which a patterned image is projected, an outlet, a first chamber into which the immersion liquid is recovered through the outlet, and a second chamber into which the immersion liquid is recovered through a porous member from the first chamber. The porous member has a first surface contacting the first chamber and a second surface contacting the second chamber. A vertical position of a first portion of the first surface is different from a vertical position of a second portion of the first surface.
US09329491B2
A method of adjusting speed and/or routing of a part of a movement plan of a table under an immersion fluid supply system of a lithographic apparatus. The method includes splitting the movement plan of the table into a plurality of discrete movements; determining a risk of a bubble of a size greater than a certain size being present in immersion fluid through which a patterned beam of the lithographic apparatus will pass during a certain discrete movement by determining whether the immersion fluid supply system passes over a position at which immersion fluid leaked from the immersion fluid supply system is present; and adjusting the speed and/or routing of a part of the movement plan corresponding to (i) a discrete movement earlier than a discrete movement for which the risk of a bubble is determined, and/or (ii) a discrete movement for which the risk of a bubble is determined.
US09329489B2
An exposure method comprises a calculation step of calculating a correction amount of a correction unit which corrects a change in imaging characteristics of a projection optical system based on at least one of parameters including a numerical aperture and effective light source of an illumination optical system, a numerical aperture of the projection optical system, and a size and pitch of a pattern, and an amount of change in environment condition in the projection optical system; and a correction step of making the correction unit operate in accordance with the correction amount calculated in the calculation step.
US09329483B2
To appropriately form a metal-containing film containing metal on a substrate, a method first forms an organic film on the substrate, and causes a treatment agent to enter the organic film and causes metal to infiltrate the organic film via the treatment agent, thereby forming the metal-containing film. The metal-containing film contains metal and thus has a high etching selection ratio that is originally required performance. This makes it possible to appropriately form the metal-containing film having a high etching selection ratio on the substrate.
US09329481B2
A conductive metal pattern is formed using a reactive polymer that can provide pendant sulfonic acid groups upon exposure to radiation, and (2) pendant groups that are capable of providing crosslinking. The polymeric layer is patternwise exposed to radiation to provide first exposed regions that are then contacted with electroless seed metal ions to form a pattern of electroless seed metal ions, followed by contact with a halide. At least some of the electroless seed metal halide can be exposed to form second exposed regions. The polymeric layer can be contacted with a reducing agent either: (i) to develop the electroless seed metal image in the second exposed regions, or (ii) to develop all of the electroless seed metal halide in the first exposed regions, and optionally contacted with a fixing agent. The electroless seed metal nuclei in the first exposed regions can be electrolessly plated with a conductive metal.
US09329479B2
A negative-working lithographic printing plate precursor includes a coating containing a photopolymerizable layer and optionally an intermediate layer between the photopolymerizable layer and the support, wherein the coating further includes a polysiloxane, the polysiloxane being present in the photopolymerizable layer and/or in the optional intermediate layer, and the polysiloxane is obtained by reacting at least one organosilicon compound represented by the general Formula (I) and at least one organosilicon compound represented by the general Formula (II):
US09329470B2
The display apparatus comprises a display screen and a plurality of projectors. Each of the projectors comprises at least a light source module, a spatial light modulator and a lens. The first view angle image and second view angle image emitted from each projector are guided to a first sub-viewing zone and a second sub-viewing zone via a first light beam and second light beam, respectively. The sub-viewing zones imaged by each projector are adjacent to each other along a transverse axis sequentially.
US09329469B2
An interaction system is described which uses a depth camera to capture a depth image of a physical object placed on, or in vicinity to, an interactive surface. The interaction system also uses a video camera to capture a video image of the physical object. The interaction system can then generate a 3D virtual object based on the depth image and video image. The interaction system then uses a 3D projector to project the 3D virtual object back onto the interactive surface, e.g., in a mirrored relationship to the physical object. A user may then capture and manipulate the 3D virtual object in any manner. Further, the user may construct a composite model based on smaller component 3D virtual objects. The interaction system uses a projective texturing technique to present a realistic-looking 3D virtual object on a surface having any geometry.
US09329466B2
An image projection apparatus includes: an illuminance sensor for measuring surrounding illuminance; an image data processing unit that increases a gradation value of the image data in accordance with brightness of the image data; a set information storage unit for storing at least two or more pieces of correspondence information for each range of the obtained illuminance, the information indicating correspondence between the brightness of the image data and power a light source that increases in accordance with the brightness; a total control unit for determining the lamp power by referring to a table indicating the correspondence information, based on the obtained brightness of the image and the illuminance; and a projection unit for projecting with the determined lamp power the image data, wherein in the correspondence information, a value of the lamp power is set lower as the illuminance becomes lower.
US09329462B2
Treatment volume projection systems and methods for use in treating patients, including an image scanner to capture an image of a patient's treatment volume, a processor to process the image to generate a treatment volume image corresponding to at least a portion of the treatment volume, and an image projector to project the treatment volume image onto a projection surface. The treatment volume image can include an x-y scanning area of the treatment volume to assist delivery of treatment to the patient.
US09329458B1
A pan/tilt head that can be used with a camera is disclosed that includes a tilt range extender. The pan/tilt head has a main housing formed from a central housing and two housing sides. A pantograph linkage is connected to a housing side. The pantograph linkage includes an upper transverse member and a lower transverse member. The lower transverse member is connected to the housing side at a non-rotating mount on the tilt axis. The upper transverse member is connected to the tilt range extender. The tilt range extender rotates about the tilt axis.
US09329451B2
A method for producing optical semiconductor devices includes: forming a stacked semiconductor layer on a device substrate to provide an epitaxial substrate having a size corresponding to a section arrangement; forming, on the epitaxial substrate, a mask having a pattern for a semiconductor mesa and for a trench of at least one optical semiconductor device, a width of the trench in the pattern being determined according to a trench width map in which trench width is based upon an in-plane distribution of the thickness of a resin layer of the at least one device, and upon a correlation between the thickness of the resin layer and the trench width; forming a trench structure including the semiconductor mesa and the trench by etching the stacked semiconductor layer using the mask; forming a resin layer on the trench structure; and forming an opening on the semiconductor mesa by etching the resin layer.
US09329441B2
A display device is disclosed. In one aspect, the display device includes a first panel, a second panel facing the first panel, and a sealant configured to seal together the first and second panels. The first panel includes a first substrate including a display area and a peripheral area surrounding the display area, a thin film display layer formed in the display area of the first substrate, and a first lower gate driving circuit formed in the peripheral area of the first substrate. The second panel includes a second substrate including a display area and a peripheral area surrounding the display area, a contact sensing layer formed in the display area of the second panel, and a first upper gate driving circuit formed in the peripheral area of the second substrate. The sealant at least partially overlaps the first lower and upper gate driving circuits.
US09329435B2
A display panel includes a first display substrate, a second display substrate facing the first display substrate and being coupled to the first display substrate, a liquid crystal layer interposed between the first display substrate and the second display substrate, an alignment layer disposed in a display area of at least one of the first and second display substrates, and a partition wall disposed in a peripheral area surrounding the display area of the first or second display substrate. The partition wall includes a body and a capping layer that covers an upper surface of the body. A width of the upper surface of the body is smaller than a width of the capping layer disposed on the body.
US09329427B2
A color filter substrate, a display panel and a display device are provided. The color filter substrate includes a first substrate, a black matrix layer located on the first substrate, and an electrostatic discharge wire layer located on the black matrix layer and connected to the black matrix layer. In the color filter substrate, the display panel and the display device, the electrostatic discharge wire layer is arranged on the black matrix layer of the color filter substrate. Hence, static electricity in the color filter substrate is discharged via the electrostatic discharge wire layer, and accordingly, the static electricity may not be accumulated in the color filter substrate, thereby improving the quality and performance of a display.
US09329425B2
A transparent display apparatus including a backlight module, a display panel, and a switching panel is provided. The backlight module includes a light source and a light guide plate (LGP). The display panel is located on a light emitting surface of the LGP. The switching panel and the backlight module are located at the same side of the display panel. The switching panel includes a first substrate, a second substrate opposite to the first substrate, a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal layer located between the first substrate and the second substrate, a first electrode layer located between the first substrate and the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal layer, and a second electrode layer located between the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal layer and the second substrate. The first electrode layer is divided into first electrode patterns that are separated from and electrically independent from one another. Another transparent display apparatus is also provided.
US09329424B2
An in-cell touch type liquid crystal display device includes a touch line and a dummy touch line along a direction between neighboring pixel electrodes on a first passivation layer; a second passivation layer on the touch line and the dummy touch line; and common electrodes separated from one another in respective touch blocks, and each including first openings corresponding to each pixel region and a second opening corresponding to the touch line, wherein a connection pattern extending over a gate line from a side of the touch line at an inner region of the touch block is connected to a common electrode through a touch contact hole, and wherein an open portion is between the touch line and the dummy touch line.
US09329417B2
The present invention discloses a method for repairing a display panel, in which a path for electrically connecting two ends of an opened data line at an opened part thereof is formed by using first line segments and a first common electrode, wherein each of the first line segments is a part of one of common electrode lines in the display panel intersecting the opened data line, and the first common electrode is one of a plurality of common electrodes in a pixel array that is electrically connected with the first line segments. Further, a welding process is performed at an intersecting region between the first line segments and the opened data line to form an electrical connection, and electrical connections between the path and other common electrode lines and other common electrodes outside the path are cut off. This method for repairing data lines employs existing common electrode lines and common electrodes to repair an opened data line, so that no additional repairing line needs to be disposed in the display panel to facilitate a narrow bezel design of the display panel and thus repairing the data lines is no longer limited by the number of the repairing lines. Furthermore, the influence on data signals is negligible because no new line is introduced.
US09329412B2
A digital integrated optical modulator, in particular for a fiber optical signal transmission or measuring device, having two waveguide arms and electrodes that are arranged along both waveguide arms in or on an optical substrate, wherein the arrangements of the electrodes along the two waveguide arms are different from each other.
US09329410B2
This invention discloses methods and apparatus for patterning Multi-piece ophthalmic Insert and Ophthalmic lenses comprising Inserts. In some embodiments, an ophthalmic lens is cast molded from a silicone hydrogel and the lens includes a sealed and encapsulated Multi-piece ophthalmic Insert portion which has been patterned.
US09329408B2
Disclosed is a hydrogel contact lens which has improved and long-lasting wettability in the surface and inner structures, while exhibiting excellent contamination resistance, shape stability and mechanical strength. Also disclosed is a method for producing the hydrogel contact lens. The wettable hydrogel contact lens is characterized by containing an ionic hydrophilic polymer which is a compound having a hydroxy group and an anionic group. The method for producing a hydrogel contact lens is characterized in that a constituent component of the hydrogel contact lens is a copolymer containing at least a cationic monomer and an anionic monomer, and in that the method comprises a step wherein counter ions of the monomers form ionic bonds and a step wherein an ionic hydrophilic polymer, which is a compound having a hydroxy group and an anionic group, is contained.
US09329398B2
A stereoscopic image display device, including: an image displaying unit including a plurality of pixels, the plurality of pixels displaying a left-eye image and a right-eye image, a first light blocking unit having a lattice structure including a plurality of openings corresponding to the plurality of pixels, and a second light blocking unit extending from the first light blocking unit into horizontal center portions of the plurality of openings; and a parallax barrier opposed to the image displaying unit, the parallax barrier including transmitting regions and blocking regions, the transmitting regions and the blocking regions extending in a vertical direction and being alternately disposed to spatially divide the left-eye image and the right-eye image displayed by the image displaying unit.
US09329392B2
A wearable display device is disclosed. In one aspect, the wearable display device includes an image source configured to output an image and an optical housing at least a portion of which is configured to be placed in front of a user's eye. The optical housing includes a waveguide configured to receive the light from the image source and guide the output image, at least one inclined surface configured to reflect the guided image to the user's eye, and a first sensor formed on the waveguide and configured to sense contact between an object and the waveguide. The waveguide and the inclined surface are integrally formed.
US09329378B2
The invention taught herein provides a method, device and system for modulating or switching electromagnetic radiation by controlling a state of the radiation, such as a polarization state. Radiation is directed at a reflective or transmissive structure, such that the radiation is incident on the structure. The structure includes a property that can be dynamically switched between two configurations, one of which is asymmetric and is configured to modify the polarization characteristic of the radiation. The dynamically configurable structure can be combined with polarization components to achieve modulation. Embodiments suitable for mode-locking a laser and for cavity dumping a mode-locked laser are also disclosed.
US09329376B2
An imaging apparatus comprises: an imaging unit having an imaging optical system and an imaging device; a measuring unit that measures, for each of a plurality of regions on a specimen, an optical aberration or a physical quantity causing the aberration before the imaging of the specimen is performed; a plurality of optical elements that are inserted in an optical path of the imaging optical system for correcting the aberration and that differ in correction amount; and a control unit that selects an optical element from among the optical elements on the basis of a measurement result of the measuring unit, and inserts the selected optical element into the optical path of the imaging optical system before the imaging of the specimen. The imaging optical system is configured to be capable of forming simultaneously images of the plurality of regions on the imaging device.
US09329373B2
A catadioptric system includes a first catadioptric group, a second catadioptric group, and a lens group disposed in axial alignment with each other. The first catadioptric group includes a solid lens having an input surface, a primary reflective surface, secondary reflective surface and an exit surface. The primary reflective surface is a curved surface concave towards the secondary reflective surface. A light flux entering through the input surface undergoes more than two reflections between the primary and secondary reflective surfaces, prior to exiting through the exit surface. At least one of the primary reflective surface and secondary reflective surface has a continuous and smooth topological profile.
US09329355B2
There is provided a lens module, including: a first lens having an extended portion, a second lens in contact with the extended portion to be aligned with the first lens, and a third lens in contact with the extended portion to be aligned with the second lens. In the lens module, the plurality of lenses are easily alignable in terms of optical axes thereof.
US09329348B2
An apparatus includes an optical adaptor having monolithically integrated optical elements and first micro-mechanical features, the latter defining at least a first horizontal reference surface and a first vertical reference surface; wherein the first horizontal reference surface is perpendicular to an optical plane, the latter being perpendicular the optical axis of the optical elements; and wherein the first vertical reference surface is perpendicular to the first horizontal reference surface and parallel to the optical axis.
US09329347B1
The present disclosure relates to a clamp sleeve for a bundled fiber cable. The clamp sleeve includes a first actuating arm, a second actuating arm, and a hinge connecting the first actuating arm and the second actuating arm. The first actuating arm includes a first protuberance, a second protuberance, and a third protuberance, such that a slot forms between each protuberance. The second actuating arm a fourth protuberance, a fifth protuberance, and a sixth protuberance with a slot formed between the fourth, fifth, and sixth protuberances.
US09329342B2
An optical cable connection casing includes at least one cable in-out end surface on which at least one connection part and at least one first hollow tubular column are located. The connection part and the first hollow tubular column allow the optical cable to pass in and out the connection casing through the connection part and the first hollow tubular column in the form of double optical cables after the optical cable being oppositely bent without cutting off the optical fiber core of the optical cable, respectively; wherein the optical cable will be guided and connected to a branching halfway.
US09329335B2
Described is a design approach to fabricating broadband graded-index multimode fibers where the concentration profile of at least one dopant in the core region includes at least one flat-zone. Designs for use in CWDM applications are also disclosed.
US09329334B2
A side-hole optical cane for measuring pressure and/or temperature is disclosed. The side-hole cane has a light guiding core containing a sensor and a cladding containing symmetrical side-holes extending substantially parallel to the core. The side-holes cause an asymmetric stress across the core of the sensor creating a birefringent sensor. The sensor, preferably a Bragg grating, reflects a first and second wavelength each associated with orthogonal polarization vectors, wherein the degree of separation between the two is proportional to the pressure exerted on the core. The side-hole cane structure self-compensates and is insensitive to temperature variations when used as a pressure sensor, because temperature induces an equal shift in both the first and second wavelengths. Furthermore, the magnitude of these shifts can be monitored to deduce temperature, hence providing the side-hole cane additional temperature sensing capability that is unaffected by pressure. Additionally, the side-hole cane can be used to measure a differential pressure between a first pressure ported to the side-holes and a second external pressure.
US09329330B2
A backlight unit and a liquid crystal display having the same. The backlight unit includes a lower cover, an interconnection coupling hole, an inverter board, and an interconnection. The lower cover accommodates a printed circuit board, which mounts at least one light emitting diode thereon and is provided at one side thereof with a first connector. The interconnection coupling hole is formed in a bottom surface of the lower cover at a position corresponding to the first connector. The inverter board is disposed on a rear surface of the lower cover to apply a driving voltage to the at least one light emitting diode. The interconnection is provided at one end thereof with a second connector to electrically connect the printed circuit board to the inverter board. A coupling part of the first connector coupled to the second connector is directed to the interconnection coupling hole, so the assembling time of the backlight unit and the liquid crystal display is reduced, thereby improving the productivity of the backlight unit and the liquid crystal display.
US09329327B2
A display includes a reflective display module, a light guide plate, at least one light source and a cover lens. The light guide plate includes a first light guide surface opposite to the reflective display module. The first light guide surface includes a light outgoing region and a peripheral region surrounding the light outgoing region. The light source is used for emitting a light to the light guide plate. The peripheral region of the first light guide surface is connected to the cover lens. The light outgoing region and the cover lens are spatially separated, and define an air gap therebetween.
US09329326B2
Light guides comprising light extraction structure arrays and articles comprising such light guides are described.
US09329322B2
A luminous flux control member (200) of the present invention has: a light input surface (210); total reflection surfaces (220), which are formed at positions facing a light emitting element with the light input surface (210) therebetween; two light guide sections (230), which are formed such that respective cross-sectional areas thereof are reduced in the direction to be away from the light input surface (210) and the total reflection surface (220), said light guide sections being formed at facing positions with the light input surface (210) and the total reflection surface (220) therebetween; and two light output surfaces (240), which are formed on the outer surfaces of the two light guide sections (230), respectively.
US09329318B2
Side emitting glass elements are provided that include a plurality of light guiding elements, which are inseparably connected to one another at their outer circumferential surfaces, and at least one scattering element. The scattering element is inseparably connected to the outer circumferential surface of at least one light guiding element. The light guiding elements have at least one glass with a refractive index n1, wherein the individual light guiding elements are not enclosed by a cladding. A phase boundary is present between the light guiding elements through which the guided light can pass and to reach the scattering element.
US09329315B2
The present invention addresses the problem of providing a thin polarizing plate having a favorable degree of polarization, a method for manufacturing the same, and an image display device that uses the polarizing plate. This polarizing plate is a polarizing plate in which a hard-coat layer is directly laminated on a polarizer, wherein the polarizing plate is characterized in that thickness of the polarizer is 0.5 μm to 10 μm, and the pencil hardness of the hard-coat layer ranges from B to H.
US09329309B2
Certain exemplary embodiments can provide a system, machine, device, manufacture, circuit, composition of matter, and/or user interface adapted for and/or resulting from, and/or a method and/or machine-readable medium comprising machine-implementable instructions for, activities that can comprise and/or relate to, switch a diffractive first electro-active lens from a first power state corresponding to a first optical power to a second power state corresponding to a second optical power that differs from said first optical power.
US09329304B2
In embodiments of object presence and condition detection, a light is emitted that is directed at a first edge of a translucent object to pass through the translucent object, such as a lens. An intensity of the light is detected proximate an opposing, second edge of the translucent object. A presence and/or a condition of the translucent object can then be determined based on the detected intensity of the light that passes through the object. The translucent object can be implemented as a multi-lens array, and a laser light is directed through optic surfaces of the multi-lens array with a laser. The presence and the condition of the multi-lens array can be continuously determined as a safety compliance of the laser light being directed through the multi-lens array.
US09329285B2
The present invention provides a gamma-neutron detector based on mixtures of thermal neutron absorbers that produce heavy-particle emission following thermal capture. In one configuration, B-10 based detector is used in a parallel electrode plate geometry that integrates neutron moderating sheets, such as polyethylene, on the back of the electrode plates to thermalize the neutrons and then detect them with high efficiency. The moderator can also be replaced with plastic scintillator sheets viewed with a large area photomultiplier tube to detect gamma-rays as well. The detector can be used in several scanning configurations including portal, drive-through, drive-by, handheld and backpack, etc.
US09329277B2
An optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) sensor is provided that has a reflective backing for improving the efficiency of exposing an optically stimulated luminescence material (OSLM) of the OSL sensor to stimulation light and for increasing the efficiency of detecting luminescent light emitted by the OSLM.
US09329272B2
A method comprises obtaining first information, the first information including depth information with a first range of unambiguity. A first image processing is performed on the first information to generate first modified information. Furthermore, second information is obtained, the second information including depth information with a second range of unambiguity.
US09329269B2
A system and method for registering range images from objects detected by multiple LiDAR sensors on a vehicle. The method includes aligning frames of data from at least two LiDAR sensors having over-lapping field-of-views in a sensor signal fusion operation so as to track objects detected by the sensors. The method defines a transformation value for at least one of the LiDAR sensors that identifies an orientation angle and position of the sensor and provides target scan points from the objects detected by the sensors where the target scan points for each sensor provide a separate target point map. The method projects the target point map from the at least one sensor to another one of the LiDAR sensors using a current transformation value to overlap the target scan points from the sensors.
US09329267B2
Methods and sonar system for displaying a nautical chart and for adjusting depth indicators on the chart based on a calculated offset between the actual water level and the standard water level on which the chart is based. The offset is based on sonar soundings compared to depths indicated by the chart. The sonar system's processor automatically adjusts the chart's depth indicators to reflect the offset.
US09329264B2
SAR imaging method that includes applying PRF decimation to range-compressed IQ data to generate PRF-decimated range-compressed IQ data for each image block of an image and applying motion compensation to the PRF-decimated range-compressed IQ data to generate motion-compensated data for each image block. The method includes computing first stage image values at image grid point intersections of iso-range lines and vertical grid lines for each image bock based on the motion-compensated data for each image block. The method also includes computing second stage image values for the image grid point intersections by interpolation using the first stage image values at the image grid point intersections and correcting image phase of the second stage image values for the image grid point intersections to generate phase-corrected image values for each image block. The method includes generating a full-resolution SAR image by summing the phase-corrected image values for each image block.
US09329260B2
A method of high-resolution ultrasound imaging, in which transducers are made to emit ultrasound waves in a field of observations containing micro bubbles, by making the micro bubbles burst one by one in tandem with the emissions of ultrasound waves. At each shot j of an ultrasound wave, raw reverberated signals Sj(i,t) picked up by each transducer i are recorded, and then differential signals Vj(i,t) representative of variations between successive raw signals are determined, a parabolic function Pj(x) is fitted to the differential signals corresponding to each shot j, and then a crest Aj(x0,y0) of this function Pj, corresponding to the position of the micro bubble destroyed between shots j−1 and j, is determined.
US09329252B2
Phase error in MR imaging is corrected in real time by providing adaptive RF pulses and corresponding adaptive magnetic field gradients to mitigate the effect of phase error in the imaging subject. A real time phase error map is obtained, and then adaptive RF pulses and corresponding field gradients are applied that remove the problematic effects of the phase error. Depending on details of the MR imaging mode being employed, there are several ways this removal can be done. Phase error can be cancelled by providing RF pulses that make the phase in the imaging subject uniform. Another approach is to make the adaptive RF pulses insensitive to the phase errors that are present.
US09329242B2
A method for monitoring the short-circuiting switching device of a three-phase motor (3) for driving vehicles, which is fed from a DC voltage source (1) via a controlled converter (2), wherein the short-circuiting switching device (5) actuated by a control logic (6) is connected to the inputs of the motor, and the motor currents and/or motor voltages are measured, and a predetermined test pattern, which is different from the voltage/current profiles during operation, is generated with the aid of the controlled converter (2) during a test phase and is supplied to the motor (3), the short-circuiting switching device is actuated for the activation thereof, the current and/or voltage profile is detected during the test phase by opening and closing of short-circuiting contacts and, on the basis of the current and/or voltage distribution in the individual motor phases, the correct open-ing/closing of the short-circuiting contacts is detected and evaluated.
US09329239B2
The signal output circuit of the highest rank state detection section outputs an abnormal signal that is generated by the processing device when an abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection section. When no abnormality is detected, a normal signal is generated by the processing device and output as the detection signal. In each state detection section other than that of the highest rank, the signal output circuit outputs an abnormal signal generated by the processing device when an abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection section, and outputs the detection signal input from a higher rank state detection section when no abnormality is detected.
US09329229B2
An integrated circuit including a degradation monitoring circuit. The degradation monitoring circuit includes a comparison circuit having a programmable delay element including an input coupled to a data node of a timing path and having an output to provide a delayed signal of a data signal of the data node that is delayed by a programmable amount. The comparison circuit includes a logic comparator that provides a logic comparison between a data signal of the data node and the output of the delay element. The monitoring circuit includes a sampling circuit that provides a sampled signal of the output of the logic comparator that is a sampled with respect to a clock signal of the clock signal line. The monitoring circuit includes a hold circuit that provides a signal indicative of a data signal of the data node transitioning within a predetermined time of an edge transition of a clock signal of the clock signal line.
US09329227B2
An apparatus for determining an electrical reliability of a ball grid array (BGA) assembly of an integrated circuit is presented. The assembly comprises a testing printed circuit board (PCB) having an integrated circuit (IC) test region located thereon. Vias extend through the testing PCB from a surface to an underside thereof within the IC test region. Each via has an IO pad or ground pad electrically connectable thereto. An IC package having an IC die connected thereto by solder bumps is connected to the IC test region by solder balls, such that each of the IO pads is electrically connectable to a respective pair of the solder balls and solder bumps by the vias. A method of testing interconnection reliability of the BGA using the apparatus is also presented.
US09329220B2
A method for detecting an arc event occurring in an electrical system includes sensing a voltage using a voltage sensing device coupled to a component of the electrical system, producing a signal waveform representative of the sensed voltage using the voltage sensing device, and sampling at a predetermined frequency the voltage signal waveform to generate a plurality of sample waveforms. The method further includes applying a wavelet transform to each sample waveform to decompose them into a predetermined number of detailed waveforms using a corresponding number of successive wavelet components, dividing each detailed waveform into a plurality of segments, analyzing the plurality of segments to detect a change in one or more of the properties of the corresponding detailed waveform, and determining an occurrence of the arc event based on the duration of the detected change of one or more of characteristics of the corresponding detailed waveform.
US09329215B2
A measurement auxiliary circuit is configured to form a resonance circuit together with a detection target. An ATAC is coupled with the resonance circuit. A signal generator applies an AC probe signal VS to the resonance circuit. After the impedance measurement apparatus enters a stable state, an impedance detection unit measures a voltage at at least one node and/or a current that flows through at least one current path. The impedance detection unit detects the impedance of the detection target based on the measurement value.
US09329214B2
The frequency decision device determines frequency of the measured rectangular signal by simple and easy means. The frequency decision device inputs the measured rectangular signal that frequency (or period) changes dynamically. It generates a rectangular reference signal of predetermined on width τ synchronizing to the edge based on a positive going edge of this measured rectangle signal. And it watches the order of measured rectangle signal and falling edges of the rectangular reference signal. When this sequential order reversed, it detects that length of the ON time of ON time of the measured rectangle signal and the measured rectangular signal reversed.
US09329210B1
An integrated circuit (IC) includes a reference voltage generator, a voltage regulator, a reset controller, and a voltage monitoring circuit. The reference voltage generator generates first and second reference voltages, and the voltage regulator generates a supply voltage. The reset controller stabilizes the first and second reference voltages in a first predetermined time period, and generates a power down signal after the first predetermined time period. The voltage monitoring circuit compares a level of the supply voltage with a level of the second reference voltage after the first predetermined time period and generates a (low) voltage monitor signal. The reset controller also generates a (high) reset signal when the supply voltage is greater than the second reference voltage.
US09329209B1
A peak detector circuit receives an oscillating power supply signal. A capacitor is selectably coupled to the signal and charged to a value corresponding to a peak value of the signal. A switch is then opened to isolate the capacitor. When the signal rises to within a selected threshold, relative to the stored value, a comparator produces a command signal to close the switch, again coupling the capacitor to the signal. The peak detector can also include a tracking circuit that controls the capacitor to track the oscillating signal while the switch is closed, a timer circuit that closes the switch and activates the tracking circuit if more than a selected time passes without production of a command signal, a circuit that controls the polarity of a leakage current of the capacitor, a further auxiliary capacitor and a further auxiliary switch with a further control logic.
US09329201B2
Methods, devices, and systems for forming atomically precise structures are provided. In some embodiments, the methods, devices, and systems of the present disclosure utilize a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to remove portions of a monolayer of atoms or molecules from a crystalline surface to form atomically precise structures. The STM is utilized to both image the sample and remove the desired portions of the monolayer of atoms or molecules. In some instances, the lattice structure of the crystalline surface is utilized as a coordinate system by a control system of the STM to facilitate the automated removal of specific atoms or molecules from the crystalline surface.
US09329199B2
An acoustic sensor includes a back plate; at least one back plate electrode coupled to the back plate; a proof of mass with the proof of mass elastically coupled to the back plate; and a proof of mass electrode coupled to the proof of mass. Movement of the sensor causes a capacitance between the proof of mass electrode and the at least one back plate electrode to vary and the capacitance represents a magnitude of the movement of the sensor.
US09329194B2
A laboratory automation system that is capable of carrying out clinical chemistry assays, immunoassays, amplification of nucleic acid assays, and any combination of the foregoing, said laboratory automation system employing at least one of micro-well plates and deep multi-well plates as reaction vessels. The use of micro-well plates as reaction vessels enables the laboratory automation system to assume a variety of arrangements, i.e., the laboratory automation system can comprise a variety of functional modules that can be arranged in various ways. In order to effectively carry out immunoassays by means of micro-well plates, a technique known as inverse magnetic particle processing can be used to transfer the product(s) of immunoassays from one micro-well of a micro-well plate to another.
US09329188B2
The present application relates to the isolation and analysis of populations of microvesicles and the identification of invasive microvesicles in the populations such as populations of microvesicles that are shed by tumor cells. Invasive microvesicles from tumor cells contain a variety of specific proteins, such as ARF6.
US09329178B2
Disclosed is a method and kit of detecting a target material using an aptamer, and more particularly to a method and kit for detecting a target material, in which a sample and a second aptamer are added to a first aptamer immobilized on a solid phase so as to form a bond sandwiched between the first aptamer, the target material and the second aptamer, to an FET sensor-based method and kit for detecting a target material, and to an AAO sensor-based method and kit for detecting a target material.The method for a target material using an aptamer can detect even low-molecular-weight materials which were difficult to detect in the prior art, thereby enabling detection of disease-related metabolites, environmental pollutants and food toxins in solutions. In addition, the detection method is a direct and simple method and is highly cost-effective, because it uses the aptamer which can be consistently reproduced and can be produced at low costs.
US09329174B2
This invention provides a technique enabling to detect target molecules of low concentration with high sensitivity. This invention includes (i) a step of introducing a hydrophilic solvent (42) containing beads (40),(41′) into a space (30) between (a) a lower layer section (10) including a plurality of receptacles (13) each of which is capable of storing only one of the beads (41),(41′) and which are separated from each other by a side wall (12) having a hydrophobic upper surface and (b) an upper layer section (20) facing a surface of the lower layer section (10) on which surface the plurality of receptacles (13) are provided; and (ii) a step of introducing a hydrophobic solvent (43) into the space (30), the step (ii) being carried out after the step (i).
US09329169B2
The present invention relates to a method of isotopically labeling glycans and in facilitating high throughput quantitative/comparative analysis of glycomic compositions of biological cells. The method is applicable inter alia for identifying differentiated cells and their glycomic characteristics, differentiation conditions, disease and/or therapeutic progression, diagnosing disease states, determining drug activity, establishing manufacturing efficiencies and for determining the half-life of glycans in cells.
US09329166B2
A urine sample testing apparatus comprises: a urine qualitative measuring section configured to acquire a measurement result for each of a plurality of urine qualitative measurement items; a urine sediment measuring section configured to acquire a measurement result for each of a plurality of urine sediment measurement items; an operation part that is operable by a user to specify a combination of one of the plurality of urine qualitative measurement items and one of the plurality of urine sediment measurement items; an information processing unit configured to determine whether or not a first measurement result of the urine sample obtained by the urine qualitative measuring section and a second measurement result of the urine sample obtained by the urine sediment measuring section have a predetermined relationship with respect to the urine qualitative measurement item and the urine sediment measurement item included in the specified combination.
US09329156B2
A method of screening aircraft passengers and/or cargo comprising loading an aircraft with passengers, cargo or both, circulating air within the aircraft so that the air is in contact with the passengers and/or cargo, expelling some of the circulated air from the aircraft, diverting a portion of the air being expelled from the aircraft through a chemical filter configured to retained evidence of a target substance, and analyzing the chemical filter to detect the presence of a target substance within the aircraft.
US09329141B2
A device and method of the present disclosure provides large field-of-view Talbot-Lau phase contrast CT systems up to very high X-ray energy. The device includes microperiodic gratings tilted at glancing incidence and tiled on a single substrate to provide the large field-of-view phase contrast CT system. The present disclosure is a simple, economical, and accurate method for combining multiple GAIs into a larger FOV system, capable of performing phase-contrast tomography (PC-CT) on large objects. The device and method can be applied to medical X-ray imaging, industrial non-destructive testing, and security screening.
US09329138B2
A method for standoff detection and analysis of objects comprises sending a signal through an inspection area, from a transmitter to a receiver, wherein the signal travels through objects in its path. If the signal encounters an object, through which it must travel, the speed of signal distribution decreases and its amplitude drops. A processor then determines the amplitude of the signal and whether the amplitude is above a given threshold, and if the threshold is met, further determining the shift in length of the signal's optical path, determining the thickness of the object, calculating the dielectric permittivity constant, and comparing this constant to known values of different materials to determine a preselected group of materials, to which the object in the inspection area belongs, and whether the inspected object belongs to a preselected group of dangerous objects. A system for detecting and analyzing such materials is also disclosed.
US09329123B2
Methods and optical detection systems (200, 300, 800, 900) for generating and processing a real-time time-domain cavity ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS) signal (831, 931) from an absorbing species in an optical detection system (200, 300, 800, 900) having an optical ringdown cavity (200, 300) are disclosed. The optical ringdown cavity (200, 300) is adapted for accepting a sample of an absorbing species. One or more modulated light signals (241,243,245,341) are generated using one or more light sources (240, 242, 244, 340). The light source(s) (240, 242, 244, 340) is pulsed at a specified pulse rate(s). The modulated light signal(s) (241,243,245, 341) is resonated using the optical ringdown cavity (200, 300) comprising a plurality of mirrors (220, 230), or sets of mirrors (320, 330), to produce the CRDS signal (831, 931). The reflectivity of the mirrors (220, 230), or sets of mirrors (320, 330), is dependent upon the pulse rate of the modulated light signals (241,243,245,341). Different beamlines (212, 214, 216, 312, 314, 316) are established by the modulated light signal(s) (241,243,245, 341) and the mirrors (220, 230, 320, 330) interacting with the absorbing species sample.
US09329121B2
The invention relates to a sensor having a filter arrangement, downstream of which there is arranged a detector arrangement, and an evaluating device connected to the detector arrangement. The filter arrangement has at least a first filter, the suspect filter, and at least one second filter, the reference filter(s). The first filter is configured as a band pass filter allowing the passage of a first predetermined band, the suspect band. The at least one second filter is configured as a band pass filter allowing the passage of a second predetermined band(s), the reference band(s). The detector arrangement has at least one detector associated with at least one of the filters. The band passes reference filters are distributed above and below the band pass of the suspect filter. The sensor with advantage could be utilized within the IR band, and could advantageously be used to detect CO2.
US09329112B2
A container holding, and a method of storing, freeze-dried biological samples. The container includes a chamber having an upper portion and a lower portion. The chamber includes a wall, and the lower portion of the chamber is fluidly connected to the upper portion of the chamber such that, when liquid is received at the upper portion, the received liquid can pass to and accumulate in the lower portion. Further, the freeze-dried material is located in the lower portion, and the container includes a physical structure in the form of a stop protruding inwards from the wall, the physical structure being for inhibiting the freeze-dried material from moving from the lower portion of the chamber to the upper portion of the chamber.
US09329093B2
The present invention relates to an apparatus for determining torque in a shaft, the apparatus comprising an elongate member with a weakened region partway along its length, and means for securing the member to the shaft either side of the weakened region, preferably adjacent each end of the elongate member. The invention extends to a method of localising the twist a shaft undergoes, comprising securing an elongate member to a shaft, wherein the elongate member comprises a weakened region partway along its length.
US09329092B2
The invention concerns an industrial robot and a method to determine a torque having an effect on a limb of the robotic arm. The robotic arm has several sequentially arranged limbs, of which a first limb is stored relative to a second limb of the limbs on an axis of rotation, and using a stationary motor relative to the second limb and a gearbox connected to the motor, is rotatable around the axis of rotation.
US09329089B2
In certain embodiments, an optical device and a method of use is provided. The optical device includes a fiber Bragg grating having a substantially periodic refractive index modulation along a length of the fiber Bragg grating. The fiber Bragg grating has a power transmission spectrum with a plurality of local transmission minima, wherein each pair of neighboring local transmission minima has a local transmission maximum therebetween. The local transmission maximum has a maximum power at a transmission peak wavelength. The optical device further includes a narrowband optical source in optical communication with a first optical path and a second optical path. The narrowband optical source is configured to generate light having a wavelength at or in the vicinity of a local transmission maximum or at or in the vicinity of a wavelength at which the power transmission spectrum has a maximum slope between a local transmission maximum and either one of two local transmission minima neighboring the local transmission maximum.
US09329083B2
A mobile apparatus is provided for measuring photometric characteristics of airport marker lights. The mobile apparatus includes a measuring rod configured to be moved above the marker lights to be checked, in light beams emitted by these marker lights, and a device for measuring the distance between the measuring rod and the marker lights to be checked. The measuring rod carries at least one photometric sensor and includes a device for acquiring and processing the signals emitted by the photometric sensor or sensors during its movement, as a function of the distance measured between the measuring rod and the marker lights to be checked. The device for acquisition and processing is configured to generate a set of data representing photometric characteristics of each marker light checked.
US09329071B2
The amount of processing liquid consumed from the processing liquid in the tank is calculated based on the history of opening and closing events of one or more of the valves, and that the anomaly detection controller of the substrate processing apparatus generates a level sensor failure alarm if the calculated amount of consumed processing liquid has increased beyond a state transition liquid consumption amount and yet the level sensor has not switched from the first state to the second state. The substrate processing apparatus and the level sensor are designed so that the level sensor switches from the first state to the second state when the calculated amount of consumed processing liquid has increased beyond the state transition liquid consumption amount.
US09329069B2
The present invention provides a liquid level system with a blowdown feature.
US09329067B2
A system is provided for feeding a stream of material. The system includes a feeder, a material density portion, a detector, a weight calculator and an indicator. The feeder can output a portion of the stream of the material from a first position to a second position. The material density portion can generate a density signal based on the density of the material. The detector can detect a volume of the portion of the stream of the material without contacting the portion of the stream of the material and can generate a volume signal based on the detected volume. The weight calculator can calculate a weight based on the density signal and the volume signal and can generate a weight signal. The indicator can provide an indication signal based on the weight signal.
US09329064B2
A flow meter regulation valve fastening structure includes a holder with one side coupled with a regulation valve by screwing. The regulation valve has a regulation shaft with a flange and a screw head located at an upper side. The screw head is coupled with an anchor member. The anchor member has a coupling plate at one end coupled on the screw head and an anchor plate at another end with two detent plates extended downwards from two sides to butt two sides of the frame edge of the holder for retaining. Thereby when the regulation valve is coupled with the holder and a pipe, the junction of the regulation valve and the holder can be prevented from generating fractures due to excessive turning forces.
US09329062B2
A method for calibrating a rotary encoder, in particular an incremental encoder, of an electrical machine, wherein the encoder has a number of reference marks and outputs a sine track and a cosine track. The electrical machine can be regulated to a specific speed, an angle of the electrical machine is determined with the aid of the sine track and/or the cosine track, from this an angular progression over time is ascertained, an oscillation in the angular progression over time with a frequency of substantially one integral multiple of the product of the specific speed and the number of reference marks is ascertained, and from this a correction factor the sine track and/or the cosine track is derived, wherein the amplitude of the oscillation is less than or equal to a limiting value. The invention further relates to an encoder evaluation and an electric motor having a rotary encoder.
US09329061B2
An industrial process transmitter comprises a sensor module, a housing and a compression ring. A process sensor is located in the sensor module. The housing comprises an electronics compartment having an internal space in which transmitter electronics are located, and a sensor compartment having opening into which the sensor module is inserted. The compression ring is attached to the sensor module or the housing and is configured to arrest rotation of the housing with respect to the sensor module.
US09329058B2
An encoder (100) includes a cylindrical body (10), a sensor unit (7) configured to detect a displacement of the cylindrical body (10) in a circumferential direction of the cylindrical body (10), and a scale (2) that is attached to the cylindrical body (10) using a holder (12) and a holder (13) and that has a signal detection effective region (14) used to detect the displacement by the sensor unit (7), and a region (17) that has a stiffness smaller than a stiffness of the signal detection effective region (14) in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body (10) is provided on an outside of the signal detection effective region (14) and on at least one side of the first holder (12) and the second holder (13).
US09329057B2
Presented herein is a magnetic field sensor architecture that uses outputs of a peak detector and threshold detector operating in parallel to detect magnetic anomalies that may be associated with the target being sensed, e.g., a rotational ferromagnetic object such as a toothed gear, and use such detection to prevent sensor malfunction. The sensor includes an edge detection circuit and an error detection circuit. In one embodiment, the edge detection circuit includes circuits to detect edges (or transitions) of the threshold and peak detector output signals and the error detection circuit includes circuits, responsive to the edge detection circuit, to indicate an error when a “missed transition” occurs or a peak-to-peak value of an input signal as detected by the peak detector for a current cycle differs from an expected peak-to-peak value by a predetermined amount.
US09329042B1
The invention relates to a controller, and more particularly, to systems, devices and methods of processing multiple sensor signals of a gyroscope. The signal processor includes: a front end amplifier for converting a signal into a voltage variation signal; at least one analog-to-digital converter coupled to the front end amplifier and operative to convert an analog signal into a digital signal; and at least one demodulator coupled to the analog-to-digital converter and operative to demodulate the digital signal to thereby extract an envelope signal therefrom.
US09329035B2
Due to their parallel illumination and acquisition for all the pixels, today's state-of-the-art time-of-flight (TOF) range cameras suffer from erroneous measurements caused by multiple reflections in the scene. The invention proposes to compensate for the multi-path fusing the results obtained by applying two spatially different illumination schemes, typically one to achieve highest possible lateral resolution and for the second one structuring the emitted light and by doing so lowering the lateral resolution but limiting the impact of multiple reflections.
US09329029B2
In the machine tool (10) pertaining to the present invention, an imaging device (33) takes an image of a tool (20) being moved in the feeding direction. Contour lines (51) are identified by means of the plurality of sets of image data generated from imaging. The movement trajectory (52) and the central axis (53) of the tool (20) are identified on the basis of the contour lines (51). When the movement trajectory (52) and the central axis (53) are offset, said offset can be used to correct the positioning of the tool (20) with the machine tool (10). As a result, the processing accuracy of a workpiece improves. Moreover, when the dimensions of a tool (20) that has a tilted posture are measured, it is possible to determine the actual tool diameter or the actual blade position in the tilted posture. The aforementioned blade position and tool diameter can be used to correct the positioning of the machine tool (10). Thus, the processing accuracy of the workpiece improves even more.
US09329019B2
An apparatus for detecting a magnetically conductive object in a detection area has an electrical coil and at least one sensor element. The apparatus is intended to be as free of degradation processes as possible and thus requires little maintenance and is configured and set up with the highest possible degree of redundancy and measurement reliability. For this purpose, the coil is set up to form a magnetic field in the detection area and the sensor element is configured to detect a magnetic field with a field strength, the magnitude of which is greater than a predefined threshold value. The threshold value is set to be higher than the field strength present in the detection area when the magnetically conductive object is absent and lower than the field strength present therein when the object is present.
US09329015B2
Disclosed is an object feeder system configured for arrangement in a three dimensional scanner, the system comprising: an object feeder scanning plate assembly comprising a number of tracks, wherein each track adapted to hold at least one object holder, wherein said tracks are configured to extend within the plate assembly from a parking area towards a scanning area, and where each object holder is configured for retaining an object to be scanned in the scanner for obtaining a three dimensional representation of the object, and wherein the object feeder system further comprises means for moving the at least one object holder in the at least one track.
US09329014B1
Various embodiments of tape measures having a horizontally mounted reel are described. Some tape measures include a plurality of guide members that twist and guide a measuring tape blade as the measuring tape blade is uncoiled from the reel and extended through a slot in the tape measure casing. In some embodiment, the plurality of members include a bottom guide member between the reel and a bottom wall of the casing, a side guide member between the reel and a side wall of casing, and a variable-diameter guide member between the bottom roller and the side roller. In some embodiment, the variable-diameter roller is formed from the reel and a coiled portion the measuring tape blade.
US09329007B2
Charged projectile assemblies include a housing and an electronic assembly configured to produce an electric field about at least a portion of the housing of the projectile. Cartridge assemblies for use with firearms include charged projectiles. Methods of charging a projectile include forming an electric field about at least a portion of a projectile and extending the electric field at least partially between a forward portion of the projectile and an aft portion of the projectile.
US09329006B1
A magnetic blade retainer for an expandable broadhead utilizing the properties of magnetic attraction to reliably secure a plurality of blades completely within respective blade channels so that an expandable broadhead may closely resemble the flight properties of a practice arrow tip yet lethally expand upon impact with a target. Extraneous parts are eliminated, but a strong, disc magnet is inset or integrated into the forward portion of a broadhead tip assembly. Each blade is provided with a magnetic, flat forward end. The interaction of the flat forward end and the magnet magnetically retain each blade. The magnetic bond is broken when the arrow penetrates a target. An actuating spike further transfers the impact energy to each blade. The forces on the actuating spike then drag each blade backward and each blade extends as the rearward forces are translated by the wedging surface near the end of the channel.
US09329002B1
The present invention features a dart board comprising a digital target display ring (DTDR) surrounding a target area. The DTDR is operatively connected to a controller with a microprocessor, wherein said microprocessor is configured to (a) receive an input signal from an input device when the input device is actuated, and (b) generate an output signal to the DTDR for the DTDR to display a unique graphic according to pre-programmed commands for the actuated input device.
US09328995B1
A sight aid including a supplementary sight alignment indicator having a projection plane and a projection device adapted to project a supplementary sight alignment indicator and at least one reference point on the projection plane, the supplementary sight alignment indicator is axially-centered with respect to the sight alignment indicator and spaced apart therefrom on the optical axis for forming a composite image with the image of the sight alignment indicator, the target image being viewable together by the user by means of the ocular lens and the projection plane is disposed at a distance from the sight alignment indicator. An adaptor secures the supplementary sight alignment indicator to a portion of the projectile device or the housing.
US09328988B2
A projectile launching device includes a receiver, an ammunition magazine, and a trap. The receiver has a magazine receiving port, a loading chamber, and a launching mechanism configured to launch a projectile via pressurized gas. The ammunition magazine has a projectile supply port and stores projectiles. The projectile supply port can be inserted into the magazine receiving port for supplying projectiles. The trap, which is located in the vicinity of the loading chamber and magazine receiving port, is oriented in a trap orientation which prevents projectile from leaving the loading chamber when the ammunition magazine is removed from the receiver.
US09328987B2
A crossbow may include a crossbow barrel having reduced weight and increased strength and shock resistance to the crossbow. This invention may also aid in improving torsional resistance, improving specific stiffness, and increasing compresses strength. The invention may also reduce friction between a barrel and a bow string to increase bow string life. The invention may also reduce the friction between a barrel and a bow to allow added arrow distance. Additionally, the crossbow may decrease both vibration and sound.
US09328973B2
A heat exchanger (30) includes vertically arranged flat tubes (33) and plate-like fins (36) arranged in the direction in which the flat tubes (33) extend. The flat tubes (33) are inserted into notches (45) of the fins (36). Parts of the fins (36) between vertically adjacent ones of the notches (45) are windward plate parts (70), and parts of the fins (36) at leeward sides of the notches (45) are leeward plate parts (75). Each of the windward plate parts (70) includes windward heat transfer promotion parts (71) constituted by protrusions (81-83) and louvers (50a, 50b). On the plate parts (75), leeward heat transfer promotion parts (76) constituted by leeward protrusions (84) are provided. The heat transfer promotion parts (76) are located at leeward sides of the notches (45), and overlap with the heat transfer promotion parts (71) when viewed from front edges (38) of the fins (36).
US09328960B2
An air feeding device for producing anodes in an annular kiln includes at least one kiln unit having a heating zone, a firing zone, and a cooling zone, each having a plurality of kiln chambers which are interconnected by heating channels, are formed as heat exchangers and are used to receive anodes. Primary air is introduced into the cooling zone by a primary air feeding device for the passage of air through the kiln unit and, once it has passed through the firing zone, being discharged from the heating zone as flue gas by means of an exhaust device. Secondary air is fed into the heating zone upstream of the exhaust device by a secondary air feeding device.
US09328959B2
A drying station for a vehicle wash facility includes at least one rotatable drying wheel positioned adjacent a vehicle treatment area. The at least one rotatable drying wheel has a drying material disposed thereon and which can engage an exterior of the vehicle to remove water accumulated thereon. The drying station includes a beater device disposed adjacent the at least one rotatable drying wheel with the beater device and the drying wheel being engageable as the at least one rotatable drying wheel rotates. As the rotatable drying wheel spins, the drying material contacts the beater device to help minimize its level of saturation.
US09328956B2
A control system for operating a refrigerator appliance is provided. The refrigerator has a variable damper, a variable speed fan, and a variable speed compressor. The damper position, evaporator fan speed, and compressor speed are determined through interacting feedback control loops based on the set point temperatures for the fresh food and freezer compartments as well as the measured temperatures in such compartments. The adjustment of these actuators can eliminate large temperature fluctuations and discontinuities in the air flow and improve the thermal performance and energy efficiency of the refrigerator.
US09328954B2
A refrigerator without a kick plate and having an outer case with a water supply pipe at a bottom surface of the outer case. A lower hinge module of a refrigerator includes a body hinge bracket having one portion fixed to the lower surface of the outer case and the remaining portion disposed at the lower portion of the door for supporting the door, a hinge shaft which is protruded from the body hinge bracket and coupled at the lower surface of the door for the door to be capable of rotating and at which a central hole formed for the water supply pipe to pass through, a support member coupled to the lower portion of the body hinge bracket and supported by the bottom surface outside, and a guide unit which is provided along the outer side of the support member.
US09328953B2
A refrigerator includes a compressor, a condenser, an expansion unit, an evaporator for evaporating a refrigerant that has passed through the expansion unit, a heating unit for providing heat for defrosting the evaporator, a photographing device provided at one side of the evaporator and disposed to photograph the evaporator, so as to sense the amount of frost on the evaporator, the photographing device including a photographing unit for photographing frost on the evaporator and the surrounding background, and a control unit configured to determine the amount of frost on the evaporator from an image taken by the photographing device by acquiring pixel values which are proportionate to the amount of frost on the evaporator by applying image processing which includes binarization that separates the frost from other acquired images to determine the amount of frost on the evaporator, the control unit further configured to control the heating unit to operate when the amount of frost exceeds a predetermined amount.
US09328951B2
A refrigerator includes a main body with a first storage compartment; a first evaporation compartment provided within the main body in order to cool the first storage compartment; and a first evaporator provided in the first evaporation compartment. The refrigerator further includes a second storage compartment independently provided in the first storage compartment including a case forming an insulation space so as to maintain a temperature lower than the first storage compartment and a drawer to insert into and remove from the case; a second evaporation compartment, independent from the first evaporation compartment, formed in the second storage compartment; and a second evaporator provided in the second evaporation compartment.
US09328944B2
An air conditioning apparatus includes a refrigeration circuit, a magnetic material member, a magnetic field generator, a detector and a controller. The refrigeration cycle has a compressor, an intake-side heat exchanger, a discharge-side heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and a refrigerant tube connected in series by first, second, third and fourth tube parts of the refrigerant tube to form a closed loop. The magnetic field generator generates a magnetic field in order to inductively heat the magnetic material member. The detector detects temperature or pressure in refrigerant flowing through a predetermined portion of the refrigerant circuit. The controller confirms satisfaction of a magnetic-field-generating-permission condition before initiating the magnetic field generator to generate the magnetic field after a startup of the compressor. The magnetic-field-generating-permission condition is that a value detected by the detector changes when the compressor executes two different compression states of different compressor outputs having different frequencies.
US09328933B2
A method for efficient control of a heater ventilation fan. The method includes switching the heater ventilation fan from low speed to high speed after a brief period P1 following starting, and continuing heater ventilation fan operation for a variable period of time P2 after the heat source has stopped. The period P1 is preferably about four minutes, and the period P2 is determined by the duration of heating and is generally between two and four minutes. Operating the heater ventilation fan at high speed improves heat transfer and efficiency while the heating system is operating, increases warm air movement to the space, satisfies the thermostat set point temperature in less time, reduces heating system operation, and reduces energy use. Continuing heater ventilation fan operation after turn-off maximizes recovery of additional heat from the heat exchanger to improve overall efficiency, extend the off cycle time, and save energy.
US09328913B2
[Object] To provide an electric light bulb type light source apparatus capable of suppressing the influence of heat from the light source unit to the speaker.[Solving Means] An electric light bulb type light source apparatus includes a light source unit, a speaker, a driving module, a base and a support unit. The driving module is configured to drive the light source unit and the speaker. The base is used for supplying power to the driving module. The support unit integrally supports the speaker and the light source unit in such a manner that the speaker and the light source unit are separated from each other and the light source unit is disposed between the speaker and the base.
US09328912B2
An illuminating bar of soap is disclosed that includes a shell, a light module, and a soap dispenser; wherein the light module comprises a sensor and at least one light source; whereas when the sensor senses a change in its surroundings, stability or a combination thereof, such as motion, temperature or light, the sensor triggers the light source to illuminate for a predetermined amount of time.
US09328905B2
Embodiments may be directed to an OLED illuminating apparatus including a lamp unit including a panel with an organic emission unit, a connection terminal electrically connected to the organic emission unit, and a housing coupled to the panel, the housing including a relay terminal that is electrically connected to the connection terminal; and a supporting unit detachably coupled to the lamp unit, the supporting unit supporting the lamp unit and supplying electric power to the organic emission unit by connecting to the relay terminal when coupled to the lamp unit.
US09328904B2
The invention refers to a lighting device (10) for a support or supply system (T) for medical-electrical devices, respectively, having: a light rack (1) for carrying an illuminant (2), at least one illuminant (2) attached to the light rack, a light cover (3) for covering the illuminant, and fixing means (4) for fixing the rack (1) to the medical support or supply system, respectively, wherein an assembly of the light rack (1), the at least one illuminant (2), and the light cover (3) generates a flat and space-saving profile for the lighting device (10), and wherein the lighting device (10) is designed for being retrofitted on a substantially horizontal surface of the support or supply system (T), respectively, to serve as floor lighting or ceiling lighting.
US09328902B2
A reflector (1; 31; 41) for a lighting device comprising: (13; 61; 62), at least one rear cutout (6) for a light source (20; 47; 56) in each case and at least one front-side reflector opening (8), wherein at least one spring element (10; 34; 45) is incorporated into the reflector (1; 31; 41).
US09328901B2
A light emitting diode (LED) lamp comprises a casing part inserted into the region on which the lamp is installed. A PCB part is seated on the casing part in two stage. A connector part connects and fixes the PCB part to the casing part to supply power to the PCB part. A cover part is disposed above the PCB part to protect the LED mounted on the PCB part. The casing part comprises a cover fixing part and a coupling protrusion is disposed on the cover part. The coupling protrusion is inserted and fixed into the cover fixing part. An adhesive is applied to the bottom surface of the coupling protrusion to insert the coupling protrusion into the cover fixing part, thereby firmly coupling the coupling protrusion to the cover fixing part.
US09328900B2
The invention relates to a packaged LED module (1) comprising a module (2) having at least one LED (3) arranged thereon, and a one-piece package (10, 100) having a receptacle for the module (2), a substantially optically transmissive region (11, 11a, 11b, 11c), which makes it possible to emit light from the LED (3) towards the outside, an opening (16) and potting blocking means (17). The package (10, 100) is embodied in such a way that a potting component is introduced via the opening (16) into the package (10, 100) equipped with the module (2). The introduced potting component forms a potting body (30), which completely fills the package (10, 100), excluding a region between the LED (3) and the substantially optically transmissive region (11, 11a, 11b, 11c) on account of the potting blocking means (17), and which connects the package (10, 100), the module (2) and connecting cables (20) that can be connected to the module (2) in an externally sealing manner.
US09328898B1
Principles of nonimaging optics, imaging optics, etendue matching, and the Constant Brightness Theorem are used to provide an ultra-efficient solid state lighting optical system for stage and theatrical profile spotlights. Used in combination, an array of high brightness light emitting diodes, a nonimaging optical transform element, and an image forming optical element enable the design of profile spotlights capable of high brightness, low electrical power consumption, sharp gobo imaging, adjustable beam intensity profiles, and use of current industry standard accessories and elements, such as gobos, blades and irises.
US09328893B2
A luminaire comprises a light source in the form of at least one LED, and a transparent lampshade having a closed light inlet end and an open light outlet end with a light outlet opening, the light source being arranged at the light inlet end, outside the lampshade. It is provided that the lampshade comprises a recess at the light inlet end which points to the light outlet opening.
US09328883B1
A remote emergency light system provides a base unit that is electrically coupled to one or more remote emergency light fixtures using cables. The base unit may provide power to each of the remote emergency light fixtures using the cables to activate the remote emergency light fixtures during an emergency condition. Alternatively, the base unit may provide a trickle charge to one or more remote emergency light fixtures when each of the remote emergency light fixtures includes an energy charging device. The base unit may be configured to communicate with the remote emergency light fixtures and determine when a trickle charge should be sent to a remote emergency light fixture, when a trickle charge should be stopped for a remote emergency light fixture, and/or when an energy charging device needs to be replaced. The cables can meet the requirements for Class 2 circuits as defined by the National Electric Code.
US09328877B2
The present disclosure provides a (Ba1−z,Srz)3MgSi2O8:Eu2+ based phosphor with high emission quantum efficiency. Specifically, the present disclosure provides a blue light emitting phosphor including: a (Ba1−z,Srz)3MgSi2O8 based crystal where z satisfies 0≦z<1 and a (Ba1−z,Srz)MgSiO4 based crystal where z satisfies 0≦z<1 as a host crystal; and Eu2+ as a luminescent center.
US09328875B2
A laser illuminator/pointer can have an array of diode lasers for providing laser beams. A beam shaping optic can shape each of the laser beams. A movable, substantially transparent window can be in a path of the laser beams. A plurality of diffusers can be disposed on the window and can be positioned to vary a divergence of at least one of the laser beams when the window is moved.
