US09582753B2

A method for transforms input signals, by first defining a model for transforming the input signals, wherein the model is specified by constraints and a set of model parameters. An iterative inference procedure is derived from the model and the set of model parameters and unfolded into a set of layers, wherein there is one layer for each iteration of the procedure, and wherein a same set of network parameters is used by all layers. A neural network is formed by untying the set of network parameters such that there is one set of network parameters for each layer and each set of network parameters is separately maintainable and separately applicable to the corresponding layer. The neural network is trined to obtain a trained neural network, and then input signals are transformed using the trained neural network to obtain output signals.
US09582747B2

An antenna conductor and a reinforcing layer are provided on an upper surface and a lower surface, respectively, of a flexible base film. An RFIC element is mounted on the upper surface of the base film. Two I/O terminals provided on the RFIC element are each connected to meander patterns of the antenna conductor. In a plan view, the reinforcing layer has a circular contour, and the RFIC element is surrounded by the contour of the reinforcing layer. The two I/O terminals provided on the RFIC element are exposed on the upper surface of the base film. Breakage of the connected portion between the RFIC element and the antenna conductor is prevented, and any breakage that has occurred is easily identified.
US09582731B1

Implementations relate to detecting spherical images. In some implementations, a computer-executed method includes obtaining an image, examining at least one characteristic of the image, and determining that the image is a spherical image based on the at least one examined characteristic. The method modifies metadata associated with the image to designate the image for spherical display.
US09582724B2

Systems and methods for identifying a false representation of a human face are provided. In one example, a method for identifying a false representation of a human face includes receiving a plurality of different data streams captured by a respective plurality of sensors of differing sensor types sensing a candidate face. In a cascading plurality of stages, one or more of the different data streams are analyzed, wherein each of the stages comprises a different analysis. In one of the cascading plurality of stages, the method determines that one or more of the different data streams corresponds to a false representation of the human face. Based on determining that one or more of the different data streams corresponds to a false representation of a human face, an indication of the false representation is outputted.
US09582716B2

The invention provides a method for iris based biometric recognition. The method includes receiving an image from an image sensor and determining whether the received image includes an iris. The steps of receiving and determining are repeated until the received image includes an iris. Responsive to determining that a received image includes an iris, iris information corresponding to such received image is compared with stored iris information corresponding to at least one iris and a match decision or a non-match decision is rendered based on an output of the comparison. The invention additionally provides a system and computer program product configured for iris based biometric recognition.
US09582715B2

Application of inter-class and intra-class filtering, based on aggregate point-to-point distances, to vector data for purposes of filtering the vector data for purposes of pattern recognition. In some embodiments: (i) the inter-class filtering is based on Euclidean distance, in all dimensions, between vector data points in vector space; and/or (ii) the intra-class filtering is based on a distance, in all dimensions, between vector data points in vector space.
US09582713B2

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and a method for recognizing media and a financial device. The apparatus for recognizing media according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure comprises: an image sensor; a skew detector configured to detect skew of the media from media image acquired by the image sensor; a noise detector configured to detect a linear component in a region of interest which include character of the media image and a noise included in the media image based on direction information of the detected linear component and the skew of the media; and a controller configured to remove the detected noise from the region of interest and recognize the character of the region of interest from which the noise is removed.
US09582682B2

A hosted virtual social network includes a plurality of users that each have a digital profile. The users are each within a predetermined distance of a venue. The users communicate with other users of the virtual social network via their respective mobile computing devices. The users include a first user and a second user. From a mobile computing device of the first user, a request is received to make a digital profile of the first user appear invisible on a mobile computing device of the second user. In response to this request the digital profile of the first user is hidden from the mobile computing device of the second user. The hiding is performed without notifying the second user and without affecting a display of the digital profile of the first user on mobile computing devices of remaining users of the plurality of users of the virtual social network.
US09582681B2

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, a method is disclosed. The method includes defining a first privacy setting related to a user. Communicating the first privacy setting using a first radio communication network to a server. Storing the first privacy setting related to the user on the server. Applying the first privacy setting when analyzing an image to determine the user in the image. Determining to apply a second privacy setting related to the user. Defining the second privacy setting related to the user and communicating the second privacy setting to another device of a second user using a second radio communication network.
US09582678B2

A computer implemented method, server computer and computer program for securely storing a data file via a computer communication network. The method includes: providing a computer device of a user with code for providing a unique user name for the user; asking the user for a password; generating an asymmetric key pair for the user having one public key and one private key; encrypting the private key via the hash of the password; generating a file-specific symmetric key specific for the data file; encrypting the data file via the file-specific symmetric key; encrypting the file-specific symmetric key via the public key of the user; where the code is executed by a web browser on the computer device. The server is then receiving the encrypted data file, the encrypted file-specific symmetric key, the encrypted private key of the user and the public key of the user from the computer device.
US09582676B2

In a network of multiple storage devices, a storage device may become faulty and need to be replaced or additional capacity may need to be added through additional storage devices. When the storage devices communicate through a secure communications link using an encryption key for cryptographically splitting data, replacement or new storage devices may be re-keyed using an encryption key from an existing or prior storage device on the secure data network. After the storage device is re-keyed, the new or replacement storage device may continue to function on the secure data network without requiring changes to clients accessing the secure data network.
US09582674B2

Systems and methods are provided to manage risk associated with access to information within a given organization. The overall risk tolerance for the organization is determined and allocated among a plurality of subjects within the organization. Allocation is accomplished using either a centralized, request/response or free market mechanism. As requested from subjects within the organization for access to objects, i.e. information and data, are received, the amount of risk or risk level associated with each requested is quantified. Risk quantification can be accomplished using, for example, fuzzy multi-level security. The quantified risk associated with the access request in combination with the identity of the object and the identity of the subject are used to determine whether or not the request should be granted, denied or granted with appropriated mitigation measures.
US09582667B2

In an aspect of managing resource exhaustion, a method includes receiving a program code that is configured for generating a random number. The generating is identified as vulnerable to a resource exhaustion. The method also includes identifying a statement in the program code at which a value of a variable associated with the generating of the random number is affected, inserting a hooking code in the statement for monitoring the variable at the statement, and running the program code in a plurality of iterations. A consumption level of the resource is varied in the plurality of iterations. The method further includes monitoring a plurality of values of the variable in the plurality of iterations. The method also includes executing a regression analysis on the plurality of values and returning a root cause of the vulnerability.
US09582666B1

A computer system is configured to improve security of server computers interacting with client computers, and comprises: a memory, a processor coupled to the memory, and source code obfuscation logic coupled to the memory and the processor. The source code obfuscation logic is configured to read, from the memory, one or more original source code instructions that are configured to achieve an expected result when executed by a web browser on a client computer; to apply one or more obfuscation transformations, to the one or more original source code instructions, to produce one or more obfuscated source code instructions that are configured to achieve the same expected result when executed by the web browser but is expressed in an obfuscated format; to write the one or more obfuscated source code instructions to the memory.
US09582665B2

Technologies for protecting systems and data of an organization from malware include a data integrity server configured to receive a data file for import from an external source. The data integrity server analyzes the received data file with multiple anti-malware engines to determine whether the data file includes hidden malware. The data integrity server discards the data file in response to a determination that the data file includes hidden malware. Additionally, the data integrity server verifies the type of the received data file based on the file extension associated with the received data file. The data integrity server cleans the received data file in response to verification of the file type. The cleaned data file is transmitted to a computing device to be imported. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09582660B1

A computer-implemented method includes, in a master data management system, receiving a persistent modification request affecting a master data attribute, determining that no preexisting master record exists in the master data management system for the master data attribute, and, responsive to determining that no preexisting master record exists for the master data attribute, adding a new master data attribute and associated new ownership information for the master data attribute to the master data management system, based on the persistent modification request. A corresponding computer program product and computer system are also disclosed.
US09582653B2

A method includes a computer device receiving a set of images for at least one user; the computer device receiving unique visual clue inputs from the at least one user for each image of the set of images; the computer device receiving drawing gesture inputs from the at least one user for each image of the set of images; and the computer device using the visual clue and drawing gesture inputs to create passwords to provide a locked access point for at least one device.
US09582648B2

A system and method facilitate the use of a multi-function computer for an examination. An application implementing the method receives a hash input from a user and, upon successful completion of the examination, displays a hash output. The hash output may be displayed as a visual hash. During the examination, the application or system monitors the multi-function computer to determine whether the user has activated, viewed, or launched any prohibited functions or applications on the multi-function computer. If the user views a prohibited function or application, the examination application does not display the hash output. The system and application implement various security measures to prevent spoofing or duplication of the hash output or tampering with the application.
US09582646B2

A medical system (10) including a remote patient monitoring system (40) and an medical body area network (MBAN) system. The remote patient monitoring system (40) is configured to generate and/or update a patient-specific configuration (60) for the MBAN system (12). The MBAN system (12) is controlled by the patient-specific configuration (60) and includes one or more sensor devices (16, 18) and a hub device (20). The sensor devices (16, 18) are configured to measure physiological parameters of a patient (14). The hub device (20) is configured to at least one of: report the physiological data from the sensor devices (16, 18) to the remote patient monitoring system (40); and locally monitor the physiological data of the sensor devices (16, 18) to generate alarms.
US09582642B2

Systems, methods, and computer-readable medium are provided for managing user information. For example, subscription information may be received from an application that identifies a data type associated with information of a user. The application may be launched as a background process at least in response to receipt of a portion of the information that corresponds to the data type. In some examples, the application may be relaunched as the background process at least until receipt of a confirmation that the application has processed the portion of the information.
US09582636B2

A method of constructing a behavior model (32) of an airplane engine, in particular in order to track the operation of the engine, the method comprising a training step (12) of training at least one statistical regression function on the basis of a generic database (14) containing data from a plurality of airplane engines in order to establish a generic behavior model (10) of the airplane engines, and an additional step of resetting the generic behavior model from data in a database (24) specific to the above-mentioned airplane engine, in order to establish a behavior model (32) that takes account of features specific to that engine.
US09582625B2

This application discloses a design verification tool to simulate a circuit design with a test bench to generate a simulated output for the circuit design and a simulation log corresponding to operation of the test bench during the simulation of the circuit design. The design verification tool can determine whether the simulated output for the circuit design is different than an expected output for the circuit design. A debug tool can synchronize the simulated output for the circuit design with test bench transactions from the simulation log that prompted the generation of the simulated output for the circuit design when the simulated output of the circuit design is different than the expected output of the circuit design.
US09582624B2

An circuit-component-migration-apparatus is a computer that performs migration of design data between different pieces of circuit design software. The circuit component migration apparatus may be a design apparatus in which circuit design software of a migration destination of design data operates. The circuit component migration apparatus includes a storage unit, an obtaining unit, and a control unit.
US09582614B2

System, methods, and apparatus, are described herein for modeling a site, such as a construction site. The site may include, for example, adding a new building to an existing city block, remodeling a building, re-developing an entire city/town, etc. Data may be gathered representing the site from a plurality of sources, and the data gathered may be used to determine how the new development affects the existing site. An interactive model may be generated that enables a user to walk through the site to visualize what the site will look like when completed. Hyperlinks to additional details about elements in the site may be provided.
US09582604B2

A method to preferentially wait for fresh data from a primary source to become available in a system where there is also an older set of data from a secondary source. The method includes receiving a data request that is to be displayed and determining if the data from the primary source is available. If the primary source is not available, a dynamic threshold value is tested to detect if a wait time for access to the primary source is exceeded. If the wait time for access to the primary source is exceeded, then older data from the secondary source instead of the primary source is acquired. The dynamic threshold includes an elapsed time since receipt of the request as measured from a receipt time of a prior request.
US09582603B1

Techniques are described for managing preloading of data for client computing systems. A client computing system may provide one or more persistent data storage caches on local storage, such as to support a particular software program executing on the client computing system (e.g., a Web browser program, with the persistent data storage cache designed to store browser cookies and other data for later access by the Web browser program). Additional data may be stored in such a persistent data storage cache by preloading those data groups before they are requested by the client computing system (e.g., based on interactions of a user of the client computing system with an executing program on the client computing system). Particular data groups to preload may be selected in various manners, including to provide a specified type of minimum functionality to a client computing system based on the preloaded data groups.
US09582601B2

A method and apparatus are disclosed for combining server-supplied user interface elements with client-supplied user interface elements. The server-supplied user interface elements can be received by a client device and inserted into a client-supplied object model, such as a Document Object Model (DOM). The object model can then be used to render a page, such as a webpage. By injecting server-supplied user interface elements into a client object model, the client can intelligently combine UI elements from a server with UI elements from a client. In the situation where there are conflicting or overlapping UI elements, the client device can modify the object model to eliminate such conflicts or overlaps.
US09582598B2

The Hybrid Applications Utilizing Distributed Models And Views Apparatuses, Methods And Systems (“HAP”) transform hybrid application user inputs using HAP components into web-view secured data populated application views. In some implementations, the disclosure provides a processor-implemented method of providing distributed model views utilizing a hybrid application environment.
US09582594B2

In one embodiment, a method for facilitating centralized issue tracking. The method includes receiving information on a case from an issue tracking system (case information). The method facilitates executing a tagging method stored in a memory device that reads the case information, determines whether a part of the case information is desired information, and then tags the desired information. Finally, the method facilitates communicating the tagged information to a centralized database, where the centralized database stores the tagged information, and where the tagged information is accessible to the issue tracking system and at least one other issue tracking system.
US09582592B2

The present disclosure is directed to a method for providing a recommended list of uniform resource locators (URLs) responsive to a uniform resource locator (URL). The method may include identifying, by a server, a plurality of users that clicked on an encoded uniform resource locator (URL) link corresponding to a URL. The server may identify a plurality of encoded URL links clicked by each of the plurality of users. The server may determine a number of users who clicked on each encoded URL link of the plurality of encoded URL links and also clicked on the encoded URL link. The server may enumerate, responsive a request comprising the URL, a list of URLs and their corresponding score based on the determination, each URL of the list of URLs corresponding to one of the plurality of encoded URL links.
US09582588B2

A method for providing metadata to a search engine for a document that is not in a mark-up language includes sending a request for data about the document and receiving a response to the request that has a Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP or HTTPS) header that includes metadata associated with the document in a name-value pair and the document's content. The method also includes extracting the name-value pair from the HTTP-header and creating a mark-up language tag for the name-value pair and providing the make-up language tag and the contents of the document in a mark-up language format to a search index creation component.
US09582587B2

Indexing and retrieving real time content in a social networking system is disclosed. A user-term index includes user-term partitions, each user-term partition comprising temporal databases. As a post is received from a user, a user identifier, a post identifier, and a post is extracted. An object store communicatively coupled to a temporal database for recently received content is queried to determine whether terms in the post has already been stored. A term identifier is stored in the user-term index with the user and post identifiers. A forward index stores the post by post identifier. Responsive to a search query, the user-term index is searched by the user's connections and the terms. A real time search engine compiles the results of the user-term index query and retrieves the stored posts from the forward index. The search results may then be ranked and cached before presentation to the searching user.
US09582582B2

An electronic apparatus includes a storage section, a first generation section, a second generation section, an update section, and an output section. The storage section stores contents, titles thereof, and viewing history information on viewing histories of the contents by a user. The first generation section generates, based on the stored viewing history information, recommendation display information containing as a recommended-content list a list of titles of contents that the user has not viewed among the stored contents. The second generation section generates dependence information on first and second contents among the stored contents by analyzing text information on a network, the second content being created dependently on the first content. The update section updates, based on the dependence information, the recommendation display information so that the user is prevented from viewing the second content before the first content. The output section outputs the updated recommendation display information.
US09582575B2

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for linking items into common matters. Some embodiments of the systems and/or methods may retrieve an electronic document from a source, determine whether the electronic document is associated with a predetermined first matter, and in response to determining that the electronic document is associated with the predetermined first matter, link the electronic document to the predetermined first matter. Similarly, in some embodiments, the systems and methods may further create a second matter and may link the electronic document to the second matter, such that accessing the electronic document can provide other documents linked to the second matter, receive a request for the electronic document, and in response to receiving the request for the electronic document, provide a user option to provide access to the other documents linked to the predetermined first matter.
US09582574B2

Embodiments of the present invention provide methods, systems, and computer program products for summarizing, displaying, and navigating content. In one embodiment, text content is parsed to generate representative terms that are linked to portions of the text content to which they correspond. The representative terms can be provided to a user alongside the text content to provide an up-to-date navigable overview of the text content for the user.
US09582570B2

Embodiments of the present application relate to a multilingual mixed search method, a system for multilingual mixed searching, and a computer program product for multilingual mixed searching. A multilingual mixed searching method is provided. The method includes receiving a query word entered by a user and identifying source language of the query word, translating the query word from the source language to query words of a plurality of target languages, the plurality of target languages being different than the source language, using the query word in a corresponding target language as a basis for searching an index of web page information corresponding to the corresponding target language and obtaining web page information in the corresponding target language, from the web page information obtained from the index corresponding to the corresponding target language, and translating the obtained web page information from the corresponding target language to the source language.
US09582568B2

A method, system and apparatus for logging external events in a human-to-human conversational space. In a preferred aspect of the invention, a persistent human-to-human conversational system can include a persistent human-to-human conversational tool such as a persistent chat tool, and an external event processor coupled to the persistent human-to-human conversational tool. The system further can include a query interface to the persistent human-to-human conversational tool. Finally, the system can include one or more collaborative tools communicatively linked to the persistent human-to-human conversational tool.
US09582559B1

One or more processing platforms are configured to implement at least a first site of a multi-site storage system. The first site comprises a first file system resident at the first site, and a replicated version of a second file system. The second file system is resident at a second site of the multi-site storage system, and the replicated version of the second file system is resident at the first site. Virtual block storage appliances running on respective virtual machines of the first site interact with one another and with similar appliances at the second site to allow the replicated version of the second file system to be synchronized at a cache level with the second file system, and to allow a replicated version of the first file system at the second site to be synchronized at a cache level with the first file system at the first site.
US09582555B2

Embodiments relate to enrichment of a data warehouse utilizing a business compendium. Embodiments may employ a process comprising data standardization and cleansing, de-duplication of entries, and matching and enrichment, followed by manual review of an enriched record by a user. During standardization, data may be transformed into consistent content, placing correct data elements into appropriate fields, removing invalid characters, and/or standardizing names and addresses. Duplicate records are then detected and marked. During matching and enrichment, the existence of an entity (such as a supplier), may be verified by progressive matching against the business compendium. Enrichment may provide additional information regarding the entity (e.g. related to risk, diversity, and bankruptcy). The enriched record is available for manual review, allowing the user to change duplicates, matches, and parent/child linkages. Feedback from the user review may enhance accuracy of subsequent enrichment by self-learning aspects, reducing over time a need for manual review.
US09582552B2

In one embodiment, a method includes accessing a social graph that includes a plurality of nodes and edges, receiving from a user a selection of a structured query the user wants to share, where the structured query comprises references to nodes and edges of the social graph, and sending the structured query for display on a page associated with one or more other users.
US09582543B2

Search query expansion tool is provided. A processor generates a collection of events for a search result, wherein events included in the collection of events are within a temporal proximity to the search result. A processor determines a content of the collection of events. A processor determines a search suggestion based, at least in part, on the content of the collection of events.
US09582528B2

A system and method for operating a big-data platform that includes at a data analysis platform, receiving discrete client data; storing the client data in a network accessible distributed storage system that includes: storing the client data in a real-time storage system; and merging the client data into a columnar-based distributed archive storage system; receiving a data query request through a query interface; and selectively interfacing with the client data from the real-time storage system and archive storage system according to the query.
US09582522B2

A method and computer-readable storage media are provided for reorganizing a database. The method may monitor the database to determine whether the database reorganization is required. The method may also include determining the database reorganization is required. The method may further include determining a first and second amount of space to add to the database for additional entries of a category of data according to a first and second predictive sizing calculation. The method may further include the selecting of either the first or second amount of space to add to the database for additional entries of the category of data during the reorganization. The method may further include performing the reorganization of the database including allocating the selected amount of space to add to the database for additional entries in the database of the category of data by using the computer system operatively coupled to the storage device.
US09582517B2

A method for dynamically displaying results of simultaneous two dimensional image search comprises: maintaining a first database comprising a set of records, each record comprising an image and an associated set of annotations describing the image, receiving an annotation criterion and a color scheme from a user, generating a target color scoring template from the color scheme, conducting a content based search by searching the first database to identify a set of pertinent images satisfying the annotation criterion, and performing the following operations for each image in the set of pertinent images: resizing a given image to a predefined size before generating an image color spectrum histogram for the given image, adding the given image to a pool of acceptable images if the generated image color spectrum histogram matches with the target color scoring template; and dynamically displaying images in the pool of acceptable images to the user.
US09582507B2

Methods and systems for network-based purchase and distribution of media are disclosed. The purchase and distribution of media by these methods and systems are not only secure but also controlled. The security restricts access to media within media files during downloads as well as while stored at a server and/or client. For example, a potential purchaser can search and browse through numerous media items on-line that are available for purchase. The potential purchaser can thereafter purchase one or more media items on-line with great ease. Upon purchasing a media item, the content for the media item can be downloaded over the network to the purchaser. The content for the media item is then encrypted for the purchaser's use and stored on the purchaser's machine. Thereafter, the purchaser can make use of the media item (e.g., play the media item). Improved graphical user interfaces suitable for reviewing, browsing, previewing and/or purchasing numerous media items are also disclosed.
US09582499B2

A method for generating a phrase table for a target domain includes receiving a source corpus for a target domain and, for each of a set of comparative domain phrase tables, computing a measure of similarity between the source corpus and the comparative domain phrase table. Based on the computed similarity measures, a subset of the comparative domain phrase tables may be identified from the set of comparative domain phrase tables, and/or weights for combining them, and a phrase table is generated for the target domain based on the at least a subset of phrase tables.
US09582490B2

A collection of data that is extremely large can be difficult to search and/or analyze. Relevance may be dramatically improved by automatically classifying queries and web pages in useful categories, and using these classification scores as relevance features. A thorough approach may require building a large number of classifiers, corresponding to the various types of information, activities, and products. Creation of classifiers and schematizers is provided on large data sets. Exercising the classifiers and schematizers on hundreds of millions of items may expose value that is inherent to the data by adding usable meta-data. Some aspects include active labeling exploration, automatic regularization and cold start, scaling with the number of items and the number of classifiers, active featuring, and segmentation and schematization.
US09582482B1

Systems and methods are provided for providing insight for entities in mobile onscreen content. For example, a method includes receiving, from a mobile device, an indication of selection of a first entity represented by a visual cue in first annotation data for a screen capture image of a screen of the mobile device and determining entities related to the first entity in a graph-based data store. The method may also include identifying a second entity in the screen capture image that is one of the entities related to the first entity, generating second annotation data, the second annotation data including a visual element linking the first entity and the second entity, and providing the second annotation data for display with the screen on the mobile device.
US09582479B2

Various embodiments provide an interface between a Web browser's layout engine and a scripting engine. The interface enables objects from the layout engine to be recognized by a memory manager in the scripting engine and interact in a streamlined, efficient manner. In accordance with one or more embodiments, the interface allows browser layout engine objects to be created as objects that are native to the scripting engine. Alternately or additionally, in some embodiments, the native objects are further configured to proxy functionality between the layout engine and the scripting engine.
US09582472B2

A conjugate gradient solver apparatus is provided for generating data defining a solution vector x for a linear system represented by Ax=b where A is a predetermined matrix and b is a predetermined vector. The apparatus includes solver circuitry and a precision controller. The solver circuitry processes input data, defining said matrix A and vector b, in accordance with an iterative conjugate gradient method to generate said data defining the solution vector x. The solver circuitry is adapted to process data items, corresponding to vectors used in said conjugate gradient method, having a variable fixed-point data format. The precision controller determines the fixed-point data formats of respective said data items adaptively during progress of the conjugate gradient method in the solver circuitry.
US09582471B2

A method and apparatus for performing calculations in a character input mode of an electronic device. Character input is received in the character input mode, and input characters are displayed in a character input window. If determined that an arithmetic expression is present in the displayed input characters, the arithmetic expression is evaluated, and an evaluation result is displayed. A calculation enabling condition may be satisfied prior to, or after, the arithmetic expression identification. The method may be applied to character input modes of a text messaging or email application, or of a word processing application.
US09582466B2

An aspect includes accessing a vector register in a vector register file. The vector register file includes a plurality of vector registers and each vector register includes a plurality of elements. A read command is received at a read port of the vector register file. The read command specifies a vector register address. The vector register address is decoded by an address decoder to determine a selected vector register of the vector register file. An element address is determined for one of the plurality of elements associated with the selected vector register based on a read element counter of the selected vector register. A word is selected in a memory array of the selected vector register as read data based on the element address. The read data is output from the selected vector register based on the decoding of the vector register address by the address decoder.
US09582462B2

A computer system has a plurality of computer servers, each including at least one central processing unit (CPU). A memory appliance is spaced remotely from the plurality of computer servers. The memory appliance includes random access memory (RAM). A photonic CPU link is operatively attached to the at least one CPU. An optical-electrical converter is operatively attached to the photonic CPU link. An electronic circuit switch is operatively attached to the optical-electrical converter and the memory appliance. An allocated portion of the RAM is addressable by a predetermined CPU selected from the plurality of computer servers.
US09582459B2

A method begins generating a plurality of list digest request frames. Each list digest request frames includes a payload section and a protocol header. The payload section includes a start slice name field, an end slice name, and a response count field. The protocol header includes a payload length field and an operation code field to indicate the list digest request operation. The method continues by outputting the list digest request frames to storage units of a dispersed storage network.
US09582453B2

The embodiments provide a backplane for a storage device that is readily extensible to accommodate a range storage media. In some embodiments, the controller is provided on a motherboard. In order to support a different numbers of bays, various management riser cards are provided on the motherboard to expand the capacity of the backplane while still using the same controller. The backplane supports a serial addressing scheme and shift registers to identify ports connected to the storage device controller to allow for different numbers of storage media to be connected to the motherboard. This allows the storage device controller to use the same addressing protocol and software for any number of drive bays.
US09582452B2

A device includes a bus interface to couple to a shared bus of a sensor network. The device also includes a sensor interface to couple to a sensor of the sensor network. The device further includes a gated pulse width modulation circuit coupled to the bus interface and to the sensor interface. The gated pulse width modulation circuit is configured to transmit, during a time slot determined based on a timing signal received via the shared bus, an analog pulse width modulated representation of a signal received from the sensor.
US09582450B2

A rack with a mounting bay to accommodate servers, wherein 1) the mounting bay defines two opposing internal areas disposed parallel to an insertion direction of the servers and divided into a multiplicity of slots, 2) one or more data lines for data connection of servers are configured in the rack, 3) the data lines include optical data lines, and 4) on at least one of the two internal areas of the mounting bay, an end section of a data line with a data interface is disposed on each slot such that a contactless optical data connection to a further data interface on a corresponding server is enabled.
US09582447B2

A switch configured to enforce MIL-STD-1553B communication protocol is provided. The protocol is a request-response protocol allowing a bus controller to send a request and a remote terminal to send a response. In one embodiment, the switch is configured to isolate communication between a bus controller and each remote terminal by blocking non-compliant communications issued from any remote terminal. The switch may also isolate communication preventing a first remote terminal from receiving communication from a second remote terminal when the communication is not addressed to the first remote terminal. In another embodiment, a system provides isolation for bus controller to remote terminal communications by using one-to-one pairings of bus controller terminals to remote terminals. The switch may select a particular bus-controller-terminal-to-remote-terminal pairing from amongst a plurality of bus-controller-terminal-to-remote-terminal pairings. In certain embodiments, the switch records and reports information regarding communications from remote terminals not complying with the MIL-STD-1553B protocol.
US09582442B2

A request to send a message from a first component, located on a first processor, to a second component, located on a second processor, is received. It is determined that the second processor can be communicated with via a first bidirectional communication path. It is determined that bandwidth is available on the first bidirectional communication path. It is determined that bandwidth is available on a second bidirectional communication path. In response to a determination that bandwidth is available on the second bidirectional communication path, a data path is created between the first component and the second bidirectional communication path and the request to send the message to the second component is granted. In response to a determination that bandwidth is not available on the first bidirectional communication path or on the second bidirectional communication path, the grant of the request to send the message to the second component is delayed.
US09582438B2

A method of identifying a cause of an interrupt related to an interrupt indication received from an interrupt indicating circuit in a processor, includes the steps of having the interrupt indicating circuit provided with a plurality of lowest-layer registers having a plurality of bits, each of the plurality of bits corresponding to the cause of the interrupt, and one or more upper-layer registers for aggregating the plurality of lowest-layer registers; forming a hierarchical structure with the one or more upper-layer registers and the plurality of lowest-layer register; and identifying the cause of the interrupt by having the processor read the upper-layer registers and the lowest-layer registers in order following the hierarchical structure.
US09582435B2

In one embodiment, a memory system is provided comprising a memory die and a controller. The memory die comprises a non-volatile memory, a data latch, and an on-chip randomizer. The controller is configured to send a command to the memory die to cause the on-chip randomizer to store random data in the data latch and send data to the memory die to overwrite some, but not all, of the random data in the data latch, wherein the memory die is configured to transfer the data and random data stored in the data latch to the non-volatile memory. Other embodiments are provided.
US09582421B1

A distributed multi-layer cache in a distributed storage system is described, where the storage controller functions of the distributed storage system are separated from that of distributed storage system storage media. In an exemplary embodiment, a storage controller server determines if an object is in a cache that stores a plurality of objects. In addition, the distributed storage system includes the cache and a distributed object layer for persistently storing the plurality of objects. The cache further includes a de-duplicated cache layer. The storage controller server accesses the object from the cache if the object is in the cache and accesses the object from the distributed object layer if the object is not in the cache.
US09582418B2

A method, system and computer program product for confirming the sensitivity of a data object in a managed object heap software runtime environment based on a determination that the object is accessible only via other objects known to be sensitive.
US09582410B2

A method is provided for testing a computer system, which system includes an interface supporting connection to one or more hardware devices. The method comprises initially performing a plurality of discrete software test processes in a first order of performance. For each test process, by reference to the said interface, the hardware device interactions occasioned by each said test process are recorded. Subsequently the said test processes are run in a second order of performance, which second order is derived from the record of hardware device interactions. A computer system configured to implement the method is also provided.
US09582409B2

A first execution plan for a first version of a structured query language statement can be requested from a database management system. The first execution plan for the first version of the structured query language statement can be loaded into a first directed graph tree structure comprising a plurality of nodes. The first directed graph tree structure can be scanned to determine whether a full table scan for accessing requested data is represented by at least a one of the plurality of nodes of the directed graph tree structure. Responsive to determining that the full table scan for accessing the requested data is represented by the at least one of the plurality of nodes of the directed graph tree structure, a first indicator that indicates a fault condition can be output.
US09582408B1

This disclosure relates generally to software testing, and more particularly to a system and method for optimizing testing of software production incidents. In one embodiment, the method comprises analyzing an incident ticket using a machine learning algorithm to identify one or more keywords in the incident ticket, and identifying a location of the incident ticket based on the one or more keywords, a test workspace corresponding to the incident ticket based on the location, and a plurality of specific test cases corresponding to the incident ticket based on the test workspace. The identification leads to a first scenario and a second scenario. In the first scenario, the method further comprises initiating a learning process based on intelligence gathered from a manual processing of the incident ticket. In the second scenario, the method further comprises executing the plurality of specific test cases in a test environment.
US09582405B2

A system for testing multiple language versions of a browser-based application. A host language Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request issued by a host language browser is received. The host language HTTP request is configured to be sent to a host server address. The host language HTTP request comprises parameter strings in a host language. A target language HTTP request is generated by replacing each host parameter string of at least one host parameter string of the parameter strings in the received HTTP request with a respective target parameter string associated with a target language that differs from the host language. The generated target language HTTP request is configured to be sent to a target server address associated with and different from the host server address.
US09582401B2

Embodiments of the invention provide a method, system and computer program product for selectable data on file viewing in a debugger. A method includes specifying a file in a user interface of a debugger executing in memory of a computer and debugging a target application and determining whether to view data in the file from a perspective of the computer or the target application. The method additionally includes loading the data in the file directly from the computer externally to the target application in response to determining to view the data in the file from the perspective of the computer, but otherwise loading the data through operations performed by the debugger on behalf of the target application in response to determining to view the data in the file from the perspective of the target application. Finally, the method includes displaying the loaded data in a file viewer of the user interface of the debugger.
US09582399B2

In a service emulation method, a transaction library storing a plurality of messages communicated between a system under test and a target system upon which the system under test depends is accessed responsive to receiving a request from the system under test. One of the messages stored in the transaction library is identified as corresponding to the received request based on different weightings assigned to respective sections of the messages, and a response to the received request is generated using the one of the messages that was identified. Related systems and computer program products are also discussed.
US09582393B2

An information handling system includes a processor, a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) boot volume, and a memory including UEFI code and a setup module. The UEFI code is executable by the processor to boot the information handling system, determine if the UEFI boot volume includes a setup data file, and launch the setup module in response to determining that the UEFI boot volume includes the setup data file. The setup module is executable by the processor to read first information from the setup data file, and set a first configuration setting of the information handling system based upon the first information.
US09582387B2

A server includes: a first data storage device that stores therein data for use in service provided by the server; a backup data storage device that stores therein backup data for data stored in a second data storage device of another server; a service provision unit that provides the service by using the data stored in the first data storage device and by using the backup data stored in the backup data storage device; an update information creation unit that creates update information representing a content of the updating of the first data storage device; an update information transmission unit that transmits the created update information to the another server; and an update information reception unit that receives update information which is transmitted from the another server, and reflects the content of updating of the second data storage device on the backup data stored in the backup data storage device.
US09582386B2

A method and system for securing continued operation of a primary cloud-based computing environment (CBCE) residing in a first cloud environment are disclosed. The system comprises gathering information respective of the primary CBCE; storing the gathered information in a storage space, wherein the gathered information substantially provides a baseline to initiate the creation of a reconstructed CBCE upon a need to recreate the primary CBCE; updating the gathered information with new information gathered respective of changes to the primary CBCE; receiving a periodic status notification from the primary CBCE; and initiating a reconstruction of the primary CBCE in the second cloud environment responsive to the status notification requesting one of: a reconstruction request and failure of the primary CBCE.
US09582369B2

A monitoring method that is executed by a monitoring device that monitors communication between an information processing device from among a plurality of information processing devices and a switching device that is coupled to a peripheral device that includes at least one of an input device and an output device, the monitoring method includes storing information on a recovery method for each process of the communication, in a memory; detecting the communication between the information processing device and the switching device; determining whether a failure has occurred in the detected communication by analyzing the detected communication for each of the processes; and executing restoration processing of recovering the detected communication, based on information on the recovery method corresponding to a failed process among the processes, which is stored in the memory when it is determined that the failure has occurred in the detected communication.
US09582357B2

Various embodiments are generally directed to an apparatus, method and other techniques to retrieve data from a non-volatile memory, and to read a memory cell of the non-volatile memory at a first set of sense conditions comprising a multiplicity of sense conditions. Embodiments also include an apparatus, method and other techniques to set a first set of bits in an encoded output, the first set of bits comprising a logical state bit to indicate a logical state of the memory cell and one or more additional bits in the encoded output to indicate accuracy of the logical state bit based upon results of the read at the first set of sense conditions, the first set of sense conditions comprising a greater number than that of the first set of bits.
US09582352B1

Communicating with a logical partition of a computing system based on a separate logical partition in which each of one or more computing systems includes a central electronics complex (CEC) capable of concurrently operating multiple logical partitions, each CEC includes a support element (SE), in which the SE includes access to memory locations of each of the multiple logical partitions within memory of the CEC, and the SE has a mapping of the memory locations for each of the multiple logical partitions. A request to retrieve data from the memory of a logical partition with an operational condition is detected. The request is transferred to an SE interface which enables remote access to the logical partition with the operational condition, and in response to receiving the data, the data that includes the operations status from the memory location of the logical partition is displayed.
US09582350B2

Fault isolation for a computer system having multiple FRUs in an FSI chain uses logic embedded in a device driver to determine first failure data and a logical error identifier. The logical error identifier represents a hardware logical area of the fault. The fault is then mapped to a segment of the system based on a self-describing system model which includes FRU boundary relationships for the devices. Operation of the device driver is carried out by a flexible service processor. The device driver uses the first failure data to identify a link at a failure point corresponding to the fault and determine a failure type at the link, then maps the link and the failure type to the logical error identifier. After identifying the segment, the device driver can generate a list of callouts of the field replaceable units associated with the segment which require replacement.
US09582346B2

Implementations of the present disclosure involve a system and/or method for handling errors in a multi-node commercial computing system running a number of guest applications simultaneously. In particular, the system and/or method provides the ability to program on a per-error basis the destination within the system for an interrupt based on an I/O error, the ability to provision for multiple/redundant error reporting paths for a class of more severe errors and/or distributed set of error status and log registers to aid software in narrowing down the source of an error that triggered the interrupt. In addition, the system provides for dynamically altering the destination of the error handling in response to one or more operating conditions of the system. Such flexibility in the system provides for a more robust error handling without impacting the performance of the multi-node computing system.
US09582324B2

Execution of threads in a processor core is controlled. The processor core supports simultaneous multi-threading (SMT) such that there can be effectively multiple logical central processing units (CPUs) operating simultaneously on the same physical processor hardware. Each of these logical CPUs is considered a thread. In such a multi-threading environment, it may be desirous for one thread to stop other threads on the processor core from executing. This may be in response to running a critical sequence or other sequence that needs the processor core resources or is manipulating processor core resources in a way that other threads would interfere with its execution.
US09582319B2

Embodiments of the present invention provide an approach for migrating virtual machines across network (e.g., WAN) separated data centers (e.g., storage clouds). Specifically, under embodiments of the present invention, a first storage system associated with a first data center is synchronized with a second storage system associated with a second data center via a storage system link. Then, a minimal state of a virtual machine is migrated from a first computer in the first data center to a second computer in the second data center via a WAN link. Using the minimal state, the virtual machine is stored in the second computer. Thereafter, the storage system link is terminated. In addition, as updated pages are received in memory of the first computer, they are migrated to the second computer via the WAN link. Once this migration is complete, the WAN link can be terminated. Therefore, embodiments of the present invention provide at least two forms of synchronization: computational synchronization and storage synchronization.
US09582318B2

In a processor-controlled multimedia terminal connected to a processor-controlled multimedia docking device, a group of application programs is stored and made available for execution. The application programs can run on the multimedia terminal in the foreground or background. Only one application program of the group is executed in the foreground at one time. An application program can output data via a graphical user interface while running in the foreground. While running in the background, however, an application program cannot output data via the graphical user interface. In the multimedia terminal, a memory area is also provided, to which the application programs have read and write access during execution thereof. An application-specific data set is stored in the memory area for each application program, the data set remaining in the memory area even after the respective application program has ended. A first application program, during execution thereof in the multimedia terminal, reads the application-specific data sets of the other application programs of the group and stores them in a list. The list is also transmitted to the multimedia docking device. Data for the application programs contained in the list is displayed on the multimedia docking device. An application program is selected from the list as the second application program. A switchover is then made in the multimedia terminal from the execution of the first application program to an execution of the second application program by the multimedia docking device, wherein the execution of the first application program in the foreground on the multimedia terminal is ended and the second application program is brought to run in the foreground.
US09582311B2

In one embodiment, a method for deploying a data processing system in a virtual environment includes deploying a data processing system call interface in a virtual machine in a virtualization environment, the system call interface being configured to trigger a locally called data processing instruction. The method also includes deploying a data processing driver in a virtual machine management platform in the virtualization environment, the data processing driver being configured to read the data processing instruction triggered by the system call interface. Moreover, the method includes deploying a data processing instruction optimizer in the virtualization environment, the optimizer being configured to optimize the data processing instruction read by the deployed data processing driver.
US09582310B2

A hypervisor preferably provides VM (virtual machine) identification, priority and LUN/LBA range information to the HBA (host bus adapter) when a VM is created. Alternatively, the HBA can determine that a LUN/LBA range is new and request VM identity, priority and LUN/LBA range from the hypervisor. The HBA creates a table containing the VM identification, priority and LUN/LBA range. The HBA then detects operations directed to the LUN/LBA range and does a lookup to determine VM identification and priority. VM identification and priority are then mapped into a field in a frame using a unique identifier. The unique identifier can be placed using reserved bits on the existing Fiber Channel (FC) header or can use bits in an additional header, such as a modified IFR header or an optional device header. The VM identification aware HBAs register with the NS.
US09582309B2

The present disclosure is related to methods, systems, and machine-readable media for allocating cost of disk usage to a linked clone virtual machine (VM) based on a parameter of usage. A determination can be made as to a number of disks used by a linked clone VM among a plurality of disks in a software defined data center over a time period and as to a respective portion of a parameter of usage for each of the number of disks used by the linked clone VM over the time period that is attributable to the linked clone VM. A portion of a cost for usage of each of the number of disks over the time period can be allocated to the linked clone VM in proportion to the respective portion of the parameter of usage attributable to the linked clone VM and/or on a relative latency.
US09582305B2

Novel tools and techniques are provided for implementing a virtualization congestion control framework. In one aspect, a method might include a hypervisor assigning application resources of a virtual machine (“VM”), which operates on a host computing system, with maximum allowable settings to each software application to be executed on the VM. The hypervisor or an orchestrator might determine a running mode of the host computing system, and might execute the software application(s) using running mode attributes of the determined running mode. The hypervisor or the orchestrator might monitor application resource utilization, and, based on a determination that application resource utilization has changed, might modify allocation of application resources to each of the software application(s). In some cases, the hypervisor or the orchestrator might monitor for mass congestion indicators, and, based on a determination that a mass congestion indicator is present, might modify the running mode of the host computing system.
US09582293B2

A system and method for producing notification objects conveying computer warning or error notification information to a computer user is provided. The notification objects point to a target to which the information contained therein relates and are persistent until dismissed by a user or an application. The notification objects are aware of the bounds of their target, and where possible do not obscure any part of their target. These objects are collapsible, allowing the user to minimize the objects, and are also non-modal, allowing a user to fully interact with any running application while the notification objects are visible. These notification objects are only visible when the window containing the target to which the information in the notification object relates is the active window.
US09582292B2

Merging user interface (UI) object trees comprising UI trees from different technologies (e.g., host and one or more guest technologies) can involve registering guest technologies with a technology adapter layer, for example, used to manage UI tree merging. Further, identifying whether a UI object can be switched from a first technology to a second technology can comprise using a host technology provider to identify if a UI object can be switched, when navigating down the UI tree. When navigating up the UI tree, information stored by the technology adapter layer can be used to identify if a UI object can be switched. Additionally, identifying the second technology can comprise having the technology adapter layer request technology switching capability information from registered technologies for the UI object when navigating down the UI tree. When navigating up the UI tree, information stored by the technology adapter layer can be used to identify the second technology. Also, converting the UI object from the first technology to the second technology in the UI tree can be performed using a COM-based conversion.
US09582290B2

Apparatuses, devices, and methods of initializing an electronic device such as a wrist-worn device are provided. An optical input device may read the display of the wrist-worn device to obtain input corresponding to a pairing token presented at the display. An optical input processor may process the input to identify the pairing token. The pairing token may be provided to the wrist-worn device during a handshake process in order to establish a wireless communications session with the wrist-worn device. An initialization process may be performed via the wireless communication session. The initialization process may initialize the wrist-worn device such that a user may operate the wrist-worn device following the initialization process.
US09582284B2

A method utilizes information provided by performance monitoring hardware to dynamically adjust the number of levels of speculative branch predictions allowed (typically 3 or 4 per thread) for a processor core. The information includes cycles-per-instruction (CPI) for the processor core and number of memory accesses per unit time. If the CPI is below a CPI threshold; and the number of memory accesses (NMA) per unit time is above a prescribed threshold, the number of levels of speculative branch predictions is reduced per thread for the processor core. Likewise, the number of levels of speculative branch predictions could be increased, from a low level to maximum allowed, if the CPI threshold is exceeded or the number of memory accesses per unit time is below the prescribed threshold.
US09582282B2

A data processing apparatus has prefetch circuitry for prefetching cache lines of instructions into an instruction cache. A prefetch lookup table is provided for storing prefetch entries, with each entry corresponding to a region of a memory address space and identifying at least one block of one or more cache lines within the corresponding region from which processing circuitry accessed an instruction on a previous occasion. When the processing circuitry executes an instruction from a new region, the prefetch circuitry looks up the table, and if it stores a prefetch entry for the new region, then the at least one block identified by the corresponding entry is prefetched into the cache.
US09582278B2

A system for generating processor hardware supports a language for significant extensions to the processor instruction set, where the designer specifies only the semantics of the new instructions and the system generates other logic. The extension language provides for the addition of processor state, including register files, and instructions that operate on that state. The language also provides for new data types to be added to the compiler to represent the state added. It allows separate specification of reference semantics and instruction implementation, and uses this to automate design verification. In addition, the system generates formatted instruction set documentation from the language specification.
US09582271B2

Described are a system and method for identifying variables which impact performance of software under development. Data is collected that is related to performance characteristics of the software under development. Performance change gradients are determined between previous builds of the software under development. A set of performance change factors are generated from the collected data that corresponds to each performance change gradient. Performance characteristic data corresponding to a current build of the software under development are compared to the performance change gradients. At least one fault component from the set of performance change factors that influences performance of the current build is output in response to the comparison between the performance characteristic data corresponding to the current build and the plurality of performance change gradients.
US09582270B2

A fine-grained behavior model matching based method and system for effective feature location in large legacy systems. A feature behavior analyzer extracts internal behaviors of a feature under requesting based on NLP techniques or writing rules of the feature specification and generates a feature behavior model. A method uses multiple information sources associated with each method under analyzing to generate an expressive behavior signature for each method. The method integrates control flow information of each method and the signature information of its callees, and generates a CFG-based behavior model. A feature location identifier identifies and ranks the feature-related code locations based on a similarity between the feature behavior and the code behavior models. In one aspect, “use cases”, “source code repository” and “issue tracking system” are historical information of existing applications that are used to help understand each code unit of legacy systems applications, and recommend code units related with the given feature description.
US09582268B2

A communications mapping system to generate a relational communications graph for a source application is provided. The deployment system includes at least one processor and a memory. The at least one processor configured to receive one or more source elements associated with the source application, the source application including a first sub-application and a second sub-application. The processor is also configured to identify a dependency relationship between the first sub-application and the second sub-application based at least in part on an inspection of the one or more source elements. The processor is further configured to generate the relational communications graph including the first sub-application, the second sub-application, and the dependency relationship and provide the relational communications graph for use in executing the source application in an execution environment.
US09582265B2

A system includes a library of elements to create a model describing a waveform parameter technique. A constraint checker verifies that the created model is correct by construction by needing no verification after compilation. The constraint checker also implements a valid programmable device build according to the waveform parameter technique. A placement decision module receives the verified models produces a placement decision for placing the waveform parameter technique based on the verified model in a programmable device. A synthesis tool receives the verified model from the placement decision module and synthesizes the waveform parameter technique based on the verified model. A link/loader receives the placement decision from the placement decision module and receives the synthesized technique from the synthesis tool. The link/loader also places the waveform parameter technique in the programmable device according to the placement decision.
US09582262B2

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for upgrading electronic devices are provided. An exemplary method executed by a hardware processor may comprise providing a management agent on an electronic device for communicating with one or more device drivers associated with the electronic device. The management agent may be installed, for example, using a downloaded upgrade package. The method may further comprise upgrading the one or more device drivers to enable a direct connection between the management agent and the one or more device drivers. This direct connection, in some embodiments, may enable the management agent to access, using the one or more device drivers, persistent storage associated with the electronic device. The method may further comprise providing a new boot loader to the management agent, and overwriting, by the management agent, an existing boot loader in the persistent storage with the received new boot loader, using the one or more device drivers.
US09582253B2

An expression editor system allows a user to build an expression specifying an action that may occur during execution of a target application. The expression editor system includes an expression editor tool used to create, manage, and store action point definitions that include an action point identifier that specifies an action point located in target application program code. The expression editor system determines from the action point definition a dataset that is in-context at the action point in the application program code, obtains data field selections from the dataset that is in-context at the action point in the application program code, graphically builds an expression, and an outcome that executes depending the expression, links the outcome and the expression to form an action point rule for the action point, and saves the action point rule in the database for execution when the application program code reaches the action point.
US09582247B1

To prevent correlated data from being inadvertently altered by subsequent modifications or additions, changes to correlated data are automatically detected. Corrections may be automatically applied to data to preserve data correlation. Change detection data is determined from an initial correlation between source data and dependent data. The change detection data is stored in association with the dependent data. A subsequent evaluation of the data defines a current correlation between the source data and the dependent data. The current correlation is evaluated with the change detection data to determine if the current correlation differs from the initial correlation. If the current correlation between source data and dependent data does not match the initial correlation, the current correlation is reevaluated using topological; geometric, or other analysis techniques. The reevaluated correlation can be provided as part of the authored state of a computer graphics component.
US09582245B2

Provided are a display apparatus, a control method thereof, a server, and a control method thereof. The display apparatus includes: a processor which processes a signal; a display which displays an image based on the processed signal; a command receiver which receives a voice command; a communicator which communicates with a first server; a storage; and a controller which receives, from the first server, a voice recognition command list comprising a voice recognition command and control command information corresponding to the voice recognition command, and stores the received voice recognition command list in the storage, the voice recognition command being among user's voice commands which have successfully been recognized a predetermined number of times or more, determines whether the voice command corresponds to the voice recognition command included in the voice recognition command list, and if so, controls the processor to operate based on the control command information, and if not, transmits the voice command to the first server, receives corresponding control command information from the first server, and controls the processor to operate based on the received control command information.
US09582240B2

Image data representing a desktop image for a client device that is accessing the desktop remotely is compressed according to a method that preserves image fidelity in selected non-text regions. The method, which is carried out in a remote server, includes the steps of generating image data for the remote desktop image and analyzing different regions of the remote desktop image, identifying those regions of the remote desktop image that are text regions, selecting non-text regions of the remote desktop image for lossless compression based on a spatial relationship between the non-text regions and the text regions, compressing the image data using a lossless compression protocol for a portion of the image data corresponding to the selected non-text regions, and transmitting the compressed image data to the client device.
US09582237B2

An embodiment method of manufacturing modular panels includes manufacturing a group of modular display panels, including a first and second modular display panel that have the same size and shape. The first modular display panel includes a first pixel array arranged at a first pitch, and the second modular display panel includes a second pixel array that is arranged at a second pitch that is different than the first pitch. Any two modular display panels in the group are capable of being attached to each other in an integrated display system.
US09582236B2

An apparatus comprising: a first display area; a second display area; and an interface separating the first display area from the second display area; and a display controller configured to control display of a user interface element in a first configuration when the user interface element is movable across the interface from the first display area to the second display area and a first criteria dependent upon a distance of the user interface element from the interface is satisfied and is configured to control display of the user interface element in a second configuration, different to the first configuration, when the user interface element is movable across the interface from the first display area to the second display area and the first criteria concerning a distance of the user interface element from the interface is not satisfied.
US09582233B1

An example embodiment may involve discovering a plurality of printing devices on a local area network. The example embodiment may also involve determining a registration status for each of the plurality of printing devices on the local area network, where the registration status indicates whether each of the plurality of printing devices is registered with a registration server located outside the local area network. The example embodiment may further involve attempting to register each of the plurality of printing devices for which the registration status indicates the printing device is not registered with the registration server.
US09582226B2

According to exemplary methods herein, a print job comprising an electronic document and job attributes including an imposition template is received into a marking device having a print engine using a standard color gamut and another colorant. A sheet of the job is analyzed for the standard color gamut and for the other colorant. The layout of images for multiple pages of the electronic document on the sheet is determined and the number of passes of the sheet through the print engine is determined based on image requirements for each page on the sheet. User selectable instructions modify the printing instructions for selected pages on the sheet. The user selectable instructions include parameters associated with the number of passes of the sheet through the print engine and the use of the standard color gamut and the other colorant in the images for printing each of the pages on a substrate.
US09582221B2

A virtualized computing system for executing a distributed computing application, such as Hadoop, is discussed. The virtualized computing system stores data in a distributed filesystem, such as Hadoop Distributed File System, and processes data using a topology awareness that takes into account the virtualization layer of the virtualized computing system. The virtualized computing system employs locality-related policies, including replica placement policies, replica choosing policies, balancer policies, and task scheduling policies that take advantage of the awareness of the virtualization topology.
US09582219B2

Embodiments described herein provide a storage conversion technique for rapidly converting between storage representations served by a storage system and presented to a host computer of a virtualized computing environment. The storage representations may include physical storage represented by a sequential set of blocks on disks of the storage system that are presented to the host computer in the form of a logical unit number (LUN) and virtual storage represented by a virtual storage device of the storage system that is presented to a hypervisor of the virtualized computing environment in the form of a virtual disk file. Illustratively, the LUN and virtual disk file may be storage objects (e.g., files) having different (file) types and formats in a volume of the storage system; yet each storage object may be organized as a buffer tree having indirect blocks that contain pointers configured to reference data blocks used to store data.
US09582212B2

Systems, methods and/or devices are used to enable notification of a trigger condition to reduce declared capacity of a storage device. In one aspect, the method includes, at a storage device of a storage system, the storage device including non-volatile memory: (1) detecting a trigger condition for reducing declared capacity of the non-volatile memory of the storage device, and (2) notifying a host to which the storage device is operatively coupled of the trigger condition for reducing declared capacity of the non-volatile memory of the storage device, the trigger condition for enabling performance of an amelioration process to reduce declared capacity of the non-volatile memory of the storage device. In some embodiments, the storage device includes one or more flash memory devices.
US09582207B1

Embodiments are described for a method and system for performing data writes in a virtual tape emulation system. A parallel processing component receives data blocks from a mainframe host and upon receipt provides indication to the mainframe that a current block is received so that the mainframe can proceed to send the next block while the current block is processed. The component initiates parallel processing of the received block in a separate task, and as the operation completes, the data is written to non-tape media in a block-wise manner.
US09582203B2

Systems, methods and/or devices are used to reduce declared capacity of non-volatile memory of a storage device in a storage system. In one aspect, the method includes, detecting an amelioration trigger for reducing declared capacity of non-volatile memory of a storage device of the storage system, and in accordance with the detected amelioration trigger, performing an amelioration process to reduce declared capacity of the non-volatile memory of the storage device, the performing including reducing a range of logical addresses of a logical address space available to a host. In some embodiments, the storage device includes one or more flash memory devices. In some embodiments, the detecting, the performing, or both are performed by the storage device, or by one or more subsystems of the storage system distinct from the storage device, or by the host.
US09582202B2

Systems, methods and/or devices are used to reduce declared capacity of non-volatile memory of a storage device in a storage system. In one aspect, the method includes, detecting an amelioration trigger for reducing declared capacity of non-volatile memory of a storage device, and in accordance with the detected amelioration trigger, performing an amelioration process to reduce declared capacity of the non-volatile memory of the storage device, the performing including: moving a portion of data used by a host from the storage device to another storage device of the storage system, and reducing declared capacity of the non-volatile memory of the storage device. In some embodiments, the storage device includes one or more flash memory devices. In some embodiments, the detecting, the performing, or both are performed by the storage device, or by one or more subsystems of the storage system distinct from the storage device, or by the host.
US09582200B2

A storage apparatus includes a processor. The processor calculates an upper limit of an input/output processing amount, which is determined based on priority levels set to a plurality of storage devices, for each storage device. The processor schedules an execution sequence of processes relating to input/output requests received from information processing apparatuses based on processing amounts relating to the input/output requests and the upper limits. The processor executes the processes relating to the input/output requests in the scheduled execution sequence. The processor is configured to determine, for each storage device, whether or not a processing amount of the storage device exceeds a processing bandwidth of the each storage device for a first predetermined time. The processor changes the upper limit for each storage device in a predetermined bandwidth accommodation unit in a case where the processing amount for each storage device is determined to exceed the processing bandwidth.
US09582198B2

Embodiments of the disclosure provide techniques for creating a compressed mapping structure in a system of resources. For example, a distributed resources system may use delta encoding to store, in memory, numerous entries of dense data structures in the system. In a compressed block of such entries, the distributed resources system encodes the key of each entry as the delta from the key of the previous entry. The content of each entry is encoded similarly. The distributed resources system suppresses the leading zero bits of each resulting field.
US09582194B2

Techniques for improving performance of a backup system are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for improving performance of a backup system. The method may comprise performing a backup of a client device, tracking, using at least one computer processor, references to data segments that are located outside of a unit of storage associated with the backup, calculating utilization of the unit of storage associated with the backup based on the tracked references, determining if the calculated utilization meets a specified parameter, and determining one or more responsive actions in the event the calculated utilization meets the specified parameter.
US09582190B2

A time manager controls one or more timing functions on a circuit. The time manager includes a data storage and a time calculator. The data storage device stores a first indication of a performance characteristic of a memory cell at a first time. The data storage device also stores a second indication of the performance characteristic of the memory cell at a second time. The time calculator is coupled to the data storage device. The time calculator calculates a time duration between the first time and the second time based on a change in the performance characteristic of the memory cell from the first indication to the second indication.
US09582186B2

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium is provided. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium has stored therein instructions, which when executed by a mobile device, cause the mobile device to: provide, at a processing circuit, a signal to a transmitting electrode of a first touch panel; transmit, at the transmitting electrode, the signal to a receiving electrode of a second touch panel of a computing device; and perform further operation with the computing device when the signal corresponds to a signature stored in the computing device.
US09582176B2

Moving a drag object on a screen in accordance with an operation of a pointer includes moving, using a processor, the drag object by a movement amount larger than a movement amount of a pointer, wherein a display position of the pointer is moved in accordance with an operation performed by a user, and displaying the drag object.
US09582171B2

Display data in a data graphical user interface (GUI) on a display device and display, by a processor, a control GUI on the display device representing the data. The control GUI includes a range defining visual element, corresponding to a data value, that is moveable via input received by the control GUI and defines two ranges of the data. The processor displays indicia associated with the range defining visual element indicating the corresponding data value. The processor receives input from the control GUI indicating the range defining visual element has been moved. In response, the processor visually emphasizes data in the data GUI having data values in a selected one of the defined data range.
US09582169B2

A position of first cursor changes according to a position of thumb. A position of second cursor changes according to a visual line of a user. If a position of first cursor remains unchanged over a predetermined time period, the position of first cursor is fixed. If a distance between first cursor and second cursor has become longer, image G1 on display other than first cursor or second cursor is enlarged. If a distance between first cursor and second cursor has become shorter, image G1 on display other than first cursor or second cursor is reduced.
US09582166B2

A method including causing, at least in part, rendering of a user interface for a location-based service that simultaneously includes both a main view portion and a preview portion. One of the main view portion and the preview portion is caused, at least in part, to display a perspective view of one or more objects in a field of view, and the other of the main view portion and the preview portion is caused, at least in part, to display a plan view of at least a portion of the one or more objects in the field of view.
US09582165B2

Context-specific user interfaces for use with a portable multifunction device are disclosed. The methods described herein for context-specific user interfaces provide indications of time and, optionally, a variety of additional information. Further disclosed are non-transitory computer-readable storage media, systems, and devices configured to perform the methods described herein.
US09582157B1

A user interface for display and navigation of multiple video programs displays a graphical user interface including a plurality of available video programs. A user is allowed to generate a custom list of video programs by selecting at least one video program from the plurality of video programs. The videos programs from the custom list are simultaneously displayed while displaying the graphical user interface to the user.
US09582156B2

A content publisher can use a publisher tool to tag various content elements, which enables a user viewing content from the publisher to view related advertising. In at least some embodiments, the tool is a toolbar that the publisher can use to tag content elements such as images and text, whereby the toolbar can recommend related items to be linked to those content elements. The items can be associated with an entity, such as an advertiser or electronic retailer, that will provide some level of compensation to the publisher in return for the linking. Such an approach enables the publisher to monetize the content in a way that is minimally intrusive for the end user.
US09582150B2

A photographing device is provided, including a photographing unit, an image processor which separates an object from a first photographing image obtained by the photographing unit, a display which displays background live view on which the separated object is superimposed, and a controller which obtains a second photographing image corresponding to the background live view when a command to shoot a background is input, and generates a composite image by adding the separated object onto the second photographing image. Accordingly, a composite image may be easily generated.
US09582141B2

The invention discloses a mobile terminal, comprising a display unit configured to display an image to be displayed in three-dimensional space beyond the mobile terminal, a determination module configured to determine an instruction input by a user through the displayed image via spatial position detection, and a processing module configured to execute an operation corresponding to the determined instruction. In the invention, both the display of the image in the three-dimensional space beyond the mobile terminal and the spatial position detection are beneficial to execute the operation corresponding to the instruction from the user accurately, so that the user can observe the image conveniently, the limitation of a screen size is eliminated, the instruction from the user can be judged and executed accurately, and user experience is improved.
US09582135B2

Systems and methods for providing multiple display modes for a pane in a graphical user interface are provided. In some implementations, a computer-implemented method for displaying a pane in a user interface, includes: in a first display mode: displaying the pane in the user interface, wherein display of the pane persists regardless of a position of a pointer icon in the user interface; and ceasing to display the pane in response to detecting selection of an indicator; and in a second display mode: displaying the pane in the user interface, wherein display of the pane persists while the pointer icon is positioned over the indicator or within the perimeter of the pane; and ceasing to display the pane in response to detecting that the pointer icon is no longer positioned over the indicator or within the perimeter of the pane.
US09582133B2

In response to an identification of a displayed position in a file, a shortcut to the identified position in the file may be created on a desktop environment. In response to an activation of the shortcut, the identified position in the file may be indicated. In response to the activation, the file may be opened. Identification of the position in the file may include dragging a cursor from the position in the file to a location on the desktop environment. Identification of the position in the file may include dragging a cursor from the position in the file to a toolbar and dragging the cursor from the toolbar to a location on the desktop environment.
US09582123B2

A touch panel sensor system configured to measure mutual-capacitance and self-capacitance is disclosed. The touch panel sensor system includes a sensor configured to detect a change in capacitance associated with a touch event upon a touch panel and a measuring component. The measuring component is configured to detect mutual-capacitance during the first mode of operation and to detect self-capacitance during the second mode of operation. The system also includes a selection component that is configured to receive a selection signal to cause selection of the mode of operation. The system also includes a driver component coupled to the selection component and configured to generate a drive signal, which is furnished to the sensor during the first mode of operation and furnished to the measuring module during the second mode of operation. The amplitude characteristic of the drive signal may have differing values for the first and second modes of operation.
US09582117B2

This disclosure provides systems, methods and apparatus related to touch and gesture recognition with an electronic interactive display. The interactive display has a front surface that includes a viewing area, a planar light guide disposed proximate to and behind the front surface, a light source, and at least one photo sensing element coupled with the first planar light guide. The planar light guide is configured to receive scattered light, the received scattered light resulting from interaction between light emitted by the light source and an object in optical contact with the front surface. The photo sensing element is configured to detect at least some of the received scattered light and to output, to a processor, image data. The processor is configured to recognize, from the image data, one or both of a contact pressure and a rotational orientation of the object.
US09582106B2

Embodiments described herein relate to a device operable to process input for a picture password for proof of knowledge. In some embodiments, the device includes a display, an input subsystem, processor(s), and memory containing instructions executable by the processor(s) such that the device is operative to display, on the display of the device, an image for the picture password proof of knowledge. The image is associated with an overlaid grid comprising a plurality of elements, and each element corresponds to a distinct area of the image. The device is further operative to, determine an offset to be used and, in response to receiving an input via the input subsystem at a first location of the display, highlight an element of the overlaid grid at a second location on the first image on the display. The second location is offset from the first location by the offset.
US09582104B2

A sensor panel device that can generate and use a stimulus signal having multiple different waveforms for detecting events on or near the sensor panel is disclosed. Among other things, such a stimulus signal can be used to reject environmental noise present in the device. In some embodiments, the stimulus signal has multiple waveforms having different frequencies. Logic circuitry can generate representative values from output of the different waveforms applied to one or more sensing nodes in the sensor panel device. From the representative values, a final value can be generated that represents whether an event occurred at or near the one or more sensing nodes.
US09582100B2

A method, system, and computer program product for generating device input using vibrations from surface features are provided in the illustrative embodiments. In an electronic device (device), using a processor, a characteristic of a vibration is determined, the vibration being caused by motion of an object across the surface feature, the surface feature being a feature formed on an user-accessible surface of the device, the object makes a physical contact with the feature during the motion. A determination is made whether the characteristic is mapped to a command in the device. Responsive to the characteristic being mapped to the command, an instruction is generated to execute the command in the device. the instruction is sent to cause a function to be performed in the device.
US09582099B2

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a technique for input sensing using an input device having a display device with an integrated sensing device. Input sensing is performed over a long sensing interval to attain narrow-band filtering, and is temporarily suspended for short intervals (within the long sensing interval) to refresh the row selection logic of the display device.
US09582096B2

Provided is an information processing apparatus including an operating body direction detection section configured to detect a longitudinal direction of an operating body, and an operating direction determination section configured to allocate a command to a direction with reference to the longitudinal direction of the operating body.
US09582095B1

Provided are methods and computing devices wherein in one embodiment, a positional input is utilized to identify variables associated with operations configured to designate groups or ranges of user chosen locations within a document, and operations having access to the designated locations to edit the document. For example, two variables, corresponding to two ends of a line, drawn at various positions on a touch screen within which a text document is displayed, may be utilized to designate groups of two locations in the document within which to move a character: a first representing locations “from” and a second representing locations “to” in which, to move a character. Other embodiments are disclosed, such as grouping user entered symbols, commands and text at various positions on a touch screen within which a document is displayed, into consolidated editing commands and the locations in the document at which to apply them.
US09582094B2

An information processing device includes: an operation type judgment unit that judges a type of touch operation, based on information representing a number of pixels per unit length of a screen of a display with a touch panel connected to an own device and on information indicating a touch position at which the display with the touch panel was touched.
US09582080B1

Methods and systems for learning, recognition, classification and analysis of real-world cyclic patterns using a model having n oscillators, with primary frequency ω1, ω2, . . . , ωn. The state of the oscillators is evolved over time using sensor observations, which are also used to determine the sensor characteristics, or the sensor observation functions. Once trained, a set of activity detection filters may be used to classify sensor data as being associated with an activity.
US09582075B2

A method to drive a pixelated display of an electronic device arranged in sight of a user of the device. The method includes receiving a signal that encodes a display image, and controlling the pixelated display based on the signal to form the display image in addition to a latent image, the latent image being configured to illuminate an eye of the user with light of such characteristics as to be unnoticed by the user, but to reveal an orientation of the eye on reflection into a machine-vision system.
US09582073B2

An image processing device includes an orientation information acquisition unit which acquires orientation information of a head portion of a user that observes a display image of a display device; an angle of view switching unit which switches an angle of view of the display image; a rendering process unit which generates the display image based on the orientation information and the angle of view; and a transmission unit which transmits the generated image to the display device.
US09582069B2

An electronic apparatus having an input unit and a network card and a wake-up method thereof are provided. In the method, an input event triggered by the input unit is received. Next, whether the electronic apparatus is in a partial wake-up mode entered after being woken up by the network card is determined. Then, the electronic apparatus is woken up to a normal operation mode if the electronic apparatus is in the partial wake-up mode.
US09582067B2

An information processing apparatus includes an application program; a power control unit configured to switch power modes so as to control ON/OFF of power supply to each piece of hardware; and a function execution unit configured to execute control of a specified function based on an instruction from the application program. The function execution unit is configured to inquire at the power control unit for the power modes in response to an instruction from the application program. The power control unit is configured to return a power mode to the function execution unit. The function execution unit is configured to notify the power control unit of a recovery request for powering ON the hardware that has been powered OFF in the power mode not supported.
US09582057B2

An information handling system (IHS) includes a chassis that has an accessory bay which is accessible from an exterior of the IHS. The accessory bay supports insertion of one of the PSU and the storage module. A midplane apparatus attached to the chassis at an interior end of the accessory bay has a first electrical connector for electrically connecting to a power supply unit (PSU) connector and a second electrical connector for electrically communicating with a storage module connector when a storage module is inserted into the accessory bay. The IHS detects via the first electrical connector when a PSU is inserted in the accessory bay, and a power controller configures the IHS to receive electrical power from the PSU. The IHS also detects via the second electrical connector when a storage module is inserted in the accessory bay and configures the storage module for access and data storage.
US09582046B2

In one embodiment an electronic device comprises a housing having a first section and a second section comprising a display coupled to the first section by a hinge assembly, a rotation control assembly to control rotation of the hinge assembly, and a controller to activate the rotation control assembly in response to detection of a force condition at a second section of the housing of an electronic device. Other embodiments may be described.
US09582026B2

A system-on-chip (SoC) comprises a clock management unit (CMU) including a first clock generator and a second clock generator, the first and second clock generators being configured to generate clock signals. The SoC comprises at least one logic block configured to request the clock signals from the CMU according to a full handshake method and receive the clock signals from the CMU in response to the request. The first clock generator and the second clock generator are configured to communicate according to the full handshake method.
US09582024B2

An active vibratory pedal assembly including a pedal and means integrated with the pedal for causing the vibration of the pedal which, in one embodiment, comprises a vibration generation assembly located and mounted to the underside of the pedal plate which includes an electric motor and an eccentric coupled to and rotatable relative to the motor and adapted to generate a force that causes the vibration of the pedal plate for providing an operator with a sensory signal of a vehicular condition or event such as, for example, a vehicle's excessive speed.
US09582018B1

An analog front-end (AFE) circuit has at least one AFE stage to generate a conditioned analog signal, and a gain control block to set a gain of the AFE stages. A finite state machine (FSM) block sets the gain to a baseline set gain without gain compression, or a current set gain with gain compression. An amplitude block determines amplitudes of the inner and outer eyes of a signal eye of the conditioned analog signal at the baseline set gain and the current set gain. A compression calculation block determines a gain compression of the conditioned analog signal at the current signal gain based on the relative changes in the respective amplitudes of the inner and outer signal eyes between the baseline and current set gains. The FSM block increases the current set gain until the gain compression ratio reaches a predefined limit.
US09582010B2

A rack management method and system is disclosed. The method includes detecting the presence of a computing device releasably mounted in a frame, the detecting based on an electrical connection established between a configuration bar disposed in a rear portion of the frame and the computing device, and determining a physical location of the computing device within the frame based on the electrical connection. The method also includes retrieving management information about the computing device from a profile storage disposed within the computing device via the electrical connection and storing the management information in a management table, the management table associating the computing device with the physical location within the frame.
US09582009B2

System and method for optimizing and reducing the energy usage of an automatically controlled heating, ventilation and air conditioning (“HVAC”) System. The system and method comprise receiving, from a server, a plurality of parameters, the parameters comprising an internal temperature of a structure, an external temperature, a utility pricing structure, and/or a user preference. The system and method may receive, by the server, a plurality of historical data related to the HVAC system and may generate a model. The model may be configured to determine a change to an operational state of the HVAC system needed to obtain an internal temperature set point. The model may be generated using a plurality of parameters received. The model may be revised iteratively. The system and method may receive, by the server, a plurality of additional parameters to revise the model. A signal may be set, by a server, to the HVAC system.
US09582004B2

Provided are a method and an apparatus for prediction of time available for autonomous driving, in a vehicle having autonomous driving capabilities and including at least one remote sensor configured to acquire vehicle surrounding information and at least one vehicle dynamics sensor configured to determine vehicle dynamics parameters. The method and apparatus include at least one of a positioning arrangement that provides map data with associated information, a route planning arrangement that enables route planning, and a real time information acquiring arrangement that acquires at least one of real time traffic information and real time weather information. The time available is calculated based on a planned route and at least one of vehicle surrounding information, vehicle dynamics parameters, map data with associated information, real time traffic information and real time weather information, for the planned route. The calculated time is output to a human machine interface in a vehicle.
US09581996B2

A management device includes a measurement data storage unit configured to store measurement data transmitted from a substrate processing apparatus; a setting unit configured to set an item of the measurement data as a determination target, reference data, and upper and lower limit values with respect to the reference data; a counting unit configured to count the number of times that the value of the measurement data corresponding to the item exceeds the upper and lower limit values; and a determining unit configured to determine that the measurement data as a determination target is abnormal, when the counted number exceeds a predetermined value.
US09581984B2

The invention relates to a method and to a device for the energy management of a system having a number of components according to an economic market model approach. At least one of the components is characterized by a non-monotonic price-performance or price-power relation. By taking into consideration the non-monotonic price-performance or price-power relation, a realistic description of the at least one component is provided and thus used to improve energy management of the system.
US09581983B2

An automated guided cart (AGC) that is configured to travel along a cart path according to generally non-precision movements is implemented to support a build process requiring precise positioning of vehicle build devices. In an example of a method of use, a vehicle build device for the build process is engaged with the AGC. When the AGC travels proximate a build operation area, the AGC can be secured in a dimensionally fixed position, with the result that both the AGC and a vehicle build device engaged with the AGC are located in precise positions. Based on the precise location of the vehicle build device, the vehicle build device can be interfaced with robots or other automated equipment according to preprogrammed and/or precise movements to carry out a build process.
US09581975B2

An electronic timepiece has a reception unit that receives satellite signals; a power supply including a battery; a remaining battery capacity detector that detects the remaining battery capacity of the power supply; an interface member; a timekeeping reception controller; and a positioning reception controller. If the user performs a positioning reception operation, the positioning reception controller does not execute a positioning reception process if the remaining battery capacity is less than a first threshold. If the timekeeping reception operation is performed, the timekeeping reception controller executes a timekeeping reception process if the remaining battery capacity is less than the first threshold.
US09581969B2

A timepiece assembly including a combined resonator with at least two degrees of freedom which includes a first linear or rotary oscillator with reduced amplitude in a first direction relative to which oscillates a second linear or rotary oscillator with reduced amplitude in a second direction substantially orthogonal to the first direction. The rotary oscillator includes a second weight carrying a sliding-block. A wheel set is arranged for application of a torque to the resonator, the wheel set including a groove in which the sliding-block slides with minimal play. The sliding-block is arranged at least either to follow curvature of the groove when present, or to rub with friction in the groove, or to repel the inner lateral surfaces of the groove by magnetically or electrically charged surfaces in the sliding-block.
US09581966B1

Systems and methods for three-dimensional imaging and viewing are disclosed. A method for generating a three-dimensional image may include producing a pattern in a spatial light modulator based on data representative of an image of an object, illuminating the spatial light modulator so as to yield a projection beam, masking at least one portion of the projection beam such that a portion of the projection beam is selected, and propagating the selected portion to an exit pupil so as to form a virtual 3-D image of the object when viewed at the exit pupil. An apparatus may include a projector comprising a spatial light modulator array that modulates the phase of light to produce a phase modulated beam that is projected to a viewer thereby forming a 3-D image of the object when viewed by the viewer, and processing electronics configured to extract phase information from a signal.
US09581959B2

A process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member; a developer carrying member for developing an electrostatic image on the image bearing member; a first gear provided on the developer carrying member and a second gear driving-connected to the first gear; and a supporting portion for rotatably supporting the second gear. The supporting member is mounted on a frame of the process cartridge through a vibration damping member having a vibration transmission performance lower than that of at least the supporting portion.
US09581958B2

A process cartridge comprises a photosensitive drum and a developing roller. A coupling member is provided adjacent to one axial end of the developing roller. The coupling member includes a driven portion, and an intermediary portion configured and positioned to engage with the driven portion. The intermediary portion is also configured to be movable relative to the driven portion in a direction crossing the axis of the developing roller while maintaining engagement with the driven portion. The coupling member further includes a driving portion configured and positioned to receive a driving force for rotating the developing roller. The driving portion is also configured to engage with the intermediary portion, and to be movable relative to the intermediary portion in a direction crossing the axis of the developing roller while maintaining engagement with the intermediary portion.
US09581949B2

A fixing device includes a belt member that performs a circular motion by rotating in a predetermined belt rotation direction; a pressure-applying member that is pressed against an outer peripheral surface of the belt member and applies a pressure to a recording medium on which an image is formed; and a pressing member that extends in a belt width direction, which is a direction that crosses the belt rotation direction, inside the belt member and that is arranged so as to be deformed such that a central portion thereof in the belt width direction is convex toward an upstream side in the belt rotation direction, the pressing member pressing the pressure-applying member with the belt member interposed therebetween.
US09581945B2

A fixing exit guide plate for use in a fixing device, which supports the conveyance of a paper while being curved in a direction opposite to a curl direction of the paper in a paper conveyance path downstream of conveyance support rollers, includes a conveyance downstream portion having a paper conveyance plane and a conveyance upstream portion having a paper conveyance plane, wherein the fixing exit guide plate is retracted in a paper jam process to move such that the paper conveyance plane of the conveyance downstream portion rotates about a rotation axis of the conveyance support driving roller to be substantially parallel to the paper conveyance plane of a conveyance upstream portion.
US09581939B2

The present disclosure provides a developing device and method. The developing device includes the nozzle for spraying the developing liquid, the machine table for bearing the glass substrate, and the inclination controller for controlling the nozzle and the machine table to be inclined towards a predetermined direction of the machine table at a predetermined angle and keeping the inclined angle within a preset period. The method includes controlling, by the inclination controller, the machine table and the nozzle to be inclined towards a first direction of the machine table at a predetermined angle during the inclination cycle period and keeping the inclined angle within the preset period, and controlling, by the inclination controller, the machine table and the nozzle to be sequentially inclined towards other directions of the machine table at a predetermined angle according to the preset inclination direction sequence and keeping the inclined angle within the preset period.
US09581938B2

A toner cartridge comprises a toner container which contains toner, a driving member which rotationally drives a conveying member, an agitating member which agitates a toner in the toner container while being rotated, a driven member which rotates in association with the driving member which is for rotationally driving the agitating member, and a rotational body which rotates according to rotation of the driven member, has a plurality of slits in rotational circumference for identifying a type of the toner cartridge, and has 1/K or more of the slits when a ratio of a rotational speed R1 (rad/s) of the driving member and a rotational speed R2 (rad/s) of the driven member is K=R2/R1.
US09581937B2

A powder conveying device includes: a conveying nozzle, provided with a powder receiving opening; an open/close member to open/close the powder receiving opening; a flange provided to the open/close member; a biasing member to bias the open/close member; and a container setting section to which a part of a powder container is to be fit. The powder container includes: a conveyor to convey the powder from a second end of the powder container to a first end; a container opening protruding from the first end; a nozzle receiving opening into which the conveying nozzle is to be inserted; and a butting portion provided in the container opening, to butt against the flange. When the powder container is attached to the powder conveying device, the container opening is fitted to the container setting section, and the flange and the biasing member are housed in an inner space of the container opening.
US09581933B2

A regulating member for regulating a developer amount carried on a developer carrying member includes a plate-like supporting member having an elasticity, the supporting member being provided with a fixed portion for being fixed to a fixed part; a first contact portion contactable to the developer carrying member, the first contact portion protruding from the regulating member from a side of the supporting member; and a second contact portion contactable to and the developer carrying member, the second contact portion being at a position closer to the fixed portion than the first contact portion.
US09581929B2

Provided is an optical scanning apparatus, including: an optical deflector having a polygon mirror reflecting a light flux emitted from a light source to carry out scanning, a drive unit rotating the polygon mirror about a rotation shaft, and a board supporting the drive unit; an optical box to which the board is fixed; two holes provided in the optical box, through which two screws fixing the board are inserted, respectively; two bearing surfaces provided on the optical box at positions around the two holes, respectively, the two bearing surfaces supporting the board; and an abutment portion provided on the optical box and abutting against a portion that is prevented from being pressed by the two screws in the board which is sandwiched between the two screws and the two bearing surfaces so as to be fixed to the optical box.
US09581921B2

An electrophotographic photosensitive member includes a photosensitive layer containing a charge generating material, a charge transport material, and a binder resin. The photosensitive layer is a multi-layer type photosensitive layer or a single-layer type photosensitive layer. The multi-layer type photosensitive layer includes a charge generating layer that contains the charge generating material and a charge transport layer that contains the charge transport material and the binder resin, and in which the charge transport layer is located on the charge generating layer. The single-layer type photosensitive layer contains the charge generating material, the charge transport material, and the binder resin. The charge transport material is an enamine derivative represented by general formula (1). In general formula (1), R1, R2, l, m, and n are each as defined in the specification.
US09581916B2

A substrate handling system for an apparatus, the substrate handling system including a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate, a surrounding structure configured to surround the substrate, a sensor configured to determine a thickness of the substrate, and a control system configured to configure the apparatus responsive to a determination that the determined thickness is outside a thickness range associated with the surrounding structure.
US09581911B2

A microlithography optical system includes a projection objective and an illumination system that includes a temperature compensated polarization-modulating optical element. The temperature compensated polarization-modulating optical element includes a first polarization-modulating optical element of optically active material, the first polarization-modulating optical element having a first specific rotation with a sign. The temperature compensated polarization-modulating optical element includes also includes a second polarization-modulating optical element of optically active material, the second polarization-modulating optical element having a second specific rotation with a sign opposite to the sign of the first specific rotation.
US09581900B2

A method for using self aligned multiple patterning with multiple resist layers includes forming a first patterned resist layer onto a substrate, forming a spacer layer on top of the first patterned resist layer such that spacer forms on side walls of features of the first resist layer, and forming a second patterned resist layer over the spacer layer and depositing a masking layer. The method further includes performing a planarizing process to expose the first patterned resist layer, removing the first resist layer, removing the second resist layer, and exposing the substrate.
US09581899B2

After formation of a template layer over a neutral polymer layer, a self-assembling block copolymer material is applied and self-assembled. The template layer includes a first linear portion, a second linear portion that is shorter than the first linear portion, and blocking template structures having a greater width than the second linear portion. The self-assembling block copolymer material is phase-separated into alternating lamellae in regions away from the widthwise-extending portion. The blocking template structures perturb, and cause termination of, the lamellae. A cavity parallel to the first and second linear portions and terminating in self-alignment to the blocking template structures is formed upon selective removal of a polymeric block component. The pattern of the cavity can be inverted and transferred into the material layer to form fins having different lengths.
US09581890B2

An apparatus and method of manufacture of an extreme ultraviolet reflective element includes: a substrate; a multilayer stack on the substrate, the multilayer stack includes a plurality of reflective layer pairs having a first reflective layer formed from silicon and a second reflective layer formed from niobium or niobium carbide for forming a Bragg reflector; and a capping layer on and over the multilayer stack for protecting the multilayer stack by reducing oxidation and mechanical erosion.
US09581889B2

An extreme ultraviolet (EUV) mask blank production system includes: a substrate handling vacuum chamber for creating a vacuum; a substrate handling platform, in the vacuum, for transporting an ultra-low expansion substrate loaded in the substrate handling vacuum chamber; and multiple sub-chambers, accessed by the substrate handling platform, for forming an EUV mask blank includes: a first sub-chamber for forming a multi-layer stack, above the ultra-low expansion substrate, for reflecting an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light; and a second sub-chamber for forming a bi-layer absorber, formed above the multi-layer stack, for absorbing the EUV light at a wavelength of 13.5 nm provides a reflectivity of less than 1.9%.
US09581876B1

Provided is an electrochromic device and a method for driving the electrochromic device, the electrochromic device including a first electrode, a first electrochromic layer, an electrolyte layer, a second electrochromic layer, and a second electrode which are laminated in sequence, at least one selected from among the group consisting of the first and second electrochromic layers and the electrolyte layer including scattering particles, and the electrochromic device further including an additional layer that contains the scattering particles and is disposed between the electrolyte layer and the first or second electrochromic layer.
US09581875B2

A heat treated electrochromic device comprising an anodic complementary counter electrode layer comprised of a mixed tungsten-nickel oxide and lithium, which provides a high transmission in the fully intercalated state and which is capable of long term stability, is disclosed. Methods of making an electrochromic device comprising an anodic complementary counter electrode comprised of a mixed tungsten-nickel oxide are also disclosed.
US09581874B2

A semiconductor device capable of maintaining data even after instantaneous power reduction or interruption. The semiconductor device includes first to sixth transistors. The first and fourth transistors are p-channel transistors. The second and fifth transistors are n-channel transistors. In the third and sixth transistors, a channel formation region is included in an oxide semiconductor layer. A high voltage is applied to one of a source and a drain of the first transistor and one of a source and a drain of the fourth transistor. A low voltage is applied to one of a source and a drain of the second transistor and one of a source and a drain of the fifth transistor.
US09581867B2

A display panel including first and second pixel structures and a light shielding pattern layer is provided. The first pixel structure includes a first pixel electrode including first pixel electrode bars, wherein a first maximum spacing is formed between any two adjacent first pixel electrode bars of the first pixel structure. The second pixel structure includes a second pixel electrode including second pixel electrode bars, wherein a second maximum spacing which is larger than the first maximum spacing is formed between two adjacent second pixel electrode bars of the second pixel structure. The light shielding pattern layer has first and second light shielding portions. The area of the second light shielding portion is larger than the area of the first light shielding portion. The first pixel electrode is close to the second light shielding portion and the second pixel electrode is away from the second light shielding portion.
US09581865B2

The invention provides an array substrate and a display device, wherein the array substrate comprises a peripheral line in a frame region of the array substrate through which ultraviolet light is capable to pass.
US09581862B2

A liquid crystal display according to the present inventive concept includes: a substrate; a gate line and a data line crossing each other formed on the substrate; a thin film transistor connected to the gate line and the data line; a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor and having a slit at a center; a liquid crystal layer filling a plurality of microcavities positioned on the pixel electrode; a common electrode positioned on the liquid crystal layer; and a roof layer formed on the common electrode and having an oblique portion formed to be inclined at both outer sides of the microcavities.
US09581861B2

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a cellulose acetate film having excellent adhesion to a polarizer, and in which there is minimal change in retardation with respect to residual solvent during film stretching. This phase difference film contains cellulose acetate α having a degree of acetyl substitution of 2.1 or less, cellulose acetate β having a degree of acetyl substitution of 2.3-2.5, and a compound having a van der Waals volume of 500 Å3 to 1000 Å3 in the amount of 5-10 mass % with respect to the total amount of the cellulose acetate α and the cellulose acetate β, and the phase difference film is stretched.
US09581856B2

A display panel includes: an upper substrate, a lower substrate disposed under the upper substrate, a lower polarizer disposed under the lower substrate, and a step smoothing member disposed under the lower substrate and not overlapping with the lower polarizer.
US09581853B2

A curved LCD panel is provided. The curved LCD panel comprises a curved color filter substrate and a cured array substrate. A plurality of regions are formed along a longitudinal direction of the color filter substrate. In each of the regions of the color filter substrate, according to a greatest shifted distance between the color filter and the array substrate, a width of the black matrix within the region is predetermined. The black matrix can have different widths in the different regions to prevent the color shifting phenomenon.
US09581849B2

A liquid crystal display device that is not influenced by a noise in obtaining positional information can be provided. The liquid crystal display device includes a first substrate provided with a pixel electrode and a common electrode with a first insulating film interposed therebetween. The pixel electrode and the common electrode partly overlap with each other. The liquid crystal display device further includes a second substrate provided with a pair of electrodes, a resin film covering the pair of electrodes, and a conductive film on the resin film. The pair of electrodes partly overlap with each other with a second insulating film interposed therebetween. The liquid crystal display device further includes a liquid crystal layer between the conductive film on the second substrate side and the pixel electrode and the common electrode on the first substrate side. A predetermined potential is supplied to the conductive film.
US09581843B2

At the time of partial drive, the levels of voltages applied to data lines SL1 to SLn are switched according to a rewrite frequency set for each region of a display screen. For example, in a still-image display region with a relatively low rewrite frequency, the levels of the voltages applied to the data lines SL1 to SLn are set to be higher than those for a moving-image display region with a relatively high rewrite frequency. By this, the same effect as that obtained when a counter voltage is switched according to the rewrite frequency can be obtained. Thus, flicker occurring in each region of the display screen can be suppressed.
US09581835B2

An interactive fit tool and methodology which may be utilized by an eye care professional to improve the efficiency and final outcome in selecting a pair of contact lenses targeted towards a specific patient visual need in the treatment of presbyopia. The interactive fit tool comprises an application which includes images that would allow a patient to decide if he or she desires balanced visual acuity, near biased visual acuity, or distance biased visual acuity. In addition, the interactive fit tool comprises fit guide tables and performs the calculations for vertex distance and spherical equivalent.
US09581832B2

The present invention, as described above and as further defined by the claims below, provides methods for forming an Ophthalmic Lens that encapsulates a Rigid Insert, wherein the Rigid Insert may be tailored to correct specific astigmatic characteristics of an eye and apparatus for implementing such methods, as well as Ophthalmic Lenses formed with the Rigid Inserts.
US09581829B1

An eyeglass assembly is revealed. The eyeglass assembly mainly includes lenses assembled with an eyeglass frame. Each lens is disposed with a covering portion that shields an outer edge of the eyeglass frame. A locking portion is formed by inward extension of the covering portion and is against the inner surface of the eyeglass frame. A circular slot is arranged between the locking portion and the covering portion, and is used for mounting and locking the eyeglass frame. Thereby the lenses are secured firmly on the eyeglass frame. The lenses of the present invention are assembled with the eyeglass frame in different way so as to get a pair of novel and attractive eyeglasses.
US09581828B2

An optical system for imaging an object has at least a first objective, at least a first image stabilizing unit and at least a first eyepiece, wherein, as seen in the direction of the first eyepiece from the first objective, the first objective is arranged first along a first optical axis, then followed by the first image stabilizing unit and then followed by the first eyepiece. The first image stabilizing unit is rotatably mounted in cardan-joint fashion about a first hinge point, and the first hinge point is arranged between the first objective and the first eyepiece. The optical system is distinguished by virtue of the fact that the first image stabilizing unit comprises a first lens unit and at least a further optical element, wherein the first lens unit and the optical element are arranged such that the first lens unit is, together with the optical element, rotatably mounted in cardan-joint fashion about the first hinge point.
US09581825B2

A three-dimensional image display device includes a display panel including M×N pixels arranged in M rows by N columns, displaying kn viewpoint images, and configured to display a color image using L primary colors. The display panel also includes a viewpoint forming unit including L viewpoint forming devices arranged in a row direction and configured to separate the kn viewpoint images at different angles to project the kn viewpoint images on corresponding viewing zones.
US09581819B1

A see-through augmented reality system is disclosed. The system includes a head-wearable frame and a lens. The lens has at least one field-of-view (FOV). A sensor is configured to be coupled with respect to a head of a user. The sensor generates sensor data that changes responsive to movements of the head. A display apparatus is mapped to an interior surface of the lens. A controller is coupled to the sensor and to the display apparatus. The controller is configured to determine a current scene within the FOV based at least in part on the sensor data. The controller determines an out-the-window (OTW) scene portion of the current scene and a non-OTW scene portion of the current scene and generates OTW imagery that depicts the OTW scene portion. The controller causes the display apparatus to emit light in accordance with the OTW imagery toward the interior surface of the lens.
US09581818B2

Provided is a head-mounted display optical system (LS) having: an optical deflection element (M1); a first lens group (G1); a second lens group (G2); and an optical reflection element (M2). The head-mounted display optical system is configured such that light from a light source, which is reflected on a reflection surface (M2r) of the optical reflection element (M2) and reaches a drawing surface (I) assumed to be located on a retina when a user wears the head-mounted display, moves on the drawing surface (I) according to the change of a travelling direction of the light caused by the optical deflection element (M1), and an image is drawn on the drawing surface (I). The first lens group (G1) includes a free-shaped surface lens having a free-shaped surface which is rotationally asymmetrical with respect to a reference axis, and the reflection surface (M2r) of the optical reflection element (M2) is formed to be rotationally asymmetrical with respect to a reference axis.
US09581813B2

The invention relates to a method for improving the imaging properties of a micro lithography projection objective, wherein the projection objective has a plurality of lenses between an object plane and an image plane, a first lens of the plurality of lenses being assigned a first manipulator for actively deforming the lens, the first lens being deformed for at least partially correcting an aberration, at least one second lens of the plurality of lenses furthermore being assigned at least one second manipulator, and the second lens being deformed in addition to the first lens. Furthermore, a method is described for selecting at least one lens of a plurality of lenses of a projection objective as actively deformable element, and a projection objective.
US09581809B2

An autofocus lens system includes no conventional moving parts and has excellent speed and low power consumption. The system includes a small electronically-controlled focusing-module lens. The focusing-module lens includes two adjustable polymeric surfaces (e.g., two adjustable-surface lenses in a back-to-back configuration). The curvature of the surfaces can be adjusted to change focus. The performance of the autofocus lens system is extended by adding a conventional first and second lens, or lens group, on either side of the focusing-module lens. What results is an autofocus lens system with excellent near field and far field performance.
US09581804B1

A method of manufacturing an electrowetting device includes dispensing a first liquid on a surface of a support plate and dispensing a second liquid to adjoin the first liquid. The first liquid is a solution. A first portion of the first liquid transfers into the second liquid to form a first layer of liquid and a second layer of liquid substantially immiscible with the first layer. The first layer comprises a second portion of the first liquid and the second layer comprises the second liquid and the first portion.
US09581800B2

The invention provides a slide holder that utilizes edge detection algorithms to determine the location of various edges of a slide. From these edges, and integrating characteristic slide dimension, both linear offset of the edge of the slide in the holder and any rotation of the slide relative to the microscope stage axis are determined. The process of using the slide holder of the invention ensures precise and accurate placement of a slide during a first round of imaging and for reload in subsequent rounds.
US09581799B2

For the microscopy of an object using a combination of optical microscopy and particle beam microscopy, a microscope slide system comprises an electrically conductive holder, wherein at least one window is configured in the holder, and wherein the holder has the dimensions of a standard glass microscope slide for the optical microscopy; a microscope slide element, which is designed to carry the object for the microscopy and which is designed such that the element can be placed over the window; and a fastening device, which is designed to fix the microscope slide element over the window. By means of said microscope slide system, the object can be analyzed using separate microscopes, without having to relocate the object.
US09581797B2

An imaging system includes a light source configured to illuminate a target and a camera configured to image light responsively emitted from the target and reflected from a spatial light modulator (SLM). The imaging system is configured to generate high-resolution, hyperspectral images of the target. The SLM includes a refractive layer that is chromatically dispersive and that has a refractive index that is controllable. The refractive index of the refractive layer can be controlled to vary according to a gradient such that light reflected from the SLM is chromatically dispersed and spectrographic information about the target can be captured using the camera. Such a system could be operated confocally, e.g., by incorporating a micromirror device configured to control a spatial pattern of illumination of the target and to modulate the transmission of light from the target to the camera via the SLM according to a corresponding spatial pattern.
US09581794B2

A zoom lens system includes a positive first lens group, a negative second lens group, a positive third lens group and a positive fourth lens group, in that order from the object side. Upon zooming from the short to long focal length extremities, each of the first through fourth lens groups move along the optical axis thereof. The following conditions (1) and (2) are satisfied: 1.05
US09581793B2

Provided is a zoom lens, including, in order from an object side to an image side: a positive first lens unit that does not move for zooming; a negative second lens unit that moves during zooming; and a positive N-th lens unit that does not move for zooming and is arranged closest to the image side. Among lenses constructing the second lens unit, two lenses closest to the image side are a positive lens and a negative lens, and partial dispersion ratios for g-line and F-line and Abbe numbers for a d-line of the positive and negative lenses, and an average value of refractive indices of all the lenses of the second lens unit are appropriately set.
US09581788B2

A lens system includes a lens device including an optical member, and a position detection device including a detection unit that obtains position information regarding the optical member. The position detection device includes a generation unit that generates a connection request signal for requesting the lens device to establish a first communication path between the lens device and the position detection device. The generation unit includes, in the connection request signal, the position information obtained by the detection unit.
US09581780B2

A fiber optic enclosure assembly for enclosing optical fiber connections is disclosed herein. The fiber optic enclosure assembly includes a housing having an interior region, a housing port extending through the housing, a cover surrounding the housing, a cable management recess in the cover, a cover port disposed through a section of the cover, a cable distribution system in the interior region of the housing, and a fiber optic cable. The cover port aligns with the housing port. The fiber optic cable is wrapped about a portion of the cable distribution system, extended through the housing port and the cover port, and wrapped around a cable portion of the cable management recess in the cover. Further, the fiber optic cable has an end portion located within the cable management recess.
US09581778B2

Micromodule cables include subunit, tether cables having both electrical conductors and optical fibers. The subunits can be stranded within the micromodule cable jacket so that the subunits can be accessed from the micromodule cable at various axial locations along the cable without using excessive force. Each subunit can include two electrical conductors so that more power can be provided to electrical devices connected to the subunit.
US09581775B2

According to one embodiment, an optical receptacle includes a fiber stub including an optical fiber, and a ferrule having a through-hole through which the optical fiber is fixed; a sleeve holding a portion of the fiber stub; a holder holding a portion of the fiber stub on an opposite side to a side that is held by the sleeve; an accommodation unit accommodates at least a portion of the fiber stub and the sleeve, an end surface of the fiber stub being formed as a convex spherical surface inclined with a specific angle with respect to a plane that is orthogonal to a center axis of the optical fiber, the end surface being optically connected to a plug ferrule to be inserted into the sleeve, the holder being provided with a positioning unit controlling an inclined direction of the end surface of the fiber stub.
US09581768B1

A fiber optic connector sub-assembly includes a ferrule having a front end, a rear end, and a ferrule bore extending between the front and rear ends along a longitudinal axis. The fiber optic connector sub-assembly also includes a bonding agent disposed in the ferrule bore and having first and second ends along the longitudinal axis. The bonding agent has been melted and solidified at the first and second ends.
US09581764B2

The present invention provides an optical coupling member and an optical connector using the optical coupling member, capable of improving the efficiency of an assembly work of the optical connector and positioning optical fibers in the optical connector with high accuracy. The optical coupling member (10) has: holding members (11) for being able to hold optical fibers (21) that are inserted from insertion holes (11a) formed at end parts; lenses housed in housing parts formed at opposite end parts of the holding members (11); and a joining member (13) for connecting the holding members (11) as aligned in parallel to each other, the joining member being formed of an elastic material.
US09581763B2

A method and apparatus for forming an optical device on a substrate. A surface of the substrate may be treated to form a treated surface having a number of modified properties. A plurality of drops of material may be deposited onto the treated surface of the substrate to form the optical device. An adhesion between the plurality of drops and the treated surface of the substrate may be reduced by the number of modified properties of the treated surface such that the plurality of drops form an optical device having a lateral resolution below a selected threshold.
US09581755B2

A reflective display apparatus including at least one front-light module, a first frame, a first liquid, and a display unit is provided. The at least one front-light module includes a light source and a light guide plate. The light source is adapted for providing an illumination beam. The first frame connects with the light guide plate of the at least one front-light module. The display unit, the first frame, the at least one front-light module form a first containing space and the first liquid is injected into the first containing space. Besides, a manufacturing method of the reflective display apparatus is also provided.
US09581753B2

The optical waveguide sheet of the present invention is an optical waveguide sheet for use in an edge-lit backlight unit of a liquid crystal display unit of laptop computers having a housing thickness of no greater than 21 mm, and includes an optical waveguide layer containing a polycarbonate-based resin as a principal component; and a protective layer laminated on the back face of the optical waveguide layer, the protective layer containing an acrylic resin as a principal component, wherein an average thickness of the optical waveguide sheet is no lower than 250 μm and no greater than 600 μm. An average thickness of the protective layer is preferably no less than 10 μm and no greater than 100 μm, and a relative refractive index of the protective layer with respect to the optical waveguide layer is preferably no greater than 0.95.
US09581750B2

A luminaire for use in lighting a large open space such as a parking lot or deck of a parking garage includes a plurality of optical waveguides disposed in side-by-side relationship and together defining a closed path and at least one LED associated with each optical waveguide and disposed at a first end of the associated optical waveguide.
US09581746B1

A method of manufacturing a wire grid polarizer includes: preparing a stamp having a nanostructure body at one surface and forming a mask layer with anisotropic vapor deposition at the one surface; forming a metal film on a substrate; transferring a mask layer of an upper portion of a nanostructure body in the mask layer onto the metal film; and patterning the metal film into metal lines by removing a portion that is not covered with the mask layer in the metal film with dry etching.
US09581743B2

An optical film roll is disclosed capable of realizing excellent display characteristics while maintaining manufacturing efficiency. The optical film roll has a width corresponding to a pair of opposite sides of a liquid crystal cell and is used by being cut to a length corresponding to another pair of opposite sides of the liquid crystal cell to be continuously attached to a surface of the liquid crystal cell. The optical film roll includes a long optical film wound into a roll shape, the long optical film being obtained by subjecting a long optical raw film, which includes a polarizing film having an absorption axis in its width direction, to a slitting process in a machine direction while conveying the long optical raw film in its lengthwise direction. The polarizing film includes a polyvinyl alcohol-based resin film that contains a dichromatic substance and has an Nz coefficient of 1.10 or more.
US09581718B2

An improved system and method for ranging while drilling, in effect, induces a dynamic hot spot on the casing of a nearby well. The induced hot spot acts as a magnetic source that can be reliably detected from within the drillstring and in such a manner as to infer the relative position and orientation of the casing to the drillstring. At least some disclosed method embodiments employ one or more rotating magnets in the drillstring, an array of at least two magnetometers in the drillstring and one or more phase-locked loops that are used to enhance the signal to noise ratio of the magnetic signal scattered off of the casing from the rotating magnetic field. The rotating magnet or magnets may be magnetic dipoles or magnetic multipoles, and may be modulated to enable the use of multiple magnetic field sources.
US09581716B2

Methods and apparatus for estimating borehole mud slownesses are disclosed. An example method includes estimating a borehole drilling fluid slowness value based on a tube wave modulus value, a tube-wave slowness value, and a drilling fluid density value. The borehole is associated with an anisotropic elastic medium.
US09581713B2

Methods related to controlling a source array while performing a seismic survey to achieve an intended source signature. A current three dimensional arrangement of the individual seismic sources is compared with a target 3D arrangement. In view of the comparison, position of at least one of the individual seismic sources is adjusted so that the adjusted 3D arrangement of the individual seismic sources to substantially match the target 3D arrangement.
US09581690B2

A ground-penetrating RADAR-based system can include a transmitter configured to transmit multiple RADAR impulses and a receiver configured to receive a signal comprising return waves generated responsive to the transmitted RADAR impulses. The signal can include a direct wave portion and a reflected wave portion. The system can also include a processing unit configured to analyze the return waves by determining the direct wave portion, fitting the direct wave portion to determine parametric information corresponding to the return waves, determining the reflected wave portion, determining characteristics of the reflected wave portion based on the parametric information, and comparing the determined characteristics against known characteristics.
US09581685B2

There are provided a transducer that irradiates an ultrasonic wave, a transmitter that drives the transducer, and a plurality of power sources that supply a plurality of positive voltages and negative voltages to the transmitter. The transmitter includes a plurality of switches (SW1 to SW4) that connect the power sources selectively, and a timing controller that controls a plurality of the switches. A driving pulse is generated through a selection of the switches. A plurality of the positive voltages and a plurality of the negative voltages have absolute values different from each other. With this configuration, it is possible to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that allows the amplitude of the driving pulse to be varied in multiple stages, is low in cost, and requires small amounts of both material and control.
US09581678B2

A solar tracker assembly comprises a support column, a torsion beam connected to the support column, a mounting mechanism attached to the torsion beam, a drive system connected to the torsion beam, and a torsion limiter connected to an output of the drive system. When an external force causes a level of torsion on the drive system to exceed a pre-set limit the torsion limiter facilitates rotational movement of the solar tracker assembly in the direction of the torsion, thereby allowing the external force to rotate about a pivot axis extending through the torsion beam. Exemplary embodiments also include methods of aligning a plurality of rows of solar trackers.
US09581674B2

A dynamic calibrating current sensor control system includes an input power supply that generates an input current and a current sensor interposed between the input power supply and the load. The current sensor is configured to output at least one current signal indicating a level of current delivered to the load. The dynamic calibrating current sensor control system also comprises an electronic switching control circuit that generates at least one control signal to selectively connect the input power supply to the load, and an electronic drift suppression circuit in signal communication with the current sensor and the switching control circuit. The drift suppression circuit is configured to generate a corrected current signal in response to applying an offset value to the current signal. The offset value cancels the drift current from the current signal in response to connecting the input power supply to the load.
US09581673B2

A phantom for co-registering a magnetic resonance image and a nuclear medical image is disclosed. The phantom includes a longitudinal member having a first end cap and a second end cap and a chamber contained within the longitudinal member. The chamber contains a fluid for producing a first image using a first imaging modality. The phantom further includes a first rod disposed within the chamber of the longitudinal member. The first rod contains a radioactive substance for producing a second image using a second imaging modality.
US09581671B2

A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, method and/or computer readable medium is configured to effect MR imaging with reduced artifact by generating one or more image reconstruction maps from one or more prescans, acquiring a main scan dataset from a main MRI scan of an object, warping one or more image reconstruction maps to have geometric distortions substantially corresponding to geometric distortions in the main scan dataset, and forming a diagnostic MR image of the object using the main scan dataset and the warped one or more image reconstruction maps.
US09581670B2

In a magnetic resonance imaging procedure, multiple slices are initially spatially selectively excited in a first time interval by respective RF pulses followed by at least one RF refocusing pulse that causes one echo signal from each slice, with a time interval of two consecutive echo signals equal to the first time interval. A second RF refocusing pulse is emitted at a second time interval from the last echo signal that causes, one further echo signal per slice, with the time interval of two consecutive echo signals equal to the first time interval. At least one further RF refocusing pulse is emitted in a third time interval following the preceding RF refocusing pulse producing multiple temporally separated echo signals per refocusing pulse. The third time interval is selected so that the number of echo signals per RF refocusing pulse is twice the number of excited slices.
US09581665B2

Systems and methods for damping cable common-mode energy in magnetic environments are provided. One system includes a damping arrangement having a transmission line within an electric (E) field environment and an energy damping device formed having a conductive plastic body and positioned adjacent a conductor of the transmission line. The energy damping device is configured to dampen common-mode energy induced within the transmission line by the E field environment.
US09581664B2

A local coil system for a magnetic resonance imaging system and a magnetic resonance imaging system include a local coil. The local coil includes a pressure element that may be filled with a fluid, and a controllable fluid supply device that at least at the imposition of the local coil to the object under examination and/or during the operation of the local coil, is coupled to the pressure element. The controllable fluid supply device is embodied such that the pressure of the pressure elements attained with the aid of the fluid, imposed on the object under examination may be changed, at least area by area.
US09581660B2

An electronic device is disclosed as a part of a magnetic field sensor or a mechanical stress sensor. The electronic device includes a Hall effect region, a first contact (temporarily functioning as a first supply contact), a second contact (second supply contact), and a third contact (temporarily functioning as a first sense contact) that are arranged in or on a surface of the Hall effect region. The first contact and the third contact are arranged in a substantially symmetrical manner to each other with respect to the second contact. An electrical current distribution within the Hall effect region is influenced by a physical quantity (e.g. magnetic field strength or mechanical stress) to be measured. A sense signal tapped at the third contact is a function of the current distribution, the sense signal thus being indicative of the physical quantity. A corresponding sensing method using the electronic device is also disclosed.
US09581658B2

A hall effect sensor device implemented on a semiconductor body, having a first Hall effect sensor and a second Hall effect sensor, each of the two Hall effect sensors has at least four individual Hall effect elements and the four Hall effect elements are connected in series, and each Hall effect element has three contact terminals arranged in a row, and the series connection is implemented through a coupling or interconnection of the two outer contact terminals. Semiconductor well regions of the individual Hall effect elements are separated from one another, and the first Hall effect sensor and the second Hall effect sensor are connected in parallel, whereby a middle contact terminal of a Hall effect element of the first Hall effect sensor is connected in each case with a middle contact terminal of a Hall effect element of the second Hall effect sensor.
US09581657B2

Devices, methods and systems are disclosed using a first magnetic field sensor of a first type and a second magnetic field sensor of a second type different from the first type. A signal from the first sensor may be used in a first magnetic field, range, and a signal from the second sensor may be used in a second magnetic field range.
US09581654B2

A battery includes a battery monitoring system for performing a battery self test. The battery monitoring system is integrated into the battery and configured to monitor a first health of the battery. The battery monitoring system is configured to receive an input signal from a wired interface or a wireless interface. The input signal is configured to instruct the battery monitoring system to provide feedback regarding the first health of the battery and/or a second health of the battery monitoring system. The wired interface consists of a positive terminal and a negative terminal of the battery.
US09581653B2

A post-deterioration performance estimating apparatus estimates a post-deterioration performance value indicating performance of an energy storage device at a predetermined deterioration point, wherein discharge capacity of the energy storage device discharging at a predetermined first current is referred to as energy storage capacity, discharge capacity of the energy storage device discharging at a second current of a current value smaller than that of the first current is referred to as small current discharge capacity, a relational expression on relation among initial capacity of the energy storage device, a first capacity decreased amount obtained by subtracting the small current discharge capacity from the initial capacity, a second capacity decreased amount obtained by subtracting the energy storage capacity from the small current discharge capacity, and a cumulative operating period as a cumulative value of operating periods of the energy storage device is referred to as a first relational expression, and the post-deterioration performance estimating apparatus includes a post-deterioration performance estimator configured to estimate the post-deterioration performance value at the deterioration point in accordance with the first relational expression and the cumulative operating period at the deterioration point.
US09581652B2

Battery insulation resistance measurement methods, insulation resistance measurement methods, insulation resistance determination apparatuses, and articles of manufacture are described. According to one aspect, a battery insulation resistance measurement method includes determining a voltage of a battery, determining a voltage of a first terminal of the battery with respect to a ground reference, determining a voltage of a second terminal of the battery with respect to the ground reference, and using the voltages of the battery, the first terminal and the second terminal, determining an insulation resistance of the battery with respect to the ground reference.
US09581647B2

A motor drive includes an electromagnetic connector for connecting an alternating current (AC) power source to an AC/DC conversion unit or disconnecting therefrom, a DC link unit, a DC/AC conversion unit for converting smoothed direct current voltage to AC voltage, a DC link voltage detection unit for measuring voltage of the DC link unit, and a control unit. The control unit includes a time measurement unit for measuring elapsed time since switching by the electromagnetic connector, and a welding judgment unit for judging that the electromagnetic connector is welded, provided that the difference between voltage between terminals of the DC link unit after charging the DC link unit and voltage between the terminals of the DC link unit after predetermined time has elapsed since disconnecting the AC power source from the AC/DC conversion unit, after the charge of the DC link unit, is less than a predetermined voltage level.
US09581643B1

Methods and circuits are disclosed for testing a partial circuit design including circuit modules having a set of ports configured to be driven by signals from ports of one or more circuits omitted from the partial circuit. The set of ports are identified by identifying ports that are not connected by a net to another port or input/output (I/O) pin in the circuit design and that form inputs to slave circuits in the circuit modules. A traffic generator circuit is added to the partial design to form a test circuit design. The traffic generator circuit is configured to provide to the set of ports respective input data signals having a pattern consistent with master-to-slave communication. Operation of a test circuit design is modeled. A set of data signals generated by the circuit modules during the modeled operation of the test circuit design is captured and stored.
US09581631B2

A method for determining current return path integrity in an electric device with a plurality of signal lines and supply lines. A library with at least one reference signal pattern of a near end crosstalk signal on a defined signal line arising from an input signal on another defined signal line is provided, a predetermined signal to a selected signal line of the electric device is applied, the near end crosstalk signal on at least one further signal line of the electric device is detected, said near end crosstalk signal is compared with the corresponding reference signal pattern from the library, and if there is a deviation between the near end crosstalk signal and the corresponding reference signal pattern, an information that there is any defect in the electric device is displayed.
US09581625B2

The present invention is directed to an RFID device. The RFID device includes a brace affixed to an inductor or capacitor. The brace is constructed from a material structurally responsive to a predetermined stimulus, such that stimulus-responsive structural alterations to the brace structurally alters the inductor, capacitor, or other RFID subcomponent of the RFID circuit capable of generating a current alteration, which in turn alters the signal frequency of the RFID.
US09581622B2

In a fiber-optic current sensor, a 22.5° Faraday rotator, which is part of the sensing fiber coil, determines the working point of the sensor. The coil is operated with substantially linearly polarized light or incoherent substantially left and right circularly polarized light waves. In one arrangement, a polarization beam splitter generates two optical signals that vary in anti-phase with changing current. A signal processor determines the current from the two anti-phase signals. Appropriately detuned and oriented fiber-optic half-wave or quarter-wave retarders before the fiber coil are used to reduce or cancel the adverse effects of temperature and bend-induced birefringence on the measurement signal. Moreover, the temperature may be derived from the difference in the bias of the anti-phase signals and may be used to cancel temperature effects in the signal processor.
US09581616B2

A modular Atomic Force Microscope that allows ultra-high resolution imaging and measurements in a wide variety of environmental conditions is described. The instrument permits such imaging and measurements in environments ranging from ambient to liquid or gas or extremely high or extremely low temperatures.
US09581614B2

A MEMS acceleration sensor is provided. In one embodiment, the MEMS acceleration sensor comprises: a frame; a first proofmass located within the frame, the first proofmass including a left side, right side, top, and bottom; an axis running from the left side to the right side at about a median point between the top and bottom; a first flexure running along the axis and coupling the left side to the frame; a second flexure running along the axis and coupling the right side to the frame; a first channel that extends from the bottom up past the axis to a first channel end; a second channel that extends from the top down past the axis to a second channel end; a second proofmass located within the first channel and coupled to the first proofmass via a first hinge and a first gauge at the first channel end and coupled to the frame at the bottom via a second hinge and a second gauge; and a third proofmass located within the second channel and coupled to the first proofmass via a third hinge and a third gauge at the second channel end and coupled to the frame at the top via a fourth hinge and a fourth gauge.
US09581609B2

A detection unit 113 measures scattered light intensity E as a coagulation index. A first curve fitting function 120B-a c calculates, at a predetermined time interval, a parameter for an approximate curve of a coagulation curve by curve fitting, based on the measured scattered light intensity E. An early reaction checking function 120B-b determines whether there is a lag phase as an early coagulation index change, based on the parameter for the approximate curve. The parameter has been calculated at the predetermined time interval by the first curve fitting function 120B-a. A clotting time calculation function 120B-f calculates clotting time, based on whether there is the lag phase.
US09581608B2

A sample analyzer transports a first rack and a second rack, the first rack including a first number of supporters for supporting containers that contain biological samples of subjects, and the second rack including a second number of supporters for supporting containers that contain standard samples. The sample analyzer determines whether a transport object is the first rack or the second rack. When it has been determined that the transport object is the second rack, the sample analyzer performs a transporting operation according to the second rack and measure the standard samples in the containers supported by the second rack in a predetermined order, and prepares a calibration curve used for analyzing a measurement result of a biological sample, based on a plurality of measurement results of the standard samples.
US09581604B2

Desmosterol alone, the combination of desmosterol and amyloid beta, the combination of desmosterol and gelsolin and the combination of desmosterol, amyloid beta and gelsolin can be used as in-blood biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment. A method for evaluating the effect of a candidate for a therapeutic agent to treat Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment, a method for aiding the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment, and a method for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment are provided in which the biomarkers are used.
US09581601B2

Present invention refers to a novel and improved method of derivatization and detection of amino acid sequence and/or identification of proteins, peptides by a new derivatization compound. Precisely, the method discloses a novel approach to derivatization of peptides or proteins by compounds comprising two or more sulfonyl groups and analysis of derivatized analytes in negative mode of operation of mass spectrometer. This method allows unambiguous analysis of amino acid sequence of long-chain peptides/proteins. Also, the invention discloses a novel synthesis procedure of 5-formyl-benzene-1,3-disulphonic acid as derivatization compound.
US09581597B2

Diagnostic tests for characterizing an individual's risk of developing or having a cardiovascular disease. In one embodiment the present diagnostic test comprises determining the level of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in a bodily sample obtained from the individual or test subject. In another embodiment, the diagnostic test comprises determining the level of MPO mass in a bodily sample obtained from the test subject. In another embodiment, the diagnostic test comprises determining the level of one or more select MPO-generated oxidation products in a bodily sample obtained from the test subject. The select MPO-generated oxidation products are dityrosine, nitrotyrosine, methionine sulphoxide or an MPO-generated lipid peroxidation products. Levels of MPO activity, MPO mass, or the select MPO-generated oxidation product in bodily samples from the test subject are then compared to a predetermined value that is derived from measurements of MPO activity, MPO mass, or the select MPO-generated oxidation product in comparable bodily samples obtained from the general population or a select population of human subjects. Such comparison characterizes the test subject's risk of developing CVD.
US09581596B2

A method for detecting HIV infection in a mammal is disclosed. The method contains the steps of isolating exosomes from a urine sample of a mammal and detecting the presence of HIV-specific biomarker in said isolated exosomes. A method for diagnosing a mammal with an HIV-associated disease, in particular, HIV-associated nephropathy is also disclosed.
US09581594B2

Porphyrin-modified antimicrobial peptides as described here may be used as indicators of the presence of microbial targets. Their application may be as (for example) (1) fluorescent indicators in a microarray format, (2) fluorescence or absorbance based indicators in traditional solution based applications, or (3) reflectance based indicators for use in reagent-less detection platforms.
US09581592B2

3-dimensional surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), as well as absorption/fluorescence/luminescence detection is carried out using a platform based on nanoparticle-functionalized flow-through multi-hole capillaries for rapid analyte detection. The configuration provides an increased active area and fluidic channels for efficient sample delivery, and also confines and transmits light for a large signal accumulation. Using a capillary consisting of thousands of micron-sized holes adsorbed with gold nanoparticles, a detection limit better than 100 fM is achieved.
US09581588B2

The present invention provides devices and systems for use at the point of care. The methods devices of the invention are directed toward automatic detection of analytes in a bodily fluid. The components of the device are modular to allow for flexibility and robustness of use with the disclosed methods for a variety of medical applications.
US09581586B2

The invention relates to measuring the effectiveness and an compliance of inhaler medication, such as for asthma treatment. In one embodiment, the invention provides a method of determining the effectiveness of an inhaler medication, comprising taking a measurement of HFA-134(a) from an exhaled breath of an individual after the individual has inhaled a medication, and determining an effective administration of the medication based on the presence of a high level of HFA-134(a).
US09581585B2

A breath acetone meter is provided. The blood glucose meter includes a receiver comprising a first polymer and a second plurality of layers arranged in an alternating arrangement. The receiver is configured to receive a breath sample from a user. The first plurality of layers and second plurality of layers being configured to interact in response to the level of acetone in the breath sample. The breath acetone meter further including a light source arranged to emit a light onto the receiver. A sensor is arranged to receive the light and output a voltage in response to receiving the light, wherein the voltage is proportional to an amount of acetone in the breath sample.
US09581584B2

A diluted cleaning solution is contacted with the inner wall surface of an immunity measuring cell every time an immunity measurement treatment of a specimen is performed. Therefore, a diluting liquid is injected in advance, then a cleaning solution is injected, whereby a diluted cleaning solution is produced in the immunity measuring cell. As a result, the inner wall surface of the immunity measuring cell is maintained in a preferable state and the interval of the routine cleanings can be prolonged.
US09581570B2

In accordance with the present disclosure, a method of using acoustic emission data to predict the state of a structural element is described. The method includes capturing acoustic emission data for a structural element. The method further includes predicting the future stress intensity in the structural element using the captured acoustic emission data and calculating the probability of future failure of the structural element using the predicted future stress intensity.
US09581569B2

Methods for improving measurements of bacterial growth, such as mass, in Suspended Microchannel Resonators (SMR's). Methods include techniques to provide for bacterial growth over time in response to changing fluid environment to aid in determining parameters such as drug resistance and drug susceptibility. In particular the methods include trapping multiple bacteria in the SMR for a time period and varying the fluid to include sequences of nutrients and antibiotics, and measuring the rate of mass change of the bacteria in response to the changes in fluid composition.
US09581556B1

A non-contact optical probe for inspecting an inside surface of a cylindrical workpiece includes a laser source that emits an incident light beam, a polarizing beam splitter that transmits one polarization of the incident beam and reflects the opposite polarization, and a quarter wave plate that together with the polarizing beam splitter separates back reflected return light from the incident laser beam. The non-contact optical probe further includes an optical system that directs the incident laser beam onto the cylinder surface and directs reflected light from the surface back to the beam splitter, and at least one detector that receives a portion of the reflected light and generates data about the cylinder surface.
US09581552B2

An analyzer 10 for identifying or verifying or otherwise characterizing a liquid based drug sample 16 comprising: an electromagnetic radiation source 11 for emitting electromagnetic radiation 14a in at least one beam at a sample 16, the electromagnetic radiation comprising at least two different wavelengths, a sample detector 17 that detects affected electromagnetic radiation resulting from the emitted electromagnetic radiation affected by the sample, and a processor 18 for identifying or verifying the sample from the detected affected electromagnetic radiation, wherein each wavelength or at least two of the wavelengths is between substantially 1300 nm and 2000 nm, and each wavelength or at least two of the wavelengths is in the vicinity of the wavelength(s) of (or within a region spanning) a spectral characteristic in the liquid spectrum between substantially 1300 nm and 2000 nm.
US09581548B2

Methods and systems to resolve positions of sample components in fluorescence stochastic microscopy using three-dimensional structured illumination microscopy (“3D-SIM”) are disclosed. In one aspect, components of a sample specimen are labeled with fluorophores and weakly illuminated with a frequency of light to stochastically convert a subset of the fluorophores into an active state. The sample is then illuminated with a three-dimensional structured illumination pattern (“3D-SIP”) of excitation light that causes the activated fluorophores to fluoresce. As the 3D-SIP is incrementally moved within the volume of the sample and images are recorded, computational methods are used to process the images to locate and refine the locations of the activated fluorophores thereby generating a super-resolution image of sample components.
US09581544B2

The invention relates to an apparatus comprising: a measuring head (10) having a slot (18) for receiving a measurement cell (26) and means (28) for emitting electromagnetic radiation, and means (32, 36) for detecting radiation from said emission means (28) after it has passed through the measurement cell (26); means (16) for translatably driving and means (12, 14) for translatably guiding, allowing the substantially vertical longitudinal movement of the measurement head (10); at least two recesses (44) each intended for receiving a measurement cell (26) and arranged one above the other in a longitudinal direction, the recesses (44) as well as the driving means (16) and the guiding means (12, 14) being configured such that during the translational movement of the measurement head (10) along the nominal travel thereof each recess is placed inside the slot (18) of the measurement head (10).
US09581542B2

A device for detecting the concentration of a given component in a solution, preferably the concentration of urea in solution with water includes a means for emitting radiation, at least one means for receiving radiation, which is prearranged for determining at least one characteristic of the radiation, and a light guide, which is prearranged for optically connecting the emitting means to the receiving means, wherein the light guide has at least one surface that is to come into contact with the solution so as to determine an interface of separation between the propagation medium and the solution. Control means are configured for obtaining a value indicating the concentration of the compound in the solution as a function of the signal coming from the receiving means.
US09581533B2

A modular hardness testing machine has a measuring component and a set of frames. The measuring component includes a housing and locating slot. The measuring component has a locating slot configured to receive a frame. The locating slot allows a user to modularly interchange the frame. The measuring component's housing encloses a presshead, which encloses a load cell having through-holes holding transmission pins. The first end of each transmission pin contacts a displacement measurement sleeve, and a second end contacts a transmission plate. A motor is mounted to the housing. The motor is connected to a reduction drive. The reduction drive reduces speed and drives a lead screw mounted on a bearing mount, and a moveable presshead is driven by the lead screw.
US09581531B2

A yarn entanglement strength tester includes first and second rolls that apply incrementally increasing elongation levels on a yarn in order to remove entanglements from the yarn. The yarn entanglement strength tester also includes a third roll, where the second and third rolls apply a constant tension on the yarn which enables optimum diameter measurements of the yarn by a camera. The camera captures images of diameters of the yarn after each of the incrementally increasing elongation levels is applied to the yarn. The yarn entanglement strength tester further includes a computing device that controls operation of the camera and the first, second, and third rolls, and determines an entanglement strength of the yarn based on the captured images of the diameters of the yarn after each of the incrementally increasing elongation levels is applied to the yarn.
US09581530B2

A non-destructive test system includes a plurality of impact devices including a knob configured to generate at least one flexural mode in a material when a surface of the material is impacted by the knob, a controller configured to independently control each of the plurality of impact devices, the controller having a communications channel for each of the plurality of impact devices, and a microphone configured to detect an acoustic response generated upon impact of the knob on the surface of the material, the acoustic response being based on the at least one flexural modes generated in the material.
US09581526B2

An improved method and apparatus for S/TEM sample preparation and analysis. Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide improved methods for TEM sample creation, especially for small geometry (<100 nm thick) TEM lamellae. Preferred embodiments of the present invention also provide an in-line process for S/TEM based metrology on objects such as integrated circuits or other structures fabricated on semiconductor wafer by providing methods to partially or fully automate TEM sample creation, to make the process of creating and analyzing TEM samples less labor intensive, and to increase throughput and reproducibility of TEM analysis.
US09581525B2

The present invention includes a method for testing a tire on a tire testing surface, the method comprising the steps of: providing a tire testing surface arranged along a tire testing device; providing a tire having a radially outer annular side comprising a road-engaging surface; engaging forcefully the tire against the tire testing surface, whereby the forceful engagement generates a tire footprint comprising an area of contact between the road-engaging surface of the tire and the tire testing surface; rotating the tire and along the tire testing surface while engaged according to the prior step; and, applying a particulate material along the footprint, the particulate material comprising kaolinite. In other embodiments, particulate material similar to kaolin or kaolinite is employed by such methods in lieu of kaolin or kaolinite.
US09581522B2

The present invention relates to a distributed sensing optical fiber performance multi-objective multi-degree-of-freedom static and dynamic test integrated platform and a test method. Wherein an optical fiber multi-degree-of-freedom fixing system is sequentially connected with an artificial loading and unloading device and an oil pressure control loading and unloading device, and an optical fiber under test is connected with the optical fiber multi-degree-of-freedom fixing system and a distributed optical fiber Brillouin frequency shift acquisition system; and test on performance of optical fiber is achieved by controlling devices in the optical fiber multi-degree-of-freedom fixing system. The device of the present invention has a large number of advantages such as a simple structure, a low cost, convenient operation, less disturbance, many test classes, strong adaptability, stable performance and convenient loading and unloading.
US09581519B2

A method for introducing an analyte gas into a cavity of an implantable medical device includes analyzing gas that exits the cavity through an outlet in communication with the cavity and introducing an analyte gas into the cavity via an inlet in communication with the cavity until the composition of the gas exiting the cavity comprises a predetermined percent or amount of the analyte gas. The inlet and outlet may be sealed, and the device may be leak tested.
US09581514B2

An optical pressure sensor is disclosed having a pressure sensing optical cavity. A temperature sensing optical cavity at the sensor head is used by an interrogator to correct a pressure signal for effects of temperature. The optical cavities may be, for example, Fabry Perot cavities in the sensor head.
US09581513B2

A diaphragm-type pressure gauge which is attached to a vessel to be measured and measures a pressure by introducing a gas inside the vessel includes a housing into which the gas is introduced, and a sensor unit which is arranged in the housing, and includes a diaphragm electrode, a measurement surface of which is arranged parallel to an introduction direction of the gas. When the housing is attached to the vessel, the measurement surface of the diaphragm electrode is arranged parallel to a direction of gravitational force.
US09581503B2

A sensor (200) includes a temperature sensitive element (203); a first tubular member (212); a tubular rib (240); a second tubular member (260); and a tubular mounting member (250) that surrounds the rib through the second tubular member, is rotatable with respect to the rib, and has a threaded portion (254). The rib includes a main body (243) and a protruding portion (242). A flat portion (244L) is formed on a rearward-facing surface of the protruding portion, and an inclined surface (242b) is formed radially outward of the flat portion. A forward-facing surface (250f) of the mounting member is in line contact with the inclined surface at a prescribed contact position (P), and an intersection (R) of the inclined surface and a perpendicular (M) thereto from a radially innermost point (Q) of a forward-facing surface (244f) of the protruding portion is located radially inward of the contact position.
US09581501B2

A sensitive and practicable temperature control material which precisely or determinably detects whether the temperature reaches a predetermined temperature by electrical change from a conductive state to an insulated or lower-conductive state has excellent time stability, chemical stability, durability, and weather resistance. The temperature control material includes a heat-melt substance which melts by heat at a melting point according to temperature being detected, and a conductive paste which includes conductive powder. The temperature control material is in a conductive state by the conductive paste. The heat-melt substance is kept away from the conductive paste through a porous material and the temperature control material changes to be in an insulated or lower-conductive states. The heat-melt substance penetrates the porous material to irreversibly permeate and/or disperse into the conductive paste on a heat-melt state thereof.
US09581496B2

Snapshot spectral imagers comprise an imaging lens, a dispersed image sensor and a restricted isometry property (RIP) diffuser inserted in the optical path between the source image and the image sensor. The imagers are used to obtain a plurality of spectral images of the source object in different spectral bands in a single shot. In some embodiments, the RIP diffuser is one dimensional. An optional disperser may be added in the optical path, to provide further dispersion at the image sensor. In some embodiments, all imager components except the RIP diffuser may be part of a digital camera, with the RIP diffuser added externally. In some embodiments, the RIP diffuser may be included internally in a digital camera.
US09581485B2

A magnetostrictive sensing instrument comprises a probe including a tube having a near end and a distal end. A magnetostrictive wire is in the tube. An adaptor at the tube near end includes a probe circuit comprising a drive circuit for the magnetostrictive wire, a pickup sensor, a preamplifier and a memory circuit storing calibration parameters for the probe. An instrument housing includes a control circuit. A connector is operatively disposed between the instrument housing and the adaptor and comprises electrical conductors for connecting the control circuit to the probe circuit.
US09581483B2

A tank overflow protection system and method for measuring process temperature and pressure utilizing one or more piezoresistive pressure transmitters. The piezoresistive pressure transmitter includes a differential pressure sensor and a temperature sensor. Data from the piezoresistive pressure transmitters can be digitally communicated via a cable. The pressure transmitters convert signals indicative of temperature and pressure to a digital value and transmit the signals to a main processor printed wire assembly for final compensation, diagnostics, and transmission to a distributed control system. A differential pressure can be calculated by subtracting two digital pressure measurement values. The temperature measurement can be employed to calculate any changes in density for a user-defined reference value.
US09581480B2

A micro flow sensor includes: a flow path through which a fluid to be measured flows; a detection unit having a heater configured to heat the fluid to be measured in the flow path and temperature sensors configured to measure temperature of a fluid to be measured in the flow path; an arithmetic unit configured to measure a flow rate of the fluid to be measured flowing through the flow path based on the temperature of the fluid to be measured, measured by the temperature sensors; and a narrowed portion disposed on an upstream side of the detection unit in the flow path for narrowing the flow path.
US09581479B2

The present invention provides an automated meter station monitoring system for a fluid comprising a processor having algorithms for verifying performance of a fluid flow measurement system. A pressure sensor is operatively connected to the processor to measure the pressure of the fluid. A temperature sensor is operatively connected to the processor to measure the temperature of the fluid. A gas chromatograph is operatively connected to the processor to monitor changes in gas composition and chromatograph response factors of the fluid. An ultrasonic meter is operatively connected to the processor to monitor the velocity of the fluid, speed of sound of the fluid, and meter diagnostics. A flow computer is operatively connected to the processor to record pressure of the fluid, record temperature of the fluid, record gas composition of the fluid, calculate compressibility ratio of the fluid, calculate standard flow rate of the fluid, and calculate energy rate of the fluid.
US09581478B1

The present invention relates to systems that allow users to observe the operation of pool skimmers. In some embodiments, the system includes a flow sensor system, which may be located in a ring above the skimmer basket. The flow sensor system may include, for example a microphone or a paddle wheel. Optionally, the system may further include a remote computer (e.g., smart phone/tablet computer) that receives the inputs measured by the flow sensor system and displays on its display screen alerts based on the inputs (e.g., to notify the user to clean the skimmer basket or backwash the filter).
US09581477B2

A measuring head clamp-on device for ultrasonic flow measuring heads includes a guide element for receiving at least one measuring head protective housing for at least one measuring head and includes at least one clamping unit connected to the guide element, and thereto connected clamping device for detachably fastening the guide element to the measuring tube, wherein the guide element is non-positively or positively connected to at least one apparatus for centering and clamping the same on the measuring tube, so that the guide element is oriented and fastened parallel and with a defined distance to the apex of the measuring tube irrespective of the tube diameter.
US09581467B1

A system includes one or more processors, and data storage configured to store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform functions. In this example, the functions include receiving sensor data that is collected by one or more sensors of a device over one or more locations and over a time period. Further, in the present example, the functions also include determining location estimates of the device by performing filtering of the sensor data to determine offsets for a least one sensor providing sensor data. The filtering is an iterative process of filtering control input data to determine the sensor bias based on data from a second sensor of the at least two sensors and adjusting the set of sensor data based on the determined bias.
US09581465B2

A system and method displays a synthetic vision system (SVS) image combined with a primary flight display (PFD) including a compass indicating the aircraft heading. An arc on or near the outer edge of the compass indicates the viewing frustum of the SVS view.
US09581456B2

The disclosure includes a system and method for determining a current location of a user at a current time. The method may include determining journey data associated with one or more of the user, the current location, and the current time, where journey data describes one or more historical journeys of the user. The method may include determining, based on the journey data, an estimated time of arrival (ETA) describing an arrival estimate of when the user and a vehicle will arrive at an endpoint of a journey; and transmitting the ETA to a network.
US09581441B2

In a method for determining an area milled by at least one construction machine or at least one mining machine by means of a milling drum (2) by means of working a predetermined area in several milling trajectories by at least one machine (1), determining the length of the milling trajectories along which a milling operation has taken place by evaluating the continuous machine positions, adding up the previously milled partial areas taking into account the length of the milling trajectory and the installed width of the milling drum (2), wherein the partial area currently milled along the milling trajectory is checked, either continuously or subsequently, for overlapping or multiple overlapping with any previously milled partial areas, and any partial areas which overlap are deducted, as overlapping areas, from the added-up previously milled partial areas, the total added-up partial areas milled minus the total overlapping areas established give the milled area.
US09581436B2

An image processing device obtains a depth information image representing a distribution of depth information about an object on the basis of first and second images that have different degrees of blurring and that are captured by an image sensor including groups each including pixels that obtain different color information about the object. The image processing device includes an extracting unit configured to extract signals, each corresponding to one of the pixels of each group, from the groups and generate first and second extracted images respectively corresponding to the first and second images, and a calculating unit configured to calculate the depth information image from a difference in degree of blurring between the first and second extracted images. The signals each corresponding to one of the pixels of each group and extracted from the groups are signals corresponding to pixels that obtain the same color information.
US09581428B2

A tunable light source having a temporal coherence length such that interference fringes are detected within the optical path difference of the interferometer is spectrally controlled to produce multiple wavelengths during sequential fractions of the integration time of the detector of the interferometer. The wavelengths are selected so as to produce a visible correlogram at each integration time according to spectrally controlled interferometry (SCI) principles. Such different wavelengths may be produced by stepwise or continuous modulation. The modulation step is repeated sequentially while changing the period of modulation to produce a succession of predetermined spatial patterns of interference fringes, as required for interferometric measurements. The approach enables the practice of SCI with common-path apparatus used for conventional phase shifting, thereby combining the advantages of high-coherence and white-light interferometry.
US09581425B2

Sensor having a primary coil, two secondary coils as well as an evaluator. An excitation signal may be applied to the primary coil. An output signal depending on a position of a coupling element may be induced in each secondary coil. An evaluator is configured to evaluate the output signals in order to evaluate a phase offset between the output signals. Further, the evaluator is configured to provide a sensor output signal indicating the position or change in position of the coupling element.
US09581420B2

A projectile and a projectile mount having a central bore into which the projectile is mounted and includes rotational formations functionally engaging between the projectile and the projectile mount which in use provides rotational motion to the projectile around an axis of rotation by the propulsion of the projectile along the axis of rotation.
US09581410B1

A toy configured to operate in two modes of operation wherein projectiles are launched from different portions of the toy depending upon which mode of operation the toy is in, the toy having: a housing with a forward pistol grip portion and a rearward pistol grip portion, the rearward pistol grip portion being movably mounted to the housing for movement between a first position to a second position; a mode selector switch movably mounted to the housing for movement from a first position to a second position; wherein movement of the rearward pistol grip portion between the first position and the second position launches a projectile from one portion of the toy when the mode selector switch is in the first position; and wherein movement of the rearward pistol grip portion between the first position and the second position launches a projectile from another portion of the toy when the mode selector switch is in the second position.
US09581408B2

A cable guard for a compound bow includes a rod extending along an axis, and a base releasably fixed to the rod and adjustable relative to the rod along the axis. The cable guard includes a lock releasably fixing the base to the rod along the axis. A pair of bearings each supported by the base. The base, and the pair of bearings supported by the base, are adjustable along the axis for adjustment relative to a riser of the compound bow. The lock fixes the base at a desired position along the axis relative to the riser.
US09581395B2

A heat exchanger that is constructed with a heat exchanger shell having inlet and outlet plenums and fluid inlet and outlet ports, and a tube sheet construction disposed in the heat exchanger shell. The tube sheet construction includes at least two separate tube sheets and a plurality of tubes that extend between the separate tube sheets. Each tube sheet includes at least two planar tube sheet segments and a interstitial layer disposed between the at least two tube sheet segments, and at least one sensor element supported by each of the interstitial layers. A control monitor controls flow through the shell by a feedback control from the sensor to an inlet control valve and/or a stimulus device excites the media layer. In an alternate embodiment opposed position sensor elements may be provided at opposite sides of the tube sheet construction.
US09581392B2

An arrangement for cooling a plasma-based radiation source with a metal cooling liquid and a method for starting up a cooling arrangement of this type has a pump unit for conveying the metal cooling liquid from a reservoir to an immersion bath in a pipe portion that is connected to the reservoir in the conveying direction of the cooling circuit has at least one pump for conveying the metal cooling liquid through an external field effect of the at least one pump. A control unit for controlling the at least one pump controls the at least one pump at least temporarily in a pumping direction opposite to the conveying direction of the cooling circuit in order to generate a heating effect through external field effect on metal cooling liquid located in the pipe portion.
US09581383B2

A refrigerator appliance including a refrigerated chamber defined by a liner positioned within a cabinet is provided. At least one track extends generally along a vertical direction of the refrigerator appliance attached to or positioned adjacent to the liner. Additionally, a shelf assembly is configured to attach to the track. An electrical bar extends at least partially within the track and a probe of the shelf assembly is configured to extend into the track and press against the electrical bar along a transverse direction. The probe may accordingly make an electrical connection with electrical bar when the shelf assembly is attached the track.
US09581380B1

In a new flexible-monoblock refrigeration configuration arrangement, all of the refrigeration components are gathered within its one and only flexible chassis platform. These units are one piece, meaning that their condenser, refrigerant control assemblies, compressor and the evaporator are fixed to their one and only integrated flexible chassis. No refrigeration components are outside its enclosure. There is no need to perform any assembling or service to the refrigeration itself at the time of installation. The new flexible monoblock refrigeration system can be configured in many different forms using parallel rigidly interconnected side plates. The sub platforms are rigidly connected to the side plates so that all of the weight, forces and stress are borne by the side plates and none is transferred among the refrigeration elements, units or subassemblies.
US09581378B2

The disclosure can include systems, methods, and apparatus for providing associated functionality for a refrigeration unit. In one embodiment, a refrigeration unit can include some or all of the following associated functionality: a cooling table plenum, a cross-linking member, a cabinet trim and thermal breaker, a collapsible hood, an internal plenum, an internal bracket, an external rib, an evaporator shroud and condensate drain, and/or a cutting board support bracket.
US09581373B2

An ice maker of a domestic refrigerator that includes an ice mold having an electrically-conductive polymeric body and a plurality of cavities defined in the polymeric body. Each cavity is sized to receive a quantity of fluid corresponding to a single ice cube. A pair of electrodes is engaged with a bottom surface of the polymeric body. The polymeric body has a first electrical conductivity at a first operating temperature and a second electrical conductivity that is less than the first electrical conductivity at a second operating temperature. The second operating temperature is greater than the first operating temperature.
US09581368B2

An automobile air-conditioning system is provided, which includes an evaporator and an electrical expansion valve in communication via pipes, with the electrical expansion valve including a coil and a valve body, the coil being fixedly mounted on the valve body; the system also includes a support, the support including a heat-sinking bridge and a cooling ring, with the evaporator provided on one side of the heat-sinking bridge and the cooling ring provided on the other side of the heat-sinking bridge; the heat-sinking bridge and the cooling ring are formed in one piece or are connected with each other fixedly, and the coil is provided within the cooling ring. The automobile air-conditioning system has the advantages of a compact structural design, is capable of effectively cooling the electrical expansion valve, and has high system strength, stable transmission of coolant, and high security.
US09581366B2

An air conditioner having a first circulation channel which drives a thermodynamic cycle while normally circulating a refrigerant, a second circulation channel which is branched from an outlet of a condenser of the first circulation channel to recover oil from the refrigerant to a compressor and to cause the refrigerant to pass through a supercooling heat exchanger, and a third circulation channel which is directly branched from an evaporator of the first circulation channel to recover oil from the refrigerant and to the compressor and to cause the refrigerant to pass through the supercooling heat exchanger, thereby preventing the wet compression of the compressor to achieve improved reliability of the compressor, and preventing the degradation of heat-exchange performance.
US09581365B2

In an air conditioner which is a refrigerating apparatus, a superheat degree controller is provided, which is configured to control, in an evaporation mode of an outdoor heat exchanger, the opening degree of an expansion valve such that the superheat degree of refrigerant whose flows are joined together after passing through a main heat exchange part and an auxiliary heat exchange part reaches a predetermined superheat degree. Moreover, in the air conditioner, a flow volume adjustment valve configured to adjust, in the evaporation mode of the outdoor heat exchanger, a flow ratio of refrigerant in the heat exchange parts and a flow ratio controller configured to control the flow volume adjustment valve such that refrigerant temperatures after passage through the heat exchange parts are substantially equal to each other are provided.
US09581364B2

A system for cooling air for use with a liquid cooling fluid loop. The system includes a first refrigerant circuit with an air-cooled condenser, a second refrigerant circuit with a liquid-cooled condenser, and a free-cooling loop. A control device is provided for controlling the operation of the system between a first mode, a second mode, and a third mode. When operating in the first mode, only the free-cooling loop cooperates directly with liquid cooling fluid in the liquid cooling fluid loop to cool the liquid cooling fluid, when operating in the second mode, the second refrigerant circuit is not engaged, and when operating in the third mode, the free-cooling loop interacts with the second refrigerant circuit to reject heat of the second refrigerant circuit through the free-cooling loop.
US09581362B2

Systems and methods are disclosed herein relating to an Alternating Current-Direct Current (AC-DC) power conversion system for supplying power to one or more Thermoelectric Coolers (TECs). In some embodiments, a system comprises one or more TECs and an AC-DC power conversion system configured to supply power to the one or more TECs for a high efficiency mode of operation and a high heat pumping mode of operation. The AC-DC power conversion system comprises a first AC-DC power converter configured to convert an AC input to a DC output at a first output power level for the high efficiency mode of operation of the one or more TECs. The AC-DC power conversion system further comprises a second AC-DC power converter configured to convert the AC input to a DC output at a second output power level for the high heat pumping mode of operation of the one or more TECs.
US09581357B1

Solar energy concentration systems and methods that includes a curved lower solar reflective dish, and a smaller curved solar concentrator located on a focal line above the dish. The dish reflects input light rays onto the smaller curved solar concentrator. Moveable supports adjusts the shape of the deformable solar concentrator mounted directly below the concentrator to receive concentrated light rays reflected from the concentrator. A controller for storing and executing a set of instruction controls the shape of the concentrator to focus the reflected concentrated light rays onto a focal collector. A mirror point list adjusts the shape of the concentrator based on a sun angle.
US09581353B2

A HVAC system includes a housing including at least one wall, an air flow path defined at least partially by the at least one wall, and a door disposed in the air flow path, where the door is configured to i) block a flow of air through the air flow path when the door is in at least one closed position, and ii) allow the flow of air through the air flow path when the door is in a position other than the at least one closed position. A gap is formed between the door and the at least one wall when the door is in the position other than the at least one closed position. The HVAC system further includes a noise-reducing feature defined on at least a portion of the at least one wall. The noise-reducing feature configured to break up, into several smaller structures, an air flow structure formed when air flowing through the gap contacts an end of the door, thereby reducing air vibration in the gap and reducing noise of the HVAC system during operation thereof.
US09581352B2

The present disclosure simplifies the H-bridge circuit of the direct current motor for driving the damper (door) that switches the air passages in the indoor unit of an air conditioning device. The control device for an air conditioner that takes in inside or outside air and conditions the air inside an air conditioning unit using an evaporator and a heater core is provided with: a first actuator and a second actuator that drive the multiple dampers installed inside the air conditioning unit for switching the air passages; and three half-bridge circuits that control the first actuator and the second actuator sharing one of the half-bridge circuits. Of the multiple dampers, the first actuator is connected to the inside/outside air switching damper. Of the multiple dampers, the second actuator is connected to at least one air mix damper.
US09581349B2

An indoor unit and an air conditioning system using the same include a first communication module to communicate with a wired remote controller, a power switch connected to a power terminal of one or the other side of the first communication module, a ground switch connected to a ground terminal of one or the other side of the first communication module to constitute a pair with the power switch, and an indoor unit controller to turn on the power switch and the ground switch when an indoor unit supplies power to the wired remote controller, and to turn off the power switch and the ground switch when another indoor unit supplies power to the wired remote controller.
US09581347B2

In a system and method of controlling particulate count in a clean room having a number of compartments/zones in series, in response to a first level of energy consumption by speed adjustable fans supplying a first volume of air per unit of time to the clean room, differential air pressures are established in the clean room compartment/zone-by-compartment/zone in series from a first compartment/zone which has a requirement for the highest air pressure to a last compartment/zone which has a requirement for the lowest air pressure. In response to a second level of energy consumption by the speed adjustable fans supplying a second volume of air per unit of time to the clean room, the same differential air pressures are substantially maintained in the clean room.
US09581337B2

The invention relates to an arrangement in the ventilation of a kitchen appliance. The arrangement is arranged to be connected to a ventilation system. The arrangement includes at least one hood (10), which is intended to be installed above the kitchen appliance (11). There is an exhaust-air connection (27) in each hood (10), for connecting the hood (10) to the exhaust-air duct (12) belonging to the ventilation system. The arrangement also includes a separator (15), for separating grease form the exhaust air. The arrangement further includes a cell (14), which is arranged after the hood (10) and is separate from the hood (10), and to which a separator (15) is fitted, and which is connected to the exhaust-air duct (12).
US09581333B2

An igniter assembly includes a bushing for installation in a burner. The bushing has a proximal end and an opposing distal end. A gas tube is secured through a central portion of the bushing, and an electrode assembly is secured through the central portion of the bushing. The electrode assembly includes an electrically conductive conductor element and an insulator element in surrounding relationship to the conductor element. The igniter assembly further includes a flame holder element secured to a distal end of the electrode assembly, and a ground rod secured to the electrode assembly. A distal end of the ground rod defines a spark gap with the flame holder element.
US09581329B2

A gas-fueled heater can have a housing with pressure regulators, a control valve, a fluid selection valve and a burner positioned therein. The pressure regulators, control valve, fluid selection valve and burner can be configured to combust a fuel to create heat. The housing can include a number of holes passing therethrough to control access to the various components.
US09581317B2

A holder is configured to support an LED array and includes terminals that have an insulation displacement portion (IDP) and contacts to electrically connect to the LED array. An LED module can be provided that supports a holder and an LED array. The LED module includes a housing with a floor and a wall that extends from the floor to define a first enclosure that receives the holder and LED array. The floor includes one or more channels that allow insulated conductors to extend through the floor and engage the IDP so as to provide power to the LED array.
US09581307B2

A light module for a motor vehicle is disclosed. The light module includes a light source and a reflecting unit. The light module also includes an optical waveguide, wherein the waveguide is formed by a plate-shaped body having an L-shaped cross section, the light-reflecting unit comprises a reflector arranged in front of a shorter input part of the waveguide, and wherein at a place where a shorter inlet part of the waveguide passes into a longer outlet part of the waveguide, an angled surface is provided for total reflection of light passing through the shorter inlet part of the waveguide to the longer outlet part of the waveguide, wherewith a bottom area and an adjacent face of the outlet part of the waveguide are provided with a white coating.
US09581306B2

A vehicle headlamp includes a light source, a projection optical member, a light deflector, and a tube shaped housing. The projection optical member projects light, which is incident on the projection optical member, ahead. The light deflector includes a plurality of optical devices that are arrayed. The optical devices are individually switchable between a first state and a second state. In the first state, the optical devices reflect light emitted from the light source to a direction other than a direction towards the projection optical member. In the second state, the optical devices reflect the emitted light towards the projection optical member. The light deflector is disposed inside the housing. The projection optical member is disposed in an opening portion of the housing. A first portion, of the housing, intersecting a path of a light beam incident on the light deflector is transparent.
US09581305B2

A method for the arrangement of a retaining ring (10) for holding a light source in the opening (11) of a reflector (12) for a vehicle headlamp. The retaining ring (10) extends in a plane and is arranged on the back side flush with the opening (11) on the reflector (12). For the arrangement of the retaining ring (10) of the reflector (12), a molded retainer part (13) is arranged on the reflector (12) and a recess (14) is formed in the retaining ring (10). The retaining ring (10) is placed on the reflector (12), so that the molded retainer part (13) is guided through the recess (14), after which the retaining ring (10) is turned in the plane of its extent about the molded retainer part (13), so that the retaining ring (10) clamps on the molded retainer part (13).
US09581303B2

A lighting system is provided whereby long operating life can be reasonably ensured by taking into account requirements of the application, characteristics of the LEDs, characteristics of the fixture containing said LEDs, the desired number of operating hours, and—via developed relationships—taking an iterative approach to supplying power to the LEDs. Through the envisioned compensation methodology and effective luminaire design, a relatively constant light level can be assured for a predetermined number of operating hours (possibly longer); this is true even if operating conditions change, known behavior of LEDs proves untrue over untested period of time, or some other condition occurs which would otherwise cause end-of-life prematurely and prevent the system from meeting the desired number of operating hours.
US09581285B2

Embodiments include a balance mechanism having a first cam and a second cam configured to convert a variable force exerted by the energy storage member into a substantially constant force applied to a mounting portion. The balance mechanism may be useful for balancing forces such that a user can set the height of an electronic display and/or other equipment attached to the balance mechanism at a number of heights within the range of travel allowed by the mechanism. Lift mechanisms, display positioning apparatuses, and height adjustable desks incorporating a multi-cam balance mechanism are also provided. A method of positioning a display is also provided.
US09581280B2

A means for the rehabilitation of a connecting portion between a main pipeline and a branch pipeline with a main pipe section and a branch pipe section, wherein the main pipe section has a connecting region, wherein the branch pipe section is connected at its first end portion to the connecting region of the main pipe section, wherein the branch pipe section is closed at its second end portion and wherein at least one contactless sensor is disposed within the means.
US09581274B2

A portable assembly for securing a plastic fitting to a plastic pipe by employing fusion or thermal sealing is disclosed. The assembly is secured to the outer circumference of a plastic pipe at a desired location. The assembly can be secured at any longitudinal and lateral position along a plastic pipe. A heater heats both the pipe and the fitting to the point where they begin to melt. The heater is then removed and the fitting is pressed onto the surface of the pipe, thus fusing the fitting to the pipe. After cooling, the assembly is removed and the surface of the pipe within the interior of the fitting is drilled or removed. This now enables fluid within the pipe to be sent to the fitting and onto distribution lines which are connected to the fitting.
US09581273B2

A fluid fitting of an embodiment mainly includes a socket part, a spherical valve inserted in the socket part, and a plug part configured to be inserted at a tip portion thereof into the spherical valve. Moreover, the plug part is fixed in the direction of turn by engaging an expanded-diameter portion of the plug part with a recess of the socket part. Thus, the plug part is prevented from being detached from the socket part while the fluid fitting is in use.
US09581262B2

A vacuum valve including a closure element (3) and a valve housing (1) with a valve opening (4) and an interior (2) in which the closure element (3) is arranged, the closure element resting against a valve seat (6) surrounding the valve opening (4) in the closed state of the vacuum valve. The valve housing (1) has a housing wall (19) made of sheet metal, the housing wall delimiting the interior (2) and being provided with a window opening (20) in order to form the valve opening (4). The valve opening (4) is surrounded by a flange ring (21) that can be connected to a connection flange (28) of a vacuum unit (27) via screw connections, the vacuum unit having an interior and being attachable to the vacuum valve. The flange ring (21) has the valve seat (6) on which the closure element (3) is placed in the closed state of the vacuum valve.
US09581254B2

A pressure regulator configured to regulate a working fluid by a pilot pressure, including: a spool valve mechanism having a spool; a biasing mechanism having a pilot-pressure chamber and a pilot piston, the biasing mechanism being configured to bias the spool toward the other end of the pressure regulator in its axial direction by a pressure of the working fluid in the pilot-pressure chamber; a counter biasing mechanism having a regulated-pressure chamber and a counter biasing piston, the counter biasing mechanism being configured to bias the spool toward one end of the pressure regulator in the axial direction by a pressure of the working fluid in the regulated-pressure chamber; and at least one of a first damping mechanism configured to damp a movement of the pilot piston and a second damping mechanism configured to damp a movement of the counter biasing piston.
US09581251B2

A fluid flow resistance assembly includes a fluid pathway. A width of the fluid pathway orthogonal to a flow of fluid through the fluid pathway varies along its length. Positioning of one or more ports at different locations over the fluid pathway at different locations controls a flow rate of fluid.
US09581245B2

A metal seal flange assembly for a vacuum system is presented. Its metal gasket has a crossectional shape that is an irregular hexagon with two acute angles between the longest side and the second- and third-longest sides, respectively. The longest side of the irregular hexagon is the vertical inner wall of the metal gasket. This design can reduce the normal force required to seal the metal seal flange assembly and reduce the number of bolts needed, enabling use in a limited working space.
US09581244B2

Provided is a seal bead structure of a gasket capable of reducing the reactive force generated in a common bead portion provided between multiple through-holes and thereby capable of achieving a stable sealing function by means of aligning the compression property over the entire bead. In order to achieve this, two through-holes are provided in a row in the flat portion of a metal gasket, with one seal bead provided on the edge of one through-hole, the other seal bead provided on the edge of the other through-hole, and a common bead portion for the both seal beads provided in the intermediate position between the both through-holes, the common bead portion having a two-stage half bead shape in which the half beads are formed on two stage in the same direction.
US09581243B2

A system seals a filter or equipment component to abase and will continue to seal the filter or equipment component to the base in the event of hot air or fire. The system includes a first sealing material between the filter or equipment component and the base; and a second sealing material between the filter or equipment component and the base and proximate the first sealing material. The first sealing material and the second seal material are positioned relative to each other and relative to the filter or equipment component and the base to seal the filter or equipment component to the base and upon the event of fire the second sealing material will be activated and expand to continue to seal the filter or equipment component to the base in the event of hot air or fire.
US09581233B2

Torsional vibration dampers having isolator members (crankshaft damper-isolators) are disclosed that include a hub defining an annular receptacle, a pulley body having a belt engaging surface, a damper assembly disposed between an outermost radial surface of the hub and the pulley body, an isolator member seated in the annular receptacle of the hub, and a slide bearing disposed between an outer radial surface of the hub and the sleeve of the pulley body. The isolator member is engaged with both the hub and the pulley body for rotation therewith when the hub and pulley body rotate at the same speed and when the hub rotates relative to the pulley body. The isolator member may be an elastomeric isolator or a torsion spring isolator. The slide bearing axially retains the pulley body to the hub and allows the pulley body to rotate relative to the hub.
US09581229B2

A sprocket includes first teeth having a first maximum width, and second teeth having a second maximum width greater than the first maximum width alternately arranged with the first teeth. The second teeth have a leading surface relative to a drive direction of the sprocket, a lateral surface at the second maximum width, and a relief between the leading surface and the lateral surface, with a midline of the lateral surface being offset relative to a plane extended radially through a center of a respective tooth.
US09581215B2

Vibration suppressors can include a resiliently flexible spring system that may be mounted at an exterior of a steering wheel of a vehicle, such as at a hub portion of a steering wheel armature. The spring system can include a fixable portion and a displaceable portion that is configured to be displaced relative to the fixable portion. A mass system can be coupled to the displaceable portion of the spring system and may also be at an exterior of the steering wheel.
US09581214B2

Systems, devices, uses and methods relating to magnetorhological materials including carbon nanotubes, such as single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, are disclosed. Uses of magnetorheological materials such as in motion damping/vibration isolation are also disclosed.
US09581207B2

A structure of a transfer mechanism is supported by a bearing (15) attached to a disc (10) of a rotary table (1), connects between driven shafts (20) extending in a direction parallel to a rotation shaft (11) and a driving shaft (30) which rotates and drives the rotation shaft (11), and transfers rotation power from the driving shaft (30) to the driven shafts (20). Rollers (31) that turn around a radially extending shaft are arranged at intervals on an outer periphery of one of the driven shafts (20) and the driving shaft (30) in a circumferential direction, and at least one radially extending pins (23) are provided on an outer periphery of the other of the driven shafts (20) and the driving shaft (30), and the pins (23) enter among the rollers (31) arranged adjacent to one another in the circumferential direction in a state in which the driven shafts (20) and the driving shaft (30) are connected.
US09581205B2

A shaft coupling assembly includes a shaft coupling element having a coupling wall defining a channel configured to receive a shaft end of a shaft. The channel includes a coupling interface configured to mate to a shaft interface defined by the shaft end. Each of the coupling interface and the shaft interface define a mating non-regular shape, which may be configured as one of an irregular polygon and a hybrid polygon including linear and non-linear sides. The shaft coupling element includes a fastener bore and a counterbore having an axial counterbore depth greater than an axial depth of the fastener bore. The shaft end inserted in the channel to an inserted depth greater than the fastener bore depth and less than the axial counterbore depth is displaceable into the counterbore such that the shaft end is not engaged with the coupling interface by the fastener bore receiving the fastener.
US09581204B2

A magnetic-scale-equipped motion guide apparatus is provided which can scrape iron powder adhered to a magnetic scale by a scraper or seal of a movable member without inviting adverse effects such as wearing away and deformation of the magnetic scale. The magnetic-scale-equipped motion guide apparatus of the present invention comprises a track member 1 having a rolling element rolling portion 1b and also an upper surface where through holes 18 into which fastening members are inserted open, a movable member 2 movably assembled to the track member 1 via a plurality of rolling elements 3, a groove 1a formed in the track member 1 and extended in a longitudinal direction, a magnetic scale 7 accommodated in the groove 1a and having north and south poles alternately formed in the longitudinal direction, and a cover member 8 that covers the magnetic scale 7 and also the through holes 18 of the track member 1.
US09581199B2

In a fulcrum bearing device for a pulley arm, a sleeve is inserted in a shaft hole formed in a boss portion of a pulley arm, washers are fitted on the outer peripheries of small diameter tube portions formed at the respective end portions of the sleeve, and the sleeve is fixed to an engine block by means of a bolt inserted through the sleeve and tightened, so that the pulley arm is pivotally supported. The shaft hole is formed at its respective end portions with seal receiving recesses having large diameters. Each seal member includes a cylindrical portion provided on its outer peripheral portion and press-fitted in the seal receiving recess, and a radial lip extending obliquely inwardly and provided on the inner periphery of the seal member. The distal end portions of the radial lips are kept in elastic contact with the outer diameter surface of the sleeve.
US09581196B2

A sliding member having more improved wear resistance is provided at a low cost. A sliding member is provided with: a substrate which is made of a nonwoven fabric; and a base resin which includes a phenol resin and which is impregnated into the substrate. The nonwoven fabric is preferably a bonded nonwoven fabric which is produced by a thermal bonding method, a binder method or the like and which has a strength that can tolerate the tension applied to the substrate in the step for producing the sliding member. It is preferable that the nonwoven fabric is made of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber which exhibits a high affinity for the phenol resin. Further, it is preferable that the phenol resin contains a chelating agent which can increase sites of crosslink with hydroxyl groups of the phenol resin.
US09581195B2

A low-vibration floating metal bearing includes a slide bearing. The slide bearing includes oil supply holes formed at six isogonal positions in an isotropic manner with respect to an axial center, and a substantially circular bearing hole having a surface on which at least six regions with different fluid lubrication conditions are formed by inner machining so as to be continuously disposed at isogonal positions in an isotropic manner with isotropic distance with respect to an axial center. Each of the regions with different fluid lubrication conditions forms a narrow flow path that is substantially convex in cross section and extends in an axial center direction in an oil flow path by changing the amount of clearance between the surface of the substantially circular bearing hole and the surface of a substantially circular axis.
US09581194B2

Provided is a motion guide device in which a moving member is equipped with circulation path moldings. With the device, ease of assembly and moldability can be improved. A moving member is provided with circulation path moldings, which have: holding sections that extend along loaded rolling-element rolling sections; return path configuring sections that configure return paths; and a pair of direction-change path inner circumference configuring sections that configure the inner circumferences of a pair of direction-change paths. The circulation path moldings are provided with a first molding in which one direction-change path inner circumference configuring sections is integrally molded with the holding section and a second molding in which the other direction-change path inner circumference configuring section is integrally molded with the return path configuring section. The first molding and the second molding are separate bodies.
US09581193B2

A combined axial and radial bearing assembly is provided, having a radial bearing including an outer ring having a constant outside diameter, and radially inwardly extending flanges located at axial ends thereof. A radial bearing cage having an axially extended rim on a first side, and radial rolling elements therein is located within the outer ring. An axial bearing is provided including an axial bearing ring having a thrust race, and an axially extending flange connected to a radially inner end thereof. The axially extending flange has an ID that is less than the OD of the radial bearing outer ring. An axial bearing cage with thrust rolling elements located in at least some of the pockets is also provided. The axially extending flange of the axial bearing is press fit on the OD of the radial bearing outer ring in a region aligned with the axially extended rim.
US09581190B2

An adjustable support arm device includes a plurality of segments. Ball-and-socket joints each connect two adjacent segments. Each joint includes a plurality of interleaved friction layers between a ball and a socket of that joint. A locking mechanism applies a normal force to the friction layers to lock the joints, the mechanism being releasable to enable bending of the joints.
US09581183B2

A multi-thread screw includes a head end, a shank and a tapered end. Both a high thread and a low thread begin on the tapered end and extend onto the shank. A set of intermediate threads are located on the shank portion only and overlap with and intersect at least part of the high thread.
US09581182B2

A connection bracket and a support couples with a male bracket. The connection bracket includes: a first end portion and a second end portion; an opening in the first end portion; a central body extending between the first end portion and the second end portion; a first guide and a second guide; the first guide integral with the central body and being folded to form an open channel, and the second guide integral with the central body and being folded to form the open channel. First and second spacers integral with the central body include first and second passageways therethrough. The central body includes an opening and a spring-loaded latch which extends from the central body into the opening and is movable with respect to the central body and the opening and secures the male bracket to the connection bracket.
US09581174B2

A fan frame accommodates a fan for blowing air or cooling and has a hole into which a tapping screw is fixed. The hole has a first hole portion opened in an attachment surface onto which a supporting member fixed by the tapping screw is attached and a second hole portion extending from the first hole portion and having a predetermined inner diameter. The first hole portion of the hole is formed to have a diameter larger than that of the second hole portion.
US09581172B2

There is provided a method for manufacturing a turbocharger bearing housing which can prevent a collapsible core from being damaged when molten metal is cast in the mold. The method for manufacturing a bearing housing of a turbocharger is that the bearing housing of the turbocharger is formed with a cooling passage for circulating cooling liquid by casting using a collapsible core. The collapsible core includes the end part forming portions (a one end forming portion and an other end forming portion) corresponding to the end portions of the cooling passage and having a substantially elliptical cross-section, and a fixing portion holding the end part forming portions and being embedded in a mold and fixed to the mold.
US09581169B2

A gas-dynamic air bearing for radially mounting a shaft may include a plurality of bearing segments arranged in a recess of a housing. The bearing segments may radially enclose the shaft. Each bearing segment may be held with play on the housing via a respective bolt arranged radially to a predetermined bearing axis. Each bearing segment may include an associated stop spring device supported between the housing and the bearing segments. The respective stop spring device may be resilient to stroke movements of the bearing segment effective radially outwardly relative to the bearing axis. The respective bolts may be adjustably screwed to the housing. The bolts may have an end on a segment side that delimits a spring travel of the stop spring device radially inwardly towards the bearing axis and may position the respective bearing segment.
US09581165B2

A wildlife detection system includes a tracking device, a receiver, and a wildlife deterrent system. The tracking device may be mounted to a wildlife. The receiver is configured to track movement of the tracking device relative to an object of danger to the wildlife. The wildlife deterrent system is configured to reduce risk of danger to the wildlife in response to movement of the wildlife within a predetermined distance from the object of danger as tracked by the receiver.
US09581163B2

Aircraft, air conditioning systems, and air diffusers that may be used to create a quiet, comfortable environment within an aircraft cabin are disclosed. The systems and apparatuses are configured to flow air at a rate that meets and/or exceeds the FAA minimum requirement of 0.55 lbs/min (about 250 g/min) per occupant. In use, even at higher flow rates, the systems and apparatuses are configured to create a quiet cabin experience, by contributing little to ambient cabin noise. Thus, the systems and apparatuses may be used to provide fresh air at a comfortable rate and a comfortable noise level.
US09581150B2

A variable displacement swash plate type compressor includes a displacement control valve. The displacement control valve includes a drive force transmitting member, a valve member having a first valve body, a pressure sensing mechanism, which adjusts the valve opening degree of the first valve body, a communication passage, which connects a back pressure chamber and an accommodating chamber to each other, and a second valve body, which selectively opens and closes the communication passage. The first valve body opens when current supply to an electromagnetic solenoid is stopped and the pressure in a suction pressure zone is less than a threshold value. The second valve body closes when current is supplied to the electromagnetic solenoid and opens when the current supply to the electromagnetic solenoid is stopped and the pressure in the suction pressure zone is greater than or equal to the threshold value.
US09581141B2

Disclosed is a system and method for monitoring wind turbines, generally comprising a microphone for picking up acoustic emissions from a wind turbine and outputting a signal corresponding to the emissions; a filter for splitting the signal into a plurality of signals according to a plurality of frequency bands; and a processor for processing the plurality of signals and generating sound level data corresponding to at least a subset of the frequency bands. The system compares the sound level data with a sound threshold and generates an alarm signal when the sound level data exceeds the sound threshold. Alternatively, the system may include different thresholds corresponding to the different frequency bands, and an alarm can be generated when one or more of the different thresholds are exceeded by the different signals in the different frequency bands.
US09581130B2

An apparatus for generating energy from the action of waves in a body of water is provided, the apparatus comprising a flexible planar member for extending across the surface of the body of water, the flexible member having a lower surface which, in use, is in contact with the surface of the water; an energy generating system coupled to a portion of the flexible member, the energy generating system operable to generating energy from the movement of the portion of the flexible member.
US09581127B2

Device for generating energy using the current of a river (2) or similar, which device (1) includes a paddlewheel (11) and at least one generator set (14) of which the drive shaft (17a) is coupled to the shaft (11) of the paddlewheel (10), characterized in that the paddlewheel (10) is self-floating and that the device (1) is provided with an at least partly submerged housing (3) with an open bottom (4) that is located at a height (A) above the bed (5) of the river (2), wherein the paddlewheel (10) is bearing mounted and of which the internal space (8) is pressurized to regulate the height of the water level (12) in the housing (3).
US09581116B2

The present disclosure is directed to injectors with integrated igniters providing efficient injection, ignition, and complete combustion of various types of fuels. These integrated injectors/igniters can include, for example, insulators with adequate mechanical and dielectric strength to enable high-energy plasma generation by components that have very small dimensions, multifunction valving that is moved to injector multiple bursts of fuel and to induce plasma projection, a fuel control valve at the interface to the combustion chamber for the purpose of eliminating fuel drip at undesired times, and one or more components at the interface of the combustion chamber for the purpose of blocking transmission of combustion sourced pressure.
US09581114B2

Systems and methods for increasing EGR gas temperature for an engine that includes at least one dedicated EGR cylinder. The dedicated EGR cylinder may provide exhaust gas to engine cylinders and the exhaust gas does not include exhaust gases from cylinders other than the dedicated EGR cylinder. The dedicated EGR cylinder may allow the engine to operate at higher EGR dilution levels.
US09581112B2

An air filter and carburetor arrangement includes a round filter and a round filter carrier having a filter plate. The round filter has a central filter axis, which lies at an angle to the filter plate. The carburetor has a carburetor body, in which an intake duct is configured with a duct longitudinal axis, and at one end of the intake duct on the carburetor body a filter connection side for the round filter carrier is configured, wherein the round filter carrier is fixed with at least one surface portion of the filter plate on the connection surface of the carburetor. The design is provided such that the duct longitudinal axis of the intake duct lies in the plane of the filter plate at a lateral distance (r) to the filter axis of the round filter fixed to the round filter carrier.
US09581106B2

A small air-cooled internal combustion engine includes an aluminum cylinder block, an aluminum cylinder head welded to the aluminum cylinder block, and a weld securing the aluminum cylinder block to the aluminum cylinder head, wherein a joint having a first length is formed between the aluminum cylinder block and the aluminum cylinder head and wherein the weld extends for a second length that is at least 25% of the first length.
US09581100B2

A control system configured to control an internal combustion engine includes a crankshaft and an engine speed sensor. The crankshaft is rotated in response to combusting a mixture of air and fuel delivered to at least one cylinder included in the internal combustion engine. The engine output speed sensor is configured to output an engine output speed signal indicating a rotational speed of the crankshaft. An engine control module controls an amount of air and fuel delivered to the at least one cylinder and estimates a torque output based on the amount of air and fuel. A torque compensation module is configured to determine at least one weak cylinder based on the engine output speed signal. The torque compensation module is further configured to determine a torque compensation value that adjusts the estimated torque output based on the weak cylinder.
US09581097B2

A variety of methods and arrangements for determining whether a high pressure exhaust spring is present in a cylinder of an internal combustion engine are described. For spark ignition engines, the electrical properties of the spark plug spark gap may be used to determine whether a high pressure exhaust spring is present.
US09581095B2

Methods and systems are provided for adjusting operation of a throttle turbine generator to enable improved canister purging. A pressure differential across an intake throttle may be harnessed to rotate a turbine coupled in a throttle bypass, the turbine in turn driving a generator to charge a battery. During low intake manifold vacuum conditions, the generator may be operated as a motor to rotate the turbine, and use a compressor effect of the turbine to purge fuel vapors from a fuel system canister.
US09581080B2

A rate based model predictive controller for air path control for a diesel engine regulates turbine lift and EGR valve flow rate to specified set points by coordinated control of intake manifold air pressure and EGR valve flow rate. The controller utilizes a rate-based reduced order linear model for model predictive control.
US09581074B2

A thermostat assembly for use with an engine cooling system includes a thermostat, a frame, a bypass valve and an integrated filter. The frame supports the thermostat and is positioned upstream of a thermostatic valve. The frame also defines a primary coolant passage. The bypass valve is positioned on the frame and selectively defines a bypass coolant passage. The filter is positioned on the frame upstream of the thermostat and is configured to filter coolant flowing through the primary coolant passage to the thermostat. The bypass valve moves between a normally closed position and an open position where coolant is free to pass through the bypass coolant passage and to the thermostat. The bypass valve moves to the open position upon being subjected to a predetermined pressure caused by a reduction in a coolant flow rate through the filter so as to provide for coolant flow to bypass the filter.
US09581071B2

A cooling system for an industrial vehicle includes one or more heat radiation devices located in a containment. The one or more heat radiation devices may be configured to cool a plurality of components in the industrial vehicle. An air intake device may be configured to create airflow from outside of the industrial vehicle into the containment. The airflow passes through the one or more heat radiation devices. The cooling system may further include a control device operatively connected to the containment. The control device may be configured to selectively direct at least a portion of the airflow to the plurality of components in the industrial vehicle after the airflow passes through the one or more heat radiation devices.
US09581069B2

A particulate detection system (1) for detecting the amount of particulates S in a gas under measurement EG includes a detection section (10), a drive circuit (210, 240), and a drive control section (225). The detection section includes a first potential member (31, 12, 13) maintained at a first potential PV1, a second potential member (14, 51, 53) maintained at a second potential PVE, PV3, and an insulating member (121, 77, 76) disposed between the first and second potential members. The system includes insulation test means (215, S3, 245, S5) for testing the degree of insulation between the first and second potential members. The drive control section includes drive permission/prohibition determination means S4, S6 for determining, on the basis of the degree of insulation tested by the insulation test means, whether to permit the drive of the detection section by the drive circuit.
US09581053B2

A camshaft phaser for an internal combustion engine having—a stator (1) driven by a crankshaft of the internal combustion engine; a rotor (3) connected to the camshaft (24) for co-rotation therewith; and working chambers, which are configured between the stator (1) and the rotor (3) and which are subdivided into pressure chambers (A, B) by vanes (18) that are associated with the rotor (3); and—a pressure medium circuit having a plurality of pressure medium channels (A1, B1, C1, E1) that fulfill different functions, at least two of the pressure medium channels (A1, B1, C1, D1) merging into one another in one section (14); and one of the pressure medium channels (A1, B1, C1, D1) being separated in a pressure medium-tight manner from the other pressure medium channel (A1, B1, C1, D1) by a guide sleeve (13) that is inserted into the section (14).
US09581049B2

The invention relates to a warming arrangement having a warming system for warming a steam turbine. The warming system has a makeup line and recycle line fluidly connected to the steam turbine. A gas moving device and a heater are located in either of these two lines. The warming system further includes a pressure measurement device that is configured and arranged to determine a gauge pressure in the steam turbine as well as a controller. The controller is configured to control a flow rate of the warming gas through the steam turbine, based on the pressure measurement device.
US09581046B2

In a scroll structure of a centrifugal compressor, there are provided a radius increase arc portion E in which a radius from the center of a scroll 12 to a scroll centroid P of the cross section of the scroll 12 is gradually increased in any range in a circumferential direction from the start of winding of the scroll, and a radius decrease arc portion F in which the radius is gradually decreased toward a scroll end point Z.
US09581044B2

To solve both axial and rotational constraint problems in turbochargers with rolling element bearings (REBs), a REB sleeve or outer race is mounted to the bearing housing in a way that is not axially and radially rigid, thus allowing for oil damping films both radially and axially. At the same time, the REB sleeve or outer race is held so that the REB sleeve or outer race does not rotate relative to the bearing housing. This dual purpose is achieved using an anti-rotation ring and a damping ring. The anti-rotation ring includes at least one anti-rotation feature for engaging the bearing housing and at least one anti-rotation feature for engaging the REB cartridge, preventing rotation of the REB cartridge sleeve or outer race. The damping ring axially locates the REB cartridge and dampens axial movement and cushions axial thrust.
US09581041B2

The disclosure relates to a high temperature mechanical system, such as a gas turbine engine, including a first coating deposited on a first substrate and a second coating deposited on a second substrate. The first coating includes a first bond layer, a second bond layer, and a first ceramic outer layer, wherein the second bond layer is between the first bond layer and first ceramic outer layer. The second coating includes a third bond layer deposited on the substrate and a second ceramic outer layer deposited on the third bond layer. The second coating is configured to abrade the first coating, e.g., during operation of the high temperature mechanical system.
US09581039B2

A fiber preform for a turbine ring sector obtained by three-dimensional weaving and including a base-forming first portion, two tab-forming L-shaped portions each presenting two branches, two ends of the first portion being extended by respective ones of the first branches, and a second portion connecting together the two tabs, first and second strips woven together forming the first branches, a first fraction of the thicknesses of the second branches, and the first portion, there being a non-linked zone between them that is situated in the first branches and in the first portion, and a third woven strip forming the second portion and a second fraction of the thickness of the second branches of each of the tabs.
US09581038B2

A seal segment is positioned, in use, radially adjacent the rotor. The seal segment has first and second circumferentially spaced passageways each of which extends in the fore and aft direction. In use, a first support bar is contained within the first passageway, and a second support bar is contained within the second passageway. The first and second support bars being mountable to complementary formations provided by the casing of the engine. The first passageway is configured such that the seal segment is fixed relative to the first support bar in the radial and circumferential directions. The second passageway is configured such that the seal segment is fixed relative to the second support bar in the radial direction but allows relative movement of the seal segment and the second support bar in the circumferential direction to accommodate differential thermal expansion of the seal segment and the casing.
US09581033B2

A surface mounted heater assembly for an aerospace component having a support layer, an electrically resistive heater foil element supported by the support layer, a coating covering the heater element; and an adhesive to secure said support layer to the component is provided. The coating has two layers that are visually distinct to permit identification of potential exposure of the heater foil element. A surface mounted heater having a multiple layer assembly having a support layer; a heater element and a transition layer to couple the support layer to the aerospace component is provided.
US09581028B1

An air cooled turbine stator vane form a small gas turbine engine in which the vane has an airfoil of less than one inch in spanwise height, where the airfoil is a hollow airfoil having an insert that forms a sequential impingement cooling circuit for the pressure side wall and then the suction side wall. The insert includes a plurality of cooling air supply channels connected together by ribs where pressure side impingement holes are formed in the cooling air supply channels and suction side wall impingement cooling holes are formed in the ribs.
US09581027B2

The invention relates to an airfoil for a gas turbine, which comprises a compound fillet disposed between the airfoil and a platform. The compound fillet consists of a first arc and a second arc. A first end of the first arc tangentially adjoins an outer surface of the airfoil. A second end of the first arc tangentially adjoins a first end of the second arc. A second end of the second arc tangentially adjoins a surface of the platform, wherein the following equation is satisfied: 0.15≦R1/s≦0.45, and 0.09≦a/s≦0.27.
US09581026B2

A steam turbine 10 according to an embodiment includes: rotor blade cascades each made up at a turbine rotor 22; an inner casing 21 where the turbine rotor 22 is provided to penetrate; an outer casing 20 surrounding the inner casing 21; stationary blade cascades each made up at an inner side of the inner casing 21; and an annular diffuser 60 provided at a downstream side of a final turbine stage, formed by a steam guide 40 and a bearing cone 50, and discharging steam toward outside in a radial direction. An enlarged inclination angle θ1 of an inner surface 70 of a diaphragm outer ring 26a at the final turbine stage relative to a turbine rotor axial direction is an enlarged inclination angle θ2 of an inner surface 80 at an inlet of the steam guide 40 relative to the turbine rotor axial direction or more.
US09581023B2

An opencast coal mine underground water reservoir comprising an impermeable layer and, provided below the impermeable layer, a water storage space and a purification layer. The water storage space comprises a first water storage space and a second water storage space. The purification layer comprises a first purification layer and a second purification layer. The first purification layer is provided horizontally in the water storage space and divides the water storage space into the first water storage space and the second water storage space. The first water storage space is provided below the impermeable layer and between same and the first purification layer. The second water storage space is provided below the first water storage space and the bottom of the second water storage space is provided at the bottom of the opencast coal mine underground water reservoir. The second purification layer is provided vertically within the second water storage space. The present invention, by constructing the opencast coal mine underground water reservoir, prevents wastage of water resource produced during a coal mining process, and by providing the purification layer in the opencast coal mining underground water reservoir, implements repeated purification of water, prevents environmental pollution, and implements a water conservation mining policy during the coal mining process.
US09581018B2

Disclosed is a system and method for horizontal directional drilling (HDD). The system and method utilize predictive algorithms to both characterize the soil within the borehole and to quantify instability within the drillstring. The soil characteristics are represented by a soil coefficient (α) which relates the curvature of the borehole with the length of thrust of the drill rig as well as by comparison of thrust while thrusting with torque while drilling. The value of (α) is obtained by comparison of the historical orientation of the drilling head over the length of the borehole and the borehole shape as determined by an arbitrary navigation sensor. Drillstring instability is determined as a function of historical thrust and torque efficiencies and windup over the length of the borehole.
US09581008B2

A method and apparatus for damping stick-slip oscillations in a drill string. In one embodiment a method includes damping the stick-slip oscillations using a drilling mechanism at the top of said drill string. The speed of rotation of the drilling mechanism is controlled using a PI controller. The control is characterized by tuning the PI controller so that the drilling mechanism absorbs most torsional energy from the drill string at a frequency that is at or near a frequency of the stick-slip oscillations.
US09581005B2

A method for underdisplacing fracture proppant in a well bore. The method can include providing a set retainer having a passage configured to receive a wiper plug. The method may also include installing the set retainer in the well bore and injecting a proppant-laden fluid into the well bore, through the passage of the set retainer and through a perforation to create the fracture. The method may include providing a wiper plug configured to be received in the passage of the set retainer. The method may also include inserting the wiper plug into the well bore and allowing the wiper plug to wipe a portion of the proppant-laden fluid past the set retainer and into the fracture. Additionally, the method may include allowing the set retainer to receive the wiper plug.
US09581000B2

A pressure compensating system that minimizes the pressure differences across multiple shaft seals in a rod driven downhole pumping apparatus. The system balances the pressures across the seals by forcing the external pressure of all seals and compensators to be equal to the highest external pressure in the apparatus, made possible by the appropriate use of labyrinth-type seals. A bleed valve assembly which allows free flow of fluid into the pressure compensating system, but restricts the rate of fluid outflow from the system in case of shut-in of the pump, to limit the potential of rapid opening and closing of the mechanical shaft seals.
US09580996B2

A method for processing a flowback composition stream from a well head includes controlling a first flow rate of the flow back composition stream to a second flow rate by regulating the flowback composition stream from a first pressure to a second pressure. The method also includes separating the flowback composition stream into a first gas stream and a condensed stream. The method includes discharging the condensed stream to a degasser and degassing a carbon dioxide rich gas from the condensed stream. The method also includes mixing the carbon dioxide rich gas stream with the first gas stream to produce a second gas stream. The method includes controlling a third flow rate of the second gas stream by regulating a third pressure of the second gas stream to a fourth pressure that is different than the third pressure.
US09580977B2

A blowout preventer transport and handling system for a blowout preventer on a well rig. The system includes a skid for a receipt of a blowout preventer. A pair of trolley beams parallel to the skid are moveable between a lowered storage position and a raised use position. A trolley hoist mechanism is provided on each of the trolley beams. At least one cylinder moves the pair of trolley beams between the lowered storage position and the raised use position.
US09580974B2

The invention relates to a safety joint and a method of operation, the safety joint comprising: a first riser part and a second riser part overlapping in an axial direction and having end connections to be connectable as part of a riser, a release unit, locking the two riser parts together in a not activated mode, the release unit having other modes comprising a partly activated mode and fully activated mode, where the release unit comprises at least one axial extending tension rod connected between the two riser parts, which tension rod is configured to deform plastically before breaking, thereby activating the partly and fully activated modes.
US09580973B2

The present invention relates to a drill-pipe communication assembly. The drill-pipe communication assembly includes a first drill pipe and an insulated tube disposed within, and generally concentric with, the first drill pipe. A male insert is disposed within a first end of the first drill pipe and a female insert is disposed within a second end of the first drill pipe. A conductor is electrically coupled to the male insert and the female insert. The conductor extends along a length of the first drill pipe. The conductor facilitates transmission of electrical signals from the first end of the first drill pipe to the second end of the first drill pipe.
US09580952B2

A dishwasher door closing device (10; 110) includes an engagement element (11; 111), fitted on the casing (C) of the household appliance (W) releasably held by a retaining element (16) on the door (D). The engagement element (11; 111) includes a support body (12), a catch (14) releasably coupled to the retaining element (16) moving between a refracted position coupled to the retaining element (16) and the door (D) is closed, and an extracted position coupled to the retaining element (16) and the door (D) is in a pre-opening condition. A stop mechanism (18) tends to move from a release condition, in which it (18) frees the catch (14) to move from the retracted position to the extracted position, to a locking position and (18) holds the catch (14). An electrically-operated actuator system (20) controls passage of the stop mechanism (18) from the locking position to the release position.
US09580950B2

Locking balance shoes and balance systems to be incorporated in pivotable double hung windows include, in one embodiment, a pair of retractable tabs that partially extend through openings within an inverted window balance. In one embodiment of the method of installing such a system, an enlarged portion of the balance shoe is inserted into a window jamb and then rotated into position.
US09580944B2

An exit device assembly for use in association with a door having a top, a bottom and a generally vertical surface. The exit door assembly includes an exit device configured to be mounted on the surface of the door, the exit device including a manually movable member, a latch mechanism configured to be mounted adjacent one of the top and the bottom of the door, the latch mechanism including a latch movable between a locking position and a non-locking position, and a non-rigid device for causing movement of the latch in response to movement of the manually movable member.
US09580943B1

A latching device is for a cowl on an outboard marine engine, the cowl having first and second cowl portions that are separated from each other in an open cowl position and that are latched together by the latching device in a closed cowl position. A retainer is adapted to be fixed to the first cowl portion and a latch is adapted to be fixed to the second cowl portion. The latch is movable into and between a latched position in which the latch is latched to the retainer and an unlatched position in which the latch is unlatched from the retainer. The latch comprises an engagement member, a bell crank, and a spring that is coupled to the engagement member and the bell crank. Movement of the bell crank with respect to the engagement member generates an overcenter force on the engagement member that facilitates latching and unlatching of the engagement member and the retainer.
US09580940B2

An opening and closing control device of a vehicle cover is configured to control opening and closing of a cover covering a connection part of a vehicle connecting a connection member, and includes a drive unit which performs the opening and closing operation by moving the cover. An operation status detection unit an operation position of the cover, a control unit drives and controls the drive unit so that the cover is set in one of a plurality of positions based on whether the connection member is connected or not, the operation position detected by the operation status detection unit, and the ON/OFF state of the power of the vehicle when a control signal is input from a control switch or a remote key.
US09580936B2

A lock assembly for a bicycle may comprise a shackle and a lock body. The shackle may have first and second end portions, and a central portion. The shackle may include a cable disposed in a cushioning sleeve extending between the first and second end portions. A resilient member may be disposed on or included in the central portion of the shackle. The first end portion may include a locking member, and the second end portion may be connected to the lock body. The lock assembly may be operable between stowed position corresponding to the shackle and a portion of the lock assembly contained within a bore of a handlebar of the bicycle, and a removed position corresponding to the lock assembly removed from the bore.
US09580934B2

Disclosed are various embodiments of lock devices, systems, and methods. A locking system includes a locking mechanism with a controller configured to provide an actuation signal to an electronic actuator to extend or retract a locking mechanism and to adjust an allowable peak current for operating the electronic actuator to throw the deadbolt based on whether the allowable peak current is sufficient for the locking mechanism to achieve its locked or unlocked positions. The allowable peak current can be adjusted over time between a minimum and maximum peak current, thus optimizing the actual current draw from the electronic actuator required to throw the locking mechanism and minimizing power consumption.
US09580932B2

A key assembly is disclosed. The key assembly may have a blade with a head portion, a shank, and a transition region connecting the head portion to the shank. The key assembly may also have a head configured to receive the blade. The head may have a shoulder located at the transition region to limit engagement of the head with the blade, and at least one tang located at an end of the head opposite the shoulder. The at least one tang may be configured to engage a recess located within a side of the head portion and inhibit removal of the head from the blade.
US09580929B2

A shelter that includes a slider and a strut mechanism mounted on support posts of the shelter that automatically actuate and extend from the side of the support posts when the shelter is expanded from its collapsed state. The strut mechanism provides support for an eave that extends outside from all or a portion of the perimeter of the shelter defined by the corners of the support posts. An automatic hard-stop mechanism is incorporated into the support posts that prevent the eave sliders and strut mechanisms from becoming over-extended. The support posts are configured and oriented relative to the other components of the shelter frame and shelter boundary so to minimize the footprint or size of the shelter when in the collapsed state.
US09580917B2

A process for making a fibrous panel member and a flooring structure is disclosed. The flooring structure has a subfloor, a surface layer, and an insulative pad disposed between the subfloor and the surface layer. The insulative pad has an MDI binder and reinforcement fibers distributed uniformly and randomly within a first plane. The process includes mixing a porous fiber material with a MDI adhesive. The fiber batt is compressed between a pair of porous belts. Steam and heat are applied to the compressed batt to form a bound flexible batting material.
US09580902B2

A fire resistant roofing material includes a core sheet and a sheet of conductive material having a thermal conductivity greater than about 25 W/m-K. The sheet of conductive material is coextensively bonded with the core sheet, and coated with a polymer-modified bituminous material having fire-resistant properties.
US09580900B2

A fitting for use with channel framing including an outer surface and a fitting groove formed in the outer surface includes a base comprising an inner face, an outer face, and sides extending between the inner face and outer face. The base is configured for insertion into the fitting groove of the channel framing. A spring member is mounted on the base and disposed generally above the outer face of the base. The spring member is configured to engage the outer surface of the channel framing when the base is inserted into the fitting groove. The base and the spring member form a clamp for securing the fitting in the fitting groove.
US09580898B2

A liquid run-off disposal system 100 comprising an elongate tank structure having one or more culvert sections 102 adapted to be arranged end to end in a substantially horizontal orientation below ground. Each culvert section 102 also includes a plurality of louvre-shaped inserts 114 provided in the sidewalls thereof wherein, in use, when liquid run-off is piped into the culvert section 102 it can drain away by soaking into the surrounding soil.
US09580885B2

A rotation type working machine includes: an attachment mounted so as to be able to rotate with respect to a base body; a rotation mechanism which rotates the attachment; a control device which controls the rotation mechanism; and an entering object detection device which detects a position of an entering object entered into a work area, in which the control device controls a rotation operation of the attachment based on a first physical amount related to at least one of a current angular velocity of the attachment and a current moment of inertia of the attachment, and the position of the entering object detected by the entering object detection device.
US09580879B1

Embodiments of the present disclosure include a remotely-operable percussion compactor comprising: a primary power source; a plurality of electric motors coupled to the primary power source and attached to the compactor body; a plurality of reaction wheels coupled to respective electric motors; an inertial measurement unit (IMU); a remote control interface; and a controller configured to: receive one or more commands from the remote-control interface and a feedback signal from the IMU, and set a desired operating condition for at least one of the electric motors based on at least one of the feedback signal and the one or more commands. In some embodiments, the controller can be configured to determine an angular disturbance relative to at least one rotational axis of the compactor; and set the desired operating condition for one or more electric motors to generate a reactive force to at least partially counteract the angular disturbance.
US09580878B2

A bollard covering formed from a body, a body connector, a first center, a second center, a bottom, and a top is disclosed. The body connector and bottom further comprise post guide surfaces. In order to secure the bollard covering to the post, one or more holes are provided within the bottom, threaded to accommodate a set screw, or the like. Bollard covering elements are joined by welding, bonding, or mechanical fastening. Bollard coverings may be formed from a manufacturer's standard inventory elements in order to create a standard inventory or a customized bollard covering product that may be economically configured on an individual bollard covering basis, or on small or large scale runs, with as much variation in optional components, features, and conveniences as may be required by the marketplace.
US09580868B2

A method of making paper or paperboard using a composition made by the hydrogenation or partial hydrogenation of an alkyl ketene dimer, alkenyl ketene dimer, or ketene multimer (collectively labeled H2-AKD). Also, relates to a paper or paperboard having increased water and water vapor resistance while maintaining good recyclability and repulpability.
US09580866B2

Methods for improving one or more surface properties of a sheet of paper or paperboard, which method comprises (a) coating at least one side of the sheet of paper or paperboard with a dispersion having a cationic zeta potential formed by combining (1) a mixture containing one or more anionic pigments with (2) one or more polyamine-epihalohydrin cationic wet strength resins at a coating weight of from about 0.1 g/m2 to about 20 g/m2; (b) drying the coated sheet of paper or paperboard; (c) applying a functional barrier top coating that resists one or more of the following: liquid water, water vapor, gas permeability, oil and grease, slip, and static or an anionic latex based pigment coating that imparts improved opacity, brightness, or printability. The invention also includes the dispersions as well as paper or paperboard coated with the dispersion.
US09580854B2

A method of washing fabric articles in a tunnel washer includes moving the fabric articles from the intake of the washer to the discharge of the washer through first and second sectors that are a pre-wash zone. Liquid can be counter flowed in the wash interior along a flow path that is generally opposite the direction of travel of the fabric articles. The main wash zone can be heated as an option. In the wash zone, there is a pre-rinse and/or a rinse. The fabric articles are transferred to a water extraction device that enables removal of excess water. A sour solution can be added to the fabric articles while extracting excess water.
US09580848B2

Methods and apparatus including a fiber opening chamber having an open upper end and a lower end, at least one fiber inlet for introducing a multiplicity of fibers into the opening chamber, a first multiplicity of rollers positioned within the opening chamber wherein each roller has a multiplicity of projections extending outwardly from a circumferential surface surrounding a center axis of rotation, at least one gas emission nozzle positioned substantially below the first multiplicity of rollers to direct a gas stream generally towards the open upper end of the opening chamber, and a forming chamber having an upper end and a lower end, wherein the upper end of the forming chamber is in flow communication with the open upper end of the opening chamber, and the lower end of the forming chamber is substantially open and positioned above a collector having a collector surface.
US09580844B2

A weaving method for the double-face weaving of pile fabrics wherein at least five different pile warp threads (12-19), (20-27) with a yarn number of between 6 and 10 Nm final and at least two tension warp threads (8),(9); (10,11) are provided for each warp thread system (100) and for each fabric (28), (29), wherein the weft threads (1,2), (2,3) of each fabric are divided over at least three levels, while the ground weave repeat runs over at least eight insertion cycles (I-VIII), wherein between 200 and 1000 warp thread systems per meter are provided, and at least 16 pile rows per cm are formed in the warp direction.
US09580839B2

Making carbon fiber from asphaltenes obtained through heavy oil upgrading. In more detail, carbon fiber is made from asphaltenes obtained from heavy oil feedstocks undergoing upgrading in a continuous coking reactor.
US09580837B2

In a method for growing bulk SiC single crystals using chemical vapor transport, wherein silicon acts as a chemical transport agent for carbon, a growth crucible is charged with a solid carbon source material and a SiC single crystal seed disposed therein in spaced relationship. A halosilane gas, such as SiCl4 and a reducing gas, such as H2, are introduced into the crucible via separate inlets and mix in the crucible interior. The crucible is heated in a manner that encourages chemical reaction between the halosilane gas and the reducing gas leading to the chemical reduction of the halosilane gas to elemental silicon (Si) vapor. The produced Si vapor is transported to the solid carbon source material where it reacts with the solid carbon source material yielding volatile Si-bearing and C-bearing molecules. The produced Si-bearing and C-bearing vapors are transported to the SiC single crystal seed and precipitate on the SiC single crystal seed causing growth of a SiC single crystal on the SiC single crystal seed.
US09580835B2

A method and apparatus for processing a semiconductor substrate is described. The apparatus is a process chamber having an optically transparent upper dome and lower dome. Vacuum is maintained in the process chamber during processing. The upper dome is thermally controlled by flowing a thermal control fluid along the upper dome outside the processing region. Thermal lamps are positioned proximate the lower dome, and thermal sensors are disposed among the lamps. The lamps are powered in zones, and a controller adjusts power to the lamp zones based on data received from the thermal sensors.
US09580833B2

In various embodiments, non-zero thermal gradients are formed within a growth chamber both substantially parallel and substantially perpendicular to the growth direction during formation of semiconductor crystals, where the ratio of the two thermal gradients (parallel to perpendicular) is less than 10, by, e.g., arrangement of thermal shields outside of the growth chamber.
US09580830B2

A method of preparing a magnesium alloy substrate for an electroless electro-deposition surface treatment includes cleaning the magnesium alloy substrate in a wet solution, whereby a magnesium hydroxide layer is formed on an outer surface of the magnesium alloy substrate, and heating the magnesium alloy substrate to a temperature sufficient to convert the magnesium hydroxide layer to a magnesium oxide layer.
US09580826B2

A method for recovering platinum group metals from a catalytic structure, such as a fuel cell membrane electrode assembly, involving dissolution of the platinum group metal by treating the catalytic structure in an electrolytic cell with a suitable electrolyte containing a complexing agent and introducing an electric current into the electrolytic cell; and subsequently re-precipitating the platinum group metal by increasing the pH of the electrolyte system and adding a reducing agent.
US09580819B2

A device comprising an electrically conductive surface portion is provided for immersion in an electrically conductive liquid such as water. At least one load electrode is provided for supplying an electric load current into the electrically conductive liquid. Further, an electrode, e.g., one or more of the at least one load electrode acts as protection electrode. A protection current source, e.g., a resistor, is electrically coupled to the conductive surface portion and to the protection electrode for providing a protection current flowing between the electrically conductive surface portion and the electrode. Further, the protection current source is adapted for changing the protection current in response to a change in the load current.
US09580816B2

Provided are an apparatus for continuous electrolytic treatment of a steel sheet that is suitable for producing a surface-treated steel sheet and a method for producing the surface-treated steel sheet using the apparatus for continuous electrolytic treatment of a steel sheet. The apparatus includes N pairs of tabular electrodes having a length L and being arranged to respectively face two surfaces of a steel sheet. Each electrode includes n sections arranged in the longitudinal direction of the electrode and disposed on the surface of the electrode facing the steel sheet surface. Each section is constituted by a conductive portion including an electrode portion having a length T1 and a nonconductive portion made by making an electrode portion having a length T2 nonconductive, where n×N≧10, 0.96≧T2/(T1+T2)≧0.05, and 0.9≧T1/L≧0.1.
US09580814B2

A chemical conversion coating is provided. The chemical conversion coating is disposed on a surface of a magnesium alloy substrate. The chemical conversion coating includes a first protecting layer. The first protecting layer contains manganese, magnesium and oxygen, and a manganese content of the first protecting layer is between 10 at. % to 20 at. %.
US09580813B2

Disclosed is a zirconium-based metal pretreatment coating composition that includes a metal chelator that chelates copper in the metal pretreatment coating composition and thereby improves adhesion of paints to a metal substrate coated with the pretreatment coating composition and the chelating agent is present in a sufficient amount to ensure that in the deposited pretreatment coating on the metal substrate the average total atomic % of copper to atomic % of zirconium is equal to or less than 1.1. The pretreatment coating composition is useful for treating a variety of metal substrates.
US09580812B2

Chemical conversion treatment agents for surface treating a metal substrate and a method for surface treating a metal substrate using the same are described in this disclosure. The chemical conversion agent includes at least one metal element, a fluorine element, and a co-condensate of a first silane coupling agent (A) and a second silane coupling agent (B).
US09580808B2

The invention relates to an apparatus for performing a plasma chemical vapor deposition process. The apparatus comprises a mainly cylindrical resonator being provided with an outer cylindrical wall enclosing a resonant cavity extending in a circumferential direction around a cylindrical axis. The resonator is further provided with side wall portions bounding the resonant cavity in the cylindrical direction, and with a slit configuration extending in a circumferential direction around the cylindrical axis providing access from the resonant cavity radially inwardly. Further, the slit configuration includes slit sections that are mutually offset in the cylindrical direction.
US09580800B2

A method for operating semiconductor manufacturing equipment is provided. The method includes forming a conductive thin film on an inner side surface of a reaction chamber and on a substrate in the reaction chamber, the conductive thin film including a first conductive material, and forming a particle preventive layer on the inner side surface of the reaction chamber in which the conductive thin film is formed.
US09580797B2

A racetrack-shaped magnetic-field-generating apparatus for magnetron sputtering comprising a linear portion and corner portions, the linear portion comprising a magnetic base, a center permanent magnet disposed on its surface, and side permanent magnets disposed on both sides thereof with a gap; the center and side permanent magnets being vertically magnetized with opposite polarities; the corner portions comprising a non-magnetic base, a center magnetic pole member disposed on its surface, a semicircular or semi-polygonal, peripheral magnetic pole member, and plural permanent magnets arranged between both magnetic pole members with their magnetization directions in parallel to a target surface; and the magnetic poles of plural permanent magnets opposing the center magnetic pole member having the same polarity as those of the center permanent magnet opposing the target.
US09580792B2

In a shadow mask-substrate alignment method, a substrate and a shadow mask each include a grate having a plurality of bars in spaced relation, wherein for each grate, each pair of spaced bars of each grate is separated by a gap. The spacing between at least three adjacent gaps is different or not of constant pitch, and at least one grate includes a gap that extends therethrough. The grate of the substrate and the grate of the shadow mask are positioned in a light path. Thereafter, the orientation of the substrate, the shadow mask, or both are caused to be adjusted to position the grate of the substrate, the grate of the shadow mask, or both until a predetermined amount of light or range of an amount of light on the light path passing through one or both of the grates is received by a light receiver.
US09580781B2

Dual-phase steels and a process for producing a family of dual-phase steels that have a low YS/TS ratio and tensile strength above 590 MPa. The process includes employing low annealing temperatures combined with specific cooling strategies using gas jet rapid cooling equipped with “Ultra Rapid Cooling” (URC) capacity in the cooling tower. The process can also include the production of dual-phase steels with tensile strengths of at least 690 MPa by processing steels with specific cooling strategies using the URC having a refined Mo content towards the higher end of the chemical composition range mentioned in the current stated invention.
US09580775B2

New heat treatable aluminum alloys having magnesium and zinc are disclosed. The new aluminum alloys generally contain 3.0-6.0 wt. % Mg, 2.5-5.0 wt. % Zn, where (wt. % Mg)/(wt. % Zn) is from 0.60 to 2.40.
US09580771B2

The invention relates to a method and to an arrangement for refining copper concentrate. The arrangement includes a suspension smelting furnace comprising a reaction shaft, and a settler. The reaction shaft is provided with a concentrate burner for feeding copper concentrate such as copper sulfide concentrate and/or copper matte and additionally at least reaction gas into the reaction shaft to obtain a blister layer containing blister and a first slag layer containing slag on top of the blister layer in the settler, and a slag cleaning furnace. The arrangement includes a feeder configured for feeding blister from the blister layer in the settler and for feeding slag from the first slag layer in the settler into the slag cleaning furnace.
US09580755B2

The present invention is directed to an in vitro method of detecting cell free nucleic acids, preferably cell free DNA (cfDNA) in a body fluid sample from an individual or a patient, wherein the method comprises the step of accurately and sensitively determining the concentration of cell free nucleic acid in the sample and/or determining the concentration or amount of said cell free nucleic acid of a size range and/or the index of integrity or size fraction ratio (SFR) of said cell free nucleic acid and/or the determination of the presence of genetic polymorphisms (such as known Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) or mutations). The invention encompasses also a method to discriminate body fluid individuals where cfDNA are highly released by comparing the size profile obtained for at least one of three size ranges of cfDNA. The invention also encompasses a method for analyzing cell nucleic acids in individuals for the diagnosis, prognosis or for assessing the evolution of a physiological state, such as the progression of a tumor or metastatic cancer, for monitoring the efficacy of a cancer treatment in a patient or for theragnostic purposes implementing the analysis of these biomarkers.
US09580735B2

A saccharifying enzyme composition, by which excellent saccharification performance can be attained even with a low usage thereof, as well as a method for producing a saccharified solution using the same are provided. The saccharifying enzyme composition subjects lignocellulose-based biomass as a substrate to a saccharification treatment. The saccharifying enzyme composition comprises an endoglucanase not containing a cellulose-binding domain, a cellobiohydrolase containing a cellulose-binding domain, and a β-glucosidase containing a cellulose-binding domain.
US09580734B2

The instant invention provides improved culture, fermentation and purification conditions for preparing Neisseria meningitidis polysaccharides. The invention in particular relates to a novel fermentation medium, optimal feed solution addition strategies and an improved purification process devoid of any chromatographic methods for obtaining high yield of Neisseria meningitidis X polysaccharide.
US09580733B2

This document describes biochemical pathways for producing adipic acid, 6-aminohexanoic acid, 6-hydroxhexanoic acid, hexamethylenediamine, caprolactam, or 1,6-hexanediol by forming one or two terminal functional groups, comprised of carboxyl, amine or hydroxyl group, in a C6 aliphatic backbone substrate. These pathways, metabolic engineering and cultivation strategies described herein rely on the enzymes or homologs accepting methyl ester shielded dicarboxylic acid substrates.
US09580729B2

A method for producing ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass using yeast at low cost is provided. The method of the present invention for producing ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass includes steps of (1) pretreating lignocellulosic biomass, (2) treating a cellulose fraction obtained in Step (1) with a cellulose hydrolase, (3) mixing saccharified biomass obtained in Step (2) with yeasts to perform ethanol fermentation, and (4) subjecting a fermentation product obtained in Step (3) to a solid-liquid separation, wherein a cycle consisting of Steps (1), (2), (3) and (4) is repeated twice or more, and yeasts obtained in Step (4) are used as all or a portion of yeasts in Step (3) of the subsequent cycle.
US09580718B2

The present invention relates to inducing acid resistance in a bacterium and methods of increasing the acid resistance of an acid sensitive bacterium.
US09580717B2

This invention is related to bacterial engineering and the heterologous expression of useful compounds. In particular, the invention relates to a heterologous host that has been engineered for expression of a gene which is capable of polyketide or non-ribosomal peptide synthesis. Methods of treating cancer are also disclosed.
US09580710B2

This invention provides methods and compositions for preventing, treating or ameliorating one or more symptoms of a malignant tumor associated with KRAS mutation in a mammal in need thereof, by identifying a tumor cell in the mammal, the tumor cell comprising at least one of: (i) a mutation of the KRAS gene, and (ii) an aberrant expression level of KRAS protein; and administering to the mammal a therapeutically effective amount of a composition comprising one or more RNAi molecules that are active in reducing expression of GST-π.
US09580701B2

The present disclosure provides DNA-guided CRISPR systems; polynucleotides comprising DNA, RNA and mixtures thereof for use with CRISPR systems; and methods of use involving such polynucleotides and DNA-guided CRISPR systems.
US09580700B2

The present invention relates to methods of improving the introduction of DNA into bacterial host cells.
US09580690B2

The present invention discloses an attenuated recombinant alphavirus that is incapable of replicating in mosquito cells and of transmission by mosquito vectors. These attenuated alphavirus may include but is not limited to Western Equine Encephalitis virus, Eastern equine encephalitis virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus or Chikungunya virus. The present invention also discloses the method of generating such alphaviruses and their use as immunogenic compositions.
US09580681B2

A method of manufacturing a patterned substrate for culturing cells. The method includes the steps of: (1) preparing a substrate, (2) forming a first plasma polymer layer by integrating a first precursor material on the substrate using a plasma, wherein the first plasma layer inhibits cell adsorption, and wherein the first precursor material is a siloxane-based compound having a siloxane functional group with the Si—O—Si linkage, (3) placing a shadow mask having a predetermined pattern on the first plasma polymer layer thus formed, and (4) forming a second patterned plasma polymer layer by integrating a second precursor material using a plasma, wherein the second patterned plasma layer permits culturing of cells, whereby the patterned substrate is obtained.
US09580679B2

Disclosed herein are methods and systems for use in preparing a sample. The methods and systems may be used for lysing one or more structures in a sample (e.g., cells, viral particles, etc.). The methods and compositions may comprise a microfluidic chip or use thereof. The microfluidic chips disclosed herein may comprise (a) a substrate comprising a chamber, wherein at least one mechanical element may be located within the chamber; (b) a thermal element in contact with the chamber; and (c) at least one aperture within the surface of the substrate, wherein the aperture may be configured to insulate the chamber.
US09580677B2

Provided are an apparatus for filtering a fluid, the apparatus including a first flow channel and a second flow channel which are connected to each other in a fluid communicable manner via a filtration medium, and a method of isolating particles using the apparatus.
US09580674B2

The invention relates to a method for adding hops in beer manufacture, having the following process steps; a) separation of a sub-quantity (07a) of water and/or wort (07) and/or beer as an aqueous fluid, b) addition of hop extract (10) in liquid or pasty form to the separated aqueous fluid (07a), c) production of a macroemulsion (13) of the hop extract by emulsifying the hop extract (10) in the aqueous fluid (07a), d) increasing the pressure in the macroemulsion (13) of the hop extract to a feed pressure of in particular higher than 100 bar, e) production of a microemulsion (17) of the hop extract by feeding the pressurized macroemulsion (13) through a gap or a valve (16) or by feeding the pressurized macroemulsion against a baffle plate, f) at least partial return of the microemulsion (17) of the hop extract to the beer manufacturing process.
US09580667B2

Briefly described, embodiments of this disclosure include articles and methods of making articles.
US09580662B1

The present invention relates to quenching, during hydroprocessing of a hydrocarbon feed stream. More particularly, the present invention provides for quenching in hydroprocessing of a hydrocarbon feed stream through a hydroprocessing vessel. Liquid quenches (from high pressure hot separator) were installed to assist in cooling the reactor inter-bed, and to maintain good liquid irrigation of the catalyst. The soluble hydrogen in the stream, kinetically active and available for immediate reaction, is the final piece of the puzzle for why this unit runs so well.
US09580655B1

Flame retardant formulations comprising boric acid and diammonium phosphate are disclosed herein. Such formulations are in an aqueous form or a powdered form. Methods of generating a flame retardant formulation are also disclosed herein. Such methods comprise combining boric acid and diammonium phosphate in an aqueous solution, wherein the boric acid and the diammonium phosphate is in a ratio range selected from the group consisting of 1:1 to 99:1 and 1:1 to 1:99; and heating the solution until dissolved; thereby generating a flame retardant formulation, wherein the flame retardant formulation consists essentially of boric acid and diammonium phosphate.
US09580651B2

An organic compound represented by General Formula (G100) is provided. A novel liquid crystal composition containing the organic compound is provided.
US09580646B2

The invention relates to a method for treating a steel band or steel plate provided with a metal coating with an after-treatment agent, which contains at least one polyalkylene glycol and is applied as a liquid solution to the surface of the metal coating. According to the invention, in order to achieve improved wetting and adhesion of the covering and at the same time the lowest possible coefficient of friction of the coated surface and in order to ensure good workability of the coated steel band or plate, the after-treatment agent contains a fluorescent antioxidant in addition to the polyalkylene glycol. The invention further relates to a steel band or steel plate provided with a metal coating, particularly a tin plate, which, on the surface of the metal coating, has a thin coat of an after-treatment agent which contains polyalkylene glycol and a fluorescent antioxidant.
US09580643B2

The invention provides a lighting unit comprising a light source, configured to generate light source light and a particulate luminescent material, configured to convert at least part of the light source light into luminescent material light, wherein the light source comprises a light emitting diode (LED), wherein the particulate luminescent material comprises particles comprising cores, said cores comprising a phosphor comprising M′xM2-2xAX6 doped with tetravalent manganese, wherein M′ comprises an alkaline earth cation, M comprises an alkaline cation, and x is in the range of 0-1, wherein A comprises a tetravalent cation, at least comprising silicon, wherein X comprises a monovalent anion, at least comprising fluorine, and wherein the particles further comprise a metal phosphate based coating, wherein the metal of the metal phosphate based coating is selected from the group consisting of Ti, Si and Al.
US09580641B2

The present disclosure is directed to a composition and method of fracturing a formation penetrated by a well-bore. The composition and method comprises providing a fracturing fluid that is liquefied carbon dioxide (LCO2) with at least one friction reducing polymer that is a polysiloxane dissolved in the LCO2 at a concentration of about 0.001 to 1.0 weight percent, and a first at least one co-solvent, and optionally a second at least one co-solvent that has a closed cup flash point greater than the first at least one co-solvent, in order to enable dissolution of the polymer in order to effect friction reduction.
US09580638B2

Disclosed herein are cement compositions and methods of using set-delayed cement compositions in subterranean formations. In one embodiment a method of cementing in a subterranean formation is described. The method comprises providing a set-delayed cement composition comprising pumice, hydrated lime, a cement set retarder, a synthetic smectite, and water; introducing the set-delayed cement composition into a subterranean formation; and allowing the set-delayed cement composition to set in the subterranean formation.
US09580637B2

Disclosed are traceable polymeric additives that comprise a tagging material and methods of using the traceable polymeric additives in subterranean applications, such as cementing. An embodiment discloses a method of well treatment comprising introducing a fluid comprising a traceable polymeric additive into a wellbore, wherein the traceable polymeric additive comprises a polymer and a tagging material.
US09580634B2

Provided are a phenolic-hydroxyl containing resin, an epoxy resin, and a curable resin composition containing either resin that have high flowability and exhibit high heat resistance and flame retardancy after curing, a cured composition formed therefrom, and a sealant. A phenolic-hydroxyl containing resin is prepared by reacting a polycondensate of a phenolic compound (a) and formaldehyde with an aralkylating agent. The phenolic-hydroxyl containing resin contains as essential components a monoaralkylated derivative (x1) of the phenolic compound (a) having one aralkyl group on an aromatic nucleus thereof and a diaralkylated derivative (x2) of the phenolic compound (a) having two aralkyl groups on an aromatic nucleus thereof. An epoxy resin is prepared by converting the phenolic-hydroxyl containing resin into a polyglycidyl ether.
US09580630B2

An adhesive compound consisting essentially of an organic phase and inorganic phase, the organic phase comprising an amorphous aliphatic (co)polymer having a Ring & Ball softening point of between 75 and 180° C., and a second aliphatic material having a Tg of about −5° C. or lower and a kinematic viscosity of 4500 mm2/s at 100° C. or less, wherein said organic components are present in weight amounts of between 95/5 and 10/90; the inorganic phase comprising a filler, the filler being present in amount of at least about 15 wt % in the total composition. The compositions are suitable for anti-corrosion coatings or sealants against filtration or penetration of water or moisture. A rubber material may be added to this compound or other anti-corrosion coatings to increase the yield point at high temperatures.
US09580625B2

Provided is a gas barrier pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet having at least one gas barrier layer and at least one pressure-sensitive adhesive layer, the at least one pressure-sensitive adhesive layer having a storage modulus at 23° C. of 1.5×104 to 1.0×107 Pa, and the gas barrier pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet not including a base layer. Also, provided is the following: a gas barrier pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet that makes it possible to easily provide the adherend with a gas barrier capability without significantly increasing the thickness of the gas barrier pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet, does not show delamination (separation) at the interface between the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer and another layer even when subjected to high-temperature/high-humidity conditions, and exhibits excellent bendability, a method for producing the same, an electronic member that includes the gas barrier pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet, and an optical member that includes the gas barrier pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet.
US09580623B2

The present invention provides a patterning process, which comprises step of forming a BPSG film on the under layer film by using a composition for forming a coating type BPSG film including a base polymer and an organic compound with a content of 25 parts by mass or more of the organic compound with respect to 100 parts by mass of the base polymer, the base polymer having a silicon containing unit, a boron containing unit and a phosphorus containing unit with a total content of the boron containing unit and the phosphorus containing unit being 10 mol % or more, the organic compound having two or more hydroxyl groups or carboxyl groups per one molecule. There can be provided a patterning process in which a fine mask pattern can be formed on the substrate to be processed by the multilayer resist method, and the residue of the resist under layer film on the mask pattern can be removed cleanly enough to process the substrate to be processed without causing damage to the substrate to be processed and the under layer film.
US09580617B2

A water-based ink for ink-jet recording includes: a water-soluble colorant; water; a water-insoluble liquid; a nonionic surfactant; and an ionic surfactant having a polarity same as that of the water-soluble colorant. The water-insoluble liquid is dispersed stably in the water by the nonionic surfactant and the ionic surfactant having the polarity same as that of the water-soluble colorant.
US09580614B2

The ink set of the invention includes a first ink composition and a second ink composition. The first ink composition contains a first pigment and an alkanediol having 6 or less carbon atoms and having a normal boiling point of 245° C. or more. The content of the first pigment is 1.5% by mass or more, and the content of the alkanediol is 3% by mass or more and 20% by mass or less. The second ink composition contains a second pigment and a penetrant other than the alkanediol. The content of the second pigment is less than 1.5% by mass. The penetrant contained in the second ink composition has an osmotic force higher than that of the alkanediol contained in the first ink composition.
US09580612B2

An aluminum chelate, a method for manufacturing the same and a photo cured ink including the same are revealed. First rosin resin is modified by epoxy and acrylic acid to get acrylic acid modified rosin resin. Then an aluminum chelating agent undergoes a chelation reaction with the acrylic acid modified rosin resin to form a plastic fluid whose chemical structure contains a photoreactive group and a chelate structure with aluminum. The plastic fluid can be added into photo cured inks so that the photo cured inks have better ink tack, ink flow, color density and stability.
US09580608B1

The present invention relates to antifouling coatings capable of being switched by using heat or ultraviolet light. Prior to switching, the coating includes an onium cation component having antimicrobial and antibacterial properties. Upon switching, the coating is converted to a conjugated polymer state, and the cationic component is released with any adsorbed biofilm layer. Thus, the coatings herein have switchable and releasable properties. Methods of making and using such coatings are also described.
US09580600B2

An excellent oil-thickening or -gelling agent is provided. The agent is compatible with various oils and can freely control the form or viscosity of oily raw materials or cosmetics by changing the quantity thereof added. The agent contains a novel co-modified organopolysiloxane that contains both a group having a siloxane dendron structure and a hydrophilic group and that preferably has a degree of polymerization of 200 or more. A gel composition containing the co-modified organopolysiloxane is also provided. The gel composition is useful as a base that permits stable and easy preparation of cosmetics having various viscoelasticities and forms. An oil is kept in the form of a gel that has a viscoelasticity falling within the intermediate range between the viscoelasticity of liquid and that of solid. Cosmetics containing the thickening or gelling agent are also provided.
US09580596B2

A chemical resistant polymer composition for a center fascia includes a resin composition consisting of 10 to 20% by weight of a polyester copolymer containing a residue of a dicarboxylic acid component containing terephthalic acid and a residue of a diol component containing dianhydrohexitoll; 15 to 25% by weight of polytrimethyleneterephthalate; 10 to 20% by weight of one or more copolymers selected from the group consisting of an unsaturated nitrile-diene-based rubber-aromatic vinyl graft copolymer, an alkylmethacrylate-diene-based rubber-aromatic vinyl graft copolymer, and an alkylmethacrylate-silicone/alkylacrylate graft copolymer; and 50 to 65% by weight of polycarbonate based on the weight of the resin composition. The polymer composition further comprises 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of a phosphite-based antioxidant, based on 100 parts by weight of the resin composition.
US09580594B2

A polymer comprising reaction product of (a) one or more diacid or diester thereof, and (b) one or more polyol, wherein component (a) comprises 5 to 100 mole %, based on the total amount of component (a), of 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA), or one or more C1 to C10 alkyl diester thereof, and component (b) comprises a mixture of 1,3-cyclohexanedimethanol and 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol, or 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-1,3-cyclobutanediol, or combinations thereof.
US09580593B2

The present invention relates to a fiber reinforced composite comprising a reinforcing constituent of fibers embedded in a resin matrix, wherein the resin matrix comprises epoxy resin crosslinked with aminated lignin. The invention further relates to a method for the production of a fiber reinforced composite.
US09580592B2

A liquid composition comprising: a liquid medium comprising at least one aprotic polar organic solvent and less than 25 wt % based on the total weight of the composition of an alcohol; and at least 5 wt % based on the total weight of the composition of at least one fluorinated anion exchange polymer comprising a fluorocarbon backbone and side-chains covalently attached to the backbone having terminal groups of formula (I): —SO2NR1Q+X−, wherein Q+ is a group comprising at least one quaternary nitrogen atom, and R1 is H or a C1-C20 alkyl group, or forms a ring together with a group in Q+, wherein the ring contains 2 to 10 carbon atoms and, optionally, up to 4 heteroatoms; and X− is an anion selected among the group consisting of organic anions and lipophilic inorganic anions is disclosed. The liquid composition is suitable for the preparation of ion exchange membranes and as binders for electrocatalytic layers for use in electrochemical applications.
US09580591B2

Water-redispersible polymer powders having a high proportion of base polymer are prepared by spray drying a base polymer dispersion, employing as a spraying aid, a hybrid copolymer prepared by polymerizing an ethylenically unsaturated monomer in the presence of a water soluble polymer.
US09580587B2

The invention provides a composition comprising the following: A) an ethylene/α-olefin/diene interpolymer; B) an ethylene/α-olefin copolymer with a Mooney Viscosity [ML(1+4) at 125° C.] greater than 40; and C) a peroxide; and wherein the α-olefin of the ethylene/α-olefin copolymer of component B comprises at least four carbon atoms; and wherein component A is present in an amount from 50 to 95 weight percent, based on the sum weight of components A and B.
US09580582B2

Provided is a thermoplastic resin composition for the inner liner of pneumatic tires, which has low air permeability and a small percent change in air permeability from fatigue. A thermoplastic resin composition obtained by dispersing a modified rubber having an acid anhydride group or an epoxy group into a polyamide resin and an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, the thermoplastic resin composition being characterized in that the ratio of the polyamide resin to the ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer is between 47/53 and 61/39. The percent change in air permeability of the thermoplastic resin composition in the present invention when subjected 1 million times to 20% elongation strain at room temperature is 1.30 times or more. Additionally, a pneumatic tire using a film comprising the thermoplastic resin composition in the present invention as an inner liner has a percent change in air leakage of 1.30 times or less at room temperature after going 70,000 km.
US09580578B2

A process includes forming an emulsion comprising a monomer and a colorant, the colorant further including an anionic functional group and a lipophilic counter ion, and polymerizing the monomer to form a latex, the latex includes polymer nanoparticles having the colorant dispersed therein.
US09580575B2

A polyethylene article comprises crystalline polyethylene in an orthorhombic unit cell. The b-axes of the crystalline polyethylene are substantially aligned with the machine direction of the article. In particular, the Herman's index of the b-axes in the machine direction is greater than zero and greater than the Herman's indices of the b-axes in both the transverse and normal directions. The unique physical attributes exhibited by a polyethylene article having this new morphology are also described.
US09580562B2

Adhesive compositions comprising a high molecular weight acrylic copolymer and a low molecular weight copolymer are disclosed. Adhesive articles and methods of making adhesive compositions and articles are also described.
US09580561B2

Disclosed is a method for manufacturing a polylactic acid film. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for stably and effectively obtaining optimized stereocomplex crystals through specified boiling point and evaporation time of a solvent allowing the content of stereocomplex crystals to be 100%.
US09580555B2

Disclosed are a transparent polyamide-imide resin and a film using the same, which can be colorless and transparent, can show excellent thermal stability and mechanical properties, and can have low birefringence, making it possible to serve in various fields including a semiconductor insulator, a TFT-LCD insulator, a passivation layer, a liquid crystal alignment layer, materials for optical communication, a protective film for a solar cell, a flexible display substrate and the like.
US09580547B2

The present invention provides unimolecular metal complexes having increased activity in the copolymerization of carbon dioxide and epoxides. Also provided are methods of using such metal complexes in the synthesis of polymers. According to one aspect, the present invention provides metal complexes comprising an activating species with co-catalytic activity tethered to a multidentate ligand that is coordinated to the active metal center of the complex.
US09580540B2

The present invention relates to a process for producing a hydroxy amino polymer comprising the steps: a) Reaction of an H functional starter compound bearing at least one Zerewitinoff active H atom with an unsaturated, cyclical carboxylic acid anhydride and at least one alkylene oxide compound for obtaining a prepolymer bearing hydroxyl groups, b) Addition of a primary amine and/or of ammonia to the double bond(s) of the prepolymer bearing hydroxyl groups obtained according to step a) for obtaining the hydroxy amino polymer, wherein the ratio of added amino groups to hydroxyl groups in a hydroxy amino polymer is at least 0.6. Furthermore, the invention relates to a hydroxy amino polymer, which can be achieved according to this process as well as a polyurea/polyurethane system, which contains such a hydroxy amino polymer.
US09580539B2

Insulating unit are disclosed which are prepared by a cavity-filling, fast-gelling rigid polyurethane foam based on a formulation comprising a polyol component which contains at least 5 weight percent of an amine-initiated polyols and 1.4 to 4 parts by weight of a catalyst package whereby the catalyst package contains at least one amine catalyst and the weight percent nitrogen present in the amine-initiated polyol to weight percent nitrogen present in the catalyst system is from 2 to 8. The formulation is injected into the cavity and the pressure in the cavity is subjected to reduced atmospheric pressure to achieve the rigid foam having a thermal conductivity of less than about 19 mW/mK at 10° C. average plate temperature.
US09580534B2

Provided herein are methods of formulating and engineering block copolymer (BCP) systems for directed self-assembly (DSA) processes. In some embodiments, the methods involve engineering a BCP material based on the interaction parameter (χ) of the material and the surface and/or interaction energies of its constituent blocks. Also provided are novel block BCP materials that can be used in DSA techniques. In some embodiments, the BCP systems described herein have micro-phase separating blocks, with at least one block including multiple types of repeat units. Also provided are structures formed by DSA, including structures having a sub-20 nm dimension. Applications included nanolithography for semiconductor devices, fabrication of cell-based assays, nanoprinting, photovoltaic cells, and surface-conduction electron-emitter displays.
US09580530B2

The present invention relates to anaerobically curable compositions containing a benzoxazine component and which demonstrates resistance to elevated temperature conditions and/or accelerated cure speed.
US09580524B2

Provided are a vinylcyclopropane that exhibits volume expansion upon homopolymerization and that enables improved solvent solubility, a monomer composition that contains the vinylcyclopropane, a polymer of the vinylcyclopropane, a polymer composition that contains the polymer, and an article that is obtainable through curing of the monomer composition. The vinylcyclopropane is represented by general formula (I) shown below.
US09580519B2

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a water absorbent resin in which a water absorbent resin having excellent properties can be obtained effectively. The present invention relates to a method for producing a polyacrylic acid (salt)-based water absorbent resin, which includes a polymerization step of polymerizing an aqueous monomer solution containing a polymerization inhibitor, acrylic acid (salt) and an internal cross-linking agent to produce a water-containing gel-like cross-linked polymer, a gel-crushing step of performing the gel-crushing of the water-containing gel-like cross-linked polymer simultaneously with or subsequent to the polymerization to produce a particulate water-containing gel-like cross-linked polymer, and a drying step of supplying the particulate water-containing gel-like cross-linked polymer to a continuous through-flow belt-type dryer by a traverse conveyor to dry the particulate water-containing gel-like cross-linked polymer, in which the belt temperature of the traverse conveyor is 40 to 120° C. and/or the water soluble component in the particulate water-containing gel-like cross-linked polymer on the traverse conveyor is 10% by weight or less and the water soluble component is increased after the drying step.
US09580516B2

When a combination of pulps having different alkali metal hydroxide solution absorption rates is as a raw material, contact conditions such as a contact temperature and a contact time have to be changed frequently, depending on the absorption rate of pulps currently processed, thereby causing a problem of reduced productivity. For solving the problem, provided is a method for producing alkali cellulose, comprising at least the steps of: bringing two or more types of pulps having different alkali metal hydroxide solution absorption rates into contact with an alkali metal hydroxide solution to obtain a contact product; and draining the contact product, wherein the highest absorption rate is not more than 4.0 times as fast as the lowest absorption rate.
US09580504B1

Methods for treating specific populations of cancer patients, specifically patients suffering from cancer who undergo stem cell transplantation and were classified as positive by a pre-transplant metabolic imaging, by administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a pidilizumab monoclonal antibody.
US09580496B2

A method of preparing a canine antibody suitable for use in the therapeutic treatment of a canine is provided. In particular, there is provided immunoglobulins which can be selected for the characteristic of whether they mediate downstream complement mediated immune activation when bound to a target antigen. Canine derived antibodies comprising specific heavy chain isotypes are provided. The invention extends to the use of the immunoglobulins of the invention in methods of treating conditions such as pain, inflammatory conditions and cancerous conditions in a canine.
US09580493B2

Provided are anti-human α-synuclein-specific binding molecules, e.g., antibodies or antigen-binding fragments, variants or derivatives thereof, as methods related thereto. Further provided are anti-human α-synuclein binding molecules which bind to specific N-terminal and C-terminal epitopes on human α-synuclein. The binding molecules described herein can be used in pharmaceutical and diagnostic compositions for α-synuclein targeted immunotherapy and diagnosis, respectively.
US09580487B2

GLP-2 analogs are disclosed which comprise one of more substitutions as compared to [hGly2]GLP-2 and which improved biological activity in vivo and/or improved chemical stability, e.g., as assessed in in vitro stability assays. More particularly, preferred GLP-2 analogs disclosed herein comprise substitutions at one or more of positions 8, 16, 24 and/or 28 of the wild-type GLP-2 sequence, optionally in combination with further substitutions at position 2 (as mentioned in the introduction) and one or more of positions 3, 5, 7, 10 and 11, and/or a deletion of one or more of amino acids 31 to 33 and/or the addition of a N-terminal or C-terminal stabilizing peptide sequence. The analogs are particularly useful for the prophylaxis or treatment of stomach and bowel-related disorders and for ameliorating side effects of chemotherapy. Also disclosed are methods and kits for selecting a patient from populations suited for treatment with GLP-2 analogs.
US09580486B2

Provided herein are IL-2 muteins and IL-2 mutein Fc-fusion molecules that preferentially expand and activate T regulatory cells and are amenable to large scale production. Also provided herein are variant human IgG1 Fc molecules lacking or with highly reduced effector function and high stability despite lacking glycosylation at N297. Also, provided herein are linker peptides that are glycosylated when expressed in mammalian cells.
US09580475B2

Described herein is the generation of optimized H1N1 influenza HA polypeptides for eliciting a broadly reactive immune response to H1N1 influenza virus isolates. The optimized HA polypeptides were developed through a series of HA protein alignments, and subsequent generation of consensus sequences, based on selected H1N1 viruses isolated from 1918-2011. Provided herein are optimized H1N1 HA polypeptides, and compositions, fusion proteins and VLPs comprising the HA polypeptides. Further provided are codon-optimized nucleic acid sequences encoding the HA polypeptides. Methods of eliciting an immune response against influenza virus in a subject are also provided by the present disclosure.
US09580467B2

Antiproliferative compounds having a structure represented by formula (II), where n, R1, R2, R3, R4, and R5 are as defined herein, can be used to treat tumors, optionally when conjugated to a ligand such as an antibody:
US09580461B2

The present invention provides methods for isolating an active polypeptide or immunoconjugate by purification of a solution containing both the active polypeptide or immunoconjugate and an acidic variant thereof, such as a deamidated variant, using anion exchange chromatography.
US09580458B2

The object of the present invention is a new anhydrous polymorphic crystalline form of sodium hyodeoxycholate (NaHDC) named as form II (FII) and the process for preparing it. Such a process makes it possible to obtain sodium hyodeoxycholate in the anhydrous polymorphic form II (FII), with high chemical and polymorphic purity. The invention also describes the anhydrous polymorphic crystalline forms of NaHDC named as form I (FI) and form III (Fill), the hydrated forms of NaHDC named as SI and SII, crystalline forms of NaHDC, respectively hydrated with four and eight water molecules and the amorphous form.
US09580454B2

A fractionation process for producing value-added products from a lignocellulosic biomass, comprises: a) mechanically refining the lignocellulosic biomass under mild refining conditions to form a refined biomass pulp with enhanced susceptibility to separation of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin, and enhanced digestibility of carbohydrates in hydrolysis b) separating hemicellulose and sulfur-free high-quality lignin from cellulose in the refined biomass, and, optionally c) producing various bioproducts from the above said process.
US09580453B2

This disclosure provides a process for making transition metal carboxylate compositions by combining in an polar aprotic first solvent a transition metal precursor and a Group 1 or Group 2 metal carboxylate under substantially acid-free and substantially anhydrous conditions, to generate a mixture comprising the transition metal carboxylate composition. Optionally, the transition metal carboxylate composition can be purified, for example, by substantially removing the first solvent provide a residue comprising the transition metal carboxylate composition, and also optionally, further by extracting the transition metal carboxylate composition from the residue with a non-coordinating second solvent to provide an extract comprising the transition metal carboxylate composition.
US09580442B2

Compounds of formula (I) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein: W is O, N—H, N—(C1-C10 alkyl) or S; each X is independently CH or N; R1 is a 5 to 7-membered saturated or unsaturated, optionally substituted heterocycle containing at least 1 heteroatom selected from N or O; R2 is (LQ)mY; and each R3 is independently H, C1-C10 alkyl, aryl or heteroaryl, are surprisingly found to be inhibitors of PI3K-p110δ, and therefore have utility in therapy.
US09580412B2

Methods for preparing disubstituted 3,4-diamino-3-cyclobutene-1,2-dione compounds that correspond to general formula (I) are described. Also described are pharmaceutical compositions that include the compounds, and methods of using the compounds and compositions for the treatment of chemokine-mediated diseases.
US09580411B2

The invention is concerned with the compounds of formula (I): and salts thereof, wherein X, Y, Z, R1, R2, R3, R3′, R4, R5 and R6 are defined in the detailed description and claims. In addition, the present invention relates to methods of manufacturing and using the compounds of Formula (I) as well as pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds. The compounds may be useful in treating diseases and conditions mediated by TRPA1, such as pain.
US09580409B2

Provided herein are compounds and methods of synthesis thereof. The compounds provided herein are useful for the treatment, prevention, and/or management of various disorders, such as pain, neurological disorders, psychiatric disorders, and neuromuscular disorders. Compounds provided herein modulate the activity of opioid receptor (e.g., μ-opioid receptor) in the central nervous system or the periphery. Pharmaceutical formulations containing the compounds and their methods of use are also provided herein.
US09580403B2

3-(3-Chloro-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine is prepared by cyclizing 3-hydrazinopyridine-dihydrochloride with commercially available 3-ethoxyacrylonitrile to provide 3-(3-amino-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine, and by converting the amino group to a chloro group by a Sandmeyer reaction.
US09580398B2

The present invention provides, inter alia, a compound having the structure: (Formula (I). Also provided are compositions containing a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and a compound according to the present invention. Further provided are methods for treating or ameliorating the effects of an excitotoxic disorder in a subject, methods of modulating ferroptosis in a subject, methods of reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a cell, and methods for treating or ameliorating the effects of a neurodegenerative disease.
US09580393B2

The present technology relates to compounds and compositions of Formulas I-III and methods using such compounds. The compounds and compositions described herein may be used in the treatment or prophylaxis of diseases associated with an alphavirus, for example, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV).
US09580387B2

The invention relates to compounds and methods for modulating one or more components of a kinase cascade.
US09580372B2

The present invention provides for a derivative of monoterpene or sesquiterpene, such as a perillyl alcohol derivative. For example, the perillyl alcohol derivative may be a perillyl alcohol carbamate. The perillyl alcohol derivative may be perillyl alcohol conjugated with a therapeutic agent such as a chemotherapeutic agent. The present invention also provides for a method of treating a disease such as cancer, comprising the step of delivering to a patient a therapeutically effective amount of a derivative of monoterpene (or sesquiterpene). The route of administration may vary, and can include, inhalation, intranasal, oral, transdermal, intravenous, subcutaneous or intramuscular injection.
US09580368B2

Disclosed herein is a process for dehydrogenating a saturated cyclic hydrocarbon and/or 5-membered ring compound with a dehydrogenation catalyst. The dehydrogenation catalyst comprises: (i) 0.05 wt % to 5 wt % of a metal selected from Group 14 of the Periodic Table of Elements; and (ii) 0.1 wt % to 10 wt % of a metal selected from Groups 6 to 10 of the Periodic Table of Elements. The process is conducted under dehydrogenation conditions effective to dehydrogenate at least a portion saturated cyclic hydrocarbon and/or 5-membered ring compound.
US09580354B2

A liquid phenolic resin intended to participate in the makeup of a sizing composition for mineral fibers is essentially composed of phenol-formaldehyde and phenol-formaldehyde-glycine condensates. A process for the manufacture of the resin, the sizing composition including the resin and the insulating products based on mineral fibers sized by means of the abovementioned sizing composition are presented.
US09580350B2

Ultralow expansion titania-silica glass. The glass has high hydroxyl content and optionally include one or more dopants. Representative optional dopants include boron, alkali elements, alkaline earth elements or metals such as Nb, Ta, Al, Mn, Sn Cu and Sn. The glass is prepared by a process that includes steam consolidation to increase the hydroxyl content. The high hydroxyl content or combination of dopant(s) and high hydroxyl content lowers the fictive temperature of the glass to provide a glass having a very low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), low fictive temperature (Tf), and low expansivity slope.
US09580348B2

The production of a quartz glass grit comprises the granulation of pyrogenetically produced silicic acid, and the formation of a SiO2 granulate and the vitrification of the SiO2 granulate using a treatment gas, which contains at least 30% by volume of helium and/or hydrogen. Said process is time consuming and cost intensive. In order to provide a method which makes it possible, starting from a porous SiO2 granulate, to manufacture, in a cost effective manner, a dense, synthetic quartz glass grit, which is suitable for melting bubble-free components made of quartz glass, according to the invention the vitrification of the SiO2 granulate occurs in a rotary kiln having a mullite-containing ceramic rotary kiln, for the manufacture of which a starting powder, which contains a molar proportion of at least 45% SiO2 and Al2O3 is applied by means of a thermal powder spraying method, forming a mullite-containing layer on a mold core, and the mold core is subsequently removed, and wherein the ceramic rotary kiln is flooded with a treatment gas or rinsed with a treatment gas, and wherein the ceramic rotary kiln is flooded with a treatment gas or rinsed with a treatment gas, which contains at least 30% by volume of helium and/or hydrogen.
US09580341B1

The systems and methods may be used for treatment of water that contains contaminants. Water containing at least one of a nitrate, percholate, chromate, selenite, and a volatile organic chemical is combined with nutrients and then is processed in an anoxic-anaerobic bioreactor. The combined effluent may also be oxygenated by dosing with hydrogen peroxide or liquid oxygen. The combined effluent of the bioreactor is dosed with a particle conditioning agent. The combined effluent treated water of the bioreactor is then filtered in a biofilter to produce a treated effluent stream. The influent water and combined effluent of the anoxic-anaerobic bioreactor may also be dosed with hydrogen peroxide to control biomass content in the system.
US09580339B2

The invention relates to a drop-in cell for disinfection of water from bathing pools, particularly whirlpools, with an electrolytic cell (10) which can be flowed through by water and has two contact electrodes (1, 2), which are positioned in parallel and spaced apart from each other, and preferably at least one bipolar diamond particle electrode (3), which is arranged between the contact electrodes (1, 2) at a distance from them.The electrodes (1, 2, 3) are joined together by spacers (4) located between them to form an elongate, approximately cuboidal electrode pack, which is embedded in a casing (6) of plastic or synthetic resin while leaving an inflow and an outflow free. The user/customer is therefore provided with a drop-in cell which can be positioned in the circuit of the pool water or in the whirlpool and can be “installed” or, as and when required, removed and/or replaced without any problem by the user/customer himself.
US09580338B2

A liquid treatment apparatus according to the present disclosure includes a dielectric tube that defines a channel through which water to be treated flows, the channel being split upstream of the dielectric tube into a first channel and a second channel, the first channel and the second channel being merged with each other downstream of the dielectric tube, a first electrode at least partially disposed within the first channel, a second electrode at least partially disposed within the first channel, a first gas-supply unit that supplies gas to form a gas bubble into water to be treated that flows through the first channel, and a first power-supply that applies a voltage between the first electrode and the second electrode.
US09580335B2

The present invention relates generally to a system and method for treating wastewater in a filter media apparatus having a draft tube system. The filter media may be walnut shell media.
US09580334B2

A liquid purification system is provided. Although not limited to water, the purification system is especially suitable for water. The purification system utilizes a vessel having antimicrobial inner wall load bearing surfaces and/or antimicrobial (antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-mold, etc.) interior non-load bearing surfaces. When the liquid moves within the vessel and contacts the antimicrobial surfaces, the liquid becomes purified or sanitized. The inner wall load bearing surfaces and non-load bearing interior surfaces of the vessel may be manufactured from a host polymer that has antimicrobial organo-metallic additives which form a solid-solution with the host polymer and are distributed homogeneously throughout the host polymer. The host polymer matrix may be an organic material, an inorganic material or an organic-inorganic material blend. The antimicrobial agent polymer matrix may be located in localized zones within the vessel.
US09580330B2

An X-ray amorphous magnesium carbonate is disclosed that is characterized by a cumulative pore volume of pores with a diameter smaller than 10 nm of at least 0.018 cm3/g, and a specific surface areas of at least 60 m2/g. The X-ray amorphous magnesium carbonate is produced by reacting an inorganic magnesium compound with alcohol in a CO2 atmosphere. The X-ray amorphous magnesium carbonate can be a powder or a pellet and acts as a desiccant in, for example, production of food, chemicals or pharmaceuticals.
US09580327B2

Apparatus and methods for consolidating granular silicon and determining trace elements content of the consolidated silicon are disclosed. Silicon granules are placed in a vessel, and a silicon slug of known purity is embedded at least partially in the granules. The slug is preheated to a temperature sufficient to couple with an induction heater. As the silicon slug melts, silicon granules adjacent the molten silicon also melt. The vessel passes through an induction coil to successively inductively heat and melt regions of the silicon granules from the leading end to the trailing end with each region solidifying as the molten silicon exits the induction coil to provide a multicrystalline silicon ingot. The multicrystalline silicon ingot is sliced into wafers, which are analyzed by low-temperature Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to determine levels of trace elements in the ingot.
US09580322B2

Disclosed are a method of preparing a negative active material for a rechargeable lithium battery that includes preparing a solution including spherically shaped natural graphite particles and a solvent, ultrasonic wave-treating the solution, and drying the ultrasonic wave-treated solution to prepare graphite modified particles, and a rechargeable lithium battery prepared therefrom.
US09580321B2

The present application is generally directed to ultrapure synthetic carbon materials having both high surface area and high porosity, ultrapure polymer gels and devices containing the same. The disclosed ultrapure synthetic carbon materials find utility in any number of devices, for example, in electric double layer capacitance devices and batteries. Methods for making ultrapure synthetic carbon materials and ultrapure polymer gels are also disclosed.
US09580315B2

A system and method for processing unconditioned syngas first removes solids and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC), then removes volatile organic compounds (VOC), and then removes at least one sulfur containing compound from the syngas. Additional processing may be performed depending on such factors as the source of syngas being processed, the products, byproducts and intermediate products desired to be formed, captured or recycled and environmental considerations.
US09580309B2

The present invention provides an ammonia oxidation/decomposition catalyst including a support composed of an oxidizable and reducible metal oxide and a catalytically active metal supported thereon. By bringing the ammonia oxidation/decomposition catalyst including a support composed of an oxidizable and reducible metal oxide and a catalytically active metal supported thereon into contact with ammonia and air at room temperature, the support in a reduced state reacts with oxygen to generate oxidation heat, and the temperature of the catalyst layer is increased in a moment. Once the temperature of the catalyst layer is increased to a temperature at which ammonia and oxygen react with each other, the ammonia oxidation reaction proceeds autonomously after that. The heat generated in this exothermic reaction is used in the course of decomposing ammonia in the presence of the catalytically active metal, thereby producing hydrogen.
US09580306B2

A room temperature bonding apparatus includes a first beam source, a second beam source, and a press bonding mechanism. The first beam source emits a first activation beam that irradiates a first surface of a first substrate. Independently from the first beam source, the second beam source emits a second activation beam that irradiates a second surface of a second substrate. The press bonding mechanism bonds between the first substrate and the second substrate by contacting between the first surface and the second surface after the first surface is irradiated with the first activation beam and the second surface is irradiated with the second activation beam. Thus, a plurality of the substrates made of different materials is appropriately bonded.
US09580303B2

A technique capable of suppressing performance variation of every flow sensor and achieving performance improvement is provided. For example, in an arbitrary cross-sectional surface in parallel to a moving direction of a gas flowing on an exposed flow detecting unit FDU which is formed in a semiconductor chip CHP1, a sealing body is released from the lower mold BM by thrusting up, from a lower mold BM, an ejection pin EJPN arranged in an outer region of the semiconductor chip CHP1 so as not to overlap with the semiconductor chip CHP1 arranged in the vicinity of the center part. Thus, according to the first embodiment, the deformation applied to the sealing body at the time of mold releasing can be smaller than that in a case in which the sealing body is released from the lower mold BM by arranging the ejection pin EJPN in a region overlapping with the semiconductor chip CHP1.
US09580299B2

A MEMS device and a method of making a MEMS device are disclosed. In one embodiment a semiconductor device comprises a substrate, a moveable electrode and a counter electrode, wherein the moveable electrode and the counter electrode are mechanically connected to the substrate. The movable electrode is configured to stiffen an inner region of the movable membrane.
US09580298B2

Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) structures, methods of manufacture and design structures are disclosed. The method includes forming at least one fixed electrode on a substrate. The method further includes forming a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) beam with a varying width dimension, as viewed from a top of the MEMS beam, over the at least one fixed electrode.
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