US07885234B2
A method and system for providing circuit-switched to IP Multimedia Subsystem voice call continuity with a single radio are provided. The exemplary embodiment takes advantage of a standard RANAP signaling procedure called “directed retry” to perform a much better coordination between the change in radio mode and the transfer of the media path. With the use of “directed retry”, the transfer of the media path does not begin until the handover procedure is complete, thus significantly reducing the likely amount of media disruption.
US07885204B1
Methods and systems have been provided for testing network topologies. A network management system converts multiple types of static and dynamic network hardware data sources into a single unified format and provides a uniform mechanism for data access. The network management system identifies attributes of the topology of a network that are required for testing. The network management system further compares the identified attributes, optional and required, with the attributes of a test network. Based on the comparison, a test-bed is created in the test network for testing the resources.
US07885193B2
To augment a network by adding a network element, network services affected by the augmentation, and a temporary route for transmitting network services determined as affected by the augmentation via the temporary route are determined. A new route through the augmented network, and a spanning tree corresponding to the new route are determined. Memberships of a virtual local area network (VLAN) in ports of network elements of the temporary route are configured. Cost factors at these ports are changed such as to direct the network services determined as affected by the augmentation through the temporary route. A VLAN membership is calculated for each port in the new route for a network service that passes through the augmented network. The new route through the augmented network is re-calculated based on the spanning tree, and VLAN memberships in the ports of network elements which are no longer needed are deleted.
US07885192B1
A media selection system includes a plurality of media ports. Each of the plurality of media ports is coupled to a corresponding physical medium, is configured to generate an activity signal, and is configured to generate a link status signal. A priority storage module is configured to contain priority information, which sets forth a priority for establishing a link through each of the plurality of media ports. A media selector module is configured to select a first media port through which a link will be maintained based on the activity signal generated by each of the plurality of media ports. The media selector module is configured to link the signal generated by each of the plurality of media ports and the priority information. The media selector module is configured to block all other links through media ports of the plurality of media ports other than the first media port.
US07885182B2
The range delay of each of a plurality of user devices of an HFC is monitored. If the delay of a number of devices shifts by about the same amount and at about the same time, then the number of devices having such a shift is compared to a predetermined threshold. If the number exceeds the threshold, it is assumed that a leg of a fiber ring in the HFC has been severed, and a ring switch is determined to have occurred.Upon this determination, granting of bandwidth requests to a group of user devices is suspended, and a ranging and register process for all devices in the group begins. The group may comprise all user devices affected by the broken fiber ring. Following ranging and registering, granting of bandwidth requests to the affected devices begins according to a normally-provisioned request grant schedule.
US07885180B2
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) request mirroring can provide a mechanism for synchronizing link-layer adjacency information among network elements. This application can be useful, for example, for internet protocol (IP) routing network elements in a high-availability configuration.
US07885177B2
A method and apparatus are disclosed for transmitting symbols in a multiple antenna communication system according to a frame structure, such that the symbols can be interpreted by a lower order receiver (i.e., a receiver having a fewer number of antennas than the transmitter). The disclosed frame structure comprises a legacy preamble having at least one long training symbol and N-1 additional long training symbols that are transmitted on each of N transmit antennas. The legacy preamble may be, for example, an 802.11 a/g preamble that includes at least one short training symbol, at least one long training symbol and at least one SIGNAL field. A sequence of each of the long training symbols on each of the N transmit antennas are time orthogonal. The long training symbols can be time orthogonal by introducing a phase shift to each of long training symbols relative to one another.
US07885175B2
The present invention relates to a transmitting device and a receiving device in a wireless orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) communication system with space time transmit diversity (STTD). Further, the present invention relates to a channel estimation method for performing a channel estimation in such a wireless communication system, in which the transmitting device comprises a first and a second antenna for transmitting signals with space time transmit diversity. The first and the second antenna means are arranged spaced apart from each other in a space diversity arrangement, whereby first and second pilot symbols are transmitted via said first and said second antenna means, respectively. Some of the second pilot symbols are orthogonal to corresponding ones of the first pilot symbols, so that a channel estimation to separately determine the transmission quality of signals transmitted from the first and the second antenna means, respectively, can be performed in a receiving device which receives the signals with only one single antenna.
US07885174B2
A method is provided for operating a wireless local device. In this method a local device receives a beacon for a current superframe in a common signal format. The beacon includes time slot assignment information. The local device then determines a device format for the transmission of data to a remote device based on format determination information. The device format can be one of a common signal format, and one or more wireless formats. The local device then determines one or more remote device time slots in the superframe assigned for transmission of the data to the remote device based on the time slot assignment information. Finally, the local device transmits the data in the one or more remote device time slots to the remote device using the device format.
US07885173B2
According to one embodiment, a write-once information recording medium includes a transparent resin substrate having concentric or spiral grooves and lands, and a recording film formed on the grooves and lands of the transparent resin substrate, wherein the recording film includes an organic dye layer containing a metal complex monomer and a metal complex polymer, a recording mark is formed in the organic dye layer by emission of a short-wavelength laser beam, and a light reflectance of the recording mark formed by emission of the short-wavelength laser beam is higher than that before emission of the short-wavelength laser beam, and the grooves wobble within a predetermined amplitude range.
US07885163B2
A recording medium, a recording/reproducing apparatus, and a recording/reproducing method are disclosed. The apparatus uses the number of record layers contained in a recording medium and a multi-wavelength light source including a plurality of optical signals having different wavelengths, and irradiates an optical signal emitted from a light source on each recording medium according to wavelengths of the light beams. As a result, the apparatus can effectively gain access to the recording medium including a plurality of record layers, such that it can simultaneously record/reproduce data in/from the recording medium.
US07885156B2
A method for controlling the recording power of an optical disc apparatus. The method can search for an optimum recording power using a starting power stored in a recordable high density optical disc based on a manufacturer thereof, and perform recording operations with the optimum recording power while the start power is properly varied through an Optimum Power Control (OPC) procedure. The method comprises the operations of: obtaining an initial start power for performing the OPC procedure of a recordable optical disc; performing the OPC procedure, and judging whether the initial start power is within a range of allowable levels for determining the optimum recording power of the optical disc; re-performing the OPC procedure by varying the initial start power when the initial start power deviates from the range of allowable levels; and storing the new start power when within the range of allowable levels for improved subsequent OPC procedures.
US07885143B2
Various technologies for a seismic acquisition system, which may include an acquisition central system configured to determine a desired start time for a sweep cycle in one or more vibrators and a recorder source system controller in communication with the acquisition central system. The recorder source system controller may be configured to receive the desired start time from the acquisition central system. The seismic acquisition system may further include one or more vibrator units in communication with the recorder source system controller. Each vibrator unit may be configured to start a sweep cycle in a vibrator at the desired start time.
US07885142B2
An acoustic logging system that measures distribution of foam cement and other material in a casing-borehole annulus. The distribution is preferably displayed as map. A borehole tool utilizes at least one acoustic transducer with a known frequency response and mounted on a rotating scanning head that is pointed essentially perpendicular to the borehole wall. The response of the transducer is used to measure an original impedance map of material within the borehole-casing annulus. A fast Fourier transform is used to generate a FFT map from the data comprising the original impedance map. The original impedance map is then combined with the FFT map using logic rules to obtain a final impedance map that is indicative of material within the casing-borehole annulus.
US07885138B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide a memory array of dual part cells and design structure thereof. The memory array has a pair of twisted write bit lines and a pair of twisted read bit lines for each column. The twist is made by alternating the vertical position of each bit line pair in each section of a column, with the result of generating common mode nose and of reducing differential mode noise.
US07885128B2
Memories and methods for replacing memory sections of a main memory array by mapping memory addresses for an entire main memory section to at least one memory section of a redundant memory array. One such memory includes a fuse block having programmable elements configured to be programmed to identify main memory sections to be mapped to redundant memory sections of the redundant memory array. The memory further includes a redundant memory logic circuit coupled to the redundant memory array and the fuse block. The redundant memory logic is configured to map the memory for a main memory section identified in the fuse block to at least one of the redundant memory sections of the redundant memory array.
US07885127B2
A semiconductor memory device includes a reference strobe signal generator configured to generate a reference strobe signal having a reference pulse width in response to a bank information signal and a column command signal, and a main strobe signal generator configured to generate a main strobe signal by controlling the reference pulse width in response to the reference strobe signal and a bank grouping signal that is activated in a bank grouping mode where columns are continuously accessed in a plurality of logically grouped banks.
US07885126B2
An apparatus for controlling an activation of semiconductor integrated circuit includes: an active control unit configured to generate active control signal for determining activation of banks; and a plurality of active signal generating units configured to input the active control signal commonly, and generate active signals for activating the banks to according to the active control signal. According to this structure, it is possible to reduce current consumption to a minimum in a refresh mode, to easily arrange signal lines, and thus to effectively use extra space.
US07885123B2
An integrated circuit for storing data, and for application in a memory card that operates in cooperation with at least one of an external acquisition system and an external processing system includes input/output terminals for receiving the data to be stored, and an electrically programmable non-volatile memory for storing the data in digital format. The memory includes a first terminal for receiving a programming signal for enabling storage of the data, and a second terminal for receiving a reading signal for enabling output of the stored data via the input/output terminals. A memory control circuit is connected to the first and second terminals of the electrically programmable non-volatile memory, and to the input/output terminals for generating programming and reading signals based upon the command signal. The electrically programmable non-volatile memory is erasable by electromagnetic radiation for permitting a non-electrical erasure of the stored data.
US07885121B2
A resistance change memory device including: a cell array having a resistance change type of memory cells disposed at the cross-points of word lines and bit lines, the resistance value of the memory cell being reversibly settable; a word line driver circuit configured to apply a selecting drive voltage to one selected in the word lines; and a bit line driver circuit configured to drive multiple bit lines in such a manner that a set mode and a reset mode are set simultaneously for multiple memory cells selected by the selected word line, the set mode being for changing a selected memory cell from a first resistance state into a second resistance state while the reset mode is for changing a selected memory cell from the second resistance state into the first resistance state.
US07885120B2
A method for double programming of multi-level-cell (MLC) programming in a multi-bit-cell (MBC) of a charge trapping memory that includes a plurality of charge trapping memory cells is provided. The double programming method is conducted in two phrases, a pre-program phase and a post-program phase, and applied to a word line (a segment in a word line, a page in a word line, a program unit or a memory unit) of the charge trapping memory. A program unit can be defined by input data in a wide variety of ranges. For example, a program unit can be defined as a portion (such as a page, a group, or a segment) in one word line in which each group is selected for pre-program and pre-program-verify, either sequentially or in parallel with other groups in the same word line.
US07885119B2
Shifts in the apparent charge stored on a floating gate (or other charge storing element) of a non-volatile memory cell can occur because of the coupling of an electric field based on the charge stored in adjacent floating gates (or other adjacent charge storing elements). To compensate for this coupling, the read or programming process for a given memory cell can take into account the programmed state of an adjacent memory cell. To determine whether compensation is needed, a process can be performed that includes sensing information about the programmed state of an adjacent memory cell (e.g., on an adjacent bit line or other location).
US07885118B2
Disclosed is a flash memory device which includes a memory core, a high voltage generating circuit and a reference voltage generating circuit. The high voltage generating circuit is configured to generate a high voltage to be supplied to the memory core. The reference voltage generating circuit is configured to generate at least one reference voltage to be supplied to the high voltage generating circuit. The reference voltage generating circuit includes a first reference voltage generator configured to generate a first reference voltage in response to a supply voltage, and a second reference voltage generator configured to generate a second reference voltage in response to the first reference voltage. The at least one reference voltage supplied to the high voltage generating circuit includes the second reference voltage.
US07885116B2
A sense amplifier for nonvolatile memory cells includes a reference cell, a first load, connected to the reference cell, and a second load, connectable to a nonvolatile memory cell, both the first load and the second load having controllable resistance; a control circuit of the first load and of the second load supplies the first load and the second load with a control voltage irrespective of an operating voltage between a first conduction terminal and a second conduction terminal of the first load.
US07885107B2
A method of programming a non-volatile memory cell includes programming a first bit of multi-bit data by setting a threshold voltage of the non-volatile memory cell to a first voltage level within a first of a plurality of threshold voltage distributions. A second bit of the multi-bit data is programmed by setting the threshold voltage to a second voltage level based on a value of the second bit. The second voltage level is the same as the first voltage level if the second bit is a first value and the second voltage level is within a second of the plurality of threshold voltage distributions if the second bit is a second value. A third bit of the multi-bit data is programmed by setting the threshold voltage to a third voltage level based on a value of the third bit.
US07885105B2
Magnetic tunnel junction cell including multiple vertical domains. In an embodiment, a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) structure is disclosed. The MTJ structure includes an MTJ cell. The MTJ cell includes multiple vertical side walls. Each of the multiple vertical side walls defines a unique vertical magnetic domain. Each of the unique vertical magnetic domains is adapted to store a digital value.
US07885103B2
A configuration bit array including a hybrid electromechanical and semiconductor memory cell, and circuitry for addressing and controlling read, write, and erase accesses of the memory.
US07885102B2
In a memory array MCA which includes memory cells MC each having a variable-resistance-based memory device RQ and a select transistor MQ, an object is to receive a fixed quantity of storage data for a short time, and to realize writing operation to the memory cell, with suppressed peak current. In order to achieve the object, the data bus occupation time in rewriting operation is shortened by using plural sense amplifiers and storing storage data temporarily, and plural programming circuits are provided and activated using the control signals with different phases. By the above, the phase change memory system with low current consumption can be realized, without causing degradation of the utilization ratio of the data bus.
US07885099B2
The leakage current and power consumption of phase change memories may be reduced using adaptive word line biasing. Depending on the particular voltage applied to the bitline of a programmed cell, the word lines of unselected cells may vary correspondingly. In some embodiments, the word line voltage may be caused to match the bitline voltage of the programmed cell.
US07885093B2
A method testing an SRAM having a plurality of memory cells is disclosed. In a first step, a bit value is written into a cell under test (CUT). Subsequently, the first and second enabling transistors are disabled and the bit lines are discharged to a low potential. Next, the word line (WL) coupled to the memory cell under test is activated for a predetermined period. During a first part of this period, one of the bit lines (BLB) is kept at the low potential to force the associated pull up transistor in the CUT into a conductive state, after which this bit line (BLB) is charged to a high potential. Upon completion of this period, the bit value of the first cell is determined. The method facilitates the detection of weak or faulty SRAM cells without requiring the inclusion of dedicated hardware for this purpose.
US07885085B2
A control unit controls cascaded PFC and LLC converters, the LLC converter having an input coupled to an output, of the PFC converter and providing an output voltage that decreases with increasing switching frequency. The control unit produces a sawtooth waveform with a linear ramp for controlling the LLC converter switching frequency, and hence its output voltage, in dependence upon a feedback signal. It also produces for the PFC converter a PWM signal with a frequency that is the same as or an integer fraction of the LLC converter switching frequency, by comparing two thresholds with the linear ramp in respective different cycles of the sawtooth waveform to turn on and off a switch of the PFC converter during these different cycles. Logic circuits prevent PFC converter switch transitions from occurring simultaneously with switching transitions of the LLC converter.
US07885084B2
A control circuit for soft switching and synchronous rectifying is provided for power converter. A switching-signal circuit is used for generating drive signals and a pulse signal in response to a leading edge and a trailing edge of a switching signal. The switching signal is developed for regulating the power converter. Drive signals are coupled to switch the power transformer. A propagation delay is developed between drive signals to achieve soft switching of the power converter. An isolation device is coupled to transfer the pulse signal from a primary side of a power transformer to a secondary side of the power transformer. A controller of the integrated synchronous rectifier is coupled to the secondary side of the power transformer for the rectifying operation. The controller is operated to receive the pulse signal for switching on/off the power transistor. The pulse signal is to set or reset a latch circuit of the controller for controlling the power transistor.
US07885081B2
A component incorporating module includes an insulation resin layer, a plurality of lands arranged to mount components and wiring patterns connected to the plurality of lands, which are arranged along a first main surface of the resin layer, and circuit components connected to the lands to mount components. The circuit components are embedded in the resin layer. The plurality of lands have thicknesses that are greater than those of the wiring patterns adjacent to the corresponding lands.
US07885078B2
An electrical card (100) includes an insulative frame (1) having a pair of detachable side bars (112) spaced from each other and a transverse bar (116) assembled onto the side bars to interconnect the side bars; a detachable upper cover (12) attached to a rear end of the frame; an upper shell (2) and a lower shell (3) mounted to an upper side and a lower side of the side bars respectively; a detachable lower cover (4) attached to the lower shell and disposed beneath the upper cover; a circuit board (5) supported by the frame and located between the frame and the upper shell; and an electrical connector (6) attached to a front end of the frame and electrically connected to the circuit board.
US07885076B2
An electronic device such as an AC/DC power adapter includes a conductive heat dissipation system. The device contains heat generating components and is powered via power supply leads by an external power supply circuit. The device further contains a thermally conductive mass that is thermally coupled to both the heat generating components and to the power supply leads. When the power supply leads are coupled to receive electricity from the external power supply circuit, heat generated by the device is thermally conducted into the external power supply circuit via the power supply leads.
US07885075B2
A heat dissipation device comprises a heat spreader and heat pipe soldered thereon via a heat conducting material. The heat spreader defines a plurality of cavities in an inner side surface thereof, the heat conducting material is received in the cavities, and the heat pipe contacts and is soldered to the inner side surface of the heat spreader.
US07885072B2
A fixing device fastens a heat sink having a base on one of motherboards with different specifications. Each motherboard with a corresponding specification defines a plurality of extending holes therethrough. The fixing device comprises a plurality of slats each having an end thereof pivotally connecting to the base of the heat sink and the other end thereof defining an elongated slot for corresponding to one of the extending holes of the one of the motherboards, a back plate defining a plurality of mounting holes corresponding to the extending holes of the motherboards, and a plurality of fixing units extending through the slots of the slats, the extending holes of the one of the motherboards and corresponding mounting holes of the back plate to mount the heat sink on the one of the motherboards.
US07885069B2
A modular line filter connector is provided for implementing adaptable three-phase power filtering. A plurality of selected modular components defines the modular line filter connector. The modular line filter connector includes a pair of outer cylinders providing power filtering connections including, for example, line-to-line connections, line-to-common connections, common-to-protective earth connections, and line-to-protective earth connections. The selected modular components are mounted between the pair of outer cylinders and disposed along the length of the modular line filter connector. Different modular components are selected to adapt the modular line filter connector for different filtering applications.
US07885062B2
The present invention pertains to a computer chassis with improved airflow to reduce the occurrence of trapped air pockets and increase heat transfer from components within the chassis. The computer chassis includes a plurality of chambers, wherein each of the chambers is separated by a partition. The partitions are operable to reduce the occurrence of trapped air pockets and increase heat transfer from components of the chassis by causing air to flow through each of the chambers. The computer chassis further includes at least two air vents, wherein each of the chambers is coupled to at least one of the at least two air vents through which air enters the chamber, and wherein each of the chambers is coupled to at least one of the at least two air vents through which air exits the chamber.
US07885059B2
A portable computer including a housing having first and second sections, the first section having an information input device and the second section having a case having a first fastening element; a display panel including a second fastening element at a rear surface of the panel, the case and the display panel being attached through the first and second fastening elements; a hinge coupling the first and the second sections to each other; and a display panel support member having a third fastening element, the display panel support member being attached to the display panel through the third fastening element.
US07885058B2
A cover assembly used in a portable electronic device is described. The cover assembly includes a body member defining an earphone hole and a cover member defining a through hole. The cover member is rotatably mounted to the body member to cover or expose the earphone hole.
US07885057B2
An electronic device includes an accommodation section that detachably accommodates a portable device, an engagement part engaged with a side of the portable device at a given position where the portable device is accommodated in the accommodation section, and a guide mechanism that guides the portable device to the given position.
US07885056B2
According to one embodiment, a center pedestal display includes a plurality of mounting faces, one or more display switches, and a screen. The plurality of mounting faces include a first mounting face that is substantially parallel with a first surface of a pedestal mounting block of an existing instrument pedestal and a second mounting face that is substantially parallel with a second surface of the pedestal mounting block. The existing instrument pedestal includes one or more pedestal gauges and one or more pedestal switches. The one or more display switches are located on the display and configured to provide one or more functions of the one or more pedestal switches. The screen is configured to display information that includes at least some of the information provided by the one or more pedestal gauges.
US07885030B2
A system in one embodiment includes a global PLL circuit comprising multiple inputs, each input being for receiving an error signal associated with an individual channel; and a delay compensation circuit coupled to the global PLL circuit. A method in one embodiment includes receiving multiple error signals, each error signal being associated with an individual channel; applying one or more delay compensation signals to the error signals; and outputting phase error output signals for each of the channels.
US07885028B2
A hard disk drive with a disk that has a plurality of data bits. The drive includes a circuit that reads each data bit n times and selects a value for the bit based on the most frequent occurrence of one of a plurality of values. This process provides a voting technique that enhances the quality of accurately captured data.
US07885025B2
A data storage system includes a storage medium having a plurality of data sectors and a head that communicates with the data storage medium. The head produces a readback signal when reading information from the data storage medium. A computation unit extracts a distortion component of the readback signal and generates a position error signal from the distortion component.
US07885021B2
In one embodiment, an actuator for positioning of mirrors in an optical system is provided and includes an actuator base and a reaction mass assembly. The reaction mass assembly includes a reaction mass support member having biasing features formed as a part thereof and a reaction mass that is coupled to the biasing features such that the reaction mass is suspended on biasing elements in six degrees of freedom (DOF). The support member is fixedly connected to the actuator base; however, the reaction mass is not directly attached to the actuator base but rather is supported in the reaction mass support member in a manner that allows it to have six DOF.
US07885014B2
A zoom lens system including, in order from an object side to an image side: a first lens unit having a positive refractive power; a second lens unit having a negative refractive power; a third lens unit having a negative refractive power; an aperture stop; and a fourth lens unit having a positive refractive power and including a front lens subunit and a rear lens subunit in which Abbe numbers of lenses in the rear lens subunit satisfy the following expression, 0.400<νm/(νrp−νrn)<0.630, where νm represents the Abbe number of the material of a first positive lens having the largest dispersion of the positive lenses included in the rear lens subunit, νrp represents the average Abbe number of materials of positive lenses other than the first positive lens in the rear lens subunit, and νrn represents the average Abbe number of materials of negative lenses in the rear lens subunit.
US07885011B1
A wide angle hybrid refractive-diffractive endoscope objective is provided. The objective comprises a negative meniscus lens having a first surface and a second surface; a stop adjacent to the negative meniscus lens; a positive lens adjacent to the negative lens and having a first surface and a second surface; and a hybrid refractive-diffractive element adjacent to the positive lens and having a first surface and a second surface, wherein one of the first surface, or the second surface comprises a diffractive surface, wherein the objective has an effective focal length in a range from about 0.8 mm to about 1.6 mm.
US07885007B2
An optical element includes: an element body including a resin containing a polymer having an alicyclic structure. The optical element is treated by one of heat treatment and wet-heat treatment for 15 hours or longer at a temperature lower by 10° C. to 30° C. than a glass transition temperature of the resin after being formed by injecting the resin in a mold. The optical element body has a length along an optical axis of the optical element in a range of 0.5 to 3 mm, and a length in a perpendicular direction to the optical axis in a range of 3 to 5 mm.
US07885002B2
A floor projection screen to be installed in front of department stores, shops, shopping malls, and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The floor projection screen is formed by overlapping a hard screen material, which is obtained by mixing white cement with a light diffuser such as glass beads, silica, etc. having a particle of 400 to 800 mesh, or by mixing plastic resin with white cement, calcium material, pigments, etc., and a soft material such as urethane, rubber, or non-woven fabrics, thereby achieving vivid imaging, an anti-skid function, and durability for friction. The floor projection screen is manufactured by stacking a screen material on a surface of a tape-shaped soft material and rolling and hardening the screen material to complete a screen having a centric ring pattern, or by stacking a screen material on a surface of a tape-shaped soft material, repeating the stacking step until a desired size of the screen is obtained, and hardening the resulting stack to achieve a screen surface having a particle size of 40 to 800 mesh.
US07884994B2
Provided is an electrochromic device (ECD) that includes: a first transparent electrode having a first substrate having thereon a first electrically conductive layer; a second transparent electrode having a second substrate having thereon a second electrically conductive layer; a first polymeric layer on the first transparent electrode, wherein the first polymeric layer includes a cathodic electrochromic polymer and a first non-electrochromic polymeric matrix; a second polymeric layer on the second transparent electrode, wherein the second polymeric layer includes an anodic electrochromic polymer and a second non-electrochromic polymeric matrix; and an electrolyte layer disposed between the first polymeric layer and the second polymeric layer. Also provided is a process of producing the ECDs, as well as the electrochromic layers themselves.
US07884990B2
An actuator, includes: a weight part; a supporting part supporting the weight part; a connecting part coupling the weight part rotatable to the supporting part and having an elastic part; a driving member for driving and rotating the weight part; and a semiconductor circuit for driving the weight part. The driving member is operated to torsionally deform the elastic part and rotate the weight part. The elastic part has a first silicon part that is mainly made of silicon and a first resin part that is mainly made of resin and coupled to the first silicon part. The supporting part has at least a second silicon part made mainly of silicon and coupled to the first silicon part of the elastic part. The semiconductor circuit is provided on the second silicon part of the supporting part.
US07884988B2
A micromechanical device and system utilizing a supplemental reset pulse to ensure deflectable members deflect to the desired position. After loading data into a micromechanical device, a reset pulse is used to position the deflectable member to a position indicated by the data. A supplemental reset pulse is then applied to ensure the deflectable member is driven to the position indicated by the data. The method and system are also used to ensure the deflectable members are driven to a neutral position.
US07884976B2
An image sensing apparatus having a large depth of focus (DOF) and being compact in size is provided. The image sensing apparatus includes a plurality of light sources that shines light beams on an illumination portion of a document; a first mirror that receives incident light scattered by reflection from the document, to reflect the scattered light in the secondary scan direction; a plurality of first concaved aspheric mirrors that collimates light beams from the first mirror, to reflect therefrom the collimated light beams as substantially collimated light fluxes; an aperture mirror that reflects therefrom the light beams from the respective first aspheric mirrors, through apertures each having a light-shielded portion formed therearound and selectively passing the light beams therethrough; a plurality of second concaved aspheric mirrors that receives the light beams incident from the respective aperture mirror, to reflect the incident light beams as converging light beams; a second mirror that reflects the light beams in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the document, disposed on a path of the light beams to be converged by means of the second aspheric mirrors; a plurality of light receivers each having a light-receiving area that receives the light beams from the second mirrors, to form images according to the light beams from the respective apertures; and a casing where the first and second aspheric mirrors are disposed on a first side of the casing in the secondary scan direction, and the aperture mirror is disposed on a second side thereof in the secondary scan direction.
US07884968B2
A graphical scanner for scanning a graphical image includes a source for producing an optical beam, a monochromator for dividing the optical beam into a plurality of component beams for hyperspectral bandpasses, a director for directing the component beams to illuminate portions of the graphical image, a sensor for measuring a light intensity for the one or illuminated portions, and a translator for transforming the measured light intensities for each of the one or more portions into hyperspectral traces each representing a spectral power distribution. The translator further transforms the hyperspectral traces into one or more device-independent representations of color.
US07884966B2
There is provided an image processing apparatus that includes a conversion unit that performs color conversion of an input image by employing correlation information denoting color coordinates of grid points in an input color space and color coordinates corresponding to those grid points in an output color space; a first adjustment processing unit that performs first adjustment processing with respect to an image output from the conversion unit; a calculation unit that calculates a total color material amount corresponding to each of the grid points based on the color coordinates of the grid points in the output color space denoted by the correlation information; and a judgment unit that judges whether or not the first adjustment processing is to be applied to an image output from the conversion unit based on a comparison between the total color material amount corresponding to each grid point and the limit value.
US07884964B2
Methods and systems in an image processing device for controlling colors that are located external to a gamut are disclosed. A plurality of color values can be automatically provided as input to said image processing device, wherein said image processing device is under a control of a particular dimensional order, typically a three-dimensional order, but alternatively can be a two-dimensional order. Next, an operation can be performed dynamically determining which color value among the plurality of color values has attained a gamut limit. Thereafter, the particular dimensional order can be automatically reduced, thereby providing improved control for colors that are located external to said gamut. The plurality of color values analyzed is generally associated with three colors—cyan, magenta, and yellow.
US07884961B2
Following the insertion of a trial key or a license key into a port, authentication thereof is executed (S4, S22); if the trial key authentication is successful, a trial time limit is obtained by adding a trial permission period to a current time and is stored into a nonvolatile memory (S25); if the current time exceeds the trial time limit (S12, S13), or the license key authentication is successful, the trial state information is changed to indicate “trailed” (S4); if the license key authentication is successful (S14), or the trial key authentication is successful (S15) and the trial state information does not indicate “trialed” (S16), an optional routine is executed following an instruction from a control panel. In that routine, if the trial state information does not indicate “trialed”, the trial time limit is displayed on a control panel.
US07884957B2
The present invention provides an image forming apparatus, an image management method and an image management program in which a security of image data to which anti-counterfeit information and the like is added can be ensured. The image forming apparatus connected to the network has an image data forming unit which forms the image data, and a control unit which prohibits transference of anti-counterfeit added image data in which the anti-counterfeit information is added to the image data between devices connected to the network. Thus, since the transference of the anti-counterfeit added image data is prohibited in general, security of the anti-counterfeit added image data can be improved.
US07884952B2
A print control apparatus that can improve the performance and quality of a printer driver and a Win32 application and can improve usability for users. A Win32 application that operates on the print control apparatus handles print settings as a print ticket in XML format, and a printer driver that operates on the apparatus manages print settings as a DEVMODE structure in binary format. A conversion process between the print ticket and the DEVMODE structure is carried out in a submodule. The submodule constructs a public portion of the DEVMODE structure based on the print ticket and incorporates the print ticket into a free space in a private portion of the DEVMODE structure. Further, the submodule extracts the print ticket incorporated in the DEVMODE private portion.
US07884945B2
In one aspect, the invention relates to a method of acquiring optical coherence tomographic data from a sample. The method includes the steps of scanning a first location on the sample to obtain a first set of optical coherence tomographic data, scanning a second location on the sample to obtain a second set of optical coherence tomographic data, and defining a fiducial position relative to a location on the sample using one of the two sets of optical coherence tomographic data. In one embodiment, the first set of optical coherence tomographic data is survey data. However, in another embodiment the first set of optical coherence tomographic data is sample measurement data.
US07884944B2
A tunable optical spectrometer includes a medium configured to perform polarization rotation within a frequency band on a linearly polarized test beam, wherein the medium is circularly birefringent, and wherein the polarization rotation is achieved based on two-photon-absorption. The medium includes a gaseous substance, a first reference laser beam having a first reference frequency, and a second reference laser beam having a second reference frequency, wherein the first reference laser beam and the second reference laser beam have a same circular polarization state.
US07884937B2
A method and apparatus for measuring target gas concentrations in an atmosphere. The method and apparatus emit in the atmosphere a laser beam tuned to a molecular absorption line of a target gas, receive a reflected signal affected by gas absorption of the target gas in the atmosphere, divide and direct the received signal into a first optical path and a second optical path including in one of the paths a correlation gas cell filled with a predetermined concentration of the target gas, detect transmitted signals through the first optical path and the second optical path, and calculate a target gas concentration by comparing a first signal transmitted through the first optical path to a second signal transmitted through the second optical path. The apparatus includes a laser source tunable to a specific molecular absorption line of a target gas and configured to emit in the atmosphere a laser beam having a spectral bandwidth greater than a full width of the molecular absorption line of the target gas, a receiver configured to receive a reflected signal affected by gas absorption of the target gas in the atmosphere, and at least one detector configured to detect transmitted signals through the first optical path and the second optical path.
US07884933B1
An apparatus and method for determining an analyte concentration of a sample, such as a tissue sample. The apparatus may comprise an emitter, close proximity detectors laterally located less than about 2 mm away from the emitter, and far away detectors laterally located greater than about 0.5 cm away from the emitter. A plurality of wavelengths may be sent from the emitter to the sample, reflected off of the sample, and received by the detectors. The reflectance value measured by the close proximity detectors may be used to calculate one or more scattering coefficients. The reflectance value measured by the far away detectors may be compared with a reflectance value calculated using the scattering coefficients in a numerical inversion of a diffusion model to determine the analyte concentration of the sample.
US07884921B2
An illumination optical apparatus, used in a projection exposure apparatus for projecting and exposing a pattern arranged in a first plane to a second plane, for supplying the first surface with illumination light from a light source comprises an optical path combiner arranged in an optical path between the light source and the first surface, for combining a plurality of light beams different from each other from the light source such that the first and second light beams illuminate the first surface closely to each other. The optical path combiner includes a discrete point positioned on or near a third surface optically conjugate with the first surface. The plurality of light beams travel by way of a plurality of regions sectioned by the discrete point, respectively.
US07884920B2
A mirror assembly to interact with a beam of radiation of a lithographic apparatus is disclosed. The mirror assembly includes a mirror, a piezo electric actuator, and a mover structure, the mover structure connected to the mirror, an assembly of the mirror and the mover structure being pivotable about a pivot point, the piezo electric actuator having a contacting surface to establish a slip-stick contact with the mover structure.
US07884919B2
A device manufacturing method includes transferring a pattern from a patterning device onto a substrate. The method includes bringing the patterning device and the support together, and applying a substantially stationary force between the patterning device and the support to hold the patterning device. The patterning device is now excited by a substantially dynamic force to enable a micro slipping thereof. Then, the patterning device is aligned, and the pattern is transferred from the patterning device onto the substrate. The patterning device may be excited with an alternating acceleration. When the patterning device is excited, the patterning device is allowed to settle with respect to the support, thereby improving a friction therebetween to reduce a risk of slipping or local slipping of the patterning device.
US07884917B2
The present invention relates to a spacer and a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel with the same. The LCD panel comprises a color filter substrate, a thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the color filter substrate and the thin film transistor array substrate. At least one spacer is disposed between the color filter substrate and the thin film transistor array substrate. Each spacer can comprise a first sub-spacer and a second sub-spacer. Elasticity of the first sub-spacer is smaller than elasticity of the second sub-spacer, and height of the first sub-spacer is smaller than height of the second sub-spacer.
US07884909B2
A substrate for a transflective liquid crystal display device includes a plurality of gate lines on a substrate; at least one data line crossing the plurality of gate lines to define a pixel region including a transmissive portion and a reflective portion; a thin film transistor connected to one of the plurality of gate lines and the at least one data line, the thin film transistor including a gate electrode, a semiconductor layer, a source electrode and a drain electrode; a first insulating layer covering a portion of the thin film transistor, the first insulating layer uncovering the pixel region and a portion of the drain electrode; a transparent electrode in the pixel region, the transparent electrode directly contacting the drain electrode and the semiconductor layer; and a reflective layer in the reflective portion, the reflective layer having a first uneven surface.
US07884908B2
Each pixel has a transmissive area and a reflective area. A first alignment process area and a second alignment process area are placed such that an overlapping region is created in part of the reflective area. A region where the liquid crystal alignment direction shifts continuously is created in a boundary between the transmissive are a and the reflective are a without exception. A first liquid crystal alignment region is formed wider than the transmissive area, and a second liquid crystal alignment region is formed narrower than the reflective area.
US07884904B2
An image display device provided with a panel comprising a substrate comprising glass or resin, a front side laminated body and a back side laminated body, and an optical member adjacent to the back side laminated body, wherein the surface of the optical member going to contact with the back side laminated body has an arithmetic average roughness (Ra) of 6 μm or more. The image display device can maintain excellent display performance under conditions with significant circumstance variations.
US07884898B2
An optical sheet for a backlight is provided on a surface light source in the backlight. An optical reflection layer has a plurality of through grooves formed on a transparent substrate and arranged at a prescribed interval. The width of the through hole is narrowed from the upper surface opening to the lower surface opening. Each of the cylindrical lenses is filled within a corresponding through groove, and its surface is a cylindrical surface that covers the upper surface opening of the through groove. Light from the light source comes in only from the lower surface opening, so that the angle of incidence of light when the light reaches the cylindrical surface can be controlled, and an increased amount of light deflected toward the front surface can be emitted. Therefore, the optical sheet for a backlight can collect light from the surface light source in the front surface direction.
US07884891B2
In a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD), a connection is formed between the gate line and the common electrode line with TFTs. During scanning in one frame, a high voltage signal is applied to the pixels in a next row before the next row is turned on, i.e., a black image is inserted in the normal white mode. When the pixels in one row are in operation and the pixels in the next row are not turned on, a black image data is inserted into the next row. A high voltage is applied before the pixels in a row of the TFT-LCD are turned on, so that a black image is inserted and tailing of motion picture can be alleviated.
US07884872B2
A driving method is applied to a solid-state imaging apparatus having photoelectric conversion portions, transfer portion for reading out signal charges, and an excess charge draining portion for draining charges exceeding a saturation charge amount that is set by a reference voltage. One of driving modes is selected from a full pixel mode in which accumulated signal charges are detected individually for each pixel and a pixel mixing mode in which signal charges of a predetermined number of pixels are mixed to be detected. In the full pixel mode, the draining portion is supplied with the reference voltage having the same value during a charge accumulation period and a read transfer period for read transferring charges. In the pixel mixing mode, the draining portion is supplied with the reference voltage having a low level during the charge accumulation period and the reference voltage having a high level during the read transfer period. An appropriate driving for the pixel mixing mode can be performed by avoiding a limitation of a substrate voltage, without deteriorating the spectral characteristics, the sensitivity, nor the linearity.
US07884871B2
A digital frame transfer imager having an image sensor and frame memory in the same chip. The image sensor has an integrated memory controller for controlling transfers of data between the sensor and the memory array. The imager utilizes a rolling shutter and multiple groups of analog-to-digital processing circuitry to readout data from the sensor and to output digital images substantially free from image smear, kT/C noise and other unwanted image artifacts.
US07884870B2
A photoelectric conversion apparatus is disclosed. A photoelectric conversion apparatus includes a pixel array in which pixels including photoelectric conversion units are arrayed in a row direction and a column direction, a plurality of first column signal lines which are electrically connected to the pixels arrayed in the pixel array in the column direction, respectively, a plurality of column amplification units which amplify signals provided via the plurality of the first column signal lines, respectively, a power supply line which provides a power supply voltage to the plurality of column amplification units, and a plurality of second column signal lines which are electrically connected to output sides of the plurality of column amplification units, respectively. Each column amplification unit includes a current limiting unit which limits the flow of an excessive current to each of the plurality of second column signal lines.
US07884866B2
First YUV data produced from a pixel output in which one RAW-RGB data is read out from an SDRAM and is compensated in a dynamic range expansion compensating section of a YUV converting section and second YUV data produced from a pixel output which is equal to or more than a predetermined saturation level without performing a compensation process in the dynamic range expansion compensating section are loaded in a YUV compositing section, and then third YUV data is produced by compositing brightness data taken out from the first YUV data and color difference data taken out from the second YUV data.
US07884864B2
A noise reduction device comprises a first signal reading-out unit for reading out a video signal of a target pixel for which a noise reduction is performed; a second signal reading-out unit for reading out video signals of external peripheral pixels arranged around internal peripheral pixels arranged at positions closest to the target pixel, the external peripheral pixels being arranged at positions closest to the target pixel in radial directions from the target pixel and outputting the same color signals as the video signal of the target pixel; a selection controller for judging presence of a correlation between the video signal of the target pixel and a video signal of each of the external peripheral pixel based on a relation between a signal value of the video signal of the target pixel and a signal value of the video signal of each of the external peripheral pixels; a signal calculator for calculating the signal value of the video signal of the target pixel by use of the signal values of the video signals of the external peripheral pixels; and a selector for selecting the signal value of the video signal of the target pixel determined by the signal calculator when it is judged by the selection controller that the number of the video signals of the external peripheral pixels having correlations with the video signal of the target pixel is large.
US07884863B2
A CPU 200 reads out an image file GF from a memory card MC and stores the read out image file GF temporarily in an RAM 210. The CPU 200 acquires shooting information EI from the read out image file GF and determines the noise reduction level according to the ISO speed. When the ISO speed or the shutter speed exceeds a predetermined value, the CPU 200 increases the noise reduction level and executes noise reduction process.
US07884860B2
A content shooting apparatus is provided, in which thresholds for generating metadata concerning shot images can be calibrated in accordance with shooting conditions.In a content shooting apparatus (Acc) for converting content data (Dc) into a stream (AV) and recording the stream (AV) to a recording medium (214) in combination with content-related metadata (Dm), a camera (101) shoots a subject (105) and generates the content data (Dc), a camerawork statistics portion (206s) detects movement (σ) of the camera, a camera microcomputer (206) compares the detected movement (σ) with a predetermined value (Th) to generate the metadata (Dm), and an automatic threshold setting portion (206t) changes the predetermined value (Th) in accordance with the detected movement (σ).
US07884859B2
A digital camera including a layout inputting unit that inputs a layout in drawing a digital image, an internal memory stored with the inputted layout, a selection receiving unit (S400) that receives selection of the layout stored in the internal memory, an object image outputting unit (S410, S420) that outputs the digital image outputted by the converting unit to a removable memory by being related to the layout selected by the selection receiving unit, and a layout unit (S440) that outputs the layout stored in the internal memory in the removable memory stored with the digital image by the object image outputting unit.
US07884857B2
A histogram detecting unit detects a distribution of numbers of pixels by luminance level of a picked-up image signal. A maximum luminance value calculating unit calculates a maximum luminance value of the inputted image signal. A high luminance proportion calculating unit calculates a proportion of a high luminance signal out of all of the pixels composing one or a plurality of frames based on the detected distribution of numbers of pixels by luminance level. A knee point calculating unit calculates a knee point based on the calculated maximum luminance value and proportion of the high luminance signal. A knee processing unit generates a knee slope with a predetermined inclination starting at the calculated knee point. The knee processing unit does not change the value of the predetermined inclination, regardless of the value of the calculated knee point.
US07884849B2
A method of operating a video surveillance system is provided. The video surveillance system including at least two sensing units. A first sensing unit having a substantially 360 degree field of view is used to detect an event of interest. Location information regarding a target is sent from the first sensing unit to at least one second sensing unit when an event of interest is detected by the first sensing unit.
US07884845B2
A minutes taking system includes a change detection portion that detects a change of a displayed image for a description object out of displayed images that are a plurality of stream images serving as information displayed in a conference, a separation detection portion that detects a separation temporally separates a content of the displayed image; and an extraction portion that extracts a recorded time segment to be recorded as minutes information composing a minutes, on the basis of a change time when the change detection portion detects the change of the displayed image for the description object and a separation time when the separation detection portion detects the separation according to the plurality of streams.
US07884844B2
A videoconferencing system includes a camera, a microphone, and an interface module. The module is coupled a modem connected to a television network and is coupled to a television set and a set-top box. The module decodes encoded audio video signals received from the modem that are part of a videoconferencing session. The module also encodes audio and video signals received from the camera and the microphone and sends the encoded audio video signals to the modem to be part of the videoconferencing session. The module can selectively send decoded audio signals to the television set or can selectively send video received from the set-top box to the television display. In addition, the module can send compressed audio and video signals received from the microphone and camera to the set-top box for processing and delivery to the television display.
US07884837B2
A method and display device for correcting spatial non-uniformity in a display device are provided. The method includes receiving color signals of a pixel to receive the pixel, extracting correction data for correcting adjacent representative color signals which represent areas adjacent to the received pixel, and correcting the adjacent representative color signals using correction data and correcting the color signals of the pixel using the corrected adjacent representative color signals.
US07884830B1
A graphics system supports arrays of cube map textures. In one implementation, a cube map texture is utilized as an index into a set of cube map textures. The set of cube map textures may further be arranged into an atlas of two-dimensional textures.
US07884824B2
A method for processing status information on determined functions in a wireless terminal device. Reference information on the appearance of an element of a display, such as a selection or a background element, and the status of status information is determined. The status of the status information, such as availability, on pointable targets is determined. When a target is pointed by a selection element, the appearance of the element of the display is selected in a predetermined manner in accordance with the status of the status information. The method can be implemented by a wireless terminal device or by a software product arrangeable in a terminal device.
US07884811B2
A hand-holdable, durable digital writing and sketching device or assembly having rugged construction that houses an on-board camera with a view through an optical window of a writing surface brought in view by a user moving the device. The device is rugged, sealed, and is capable of withstanding dropping, water submersion, abrasive incursions, and resistance to chemical and fungal degradation. The optical window and optic channel to the camera is protected by a durable and replaceable light-transmitting shield that provides a sealed barrier to the environmental elements harmful to the functioning of the device. The writing and sketching device oscillates between a stowed and a deployed state. The deployed state includes the camera being in view the writing surface and the stowed state includes the camera being either masked from viewing the writing surface or aimed internally from viewing the writing surface. Other versions of the digital writing and sketching device include replaceable styli and pens that are removable and interchangeable with a sealed chamber in the device. The stylus point or pen ends are substantially in view of the on-board device camera. Signal transmissions communicated from the digital writing and sketching device convey pressures experienced by the inserted stylus or pens and are represented in proportion to a microprocessor based display that conveys changing field of view experienced by the on-board camera.
US07884810B2
Unevenness detecting apparatus for compensating for threshold voltage and method thereof is provided with a plurality of scan lines and a plurality of data lines and a pixel circuit arranged in each point which the scan lines and the data lines are intersected. The unevenness detecting apparatus for compensating for the threshold voltage and method thereof may accurately sense a state of minute unevenness such as fingerprints by using an active element (e.g., TFT) as an element of which pixel circuit is composed.
US07884796B2
A lamp driving structure for backlight module includes a backlight module implemented for disposing a first circuit board and a second circuit board thereon, the first circuit board couples with the second circuit board through a transmission line; the structure further includes at least a square wave controller, two square wave switches, a mutually coupled transformer, a plurality of driving transformers and a plurality of connectors disposed selectively on the first circuit board and the second circuit board, thereby reducing the number of driving transformers and connectors and the area of circuit boards to further reduce the manufacturing cost of the lamp driving device.
US07884795B2
A display device is set forth that comprises a display panel having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix. A data driver supplies pixel drive signals to data lines that are connected to drive the individual pixels of at least one row of pixels with corresponding pixel drive signals. The display device also includes a gate driver that supplies gate drive signals to the gate lines of the matrix. Each gate line may be connected to concurrently drive at least one row of pixels with a respective gate drive signal. The gate driver may comprise a sequence of shift registers that are connected in cascade with one another and two or more phase clocks that are connected to drive the sequence of shift registers. The shift registers of the gate driver may be interconnected with one another so that a shift register to which a given phase clock is applied is reset using an output signal from a next occurring shift register in the sequence of shift registers that is also connected to the given phase clock.
US07884784B2
Described herein is a transparent-display device for motor vehicles, to be used for presentation of information to the driver and/or to the passengers, said device comprising a plurality of LED sources, addressable individually or in groups through a series of conductive paths, deposited on a transparent underlayer and connected to a control electronics, in which: i) said LED sources are integrated in the form of dice, i.e., of elements obtained by dividing up a semiconductor wafer and without package; ii) said dice are integrated on, and electrically connected to, said underlayer via technologies of the chip-on-board type; and iii) said transparent underlayer 1 is pre-arranged for being at least in part superimposed on the windscreen of the vehicle, in such a way that at least part of the information presented to the user is superimposed on the background, said background being visible to the user through said windscreen.
US07884783B2
A data driver including a first digital-to-analog converter configured to select first and second reference voltages depending on upper bits of data and supply the first and the second reference voltages to a first line and a second line, respectively, a second digital-to-analog converter having the first line and the second line to receive the first and the second reference voltages, respectively, a first group of voltage dividing resistors between the first line and the second line and configured to generate a plurality of gray scale voltages, a voltage dividing resistor unit between the first line and the second line, and at least one switch positioned between the voltage dividing resistor unit and one of the first line and the second line, and including a decoder unit configured to control on and off state of the at least one switch depending on lower bits of data.
US07884776B2
In one embodiment, an integrated circuit antenna array is provided that includes: a low voltage substrate supporting an RF transmission network, and a high voltage substrate bonded to the low voltage substrate, the high voltage substrate supporting a plurality of antennas coupled to the RF transmission network through power amplifiers integrated into a surface of the high voltage substrate.
US07884773B1
A method for making a horn antenna array includes the steps of making planar boards with surface conductor or metallization defining a plurality of side-by-side horns, and with horn feed conductors extending to an edge of the boards. The edges of the board are metallized in a pattern to define feed pads in contact with the feed conductors. Slots are cut in the boards on the axes of the horns so that two orthogonal boards can be joined together for “radiation” in mutually orthogonal planes. A surface-conducive dielectric support defines surface pads in a pattern that matches the pattern of feed pads in a set of joined boards, and through vias connect from the surface pads to lower layers, which may include a beamformer, for making individual connections to the horns.
US07884769B2
A planar antenna assembly (AA), for an RF communication module, comprises i) a ground plane (GP) and a feeding circuit (FC) defined on a lace of a printed circuit board (PCB), ii) a feed tab (FT1) and a first shorting tab (ST1) coupled to the feeding circuit (FC) and the ground plane (GP) respectively, and iii) a radiating element (RE) comprising a first part (P1) connected to the feed tab (FT) and first shorting tab (ST1), located in a first plane approximately perpendicular to the ground plane (GP) and in which a slot (SO), comprising opened (OE) and closed (CE) ends, is defined, and a second part (P2) extending approximately perpendicularly from the first part (P1) to be located in a second plane lacing and approximately parallel to the ground plane (GP). The feed tab (FT) and first shorting tab (ST1) are parallel and close to each other and connected to the first part (P1) at a chosen place located at a chosen distance away from the slot opened end (OE) in order to define a chosen input impedance.
US07884768B2
A dual beam electronically scanned phased array antenna architecture including a plurality of antenna modules orthogonally connected to a signal distribution board. Each module includes a radiator board orthogonally connected to a first end of a support mandrel. Each radiator board includes RF radiators and a pair of chip carriers mounted to opposing sides of the respective mandrel and interconnected to the respective radiator board. Each module includes a signal transfer board formed to fit around a second end of the mandrel such that it is compressed between the mandrel and the signal distribution board, and a pair of signal distribution bridges mounted to the opposing sides of the mandrel. Each signal distribution bridge interconnects respective chip carriers with the signal transfer board and distributes digital, DC and/or RE signals received from the signal transfer board to a plurality of beam scanning circuits included in the respective chip carrier.
US07884766B2
An antenna and antenna array are provided. A radiating elements and corresponding feed lines are provided over a variable dielectric constant material sandwiched between two panels. The sandwich may be in the form of an LCD. The dielectric constant in a selected area under the conductive line can be varied to control the phase of the radiating element. The dielectric constant in a selected area under the radiating element can be varied to control the resonance frequency of the radiating element. The dielectric constant in a selected area under the conductive line can be varied to also control the polarization of the radiating element.
US07884765B2
An array antenna and an electronic apparatus using the array antenna are provided. The array antenna includes a plurality of antenna units, a first connection line, and a second connection line. Each of the antenna units includes a rectangular radiation region, a first feeding line and a second feeding line. The first and second feeding lines are connected to two adjacent feeding corners of the rectangular radiation region. The first connection line and the second connection line are disposed at two sides of the antenna unit for connection with the other ends of the first feeding line and the second feeding line, respectively.
US07884764B2
An antenna oscillator includes a first strip line type resonator and a second resonator functioning as an antenna. The first resonator is fabricated by stacking a first conductor onto a grounding conductor with a first dielectric part including a gain part therebetween. The second resonator is fabricated by stacking a second conductor, emitting electromagnetic waves to the exterior, onto the first resonator with a second dielectric part therebetween so as to function as an antenna with the configuration between the grounding conductor and the second conductor. The first conductor and the second conductor are separated from each other in a stacking direction with the second dielectric part or the second dielectric part and the grounding conductor therebetween. The first resonator and the second resonator are electromagnetically connected together so as to form a resonance circuit that makes the electromagnetic waves resonate.
US07884759B2
A reception environment is determined to be a multipath environment when the difference (positioning altitude difference) between the maximum value (maximum altitude) and the minimum value (minimum altitude) of the altitudes of candidate present positions P of respective satellite sets exceeds a given threshold value (e.g., 200 m), and is determined to be an open-sky environment when the positioning altitude difference is equal to or less than the given threshold value. When the reception environment is the open-sky environment, an evaluation point E of each satellite set is calculated using a known evaluation method based on the number of satellites, a PDOP value, and the like. When the reception environment is the multipath environment, the evaluation point E of each satellite set is calculated in the same manner as in the open-sky environment, and a change amount ΔE corresponding to the difference (altitude difference) between the altitude corresponding to the preceding located position acquired from an altitude table and the altitude of the candidate present position of the target satellite set is subtracted from the evaluation point E.
US07884757B2
In one embodiment, an ultra wide band (UWB) radar includes: a substrate; a plurality of antennas adjacent the substrate, the plurality of antennas being arranged into a plurality of sub-arrays; an RF feed network adjacent the substrate, the RF feed network coupling to a distributed plurality of amplifiers integrated with the substrate, wherein the RF feed network and the distributed plurality of amplifiers are configured to form a resonant network such that if a timing signal is injected into an input port of the RF feed network, the resonant network oscillates to provide a globally-synchronized RF signal across the network; a plurality of pulse-shaping circuits corresponding to the plurality of sub-arrays, each pulse-shaping circuit being configured to receive the globally-synchronized RF signal from the network and process the globally-synchronized RF signal into pulses for transmission through the corresponding sub-array of antennas; and an actuator for mechanically scanning the UWB radar so that the pulses transmitted by the antennas scan across a desired area.
US07884751B2
A TDC circuit having a small scale circuit and high resolution is disclosed, which is a time-to-digital converter that detects a phase with respect to a reference clock of a signal to be measured, comprising a first delay line in which a plurality of first delay elements with a first delay amount is connected in series, a second delay line group that is connected to a plurality of connection nodes of the first delay line or an input node in the first stage and in which at least one or more second delay elements with a second delay amount different from the first delay amount are connected in series, a plurality of judgment circuits that judge whether the changing edge of the signal to be measured is advanced or delayed with respect to the changing edges of a delayed clock output from the first delay element and the second delay element, and an operation circuit that calculates a phase with respect to the reference clock of the changing edge of the signal to be measured from the judgment results, wherein a difference between the first delay amount and the second delay amount is smaller than the first delay amount and the second delay amount.
US07884748B2
The invention provides an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) of the single ramp type, comprising a ramp generator (101), a clock (102), a digital counter (103) timed by the clock (102), and at least one channel (101, . . . , 10i, . . . , 10n) for data processing, the or each channel comprising a comparator (201, . . . , 20i, . . . , 20n) having an input connected to the ramp generator (101) and the output of which causes for each conversion cycle the storage of the current counter value as a coarse conversion data. According to the present invention, the or each channel (101, . . . , 10i, . . . , 10n) further comprises a delay-chain time interpolator (401, . . . , 40i, . . . , 40n, 501, . . . , 50i, . . . , 50n) responsive to the output of the comparator and to the clock (102), for interpolating time within a clock period from the triggering time of the comparator, said interpolator delivering a time-interpolation output signal as a fine conversion data which is combined to the coarse conversion data for each conversion cycle. Application to an increased resolution without excess power consumption or increased conversion period.
US07884738B2
A visual warning assembly for disposal at an intersection of a plurality of roadways is disclosed herein. The visual warning assembly includes a housing with first and second openings facing first and second directions. The first and second directions are transverse to one another. The visual warning assembly also includes a first light assembly positioned in the first opening and having a plurality of light emitting diodes arranged in pattern representing an emergency vehicle. The visual warning assembly also includes a second light assembly positioned in the second opening and having a plurality of light emitting diodes arranged in pattern representing an emergency vehicle. The visual warning assembly also includes a signal receiver physically supported by the housings or one or both of the first and second light assemblies. The signal receiver or sensor is operable to receive and communicate a signal emitted by a signal emitter associated with an emergency vehicle. The visual warning assembly also includes a controller physically supported by the housing or one or both of the first and second light assemblies. The controller is in communication with the first and second light assemblies and the signal receiver. In response to receiving the signal from the signal receiver, the controller is operable to selectively direct power to the first and second light assemblies from a power source such that only one of the first and second light assemblies is illuminated at any particular time to limit power consumption and heat generation by the visual warning assembly.
US07884735B2
A patient care equipment support includes power and data connectors configured to be coupled to power and data connectors of patient care equipment when the patient care equipment is coupled to the equipment support to provide a power coupling and a data coupling between the patient care equipment and the equipment support. The equipment support is transferable between a first device, such as a hospital bed, and a second device, such as an overhead support arm.
US07884727B2
A system to control energy consumption in a room uses a wireless mesh network that allows for continuous connections and reconfiguration around blocked paths by hopping from node to node until a connection can be established, the mesh network including one or more wireless area network transceivers adapted to communicate data with the wireless mesh network, the transceiver detecting motion by analyzing reflected wireless signal strength.
US07884726B2
A method for efficiently producing a plurality of EAS or RFID tags or inlays that form a label ready for use. The process utilizes a first web of RFID chip straps or capacitor straps that are releasably secured to a liner using only a low tack adhesive and utilizes a second web of coils or antennas which are secured to a second liner. After indexing these two webs, selective heat and pressure are applied to the chips straps or to the capacitor straps to transfer them and electrically couple them to a corresponding coil or antenna. Where both chip straps and capacitor straps are applied to a common antenna, a third web of the additional strap is used in the process.
US07884721B2
The invention is a system for remotely identifying sound amplification devices and other electronic devices. This system introduces the ability for sound technicians to remotely identify which electronic devices have entered the stage or performance area. The system includes an identification tags, visual markers, sensors, receiver, and monitor. Remote identification can be achieved through RFID (radio frequency identification) or Line of sight (like infrared). Using directional sensors or sensors of adjustable sensitivity.
US07884719B2
An antenna web can include an RFID antenna on a first side of a substrate. An adhesive can be laminated on a second side of the substrate. The antenna web can then be cut into individual segments for use in constructing an RFID label.
US07884715B2
A method for implementing program execution integrity (PEI) for a communication-based sensor includes receiving an output communication message from the sensor, the output communication message including sensor output data internally processed within the sensor. The output communication message further includes raw data used by the sensor in internally processing the sensor output data. The raw data is independently processed, and the results thereof are compared with the internally processed sensor output data so as to verify the processing integrity of the sensor to a desired tolerance.
US07884709B2
A system and method for providing synergistic alert condition processing in an automated patient management system is presented. An alert condition is classified along a continuum that includes adverse outcome potential versus medical intervention impact potential. The alert condition is managed by assigning a disposition based on relative placement of the alert condition along the continuum. An alert notification is communicated over a selectable mode of communications and is conditioned upon the assigned disposition being actionable.
US07884705B2
The present invention is to provide a safety-drive assistance device that can judge whether a driver recognizes an object to which a driver should pay an attention or not even if an accuracy of detecting a visual-line direction is almost equal to once degree. A traffic environment detecting unit 11 detects an object such as an automobile, a pedestrian, a road mark and a traffic signal. A watched target judging unit 12 judges a watched target among the objects, to which a driver pays attention. A visual-line direction detecting unit 13 detects a visual-line direction of a driver. A visual recognition judging unit 14 judges whether a driver visually recognizes the watched target or not, based on the watched target and a fluctuation pattern of a direction of either or both eyes of the driver. A non-safety recognition judging unit 15 judges whether a driver recognizes non-safety or not, based on the result of visual recognition judged by the visual recognition judging unit 14. A presentation unit 16 informs the content of non safety, based on the result of judging on safety judged by the non-safety recognition judging unit 15.
US07884699B2
A variable resistor element comprising a first electrode, a second electrode, and a variable resistor positioned between the first and second electrodes, and changing in electric resistance when a voltage pulse is applied between the both electrodes, has posed problems that it has a restriction of having to use noble metal electrodes as an electrode material and is not compatible with a conventional CMOS process. A variable resistor element using an oxynitride of transition metal element as a variable resistor exhibits a stable switching operation, is satisfactory in data retaining characteristics, and requires a small programming current. Since it does not necessarily require noble metal as an electrode material, it is high in compatibility with the existing CMOS process and easy to produce. It can be formed by a simple step of forming a variable resistor material into a film by oxidizing a lower electrode surface consisting of conductive nitride.
US07884698B2
An electronic component is provided in which: impact-absorbing layers are provided so as to cover at least the corner portions of both end portions of a base which is made of an insulating mixture of ceramic and glass; a conductive film is formed so as to cover the surface of these impact-absorbing layers and the surface of the base; the portions of this conductive film which cover the surfaces of the impact-absorbing layers are formed into electrodes; and a resistance-adjusting groove is provided in an other portion of the conductive film than the portions serving as the electrodes.
US07884696B2
A lead frame-based discrete power inductor is disclosed. The power inductor includes top and bottom lead frames, the leads of which form a coil around a single closed-loop magnetic core. The coil includes interconnections between inner and outer contact sections of the top and bottom lead frames, the magnetic core being sandwiched between the top and bottom lead frames. Ones of the leads of the top and bottom lead frames have a generally non-linear, stepped configuration such that the leads of the top lead frame couple adjacent leads of the bottom lead frame about the magnetic core to form the coil.
US07884695B2
A low-resistance inductor is made from a plurality of first inter-abutting insulated electrode coil sub-segments that is coupled to a plurality of second intra-abutting insulated electrode coil sub-segments that are contiguous to the plurality of first intra-abutting coil sub-segments. The first plurality and the second plurality form an helical inductor unit cell. A process of forming the low-resistance inductor includes heat curing. A system includes a low-resistance inductor and a mounting substrate.
US07884679B2
A voltage reference connects to a voltage-to-current converter to generate a reference current dependent on the reference voltage. Outputs of a toggle-type flip flop connect to switching transistors controlling the reference current charging capacitors. The toggling of the flip-flop is controlled by comparing the capacitor voltages to the reference voltage, such that the toggle frequency is proportional to the time charging the capacitors. Optionally, temperature compensation data, representing a magnitude and direction rotation of the frequency versus temperature characteristic is stored and, based on a sensed temperature, retrieved to modify the reference current.
US07884676B1
An FLL circuit having a capability of configuring a desired loop bandwidth in a short period of time is provided. An FDC 17 generates a feedback of an output signal of a VCO 15. An error detector 11 detects an error of the output signal of the VCO 15. A voltage retainer 13 retains an output of a control voltage of the VCO 15. A reference signal generator 16 generates a reference signal. An adder 14 adds the reference signal to a control voltage outputted by the voltage retainer 13. A Kv calculator 18 calculates a gain Kv of the VCO 15 based on a degree of transition of an output frequency of the VCO 15. A loop bandwidth controller 19 adjusts, based on the gain Kv of the VCO 15, a gain of a loop filter 12 to an optimum value, and configures a desired loop bandwidth.
US07884670B2
A Class D amplifier includes a ramp generator configured to generate a first signal and a second signal. Each of the first signal and the second signal oscillate between a minimum value and a maximum value. A signal generator is configured to receive an input signal, the first signal and the second signal. The input signal has a value that is between the minimum value and the maximum value. A signal generator is configured to generate a third signal and a fourth signal. The third signal is generated based on each of the first signal and the second signal transitioning from a value above the value of the input signal to a value below the value of the input signal. The fourth signal is generated based on each of the first signal and the second signal transitioning from a value below the value of the input signal to a value above the value of the input signal. An output stage is configured to drive a load based on the third signal and the fourth signal.
US07884669B2
The present invention relates to an amplification device for a satellite in order to amplify a plurality of n transmission channels to an output corresponding to a beam, the device comprising: frequency band combining means comprising n inputs in order to receive the n transmission channels and q outputs in order to supply respectively the channels grouped together within q frequency bands, a power amplification unit including p active amplifiers in parallel for the distributed amplification of the n channels, gain and phase adjustment means corresponding to the p power amplifiers on the q frequency bands.
US07884668B2
The present invention relates to an integrated Doherty type amplifier arrangement and an amplifying method for such an arrangement, wherein a lumped element hybrid power divider (12) is provided for splitting input signals of main and peak amplifier stages (20, 30, 40) at predetermined phase shifts and non-equal division rates and at least one wideband lumped element artificial line (Z 1, Z2) combined with wideband compensation circuit for receiving said first amplified signal and for applying said predetermined phase shift to said first amplified signal and its higher harmonics. Thereby, the low gain of the peak amplifier is compensated by providing the non-equal power splitting at the input. Moreover, the use of the lumped element hybrid power divider leads to an improved isolation between the input ports of the main and peak amplifiers decreasing final distortions of the output signal.
US07884667B2
A linear power amplifier system using pulse area modulation includes: an envelop/phase decomposer for decomposing an input signal into an envelop signal and a phase signal; a pulse area modulator for modulating the envelop signal such that an area of the modulated envelop signal is proportional to an amplitude of the envelop signal; a control signal generator for converting the modulated envelop signal into a control signal; an automatic gain adjuster for equalizing pulse height of the modulated envelop signal; a mixer for mixing the phase signal with the output of the automatic gain adjustor to produce a RF pulse train; a power amplifier for amplifying the RF pulse train, to generate an amplified RF pulse train; and a band pass filter for restoring the original input signal from the amplified RF pulse train. The output level of the power amplifier is controlled by the control signal.
US07884666B1
A method and apparatus is provided for reducing interference in circuits. A management strategy is provided to reduce reference spurs and interference in circuits. The management strategy uses a combination of one or more techniques which reduce the digital current, minimize mutual inductance, utilize field cancellation, prevent leakage current, and/or manage impedance. These techniques may be used alone, or preferably, used on combination with one another.
US07884658B2
Circuits for forming the inputs of a latch are provided. In some embodiments, circuits for forming inputs of a latch comprise: a first transistor having a first gate terminal, a first drain terminal, a first source terminal, a first gate length, and a first common mode level at the first gate terminal, wherein the first gate terminal provides a data input to the latch; and a second transistor having a second gate terminal, a second drain terminal, a second source terminal, a second gate length, and a second common mode level at the second gate terminal, wherein the second gate terminal provides a clock input to the latch, the second drain terminal is coupled to the first source terminal, and the first gate length and the second gate length are sized so that the first common model level and the second common mode level are substantially equal.
US07884655B2
Control circuitry, comprising: first control means operable to generate a first control signal, the first control signal being indicative of a relationship between an output signal and a first reference signal, and to generate said output signal in dependence upon said first control signal, the first control means being configured to tend to maintain a first desired relationship between the output signal and the first reference signal in response to said first control signal; and second control means configured to influence operation of said first control means in response to said first control signal by way of a second control signal so as to tend to maintain a second desired relationship between said first control signal and a second reference signal.
US07884647B2
There is provided an output driver, which includes a pre-driver configured to generate a main driving control signal in response to a data signal, a main driver configured to drive an output terminal in response to the main driving control signal, an auxiliary driving control signal generator configured to generate an auxiliary driving control signal having an activation interval corresponding to the data signal and an interval control signal, and an auxiliary driver configured to drive the output terminal in response to the auxiliary driving control signal.
US07884634B2
An improved interconnection system and method is described, such as for connectors, socket assemblies and/or probe card systems. An exemplary system comprises a probe card interface assembly (PCIA) for establishing electrical connections to a semiconductor wafer mounted in a prober. The PCIA comprises a motherboard parallel to the semiconductor wafer having an upper surface and an opposing lower planar mounting surface, a reference plane defined by a least three points located between the lower surface of the motherboard and the wafer, at least one component located below the motherboard mounting surface, and a mechanism for adjusting the planarity of the reference plane with respect to the wafer. A probe chip having a plurality of spring probes extending there from is mountable and demountable from the PCIA, without the need for further planarity adjustment. The interconnection structures and methods preferably provide improved fabrication cycles.
US07884629B2
Multi-touchdown, parallel test probe cards having probe elements arranged to provide greater efficiency during testing of a substrate having a plurality of die thereon. Probe elements may be arranged in a number of configurations that allow for efficient usage of the probe elements.
US07884627B2
A stiffener assembly for use with testing devices is provided herein. In some embodiments, a stiffener assembly for use with testing devices can be part of a probe card assembly that can include a stiffener assembly comprising an upper stiffener coupled to a plurality of lower stiffeners; and a substrate constrained between the upper stiffener and the plurality of lower stiffeners, the stiffener assembly restricting non-planar flex of the substrate while facilitating radial movement of the substrate with respect to the stiffener assembly.
US07884626B2
A cathodic protection monitor to be electrically connected to a cathodic protection rectifier that is adapted to prevent rust, corrosion and possible leakage in an underground pipe or storage tank above which the rectifier is supported. The cathodic protection monitor includes a CPU that reads, digitizes and stores analog current and voltage signals which are supplied from the DC output of the rectifier and are indicative of the effectiveness thereof. The monitor includes an ISM band transceiver and antenna by which the CPU is polled and from which packets of stored data are transmitted to a data collector at an overhead airplane or nearby motor vehicle for retransmission and analysis by the pipe owner or maintenance crew. Synchronized timing signals are supplied (from the National Bureau of Standards) to a stable auxiliary clock by way of a WWVB transceiver and antenna so that a plurality of cathodic protection rectifiers can be turned on and off at the same time as may be required to compile ground voltage readings along the pipeline as part of a government-mandated survey.
US07884625B2
Apparatus, method and program product may detect an attempt to tamper with a microchip by detecting an unacceptable alteration in a measured capacitance associated with capacitance structures proximate the backside of a microchip. The capacitance structures typically include metallic shapes and may connect using through-silicon vias to active sensing circuitry within the microchip. In response to the sensed change, a shutdown, spoofing, self-destruct or other defensive action may be initiated to protect security sensitive circuitry of the microchip.
US07884624B2
A capacitance sensing structure includes a substrate, a sensing electrode layer, at least one stack layer and a conductive body. The sensing electrode layer is formed on or in the substrate. The stack layer is formed on the sensing electrode layer. The conductive body is disposed over and corresponding to the sensing electrode layer and the stack layer.
US07884622B2
In the present invention, a position detecting substrate having a capacitive sensor is supported on a transfer arm and transferred by the transfer arm and mounted on a mounting part. The capacitive sensor on the position detecting substrate then detects a position of a target object on the mounting part to detect a mounting position of the position detecting substrate on the mounting part. Based on the mounting position of the position detecting substrate, the moving position of the transfer arm when transferring a substrate is then adjusted.
US07884616B2
An automatic multi-cable continuity tester. The multi-conductor electrical continuity tester includes a controller that is configured to generate a first serial stream of input test signals. The first serial stream of input test signals includes a plurality of signals equal in number to a plurality of conductors in a cable. A data input module is configured to convert the first serial stream of input test signals into a first parallel stream of test signals. A data output module is configured to receive and convert the first parallel stream of test signals to a first serial stream of output test signals. The controller is further configured to receive the first serial stream of output signals, store the first serial stream of output signals to a memory, generate subsequent serial streams of input test signals corresponding to each possible combination and permutation of conductors, determine whether each possible combination and permutation of conductors includes an open circuit condition and/or a short circuit condition, and determine whether at least one predefined relationship between input and output test signals includes an open circuit condition and/or a short circuit condition, wherein the predefined relationship defines a stream of output test signals that are different than a stream of input test signals.
US07884615B1
A network interface includes a physical layer (PHY) device that provides an interface to a cable. The PHY device includes an autonegotiation module that selectively performs autonegotiation to establish a link with a link partner based on link parameters and a cable test module that performs a cable test before the autonegotiation begins, that determines a cable performance parameter during the cable test, and that compares the cable performance parameter to a predetermined threshold. The autonegotiation module selects at least one of the link parameters based on the comparison.
US07884611B1
In one aspect of the present invention, an induction resistivity tool includes an induction transmitter and an induction receiver located along the length of the tool. The transmitter is located adjacent at least one induction bucking coils of the tool. When activated the bucking coils are configured to direct a field transmitted by the induction transmitter away from the tool at an angle from the central axis of the tool.
US07884601B2
A magnet is contained in a display housing and is supported by a slidable operating member. A control housing contains a magnetoresistance effect element. Slidable shifting of the operating member causes an external magnetic field in a positive (+) direction and an external magnetic field in a negative (−) direction to enter the magnetoresistance effect element from the magnet at different timings, thereby changing the electric resistance of the magnetoresistance effect element. Accordingly, when the operating member is slidably shifted, a switching operation between predetermined modes is performed on the basis of a change in the resistance of the magnetoresistance effect element.
US07884596B2
A self-balancing Wheatstone bridge that provides frequency and power information. The frequency information obtained can be applied to correct the power measurement to provide excellent match, excellent frequency insensitivity, good dynamic range, good frequency range, and adequate frequency accuracy. The system is highly responsive, simple, and cost effective.
US07884594B2
Inventive embodiments described here provide for accurately distributing a voltage reference to multiple cores of an integrated circuit (IC). A quasi-differential interface is used to transmit the voltage reference, and a virtual ground is established at a receiver located at each core location on the integrated circuit. In one embodiment, the receiver is an operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) that converts a virtual-ground-referenced voltage input to a current. In one embodiment, the OTA converts the virtual-ground-referenced voltage into three currents via three driving current sources operating relative to the virtual ground and the local ground of the core. Negative feedback controls the accuracy of this conversion and provides a way to cancel the effects of the distribution resistance. The current is sourced across the voltage domains between the virtual ground and the VSS, which is the IC ground. An I*R drop across a resistor converts the current to a voltage referenced to VSS at the output.
US07884589B2
A controllable power supply device with a step-up function including a constant voltage generator, a programmable voltage generator, a first switch and a linear regulator is provided. The constant voltage generator is used to provide an initial voltage. The programmable voltage generator is used to receive the initial voltage and adjust the received initial voltage to boost the initial voltage to a power supply voltage. The first connecting terminal of the first switch is used to receive the initial voltage, the second connecting terminal of the first switch is used to receive the power supply voltage, and the third connecting terminal of the first switch is coupled to one of the first connecting terminal and the second connecting terminal. Therefore, the voltage from the third connecting terminal of the first switch is stabilized and is outputted as the output voltage of the controllable power supply device by the linear regulator.
US07884587B2
A charging unit charges a capacitor that is configured to be charged and discharged to drive a load. A switching unit switches on and off between the capacitor and the charging unit. A delay control unit delays an output of a switching control signal for controlling the switching unit until an output voltage of the charging unit exceeds a voltage of the capacitor, and outputs a delayed switching control signal. An output unit receives the delayed switching control signal from the delay control unit, and outputs the delayed switching control signal to the switching unit so that the charging unit charges the capacitor.
US07884577B2
An apparatus, which controls the temperature of a secondary battery formed by combination of a plurality of single cells or a plurality of battery modules each made by series connection of multiple single cells, prevents variations in the temperature or voltage of the single cells or the battery modules, which could otherwise be caused when the secondary battery is heated. A temperature control section controls the quantity of heat by means of which a heater heats a secondary battery formed by combination of a plurality of battery modules made by series connection of multiple single cells. The temperature control section detects a rate of temporal changes in an open circuit voltage of the secondary battery. When a detected rate of temporal changes in open circuit voltage has exceeded a predetermined threshold voltage value, the heater is controlled to thus diminish the quantity of heat used for heating the secondary battery.
US07884571B2
Systems and methods are provided for charging a USB device. A USB connector may be used to couple the system to a USB port on the USB device, the USB connector including a bus voltage (Vbus) connector, a positive data (D+) connector, and a negative data (D−) connector. Charger circuitry may be used to receive a source voltage and convert the source voltage into the bus voltage (Vbus), wherein the bus voltage (Vbus) is used to charge the USB device. Presence detect circuitry may be used to compare a first voltage present on the D+ connector with a second voltage present on the D− connector in order to detect when the USB connector is coupled to the USB port of the USB device.
US07884570B2
A battery charger may include a charger connector to be coupled to a corresponding device connector of a portable device including a rechargeable battery. The battery charger may also include a charging circuit connected to the charger connector, and a controller connected to the charger connector and the charging circuit. The controller may be for causing a portable device connected to the charger connector to identify its corresponding portable device type and its corresponding rechargeable battery type from among a plurality of different portable device types and different battery types, and for causing the charging circuit to charge the rechargeable battery based thereon.
US07884567B2
Fuel cell systems and methods for controlling fuel cell systems. In one embodiment, the method includes supplying power produced by operating the fuel cell stack in a maximum output mode to the load while concurrently charging the secondary cell with the produced power when an amount of charge of the secondary cell is smaller than a first standard value, supplying both power produced by operating the fuel cell stack in a stable output mode and the power discharged by the secondary cell to the load when the amount of charge of the secondary cell is larger than a second standard value, and maintaining an existing output mode among the output modes when the amount of charge of the secondary cell is larger than the first standard value and smaller than the second standard value.
US07884565B2
A human-machine interface assembly includes a user interface and a passive force feedback mechanism. The user interface is configured, upon receipt of an input force that exceeds a null breakout force, to move from a null position to a first control position and, upon receipt of an input force that exceeds a soft stop force, to move beyond the first control position. The passive force feedback mechanism is coupled to the user interface and is configured to supply the null breakout force to the user interface when the user interface is in the null position, and supply the soft stop force to the user interface when the user interface is in the first control position. The soft stop force exceeds the null breakout force and is not supplied to the user interface unless the user interface is in the first control position.
US07884564B2
A control circuit of a sensorless motor includes a first coil, a second coil, a first switch circuit, a second switch circuit and an auxiliary switch circuit. The first switch circuit is electrically connected to the first coil and controls a direction of a current flowing through the first coil. The second switch circuit is electrically connected to the second coil and controls a direction of a current flowing through the second coil. The auxiliary switch circuit is electrically connected to and between the first coil and the second coil and controls the directions of the currents flowing through the first coil and the second coil by cooperating with the first switch circuit and the second switch circuit. A control method of a sensorless motor is also disclosed.
US07884548B2
A PDP comprises: front and back glass substrates facing each other across a discharge space; a plurality of row electrode pairs and column electrodes disposed between the front and back glass substrates and extending in directions at right angles to each other to form discharge cells in positions corresponding to the intersections in the discharge space; and an electride compound in which electrons are substituted for part of anions in the crystal lattice and which is disposed in an area facing the discharge cells and exposed to each discharge cell.
US07884543B2
A method of forming a wiring of a light emitting device having an electrode on a light emission surface is disclosed. The method includes: forming the electrode nearly in a linear shape in which the width is narrower than the light emission surface; and forming a wiring that is connected to the electrode nearly in a linear shape in which the width is narrower than the light emission surface to cross the electrode.
US07884541B2
An organic electroluminescent apparatus includes a plurality of light-emitting elements each having an organic layer held between a pixel electrode and a counter electrode, and a partition pattern with which the organic layers of the individual light-emitting elements are defined. The partition pattern has a plurality of openings in which the organic layers are respectively provided, the plurality of openings including first openings provided in a peripheral region of a element area, in which the light-emitting elements are arranged, and second openings provided in a region closer to the center of the element area than the region where the first openings are provided. The first openings have larger planar dimensions than those of the second openings.
US07884536B2
A light emission device and a display having the light emission device are provided. The light emission device includes a light emission panel for emitting light, a diffuser plate facing the light emission panel to diffuse the light emitted from the light emission panel, and a heat dissipation plate disposed between the light emission panel and the diffuser plate.
US07884532B2
A backlight unit using a microwave plasma ultraviolet lamp as a light source and a liquid crystal display including the backlight unit. The backlight unit for a liquid crystal display comprises a tube filled with discharge gas, a cavity resonator in which one end of the tube is inserted, a magnetron for generating microwaves and supplying the generated microwaves to the cavity resonator, a magnetron driver for driving the magnetron, and a phosphor layer for converting ultraviolet light generated in the tube into visible light.
US07884526B2
A driving apparatus (100j) is provided with: a base portion (110); a stage portion (130) on which a driven object (12) is mounted and which can be displaced; an elastic portion (120) which connects the base portion and the stage portion and which has elasticity to displace the stage portion in one direction (Y axis); a first applying device (161, 162, 22) for applying an excitation force for displacing the stage portion such that the stage portion is resonated in the one direction at a resonance frequency determined by the stage portion and the elastic portion; and a frequency adjusting device (170) for dynamically adjusting the resonance frequency.
US07884524B2
Provided is a brushless alternator for preventing water from penetrating further inside through a gap between a distal end portion of a spool and a concave portion of a bracket. According to the brushless alternator of the present invention, a rotor includes: a rotor main body; and a coil body (30) fixed to a rear bracket (21). The coil body (30) includes: a bobbin (32); a field coil (13); a yoke portion (10) of a second magnetic pole, the yoke portion (10) having one lateral surface being in close contact with a lateral surface of the bobbin (32) and another lateral surface being bonded to the rear bracket (21); a spool (31) provided on an inner circumferential surface of the yoke portion (10) and an inner circumferential surface of the bobbin (32); and a rubber bush (101) provided to a projecting portion (312) at a distal end of the spool (31). The rubber bush (101) is fitted into a concave portion (21a) formed at a portion of the rear bracket (21), the portion being opposed to a distal end surface of the spool (31).
US07884517B2
A two-phase electric motor includes first and second coil groups and a magnet group. In the magnet group, N poles and S poles are disposed alternatively opposite the first and second coil groups. The first and second coil groups are disposed at positions that are out of phase with each other by an odd multiple of π/2 in electrical angles. The coils of the first and second coil groups have substantially no magnetic material cores, and the electric motor has substantially no magnetic material yoke for forming a magnetic circuit.
US07884514B2
In a method for winding the stator of a multiphase electric motor a plurality of mutually spaced stator teeth are assigned to each phase, wherein all the teeth of the stator are wound without a break in the winding wire, and wherein the winding wire is taken via a contact-making element of a contact-making device before or after the winding of all the stator teeth assigned to a phase.
US07884513B2
A rotor includes a hub, a permanent magnet and a shaft. The hub has an inner surface and an outer surface, with an assembling hole being formed at the center of the inner surface. The permanent magnet is mounted on the inner surface of the hub. The shaft has two ends, with one end being a connecting end. The connecting end is fixed in the assembling hole of the hub. An extending member is arranged at the connecting end and extends radially from a radial surface of the shaft. The extending member is embedded in a wall of the hub. Consequently, a contact area between the hub and the shaft is radially extended and increased to provide a reliable combination of the hub and the shaft, and the rotor can be applied to a motor with minimizing dimensions.
US07884508B2
A linear motor comprising a stator core and/or a mover. The stator core of said linear motor comprising an inner perimeter, an outer perimeter essentially encircling the inner perimeter, a first and a second tooth being arranged along one of the inner perimeter or the outer perimeter, a slot for receiving a stator coil, said slot being a cavity arranged within the stator core, wherein said stator core is divided into a first stator part and a second stator part, said first stator part including the first tooth, being arranged to partially define the slot, and being made of soft magnetic powder, and said second stator part including the second tooth, being arranged to partially define the slot, and being made of soft magnetic powder. The mover of said linear motor comprising at least one section of soft magnetic material and at least one permanent magnet, the at least one section of soft magnetic material and the at least one permanent magnet being aligned in an axial direction of the mover, wherein a polarization vector of said at least one permanent magnet is directed axially.
US07884487B2
Provided are a rotation joint capable of compensating for a mismatch due to thermal expansion and a semiconductor device having the same. The rotation joint can include a support member and a first contact member coupled to a first portion of the support member such that a surface of the first contact member is moveable relative to a surface of the support member adjacent to the first contact member. The first contact member can include solder material.
US07884483B2
A method of electrically joining a first contact on a first wafer with a second contact on a second wafer, the first contact, a rigid material, and the second contact, a material that is malleable relative to the rigid material, such that when brought together the rigid material will penetrate the malleable material, the rigid and malleable materials both being electrically conductive involves bringing the rigid material into contact with the malleable material, applying a force to one of the first contact or the second contact so as to cause the rigid material to penetrate the malleable material, heating the rigid and malleable material so as to cause the malleable material to soften, and constraining the malleable material to within a pre-specified area.
US07884470B2
Embodiments of the invention relate to semiconductor packages in which electrical power is delivered to die-side components removably installed in sockets formed between a package stiffener and an electrical conductor. To this purpose, the package stiffener and the electrical conductor may be electrically coupled to the power and ground terminals of the semiconductor package.
US07884468B2
A cooling device is provided for liquid cooling a power semiconductor device. The device includes a coolant diverter for guiding liquid coolant to the power semiconductor device. The coolant diverter has a first plate for dividing the coolant diverter into a first cavity and a second cavity. The second cavity positioned adjacent the power semiconductor device. The first plate further includes an opening to fluidly couple the first cavity with the second cavity such that the liquid coolant flows into the first cavity, through the opening in the first plate, and into the second cavity to cool the power semiconductor device. The first cavity has a cross-sectional area that generally decreases in a downstream direction, and the second cavity has a cross-sectional area that generally increases in the downstream direction.
US07884463B2
On a semiconductor element loading face, wiring patterns are drawn out from those formed in the vicinity of the edge of the semiconductor element of the loading pads formed to correspond to the electrode terminals of the semiconductor element, and connected to via pads formed in the vicinity of the edge of the semiconductor element loading face; area pads constructed of the loading pads corresponding to the electrode terminals formed in the central region of the semiconductor element and its vicinity are electrically connected to external connecting terminal pads formed in the central region on the other side of the wiring board and its vicinity, through the nearest area pad vias encircled by the external connecting terminal pads and passing through the wiring board and the wiring patterns; and a plurality of the loading pads constituting the area pads commonly use one of the area pad vias.
US07884462B2
An insulation covering structure for a semiconductor element with a single die dimension includes: a semiconductor element with a single die dimension and an insulation covering layer. The semiconductor element has a front side surface, a rear side surface, a left side surface, a right side surface, a bottom surface, and a top surface. The top surface of the semiconductor element has two metal pads. The insulation covering layer covers the front side surface, the rear side surface, the left side surface, the right side surface, and the bottom surface of the semiconductor element. A manufacturing process for covering the semiconductor element with a single die dimension is also disclosed.
US07884455B2
A power module includes: an encapsulation-target portion having at least one semiconductor element; and an encapsulation member that has first and second planes between which the encapsulation-target portion is interposed, and that encapsulates the encapsulation-target portion. The encapsulation member has, on the at least one semiconductor element, at least one opening that exposes part of a surface of the encapsulation-target portion the surface being on a side of the first plane. Thus, a semiconductor device of which size can be reduced can be provided.
US07884447B2
A microelectronic assembly in which a semiconductor device structure is directionally positioned on an off-axis substrate (201). In an illustrative implementation, a laser diode is oriented on a GaN substrate (201) wherein the GaN substrate includes a GaN (0001) surface off-cut from the <0001> direction predominantly towards either the <1120> or the <1100> family of directions. For a <1120> off-cut substrate, a laser diode cavity (207) may be oriented along the <1100> direction parallel to lattice surface steps (202) of the substrate (201) in order to have a cleaved laser facet that is orthogonal to the surface lattice steps. For <1100> off-cut substrate, the laser diode cavity may be oriented along the <1100> direction orthogonal to lattice surface steps (207) of the substrate (201) in order to provide a cleave laser facet that is aligned with the surface lattice steps.
US07884445B2
An apparatus and method for holding a semiconductor device in a wafer. A bar is connected to the wafer. A first sidewall comprises a first end and a second, and is connected to the bar at its first end. A first tab comprises a first end and a second end, and is connected to the second end of the first sidewall at its first end and connected to the first side of the semiconductor device at its second end. The thickness of the first tab is less than the thickness of the bar and the thickness of the first sidewall.
US07884439B2
In one aspect, the present invention provides a silicon photodetector having a surface layer that is doped with sulfur inclusions with an average concentration in a range of about 0.5 atom percent to about 1.5 atom percent. The surface layer forms a diode junction with an underlying portion of the substrate. A plurality of electrical contacts allow application of a reverse bias voltage to the junction in order to facilitate generation of an electrical signal, e.g., a photocurrent, in response to irradiation of the surface layer. The photodetector exhibits a responsivity greater than about 1 A/W for incident wavelengths in a range of about 250 nm to about 1050 nm, and a responsivity greater than about 0.1 A/W for longer wavelengths, e.g., up to about 3.5 microns.
US07884434B2
A photoelectric conversion apparatus has a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged on a semiconductor substrate, a plurality of wiring layers arranged on the semiconductor substrate through the first and second insulation layers, and a high refractive index region which is arranged in an opening part that is arranged in the interlayer insulation layer so as to correspond to the photoelectric conversion element and has a higher refractive index than the interlayer insulation layers, wherein an area of a cross section parallel to a photoreceiving plane of the photoelectric conversion element in the high refractive index region increases as the position approaches to an upper part of the substrate from a photoreceiving plane of the photoelectric conversion element, namely, as the position approaches to a light-incident plane, and the increasing rate continuously increases with the increase of the area.
US07884432B2
Systems and methods are provided for shielding integrated circuits from electromagnetic or electrostatic fields by locating an active device layer between two conductors that are electrically coupled together. In certain embodiments, a sensor comprises a conductive substrate that provides structural support and shielding to circuit elements in a semiconductor device layer. The device layer is between the conductive substrate and a shield layer that are electrically coupled together to create a shield or “Faraday box.” In certain embodiments, the device layer is substantially isolated from the conductive substrate and the shield layer by insulative layers. In certain embodiments, an input voltage powers the device layer and is also coupled to the substrate and the shield layer. Thus, the conductive substrate and the shield layer absorb and/or repel electrostatic charges or ions in a medium surrounding the sensor.
US07884427B2
A process for forming active transistors for a semiconductor memory device by the steps of: forming transistor gates having generally vertical sidewalls in a memory array section and in periphery section; implanting a first type of conductive dopants into exposed silicon defined as active area regions of the transistor gates; forming temporary oxide spacers on the generally vertical sidewalls of the transistor gates; after the step of forming temporary spacers, implanting a second type of conductive dopants into the exposed silicon regions to form source/drain regions of the active transistors; after the step of implanting a second type of conductive dopants, growing an epitaxial silicon over exposed silicon regions; removing the temporary oxide spacers; and forming permanent nitride spacers on the generally vertical sidewalls of the transistor gates.
US07884426B2
Design time (TAT) is reduced in a layout design of a semiconductor integrated circuit having a well supplied with a potential different from a substrate potential. A layout design method of the present invention includes preparing a first cell pattern placed on a semiconductor substrate of a first conductive type, preparing a second cell pattern having a deep well of a second conductive type, placing the first cell pattern in a first circuit region, and placing the second cell pattern in a second region different from the first circuit region. This reduces TAT in chip design.
US07884423B2
CMISFETs having a symmetrical flat band voltage, the same gate electrode material, and a high permittivity dielectric layer is provided for a semiconductor device including n-MISFETs and p-MISFETs, and a fabrication method thereof, the n-MISFETs including: a first metal oxide layer 20, placed on the 1st gate insulating film 16, having a composition ratio shown with M1xM2yO (where M1=Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Th, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb or Lu, M2=Hf, Zr or Ta, and x/(x+y)>0.12); a second metal oxide layer 24; and a second metal oxide layer 24, the p-MISFETs including: a second gate insulating film 18 placed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate 10; a third metal oxide layer 22, placed on the 2nd gate insulating film 18, having a composition ratio shown with M3zM4wO (M3=Al, M4=Hf, Zr or Ta, and z/(z+w)>0.14); a fourth metal oxide layer 26; and a second conductive layer 30 placed on the fourth metal oxide layer 26.
US07884408B2
One-transistor RAM technology compatible with a metal gate process fabricates a metal gate electrode formed of the same metal material as a top electrode of a MIM capacitor embedded isolation structure. A gate dielectric layer is formed of the same high-k dielectric material as a capacitor dielectric of the MIM capacitor embedded isolation structure.
US07884406B2
A semiconductor device includes a ferroelectric capacitor formed above the lower interlevel insulating film covering a MOS transistor formed on a semiconductor substrate, including lamination of a lower electrode, an oxide ferroelectric film, a first upper electrode made of conductive oxide having a stoichiometric composition AOx1 and an actual composition AOx2, a second upper electrode made of conductive oxide having a stoichiometric composition BOy1 and an actual composition BOy2, where y2/y1>x2/x1, and a third upper electrode having a composition containing metal of the platinum group; and a multilayer wiring structure formed above the lower ferroelectric capacitor, and including interlevel insulating films and wirings. Abnormal growth and oxygen vacancies can be prevented which may occur when the upper electrode of the ferroelectric capacitor is made of a conductive oxide film having a low oxidation degree and a conductive oxide film having a high oxidation degree.
US07884393B2
Affords high electron mobility transistors having a high-purity channel layer and a high-resistance buffer layer. A high electron mobility transistor (11) is provided with a supporting substrate (13) composed of gallium nitride, a buffer layer (15) composed of a first gallium nitride semiconductor, a channel layer (17) composed of a second gallium nitride semiconductor, a semiconductor layer (19) composed of a third gallium nitride semiconductor, and electrode structures (a gate electrode (21), a source electrode (23) and a drain electrode (25) for the transistor (11). The band gap of the third gallium nitride semiconductor is broader than that of the second gallium nitride semiconductor. The carbon concentration NC1 of the first gallium nitride semiconductor is 4×1017 cm−3 or more. The carbon concentration NC2 of the second gallium nitride semiconductor is less than 4×1016 cm−3.
US07884391B2
Embodiments relate to an image sensor. According to embodiments, an image sensor may include a metal interconnection, readout circuitry, a first substrate, a metal layer, and an image sensing device. The metal interconnection and the readout circuitry may be formed on and/or over the first substrate. The image sensing device may include a first conduction type conduction layer and a second conduction type conduction layer and may be electrically connected to the metal layer. According to embodiments, an electric field may not be generated on and/or over an Si surface. This may contribute to a reduction in a dark current of a 3D integrated CMOS image sensor.
US07884389B2
Bipolar power semiconductor component comprising a p-type emitter and more highly doped zones in the p-type emitter, and production method. The invention relates to a bipolar power semiconductor component comprising a semiconductor body (1), in which a p-doped emitter (8), an n-doped base (7), a p-doped base (6) and an n-doped main emitter (5) are arranged successively in a vertical direction (v). The p-doped emitter (8) has a number of heavily p-doped zones (82) having a locally increased p-type doping.
US07884388B2
A light emitting diode (LED) and a method for fabricating the same, capable of improving brightness by forming a InGaN layer having a low concentration of indium, and whose lattice constant is similar to that of an active layer of the LED, is provided. The LED includes: a buffer layer disposed on a sapphire substrate; a GaN layer disposed on the buffer layer; a doped GaN layer disposed on the GaN layer; a GaN layer having indium disposed on the GaN layer; an active layer disposed on the GaN layer having indium; and a P-type GaN disposed on the active layer. Here, an empirical formula of the GaN layer having indium is given by In(x)Ga(1−x)N and a range of x is given by 0
US07884387B2
An epitaxial wafer for a semiconductor light emitting device according to the present invention in which at least an n-type cladding layer formed with a mixed crystal made of an AlGaInP material, an active layer, a p-type Mg-doped cladding layer, and a p-type contact layer are stacked successively in that order on an n-type GaAs substrate, and the p-type contact layer is formed as at least two layers that are an Mg-doped contact layer and a Zn-doped contact layer stacked thereon when viewed from the n-type GaAs substrate, comprises a Zn-doped layer which is inserted between the p-type Mg-doped cladding layer and the p-type contact layer.
US07884386B2
A semiconductor light-emitting device includes a semiconductor light-emitting element including a first multilayer reflector, an active layer having a light-emitting region, and a second multilayer reflector in the stated order; a semiconductor light-detecting element disposed opposite the first multilayer reflector in relation to the semiconductor light-emitting element and including a light-absorbing layer configured to absorb light emitted from the light-emitting region; a transparent substrate disposed between the semiconductor light-emitting element and the semiconductor light-detecting element; a first metal layer having a first opening in a region including a region opposite the light-emitting region and bonding the semiconductor light-emitting element and the substrate; and a second metal layer having a second opening in a region including a region opposite the light-emitting region and bonding the semiconductor light-detecting element and the substrate.
US07884383B2
A radiation-emitting semiconductor chip (1) comprising a thin-film semiconductor body (2) which has a semiconductor layer sequence with an active region (4) suitable for generating radiation, and a reflector layer (5) arranged on the thin-film semiconductor body. The semiconductor chip has a Bragg reflector in addition to the reflector layer, and the Bragg reflector (6) and the reflector layer are arranged on the same side of the active region.
US07884382B2
An LED lamp including an LED and one or more phosphors, wherein for each phosphor, a figure of merit (FOM) defined as the product of (incident LED flux)×(excitation cross-section of the phosphor)×(phosphor material decay time) is less than 0.3. Such an arrangement provides a light emitting device with improved lumen output and color stability over a range of drive currents.
US07884377B2
A light emitting device including: at least one light emitting stack including first and second conductivity type semiconductor layers and an active layer disposed there between, the light emitting stack having first and second surfaces and side surfaces interposed between the first and second surfaces; first and second contacts formed on the first and second surface of the light emitting stack, respectively; a first insulating layer formed on the second surface and the side surfaces of the light emitting stack; a conductive layer connected to the second contact and extended along one of the side surfaces of the light emitting stack to have an extension portion adjacent to the first surface; and a substrate structure formed to surround the side surfaces and the second surface of the light emitting stack.
US07884373B2
In one aspect, a method includes fabricating a gallium nitride (GaN) layer with a first diamond layer having a first thermal conductivity and a second diamond layer having a second thermal conductivity greater than the first thermal conductivity. The fabricating includes using a microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process to deposit the second diamond layer onto the first diamond layer.
US07884362B2
An array substrate for a liquid crystal display device includes a gate line and a data line crossing each other on a substrate to define a pixel region, an insulating layer between the gate line and the data line, a gate electrode extending from the gate line, and a transistor in the pixel region having an active layer on the insulating layer, ohmic contact layers of a first material that are adjacent to ends of the active layer, buffer layers of a second material, which is different from the first material, on the ohmic contact layers, a source electrode contacting one of the buffer layers and a drain electrode contacting another one of the buffer layers, wherein the active layer is in an island shape over the gate electrode and within a boundary defined by a perimeter of the gate electrode.
US07884355B2
A transistor including a semiconductive layer; and a gate dielectric layer comprising an insulating polymer, characterised in that the insulating polymer is crosslinked and comprises one or more units having a low cohesive-energy-density and one or more crosslinking groups and the insulating polymer includes substantially no residual —OH leaving groups.
US07884349B2
A memory cell including a memory element and a non-ohmic device (NOD) that are electrically in series with each other is disclosed. The NOD comprises a semiconductor based selection device operative to electrically isolate the memory element from a range of voltages applied across the memory cell that are not read voltages operative read stored data from the memory element or write voltages operative to write data to the memory element. The selection device may comprise a pair of diodes that are electrically in series with each other and disposed in a back-to-back configuration. The memory cell may be fabricated over a substrate (e.g., a silicon wafer) that includes active circuitry. The selection device and the semiconductor materials (e.g., poly-silicon) that form the selection device are fabricated above the substrate and are integrated with other thin film layers of material that form the memory cell.
US07884344B2
A phase change memory device resistant to stack pattern collapse is presented. The phase change memory device includes a silicon substrate, switching elements, heaters, stack patterns, bit lines and word lines. The silicon substrate has a plurality of active areas. The switching elements are connected to the active areas. The heaters are connected to the switching elements. The stack patterns are connected to the heaters. The bit lines are connected to the stack patterns. The word lines are connected to the active areas of the silicon substrate.
US07884339B2
The present invention provides a color indicator dosimeter system to detect and quantify a dosage of ionizing radiation in a wide range wherein said system comprises phenolic glycoside as one of the components. The present invention also relates to a method for using dosimeter system as described hereinabove for detecting and quantifying a dosage of ionizing radiation in a wide range.
US07884338B2
A first light source emits a light signal along a measurement optical path that includes a sample and a second light source emits a light signal along a dummy measurement optical path. A measurement circuit receives the light signals and provides outputs separated in time which are indicative of the phase of the respective light signals. A phase shift is induced in light in the measurement optical path by the sample. A reference circuit receives a signal indicative of the phase of the light signals emitted by the first and second light sources. Circuitry compares the phases of light output from the two circuits to provide output indicative of a first measured phase difference during operation of the first light source. Correction is applied to this measurement by taking a similar phase difference measurement during operation of the second light source and comparing the two phase differences.
US07884326B2
A manipulator for use in e.g. a Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) is described, said manipulator capable of rotating and translating a sample holder (4). The manipulator clasps the round sample holder between two members (3A, 3B), said members mounted on actuators (2A, 2B). Moving the actuators in the same direction results in a translation of the sample holder, while moving the actuators in opposite directions results in a rotation of the sample holder.
US07884312B2
A sensor device includes a base wall, a plurality of sidewalls cooperating with the base wall to define a receiving space that has an open end, an emitter disposed in the receiving space and having an emitter element to emit a light signal, a receiver disposed in the receiving space and having a receiver element to receive the light signal, a cover body disposed in the receiving space between the emitter and the receiver, a ball chamber formed between inner surfaces of the base wall and the cover body, a ball member disposed movably in the ball chamber, an emitter light passage optically communicating with the ball chamber and the emitter, and a receiver light passage optically communicating with the ball chamber and the receiver. The cover body, the emitter, and the receiver cooperatively close the open end of the receiving space.
US07884307B2
An electric heating textile is provided. The electric heating textile includes an electric heating layer, plural heat-insulating layers and a protective layer. The electric heating layer includes at least one conductive yarn capable of generating heat and plural aromatic polyamide fibers. The heat-insulating layers are under the electric heating layer. The protective layer is on the electric heating layer. A method for manufacturing the electric heating textile is also disclosed in the specification.
US07884295B2
A silicone rubber composition having such selective adhesiveness that shows high adhesion to an organic material than to a molding die is bonded to a sheet of the organic material and is vulcanized and cured in the mold. Thus, an elastomer keypad of double-layer structure is produced in which an organic material layer, which can be easily subjected to coating, bonding with an adhesive or pressure-sensitive adhesive, or the like, has been united and bonded as a surface layer to the rubber. Keytops are bonded to the elastomer keypad to produce a covering member for push-button switches. A polyurethane elastomer sheet is preferably used as the organic material.
US07884287B2
A connecting device for the electrically conductive connection of electronic components and a substrate. The connecting device is formed as a film composite formed of at least one insulating film and at least two electrically conductive films disposed on opposite sides of the insulating film. The film composite is formed as a layer construction of a conductive film alternating with an insulating film, wherein at least one conductive film is structured and thus forms conductor tracks. Furthermore, at least one conductive film of a main area of the film composite is made of a first metal and has at least one film section having a layer of a second metal that is thinner in comparison with the thickness of the first layer.
US07884277B2
An apparatus is described that converts electromagnetic radiation into electric current, of the type comprising a plurality of junctions between a first element (11; 111) of material with conduction through carriers of positive charge and a second element (12; 112) of a material with conduction through carriers of negative charge, said plurality of junctions defining a plurality of couples (10; 111, 112) comprising a hot junction (19) and a cold junction (18), said plurality of couples (10; 110) receiving a thermal flow (FT) generated by a radiation (R) incident in the direction of a region (172) including the hot junction (19), said apparatus (20; 30; 70; 170; 190) including a device (25; 75; 175) to guide said radiation (R) towards said plurality of couples (10; 111, 112). According to the invention, said first element (11; 111) of material with conduction through carriers of positive charge and/or said second element (12; 112) of material with conduction through carriers of negative charge comprise nanostructured materials and in that said device to guide said radiation (R) comprises a plurality of guiding elements (25; 75) that guide said radiation (R) onto faces (19; 39; 119) exposed to said radiation (R) of the respective first element (11) and second element (12) of the couples (10).
US07884273B2
An instructional system and method for students of wind instrument that include audio/video depictions for viewing by users of the system and method an instructor performing steps on a wind instrument, an animated breathing bar presented at least during a time period over which a user is to attempt to replicate the steps demonstrated by the instructor, such breathing bar to visually command a user to alternatively inhale or exhale (while producing tones on his or her wind instrument), and visual indicia instructing in textual form the step or steps to be carried out by a user. A system can include one or many steps being demonstrated and prompted for recreation by a user, as well as additional presentations, such as metronomes, interactive tuners, and the like.
US07884266B2
A soybean cultivar designated 6238359 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of soybean cultivar 6238359, to the plants of soybean 6238359, to plant parts of soybean cultivar 6238359 and to methods for producing a soybean plant produced by crossing soybean cultivar 6238359 with itself or with another soybean variety. The invention also relates to methods for producing a soybean plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic soybean plants and plant parts produced by those methods. This invention also relates to soybean cultivars or breeding cultivars and plant parts derived from soybean variety 6238359, to methods for producing other soybean cultivars, lines or plant parts derived from soybean cultivar 6238359 and to the soybean plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid soybean seeds, plants and plant parts produced by crossing the cultivar 6238359 with another soybean cultivar.
US07884265B2
A novel plant belonging to the Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni variety which contains at least 4 parts by weight or more of Rebaudioside A with respect to one part by weight of Stevioside, and allows a sweetener of a good quality to be easily produced from said plant or dried leaves thereof.
US07884255B2
Chemical Production Processes and Systems. Chemical production processes are provided that include replacing a halogen of an unsaturated halocarbon to produce an unsaturated hydrohalocarbon. Chemical production systems are provided that include a reaction zone coupled to first and second reservoirs, the first reservoir containing an unsaturated halocarbon and the second reservoir containing a hydrogenating reagent with the system being configured to expose the unsaturated halocarbon of the first reservoir to the hydrogenating agent of the second reservoir within the reaction zone.
US07884252B1
A process for making trans-isocarveol, an intermediate useful in the manufacture of perillyl alcohol, is disclosed. The process comprises isomerizing a mixture comprising cis-limonene oxide (cis-LMO) and trans-limonene oxide (trans-LMO) in the presence of a phenolic modifier and a chromium catalyst. The process is performed at a temperature less than 220° C. to convert more than 50% of the cis-LMO to trans-isocarveol and less than 50% of the trans-LMO to cis-isocarveol. We surprisingly found that a mixture of cis- and trans-LMO can be selectively isomerized to produce mostly trans-isocarveol, which we discovered is the preferred isomer for making perillyl alcohol by direct isomerization.
US07884251B2
It is an object of the present invention to provide a specific industrial separation process that enables an alcohol to be separated out efficiently and stably for a prolonged period of time from a large amount of a low boiling point reaction mixture containing a by-produced alcohol when mass-producing aromatic carbonates on an industrial scale by subjecting a dialkyl carbonate and an aromatic monohydroxy compound to transesterification reaction in a reactive distillation column in which a catalyst is present. Although there have been various proposals regarding processes for the production of aromatic carbonates by means of a reactive distillation method, these have all been on a small scale and short operating time laboratory level, and there have been no disclosures whatsoever on a specific process or apparatus enabling mass production on an industrial scale to be carried out stably for a prolonged period of time. Moreover, there have been no disclosures on a specific process or apparatus enabling the alcohol by-produced when producing aromatic carbonates the an industrial scale using a reactive distillation system to be separated out efficiently and stably for a prolonged period of time on an industrial scale of not less than 200 kg/hr. According to the present invention, there is proposed a specific process using a continuous multi-stage distillation column having a specified structure enabling the above object to be attained.
US07884249B2
A method for producing highly purified fused aromatic ring compounds with high yield by a simpler method. A method for producing a fused aromatic ring compound comprising irradiating the bicyclo compound containing at least one bicyclo ring represented by formula (1) in a molecule with light to detach a leaving group X from a residual part to form an aromatic ring: wherein R1 and R3 each denotes a group to form an aromatic ring or a heteroaromatic ring which may be substituted, together with a group to which each thereof is bonded; R2 and R4 each denotes a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an alkoxy group, an ester group or a phenyl group; and X is a leaving group, which denotes a carbonyl group or —N═.
US07884246B2
Disclosed is a process for preparing substituted anisidines of formula I starting from substituted cyclic hydroxy-ketones II via aromatization through a substituted oxime intermediate IV in which R is C1-C6 alkyl or halogen, and Alk is C1-C6 alkyl. The substituted anisidines of formula I have been found to be useful as intermediates in the preparation of agents for the treatment of hepatitis C viral (HCV) infections.
US07884238B2
A process for the long-term operation of a heterogeneously catalyzed partial gas phase oxidation of an organic starting compound, in which the reaction gas input mixture is partially oxidized over a fixed catalyst bed which is accommodated in two successive temperature zones A, B whose temperature is changed with increasing operating time such that the initially lower temperature increases and the difference between the two temperatures decreases.
US07884232B2
Disclosed is an optimized process and apparatus for more efficiently and economically carrying out the liquid-phase oxidation of an oxidizable compound. Such liquid-phase oxidation is carried out in a bubble column reactor that provides for a highly efficient reaction at relatively low temperatures. When the oxidized compound is para-xylene and the product from the oxidation reaction is crude terephthalic acid (CTA), such CTA product can be purified and separated by more economical techniques than could be employed if the CTA were formed by a conventional high-temperature oxidation process.
US07884229B2
A method for making a polyether monomer having at least one unsaturated site per molecule and having a desired number of alkoxyl repeating units includes the steps of reacting an active hydrogen-containing monomer having at least one unsaturated site per molecule with an alkyl oxide in the presence of an alkoxylation catalyst and a polymerization inhibitor at a temperature from about 30° C. to less than 45° C. to produce a polyether monomer. In one embodiment, from about 5 to about 1000 parts by weight of a phenothiazine polymerization inhibitor per one million parts by weight of the active hydrogen-containing monomer phenothiazine compound is used as the polymerization inhibitor.
US07884225B2
The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of 3-chloropropyldimethylchlorosilane by hydrosilylation reaction in a reaction medium comprising dimethylhydrochlorosilane and allyl chloride, in the presence of a catalytically effective amount of di-μ-chlorobis(η-1,5-cyclooctadiene)diiridium, the said process being characterized in that at least one auxiliary in the free or supported state selected from the group of compounds consisting of: (i) ketones, (ii) ethers, (iii) quinones, (iv) anhydrides, (v) unsaturated hydrocarbon compounds (UHC) having an aromatic nature and/or comprising at least one C═C double bond and/or at least one C≡C triple bond, it being possible for these unsaturated bonds to be conjugated or nonconjugated, the said UHCs being linear or cyclic (mono- or polycyclic), having from 4 to 30 carbon atoms, having from 1 to 8 ethylenic and/or acetylenic unsaturations and optionally comprising one or more heteroatoms, (vi) and their mixtures, is added to the reaction medium, with the condition according to which, when the auxiliary comprises one or more UHCs as defined above, then this (these) UHC(s) is (are) mixed with at least one other auxiliary other than a UHC.
US07884220B2
A method for decoloring 2-phenyl-3,3-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)phthalimidine (“p,p-PPPBP”) is disclosed. The method comprises contacting a liquid solution containing p,p-PPPBP and the common impurities o,p-PPPBP and aminophenone with activated carbon fibers. The activated carbon fibers adsorb the impurities, resulting in a purified solution of p,p-PPPBP. The activated carbon fibers can then be regenerated, such as with a methanol solution having a highly basic pH.
US07884218B2
A benzoindole-based compound represented by Formula 1 below, a dye including the benzoindole-based compound, and a dye-sensitized solar cell including the dye: is prepared at a low cost, has a high molar absorption coefficient, and high photoelectron conversion efficiency, as compared to a conventional ruthenium dye. The benzoindole-based dye is an organic dye including an N-aryl electron donor and an acidic functional group an electron acceptor.
US07884215B2
Inhibitors of RSV replication of formula (I) the addition salts and stereochemically isomeric forms thereof, wherein Q is hydrogen, C1-6alkyl optionally substituted with a heterocycle or Q is C1-6alkyl substituted with both —OR4 and a heterocycle; wherein said heterocycle is oxazolidine, thiazolidine, 1-oxo-thiazolidine, 1,1-dioxothiazolidine, morpholinyl, thiomorpholinyl, 1-oxo-thiomorpholinyl, 1,1-dioxothiomorpholinyl, hexahydrooxazepine, hexahydro-thiazepine, 1-oxo-hexahydrothiazepine, 1,1-dioxo-hexahydrothiazepine, pyrrolidine, piperidine, homopiperidine, piperazine; which heterocyle may be substituted with 1-2 substituents; each Alk is C1-6alkanediyl; R1 is Ar2 or optionally substituted piperidinyl, piperazinyl, morpholinyl, thiomorpholinyl, pyridyl, pyrazinyl, pyridazinyl, pyrimidinyl, furanyl, tetrahydro-furanyl, thienyl, pyrrolyl, thiazolyl, oxazolyl, imidazolyl, isothiazolyl, pyrazolyl, isoxazolyl, oxadiazolyl, quinolinyl, quinoxalinyl, benzofuranyl, benzothienyl, benzimidazolyl, benzoxazolyl, benzthiazolyl, pyridopyridyl, naphthiridinyl, 1H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridinyl, 3H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridinyl, imidazo[1,2-a]pyridinyl or 2,3-dihydro-1,4-dioxino[2,3-b]pyridyl; R3 is hydroxyC1-6alkyl, C1-6alkoxyC1-6alkyl, cyanoC1-6alkyl, aminocarbonyl-C1-6-alkyl, mono- or di(C1-6alkyl)aminocarbonyl-C1-6-alkyl, carboxyl-C1-6-alkyl, C1-6alkoxycarbonyl-C1-6alkyl; R2 is hydrogen or C1-6alkyl; R3 and R4 are hydrogen, C1-6alkyl, Ar2, Ar2C1-6alkyl, C1-6alkylcarbonyl, Ar2carbonyl, Ar2C1-6alkylcarbonyl, C1-6alkylsulfonyl, aminosulfonyl, Ar1sulfonyl, Ar1C1-6alkylsulfonyl, C1-6alkyloxyC1-6alkyl, aminoC1-6alkyl, mono- or di(C1-6alkyl)-aminoC1-6alkyl, hydroxyC1-6alkyl, aminocarbonylC1-6alkyl, C1-4alkyloxycarbonyl-C1-6alkyl, hydroxycarbonylC1-6alkyl, aminosulfonylC1-6alkyl, Het, Het-C1-6alkyl, Het-carbonyl, Het-sulfonyl, HetC1-6alkylsulfonyl, Het-C1-6alkylcarbonyl; Het is an optionally substituted heterocycle; pharmaceutical compositions containing compounds (I) and processes for preparing compounds (I).
US07884214B2
The present invention encompasses a method for the preparation of Telmisartan comprises, through Telmisartan dihydrochloride comprises i) Condensing 4-Methyl-2-n-propyl-1H-benzimidazole-6-carboxylic acid with N-Methyl-O-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride to yields 4-methyl-6 (1-methyl benzimidazol-2-yl)-2-n-propyl 1H-benzimidazole ii) Treating 4-methyl-6-(1-methylbenzimidazol-2-yl)-2-n-propyl-1H-benzimidazole with 4′-(bromomethyl)-2-biphenyl-2-carboxylate in presence of a base in an organic solvent and isolating the ester as acid addition salt iii) Converting ester acid addition salt to Telmisartan dihydrochloride and iv) Converting Telmisartan dihydrochloride to Telmisartan.
US07884213B2
A process for the preparation of anastrozole.
US07884207B2
Imidazo-quinoline, -pyridine, and -naphthyridine ring systems (particularly quinolines, tetrahydroquinolines, pyridines, [1,5]naphthyridines, [1,5]tetrahydronaphthyridines) substituted at the 1-position with a cyclic substituent, pharmaceutical compositions containing the compounds, methods of making these compounds, and methods of use of these compounds as immunomodulators, for inducing cytokine biosynthesis in animals and in the treatment of diseases including viral and neoplastic diseases are disclosed.
US07884199B2
The present invention is directed to mutants of HCV NS3/4A protease. More particularly, the present invention identifies mutant of HCV NS3/4A protease that are resistant to drug treatment.
US07884196B2
The present invention relates generally to compositions and methods using mammalian, dsDNA (Double Stranded Deoxyribonucleic Acid) vaccination for the induction and maintenance of regulator suppressor T cells resulting in suppression of non infectious, and post infectious, inflammatory, allergic, auto-immune, vasculitic, certain degenerative vascular, and graft versus host diseases, with or without the use of IL-10, and with or without the use or TGFβ, with or without the use of anti-IL 6 receptor antibody, anti TNF antibody and or Plasmapheresis, IVIG, Corticosteroids, Methotrexate, Bromocriptine, and or vitamin D analogues.
US07884195B2
The present invention provides a method of extracting ginsenoside Rg2, which is applied to mass production. The method of the present invention employs gradient salting-out instead of conventional silica gel chromatography, and therefore enables convenient performance and mass production of ginsenoside Rg2. Provided are also a pharmaceutical composition comprising ginsenoside Rg2 as an active ingredient, and prophylactic and therapeutic agents for preventing and treating dementia, depression, peripheral circulation disorder and related diseases, utilizing the pharmaceutical composition.
US07884188B2
The invention relates to complement inhibitors that inhibit both the classical and alternative complement pathways. In particular, the invention relates to complement inhibitors derived from the salivary glands of haematophagous arthropods that inhibit both the classical and alternative complement pathways. The invention also relates to the use of such complement inhibitors in the treatment and prevention of diseases.
US07884185B2
The present invention provides novel hydrogels and methods of making and using such hydrogels. The present invention provides hydrogels that may be formed by the self-assembly of peptides in solution. Such self-assembly may be brought about by a change in one or more characteristics of the solution. Characteristics of the solution that may be changed include pH, ionic strength, temperature, and concentration of one or more specific ions. In addition, hydrogels of the invention may be disassembled by changing one or more characteristic of the hydrogel such as pH, ionic strength, temperature, and concentration of one or more specific ions.
US07884184B2
The invention is directed to T cell epitopes wherein said epitopes comprises a peptide or polypeptide chain comprising at least a portion of an immunoglobulin constant or variable region. The invention also relates to methods of using and methods of making the epitopes of the invention.
US07884169B2
A method for producing a thermoplastic cellulose composition according to the present invention includes a process of ring-opening polymerization of cyclic ester with a cellulosic material or oligoesterified cellulose after mechanochemical pretreatment or during mechanochemical treatment, to improve thermoplasticity of the resultant thermoplastic cellulose composition.
US07884150B2
Flame retardant polymeric blend compositions including a synergistic combination of flame retardants, including a halogenated flame retardant and a nanoparticulate, such as an organically modified clay or a natural nanoclay. The compositions are thermoplastic elastomers, include a polyolefin and a styrenic block copolymer, and exhibit high char formation upon burning as well as desirable vertical burn characteristics. In a preferred embodiment, the flame retardants include at least a halogenated flame retardant and a metal oxide.
US07884143B2
The present invention relates to a power and/or telecommunications cable including at least one component element made of a material extruded from an extrudable composition, wherein said extrudable composition comprises a biopolymer selected from polymers of cellulose ester, polymers of starch complexed with a biodegradable polyester, polymers of polyhydroxyalkanoate, and/or polymers of polylactic acid comprising a mixture of polylactic and of polyester.
US07884140B2
Techniques for creating recycled plastic materials from waste plastic materials are described. A recycled plastic material contains at least a primary polymer, a secondary polymer, and residual additives. Predetermined properties of the recycled plastic material can be controlled by selecting the types of waste plastic materials used in the recycling feed, determining the types and amounts of recycled plastic material recovered from a separation process and blending the recycled plastic material with other materials.
US07884128B2
Process for producing compound of Formula: wherein P2, P3 and R2 are the same as defined below, characterized by comprising reacting a compound represented by Formula (7): wherein P3 means a protecting group for hydroxy group; and Het means a 1-phenyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl group, with a compound represented by Formula (8): wherein P2 means a protecting group for hydroxy group; and R2 means a phenyl group which may be substituted, in the presence of a base.
US07884123B2
Compounds of formula (I), wherein R1 and R3 have the meanings given in the description, said compounds being in all isomeric forms; and salts thereof; processes for the preparation of the compounds and intermediates; compositions containing them, and the use thereof as medicaments, particularly as anti-cancer agents.
US07884115B2
Methods and compositions for the treatment of conditions including stress-associated, chronic pain, and neurodegenerative conditions in a mammal using a composition comprising NB-DNJ or a compound structurally similar thereto.
US07884108B2
Compounds of Formula I that inhibit Btk are described herein. Pharmaceutical compositions comprising at least one compound of Formula I, together with at least one pharmaceutically acceptable vehicle chosen from carriers, adjuvants, and excipients, are described. Methods of treating patients suffering from certain diseases responsive to inhibition of Btk activity and/ or B-cell activity are described. Methods for determining the presence of Btk in a sample are described.
US07884104B2
The present invention is directed to novel substituted aminopiperidines which are inhibitors of the dipeptidyl peptidase-IV enzyme (“DPP-IV inhibitors”) and which are useful in the treatment or prevention of diseases in which the dipeptidyl peptidase-IV enzyme is involved, such as diabetes and particularly Type 2 diabetes. The invention is also directed to pharmaceutical compositions comprising these compounds and the use of these compounds and compositions in the prevention or treatment of such diseases in which the dipeptidyl peptidase-IV enzyme is involved.
US07884094B2
The invention relates to compounds of structural formula (I): or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, solvate, clathrate, and prodrug thereof, wherein Ra, Rb, and R2 are defined herein. These compounds inhibit tubulin polymerization and/or target vasculature and are useful for treating proliferative disorders, such as cancer.
US07884090B2
The present invention provides compositions, combination of medicaments, and methods for the treatment of certain conditions such as arthritis, and in particular, reactive arthritis, osteoarthritis, and bursitis, among others.
US07884089B2
An antimicrobial coating composition consisting essentially of 70 to 80 wt. percent water; 5 to 10 wt. percent methyl alcohol; 3 to 8 wt. percent octadecyl dimethyl trimethoxy silylpropyl-ammonium chloride; 1 to 5 wt. percent chloropropyl trimethoxysilane; 0.5 to 1.5 wt. percent aminopropyltrialkoxysilane; 0.5 to 1.5 wt. percent of a surfactant; 1 to 1.5 wt. percent of an anti-microbial agent; and 0.5 to 2.5 wt. percent sulfuric acid.
US07884083B2
The invention relates to new immunomodulatory compositions which comprise a cationic condensing agent, an immunomodulatory compound, and a stabilizing agent. The compositions of the invention typically form particles which have increased immunomodulatory activity as compared to immunomodulatory compounds not formulated in the compositions of the invention. Also provided are methods of making the compositions and methods for therapeutic use of the compositions.
US07884082B2
A medicinal combination of one or more nucleic acids that at least partially inhibit oncogenic cell signalling pathways, and a therapeutic anticancer agent, for use simultaneous, separate or over a period of time to treat hyperproliferative diseases.
US07884081B2
The present invention provides methods for identifying agents that modulate a level or an activity of tubulin deacetylase polypeptide, as well as agents identified by the methods. The invention further provides methods of modulating tubulin deacetylase activity in a cell. The invention further provides methods of modulating cellular proliferation by modulating the activity of tubulin deacetylase.
US07884079B2
A composition is provided having the formula where R1 and R2 are each independently H or a C1-C4 hydrocarbon; R3 is H, and R4 is a moiety capable of crossing the blood brain barrier selected from the group consisting of: an amino acid, a peptide, transferrin, gluconate, lactate, citrate, malate, fumarate, benzoate, salicylate, pyruvate and propionate. The composition includes 4-aminopyridine and a transporter species which allows for improved transport of the aminopyridine across the blood brain barrier thereby reducing systemic side effects of aminopyridine administration.
US07884077B2
The invention features methods of treating mood disorders, such as manic disorders, and stabilizing moods by administering a kappa agonist or partial agonist to a subject in need thereof.
US07884074B2
The invention is directed to compounds and methods for prevention and/or treatment of inflammation using the same.
US07884073B2
Provided are modified growth hormone polypeptides, nucleic acid molecules encoding modified growth hormone polypeptides and methods of generating modified growth hormone polypeptides. Also provided are methods of treatment using modified growth hormone polypeptides.
US07884068B2
A composition comprising an albumin-based colloid composition having at least one protected thiol region, method of making the same, and method for use, including treating hypovolemic conditions such as capillary leak syndrome and shock, are disclosed.
US07884059B2
The present disclosure relates to organic molybdenum complexes prepared by reacting a Mannich base with a source of molybdenum. The complexes may be useful in lubricating oil compositions as at least one of an antioxidant, a deposit control additive, and a friction modifier. The organic molybdenum complexes may show a reduced tendency to color finished oils.
US07884055B2
A method and apparatus for manufacturing ceramic microspheres from industrial slag. The microspheres have a particle size of about 38 microns to about 150 microns. The microspheres are used to create a cement slurry having a density of at least about 11 lbs/g. The resultant cement slurry may then be used to treat subterranean wells.
US07884054B2
The invention provides methods for screening multimeric antibodies produced by mammalian cells to find those that exhibit a biological function. The methods can be used to screen large numbers of antibodies, which may be cell surface, secreted, or intracellular antibodies. Antibodies can be screened to find those that bind antigen more avidly or those that compete with a ligand that binds to the antigen for binding. Any biological function that can be tested in vitro can be used to screen the antibodies. Nucleic acids encoding the antibodies that exhibit the biological function can be obtained in a number of ways.
US07884051B1
The invention herein is directed towards a method of making material exhibiting superconductivity characteristics which includes a laser processed region of a metal oxide crystal. The material has a transition temperature greater than a transition temperature of the metal oxide crystal, preferably greater than 140K. The transition temperature of the material may be considered greater than the transition temperature of the metal oxide crystal if the material has a transition temperature and the metal oxide crystal has no transition temperature. The present invention is also directed to a material which includes a laser processed strontium ruthenate crystal wherein the material has a greater oxygen content than the starting strontium ruthenate crystal. The present invention is also directed towards a method for manufacturing a material exhibiting superconductivity characteristics that includes providing a metal oxide crystal and laser ablating the metal oxide crystal and a material made by this process.
US07884047B2
The invention relates to a structure, comprising a substrate supporting a layer with a photocatalytic and anti-soiling property, said layer being based on titanium dioxide (TiO2), on at least part of the surface thereof. Said structure is characterized in that the photocatalytic layer is coated with a non-porous thin layer, containing silicon and oxygen and having a coating capacity, providing a chemical and mechanical protection to the underlying photocatalytic layer, while maintaining the TiO2 photocatalytic activity.
US07884045B2
A process for regenerating a used acidic ionic liquid catalyst, comprising: a. contacting the catalyst and hydrogen with a supported hydrogenation catalyst under hydrogenation conditions; and b. recovering a conjunct polymer that is a clear and colorless oil from the catalyst. A process for regenerating a used acidic ionic liquid catalyst which has been deactivated by conjunct polymers comprising the steps of contacting the used catalyst and hydrogen with a supported hydrogenation catalyst in a reaction zone under hydrogenation conditions in the presence of an inert hydrocarbon in which saturated conjunct polymers are soluble for a time sufficient to hydrogenate at least a portion of the conjunct polymers; and recovering the saturated conjunct polymers. Also, a process comprising: contacting the used acidic ionic liquid catalyst and hydrogen with a hydrogenation catalyst comprising a hydrogenation component under hydrogenation conditions; and recovering a conjunct polymer that is a clear and colorless oil.
US07884041B2
An optical glass has optical constants of a refractive index (nd) within a range from 1.73 to less than 1.80 and an Abbe number (νd) within a range from 43 to 55, comprises SiO2, B2O3, Y2O3, La2O3, ZnO and Li2O as essential components, is substantially free of lead component, arsenic component and fluorine component, has a ratio of SiO2/B2O3 of 0.30 to 1.55 and a ratio of Y2O3/La2O3 of 0.15 to 1.00, and has a glass transition temperature (Tg) of 620° C. or below.
US07884034B2
A silicon nitride film including stoichiometrically excessive silicon with respect to nitrogen is formed. The silicon nitride film may be formed by supplying dichlorosilane to a substrate under a condition where CVD (chemical vapor deposition) reaction is caused to form a silicon film including several or less atomic layers on the substrate, supplying ammonia to the substrate in a non-plasma atmosphere to thermally nitride the silicon film under a condition where the nitriding reaction of the silicon film by the ammonia is not saturated, and alternately repeating the supplying of dichlorosilane and the supplying of ammonia.
US07884033B2
An apparatus for processing microelectronic topographies, a method of use of such an apparatus, and a method for passivating hardware of microelectronic processing chambers are provided. The apparatus includes a substrate holder configured to support a microelectronic topography and a rotatable case with sidewalls arranged on opposing sides of the substrate holder. The method of using such an apparatus includes positioning a microelectronic topography upon a substrate holder of a processing chamber, exposing the microelectronic topography to a fluid within the processing chamber, and rotating a case of the processing chamber. The rotation is sufficient to affect movement of the fluid relative to the surface of the microelectronic topography. A method for passivating hardware of a microelectronic processing chamber includes exposing the hardware to an organic compound and subsequently exposing the hardware to an agent configured to form polar bonds with the organic compound.
US07884032B2
A system, method and apparatus is capable of producing layers of various materials stacked on one another on a substrate without exposing the substrate to the pressure and contaminants of ambient air until the stack is complete. In one aspect, the stack of layers can include both an insulative layer of one or more insulative films, and a conductive metal layer of one or more conductive metal layer films. In another aspect, a bias signal of positive and negative voltage pulses may be applied to a target of a deposition chamber to facilitate deposition of the target material in a suitable fashion. In yet another aspect, one or more of the deposition chambers may have associated therewith a pump which combines a turbomolecular pump and a cryogenic pump to generate an ultra high vacuum in that chamber. Other features are described and claimed.
US07884031B2
The semiconductor device includes an interconnect having a width of 0.1 μm or less and formed in an insulating layer constituted of a low relative dielectric constant film having a relative dielectric constant of 3.0 or lower, a via having a diameter of 0.1 μm or less and connected to the interconnect, and a dummy metal provided in the insulating layer. The dummy metal is located close to an end portion of the interconnect along an extension thereof, and the dummy metal and the interconnect are spaced by a distance of 0.3 μm or less.
US07884028B2
A method of removing material layer is disclosed. First, a semiconductor substrate is fixed on a rotating platform, where a remnant material layer is included on the surface of the semiconductor substrate. Afterward, an etching process is carried out. In the etching process, the rotating platform is rotated, and an etching solution is sprayed from a center region and a side region of the rotating platform toward the semiconductor substrate until the material layer is removed. Since the semiconductor substrate is etched by the etching solution sprayed from both the center region and the side region of the rotating platform, the etching uniformity of the semiconductor substrate is improved.
US07884024B2
An apparatus and method for processing an integrated circuit employing optical interference fringes. During processing, one or more wavelength lights are directed on the integrated circuit and based upon the detection of interference fringes and characteristics of the same, further processing may be controlled. One implementation involves charged particle beam processing of an integrated circuit as function of detection and/or characteristics of interference fringes. A charged particle beam trench milling operation is performed in or on the substrate of an integrated circuit. Light is directed on the floor of the trench. Interference fringes may be formed from the constructive or destructive interference between the light reflected from the floor and the light from the circuit structures. Resulting fringes will be a function, in part, of the thickness and/or profile of the trench floor. Milling may be controlled as a function of the detected fringe patterns.
US07884023B1
An electronic apparatus is disclosed that comprises a silicon nitride material that has an increased silicon content. The silicon nitride material is manufactured by exposing plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) silicon nitride to an increased flow of silane while the PECVD silicon nitride is being deposited. The material has anti-reflective coating (ARC) properties and can also be used as a hard mask. When the material is covered with cobalt the material forms conductive cobalt silicide when the cobalt is annealed. A method for siliciding the PECVD silicon nitride is also disclosed.
US07884020B2
A polishing cloth used in the chemical mechanical polishing treatment comprises a molded body of (meth)acrylic copolymer having an acid value of 10 to 100 mg KOH/g and a hydroxyl group value of 50 to 150 mg KOH/g.
US07884016B2
In some embodiments, a low-k dielectric film liner, preferably comprising benzocyclobutene, is deposited on the sidewalls of through-silicon vias used in three-dimensional (3-D) integration of integrated circuits. A semiconductor workpiece having a via is provided. A dielectric film liner, preferably comprising benzocyclobutene, is deposited on the sidewalls of the via by chemical vapor deposition. Following the deposition of the dielectric film liner, conductive material is deposited into the via. The conductive material on the bottom of the via can be exposed by thinning the back of the semiconductor workpiece, thereby forming a through-silicon via. The semiconductor workpiece can form a stack with one or more additional semiconductor workpieces having vias filled with conductive material to form a 3-D integrated circuit. The conductive material electrically interconnects the integrated circuits at different levels of the stack.
US07884009B2
A semiconductor device with an improved solder joint system is described. The solder system includes two copper contact pads connected by a body of solder and the solder is an alloy including tin, silver, and at least one metal from the transition groups IIIA, IVA, VA, VIA, VIIA, and VIIIA of the Periodic Table of the Elements. The solder joint system also includes, between the pads and the solder, layers of intermetallic compounds, which include grains of copper and tin compounds and copper, silver, and tin compounds. The compounds contain the transition metals. The inclusion of the transition metals in the compound grains reduce the compound grains size and prevent grain size increases after the solder joint undergoes repeated solid/liquid/solid cycles.
US07884007B2
A wafer level package, and a semiconductor wafer, electronic system, and a memory module that include one or more of the wafer level packages, and methods of fabricating the die packages on a wafer level, and integrated circuit modules that include one or more packages are provided. In one embodiment, the die package comprises a redistribution layer interconnecting two or more dies disposed on a substrate, typically a semiconductor wafer, the redistribution layer including a first trace connecting a bond pad of each of two dies, and a second trace connecting one of the bond pads of the two dies to a ball pad. The die package of the invention can comprise memory devices such as static random access memories (SRAMs), and can be incorporated into a variety of electronic systems as part of a memory package such as single in line memory modules (SIMMs) or dual in line memory modules.
US07883994B2
A process for transferring a thin film includes forming a layer of inclusions to create traps for gaseous compounds. The inclusions can be in the form of one or more implanted regions that function as confinement layers configured to trap implanted species. Further, the inclusions can be in the form of one or more layers deposited by a chemical vapor deposition, epitaxial growth, ion sputtering, or a stressed region or layer formed by any of the aforementioned processes. The inclusions can also be a region formed by heat treatment of an initial support or by heat treatment of a layer formed by any of the aforementioned processes, or by etching cavities in a layer. In a subsequent step, gaseous compounds are introduced into the layer of inclusions to form micro-cavities that form a fracture plane along which the thin film can be separated from a remainder of the substrate.
US07883987B2
Semiconductor devices and methods of manufacture thereof are disclosed. In a preferred embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a workpiece and a trench formed within the workpiece. The trench has an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion having a first width and the lower portion having a second width, the second width being greater than the first width. A first material is disposed in the lower portion of the trench at least partially in regions where the second width of the lower portion is greater than the first width of the upper portion. A second material is disposed in the upper portion of the trench and at least in the lower portion of the trench beneath the upper portion.
US07883986B2
This invention includes methods of forming trench isolation. In one implementation, isolation trenches are provided within a semiconductor substrate. A liquid is deposited and solidified within the isolation trenches to form a solidified dielectric within the isolation trenches. The dielectric comprises carbon and silicon, and can be considered as having an elevationally outer portion and an elevationally inner portion within the isolation trenches. At least one of carbon removal from and/or oxidation of the outer portion of the solidified dielectric occurs. After such, the dielectric outer portion is etched selective to and effective to expose the dielectric inner portion. After the etching, dielectric material is deposited over the dielectric inner portion to within the isolation trenches.
US07883974B2
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a trench in an interlayer dielectric film on the semiconductor substrate, the trench reaching a semiconductor substrate and having a sidewall made of silicon nitride film; depositing a gate insulation film made of a HfSiO film at a temperature within a range of 200 degrees centigrade to 260 degrees centigrade, so that the HfSiO film is deposited on the semiconductor substrate which is exposed at a bottom surface of the trench without depositing the HfSiO film on the silicon nitride film; and filling the trench with a gate electrode made of metal.
US07883972B2
A semiconductor device may include a fin structure having source/drain regions and channel fins connected between source/drain patterns. A gate insulation layer may be provided on the channel fins. A gate electrode may include lower gate patterns and an upper gate pattern. The lower gate patterns may extend in a vertical direction and contact the gate insulation layer. The upper gate pattern may extend in a second horizontal direction substantially perpendicular to the first horizontal direction. The upper gate pattern may be connected to upper portions of the lower gate patterns.
US07883970B2
A semiconductor device having a decoupling capacitor and a method of fabricating the same are provided. The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate having a cell region, a first peripheral circuit region, and a second peripheral circuit region. At least one channel trench is disposed in the cell region of the semiconductor substrate. At least one first capacitor trench is disposed in the first peripheral circuit region of the semiconductor substrate, and at least one second capacitor trench is disposed in the second peripheral circuit region of the semiconductor substrate. A gate electrode is disposed in the cell region of the semiconductor substrate and fills the channel trench. A first upper electrode is disposed in the first peripheral circuit region of the semiconductor substrate and fills at least the first capacitor trench. A second upper electrode is disposed in the second peripheral circuit region of the semiconductor substrate and fills at least the second capacitor trench. A gate dielectric layer is interposed between the channel trench and the gate electrode. A first dielectric layer is interposed between the semiconductor substrate of the first peripheral circuit region having the first capacitor trench and the first upper electrode and has the same thickness as the gate dielectric layer. A second dielectric layer is interposed between the semiconductor substrate of the second peripheral circuit region having the second capacitor trench and the second upper electrode and has a different thickness from the first dielectric layer.
US07883965B2
A semiconductor device includes a device isolation structure, a recess channel structure, and a gate electrode. The device isolation structure is formed in a semiconductor substrate to define an active region. The recess channel structure is disposed in the semiconductor substrate under the active region. The gate electrode includes a holding layer disposed in a gate region to fill the recess channel structure. The holding layer prevents a seam and a shift of the seam occurring in the recess channel structure.
US07883964B2
A nonvolatile semiconductor memory includes: a device region and a device isolating region, which have a pattern with a striped form that extends in a first direction, and are alternately and sequentially disposed at a first pitch in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction; and a contact made of a first conductive material, which is connected to the device region and disposed at the first pitch in the second direction. On a cross section of the second direction, the bottom width of the contact is longer than the top width of the contact, and the bottom width is longer than the width of the device region.
US07883959B2
The invention includes methods of forming electrically conductive material between line constructions associated with a peripheral region or a pitch region of a semiconductor substrate. The electrically conductive material can be incorporated into an electrically-grounded shield, and/or can be configured to create a magnetic field bias. Also, the conductive material can have electrically isolated segments that are utilized as electrical jumpers for connecting circuit elements. The invention also includes semiconductor constructions comprising the electrically conductive material between line constructions associated with one or both of the pitch region and the peripheral region.
US07883957B2
Provided is an image sensor and a method for manufacturing the same. In the image sensor, a first substrate has a lower metal line and circuitry thereon. A crystalline semiconductor layer contacts the lower metal line and is bonded to the first substrate. A photodiode is provided in the crystalline semiconductor layer and electrically connected with the lower metal line. A pixel isolation layer is formed in regions of the photodiode.
US07883950B2
Disclosed is a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device. The method comprises consecutively depositing and patterning polysilicon and mask material on a substrate to form a polysilicon layer and a mask layer, reducing a width of the polysilicon layer, depositing and etching insulating material on the substrate to form a spacer on a lateral side of the polysilicon layer, and forming a source/drain region in the substrate at sides of the spacer.
US07883948B2
Methods and structures for relieving stresses in stressed semiconductor liners. A stress liner that enhances performance of either an NFET or a PFET is deposited over a semiconductor to cover the NFET and PFET. A disposable layer is deposited to entirely cover the stress liner, NFET and PFET. This disposable layer is selectively recessed to expose only the single stress liner over a gate of the NFET or PFET that is not enhanced by such stress liner, and then this exposed liner is removed to expose a top of such gate. Remaining portions of the disposable layer are removed, thereby enhancing performance of either the NFET or PFET, while avoiding degradation of the NFET or PFET not enhanced by the stress liner. The single stress liner is a tensile stress liner for enhancing performance of the NFET, or it is a compressive stress liner for enhancing performance of the PFET.
US07883947B1
Methods for fabricating and testing integrated circuit devices and systems. The integrated circuit device generally includes two semiconductor dies. The first die has little or no I/O or ESD protection, and the second die includes at least one exposed terminal in electrical communication with one or more terminals on the first die, at least one I/O circuit in electrical communication with one or more terminals on the second die, and at least one I/O terminal in electrical communication with the I/O circuit(s). The method of forming an integrated circuit includes aligning at least one of the exposed terminals on the first die with at least one of the exposed terminals on the second die, and forming at least one electrical junction between them such that the exposed terminal(s) on the first die is/are in electrical communication with an I/O circuit and an I/O terminal on the second die. The method of testing a semiconductor die includes placing the semiconductor die into a predetermined position for testing, placing a tester probe tip in contact with a subset of the exposed terminals on the first die, the probe head having an ESD protection structure in electrical communication with the probe tip, and testing the die.
US07883924B2
For producing a photovoltaic module (1), the front electrode layer (3), the semi-conductor layer (4) and the back electrode layer (5) are patterned by separating lines (6, 7, 8) to form series-connected cells (C1, C2, . . . Cn, Cn+1) with a laser (14) emitting infrared radiation. During patterning of the semiconductor layer (4) and the back electrode layer (5) the power of the laser (14) is so reduced that the front electrode layer (3) is not damaged.
US07883914B2
Method for fabricating a photonic crystal or photonic bandgap vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser
The invention relates to fabrication of VCSELs. It provides a method for fabricating a VCSEL that contains a micro/nano-structured mode selective lateral layer, where the micro/nano-structured layer is obtained by well controlled local etching. The invention enables control of the micro/nano-structured layer thickness with very high precision. In particular, the invention relates to a method for fabricating a VCSEL with a micro/nano-structured mode selective layer for controlling the VCSELs transverse electromagnetic modes.
US07883910B2
A light emitting diode (LED) structure, a LED packaging structure, and a method of forming LED structure are disclosed. The LED structure includes a sub-mount, a stacked structure, an electrode, an isolation layer and a conductive thin film layer. The sub-mount has a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface. The stacked structure has a first semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second semiconductor layer that are laminated on the first surface. The electrode is disposed apart from the stacked structure on the first surface. The isolation layer is disposed on the first surface to surround the stacked structure as well as cover the lateral sides of the active layer. The conductive thin film layer connects the electrode to the stacked structure and covers the stacked structure.
US07883902B2
The inventive method for dispersing a dry powder sample in a dispersion chamber consists in vacuuming the chamber with respect to the environment, in dispersing a dry powder in the chamber, by means of a suction generated by the rupture of a membrane which is torn.
US07883899B2
The present invention relates to analytical methods, platforms, and devices for the rapid and efficient immunochromatic determination of one or more components in fluid samples. The devices are especially useful for identifying analytes in small volumes of whole blood samples utilizing one membrane principally for separating particles such as red blood cells from plasma and a second membrane as the site for reactions to identify the analytes.
US07883895B2
The present invention provides nucleic acid sequences and variants thereof capable of modulating exopolysaccharide production in Sphingomonas, and provides methods of using such nucleic acid sequences to generate bacteria that hyper-produce exopolysaccharide in slime form.
US07883892B2
The present invention provides swine cells of non-embryonic origin that can be maintained in culture in the undifferentiated state or differentiated to form cells of multiple cell types. Also provided are methods of isolation and culture, as well as uses for the cells, such as xenogeneic transplantation and/or tissue repair.
US07883885B2
The invention relates to a device for the composting of biogenic materials, wherein material introduced at the top of a container as in FIG. 2b reaches a storage chamber (2) arranged below a reactor chamber (1) passing therethrough only by gravity with air introduction. Slide surfaces are provided which brake the downward material flow. Slide vanes (4), for example, can be used as slide surfaces and also other slide devices such as tubes, funnels, spheres and particular container shapes. The compost can be easily removed from the storage container by means of a shovel, or similar without the weight of the heap affecting the shovel. The otherwise necessary shifting of the heap in order to reach the mature compost on the floor is thus avoided. The heap is also vertically aerated over the whole surface thereof from bottom towards the top, the composting organisms are continually optimally supplied with air and optimal conversion rates of fresh biowaste to compost achieved.
US07883877B2
The present invention provides nucleic acid sequences and variants thereof capable of modulating exopolysaccharide production in Sphingomonas, and provides methods of using such nucleic acid sequences to generate bacteria that hyper-produce exopolysaccharide in slime form.
US07883872B2
This invention provides novel enzyme compositions using newly identified and isolated C. lucknowense enzymes, including CBH Ib CBH IIb, EG II, EG VI, β-glucosidase, and xylanase II in conjunction with previously identified enzymes CBH Ia, CBH IIa (previously described as Endo 43), and EG V. These enzyme compositions demonstrate an extremely high ability to convert lignocellulosic biomass (e.g., Avicel, cotton, Douglas fir wood pretreated by organosolv) to glucose. CBH Ia and IIb, which both have a cellulose-binding module (CBM) displayed a pronounced synergism with three major endoglucanases (EG II, EG V, EG VI) from the same fungus in hydrolysis of cotton as well as a strong synergy with each other. The enzyme compositions are effective in hydrolysis of the lignocellulosic biomass.
US07883871B2
The present invention is directed to compositions and methods useful for the amplification of nucleic acid molecules by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Specifically, the invention provides compositions and methods for the amplification of nucleic acid molecules in a simplified one- or two-step RT-PCR procedure using combinations of reverse transcriptase and thermostable DNA polymerase enzymes in conjunction with sulfur-containing molecules or acetate-containing molecules (or combinations of such sulfur-containing molecules and acetate-containing molecules), and optionally bovine serum albumin. The invention thus facilitates the rapid and efficient amplification of nucleic acid molecules and the detection and quantitation of RNA molecules. The invention also is useful in the rapid production and amplification of cDNAs which may be used for a variety of industrial, medical and forensic purposes.
US07883860B2
The present invention provides the identification of human Ras palmitoyl acyl transfersase complexes, and nucleic acids coding therefor. In addition, methods of screening for modulators of human Ras palmitoyl acyl transfersase, including high throughput yeast screens, are also provided.
US07883855B2
An improved extractive reagent composition and method for extracting an immunosuppressant drug, such as sirolimus, tacrolimus or cyclosporine, from blood samples while yielding a test sample extract that has low vapor pressure and is compatible with immunoassay components. The inventive reagent composition comprises dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), at least one divalent metal salt and water. The sample extracts resulting from use of each of these combinations have low vapor pressure and are compatible with immunochemistry assays.
US07883849B1
A method for amplifying a plurality of target sequences that minimizes amplification artefacts is provided. A sample of interest is fragmented into fragments, where each fragment that includes a target sequence has at least one defined end sequence. Selector constructs, all comprising a primer pair motif and each individual selector comprising one or two protruding ends complementary to the defined end sequences of the fragments containing the target sequences, are brought in contact with the fragments. After ligation, the selected target sequences are amplified in parallel using a primer-pair specific for the primer-pair motif common to the selectors.
US07883847B2
The present invention concerns methods of screening cells for differentiation or de-differentiation, and/or for status as a pluripotent or multipotent (e.g., “stem”) cell, by detecting the differential expression (e.g., upregulation, downregulation) of genes.
US07883844B2
A method for producing influenza virus on large scale is provided. A method for propagating influenza virus which comprises, after removing or decreasing a trypsin inhibitor secreted into culture of MDCK cells (cell line derived from dog kidney) by washing with a culture medium or a buffer, inoculating influenza virus into said cells and culturing said influenza virus-inoculated cells in a culture medium supplemented with trypsin.
US07883840B2
In a developing method, a developer is supplied onto a resist film provided on a substrate, made of a resist and having an upper surface on which design patterns having different mask opening ratios are exposed and a development reaction is caused to proceed on the resist film with the supplied developer. After the development, the substrate is rotated so that the developer and the resist dissolved in the developer are removed. Then, a rinsing solution is supplied onto the resist film subjected to development and the substrate is rotated, thereby washing out the developer and the resist dissolved in the developer. The rotation speed of the substrate in removing the developer is a half or less of the rotation speed of the substrate in the rinsing step of washing out the resist.
US07883837B2
This invention provides a transparent electrically conductive film, which, while maintaining the light transparency of a transparent film, has excellent electrical conductivity, can be utilized for electromagnetic wave shielding, and does not cause inclusion of air bubbles in the lamination onto other base material, and a process for producing the same. The production process comprises the steps of forming a large number of concaves and convexes having an average height of not more than 0.1 μm on both sides or one side of a transparent film, forming a resist layer having a pattern shape opposite to the electrically conductive part in the electrically conductive film on the transparent film on its concave-convex side, applying a catalyst for plating onto the resist layer-formed face, separating the resist layer, forming a metal layer by plating, and blackening the metal layer, the metal layer satisfying 1≦W/T≦500 wherein W represents the width of the metal layer and T represents the height of the metal layer.
US07883835B2
A method of double patterning a thin film is described. The method comprises forming a thin film to be patterned on a substrate, forming an anti-reflective coating (ARC) layer on the thin film, and forming a mask layer on the ARC layer. Thereafter, the mask layer is patterned to form a first pattern and a second pattern therein, and the first and second patterns are partially transferred to the ARC layer using a transfer process, such as an etching process or a developing process. Once the mask layer is removed, the first pattern and second patterns are completely transferred to the ARC layer using an etching process, and the first and second patterns in the ARC layer are transferred to the underlying thin film using another etching process.
US07883833B2
A method for providing a lithographic printing plate includes developing an exposed imageable element with an alkali silicate-containing developer composition having a pH of at least 12.0. The developer composition is regenerated by adding to it an alkali silicate-containing regenerator composition having a pH of at least 12.0. Conductivity of both the developer and regenerator compositions is suppressed from the presence of one or more conductivity reducing agents (such as glycerin). This conductivity suppression in the developer composition is greater than the suppression of the conductivity of the regenerator composition.
US07883828B2
Linear or branched functionalized polycarbosilanes having an absorbance less than 3.0 μm−1 at 193 nm and a relatively high refractive index are provided. The functionalized polycarbosilanes contain at least one pendant group that is acid labile or aqueous base soluble. Also disclosed are photoresists formulations containing the functionalized polycarbosilanes that are suitable for use in lithography, e.g., immersion lithography.
US07883827B2
The present invention provides a planographic printing plate precursor including on a support a photosensitive layer that contains a polymerizable composition containing a specific binder polymer having a repeating unit of formula (I), an infrared absorbent, a polymerization initiator and a polymerizable compound, wherein R1 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group; R2 represents a linking group which includes two or more atoms selected from a carbon atom, a hydrogen atom, an oxygen atom, a nitrogen atom and a sulfur atom and has a number of atoms of 2 to 82; A represents an oxygen atom or —NR3— in which R3 represents a hydrogen atom or a monovalent hydrocarbon group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms; and n represents an integer of 1 to 5. The invention also provides a planographic printing plate precursor provided with a specific photosensitive layer with respect to an alkaline developer.
US07883826B2
A radiation-sensitive composition and negative-working imagable element includes a polymeric binder that has a hydrophobic backbone and pendant salt groups that comprise a cation covalently attached to the hydrophobic backbone and a boron-containing anion forming a salt with the cation. The use of these particular polymers provides fast digital speed (high imaging sensitivity) and good printability (good shelf-life) even when the preheat step normally used between exposure and development, is omitted.
US07883823B2
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device that includes: a first exposing step using a photomask in a first area of a semiconductor substrate; and a second exposing step using the photomask in a second area adjacent to the first area of the semiconductor substrate. The photomask includes a first transmitting pattern having a ring shape that is missing a part, and a supplemental second transmitting pattern having a shape corresponding to the missing part of the first transmitting pattern, so that a closed loop pattern is exposed by the first exposing step and the second exposing step on the semiconductor substrate.
US07883821B2
The present invention provides a process for producing a titanium-containing metal oxide the coloration of which is decreased; a hologram recording material suitable for holographic memory recording using a blue laser, wherein a titanium-containing metal oxide the coloration of which is decreased is used as a metal oxide matrix; a process for producing the same; and a hologram recording medium. A process for producing a metal oxide comprising at least Ti as a metal element, the process comprising: providing an alkoxide compound of Ti to which a glycol other than any geminal diol and any vicinal diol is coordinated; hydrolyzing the alkoxide compound of Ti to which the glycol is coordinated, thereby yielding a precursor of a metal oxide; and advancing polycondensation reaction of the metal oxide precursor, thereby forming the metal oxide.
US07883815B2
A fuel cell is equipped with a fuel cell main body, a liquid fuel-storing tank for storing a liquid fuel and a fuel-supplying member which has a penetrating structure and is connected with the liquid fuel-storing tank and which supplies the liquid fuel to the liquid fuel main body, wherein the liquid fuel-storing tank is provided with a liquid fuel reservoir comprising a cylindrical fuel-storing vessel for storing the liquid fuel, a fuel discharge part provided at a lower part of the fuel-storing vessel and having a fuel discharge valve and a follower which is disposed at a rear end of the liquid fuel stored in the fuel-storing vessel and which moves as the liquid fuel is consumed, a housing box member which encompasses at least a part of the liquid fuel reservoir via a space part in the periphery of the liquid fuel reservoir and whose rear end part is closed and pressurized gas which is filled in the space part.
US07883812B2
A fuel cell system is capable of shifting to a normal operation quickly, and can be provided in transportation equipment such as a motorbike. The fuel cell system includes a cell stack which has a plurality of fuel cells; an aqueous solution tank which holds aqueous methanol solution to be supplied to the cell stack; a water pump which supplies water to the aqueous solution tank; an electric current detection circuit which detects an electric current value of the cell stack; and CPU which controls the fuel cell system. The CPU drives the water pump, and thereby starts a liquid amount adjustment if the electric current value detected by the electric current detection circuit becomes not lower than a predetermined value after power generation of the cell stack is started.
US07883810B2
A system for the slow purge of a fuel cell stack. A pump can be used to keep the coolant circulating, so that the stack, an associated radiator, and coolant plumbing therebetween are maintained at the same temperature. The heat from the stack, liquid coolant, and radiator can be used to provide the heat of vaporization of the liquid in the stack, and the liquid water can be removed from the stack as water vapor. Because the air flow rate is relatively low, there is sufficient time for the water to vaporize and for the air to come to the same temperature as the stack, which is also facilitated by high surface area for heat transfer. Purge air can be drawn into the stack through the radiator, via a purge air blower, which preheats the air to help avoid frigid air contacting the stack.
US07883809B2
A technique for heating a fuel cell stack at stack start-up that includes using the vehicle motor drive system to generate waste heat independent from providing traction. Particularly, at fuel cell stack start-up, the electric traction inverter associated with the traction motor that drives the vehicle is controlled so that command signals provided by an inverter to a traction motor do not provide motor torque, but dissipates power into the motor windings and/or motor structure as waste heat. Thus, the output power generated by the fuel cell stack can be made high enough to quickly heat the fuel cell stack through inefficiencies in the stack operation, without providing driving torque. Additionally, the electric traction inverter can be operated so that waste heat is generated within the semiconductor power switches in the inverter.
US07883804B2
A fuel cell cartridge includes a fuel reservoir configured to supply a fuel to a fuel-cell power generation part and has a water-absorber configured to absorb water formed in the fuel-cell power generation part, at least on part of its outer surface. When the cartridge is attached to a fuel cell system, the fuel in the fuel reservoir is supplied to the fuel cell system. A power generation reaction in the fuel-cell power generation part yields electric power and water. The water is easily and reliably absorbed by the water-absorber without leakage to outside of the fuel cell system. The fuel cell cartridge has a simple structure, is easily handled, can easily and reliably recover water formed in the fuel cell, allows the recovered water to be easily disposed of upon recharge of the fuel and exhibits good recyclability.
US07883801B2
An electrolyte for a rechargeable lithium battery according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a modified polyether silicone oil, a carbonate, and a lithium salt. The electrolyte has improved thermal stability and lithium ion conductivity.
US07883800B2
The disclosure herein relates to a lithium ion conducting electrolyte. This electrolytic material has improved ionic conductivity. The material disclosed herein is an amorphous compound of the formula LixSMwOyNz wherein x is between approximately 0.5 and 3, y is between 1 and 6, z is between 0.1 and 1, w is less than 0.3 and M is an element selected from B, Ge, Si, P, As, Cl, Br, I, and combinations thereof. The material can be prepared in the form of a thin film. The electrolyte material can be used in microbatteries and electronic systems.
US07883798B2
An active material for a battery has a surface treatment layer that includes a conductive agent and at least one coating-element-containing compound selected from the group consisting of a coating-element-containing hydroxide, a coating-element-containing oxyhydroxide, a coating-element-containing oxycarbonate, a coating-element-containing hydroxycarbonate, and a mixture thereof.
US07883797B2
A non-aqueous electrolyte battery that contains a molten salt electrolyte and has the enhanced output performances and cycle performances can be provided. The electrolyte has a molar ratio of lithium salt to molten salt of from 0.3 to 0.5, and the non-aqueous electrolyte battery has a positive electrode having a discharge capacity of 1.05 or more times that of a negative electrode thereof.
US07883783B2
An electrodeposited copper foil with carrier foil on which a resin layer for forming an insulating layer is formed, comprising a carrier foil, a bonding interface layer, an electrodeposited copper foil with smooth surfaces on both sides and a resin layer. The resin layer is composed of 20 to 80 parts by weight of an epoxy resin and a curing agent, 20 to 80 parts by weight of a solvent soluble aromatic polyamide resin polymer and optionally a curing accelerator in a suitable amount.
US07883777B2
The invention relates to solar energy shielding window film laminates exhibiting visual light transmittance in the range of 5 to 80% with minimum progressive fading or degradation of reflective quality wherein base polyester films have a layer of adhesive sandwiched there between, the adhesive layer containing dispersed mixed metal oxides as solar-energy-screen particles optionally in combination with rare earth hexaborides, antimony containing metal oxide, indium containing metal oxide, titanium nitride, or carbon particles either singly or in combinations thereof. The process for preparation of these laminates involves steps of selecting a polyester (PET) substrate; coating it with an adhesive formulation containing the dispersed mixed metal oxides as solar-energy-screen particles and other additives followed by lamination with a second PET film; applying a UV hard coat layer on one side of the PET film laminate and applying pressure sensitive adhesive on a side opposite the UV hard coat layer of the laminate followed by lamination with a release sheet.
US07883775B2
The invention provides a diamond coated tool having an excellent cutting performance, wear resistance, adhesion resistance and work surface roughness in combination and a method of producing such a tool.A diamond coated tool comprising a substrate and a diamond coating formed on the surface of the substrate, wherein said substrate is made of a cemented carbide or a cermet, diamond grains constituting a growth surface of said diamond coating has an average grain size of about 1.5 micrometers or below, said diamond coating has a thickness ranging from about 0.1 micrometer to 20 micrometers, and said diamond coating has an average surface roughness Ra ranging from about 0.01 micrometer to 0.2 micrometer. Such a diamond coated tool can be obtained by carburizing the substrate consisting of a cemented carbide or a cermet, and growing up a diamond coating thereon.
US07883769B2
The invention is directed in part to an article that includes a polymer foam having a surface with surface microstructures, the surface microstructures have at least one extent or dimension of about 10 microns or more, preferably 50 microns or more. A maximum extent (unless it is a continuous rib-like structure) the microstructure is about 300 microns or less, preferably 200 microns or less, and generally a maximum height of 1000 microns or less, preferably 750 microns or less and a minimum height of 200 microns or more, preferably 300 microns or more. The foamed article may be provided in a variety of shapes, including a rod, a cylinder, a sheet, etc. In a preferred embodiment where the foam is provided in the form of a sheet, the foam has a pair of major surfaces, one or both of which can be provided with surface microstructures. The foam backing and microstructures include a plurality of voids, which voids are preferably of a mean size substantially less than the smallest cross-sectional dimension or extent of the microstructures.
US07883766B2
A prepreg is provided capable of being a composite material having suitable high heat resistance, impact resistance, and mechanical properties under high temperature and high humidity conditions. As the matrix resin, a composition including a specific epoxy resin component (A), a specific bifunctional epoxy resin (B), a specific tetrafunctional epoxy resin (C), and a specific aromatic amine compound (D) at specific proportions are used. Particularly, as the epoxy resin component (A), one obtained by mixing and heating a bifunctional epoxy resin (a1), a trifunctional epoxy resin (a2), a phenol compound (a3), and a specific polyamide resin (a4) is used so as to be able to solve the above-described problems.
US07883764B2
Disclosed is a resinous molded article which has a fine structure of a nanometer level and includes a material containing a polymer of a polymerizable organic fluorocompound. The polymer is formed from, for example, a monomeric precursor composition containing a methacrylate and/or an acrylate in combination with a fluorine-containing photopolymerizable monomeric precursor composition miscible with the former composition.
US07883762B2
The invention concerns a security document comprising, as security element against recto/verso copying, indicia present on both sides and capable of being viewed under reflected lighting and forming an image capable of being viewed under transmitted light. The invention is characterized in that said indicia comprise lines and form said image with 3D effect.
US07883755B2
A product is provided for forming separable interlocking napkin bands. The product includes a sheet having a plurality of die cut lines extending along a length and a width of the sheet, and a plurality of slits extending from certain of the die cut lines. The die cut lines define a plurality of separable napkin bands that can be separated from one another along the die cut lines, and individually secured into a cylindrical formation by interlocking the slits together. The sheet is adapted to be passed through a printer and desired information is printed on the napkin bands, after which the napkin bands can be separated from one another.
US07883754B2
A casing for a writing instrument comprises an outer shaft, an inner shaft, and a nib. The outer shaft is formed using dual injection molding. An outer surface of the outer shaft includes a raised hard part and a raised soft part. The inner shaft is formed of a thin-wall tube having an upper end and a lower end, the inner shaft being configured for insertion inside the outer shaft. The inner shaft further includes a fastener protruding on its upper end that engages an upper end of the outer shaft. The nib is configured to engage the lower end of the inner shaft to help secure the inner shaft within the outer shaft. The raised hard or soft parts on the outer surface of the outer shaft may include an oblique loop-shaped part, a strip-shaped part, and/or an arc-shaped part.
US07883753B2
A recording sheet for ink jet printing is described, which consists of a support having coated thereon at least one ink-receiving layer consisting of binders, a nanocrystalline, nanoporous aluminum oxide or aluminum oxide/hydroxide, wherein the nanocrystalline, nanoporous aluminum oxide or aluminum oxide/hydroxide has been prepared in the absence of acids and has been treated with aluminum chlorohydrate. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the solution of aluminum chlorohydrate is aged at elevated temperature.
US07883750B2
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of forming a thin film of excellent quality by generating discharge plasma using gaseous raw material including a carbon source under an atmosphere of a relatively high pressure of 100 Torr or higher. A substrate 6 is mounted on at least one of opposing electrodes 4 and 5. A pulse voltage is applied on the opposing electrodes 4 and 5 under a pressure of 100 to 1600 Torr in an atmosphere containing gaseous raw material “A” including a carbon source to generate discharge plasma. A thin film 7 is thus formed on the substrate 6. The pulse voltage has a pulse duration of 10 to 1000 nsec.
US07883748B2
A method of manufacturing a reinforcing fiber sheet includes the following steps (a) to (c). In the first step, a screen having a mesh size which is coarser than a standard mesh size is set on top of a cloth layer constructed of vertically and horizontally woven vertical strips and horizontal strips which are assemblages of numerous reinforcing fibers. In the second step, an ink that exhibits good flexibility after drying is supplied onto the screen in a screen printing, and the cloth layer is impregnated with the ink. In the third step, the cloth layer impregnated with the ink is dried to form a cloth core. This cloth core is embedded in a matrix resin and used as a reinforcing material for a molded article, or a synthetic resin high-stretch sheet material and the resulting assembly is used as a material for dress-up sheets.
US07883746B2
In an insulating film formation method, a cycle A in which O3 at a low flow rate is supplied onto a substrate and then O3 supplied is allowed to react with Hf on the substrate in a non-equilibrium state to form a hafnium oxide film is carried out M times (M≧1), and a cycle B in which O3 at a high flow rate is supplied onto the substrate and then O3 supplied is allowed to react with Hf on the substrate in an equilibrium state to form a hafnium oxide film is carried out N times (N≧1). These insulating film formation cycles are defined as one sequence. This sequence is repeated until a desired thickness is obtained, thereby forming a target insulating film.
US07883727B1
The invention herein describes a method of treating emesis and itch using an extract from the lipophilic components from plants of the Family Euphorbaciae, specifically but not limited to the genus Croton. The extraction (CGO 110) is deplete of the normal proanthocyanidin content found in the parent material, yet retains its ability to treat emesis and itch. The depletion of the proanthocyanidin components makes the product more amenable to preparations for the benefit of ameliorating both human and animal disease.
US07883722B2
A composition for controlled delivery of at least one active substance into an aqueous medium by erosion at a preprogrammed rate of at least one surface of the composition, the composition comprising a matrix which is erodible in the aqueous medium in which the composition is to be used and which allows substantially no diffusion of water into the composition beyond any exposed surface layers of the matrix, the matrix comprising at least one substantially water soluble crystalline polymer, e.g. a polyethylene glycol, with at least one water-dispersible or water-soluble surface active agent, e.g. a non-ionic emulsifier, dispersed therein, at least one release modifier, e.g. an enteric coating material, that functions to regulate erosion of the matrix within a pH range of from about 2 to about 7, and at least one active substance. The composition provides controlled, e.g. substantially zero order, release in both the stomach and the intestines despite different conditions of pH, agitation and absorption.
US07883721B2
The present invention is directed to pharmaceutically acceptable polymeric compositions suitable for injection molding of single or multi-component pharmaceutical dosage forms comprising a plurality of drug substance containing sub-units, being capsule compartments and/or solid sub-units comprising a solid matrix of a polymer which contains a drug substance, the sub-units being connected together in the assembled dosage form by a weld between parts of the assembled dosage form.
US07883718B2
The invention relates to an drug delivery device and a method for delivering multiple drugs over a prolonged period of time. The drug delivery device has two or more unitary segments comprising a drug-permeable polymeric substance, wherein at least one of the segments further comprises a pharmaceutically active agent. The invention also relates to a method for the treatment of a benign ovarian secretory disorder in a female mammal, a method of contraception, and a method of relieving the symptoms associated with menopausal, perimenopausal and post-menopausal periods in a woman.
US07883713B2
The invention relates to the topical application of substituted thiazolyl amides in the treatment of herpes infections in humans, to preparations suitable for the topical application and to the production thereof.
US07883710B2
This invention, in one aspect, relates to synthetic immunoreactive peptides. These peptides are approximately 20-25 amino acids in length which are portions of the N termini of the M proteins of the most prevalent United States (U.S.) Group A Streptococcus (GAS) serotypes. At least some of the synthetic peptides can be recognized by M type-specific antibodies and are capable of eliciting functional opsonic antibodies and/or anti-attachment antibodies without eliciting tissue cross-reactive antibodies. In another aspect, it relates to compositions or vaccines comprising these synthetic serotype-specific peptides, including polypeptides and proteins. The invention may also be isolated antibodies which are raised in response to the peptides, compositions or vaccines. The invention further relates to kits for using the peptides, compositions, or antibodies. In still further aspects, the invention also relates to methods for using the peptides, compositions, vaccines, or antibodies and methods for tailoring vaccines.
US07883702B2
The present invention relates to cancer therapies using an antibody that binds to mortalin 2 and a functional nucleic acid. Mortalin expression was found to be upregulated in immortalized cells and tumor tissues. Immortalized human cells highly expressing mortalin showed anchorage-independent growth. When the K antibody, which is a specific anti-mortalin antibody, was injected into a tumor of a nude mouse, tumor growth was suppressed or the tumor shrank compared with the case of a control. In accordance with the present invention, the use of a specific anti-mortalin antibody (K antibody) for tumor therapies and the use of such antibody as a carrier molecule for transportation of immunotoxicin and the like into cells are provided. It has been shown that mortalin can be a target for cancer therapies. In accordance with the present invention, a novel and effective anticancer agent is provided. In addition, an anti-mortalin antibody that is internalized by cells is developed. Thus, various applications using such antibody are provided.
US07883694B2
Provided are crosslinked polymer compositions that include a first synthetic polymer containing multiple nucleophilic groups covalently bound to a second synthetic polymer containing multiple electrophilic groups. The first synthetic polymer is preferably a synthetic polypeptide or a polyethylene glycol that has been modified to contain multiple nucleophilic groups, such as primary amino (—NH2) or thiol (—SH) groups. The second synthetic polymer may be a hydrophilic or hydrophobic synthetic polymer, which contains or has been derivatized to contain, two or more electrophilic groups, such as succinimidyl groups. The compositions may further include other components, such as naturally occurring polysaccharides or proteins (such as glycosaminoglycans or collagen) and/or biologically active agents. Also disclosed are methods for using the crosslinked polymer compositions to effect adhesion between a first surface and a second surface; to effect tissue augmentation; to prevent the formation of surgical adhesions; and to coat a surface of a synthetic implant.
US07883692B2
The invention concerns a polymer comprising water soluble units and LCST units consisting of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide random copolymers, or one of its salts. The invention also concerns an aqueous composition in particular thickened, even gelled, comprising such a polymer or one of its salts and an aqueous phase.
US07883683B2
An assembly comprising carbon foam and high density carbon foam is described. In some embodiments, such an assembly may be a composite or composite assembly. One or more pieces of carbon foam and high density carbon foam may comprise the assembly. The assembly may comprise other materials in addition to the carbon foam and high density carbon foam. One or more of any given type of other material may be incorporated into the composite. Additionally, a given other material may be incorporated in more than one volume or location on or in the assembly. The other materials may provide for bonding of the elements of the assembly together, strengthening of the assembly, increased assembly oxidation and weathering resistance, modification of the electrical, thermal, or fluid transport properties of the assembly, and any of a number of other purposes.
US07883682B2
A process for gasification is provided for a non-catalytic, two-stage gasification process for gasification of a carbonaceous material. The reactor system generally comprises combustion in a first reaction zone and combustion in a second reaction zone.
US07883677B2
This deer lure with scent dispenser has an outer casing with an interior plenum, a lower end and an upper end, with air inlet holes adjacent the lower end, a base adapted to fit into the lower end and extend into the plenum, and a scent dispenser assembly with a reservoir adapted to fit into the upper end with its exterior extending into the plenum. The base is adapted to serve as a pedestal for a candle and to hold the candle above the air inlet holes. The base also allows air for the candle to enter the plenum from the air inlet holes and reach a flame of the candle. The reservoir has an interior in communication with air exterior to the casing for holding a volatile scented liquid, and the invention allows hot gases produced by the candle to escape from the plenum into air exterior to the plenum around and/or through the reservoir, volatilizing the scented liquid in the reservoir. The aforesaid elements may be packed into the interior plenum and caps are provided to cap both ends so as to form a compact easily portable carrying configuration.
US07883676B2
A system for chemically disposing energetic material enclosed in assembled devices includes a porous basket. The porous basket forms an enclosed chamber for receiving the assembled devices. Further, the basket is supported by a rotatable basket arm that is, in turn, connected to a lifting arm. In addition to these structures, the system includes a tank that holds a hydrolysis solution. The tank is positioned to allow the lifting arm to submerge the basket into the solution. After submersion, the basket arm rotates the basket in the solution to flow the hydrolysis solution into contact with the assembled devices therein. As a result, the assembled devices react with the solution so that the solution penetrates the assembled devices, allowing the solution to contact and react with the energetic material to render the energetic material non-energetic.
US07883675B2
The present invention provides a fuel treatment device which can realize easy separation and collection of a catalyst contained in the device. In a fuel treatment device (21) of the present invention a fuel gas is supplied to a catalyst, which fills a catalyst filling space (24) surrounded by a cylindrical inner circumferential wall and a cylindrical outer circumferential wall, to produce a reformed gas. The fuel treatment device (21) has a removal section indicator indicating a catalyst removal section (29) on the outer circumferential surface of the outer circumferential wall of the cylindrical catalyst filling space (24) and an opening formation assister assisting the formation of a catalyst removal opening for removing the catalyst. The removal section indicator and the opening formation assister are, for example, an oval annular shallow groove (30) formed at the outer circumferential wall of the catalyst filling space (24) over substantially the entire length in the axial direction of the catalyst filling space (24). When a catalyst (25) is collected from the fuel treatment device (21) after a lapse of a period of use, the catalyst removal opening (29) surrounded by the annular shallow groove (30) is cut off, and a catalyst removal opening (40) is formed.
US07883670B2
New designs, methods and processes are described that in which laminated devices and configured in a style named the “ortho” style. To form a device in the ortho style, plates or sheets are machined to have apertures and then stacked together such that the apertures connect and fluid can flow through the device in a direction that is substantially parallel to the direction of sheet thickness. Various laminated devices and processes using them are also described. For example, devices in which non-rectangular microchannels conform around reaction chambers or other bodies that need to be heated or cooled, are described. Features that separate or trip boundary layer and enhance heat transfer are also described.
US07883668B2
An optical gas concentration sensor and method for measuring blood gas based on the light adsorption sensing technique are disclosed. The optical gas concentration sensor comprises a light source, a photo detector, and a gas filtering membrane for separating the indicator and a liquid. A gas in the liquid diffuses to the indicator through the gas filtering membrane so as to change the color of the indicator due to the chemical reaction occurred between the indicator and the gas. Then, the photo detector receives the light passing though the reacted indicator from the light source. The gas concentration is determined based on pH-sensitive absorbance spectrum of the indicator.
US07883663B2
The present invention provides optimal low chromium stainless steel preventing the deterioration in corrosion resistance at the weld zone in the case of multipass welding, superior in grain boundary corrosion resistance of the weld zone even in a harsh corrosive environment, simultaneously free from preferential corrosion at the heat affected zones near weld fusion lines, and further superior in manufacturability, that is, low chromium stainless steel containing, by mass %, C: 0.03% or less, N: 0.004 to 0.02%, Si: 0.2 to 1%, Mn: over 1.5 to 2.5%, P: 0.04% or less, S: 0.03% or less, Cr: 10 to 15%, Ni: 0.2 to 3.0%, and Al: 0.005 to 0.1%, further containing Ti: 4×(C %+N %) to 0.35%, and having a balance of Fe and unavoidable impurities, having a γp(%) expressed by a predetermined formula satisfying 80 or more, and satisfying Ti %×N %<0.004 as well.
US07883645B2
The present invention relates to a method for increasing the conversion of group III metal to group III nitride in a fused metal containing group III elements, with the introduction of nitrogen into the fused metal containing group III, at temperatures≦1100° C. and at pressures of below 1×108 Pa, wherein a solvent adjunct is added to the fused metal containing group III elements, which is at least one element of the following elements C, Si, Ge, Fe, and/or at least one element of the rare earths, or an alloy or a compound of these elements, in particular their nitrides.
US07883636B2
Magnetorheological materials having a supramolecular polymer gel as a component of the carrier are disclosed. Useful supramolecular polymers for gels include those having bipyridine or terpyridine ligands which can participate in metal coordination bonding. The magnetizable particles of magnetorheological materials can have supramolecular surfactant-polymer coatings.
US07883634B2
An elevator load bearing member assembly includes at least one traction enhancing surface (46) on a jacket (44). In one example, a mechanical removal process is used to strip away at least some of an amide-rich layer from the surface (46) after the jacket has been extruded onto tension members (42). In another example, a chemical removal process is used. Another disclosed example includes disrupting the surface.
US07883633B2
Methods for rotating a magnetic field in a process chamber is provided herein. In one embodiment, a method for rotating a magnetic field in a process chamber includes forming a magnetic field having a primary shape; changing the primary shape to at least two sequential transitional shapes; and changing the transitional shape to a rotated primary shape. Optionally, the magnetic field may be maintained at an approximately constant magnitude throughout each step. Optionally, a maximum of one current applied to one or more magnetic field producing coils is equal to zero or has its polarity reversed between any two adjacent steps.
US07883623B2
A dispenser system that takes high pressure fluid such as a high pressure water source and reduces the volume flow of the high pressure water as it flows into a dispenser with the dispenser having a low pressure outlet, which offers negligible fluid resistance in comparison to the inlet fluid resistance to the dispenser, thereby ensuring that if a dispenser cap is accidentally removed from the dispenser while the unit is in operation the water will not spray out into and onto the user. The dispensing system includes a removable cartridge carrier with adjustable openings and a dispenser housing that one can maintain a uniform flow pattern under different flow rates to provide for a predicable control of a dispersion rate from a dispersant located in the system and a method of predictably changing the dispersion rate of a dispersant.
US07883622B1
Methods and apparatus for efficient implementation and control of water treatment bypass loops combining ozone and chlorine injection are disclosed. Combined use of ozone and chlorine exploits high oxidation potential of ozone while retaining longer lived residual effectiveness of chlorine for high efficacy against contaminants, particularly biological and organic. Embodiments including automated monitoring and control of chlorine concentrations in presence of high oxidation potentials from ozone are disclosed, as is an inexpensive circuit for using a signal from a redox sensor for controlling output from an electrolysis cell. Also disclosed is a multipurpose enclosure that may be used, with different inserts, to implement an electrolysis cell, an ultraviolet ozone generator, an advanced oxidation unit, or an erosion feeder for adding dissolved salt to water for use in an electrolysis cell. The multipurpose enclosure helps reduce cost associated with maintaining inventories of different components used in water purification systems.
US07883615B2
A method is provided for electrochemically depositing a polysaccharide mass having a selected physical state. According to an embodiment, an electrically conductive support of a substrate is contacted with an aqueous solution including a selectively insolubilizable polysaccharide, and the selectively insolubilizable polysaccharide is electrochemically deposited on the electrically conductive support while controlling deposition conditions to form the polysaccharide mass having the selected physical state, such as that of a hydrogel. Deposition may be performed in a spatially and/or temporally controlled manner.
US07883606B2
A method of producing microparticles including: (a) providing a system including: (i) a vessel containing a liquid; (ii) at least a first pair of electrodes; (iii) a mechanism for igniting an electrical arc between the electrodes; (b) disposing the first pair of electrodes within the liquid, and (c) effecting at least one pulsed electrical discharge between the electrodes so as to produce a plasma bubble, and to produce the microparticles, the microparticles being associated with the plasma bubble, wherein the pulsed electrical discharge has a pulse duration of less than 1000 microseconds, and wherein the pulsed electrical discharge has a current amplitude of at least 1 ampere (A).
US07883602B2
An apparatus and a method comprising same for removing metal oxides from a substrate surface are disclosed herein. In one particular embodiment, the apparatus comprises an electrode assembly that has a housing that is at least partially comprised of an insulating material and having an internal volume and at least one fluid inlet that is in fluid communication with the internal volume; a conductive base connected to the housing comprising a plurality of conductive tips that extend therefrom into a target area and a plurality of perforations that extend therethrough and are in fluid communication with the internal volume to allow for a passage of a gas mixture comprising a reducing gas.
US07883601B2
An apparatus for controlling a plasma etching process includes plasma control structure that can vary a size of a plasma flow passage, vary a speed of plasma flowing through the plasma flow passage, vary plasma concentration flowing through the plasma flow passage, or a combination thereof.
US07883596B2
A noise absorber carpet comprised of a fabric layer portion and a resinous backing layer portion is provided. The fabric layer portion and the resinous backing layer portion are heat bonded with a press into the noise absorber carpet, and the press includes perforation pins and a cooling medium. The resinous backing layer portion is provided with noise absorbing perforations formed by contact with the perforation pins of the press and cooled by the cooling medium. The perforations having been cooled by the cooling medium with the press simultaneously with the bonding of the resinous backing layer portion with the fabric layer portion and the cooling of the press by the cooling medium, thereby providing for instant curing and fixation of the shape of the perforations.
US07883592B2
A method of forming bulk metallic glass engineering materials, and more particularly a method for forming coarsening microstructures within said engineering materials is provided. Specifically, the method forms ‘designed composites’ by introducing ‘soft’ elastic/plastic inhomogeneities in a metallic glass matrix to initiate local shear banding around the inhomogeneity, and matching of microstructural length scales (for example, L and S) to the characteristic length scale RP (for plastic shielding of an opening crack tip) to limit shear band extension, suppress shear band opening, and avoid crack development.
US07883586B2
Technology scanning and irradiating grain-oriented electrical steel sheet moving in a rolling direction at a speed Vl with an elliptical spot formed by a laser beam in the width direction at Vc to improve the core loss of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet, which adjusts the angle θs formed by the scan direction of the elliptical beam and the long axis of the ellipse based on the equation θs=tan−1(Vl/Vc) and which constructs the system for adjusting the θs by an optical system for laser irradiation comprised of a cylindrical lens telescope, scan mirror, and fθ lens arranged in that order, a system for changing the angle of the cylindrical lens telescope with respect to the scan direction of the scan mirror, and a system for changing the distance between lenses.
US07883584B2
The present invention is a solid rinse aid composition and methods of making and using the same. The solid rinse aid composition generally includes sodium sulfate and urea as solidification agents and an effective amount of an alcohol ethoxylate compound sheeting agent component and an effective amount of defoamer component. The solid rinse aid composition may also incorporate a preservative system including sodium bisulfate. The solid rinse aid composition may be phosphate-free, aminocarboxylate-free, and GRAS if desired.
US07883580B2
Ion implantation is used to grow nanotubes out of carbon and other materials. Catalytic material is placed on or in a membrane that physically and possibly environmentally separates an implantation chamber or region from a growth chamber or region. High-energy ions are implanted into the catalytic material from one side to grow nanotubes on an exposed surface in the growth chamber. Ion implantation via the membrane provides for greater flexibility to separate and independently control the implantation and growth processes.
US07883574B2
Nanoscale particles of benzimidazolone pigments are made by providing one or more organic pigment precursor(s) to a benzimidazolone pigment, providing a solution or suspension of a sterically bulky stabilizer compound that associates non-covalently with a benzimidazolone moiety on one of the pigment precursors, wherein the sterically bulky stabilizer compound is selected from the group consisting of substituted pyridine derivatives, alkylated benzimidazolone compounds, alkylated derivatives of aromatic acids, and mixtures thereof, and carrying out a coupling reaction to form a benzimidazolone pigment composition, whereby one or more functional moieties on the benzimidazolone pigment is non-covalently associated with the sterically bulky stabilizer, so as to limit an extent of particle growth and aggregation and results in nanoscale pigment particles.
US07883573B2
The present invention provides, for use in a semiconductor manufacturing process, a method (100) of preparing an ion-implantation source material. The method includes providing (110) a deliquescent ion implantation source material and mixing (110) the deliquescent ion implantation source material with an organic liquid to form a paste.
US07883570B2
An apparatus and method for separating components of a fluid containing liquid and gas comprises a housing having at least one elongate channel. Each channel has an inlet end, an outlet end and rounded walls enabling the fluid flowing through the channel to flow substantially free of turbulent flow. Each channel defines a spiral path through the housing and acts to separate the fluid flowing through the channel into a gas-depleted outer portion and a liquid-depleted inner portion. The apparatus includes a liquid outlet port for the gas-depleted outer portion and a gas outlet port for the liquid-depleted inner portion. The housing may include a mixing chamber in fluid communication with the inlet end of the channel. The mixing chamber may include a surface the fluid impacts against. The apparatus may include a chamber at the outlet end of the channel. The chamber may have a gas outlet port closer to the outlet end of the channel than the liquid outlet port.
US07883567B2
The deaerating and dissolving apparatus or the deaerating and dissolving method includes: a pipe which is configured to feed a liquid; a flow rate control section which is provided to a middle portion of the pipe and is configured to feed the liquid at a predetermined flow rate to a downstream side; a cavity forming section which is provided to a middle portion of the pipe downstream of the flow rate control section and is configured to produce a stationary cavity which is in contact with the liquid, and a pressurization or depressurization section which pressurizes or depressurizes the inside of the cavity, wherein the liquid is deaerated when the inside of the cavity is depressurized with the pressurization or depressurization section, and a gas is dissolved into the liquid when the inside of the cavity is pressurized with the gas supplied through the pressurization or depressurization section.
US07883553B2
A deformable and compressible active electrode dry film is manufactured from dry mixed dry active electrode material and dry binder powder. The electrode film and a current collector with a first surface may be stacked such that the first surface of the current collector is in contact with the dry film. The active electrode dry film and current collector may then be processed in a laminating device, such as a calendar. Lamination both densifies the active electrode film and bonds the film to the current collector.
US07883552B2
Highly compactable granulations and methods for preparing highly compactable granulations are disclosed. More particularly, highly compactable calcium carbonate granulations are disclosed. The granulations comprise powdered materials such as calcium carbonate that have small median particle sizes. The disclosed granulations are useful in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical tableting and provide smaller tablet sizes upon compression than previously available.
US07883541B2
The present invention is directed to a composition comprising a matrix suitable for implantation in humans, comprising defatted, shredded, allogeneic human muscle tissue that has been combined with an aqueous carrier and dried in a predetermined shape. Also disclosed is a tissue graft or implant comprising a matrix suitable for implantation in humans, comprising defatted, shredded, allogeneic human muscle tissue that has been combined with an aqueous carrier and dried in a predetermined shape. The composition and/or tissue graft or implant of the invention is usable in combination with seeded cells, a tissue growth factor, and/or a chemotactic agent to attract a desired cell.
US07883538B2
Devices and methods used in termination of a tissue tightening procedure are described. Termination includes the cinching of a tether to tighten the tissue, locking the tether to maintain tension, and cutting excess tether. In procedures involving anchors secured to the tissue, the tether is coupled to the anchors and the tissue is tightened via tension applied to the anchors by cinching the tether. In general, the devices and methods can be used in minimally invasive surgical procedures, and can be applied through small incisions or intravascularly. A method for tightening tissue by fixedly coupling a first anchor to a tether and slidably coupling a second anchor to the tether, securing both anchors to the tissue, applying tension to the tether intravascularly, fixedly coupling the tether to the second anchor, and cutting the tether is described. The tissue to be tightened can comprise heart tissue, in particular heart valve annulus tissue. Various devices and methods for locking the tether in place and cutting excess tether are described.
US07883537B2
A balloon having one or more stiffeners is used to configure an expandable device. Methods of configuring and reconfiguring an expandable device with a balloon having a stiffener attached at its perimeter by orienting the stiffener with the expandable device and expanding the balloon to cause the stiffener to exert radial force against the expandable device are provided. Methods of delivering an expandable device carried on a balloon having a stiffener attached are also provided. Reference to radio-opaque portions of the stiffener facilitate orientation of the stiffener with the expandable device.
US07883534B1
Handheld flashlight type vibratory therapeutic treatment invention, devices, and methods that can house a small piezoelectric crystal adjacent to a bulb in the emitting chamber portion of a flashlight housing, where the crystal is located next to or between light source, or off-axis to the light emitting beam of the flashlight. The crystal can generate a fixed output of approximately 7 to approximately 8 Hertz while the flashlight body is positioned up to approximately 18 inches over the body part being treated with a light beam from the bulb being aimed at the area to be treated. Treatment effectiveness can occur within approximately 2 minutes of being treated. The flashlight invention can be used for treating a variety of ailments such as inflammations, nerve problems, joint pain, muscle pain, as well as gall bladder type problems.
US07883523B2
The present invention provides a lancet assembly which eliminates the need to remove a resin cover encapsulating a pricking element. Upon inserting a lancet structure into a lancet holder, a force which separates a lancet cover encapsulating the sharp tip portion of the pricking element from a lancet body is generated, and this force is allowed to act on the lancet cover and the lancet body to thereby expose, within the lancet holder, the sharp tip portion of the pricking element encapsulated by the lancet cover and to locate the opening of the lancet holder in front of the sharp tip portion of the pricking element.
US07883522B2
A minimal incision maximal access system allows for maximum desirable exposure along with maximum access to the operative field utilizing a minimum incision as small as the METRx and Endius systems. Instead of multiple insertions of dilating tubes the design is a streamlined single entry device to avoid repetitive skin surface entry. The system offers the capability to expand to optimum exposure size for the surgery utilizing hinged bi-hemispherical or oval working tubes applied over an introducer obturator which is controllably dilated to slowly separate muscle tissue. Deeper end working and visualization areas with maximum proximal access and work dimensions are provided to makes the operative procedure safer in application and shorten the surgeons's learning curve because it most closely approximates the ability to use open microdiskectomy techniques. a dual frame system enables full or partial spreading of a working tube set, while an open frame facilitates a four point retraction system.
US07883517B2
A surgical device for suturing vascular vessels is described, as well as methods for suturing tissue employing the surgical device. The device includes a distal member for insertion into a vascular vessel puncture wound. The distal member contains a suture and needle engaging fitting. At least one needle is advanced through tissue adjacent the puncture wound and into the needle engaging fitting to draw lengths of suture material which can then be used to close the puncture wound.
US07883516B2
Occluding structures may be created within a body lumen by advancing a length of material distally through the body lumen. By drawing a distal location on the advanced length of material in a proximal direction, the material may be compacted into a structure which at least partially occludes the lumen. The occluding structure may be used to remove kidney stones from the ureter in conjunction with lithotripsy and irrigation.
US07883515B2
A stone retrieval suction device facilitates the retention and then relocation and/or removal of objects disposed in a patient's urinary system. The device includes an elongated member for placement in a channel of a flexible ureteroscope. The elongated member defines a suction passageway which extends longitudinally therethrough. The elongated member is flexible enough to bend with the flexible ureteroscope, and it is strong enough to prevent collapse of the suction passageway when suction is provided through the suction passageway by a vacuum source. The elongated member includes a distal portion for contacting and retaining an object when the suction is provided.
US07883513B2
A polyaxial drill guide includes a body, a collet and a stem. The collet includes a collet shaft having distal and proximal ends and a longitudinal bore. The body includes a conical bore having narrow and wide ends. The distal end of the collet shaft rotatably mounts within the narrow end of the conical bore, with the collet shaft extending toward the wide end of the conical bore, such that the collet shaft (and consequently the longitudinal bore) can be angled within the conical bore at a plurality of angles. The stem includes a shaft having distal and proximal ends and a longitudinal bore. The distal end of the stem shaft mounts to the proximal end of the collet shaft such that the longitudinal bores are co-linear and a drill bit can be inserted into and rotated within the longitudinal bores during a drilling procedure.
US07883512B2
An apparatus for the application of bone cement is described having a housing that comprises a cylinder for the reception of the bone cement. The apparatus further comprises a piston arranged in a longitudinally displaceable manner in the cylinder, by which the bone cement can be pressed out of an exit aperture formed in the cylinder, wherein the piston is longitudinally displaceable in the cylinder by a screw movement to apply the bone cement under high pressure. The apparatus can be switched between the displacement of the piston by the screw movement and a direct displacement in the longitudinal direction without a screw movement. Furthermore, a cannula for such an apparatus is described.
US07883506B2
A tissue treatment device comprises an insertion sized and shaped for insertion into the body via a trocar and a diagnostic element coupled to the insertion section, the diagnostic element illuminating tissue with the light of a wavelength selected to facilitate identification of target tissue in combination with an ultrasound element coupled to the insertion section for delivering to a portion of tissue illuminated by the diagnostic element ultrasound energy.
US07883493B2
A trocar is provided with a cannula and a housing and valve assembly disposed in the housing which forms a housing seal, and instrument seal, and in some cases a zero seal. A gel material is included in the valve and provides the valve with superior flotation properties for maintaining the instrument seal even when the instrument is moved off-axis In order to accommodate movement of the gel material, voids can be formed within the valve housing and even within the gel material.
US07883489B2
The invention concerns a device (1) for irrigating and pressurizing a body cavity (2). Said device comprises a circuit consisting of at least one source (3), wherefrom flows a fluid under pressure, connected to a supply conduit (3) emerging in its downstream end into the cavity (2), a discharge conduit (20) for said fluid exiting from said cavity (2) and means for regulating (30) said fluid. Said regulating means (30) include first pumping means (31) capable of being temporarily engaged with the supply conduit (10), second pumping means (32) engaged with the discharge conduit (20). The two pumping means (31, 32) are operated at the same speed and in the same direction when they are engaged with their respective conduits (10, 20).
US07883485B2
A restraint device includes first and second restraint and/or support portions adapted to extend around part of a person. First and second connector portions are used to secure the first and second restraint and/or support portions to the person. In one aspect, a lock member is used to selectively prevent disconnection of the first and second connector portions. A removable tag or other information element may be carried on at least one of the first and second restraint and/or support portions and may indicate the individual or individuals that placed the restraint device on the person or that removed the restraint device from the person, and/or what time the restraint device was placed or removed. A plurality of removable tags or other elements may be carried on at least one of the first and second restraint and/or support portions and may have a unique identifier to indicate whether or not the restraint device had been previously removed from the person after an initial placement.
US07883469B2
A device for detecting the state of a heart on the basis of intracardial impedance measurement. The device has an impedance measuring unit, which has electrical terminals, configured to be electrically connected or to be connected to electrodes for delivering and detecting a current or voltage, and is implemented to ascertain an impedance on the basis of the dimension of the delivered current or voltage and the voltage drop caused by the current or the current caused by the voltage, as well as an analysis unit, which is connected to the impedance measuring unit and is implemented to derive a cardiac function parameter from a time curve of the impedance ascertained using the impedance measuring unit. The analysis unit analyzes the impedance curve assigned to a diastole and derives a cardiac function parameter characterizing the behavior of a heart during the diastole (filling phase of the ventricle).
US07883460B2
An endoscope has an insertion portion provided with a freely curvable curving portion; a grip portion provided at a base end side of the insertion portion and grasped by an operator. There provided at the grip portion and in its periphery is an instructing operation element with a function of implementing a curve instructing operation of the curving portion and a function of implementing the other instructing operation different from the above described curve instructing operation.
US07883455B2
A folding device includes a folding blade cylinder and a cooperating folding jaw cylinder, each of which has several circumferentially arranged holding devices. These holding devices can be moved between a disengaged position, where the leading end of a product can be inserted or released, and a holding position in which the product leading edge is held in the holding device. The folding blade cylinder and the folding jaw cylinder each have a number of holding devices equal to the respective number of folding blades and folding jaws. Each of the folding blades presses a product to be folded, and which is held by one of the holding devices on the folding blade cylinder, into a cooperating folding jaw on the folding jaw cylinder. This is accomplished during the passage of the product through a transfer slot between the folding blade cylinder and the folding jaw cylinder. An offset between each folding blade and its associated holding device is adjustable. The location of a holding device, and a subsequent folding blade is fixed. The offset between one of the holding devices of the folding blade cylinder and one of the folding blades that follows that holding device is less than a maximum offset between one of the holding devices and the folding blade that follows behind the folding device.
US07883447B2
An exercise chair of the type wherein a user can sit on a seating platform and extend and retract his legs while his feet are resting on a spring-resisted foot rod includes a movable bar for pivotally supporting the foot rod and which is positionable in an operative position or a storage position. In the operative position, the foot bar is positioned for desired use in pre-determined exercises while in the storage position it is positioned so as to permit nestable stacking of a plurality of the chairs.
US07883442B2
A continuously variable transmission is disclosed for use in rotationally or linearly powered machines and vehicles. The transmission provides a simple manual shifting method for the user. Further, the practical commercialization of traction roller transmissions requires improvements in the reliability, ease of shifting, function and simplicity of the transmission. The present invention includes a continuously variable transmission that may be employed in connection with any type of machine that is in need of a transmission. For example, the transmission may be used in (i) a motorized vehicle such as an automobile, motorcycle, or watercraft, (ii) a non-motorized vehicle such as a bicycle, tricycle, scooter, exercise equipment or (iii) industrial equipment, such as a drill press, power generating equipment, or textile mill.
US07883441B2
The transmission has a plurality of members that can be utilized in powertrains to provide eight forward speed ratios and one reverse speed ratio. The transmission includes three planetary gear sets having six torque-transmitting devices, two fixed interconnections and a grounded member. The powertrain includes an engine and torque converter that is selectively connected to at least one of the planetary gear members, and an output member that is continuously connected with another one of the planetary gear members. The six torque-transmitting devices provide interconnections between various gear members, the transmission housing and with the input member, and are operated in combinations to establish at least eight forward speed ratios and at least one reverse speed ratio.
US07883437B2
A sprocket for transferring a force between a chain and a drive element that includes a plurality of teeth and a plurality of openings proximate the teeth. Each tooth has a load-bearing flank and a non-load-bearing flank. One of the plurality of openings are arranged relative to one of the plurality of teeth, in one-to-one correspondence therebetween, such that the opening is asymmetrically divided by a radial centerline of the tooth, a first load strip is formed between the opening and the load-bearing flank of the tooth, and a second load strip is formed between the opening and the non-load-bearing flank of the tooth.
US07883424B2
A torque transmission device such as a fixed constant velocity ball joint constructed as an opposed track joint and a process for producing such a device, in which the curvatures bases of the tracks of the joint deviate in their axial course from the curvatures of the ball contact lines. The process is characterized in that prior to the formation of a longitudinal profile of the joint component, the component is brought to an increased hardness by a hardening process and a diffusion layer is partially or completely removed in the region of the longitudinal profile.
US07883422B2
To realize the reduction of weight of a power transmission device by overcoming a drawback that an excessively large rotational torque is transmitted to a power transmission path and to sufficiently suppress the generation of a change of a rotational speed by overcoming a drawback that phases between one universal joint and another universal joint are displaced from each other. A damper mechanism is provide in the course of a power transmission path from an engine to a final reduction gear. The damper mechanism transmits a torque from the engine until the torque arrives at a predetermined value and prevents the transmission of a torque that exceeds the predetermined value.
US07883412B2
A system for detecting and controlling collusion in a game with a plurality of participating players includes a gaming server and a number of portals in the form of websites on the World Wide Web in the Internet. Each of the portal websites is an online casino website hosted on a corresponding casino web server (not shown). Each of the casino websites is accessible by one or more would-be poker players. Each player accesses the website using a computer with a display and an associated pointing device. The system further includes an administration facility, which communicates with the gaming server along a communication channel, and a collusion detection server in communication with the gaming server via the communication channel.
US07883405B2
In one aspect, the invention is directed to a method of conducting an instant win game in combination with a base wagering game. The method may include receiving a base wagering game entry and a base wagering game wager from a player, and receiving an instant win game wager from the player. The method may further include storing a game theme indicator, storing a plurality of instant win game outcome display themes, and determining an outcome of the instant win game for the player. Still further, the method may include displaying the outcome of the instant win game to the player, wherein the outcome may be displayed with one of the plurality of instant win game outcome display themes, and with the one of the plurality of instant win game outcome display themes corresponding to the stored game theme indicator. In addition, the method may include awarding the player an instant win game prize corresponding to the outcome of the instant win game.
US07883401B1
The coin plate of a coin processing or sorting machine having one or more coin slots includes a stationary diverter finger that is attached to the surface of the plate. The finger is located radially inwardly of the coin slot or coin slots and extends downstream to preferably the most downstream slot. A coin that is located radially inwardly from the intended, correct position with respect to the coin slots engages the diverter finger and is directed along the diverter finger radially outwardly and towards the last downstream coin slot so that the coin passes through the slot and is removed from the plate.
US07883400B2
A pin bone removal device that provides a plurality of fixed members arranged substantially in side-by-side orientation. The invention also comprises a plurality of moveable members also substantially arranged in a side-by-side orientation. In one aspect, the fixed members and moveable members collectively form a stack of members in which a moveable member is positioned adjacent each fixed member. In this aspect, a linear drive is operatively connected to each of the moveable members and is configured to cause oscillating movement of each moveable member to cause the moveable members to contact the adjacent fixed member. This movement causes pinch points to be created and released between the fixed and moveable members. As the fillet of fish is moved along the stack of members, the pin bones are caught at each pinch point and then released.
US07883397B2
A retainer is used with an apparatus for polishing a substrate. The substrate has upper and lower surfaces and a lateral, substantially circular, perimeter. The apparatus has a polishing pad with an upper polishing surface for contacting and polishing the lower face of the substrate. The retainer has an inward facing retaining face for engaging and retaining the substrate against lateral movement during polishing of the substrate. The retaining face engages a substrate perimeter at more than substantially a single discrete circumferential location along the perimeter.
US07883393B2
A system for removing particles from a polishing pad to improve the efficiency of the removal of material by the polishing pad as part of a chemical-mechanical polishing process, the system comprising a polishing pad; a fluid dispenser arranged to dispense a fluid on the polishing pad; and removal means, wherein the removal means include a heater for increasing the temperature of the fluid dispensed on the polishing pad, and/or voltage means for coupling the polishing pad to a voltage source for repelling charged particles from the polishing pad surface while the fluid dispenser is dispensing the fluid on the polishing pad.
US07883387B2
In a method for making a pulsed high-voltage silicon quantum dot fluorescent lamp, an excitation source is made by providing a first substrate, coating the first substrate with a buffer layer of titanium, coating the buffer layer with a catalytic layer of a material selected from a group consisting of nickel, aluminum and platinum and providing a plurality of nanometer discharging elements one the catalytic layer. An emission source is made by providing a second substrate, coating the second substrate with a transparent electrode film of titanium nitride and coating the transparent electrode film with a silicon quantum dot fluorescent film comprising silicon quantum dots. A pulsed high-voltage source is provided between the excitation source and the emission source to generate a pulsed field-effect electric field to cause the nanometer discharging elements to release electrons and accelerate the electrons to excite the silicon quantum dots to emit pulsed visible light.
US07883381B2
A wedge connector for mechanically securing two electrical cables and making them electrically common is disclosed. The wedge connector has a C-shaped body member and a wedge. The body member has sides that converge toward a first body member end from a second body member end. The body member has edges that are formed to define a pair of inwardly facing channels connected by a web extending between the channels. The wedge also has converging sides to be conformably received in the C-shaped body member. The wedge has concave, outwardly facing surfaces on each side connected by a web extending between the sides. It also has a spring rib formed in the web that extends continuously from a first wedge end toward a second wedge end.
US07883377B2
An electric connector includes a housing with a plurality of receiving grooves separated by a plurality of ribs, and a plurality of terminals which each has a rear edge received in one of the receiving grooves. Each of the rib includes a pair of wings formed by hot melting a protrusion defined on a tail of the rib. Each two wings received in the same receiving groove block one rear edge of the terminals.
US07883368B2
An electromagnetic compatibility (“EMC”) gasket includes a first conductive portion moveable to a plurality of positions. A secondary conductive portion is connected to the first conductive portion at an adjacent edge. A third conductive portion is opposite the secondary conductive portion such that the first portion is between the second and third portions. The third conductive portion is connected to the first conductive portion at an adjacent edge. The third conductive portion is curved creating a hook structure such that when in a housing the third conductive portion engages a portion of the housing. This engagement causes the first conductive portion of the EMC gasket to fold and/or flex as an electronic card is moved within the housing in a lateral direction while the housing is disposed stationary in a chassis to mate a connector on the electronic card with a connector in the chassis.
US07883367B1
A high density backplane connector (100) includes a group of terminal pairs (17, 18, 27, 28) arranged along a first direction. Each terminal pair includes a first terminals (12, 22) and a second terminals (14, 24) substantially aligned with each other along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The first terminal has a first engaging portion (124, 224) and a first tail portion (125, 225). The second terminal has a second engaging portion (144, 244) extending beyond the first engaging portion and a second tail portion (145, 245). The first and second tail portions of the terminal pairs are arranged substantially in a line.
US07883365B2
A waterproof connector (10) has a terminal fitting (30) connected with an end of a wire (60). A resilient plug (40) is mounted on the end of the wire (60) and has a main body (42) held onto the wire (60) by the terminal fitting (30). A housing (20) has a cavity (21) into which the terminal fitting (30) and the resilient plug (40) are inserted. Outer lips (46) project on the outer circumferential surface of the main body (42) and are held resiliently in close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the cavity (21). Auxiliary lips (47) with a smaller projecting amount than the outer lips (46) also project on the outer circumferential surface of the main body (42). The outer lips (46) and the auxiliary lips (47) are arranged to lean against each other if the wire (60) is shaken.
US07883364B2
A cable assembly (100) adapted for mating with a mating connector, includes an electrical connector (100) and a cable (120) electrically terminated to one end of the electrical connector. The electrical connector has an insulative housing (10), a number of contacts (20) received in the insulative housing, and a shielding shell (30) enclosing the insulative housing. The cable has metallic braiding layer (123). The cable assembly has a grounding plate (40) mechanically and electrically connecting with the braiding layer of the cable and the shielding shell.
US07883361B2
A connection member of simple structure having a high reliability and capable of performing electric cable branching is provided. Connection portions of a plurality of electric cable terminals having an electric cable are respectively inserted into an electric cable terminal insertion hole of a holding body. Cylindrical contact points of the connection portions are aligned in a pin terminal insertion hole and a pin terminal is inserted into the pin terminal insertion hole. The pin terminal is successively inserted into the cylindrical contact points of the electric cable terminals arranged in parallel in the pin terminal insertion hole so that the pin terminal is electrically connected to the plurality of connection portions and the connection portions are short-circuited with one another.
US07883348B2
A burn-in socket comprises a base, a plurality of terminals received in the base, a lid mounted upon the base, and a sliding member mounted on the base. The terminal has a movable arm and a static arm, the lid has a number of actuating portions downwardly extending from the bottom thereof to drive the sliding member. The actuating portion of the lid drives the sliding member to move in both a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction, so that the movable arm moves not only in the longitudinal direction but also in the transverse direction to avoid interference with a static arm of an adjacent terminal.
US07883341B2
A connector includes a first and second housing that are configured to be coupled together. The connector may include two circuit cards supported by card supports. Mating edges of the first and second housing are configured to be coupled together and may include one or more crushed ribs positioned in an elongated channel/elongated shoulder interface. The one or more crushed ribs may be configured so as to be spaced apart a distance that acts to improve the electrical shielding provided by the connector. The connector may be configured to be coupled to a cable.
US07883334B2
Method and system for providing a first appliance configured for positioning substantially around one or more teeth during a first portion of a recurring time period to apply one of a first predetermined force or a predetermined tooth movement on the one or more teeth, the first appliance formed of a first material, a second appliance configured for positioning substantially around the one or more teeth during a second portion of the recurring time period to apply one of a second predetermined force or a predetermined tooth movement on the one or more teeth, the second appliance formed of a second material, where at least one of the first portion and the second portion of the recurring time period is repeated at least once such that at least one of the first appliance or the second appliance is positioned again substantially around the one or more teeth during the respective first or second portion of the recurring time period are provided.
US07883332B2
The method makes it possible to produce a seal (1) of an extruded plastics material, including a tubular section (3) with a wall of variable thickness (WT), using a distribution chamber having a terminal die plate (12) with an annular extrusion orifice (15) formed therein, corresponding to the cross section of the tubular section (3). A chamber (18) is formed in the distribution chamber in communication with the extrusion orifice (13) and into which an elastomeric material is fed for forming the tubular section (3). The chamber (18) of the distribution chamber is in open communication with the outside environment by a passage (21) which is separate from the extrusion orifice (13) and is provided to carry a flow of elastomeric material coming from the chamber (18). During extrusion, the output cross section of the elastomeric material through the passage (21) is varied so as to cause corresponding variations in the pressure of the elastomeric material in the chamber (18) and corresponding variations in the thickness of the wall (WT) of the tubular section (3) extrud through the extrusion orifice (13).
US07883331B2
A material handling system for a hydrolyzer, comprising a material injection assembly further comprising a ram, a cylinder having a cylinder shaft for reciprocating the ram upon actuation of the cylinder shaft, a sleeve having an interior in which the ram reciprocates during use; a gate having a gate plate operable from between an open and a closed position; the gate plate has an aperture formed therethrough and the aperture is sized to enable a plug of compressed municipal solid waste to pass through it when the gate plate is in the open position; and a material exit assembly. The preferred material handling system further comprises a gate plate is interpositioned between the pair of space apart end plates and reciprocates freely therebetween. The end plates are configured to allow a plug of municipal solid waste to pass therethrough. The material exit assembly further comprises a processed material handling apparatus including a processed material compaction chamber; and a plunger assembly attached to the compaction chamber and further including a working cylinder having a cylinder shaft and a ram operably connected to the shaft enabling the ram to compact the processed material within the compaction chamber upon actuation of the cylinder and the extension of the shaft therefrom.
US07883329B2
The invention relates to a device for the production of multi-layer, co-extruded, tubular pre-forms made from thermoplastic plastic. A co-extrusion head (10) comprises co-axially arranged flow channels (FK1, FK2), each supplied by a single inlet opening (ZF1, ZF2) with a material melt, distributed annularly in a distribution ring (26, 28). The gap width in each distribution ring (26, 28) is greater in the vicinity of the inlet opening (ZF1, ZF2) than the gap width (s2, s6) in the region of the side opposing the inlet opening (ZF1, ZF2). The flow channels (FK1, FK2) are also asymmetric with regard to the gap widths.
US07883321B2
The invention relates to a wind turbine rotor blade comprising a blade tip and a lightning protection system. The blade includes at least one metallic lightning receptor at the surface of the blade in proximity of the distal end of the blade tip. The blade comprises a blade shell configured partly by a fibre-reinforced laminate, and the blade also comprises an electrically down-conducting element in the form of a metallic mesh. The electrically down-conducting element extends only to a certain distance from the distal end of the tip of the blade, said distance being larger than a distance between the position of the lightning receptor and the distal end of the tip of the blade. It is hereby ensured that a stroke of lightning will strike the receptor more likely than the electrically down-conducting element.
US07883320B2
The diffusion opening in the cooling hole of an airfoil is formed by an EDM process in which the outwardly flaring sidewalls of the opening, rather then having surfaces that are approximated to be smooth by having many small ribs formed therein, are formed with relatively few ribs with both longitudinally extending and radially extending surfaces that are substantially greater in dimension than those as normally formed. In this manner, the machining process is simplified and expedited, while at the same time, the cooling efficiency is increased.
US07883319B2
The invention relates to a method and a device for monitoring the state of rotor blades on wind power installations. According to the invention, structure-borne noise is measured by means of at least one displacement sensor arranged on the rotor blade, the output signals of said sensors determine a frequency spectrum in an evaluation unit by means of suitable methods, the frequency spectrum is compared to reference spectra corresponding to defined states of damage and other particular states and stored in the evaluation unit, and the state of the rotor blade is determined therefrom. The aim of the invention is to provide a method and a device which enable existing local inner and outer damage, and other particular damage-causing states of the rotor blades, to be rapidly identified and evaluated, in order to take into account the effect thereof on the operation of the installation in an automatic manner. To this end, structure-borne noise is measured from a sequence of individual measurements carried out directly one after the other, the beginning of each of said individual measurements being triggered according to a uniform rotational angle of the rotor blade in relation to the rotational axis of the rotor, and all of the determined frequency spectra of each individual measurements are accumulated before being compared with the reference spectra.
US07883317B2
A method for optimizing the operation of a wind turbine is provided, the method comprising the steps of: (a) adjusting at least one control parameter of said wind turbine to a predetermined starting value; (b) measuring at least one response variable of said wind turbine and at least one further variable indicative of an ambient condition of the wind turbine; (c) repeating step (b) N times, wherein N is a predetermined integer, wherein said at least one control parameter is varied at each repetition; (d) determining a measured relation between the at least one control parameter with respect to the at least one response variable and the at least one further variable indicative of an ambient condition; (e) determining an optimized value of said at least one control parameter with respect to said response variable from said measured relation; (f) adjusting a set point of said at least one control parameter to said optimized value.
US07883315B2
A seal assembly (118) mounted within a nonrotatable static inner support structure (16) for engagement with an axial seal face surface (114) and a radial seal face surface (116). The radial seal (120) engages the axial seal face surface and the axial seal (122) engages the radial seal face surface. The seal assembly provides minimal leakage of core airflow to increase the tip turbine engine operating efficiency.
US07883314B2
A seal assembly (116) mounted within a rotationally fixed static outer support structure (14) for engagement with an annular seal face surface (172) located upon a fan-turbine rotor assembly. The seal assembly provides minimal leakage of core airflow when the airflow is turned and diffused by the diffuser section (74) to increase the engine operating efficiency.
US07883311B2
A rotor assembly for a gas turbine engine is provided. The rotor assembly includes a compressor rotor, a compressor stator coupled upstream from the compressor rotor, and a bearing assembly coupled between the compressor rotor and the compressor stator for supporting the compressor rotor. The bearing assembly includes a pair of foil thrust bearings coupled to a portion of the compressor stator and a pair of spring packs coupled substantially co-axially to the pair of foil thrust bearings. A method of assembling the same is also provided.
US07883310B2
An adapter device to be used with a standard roll-off truck to allow said truck to lift and transport standard front-load containers; said adapter device comprising a rigid support structure adapted to engage with the bed of the roll-off truck; an engagement structure integrated with the support structure and adapted to be engaged by a hoist mechanism of the roll-off truck; and a lift structure integrated with the support structure and comprising a pair of parallel forks adapted to engage with the standard lift fittings of the front-load container.
US07883305B2
A device for securing a container to a trailer has a base with at least one leg for bolting to the trailer and a twistlock coupled to the base. The twistlock, when actuated, engages an opening in a corner fitting of the container such that the container is securely attached to the trailer.
US07883303B2
A machine tool spindle structure capable of monitoring a working state in real time includes a spindle body, a rotating mandrel, a cutter base, and an internal inspecting device. The cutter base is combined with the rotating mandrel and rotates with the rotating mandrel. The rotating mandrel has a chamber, and the internal inspecting device is disposed in the chamber. Inspecting chips in the internal inspecting device are directly disposed on the cutter base, so as to measure working parameters during a processing process. The working parameters are transmitted to an external information device by a wireless transmission module in the internal inspecting device, thereby accurately giving a feedback of the working state of a processing cutter in real time.
US07883301B2
An electrical safety device for use within an electrical circuit panel box and other electrical cabinetry is constructed of a tubular, transparent sleeve having a first and a second end. One end has a removable cap and the other end is provided with a means for attaching the sleeve to the interior wall surface of the electrical panel box or other electrical cabinetry. The safety device functions to catch the metallic waste material that is generated when the wall of the panel box or cabinetry is drilled to add other conduits to the panel box so that it does not penetrate any of the electrical components or wiring within the panel box. The safety device also functions to isolate the drill bit from contact with the components within the panel box. The removable cap facilitates emptying of the sleeve after use.
US07883294B1
An apparatus for providing a floating type of a boat dock or platform includes a plurality of synthetic material decking members that are disposed along the sides and top of the dock. Urethane foam is applied to an interior of the apparatus and it expands to fill the interior voids while simultaneously securing the decking members proximate one-another by securing them to the urethane foam. Accordingly, a monolithic structure is provided without the use of fasteners. Corner members are used that extend around an upper perimeter of the dock. Side members are used to form the sides, ends, and the decking material that forms an upper surface. An optional rounded member is preferably used at the bottom along a perimeter of the apparatus. Optional features, including elastomeric coating, filler blocks, utility conduits, sunken vaults, cleats, upper decking surface and waterline heating are also described.
US07883287B2
A dispenser includes a thermal storage tip and a housing having a reservoir for containing a product, such as a cosmetics product or a medicinal product. The thermal storage tip comprises a material that is capable of storing and retaining thermal energy during application of the product.
US07883280B2
A shutter includes at least one shutter blade, a magnet moveably connected to the at least one shutter blade, and a solenoid defining a gap between a first pole and a second pole. The solenoid is configured to controllably draw the magnet into the gap in a first state and to controllably repel the magnet from the gap in a second state.
US07883279B2
A camera adapter support for supporting a camera in an orientation transverse to its traditional orientation includes a base member shaped and dimensioned for selective attachment to a head of a tripod. The base member includes a first end and a second end. A first upstanding member is secured to the first end of the base member. The first upstanding member includes a first end secured to the first end of the base member and a second end. The first upstanding member includes coupling structure which secures the base of the camera to the first upstanding member. A second upstanding member is secured to the second end of the base member, the second upstanding member including a first end secured to the first end of the base member for selective movement relative thereto and a second end. The second upstanding member includes a plate member and a second transverse plate coupled to the plate member. The second transverse plate is shaped and dimensioned for supporting a portion of the camera as it lies across the base member.
US07883274B2
A bail type-unlocking device for an opto-electronic module, which pertains to an unlocking device for a hot pluggable type opto-electronic module in the optical communication field. The unlocking device includes: a bottom housing; an operating unit; a latching unit; an elastic element; and a briquetting; wherein: the latching unit is movably engaged with the bottom housing; the elastic element is provided between the latching unit and the bottom housing, and the latching unit can be movable relative to the bottom housing under the elastic force of the elastic element; the operating unit is configured to be engaged with the bottom housing, when an external force from an operator is applied to the operating unit, the operating unit pivots around a pivot axis thereof with respect to the bottom housing to drive the latching unit so that the latching unit can be movable between a locked position and an unlocked position with respect to the bottom housing; and the briquetting is fixed on the bottom housing and engages with the operating unit, when the latching unit is located at the unlocked position, the briquetting restricts the pivot movement of the operating unit around the pivot axis with respect to the bottom housing.
US07883272B2
A wheel support bearing assembly includes an inner member having a hub axle and an inner race mounted on the hub axle. This bearing assembly includes one of an engagement recess formed in a portion of an inner peripheral surface of the inner race corresponding to an inboard edge portion of the hub axle and an engagement projection is formed in the hub axle for engagement with the engagement recess, and an annular recess formed in the outer peripheral surface of the hub axle and is opposed to an inboard side face of the inner race by the radially outward deformation of an inboard edge portion of the hub axle.
US07883266B2
Method and apparatus are provided for detecting a defect in a cold plate, configured for cooling an electronics component. The method includes: establishing a first fluid flow through the cold plate, the first fluid flow being at a first temperature; impinging a second fluid flow onto the interface surface, the second fluid flow being at a second temperature, the first temperature and the second temperature being different temperatures; obtaining an isotherm mapping of the interface surface of the cold plate while the first fluid flow passes through the cold plate and the second fluid flow impinges onto the interface surface; and using the isotherm mapping to determine whether the cold plate has a defect. In one embodiment, an infrared-transparent manifold is employed in impinging the second fluid flow onto the interface surface, and the isotherm mapping of the interface surface is obtained through the infrared-transparent manifold.
US07883258B2
In order to realize a thin and simple-structured planar illuminating device which is capable of carrying out the regional light control, a backlight module 1 of the present invention includes a light guiding plate 2 including steps 21a, 21b, and 21c, a plurality of LEDs 3 provided in the vicinity of one side surface of the light guiding plate 2, and light guides 4a, 4b, and 4c which are provided respectively between each of the steps 21a, 21b, 21c and each of the LEDs 3 facing each other. The regional light control is possible by controlling brightness of each of the LEDs 3. Each of the regions is formed so as to correspond to each of the bottom surfaces 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d.
US07883254B2
A light guide plate capable of omitting use of a directional sheet such as a prism sheet as much as possible and ensuring a viewing angle without decreasing brightness in the vertical direction. A light guide plate 1 is used for an edge-light surface illuminant device 10. The light guide plate comprises an emission plane 6, a bottom plane 7 facing the emission plane 6 and an incident end face 8 which enters light emitted from a primary light source 4 provided in a side face between the emission plane 6 and the bottom plane 7. Each of the emission plane 6 and the bottom plane 7 comprises a pattern having convex portions and/or concave portions formed at predetermined pitches. The pattern formed on the emission plane 6 is orthogonal to the incident end face 8 and also the pattern formed on the bottom plane 6 is parallel to the incident end face 8. The emission plane 6 or the bottom plane 7 comprises a trapezoidal convex portion 2 and a trapezoidal concave portion 3 which are alternately arranged. If a diffusion treatment is performed on the surface of each of the convex portions 2, the light guide plate which has reduced glare on the surface and has a superior surface quality can be obtained.
US07883253B2
A backlight module comprises at least a light-guide plate, a palette device and an LED bar. The palette device comprises a palette and light-guide bar and at least one palette LED. The palette and light-guide bar is disposed at a side end of the light-guide plate and has a light-input surface, a light-output surface corresponding to the light-input surface, a first side, a second side corresponding to the first side, a top, and a bottom corresponding to the top. The palette LED is adjacent to the first side and provides a palette light into the palette and light-guide bar. The LED bar is adjacent to the light-input surface of the palette and light-guide bar. The LED bar emits an incident light, which is through the light-input surface into the palette and light-guide bar, wherein a light mixed by the incident light and the palette light is output through the light-output surface is and the side end into the light-guide plate so as to be a light source of the backlight module.
US07883251B2
An automotive headlamp assembly having a closed-loop cooling circuit. The headlamp assembly includes a housing cooperating with a transparent lens cover to define a chamber. At least one light source is located within the chamber. The cooling circuit has at least one cold plate thermally coupled to the light source. A radiator is fluidly coupled to the cold plate by a plurality of tubes. The tubes are oriented at least partially upwardly and configured to circulate a fluid through the cooling circuit as a result of heating and cooling of the fluid therein.
US07883247B2
A lighting truss system uses metal truss sections with at least one powered main truss chord between end flanges. A fixture slot is disposed along an outside length of the powered main truss chord. Inside, an extruded aluminum support is positioned inside the powered main truss chord. This supports a pair of power buss bars with insulators that are accessible on one side through the fixture slot. A male-male plug can then be used during assembly on stage for interconnecting exposed open ends of corresponding powered main truss chords between the adjoining end flanges.
US07883242B2
An LED light bulb includes a base and a hollow shell. The base has a closed end, an open end and a sleeve between the two ends. The shell is connected to the open end of the base. The LED light bulb includes at least two LEDs substantially linearly arranged within the shell, and supported by a self-supporting wire connecting one terminal of an LED to the next LED in each strand.
US07883239B2
A desired color of illumination of a subject is achieved by determining settings for color inputs and applying those setting to one or more systems that generate and mix colors of light, so as to provide combined light of the desired character. In the examples of appropriate systems, an optical integrating cavity diffusely reflects light of three or more colors, and combined light emerging from an aperture of the cavity illuminates the subject. System settings for amounts of the different colors of the input lights are easily recorded for reuse or for transfer and use in other systems.
US07883231B2
Provided is a backlight assembly which includes integral power supply sockets and ground sockets, in which the number of parts is reduced in addition to the manufacturing cost. The backlight assembly includes a lamp including a lamp tube and an electrode that protrudes beyond either end of the lamp tube, a power supply socket including a first plate that has a first guide groove through which the electrode is inserted and a plate spring that is disposed on one side of the first plate and fixes the electrode in the first guide groove by pressurizing the electrode, and a bottom chassis containing the lamp and the power supply socket therein, in which the first plate and the plate spring are formed of a conductive material.
US07883225B2
A connector assembly for releasably attaching a stabilizer arm to a support arm of a vehicle exterior rearview mirror. The assembly includes a connector head carried by the stabilizer arm and a connector receiver is carried by the other of said stabilizer arm and support arm. A retention slot is included in said connector receiver for receiving said connector head. A biasing element is carried in said retention slot for biasing against said connector head when received in said retention slot. A catch tongue projects from one of said connector head and said biasing element. A catch recess is carried by the other of said connector head and said biasing element which is complementary to said catch tongue for interlocking said connector head with said biasing element in said retention slot to provide an increased surface area of engagement.
US07883214B2
A lightweight, compact image projection module has a laser package having a common exit port, and a plurality of lasers mounted in the package and operative for emitting a plurality of laser beams of different wavelengths through the common exit port. An optical assembly focuses the laser beams exiting the common exit port, and includes a common focusing lens through which the laser beams pass along respective paths that are in angular misalignment. An optical corrector element in at least one of the paths corrects the misalignment to produce aligned beams. A scanner sweeps the aligned beams in a pattern of scan lines, each scan line having a number of pixels. A controller causes selected pixels to be illuminated, and rendered visible, by the aligned beams to produce the image.
US07883210B2
Apparatus for photographing the anterior segment and retina of the eye through the use of a camera attachment designed to snap-fit onto an ophthalmoscope without permanently altering the ophthalmoscope itself. The plastic attachment houses a digital camera with video and still photo capabilities. A button on the camera allows for snapshots to be taken. The camera is connected to a laptop or stationary computer via a USB cable. The camera, which utilizes software for photo and video management, relays views to a computer and monitor, projecting the same view on the screen as a practitioner would see when using the ophthalmoscope traditionally.
US07883209B2
An apparatus for measuring a distance between eye components includes an interference optical system including a light source, a beam splitter splitting light into first and second light, a projection optical system projecting the first and/or second light onto the eye, a photo-receiving optical system synthesizing the first light reflected from the eye and the second light, and an optical-path-length varying optical member disposed on one of light optical paths to be movable in an optical axis direction and adjusting a relationship between light optical path lengths, a mechanism obtaining a travel position of the member, and a unit controlling a driving unit to move the member toward one direction of the axis direction and toward the reverse direction, obtaining interference signals respectively while moving the optical member toward the directions, and calculating distances between the components based on the travel position where the signals are obtained.
US07883193B2
A swing member that is provided in an ink containing chamber is swung according to movement of a carriage of a printing apparatus. Accordingly, an ink flow occurs in a hollow portion of the swing member from one of openings to the other opening, such that ink in an ink tank is stirred.
US07883192B2
An inkjet printer cradle including a body complementary to a removable inkjet cartridge of a type having a pagewidth printhead and an ink supply; and an integrated circuit assembly arranged to test an authentication device of said cartridge.
US07883190B2
A droplet discharge apparatus includes: a tank for storing a function liquid; a first supply tube for supplying the function liquid; a plurality of pressure control valves for controlling a pressure of the function liquid supplied from the tank via the first supply tube, to a predetermined pressure and then letting out the function liquid; a plurality of droplet discharge heads for discharging the function liquid let out from the pressure control valves in the form of droplets; and a plurality of second supply tubes for connecting outlets of the pressure control valves and inlets of the droplet discharge heads so that the function liquid let out from the pressure control valves is supplied to the droplet discharge heads. Distances between the outlets and the corresponding inlets are different from one another, and lengths of the second supply tubes are equalized so that resistances of flow paths between the outlets and the corresponding inlets are equalized.
US07883189B2
A pressure-regulating chamber for maintaining ink contained in the chamber at a predetermined first level relative to a printhead. The chamber comprises: an inlet port for connection to an ink reservoir via an ink supply line; an outlet port for connection to an ink inlet of the printhead via an upstream ink line; a return port for connection to an ink outlet of the printhead via a downstream ink line; a snorkel extending from the return port and terminating at a snorkel outlet positioned above the first level of ink; an air vent open to atmosphere; and a float valve for maintaining the predetermined first level of ink by controlling a flow of ink into the inlet port.
US07883188B2
A computer-controlled, semi-automatic, refill system for inkjet cartridges includes a touch screen and audio system for providing on-screen graphic and auditory instructions. The system also includes a plurality of exhausting units, a plurality of refilling units, a weighing unit and a plurality of test printers. The system is adapted to refill a plurality of black, color and color photo inkjet cartridge models from a plurality of manufacturers.
US07883184B2
A liquid transporting apparatus includes a head which has individual channels. Individual electrodes and insulating layers which cover the individual electrodes respectively are provided on a channel-forming surface in which the individual channels are formed. When a predetermined electric potential is applied to the individual electrodes, an ink exists entirely in each of the individual channels, and a meniscus of the ink is formed in a discharge section corresponding to each of the individual channels. When a driver IC switches the electric potential of the individual electrodes to a ground electric potential, a part of the ink on a surface of the insulating layer moves toward the discharge section, and is discharged from the discharge section to outside of the head. Accordingly, there is provided a liquid transporting apparatus which is capable of stably discharging a liquid such as the ink in a predetermined amount.
US07883182B2
A fluid ejection device that can be used for inkjet heads is described. A large actuator with a small stroke in combination with hydraulic pressure transfer by means of essentially relatively incompressible fluid is used in order to generate a large stroke of a small membrane. Further the ink is ejected during the actuation phase of the actuator enabling a better control of the droplet dynamics.
US07883174B2
A cover is configured for use with a fluid jet device having a surface defining a plurality of orifices formed therein through which a fluid is jetted. The cover includes a cover element movable parallel to the surface between a covered position in which the cover element overlies the orifices and an uncovered position in which the cover is moved to expose the orifices. The cover includes a mounting portion configured to maintain the cover spaced from the surface to define a vapor space region. At least one hinge element operably mounts the cover to the fluid jet device. The hinge element includes a first leg mounted at a free end to a stationary portion of the fluid jet device and a second leg mounted at a free end to the cover portion. The first and second legs are connected to one another by a flexible region such that movement of the legs slides the cover between the covered and exposed positions. The vapor space region maintains a level of fluid vapor concentration around the orifices to reduce the rate of evaporation of the fluid.
US07883169B2
A method of controlling an operation of continuously transporting plural printing mediums including a first medium and a second medium to be transported immediately subsequent to the first medium, includes: actuating a first motor to drive a first roller adapted to transport the printing mediums; actuating a second motor to drive a second roller disposed at a downstream side of the first roller and adapted to transport the printing mediums to a printing area at which a printing operation is to be performed on each printing medium; and controlling actuations of the first motor and the second motor so that the second medium is transported to and stopped at a stop position arranged between the first roller and the second roller while performing the printing operation on the first medium.
US07883167B2
A liquid discharge apparatus that is capable of setting a proper deflection amount for deflecting an ink discharge direction even when the distance between the ink discharge surface and the ink landing surface of print paper varies and method of using same. The liquid discharge apparatus includes a head in which a plurality of nozzle-incorporated ink discharge sections are arrayed, discharge direction deflection means for deflecting the discharge direction of an ink discharged from a nozzle of each ink discharge section in the direction of ink discharge section arrangement, distance detection means for detecting the distance between the ink discharge surface of the head and the ink landing surface of print paper, and discharge deflection amount determination means for determining the ink discharge deflection amount (discharge angle) to be provided by the discharge direction deflection means in accordance with the results of detection by the distance detection means.
US07883162B2
The invention relates to a piece of furniture and to a device for influencing the movement of furniture parts which can be moved with respect to one another, having a guide unit for guidance of a first furniture part on a second furniture part, and having a drive unit to move the first furniture part in a driven manner relative to the second furniture part, with the guide unit having a fixed rail, which is associated with the second furniture part, and a moving rail, which is associated with the first furniture part. A pulling-pushing element is provided in order to apply a drive effect from the drive unit to the first furniture part, guided on the fixed rail via guide means.
US07883149B1
Apparatus for multiple person vehicle seats, specialized car seats, modular car seat systems, dual person car seats, and overlapping car seats, for use in a land, sea or air vehicle, mounted onto the vehicle's built-in seat and used for securing a car seat user, such as a small child, within a vehicle's regular seating positions. Car seat systems include components enabling addition or removal of seating positions for a desired number of car seat users as needed, limited only by available width space of the vehicle seat onto which it is mounted. Car seat systems and/or multiple person car seats generally provide more and/or specialized seating positions for persons in car seats than provided for regular passengers in the vehicle width space taken up by the car seat systems or the multiple person car seat.
US07883148B2
A head restraint assembly includes a support member and a deployable member selectively movable between a retracted position and a deployed position. At least a portion of the deployable member is farther from the support member in the deployed than in the retracted position. A latch system is configured to releasably retain the deployable member in its retracted position. An active material member is actuatable to release the latch system, to release the deployable member.
US07883140B2
An air-directing component (10) of a motor vehicle has an installation surface (18) that bears against an outer side (20) of the front end (12) of the motor vehicle. Hook-shaped projections (14.1, 14.2) protrude from the installation surface (18) and have dimensions which are matched to dimensions of the recesses (16.1, 16.2) in the front end (12) in such a manner that be pushed into recesses (16.1, 16.2) of a body front end (12) of the motor vehicle. Each projection (14.1, 14.2) reaches through the recess (16.1, 16.2) and engages behind an edge (26) of the recess (16.1, 16.2) on an inner side (28) of the front end (12). The shape and arrangement of the projections (14.1, 14.2) permit the projections (14.1, 14.2) to be pushed transversely with respect to a longitudinal axis of the motor vehicle into the recesses (16.1, 16.2).
US07883137B2
The head for a filler pipe of a vehicle tank provided with an obturating assembly includes: a body having a passage aperture; and an obturator pivoting relative to the body between an obturating position and a freeing position. The obturator is elastically biased towards the obturating position by a spring. The obturator includes a seal disposed in the obturating position between the obturator and a sealing seat that the body comprises. The head includes a hinge to pivotally mount the obturator on the body. The relative positioning between the seat and the pivotal axis defined by the hinge is fixed. The seat is flat and the obturator includes a plug provided with the seal and a flap mounted on the body by the hinge and biased by the spring with the plug which is mounted on the flap by virtue of a ball joint.
US07883133B2
A litter support system for a vehicle including a support framework connectable to a wall of the vehicle, an upper litter support arm for holding a litter, the upper litter support arm connected to the support framework, a lower litter support arm for holding a litter, the lower litter support arm connected to the support framework, wherein the upper and lower litter support arms are connected to the support framework such that the upper and lower litter support arms are rotatable between a store position and a first support position and movable substantially horizontally between the first support position substantially adjacent to and near the support framework and a second support position substantially extended outwardly from the support framework.
US07883131B2
A crane hook assembly and methods of use for safely lifting large conduits, such as wind generator tower sections. The hook assembly includes a steel frame member and a support member forwardly extending from the front surface of the frame member. The support member cooperates with the frame member to engage and retain an annular flange of the tower section. The hook assembly is secured onto the tower section with a securing mechanism, preferably using a rack and pinion gear assembly to actuate a locking pin. The sliding, retractable, locking pin may be actuated such that it is movable between an unlocked position and a locking position, such that the locking pin is positioned horizontally over the tower section when in the locked position and the locking pin is fully retracted from the front surface when the locking pin is in the unlocked position.
US07883126B2
The system described here is a bolt-type seal lock which includes a bolt, having a shaft with proximal and distal portions and a head that is wider than the distal portion of the shaft and located at the proximal portion of the shaft; a locking body configured to receive and retain the shaft in locking engagement after the shaft has been inserted a predetermined extent into an open end of a passageway of the locking body; and a component connected to the locking body such that the component and locking body are rotatable relative to each other, the component configured to be removably mounted to a door of a shipping container, whereby the locking body does not freely swing on the distal portion of the shaft of the bold during movement of the shipping container.
US07883122B2
This invention relates to a device and a method for forming elongated material. A device (824-864) according to the present invention for forming elongated material, is characterised in that the device comprises a track (821) for guiding the material in the device, wherein the track is arranged to guide the movement of the material into a desired form when the material is fed into the device, and the device comprises an opening (823, 824) along the entire length of the track for removing the elongated material from the device after the formation. With this invention it is possible to make knots and other structures of desired geometry easily and efficiently.
US07883121B2
A pipe coupling clamp including a pair of clamp half members essentially C-shaped in cross-section each having a pipe flange receiving groove for receiving the mating flanges of two pipes to be coupled. The clamp half members being hinged together at one pair of ends by a hinge including plates and releasably connected together at the other pair of ends by a locking eyebolt and associated locking eyebolt nut hingedly connected at its proximal end to the end of one clamp half member to allow pivoting moving through a slot into an open securing jaw on the other end. The locking eyebolt includes, at its proximal end, an eyebolt seating portion connected to a stepped threaded portion of reduced diameter at its distal end. Thus, initially, on loosening of the nut, the locking eyebolt will not disengage from within the securing jaw.
US07883119B2
A composite gland sealing for the interlocking coupling of a housing end piece (8) including an anchoring groove (82), a plastic ring (14) and several locking inserts (20). Each locking insert (20) includes a radially external head (30) provided with a first front projection (50, 52) applicable against the annular front surface (90) of the anchoring groove (82). The head (30) comprises includes a second frontal projection (52, 50) radially shifted from the first front projection (50, 52).
US07883110B2
An airbag includes a vent and a gas discharge limitation member to limit gas discharged from the vent. The limitation member includes at least one invertible portion on a surface on a side opposite the occupant-facing surface of the airbag and capable everting toward the outside of the airbag. The limitation member includes an interlocking member for interlocking movement of the occupant-facing surface in an occupant direction and an opposite direction and for interlocking movement of the invertible portion inward of the airbag and outward of the airbag when expanded. The limitation member includes a lid covering the vent and being pulled by the invertible portion when the invertible portion everts towards the outside of the airbag. The lid closes the vent or opens the vent by a small amount until the lid member is pulled by the invertible portion and opens the vent by at least a large amount.
US07883107B2
To prevent short-time energization of an air bag due to a bit error occurring in a safing ON/OFF command, the invention provides an air bag control apparatus comprising a first electronic circuit (3) for generating a firing command based on an output of a main acceleration sensor (1), a second electronic circuit (4) for generating a safing ON command for clearing a safing state, based on an output of a safing acceleration sensor (2), and a firing circuit (8) for generating an air bag inflation permit signal when the firing command and the safing ON command are both input, wherein the second electronic circuit (4) generates a safing OFF command separately from the safing ON command, and sets the safing state by the safing OFF command.
US07883105B2
In at least certain embodiments, the vehicle seat assembly comprises a vehicle seat assembly comprising an air bag guide including an inner panel, an outer panel, and a deflector member, with the and outer panels being made of flexible material and the inner deflector member being made of a rigid material, with the deflector member having a leg member secured to the air bag assembly and a finger member, extending away from the leg member spaced from the release seam.
US07883098B2
A spindle bracket for a torsion beam axle includes a main body and first and second flanges. The main body defines an assembly hole for a spindle to be disposed therein. Two first flanges extend from either side of the main body, and are configured to be seated on and attached to a trailer arm. At least one second flange extends from the center of the main body, and is also configured to be attached to the trailing arm. The first and second flanges are parallel to one another, and perpendicular to the main body.
US07883097B1
A sway bar assembly has a center spacer bar which is attached at each end to a lever arm. An elastomeric bushing assembly is disposed between the center spacer bar and each lever arm. At the end of the lever arms opposite to the center sway bar, an elastomeric bushing assembly is attached to each lever arm to facilitate attachment to the vehicle. The elastomeric bushing assembly between the lever arms and the center spacer bar includes an inner metal defined by the center spacer bar, an outer metal defined by the respective lever arm and an elastomeric bushing disposed between the inner and outer metals.
US07883094B2
The invention is a sealing system that employs a unique array of offset components, including multiple seal rings, to provide an improved seal with enhanced functionality. In the preferred embodiment, a groove contains two canted-coil springs that are located in a side-by-side relation beneath a pair of expander rings that are also in a side-by-side relation. Located atop the expander rings are three seal rings that are similarly arrayed in a side-by-side relation. To prevent a leak path through the expander rings, a center one of the seal rings overlies the area between the two expander rings.
US07883081B2
A sheet finishing apparatus includes: a puncher which moves between a penetrate position and a standby position; a detection unit which detects a lateral edge of a sheet; a standby tray which supports the sheet passed through the puncher, by a pair of tray members; a lateral alignment unit which holds and aligns the sheet falling off the standby tray, by a pair of alignment boards; a moving mechanism which moves the position of the standby tray or the alignment boards in a direction orthogonal to the carrying direction of the sheet; and a control unit which measures a quantity of misalignment of the sheet by using a result of detection of the lateral edge from the detection unit and controls the moving mechanism in accordance with the quantity of misalignment.
US07883077B2
An X-Y table includes a platform and a frame which has an X and Y-truck trough. An X-drive motor interfaced to an X-drive gear. A Y-drive motor interfaced to a Y-drive gear. Both motors are affixed to the platform. An X-drive linear gear slideably held within an X-direction slot communicates with the X-drive gear whereas rotation of the X-drive gear results in linear movement of the X-drive linear gear. A Y-drive linear gear, slideably held within a Y-direction slot communicates with the Y-drive gear. An X-plane truck attached to the X-drive linear gear is slideably held in the X-truck trough. A Y-plane truck attached to the Y-drive linear gear is slideably held in the Y-truck trough. The frame moves in an X-direction responsive to rotation of the X-drive motor and in a Y-direction responsive to rotation of the Y-drive motor.
US07883076B2
A semiconductor processing system includes a gas supply system configured to supply water vapor into a process chamber that accommodates a target substrate. The gas supply system is provided with a gas generating apparatus for generating water vapor from purified water. The gas generating apparatus includes a first vaporizing section configured to spray the purified water along with a carrier gas and heat the purified water, so as to generate preparatory water vapor containing mist, and a second vaporizing section configured to vaporize mist contained in the preparatory water vapor, so as to generate process water vapor from the preparatory water vapor. In the second vaporizing section, a thin film having a mesh structure is disposed across a passage for the preparatory water vapor and configured to trap mist between the first vaporizing section and the process chamber.
US07883073B2
Methods and apparatus for adjusting a spring load in an actuator are described. An example actuator includes a housing and a plate. Further, the example actuator includes one or more springs disposed in the housing to apply a force to the plate. Additionally, the example actuator includes a spring load adjuster having a collar extending through and movably engaged to the plate to enable an adjustment of the position of the collar relative to the plate to change a load provided by the one or more springs.
US07883070B2
A device installed at the base of a vertical post used to stabilize the post in an upright vertical plumb condition and prevent the post from leaning. The device is comprised of a flat base (1) manufactured in two halves so that when placed together has a geometric shape opening (3) of the same size of the post the device is to be installed around. The device base contains multiple secondary penetrations (2) of the cross-sectional shape of the anchoring stakes (9) to be used. The device is installed at the post base (8) by placing the two halves around the post and joining together at along a common line (5). The two halves are affixed together using a mending plate (7) and screws (6) or other type methods not shown. The anchoring stakes (9) are then inserted through the secondary penetrations (2) to affix the device to the ground.
US07883066B2
A corner bracket system for hanging objects at the junction of two walls, such as in the corner of a room, and a method for using the same. The system comprises a wall bracket, a mounting bracket, and a slide pin. The wall bracket and mounting bracket each have a plurality of complementary, transverse support members that are readily engageable and are securable using the slide pin.
US07883045B2
An inertial (mass) body is relatively rotatably provided on a V gear. Further, a ring is provided at the outer peripheral side of the V gear so as to be rotatable and displacable in the rotational radial direction of the V gear. When the V gear is suddenly rotated with a spool, the mass relatively pivots to the side opposite to the side of the pull out direction, and displaces to the outside in the rotational radial direction of the V gear. By doing so, an inner peripheral portion of the ring contacts with an outer peripheral portion of the V gear, and the ring rotates with the V gear. Due to this a pressing portion provided at an outer peripheral portion of the ring displaces an interlocking pawl, meshing the interlocking pawl with ratchet teeth on an outer peripheral portion of the V gear.
US07883044B2
The disclosed seat belt retractor may include a spool for retracting a seat belt, a torsion bar, a pre-tensioner, and a locking device. The torsion bar may disposed inside the spool, wherein one side of the torsion bar is connected to the spool, and configured to absorb energy of movement of an occupant while being deformed under torsion. The pre-tensioner may be positioned at one side of the spool and configured to generate a rotating drive force for rotating the spool in a retracting direction in a condition of rapid deceleration of a motor vehicle. The locking device may be capable of locking another side of the spool such that a rotation of the spool in a withdrawal direction is suppressed at both an operating time of the pre-tensioner and a non-operating time of the pre-tensioner.
US07883043B2
A fishing reel, such as a spincast reel or a spinning reel, has a clutch assembly mounted on a shaft adjacent to the rotating component, the clutch assembly for frictional engagement with a rotating component. The clutch assembly has a first and a second protuberance. A bite alert contact is located for engagement with the first protuberance. A calibration member is adjacent the clutch assembly for engagement with the second protuberance. The calibration member provides a selectable amount of resistance to rotation of the clutch assembly, thereby regulating an amount of rotational force required to activate the bite alert contact. The fishing reel may further include a sensitivity switch for adjusting the selectable amount of resistance provided by the calibration member, which may adjust the resistance in discrete amounts.
US07883042B2
A crusher system, including a first crushing surface and a second crushing surface which are operative to crush material between them. A hydraulic system is operative to adjust a gap between the first crushing surface and the second crushing surface by adjusting a position of the first crushing surface with a hydraulic cylinder connected to the first crushing surface. The hydraulic system includes an accumulator connected to the hydraulic cylinder by a hydraulic liquid conduit. The accumulator includes a hydraulic liquid chamber and a gas chamber separated from the hydraulic liquid chamber. The accumulator has a preloading pressure that is the pressure of the gas chamber when the hydraulic liquid chamber is empty, which is at least 0.3 MPa lower than a mean operating pressure of the hydraulic cylinder, such that the accumulator is active and variations occurring in the hydraulic pressure of the hydraulic cylinder during operation of the crusher system are attenuated.
US07883036B1
The containment wall of a basket media mill is constructed of a sintered porous metal having porous openings each of a pore size less than the predetermined size of the media for confining the media within the bed in the basket as feedstock is passed through the porous openings in the containment wall. The containment wall extends over an overall area and the porous openings provide an open area through which the feedstock flows as the feedstock passes through the containment wall, and the open area is at least about twenty-one percent of the overall area of the containment wall for enabling a concomitant increased volumetric flow of feedstock through the containment wall. A substantially flat sheet of sintered porous metal having porous openings is formed into a cylindrical configuration to construct a cylindrical containment wall with porous openings each increasing in pore size from the interior of the cylindrical wall toward the exterior of the cylindrical wall.
US07883033B2
A cartridge for an electrohydrodynamic spraying device and a spraying device incorporating the cartridge, where the cartridge includes a locking mechanism. The cartridge is disposable, and can contain therapeutic or other fluid products. The fluid is delivered from the cartridge by a shaft-mounted piston, while the locking mechanism can be selectively engaged with the shaft such that in the engaged position, the locking mechanism prevents the piston from advancing by inhibiting movement of the shaft. When the locking mechanism is disengaged from the shaft, the shaft and piston are free to move, such as in response to a power source in the spraying device. The selective engagement between the locking mechanism and the shaft during periods of inoperability of the spray device prevents the buildup of fluid pressure in the cartridge that otherwise could blurt out upon subsequent operation.
US07883028B2
A device adapted to provide volatile liquid material to an atmosphere, comprising a reservoir containing volatile liquid material, a rod-like transfer member extending therefrom and adapted to transfer liquid from the reservoir, and at least one diffusion surface adapted to receive the liquid from the transfer member and facilitate its evaporation into the atmosphere, the diffusion surface extending essentially laterally from the transfer member and comprising at least one non-integral, non-porous sheet bearing a surface capillarity, which sheet has an extent and a capillarity sufficient to allow an appropriate evaporation. The device is cheap and easy to construct, versatile and diffuses odor without major changes of the odor over time.
US07883027B2
The invention is an irrigation field module matrix configured for wireless communication with a central control server. The central control server contains a database with relevant information regarding features, parameters, and characteristics of a particular irrigation system. This system utilizes proprietary irrigation software to control a plurality of field modules, at one or more remote locations, via a network bridge adapter. An irrigation system may comprise a single server, or multiple servers that may be configured so that control of the entire system is centralized, and control of one or multiple irrigation locations may be accomplished remotely by wirelessly accessing, monitoring and controlling a location's field module matrix.
US07883018B2
A business form such as a wristband or label includes an imaging area of face stock overprinted with a fluorescent ink for receiving a printed bar code to enhance the scannability of the bar code. The ink may be applied by overprinting to a thickness of between about 0.2 to about 0.5 mils, and even more preferably to a thickness of about 0.2 mils. The overprint ink is also print receptive allowing a bar code to be printed onto it with no deleterious effects. The imaging area of the wristband form may be overlaminated and the bar code scannability will still be enhanced. An alternative embodiment comprises a face stock manufactured to have a finished surface exhibiting a fluorescent effect similar to that achieved by overprinting through mixing in appropriate components as the face stock is made.
US07883010B2
A sheet-like formed material having a tape with IC tags useful for a production line for a sheet-like formed material continuously produced at high speed. A sheet-like formed material (40) where a tape (30) on which IC tags (20) are arranged at appropriate intervals is superposed on a sheet-like formed raw material, wherein the tape (30) with the IC tags is fixedly adhered, between sheet layers constructed in a layered form, to a cut sheet (100) from end to end of the sheet.
US07883005B2
A banking system is controlled responsive to data included on data bearing records. The system includes a deposit accepting machine for accepting deposit items, such as deposit bags, currency, and checks. The deposit accepting machine is in connection with a card reader operative to read data corresponding to financial accounts from user cards. The apparatus further includes an RFID reading device that is operative to read signals from RFID tags to obtain deposit information therefrom. The information can include data associated with of the deposit, such as an account number and the deposit amount. The information can include cash value. A computer is operative to credit a financial account for value associated with deposit items responsive to data read by the card reader and/or RFID reading device.
US07882999B2
This invention is a paperboard box and a lid having a paper with a design placed on the outside surface. The paper is held in position by being glued to the inside of the finished carton. The box or lid has four squared corners. The finished decorative box has adhesive on the interior panels and may be shipped in flat form and erected at or near the point of use. Because the paper is thick it is difficult to form square corners on the box or lid. The box or lid has a paperboard web between a side panel and an end panel which is folded to make a square corner. It has been found that a slit can be cut in the paper bisecting the corner which will allow the paper to be folded without bunching and making an attractive square corner. Once the slit is cut in the paper the side and end panels can be folded to produce a square corner without any bulging paper. The bulging paper is not attractive as a gift-wrap box and also may prevent the locking of the corner as required to form a box and lid with square corners.
US07882990B1
An inverted aerosol dispensing device is disclosed having an undercap rotatably secured to the aerosol container with a bottom portion of the undercap supporting the aerosol container on a supporting surface to store the aerosol dispensing device in an inverted position. The undercap is rotatable into a first rotational position for enabling an actuator to discharge an aerosol product in a generally downwardly direction. The undercap is rotatable into a second rotational position for inhibiting the actuator from moving the valve stem.
US07882982B2
An indicator for a dispenser device, having an actuator element (1) displaceable between a rest position and an actuated position, a rotary counter element (5), and a drive element (6) that transforms an axial displacement of the actuator element into a rotary displacement of the counter element (5). The counter element (5) including a set of teeth (9) that co-operate with a resilient mechanism (7, 8) of the drive element (6). The resilient mechanism (7, 8) having two flexible tabs (7, 8), a first flexible tab (7) co-operating with the teeth (9) causing the counter element (5) to turn in a counting direction while the actuator element (1) is displaced towards its actuated position, and a second flexible tab (8) co-operating with the teeth (9) causing the counter element to turn in the same counting direction while the actuator element (1) returns to its rest position.
US07882979B2
A combination dip and cake holder and punch bowl is readily configurable between any of three configurations. A platter member has a base with a female receiver, while a first type of receptacle has an extension that is receivable within the receiver so that when the first receptacle faces upwardly, a dip holder is formed. A second receptacle also has an extension that is receivable within the first extension of the first receptacle in order to form a punch bowl. When the first receptacle rests on its rim and the platter member receives the receptacle's extension, the device acts as a cake holder with the second receptacle being used as a cover that sits on the platter member.
US07882978B2
Threaded channel closure for tubular heat exchanger comprising channel header wherein the gasket is provided at the shoulder of the channel, tongue of the diaphragm is provided to apply pressure on the gasket to achieve the sealed joint, outer compression ring provided at back side of the diaphragm and being loaded by push bolts, provided at the periphery of threaded lock ring, outer compression ring being supported by channel cover, which is kept in position by threaded lock ring, characterized in that, the channel header being provided with plurality of radial holes on its periphery, approximately at the centerline of the width of the outer compression ring in its assembled condition; the outer compression ring being provided with plurality of radial through holes matching the set of holes in number as well as angular position.
US07882975B2
A double walled container is provided for insulating a beverage. An outer insulating shell or container is secured to the inner container that holds the beverage. A gap exists between the outer container and inner container and the air in the gap acts as an insulating barrier. The inner container is preferably a standard aluminum container. The outer container is preferably made from aluminum or a plastic polymer.
US07882973B2
A foldable portable container provided with an integral mechanical mechanism for folding or unfolding the container is described. The integral mechanical drive mechanism is utilized to simultaneously angularly displace the opposing container end walls and the container roof attached thereto to fold or unfold the portable container.
US07882970B2
An anesthetic container includes a bottle having a wall defining a receptacle and a neck with a passage in fluid communication with the receptacle, a valve assembly including a flange, and a ferrule disposed over at least a portion of the flange of the valve assembly and about at least a portion of the neck of the bottle to secure the valve assembly to the bottle. One of the wall of the bottle, the flange of the valve assembly or a wall of the ferrule has at least one vent formed, at least in part, therein that permits air trapped between the ferrule and the valve assembly or the bottle to escape.
US07882966B2
A multi-shelf, collapsible display unit is provided. The shelving unit includes a base member including a rear panel, a pair of side panels, and a pair of front panels. Each of the pair of side panels include a fold line that extends longitudinally along each of the side panels. The shelving unit also includes at least one shelf member coupled to the base member. The shelf member includes a shelf panel, a plurality of support panels, and a locking panel. The plurality of support panels are coupled to the shelf panel and configured to support the shelf panel. The base member and the at least one shelf member are moveable between an erect position and a collapsed position. The locking panel is operably configured to removably engage at least one of the plurality of support panels to retain the shelving unit in an erect position.
US07882962B2
A hydrophilizing agent for a hydrophobic porous membrane, wherein the agent contains a surfactant, and the surfactant has a frothability such that the bubble height immediately after frothing, as measured according to the Ross-Miles method (JIS K 3362), using a 0.1 wt % aqueous solution of the surfactant at 25° C., is 40 mm or less, and preferably has a frothability such that the bubble height five minutes after frothing is 20 mm or less; a method for hydrophilizing a hydrophobic porous membrane using this hydrophilizing agent; and a method for testing and hydrophilizing a membrane module using this hydrophilizing agent.
US07882961B2
One embodiment is a unique replaceable filter element. Further embodiments, forms, objects, features, advantages, aspects, and benefits shall become apparent from the following description and drawings.
US07882940B2
A brake caliper, especially for motorcycle applications, comprises a main rigid body, which can be coupled with a portion of a structure or a vehicle, and defining at least one seat (5); at least one piston (4) slidingly housed in the respective seat (5) and associated with fluid sealing means (22) and with elastic means (19) acting between the piston (4) and the seat (5) to cause at least an action of elastic return to the piston (4) during the sliding thereof, and defining—in cooperation with the respective seat (5) wherein it is inserted and with the elastic means (19)—a first chamber (21) in fluid communication with actuation means. The piston (4) further exhibits a side surface (11) which delimits, in cooperation with a side surface (17) of the respective seat (5), with the sealing means (22) and with the elastic means (19), a second chamber (24), and finally comprising also tapping means to provide a fluid communication between the first chamber (21) and the second chamber (24).
US07882935B2
A support system has a belt-like support, which supports a load and which has at least one rib or groove with wedge-shaped cross-section extending in the longitudinal direction of the support, is driven by a support pulley, which pulley has at least one corresponding groove or rib with wedge-shaped cross-section extending in a circumferential direction, wherein a cavity is present between a rib crest of the wedge-shaped ribs and a corresponding groove base when the support rests on the support pulley.
US07882933B2
A method and a central-belt machine are provided for filling an order container. The central-belt machine includes two central belt provided with articles along a virtual window of an order, and the articles being discharged to the order container at a filling point at the front longitudinal end (V) of the central belt. The two central belts (1, 2) of the central-belt machine, are arranged vertically one above the other, to fill the order container (3), for an order, by at least one interposed vertical conveyor (4) at a single filling point (P) of the lower central belt (2).
US07882917B2
A motorcycle is provided with a vehicle body, front and rear wheels, an engine and a power transmission mechanism for connecting the engine to the rear wheel. A centrifugal clutch and a transmission having a plurality of gears are arranged in the power transmission mechanism. A handle is provided on the vehicle body. An accelerator grip is provided on the right side of the handle and a clutch lever is provided on the left side. A shift pedal for changing the transmission gear ratio of the transmission and a side stand are provided on the left side of the vehicle body. A rear brake pedal for braking the rear wheel is provided on the right side of the vehicle body. The motorcycle is also provided with a rotation suppression mechanism for suppressing the rotation of the rear wheel at least when the engine is stopped.
US07882909B2
A personal vehicle comprises a frame with a seat, two large, non-drive wheels connected by an axle at one end of the frame, an elongated swing arm attached to the axle, a pair of caster wheels connected to the frame opposite the large, non-drive wheels and a main drive wheel mounted to a fork and connected to the swing arm. The main drive wheel is located central the vehicle frame, intermediate the frame sides and intermediate frame front and rear sections.
US07882905B2
Drilling systems and methods for enlarging a borehole that include an expandable reamer and an expandable stabilizer axially coupled above the expandable reamer are disclosed. The expandable reamer includes a tubular body having a longitudinal axis and a drilling fluid flow path therethrough, a plurality of generally radially and longitudinally extending blades carried by the tubular body, and a cutting structure carried by at least one blade of the plurality of blades, wherein at least one blade of the plurality of blades is movable outwardly with respect to the longitudinal axis. The expandable stabilizer includes a tubular body having a longitudinal axis and a drilling fluid flow path therethrough, a plurality of generally radially and longitudinally extending bearing pads carried by the tubular body, wherein at least one bearing pad of the plurality of bearing pads includes an up-hole cutting structure carried thereupon and is movable outwardly with respect to the longitudinal axis.
US07882902B2
The present invention generally relates to methods and apparatus for improving top drive operations. A method of ensuring safe operation of a top drive includes operating a top drive, thereby exerting torque on a first tubular to makeup or breakout a first threaded connection between the first tubular and a second tubular. The method further includes monitoring for break-out of a second connection between a quill of the top drive and the first tubular; and stopping operation of the top drive and/or notifying an operator of the top drive if break-out of the second connection is detected.
US07882896B2
A seafloor pump assembly is installed within a caisson that has an upper end for receiving a flow of fluid containing gas and liquid. The pump assembly is enclosed within a shroud that has an upper end that seals around the pump assembly and a lower end that is below the motor and is open. An eduction tube has an upper end above the shroud within the upper portion of the caisson and a lower end in fluid communication with an interior portion of the shroud. The eduction tube causes gas that separates from the liquid and collects in the upper portion of the caisson to be drawn into the pump and mixed with the liquid as the liquid is being pumped.
US07882893B2
A method of oil production is provided. The method includes forming an injection well and a production well. The method also includes pumping a mixture of oxygen and carbon dioxide (CO2) into the injection well. In addition, the method also includes minimizing gravity segregation by providing a relatively high level of CO2 in the mixture.
US07882891B2
A precision surface plate has a hollow casing with a reference plane used as a surface on which either or both of a workpiece and mechanical equipment are placed, a honeycomb structure, which is a collection of substantially identically-shaped enclosed cells disposed inside the casing, and a heat transfer device provided in the honeycomb structure to allow cells of the honeycomb structure to communicate with each other and transfer heat. The precision surface plate further includes casing ventilation openings provided in a wall of the casing to allow cells of the honeycomb structure inside the casing to communicate with the outside of the casing, and a shutter for opening and closing the casing ventilation openings. The heat is transferred effectively between the cells of the honeycomb structure through the heat transfer device.
US07882881B2
A tool is disclosed comprising a thin, ribbon-like but semi-rigid material which can be “snaked” in between ductwork and the surface to which it is attached. The tool is configured to enable the temporary attachment of a tape material thereon. Further, the tape material includes a non-adhesive “release tape” attached to the adhesive portion of the adhesive tape. Using the method and apparatus described herein, a user can insert the tape, with the protective tape release thereon, around the ductwork, release the tape and remove the tool, and use the tool as it is being withdrawn to urge the adhesive tape onto the seam being taped.
