US09399959B2

A system according to the principles of the present disclosure includes a desired capacity module, an anticipated torque request module, and an engine actuator module. The desired capacity module generates a desired torque capacity of an engine at a future time based on a present torque request and a maximum torque output of the engine. The anticipated torque request module generates an anticipated torque request based on the desired torque capacity. The engine actuator module controls an actuator of the engine at a present time based on the anticipated torque request.
US09399956B2

An engine control system includes a mean effective pressure (MEP) module, an imbalance module, and a phaser control module. The MEP module determines MEPs for combustion cycles of cylinders, respectively, of an engine. The imbalance module selectively determines whether first and second banks of the cylinders are imbalanced based on the MEPs. When the first and second banks of cylinders are imbalanced, the phaser control module selectively adjusts at least one of: a first phaser of an intake camshaft of the second bank of cylinders; and a second phaser of an exhaust camshaft of the second bank of cylinders.
US09399947B2

An internal combustion engine with at least two rotatable bodies each defining at least one combustion chamber of variable volume and, for each rotatable body: a pilot subchamber, a pilot fuel injector having a tip in communication with the pilot subchamber, an ignition element positioned to ignite fuel within the pilot subchamber, and a main fuel injector spaced apart from the pilot fuel injector. The engine includes a common first fuel conduit in fluid communication with each main fuel injector, and a common second fuel conduit in fluid communication with each pilot fuel injector. First and second pressure regulating mechanisms which are settable at different pressure values from one another respectively regulate a fuel pressure in the first and second conduits. A method of combusting fuel in an internal combustion engine is also provided.
US09399942B2

A method for diagnosing reductant delivery performance of a reductant delivery system is provided. The method provides an outlet pressure sensor at a reductant outlet of the reductant delivery system and a virtual pressure sensor in an exhaust stream where reductant is injected into the stream. The method comprises calculating a downstream reductant flow rate using the outlet pressure sensor and the virtual pressure sensor; and calculating an upstream reductant flow rate within the reductant delivery system using at least one of a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor and a control valve. The calculated downstream and upstream reductant flow rates are compared, and diagnostics is conducted based the comparison to find the malfunctions in the reductant delivery system. An intrusive self-consistent diagnostics method allows for detection of malfunctions in the outlet pressure sensor and the virtual pressure sensor can be determined.
US09399937B2

An operating method of an exhaust gas aftertreatment system including at least a particulate filter for retaining soot from the exhaust gas of an engine and a deNOx catalytic converter for reducing nitrogen oxide in the exhaust gas of the engine is provided. Operation regimes of the particulate filter and of the deNOx catalytic converter are synchronized with respect to each other for performing regeneration of the particulate filter while the catalytic converter provides a nitrogen oxide conversion efficiency above a predetermined limit.
US09399933B2

A valve assembly includes a valve having a head and a stem. The head is configured to seal against a valve seat. The stem has a distal end. A first piston radially extends from the stem of the valve and is enclosed within a housing. A second piston is fixed to the distal end of the stem and seals against the housing. A first chamber is defined by the first piston, second piston and the housing and receives a compressed gas and maintains a desired gas pressure. A spring device is disposed intermediate the first piston and the housing. During normal operation of the engine, the gas pressure within the first chamber seals the head of the valve against the valve seat with the spring device in a compressed arrangement and wherein during periods of insufficient gas pressure the spring device biases the valve to seal against the valve seat.
US09399932B2

A variable valve device for varying a lift amount of a valve includes a first valve and a second valve that are respectively disposed to open or close a port, a swing arm in which first and second valve pressing portions are formed at both sides to press the first valve and the second valve, one supporting portion that supports a part that is apart from the first and the second valve pressing portions on the swing arm, a lost body that is rotatably disposed on the swing arm through a lost pin, a camshaft on which a first cam and a second cam are formed to respectively press the lost body and the swing arm, and a latching pin that selectively fixes the swing arm with the lost body and is disposed to move in a direction that the first and the second valves are arranged.
US09399924B2

A component, in particular for a gas turbine, is disclosed. The component has at least two component segments which are arranged relative to one another leaving a gap and are sealed against each other by a sealing device. The sealing device includes at least one brush seal. Also disclosed is a gas turbine, in particular an aircraft engine, having such a component.
US09399917B2

An airfoil for a turbine engine includes an airfoil that has pressure and suction sides that extend in a radial direction from a 0% span position at an inner flow path location to a 100% span position at an airfoil tip. The airfoil has a relationship between a leading edge dihedral and a span position. The leading edge dihedral is negative from the 0% span position to the 100% span position. A positive dihedral corresponds to suction side-leaning, and a negative dihedral corresponds to pressure side-leaning. The airfoil is a fan blade for a gas turbine engine. The airfoil has a relationship between a trailing edge dihedral and a span position. The trailing edge dihedral is positive from the 0% span position to the 100% span position. A positive dihedral corresponds to suction side-leaning and a negative dihedral corresponds to pressure side-leaning.
US09399906B2

A system for heating hydrocarbon resources in a subterranean formation having a wellbore therein includes a coaxial transmission line, a balun, and a radio frequency (RF) antenna coupled together in series and configured to be positioned in the wellbore so that the RF antenna heats the hydrocarbon resources in the subterranean formation. The coaxial transmission line includes an inner conductor and an outer conductor surrounding the inner conductor. The balun includes an outer conductive sleeve having a proximal end coupled to the outer conductor of the coaxial transmission line and a medial portion coupled to the inner conductor of the coaxial transmission line. An inner tubular conductor extends longitudinally within the outer conductive sleeve between the outer conductor of the coaxial transmission line and the RF antenna. The balun also includes a ferrite body surrounding the inner tubular conductor at the proximal end.
US09399896B2

A sieve device (1) for untreated drilling mud being brought up from a well and a method for use is provided. The sieve device (1) has a filter device (3) to separate a share of the drilling liquid from the drill cuttings. The sieve device (1) connects to a first outlet that receives drilling cuttings held back on the filter device (3) and a second outlet (11) that receives drilling liquid flowing from the filter device (3). The sieve device (1) also has at least one secondary filter (13) to separate drill cuttings from drilling liquid, a filter guard (17) being arranged in connection with the secondary filter (12), and a bypass arrangement (19) by means of which the filter guard (17) is arranged to open for communication of untreated drilling mud held back on the secondary filter (13), into the second outlet (11) for drilling liquid.
US09399894B2

A friction reducing assembly has a substantially cylindrical body member having an outer surface and friction reducing elements, such as ball transfer units or other omni-directional rolling-element bearing assemblies, disposed along such outer surface. The friction reducing assembly can take many different configurations including a rolling sub assembly, a mule shoe assembly or a centralizer assembly having an adjustable outer diameter.
US09399892B2

Earth-boring tools may have a body, a cutting element attached to the body at a first location, and a formation-engaging structure attached to the body at a second location. The formation-engaging structure may be movable during a drilling operation between a first position and a second position. In the first position, the formation-engaging structure may be located rotationally behind the cutting element at a first radial distance from a longitudinal axis of the body at which the cutting element will at least initially shield the formation-engaging structure from engaging a formation. In the second position, the formation-engaging structure may be located at a different second radial distance from the longitudinal axis of the body at which the formation-engaging structure will engage a formation.
US09399889B2

The present disclosure provides a door assembly for an animal enclosure. The assembly includes a door frame having a plurality of interconnected horizontal and vertical wires that define an opening for an animal to pass therethrough. The assembly also includes a door configured to move between an open position and a close position relative to the door frame. A latch is pivotably coupled to the door and includes a mechanism that is removably coupled to the door frame. The assembly further includes a first vertical wire and a second vertical wire of the door. A first guide wire and a second guide wire are coupled to the door frame. The first vertical wire is coupled to and moves along the first guide wire between the open and close positions, and the second vertical wire is coupled to and moves along the second guide wire between the open and close positions.
US09399885B2

A fenestration unit includes an outer frame portion, an inner frame portion and a supplemental fixation system that secures the outer frame portion to the inner frame portion. The supplemental fixation system increases a base force required to flex and release a complementary fit between a coupling feature of the outer frame portion and a retaining feature of the inner frame portion to a final force required to decouple the first and second frame portions.
US09399884B2

A door closer assembly is provided, including a valve regulating an amount of hydraulic fluid that flows through the valve. The amount of hydraulic fluid flowing through the valve controls a force generated by the door closer assembly on a door. A first sensor measures an angular position of the door, and a second sensor measures an angular position of the valve. The angular position of the valve determines the amount of hydraulic fluid flowing through the valve. A controller controls the adjustment of the valve based on the angular position of the door and the angular position of the valve.
US09399883B2

An automatically operated door system for an aircraft toilet is provided. The system has a folding door and a door frame. The folding door is arranged in the door frame to be movable between a closed door position and an open door position. The system also has a drive apparatus for moving the folding door between the closed door position and the open door position, a guiding member connected to the drive apparatus and a displacement element arranged on the folding door. The guiding member engages the displacement element to transfer the driving force of the drive apparatus to the displacement element; accordingly, the folding door is moved from the closed door position into a pre-folded door position.
US09399879B2

A handle assembly is provided for a door of a vehicle storage or baggage compartment and includes a latch module press fit onto the housing of the assembly. The handle assembly also includes a lock assembly with a security plate to preclude unauthorized manipulation of the lock arm. In one embodiment, a position switch is associated with the latch rotor to sense the unlatched position of the rotor. A remote control power unit may also be provided on the handle assembly for locking and unlocking the latch module via a key fob or other access system user interface. An LED may be associated with the power unit to indicate locking and unlocking events, or other vehicle status information. The mounting bracket of the assembly may be selected from interchangeable brackets for manual or power actuation of the lock assembly.
US09399878B2

A three part foundation system for supporting a building is described. Three part foundation systems can include a containment vessel, which constrains a buffer medium to an area above the containment vessel, and a construction platform. A building can be built on the construction platform. In a particular embodiment, during operation, the construction platform and structures built on the construction platform can float on the buffer medium. In an earthquake, a construction platform floating on a buffer medium may experience greatly reduced shear forces. In a flood, a construction platform floating on a buffer medium can be configured to rise as water levels rise to limit flood damage.
US09399876B2

A bleacher seating system provides a seatback locking and release mechanism that allows for rapid simultaneous repositioning of the seat back portions in each row of seating to aid in setting up and collapsing sets of seating rows. The locking and release mechanism may be actuated to substantially simultaneously unlock all seat back portions in a row from a single location. The bleacher seating system may be readily set up or collapsed by a single operator, such as by manually or remotely unlocking and locking the seat back portions in rows so that the seat backs may be pivoted between raised and lowered positions. Optionally, deck nosemount clamps allow for increased walking space behind the seats and a particularly compact seating storage configuration.
US09399873B2

A snow guard for a photovoltaic array that has a snap-in retrofit design in which a spring is pushed in to lock a clamp into a side groove in a photovoltaic module, thereby securing the snow guard to the side of the photovoltaic module.
US09399872B2

A system and method to attach an object to a support structure. The system includes an object attached to an elastic membrane. The elastic membrane includes a lower surface having a first and a second surface area. The first surface area extends peripherally along at least a portion of the lower surface and the second surface area is at least partially enclosed within the first surface area and separable from the support structure. The system further includes an absorbent material attached to the first surface area and an adhesive applied to a top surface of the support structure. The absorbent material being adapted to bond with at least a portion of the adhesive.
US09399867B2

Two building panels are connected through a column. One panel is bolted to the column, for example by way of fasteners passing through holes in a rib of the panel into threaded inserts in the column. A second panel is also bolted to the column, for example to threaded inserts open to another face of the column. Further panels in an upper or lower story of a building may be connected to the same column such that vertically stacked panels are connected together. In another connection, one end rib of a panel is made to receive a second panel. The second panel can be attached to the end rib of the first panel to make a corner.
US09399866B2

A thermal barrier panel with selectable phase change materials includes a thermal panel and a plurality of containers movably positioned within the thermal panel to correspond to a heat load at a corresponding ambient temperature. Each of the plurality of containers includes a plurality of receptacles that include a plurality of different phase change materials. Each of the plurality of different phase change materials absorbs thermal energy produced by heat from the heat load at a corresponding ambient temperature. Each of the plurality of different phase change materials are positioned in a corresponding receptacle within a corresponding container, and each of the plurality of receptacles in a corresponding container include one of the plurality of different phase change materials. Corresponding ones of the plurality of receptacles are movably positioned to place a corresponding phase change material in facing relation to the heat load based upon the corresponding ambient temperature.
US09399865B2

Improved isolation flooring systems, and methods for their use are disclose for protecting a payload, such as heavy or delicate equipment (such as laboratory or computer equipment), from damage due to vibrations, such as seismic vibrations. In preferred embodiments, the invention is drawn to methods of isolating heavy and/or sensitive objects from the full acceleration of seismic vibrations.
US09399859B2

A fluid delivery device including a body having at least one waterway, a valve assembly in fluid communication with the at least one waterway, the valve assembly including a movable valve member configured to control the flow of water through the at least one waterway and a stem operably coupled to the moveable valve member for movement therewith, and a handle coupled to the stem for movement therewith. A magnetically attractive element is supported by one of the handle and the stem, and at least one magnet is supported by the other of the handle and the stem that is configured to magnetically attract the magnetically attractive element to couple the handle to the stem.
US09399851B2

The invention relates to a piling apparatus for pile assembly comprises at least one walled pipe (26), a clamping frame (29) having a clamping mechanism to link to a walled pipe (26) which has been inserted into the earth, a pressing stand (24) linked to the clamping frame (29), pressing cylinders (35) having one end linked to the base of pressing stand (24), another end linked to a holding clamp (18). The holding clamp (18) is used to clamp over the material, so as to force at least one material to travel throughout the interior of the walled pipe (26) by using the friction between the walled pipe (26) which has been inserted into the ground with the ground served as a counterpoise components of the apparatus are constructed to press a pressing force against material, formed by pressing cylinders (35) applied to material by means of the holding clamp (18), and a reactive force transferred via the pressing stand (24), the clamping mechanism, the clamping frame (29) to the walled pipe (26) and balanced by the friction between the walled pipe (26) and the ground. The invention further relates to an installation process for pile assembly.
US09399848B2

A refuse compactor, comprising a machine frame, transportation devices, a drive motor, a driver's cab which is arranged on the machine frame, and an air intake device with at least one intake opening, wherein the air intake device is arranged in the forward direction behind the driver's cab and extends at least partly over the rear side of the driver's cab up to the roof of the driver's cab in the vertical direction.
US09399846B2

A snowthrower that, in one embodiment, includes a chute rotation control mechanism that permits manual rotation of a directional chute about a chute axis via one-handed input. The mechanism may have a chute rotation lever having a proximal end attached to the directional chute, the lever extending radially from the chute axis to terminate at a distal end, wherein a handle is provided at or near the distal end, the handle having a handle axis parallel to the chute axis.
US09399839B2

A system and method of manufacturing a fiber for use in manufacturing products including providing a feedstock including fiber derived from edible fruit of a plant. An agent that degrades pectin may be applied to the feedstock to form a feedstock mixture. The feedstock mixture may be agitated, and solution including the fiber from the feedstock mixture may be removed. The fiber may be isolated from the solution.
US09399838B2

The invention relates to a method for improving strength and retention in the manufacture of paper. According to the invention, a composition containing microfibrillated cellulose is provided in a fiber suspension, and from 0.1 to 10 w-% of microfibrillated cellulose by mass of the fiber suspension is added to improve the strength and retention of the product to be formed. In addition, the invention relates to a corresponding paper product.
US09399832B2

A stitch distribution control system for a tufting machine for controlling placement of yarns being fed to the needles of the tufting machine by yarn feed mechanisms to form a desired pattern. A backing material is fed through the tufting machine at an increased stitch rate as the needles are shifted according to calculated pattern steps. A series of loopers or hooks engage and pick loops of yarns from the needles. The yarn feed mechanisms further can be controlled so that selected loops of yarns can be back-robbed so as to be hidden from view in the finished patterned tufted article.
US09399831B2

A sewing machine includes a carriage, a storage portion, a display portion, and a control device. A plurality of types of an embroidery frame is configured to be removably mounted on the carriage. The embroidery frame is capable of holding a work cloth. The carriage is capable of moving the embroidery frame parallel to two intersecting axes. The storage portion is configured to store a plurality of sizes of the work cloth that respectively correspond to the plurality of types of the embroidery frame. The display portion is configured to display information relating to at least sewing. The control device is configured to read, from the storage portion, the sizes of the work cloth that respectively correspond to the types of the embroidery frame. The control device is also configured to cause the display portion to display the sizes of the work cloth that have been read.
US09399826B2

A thin film deposition apparatus and a thin film deposition method using an electric field are provided. The thin film deposition apparatus includes: a first substrate; a plurality of electrodes in a 2D arrangement on the first substrate; and a solution provided on the plurality of electrodes and in which charged nanoparticles are distributed, wherein the charged nanoparticles are selectively deposited on at least a part of the plurality of electrodes by independently applying a voltage to each of the plurality of electrodes.
US09399825B2

A wiring board includes a first insulating layer; and a coil formed on the first insulating layer and including a first magnetic layer formed on the first insulating layer and formed by a plating layer, a coil portion formed on the first magnetic layer, a second insulating layer formed on the first insulating layer to cover the first magnetic layer and the coil portion, and a second magnetic layer formed on the second insulating layer and formed by a plating layer.
US09399805B2

A brass alloy containing trace amounts of iron, manganese and aluminum is disclosed. Phosphorus is added to a zinc, copper melt and combined with the iron, manganese and aluminum to form intermetallics. Additional phosphorus is added so the melt contains between about 0.08 to 0.15% phosphorus. The alloy has tin in the range of 0.15% to 0.35%.
US09399804B2

The present invention effectively recover high-grade scandium from nickel oxide ores. The present invention includes a leaching step (S1) for charging nickel oxide ores and sulfuric acid into a pressurized vessel, a neutralizing step (S2) for adding a neutralizing agent to the leachate to obtain a neutralized precipitate and a neutralized liquid, a sulfidizing step (S3) for adding a sulfidizing agent to the neutralized liquid, an ion exchange step (S4) for bringing the sulfidized solution into contact with a chelate resin, a solvent extraction step (S6) for bringing a Sc eluent into contact with an extracting agent, a Sc precipitation Step (S7) for adding a neutralizing agent or oxalic acid to a stripping solution, and a calcination step (S8) for drying and calcining a precipitate to obtain scandium oxide.
US09399796B2

Compositions, reaction mixtures, and methods for performing an amplification reaction, including multiplex amplification reaction, wherein the method comprises using one or more amplification oligomer complexes comprising linked first and second amplification oligomer members. In one aspect, the amplification oligomer complex is hybridized to a target nucleic acid, the target nucleic acid with hybridized amplification oligomer complex is then captured, and other components are washed away. Target sequences of the target nucleic acids are pre-amplified to generate a first amplification product. The first amplification product is amplified in one or more secondary amplification reactions to generate second amplification products.
US09399792B2

In one non-limiting aspect, sterilizable reagent materials for diagnostic elements are provided. In other aspects, sterilized diagnostic elements and techniques for the production of the same are disclosed. In one embodiment, a sterilized diagnostic element includes a chemical detection reagent including at least one component that is sensitive to ionizing radiation. The sterilized diagnostic element is also mediator-free and the at least one component sensitive to ionizing radiation is present in a functional form in a proportion of ≧80% based on the total amount of the respective component in the diagnostic element before sterilization. In certain aspects, the at least one component sensitive to ionizing radiation includes one or both of an enzyme and a coenzyme. Other aspects include, but are not limited to, unique methods, techniques, products, systems and devices involving sterilizable reagent materials or sterilized diagnostic elements.
US09399786B2

The present invention relates to a test system or assay system (detection system) and to a test method, preferably in use in the point-of-care (PoC) field.
US09399777B2

Methods and means are provided for reducing the phenotypic expression of a nucleic acid of interest in eukaryotic cells, particularly in plant cells, by providing aberrant, preferably unpolyadenylated, target-specific RNA to the nucleus of the host cell. Preferably, the unpolyadenylated target-specific RNA is provided by transcription of a chimeric gene comprising a promoter, a DNA region encoding the target-specific RNA, a self-splicing ribozyme and a DNA region involved in 3′ end formation and polyadenylation.
US09399774B2

Provided herein are methods, compounds, and compositions for reducing expression of transthyretin mRNA and protein in an animal. Such methods, compounds, and compositions are useful to treat, prevent, delay, or ameliorate transthyretin amyloidosis, or a symptom thereof.
US09399768B2

A method of increasing production of fatty acids comprising introducing into a host and expressing therein an acyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterase (TE) from Bryantella formatexigens or a mutant thereof; a method of making a mutant B. formatexigens acyl-ACP TE; a method of making a chimeric Cuphea viscosissima acyl-ACP TE; a nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a mutant acyl-ACP TE or a chimeric Cuphea viscosissima acyl-ACP TE; a host comprising the nucleic acid molecule; a mutant acyl-ACP TE or chimeric Cuphea viscosissima acyl-ACP TE; a method of altering the specificity of a plant acyl-ACP TE for at least one of its substrates comprising introducing into the plant acyl-ACP TE a substrate specificity-altering mutation; and a method of altering the level of activity of a plant acyl-ACP TE.
US09399765B2

The present invention relates to a recombinant process for the production of truncated or mutated dextransucrases while conserving the enzymatic activity or their specificity in the synthesis of the α-1,6 bonds. The present invention relates to nucleic acid sequences of truncated or mutated dextransucrases, vectors containing the nucleic acid sequences and host cells transformed by sequences encoding truncated or mutated dextransucrases. In another aspect, the invention concerns a method for producing, in a recombinant manner, truncated or mutated dextransucrases which conserve their enzymatic activity or which conserve their specificity in the synthesis of α-1,6 bonds and can produce, from saccharose, dextrans with high molar mass and modified rheological properties compared with the properties of dextran obtained with the native enzyme and isomalto-oligosaccharides with a controlled molar mass and dextrans. The dextrans and isomalto-oligosaccharides of the invention can be used namely as texturing agents or as prebiotics.
US09399764B2

The present disclosure relates to recombinant proteins having N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase activity. The present disclosure further relates to methods for producing complex N-glycans including the steps of providing host cells containing such recombinant proteins and culturing the host cells such that the recombinant proteins are expressed.
US09399761B2

The present invention relates in part to methods for producing tissue-specific cells from patient samples, and to tissue-specific cells produced using these methods. Methods for reprogramming cells using RNA are disclosed. Therapeutics comprising cells produced using these methods are also disclosed.
US09399759B2

In order to provide a method for producing neural stem cells easily and quickly by inducing differentiation of somatic cells directly into neurospheres, dedifferentiation factors are introduced into somatic cells, which are then cultured in suspension in the presence of growth factors to produce the neurospheres, thereby allowing the neural stem cells to be produced quickly without establishing iPS cells.
US09399758B2

Objects of the present invention are to provide a method for directly obtaining pluripotent stem cells which do not have tumorigenic property from body tissue and the thus obtained pluripotent stem cells. The present invention relates to SSEA-3 (+) pluripotent stem cells that can be isolated from body tissue.
US09399757B2

The present invention relates dry granulated cell culture media which do not comprise peptones or tryptones, especially to dry granulated cell culture media formulations that support the growth of mammalian, and/or insect and/or plant cells. The present invention further relates to the production of these dry granulated cell culture media and their use.
US09399752B2

A composition for treating a hard surface. The composition has: (a) at least one adhesion promoter; (b) at least one surfactant selected from the group consisting of: anionic, non-ionic, cationic, amphoteric, zwitterionic, and combinations thereof; (c) mineral oil; (d) water; (e) optionally, at least one solvent; and wherein the composition is self-adhering upon application to a surface to be treated, and wherein the composition provides a wet film to said surface when water passes over said composition and surface.
US09399750B1

Provided is a method for recovering oil from corn to ethanol production, the method comprising applying a formulation comprising (i) a compound of formula (I), in which R1-R3 are defined herein, (ii) an oil and/or at least one propylene glycol ester of fat and/or a fatty acid, and (iii) a metal oxide to a corn-based product from an ethanol production process. Also provided is a formulation effective for corn oil recovery comprising (i) a mixture of ethoxylated C14-22 mono- and diglycerides, (ii) an oil and/or at least one propylene glycol ester of fat and/or a fatty acid, and (iii) a metal oxide.
US09399747B2

A lubricant composition of (a) an oil of lubricating viscosity; (b) a dispersant comprising the condensation product of a carboxylic functionalized polymer with an aromatic amine having at least 3 aromatic rings and at least one primary or secondary amino group; and (c) an overbased metal detergent comprising an oil-soluble neutral metal salt component and a metal carbonate component, provides good seal and corrosion performance. The total amount of neutral metal salt component in the lubricant composition is at least about 0.75 percent by weight and the sulfated ash level of the lubricant composition is less than about 1.1 percent.
US09399744B2

Pelletized carbonized biomass-based fuel products, methods, and apparatuses are provided. Methods include applying a binder and a first amount of water to at least partially carbonized biomass, applying a second amount of water to the at least partially carbonized biomass, and pelletizing the at least partially carbonized biomass in an inert atmosphere. Apparatuses include a feeder of at least partially carbonized biomass, a binder source and a first water source configured to provide a binder and water to the at least partially carbonized biomass, a second water source downstream of the binder and first water sources, a pelletizer configured to receive and pelletize the at least partially carbonized biomass, and an inert gas source configured to provide inert gas to the pelletizer.
US09399722B2

This disclosure relates to compositions containing a) a silicone resin, b) a first silicone fluid having a viscosity from about 1 to about 15,000 centistokes at 25° C.; c) a second silicone fluid having a viscosity from about 1 to about 30,000 centistokes at 25° C.; d) an acrylic polymer; e) a hydrocarbon solvent; and f) water. The compositions of this disclosure provide long lasting hydrophobic coatings with high water contact angles for automotive surfaces, in which the hydrophobic automotive surfaces possess self-cleaning functions, e.g., water and dirt repellency. This disclosure also relates to methods for treating automotive surfaces and to automotive surfaces coated with the compositions.
US09399717B2

To provide a photopolymerizable composition, which includes photopolymerizable monomers containing glycerol dimethacrylate, caprolactone-modified dipentaerythritol hexaacrylate, and diethylene glycol dimethacrylate, wherein an amount of the glycerol dimethacrylate in the photopolymerizable monomers is 25% by mass or greater.
US09399713B1

An asphalt recovery system may include an extractor, a desolventizer, and an evaporator. During operation, the extractor may receive a solvent and roofing waste and extract asphalt from the roofing waste with the solvent. The desolventizer may receive a solvent-wet solids stream from the extractor and vaporize solvent from the solvent-wet solids stream to yield desolventized solids. The evaporator may receive an asphalt-rich solvent stream from the extractor and vaporize solvent from the stream to produce a solvent stream and an asphalt stream. By configuring the evaporator to operate at a pressure above atmospheric pressure, the boiling point in the evaporator may increase as compared to operating the evaporator at a pressure below atmospheric pressure. In turn, this may keep the viscosity of asphalt within the evaporator less than 500 centipoise, which may improve heat transfer to the asphalt and prevent that asphalt from plugging the evaporator.
US09399708B2

A method is provided for synthesizing polylactide/calcium phosphate composites. In one aspect, an intermediate silanized calcium phosphate material calcium-phosphate/phosphonate is developed to improve the tensile strength of the composite.
US09399706B2

To provide a urethane foam molded product having high thermal conductivity and electric insulation and a method for producing the same. A urethane foam molded product includes a base material made of a polyurethane foam and composite particles that are blended in the base material and oriented in a mutually connected state, in which each of the composite particles includes a thermally conductive particle made of a non-magnetic body, and a magnetic particle and an insulating inorganic particle that are adhered to the surface of the thermally conductive particle through a binder. A powder of the composite particles can be produced by stirring a powder raw material containing a powder of the thermally conductive particle, a powder of the magnetic particle, a powder of the insulating inorganic particle, and the binder using a stirring granulator.
US09399704B2

A discrete nanostructure formed by a method comprising providing an aliphatic multi-block copolymer. The aliphatic multi-block copolymer includes at least one polyester block and at least one functionalized polycarbonate block. The aliphatic multi-block copolymer, a deprotonating agent and water are mixed to form an aqueous mixture. The aqueous mixture is maintained at a reaction temperature suitable to result in self-assembly of the multi-block copolymer into nanoparticles.
US09399700B2

An ultra-high IV polyester suitable for high melt strength end-uses, such as injection blow molding, pipe extrusion, profile extrusion, and extrusion blow molding, is provided, having IV of greater than 0.9; and a process for its production having high IV lift rate during SSP processing.
US09399697B2

The present invention relates to hardeners for epoxy resins, which contain secondary aliphatic and primary aromatic amino groups. They harden surprisingly quickly together with epoxy resins even under cold and humid conditions and without blushing effects to give films with a high degree of hardness. They are especially suitable for coatings with high resistance requirements.
US09399695B2

The present invention relates to pressure-sensitive adhesive compositions which contain (A) hydroxyl group and alkylene oxide group containing acrylic copolymer and (B) a multifunctional isocyanate-based hardener, and form interpenetrating network structures when hardened, and polarizers and liquid crystal displays comprising the same. The pressure-sensitive adhesive compositions of the present invention exhibit superior durability, reliability, and workability and effectively prevent light leakage under high temperature and/or high humidity conditions. Particularly, the present invention provides pressure-sensitive adhesive compositions capable of significantly suppressing light leakage even in large size display devices, and polarizers and liquid crystal displays comprising the same.
US09399685B2

A method of curing a compound having a cross-linkable, unsaturated-chain polymer base and a curing system; the method employing microwaves as a form of energy to promote curing reactions; and the curing system including compounds of general formula (I) ([R1R2R3NR5(NR4R6R7)n](n+1)+)y(n+1)Xy− (I) where: X is an atom or anionic group; R1, R2, R3, which are the same or different, are each CmH2m+1, where m is 1 to 3, or CH2CHCH2 or CHCHCH3, R4, R6, R7, which are the same or different, are each CH2CHCH2 or CHCHCH3; n is 0 or 1; y is 1 when n is 1; y is 1 or 2 when n is 0; R5 is an aliphatic group C15-C22 when n is 0; is an aliphatic group C8-C16 when n is 1; when n is 0, at least one of R1, R2, R3, R5 has a double bond.
US09399683B2

Genetically modified mice are provided that express human λ variable (hVλ) sequences, including mice that express hVλ sequences from an endogenous mouse λ light chain locus, mice that express hVλ sequences from an endogenous mouse κ light chain locus, and mice that express hVλ sequences from a transgene or an episome wherein the hVλ sequence is linked to a mouse constant sequence. Mice are provided that are a source of somatically mutated human λ variable sequences useful for making antigen-binding proteins. Compositions and methods for making antigen-binding proteins that comprise human λ variable sequences, including human antibodies, are provided.
US09399677B2

The present invention concerns therapeutic compositions containing proteins that are the variable regions of IgNAR immunoglobulins, denominated vNAR, that specifically bind and neutralizes cytokines involved in a diversity of process such as inflammation and neovascularization, its ability to reach, bind, and neutralize the activity of one antigenic molecule localized in an immunoprivileged organs, are also described.
US09399674B2

The present invention provides fully human antibodies that bind to either toxin A or toxin B of Clostridium difficile, or to both toxin A and toxin B, compositions comprising the antibodies and methods of use. The antibodies of the invention are useful for neutralizing the toxins from C. difficile, thus providing a means of treating the disease and symptoms associated with a C. difficile infection, including the treatment of diarrhea, or pseudomembranous colitis caused by C. difficile. The antibodies may also prevent the severity and/or duration of the primary disease, or may prevent the number, duration, and/or the severity of recurrences, or relapses of the disease attributed to the presence of C. difficile. The antibodies of the invention may also be useful for diagnosis of an infection by C. difficile.
US09399663B2

Peptides and peptide analogs that competitively inhibit HIV protein gp120 and methods for making and using the same.
US09399662B2

The concurrent administration of chemotherapy and immunotherapy has been considered a contraindication because of the concern that the induced lymphopenia would ablate therapeutic efficacy of immunotherapy. Temozolomide has been shown to be an effective chemotherapeutic for patients with malignant gliomas and to deprive patients with glioblastoma (GBM) patients of this agent in order to treat with immunotherapy is controversial. Despite conventional dogma, we demonstrate that both chemotherapy and immunotherapy can be delivered concurrently without negating the effects of immunotherapy, hi fact, the temozolomide induced lymphopenia may actually be synergistic with a peptide vaccine.
US09399659B2

Chemical entities that are bufalin derivatives, pharmaceutical compositions and methods of treatment of cancer are described.
US09399654B2

The present invention relates to novel iridium-based Ir(III) luminescent complexes, conjugates comprising these complexes as a label and their application, e.g. in the electrochemiluminescence based detection of an analyte.
US09399640B2

The present invention relates to compounds represented by the general Formula I which are inhibitors of BET proteins such as BRD2, BRD3, BRD4, and BRD-t and are useful in the treatment of diseases such as cancer.
US09399638B2

The present invention relates to compounds described herein Formula (I) and pharmaceutical acceptable salts thereof, which modulate the activity of calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channel. The invention also describes the compounds of Formula (I) and pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds thereof for treating, managing, and/or lessening the severity of diseases, disorders, syndromes or conditions associated with the modulation of calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channel.
US09399635B2

Provided is a novel therapeutic means for Alzheimer's disease. In particular, provided is a compound represented by the following general formula (I): [wherein Ar1 represents 2-methoxy-4-(2-pyridylmethoxy)phenyl etc. and Ar2 represents a 1H-indol-6-yl group etc.] or a salt thereof.
US09399631B2

The present invention relates to synthetic green tea derived polyphenolic compounds, their modes of syntheses, and their use in inhibiting proteasomal activity and in treating cancers. The present invention is also directed to pharmaceutical compositions useful in methods of inhibiting proteasomes and of treating cancers.
US09399629B2

This invention relates to a novel method for the preparation of 3-oxo-tetrahydrofuran comprising oxidizing 3-hydroxy-tetrahydrofuran in the presence of a catalytic amount of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidine-N-oxyl (TEMPO) with trichloroisocyanuric acid.
US09399628B2

Compounds of the formula where the variables have the meaning defined in the specification have analgesic and/or immunostimulant effect in mammals.
US09399623B2

The present invention relates to quinoline compounds, and pharmaceutically acceptable compositions thereof, useful as antagonists of P2X7, and for the treatment of P2X7-related disorders.
US09399620B2

The present invention relates to processes for preparing 3-methylsulfonylpropionitrile. The processes provide a good yield and a good purity of the final product and provide a controllable reaction. The present invention also relates to a crystalline form of 3-methylsulfonylpropionitrile having X-ray diffraction peaks at 13.9±0.1, 19.2±0.1, 20.0±0.1, 22.5±0.1, 23.2±0.1, 25.7±0.1, 28.1±0.1, 29.9±0.1, and 30.6±0.1 degrees 2θ, and wherein the most intense peak is the peak at 13.9±0.1 degrees 2θ.
US09399612B2

Methods of treating or suppressing pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) including; autistic disorder, Asperger's syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD), Rett's disorder, and PDD-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) comprising administering to a subject in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of one or more compounds as disclosed herein.
US09399603B2

A process is presented for increasing the conversion efficiency of oxygenates to olefins. The conversion of oxygenates recycles unconverted oxygenates and oxygenate by-products to a second reactor unit. The present of oxygenate by-products decreases the efficiency of the methanol to olefins reaction, and passing recycled oxygenates to a second reactor unit maintains the methanol to olefins conversion efficiency while converting the by-products in a secondary zone.
US09399592B2

In a method for utilizing phosphorus-containing alternative fuels in the cement clinker production, the alternative fuels are thermolyzed using waste heat from the cement clinker production process in a thermolysis reactor different from a rotary kiln of the cement clinker production process, the energy released thereby is supplied to the cement clinker production process, and the thermolysis residues of the phosphorus-containing alternative fuels are discharged from the thermolysis reactor, so that the thermolysis residues of the phosphorus-containing alternative fuels are mixed in the thermolysis reactor with cement kiln bypass products as halogen carriers and the heavy-metal halides produced are drawn off.
US09399588B2

The electrolysis water-making apparatus (A) which is an apparatus for making electrolysis water (W5) by electrolyzing a raw material solution (W1, W3) including a chlorine ion includes: an electrolytic cell (2); a raw material solution feed pump (3) used to supply the raw material solution (W1, W3) to the electrolytic cell (2); and a pipe (32, 36) connecting an outlet (3b) of the raw material solution feed pump (3) allowing the raw material solution (W1, W3) to be discharged therefrom and an inlet (26) allowing the raw material solution (W1, W3) to flow into the electrolytic cell (2). In addition, the raw material solution feed pump (3) is provided so that the outlet (3b) is disposed on a lower side of the inlet (26).
US09399587B2

A system includes a gasifier configured to gasify a fuel contained within a fuel slurry in order to generate syngas and a black water. The fuel slurry includes at least the fuel and water. The system also includes a black water treatment system fluidly coupled to the gasifier. The black water treatment system is configured to treat the black water to generate a grey water. The black water treatment system includes a first flash tank configured to process the black water by reducing a pressure of the black water to generate a first discharged black water. The black water treatment system also includes a first flow path fluidly coupling a first discharged black water outlet of the first flash tank with a feedstock preparation system configured to generate the fuel slurry in order to provide at least a first portion of the first discharged black water of the first flash tank to the feedstock preparation system.
US09399571B2

A method of controlling overflow in a below-ground transfer pump sump used in the dispensing of liquid fuels. The method comprises providing a sump having a sump bottom below a level of ground immediately adjacent the sump, providing a storage tank having an internal cavity for the storage of liquid fuel, the storage tank having a conduit in communication with the sump and providing an overflow assembly having an inlet disposed within the sump and an outlet communicating with the conduit. The method includes permitting water from the ground adjacent the sump to enter the sump and mix with any liquid fuel in the sump and if the liquid fuel and water mixture in the sump reaches a predetermined level, allowing the liquid mixture to pass through the overflow assembly, into the conduit and into the storage tank containing the liquid fuel.
US09399570B2

A beverage dispenser (11) is disclosed for use in combination with a water cooler, wherein the water cooler comprises a cooling device (5) and a water bottle (1) and the beverage dispenser is intended to be positioned between the cooling device and the water bottle. The beverage dispenser comprises: a dispensing station (18), a dedicated water nozzle (17) for dispensing water at the dispensing station, a conduit (13) for supply of water from the water cooler to the water nozzle, a connector (22) for attachment to a container (12) comprising concentrate, a dedicated concentrate nozzle (16) for dispensing concentrate to the dispensing station, a conduit (23) for supply of concentrate from the container to the concentrate nozzle, and wherein the water nozzle and the concentrate nozzle are arranged such that water dispensed from the water nozzle and concentrate dispensed from the concentrate nozzle intersect, and wherein the angle (β) of the concentrate nozzle relative to the horizontal is from 25° to 90°, and the angle (α) of the water nozzle relative to the horizontal is from 45° to 90°.
US09399566B2

An apparatus includes a drum to draw in or let out a line and a motor coupled to the drum to apply a torque thereto. The drum includes a groove formed in an outer surface thereof to accommodate the line. A roller is provided that tracks the groove and extends into the groove. The roller pushes the line into the groove. In certain embodiments, the roller pushes the line to a bottom of the groove to ensure that the line is properly seated therein.
US09399551B2

An adapter to allow a sideloading refuse collection body to empty a rear loading container having trunnions. The adapter has a pair of spaced apart trunnion pockets to receive opposing trunnions of the container. A pair of lock arms on the adapter can be lowered against the tops of opposing sides of the container to lock the container in the trunnion pockets and against a stabilizer which engages the front wall of the container. The adapter includes a guide plate aligned with and extending from the front wall of the container. Lift arms on the collection body are joined to opposing sides of the adapter.
US09399546B2

Capsule (1A) designed in particular for the preparation of a beverage in a centrifugal brewing device by feeding liquid in the capsule and rotating the capsule along a central axis (I) to produce centrifugal forces on the liquid traversing the capsule thereby forcing the beverage out of the capsule by such centrifugal forces, wherein the capsule comprises: a body (2) comprising containment walls (3,4), a main opening (6) of central axis (I) closed by a closing wall (8) forming a compartment (7) including beverage ingredients and a flange (5) peripherally bordering the said opening (6), wherein it comprises a perforating wall (9) placed close to the closing wall (8) and comprising perforating means (10-15) for perforating the closing wall (8) when applying a pressure on the transversal closing wall (8) or perforating wall (9).
US09399542B1

A condiment container may include a portable body preferably having a planar back side and a planar bottom side monolithically formed therewith. The body may include a curvilinear front side monolithically formed with the back and bottom sides respectively. An open top side may be oppositely disposed from the bottom side. The front side may include first and second lines of weakness linearly extending along a longitudinal length thereof. In this way, the front side may be selectively biased between folded and unfolded positions by displacing the first and second lines of weakness inwardly and outwardly from the back side respectively. The back, front and bottom sides may further define a hollow interior cavity adapted to receive the condiments when the front side is biased to the unfolded position. The hollow interior cavity may further be collapsed when the front side is biased to the folded position.
US09399536B2

A gable topped food carton is provided having a closure device. The carton has a pour spout with a pair of folded ridge portions. The carton includes a male stud attached to a first of the folded ridge portions and a female socket attached to a second of the folded ridge portions. The male stud is constructed to couple with the female socket to close the pour spout.
US09399526B2

Aided preventive diagnostics of an aircraft system, comprising a plurality of subsystems at least one of which comprises a subsystem configured for monitoring and notifying a detected event, using critical event charts. After receiving a message notifying the occurrence of said detected event, a minimal diagnostic set relative to said at least one detected event, comprising a plurality of elements each represented by a node of said critical event chart is created, each element of said minimal diagnostic set being determined according to at least one logical implication relation of said critical event chart with a node representing said at least one received notification message. At least some of the elements of said minimal diagnostic set are then ranked, said ranked elements forming part of said diagnostic report.
US09399520B2

An assembly having an articulation spindle mounted in a first sleeve inserted into a first arm of a clevis and in a second sleeve inserted into a second arm of said clevis, and a blocking device. The blocking device comprises a nut screwed onto an extension of the second sleeve and comprising an inner shoulder acting as a stop for a second end of the articulation spindle, at least two locking washers engaging with the nut, a tab washer comprising an element immobilizing it in rotation with respect to the second arm of the clevis, and for each locking washer, a blocking element limiting the rotational movement of the locking washer with respect to the tab washer.
US09399518B2

An energy absorber (100) to limit an acceleration force experienced by a heavy body, such as an occupant of a seat subjected to the acceleration of an aircraft crash, comprises a winding drum (10) mounted in rotation around a shaft (13), around which a traction line (11) is wound. The shaft is coupled mechanically to a brake (20) that immobilizes the shaft (13) in rotation when a torque applied to the shaft by the traction line is less than the maximum brake torque that can be generated by the brake and that when the shaft (13) is in rotation generates a torque that is approximately constant and equal to the maximum brake torque.A control element (40) acting on the brake (20) makes it possible to modify the value of the maximum brake torque and thus to adapt the energy absorber to the mass of the heavy body to maintain an acceleration experienced at a desired value for different masses.
US09399511B2

According to one embodiment, a flight control system includes a pilot control module configured to receive commands from a pilot, a flight control module operable to transmit an instruction to change at least one operating condition of an aircraft, and a flight control computer in communication between the flight control module and the pilot control module. The flight control computer is configured to receive a pilot command to change a first flight characteristic, wherein changing the first flight characteristic would result in an expected change to a second flight characteristic. The flight control computer may instruct the flight control module to transmit an instruction to change a first operating condition of the aircraft and instruct the flight control module to transmit an instruction to change a second operating condition of the aircraft to at least partially offset the expected change to the second flight characteristic.
US09399509B2

A fitting for a vent stringer of a type having an open end and an outer edge defining the open end. The fitting may include a fitting body receivable along the open end of the vent stringer, the fitting body having a groove that generally corresponds with the outer edge of the vent stringer, the groove of the fitting body shaped to receive the outer edge of the vent stringer to create a tongue and groove joint with the outer edge; and a connection between the fitting and the stringer to prevent slidable movement of the fitting relative to the stringer.
US09399505B2

A jet propulsion watercraft includes a vessel body, a steering nozzle, and a bucket. The steering nozzle includes a jet port from which a jet of water is ejected to propel the vessel body. The bucket is configured to move to a retracted position away from the jet of water ejected from the jet port and a jet receiving position to receive the jet of water ejected from the jet port. The bucket includes a right opening, a left opening, a first opening, and a second opening spaced apart from the first opening. The jet of water flows rightward from the right opening, leftward from the left opening, and rearward from the first opening and the second opening when the bucket is located in the jet receiving position. The first opening is located at least partially rightward of a right end of the jet port. The second opening is located at least partially leftward of a left end of the jet port.
US09399503B2

Systems and methods are described herein for a variable-depth sonar. A null in the frequency response between a first and second operating frequency band is identified. A center operating frequency for each of the first and the second operating band is adjusted based on the ambient pressure. Furthermore, the velocity state of a vehicle may be calculated using periodic velocity updates. At least one transducer transmits a first signal in a first direction, and a Doppler sensor receives an echo of the first signal. The vehicle is turned in a second direction, and the at least one transducer transmits a second signal in the second direction. Using the first and the second velocity measurement, a vehicle velocity state is calculated.
US09399491B2

A joint structure for a vehicle body member, the vehicle body member including at least two panel members, the at least two panel members constituting part of a vehicle body and being formed of a steel plate, the joint structure includes: spot-welds formed by spot-welding the at least two panel members to each other at a predetermined spot interval such that a predetermined clearance is formed between the at least two panel members; a laser-weld formed by laser-welding the at least two panel members to each other between the spot-welds; and an electrodeposition coating film portion that covers a surface of each of the at least two panel members, at least part of the electrodeposition coating film portion filling the clearance.
US09399490B2

A fender bracket includes a composite structure having a first flange to operatively connect to a fender, a second flange to operatively connect to a vehicle body structure, and a web connecting the first flange and the second flange. At least one actuator is positioned in at least a portion of the web. The at least one actuator is selected from a piezoelectric actuator, an active material actuator, and a pyrotechnic actuator. The at least one actuator is to cause a fracture or buckling of the web in response to an activation signal.
US09399483B2

A supporting apparatus for a steering bracket includes, a steering bracket supporting a steering column and including a first capsule-side hole and a second capsule-side hole, a separation capsule including a first bracket-side hole and a second bracket-side hole, a resin member straddling the first bracket-side hole and the first capsule-side hole, a shear pin straddling the second bracket-side hole and the second capsule-side hole, and a cam mechanism including a rotatable weight portion to pull out the shear pin from the second bracket-side hole, the weight portion constituted to rotate around the shear pin by inertia due to a primary collision and to move to a front of a vehicle, and the cam mechanism constituted to pull out the shear pin from the bracket-side hole by a rotation of the weight portion.
US09399481B2

A steering column for a motor vehicle includes a support unit connectable with the chassis of the motor vehicle, a securement part disposed between the side jaws of the support unit, a setting unit disposed between the side jaws of the support unit; a counter-securement part connected with the setting unit; and a clamping mechanism. The clamping mechanism is operably engaged with the setting unit such that in the opened state of the clamping mechanism the setting unit is displaceable with respect to the support unit at least in a longitudinal direction of the steering column, and in the closed state of the clamping mechanism the setting unit is secured at a set position with respect to the support unit. In the event of a motor vehicle crash, the counter-securement part is shiftable with respect to the setting unit with the consumption of energy.
US09399477B2

Strollers with removable child supports and related methods are disclosed. An example stroller and child support assembly disclosed herein includes a stroller frame comprising a front support, a rear support, and a handle. The example stroller and child support assembly also includes a front wheel coupled to the front support and a rear wheel coupled to the rear support. The example stroller and child support assembly also includes a first joint disposed on a first side of the stroller frame and a second joint disposed on a second side of the stroller frame. The stroller and child support assembly example also includes a child support having a first connector releasably coupled to the first joint and a second connector releasably coupled to the second joint, where the child support is removable from the stroller frame and independently usable as a child carrier.
US09399474B2

A method for controlling a pneumatic spring assembly of a motor vehicle includes deriving discrete condition parameters from a condition of the motor vehicle, wherein the discrete condition parameters are combined into parameter sets. Each parameter set is furthermore associated with a defined height control behavior, and wherein a height control behavior that is associated with a specific condition of the vehicle is set by activating at least one valve of the pneumatic spring assembly.
US09399471B2

An apparatus for automatically controlling a vehicle speed includes a first unit configured to drive data of a vehicle from electric control units (ECUs) to determine driver's habits, a second unit configured to receive the drive data from the ECUs and receive a driver's habit value from the first unit to control a speed of a smart cruise control apparatus, a third unit configured to guide the driver visually or audibly by using information about a result of controlling the smart cruise control apparatus by the second unit, the drive data and driver's habit information, and a fourth unit configured to monitor the result of controlling the smart cruise control apparatus or drive data generated while the smart cruise control apparatus is operated to transmit the controlling result or the generated drive data to the first unit.
US09399470B2

A vehicle state estimating device for estimating the state amount of the vehicle at high accuracy from the wheel speed irrespective of the change in the vehicle property. A vehicle state estimating device includes a wheel speed detection unit that detects a wheel speed of each vehicle wheel; a vehicle speed detection unit that detects a vehicle speed; and a state amount estimation unit that estimates an unsprung state amount and/or a sprung state amount of the vehicle, based on a wheel speed of reverse phase of left and right wheels based on the wheel speed of each wheel detected by the wheel speed detection unit, and a value obtained by dividing a wheel base of a predetermined front-rear wheel by the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection unit.
US09399467B2

A method and system for controlling alternator voltage during a remote engine start (“RES”) event is provided. The method includes receiving an RES command into at least one control unit of the system. The method further includes starting an engine in response to receiving the RES command and operating an alternator in a first voltage mode where the alternator is operating at a first voltage V1 to charge a vehicle battery. The method further includes detecting a brake pedal has been pressed with a brake switch. The method further includes operating the alternator in a second voltage mode where the alternator is operating at a second voltage V2, which is less than the first voltage V1, to charge the vehicle battery based on detecting the brake pedal has been pressed.
US09399464B2

A vehicle cruise control device is provided that obtains a target trajectory of a vehicle based on white lines 102 and 104 as traveling route specification targets contained in information acquired by a device that acquires at least information in front of the vehicle, and performs traveling trajectory control so as to cause the vehicle to travel along the target trajectory. When the vehicle travels a particular area 110 where a traveling route branches into a plurality of traveling routes and a target trajectory cannot be obtained based on white lines, an interim target trajectory 116 is obtained for the particular area, based on the white lines 102 and 104 in an area adjacent to the particular area and a traveling route that the vehicle is to travel after traveling the particular area, and interim traveling trajectory control is executed so that the vehicle travels along the interim target trajectory.
US09399459B2

Systems and methods for improving operation of a hybrid vehicle are presented. In one example, engine operation is adjusted in response to a change in engine operating conditions that result in a fractional amount of cylinder charge comprised of exhaust gas changing by more than a threshold percentage. The approaches describe may improve vehicle drivability and fuel economy.
US09399457B2

Systems and methods for improving hybrid vehicle torque control are presented. The system and methods included may estimate driveline torque via springs of a dual mass flywheel. The estimated driveline torque may provide feedback for adjusting operation of a driveline disconnect clutch and/or engine torque.
US09399456B2

A hybrid electric vehicle includes a wheel, a wheel driving device coupled with the wheel and including an electric motor, a battery unit including a first battery and a second battery, a generator for recharging the first battery and the second battery, a fuel engine operable to drive the generator to generate electricity, a first switch for establishing electrical connection between the generator and each of the first battery and the second battery, a second switch for establishing electrical connection between the electric motor and each of the first battery and the second battery, and a control unit operable to control the first switch and the second switch to make or break electrical connection.
US09399455B2

A device for controlling the distribution of drive force includes a driven wheel drive force distribution reference command value calculator configured to determine a driven-wheel-oriented drive force distribution reference command value from the estimated value of the drive force sent to the drive wheels and a drive force reference distribution ratio, and a driven wheel drive force distribution command value calculator configured to determine a driven-wheel-oriented drive force distribution command value by correcting the driven wheel drive force distribution reference command value by a correction amount that differs between the electric motor operating mode and the electric motor non-operating mode, and to make the correction amount for the electric motor operating mode greater than the correction amount for the electric motor non-operating mode.
US09399448B1

A brake actuation apparatus and method are described. An air cylinder is pivotally attached to an operating unit of the brake actuation apparatus. The air cylinder extends away from the operating unit and is configured to connect to the brake pedal to actuate a brake of the towed vehicle through the brake pedal. A stabilizing cable has one end attached to the firewall of the towed vehicle and an opposite end releaseably attached to the brake actuation apparatus, such that when the air cylinder applies pressure to the towed vehicle's brake pedal, the stabilizer cable transfers reaction to the towed vehicle's firewall and supplies a stable anchor point.
US09399445B2

An identification of a vehicle is received. An identification of a first user to receive delegation of control of the vehicle is received. Authentication information for the first user for the vehicle is determined. A request to authenticate the first user for delegation of control of the vehicle to the first user is received. The request to authenticate includes at least the authentication information for the first user is determined. Responsive to the determination, control of the vehicle is delegated to the first user.
US09399434B2

A cargo toolbox is provided for securely retaining tools and equipment of varying size and shape, particularly suited for attachment to a vehicle and for use repairing fence lines. The toolbox comprises a lid hingedly secured to a base, a handle and latches for removably securing the lid to the base. A plurality of securement structures is disposed along the interior of the lid and base for storing and restricting movement of tools and components. Elongated tools may be stored within brackets disposed along the lid interior. Small items are separately retained within secure storage compartments disposed along an end of the base interior. A compartment lid is hingedly secured to the storage compartments such that items are prevented from departing. A restraining tray defining an upstanding wall perimeter and an open interior is mountable to a vehicle cargo rack to facilitate transportation of the toolbox.
US09399431B2

Support devices and their components are disclosed, including an optional lighting element mountable on the support device for emitting light. The support device facilitates access to a vehicle and includes an elongate extruded support member, brackets for mounting the elongate extruded support member to a vehicle, and a step affixed to the elongate extruded support member. A mount can be provided and coupled to the lighting element and to the step to secure the lighting element to the step when the lighting element is incorporated.
US09399429B2

An in-vehicle system for controlling electrical systems of a vehicle includes a sensor that detects a presence or an absence of a left hand of a driver on a steering wheel of the vehicle and a sensor that detects a presence or an absence of a right hand of the driver on the steering wheel of the vehicle. Using data from the sensors, a controller may select, based on a prediction, one or more interactive control elements with which the driver will interact, wherein the selection is based on either a detected absence of the driver left hand on the steering wheel or a detected absence of the driver right hand on the steering wheel, and a controller increases a brightness of lighting elements associated with the selected interactive control elements.
US09399420B2

A seat assembly comprises a seat cushion and a seat back having a bottom portion coupled to the seat cushion and an opposite top portion. A head restraint is coupled to the seat back for movement between a stowed position adjacent the top portion of the seat back and a deployed position spaced above the top portion of the seat back. A cable carriage is coupled to the seat back for actuation along a longitudinal axis between a home position and a lift position. A cable extends between a first end coupled to the head restraint and a second end coupled to the cable carriage for moving the head restraint between the stowed position and the deployed position in response to actuation of the cable carriage between the home position and the lift position.
US09399419B2

A method and system that measure the head position of a driver in a vehicle include an infrared lamp that is disposed on a driver B-pillar and transmits an infrared signal and an infrared receiving sensor that is disposed on a passenger A-pillar to receive infrared signal from the infrared lamp. In addition, a plurality of infrared lamps are disposed on the headrest of the driver's seat and transmit infrared signals and an infrared receiving sensor is disposed on a dashboard disposed in front of a steering wheel to receive infrared signals from the infrared lamps on the headrest. A controller operates the infrared lamps to transmit infrared signals and measures the head position of a driver based on infrared signals received by the infrared receiving sensors.
US09399407B2

A vehicle propulsion system includes a first bi-directional DC-DC converter coupled to a first DC bus, an energy storage system comprising at least one energy storage unit coupled to the first bi-directional DC-DC converter, a first DC-to-AC inverter coupled to the first DC bus, and a first electromechanical device coupled to the first DC-to-AC inverter. A controller is programmed to determine a real-time operating speed of the first electromechanical device, compare the real-time operating speed of the first electromechanical device to a scheduled speed of the first electromechanical device, and selectively control the first bi-directional DC-DC converter to shift a voltage of the first DC bus based on the comparison.
US09399400B2

Based on a parking frame certainty degree indicative of a degree of certainty about a presence is a parking frame in the travel direction of the vehicle and a parking frame entering certainty degree indicative of a degree of certainty about whether the vehicle enters the parking frame, a total certainty degree indicative of a total degree of the certainty of the parking frame certainty degree and the parking frame entering certainty degree is calculated. Acceleration of the vehicle is controlled depending on a manipulation amount of an accelerator pedal manipulated by a drive to instruct a driving force and is suppressed in a lower suppression degree when the total certainty degree is lower than when the total certainty degree is higher. Furthermore, the acceleration of the vehicle is suppressed in the suppression degree decreased depending on the travel direction of the vehicle.
US09399398B1

A system and method for encouraging a user of a recreational vehicle to wear safety equipment is described. The helmet contains a microprocessor and sensors to determine if the helmet is worn. The helmet communicates with the vehicle and the vehicle either disables operation or allows limited operation if the helmet is not worn. On motorized vehicles, the motor operation is restricted. On human powered vehicles mechanical resistance may limit operation.
US09399395B2

A tank (10) including a container (15) and a flow line (20) for discharging excess fuel. Said flow line (20) is provided with a pipe (21) and an over-pressure valve (24) arranged inside the container (15). In addition, the tank (10) includes a leaktight bell (30) arranged inside said container, said bell (30) being over the over-pressure valve (24) and surrounding the over-pressure valve (24) at least in part so as to hold air captive in order to isolate the over-pressure valve (24) from the fuel content when said pressure is below said threshold.
US09399385B2

A rear window assembly includes a glass flange positioned in a window opening. The glass flange includes a body mounting flange mounted to a body of a vehicle. The glass flange has a first mounting pad defining a first mounting area for a window for mounting a first glass variation to the vehicle. The glass flange has a second mounting pad defining a second mounting area for a window for mounting a second glass variation to the vehicle. The second mounting pad is recessed toward an interior of the vehicle. The second glass variation has a slider rail and a slider glass, while the first glass variation is devoid of a slider rail and slider glass. The glass flange selectively receives either the first glass variation or the second glass variation in the window opening.
US09399383B2

A damper system for a vehicle comprises an electrically adjustable hydraulic shock absorber and a printed circuit board assembly. The printed circuit board assembly includes power drive electronics, and is electrically coupled to the shock absorber. The printed circuit board assembly is disposed with the shock absorber.
US09399378B2

A wheel suspension for the rear axle of a vehicle includes a wheel carrier that is steerable in a pivoting range for mounting a wheel, and a plurality of control arms for articulating the wheel carrier to the body of the vehicle, and further a damping device for damping a movement of the wheel carrier relative to the vehicle body. The damping device is connected to the wheel carrier by way of a wheel carrier connection, wherein the wheel carrier connection is arranged in an attachment area of the wheel space of the wheel defined by the pivoting range of the wheel carrier, which, of all areas of the wheel space facing the vehicle body, has the greatest direct distance to the vehicle body.
US09399376B2

A method for localizing tire sensors includes determining a wake up field power, transmitting an LF wake up field having the wake up field power from an LF antenna on the vehicle, receiving an identification signal from each tire sensor awakened by the transmitted LF wake up field, and determining whether a desired number of tire sensors have woken up in response to the transmitted LF wake up field based on the received identification signals. When the desired number of tire sensors have woken up, the method can further include recording the identification signals received from the awakened tire sensors and the respective antennas that awoke the respective tire sensors. The method further includes determining whether a desired number of antennas have transmitted a respective LF wake up field. When the desired number of antennas have transmitted a respective LF wake up field, the method can further include comparing the received identification signals and determining locations for the tire sensors based on which respective antenna woke up which respective tire sensor and whether the received identification signals match other received identification signals.
US09399365B2

The invention relates to a security and/or value document having a security feature, to an ink for making the security feature, to a method for making such a security and/or value document, and to a method for verifying such a security and/or value document.
US09399357B2

The temperature of heat elements of a thermal head can be controlled with high precision by a process with a low processor load. A printer 100 that prints on thermal roll paper 102 based on print data has a thermal head 134 with multiple heat elements 136 arrayed in a sub-scanning direction CR perpendicular to the conveyance direction F of the thermal roll paper 102. The printer 100 has a current control unit 112 that segments the heat elements of the thermal head 134 into plural blocks, and controls the energize timing of the heat elements in each block based on the number of heat elements 136 that are energized in the thermal head 134.
US09399355B2

Printing an image on a printing medium includes using a print head that ejects a first ink and a second ink having higher lightness than the first ink with preliminary ejection that is performed in a predetermined area in which the image is to be formed in order to maintain an ink ejection state of the print head and that does not contribute to printing of the image, wherein dots of the first ink and dots of the second ink formed in the predetermined area by the preliminary ejection are printed so as to be superposed on each other.
US09399345B2

A waste liquid container is detachably mounted on a mounting unit which includes a discharge portion discharging a waste liquid and a projection to which a substrate connection portion is joined. The waste liquid container includes: a containing portion that is able to contain the waste liquid; a connection concave portion that is opened in a mounting direction; a circuit substrate that includes connection terminals electrically connected to the substrate connection portion and is joined to the connection concave portion; and a waste liquid introduction portion that is connected to the discharge portion. In the connection concave portion, one pair of guide portions guiding the projection is formed so that the connection terminals are interposed therebetween in a width direction intersecting the mounting direction. Of the pair of guide portions, one guide portion is disposed between the connection terminals and the waste liquid introduction portion in the width direction.
US09399343B2

An inkjet printer can desirably clean two inkjet heads mounted on a head carriage before printing starts. The inkjet printer 1 has first and second inkjet heads 13A and 13B mounted on a head carriage 14. Before printing starts, the inkjet printer moves the head carriage 14 from a home position HP to a shift position SP so that the second inkjet head 13B, which is closest to the home position HP, is opposite a maintenance head cap 22 with an ink absorption capability and cleans the inkjet head. The head carriage 14 is then returned to the home position HP so that the first inkjet head 13A is opposite the maintenance head cap 22 and cleans the inkjet head. The head carriage 14 then moves to the printing area C side and printing starts.
US09399339B2

A method and apparatus for mounting a printing plate onto a printing cylinder, wherein the printing plate includes a first registration mark and a second registration mark centrally located along opposing edges thereof. The apparatus includes an optical system to transmit images of the registration marks to a user interface, wherein a user selects a desired location point location of each of the registration marks displayed on the user interface to facilitate an alignment of the printing plate in respect of a central axis of the printing cylinder.
US09399322B2

A three dimensional printer with a removable, replaceable extrusion nozzle is disclosed.
US09399321B2

The invention concerns a method for producing three-dimensional objects (6) layer by layer using a powdery material (7) which can be solidified by irradiating it with a high-energy beam (4), said method comprising the steps of: applying a first layer of powdery material onto a working area (5); solidifying a part of said first layer by irradiating it with a high-energy beam; and applying a second layer (8) of powdery material onto the first, partly solidified layer. The invention is characterized in that the method comprises the step of: determining a rate at which the temperature of the second layer (8) increases after application onto the first layer. The invention also concerns an apparatus configured to operate according to the above method.
US09399319B2

Provided are a blow molded article with a surface skin, which allows the formation of a blow molded article having a desired expansion ratio and retains a required expansion ratio from the time of extruding and is free from the generation of a sink mark or a warp in a portion where the surface wall and the back wall thereof has been welded and allows the production of a blow molded article with a lightweight and highly rigid surface skin; and a method for producing the blow molded article. A panel (1) with a surface skin, which is a blow molded article with a surface skin, has a body (5) in the form of a plate having a surface wall (2) and a back wall (3), both comprising a thermoplastic plastic, and a surface skin material (6) which is integrally pasted on the surface wall (2). The body (5) in the form of a plate is in an expanded state and comprises cells having an average particle diameter of 300 μm or less.
US09399318B2

A monoaxially oriented film including a metallized layer; a gas barrier layer; and a propylene-based random copolymer and at least about 3 wt % of a low density polyethylene which is oriented at least about 2.5 times in one direction and exhibits excellent linear directional tear properties parallel to the orientation direction and excellent heat seal performance in terms of high heat seal strengths and low seal initiation temperature. This film formulation and orientation is suitable for pouch applications requiring high gas and moisture barrier, an “easy-tear” linear tear feature, and excellent hermetic seal properties.
US09399313B1

The present invention is an improved method of manufacturing rubber wheels and composition thereof used on a portable vehicle adhesive remover for removing pinstripes, decals, side moldings and other items adhering to a vehicle without damaging the original paint of the vehicle. The improved method of manufacturing rubber wheels may comprise masticating approximately 100 parts of rubber in a mixer and synthesizing a rubber compound by mixing in at least 8 parts of activating agents, less than 60 parts of processing oil, between 0.1% and 1.5% by parts of cross-linking agent, and at least 1 part accelerating agent. The improved method may also comprise vulcanizing the synthesized rubber compound in a mold to produce a rubber wheel having a Shore A hardness between 50 and 60.
US09399306B2

Pipe machining apparatuses are provided. In one aspect, a pipe machining apparatus includes a coupling mechanism adapted to couple a first section and a second section of the pipe machining apparatus together. The coupling mechanism includes a base defining an aperture therein, an arm adapted to selectively couple the first and second sections together, an engagement member positioned in the aperture in the base, and a separation member movably coupled to the base and adapted to engage the engagement member. The separation member is adapted to move to push against the engagement member and separate the first section and the second section. In another aspect, a coupling mechanism includes an arm adapted to selectively couple the first and second sections together and a resistance member engaging the arm and one of a first section and a second section of the pipe machining apparatus to which the arm is coupled.
US09399303B2

A trimmer includes a fixed blade and a moveable blade. The fixed blade may include a focal aperture comprising a focal point, a radial extension region extending in a radial direction away from the focal point of the focal aperture and including a primary plane, and an arcuate region extending in a dimension away from the primary plane of the radial extension region. The moveable blade may include a focal aperture comprising a focal point, a radial extension region extending in a radial direction away from the focal point of the focal aperture and including a primary plane, and an arcuate region extending in a dimension away from the primary plane of the radial extension region.
US09399297B2

Disclosed herein is a suction cup used in a vacuum system. The suction cup includes a hollow body, a skirt-shaped pad disposed under the body, and a ring-shaped clamp removably provided in the suction cup to couple the body with the pad. A concave ‘C’-shaped outer surface of the clamp compresses a contact portion of the body with the pad in opposite directions upwards and downwards while surrounding the contact portion, thus coupling the body with the pad.
US09399292B2

A system and a method for providing a robot interaction service utilizing a location-based service of a mobile communication terminal. The system for providing a robot interaction service utilizing location information of a mobile communication terminal, includes: a mobile communication terminal for performing a mobile communication service through a wireless communication network, measuring a current location thereof and transmitting the measured location information to a predetermined robot terminal through a communication network; and a robot terminal for receiving the location information from the mobile communication terminal, determining a robot behavior based on the received location information, and controlling the operation thereof according to the determination result.
US09399289B2

A robot control apparatus, which controls motions of an industrial robot based on processing results of an image processing apparatus which images the robot or objects around the robot, includes: a first communication unit which communicates with a computer for development as an external computer; a second communication unit which is connected to the image processing apparatus via a network; and a command processing unit which opens a communication port of the second communication unit and causes the second communication unit to start communication with the image processing apparatus via a server on the network in response to an open command received by the first communication unit.
US09399288B2

An apparatus for driving a SCARA robot is provided. The apparatus includes a body, a horizontal rotating arm, a linear motor coil and a vertical magnetic axis. The linear motor coil is disposed on the horizontal rotating arm, and the vertical magnetic axis is passed through the linear motor coil. Wherein, the vertical magnetic axis can be driven by the linear motor coil of the horizontal rotating arm by a non-contact magnetic force.
US09399284B2

A robot cleaner includes a main body, a traveling unit installed in the main body, to move the main body, an ultrasonic sensor to emit an oscillation wave, to receive a reflection wave reflected from an object surface, and to output vibration generated by the oscillation wave and vibration generated by the reception of the reflection wave as an electrical signal, a waveform analyzer to calculate a generation time period of the electrical signal output from the ultrasonic sensor, and a controller to determine information about the object surface based on the calculated generation time period of the electrical signal, and to control movement of the traveling unit based on the information about the object surface.
US09399283B2

A tool box system. One or more magnets are strategically oriented, aligned, and sized to attract and secure the various types of tools within the tool box. Each magnet can be aligned, oriented, dimensioned, and sized to increase the magnetic field or decrease the magnetic field, depending on the desired strength and direction of the magnetic attraction between the magnets and the tools. The manipulation of each magnet is useful for tailoring a desired magnetic attraction between the tools and the magnets.
US09399281B2

A follower assembly includes a follower mounted on an axle with the axle being coupled to a carrier that is pivotable relative to the frame about a pivot axis. The follower assembly has a locked position in which the pivot axis and axle are positioned relative to each other in a locked over-center position. In the locked over-center position the driver is pinched between the follower assembly and the flywheel subjecting the driver to a pinch force when the driver is in the stall position. When the driver is in the stall position and the follower assembly is in the locked over-center position, pivotal movement of a stall release lever toward the release position forces the follower assembly out of the locked over-center position toward the reverse over-center position in which the relative positions of the pivot axis and axle are reversed and the pinch force is released.
US09399277B2

A polishing apparatus capable of performing multi-stage polishing of a substrate, such as wafer, is disclosed. The polishing apparatus includes: a plurality of polishing tables each for supporting a polishing pad; a plurality of polishing heads each configured to press a substrate against the polishing pad; and a transporting device configured to transport the substrate to at least two of the plurality of polishing heads. The plurality of polishing heads have different structures.
US09399254B2

A clayish composition for forming a sintered silver alloy body capable of forming a sintered silver alloy body, which is not easily discolored even in the atmosphere and has excellent tensile strength, flexural strength, surface hardness (hereinafter, sometimes collectively referred to as ‘mechanical strength’), elongation or the like, powder for the clayish composition for forming a sintered silver alloy body, a method for manufacturing the clayish composition for forming a sintered silver alloy body, a sintered silver alloy body and a method for manufacturing the sintered silver alloy body.
US09399248B2

A can bodymaker is provided. The can bodymaker includes two rams that travel over a generally vertical path. The bodymaker includes a housing assembly and an operating mechanism structured to move a number of ram assemblies over a vertical path of travel. The operating mechanism includes a crankshaft, a motor, a link assembly, and a number of ram assemblies. The crankshaft is rotatably coupled to the housing assembly and includes a number of pairs of crankpin journals. The motor is operatively coupled to said crankshaft. The link assembly includes a number of links. Each ram assembly includes an elongated ram body, each ram body structured to move over a ram path. Links from said link assembly extend between, and movably couple, each crankshaft crankpin journal to a ram body.
US09399246B2

Methods and apparatus for monitoring and conditioning strip material are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes coupling a feedback unit to a first material conditioner. The first material conditioner includes a first sensor and a second sensor, where the first and second sensors are located along a width of a first material moving through the first material conditioner, a first adjustable backup bearing and a second adjustable backup bearing. The disclosed example method also includes mapping the first sensor to the first adjustable backup bearing, where the first sensor corresponds to a first longitudinal zone located along a width of the first moving material. The disclosed example method also includes mapping the second sensor to the second adjustable backup bearing, where the second sensor corresponds to a second longitudinal zone located along the width of the first moving material, and where the feedback unit is couplable to a second material conditioner different than the first material conditioner.
US09399233B2

A bell cup includes an inner surface and a coating material diffusion surface on the inner surface of the bell cup. The coating material diffusion surface includes a first range extending from an end part of the coating material diffusion surface to a center part of the coating material diffusion surface, the end part being disposed toward a proximal end of the bell cup, being a convex curved surface facing towards the rotation axis, and on which, in a cross section of any plane that includes the rotation axis, normal line components of a centrifugal force acting on a coating material liquid film due to rotation of the bell cup are substantially equal, and a second range extending from the center part to a distal end edge of the bell cup, and being a being a concave curved surface facing towards the rotation axis.
US09399227B2

A reduced air hydrocyclone unit includes a hydrocyclone having a cylindrical section, a conical base having an underflow outlet formed in its apex, and an overflow outlet on an upper end of the cylindrical section. An underflow basin collects underflow material. Overflow material flows through an overflow line. An exhaust fan of the reduced air hydrocyclone unit withdraws from the overflow material in the overflow line a portion of an amount of air introduced through the apex of the hydrocyclone. A reduced air fluid system includes the reduced air hydrocyclone unit, a fluid tank in fluid communication with the overflow line of the reduced air hydrocyclone unit, and a reduced air hopper for mixing a solid material with a fluid contained in the fluid tank to form a slurry. A liquid barrier inlet of the reduced air hopper creates a liquid barrier to prevent air introduction into the slurry.
US09399222B2

An air flow control arrangement for a pulverizer includes an inner ring segment, an outer ring segment, a plurality of vanes, and a plurality of vanes. The inner and outer ring segments are adaptably configured in a spaced relation to each other. Further, the plurality of vanes is spaced apartly arranged between the inner and outer ring segments to form flow ducts. Furthermore, each wingtip of the plurality of wingtip is detachably attached to a respective vane of the plurality of vanes to be adaptably replaceable or changeable.
US09399216B2

A method includes flowing a liquid into a channel of a microfluidic cassette filled with a gas. The channel includes an inlet section and an outlet section. The method also includes detecting the liquid, the gas, or a combination thereof at a measuring location within the inlet section. The measuring location has a first sensor that may detect a signal indicative of a presence of the liquid, the gas, or a combination thereof. The method also includes compressing the gas, determining a pressure change of the gas within the channel, and determining a volume of the liquid within the channel based on the pressure change of the gas.
US09399196B2

A method for making a composite polyamide membrane comprising the steps of applying a polyfunctional amine monomer and polyfunctional acyl halide monomer to a surface of the porous support and interfacially polymerizing the monomers to form a thin film polyamide layer, wherein the method is includes at least one of the following steps: i) conducting the interfacial polymerization in the presence of a monomer comprising at least one phosphorous-containing functional group or salt thereof and an at least one amine-reactive functional group; and/or ii) applying such a monomer to the thin film polyamide layer.
US09399190B2

An absorber that uses a gasified gas containing CO2 and H2S formed by gasifying coal, for example, as an introduced gas, and that makes the CO2 and H2S absorbed from the introduced gas by bringing the introduced gas into contact with an absorbent for absorbing C02 and H2S; an absorbent regenerator-that extracts absorbent that has absorbed CO2 and H2S from the bottom of the absorber and introduces the absorbent from the top of the absorber, and that regenerates the absorbent by releasing the CO2 and H2S; a second supply line that returns the regenerated absorbent from the regenerator to the absorber; and a third supply line that extracts the absorbent (semi-rich solution) that has absorbed a part of the CO2 and H2S from the vicinity of the middle of the absorber, and that introduces the semi-rich solution in the vicinity of the middle of the regenerator.
US09399171B2

A method of gaming between multiple participants, each of whom has a locationally aware smart phone or similar user device with a microphone and at least one speaker, capable of a triggering interaction with other such devices using a sound-based trigger. A gaming session is triggered by the playing of an acoustic gaming session request tone by a first device. Software on other user devices within acoustic listening range which “hear” the trigger tone can cause the listening devices to join a gaming session with the first user device through contact with a centrally administered gaming application on a server. Based on the geographic location of the gaming session, or other applicable user parameters, at least one game or contest from the server is made available and can then be selected and played between the connected user devices, served by the central system. Advertising content relevant to the location or other user parameters of the user of each user device in the gaming session will be served to the user devices during or after completion of the gaming session.
US09399169B2

Provided is a game system that, while reducing a load on a communication line, enables a current situation of a game that is being played by at least one user to be known by another user. A situation identifying information transmission section transmits, to an output device, situation identifying information related to the situation of the game that is being executed in at least one game device. An output control section of the output device causes an output section to output the situation of the game based on the situation identifying information.
US09399164B2

A cycling suit (1) comprising a seat pad (2) in the crotch area, said seat pad (2) comprising a soft fabric piece (3) and a padding (4), said fabric piece having a multi-layered structure comprising at least a first layer (5) in contact with the skin and an outer layer (7) opposite to said first layer, wherein said outer layer is perforated.
US09399161B2

A punching training device includes a base, a barrel, and a punching member. The base includes an upper shell and a lower shell made of soft material. The base is formed with a cavity and defines a vertical central axis wherein the cavity is located at the central axis. The lower shell has a convex cambered face at the bottom thereof. The upper shell has a connecting portion at the top thereof. The barrel has a shape corresponding to the cavity and is received in the cavity. The punching member is disposed on the connecting portion and extends upward.
US09399157B2

A golf club head includes a body defining an interior cavity. The body includes a sole positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head, a crown positioned at a top portion, and a skirt positioned around a periphery between the sole and crown. The body has a forward portion and a rearward portion. The club head includes a face positioned at the forward portion of the body. In some embodiments, the crown includes a lattice-like structure having thin regions surrounded by a web of relatively thicker regions. In some embodiments, the club head includes one or more stiffening tubes attached between the sole and the crown to improve the acoustic performance of the golf club head.
US09399150B1

A vehicle-mounted fire control system for safe transport and management of a flammable liquid transported by a vehicle. The system includes a liquid storage vessel having an outer protective wall, a buffer space, and an interior wall. The outer protective wall encloses the buffer space and the interior wall. A rollover sensor measures a roll angle of the liquid storage vessel. An impact sensor measures impact acceleration of the liquid storage vessel. A smoke detector is located inside the buffer space. A fire extinguisher having a plurality of nozzles sprays fire suppressant at least onto one of the outer wall or the interior wall upon command. Electrically actuated solenoids, each one in communication with the nozzles, are configured to automatically open and spray fire suppressant upon the command. A processor programmed to issue the command upon detection of a hazard.
US09399143B2

An antenna for an implantable medical device (IMD) is provided that is formed on the same substrate as the telemetry circuitry for the IMD. The telemetry circuitry is formed on a portion of the substrate within the interior of a housing for the IMD, while at least one antenna is formed on an exterior portion of the substrate on the exterior of the housing to allow for far field telemetry. At least one electrical interconnect is formed on the substrate for connecting the antenna to the telemetry circuitry, where the electrical interconnect may comprise a controlled impedance line to minimize loss. A conformally-shaped hermetic cover, such as a ceramic material, may be formed in a desired shape around the exterior portion of the substrate and antenna and cofired together to form a monolithic structure encasing the antenna and exterior portion of the substrate.
US09399139B2

A medical device system including an pacemaker implantable in a chamber of a patient's heart is configured to sense near field events from a cardiac electrical signal, establish a lower rate interval to control a rate of delivery of pacing pulses and schedule a first pacing pulse by starting a pacing escape interval set equal to the lower rate interval. The pacemaker withholds the scheduled pacing pulse in response to sensing a near-field event during the pacing escape interval and schedules a next pacing pulse to be delivered at the lower rate interval from a time that the pacing escape interval is scheduled to expire.
US09399138B2

A pacemaker programming apparatus for programming a pacemaker in an individual. The apparatus comprises means for determining the sensed-paced difference of the pacemaker in the individual: first testing means for determining the optimum AV delay while the pacemaker is atrially pacing at a raised at a heart rate; and calculation means for calculating the optimum AV delay determined by the first testing means minus the sensed-paced difference.
US09399134B2

Devices, systems and methods are disclosed for treating a variety of diseases and disorders that are primarily or at least partially driven by an imbalance in neurotransmitters in the brain, such as asthma, COPD, depression, anxiety, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, and the like. The technology involves the use of an energy source comprising magnetic and/or electrical energy that is transmitted non-invasively to, or in close proximity to, a selected nerve to temporarily stimulate, block and/or modulate the signals in the selected nerve such that neural pathways are activated to release inhibitory neurotransmitters in the patient's brain.
US09399133B2

The present invention employed a method to control electrical activity in a target area of an animal's body by administering transcranial focal stimulation to the target area to adjust activity to normal levels. An advanced automated control system would first detect the abnormal electrical activity using tripolar concentric ring electrodes and then provides transcranial focal electrical stimulation to the target area using noninvasive tripolar concentric ring electrode system in a closed-loop continuous feedback. The automated control system would be adaptable to include the use of therapeutic drugs, either non-continuously or continuously, as a more comprehensive treatment of the abnormal electric activity.
US09399128B2

A neural interface includes a first dielectric material having at least one first opening for a first electrical conducting material, a first electrical conducting material in the first opening, and at least one first interconnection trace electrical conducting material connected to the first electrical conducting material. A stiffening shank material is located adjacent the first dielectric material, the first electrical conducting material, and the first interconnection trace electrical conducting material.
US09399123B2

A silicone adhesive composition including an ionic silicone and useful for healthcare applications such as wound care and drug delivery.
US09399122B2

Methods and systems for a tissue expander according to various aspects of the present invention may function in conjunction with an extended tissue expander, such as an extended tissue expander to be temporarily implanted into a patient to form a pocket for a permanent implant. Systems and methods according to various aspects of the present invention may comprise an extended tissue expander configured to increase and/or customize the size and/or shape of a tissue pocket beyond the size and/or shape provided by a conventional tissue expander. The extended tissue expander may comprise a tissue expander coupled to an extension portion. In one embodiment, the extended tissue expander may preserve a breast pocket with a desired teardrop shape that does not need extensive surgical modification before placement of a final breast implant or a tissue flap. In another embodiment, the extended tissue expander may be modified to the precise dimensions of a final breast implant for the simple exchange of the extended tissue expander for the final breast implant.
US09399120B2

A bi-directional cannula feature capture mechanism is described herein. Generally, the capture mechanism comprises an inner housing, an outer housing, and a cannula. The inner housing comprises a proximal and a distal cannula feature mating component. The outer housing is adapted to slidably receive the inner housing in a proximal direction. Additionally, the cannula extends through the inner housing and the cannula's feature has a proximal engagement and a distal engagement. The proximal and distal engagements are respectively configured to irreversibly engage the proximal and distal cannula feature mating components when the cannula tip is moved into a shielded position.
US09399106B2

A face mask (10) for a patient undergoing a sedated endoscopic procedure. The face mask (10) includes at least one of a duct or an aperture (16, 17) to provide positive airway pressure to the nose, a bite block (18) with an opening therein (20) and a one-way valve (22). The one-way valve (22) has an open position, allowing passage of an endoscopic device therethrough and into the opening (20), and a closed position substantially sealing the opening (20).
US09399099B2

A dose setting mechanism of a drug delivery device and a respective method of assembling said dose setting mechanism. The dose setting mechanism includes an inner housing having a helical groove along an external surface of the housing. The inner housing includes a rotational stop member near one end of the helical groove. The dose setting mechanism also includes a dial sleeve rotatably engaged with the helical groove of the inner housing. When a user rotates the dial sleeve to select a dose, the rotational stop member prevents the user from selecting a dose greater than a pre-defined maximum selectable dose.
US09399095B2

An assembly is provided which includes an infusion device coupled to a standard medication syringe. The medication syringe may be coupled to a stopcock valve having multiple ports and to which syringes, vial adapters, infusion tubing, and multiple other items may be coupled. The infusion device includes a source of power based on a resistance force such as vacuum, spring or gas power. The infusion device converts the resistance based force to usable work in the form of a force applicator. The force applicator includes a driver section on one section of a reciprocating arm and an attachment to the power source on another section of the arm. The driver is pulled outward (excursion) to increase the size of the chamber, creating a force that tends to return the driver back inward, causing incursion. The driver can be attached removably to the syringe plunger to induce the infusion process.
US09399093B2

Systems and methods for performing online extracorporeal photopheresis of mononuclear cells are disclosed. Whole blood is removed from a patient and introduced through a processing set into a separation chamber to separate the desired cell population from the blood. The separated cell population is processed through the set which is associated with a treatment chamber where the cells are treated. Once treated, the cells are returned to the patient. The processing set remains connected to the patient during the entire ECP treatment procedure and provides an online, sterile closed pathway between the separation chamber and the treatment chamber.
US09399083B2

An absorbent core suitable for use in an absorbent article comprising: a first absorbent layer, the first absorbent layer comprising a first substrate, and a layer of cross-linked cellulose fibers deposited on said first substrate, a second absorbent layer, the second absorbent layer comprising a second substrate, a layer of superabsorbent polymer particles deposited on said second substrate and a fibrous layer of thermoplastic adhesive material covering the layer of superabsorbent polymer particles. The first and second absorbent layers being combined together such that at least a portion of said fibrous layer of thermoplastic adhesive material contacts at least a portion of the layer of cross-linked cellulose fibers of said first absorbent layer.
US09399080B2

An air freshener is configured to be carried by a power outlet of an automobile. The air freshener includes a scent capsule disposed in a housing. A heat source is disposed in the housing adjacent and opposing a permeable membrane of the scent capsule. The heat source is configured to heat the fragrant material in the scent capsule and accelerate permeation of the fragrant material through the permeable membrane of the sent capsule. A hatch is pivotally coupled to the housing and substantially contained within a hatch cavity with an outer surface that is substantially flush with an exterior of the housing in a closed position. The hatch can include a capsule cavity therein, carrying the scent capsule, and facing an interior of the housing in the closed position.
US09399077B2

The present invention concerns compounds and methods of labeling peptides or other molecules with 18F or 19F or any other suitable radionuclide of use, for example, in PET or NMR in vivo imaging. A targeting molecule such as a protein or a peptide is linked to a substituted metallocene complex which is reacted with the 1gF or 19F shortly before performing the PET or NMR in vivo imaging on the patient. The labeled molecule is then used for targeting a cell, tissue, organ or pathogen to be imaged or detected.
US09399067B2

The present invention is directed to pharmaceutical compositions comprising prasugrel and a cyclodextrin derivative, and methods of making and using the same.
US09399054B2

The present invention provides a composition (e.g., a pharmaceutical composition) comprising at least one delivery agent compound and at least one of peptide YY (PYY) and a PYY agonist. Preferably, the composition includes a therapeutically effective amount of peptide YY or the PYY agonist and the delivery agent compound. The composition of the present invention facilitates the delivery of PYY, a PYY agonist, or a mixture thereof and increases its bioavailability compared to administration without the delivery agent compound. PPY and PYY agonists possess activity as agents to reduce nutrient availability, including reduction of food intake.
US09399053B2

Embodiments are directed to compositions and methods of treating migraine and related neurological disorders. In certain aspects, methods and compositions are for reducing cortical spreading depression and/or suppressing the neurochemical basis for chronic and acute migraine events, and provide methods and pharmaceutical compositions related to both acute and preventive therapies for migraine events and related headaches. In particular embodiments, treatment involves IL-11, interferon-gamma, or an IGF inducer such as IGF-1 or insulin.
US09399051B2

The present invention aims to provide a DPP-4 inhibitor that is obtained by using a food as a raw material and that is suitable for oral ingestion from the viewpoints of flavor and absorbability, and a composition for the prevention and/or amelioration of diabetes which contains the DPP-4 inhibitor. The present invention provides a DPP-4 inhibitor obtained by treating an azuki bean or a kidney bean with a microorganism or a proteolytic enzyme produced by the microorganism. In particular, a preferable DPP-4 inhibitor can be obtained by hydrolyzing an azuki bean with a koji mold or a proteolytic enzyme derived from the koji mold to fragment a protein in the azuki bean.
US09399046B2

There is provided a method of inducing differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells to neural cells or skeletal muscle cells by introduction of a Notch gene. Specifically, the invention provides a method of inducing differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells to neural cells or skeletal muscle cells in vitro, which method comprises introducing a Notch gene and/or a Notch signaling related gene into the cells, wherein the finally obtained differentiated cells are the result of cell division of the bone marrow stromal cells into which the Notch gene and/or Notch signaling related gene have been introduced. The invention also provides a method of inducing further differentiation of the differentiation-induced neural cells to dopaminergic neurons or acetylcholinergic neurons. The invention yet further provides a treatment method for neurodegenerative and skeletal muscle degenerative diseases which employs neural precursor cells, neural cells or skeletal muscle cells produced by the method of the invention.
US09399042B2

The invention described herein relates to the use of an aqueous composition containing at least one phospholipid. at least one glycyrrhizic acid or salts of glycyrrhizic acid for the manufacture of mediciments for the removal of subcutaneous fat accumulation.
US09399041B2

Provided is a fat or oil composition, comprising the following components (A) and (B): (A) 0.4 to 6 mass % of a free type triterpene alcohol; and (B) 0.2 to 3 mass of a free type phytosterol containing 20 mass % or more of β-sitosterol, in which a content mass ratio of the free type triterpene alcohol (A) to the free type phytosterol (B), [(A)/(B)], is 0.9 or more.
US09399040B2

Solutions for perioperative intraocular application by continuous irrigation during ophthalmologic procedures are provided. These solutions include multiple agents that act to inhibit inflammation, inhibit pain, effect mydriasis (dilation of the pupil), and/or decrease intraocular pressure, wherein the multiple agents are selected to target multiple molecular targets to achieve multiple differing physiologic functions, and are included in dilute concentrations in a balanced salt solution carrier.
US09399032B2

Model systems have shown that shifting a cell's reliance from oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to glycolysis can protect against cell death. Exploiting the therapeutic potential of this strategy, however, has been limited by the lack of clinically safe agents that remodel energy metabolism. The present invention identifies non-toxic small molecules (e.g., drug-like compounds) that are capable of modulating oxidative metabolism. One identified compound comprises meclizine. As described herein, meclizine, and its enantiomer S-meclizine, redirects OXPHOS to glycolysis. Such compounds could be protective or therapeutic in degenerative disorders such as diabetes, Huntington's, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's disease and/or ischemic disorders including, but not limited to, stroke, heart attack, or reperfusion injuries.
US09399025B2

A unit dosage form, such as a capsule or the like, for delivering a skeletal muscle relaxant, such as cyclobenzaprine hydrochloride, into the body in an extended or sustained release fashion comprising one or more populations of drug-containing particles (beads, pellets, granules, etc.) is disclosed. At least one bead population exhibits a pre-designed sustained release profile. Such a drug delivery system is designed for once-daily oral administration to maintain an adequate plasma concentration—time profile, thereby providing relief of muscle spasm associated with painful musculoskeletal conditions over a 24 hour period.
US09399023B2

A new pharmaceutical formulation for retinoid-containing soft gelatin capsules is disclosed. The new formulation comprises a soft gelatin capsule filled with a fill mass comprising a retinoid as an active ingredient, a natural vegetable oil, a partially hydrogenated natural vegetable oil and medium chain triglycerides. Optionally, the new formulation also comprises a natural wax. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the soft gelatin capsule comprises pig gelatin in the capsule shell in combination with the above fill mass.
US09399020B2

The instant invention provides hydrophilic matrix beadlet compositions that include at least one fat soluble nutrient and an effective amount of cellulose polymer with low viscosity. The invention also provides a process for the preparation of the hydrophilic matrix composition by employing a fluid bed system or extrusion spheronization technique. This hydrophilic matrix beadlet composition is comprised of at least 5% to about 25% carotenoid wherein free lutein is present in combination with zeaxanthin. The free flowing nature of the composition allows it to be compressed into tablets or to be filled into two piece capsules or blended as a dry premix for beverage applications. These hydrophilic matrix compositions exhibit desired dissolution characteristics and at least 1.6 times more bioavailability as compared with marketed reference formulations containing modified starch, thus making it advantageous for nutraceutical applications.
US09399013B2

An aqueous pharmaceutical suspension comprising: (i) at least one non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug; (ii) an aqueous buffer system; (iii) xanthan gum; (iv) polyvinyl pyrrolidone; and (v) glycerol wherein the suspension is free from pregelatinized starch, amino polycarboxylic acid, microcrystalline cellulose, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate, silicon dioxide and taste modifying agents selected from the group consisting of bulk sweeteners, intense sweeteners, flavoring agents and mixtures thereof.
US09399012B2

Described herein are compositions and methods for intravenous administration of acetaminophen at a single dose level of less than about 1000 mg for the treatment or prevention of pain (e.g., postoperative pain) and/or fever.
US09399006B2

Anhydrous soft slid antiperspirant compositions include, relative in each case to the total weight of the composition, at least one antiperspirant active ingredient, at least one oil in a total amount from 20 to 80 wt. %, at least one fatty alcohol having 12 to 18 carbon atoms, at least one fatty alcohol having more than 18 carbon atoms, with the proviso that the total amount of fatty alcohols is 3 to 12 wt. %, the weight ratio of fatty alcohols having 12 to 18 carbon atoms to the other fatty alcohols is in a weight ratio range from 1:1 to 1:3.
US09399005B2

The present invention relates to a water based nail polish remover composition comprising an anionic surfactant, a water soluble solvent, and water; wherein the anionic surfactant is selected from the group consisting of secondary C6-C22-alkane sulfonate trialcohol amine salts and mixtures thereof. The invention also relates to the use of the composition for removing nail polish.
US09398998B2

An automated chest compression device has a housing for supporting a patient and a motor within the housing. A conical drive spool is operatively connected to the motor and a cable, is operatively connected to the conical drive spool. The cable is adapted to extend at least partially around the chest of the patient. A controller is operable to control the motor to compress the chest to variable thresholds.
US09398997B2

The present invention is a foldable sexual device that includes a handle, a seat frame that includes a plurality of rollers and is rotated by a user while utilizing the foldable sexual device, a seat bar that allows the user to rotate the seat frame up or down and a pivot hinge point that allows the seat frame to rotate on the pivot hinge point. The device also includes a first support leg and a second leg support to support and stabilize the foldable sexual device, a phallus that moves upward and downward above and through the seat frame to provide sexual pleasure to the user, a seat that is disposed on the seat frame, a pair of corresponding arms that includes a slip bushing and a phallus base that is moved upward and downward by the pair of corresponding arms and the slip bushing.
US09398995B2

A portable rehab station, including left and right outriggers, each having a forward end and a rearward end, the left and right outriggers being pivotally connected at the bottom ends of the respective left and right frame members to pivot between retracted and expanded positions, the retracted position including the left and right outriggers being generally mutually parallel, and the expanded position including the left and right outriggers being spread out at an angle of between about six and ten degrees relative to each other; a front, ground-engageable caster connected to the forward end of each of the left and right outriggers and a rear, ground-engageable caster connected to the rearward end of each of the left and right outriggers; and an actuator assembly connected with the frame and operably connected with the left and right outriggers to selectively pivot the left and right outriggers between the retracted and expanded positions.
US09398994B2

A powered orthotic system includes a wearable component having a brace, an EEG sensor, an electrically powered actuator assembly in communication with the EEG sensor, and a controller in communication with the actuator assembly that provides system parameters to control operation of the actuator assembly. The system also includes a control unit in communication with the wearable component. The control unit includes a processor that modifies the system parameters in the controller and a user interface, in communication with the processor, that permits user selection of the system parameters. The control unit includes an auto-calibration mode in which an initial EEG signal level is measured by the EEG sensor for one or more muscles of the user when the muscles are at-rest, and the initial EEG signal level is used to adjust an EEG signal level measured during subsequent operation of the wearable component.
US09398988B1

A human powered wheelchair includes a frame, a seat mounted to the frame for supporting an operator having a torso, two independently driven wheels disposed at the rear of the wheelchair, and a JACKDRIVE™ propulsion system. The JACKDRIVE™ propulsion system includes two independent drive levers adapted to be grasped by the operator and to be pushed forward in a bench press movement away from the torso of the operator, a biasing member for exerting a biasing force to move each lever toward the torso of the operator, a driving chain connected to each lever, and a unidirectional driving mechanism operatively coupled to the driving chain and each driven wheel for directly translating the bench press movement of each lever into unidirectional motion of each driven wheel so as to propel the wheelchair in a forward direction.
US09398985B2

Stretched laminates with prestrained elastics.
US09398984B2

An applicator for urinary incontinence devices has an insertion barrel, a deployment plunger, and an adjustable insertion depth indicator. The applicators are useful to correct for a consumer's body mass index to ensure that urinary incontinence devices are placed in the appropriate position to be effective.
US09398966B2

A welded stent and stent delivery system, with a stent including a first strut having a first strut nickel titanium alloy layer and nickel titanium soluble core, the first strut nickel titanium alloy layer being disposed around the first strut nickel titanium soluble core; and a second strut having a second strut nickel titanium alloy layer and nickel titanium soluble core, the second strut nickel titanium alloy layer being disposed around the second strut nickel titanium soluble core, the second strut nickel titanium alloy layer being connected to the first strut nickel titanium alloy layer with a weld. The first and second strut nickel titanium alloy layers are made of a nickel titanium alloy, the first and second strut nickel titanium soluble cores are made of a nickel titanium soluble material, and the weld is made of an alloy of the nickel titanium alloy and the nickel titanium soluble material.
US09398954B2

Prosthetic artificial joints are described, including hip, knee and shoulder joints. In some embodiments, a artificial joint prosthesis includes: a bone-facing surface of a artificial joint prosthesis, the bone-facing surface configured to face a bone-prosthesis interface in vivo; a non-contact surface of the artificial joint prosthesis, the non-contact surface adjacent to the bone-facing surface of the artificial joint prosthesis; at least one fluid deflection structure positioned adjacent to the non-contact surface, the fluid deflection structure positioned to deflect synovial fluid away from the bone-prosthesis interface in vivo; and a mechanism attached to the fluid deflection structure, the mechanism operable to move the fluid deflection structure to direct synovial fluid away from the bone-prosthesis interface in vivo.
US09398950B2

An intraocular lens insertion tool including: a cylindrical tool body provided with a placement part at which is placed an intraocular lens having an optical part, and a pair of support parts extending from either side of the optical part; and a plunger for pushing out the intraocular lens; the intraocular lens insertion tool being provided in a state in which the intraocular lens is preset in the placement part, wherein at least one of the front support part extending toward a tip end of the tool body and the rear support part extending toward a rear end of the tool body is pre-deformed by abutting against an abutting projection disposed inside the placement part.
US09398940B2

An oral care implement generates cavitation within the oral cavity. One or more cavitation cleaning elements may be located in the head area of the oral care implement. The cavitation cleaning element vibrates at a frequency that produces cavitation of fluids within the oral cavity. The oral care implement may include an elastomeric cavitation cleaning element. A cleaning element may be configured to vibratory release an oral care substance from a container; and a body for gripping the implement.
US09398938B2

An oscillating dental angle handpiece for dental tools is described. The handpiece has a hollow housing body, that defines a first longitudinal cavity suitable for coaxially containing inside the first longitudinal cavity a driving shaft, and a second transversal cavity, arranged at an end of the first cavity and having an axis incident with the axis of the first cavity, as well as a driven holder, in which a rotary movement of the driving shaft is transformed into oscillating movement of the driven holder. Additionally, the handpiece is entirely made from synthetic material.
US09398927B2

Medical implant which at least partially comprises a biocompatible, electrically conductive polymer with electrical resistivity p, having the property of being able to be heated and softened by a flow of current through the polymer.
US09398923B2

A sealing means for sealing an introduction facility for a medical instrument includes a first sealing membrane of an elastic material with a first slit and a second sealing membrane of an elastic material with a second slit. The first sealing membrane and the second sealing membrane abut laminarily on each other. The first sealing membrane and the second sealing membrane are arranged such that the first slit and the second slit are not parallel with each other. Each of the first slit and the second slit is unbranched.
US09398916B2

A device for placing a vascular implant including a device for dilating a vessel, has an outer envelope and a tapered end piece for introduction into a vessel. The end piece includes a nose formed at the distal extremity of the outer envelope. The dilation device includes elements for opening the nose having at least two longitudinal slots which divide the nose into several segments which can be opened out in order to open the nose; and an implant which is placed in the outer envelope. The implant includes an expandable element which can be placed in the outer envelope. The implant includes an expandable element which can be placed on the internal wall of the outer envelope and is provided with elements for the translation of the implant in relation to the outer envelope such that the expandable element can press against the internal wall of the nose in order to open out the segments. A device for placing vascular implants fitted with the device is also disclosed.
US09398911B2

A surgical instrument may comprise a drive system that is configured to electrically generate a plurality of discrete rotary control motions. In at least one form, the surgical instrument may include an elongate shaft assembly that is operably couplable to the drive system for receiving a first rotary control motion therefrom for rotating the elongate shaft assembly about a shaft axis. The elongate shaft assembly may be further configured to receive and transmit a second rotary control motion from the drive system to a surgical end effector that is operably coupled to the elongate shaft assembly to cause the surgical end effector to rotate about the shaft axis relative to the elongate shaft assembly. The elongate shaft assembly may be further configured to receive and transmit a third rotary control motion from the drive system to an articulation joint that communicates with the elongate shaft assembly and the surgical end effector to articulate the surgical end effector about an articulation axis that is substantially transverse to the shaft axis.
US09398898B2

Spatially distinct Spectral Doppler information is acquired. Spatially distinct transmit beams are formed at a same time or in parallel. One or more receive beams are formed in response to each transmit beam, providing samples for a plurality of laterally spaced locations. A spectrum is determined for each of a plurality of spatial locations. In another approach, samples are acquired for different regions at different times. The scanning for each region is interleaved based on the anatomic operation. Since spectral estimation relies on a time-continuous series of transmission and reception, the scanning for a region occurs over a sufficient period for spectral estimation before the scanning for a different region occurs. By using anatomic operation, sufficient time is provided for spectral estimation. Due to anatomic operation, different regions are associated with flow at different times.
US09398897B2

An ultrasonic sensor includes a substrate, three or more ultrasonic arrays and a control unit. The three or more ultrasonic arrays are disposed on a surface of the substrate. The control unit is configured to control ultrasonic waves transmitted from the ultrasonic arrays. Each of the three or more ultrasonic arrays includes a linear array structure has a plurality of ultrasonic elements arranged in a corresponding one of three or more straight lines, with the three or more straight lines collectively enclosing a closed area on a plane that contains the surface of the substrate. The control unit is configured to control the ultrasonic waves transmitted from each of the three or more ultrasonic arrays so that the ultrasonic waves are transmitted within a scanning plane that contains the corresponding one of the three or more straight line and that is perpendicular to the surface of the substrate.
US09398885B2

The problem addressed by the invention is to always keep an imaging angle of an X-ray detector to an object constant before and after an imaging unit is moved. In order to solve the problem, a mobile X-ray diagnostic apparatus related to the present invention detects a rotation amount of a main body in a horizontal surface due to movement on a floor surface and controls rotation drive of the X-ray detector based on a detection result.
US09398880B2

A Wearable Orthopedic/Orthotic Device for diagnostics and therapy of an equine limb comprises a soft tissue compression material and a sheet of stretchable laminate material for soft tissue compression and bracing. The device includes a stretchable, porous and breathable polyurethane membrane to allow a certain degree of perspiration and heat to escape while retaining a therapeutic amount of heat. The device includes an intelligent textile layer, including fibertronics, organic electronics, other forms of e-textiles and sensors for monitoring parameters associated with tendon and ligament injuries in sub clinical time periods. The device may include an acoustic sensor for detecting the speed and frequency of sound traveling through underlying tissue onto which an acoustic signal is emitted. In a diagnostic monitoring method, parameters associated with the health tissue of the equine limb and body is wirelessly transmitted by the device to an external receiver for analysis.
US09398879B2

A handheld, conforming capacitive sensing apparatus configured to measure Sub-Epidermal Moisture (SEM) as a mean to detect and monitor the formation of pressure ulcers. The device incorporates an array of electrodes which are excited to measure and scan SEM in a programmable and multiplexed manner by a battery-less RF-powered chip. The scanning operation is initiated by an interrogator which excites a coil embedded in the apparatus and provides the needed energy burst to support the scanning/reading operation. Each electrode measures the equivalent sub-epidermal capacitance corresponding and representing the moisture content.
US09398873B2

A method of obtaining a desired state in (22) a subject comprises measuring one or more physiological parameters of the subject (12), calculating, using the measured parameter(s), a value (38), determining if the calculated value (38) is to be modified, modifying the calculated value, if the determination is that the value is to be modified, and generating an output to the subject, the output being in proportion to the modified value (40). The step of modifying the calculated value, if the determination is that the value is to be modified,—can comprise accessing a modification scheme and modifying the calculated value according, to the modification scheme. One method of modifying the calculated value comprises amplifying the calculated value.
US09398869B2

Method and System for providing a signal from an insulin pump, artificial pancreas, or another insulin delivery device as a source of information for improving the accuracy of a continuous glucose sensor (CGS). The effect of using insulin information to enhance sensor accuracy is most prominent at low blood glucose levels, i.e. in the hypoglycemic range, which is critical for any treatment. A system for providing a filtering/state estimation methodology that may be used to determine a glucose state estimate at time t-τ. The estimation may be extrapolated to some future time t and then the extrapolated value is used to extract the blood glucose component. The blood glucose component of the extrapolation and the output of the CGS are weighted and used to estimate the blood glucose level of a subject.
US09398866B2

A system for determining a position of a medical device within a body is provided that reduces positional error by establishing a reference origin closer to the device and/or simplifies the system by integrating components and functions. In one embodiment, a pair of drive electrodes are affixed to opposed surfaces of the body and create a pathway for transmission of current through a position sensor related to the medical device. A pair of reference electrodes proximate the drive electrodes are coupled to a common reference node outputting a reference signal establishing the reference origin. An electronic control unit determines the position of the medical device responsive to the position signal and the reference signal. In another embodiment, a patch affixed to an external surface of the body has a base layer and multiple devices supported on the base layer, electrically isolated from one another, and configured to perform different functions.
US09398862B2

In some aspects, a method includes measuring unipolar signals at one or more electrodes in response to electrical activity in a heart cavity. The method also includes determining, based at least in part on Laplace's equation, bipolar physiological information at multiple locations of an surface based on the measured unipolar signals and positions of the one or more electrodes with respect to the surface.
US09398859B2

A wearable defibrillator consists of a vest (or belt) which is worn by the patient. The device monitors the patient's ECG with sensing electrodes and can monitor other patient conditions and in appropriate cases can treat certain conditions. An accelerometer(s) in the wearable defibrillator can allow for the device to determine the position, movements, forces applied to the patient, and/or the device. The device can use a least one patient motion detector generating a signal indicative of patient activity. Analysis of the signal can be indicative of patient activity appropriate for treatment or indication of device condition.
US09398853B2

A medical telemetry system for remote monitoring of data collected from mobile persons including a sensor capable of monitoring physiological data, a mobile communication telemeter operably connected to said sensor for communicating physiological data to terminals, a plurality of terminals for receiving physiological data and for communication said physiological data over a wireless link using the Bluetooth standard to a communication gateway, and a communications gateway for communicating such physiological data to a first end of a communications network. Terminal may also be operably connected to power lines and may be capable of transmitting data via both a wireless link and a power line modem over power lines, such that the power line modem is capable of communicating or receiving physiological data over power lines if it is unable to communicate physiological data over a wireless link.
US09398850B2

An ophthalmic apparatus comprising: an illumination optical system including a light source and configured to illuminate an eye to be examined; an imaging optical system including an image sensor and configured to image the eye illuminated by the illumination optical system; an optical member insertion/removal unit configured to insert/remove an optical member in/from at least one of optical paths in the illumination optical system and the imaging optical system; and a notification unit configured to notify an insertion/removal state of the optical member with respect to the optical path based on a signal output from the image sensor in synchronism with insertion/removal of the optical member in/from the optical path.
US09398846B2

An image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire a tomography image of a target to be captured, a detection unit configured to detect layer boundaries of a plurality of layers sequentially positioned in the depth direction from the acquired tomography image, and a determination unit configured to determine a structure of the target to be captured according to the number of the detected layer boundaries.
US09398842B2

According to the present invention, an endoscope valve is provided that comprises a cylinder, a cylinder liner, a piston, and a sleeve. The cylinder has a groove on a lateral surface of the cylinder. The cylinder liner has a cylindrical shape and is inserted into an inner circumference of the cylinder. The piston is inserted into an inner circumference of the cylinder liner. The sleeve has a sleeve rib, a sleeve skirt, and a pin. The sleeve rib covers at least part of an open end of the cylinder. The sleeve skirt covers at least part of a circumferential surface of the open end. The pin projects from the sleeve skirt towards the circumferential surface to engage with the groove. The cylinder liner has a rib that projects radially outward from a circumference of the cylinder liner. The sleeve rib holds the rib on the open end in the case that the pin engages with the groove.
US09398838B2

An endoscope including a catheter, a steering handle for controlling the bending of the catheter, and a pipe connector. The catheter includes an outer tube and an inner tube. The outer tube is sleeved outside the inner tube. The steering handle includes a handle sleeve and a handle cover. The handle sleeve is sleeved outside the handle cover. An axial guide rail and a sliding block are arranged between the handle sleeve and the handle cover. The guide rail and the sliding block are fixed on the handle sleeve or the handle cover respectively. The outer tube is fixedly connected with the handle sleeve. The inner tube penetrates a through hole in the center of the handle sleeve, is connected with a port of the pipe connector and fixed therein. The pipe connector is positioned in the handle cover and fixedly connected therewith.
US09398835B2

An interactive device that is an accessory to a flush toilet and is positioned at the rear of the flush toilet and may be attached to the rear of the toilet such that the user would use the flush toilet in the reverse position. The interactive device may include a toy, game, or computer. The interactive device may be secured to the toilet by straps or to the toilet lid hinges and may be detachable from the flush toilet. The interactive device may have hinges that allow the interactive device to be folded to a compact configuration. The interactive device makes “going to the bathroom” enjoyable for both the child and parent, while educating the child to appreciate and to become more accustomed to using a flush toilet.
US09398832B2

Disclosed is a towel in which a pouch is not provided and the decoupling of a towel body is possible, so that the towel can sufficiently washed and freely used in various fields. The towel is coupled to a portable terminal, a bag, a purse, a key holder, a diary, or a handbag. The towel includes a towel body, a pocket part provided on one surface of the towel body to receive the towel body, a connection member coupled to the pocket part, and a coupling member mounted in the connection member. As the towel is used, the pouch is not provided different from a conventional towel, so that the size of the towel is reduced and the fabrication cost is saved.
US09398825B2

A bottle cross frame and method for making a bottle cross. The bottle cross frame provides a metal framework structured to receive four bottles, typically of wine bottle shape and size, and to retain the bottles in a cross shape. The frame includes a top post for receiving a single upside down bottle, as well as two side arms to each receive a single bottle to form the lateral arms of the cross. A base of the cross is formed by positioning a bottle upright between a base pin and a bottom bracket positioned along a stand component. The frame includes a stake stand component and an alternate bracket component.
US09398817B2

The present invention relates to a facing arrangement which enables objects such as stock in a supermarket to be displayed effectively and clearly and positioned when required when stock is removed by customers. In one aspect there is a kit for aligning and drawing one or more objects across a support surface. The kit comprises a container for drawing the objects across the support surface, the container defining a zone for aligning objects, the zone defined between an opposing pair of side walls and an opposing pair of end walls. There is also an end element arranged to be secured adjacent an edge of the support surface and a spacer element configured to maintain a product spaced apart from the end element, the spacer element configured to provide a zone to accommodate an end wall of the container.
US09398812B2

To provide a core for armrest, the core including a stopper pin for restricting rotation, and exhibiting higher resistance to loads. A core for armrest includes a framed body being made of resin, a stopper pin being made of metal, the stopper pin being subjected to insert molding in the framed body so as to protrude a leading-end side thereof toward an outer side of the framed body, and being hooked onto a stopper of a seat, thereby being restricted from rotating, and a rib being integrally molded onto the framed body inside the framed body, and being disposed so as to overlap with respect to a base-end face of the stopper pin in an axial direction of the stopper pin.
US09398806B2

A molded plastic storage cabinet having a plurality; of panels that can be snap-fit together. The cabinet has a door panel serving as a door, the door panel being symmetric about a horizontal centerline; a back panel; a pair of side panels, each side panel being symmetric about a horizontal centerline; and a top panel and a bottom panel, each arranged to connect to the back and side panels, and each having a hinge/latch pin at ends of a front edge. The door panel has a hinge cavity at one end and a door latch at the other end of a top and a bottom edge, to permit latching or hinging of the door panel on the hinge/latch pins.
US09398795B2

An airport baggage tracking and notification system may include a baggage tracking system and a baggage location notification system. The baggage tracking system may be configured to track when baggage at an airport has arrived at and/or has departed from one or more locations at an airport, such as a check in area, a baggage sorting area, within an airplane, a baggage pickup area, and/or a passenger exit at the airport. The baggage location notification system may be configured to cause a notification to be automatically delivered to a passenger that is transporting the baggage, a passenger transportation service, and/or others contemporaneously with when the baggage has arrived at and/or departed from each of the locations indicating that the baggage has arrived at or departed from each location.
US09398790B1

A discreet personal recording necklace and pendant system for recording an audio signal for playback is suspended around a neck of a user. The system features a hollow tube adapted for housing wiring, a cylindrical clasp located on the hollow tube adapted for housing a power supply, and a pendant located on the hollow tube. The pendant features a microprocessor located in a pendant cavity connected to the power supply via wiring through the hollow tube. A pendant first surface has a capacitive touch sensor and a microphone. A pendant second surface features a speaker. The microprocessor is operated via a voice activation component in the microprocessor. The audio signal is received via the microphone and emitted via the speaker. The discreet personal recording necklace and pendant system for recording the audio signal for playback is suspended around the neck of the user.
US09398787B2

This invention relates generally to footwear such as a shoe, including an athletic shoe, with a shoe sole, including at least one removable midsole section formed by a midsole portion, wherein the removable midsole section is non-orthotic. The removable midsole section is inserted within the shoe upper, the sides of which hold it in position. The shoe sole includes a concavely rounded side or underneath portion, which may be formed in part by the removable midsole section. The removable midsole section may extend the length of the shoe sole or may form only a part of the shoe sole and can incorporate cushioning or structural compartments or components. The removable midsole section provides the capability to permit replacement of midsole material which has degraded or has worn out in order to maintain optimal characteristics of the shoe sole. The shoe sole can, in another embodiment, include at least one compartment containing a fluid, a flow regulator, a pressure sensor to monitor the compartment pressure, and a control system such as a computer processor capable of automatically adjusting the pressure in the compartment(s) in response to the impact of the shoe sole with the ground surface.
US09398775B2

A dietary measurement system and a method of correlating dietary information to a defined volume of a measuring device are provided to reduce the effort and time necessary to keep track of the nutritional intake. The dietary measurement system comprises at least a measuring device adapted to accommodate food having multiple measurement indicators representing defined volumes, a nutrition database comprising dietary contents information for food and a mapping device. The mapping device comprises an input interface for receiving food selection information and a mapping processor, connected with said input interface and said nutrition database, said mapping processor being adapted to generate dietary correlation data from said dietary contents information, said dietary correlation data providing a reference between one of said measurement indicators of said measuring device and a given dietary contents level for food according to said food selection information.
US09398769B2

A apparatus and method for killing microorganisms in a body of water that has been treated with ozone in the presence of bromide ions with the method comprising the steps of carrying out the ozonization of a body of water in the presence of bromide ions, adding a metal ion donor to the body of water, and adding a hypobromite ion scavenger to the body of water to interact with the metal ion donor to enhance a metal ion concentration in the body of water while suppressing the oxidization of the bromide by the Ozone to produce bromate.
US09398766B2

A fluid distribution assembly includes a vehicle that has a tank coupled thereto. The tank may contain a fluid. A control circuit is coupled to the vehicle. The control circuit is electrically coupled to a power source. A heating element is in thermal communication with the tank to heat the fluid to a temperature greater than 185° Fahrenheit. The heating element comprises a plurality coils distributed along the tank. The heating element is electrically coupled to the control circuit. A pump is coupled to the vehicle. The pump is in fluid communication with the tank to urge the fluid out of the tank. The pump is electrically coupled to the control circuit. A fluid dispensing unit is in fluid communication with the pump and the tank.
US09398762B2

Methods and compositions are described for making phenotypically female fertile animals from XY donor cells and suitable host embryos. Culture media and methods are provided for maintaining XY donor cells in culture that after introduction into a host embryo and gestation in a suitable host will result in fertile XY female animals. Methods and compositions are described for making fertile female animals in an F0 generation from a donor XY cell and a host embryo, as are methods for making F1 progeny that are homozygous for a modification from a heterozygous F0 fertile male and a heterozygous F0 fertile female sibling.
US09398761B2

A non-human transgenic animal having a polynucleotide encoding a PTN polypeptide, which polynucleotide is operably linked to a promoter, wherein said transgenic animal has greater than wild-type expression of the PTN polypeptide in at least one brain region, as well as related vectors, methods of producing transgenic animals, in vitro and in vivo screening methods for potential therapeutic agents, and methods for treating and diagnosing neuropsychiatric illnesses, particularly anxiety and depression, are disclosed.
US09398753B2

A lettuce cultivar, designated Cielo Verde, is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds, plants and plant parts of lettuce cultivar Cielo Verde and to methods for producing a lettuce plant by crossing the cultivar Cielo Verde with itself or another lettuce cultivar. The invention further relates to methods for producing a lettuce plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic lettuce plants and plant parts produced by those methods. This invention also relates to lettuce cultivars or breeding cultivars and plant parts derived from lettuce cultivar Cielo Verde, to methods for producing other lettuce cultivars, lines or plant parts derived from lettuce cultivar Cielo Verde and to the lettuce plants, varieties, and their parts derived from the use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid lettuce seeds, plants, and plant parts produced by crossing cultivar Cielo Verde with another lettuce cultivar.
US09398747B2

A machine for clearing and converting woody biomass into a bio fuel is described. The machine may be mobile and may include a chipper. The machine may further include a vacuum intake that directs chipped woody biomass to a wood processing component within the machine. The wood processing component may convert the woody biomass into bio char, bio oil, and bio gas using a pyrolyzer system.
US09398746B1

A protection device segregates burrowing animals from plants. The protection device comprises a thread knitted into a boundary layer that is sealed with a staple. A user can insert a plant in a root ball earth into the protection device and insert the protection device into a hole in earth. The thread is flexible and does not release iron into the earth. The boundary layer prevents a burrowing animal from entering into the root ball earth and consuming roots of the plant. In some embodiments, the thread is a tubular non-woven stainless steel thread which is knitted in order to prevent existence of a seam. The thread allows the roots of the plant to grow out of the protection device allowing the plant to continue to grow, notwithstanding the boundary layer created by the thread.
US09398744B2

A drive system (1) for a harvesting machine has a drive train (4) connected by a coupling device (5) with a drive motor (6). The drive train (4) has a hydrostatic transmission (10) with a variable displacement pump (11) and a hydraulic motor (12) connected in a closed circuit to the pump (11). The hydraulic motor (12) is connected to a feeder device (2). For quickly stopping the feeder device (2), the pump (11) is set to a displacement of zero by an electronic control system (15) and the feeder device (2) is braked by a pressure protection device (40). For a chopper device (3), the hydraulic motor (12) is cut off by the electronic control system (15). The drive train (4) is isolated from the drive motor (6) by uncoupling the coupling device (5) and the pump (11) is set to the maximum displacement volume.
US09398739B2

A planter is described which utilizes individual seed meter motor drives at each row unit. motor controllers control each seed meter drive motor. Each individual row seed meter can be individually started, stopped and operated at a unique rate. Prior to planting, the meters can be operated to fill the meters and ensure that the meters are primed and ready to start dropping seed as soon as the planter begins operation to plant seed. When a seed delivery system is used with each meter to move seed from the meter to the soil, the delivery system is also primed with seed before operation of the planter.
US09402310B2

The present invention provides a resin composition useful for a copper-clad laminate and a printed circuit board, wherein the resin composition comprises the following components: (A) 100 parts by weight of vinyl-containing polyphenylene ether resin; (B) 5 to 50 parts by weight of maleimide; (C) 10 to 100 parts by weight of styrene-butadiene copolymer; and (D) 5 to 30 parts by weight of cyanate ester resin. The present invention also provides a resin composition and an article made therefrom having low dissipation factor at high frequency and excellent thermal resistance and peeling strength and being useful for a copper-clad laminate and a printed circuit board.
US09402305B2

A conducting film or device electrode includes a substrate and two transparent or semitransparent conductive layers separated by a transparent or semitransparent intervening layer. The intervening layer includes electrically conductive pathways between the first and second conductive layers to help reduce interfacial reflections occurring between particular layers in devices incorporating the conducting film or electrode.
US09402300B2

A substrate for a light-emitting diode comprising a metal base with a thickness of a predetermined value or more is constituted so that the thickness of a top conductor for an electrical connection with a light-emitting diode (LED) in a predetermined range falls within a predetermined range and the thickness of an insulation layer which electrically insulates the metal base and the top conductor and the thickness of the top conductor meet a predetermined relation. Thereby, a substrate for a light-emitting diode which can show a high heat dissipation capacity by achieving a low thermal resistance as the total thermal resistance of the whole substrate without reducing an insulation reliability and high-humidity reliability of the substrate is provided.
US09402290B2

A system and method for the automatic color/brightness adjustment of a video display screen, panel, module or other display component comprising light emitting diodes (“LEDs”). The system and method incorporate a reference LED and a light sensor on each module and use decay information sensed from each reference LED to determine the amount of decay experienced by the display LEDs in the modules. Each module will be adjusted to have one uniform color/brightness level based on the decay information sensed from each reference LED.
US09402285B2

An indoor photovoltaic flasher has a photovoltaic panel to collect ambient indoor light and convert the light into energy; the energy from the photovoltaic panel is stored as voltage in a capacitor; current will flow from the capacitor through a MOSFET to the light emitting diodes display, with the MOSFET being an on/off switch for the light emitting diodes display; and a voltage divider and an integrated circuit will control the MOSFET and determine whether there is sufficient voltage in the capacitor to power the light emitting diodes in the display.
US09402283B2

Each corner key assembly of an insulating glass unit is constructed of an electrically non-conductive housing having a pair of arms disposed in perpendicular relation to each other to engage with respective ends of a spacer system and a central post extending in parallel to one of the arms with an electrically conductive spring clip mounted in the post to engage a bus bar. The spring has a reversely curved portion extending from the post of the housing to lie flat against the opposed glass panes of the IG unit. Each corner key may be used as either a right-hand or as a left-hand corner key by being flipped over on itself.
US09402266B2

The present invention relates to a wireless access system, and more particularly, to methods for transceiving data in a peer-to-peer (P2P) communication system, and to apparatuses for supporting the methods. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for transmitting data from a first device, which is a peer device in a P2P communication system, comprises the steps of: receiving an acknowledgement signal broadcast from a second device; comparing the priority of a P2P communication link of the second device and the priority of a P2P communication link of the first device on the basis of a resource region in which the acknowledgement signal is broadcast; and determining, by the first device on the basis of the first priority, whether or not to transmit the data or make a concession to data transmission.
US09402261B2

A wireless communications device, e.g., a mobile wireless terminal, is controlled by a base station to simultaneously: (i) transmit uplink data signals in an uplink spectrum to a base station and (ii) transmit device to device data signals in the uplink spectrum to another wireless communications device. In various embodiments, the uplink data signals are communicated in a first multi-antenna stream corresponding to a first multi-antenna configuration and the device to device data signals are communicated in a second multi-antenna stream corresponding to a second multi-antenna configuration. Control information communicated from the base station to the wireless communications device being controlled include, e.g., a selected first antenna configuration for uplink data signaling, a selected second antenna configuration for device to device data signaling, a selected first maximum transmission power level for uplink data signaling and a selected second maximum transmission power level for device to device data signaling.
US09402258B2

A communication method for a wireless communication network comprises: providing a femto base station configured to communicate wirelessly with one or more wireless communication devices within the coverage area of the femto base station, wherein the femto base station may communicate on a plurality of different carrier frequencies; monitoring each communication device within the coverage area; and activating and/or deactivating one or more main carrier frequencies of the femto base station, in accordance with communication requirements of the communication devices; wherein a communication device, which is within the coverage area of the femto base station but is not being served by an active main carrier frequency of the femto base station, is served by a macro base station, having a coverage area within the coverage area of the femto base station, or, if the femto base station is also capable of communicating on auxiliary carrier frequencies, an auxiliary carrier frequency.
US09402256B2

A method and network element for providing reference signals to a user equipment, the method determining a reference signal pattern at the network element; and sending the reference signals to the user equipment using a reference signal mapping based on the reference signal pattern. Further a method and user equipment for receiving reference signals from a network element, the method determining a reference signal mapping at the user equipment; and detecting the reference signals at the user equipment using the reference signal mapping.
US09402252B2

The present invention relates to a method of monitoring a control channel and a wireless device using same in a multiple antenna system in which a plurality of layers are defined. The wireless device monitors a first downlink control channel in a first search space which is mapped to a first layer, and a second downlink control channel in a second search space which is mapped to a second layer. The first layer of the plurality of layers is the lowest layer.
US09402251B2

Methods, apparatuses, and systems are described to provide enhanced physical downlink control channel scrambling and demodulation reference signal sequence generation.
US09402247B2

A method and apparatus for transmitting uplink control information (UCI) for Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) using carrier aggregation is disclosed. Methods for UCI transmission in the uplink control channel, uplink shared channel or uplink data channel are disclosed. The methods include transmitting channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement/non-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK), channel status reports (CQI/PMI/RI), source routing (SR) and sounding reference signals (SRS). In addition, methods for providing flexible configuration in signaling UCI, efficient resource utilization, and support for high volume UCI overhead in LTE-A are disclosed.
US09402235B2

A base station servicing a cell of a cellular network provides power control of a cell independent of any other cell in the network. For downlink power control, the base station transmits information at its full power and applies a downlink power control factor to each downlink channel to equalize downlink throughputs of the mobile terminals in the cell. For uplink power control, the base station transmits instructions to have the uplink channel with the worst channel condition to transmit at its full power and the other uplink channels to transmit at that same full power. Each transmission is scaled by a corresponding uplink power control factor such that uplink throughputs for the mobile terminals in the cell are equalized. The base station applies an approximation of a rigorous capacity lower bound algorithm using propagation channel conditions and channel parameters to calculate the uplink and downlink power control factors.
US09402234B2

The present invention is to provide the mobile communication system which enables power consumption reduction for the mobile station with dual mode capability by unifying the location registration and paging processing for every mobile communication system. The mobile communication system is so arranged to perform location registration processing and paging processing for the mobile station by only one of radio communication systems. And the mobile station can access to any other radio communication systems.
US09402227B2

A user device receives network information for a future destination of the user device. The user device stores the network information for the future destination in a local store of the user device. Responsive to the user device starting up, the user device searches for an available network using the network information in the local store of the user device, wherein searching for the available network excludes searching for a last registered network.
US09402218B1

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for prioritizing a handover from an LTE network to a legacy network are provided. The method includes receiving, at a management component, a message from a mobile device. The message communicates a capability type associated with the mobile device. Based, in part, on this capability type, the management component assigns a priority to the mobile device. According to the assigned priority, the management component prioritizes the handover of the mobile device from the LTE network to the legacy network. This method reduces the latency for network handovers of mobile devices that are assigned a high priority.
US09402216B2

Systems, methods, media, and devices for providing cooperation among digital processing devices in wireless networks are provided. In some embodiments, methods for moving a connection from one point of access to another point of access are provided, sending a request for information from a first mobile node to at least one other node, wherein the request for information contains first information identifying at least one point of access; receiving a response containing second information identifying at least one point of access from the at least one other node; and establishing a connection between the first mobile node and a point of access identified in the second information. In some embodiments, devices that can move a connection from one point of access to another point of access are provided.
US09402203B2

Devices and methods are configured for resolving control channel transmission collision in a mobile device having first and second subscriptions (SUBs) when the first SUB is in an active voice call and the second SUB is in a held voice call. The devices and methods involve determining whether a control channel transmission of the first SUB would collide with a control channel transmission of the second SUB. In response to determining that the first SUB control channel transmission would collide with the second SUB control channel transmission, the devices and methods alternate the first SUB control channel transmission and the second SUB control channel transmission to avoid collision.
US09402195B2

In one embodiment, a method of forming a neighbor cell list in a base station of a cellular communications network comprises, at periodic intervals, and for specified durations: requesting the or each wireless device that is in connected mode with the base station to report a unique identifier for each other base station that it is able to detect; receiving reports from the or each wireless device that is in connected mode with the base station; and operating with a neighbor cell list compiled on the basis of the received reports.
US09402194B2

Embodiments are provided for automatically setting an alert mode on a wireless device. Scheduling data is received which defines a predetermined period utilized to set the alert mode. The scheduling data may be received either by direct input in the wireless device or alternatively from an external edge device, such as a network server, in a communications network. In response to receiving the scheduling data, an alert mode on the wireless device is automatically set for the predetermined period. The alert mode may include a silent alert mode on the wireless device. The wireless device may include a sensor for receiving data indicative of a current external state. The sensor data may include location data, temperature data, and ambient noise data. The received sensor data may be utilized to automatically trigger the setting of an alert mode in the wireless device.
US09402193B2

Systems, apparatus, methods and computer program products are provided. In some embodiments, a method for facilitating interference management in an unplanned wireless communication system is provided. The method can include a non-serving base station obtaining information about a user equipment served by a serving base station; and determining signal information based, at least, in part, on the information. The method can also include the non-serving base station disallowing access to the user equipment due to restricted access rules for the non-serving base station. The method can also include the non-serving base station performing interference management of the user equipment served by the serving base station. The interference management can be performed based, at least, in part, on the determined signal information.
US09402185B2

A method and system for virtualization of access points are disclosed. According to certain embodiments, after the access point network processor captures the packets and stores the data on the direct memory access (DMA), the access point's OS is designed to call an access point kernel-space driver to directly transfer the data from DMA to the access point's hard disk and thus bypasses the access point's OS File System.
US09402184B2

In some implementations, a method includes receiving, from a user of a first device, a request to enable access, through a second device, to a server resource account of an enterprise. The first device includes a first enterprise perimeter including an internal resource and a first enterprise identifier and configured to prevent external resources from accessing the internal resource. A request is wirelessly transmit, to the second device, to the second device for a second enterprise identifier assigned to a second enterprise perimeter included in the second device. Whether to grant access to the internal resource is determined based on a first enterprise identifier assigned to the first device and a second enterprise identifier assigned to the second device.
US09402182B1

Automated distribution of wireless logon credentials for an electronic flight bag (EFB) is provided. In one embodiment, a method for secured aircraft wireless network access comprises: establishing a NFC link between an EFB and an NFC node, wherein the node is hardwired to a wireless access point coupled to EFB service applications via an aircraft network. The access point provides a plurality of wireless channels for accessing the network, each are single user wireless channels. In response to a request from the EFB, determining whether a first wireless channel is available; if the first wireless channel is available, generating a logon credential associated with the first wireless channel and transmitting the credential to the EFB with the NFC node; establishing a second link between the EFB and the wireless access point using the credential; and transferring data between the EFB and EFB server applications over the second link.
US09402176B2

The invention embodiments disclose a method, system and device for transmitting data, relate to wireless communication technical art, and resolve the question that terminal how to transmit data when packet data network (PDN) connection is not be established. In the invention, when the terminal needs to transmit data and the PDN connection for transmitting the data is not be established, the terminal sends data transmitting message which carries a PDN connection request message and package to be transmitted to mobility management entity (MME). The PDN connection is only established by core network side when the MME receives the data transmitting message, and the package to be transmitted is sent out by the PDN connection. Therefore, the invention enables UE to transmit data when PDN connection is not be established.
US09402175B2

A system and method for selecting a proxy gateway server for controlling data traffic initiated by a user device roaming on a visited network is disclosed. The method includes utilizing a mobility anchor server associated with the visited network to receive a request to activate a data traffic session from a user device, identify the user device as a roaming user device, and select a proxy gateway server from one or more servers associated with the visited network for controlling the data traffic initiated by the roaming user device. The selection of a proxy server is accomplished by querying a DNS server associated with the visited network with a pre-defined roaming APN string associated with the visited network and, in response to the query, receiving an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the proxy gateway server from the DNS server.
US09402167B2

A notification handling system determines a notification type for a notification received at a first device of a group of associated devices. The system determines at least a second device from the group that has a capability related to the notification type and accordingly routes the notification to the second device. The second device may be paired to the first device via a wireless link. The notification handling system also augments the notification with additional information for the second device based on the capability of the second device. The augmented information is obtained by extracting data from the notification and augmenting the notification based on the extracted data. The notification handling system may also send or receive a global notification dismissal that dismisses the notification from all associated devices that may have received the notification.
US09402163B2

A location server includes: a first receiver module configured to receive, from a location-based services application server (LBS AS), a first identification for a first mobile device associated with the LBS AS; a second receiver module configured to receive, from an access/location network (ALN), a second identification for a second mobile device associated with the ALN; a comparison module, communicatively coupled to the first and second receiver modules, configured to determine whether the first and second identifications match and whether the first and second mobile devices are the same mobile device based at least in part on whether the first and second identifications match; and a location service information module, communicatively coupled to the comparison module, and configured to provide a location service for the first mobile device in response to the comparison module determining that the first and second mobile devices are the same mobile device.
US09402162B1

A mobile device, a positioning method and a computer-readable recording medium are provided. The mobile device includes a display, a sensor unit, a transceiver unit, and a processor. The sensor unit provides internal sensor data. The transceiver unit receives at least one external positioning data. The processor calculates a position of the mobile device based on the internal sensor data. The processor obtains a position corresponding to each of the external positioning data based on each of the external positioning data and controls the display to display multiple representative objects. Each of the representative objects is corresponding to one of the positions of the mobile device or the at least one external positioning data.
US09402157B1

A technique for providing a location estimate of a mobile station, with increased accuracy. An unenhanced estimate of the location of a target mobile station is first obtained. A portable transmitter is then situated in an initial geographic area defined by the unenhanced estimate. The transmitter is then tuned to transmit a particular identifier on a particular frequency. When the transmitter is moved close enough to the mobile, the mobile starts reporting the identifier to the mobile's wireless network. Because the identifier and frequency are carefully selected so as not into interfere with ongoing operations of the wireless network, the wireless network itself merely regards the reported data to be invalid for handoff purposes. The estimated distance from the transmitter to the mobile depends on the transmit signal strength used by the transmitter. By considering these details, an enhanced estimate of the location of the mobile can then be deduced.
US09402156B2

A system and method for providing a location based service to create a social network, comprising activating a feature from a wireless terminal, registering from the wireless terminal with a location based service associated with the feature, creating a profile of a user of the feature, and displaying candidates based on the profile and based on the geographic location of the candidates. A Global Positioning System (GPS) may be used to geographically locate active users of a feature. An activity map may be associated with a feature, the activity map displaying active users of the feature.
US09402153B2

A system and method of locating “friends” having mobile devices connected to a network and associated with a user account is disclosed. The method includes sending a request to a mobile device, the mobile device determining its present geographic location and responding to the requestor with this information. This information may be in the form of a coordinate location such as a GPS location or it may be in the form of a name that the mobile device owner assigned to a particular area (e.g., “home”). Having this location information, a user is able to view the location of the friend that is associated with the mobile device.
US09402146B2

An un-provisioned user device may send, via a cellular network, a request associated with receiving a service provided by a service provider. The user device may receive, via the cellular network, a response indicating that the user device has limited access to the cellular network. The user device may identify, based on a user account with which the user device is to be associated, a particular existing mobile directory number (MDN), associated with the user account, that is to be moved to the user device. The user device may send, via the cellular network, a movement request to move the particular existing MDN to the user device. The movement request may be sent to cause the particular existing MDN to be associated with the user device such that the user device is provisioned to receive the service using the particular existing MDN.
US09402140B2

A method is provided including: receiving a signal for regulating a valve of an ear-wearable device; and changing a state of the valve based on the signal, the changing including at least one of opening and closing the valve.
US09402138B2

A method for manufacturing a MEMS device is disclosed. Moreover a MEMS device and a module including a MEMS device are disclosed. An embodiment includes a method for manufacturing MEMS devices includes forming a MEMS stack on a first main surface of a substrate, forming a polymer layer on a second main surface of the substrate and forming a first opening in the polymer layer and the substrate such that the first opening abuts the MEMS stack.
US09402134B2

A stiffened diaphragm manufacturing method and the manufactured diaphragm using same are provided. The manufacturing method includes the steps of: applying a hot glue layer to a side of a stiffened plate; putting a base layer on the hot glue layer, and then heating and adhering the base layer and the stiffened plate together; and performing a pressing process on the base layer and the stiffened plate to form a diaphragm having a central portion and a surround portion. The stiffened plate is coated uniformly with the hot glue layer and then put on the base layer to undergo heating and adhesion; hence, an oversupply or undersupply of a glue will be unlikely to happen. Furthermore, the manufacturing process is simple and attains high-strength adhesion between the stiffened plate and the base layer.
US09402127B2

An earphone includes a shell and a thermoacoustic chip. The shell defines a first space. The thermoacoustic chip is disposed in the space of the shell. The thermoacoustic chip includes a speaker and a capsule defining a second space to accommodate the speaker. The speaker includes a substrate, a sound wave generator, a first electrode and a second electrode. The first electrode and the second electrode are spaced from each other and electrically connected to the sound wave generator. The substrate includes a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The capsule has at least one through hole and at least two connectors. The sound wave generator is opposite to the at least one through hole. Two of the at least two connectors are electrically connected with the first electrode and the second electrode.
US09402109B2

User-generated advertisements are distributed to client devices in a video content distribution network. For example, a client device may receive a user-generated advertisement, which is associated with one or more categories. The user-generated advertisement is associated with a channel based on a category of the advertisement. One or more channels of user-generated advertising, corresponding to the one or more categories, may be provided to a client device. Optionally, user-generated advertisements may be associated with a geographical identifier and distributed to client devices in a geographical region corresponding with the geographical identifier.
US09402095B2

A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided to facilitate calibration of an audio playback system with a video presented upon a display. In the context of a method, an image including a display from a first location is received. The method also includes determining a dimension of the display within the image and determining an angle of the display based upon the dimension of a display determined within the image and the first location. The method further includes permitting an audio playback system associated with the display to be calibrated, such as with a video to be presented upon the display, based upon the determined angle. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also provided.
US09402093B2

Methods, systems, and/or devices for providing temporary access to media content are described herein. In one aspect, a server provides authorization to a transportation service provider for accessing one or more media items associated with an account of a user for a media content provider. The server provides the authorization in response to the user reserving a vehicle through the transportation service provider. Additionally, the server receives a first request (e.g., a request initiated by a mobile device of the user) to present a first media item of the one or more media items at a media presentation system of a reserved vehicle provided by the transportation service provider. In accordance with the authorization, the server sends a portion of the first media item for presentation at the media presentation system.
US09402088B2

The present disclosure relates to deblocking filtering, which may be advantageously applied for block-wise encoding and decoding of images or video signals. In particular, the present disclosure relates to an improved memory management in an automated decision on whether to apply or skip deblocking filtering for a block and to selection of the deblocking filter. The decision is performed on the basis of a segmentation of blocks in such a manner that memory usage is optimized. Preferably, the selection of appropriate deblocking filters is improved so as to reduce computational expense.
US09402086B2

The invention relates to a method for video processing of at least one image of a video sequence, said video sequence comprising a plurality of image pairs, each image pair comprising a first image and a second image said first and second images being intended to form a stereoscopic image. In order to reduce display defects, the method comprises a step of generation of at least a third image by motion compensated temporal interpolation from at least two of said second images.
US09402085B2

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for processing a video signal, which can increase the accuracy of the motion vector prediction through motion vector scaling which takes a difference in the temporal distance between reference pictures into consideration. To this end, the present invention provides a video signal processing method and a video signal processing apparatus using the same, and the method comprises the steps of: scaling at least one neighboring partition motion vector for a motion vector prediction of the current partition; scaling the neighboring partition motion vector, which has been selected, when the reference picture of the neighboring partition motion vector is different from the reference picture of the current partition; acquiring a motion vector prediction value of the current partition using the scaled motion vector; and acquiring a motion vector of the current partition using the motion vector prediction value.
US09402077B2

There is provided an image processing system and an image processing method able to suppress block distortion in the case of decoding image data encoded in unit of blocks. A controlling unit selects a filtering content to be applied to the block image data based on the encoding types of the block image data to be filtered, and a filtering unit applies filtering to the block image data to be processed according to the filtering content selected by the controlling unit.
US09402062B2

A digital television chip having a reduced layout size is disclosed, comprising a multiplexer, and first and second converting units. The multiplexer, according to a control signal, outputs one of S-video signals SY and SC to the first converting unit, outputs the other of the S-video signals SY and SC to the second converting unit, outputs one of Tuner CVBS signals VIF and SIF to the first converting unit, outputs the other of the Tuner CVBS signals VIF and SIF to the second converting unit, or outputs a CVBS Line-in Video signal to one of the first and second converting units, for reducing the size of the chip. The first converting unit converts one of the S-video signals SY and SC, one of the Tuner CVBS signals VIF and SIF, or the CVBS Line-in Video signal into a first digital signal for signal processing. The second converting unit converts one of the S-video signals SY and SC, one of the Tuner CVBS signals VIF and SIF, or the CVBS Line-in Video signal into a second digital signal for signal processing.
US09402059B2

A microscope is provided. The microscope includes: a detection section for detecting the measurement light; a first image acquisition section emitting the visible light onto a detection surface to obtain an optical image; and a switch mirror or beam splitter disposed on a light path, along which the measurement light from the analysis position of the sample is guided to the detection section. The microscope further includes a second image acquisition section that is disposed in a position apart from the light path of the detection section for obtaining an optical image of a large area which includes the analysis position of the sample, wherein the optical image of the large area is larger than an optical image of an area, which includes the analysis position of the sample, obtained by the first image acquisition section.
US09402052B2

A system registers participant information and inter-participant relationship information, and then, at variable times, selects two or more participants with a pre-existing relationship and attempts to establish a communication link between them. The identities of the selected participants are withheld from at least one of the participants (and potentially from all of the participants), so the call is a partial surprise (i.e., the participant may know the set of possible people from whom the call could be, but does not know exactly which person or people are calling until he answers the call). A number of applications are described and claimed.
US09402050B1

In some embodiments an apparatus includes a processor included within a compute device, operatively coupled to a memory, and is configured to execute an application module and a recording module. The application module is configured to receive, at a compute device, an indication of a user selection of a video request from a list of video requests. The video request is associated with a list of characteristics and is associated with a video request identifier. The application module is configured to, based on the video request identifier, define a video recording environment in accordance with the list of characteristics. The recording module is configured to record, during a time and using a camera integrated with the compute device, a video such in accordance with the list of characteristics. The application module is configured to associate the video with a relationship indicator indicative of the relationship between the video and the video request. The application module is configured to send, to a server device from the compute device, a copy of the video including the relationship indicator such that the server (1) stores a copy of the video and (2) associates, based on the relationship indicator, the video with other videos that each have a relationship with the video request.
US09402048B2

The invention is provided with: an acquisition unit that acquires, from an external machine, image data as well as time data when an image based on the image data has been displayed on the external machine; a data memory unit that stores, for each unit of the image data, the image data and the time data acquired in the acquisition unit; and a prioritization determination unit that determines, on the basis of the time data, a prioritization of the image data stored in the data memory unit.
US09402045B2

The present invention provides a logically organized electronic program guide separated into categories. Each category has a theme. Inside each theme-based category there is a listing of television programming. In this way, the subscriber can locate a desired theme and then determine a desired program from the list in the category.
US09402035B2

A device and method for determining exposure settings in a camera is disclosed. The method comprises capturing an image frame using an image sensor, the exposure of the capturing is based on an initial exposure value setting, determining a temporary exposure value by finding an exposure value that results in a substantially optimum value when applied to a total cost calculation, calculating a saturated pixels cost related to the saturated pixels for the captured image at the temporary exposure value, determining a next exposure value by finding a decrease in exposure value, in relation to the temporary exposure value, for which decrease a change in total cost for non-saturated pixels, in relation to the total cost for non-saturated pixels at the temporary exposure value, is substantially equal to the saturated pixel cost calculated at the temporary exposure value, using this determined next exposure value for capturing a new image frame.
US09402031B2

A zoom lens includes, in order from the object side, a positive first unit, a zooming lens group constituted by at least two lens units having a zooming function and a function of correcting image plane variation with zooming, and a last lens unit disposed on the most image side having an imaging effect and not moving for zooming. The first unit includes a negative first sub unit not moving for focusing, a second sub unit moving during focusing, and a positive third sub unit not moving for focusing. The first sub unit is composed of one or more concave lenses, and the third sub unit is composed of one or more convex lenses. Of the first and third sub units, the refractive powers, the average Abbe constants and the paraxial converted beam heights at the telephoto end are appropriately set.
US09402012B2

An image-reading lens includes front-group and rear-group lens systems which are arranged on an object side and an image side, respectively. The front-group lens system includes equal to or less than 5 lenses which include at least one positive lens and at least one negative lens, and the rear-group lens system includes one negative lens. An angle of view of an entire system of the image-reading lens is equal to or more than 56°. The front-group and rear-group lens systems are structured such that with respect to a change in a distance between the front-group and rear-group lens systems, a change in a focal length of the entire system of the image-reading lens is small, and a change in an image plane is large, and by adjusting the distance between the front-group and rear-group lens systems, a required lens performance is obtained.
US09402003B2

In one example embodiment, a group server includes a processor configured to receive a data quota usage report corresponding to data quota usage by at least one of a plurality of lines, the plurality of lines forming a group subject to a pre-paid data usage agreement with a data service provider and determine a data quota for the at least one of the plurality of lines based on at least the received data quota usage report and an accuracy threshold.
US09402001B2

A separate billing system for BYOD service includes a business service server configured to provide a business service, a terminal configured to request a business service from the business service server, a billing policy server configured to store billing policy information, a BYOD service gateway configured to control the terminal to transmit and receive data with the business service server via an access device, and generate billing data according to the transmission and reception, and a separate billing server configured to analyze the billing data based on the billing policy information, and generate separate billing information.
US09401997B2

A system for dynamically integrating and synchronizing a plurality of software applications of an end user as part of a telephonic communication between the end user and a third party managed and handled by a hosted VoIP PBX includes a client side integration proxy having (i) an API for communicating and exchanging data with the software applications and (ii) memory cache dedicated to storing information about the telephonic communication handled and managed by a hosted VoIP PBX, wherein the client side integration proxy assigns a record in the memory cache for storing information about the telephonic communication and enables the software applications periodically to access and dynamically update, modify, or add to the record as the information about the telephonic communication is updated or changed by other software applications and by the end user.
US09401996B2

A digital audio conferencing system has a fixed base station that is in communication with a far end (R.E.) system over a communication network. The base station is associated with a wireless loudspeaker and one or more wireless microphones. The base station operates to receive F.E. audio signals to be played by the wireless loudspeaker, and it operates to remove acoustic echo picked up by the wireless microphones. A first clock controlling F.E. audio signal sampling at the base station, and a second clock controlling audio signal sampling and at a wireless microphone are synchronized to one master, reference clock that controls the operation of the base station. Acoustic echo included in an audio signal picked up by a wireless microphone is removed by AEC functionality running in the base station.
US09401994B1

Meeting and conferencing systems and methods are implemented in a variety of manners. Consistent with an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for operating an audio conference system that includes at least one logic circuit and a caller interface involves receiving incoming telephony calls at the caller interface. A logic circuit is used to authenticate incoming telephony calls. Menu options are provided to authenticated, incoming telephony calls. In response to a selection of the menu options, an incoming telephony call is prompted to select a callback number. The logic circuit monitors for a trigger event. A participant is called back using the selected call back number in response to detecting the trigger event. The called-back participant is then placed into a conference.
US09401985B2

A phone vehicle event recorder mount for holding a mobile phone. The phone vehicle event recorder mount comprises an interface and a processor. The interface is configured to receive a connection indication of whether the mobile phone is connected to the mount. The processor is configured to determine whether the mobile phone is connected to the mount based on the connection indication, wherein the mobile phone is connected to the mount in the event that the mobile phone is placed in the mount.
US09401983B2

A chemical alert system for generating an alarm is described including a portable electronic device, preferably with telecommunication capabilities to allow for data and/or voice communication via private or public networks, and at least one chemical sensor integrated with the housing of the portable device and controlled by a chemical sensor processing unit, further comprising an alert discriminator receiving input based on measurements of the chemical sensor, performing a test on the input and based on an outcome of the test initiating the transfer of measurements of the chemical sensor to a remote processing facility.
US09401978B2

A system for providing telematics to a vehicle is provided. The system includes an integrated communication device of the vehicle having a memory holding a list uniquely identifying at least one mobile communication device. The system includes a telematics component that is communicatively connected to the integrated communication device of the vehicle and has a data pump that sends out a request for information. An off-site telematics information provider receives a request for information from the telematics component utilizing a communications path between the data pump of the telematics component and the off-site telematics information provider. The at least one mobile communication device automatically receives a channeled response to the request for information from the off-site telematics information provider when connected to the integrated communication device.
US09401976B1

Methods and systems for a more efficient transmission of network traffic are provided. According to one embodiment, payload data originated by a user process running on a host processor of a network device is fetched by an interface of the network device by performing direct virtual memory addressing of a user memory space of a system memory of the network device on behalf of a network interface unit of the network device. The direct virtual memory addressing maps physical addresses of various portions of the payload data to corresponding virtual addresses. The payload data is segmented by the network interface unit across one or more packets.
US09401970B2

An engine, system and method for a domain social network that interconnects Internet users with at least domains owned by or of interest to those Internet users, and that may obtain and/or forward obtained dynamic data regarding those domains automatically, such as by web service or email service. The dynamic data may be used to filter and protect content and data of the respective domains, to protect users by identifying low quality web pages or malicious software or pages, to isolate or improve search results regarding the domain, and/or to improve Internet-based transaction flow, such as the creation of advertising.
US09401960B2

A virtual storage module operable to run in a virtual machine monitor may include a wait-queue operable to store incoming block-level data requests from one or more virtual machines. In-memory metadata may store information associated with data stored in local persistent storage that is local to a host computer hosting the virtual machines. The data stored in local persistent storage replicates a subset of data in one or more virtual disks provided to the virtual machines. The virtual disks are mapped to remote storage accessible via a network connecting the virtual machines and the remote storage. A cache handling logic may be operable to handle the block-level data requests by obtaining the information in the in-memory metadata and making I/O requests to the local persistent storage or the remote storage or combination of the local persistent storage and the remote storage to service the block-level data requests.
US09401959B1

Resynchronization of folders shared among multiple client devices over a network is provided. Metadata and hash values stored on the client device are moved from a metadata database to a resynchronization database, and the data in the metadata database is deleted. Metadata is created for locally stored synchronized files. For each file, the created metadata is compared to the metadata stored in the resynchronization database. If the metadata matches, hash values are retrieved from the resynchronization database and stored with the created metadata in the metadata database. If the metadata does not match, hashes for the file are created and stored with the created metadata in the metadata database. A synchronization operation may be performed which consists of comparing the files stored on the client to the synchronized versions on a host server and updating or adding files that are not present or not up to date.
US09401948B2

Methods and systems for processing content from multiple content sources includes identifying a plurality of content sources for rendering content on a website. A plurality of content modules associated with the website, are identified. Each content module is configured to render content from each of the plurality of content sources. A rendering size of each of the content modules selected for rendering on the website, is identified. The content format for each of the plurality of content module is defined for the identified rendering size of each of the content modules. A selection of one of the plurality of content modules is received. The selection causes a reconfiguration of the rendering sizes of one or more of the plurality of content modules. The content format of the one or more of the plurality of content modules is adjusted based on the rendering sizes after the reconfiguration.
US09401937B1

A system can be provided that allows a user of a device to easily navigate through other users connected on a network. More particularly, the system can present or otherwise display indicators representing other users, and can allow a user of the device to manipulate (e.g., via scrolling, panning, gesturing, and the like) the display to traverse through the various indicators. In at least one embodiment, a level or a mode of communication between on the device and the devices represented by the indicators can be modified (e.g., upgraded or downgraded) depending on whether those indicators are currently being displayed in a display area of the device. This can simplify and maintain stability in the management of a large scale system of users.
US09401924B2

Concepts and technologies disclosed herein are for monitoring operational activities in networks and detecting potential network intrusions and misuses. According to one aspect disclosed herein, an intrusion detection system can collect logs from an authentication, authorization, and accounting system. The intrusion detection system can extract information from the logs, update intrusion detection information utilized by an intrusion detection rule based upon the information extracted from the logs, update a profile utilized by the intrusion detection rule, compare the profile and the intrusion detection rule against a running state of an on-going session, tag corresponding log entries with a threat score, calculate the threat scores from the corresponding log entries to create an aggregated threat score, and present the aggregated threat score. The intrusion detection system can also present an alarm if the aggregated threat score triggers an alarm condition.
US09401921B2

A system and method generates a message integrity check. The message integrity check value is computed by hashing one or more block checksums from procedure specific parameters of an RPC and then encrypting the resulting hash value. The computed message integrity check is appended to the RPC to thereby provide a level of security approaching or equal to the level of Integrity defined by the RPCSEC_GSS protocol specification.
US09401918B2

Method for providing user-to-user delegation service in federated identity environment, characterized in that it comprises a delegation or assignment step wherein a delegator specifies said delegation at an identity provider for delegating a privilege or task to a delegatee to be performed at a service provider.
US09401916B2

The invention relates to a method for providing a user with an authenticated remote access to a remote secure device (2), said remote access being initiated from a local accessing device (1), said remote secure device (2) embedding secure data related to a specific service, characterized in that it comprises establishing a mutual authentication between said remote secure device (2) and a local secure device (3) different from the local accessing device (1) so as the user of the local accessing device (3) is able to access to the secure data of the remote secure device (2).
US09401911B2

Embodiments are directed to providing a certificate extension to an authentication certificate, to validating an authentication certificate request and to implementing authentication certificates that include certificate extensions. In an embodiment, a computer system accesses an authentication certificate request that is to be sent to a validation server for validation and to a certificate authority for issuance of an authentication certificate. The computer system appends an extension to the authentication certificate request. The extension includes origination information about the authentication certificate. The computer system then sends the authentication certificate request with the appended extension to the validation server for validation.
US09401907B2

An electronic device that shares a secret key with another electronic device; receives a first response request transmitted from the another electronic device; generates a first response message based on the first response request and the secret key; receives a second response request transmitted from the another electronic device; and generates a second response message based on the second response request, the second response message transmitted to the another electronic device and including authentication data generated based on the secret key. The electronic device is authorized to receive data from the another electronic device when the authentication data matches expected authentication information generated by the another electronic device, and a predetermined time elapsed from a transmission of the second response request does not expire before the second response message is received by the another electronic device.
US09401899B2

An apparatus for decoding a media stream, wherein the apparatus comprises a memory module, a processor module coupled to the memory module, wherein the memory module contains instructions that when executed by the processor cause the apparatus to perform the following: receive a media stream comprising a segment signaling information and a plurality of segments, wherein the plurality of segments comprises encoded and unencoded segments, wherein the segment signaling information comprises identification of at least two segment groups each comprising at least one segment, identify at least one segment group using the segment signaling information in the media stream, identify at least one segment decoding algorithm for the at least one segment group, identify at least one decoding key for the at least segment group, and decode each encoded segment within the at least segment group using the at least segment decoding algorithm and the at least one decoding key.
US09401897B2

A system and method for monitoring secure digital data on a network are provided. An exemplary network monitoring system may include a network device in communication with a user and a network. Further, a server may be in communication with the network. A browser and monitoring program may be stored on the network device, and the network device may receive secure digital data from the network. The browser may convert the secure digital data or a portion thereof into source data, and the monitoring program may transfer the source data or a portion thereof to the server. In an exemplary embodiment, the monitoring program may include a service component and an interface program.
US09401895B2

A method including generating a mapping in response to an enrollment message received from a customer device. The enrollment message includes a device identification number (device ID) of the customer device. The mapping includes a one-time password (OTP) encrypted using the device ID. The method includes generating a quick response (QR) code including a uniform resource locator (URL), a provider certificate (CRT), and certificate signing request (CSR) content. The method includes receiving a confirmation message at a website identified by the URL. The confirmation message includes a generated public key, a CSR, and a decrypted OTP. The method includes verifying the decrypted OTP against the mapping and communicating one or more application configuration settings. The method includes securely communicating information using the one or more application configuration settings, a provider public key, a provider private key, the generated public key, and a generated private key.
US09401891B2

In a networking environment, multiple end-users applications running on computing devices may operate behind a respective NAT device. Information transferred from one end-user application to another can be accomplished by establishing a connection from one private network to another. The NAT device translates information related to an end-user application operating within a private network to information that is understood by the public network environment. This translated information is communicated to the associated NAT device of the intended recipient. The NAT device of the intended recipient translates the public environment related information to information for the end-user in the private network.
US09401888B2

Techniques for facilitating operation of a communication device having a first internet protocol (IP) address in a first network and a second IP address in a second network include detecting a presence of a network address translation (NAT) table; implementing, when the NAT table is present, a message exchange protocol to obtain a mapping between the first IP address and the second IP address; and reporting, in a communication message, the mapping between the first IP address and the second IP address. In one operational scenario, the first network is a 3 GPP network and the second network is a broadband fixed network such as a DSL or a cable modem network.
US09401885B2

A data push service method and system are provided. The service data push method includes: providing a device with data push information regarding service data to be pushed to at least one device; and pushing the service data to the device when receiving a data push service request from the at least one device. Accordingly, the server does not need to maintain and manage information of the at least one device.
US09401878B2

A gateway device includes plural electronic circuit boards with redundant structures, between first and second networks, which are different. The gateway device receives data provided through the first network and, after applying data processing, outputs data to the second network. Data processing reference timings and time information, which are common in the gateway device, are shared, the data processing is executed in synchronization with the reference timings, and synchronized packets are provided. System switching between the electronic circuit boards is executed in accordance with the time information. Thus, packet outputs are synchronously switched.
US09401877B2

A system and method for coupling a communications device to a primary communications network having a first communications format and to a secondary communications network having a second communications format. The system and method can comprise a first port configured for connecting to the communications device, a second port configured for connecting to the primary communications network and facilitating the communication of the data between the primary communications network and the communications device through the first port.
US09401875B2

A packet transfer processing device includes common processing units that perform processing common to inbound processing of a packet received from an access network for transfer to a core network and outbound processing of a packet received from the core network for transfer to the access network, an input destination switching unit that selects common processing units to which the received packets are to be input, an output destination switching unit that outputs packets processed by the common processing units to a destination network, an individual processing switching unit that selects a common processing unit to connect to an individual processing unit that performs individual processing not performed by the common processing units as part of inbound processing, and a control unit that controls the input destination switching unit, the individual processing switching unit, and switching supply/shutoff of power to the common processing units.
US09401859B2

Embodiments of the invention are directed to establishing a PIM tree to a source that is reachable over a unicast tunnel in a packet switched network. Advantageously, a Reverse Path Forwarding (RPF) Vector TLV to establish a PIM tree may be used in cases where there is an absence of source reachability in the core of a network.
US09401858B2

Various techniques can be used to avoid loops during network convergence after a topology change such as a failure. For example, a method can involve detecting a failure that disrupts an existing forwarding path between a node and a destination node; calculating at least one updated forwarding path from the node to the destination node; identifying a maximum time for at least a portion of the network to reach a post-convergence state with respect to the failure; until the maximum time has elapsed at the node, explicitly specifying at least a portion of the updated forwarding path in packet headers of any packets being sent from the node to the destination node; and after the maximum time has elapsed at the node, non-explicitly specifying the portion of the updated forwarding path in packet headers of any additional packets being sent from the node to the destination node.
US09401854B2

A method and apparatus of a device that monitors a link for a slow link flap event is described. In an exemplary embodiment, a device detects a link flap in a current time interval of a link that couples a pair of devices. In addition, the current time interval is one of a plurality of time intervals that are used to monitor the link for a slow link flap. Furthermore, a slow link flap event results from detecting a maximum number of link flap violations over the plurality of time intervals. The device additionally increments a number of detected link flaps for the current time interval. If the number of detected link flaps for the current time interval is greater than a maximum number of slow link flap violations, the device marks the current time interval as a possible slow link flap interval. In addition, if the total number of intervals among the current time interval and one or more preceding time intervals, which are marked as possible slow flap intervals, equals the maximum number of slow flap intervals, the device brings the link down.
US09401853B2

Mechanisms are provided for determining an event rate. The mechanisms sample a sequence of events to generate a set of sampled events. At least a subset of the sampled events have associated event sequence values indicating a position of the sampled event within the sequence of events. The mechanisms group the sampled events into a plurality of event groups based on a common characteristic of the events. The mechanisms determine, for each event group, sequence values of sampled events associated with the event group. The mechanisms calculate, for each event group, an estimated event rate based on the sequence values of the sampled events associated with the event group and the total number of events in the sequence of events.
US09401852B2

A method and system for intelligent tiering is provided. The method includes receiving a request for enabling a tiering process with respect to data. The computer processor retrieves a migration list indicating migration engines associated with the data. Additionally, an entity list of migration entities is retrieved and each migration entity is compared to associated policy conditions. In response, it is determined if matches exist between the migration entities and the associated policy conditions and a consolidated entity list is generated.
US09401848B2

Techniques are provided herein for optimizing boot order for devices in a data center environment. These techniques may be embodied as a method, apparatus and instructions in a computer-readable storage media to perform the method. A computing apparatus having connectivity to a network receives a service profile boot policy from a management device in the network. The service profile boot policy includes attributes identifying boot devices hosted by the computing apparatus. Data representing the service profile boot policy is stored and an order of boot devices hosted by the computing apparatus is generated. The order is generated according to the attributes of the service profile boot policy. Boot devices are excluded from the order according to the attributes of the service profile boot policy.
US09401847B2

A mechanism is provided for registering a Common Information Model (CIM) provider to at least one Common Information Model Object Manager (CIMOM). The CIMOM pre-stores at least one class definition. The CIMOM sends information to the Common Information Model (CIM) provider in order for the CIM provider to determine the at least one CIMOM existing in a network. The CIMOM sends the at least one class definition stored in the CIMOM in order for the CIM provider to determine if the CIMOM comprises a class definition suitable for the CIM provider to operate. Responsive to the CIM provider determining that the CIMOM comprises a suitable class definition, the CMOM registers the CIM provider by recording an identifier of the CIM provider under the name of the class definition suitable to the CIM provider in the at least one CIMOM.
US09401845B2

A system for transferring driver profile settings has a communication interface, processor, storage device, and program in the storage device. The communication interface allows for network communications. The processor couples to the interface. Execution of the program from storage by the processor configures the system to perform functions. The system allows for transfer of a driver profile from the storage device to a vehicle for application on the vehicle. The driver profile specifies one or more preference settings for one or more configurable components of a vehicle.
US09401841B2

A method uses web servers to promulgate information from one server to another, instead of promulgating the information by the user to each server individually. A first server receives a first request for promulgating web-information from a user, locally promulgates the web-information, and sends a second request to at least one second website server to instruct the second website server to locally promulgate the web-information. The selection of the second server is done according to a preset configuration file which includes a relationship mapping between the first website server and the second website server. The relationship mapping may provide the user information related to the second website server based on the user information related to the first website server. The present disclosure further discloses a communication apparatus and a communication system.
US09401830B2

In order to recognize a relatively accurate channel state of each UE, a channel of the UE is reconfigured based on channel phase information and channel quality information reported from the UE to obtain a channel matrix of the UE. Besides, a channel of the UE is reconfigured based on channel phase information and channel quality information reported from the UE to obtain a channel matrix of the UE, a precoding matrix of the UE is determined based on the channel matrix of the UE, and precoding is performed on data to transmit to the UE, using the precoding matrix.
US09401828B2

A communication system uses a bus to transmit information, by receiving signals and mapping them to a second set of signals representing codewords of a superposition signaling code, and transmitting the second set of signals. The superposition signaling code can comprise more than one layer. The pin-efficiency can be larger than 1. The system may encode bits into a codeword of a superposition signaling code that is defined by two basis vectors of predetermined size and then have two encoders for permutation modulation codes defined by the basis vectors. The bits of information are divided into a first part representing a predetermined number of bits and a second part representing a predetermined number of bits, with the parts provided to the respective encoding circuits and their outputs combined by a superposition.
US09401827B2

A semiconductor device capable of determining plural transfer speeds with a small-scale circuit, and an information processing system having the semiconductor device are provided. The semiconductor device has a frequency determining circuit that receives a data signal on which plural transfer speeds can be set and that determines a transfer speed of the data signal. The frequency determining circuit latches the data signal at each of plural timings continuing with a predetermined interval, detects how many times a data switching occurs consecutively, based on the latched plural data, and determines the transfer speed of the data signal from the result of the detection.
US09401826B2

A receiver apparatus receives a transmit signal through a plurality of transmission channels, wherein each transmission channel is described by its channel vector. A sparseness evaluation unit (127) may obtain a sparseness measure containing sparseness information for previously estimated frequency-domain channel vectors. From the plurality of receive signals, an estimator unit (120) estimates updated channel vectors for the transmission channels by applying an iterative blind channel estimation algorithm that may consider a change of the sparseness measure, out-of-band energy information and/or signal-to-noise information and cross-relations between pairs of receive signals. A combining unit (130) may combine the receive signals on the basis of combining coefficients derived from the estimated channel impulse responses for a pre-selected diversity combining scheme to obtain a combined receive signal representing an estimation of the transmit signal. The receiver apparatus employs an improved blind channel estimation approach.
US09401825B1

A channel estimation apparatus includes a de-map circuit to map multiple preambles corresponding to multiple channels into real part (I) and imaginary part (Q) in QPSK coordinate. The costas channel estimation circuit receives the real part (I) and the imaginary part (Q) to operate corresponding to one of the BPSK structure and the QPSK structure to proceed calculation of (Q−I)*Sign (I+Q) or Q*Sign (I)−I*Sign (Q) for outputting an output value, wherein Sign(x) represents a sign circuit taking a sign of the x value. The loop filter circuit filters the output value under time domain. The smooth circuit receives the output of the loop filter circuit to perform smooth processing under frequency domain and then feeds back the same to the de-map circuit to continue channel estimation of a next loop, wherein the phases of the preambles are adjusted according to a direction of the output value approaching to zero.
US09401810B2

An approach is provided for reducing communication traffic and cost by applying recipient criteria in identity-based encryption. A recipient criterion application selects one or more recipient criteria for data, and encrypts the data using the selected one or more recipient criteria as a public key of identity-based encryption.
US09401800B1

A clock data recovery system is provided. A CTLE generates a first equalized signal. An adder superposes the first equalized signal and a feedback equalization signal and generates a superposed signal. A first error slicer slices the superposed signal according to a clock signal and a reference voltage and generates a first error signal. A second error slicer slices the superposed signal according to the clock signal and a second slicing voltage. A data slicer slices the superposed signal according to the clock signal and a third slicing voltage and generates a data signal. A CDR circuit generates the clock signal. An adaptive filter receives the data signal and the first error signal, and generates the reference voltage and a DFE coefficient set. A DFE receives the data signal and the DFE coefficient set, and generates the feedback equalization signal.
US09401784B2

Obtaining a timing reference in wireless communication is facilitated when desiring to communicate with a weak serving base station (such as an evolved NodeB) in the presence of a stronger interfering base station. The user equipment (UE) may track a stronger interfering base station's timing, or the UE may track a timing that is derived by a composite power delay profile (PDP) from multiple base stations. The composite PDP may be constructed by adjusting individual base station PDPs according to a weighting scheme. The timing obtained in such a manner may be used for estimation of the channel of the interfering base station and cancelling interfering signals from the base station. It may also be used to estimate the channel of the serving base station after adding a backoff. The UE may track a stronger interfering base station's frequency, or the UE may track a composite frequency.
US09401782B2

The test system according to the invention for determining processing parameters of audio and/or video data in a mobile-radio device with a test device (10) comprising an audio/video unit (11) which stores the audio/video data and outputs them as audio and/or video data-packets. Moreover, the test device (10) comprises a mobile-radio unit (12), which is connected to the audio/video unit (11), whereas the mobile-radio unit (12) is embodied for the transmission of the audio and/or video data via a mobile-radio interface (17) to a mobile-radio device (30) under test; a detection unit (13), which is connected to the mobile-radio device (30) under test and is embodied in order to detect audio and/or video data; and an analysis unit (14), which is connected to an analysis interface (15) between the audio/video unit (11) and the mobile-radio unit (12) and to the detection unit (13).
US09401778B2

A storage unit stores a first lookup table including a plurality of correction coefficients for I codes, and stores a second lookup table including a plurality of correction coefficients for Q codes. Each of the correction coefficients for I codes and each of the correction coefficients for Q codes are complex numbers. A distortion compensation unit compensates, with one of the plurality of correction coefficients for I codes, distortion of an I code of a transmission signal to generate a first input signal, outputs the first input signal to an SCPA for I codes. The distortion compensation unit compensates, with one of the plurality of correction coefficients for Q codes, distortion of a Q code of the transmission signal to generate a second input signal, and outputs the second input signal to an SCPA for Q codes.
US09401777B2

A communication apparatus for communicating data conveyed by a plurality of transport channels, the data of the transport channels being multiplexed into at least one multiplexing frame, includes a processing unit. The processing unit transforms an input data block of an initial size into an output data block of a final size in accordance with a rate matching ratio of the final size to the initial size, transmits information on a maximum payload of the at least one multiplexing frame the communication apparatus can send, receives a first parameter relative to the rate matching ratio, and calculates the final size, according to the initial size of the input data block, the first parameter, a second parameter and the maximum payload of the at least one multiplexing frame. The second parameter is representative of a maximum puncture rate and is a predefined parameter for calculating the final size.
US09401771B2

The present disclosure provides a system for delivering contextually relevant streaming media content embodied in a mobile device, wherein the media stream includes one or more media content segments content selected from a plurality of media content segments content based on the current location of the mobile device and received listener preferences.
US09401766B2

A quantum communication system comprising a receiver and a plurality of transmitters, said receiver comprising a detector sub-system, each of said transmitters being configured to emit pulses of radiation, said detector subsystem comprising at least one detector, said detector being configured to detect said light pulses, the system comprising a timing control module, said timing control module being configured to control the number of light pulses received by the detector sub-system, such that just one light pulse from one transmitter reaches the detector sub-system at any one time, the timing control module also allowing the transmitter which sent said pulse to be identified.
US09401761B2

A method for determining whether a configuration of an optical transmission interface of a first device has to be adjusted for transmitting an optical signal to a second device via an optical band-pass filter, the second device including an optical reception interface configured to enable receiving optical signals output by the optical band-pass filter and transmitted by the first device on a carrier wavelength when the carrier wavelength is included in the passband of the optical band-pass filter. A monitoring device performs: obtaining an information representative of a signal temporal shape corresponding to a symbol of an optical signal received by the second device, from the first device, via the optical band-pass filter; determining whether the configuration of the optical transmission interface of the first device has to be adjusted, on the basis of the information representative of the signal temporal shape.
US09401756B2

A method for configuring a plurality of antennas in a wireless communication device, including using at least a plurality of representative antennas of the plurality of antennas to receive RF signals from a cell with a specific cell identity, determining a status of an RF environment corresponding to the wireless communication device according to the received RF signals, and selecting at least an antenna from the plurality of antennas for transmission or reception of following RF signals according to the status of the RF environment.
US09401753B2

Apparatuses, systems, and methods that enable native MAC support of beamforming are contemplated. An embodiment may comprise a mobile computing device, such as a laptop, with wireless communications capabilities, such as an integrated wireless networking card. The networking card of the laptop may transmit and receive various types of frame data using one or more beamforming techniques. Upon establishing a link with another wireless device, the laptop may sense that the link quality is degrading. Instead of having to reestablish a new link using dedicated BF frames and the conventional BF protocol, embodiments described herein may instead transmit beamforming information in various types of frames which enable the wireless communication devices to adjust the beamforming parameters in a more efficient manner. For example, the devices may include beamforming information in control frames and data frames and transmit the frames in a sweeping sector fashion.
US09401743B2

A wireless media player and a related system and methodology are disclosed. One aspect of the wireless media player system pertains to a virtual connector system, apparatus, and method for the automatic establishment of wireless connectivity with other electronic devices. In one embodiment, the media player device employs the use of integrated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to exchange communication settings, media capability, and other parameters with an external device that also has integrated RFID technology. The automatic exchange of settings and other information via a proximity-based RFID data exchange allows a media player to quickly establish a secure communication link with another device via a commonly supported wireless protocol such as Ultra Wideband (UWB) or Bluetooth. Another aspect of the media player system pertains to a method of using the captured media capability of the connecting device to customize certain menu options and software parameters in the media player.
US09401741B2

A received signal that includes a target signal and an interference signal is sampled in space and time and then filtered into a matched-filtered signal and into a mis-matched-filtered signal, which is orthogonal to, or nearly orthogonal to, the matched-filtered signal The interference signal is present in both the matched-filtered signal and the mis-matched-filtered signal, whereas the target signal is present in only the matched-filtered signal. In the mis-matched-filtered signal, the interference signal is different from the matched-filtered signal in the temporal property, but is the same as the matched-filtered signal in the spatial property. After the matched-filtered signal and the mis-match-filtered signals have been obtained for the signals received by each antenna element of an array of antenna elements, they are processed to obtain a result vector, W, that is a representation of the target signal without the interference.
US09401733B2

An electronic device enclosure which includes a front surface, a back surface opposite to the front surface, and a lateral edge connected with the front surface, wherein a part of the front surface is sloped towards the back surface to define a slope area that extends to the lateral edge, wherein the electronic device enclosure is provided with at least one attachment located in the slope area and at least one connecting port located away from the slope area, whereby the use of the enclosure can be effectively achieved.
US09401727B1

In a time-interleaved Analog to Digital Converter, circuit components and capacitances may be shared among a plurality of sample and hold circuits in each of two sets. The two shared circuits alternate, on different half-periods of a master clock signal, between charging a capacitance and sampling an input in an overlapping manner such that one is charging while the other is sampling. One sample and hold circuit is activated during each successive half-period (following a charging half-period) by independent, sequential, non-overlapping clocking signals. To improve SNDR, at least one switch is bootstrapped by driving its gate terminal with the voltage of a capacitor configured between the gate and the input signal. By sharing at least some components among multiple sample and hold circuits, the number of gates driven by clock signals is reduced, reducing clock distribution and calibration complexity, and the circuit area is reduced.
US09401724B1

A frequency synthesizer device provides amplitude control. Using switch circuit operating in a first mode, a charge voltage is applied to an oscillator circuit that an inductive-capacitive (LC) tank circuit. The LC tank circuit has a capacitive element, and an inductive element that is connected to the capacitive element. Using the switch circuit operating in a second mode, the LC tank circuit is enabled to oscillate. Using driver circuits that are response to a voltage applied to the tank circuit, current is reinforced in the LC tank, and the reinforcement is based upon a transconductance gain of the driver circuits. Using a calibration circuit, an amplitude of an output signal from the oscillator circuit is detected. In response to the detected amplitude, the transconductance gain is adjusted by enabling or disabling auxiliary circuits from plurality of auxiliary circuits.
US09401721B1

A data recovery circuit includes a comparator for providing a comparator output signal in response to a difference in voltage between a data input signal and the reference voltage, a sampling circuit for sampling the comparator output signal to provide a sample signal, a summing circuit for providing an up signal in response to an average of logic high values of the sample signal exceeding logic low values of the input samples signal, and a down signal in response to an average of the low logic values of the sample signal exceeding the logic high values of the sample signal, a counter for counting up in response to activations of the up signal and counting down in response to activations of the down signal to provide a count signal, and a reference voltage generator for generating the reference voltage in response to the count signal.
US09401720B2

In order to provide a circuit arrangement (100) and also a method for clock and/or data recovery (CDR) having low power consumption, having low power loss and also having scalability of the power loss from the clock and/or data recovery at the data rate, at least one frequency regulation circuit and at least one phase regulation circuit are proposed, wherein firstly only the frequency regulation circuit is active for the purpose of setting the frequency on the basis of the data rate that can be applied to the data input and then changeover to the phase regulation circuit occurs for the purpose of ascertaining the phase difference between the data input and the clock input.
US09401718B1

A method of configuring a programmable integrated circuit device with a user logic design includes analyzing the user logic design to identify unidirectional logic paths within the user logic design and cyclic logic paths within the user logic design, assigning the cyclic logic paths to logic in a first portion of the programmable integrated circuit device that operates at a first data rate, assigning the unidirectional logic paths to logic in a second portion of the programmable integrated circuit device that operates at a second data rate lower than the first data rate, and pipelining the unidirectional data paths in the second portion of the programmable integrated circuit device to compensate for the lower second data rate. A programmable integrated circuit device adapted to carry out such method may have logic regions operating at different rates, including logic regions with programmably selectable data rates.
US09401713B2

A keyboard assembly includes a plurality of keys, a key actuation mechanism to move at least one of the keys, the key actuation mechanism including an electromagnet, and a controller to selectively control the electromagnet to cause the at least one key to move between a raised position and a retracted position.
US09401709B2

A control circuit includes a platform controller hub (PCH), a basic input/output system (BIOS), an electronic switch, and first and second resistors. A management engine interface is loaded in the PCH. The BIOS is connected to the PCH to control the signals output from a general input/output (GPIO) pin of the PCH. A power supply is connected to a serial pin of the PCH through the electronic switch. The GPIO pin of the PCH controls on or off of the electronic switch.
US09401706B2

Techniques and mechanisms for switching between a plurality of inputs each to receive a respective analog signal to be transmitted. In an embodiment, switch circuitry comprises a first input to receive a first signal, a second input to receive a second signal, and one or more T-coil circuits including a first T-coil circuit. A first configuration of the switch circuitry includes a first signal path via a first switch coupled between the first input and a primary input node of the first T-coil circuit. A second configuration of the switch circuitry includes a second signal path via a second switch coupled between the second input and a secondary input node of the first T-coil circuit. In an embodiment, control logic transitions the switch circuitry among a plurality of configurations including the first configuration and the second configuration.
US09401705B2

The present invention copes with fluctuations in a power supply voltage when a capacitor for coping with fluctuations in the power supply voltage has been omitted and also cases in which the power supply voltage is constantly low, thereby ensuring driving of an active element. A gate driving device of an IGBT includes: a first switch portion which turns on the IGBT; a second switch portion which turns off the IGBT; a current control portion which controls the outflow of charge on the gate to a ground line such that current is constant; a first protection circuit which suppresses outflow of gate current to the power supply line; and a second protection circuit which detects a prescribed fluctuation in an internal power supply voltage Vdc, and interrupts the connection between the current control portion and the ground line.
US09401704B2

An active matrix panel includes a gate line connected to control electrodes of a plurality of transistors; and a drive circuit supplying the gate line with a conducting voltage and a non-conducting voltage. The drive circuit includes a shift register including a plurality of shift register unit circuits connected to each other, and a demultiplexer including a plurality of demultiplexer unit circuits into which output signals of the shift register unit circuits are input. The demultiplexer unit circuit includes a first transistor for supplying the gate line with the conducting voltage, and a second transistor for supplying the gate line with the non-conducting voltage. The first transistor is changed from a non-conducting state into a conducting state when the second transistor is in the conducting state.
US09401701B1

A time signal generating circuit and a time signal generating method are provided. The time signal generating method includes following steps: getting a first phase signal and a second phase signal, wherein the first phase signal is related to a first phase current and the second phase signal is related to a second phase current; sampling and holding the first phase signal to generate a first signal and sampling and holding the second phase signal to generate a second signal; using an error amplifier to generate a balance signal according to the first signal and the second signal; and generating a time signal according to the balance signal. The present invention is capable of avoiding the imbalance of each phase current caused by the offset values between different elements in conventional technology.
US09401700B1

An embodiment latch device includes a first stage having circuitry that receives a differential input and generates a clocked data signal according to a clock signal and the differential input, and a second stage connected to the first stage and having circuitry that generates differential outputs according to the clock signal and the clocked data signal. The second stage further has a reset circuit that resets a latch storage to a high value according to the clock signal.
US09401698B1

Electronic circuits and memory circuits are provided for implementing a method for transforming a chip clock signal to a local clock signal. The method includes: generating a first clock signal in response to the chip clock signal, a first control signal and a second control signal; generating a second clock signal by delaying the first clock signal with a second clock delay; generating the first control signal and the second control signal by delaying the second clock signal with a pulse width delay, where the first control signal goes from high-to-low with a control signal delay after the second control signal goes from high-to-low, and vice versa; and generating the local clock signal based on the second clock signal.
US09401687B2

An emergency message output amplifier includes a plurality of audio output channels. Channels can be combined together to increase output power, and can be isolated from respective output speakers in response to detected faults and then disabled. The functional amplifier can be activated by itself and output current can be monitored to lower the output level enough to enable the amplifier to properly drive the existing load.
US09401682B2

A RF power amplifier module comprises a die with a RF power transistor and the RF power transistor comprises a control terminal, a transistor output terminal and a transistor reference terminal. The RF power amplifier module further comprises a module input terminal, a module output terminal and at least two module reference terminals being electrically coupled to the control terminal, the transistor output terminal and the transistor reference terminal, respectively. The RF power amplifier module further comprises an electrically isolating layer and a heat conducting element. The die is in thermal contact with the heat conducting element via the electrically isolating layer in order to transfer heat during operation of the RF power transistor to the heat conducting element.
US09401680B2

An apparatus includes a first bias circuit configured to generate a first current that varies with temperature according to a first slope. The apparatus also includes a second bias circuit configured to generate a second current that varies with temperature according to a second slope. The apparatus further includes a low noise amplifier including a transconductance stage that is responsive to an output of the first bias circuit. The apparatus also includes a load coupled to an output of the low noise amplifier and responsive to an output of the second bias circuit.
US09401670B2

An electric pump includes a pump body, a sensorless brushless motor, and a control portion controlling the motor to perform a constant current control and a constant voltage control to discharge a necessary discharge amount of an operation fluid from the pump body, the control portion controlling the motor to switch from the constant current control to the constant voltage control at a predetermined temperature of the operation fluid and at a predetermined motor applied voltage. The control portion controls the motor to switch from the constant current control to the constant voltage control at a motor applied voltage which is higher than the predetermined motor applied voltage when a temperature of the operation fluid is lower than the predetermined temperature to discharge the necessary discharge amount of the operation fluid from the pump body.
US09401669B2

A motor controller includes: a converter for converting an alternating current to a direct current; a first inverter for converting the direct current in a direct-current link of the converter to an alternating current for driving a first motor; a second inverter for converting the direct current in the direct-current link to an alternating current for driving a second motor; a power-failure detection unit for detecting a power failure on the side with the alternating-current power supply; and a command creation unit for creating a drive command for each of the first inverter and the second inverter when no power failure has occurred, while creating a drive command for the first inverter and also creating a drive command for the second inverter by using position feedback information of the first motor driven according to the drive command for the first inverter, when a power failure has occurred.
US09401655B2

An inverter circuit including a DC capacitor is connected in series to an AC power supply, and at the stage subsequent to the inverter circuit, a smoothing capacitor is connected via a converter circuit. A short-circuit period T for short-circuiting the AC terminals of the converter circuit is provided in one cycle, whereby the converter circuit is controlled, and PWM control is performed for the inverter circuit so as to improve an AC power supply power factor. When current control by the inverter circuit cannot be performed, the PWM control is switched to PWM control for the converter circuit, to perform current control.
US09401645B1

The preferred embodiments of the present invention change the switching circuits in switched-mode voltage converter circuits. Instead of switching at full amplitude of input voltage, the preferred embodiments of the present invention provide partial voltage switching signals to the electrical filters. The resulting voltage converter circuits operates at better power efficiency while achieving significantly better space and cost efficiency.
US09401644B2

A trench MOSFET is disclosed that includes a semiconductor substrate having a vertically oriented trench containing a gate. The trench MOSFET further includes a source, a drain, and a conductive element. The conductive element, like the gate is contained in the trench, and extends between the gate and a bottom of the trench. The conductive element is electrically isolated from the source, the gate, and the drain. When employed in a device such as a DC-DC converter, the trench MOSFET may reduce power losses and electrical and electromagnetic noise.
US09401642B2

A switching power-supply device configured to convert and output a first direct voltage supplied to a second direct voltage by alternately turning on and off a first switching element and a second switching element includes: an inductor; a detection unit; a reference voltage generation unit; a comparison unit; a driving unit; a driving signal generation unit; and a power supply circuit, the driving unit turns on the first switching element during a period where the driving signal is supplied, the reference voltage generation unit comprises: a capacitor; a superimposing unit; a charging-and-discharging unit; and a first charging current control unit, and the first charging current control unit charges the capacitor with the first charging current until regeneration of the inductor is completed and charges the capacitor with the second charging current after the regeneration of the inductor is completed until the driving signal is outputted.
US09401638B2

A DCDC converter includes a controller, an up/down counter, a first power stage and a second power stage. The controller generates an up/down control signal. The up/down counter generates a first power stage control signal and a second power stage control signal based on the up/down control signal. The first power stage generates a first output current at a first phase and at a first voltage based on the first power stage control signal. The second power stage generates a second output current at a second phase based on the second power stage control signal. The up/down counter modifies the first power stage control signal to control the first power stage such that the first output current attenuates from a first power stage output to a secondary first power stage output. The controller can further output a control signal to modify the first voltage of the first power stage.
US09401635B2

A switching power supply includes power factor correction circuitry and a standby output converter. One or more loads may be coupled to one or more outputs of the switching power supply. The switching power supply is configured to disable the power factor correction circuitry under some load conditions and to enable the power factor correction circuitry under other load conditions. As a consequence, power that would have been drawn by the power factor correction circuitry is conserved when the power factor correction circuitry is disabled.
US09401626B2

An electronic apparatus including an RT/CMOS DATA logic unit which stores Real-Time Clock information and CMOS information, and a battery having a power terminal to supply main power used in the electronic apparatus and a signal terminal for data communication with the electronic apparatus, and when the main power is turned off, supplies power to the RT/CMOS DATA logic unit through the signal terminal to maintain operations of the RT/CMOS DATA logic unit.
US09401606B2

According to one embodiment, a system for actively balancing power between several power units is disclosed. Each of the power units includes a corresponding group of cascoded energy cells. The system for actively balancing power comprises a group of buck/boost circuits used in each of the power units for maintaining an internal power balance among the corresponding group of cascoded energy cells, and an energy distribution circuit for responding to a respective energy need in each of the power units. The energy distribution circuit is configured to transfer energy between the power units to balance power among the power units according to their respective energy needs. In one embodiment, a method for actively balancing power between several power units comprises maintaining the internal power balance among the group of cascoded energy cells within each of the power units, and transferring energy between the power units as needed.
US09401604B2

The present invention provides a relay-based foolproof circuit for over-voltage protection, which is electrically connected between a plug and an electric device, and includes a relay having at least one magnetic core, a coil wound around the magnetic core and two reed switches each having a reed and being normally in a closed state because of the elastic effect of its reed. The relay-based foolproof circuit is able to provide AC power of a first specification (e.g., 110 V AC power) received from the plug to the electric device. However, when AC power of a second specification (e.g., 220 V AC power) greater than the first specification flows through the coil, the coil causes the magnetic core to generate a magnetic force great enough to drive the two reed switches into an open state for stopping the AC power of the second specification from being provided to the electric device.
US09401601B2

A circuit for protecting a voltage supply to a sensor from a transient event is provided. The circuit includes at least one buffer capacitor configured to provide output during the transient event, the output substantially equivalent to output of a regulated supply during normal operation of the sensor. A method of fabrication and a sensor are disclosed.
US09401599B2

A direct current (DC) power combiner operable to interconnect multiple interconnected photovoltaic strings is disclosed. The DC power combiner may include a device adapted for disconnecting at least one photovoltaic string from the multiple interconnected photovoltaic strings, each photovoltaic string connectible by a first and second DC power line. The device may include a differential current sensor adapted to measure differential current by comparing respective currents in the first and second DC power lines. A first switch is connected in series with the first DC power line. A control module is operatively attached to the differential current sensor and the first switch. The control module may be operable to open the first switch when the differential current sensor measures the differential current to be greater than a maximum allowed current differential, thereby disconnecting the photovoltaic string from the interconnected photovoltaic strings.
US09401595B2

The invention discloses an electric leakage warning and protection circuit which includes a zero-sequence transformer, a overcurrent sensor and a zero line electricity leakage sensor are sequentially arranged and connected with a first control module, the first control module is further connected with a control end of a first silicon controlled rectifier, the first silicon controlled rectifier and a tripping coil are serially connected with each other and are jointly arranged between an anode and a cathode of the power module, an electric leakage display circuit is provided with a second silicon controlled rectifier and a first light emitting diode, the second silicon controlled rectifier is serially connected with the first light emitting diode, and a control end of the second silicon controlled rectifier is connected with the second control module. The electricity leakage warning and protection circuit has advantages of implementing electricity leakage warning and automatic tripping protection, so that the safety is greatly improved.
US09401594B2

An integrated circuit device (200) includes a first and second differential I/O pins (TRXP/TRXN) and a surge protection circuit. The surge protection circuit includes a protection transistor, a positive surge detection circuit, and a negative surge detection circuit. The protection transistor is connected between the first and second I/O pins and has a gate to receive a control signal (CTRL). The protection transistor is turned on to connect the I/O pins together if the positive surge detection circuit detects a positive surge energy on either of the I/O pins and/or if the negative surge detection circuit detects a negative surge energy on either of the I/O pins. The surge protection circuit provides increased protection for Ethernet device against undesirable energy in a manner that does not adversely affect the performance of the device.
US09401593B2

A device for monitoring and protecting electrical equipment, placed in series on a power supply line between an electrical power source and the equipment, includes: at least one voltage regulator for regulating a power supply voltage of the equipment, at least one current limiter, coupled to the voltage regulator to reduce the power supply voltage of the equipment if a power supply current absorbed by the equipment exceeds an upper operating value, at least one crowbar short-circuit device, adapted to be activated when the input voltage exceeds a safety limit value, higher than the upper operating value, and to cause a fuse placed in series between the power source and the equipment, to blow, and calculating and storage elements adapted to generate a clock and to log a date of occurrence of a fault and the operating parameters of the power supply for the equipment in a non-volatile memory.
US09401592B2

A discharge circuit for an electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter is provided. The discharge circuit includes a switch circuit, a control circuit, and a detection circuit. The switch circuit is coupled to an X-capacitor of the EMI filter. The control circuit is coupled to the switch circuit and configured to turn on the switch circuit in a predetermined period to provide a discharge path. The detection circuit is coupled to the discharge path. In the predetermined period, the detection circuit detects whether a cross point occurs between a discharge voltage signal on the discharge path and a reference voltage signal to generate a detection signal which is provided to the control circuit. When the detection circuit detects that the cross point does not occur, the control circuit continuously turns on the switch circuit according to the detection signal after the predetermined period has elapsed.
US09401587B2

A method for producing a spark plug for internal combustion engines, having a metallic shell, a ceramic insulator held in the shell, a center electrode embedded in the insulator, and a ground electrode implemented as a bridge attached to the front end of the shell, wherein an end piece made of a precious metal is attached to the front end of the center electrode and a counterpart is attached to the bridge opposite the end piece, between which is formed a spark gap. A cylindrical body made fully or partially of the precious metal or precious metal alloy intended for the end piece and that is longer than the end piece is welded onto the front end of the center electrode. A bridge is used that has, in the center, a hole, the cross-section of which is matched to the cross-section of the cylindrical body. The bridge is placed on the front end of the shell in such a manner that the forward-facing end of the cylindrical body enters the hole in the bridge. The cylindrical body is welded to the bridge, and lastly the spark gap is created by cross-cutting the cylindrical body.
US09401578B2

A fixing device for fixing an electrical connection terminal to a support having a first side, a second side opposite to the first side, and defining a through hole of a first diameter. The fixing device comprises: a ring including a receiving portion partially defining an axial recess and insertable in the through hole; a dowel including an insert portion axially insertable into the recess of the ring and a locking portion axially spaced from the insert portion, the dowel partially defining an axial bore including an internal thread, and in the locking portion the internal thread of the bore is a distorted locking thread; and a fixing screw including a threaded shank engagable with the dowel. Tightening of the fixing screw draws the insert portion of the dowel axially into the recess of the ring, thereby radially expanding the ring into press-fit engagement with the through hole.
US09401575B2

A method of assembling a transducer assembly comprising a transducer and a conductor element, where one of the transducer and the conductor element includes holes and conducting parts, each conducting part being exposed in or at a hole and the other of the transducer and the conductor element includes elevated, electrically conducting elements. The method includes aligning the conductor element and the transducer so that each of the elevated elements extends into a separate hole of the holes and fixing the transducer to the conductor element by fixing each elevated element to the conducting parts of the pertaining hole.
US09401569B2

A header assembly of a mezzanine connector system may include a main housing defining signal channels extending through the main housing and ground channels extending into a first surface of the main housing, a plurality of signal modules, and a plurality of ground shields. At least a portion of each of the plurality of signal modules is retained within a respective one of the signal channels. At least a portion of each of the plurality of ground shields is retained within at least one of the ground channels.
US09401566B2

The invention relates to a charging plug for connection to a charging socket of a device which is intended to be charged, for example, a motor vehicle which is at least partially driven by electrical energy, or a device which provides charging energy. In order to prevent the charging plug from prematurely becoming defective as a result of corrosion or electro migration, there is provision according to the invention for a switching device of the charging plug to be arranged partially inside and partially outside an enclosed conduction chamber.
US09401565B2

Plug connector for an electrical and/or optical plug connection, wherein the plug connector comprises a first plug component and a second plug component, the first plug component has an elongate plug-in portion and the second plug component has an elongate receiving jacket portion with an insertion opening, and, in a position in which the first and second plug components are completely plugged one into the other, the plug-in portion is inserted into the receiving jacket portion through the insertion opening; the plug connector also comprises locking means including a locking pin for locking together the first and second plug components the locking pin being located inside the receiving jacket portion and/or the plug-in portion in the completely plugged-in position and being movable between the locking position and the unlocking position on a path of movement with a tangential component, viewed from the longitudinal center line.
US09401542B2

Apparatus, methods, computer software and computer program products are provided for tuning a user equipment antenna to simultaneously operate at more than one resonant frequency by combining a first electrical load and a first frequency selective component to tune the antenna to a first resonant frequency with respect to signals in a first frequency range, and combining a second electrical load and a second frequency selective component to tune the antenna to a second resonant frequency with respect to signals in a second frequency range. The first electrical load, the second electrical load, the first frequency selective component and the second frequency selective component act to tune the antenna to operate simultaneously at the first resonant frequency and the second resonant frequency.
US09401539B2

A hinge antenna comprises a major conductor, a first rotating element and a second rotating element. The stretching arms on both sides of the major conductor are assembled to the first rotating element and the second rotating element, respectively. The first rotating element further comprises a torque device and a first vice conductor, and the second rotating element further comprises a signal feeding line, a connection device, and a second vice conductor. The signal feeding line is electrically connected to the connection device and the second vice conductor, by which a high frequency signal can be passed to the major conductor, and then passed to the torque device on the other side and the first vice conductor. The aforementioned configuration is utilized to form an antenna loop. In addition, the configuration of this antenna can be applied to a foldable electronic device.
US09401536B2

A dual band antenna configuration constituted of: a waveguide extending from a proximal section to a high frequency band section; a first high frequency band port extending from the high frequency band section of the waveguide; a first low frequency band port extending, from an outer surface of a low frequency section of the waveguide, along a first radial path; a second low frequency band port extending, from the outer surface of the low frequency section of the waveguide, along a second radial path, the second radial path orthogonal to the first radial path; and a 180 degree hybrid coupler, wherein a first port of the 180 degree hybrid coupler in electrical communication with the first low frequency band port and a second port of the 180 degree hybrid coupler, different than the first port thereof, in electrical communication with the second low frequency band port.
US09401534B2

A high-frequency signal line includes an element assembly including a plurality of flexible insulator layers, a linear signal line provided in or on the element assembly, a first ground conductor arranged in or on the element assembly so as to be opposed to the signal line not in a first section including a portion of the signal line but in a second section adjacent to the first section, and a second ground conductor provided along the signal line in the first section on the insulator layer on which the signal line is provided. The second ground conductor is not opposed at least in part to the first ground conductor in the first section.
US09401521B2

Disclosed is a technique of diagnosing a state of a fuel cell system. The technique includes configuring a processor to calculate a duty ratio and an average output current, based on real-time driving data for a preset driving period, during operation of a fuel cell vehicle; obtain a reference current value from the calculated duty ratio and the calculated average output current; and determine a state of a fuel cell system by choosing a state graph corresponding to the obtained reference current value among a plurality of state graphs which vary depending on each reference current value.
US09401520B2

In a method for stopping an operation of a fuel cell system, supply of a fuel gas to an anode side of a fuel cell provided in the fuel cell system is stopped. A fuel exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell is recirculated to the anode side of the fuel cell. An oxidant-exhaust-gas discharge path through which an oxidant exhaust gas is to be discharged from the fuel cell is sealed at a downstream position of a connecting portion at which the oxidant-exhaust-gas discharge path is connected to an oxidant-exhaust-gas recirculation path. The oxidant exhaust gas is recirculated to a cathode side of the fuel cell through the oxidant-exhaust-gas recirculation path. Recirculation of the fuel exhaust gas is stopped. Recirculation of the oxidant exhaust gas is stopped. An oxidant-gas supply path through which an oxidant gas is to be supplied to the fuel cell is sealed.
US09401517B2

A multi-stream heat exchanger includes at least one air preheater section, at least one cathode recuperator section, and at least one anode recuperator section, wherein each section is a plate type heat exchanger having two major surfaces and a plurality of edge surfaces, a plurality of risers through at least some of the plates, and a plurality of flow paths located between plates. The cathode recuperator section is located adjacent to a first edge surface of the anode recuperator, and the air preheater section is located adjacent to a second edge surface of the anode recuperator section.
US09401514B2

The present invention provides a fuel cell separator and a method for surface treatment of the same, in which ionized nanoparticles are attached to the surface of a separator to form fine projections such that the surface of the separator exhibits superhydrophobicity. For this purpose, the present invention provides a method for surface treatment of a fuel cell separator which provides nanoparticles for forming fine projections on the surface of the separator to a discharge electrode and ionizes the nanoparticles by an arc discharge generated in the discharge electrode. The ionized nanoparticles are then attached to the surface of the separator by an electric field generated by applying a high voltage between the separator and the discharge electrode, thereby forming fine projections for imparting superhydrophobicity.
US09401509B2

The present invention provides novel cathodes having a reduced resistivity and other improved electrical properties. Furthermore, this invention also presents methods of manufacturing novel electrochemical cells and novel cathodes. These novel cathodes comprise a silver material that is doped with a high valence early transition metal species.
US09401508B2

The present invention generally relates to electrodes, electrical storage devices comprising the electrodes, and methods for producing the electrodes and electrical storage devices. The electrodes comprise a current collector, an electrically conductive mat, and a first and second electroactive material, the first electroactive material having a higher energy density than the second electroactive material, and the second electroactive material having a higher rate capability than the first electroactive material. The electrically conductive mat provides a structural and conductive support for at least one of the high-rate and high-energy electroactive materials. The electrodes can be provided in various configurations and be used in high-rate high-energy electrical storage devices to provide improved cycle life.
US09401495B2

A luminescent element includes a first electrode layer, a functional layer including an emitting layer and being disposed on the first electrode layer, a conductive layer permitting transmission of light and being disposed on the functional layer, and a first patterned electrode and a second patterned electrode each having an opening and being disposed on the conductive layer to be separated from each other. The conductive layer extends from a first area in which the first patterned electrode is disposed on the conductive layer to a second area in which the second patterned electrode is disposed on the conductive layer.
US09401490B2

The present invention provides a transparent conductive film which is low in terms of surface resistivity and high in terms of transparency.The transparent conductive film according to the present invention includes an adhesive conductive layer in openings of a conductive metal mesh layer provided on at least one surface of a transparent base material, wherein the conductive layer is composed of a conductive adhesive composition containing (A) a water-soluble vinyl polymer, (B) an organic additive, and (C) a conductive organic polymer compound, the organic additive (B) is at least one member selected among water-soluble polyhydric alcohols, water-soluble pyrrolidones, and hydrophilic aprotic solvents, and the conductive organic polymer compound (C) is at least one member selected among polyanilines, polypyrroles, polythiophenes, and derivatives thereof. In addition, the present invention provides an electronic device having the foregoing transparent conductive film and a method for manufacturing an electronic device including forming a photoelectric conversion layer on an anodic layer and sticking the conductive layer of the transparent conductive film and a surface of the photoelectric conversion layer to each other at a temperature at which the foregoing conductive adhesive composition is softened or higher.
US09401485B2

The present invention provides a flexible display substrate, the manufacturing method thereof and a flexible display device, relates to the field of flexible display technology, and can solve the technical problems that the existing flexible display substrate is easy to be damaged during deforming, has small amount of deformation, degraded display performance or high costs, or has difficulty in manufacturing process. The flexible display substrate according to the present invention comprising a hard material layer disposed at the fragile positions of the flexible display substrate. The manufacturing method for the flexible display substrate according to the present invention comprises forming a pattern of a hard material layer. The flexible display device of the present invention comprises the flexible display substrate mentioned above. The present invention is applicable to flexible display devices such as flexible organic electroluminescent display device, flexible electrophoretic display device, or liquid crystal display device.
US09401484B2

An organic light-emitting device including a first electrode; a second electrode facing the first electrode; and an organic layer between the first electrode and the second electrode, the organic layer including an emission layer, a hole transport region between the first electrode and the emission layer, the hole transport region including at least one selected from a hole transport layer, a hole injection layer, and a buffer layer, and an electron transport region between the emission layer and the second electrode, the electron transport region including at least one selected from a hole blocking layer, an electron transport layer, and an electron injection layer, wherein the emission layer includes a compound represented by Formula 1 as described herein; and at least one of the hole blocking layer, the electron transport layer, and the electron injection layer in the electron transport region includes at least one compound represented by Formulae 2, 3, 4, or 5, as described herein.
US09401476B2

Some embodiments include memory structures having a diode over a memory cell. The memory cell can include programmable material between a pair of electrodes, with the programmable material containing a multivalent metal oxide directly against a high-k dielectric. The diode can include a first diode electrode directly over one of the memory cell electrodes and electrically coupled with the memory cell electrode, and can include a second diode electrode laterally outward of the first diode electrode and not directly over the memory cell. Some embodiments include memory arrays comprising the memory structures, and some embodiments include methods of making the memory structures.
US09401475B1

A method of depositing a silver layer includes forming a plurality of openings in a dielectric layer to expose a top surface of a structure comprising a resistive memory layer on top of a p-doped silicon-containing layer on top of a conductive structure, depositing a first metal layer comprising a tungsten layer overlying the top surface of the structure, wherein a first metal material of the first metal layer contacts a resistive memory material of the resistive memory layer and exposing the first metal layer in a bath comprising a solution of silver species having an alkaline pH for a predetermined time to form a silver metal layer from the silver species from the solution overlying the resistive memory material, wherein the silver species is reduced by the first metal material, and wherein the first metal material is solubilized while forming the silver metal layer.
US09401471B2

A manufacturing method of an electromechanical transducing device includes forming a vibration plate on a substrate; forming a first electrode made of a metal on the vibration plate; forming a second electrode made of an electrically conductive oxide on the first electrode; coating a surface modification material and carrying out surface modification of only the first electrode; forming an electromechanical transducing film on the second electrode; and forming a third electrode made of an electrically conductive oxide on the electromechanical transducing film.
US09401469B2

A thin-film piezoelectric material element includes a lower electrode film, a piezoelectric material film, and an upper electrode film, the lower electrode film, the piezoelectric material film and the upper electrode film are laminated sequentially. An upper surface of the piezoelectric material film is a concavity and convexity surface having a convex part and a concave part, the convex part is a curved surface convexly projected, and the concave part is a curved surface concavely hollowed, the upper electrode film is formed on the concavity and convexity surface. The thin-film piezoelectric material element has a stress balancing film formed with a material having an internal stress capable of cancelling an element stress, the stress balancing film is formed on the upper electrode film.
US09401468B2

An apparatus includes an LED light source positioned within an envelope, a porous fluid transporting material coating the envelope, providing a path between the LED light source and the envelope, and a cooling medium conducted through the fluid transporting material toward the LED light source in a liquid phase and conducted from the LED light source to the envelope in a vapor phase for removing heat from the LED light source.
US09401463B2

An optoelectronic package includes an optoelectronic chip, a transparent protection layer and a plurality of pads. The optoelectronic chip has an upper surface and an active area defined on the upper surface. The transparent protection layer is connected to the optoelectronic chip and covers the upper surface. The transparent protection layer touches and is entirely attached to the active area. The pads are electrically connected to the optoelectronic chip.
US09401462B2

A light emitting device comprising: a base; a light emitting element arranged on a surface of the base; a first resin layer arranged to surround a side portion of the light emitting element and to be spaced apart from the side portion; and a second resin layer arranged on the surface of the base, the second resin layer being present at least on a top of the light emitting element, on a top of the first resin layer, and in an area between the light emitting element and the first resin layer, wherein the first resin layer comprises a light transmissive resin and a first fluorescent material, wherein the second resin layer comprises a light transmissive resin and a second fluorescent material, and wherein the second fluorescent material exhibits higher heat resistance than that of the first fluorescent material.
US09401446B2

A silicon solar cell and a method of manufacturing the same are disclosed. The silicon solar cell includes a silicon semiconductor substrate doped with first conductive impurities, an emitter layer doped with second conductive impurities having polarities opposite polarities of the first conductive impurities on the substrate, an anti-reflective layer on an entire surface of the substrate, an upper electrode that passes through the anti-reflective layer and is connected to the emitter layer, and a lower electrode connected to a lower portion of the substrate. The emitter layer includes a first emitter layer heavily doped with the second conductive impurities and a second emitter layer lightly doped with the second conductive impurities. A surface resistance of the second emitter layer is 100 Ohm/sq to 120 Ohm/sq.
US09401439B2

Apparatuses and methods include a solar array having one or more string buses of series-connected solar modules. The current outputs from the solar modules on each string bus can be balanced along with the voltage output from the string buses. Local management units coupled between the solar modules and the string buses are configured to control the voltage output from each solar module. When the solar modules on each string are balanced, and when the string buses are balanced (or before the solar modules and string buses are balanced), an inverter or other device connected to the solar array can find the array's maximum power point via a maximum power point tracking algorithm.
US09401435B2

Provided is a reconfigurable electronic device which is implemented by forming independent upper gates and lower gates, wherein in comparison with an existing reconfigurable electronic device having the same function, a degree of integration is greatly increased, a non-volatile memory function is included in the device, and in operation of a reconfigurable circuit based on an independent lower electrode array, dynamic parasitic component is decreased and a complexity of wire lines can be reduced, so that power consumption can be reduced. In addition, in comparison with an existing reconfigurable electronic device, the device exhibits remarkably excellent performance in terms of various characteristics such as diversity of functions of a multi-functional device, alignment margin in process, performance of implementation of infinitesimal electrical doping in a channel, compatibility with bottom-up and top-down method in process, and compatibility with a 1D or 2D material.
US09401431B2

A method of fabricating metal oxide TFTs on transparent substrates includes the steps of positioning an opaque gate metal area on the front surface of the substrate, depositing transparent gate dielectric and transparent metal oxide semiconductor layers overlying the gate metal and a surrounding area, depositing transparent passivation material on the semiconductor material, depositing photoresist on the passivation material, exposing and developing the photoresist to remove exposed portions, etching the passivation material to leave a passivation area defining a channel area, depositing transparent conductive material over the passivation area, depositing photoresist over the conductive material, exposing and developing the photoresist to remove unexposed portions, and etching the conductive material to leave source and drain areas on opposed sides of the channel area.
US09401426B2

A semiconductor device includes a gate stack, an isolation structure and a strained feature. The gate stack is over a substrate. The isolation structure is in the substrate. The strained feature is disposed between the gate stack and the isolation structure and disposed in the substrate. The strained feature includes an upper surface adjacent to the isolation structure having a first crystal plane and a sidewall surface adjacent to the gate stack having a second crystal plane. The first crystal plane is different from the second crystal plane.
US09401425B2

A semiconductor structure is disclosed. The semiconductor structure comprises: a substrate (130), a support structure (131), a base region (100), a gate stack, a spacer (240), and a source/drain region, wherein the gate stack is located on the base region (100), and the base region (100) is supported on the substrate (130) by the support structure (131), wherein the sidewall cross-section of the support structure (131) is in a shape of a concave curve; an isolation structure (123) is formed beneath the edges on both sides of the base region (100), wherein a portion of the isolation structure (123) is connected to the substrate (130); a cavity (112) is formed between the isolation structure (123) and the support structure (131); and there exists a source/drain region at least on both sides of the base region (100) and the isolation structure (123). Accordingly, a method for manufacturing the semiconductor structure is also disclosed.
US09401420B2

Semiconductor device including: silicon-based substrate; first buffer layer on silicon-based substrate and is formed of first layer containing Al composition and second layer containing less Al than the first layer, the first and second layers being alternately stacked; second buffer layer on the first buffer layer and is formed of third layer containing Al composition and fourth layer containing less Al than the third layer, the third and fourth layers being alternately stacked; and third buffer layer on the second buffer layer and is formed of fifth layer containing Al composition and sixth layer containing less Al than the fifth layer, the fifth and sixth layers being alternately stacked, wherein the second buffer layer contains more Al than the first and third buffer layers. Thus, the semiconductor device leakage can be suppressed while reducing stress which is applied to buffer layer and can improve flatness of active layer upper face.
US09401418B2

A method of manufacturing transistor having a first and second thin film transistor by creating the second thin film transistor by forming a second gate of the second thin film transistor on a substrate, depositing an insulating layer and a semiconductor layer in order to cover the second gate. A photoresist layer is deposited above the semiconductor layer and exposed. The semiconductor layer and the insulating layer are etched, thereby forming a second active layer of the second thin film transistor and a first connection window disposed above the second gate. A second source and a second drain of the second thin film transistor is deposited above the insulating layer and the second active layer. The present method enables the manufacturing of an organic light emitting diode display. The method reduces the times of using a photomask, thereby saving the manufacture time, improving the productivity and economizing the manufacture cost.
US09401414B2

A method of forming a semiconductor device includes forming a NMOS gate structure over a substrate. The method further includes forming an amorphized region in the substrate adjacent to the NMOS gate structure. The method also includes forming a lightly doped source/drain (LDD) region in the amorphized region. The method further includes depositing a stress film over the NMOS gate structure, performing an annealing process, and removing the stress film.
US09401410B2

A semiconductor device is formed by forming a deep trench in a substrate and a dielectric liner on sidewalls of the deep trench. A first undoped polysilicon layer is formed on the semiconductor device, extending into the deep trench on the dielectric liner, but not filling the deep trench. Dopants are implanted into the first polysilicon layer. A second layer of polysilicon is formed on the first layer of polysilicon. A thermal drive anneal activates and diffuses the dopants. In one version, the dielectric liner is removed at the bottom of the deep trench before the first polysilicon layer is formed, so that the polysilicon in the deep trench provides a contact to the substrate. In another version, the polysilicon in the deep trench is isolated from the substrate by the dielectric liner.
US09401405B2

A semiconductor device includes a silicon substrate, an initial buffer layer disposed on the silicon substrate and including aluminum nitride (AlN), and a semiconductor device layer disposed on the initial buffer layer and including a semiconductor compound. There is no SiN between the initial buffer layer and the silicon substrate, and a silicon lattice of the silicon substrate directly contacts a lattice of the initial buffer layer.
US09401401B2

There are provided a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same. The semiconductor device includes a source region disposed apart from a drain region, a first body region surrounding the source region, a deep well region disposed below the drain region, and a second body region disposed below the first body region. A bottom surface of the second body region is not coplanar with a bottom surface of the deep well region, and the first body region has a different conductivity type from the second body region.
US09401396B2

Provided is a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, in which a degradation of characteristics of a thin film transistor can be suppressed by performing plasma oxidation treatment on a gate insulating film containing nitrogen. An embodiment of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising a thin film transistor including a gate electrode, a gate insulating film containing nitrogen, and a channel region in microcrystalline semiconductor films. The method includes the steps of performing plasma treatment on the gate insulating film in an oxidizing gas atmosphere containing hydrogen and an oxidizing gas containing an oxygen atom, and forming the microcrystalline semiconductor film over the gate insulating film. Formula (1), a/b≧2, and Formula (2), b>0, are satisfied, where the amount of hydrogen and the amount of the oxidizing gas in the oxidizing gas atmosphere are a and b, respectively.
US09401394B2

A display apparatus includes a plurality of pixels, a signal transmission line, a pad and a buffer. The pixels display an image. The signal transmission line is electrically connected to at least one of the pixels to transmit a signal. The pad is electrically connected to the signal transmission line. The pad has greater width than the signal transmission line. The buffer is disposed between the signal transmission line and the pad. A first end of the buffer adjacent to the pad is wider than a second end of the buffer adjacent to the signal transmission line.
US09401392B2

Disclosed is an organic light emitting display device. The organic light emitting display device includes: at least one transistor arranged in a transistor region of the substrate and configured to include a channel layer, an insulation film, a gate electrode, a source electrode and a drain electrode; a storage capacitor arranged in the storage capacitor region, the pixel region and the pad region of the substrate and configured to include a first storage electrode, an insulation film pattern and a second storage electrode; a color filter arranged over the storage capacitor opposite to the pixel region; and an organic light emitting diode arranged on the color filter and configured to include a first electrode, an organic emission layer and a second electrode.
US09401390B2

This invention provides an array substrate, a method for fabricating the same, and an OLED display device, which can solve the technical problem that the existing OLED display device has low luminous efficiency. Each pixel unit of the array substrate comprises: a TFT drive layer; an OLED further away from the substrate than the TFT drive layer and driven by it, the OLED sequentially comprises a first electrode, a light emitting layer, and a transparent second electrode, wherein the first electrode is a reflection layer, or the first electrode is transparent and has a reflection layer disposed thereunder; a transflective layer further away from the substrate than the OLED and forming a microcavity structure with the reflection layer; and a color filter film disposed between the OLED and the transflective layer and located in the microcavity structure. The present invention is particularly suitable for a WOLED display device.
US09401389B2

A display panel and a method of manufacturing the same are disclosed. In one aspect, the display panel comprises a first substrate, a switching element formed over the first substrate, a planarization insulating layer having a via hole that at least partially exposes the switching element, and a light-emitting structure including a first electrode connected to the switching element through the via hole. The display panel also includes a spacer having a trench configured to alter the path of external light reflected off the light-emitting structure, wherein the spacer at least partially covers the first electrode and the planarization insulating layer. The display panel further includes a second substrate formed over the spacer, wherein the spacer is interposed between the first and second substrates.
US09401380B2

A back side image sensor and method of manufacture are provided. In an embodiment a bottom anti-reflective coating is formed over a substrate, and a metal shield layer is formed over the bottom anti-reflective coating. The metal shield layer is patterned to form a grid pattern over a sensor array region of the substrate, and a first dielectric layer and a second dielectric layer are formed to at least partially fill in openings within the grid pattern.
US09401376B2

The present application provides a thin film transistor, an active matrix organic light emitting diode assembly and a method for manufacturing the same. The thin film transistor includes: a substrate; a buffer layer on the substrate; a semiconductor layer on the buffer layer, including a source region, a drain region and a channel region; a first gate insulating layer covering the semiconductor layer; a second gate insulating layer foot on the first gate insulating layer, a width of the second gate insulating layer foot being smaller than a width of the first gate insulating layer; and a gate electrode on the second gate insulating layer foot; wherein a part of the first gate insulating layer that is on the semiconductor layer has a flat upper surface. The present application may obtain better implantation profiles of source region and drain region, thereby obtaining better uniformity in TFT performance.
US09401372B1

A method of forming fins in a dual isolation complimentary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) device that includes a p-type field effect transistor device (pFET) and an n-type field effect transistor (nFET) device and a CMOS device with dual isolation are described. The CMOS device includes an n-type field effect transistor (nFET) region, the nFET region including one or more fins comprised of strained silicon, the one or fins in the nFET region being formed on an insulator. The CMOS device also includes a p-type field effect transistor (pFET) region, the pFET region including one or more fins comprised of silicon (Si) or silicon germanium (SiGe) on epitaxially grown silicon and including a shallow trench isolation (STI) fill to isolate the one or more fins of the pFET region from each other.
US09401366B1

The present invention provides a layout pattern of an 8-transistor static random access memory (8T-SRAM), at least including a first diffusion region, a second diffusion region and a third diffusion region disposed on a substrate, a critical dimension region being disposed between the first diffusion region and the third diffusion region. The critical dimension region directly contacts the first diffusion region and the third diffusion region, a first extra diffusion region, a second extra diffusion region and a third extra diffusion region disposed surrounding and directly contacting the first diffusion region, the second diffusion region and the third diffusion region respectively. The first, the second and the third extra diffusion region are not disposed within the critical dimension region.
US09401363B2

A vertical transistor device includes a line of active area adjacent a line of dielectric isolation. A buried data/sense line obliquely angles relative to the line of active area and the line of dielectric isolation. A pair of gate lines is outward of the buried data/sense line and obliquely angle relative to the line of active area and the line of dielectric isolation. A vertical transistor channel region is within the active area between the pair of gate lines. An outer source/drain region is in the active area above the channel region and an inner source/drain region is in the active area below the channel region. The inner source/drain region is electrically coupled to the buried data/sense line. Other devices and structures are contemplated, as are methods of forming a plurality of vertical transistor devices.
US09401361B2

A semiconductor arrangement and method of formation are provided. A semiconductor arrangement includes a first semiconductor device adjacent a second semiconductor device. The first semiconductor device includes a first gate over a first shallow well in a substrate. A first active area is in the first shallow well on a first side of the first gate. The second semiconductor device includes a second gate over a second shallow well. A third active area is in the second shallow well on a first side of the second gate. The second shallow well abuts the first shallow well in the substrate to form a P-N junction. The P-N junction increases capacitance of the semiconductor arrangement, as compared to a device without such a P-N junction.
US09401358B1

A semiconductor device structure having at least one thin-film resistor structure is provided. Through the metal plug(s) or metal wirings located on different layers, a plurality of stripe segments of the thin-film resistor structure is electrically connected to ensure the thin-film resistor structure with the predetermined resistance and less averting areas in the layout design.
US09401341B2

An electronic component includes a III-N transistor and a III-N rectifying device both encased in a single package. A gate electrode of the III-N transistor is electrically connected to a first lead of the single package or to a conductive structural portion of the single package, a drain electrode of the III-N transistor is electrically connected to a second lead of the single package and to a first electrode of the III-N rectifying device, and a second electrode of the III-N rectifying device is electrically connected to a third lead of the single package.
US09401339B2

Wafer level packages and methods for producing wafer level packages having non-wettable solder collars are provided. In one embodiment, the method includes forming solder mask openings in a solder mask layer exposing regions of a patterned metal level underlying the solder mask layer. Before or after forming solder mask openings in the solder mask layer, non-wettable solder collars are produced extending partially over the exposed regions of the patterned metal level. Solder balls are deposited onto the non-wettable solder collars and into the solder mask openings such that circumferential clearances are provided around base portions of the solder balls and sidewalls of the solder mask layer defining the solder mask openings.
US09401335B2

A semiconductor device that is connected to a wiring substrate includes a semiconductor substrate, a circuit provided on the semiconductor substrate, a connection terminal, and a guard ring that is provided on a peripheral region. In the semiconductor device, the guard ring includes a plurality of wiring layers, and a wiring layer included in the guard ring, which is the farthest from the semiconductor substrate, corresponds to a wiring layer closer to the semiconductor substrate relative to a wiring layer of the connection terminal.
US09401324B2

According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a transistor formed on a semiconductor chip, a lower-layer wiring connected to a diffusion layer of the transistor, and drawn outside the diffusion layer, and an upper-layer wiring drawn out from a pad electrode formed on the semiconductor chip, connected to the lower-layer wiring, and having resistivity lower than that of the lower-layer wiring.
US09401317B2

An assembly for a heat sink having a contact plate with opposing first and second faces, a plurality of fins extending from the first face of the contact plate, and a plurality of gaps between the fins. A retaining device has a first pair of opposing sides and a second pair of opposing sides, the first and second pairs of opposing sides surrounding an opening, the first pair of opposing sides having primary framing members, at least some of the primary framing members having a first end at a respective side and a distal free end, with at least one engagement member positioned proximate the distal free ends. The primary framing members define a receiving space for the heat sink. A metal spring is configured in a closed shape cross-section for engagement with the retaining device. The metal spring has a pair of elongated sides, a pair of truncated sides and heat sink engagement regions. The heat sink engagement regions are positioned against the contact plate when the metal spring is engaged with the retaining device, to urge the contact plate towards the engagement members. The assembly is particularly well suited for use with ball grid array packages to interface electronic components in such packages with the heat sink.
US09401316B2

Electronic devices with improved thermal performance, such as thermal dissipation, of flip chip packages that include one or more flip chip dies are disclosed. In some embodiments, a thermal collection layer can be formed on a surface of a flip chip die. The thermal collection layer can be configured to dissipate heat generated by the flip chip die. In some variations, the thermal collection layer can be constructed using materials having high thermal conductivity.
US09401312B1

A method of redirecting signal bits associated with or corresponding to defective TSVs of a TSV array to a row or a column of redundant TSVs in the TSV array using a 2:4 Decoder and 4:2 Encoder and the resulting device are provided. Embodiments include forming a TSV array between a bottom die and a top die of a 3D IC stack, the TSV array having a row and a column of redundant TSVs; identifying a defective TSV of the TSV array; determining whether to shift a signal bit associated with or corresponding to the defective TSV in a first and/or a second direction towards the row or the column of redundant TSVs; and shifting the signal bit in the first and/or the second direction until the signal bit has been redirected to the row or the column of redundant TSVs.
US09401299B2

A moveable semiconductor substrate support includes a control device receiving data from one or more sensors and providing control signals to one or more actuators. The control device is coupled to and moves with the moveable substrate support to facilitate flexible and complex operation of the substrate support itself.
US09401295B2

To suppress deformation of a portion to be clamped even when a load applied to the portion to be clamped is increased at the time of fixing a front opening unified pod (FOUP), a clamping arm pivotable between a retracting position and a clamping position about a rotational axis inclined relative to a bottom surface of the FOUP is arranged. The clamping arm is housed in a housing depression so that the clamping arm at the retracting position is situated below a surface of a mount base, and at the clamping position, protrudes from the surface of the mount base and becomes engageable with the portion to be clamped.
US09401287B2

Techniques for packaging an integrated circuit include attaching a die to a conductive layer before forming dielectric layers on an opposing surface of the conductive layer. The conductive layer may first be formed on a carrier substrate before the die is disposed on the conductive layer. The die may be electrically coupled to the conductive layer via wires or solder bumps. The carrier substrate is removed before the dielectric layers are formed. The dielectric layers may collectively form a coreless package substrate for the integrated circuit package.
US09401283B2

A substrate treatment method includes the steps of: supporting a substrate with a support member; arranging an extension surface such that the extension surface laterally surrounds one major surface of the substrate supported by the support member and extends continuously to the major surface of the substrate supported by the support member; rotating the substrate supported by the support member; and etching the substrate by supplying an etching liquid onto the major surface of the substrate supported by the support member, wherein the extension surface has higher affinity for the etching liquid than the major surface of the substrate supported by the support member.
US09401278B2

Methods and apparatuses are provided for improving the intensity profile of a beam image used to process a semiconductor substrate. At least one photonic beam may be generated and manipulated to form an image having an intensity profile with an extended uniform region useful for thermally processing the surface of the substrate. The image may be scanned across the surface to heat at least a portion of the substrate surface to achieve a desired temperature within a predetermined dwell time. Such processing may achieve a high efficiency due to the large proportion of energy contained in the uniform portion of the beam.
US09401267B2

The present invention relates to mass spectrometry and infrared spectrometry and in particular, to a method of providing highly resolved infrared spectra of mass-selected, complex (e.g., biopolymer, polypeptide, organic chemical, an organometallic compound, a carbohydrate, a polynucleotide or oligonucleotide compound) ions to be obtained in a general fashion.
US09401266B2

The invention provides a cathode system for an Electron Ionization (EI) source comprising a filament and current supply posts, the current supply posts dividing the filament into segments and each current supply post supplying or returning the current for at least two segments of the filament. Each filament segment is connected, for instance by spot welding, to the supply posts delivering the heating current. The filament segments may be arranged in a row, or substantially parallel to each other. Filament segments arranged in a row may form a closed loop, for instance, a ring. Other embodiments encompass the filament shape of a helical coil.
US09401265B2

The invention relates to a device for treating the surface of a substrate by means of dielectric barrier discharge for generating a filamentary plasma, including a reaction chamber comprising a mixture having a composition such that, when in contact with the plasma, the mixture decomposes and generates species capable of deposition in the form of a layer mostly or totally on the substrate, wherein at least two electrodes area provided in said chamber, with one electrode being subjected to a high AC voltage, and are arranged on either side of the substrate, at least one dielectric barrier (DBD) arranged between said at least two electrodes, and a THT/HF transformer comprising a secondary circuit, in which a direct current (DC) power source is provided in series in the secondary circuit such that the chemical species generated in the plasma in the form of electrically positive or negative ions are selectively attracted by the target substrate inserted in the reaction chamber and arranged between said at least two electrodes, and repelled by electrodes having a corresponding charge.
US09401261B2

An ozone supplying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is an ozone gas supplying apparatus which supplies an ozone gas to a vacuum apparatus. The ozone supplying apparatus includes an ozone generator configured to generate the ozone gas, a first flow controller configured to control a flow rate of the ozone gas generated by the ozone generator, a second flow controller configured to control a flow rate of the ozone gas supplied to the vacuum apparatus, and a main pipe provided on a secondary side of the first flow controller and on a primary side of the second flow controller, with the ozone gas being introduced into the main pipe at such a flow rate that an internal pressure of the main pipe is controlled to be lower than atmospheric pressure by the first flow controller.
US09401258B2

A fuse structure comprises a first conductive layer on a first level. The first conductive layer comprises a fuse line extending in a first direction. The fuse line has a first end portion, a second end portion opposite the first end portion, and a fuse link portion connecting the first end portion and the second end portion. The first conductive layer also comprises lines parallel to the fuse line, the lines being aligned in the first direction and being separated from one another by a first distance measured in the first direction. The fuse structure also comprises a second conductive layer on a second level different from the first level and coupled with the first conductive layer. The second conductive layer has parallel lines extending in a second direction, the parallel lines being separated by a second distance measured in a third direction orthogonal to the second direction.
US09401254B2

Electronic leakage reduction techniques are provided, whereby a device is configured to detect characteristics of an appliance and its power supply when the appliance is off or otherwise placed in a mode for reduced power use by said appliance, and whereby voltage and power provided to the appliance are then substantially reduced. In other aspects of the disclosed technology, user behavior may also manually control power delivered to the appliance, for example, with a switch. In still other aspects of the disclosed technology, a device is configured to detect characteristics of an appliance and its power supply when the appliance is on or otherwise placed in a mode for higher power use by said appliance, and increases power to the appliance.
US09401245B2

A method for producing a conductive polymer dispersion liquid includes preparing an emulsion of a polyanion adsorbed on a conductive polymer precursor monomer by emulsifying a blended liquid obtained by blending the conductive polymer precursor monomer, the polyanion, and an aqueous solvent; and forming a dispersoid of a conductive polymer by chemical oxidative polymerization with addition of an oxidant to the emulsion. Furthermore, by using this conductive polymer dispersion liquid to provide an electrolytic capacitor, the ESR of the capacitor can be reduced.
US09401244B2

A conductive paste that includes a (meth)acrylic resin serving as a binder resin, an organic solvent, and a metal powder. The (meth)acrylic resin has a glass transition point Tg in the range of −60° C. to 120° C., a hydroxyl group content in the range of 0.01% to 5% by weight per molecule, an acid value in the range of 1 to 50 mgKOH/g, and a weight-average molecular weight in the range of 10,000 to 350,000 Mw.
US09401240B2

A magnetic apparatus having at least one magnetic shim situated between faces of two permanent magnets. The magnetic shim helps to make the magnetic field that is accessible between the two permanent magnets a more uniform field. The magnetic shim is constructed on a thinned semiconductor wafer, such as silicon, by photolithographically defining locations on the wafer where magnetic material, such as iron or iron-nickel materials, are deposited. The shim can additional have photolihographically defined coil regions, in which conductive material such as copper can be deposited. Current contacts are provided to allow currents to be passed through the coil regions. Protective layers can be deposited to protect the deposited metals from mechanical or environmental damage.
US09401239B2

An electrical component for attachment to paper and other substrates comprises, according to one embodiment, a functional electronic part including one or more support pillars on an underside thereof. Each of the support pillars comprises: a channel extending therethrough from a top opening to a bottom opening, where the top opening of the channel is adjacent to the functional electronic part; and a magnet moveably positioned in the channel in electrical contact with the functional electronic part, where the bottom opening of the channel has a width smaller than a maximum lateral dimension of the magnet.
US09401233B2

A water blocking structure for an insulation-coated wire includes a heat-shrinkable tubular protective member that is closed at one end and that accommodates an intermediate portion of an insulation-coated wire that is bent in a folded-backward direction, and a resin material that is accommodated in the protective member and that penetrates the intermediate portion of the insulation-coated wire. A slit portion is formed by a cutting instrument in a coating of the insulation-coated wire within a region where the intermediate portion is bent in the folded-backward direction, and a water blocking agent penetrates the intermediate portion via this slit portion.
US09401229B2

An inspection apparatus for a penetration pipe of a nuclear reactor head comprising: a body; a probe module installed at the body and having a probe which is inserted in the penetration pipe to inspect damage of the penetration pipe; a fixing module installed along a longitudinal direction of the body and having an expanding cylinder which is inserted in the penetration pipe to support an inner diameter of the penetration pipe; and a rotating module installed in the longitudinal direction of the body and having an expanding cylinder which is inserted in the penetration pipe to support the inner diameter of the penetration pipe.
US09401224B2

A semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of data input/output pads configured to transmit and receive data to and from memory cells, an alert pad configured to output data error information while the data is transmitted and received, and a monitoring device configured to output the data error information to the alert pad in a first mode and to output monitoring information to the alert pad in a second mode.
US09401221B2

Sampling is continuously performed at high speed with a simple sampling circuit including a polarity switcher to invert or non-invert the polarity of an input signal; an integrating circuit to integrate the signal output from the polarity switcher to output integrated values corresponding to the amount of charge stored in a capacitor; a computing section configured to compute a sampling value every sampling period in such a manner that a difference between one of the integrated values output from the integrating circuit at the start of the sampling period and another one of the integrated values output from the integrating circuit at the end of the sampling period is multiplied by a sign corresponding to the polarity set by the polarity switcher; and a control section configured to control the polarity switcher to alternately invert the polarity of the input signal every sampling period in synchronization with a sampling cycle.
US09401217B2

A non-volatile memory device includes an array of memory cells and a plurality of word lines and voltage supply lines. Each memory cell of the array is coupled to one of the word lines. Each of the plurality of voltage supply lines is coupled to a first voltage supply terminal of a subset of memory cells of a plurality of subsets of memory cells of the array. Each subset includes a plurality of memory cells. A voltage switch supplies a respective one of a plurality of aged voltages to each of the plurality of subsets of memory cells in the memory array on respective ones of the voltage supply lines. The aged voltage supplied to a first of the plurality of subsets of memory cells is different than the aged voltage supplied to a second of the plurality of subsets of memory cells.
US09401211B2

Provided is a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device. The method includes forming memory cells which share a data storage layer; performing a first strong program operation on first memory cells, arranged in a checker board pattern among the memory cells; performing a first annealing process after the first strong program operation; performing a second strong program operation on second memory cells arranged in a reverse checker board pattern among the memory cells, and performing a slight program operation on the first memory cells; and performing a second annealing process after the second strong program operation and the slight program operation.
US09401210B2

A nonvolatile memory device includes a memory cell array, an address decoder, an input/output circuit, a CSL driver, and control logic. The memory cell array includes a plurality of memory blocks each having a plurality of strings that are formed in a direction perpendicular to a substrate and are connected between bit lines and a common source line. The CSL driver sets up the common source line with a predetermined voltage and supplies or drains charge to or from the common source line using a voltage level of the common source line as a feedback signal.
US09401204B2

An electronic device comprising a semiconductor memory unit that may a variable resistance element configured to be changed in its resistance value in response to current flowing through both ends thereof; an information storage unit configured to store switching frequency information corresponding to a switching frequency which minimizes an amplitude of a voltage to be applied to both ends of the variable resistance element to change the resistance value of the variable resistance element and switching amplitude information corresponding to a minimum amplitude; and a driving unit configured to generate a driving voltage with the switching frequency and the minimum amplitude in response to the switching frequency information and the switching amplitude information and apply the driving voltage to both ends of the variable resistance element.
US09401187B2

An integrated circuit includes a first stage including first logic gates each of which performs a first logic operation on a corresponding signal among first to Nth signals and a first bit of a binary code, and a second stage including second logic gates each of which performs a second logic operation on corresponding output signals of the first logic gates and is reset based on a second bit of the binary code.
US09401185B1

A sense amplifier may include an amplifying section configured to amplify data of a segment line pair when an enable signal is activated and output amplified data to a local line pair, and including latches electrically coupled in a cross-coupled type. The sense amplifier may include a switching section configured to selectively electrically couple the segment line pair and the local line pair in response to an input/output switch signal.
US09401183B2

A Three-Dimensional Structure (3DS) Memory allows for physical separation of the memory circuits and the control logic circuit onto different layers such that each layer may be separately optimized. One control logic circuit suffices for several memory circuits, reducing cost. Fabrication of 3DS memory involves thinning of the memory circuit to less than 50 μm in thickness and bonding the circuit to a circuit stack while still in wafer substrate form. Fine-grain high density inter-layer vertical bus connections are used. The 3DS memory manufacturing method enables several performance and physical size efficiencies, and is implemented with established semiconductor processing techniques.
US09401177B2

A method for editing the playback speed of a partial sequence of video and a digital device therefor are disclosed. A video editing method includes providing a timeline interface corresponding to a video sequence, receiving a first user input for specifying a first location on the timeline interface and a second user input for specifying a second location on the timeline interface, setting an editing interval between the first location and the second location of the timeline interface, receiving a third user input with respect to the editing interval, adjusting at least one of the thickness and length of the editing interval in response to the third user input, and editing playback attributes of the partial sequence based on the adjusted thickness and length of the editing interval.
US09401169B1

A method, apparatus, and system are provided for implementing touchdown measurement using thermal and voltage actuation for hard disk drives (HDDs). The touchdown measurement uses a constant power applied to a thermal flyheight control (TFC) and an electrostatic voltage bias pulse is applied between the slider body and the disk to actuate the slider into contact with the disk.
US09401163B2

A reader includes top and bottom reader stacks disposed between a top and bottom shield. The top and bottom reader stacks are offset relative to each other in a downtrack direction. Top side shields surround the top reader stack in a crosstrack direction, and bottom side shields surround the bottom reader stack in the crosstrack direction. A split middle shield is between the top and bottom reader stacks and the top and bottom side shields. The split middle shield includes top and bottom portions separated by an isolation layer, the top and bottom portions respectively coupled to the top and bottom reader stacks.
US09401159B2

A device may include a display and logic. The logic may be configured to receive a selection of a first control action associated with an application stored in the device, provide a number of choices associated with the first control action, and receive a word or a phrase to use as a voice command corresponding to the first control action, wherein the word or phrase is selected from the choices. The logic may also associate the word or phrase with the first control action, receive voice input from a user, identify the voice input as corresponding to the word or phrase, and perform the first control action based on the identified voice input.
US09401157B2

The disclosure provides a customizable system for modifying voice dimensions. The system comprises a program interface located on an electronic device. The program interface is used to manipulate user input from one or more individuals relating to voice parameters. Instructions are then created by the program interface that allow for one or more individuals to modify the voice dimensions of the one or more individuals by following the instructions.The disclosure further provides a method for modifying an individual's voice dimensions. The method comprises identifying one or more dimensions in an individual's vocal dimensions that are to be modified. On an electronic device, a voice exercise is created by selecting at least one parameter that modifies the one or more dimensions in an individual's voice. Instructions created by the electronic device that are based on the selection of at least one parameter are then followed by the individual.
US09401150B1

A method to detect audio frame losses over a link to a device under test (DUT), such as a User Equipment (UE), includes preparing an input sequence, combining the input sequence into an input audio signal, submitting the input audio signal to an encoder, transporting the encoded signal over the link, obtaining a continuous output audio signal from decoding the transported signal, decomposing the continuous output audio signal into an output sequence, and determining one or more lost frames based on a comparison of one or more characteristics of the input sequence and the output sequence. Preparing the input sequence can include preparing a sequence of a plurality of input snippets, each input snippet having one or more audio characteristics, the preparing such that consecutive input snippets have one or more audio characteristics that differ by a predetermined measure.
US09401149B2

Provided are an image display apparatus and a method of controlling the same. The image display apparatus enabling voice recognition includes: a first voice inputter which receives a user-side audio signal; an audio outputter which outputs an audio signal processed by the image display apparatus; a first voice recognizer which recognizes the user-side audio signal received through the first voice inputter; and a controller which decreases a volume of the audio signal output through the audio outputter to a predetermined level if a voice recognition start command is received.
US09401144B1

A voice gesture is determined from characteristics of an audio signal based on sound uttered by a user. The voice gesture may represent a command or parameters or a command, and may be context sensitive. Upon determining a command and parameters of the command based on the received voice gesture, the command is executed in accordance with the determined parameters. The command may modify any number of attributes within an environment including, but limited to, an image projected within the environment.
US09401139B2

A mobile terminal and controlling method thereof are disclosed, by which a feedback matching a meaning of a natural language is outputted in the course of outputting a sound corresponding to the natural language by sentence unit. The present invention includes a display unit configured to display a text by sentence unit, an audio output module configured to output a synthetic sound generated from converting the text to a sound, and a controller configured to generate the synthetic sound, extract a meaning of the text, and control a feedback matching the meaning of the text to be outputted while the synthetic sound is outputted via the audio output module.
US09401132B2

Systems and methods for collectively generating sound are provided. A sound composition can include multiple component pieces and those component pieces can be divided amongst devices so that the devices can collectively generate the sound composition. For example, each component piece may be assigned to a different device and the each device may provide its assigned component pieces in a synchronized manner so that the overall sound composition is collectively generated. By generating a sound composition in this manner, the network may create new and exciting spatial effects.
US09401118B2

A display apparatus includes: a plurality of pixel blocks, each pixel block of the plurality of pixel blocks including a first pixel electrode connected to a first switching element and a second pixel electrode connected to a second switching element; gate lines which extend along a first direction and include a first gate line connected to the first switching element and a second gate line connected to the second switching element; and data lines which extend along a second direction intersecting the first direction. A gate voltage is applied to the first gate line before the second gate line, and the first pixel electrode of each of the pixel blocks displays a same color.
US09401107B2

An image data processing method and a device thereof are disclosed, and the method includes: receiving and executing a gamma correction process for first red, green and blue sub-pixel image data to obtain second red, green and blue sub-pixel image data; generating a first white sub-pixel image data, and third red, green and blue sub-pixel image data according to the second red, green and blue sub-pixel image data; and obtaining fourth red, green and blue sub-pixel image data and a second white sub-pixel image data through an inverse gamma conversion process.
US09401102B2

A sign is provided capable of increasing strength. A sign includes plural symbol portions arrayed in an array direction. Blank regions with an enclosed shape, and blank regions with an opened shape opening in the array direction, are formed inside the symbol portions. Reinforcement portions are provided at the blank regions. The symbol portions are coupled together by coupling portions, and the coupling portions are provided such that an array width direction position of the coupling portions coincides with an array width direction position of the reinforcement portions.
US09401101B2

The invention provides a tag (10), such as an identity tag, comprising a body (12) having a first securing means (20) and a second securing means (30) provided distal to the first securing means (20), wherein the first securing means (20) comprises a slot (22a) for receipt of at least a portion of a security fastening therethrough. Also provided is a method of attachment of such a tag to a material.
US09401092B2

A system and method for airport control at an airport having one or more runways. The system and method can receive information related to aircraft utilizing the airport, determine wake duration, and determine an aircraft separation time for one or more runways based on a wake duration of an aircraft.
US09401087B2

Vehicle-related messaging methods and systems are disclosed herein. In one of the methods, a telematics unit disposed in a vehicle detects that the vehicle is no longer in operation. Upon making the detection, the telematics unit automatically transmits a message to a device, where the message includes a suggestion, a recommendation, an indication, or a notification pertaining to a vehicle utility. An application resident on the device, or on a cloud computing system in communication with the device, presents the message on the device by displaying i) the suggestion, the recommendation, the indication, or the notification and ii) a plurality of actionable items associated with the suggestion, the recommendation, the indication, or the notification.
US09401085B2

A method and a device for determining what commands can be used to operate a receiving device (110) when a user operates a control device (105). After such a determination is made, a first command is transmitted to the receiving device from the control device (105) over a first communication interface and a second command is transmitted to the receiving device (110) over 5 a second communication interface. The communication interface that is selected depends on whether the control device can control the operation of the receiving device (110) with such a command directly or whether an intervening device (130/140) is required to translate the command from a first format to a second format.
US09401080B2

An approach is provided for synchronizing video frames. Video proxies corresponding to a video master are generated. Each of the video proxies is frame-accurate with respect to the video master. The video proxies are distributed to multiple applications and/or devices that are configured to collaboratively use the video proxies. The approach also allows the user to move a session from one device to another device, while preserving frame accuracy.
US09401076B2

A game machine uses a lottery region containing the cells, provides a game opportunity that changes symbols on the cells by causing the symbols of a symbol group to appear on the portion of the cells, determines by lottery, at least a portion of the symbols which should constitute the symbol group, causes at least the portion of the symbols constituting the symbol group to appear in the lottery region based on a lottery result so as to change at least the portion of the symbols arranged on the cells by moving the symbol group including the symbol determined by the lottery result on a movement path containing two directions and stopping the symbol group so that at least the portion of the symbols of the symbol group is arranged on the cells, and determines a prize winning based on the symbols arranged on the cells by the symbol group.
US09401072B2

A gaming machine coupled to at least one server via a network includes a display device configured to display a game to a player playing on the gaming machine, and a controller coupled to the display device. The controller detects an award trigger during play of the game, and awards a token upon detection of the award trigger, wherein the token includes an activation date, an expiration date, and a value that is unknown to the player at the time of being awarded. In response to a redemption request by the player, the controller determines a redemption status of the token and, based on the redemption status, awards the token value to the player or notifies the player that the token is expired.
US09401066B2

A gaming system and method providing a collection game independent from the primary games of a gaming system. In one embodiment, the collection game includes a plurality of elements and a winning element combination. During play of the collection game, randomly or upon an occurrence of a triggering event, the gaming system releases one of the plurality of elements to players. The gaming system repeats the process of releasing elements until one of the players collects all of the elements of the winning element combination. The first player to collect all of the elements of the winning element combination wins an award or prize.
US09401059B2

Methods, systems, and computer-readable media are provided for conducting an election. In one exemplary embodiment, there is provided a method for ensuring integrity of an electronic ballot. The method can include creating electronic ballots for voters based on votes received from the voters; digitally signing the electronic ballots; storing the signed electronic ballots; retrieving the signed electronic ballots from storage; verifying the digital signatures on the retrieved electronic ballots; and presenting the voters with validation pages derived from the retrieved electronic ballots, the validation pages including a user interface element for the voters to confirm that the retrieved electronic ballots accurately reflect their vote.
US09401056B2

Vehicle profiles allow drivers of vehicles to select any vehicle they desire to simulate. A graphical dashboard may be reconfigured to assume a graphical interface of any vehicle. A prospective buyer of an electric vehicle may configure the dashboard of a conventional, internal combustion vehicle to visually simulate an electric vehicle.
US09401048B2

Systems and methods are disclosed for target-based AR devices to perform low-power front-end passive scanning of targets to alert users to AR content linked to any image targets the users may be viewing. Passive scanning by AR devices relieves users of the need to manually activate a camera for AR image target identification, and helps to identify image targets the users may be unknowingly viewing. To conserver power, AR devices may autonomously activate a camera to perform an exploratory scan when the AR devices detect from users' movement patterns that users may be interested in certain targets or is in a state of attentiveness. AR devices may identify one or more image targets from the exploratory scans. If users elect to interact with the AR content, AR devices may activate the camera to perform a full capture or real-time tracking of the image targets to augment the AR content.
US09401046B2

Micropolygon splatting may involve tessellating by subdividing a mesh until triangle edges are shorter than 0.75 pixels. In some cases, rasterizing the primitive may be avoided.
US09401031B2

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for acquiring position information of a transform block. The method includes: obtaining a splitting manner of an image block; obtaining splitting direction information according to the splitting manner of the image block and a splitting layer number of a transform block, or obtaining splitting direction information according to the splitting manner of the image block and a numerical relationship between a width and a height of a transform block; and obtaining position information of a post-splitting transform block according to the splitting direction information. In embodiments of the present invention, splitting direction information is obtained directly according to a splitting manner of an image block and a layer number, and then, size information of a transform block is coded according to the splitting direction information, thereby effectively reducing complexity of a coding process.
US09401028B2

A method and system for video-based road departure warning for a vehicle on a road, is provided. Road departure warning involves receiving an image of a road in front of the vehicle from a video imager, and detecting one or more road markings in the image corresponding to markings on the road. Then, analyzing the characteristics of an image region beyond the detected markings to determine a rating for drivability of the road corresponding to said image region, and detecting the lateral offset of the vehicle relative to the markings on the road based on the detected road markings. A warning signal is generated as function of said lateral offset and said rating.
US09401025B2

A system includes a visual data collector for collecting visual information from an image of one or more features of an object. The system also includes a physical data collector for collecting sensor information provided by at one or more sensors attached to the object. The system also includes a computer system that includes a motion data combiner for combining the visual information the sensor information. The motion data combiner is configured to determine the position of a representation of one or more of the feature in a virtual representation of the object from the combined visual information and sensor information. Various types of virtual representations may be provided from the combined information, for example, one or more poses (e.g., position and orientation) of the object may be represented.
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