US08662503B2
A female hydraulic coupling member has an elastomer probe seal molded to or abutting a ring-shaped metal base which is adapted to exert a compressive force on the probe seal when exposed to hydraulic fluid pressure. The compressive force causes the seal to expand in a radial direction thereby increasing its sealing effectiveness. A retainer nut for holding the seal in the receiving chamber may have an angled surface which acts to urge the seal in an inward, radial direction when an axial, compressive force is applied to the seal.
US08662495B2
A medium feeding device includes a medium-accommodating container, a loading member supported within the container and loading a medium thereon, a holding member, and a blocking unit. The holding member has a holding member body, gas suction openings, a peripheral member, a chamber surrounded by the peripheral member, and a suction unit connected to the gas suction openings and performing gas suction. The holding member holds the medium by suction. The gas suction openings include a gas suction opening disposed inside an edge of the peripheral member and outside an edge of the medium. The blocking unit blocks the suction of gas through the aforementioned gas suction opening.
US08662489B2
A sheet stacking apparatus includes a discharge unit, a stacking tray, an acquisition unit, a shift control unit, and an alignment unit. The shift control unit controls a stacking position of a sheet in a sheet width direction in response to shift information acquired by the acquisition unit. The alignment unit aligns a sheet staked on the stacking tray and moves to a position that abuts on a side edge of the sheet in the sheet width direction to align the sheet. The shift control unit controls a stacking position of a second sheet to stack the second sheet on a second position or on a first position depending on where a first sheet is stacked and on shift information of the second sheet.
US08662488B2
The post-processing device includes: a binding unit that forms a cut in a sheet stack and cuts a part of the sheet stack into a predetermined shape to form a tongue portion in the sheet stack, the tongue portion having a part where one end part of the tongue portion is not separated from the sheet stack, and binds the sheet stack by bending the tongue portion and inserting the other end part of the tongue portion into the cut; and a sheet stack transport unit that transports the sheet stack in an orientation such that the one end part of the tongue portion in the sheet stack bound by the binding unit is on a downstream side of the other end part of the tongue portion in the sheet stack transport direction.
US08662487B2
A sheet processing apparatus which has a flattening processing unit which presses a folded end of a folded booklet bundle to flatten the folded end, and cutting units which cut and align edges of the booklet bundle, wherein the edges crossing the folded end of the booklet bundle are cut by the cutting unit and the folded end of the booklet is then flattened by the flattening processing unit.
US08662486B2
An apparatus to assist with door installation, transport, and removal comprising a telescoping frame, padded guides extending outwardly from the frame and defining a gap of the width of a door, friction-reducing members, a step plate, and brakes. In a vertical orientation, a door may be slid into the apparatus. The guides can incorporate a clamp and a strap used to secure the door to the frame and permit selective pivoting between the vertical orientation to a horizontal orientation. The horizontal orientation facilitates ergonomic sawing when hinges are being applied to a held door; afterwards, the apparatus can be moved to a door jamb and changed to vertical orientation for positioning so the unattached sides of the hinges abut the jamb. A method of using the apparatus is also disclosed.
US08662479B2
A respiratory humidification system having a capillary passage in communication with a ventilator, the ventilator adapted to deliver an air stream, a heater operable to at least partially vaporize water in the capillary passage, a pumping unit adapted to supply water to the capillary passage, wherein the water upon heating is at least partially vaporized to form an aerosol stream. The aerosol stream is combined with the air stream to form a humidified air stream.
US08662478B1
A perimeter boundary for a camping ground adjacent a conventional recreational camper that is operable to substantially inhibit a small child or pet from exiting the area defined by the perimeter boundary. The perimeter boundary further includes a plurality of panels having a first end and a second end and further including two horizontal support members and a plurality of longitudinal support members. The panels further include keepers mounted thereto on the first end and the second end. A multitude of connection members are provided that are generally rod shaped and function to releasably secure the plurality of panels. A stair panel is included that is formed so as to be mounted at least partially around stairs protruding from the recreational camper. A riser panel is further included to substantially cover the open riser area of the stairs of the recreational camper.
US08662477B2
A belt-driven transportation system including a first set of pulleys rotatably attached to a first member and a second set of pulleys rotatably attached to a second member. The first and second members have relative movement to each other. The system further includes a unitary belt that is guided through a path defined by the first and second sets of pulleys with the path substantially lying in a stationary plane, and a plurality of retention rollers. A retention roller is disposed adjacent each pulley, with the belt extending about the pulley and between the pulley and the retention roller. The positioning of the belt substantially on the path is maintained by the plurality of retention rollers, and the first and second members are moved relative to each other with changes in the length of the path.
US08662476B2
A post ram is disclosed herein. The post ram includes a socket member that is configured to receive one end of a wooden post. A thumbscrew threadably engages, and penetrates, the socket member for selectively securing the wooden post within the socket member. A bottle jack is affixed atop the socket member.
US08662471B2
There is provided a solenoid valve that realizes space-saving by reducing the size of a dedicated driving power source. There is provided a solenoid valve capable of instantaneously opening and closing that includes an electric double layer capacitor having a low direct current internal resistance and a low equivalent series resistance as a motive power supply. The electric double layer capacitor has single-cell electrical properties including a capacitance of 1 to 5 F, a rated voltage of 21 to 2.7 V, a direct current internal resistance of 0.01 to 0.1Ω, and an equivalent series resistance at 1 KHz of 0.03 to 0.09Ω, and includes a polarizable electrode made of glassy carbon having a specific surface area of 1 to 500 m2/g.
US08662461B2
A clamp for a musical instrument stand is equipped with a pipe retaining section having a metal base section formed with an abutting surface having a cylindrical inner peripheral surface, and a metal fastening section formed with a fastening surface having a cylindrical inner peripheral surface that is opposite to the abutting surface of the base section, wherein the abutting surface and the fastening surface hold an outer peripheral surface of a pipe from one side and another side to retain the pipe, and the clamp comprises a pipe sleeve in a semi-cylindrical shape that is made of a resin material, and has an outer peripheral surface to be abutted to the abutting surface or the fastening surface so as to be mounted on the abutting surface or the fastening surface; and a recessed section that is provided in a concave shape in a portion of at least one surface among an outer peripheral surface of the pipe sleeve, the abutting surface and the fastening surface, wherein a predetermined space surrounded by the recessed section and a surface opposite to the recessed section is formed between the abutting surface and the outer peripheral surface of the pipe sleeve opposite to the abutting surface or between the fastening surface and the outer peripheral surface of the pipe sleeve opposite to the fastening surface.
US08662460B2
A weight adapter bracket is provided for a drawbar support frame having a cylinder coupling member for coupling to a hydraulic cylinder. The coupling member has a slot for removably receiving an end of the cylinder. The adapter bracket includes a lug which extends from a flange. The lug is removably receivable by the coupling member, and the flange is adapted to engage and support a weight. A coupling bore extends through the lug and bracket bores extend through the coupling member. A coupling pin is insertable through the coupling bore and the bracket bores and to releasably hold the bracket in the coupling member. A pin bore extends vertically through the bracket, and a further coupling pin is removably insertable through the pin bore. The further coupling pin is adapted to engage a weight which is mounted on the bracket.
US08662459B2
A bag support apparatus has a first support member, a first arm slidably received in the first support member so as to be movable between a retracted position and an extended position, a second support member, and a second arm slidably received in the second support member so as to be movable between a retracted position and an extended position. The first arm is linked to the second arm such that a movement of the first support member toward the second support member causes the first and second arms to move toward the retracted position and such that a movement of the first support member away from the second support member causes and first and second arms to move to the extended position. A scissor mechanism is linked to the first and second support members and to the first and second arms.
US08662452B2
A structural article including an outer surface that serves as an aerodynamic surface when the structural article is subjected for an air stream. A resin matrix laminate includes an upper ply and a bottom ply. A heating element is arranged in contact with the bottom ply and coupled to a power supply unit in purpose to deice/anti-ice the outer surface. Each ply includes a thermally conductive filament structure having a filament orientation such that the prolongation of the filaments has an extension essentially perpendicular to the extension of the laminate. The thermally conductive filament structure of the upper ply is embedded in the upper ply in such way that at least a portion of the thermally conductive filament structure is exposed in the outer surface.
US08662450B2
The invention relates to an aircraft opening window comprising at least one pane (2) equipped with a movable frame (3), the assembly comprising the said movable frame (3) and the said at least one pane (2) being movable relative to a fixed frame (1), an element (4) for maneuvering the said movable assembly, a device for locking/unlocking and opening/closing the said movable assembly actuated by the said maneuvering element (4) and means for guiding and supporting the said movable assembly. According to the invention, the said fixed frame (1) is provided with at least one housing (6, 7, 8) for receiving a part at least of a first lateral rim (5) of the said movable frame (3), the said part at least of the said first lateral rim (5) becoming braced in the said at least one housing (6, 7, 8), by means of which housing or housings the said first lateral rim is held in place when the window is in closed position, and the said part at least of the first lateral rim being received in the said housing (6, 7, 8), the said guiding means of the said movable assembly permits rotation of the said assembly around an axis of rotation (11) passing through the first lateral rim (5) so as to place the other lateral rim of the said movable frame (3) in closed or released position.
US08662439B2
A control system having a first loop configured to provide a longitudinal blowback value of a rotor blade during flight and a second loop associated with the first loop, the second loop being configured to provide a design maximum total flapping value and a lateral flapping value. A method includes calculating a flight control limit from the design maximum total flapping value and the lateral flapping value. An upper longitudinal cyclic control limit is calculated by adding the flight control limit to the longitudinal blowback value. A lower longitudinal cyclic control limit is calculated by subtracting the flight control limit from the longitudinal blowback value.
US08662435B2
Assembling performance of a torsion bar to a spool is improved. When a webbing take-up device is assembled, the torsion bar is inserted into the spool while catch projections of a serration pillar of the torsion bar are corresponded to insertion grooves of an insertion hole of the spool. Subsequently, in a state where the serration pillar of the torsion bar arrives at an catch hole of the spool, the torsion bar is rotated in a winding direction with respect to the spool, so that the catch projections are caught by catch surfaces of catch grooves of the catch hole, whereby the torsion bar is made non-removable from the spool. Therefore, a direction in which the torsion bar is assembled to the spool is made to be only an axial direction of the spool, and assembling performance of the torsion bar to the spool can be improved.
US08662432B2
A trunnion seal assembly for joining a stationary inlet/outlet box of a ball tube mill to a rotational interior of the ball tube mill includes an outer ring component configured to be mounted to an outer wall of the stationary inlet/outlet box. An inner ring component is joined to the outer ring component substantially concentrically with the outer ring component. A flexible pad seal is configured to be joined to the outer wall of the stationary inlet/outlet box proximate outer ring component. The pad seal includes a first annular sealing surface. A mill head extension ring configured to be joined to a rotational mill head is located proximate to and substantially concentric with the inner ring component. The mill head extension includes a second annular sealing surface sealingly engaged with the first annular sealing surface of the flexible pad seal.
US08662430B2
A crusher device for performing a crushing operation, including a hollow part of frusto-conical shape narrowing downwardly, a crusher spindle rotatably mounted coaxial with the hollow part, at least one crusher impeller rotatably mounted on the crusher spindle, and a crusher driving device for rotatably driving the at least one crusher impeller relative to the first hollow part; the at least one crusher impeller comprises a first crusher impeller containing a first crushing blade and a second crushing blade, each of the first and second crushing blades extending radially from the crusher spindle and being fixedly connected to each other at their distal extremities by a blade member. The crusher device can be combined with a milling device providing an apparatus of compact size, adapted for reducing material from a size up to 36000 cm3 to particles having a size below 250 microns.
US08662426B2
The invention relates to a process for processing brown coal for combustion and/or gasification for the purpose of power generation, wherein the brown coal moist from the pit is firstly subjected to preliminary crushing and is subsequently comminuted. The milled coal is then fed to drying in a fluidized-bed dryer. The process is characterized in that the milling apparatus is followed by a control sieving facility, with the sieve opening being selected so that essentially 100% of the brown coal passes the sieve.
US08662424B2
An irrigation machine is selectively converted into a sprayer for applying chemicals that have been approved for use only by spraying equipment. A method is disclosed for irrigating and spraying crops using the same conduit connected to either an irrigation ground water source or a sprayer-approved chemical source, but at no time is the conduit connected to both sources simultaneously. The method includes connecting the input of a conduit to a ground water source, irrigating the crops with water from the ground water source, disconnecting the input of the conduit from the ground water source, connecting the input of the same conduit to a sprayer-approved chemical source, and spraying the crops with chemical from the chemical source.
US08662417B2
An example nacelle assembly for a gas turbine engine includes a nacelle defined about an axis and defining a boundary of a fan bypass flow path. A fan variable area nozzle includes a plurality of inserts movably mounted to said nacelle. Each of the multiple of inserts is located at a circumferential position about the nacelle. The multiple of inserts are each independently moveable into the fan bypass flow path relative the nacelle to selectively vary a fan nozzle exit area.
US08662400B2
The specification discloses an outsert assembly for pharmaceutical and other containers. The assembly includes an outsert, a tape holding the outsert in a folded configuration, and a machine-readable identifier on the tape. The machine-readable identifier may include e-pedigree information. The outsert may include printed dosage information and relevant medical warnings.
US08662389B2
A method of paying a second party is provided. A first party accesses the names of one or more qualified second parties. The second parties (i) have an association with the payment service, and (ii) if they do not have an established association with the payment service have established one prior to payment. The first party has an association with the payment service. A tab is opened by the first party that can be selected by the second party at any geographic location of a first party's mobile device. The second party is only able to charge a first party's financial account when the first party's mobile device is within a defined geographic area. The tab is a relationship between the first party, payment service and second party. The second party can engage in a financial transaction when the first party is within the defined geographic area.
US08662386B2
A method and system for controlling access to an enclosed area is described. One illustrative embodiment is an access card reader and controller that is powered via a Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) interface. The access card reader and controller may include a plurality of operating modes, including a network mode in which the access card reader and controller relies on an external access control server to authenticate received card identifiers and a standalone mode in which the access card reader and controller authenticates card identifiers independently of the access control server based on information stored locally in the access card reader and controller. In this illustrative embodiment, the access card reader and controller may also include a local tamper detector configured to detect when the access card reader and controller is being tampered with.
US08662378B2
The present invention relates to a ventilation board, an insulating board, a ventilation system, and articles and architectural applications comprising said ventilation board and a method of manufacturing the ventilation board. The said ventilation board comprises a layer (11) provided with a first aperture (5); an adjacent layer provided (13) with a second aperture (7), the first and second apertures being located relative to each other such that they are non-aligned and are substantially without overlap; and a passageway (9) interconnecting the first and second apertures thereby permitting the passage of fluid therebetween. Therefore, the carton comprising said ventilation board when used for fast food packaging provides sufficient ventilation of the carton so that water condensed from food vapors does not run on to the food in the carton, and sufficient insulation so that the food in the carton is kept warm.
US08662370B2
An introducer assembly for use with a surgical stapler is provided. The introducer assembly includes an elongated main body portion, one or more mounting mechanisms associated with the main body portion, and a plurality of petals or fingers positioned at a distal end of the elongated main body portion. The one or more mounting mechanisms are adapted to detachably mount with respect to the surgical stapler. The plurality of petals or fingers define a distal junction and a proximally-directed mounting member that is adapted to detachably engage a distal portion of the surgical stapler. The plurality of petals or fingers define an inner region that accommodates a distal end of the surgical stapler. The distal junction and the proximally-directed mounting member associated with the plurality of petals or fingers are adapted to disengage upon application of a requisite proximally-directed force to the elongated body portion. Methods and combinations that utilize the introducer are also disclosed.
US08662363B2
The golf car accessory includes a bag divider adapted for attachment to a golf car to separate bags placed in the golf car. A first arm extends upwardly from the bag divider and a second arm operatively connected to the first arm and extending outwardly to support a ball washer. Preferably the first arm is a telescoping arm so that the height of the ball washer is adjustable. Preferably the second arm is also a telescoping arm so that the horizontal position of the ball washer can be adjusted.
US08662362B1
An apparatus and method for supporting and operating an electronic device upon a user's forearm for safeguarding the phone and providing immediate and convenient functional access to the phone. The apparatus and method for supporting and operating an electronic device upon a user's forearm includes an arm mount assembly including a curved arm mount being adapted to fit upon a user's forearm region, and also having a cushion member being attached to the arm mount, the arm mount assembly also including fastening members for fastening the arm mount to the user's forearm; a connector assembly in communication with the arm mount; and an electronic device holder rotatably supported by the connector assembly.
US08662361B2
A liquid discharging device includes a device body configured to house a liquid discharging cartridge body having a liquid discharging portion for discharge liquid, and a device body cap removably attached to the device body. When the device body cap is detached from the device body, a discharging portion cap attached to the liquid discharging cartridge body so as to protect a discharging port of the liquid discharging portion is detached from the liquid discharging portion in combination with the device body cap.
US08662358B2
A liquid dispenser including a container that has an interior adapted to support a fluid. The liquid dispenser includes an air vent that is coupled to the container, and a balloon that is disposed in the container and in fluid communication with the air vent to provide fluid communication between the interior and an exterior of the container. The balloon is movable from an undeployed state to a deployed state in response to a pressure change between the interior and the exterior of the container. The balloon in the undeployed state is incapable of fluid communication between the interior and the exterior of the container, and the balloon in the deployed state has a position in which the balloon establishes fluid communication between the exterior of the container and the interior of the container.
US08662349B2
A dispensing device includes a backing, at least a first product compartment and a fluid transport device. The backing is a frangible section adapted to at least partially open as the backing is moved from a first position toward a second position. The product compartment and the fluid transport device are each disposed on the backing in confronting relationship to the frangible section. According to a method, a dispensing device is provided in which the backing is moved from the first position toward the second position to compress the first product compartment and cause the content to be dispensed through the fluid transport device.
US08662345B1
A collapsible frontward-tilting receptacle device includes a stationary receiving body that defines an internal space and is collapsible and a movable receiving body that forms a receiving space. The stationary receiving body has a bottom on which a rigid movable bottom board is positioned. The stationary receiving body has a side wall to which a movable support board having a stop section is movably connected. A free end of the movable support board is connected to an opposite side wall of the stationary receiving body to serve as a top plate. The movable receiving body is received in the internal space of the stationary receiving body so that a front end of the bottom thereof is coupled to a front portion of the bottom of the stationary receiving body to allow a top opening of the movable receiving body to be rotated out of the stationary receiving body.
US08662344B2
An insulated container having an outer vessel and an inner vessel, containing an insulative fluid formed from a mixture of water and a water absorptive poly(potassium acrylate) polymer in the approximate ratio of 50:1 (cc:g), that can be heated or cooled and that reduces heat transfer from hot or cold beverages, particularly well-suited for use in connection with both hot and cold beverages, to maintain the liquid either hot or cold.
US08662343B1
The present invention provides a device and a method that minimizes or eliminates under-filling of a pressure vessel by integrating phase change material (PCM) within one or multiple component of the pressure vessel. In one particular embodiment, the inner surface of the pressure vessel comprises a PCM. During a gas-filling process, PCM reduces the rate and/or the amount of temperature increase. Reduction of the temperature increase in the pressure vessel increases the amount of gas filled during a gas-filling process.
US08662341B2
The present invention is a flexible tank (1) having a closed form wherein liquid can be stored and which can carry liquid from one location to the other by means of a vehicle, characterized in that said flexible tank (1) comprises a plurality of compartments (2) which are coupled with each other so as to comprise a curved form.
US08662336B2
There is a bag scaffold configured to support a flexible bag in an upright and open configuration. The bag scaffold includes a first wall member having a first end and a second end. The first wall member includes a plurality of panels coupled to each other in series by an integral leaf spring. The first wall member includes a first coupling structure and a second coupling structure and is configured to be able to selectably couple to the first coupling structure. The bag scaffold includes a second wall member that is substantially identical to the first wall member and is selectably coupled thereto at their respective first and second coupling structures.
US08662331B2
A closure having a child resistant mode and a non-child resistant mode includes a circumferential side wall having an interior surface, a first section, a second section, and a solid divider. The solid divider is disposed between the first section and the second section for closing an opening of the container when the closure is installed on the container in the non-child resistant mode and the child resistant mode. In certain embodiments, a first liner is disposed in the first section such that the first liner is visible when the closure is installed on the container in the child resistant mode. A second liner is disposed in the second section such that the second liner is visible when the closure is installed on the container in the non-child resistant mode.
US08662327B2
A finger core for forming the front part of a knuckle for a railcar, said finger core comprising a single opening to form a single rib at the horizontal center line of the resulting knuckle.
US08662325B2
A shelving glide includes a deck having a plurality of dividers; a first trough having a first index arranged along at least a portion of a width of the deck; a second trough having a second index arranged along at least a portion of the width of the deck; and a plurality of partitions defining a plurality of pathways. A partition includes a first clip securable to the first index; and a second clip securable to the second index. The partition is adjustable along the width of the deck from a first position to a second position upon disengagement of the second clip from the second index. The first clip is adapted to disengage from the first index upon disengagement of the second clip from the second index. The partition is secured to the deck at the second position upon reengagement of the second clip to the second index.
US08662322B2
A combination is disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the combination includes a suspension bar, a tool holder adapted for attachment to the suspension bar, a hook device for suspending an object and a fastening device which enables the hook device to be releasably attached to the suspension bar. In at least one embodiment, the fastening device includes a first and a second portion for retaining engagement with the web of the suspension bar and its respective flanges. The first portion forms the upper portion of the fastening device, when mounted, to which portion the hook device is fixedly attached either directly or indirectly. The second portion of the fastening device is pivotally attached to the first portion by way of a joint, which, with the tool holder in its mounted state, is oriented parallel with and located between the flanges of the suspension bar.
US08662321B1
An equipment rack is provided. In one embodiment the rack assembly includes a pair of gripping members that compress about opposing edges along the width of a side of the sports equipment being held within the rack assembly. In several preferred embodiments, the gripping members (or “talons”) are adjustable toward each other and/or apart from one another to aid in gripping various sizes and shapes of sports equipment. In a preferred embodiment, the rack is mountable to a wall or other surface via a mounting body associated with the pair of gripping members. In another embodiment, the pair of gripping members are adjustable toward each other and/or apart from each other via an adjustment rod assembly.
US08662315B2
A liquid extraction assembly for extracting liquid from a mass comprising a housing having an inlet and an outlet and a path therebetween. The housing includes a rotating screen adjacent the path. The housing can have a nozzle at the inlet. The housing can include an inflatable member providing a seal adjacent the screen for maintaining the mass in the path. The housing can include a center seal rotating with the screen and a fixed scraper in the path and adjacent the at least one rotating screen, with the center seal including a notch for accepting a tip of the scraper therein. The housing can also include side walls and an annular seal located between the side walls, with the annular seal defining an outer periphery of the path and having a rotating top end portion allowing an area of the outlet to change.
US08662306B2
Different length and diameter size catheters may be packaged in a universal catheter tray assembly that utilizes identical base trays. Catheter size selectors, which include a size indicia formed therein, are snap connected to the base tray and define at least a portion of a catheter capture channel with an opening width corresponding to the size indicia. The universal catheter tray assembly is configured for packaging a catheter with a size corresponding to the size indicia and with any one of a plurality of tip shapes such that first and second segments of the catheter are confined in first and second catheter capture channels, respectively.
US08662293B2
A badge holder for holding a badge includes a front piece and a back piece opposite the front piece. The back piece is coupled to the front piece to provide a holding slot for the badge. A first ejector has a proximal end and a distal end. The proximal end is rotatably coupled to at least one of the front piece and the back piece. The first ejector is configured to rotate such that the distal end forces at least a portion of the badge out of the holding slot.
US08662287B2
A scraper for a scraper chain conveyor, having a top web, on which a chain attachment region for connecting the scraper to a scraper chain is configured, and having scraper wings for guiding the scraper on side profiles and bottom of a scraper chain conveyor. In order to provide scrapers with which a higher conveying output or a reduction of the drive output to be installed can be achieved, and which also enable a worn or defective scraper to be changed below ground, it is provided according to the invention that the scraper wings consist of a holding portion anchored to the metallic top web and a plastics sliding insert which can be releasably fastened to the holding portion. For the sliding inserts and their retention, various embodiments are proposed.
US08662285B2
A swing hopper is pivotally secured about vertical and horizontal axes to the inlet end of a swing auger which is pivotally connected to the main auger tube of a grain auger.
US08662273B2
A dual clutch for coupling an engine-side input shaft with a first transmission-side and/or a second transmission-side output shaft. A first clutch has a first pressure plate, which is axially mobile relative to a first counter plate, for coupling with a first clutch disk connected to the first output shaft. A second clutch has a second pressure plate, which is axially mobile relative to a second counter plate, for coupling with a clutch disk connected to the second output shaft. A clutch cover is connected to the first and second counter plates. An actuator displaces the first and/or the second pressure plate. The actuator is radially supported on the input side on the input shaft by the clutch cover and a torsional vibration damper, which is connected to the clutch cover and is radially mounted on the output side on one of the output shafts and/or on a transmission housing.
US08662269B2
A carrying case for a portable electronic device includes an inner compartment having a front panel and a side panel extending peripherally around the front panel to define a hollow interior. A pivotal flap extending across width of the front panel is formed as an upper part of the front panel connected thereto through a living hinge. A plurality of spaced resilient dimples extends into the interior of the inner compartment from at least the front panel. The living hinge comprises an internal crease in a front panel material. The internal crease extends inwardly in to the material toward an exterior of the inner compartment from the front panel.
US08662267B1
The present disclosure generally pertains to articles of luggage that are integrated with child seats so that children may sit on the luggage articles during transport. In one exemplary embodiment, an article of luggage, such as a suitcase, has a retractable seat and a plurality of wheels. The retractable seat resides within a cavity in the luggage article when positioned in a retracted position. A user can pull the retractable seat from the cavity to position a seat back in an extended position. While in the extended position, a child can sit on the article of luggage and lean back against a back of the seat. The back of the seat or other component of the article of luggage can be pulled or pushed such that at least one wheel of the article of luggage rolls on a surface in order to move the article from one location to another. After moving the article of luggage in such manner, a user can push the retractable seat to return it into the seat cavity thereby retracting the seat back into the retracted position for storage.
US08662266B2
An electromotive active vibration absorber apparatus mounted to a vehicle to attenuate vibration of the vehicle may include elastic members mounted to an housing, an inner yoke having an upper yoke part and a lower yoke part which are fastened to the elastic members respectively, wherein an inner magnetic substance is disposed between the upper and lower yoke parts, and an outer yoke enclosing the inner yoke and having top and bottom portions dented to form inner and outer support members and a connector spoke and receive coil units therein, wherein the coil units include an upper coil unit and a lower coil unit, the upper coil unit being mounted above the connector spoke and the lower coil unit being mounted under the connector spoke respectively, between the inner and outer support members of the outer yoke, and wherein the coil units are controlled to vibrate the inner yoke when power is applied thereto.
US08662265B2
An energy absorber for aircraft, which includes one or more energy absorber elements and a housing, whereby the energy absorber elements can absorb crash impulses by plastic deformation within the housing. Thus, the load on the primary structure and the respective inboard devices is limited, which can lead to an increased, passive safety of the passengers and a weight reduction.
US08662258B2
A bicycle is provided with a frame, a drive member and a bicycle brake. The drive member is movably mounted to the frame for driving the bicycle. The bicycle brake is mounted to the frame. The bicycle brake includes a quick release mechanism that has an operating part and a contact part. The operating part is operatively arranged to be toggled between a closed position and a released position that is separated from the closed position. The contact part is provided on the operating part and configured such that the operating part contacts the drive member while the operating part is positioned at the released position. The contact part is configured such that after the contact part contacts the drive member due to operation of the drive member, the operating part is then moved from the released position to the closed position.
US08662253B2
A lubricating oil feeding structure that permits an adequate amount of lubricating oil to be fed to those parts around the transmission while avoiding an excess supply of lubricating oil to the lubricating oil passage in the shaft of the transmission. The transmission has a space (as a recess to hold the shaft therein) in which is arranged the oil guide part. The oil guide part has the bottomed cylinder, with its one end opened, the flange that flares outward at the open end of the bottomed cylinder, and the oil holes that communicate between the inside and the outside of the bottomed cylinder. The oil guide part is arranged in the space in such a way that the flange comes into contact with the outer race of the bearing.
US08662246B2
A domestic appliance, in particular a domestic dishwasher, includes at least one component, and at least one noise-deadening and/or sound-insulating coating applied on the component. The noise-deadening and/or sound-insulating coating includes or is made entirely of a reactively cured bituminous mixture. The component can be a wall section for delimiting a rinsing chamber of the dishwasher, or can be a base tray of a rinsing container of the dishwasher.
US08662245B1
Disclosed is a method for modifying the frequency response of a wood panel within an acoustical structure such as a studio or concert hall. The modification is imparted by exciting the wood paneling with acoustic energy. Frequency response is the measure of a system's spectrum response at the output to a signal of varying frequency (but constant amplitude) at its input. The acoustic energy includes at least one excitation frequency, which is preferably in the audible spectrum (20 to 20,000 Hz). The use of acoustic energy from the remote source provides non-contact excitation of the wood paneling. In one embodiment, the acoustic energy is at least one sound wave which comprises at least one resonant frequency of the wood paneling, at least one acoustic mode of the wood paneling, at least one discrete broadband frequency, a composite frequency (including multiple broadband frequencies, white noise and pink noise) or any combination thereof.
US08662243B2
The invention relates to a sweep-type vibratory seismic source where a baseplate is put to the ground and a series of impulses are applied through the baseplate into the ground and where the baseplate may periodically de-couple from the ground during the delivery of the impulses. A de-coupling baseplate tends to undertake a very high frequency flexing while high frequency energy is being delivered to the ground. The high frequency flexing may be picked up by the vibrator control system and interpreted as an unintended signal being delivered into the ground. While there are already issues getting high frequency data in the return wave field, allowing the vibrator electronics to alter the actual signal in a manner intended to squelch the high pitched ringing of the baseplate is apt to reduce the high frequency data in the data record. One solution for reducing the de-coupling and the ringing of the baseplate is a dampening pad positioned between the baseplate and the ground.
US08662241B2
An apparatus (10) for use in turning steerable vehicle wheels (14, 16) includes a hydraulic power steering motor (12). A pump (26) is connected in fluid communication with the hydraulic power steering motor (12) by a supply conduit (30). A continuously variable transmission (50) is connected with the engine (52) of the vehicle and with the pump (26). The continuously variable transmission (50) is operable under the influence of force transmitted from the engine (52) to drive the pump at a first speed when the flow of fluid from the pump (26) is at a first level. The continuously variable transmission (50) drives the pump (26) at a second speed different than the first speed when the flow of fluid from the pump is at a second level different than the first level.
US08662240B2
A steering system includes: an operation mechanism that includes an operation member used to perform a steering operation; and a steered mechanism that is not mechanically coupled to the operation mechanism, and that steers a wheel based on the steering operation of the operation member. The operation mechanism includes a steering angle sensor that detects a steering angle of the operation member, and steering direction detection unit that detects only a steering direction of the operation member.
US08662236B2
Spring-and-damper assembly articulated at a front hood and body of a motor vehicle and has, in a cylinder, a gas pressure damper with a damping piston, a piston rod outwardly loaded by the gaseous medium through an axial opening in the cylinder and assists opening of the front hood. An actuator activated by a sensor device to adjust the front hood into a raised pedestrian protection position. The piston rod or the cylinder or a structural component part is axially adjustable relative to a supporting part supporting the assembly to be limited between stops. The structural component part or supporting part is a ball head supported in a joint socket or a joint head having a joint socket for a ball head connected at least indirectly to the piston rod or to the cylinder. The joint socket is formed so as to be groove-shaped in axial direction so that the ball head is axially adjustable in the joint socket in a limited manner.
US08662234B2
A drive and steering apparatus for an industrial truck with a drive wheel, which is rotatably suspended in a drive wheel suspension, which is swivel-mounted around a mainly vertical axis, a steering device, which has a handlebar and a bearing component, which is swivel-mounted coaxially or axially parallel to the drive wheel suspension, and a steering wheel control device, which has at least one sensor, which is permanently arranged with respect to the drive wheel suspension or the bearing component and captures a differential angle between the drive wheel suspension and the bearing component, and a steering drive, with which the drive wheel suspension is pivotable as required by the measured differential angle, characterized by a sensor arm, which is connected in a torque-proof manner with a sensor shaft of the at least one sensor, and a counter piece, which is permanently arranged with respect to the bearing component or respectively of the drive wheel suspension and works together with the sensor arm such that the sensor aim with the sensor shaft is rotated during a relative movement between the bearing component and the drive wheel suspension.
US08662230B2
A cowl structure that is small in size and light, and that is effective in preventing air discharged from a radiator from being applied to the legs of the rider. An upper cowl includes ridges projecting laterally outwardly in the transverse direction of the vehicle, slanted surfaces extending from the ridges in the forward direction of the vehicle and directed toward the center of the vehicle, and rear slanted surfaces extending from the ridges in a rearward direction of the vehicle and directed toward the center of the vehicle. The air discharged from the radiator is not applied to the legs of the rider. Since the action is achieved simply by deforming the upper cowl, the cowl can be reduced in size and weight.
US08662226B2
A vehicle includes a cabin, a high voltage traction battery, an electric motor powered by the traction battery, and a charger connected to the traction battery. The charger converts alternating current (AC) to high voltage direct current (DC) to charge the traction battery when the charger is plugged into an alternating current (AC) power supply. A forced air system includes an air inlet duct, a first air outlet duct directing exhaust air to the outside of the cabin, a second air outlet duct directing exhaust air to the inside of the cabin, a fan, and a valve for controlling air flow through the first and second air outlet ducts. The forced air system is arranged such that forced air flows through the air inlet duct, removes heat from the charger, and flows through at least one of the first and second air outlet ducts to assist with vehicle preconditioning.
US08662224B2
A saddle-ride type vehicle, and arrangement of an electric part such as a controller for a saddle-ride type vehicle, can include a vehicle frame which has a left main frame and a right main frame which extend from a forward side to a rearward side of a vehicle body. An engine is supported on the vehicle frame, and a throttle body is disposed near the engine. An air cleaner is disposed adjacent throttle body, and a controller is provided, which is configured to control the engine. A support member supports at least a controller, with the support member being removably mounted relative to the vehicle body. The support member is separate from the throttle body and the air cleaner. The support member is typically disposed above the throttle body.
US08662209B2
A front face of a diamond table mounted to a substrate is processed, for example through an acid leach, to remove interstitial catalyst binder and form a thermal channel. A material is then introduced to the front face of the diamond table, the introduced material backfilling the front face of the diamond table to fill interstitial voids left by removal of the catalyst binder in the thermal channel to a desired depth. The material is selected to be less thermally expandable than the catalyst binder and/or more thermally conductive than the catalyst binder and/or having a lower heat capacity than the catalyst binder.
US08662203B2
The invention relates to a method for creating a deep borehole, in particular in an emission-sensitive region, and to a device therefor. The invention is based on the object of providing a drilling method and a drilling device allowing deep boreholes to be created even in regions which are sensitive to emissions, such as inner-city buildings or in nature regions to be protected, and at the same time of reducing significant damage to these regions when creating deep boreholes. This object is achieved in that a shaft structure (20) is created, a stationary drilling system (10) is installed into the shaft structure (20), the floor (23) of the shaft structure is prepared as a drilling starting point and the deep borehole is sunk using a suitable drilling method.
US08662202B2
A drilling system, including: a drill bit; and a thruster to apply a force to the drill bit. The thruster may include: an inner tubular member disposed within and configured to axially move within an outer tubular member; a thrust piston to transmit a hydraulic force to the inner tubular member, the thrust piston separating an upstream fluid chamber and a downstream fluid chamber between the inner and outer tubular members; at least one pressure switch fluidly connected to the downstream fluid chamber to control flow of a fluid to and from the downstream fluid chamber via at least one fluid inlet and at least one fluid outlet.
US08662195B2
The present disclosure generally provides systems for adjusting tension and positioning of a harrowing chain. Systems may include a tension adjustment assembly, and the tension adjustment assembly may include a pivot assembly and/or a cylinder hydraulic assembly. Modifications also may be made to the frame of an agricultural implement to address transport issues related to harrowing chains. Further modifications to exterior harrowing chains may be made to reduce the number of small ditches formed in a field due to digging by harrow disks of the chains.
US08662193B2
A method to collect soil cores from a green comprises the steps of providing a soil core collector, extracting soil cores from a green, allowing the cores to dry for at least fifteen minutes, and utilizing the core collector to gather the cores from the green.
US08662192B2
A fire and explosion suppression system comprises a source (5) of high pressure water which is fed to a misting nozzle (13) at one input of a mixing unit (6), and a source (14) of high pressure inert gas, such as nitrogen, which is fed along a pipe (20) to another input of the mixing unit (6). Inside the mixing unit (6), water mist, in the form of an atomized mist of very small droplet size is mixed with the pressurized gas and exits the mixing unit (6) at high pressure and high velocity along a pipe (22) and is thence discharged through spreaders (26, 28). The source (5) of the water is pressurized by a feed (30) from the source of pressurized inert gas. The mass flow rate of the water will therefore reduce as the pressure of the gas decays. This tends to maintain the ratio of the mass flow rate of the water to the mass flow rate of the gas constant. This is found to produce and maintain an advantageous distribution of droplet size in the discharged unit. A control unit (10) adjusts a metering valve (7) in dependence on the mass flow rate or the pressure of the gas in order to adjust the ratio as necessary to maintain its value constant.
US08662184B2
A subsea well production system for a well including a subsea wellhead. The system includes a multi-section production tree that includes a landing section engageable with the subsea wellhead and including a landing section bore. The tree also includes a valve section separate from and engageable with the landing section, the valve section including a lateral production port extending through a valve section wall and in communication with a valve section bore. A production tubing supported by a tubing hanger is installed and supported in the landing section bore such that the tubing hanger extends into the valve section bore. The tubing hanger and production tubing are retrievable through the section bores without disengaging the valve section from the landing section. The valve section is also disengageable from the landing section with the tubing hanger remaining in the landing section.
US08662181B2
A stabplate connection is provided by: providing a first part (1) comprising a stabplate and carried by an underwater structure; providing a second part (2) comprising a stabplate carried by tooling (4); engaging the tooling with said first part; using the tooling to bring the parts together so the stabplates mate with each other; using the tooling to lock the first and second parts together by engaging a portion (6) carried by the first part with a portion (10) carried by the second part; disengaging the tooling from the first part; and removing the tooling from the stabplate connection.
US08662180B2
According to one embodiment, a rotationally activated downhole well valve for connection in a tubing string is disclosed that can be repeatedly opened and closed selectively to place the tubing string in communication with the annulus. The valve is moved between the closed position and the open position by rotating the string in the first direction. In another embodiment, the valve is opened and closed by rotating the string in the first direction and is reset in the closed position by lifting and lowering the tubing string.
US08662174B2
The present invention includes methods and compositions relating to the setting of fluids or slurries in a wellbore. In one embodiment, a method of isolating a portion a wellbore includes preparing a sealant composition having a fluid component, a polymeric additive constituent, and a set modifier component. The sealant composition is placed into a wellbore and subjected to ionizing radiation. The ionizing radiation can cause bonding between polymeric additive constituents and create a polymer matrix within the sealant composition that increases the mechanical strength of the sealant composition. The ionizing radiation also alters the set modifier component, triggering the thickening of the sealant composition.
US08662160B2
There is provided a mobile high power laser system and conveyance structure for delivering high power laser energy to and for performing high power laser operations in remote and difficult to access locations. There is further provide such systems with high power laser, handling equipment and conveyance equipment that are configured to avoid exceeding the maximum bending radius of high power optical fibers used with the conveyance structures. There are also provided embodiments of the conveyance structures having channels, lines and passages for delivering materials such as fluids.
US08662152B2
A plate heat exchanger (100) including a number of heat exchanger plates (1), which are arranged beside each other and connected to each other by means of a braze connection to form a stack of plates (2), wherein the heat exchanger plates are substantially manufactured in stainless steel containing chromium, wherein the plate heat exchanger (100) includes a number of port channels extending through at least some of the heat exchanger plates (1), and wherein the plate heat exchanger (100) further including end plates (3, 5) covering each end of the stack of plates (2) and having port holes associated with the port channels, where at least one end plate (3, 5) has at least one port hole provided with a cover (9, 12) and where said cover includes means (9, 12) for increasing the strength and means (14, 15) for sealing off the at least one end plate (3, 5) against an adjacently arranged heat exchanger plate.
US08662150B2
A media sheet for a heat exchanger is disclosed. The media sheet includes a first layer having a first outer surface and a second layer having a second outer surface. The first and second layers define a plurality of passages extending therebetween. At least one of the first and second outer surfaces comprises a plurality of depressions. The plurality of depressions further define the plurality of passages therebetween. The media sheet is polymer fiber-based and wettable.
US08662141B2
One or more ductile metal inserts may be selectively incorporated into articles of limited ductility, including castings and molded polymers. The inserts are positioned at joint locations for joining of the article to other articles using self-piercing riveting (SPR). The inserts are of suitable ductility, thickness and strength to receive and retain self-piercing rivets and enable a strong riveted joint between the article and a second article. In an embodiment the articles are magnesium alloy castings formed by any of sand casting, die casting and semi-solid metal casting. The chemical composition of the insert may be informed by the anticipated corrosive environment of the joint and the casting temperature of the magnesium alloy. For magnesium alloy castings which may be exposed to corrosive environments, aluminum alloy inserts are preferred.
US08662136B2
Anti-strangulation apparatus for, and hanging freely with, a looped cord of a window covering device
An anti-strangulation apparatus for, and hanging freely with, a looped cord of a window covering device. The apparatus includes a tube. The tube at first has the looped cord of the window covering device enter therein, then has the looped cord of the window covering device exit therefrom and run therealong, and then has the looped cord of the window covering device reenter therein again where the looped cord of the window covering device is reeved, and in so doing, the anti-strangulation device is allowed to hang freely with the looped cord of the window covering device and keep the looped cord of the window covering device snug enough against the tube to prevent strangulation by the looped cord of the window covering device, while allowing the looped cord of the window covering device to remain fully operational.
US08662133B2
In a ultrasonic processing apparatus, upstream conveyor and downstream conveyor allow a fibrous web to run in a machine direction continuously. Between the conveyors, a working surface of a first mechanical element serving as a stationary element of the ultrasonic processing apparatus extends diagonally with respect to the machine direction. The fibrous web runs in the machine direction above the working surface. The ultrasonic processing apparatus includes a second mechanical element adapted to move in a direction diagonally intersecting the machine direction. The working surface of the first mechanical element cooperates with the second mechanical element to subject the fibrous web to ultrasonic processing. One of an ultrasonic horn and an anvil is used as the first mechanical element and a remainder of the ultrasonic horn and the anvil is used as the second mechanical element.
US08662129B2
A pneumatic tire having pairs of shoulder section and bead section shear layers positioned on at least one axial side of the carcass layer. Examples include one or more of the shear layers constituted of an elastomeric fabric having elastomeric fibers woven in the fabric. Such fibers may be spandex fibers and the fabric may further be characterized as being woven additionally with nylon fibers in a tricot construction. Other embodiments include at least one of the shear layers constituted of a polyurethane type elastomer material having an MA1O of between 1 MPa and 350 MPa. Exemplary shoulder section and bead section shear layers in a pinch shocked region are opposite across an interior of the tire.
US08662125B2
This invention discloses a tire which is comprised of a generally toroidal-shaped carcass with an outer circumferential tread, two spaced beads, at least one ply extending from bead to bead and sidewalls extending radially from and connecting said tread to said beads, wherein said tread is adapted to be ground-contacting, and wherein said tread is comprised of (1) a filler, (2) a cured rubbery polymer, and (3) core-shell particles which are comprised of (a) a crosslinked elastomeric core consisting essentially of repeat units that are derived from at least one conjugated diolefin monomer and from 15 weight percent to 30 weight percent at least one crosslinking monomer, wherein the crosslinked elastomeric core is a polymeric composition having a glass transition temperature which is within the range of −20° C. to 20° C., and (b) a polymeric shell which is derived from at least one vinyl aromatic monomer, wherein the polymeric shell has a glass transition temperature which is within the range of 50° C. to 160° C., and wherein the weight ratio of the core to the shell is within the range of 20:1 to 7:1.
US08662122B2
A non-pneumatic tire includes a plurality of springs. Each spring comprises a first end portion, a second end portion, and an arching middle portion. Each spring is interwoven with at least one other spring thereby forming a toroidal structure extending about an entire circumference of the non-pneumatic tire. The toroidal structure is at least partially coated with an elastomer.
US08662120B2
A method for assembling massive parts that are useful for building wooden chalets or houses including timbers that are built in two by two, three by three, or four by four, connected through dovetailing, and, optionally, by gluing them together, to obtain massive laminated timber blocks. These massive laminated timber blocks can be filled to form panels. This method improves a process for forming massive wood parts, where assembling the timbers in the form of dove-tails allows the production of several depths without any limitation of length, since the additions are achieved according to an arrangement in quincunx.
US08662118B2
A coupling has a housing which defines a vacuum chamber and, at least in part, a nozzle chamber. The nozzle chamber forms a valve chamber, an intake chamber, and an outlet chamber. A main valve is in the valve chamber. The main valve is movable between an open and closed position. A poppet valve is in the outlet chamber. An air outlet opens from the vacuum chamber into the nozzle chamber. An opening of an air uptake conduit opens into the vacuum chamber. The air outlet opening is distinct from the opening of the uptake conduit. When the main valve is in the open position the valve chamber is open to the outlet chamber and the outlet chamber is open to the intake chamber. In the closed position, the valve chamber is sealed off from the outlet chamber and the intake chamber is sealed off from the outlet chamber.
US08662114B2
A device for loss-free filling of continuously mixed media in containers may include a mixing tank, a filler valve, and a connecting line. The mixing tank serves to receive and mix at least two different media, of which at least one medium is a fluid, and has a closing device for closing an outlet from the mixing tank. The filler valve serves for filling the mixed media from the mixing tank in the containers. The connecting line is arranged between the outlet from the mixing tank and the filler valve. Here the closing device has a ventilation line that can be connected with the connecting line to ventilate the connecting line to the filler valve. Also a plant may include such a device and a transport device for transporting the containers to the filler valve of the device.
US08662097B2
A valve, preferably of the flow control construction type, has a valve piston or pressure regulator piston mounted in an axially displaceable manner in a valve housing. The valve piston and the valve housing form a damping chamber for the motional damping of the valve piston.
US08662085B2
For particularly effective stem cell therapy a nanoparticle is provided. The nanoparticle has a first element consisting of a magnetic material, a support or envelope element consisting of a biodegradable material, a first substance containing an x-ray contrast agent, and a second substance containing stem cells. The stem cells are embodied such that they can be used for angiogenesis or for myogenesis.
US08662084B2
According to one embodiment, a universal oral appliance is provided. The universal oral appliance comprises an arched frame configured to be positioned proximate to the occlusal surface of a user's dental arch such that the arched frame extends beyond the cuspids of the user's dental arch when the arched frame is inserted in the user's mouth. The arched frame comprises a universal coupler configured to removably engage a dental attachment. The universal coupler comprises a substantially planar surface proximate to and extending across the midline of the arched frame. The universal coupler further comprises a first rail coupled to a first end of the substantially planar surface, and a second rail coupled to a second end of the substantially planar surface. The first rail, second rail, and substantially planar surface form a slot.
US08662078B2
The bi-functional inhaling device has an elliptic shape in the frontal, lateral and transversal plane and includes a lower part and an upper part, a lower cap being located at the lower part to accommodate inside a cartridge made up of a lower cap, a strip of absorbent material, a body and an upper cap of the cartridge. An adapter for oral inhaling is mounted over the upper cap of the cartridge, the adapter being covered with a protection cap. An adapter for nasal inhaling is mounted over the upper cap of the cartridge. A membrane is secured on the base surface of the upper cap of the cartridge, the membrane having the role of a one-way valve. Natural salt crystals are introduced inside the cartridge, in the space created between the lower cap, the upper cap and the body of the cartridge.
US08662067B2
Devices and methods for accelerating the combustion of non-gas cooking fuels used in barbequing. The devices include a starting fuel for preparing, or starting, a cooking fuel, such as charcoal briquettes, for use to cook food. The starting fuel is contained in a kindling chamber beneath an upper chamber containing the cooking fuel. A powered air delivery mechanism may provide an airflow to the fuels to increase combustion and heating thereof. In some embodiments, the device is a breach-loading device. In some embodiments, the air delivery mechanism is battery-powered. The device may be configured to provide, and/or may be automated to provide, different operating states responsive to the degree of ignition and/or combustion of the fuels in the device. In some embodiments, the device is adapted to automatically be transitioned between forced-air and natural-draft operating states, which may be controlled responsive to sensed operating parameters of the device.
US08662064B1
The invention disclosed is an apparatus and method for stabilizing an archery bow and reducing recoil during arrow draw and release. The apparatus comprises an adjustable arm clamp assembly; a rod; a support body for attaching the arm clamp assembly to the rod; and a mounting block for attaching the rod to an archery bow. The archery recoil stabilizer is lightweight, adjustable and relies on bracing the arm from the forearm position to restrict translational and rotational movement of the bow as well as minimize recoil impacts. It supports the arm by bracing the forearm relative to the bow, and reduces or eliminates bow hand torque, providing improved stabilization during both arrow draw and release. Additionally, this invention reduces the stress and recoil on the arm of the archer that can cause pain or injury, or can compromise the flight of the arrow and the accuracy of the shot.
US08662061B1
A crossbow includes a handle or barrel having a bolt support surface, a forward end with at least one flexible limb, and a rearward end. A support on the barrel overlies at least a portion of the bolt support surface. A bolt retaining spring on the support extends toward the bolt support surface for holding a bolt on the support surface. The retaining spring extends from the support at a downward and rearward angle toward the bolt support surface and then at an upward and rearward angle to a free end between the bolt support surface and the support. The spring preferably is of one-piece construction having a first portion underlying and secured to the support, a second portion extending downwardly and rearwardly from a forward end of the first portion, and a third portion extending upwardly and rearwardly from the second portion and the bolt support surface.
US08662060B2
A toy bow assembly used to launch toy projectiles. The toy bow assembly has a rigid bow structure. The bow structure has a first arm section, a second arm section, and a central region. Two separate and distinct elastic elements are provided to launch a projectile. The first elastic element is anchored to the first arm section of the bow structure. A second elastic element is anchored to the second arm section. Both of the elastic elements terminate with loop structures that extend into the central region between the first and second arm sections. A toy projectile is provided that has extending hooks. The hooks on the projectile engage the loop structures of the elastic elements. When the projectile is drawn back, the elastic elements stretch and provide the spring energy needed to launch the projectile into flight when it is released.
US08662058B2
An electronic ignition module for vintage automobiles that utilizes existing components and wiring to retain the look and operation of the original system but with superior performance. The ignition module replaces the original roller and contacts of a vintage automobile ignition timer with modern control electronics that actuate the original coils and original spark plugs using the original wiring in the original manor. Electronic ignition operation is user programmable to emulate the original roller/timer performance or provide automatic spark advance similar to modern automobile operation for optimum power and efficiency while freeing the operator from manual adjustment of spark timing. Ignition module programming is accomplished without any external switches, buttons, jumpers or modification to the vintage automobile by simply sensing the presence or absence of ignition coils connected to the system when power is applied. The electronic ignition module resides fully contained within the confines of the original timer housing without any modifications what so ever, rendering it completely undetectable by visual inspection.
US08662049B2
The invention relates to a cast piston for an internal combustion engine having a piston base, a cylindrical piston head connected to the piston base, and pin bores provided in an at least partially hollow piston shaft, which is positioned on the side of the piston head opposite the piston base. The piston has one or more supporting ribs located at least partially in the piston shaft, and at least one supporting rib has a recess on the side facing the piston base.
US08662048B2
A cylinder of an externally fired, two-stroke engine has at least two exhaust channels. At least the inflow openings of the exhaust channels are located or formed symmetrical in relation to a plane of symmetry containing a longitudinal center axis of the cylinder. The inflow openings of the exhaust channels lying above each other in the cylinder wall surface and spaced apart by wall webs lie distributed over a peripheral region of the cylinder wall surface which in relation to the longitudinal center axis corresponds to a central angle Z of 175°≦Z≦280°, preferably 180°≦Z≦265°.
US08662045B2
A sealing system for the cylinder head valve seat pocket to valve seat insert interface of a cylinder head assembly comprises a valve seat pocket gasket compressed between a valve seat insert pocket and a valve seat insert having an active layer of material with at least one seal, defining a compression seal at the interface of the seal and the valve seat insert pocket, the valve seat insert or both, to thereby prevent the ingress of fuel or water between the valve seat insert and the valve seat insert pocket.
US08662044B2
An electric fuel system primer is provided that is capable of generating enough pressure to open a valve in an engine's fuel system in order for the primer to prime the engine. The primer can include an electric fuel pump that is capable of generating at least 70 p.s.i. or more in order to open the valve. The primer may be powered by the vehicle's battery, by an internal battery or by converting AC to DC or vice versa.
US08662035B1
An oil control valve is disposed in fluid communication between an oil supply gallery and an oil control gallery of an oil control system. The oil control valve has a first position that prevents flow of oil from the oil supply gallery to the oil control gallery and permits flow of oil from the oil control gallery to a downstream drain line, and a second position that permits flow of oil from the oil supply gallery to the oil control gallery and prevents flow of oil from the oil supply gallery to the drain line. An oil bypass passage is disposed in fluid communication between the oil supply gallery and the oil control gallery, and is disposed to bypass the oil control valve. The oil bypass passage has first and second oil flow constriction regions, and an intermediate volume disposed between the first and second oil flow constriction regions.
US08662032B2
A crank device and an adjusting device of a combustion engine. The system adjusts the cylinder pressure of the motor in accordance with the required power. Adjustment of the cylinder pressure takes place by changing the compression ration by means of the adjusting device (19). The adjusting device (19) changes an eccentric wheel (3) through an adjusting wheel (4) to a such position that a connecting rod (2) lifts a piston (1) to a desired distance from the combustion chamber head. The adjusting device measures the volume of the air entering the cylinder and adjust the compression ratio to be appropriate. The adjusting device also takes into account the speed of rotation so that the compression pressure increases or decreases to be appropriate.
US08662027B2
A method for machining a cylinder head including a cooling jacket, wherein the fire deck of the cylinder head which is in a raw state is machined by material removal in relation to a reference mark of the cylinder head. The position of the cooling jacket is used as a reference mark.
US08662024B2
The present description relates to operation and control of a fuel reformer. In one embodiment, an engine constituent is adjusted in response to limiting an amount of reformate supplied to the engine during a condition of reformer degradation. The approach can improve engine operation. In this way, consequences of reformate system degradation may be reduced by limiting use of the reformate system after degradation is detected.
US08662023B2
A steam boiler, comprising a boiler body accommodating water and steam therein and a burner throwing flames toward a central through-hole of the boiler body and water pipes formed to cross the inside of the central through-hole of the boiler body, and directly heated by the flames of the burner and an internal cylinder formed to cover the outside of the boiler body so as to form a space between the internal cylinder and the outer wall surface of the boiler body where burned discharge gas flows from the lower side to the upper side and an external cylinder formed to cover the outside of the internal cylinder so as to form a space between the external cylinder and the outer wall surface of the internal cylinder where air for combustion flow such that heat exchange between the air for combustion and the discharge gas is performed.
US08662015B2
A miniature size bird feeder that includes a feed holder; a cap or cover over the feed holder; means for releasably attaching the cap or cover to the feed holder and an attachment means for supporting the feed holder.
US08662005B2
A pointer gauge surface structure with an indication mark. A mark member is coupled on the surface of a pressure gauge or a micro-differential pressure gauge to display a critical value for a person to read with ease. A circumferential portion of a transparent casing is provided with a slide rail for engagement and slide of the mark member. The mark member has a C-shaped cross-section to provide a tightening function relative to the slide rail.
US08661991B2
A foldable stool or table having hinges comprises a plurality of support members. In one embodiment, a foldable device comprises three legs. In another embodiment, the foldable stool or table comprises two foldable support members and two non-foldable support members. Relative to the top and bottom of the device, embodiments of the present invention may comprise one or more intermediately located steps or shelves, wherein the steps or shelves are located along at least one of the non-foldable support members. The one or more intermediately located steps or shelves may be forwardly-offset relative to a front surface of the non-foldable support members. A method of using the stool is also provided.
US08661990B2
A tray apparatus is described. The tray apparatus includes a collapsible tray. The collapsible tray includes an inner horizontal support. The tray may also include a plurality of outer horizontal supports. The tray also includes a plurality of collapsible extensions. The collapsible extensions are configured to lock into a perpendicular position from the horizontal supports. The tray also includes a plurality of hinged connectors. The hinged connectors connect the inner and outer horizontal supports with the collapsible extensions. Additionally, the apparatus includes a vertical support. The vertical support is connected to the tray assembly by a tray clutch assembly. The tray apparatus may be attached to a chair.
US08661976B2
A method is provided for a rotary press of the type including at least one cylinder for printing and feeding a web to be printed, and a device for driving in rotation the or each printing and feed cylinder.In normal operation, the at least one cylinder is driven by applying thereto a positive drive torque and a positive drive power, and, in the event of the web breaking, the at least one cylinder is braked by the associated drive device.According to one embodiment of the invention, in an emergency shutdown step, the torque or the power applied to the at least one printing and feed cylinder by the associated drive device is limited in such a manner as not to exceed a predetermined torque threshold or power threshold.
US08661972B2
A screw separator for separating solids out of suspensions, includes at least one housing and at least one feed pipe for the suspension, at least one discharge pipe for liquids, and at least one outlet for the at least partially dewatered solids wherein at least one strainer basket is provided in the housing in which a screw is rotatably mounted, and that the worm shaft of the screw terminates inside the housing and is continued by way of a separate pipe-like structure.
US08661970B2
Thermally convertible food presentation modules are described. A single module may be used for both heating and refrigeration of foodstuffs as desired at any given time. Any well of a module may be switched between heating and cooling of food regardless of the status of any other well of the module.
US08661966B2
An automated hot beverage dispensing machine and method for producing hot beverages is disclosed. The preferred apparatus includes a plurality of flavoring reservoirs connected through pumps and valves to a plenum that dispenses the flavoring directly into a mixing chamber. The mixing chamber also receives milk and steam, facilitating mixing of the milk, steam, and flavoring, and dispensing the mixture into a serving cup. The dispensing machine may include a coffee brewing system, whereby the machine can produce flavored lattés, cappuccinos, and the like. In the preferred embodiment, pressurized steam is directed through a venturi assembly that draws in refrigerated milk and ambient air and delivers the fluids to a vortex mixer to produce steamed and/or foamed milk. The flavoring is delivered to the vortex mixer, and steam is channeled to the plenum to facilitate delivery of the flavoring and maintain the cleanliness of the plenum.
US08661958B2
A device and a method are disclosed for manually perforating a sheet of aluminum foil. The device includes a first member having a first surface with a plurality of apertures formed therein and a first guide member extending upwardly above the first surface. The device also includes a second member having a lower surface with a plurality of projections extending downwardly therefrom. Each of the projections can be simultaneously inserted into one of the plurality of apertures. A second guide member is formed on the second member and cooperates with the first guide member to permit the second member to move vertically relative to the first member. A sheet of aluminum foil can be placed between the first and second members, when they are spaced apart from one another, and the sheet of aluminum foil can be perforated by pressing the second member against the first member.
US08661953B2
A trimmer to cut a backing on which an overlay is mounted. The trimmer includes cutting blades and a removable fence that has a stop. The fence is carried by a pair of risers that are capable of moving relative to the work surface. A rotatable lever arm is coupled to the risers by a linking cam rod. When the lever arm and linking cam rod are rotated in a first direction, the risers move upwardly from the work surface and the stop of the fence is lifted upwardly and off the work surface to create a gap that enables the backing to move past the fence to the cutting blades to be trimmed. When the lever arm and linking cam rod rotate in an opposite direction, the risers move downwardly toward the work surface, and the stop is lowered against the backing to prevent the overlay from moving to the cutting blades.
US08661950B2
A machining apparatus has a frame defining a transfer station and a machining station thereabove, a spindle having a workpiece grab and vertically displaceable on the frame between an upper position with the grab in the machining station and a lower position with the grab in the transfer station, a tool holder horizontally displaceable on the frame toward and away from the machining station, and a workpiece conveyor extending through the transfer station. After shifting a deflector underneath the machining station into a side position out from underneath the grab, the grab is lowered to pick an at least partially unmachined workpiece in the transfer station off the conveyor and then raised with the workpiece into the machining station. The deflector is then shifted between a use position over the transfer station and under the machining station and a side position allowing the spindle to pass.
US08661948B2
A pliers includes a first member having a first head, a first handle, and a first grip. The first grip is positioned on the first handle such that an end portion of the first handle opposite the first head is exposed. The pliers also includes a second member pivotally coupled to the first member. The second member has a second head, a second handle, and a second grip. The second grip is positioned on the second handle such that an end portion of the second handle opposite the second head is exposed. Each grip includes a slot that facilitates sliding the grips onto the first and second handles over the end portions.
US08661937B2
A cam apparatus of a suspended cam type includes a cam driver 2 having a sliding surface 9; a cam slide 3 which is moved with its sliding surface 28 in contact with the sliding surface 9 of the cam driver 2; a cam-slide supporting means 4 for supporting the cam slide 3 movably in an A direction; and a returning mechanism 5 for returning the cam slide 3 to its rear initial position in the A direction of that cam slide 3.
US08661932B2
A speed control device, which is adapted to be used in connection with a derailleur type bicycle or an internal gear hub type bicycle, has one operation mode for up-shifting the speed and another operation mode for down-shifting the speed. The two operation modes can be affected by an operation lever, with the operation lever pivoted in a second rotation direction for the up-shifting operation and in a first rotation direction for the down-shifting operation.
US08661924B2
A system and method for absorbing rock-back and oscillation in a drive assembly of an engine start-stop device. The drive assembly has a pinion with at least two slots that receive axially extending protrusions of a barrel element. Damping elements in the slots and a spring element absorb rock-back and impact oscillations.
US08661919B2
The present invention is intended to improve response property and accuracy of temperature control of a liquid sample, and is provided with a vaporization tank that retains the liquid sample, one or more heaters that are provided in the vaporization tank and respectively have heating parts that come into contact with the liquid sample to heat the liquid sample, a temperature detection part that is provided in contact with an outer surface including the heating part of any of the heaters and detects a temperature of the outer surface, and a control part that receives a temperature detection signal from the temperature detection part to control electric power supplied to the heaters.
US08661905B2
Non-contact microelectronic device inspection systems and methods are discussed and provided. Some embodiments include a method of generating a virtual reference device (or chip). This approach uses a statistics to find devices in a sample set that are most similar and then averages their time domain signals to generate the virtual reference. Signals associated with the virtual reference can then be correlated with time domain signals obtained from the packages under inspection to obtain a quality signature. Defective and non-defective devices are separated by estimating a beta distribution that fits a quality signature histogram of inspected packages and determining a cutoff threshold for an acceptable quality signature. Other aspects, features, and embodiments are also claimed and described.
US08661904B2
The invention relates to a method for investigating a structure and a structure for receiving and/or conducting a liquid or soft medium, the method comprising the steps of: a) exciting acoustic waves in the structure by means of at least one transmitter, b) converting at least a part of the energy associated with the acoustic waves (A) excited in the structure into volume sound waves of the medium, c) reconverting at least a part of the energy associated with the volume sound waves into acoustic wave energy of the structure thereby generating acoustic waves in the structure, d) receiving acoustic waves evoked by the transmitter by at least one receiver, and e) verifying whether a coating is present on a surface of the structure and/or if a coating is present determining properties of the coating by evaluating a signal generated by the receiver upon receipt of acoustic waves evoked by the transmitter and/or verifying whether a level of the medium (5) is below a predetermined value.
US08661901B2
Various systems and methods for sensing are provided. In one embodiment, a sensing system is provided that includes a first electrode array disposed on a proof mass, and a second electrode array disposed on a planar surface of a support structure. The proof mass is attached to the support structure via a compliant coupling such that the first electrode array is positioned substantially parallel to and faces the second electrode array and the proof mass is capable of displacement relative to the support structure. The first electrode array includes a plurality of first patterns of electrodes and the second electrode array includes a plurality of second patterns of electrodes. The sensing system further includes circuitry configured to provide an input voltage to each of the second patterns of electrodes to produce an electrical null position for the first electrode array.
US08661899B2
An apparatus is described that includes a substrate having a first plate and a second plate. The first plate and the second plate collectively have a first mode when excited by a drive signal and have a second mode when excited by a gyroscopic effect. The first and second plates each include a temperature-compensated stack having first and third layers that have a stiffness that increases with increasing temperature over a temperature range with a second layer between the first and third layers, where the second layer is formed from a different material than the first and third layers.
US08661898B2
An apparatus and/or method that corrects for tuning errors in vibrating structure gyroscopes that are configured to be driven along a plurality of axes without the need for dedicated torque elements. The correction is accomplished by introducing a phase offset in the drive signal of one or more of the drive elements relative to other drive elements to minimize or reduce the quadrature signal. The tuning may be accomplished as a one time “set and forget” adjustment, as a manual adjustment performed at the discretion of the user, or as a closed loop active correction system. The technique improves the tuning of the resonator assembly, rather than merely compensating for the mistuning. Accordingly, for various embodiments of the invention, the destructive interference between the plurality of drive axes is reduced. Conservation of vibrational energy present in the resonator is thus enhanced, with less vibrational energy transferred to the support structure.
US08661895B2
Carrying cases for medical devices and components thereof are provided. Also provided are methods for carrying medical devices and for medical testing.
US08661888B2
A thermal disturbance of a rock mass is performed by circulating a fluid through a borehole, a temperature of the circulation fluid differs from a temperature of the rock mass. Before, during and after the thermal disturbance, differential electrical signals proportional to a temperature difference between two points along the borehole are registered by at least one pair of differential temperature transducers disposed along an axis of the borehole Differential electrical signals measured before the thermal disturbance are compared with differential electrical signals measured during the thermal disturbance and differential electrical signals of different temperature transducers positioned along the wellbore borehole are compared with one another. Based on the comparison results of different rock mass areas with different properties are identified.
US08661875B2
Methods and apparatus for detecting a leak in a gas precharged hydraulic accumulator having an initial gas charge entail activating a hydraulic pump to charge the gas precharged hydraulic accumulator and the hydraulic circuit associated with the gas precharged hydraulic accumulator when the hydraulic circuit and the hydraulic accumulator have a temperature that is substantially equivalent to an ambient temperature, e.g., on a cold start. The hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic circuit is monitored, and when a step in the hydraulic pressure is detected, various quantities are measured and used to determine a volumetric efficiency of the pump for use in later calculations of remaining gas amount.
US08661868B2
A twisting apparatus (30) of preformed bar conductors (25) for bar windings of electric machines comprising a twisting device (50) having at least a first (51) and a second body (52) coaxial to one another and extending around a twisting axis (Zt-Zt) defining an axial direction and respectively comprising a first (A1) and a second (A2) circular array of pockets. The twisting device (50) comprises a system for clamping bar conductors comprising at least one sliding clamping element (72, 92) movable in a radial direction with respect to the axial direction (Zt-Zt) to take up an advanced operative position in which it has an end portion (73, 74, 93, 94) that projects inside an associated pocket and a set-back operating position.
US08661867B2
In the metal billet to be used for hot dilation forming, a forward side with respect to the pressing direction has a quadrate section and its diagonal length is not more than an inner diameter of a container. Moreover, a backward side with respect to the pressing direction has a circular section and its diameter is substantially same as the inner diameter of the container. The metal billet is heated to a temperature suitable for press working and is set into a container for press forming. While a center of a workpiece of the metal billet is being bored by a boring punch to be operated by a pressing machine, the metal billet is hot-dilated so that a bottomed container for a cask is formed.
US08661865B2
A programmable cylinder lock includes a stator and a cylindrical rotor mounted therein, having a keyhole and including inside the rotor key followers movable along the longitudinal and transversal directions, and locking pins movable along the longitudinal direction, the followers and locking pins forming together a number of pairs and having toothings for mutually cooperating to define the lock codification, the rotor including a stop bar cooperating with a longitudinal groove of the stator and cooperating with the locking pins, and a change bar slidingly coupled with the followers to keep them engaged with the pins and disengage them therefrom when the bar provides a lock programming position. The bar has projections facing the keyhole, and the use key has corresponding recesses to face the projections when correctly inserted in the lock, whereas the change key has a longitudinal groove extending in a position corresponding to the use key recesses.
US08661862B2
An apparatus and method for enhancing the security of a cluster box unit which includes a protective enclosure, internal cabinetry, door, hinge and locking system. The cluster box unit may also include outgoing mail compartment doors that are heavily constructed and rigidly reinforced, with the locks carried thereon protectively shielded, and with the extensible bolts of these locks being engaged by brackets that not only lock the outgoing mail compartment doors but also the master loading doors of the cluster box units. The cluster box unit may also include master loading doors are provided with hinges that extend the full height of the doors—hinges that are defined by pivotally interfitting elements of extrusions that very sturdily mount the master loading doors, that prevent prying or bending the doors in the vicinities of their hinges. The interfitting elements of the hinge extrusions also permit the doors to be installed on their surrounding door frames quickly and easily, and permit one or both of the master loading doors to be quickly and easily removed for service or replacement when necessary.
US08661846B2
A refrigerant system can be operated in either vapor injection mode or unloaded mode. A restriction to the vapor injection flow is incorporated into the refrigerant system. The restriction is placed on the vapor injection line upstream of a point where the injection line meets the unloader line. In this case, the flow is restricted for the vapor injection mode of operation to a desired level. However, when the refrigerant system operates in the unloaded mode, there is no restriction to the by-pass flow, which is beneficial to the system performance in this mode of operation. In one of the embodiments, the restriction area can be adjusted to achieve the best performance during the vapor injection mode of operation in relation to the operating conditions.
US08661839B2
A portable recovery unit for automatically filling a background tank of blended refrigerant includes a main tank for holding recovered refrigerant from a vehicle A/C system which has a first chemical composition, and an auxiliary tank for holding an auxiliary supply of fresh refrigerant which has a second refrigerant composition. The auxiliary tank is arranged in fluid communication with the main tank so that fluid can be transferred from the auxiliary tank to the main tank. An electronic controller controls the flow of fluid from the auxiliary tank to the main tank. A refrigerant identifier is coupled to the main tank to sample and analyze the refrigerant in the main tank in order to determine the chemical composition of the refrigerant in the main tank, so the refrigerant in the main tank can be purified to an acceptable level based on that analysis.
US08661833B2
A bleed valve module for mounting to a support structure within an aircraft includes a pipe, a plurality of bleed valves connected to the pipe, a plurality of pneumatic actuators connected to the plurality of bleed valves, and a vibration isolating element. The pipe contains a flow of bleed air and includes a plurality of inlets and an outlet. The plurality of bleed valves controls the flow of bleed air in the pipe. The plurality of pneumatic actuators actuate the plurality of bleed valves. The vibration isolating element connects the bleed valve module to the support structure within the aircraft and isolates the bleed valve module from vibration.
US08661831B2
An adaptive vane separator system is provided for use with an inlet filter house of a gas turbine engine system. The vane separator system is coupled to the inlet filter house. The vane separator system includes a slide rail and a plurality of vanes rotatably coupled to the slide rail. The inlet filter house is configured to channel air to an air inlet of a turbine engine. A drive motor is coupled to the vane separator system. The drive motor is operable to selectively move at least one of the vanes to facilitate reducing an amount of moisture channeled through the air inlet.
US08661827B2
A plate-like-object manufacturing method, plate-like objects, a gas-turbine combustor, and a gas turbine, in which degradation in the cooling performance can be suppressed, the time required for manufacturing a gas-turbine combustor can be shortened, and deterioration of the working environment can be prevented are provided. A plate-like-object manufacturing method includes a step of forming a plate-like object by stacking a plurality of plates and arranging a plurality of channels, through which a cooling medium flows, side-by-side between the plurality of plates; and a step of arranging a plurality of the plate-like objects side-by-side in a direction in which the channels are arranged, butting the plurality of plate-like objects against each other, and performing welding at an abutment section. The channels adjacent to the abutment section extend along the abutment section and have a greater dimension in the direction in which the channels are arranged, as compared with that of other channels.
US08661822B2
In one embodiment, a system includes a variable geometry resonator configured to couple to a fluid path upstream from a combustor of a turbine engine. The variable geometry resonator is configured to dampen pressure oscillations in the fluid path and the combustor.
US08661817B2
The coolant in the cooling jacket of a dual cycle internal combustion steam engine is intentionally maintained at an elevated temperature that may typically range from about 225° F.-300° F. or more. A non-aqueous liquid coolant is used to cool the combustion chamber together with a provision for controlling the flow rate and residence time of the coolant within the cooling jacket to maintain the temperature of the coolant at a selected elevated temperature that is substantially above the boiling point of water but below the boiling point of the coolant. The coolant is passed from the jacket through a heat exchanger in a first circuit to transfer heat to a vaporizable working fluid such as water and is then returned. An optional second circuit is an intrajacket perturbation circuit within the engine can be used to disrupt and disperse pockets of vapor that may tend to form before damaging hot spots can develop around the combustion chamber. A cooling jacket design is tailored to extract heat at the highest possible temperature from each heat transfer zone as by having the coolant follow a circuitous helical pathway to achieve more efficient and improved heat transfer from the combustion chamber to the cooling medium.
US08661807B2
The present invention provides a potential energy regenerating system and method and an electricity regenerating system and method. The potential energy regenerating system comprises: a liquid storage bag module, having a compressible liquid storage bag; a pipe line module, including a liquid access opening switch control device and a pipe line connected to the liquid access opening control device; a liquid storage tank module, including a liquid storage tank with a bottom higher than the highest position where the liquid storage bag module can reach; and a squeezing weight module, including a squeezing weight mass and a control device, wherein the squeezing weight mass is placed on a top of the compressible liquid storage bag, and the control device controls to lift and release the squeezing weight mass. The electricity regenerating system uses the foregoing potential energy regenerating system to generate electricity.
US08661798B2
A vehicle exhaust system includes an air entrainment component that is used to reduce exhaust gas temperatures exiting the vehicle exhaust system. The air entrainment component includes an exhaust pipe with a non-circular cross-section at one end and an overlap tube that substantially surrounds the non-circular cross-section to form an air gap between the exhaust pipe and the overlap tube. Cooling external air is drawn into the air gap to cool heated exhaust gases within the exhaust pipe.
US08661789B2
An exhaust purification system for an internal combustion engine capable of lean-burn driving comprises: an NSR catalyst disposed in an exhaust passageway; an SCR disposed downstream of the NSR catalyst; a NOx sensor, disposed downstream of the SCR, for producing output in response to NOx concentration; and rich-spike means for causing a rich-spike. When the NOx sensor has produced output indicative of a NOx concentration higher than a given NOx concentration, the system increases the amount of the NOx contained in the exhaust gas discharged during the rich-spike. Under a given high-load condition, the air-fuel ratio is made stoichiometric during the rich-spike caused at a particular timing. Under a given low-load condition, the amount of exhaust gas is increased during the rich-spike.
US08661785B2
A method for operating a liquid reductant injection system is provided. The method includes storing a reductant mixture of ethanol, water, and urea; drawing the stored mixture into an electrically heated pick-up tube for delivery via a delivery line to the exhaust by operating a pump in a first direction; and, clearing a return line that returns the stored mixture or the delivery line by operating the pump in a second, reverse, direction. In this way, by including ethanol in the reductant solution, a freezing point temperature of the liquid reductant may be reduced.
US08661784B2
A method to improve NOx reduction in diesel engine exhausts by selective catalytic reduction using reductants comprising hydrocarbons, comprising passing the exhaust gases through a series of zones, said zones comprising a first zone in which a first catalyst is located that promotes HC SCR, to yield a first product gas; a second zone through which the first product gas is passed and in which a second catalyst is located that promotes the H2-promoted HC SCR reaction to produce a second product gas and a third zone through which the second product gas is passed and in which a third catalyst is located that promotes CO/H2 SCR to yield a final, NOx-depleted, exhaust gas, and admixing a reformate gas comprising CO and H2 with one or more of the exhaust gases, the first product gas and the second product gas. The use of the series of catalysts offers a sound alternative to urea-based SCR, without requiring a source and storage of urea.
US08661783B2
A heat exchanger is provided for warming fuel prior to introduction of the fuel to an engine, the heat exchanger including: a fuel inlet and a fuel outlet; a heat exchange matrix having heat transfer components past which the fuel flows between said inlet and said outlet and which are arranged to be heated; and swirl inducing means arranged between said inlet and said matrix arranged to cause fuel from said inlet to swirl prior to entering said matrix. By causing the fuel to swirl prior to entering the heat exchange matrix, entrained ice in the fuel can be caused to concentrate at an outer region of the heat exchanger thereby allowing fuel to continue to flow through the heat exchanger to the engine even when ice is present in the fuel.
US08661782B2
A rotating valve assembly includes an inner cup having at least one inlet port; an outer cup having at least one inlet port, the outer cup rotatably mounted concentric with the inner cup by a bearing arrangement; and a cooling system located between the inner cup and the bearing arrangement for providing a thermal barrier between the inner cup and the bearing arrangement. The valve assembly also includes a labyrinth sealing arrangement located around the at least one inlet port of one of the inner and outer cups for preventing leakage of pressure waves generated by detonations or quasi-detonations within a combustion chamber of the inner cup.
US08661780B2
A gas turbine plant is provided with exhaust gas recirculation and includes a main gas turbine having a main compressor and main turbine driving a main generator, and a combustion chamber, with an outlet connected to the inlet of the main gas turbine, has a fuel feed, and via the recuperator's high-pressure side obtains combustion air from the main gas turbine's compressor outlet. The outlet of the main turbine and the inlet of the main compressor are connected via the recuperator's low-pressure side and a cooler for exhaust gas recirculation. On the recuperator's low-pressure side, a charging unit, with a compressor and a turbine is arranged, and draws in air via an air intake and by the outlet of its compressor is connected to the recuperator's low-pressure side outlet and by the inlet of its turbine is connected to a surplus-gas extraction line on the recuperator's low-pressure side.
US08661769B2
A thin-sheet panel assembly. In one embodiment, a substantially rigid thin-sheet panel assembly having a non-rigid thin-sheet component includes the thin-sheet component which has selected plan area and shape, a backer having a plan shape and area substantially similar to the thin-sheet component, and plural riser elements of selected height and configuration each extending from the backer to distal ends connected to a reverse surface of the thin-sheet component, the riser elements being configured and disposed in an array which causes the assembly to have substantial rigidity in a selected direction in the thin-sheet component, and the thin-sheet panel assembly further includes a bar coupled to the backer and extending between at least one pair of adjacent riser elements of the plural riser elements.
US08661751B1
A prefabricated alignment spacer is provided for use as a spacer and to aid with the installation of a siding outside corner. The alignment spacer comprises a body with at least two inner walls and at least two end walls, wherein each of the end walls define an aperture for receiving a fastener to attach the alignment spacer to the outside corner of the building. The alignment spacer is preferably formed to have an angle the corresponds with the angle of the outside corner.
US08661745B2
A trailer security system for use with a trailer having a trailer coupling member, such as a trailer coupling channel. The trailer security system may include a security device joined to the trailer coupling member, a locking device to selectively lock the security device to trailer, and security elements attached to trailer. The security device may be a security box formed from walls that define a space for receiving flanges of the trailer coupler channel. The security box may include slots for receiving the trailer coupling member flanges and may be slid onto the trailer coupling member. The security device may include a post extending from the security box for anchoring the trailer to the ground. Access to lock may be restricted by the security elements and/or the configuration of the security box and post. The security system may include other features to increase the difficulty to tamper with or disable the system.
US08661743B2
A mast assembly for a transportable rig which accommodates the height of wellhead equipment such as BOP and/or valve stacks and permits orientation of a top drive rotor in the mast directly over the wellhead as the top drive moves up and down in the mast. In one embodiment, the mast contains a base portion that supports a moveable portion of the mast assembly. In one embodiment, angularly rearwardly oriented supports are utilized to provide an open space to accommodate the height of the wellhead equipment between upright rails on which the top drive moves so that the top drive rotor can be aligned with the bore of the wellhead equipment.
US08661736B2
A glass run channel for a vehicle door window opening includes first and second mutually spaced legs having relatively high hardness, a trim lip comprising a member having relatively high hardness and a relatively soft laminate covering a surface of the member. The trim lip includes a hard low friction ramp. The laminate incorporates a low durometer bead and the trim lip includes a low durometer interface to one of the legs.
US08661733B2
An electrical door-locking device includes screws which are rotatable in a forwards and backwards direction, and are placed in line on one side of a door frame in the direction in which the electrical door main body slides; locking hooks located adjacent to the screws; and a sliding unit equipped with a rotatably-provided locking lever having a latch for latching onto the locking hooks when the electrical door main body is closed and is equipped with a locking-lever-pressing part for pressing the locking lever such that the latch of the locking lever unlatches from the locking hooks, and one end of which is rotatably linked to the screws and the other end of which is linked to the electrical door main body.
US08661728B2
One nonlimiting variation of a detection arrangement includes one or more sensors each structured to detect at least one biochemical substance indicative of biochemistry of one or more target insect species and provide a corresponding sensor signal, a controller responsive to the sensor signal of each of the one or more sensors to determine if the one or more insect species are present and generate a corresponding output signal, and an indicator responsive to the output signal to indicate the presence of the one or more insect species.
US08661714B2
The shoe is a foldable shoe with sufficient rigidity during use but allows for folding during periods of non-use. The shoe has an upper which is made of a flexible material that makes it possible to push the upper together in the longitudinal direction of the shoe. In a portion of the shoe there are reinforcing elements which run perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the shoe and maintain the form of the shoe in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the shoe. Rigid material is formed around the toe area and the heel area of the shoe. To make the shoe sufficiently rigid for use, an outer element that clamps onto the reinforcing elements, a stiff insole, or both is used.
US08661711B2
A boot laceable by means of a bootlace with a plurality of bootlace-deflecting elements and at least two separating units for dividing the bootlace into a bootlace portion extending in the forefoot region and a bootlace portion extending in the lower leg region, the separating units each comprising a base element fastenable to the boot and an eyelet element, fitted swivellably to the base element, in between which the bootlace may be clamped. The eyelet element comprises a substantially arched clip portion with a middle part and two clip legs. The two clip legs each comprise an opening, wherein the bootlace may be introduced through the one opening into the inside of the arch shape, passed under the middle part and passed back out of the arch shape through the other opening.
US08661706B2
A method for controlling the operation of a clothes dryer by determining a load size estimation based on at least one of a temperature variation of the laundry load and a delay time wherein the delay time is a time it takes for the temperature variation to satisfy a predetermined threshold.
US08661705B2
The present invention relates to a method for producing a polymer material filled with longer fibers, wherein the fibers, which typically have a residual moisture content of approximately 5 to 8% and a minimum length of more than 2 mm, and the carrier material are mixed and heated in a reactor or cutter-compacter, constantly moving them and optionally comminuting the carrier material, and constantly maintaining the pourability and/or lumpiness. According to the invention, the conditions, and particularly the temperature, in the reactor are adjusted so as to dry the fibers to the lowest residual moisture possible, at which the fibers are just barely sufficiently flexible so as not to break during processing in the reactor, or during an optionally following compression step, for example extrusion.
US08661691B2
Garden shears includes two corresponding cutting members, two opposing applying arms and two assembling members. Each cutting member has a main pivot aperture at a middle section thereof, a blade portion above the main pivot aperture, a pushing arc and a sliding arc continuously disposed below the main pivot aperture and a protrusion disposed between the pushing arc and the sliding arc, and an adjustable slot at a lower section. Each applying arm has a driving pivot aperture at a middle section, an eccentric pivot aperture at a top section, a rotation portion corresponding to the sliding arc formed at a top edge, a pushing edge formed at a side of the rotation portion, an indentation formed between the rotation portion and the pushing edge, and a handle at a lower section; wherein the assembling member is a flat member and has at least one securing aperture.
US08661689B2
A razor blade cartridge which has a housing with a proximal end portion, a distal end portion, and one or more blades mounted within the housing. An elongated resilient skin contacting element is joined to the proximal end portion of the housing. The elongated resilient skin contacting element has an alignment array of skin contacting members having a pattern of one or more flexible skin-engaging projections that are generally transverse to one or more of the blades and define a plurality of open channels that facilitate the generally unobstructed passage of hair to one or more of the blades during shaving. The elongated resilient skin contacting element also has at least one additional array of skin contacting members having a pattern that is different than the pattern of the alignment array of skin contacting members.
US08661679B2
A method of manufacturing a bearing device for a wheel, the method including forming an inner shaft so that an outside diameter of the inner shaft at a first portion is smaller than an outside diameter of the inner shaft at a second portion which is adjacent to the first portion, the peripheral surface of the inner shaft at the first portion is to be heat-treated, and the peripheral surface of the inner shaft at the second portion is not to be heat-treated, and the first portion has a predetermined length in an axial direction, and heat-treating the peripheral surface of the inner shaft at the first portion, and finishing a peripheral surface of the inner shaft by lathe turning whereby a step is not formed at a border between the first portion and the second portion.
US08661671B2
A method for making catalytic converters with automated crack detection includes forming a rigid housing, providing a substrate shaped for reception in the housing, and forming a mat shaped to cover the exterior surface of the substrate and having a thickness which creates a tight friction fit between the substrate and the housing when the same are assembled. The mat is wrapped around the substrate, and the wrapped substrate is then stuffed into the housing using a reciprocating ram or the like that extends at a relatively constant speed. The stuffing force and the ram position are measured and recorded regularly to define an array of data. The data is analyzed for any abrupt changes in the stuffing force as a function of the ram position indicating a crack in the assembled substrate.
US08661670B2
A process for producing a structure in a smooth sheet-metal strip includes multiple process steps. In a first step, a first section of a smooth sheet-metal strip is fed to a first tool and a second section of the sheet-metal strip is fed to a second tool in a direction of advance. Then the sheet-metal strip is stopped. A sheet-metal machining of the first section of the sheet-metal strip is carried out using the first tool. A sheet-metal machining of the second section of the sheet-metal strip is carried out using the second tool, with the first feeding step being carried out simultaneously. An apparatus is provided for producing a sheet-metal strip of such a complex structure, which produces the structure with a very high degree of accuracy even when the materials properties differ.
US08661664B2
Techniques for improving the conductivity of copper (Cu)-filled vias are provided. In one aspect, a method of fabricating a Cu-filled via is provided. The method includes the following steps. A via is etched in a dielectric. The via is lined with a diffusion barrier. A thin ruthenium (Ru) layer is conformally deposited onto the diffusion barrier. A thin seed Cu layer is deposited on the Ru layer. A first anneal is performed to increase a grain size of the seed Cu layer. The via is filled with additional Cu. A second anneal is performed to increase the grain size of the additional Cu.
US08661662B1
A method of making a touch-responsive capacitive device includes providing a transparent substrate and forming anisotropically conductive first and second electrodes extending in corresponding first and second orthogonal length directions over the substrate. Anisotropically conductive first and second electrodes each with electrically connected micro-wires are formed on opposing sides of the transparent substrate. The anisotropically conductive first and second electrodes extend in corresponding first and second length directions. The first and second micro-wires are formed with substantially parallel straight micro-wires extending substantially in the corresponding first and second length directions and a plurality of angled micro-wires are formed at a non-orthogonal angle to the straight micro-wires and electrically connect the straight micro-wires so that the anisotropically conductive first and second electrodes have a greater electrical conductivity in the corresponding first and second length directions than in another anisotropically conductive electrode direction.
US08661657B2
A plurality of indicated back-up pin devices are detachably placed on a back-up plate provided on a component mounting apparatus, to a plurality of indicated positions of the back-up plate to support a board from an under surface thereof, to which already mounted components have been mounted, when another components are to be mounted on an upper surface of the board. The back-up pin device comprises a base portion detachably placed on the back-up plate, at least one support pin erected upright on the base portion to support the board by contacting an upper end thereof with an under surface of the board and at least one of an identification mark for identifying the type of the back-up pin device and a position mark as a reference to determine a position of the base portion on the back-up plate, which is provided on the base portion.
US08661656B2
A hydraulic compression tool for securing a compression type cable connector to a prepared end of a coaxial cable. The tool can include a hydraulic assembly having an axially extendable ram, and a connector frame detachably attached to the hydraulic assembly. The connector frame can include a cable cradle configured to accommodate cables of various sizes and a sleeve for engaging a cable connector. The connector frame can further include a sliding guide structure attached to the cable cradle. The sliding guide structure can include a sliding bar and one or more sliding guides. The sleeve can be attached to the sliding bar. The sleeve can be configured to accommodate connectors of various sizes. Activating the hydraulic assembly can cause the ram to extend, which, in turn, can cause the sliding bar to move along the longitudinal axis of the cable connector compressing the compression member and connector body into operative engagement with the cable.
US08661647B2
A mounting apparatus for mounting a data storage device to a chassis includes a main body and two reinforcing members. The main body includes a top surface, a sidewall depending from the top surface, and a supporting wall extending upward from the top surface. Each of the two reinforcing members includes a reinforcing plate, a first fixing plate extending from an edge of the reinforcing member, and a second fixing plate extending from another edge of the reinforcing member. The first fixing plate is fixed on the supporting wall. The second fixing plate is fixed on the top surface.
US08661641B2
A rotor blade assembly tool for coupling a plurality of circumferentially spaced rotor blades to a rotor disc of a turbine rotor assembly, includes a base ring with an array of circumferentially spaced resilient fingers axially extending from the base ring. The resilient fingers are configured each to radially abut a blade seal, damper or other engine component against radially inner facing surfaces of platforms of the respective blades when the blades are being seated onto the disc during an assembly procedure.
US08661618B2
A hinge assembly is movable between open and closed positions and capable of being locked in an open position. The hinge assembly comprises first and second hinge members including, respectively, first and second body portions. A hinge pin assembly cooperates with the hinge members and has aligned internal bores and a longitudinal axis about which the hinge members rotate. A locking pin is movable within the internal bores between a first position and a second position. When the locking pin is in the first position the hinge members cannot rotate relative to one another, and when the locking pin is in the second position the hinge members can rotate relative to one another. A magnetic latch member is mounted to one of the hinge members to hold the locking pin in one of the first or second positions. The locking components may include a mechanical override device to prevent damage.
US08661610B2
A floor cleaner including a nozzle and a handle assembly pivotably mounted to the nozzle. The handle assembly including a handle, a motor housing supporting a suction source in fluid communication with the nozzle, and a bag housing. A door is removably coupled to the bag housing and includes a door handle and a filter bag retaining structure.
US08661604B2
A mechanical cleaning system mop and container for liquid draining including a container having a multifunction handle-lever-pedal element coupled to the container, and a mop especially designed to be used with the container. The mop allows the cleaning of floors, leaving them almost dry. The drainage of the mop is performed by pressing the mop over a back support table for supporting mops of the container and pressing the multifunction handle-lever-pedal element.
US08661603B2
An accessory for supplying liquids to an applicator such as a roller or brush formed by a container and a dispensing device. The upper part of the container is provided with a cover including an opening dimensioned to match the head of the dispensing device, while the periphery of the opening is provided with notches for holding the neck of the roller. The dispensing device is formed by an upper head or cover, a perforated panel perpendicular to the latter, and a second panel including a screen and positioned at the end opposite the cover. The cover is flat and is provided along the periphery thereof with a material that fits hermetically to the opening. The cover is rectangular and the central part thereof widens out into two opposing semicircles, said cover also including a handle.
US08661598B2
An apparatus for cleaning facades including glass surfaces of high rise buildings. The apparatus includes a machine having a frame for attaching components and equipments of a main unit; a thrust provider for generating force to keep the main unit in contact with the facade; a hoist to enable lifting and lowering of the main unit; a laundry unit comprising a fabric sheet to clean the facade; a roller attached to end of extended arms of the main unit; and a control unit installing electrical controls on the main unit. The machine provides a number of novel elements and safety features by applying simple design concept that is practicable to wide range of buildings of glass or flat façades.
US08661593B2
Provided are, among other things, systems, methods and techniques for making a shoe outsole and to shoe outsoles made using such techniques. In one such technique, a sheet of composite material is produced by extruding a base material together with a sheet of fabric material. The sheet of composite material is then cut into an outsole component, and a shoe outsole is fabricated using the outsole component.
US08661589B2
A diaper changing device utilizes a baby supporting member having a supporting surface on which a diaper is to be positioned, naps extend outward from the supporting member and are configured to be foldable over the diaper placed on the supporting surface to maintain the diaper in position on the device. Straps are provided to circumscribe the leg of the user, i.e. the diaper changer, and to maintain the device on the changer's leg. Once the device is secured on the user's leg, the baby is placed on the diaper. The diaper is then wrapped around the baby and secured, all while the baby is positioned upon the device.
US08661586B2
Apparatus and methods for providing therapeutic treatment for symptoms associated with GERD and/or other digestive disorders and/or other medical conditions are described herein. In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a support element that has a first end portion and a second end portion and a top surface disposed at an angle relative to a bottom surface of the support element. The second end portion has a height greater than the first end portion. A riser element is configured to be coupled proximate to the second end portion of the support element. A body element is configured to be disposed on at least one of the support element or the riser element. The body element has a first arm and a second arm connected together by an arc portion.
US08661585B1
The multi-position bed for the infirm or physically disabled patients includes a multi-positional support surface. The support surface includes separate pivotally attached segments adapted to support various parts of a patient's body. Segmented lower portions support the patient's feet and lower legs. An upper segment supports the patient's back, neck and head. A central segment is adapted to support patient's buttocks. All portions can be pivoted through a range of positions. The central segment is provided with movable panels, which can be arranged to form an opening in the bed. A toilet is fixed beneath the bed in alignment with the formed opening. The entire support surface can be vertically adjusted.
US08661582B2
Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to a children's motion device configured to oscillate a child support about a substantially upright axis of rotation. In various embodiments, the portion of the child support configured for supporting the head of a child positioned therein is configured to remain substantially aligned with the axis of rotation as the child support oscillates.
US08661566B1
The reusable abbreviated mitten system provides a rubberized mitten having an abbreviated mitten length such that the mitten reaches only to the base of the thumb of a user, a finger portion, a hand reinforcement cuff, a symmetrical thumb portion, an obround case having an open top, a closed bottom, and an inverted L clip disposed on one side of the case. The mitten provides for quick donning and doffing while saving considerably on materials and production costs to not only provide easy, quick, reusable use, but also to contribute to environmentalism and natural resource savings. The mitten is formed of elastic rubber and alternately non-elastic rubber.
US08667609B2
Various embodiments of the present invention generally relate to trademark searching and notification systems. More specifically, various embodiments of the present invention relate to systems and methods for informing requesters about trademarks similar to a provided input. Some embodiments of the present invention provide for a proactive system in which users are notified of similar trademarks before using specific term(s) and users proceed after understanding which trademarks actually exist and what areas those trademarks actually entail, and possibly being notified of newly applied trademarks and modified trademarks at later times that are similar to the specific term(s) being used.
US08667603B2
Systems and methods for searching secure electronic messages. An input search is received for use in searching content of electronic messages. The search includes searching content of secure electronic messages. The results of the search are provided.
US08667596B2
Systems and methods for network curation are disclosed. In some embodiments, a method comprises scanning, by a mobile device, an area to identify a network device for accessing a network, receiving, by the mobile device, a network identifier associated with the network device, providing a curation indicator request to a curation server, the curation indicator request comprising the network identifier, receiving a curation indicator from the curation server, the curation indicator being retrieved, based on the network identifier, from a database of a plurality of curation indicators, the curation indicator associated with a likelihood of intent to publicly share the network by the network device, comparing the curation indicator to an access setting, the access setting indicating acceptability of network access based on the likelihood of intent to publicly share the network by the network device, and accessing the network via the network device based on the comparison.
US08667580B2
A system may include a memory having a unique identifier that uniquely identifies the memory. A package may be communicatively coupled to the memory. The package may include a processor, an identifier storage, and a boot storage. The identifier storage may store the unique identifier from the memory. The boot storage may include instructions to control booting of the processor based on the unique identifier in the identifier storage.
US08667573B2
Described herein is a technique of protecting users against certain types of Internet attacks. The technique involves obtaining certificates from visited web sites and qualifying communications with those web sites based on the content of the certificates.
US08667571B2
A method comprising providing a plurality of links to a plurality of end-user devices communicatively coupled to a network system, a particular link of the plurality of links supporting control-plane communications between the network system and a particular end-user device of the plurality of end-user devices over one or more wireless access networks; receiving a message from a server communicatively coupled to the network system, the message comprising payload for delivery to the particular end-user device; generating an encrypted message comprising the payload and an identifier identifying a particular device agent of a plurality of device agents on the particular end-user device, the identifier configured to assist in delivering at least a portion of the payload to the particular device agent on the particular end-user device; and sending the encrypted message to the particular end-user device over the particular link.
US08667567B2
Provided are a method, system, and computer storage device for managing zone information for devices in a network. A zone group table includes entries for different pairs of zones, wherein each entry indicates whether access between a pair of the zones is permitted. An attribute zone table indicates whether devices in the zones are initiator, target and/or initiator/target. For a selected zone, indication is made of whether ports in the devices in the selected zone have an initiator, target and/or initiator/target attribute as indicated in the attribute zone table. A determination is made as to whether all the ports in the devices in the selected zone have the same attribute of initiator, target or initiator/target. If so, a division proposal is indicated for the selected zone proposing to separate devices in the selected zone into at least one new zone.
US08667566B2
A method and system for allowing access to computer functions such as websites that utilizes a user's ability to recognize sounds is described. The method presents a user a series of sounds. Some of the sounds presented in the series are labeled as validation sounds. The user is asked to provide an input every time he or she hears the validation sound. The user must identify the sound within a specified length of time. The system disclosed comprises a user interface, a sound database module, a generation module, and a sound database module. The generation module creates the validation test file and expected answer. The answer confirmation module checks the input from the requesting computer and provides access to the computer function if the computer input from the requesting computer meets the required parameters.
US08667564B1
A method, system, and device are provided for bootstrapping a Session Initiation Protocol Proxy for a mobile device when the Home Agent is bootstrapped for the device. When an authentication server obtains a Home Agent address for the mobile device, it also obtains a Session Initiation Protocol Proxy address, associated with the Home Agent, for the mobile device. The Session Initiation Protocol Proxy address is sent to the mobile device along with the Home Agent address.
US08667563B1
When a user successfully authenticates into a website associated with an institution system, a cookie may be created and set on the web browser, and cookie information and additional information such as the associated internet protocol (IP) address or network interface card (NIC) identifier may be stored at the institution system. Later, when the user accesses the website again, the website may use the cookie, the cookie information, and additional information such as the stored IP address or NIC identifier to identify the user. After the user is identified, one or more pages of content may be personalized to the user, and provided to the user via the user's computing device.
US08667561B2
The present disclosure discloses a method, apparatus, and server for user verification to store a plurality of pictures in a database and define a plurality of rotational directions. The method includes: when receiving from a client a request for a checkcode, rotating a picture retrieved from a database according to a defined rotational direction; after storing a correlation between an identification of the client and the rotational direction of the retrieved picture, outputting the rotated picture to the client; receiving a rotational direction of the picture from the client; finding the stored correlation between the identification of the client and the stored rotational direction of the retrieved picture according to the identification of the client; determining whether or not the rotational direction of the picture returned from the client matches the stored rotational direction. If they match, user verification is passed; otherwise, the user verification is failed. The large number of pictures in the database makes it difficult for enumeration. In addition, by using the rotational direction as identification information to verify user, the safety and accuracy of user verification can be enhanced.
US08667559B1
A system and method for the real-time management of a device, and more particularly to the establishment and enforcement of policies or rules associated with the feature or functions that may be performed with the device, such as making and receiving calls, exchanging data, playing games and music, sending and receiving email, accessing web sites, and paying for goods and services. If a child or employee is using the device, there may be a need to regulate how that device can be used and to determine who will pay for what goods or services. In addition to providing all of the features associated with a device, service providers need to be able to establish and enforce rules (policies) regulating how and when that device can be used and who will pay for a good or service requested by the user of the device.
US08667555B1
A system receives user data associated with a user device and integrity policies associated with the user data, and distributes the user data and the integrity policies to one or more remote integrity servers. The system further receives integrity results from the one or more remote integrity servers based on the user data and the integrity policies, and collates the integrity results to formulate an access recommendation or a single integrity result for the user device.
US08667552B2
A system, method and apparatus to enable a form of addressable advertising content delivery in which multiple addressable content streams are sent in a transport multiplex, Addressable Content Channel Multiplex, different from the Primary Channel Multiplex on which the Primary Channel is delivered describe the present invention. The Primary Channel is network stream onto which the addressable content is to be inserted. Seamless switch between the Primary Channel and the addressable content streams on the Addressable Content Channel Multiplex is accomplished by using Receiver stored content as interim buffers to which the switching happens prior to switching to a different transport multiplex. These buffers in effect feed the audio and video decoders with content, during the time it takes for the tuner to switch to a different transport multiplex. Two content buffers, Pre-roll and Post-roll are used during switching, one from Primary Channel Multiplex to Addressable Content Channel Multiplex and another when switching from the Addressable Content Channel Multiplex to the Primary Channel Multiplex.
US08667551B2
A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a media processor communicatively coupled to a remote controller by way of a wireless interface. The media processor can have a controller to wirelessly transmit to the remote controller provisioning information stored in the media processor for restoring at least a portion of the provisioning information stored in the media processor. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US08667549B2
A web-based service which provides a notification such an email to a user to facilitate managing the recording of broadcast content using a personal video recorder (PVR). The user can agree to participate in the service in exchange for emails which can provide information such as a summary of programs recorded over a few days, missed recordings, and scheduling conflicts. The notification can include targeted recommendations, targeted advertising and information about recording habits of members of a social network of the user. A notification can be provided on an urgent basis if program schedule conflicts or hardware or software problems with the user's equipment are detected. The user's equipment can include a PC-based PVR, or a PC which communicates with a separate PVR device. PC-related information such as events thrown can also be reported up to the web service.
US08667546B2
A method and apparatus for secure transfer and playback of multimedia content enables the secure transfer of multimedia content from a digital video recorder (DVR) to a personal computer (PC) and further to a handheld device. A DVR determines which devices on a Local Area Network (LAN) are authorized to share and/or retrieve content from the DVR. The DVR receives a connection request from a PC on the LAN, authorizes the connection request and establishes a secure connection between the DVR and the PC. Once the secure connection is established, the DVR receives a request for multimedia content from the PC, prepares the multimedia content for transfer and transfers the multimedia content to the PC.
US08667542B1
A mobile electronic device is provided. The mobile electronic device comprises a radio receiver, an application that selects a message, and an output device to present the message. The radio receiver receives the message broadcast in a television spectrum band. The application, when executed on the mobile electronic device, selects the message for presentation on the mobile electronic device based on at least one of a location of the mobile electronic, a history based user profile associated with the mobile electronic device, and a selection criteria input into the mobile electronic device. The output device then presents the message.
US08667540B2
A web-based video broadcast system, comprising at least one web page in communication with a host system to permit a plurality of users and a plurality of content providers to access the host system. The host system is programmed to register a plurality of channels, each associated with a unique channel identifier, and to associate each of at least a portion of the plurality of channels with at least one content provider responsive to a request by the at least one content provider. The host system is further programmed to permit the at least one content provider associated with a channel to selectively upload to the host system at least one video file and associate the at least one video file with the channel. The host system is further programmed to store the at least one video file and continuously display the at least one video file responsive to a user selecting the channel via the at least one web page.
US08667537B2
Upon start of processing, a digital broadcast receiver can acquire a CDN configuration information file (XML) after newly connected to a CDN by a user's operation. Next, the digital broadcast receiver acquires a PF configuration information file written in the CDN configuration information. The digital broadcast receiver judges whether there is an IP broadcast or not. If there is an IP broadcast, the digital broadcast receiver connects to a multicast address described in the PF configuration information file (XML), and acquires information on all channels in the PF from a SI dedicated stream (all station SI including no video or audio) (channel scan). The URL of a SNTP is described in the CDN configuration information file. Time information is acquired through the SNTP at the same time as (or at a timing near the timing of, such as immediately before or immediately after) the channel scan. The above processing enables easy time acquisition which is a problem peculiar to an IPTV with which viewing of an IP broadcast is possible.
US08667531B2
A server receives a source signal stream having a channel identifier and an indication that an advertisement placement opportunity is located in the signal stream a time period prior to an advertisement signal point. The server transmits the channel identifier to a session manager. The server receives from the session manager a list of sessions corresponding to a number of recipients currently viewing a channel corresponding to the channel identifier. The server transmits to an ad decision service an ad call for each session in the list. The server receives from the ad decision service a plurality of advertisements targeted to the list. The server stores the plurality of advertisements in at least one cache prior to expiration of the time period, where the advertisement signal point is detected by the programmed computer.
US08667529B2
A method of operating a video services system is presented here. The method presents an audiovisual stream to a user of a video services receiver. The audiovisual stream includes a first segment of primary audiovisual content, a second segment of primary audiovisual content, and a segment of secondary audiovisual content between the first segment of primary audiovisual content and the second segment of primary audiovisual content. The method continues by detecting presentation of the segment of secondary audiovisual content, obtaining a segment of audiovisual exercise content at the video services receiver, and presenting the segment of audiovisual exercise content concurrently with the segment of secondary audiovisual content.
US08667527B2
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, an apparatus and a system for playing a targeted advertisement. An access switch receives an IGMP join packet sent by a user end, snoops the IGMP join packet, and obtains a first mapping relationship; establishes a first multicast forwarding entry according to the first mapping relationship and a pre-saved second mapping relationship between the access port and a virtual local area network of a targeted advertisement user group; and receives an advertisement media stream sent by an access router, and forwards the advertisement media stream to the targeted advertisement user group by using the access port corresponding to the virtual local area network of the targeted advertisement user group according to the first multicast forwarding entry. In this way, the problems that placing precision of a region-targeted advertisement is low and audience rating is poor in the prior art is solved.
US08667524B2
A digital television signal for receiving program and system information protocol (PSIP) data, a method for processing the digital television signal, and a digital television receiver are disclosed. The digital television signal used in the digital television receiver in order to receive a program system information protocol (PSIP) data from a broadcast transmitter includes a rating region table containing the PSIP data. Herein, the rating region table includes a global rating value field defining a global rating value which is valid for all graphical rating regions, a rating region field defining a specific graphical rating region to be associated with the rating region table, and at least one local rating value field identifying a local rating value which is valid for the specific graphical rating region only.
US08667520B2
The MOBILE CONTENT TRACKING PLATFORM METHODS (“Mobile-Track”) transforms TV program schedule listing information and user channel selection via Mobile-Track components, into TV audience viewing data and ad effects data. A method is disclosed, comprising: obtaining TV program schedule listing data; providing the obtained TV program schedule listing data to a user mobile device; receiving an indication of user channel selection; determining a media program associated with the received indication of user channel selection; determining an ad associated with the determined media program; providing a survey question related to the determined ad to the user mobile device; and receiving a user response to the survey question.
US08667514B2
Information describing a type registration regarding which an action is being requested by the client application is received as one or more parameters of an application programming interface method invoked by the client application. Based on the one or more parameters, one of multiple type extensions to which the action being requested corresponds is determined. At least part of the information describing the type registration is sent to the one of the multiple type extensions, and the one of the multiple type extensions performs the action being requested.
US08667509B1
Event management techniques for use in a computer system comprising an event generating component generating at least one event and an event handling component to apply one or more business process rules in response to the event. In one embodiment of the invention, an event generation component provides to an event handling component not only notification of an event but also context information about the event, in the same communication. The context information may provide all the information necessary for the event handling component to apply one or more business policy rules to determine how to handle the event. In some implementations having multiple event handling components of different types, the event generating component may be configured to provide notification of events to the event handling components in a specified order. In some implementations, multiple event handling components may be joined in a logical pool, sharing responsibility for handling events.
US08667500B1
Processes are balanced among multiple computer systems. The allocation policies and resource demands of multiple processes executing on multiple computer systems are used to determine the resource imbalance of the computer systems. Resource imbalance can be used to determine whether a process should be migrated from one computer system to another. Resource imbalance of multiple resources can be combined to determine overall imbalance of the computer systems. Overall imbalance can be used to determine whether a process should be migrated from one computer system to another. Imbalance of resources can be determined for resources such as processor time, memory, network bandwidth, and storage. Virtual machines can be balanced among multiple computer systems operating in a cluster.
US08667498B2
Described herein are some embodiments that use smart objects in a virtual universe to conserve computing resources. Some embodiments describe detecting that a virtual object of the virtual universe enters a resource conservation area in the virtual universe. Some embodiments further include, in response to determining that the virtual object enters the resource conservation area, detecting that the virtual object has a setting that enables automatic reduction of display quality of the virtual object from a first display quality level. Some embodiments further include, in response to determining that the virtual object has the setting that enables the automatic reduction in display quality from the first display quality setting, automatically reducing the display quality of the virtual object from the first display quality level to a second display quality level less than the first display quality level.
US08667497B2
At least one additional resource group attribute is defined to specify at least one policy prescribing a copy services relationship between two of the storage resources. Pursuant to a request to establish the copy services relationship between the two storage resources, each of the two storage resources exchange resource group labels corresponding to which of the plurality of resource groups the two storage resources are assigned, and each of the two storage resources validates the requested copy services relationship and the resource group label of an opposing one of the two storage resources against the individual ones of the at least one additional resource group attribute in the resource group object to determine if the copy services relationship may proceed.
US08667487B1
According to one general aspect, a method of managing a web browser extension by an apparatus may include executing, by a processor included by the apparatus, a web browser. The method may include installing on the apparatus, via the web browser, a web browser extension. In one embodiment, the web browser extension may include at least one web page configured to alter the functionality of the web browser, and a substantially unique identifier (UID) based upon a public encryption key. The method may further include launching, via the web browser, the web browser extension based upon the substantially unique identifier.
US08667484B2
A method for managing a plurality of bundles in an open services gateway initiative service platform includes adding the plurality of bundles into a service list and generating configuration files corresponding to the plurality of bundles, storing the configuration files, updating a status corresponding to a first bundle of the plurality of bundles in the service list when the first bundle is initiated, and loading a configuration file corresponding to the first bundle.
US08667480B1
Embodiments of invention relate to automatically updating browser extensions. In an embodiment, a method for updating browser extensions is provided. In the method, an input to execute a browser extension installed in a local browser extension database is received. In response to receipt of the input, a remote server is automatically communicated with to determine whether a portion of the browser extension should be updated. An updated portion of the browser extension is received if the browser extension should be updated. Finally, the updated portion of the browser extension is installed in the local browser extension database.
US08667471B2
A system and method are provided to customize profiling sessions. In one embodiment, a profiling session at a first virtual machine is initiated, the profiling session including tracking a profiling event occurring at threads, each thread having associated semantical information corresponding to a plurality of profiling entities. A request from a second virtual machine is received specifying extracting profiling information when a profiling entity executes a thread where the profiling event occurs. The profiling information relating to the profiling entity is extracted as requested by the second virtual machine. The profiling information is communicated to the second virtual machine.
US08667466B2
Interface identifier parameterization techniques are described. In one or more implementations, a textual description is obtained of a parametric type represented in a binary standard of a programming model and an interface identifier is generated based at least in part on the obtained textual description of the parametric type.
US08667463B2
Exemplary embodiments employ a mapping among entities that are related to each other. The entities may include a graphical model, generated code, a generated report, a requirements document and/or an intermediate representation. The mapping may facilitate graphical identifications between parts of one entity that maps to part of another entity. The graphical identification may occur based on a selection of a part in one of the entities.
US08667458B2
A method is implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium having programming instructions. The programming instructions are operable to receive data including code inspection services defect analysis data of a software development project and process the data. Additionally, the programming instructions are operable to determine one or more business metrics based on the data and generate at least one report based on the one or more business metrics.
US08667457B2
A slot management system including a download and configuration server-based sub-system and method is disclosed for use with game devices, systems, and methods is provided to enable users to monitor, control, and modify different game devices and other related activities. The slot management system includes a validator that validates assignments to modify game devices.
US08667456B1
Disclosed are systems, methods, and devices for providing cloud-based indexing services to cloud-based and client-based software development environments. For example, integrated development environment (IDE) services may be provided at a client device via a cloud-based indexing service, and an indexing request related to source code at least partially loaded at the client device transmitted to the cloud-based indexing service with respect to a type of indexing request selected from a code completion request, a usages request, an annotations listing request, and a refactoring request. The cloud-based indexing service may then access one or more indexes maintained at the cloud-based indexing service, and provide responsive index information to the client device, the index information included in the responsive index information being less than all index information from the one or more indexes corresponding to the source code at least partially loaded at the client device. The responsive index information can then be displayed at the client device.
US08667454B1
The present disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for synthesis of device I/O associated with a printed circuit board (PCB) design. The method may include generating a first programmable device model and a second device model. The method may further include determining one or more pin assignments associated with the first programmable device model and the second device model based upon, at least in part, one or more of a breakout pattern, a breakout location and a fanout location, the one or more pin assignments configured to minimize one or more crossovers.
US08667452B2
A method includes defining and storing one or more attributes of a source resonator and a device resonator forming a system, defining and storing the interaction between the source resonator and the device resonator, modeling the electromagnetic performance of the system to derive one or more modeled values and utilizing the derived one or more modeled values to design an impedance matching network.
US08667446B2
Exemplary impedance extraction methods, systems, and apparatus are described herein. In one exemplary embodiment, for instance, a signal-wire segment of a circuit layout is selected. A predetermined number of return paths are identified for the selected signal-wire segment. The selected signal-wire segment and the identified return paths are further segmented into a plurality of bundles, which comprise signal-wire subsegments and one or more associated return-path subsegments that are parallel to and have the same length as the signal-wire subsegments. Loop inductance values and loop resistance values are determined and stored for the signal-wire subsegments in the bundles for at least one frequency of operation. Computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform any of the disclosed methods or storing data or information created or modified using any of the disclosed techniques are also disclosed.
US08667442B1
A method for calculating leakage current associated with an integrated circuit, includes selecting a sampling point at which an input signal for the integrated circuit is in a quiescent state and determining the leakage current associated with the integrated circuit using the selected sampling point.
US08667441B2
A physical synthesis tool for dock optimization with local clock buffer control optimization is provided. The physical synthesis flow consists of delaying the exposure of clock routes until after the clock optimization placement stage. The physical synthesis tool clones first local clock buffers. Then, the physical synthesis tool runs timing analysis on the whole design to compute the impact of this necessarily disruptive step. After cloning local clock buffers, the physical synthesis tool adds an extra optimization step to target the control signals that drive the local clock buffers. This optimization step may includes latch cloning, timing-driven placement, buffer insertion, and repowering. The flow alleviates high-fanout nets and produces significantly better timing going into clock optimization placement. After placement, the physical synthesis tool fixes latches and local clock buffers in place, inserts clock routes, and repowers local clock buffers.
US08667438B2
Disclosed is a technique for providing minimal sequential overhead in a flip-flop circuit. Equalization of setup times is achieved in one embodiment. In addition, delays in clock to Q can be equalized for both rising data transitions and falling data transitions. Large setup times are not required since optimization techniques equalize setup times for both rising and falling data transitions.
US08667436B1
The disclosure describes approaches for processing a circuit design. For each object of a plurality of objects of the circuit design, a respective key is generated as a function of a plurality of configuration parameter values of the object. Each object is renamed with a unique name that includes the key. A netlist of the circuit design is generated using the unique names and keys of the objects.
US08667433B2
A polishing estimation/evaluation device includes a dividing unit, an overpolished area extracting unit, and a dummy modifying unit. The dividing unit divides a layout of an integrated circuit into a plurality of partial areas. The overpolished area extracting unit refers to an overpolishing condition indicating whether overpolishing occurs in a vicinity of a partial area based on a wiring density in the partial area and a wiring density in surrounding areas of the partial area, and extracts a partial area where the overpolishing occurs from the plurality of partial areas obtained by the division by the dividing unit. The dummy modifying unit modifies dummy wiring in the partial area where the overpolishing occurs extracted by the overpolished area extracting unit and/or dummy wiring in surrounding areas of the partial area to reduce the number of partial areas where the overpolishing occurs.
US08667428B1
In an exemplary embodiment, a method of fabricating an integrated circuit includes designing an optical photomask for forming a pre-pattern opening in a photoresist layer on a semiconductor substrate, wherein the photoresist layer and the pre-pattern opening are coated with a self-assembly material that undergoes directed self-assembly (DSA) to form a DSA pattern. The step of designing the optical photomask includes using a computing system, inputting a DSA target pattern, and using the computing system, applying a DSA model to the DSA target pattern to generate a first DSA directing pattern. Further, the step of designing the optical photomask includes using the computing system, calculating a residual between the DSA target pattern and the DSA directing pattern, and using the computing system, applying the DSA model to the first DSA directing pattern and the residual to generate a second, updated DSA directing pattern.
US08667424B2
A method of displaying points of interest in a personal navigation device includes displaying a map on a display of the personal navigation device, receiving touch input at a touched position of the display, displaying points of interest located near the touched position, wherein the points of interest are represented by icons, each icon being connected to its location on the map with a line extending out from the touched position, and spreading out the icons around the touched position to separate the icons from each other, the spread out icons being displayed in a pattern around the touched position, wherein a length of the line connecting each icon to its location on the map is not directly proportional to a distance from the corresponding point of interest to the touched position.
US08667414B2
A computing device is operatively coupled to a presence-sensitive surface associated with a virtual keyboard. The computing device receives an indication of a gesture input on a portion of the presence-sensitive surface associated with the virtual keyboard. In response, the computing device defines a series of input points that represent a path of the gesture input across the virtual keyboard. In addition, the computing device defines anchor points for virtual keys of the virtual keyboard. The computing device then determines distance scores for the anchor points words based on distances on the presence-sensitive surface between the input points and the anchor points. The computing device identifies a word that corresponds to the gesture input based on the distance scores for the anchor points.
US08667410B2
In a method for computer-aided transfer of data from a document application into a data application having a set of data fields, a document is displayed in the document application opened on a computer with a display device, and wherein from the document data are to be transferred into the data application also opened on the computer. A name of a data field into which data are to be transferred is displayed on the display device. Via identification of a corresponding data value in the document on the display device, a character string representing the data value is automatically read out from the document and entered into the data field corresponding to the data field name in the data application via actuation of a predetermined button.
US08667402B2
A method is provided for visualizing communications in a social setting. A graphical virtual social venue is provided. Users of one or more social networks are invited to enter the venue and to participate in and share a social experience. Users are graphically represented within the virtual social venue and are able to communicate with each other. When users communicate with each other, the communications are tracked and visually represented in the virtual social venue with visual overlays. The visual overlays signify communicatively active parts of the social venue while keeping private the contents of the communication.
US08667399B1
Control planes of virtual resource providers may be customized in a secure, stable and efficient manner with virtual control planes. Control planes may be modularized. Control plane modules may be supplied with data from standardized sensors, and required to generate standardized resource configuration requests responsive to solicitations with specified response latencies. Custom control plane modules may be selected to replace or complement default control plane modules. Financial and computational costs associated with control plane modules may be tracked. Competing resource configurations may be mediated by a control plane supervisor. Such mediation may be based on control plane module reputation scores. Reputation scores may be based on customer feedback ratings and/or measured performance with respect to module goals. Mediated configuration parameter values may be based on a combination of competing configuration parameter values weighted according to reputation. Contribution of individual modules to goal achievement may be tracked and rewarded accordingly.
US08667393B2
A system for providing supplemental content, e.g. purchase information and/or URLs, to a user includes a server and client computing platforms. The supplemental content is related to printed content from a printed publication, such as a magazine. A specific set of printed content, such as a page in a magazine, may include multiple content items that may be of particular interest to the user. The user requests the supplemental content regarding a specific content item by selecting a user-selectable field, e.g. presented via a display of a client computing platform, that corresponds to the specific content item.
US08667392B2
Techniques are provided for receiving user requests for a document job. The document job prints characteristics for making markings on a media sheet and an indication to perform fold operations for creating a folded piece. User inputs to identify the outside page designation of the folded piece, first fold direction, fold type, and an outside portion designation. The “outside page designation” indicates the side of the media sheet to contain markings to appear on the exterior of the folded piece. The input for the direction of the first fold includes whether the direction of the first fold is perpendicular to the relatively longer or shorter end of the sheet. After printing, automatic folding of the media sheet(s) into the folded piece is enabled using only the outside page designation, the direction of the first fold, the type of fold, and the outside portion designation.
US08667391B2
A method of enabling input into a handheld electronic device comprises detecting as an ambiguous input an actuation of one or more input members, employing an operative input method language to output a number of objects that are selectable and that each comprise at least a portion of a language object that corresponds with the ambiguous input, outputting at a location adjacent the number of objects an indicator representative of the operative input method language, detecting an input from a multiple-axis input device as being a selection input with respect to the indicator and, responsive thereto, outputting a menu of input method languages selectable as alternate operative input method languages.
US08667389B2
Method for transforming an input data structure to an output data structure according to requirements specified in a transformation template. The method includes translating an input data structure in an input container format to an output data structure in a different output container format and converting an input data structure to an output data structure where the structures have the same container format. During transformation, modifications to the structure and/or content of the input data structure may be made. The resulting output data structure is dynamically determined based on the structure and content of the input data structure. The input data structure is represented by a data structure tree, each node of the tree having an associated scope dictionary containing zero or more key-value pairs. The tree is traversed downwards as scope dictionaries are created and/or modified and traversed upwards as data of the output data structure tree is created.
US08667380B2
A transmitter device (110T) for secure communication includes: an encoder (170) configured to apply a non-systematic error correcting code (NS ECC) to a message, thus producing encoded bits with no clear message bits; and a transceiver (720) configured to transmit the encoded bits over a main channel to a receiver. A method for secure communication includes: encoding a message with an NS ECC to produce an encoded message carrying no message bits in the clear; and transmitting the encoded message over a main channel (120). The NS ECC characteristics result in an eavesdropper channel error probability under a security threshold (320) and a main channel error probability over a reliability threshold (310), whenever an eavesdropper (140) listening on an eavesdropper channel (150) is more than distance Z (220) from the transmitter. Unreliable bits in the encoded bits render the eavesdropper unable to reliably decode messages on the main channel.
US08667379B2
An apparatus and method are disclosed to receive information and to generate, store, and read, a plurality of error correction coded data sets using that information. Applicants' storage controller receives information and generates (N) sets of error correction coded data, wherein (N) is greater than or equal to 2. The method writes, for each value of (i), the (i)th set of error correction coded data to the (i)th data storage medium, wherein (i) is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to (N). If Applicants' storage controller receives a request to read the information, then Applicants' method reads each of the (N) error correction coded data sets, generates the information using the (N) error correction coded data sets, and returns the information to the requestor.
US08667370B1
A system including a processor, a FIFO, and an arbiter module. The processor includes a processor core and a memory. The processor core processes data stored in a memory and executes instructions using the memory. The FIFO receives streaming data and outputs the streaming data to the memory. The arbiter module, in response to the FIFO not being filled to a predetermined threshold, allows the processor core to access the memory at a higher priority than the FIFO to permit the processor core to process data including any streaming data stored in the memory, and to execute instructions using the memory. The arbiter module, in response to the FIFO being filled to the predetermined threshold, allows the FIFO to access the memory at the higher priority than the processor core to permit the FIFO to output the streaming data, without having the FIFO overflow, to the memory.
US08667356B2
Disclosed is a method for triggering retransmission in a multicast system, including a base station eNB setting a retransmission condition based on a channel state indication and transmitting the set retransmission condition to a user equipment UE; and the UE comparing the current channel state indication of the UE with the received retransmission condition when receiving an error block, and feeding back a NACK signaling to the eNB trigger a retransmission when the retransmission condition is satisfied. The method according to the present invention is to restrict the trigger of the NACK signaling, by setting the condition of the UE feeding back the NACK signaling when the UE received the error block. Then the feedback signaling on the uplink channel would be restricted, and the retransmission probability would be limited in an appropriate region as in Rel 6 HSDPA, therefore the optimal ratio of efficiency over power would be achieved. Consequently, the number of NACK signaling is restricted so as to avoid the uplink overload. Meanwhile, the retransmission probability is limited so that the optimal ratio of efficiency over power may be achieved.
US08667354B2
A method and apparatus for a computer memory test structure. An embodiment of a method for testing of a memory board includes testing a memory of the memory board, where testing the memory including use of a built-in self-test structure to provide a first test pattern for the memory. The method further includes testing an IO (input output) interface of the memory with a host, where testing of the IO interface includes use of the built-in self-test structure to provide a second test pattern for the IO interface.
US08667349B2
A scan-flip flop circuit includes an input stage for providing a data signal to a data node, wherein the input stage includes first and second stacks of transistors devices coupled to the data node. The first stack receives a data input signal during a normal operation mode for input to the data node, and the second stack receiving a scan input signal during a scan test mode for input to the data node. The scan flip-flop circuit also includes a master latch coupled directly to the data node for latching the data signal from the input stage and outputting the data signal; a slave latch coupled to an output of the master latch for latching the output from the master latch and outputting the output; and a scan and clock control logic module. The scan and clock control logic module controls the first stack to input the data input signal to the data node during normal operation mode.
US08667347B2
A system for calibrating timing for write operations between a memory controller and a memory device. During operation, the system identifies a time gap required to transition from writing data from the memory controller to the memory device to reading data from the memory device to the memory controller. The system then transmits a test data pattern to the memory device within the time gap. The system subsequently uses the received test data pattern to calibrate a phase relationship between a received timing signal and data transmitted from the memory controller to the memory device during write operations.
US08667346B2
A debug system scans a scan memory element group having a plurality of scan memory elements which are connected in series in a semiconductor integrated circuit device and collects data in the scan memory element group. The semiconductor integrated circuit device has an end code register which is provided between an input terminal and an input side of the scan memory element group and holds an end code, a start code register which is provided between an output terminal and an output side of the scan memory element group and holds a start code, and a scan control circuit which controls shift operations of the scan memory element group, the end code register and the start code register, and outputs scan data to the output terminal.
US08667343B2
A customized bit error rate tester that characterizes data transmission through a free space optical channel that overcomes the limitations of commercial based bit error rate testers by providing visibility into packet based channel capacity by measuring bit-level statistics not dominated by fades. In this manner, fade characteristics can be measured and a relationship between fade time and data packet lengths can be developed. Further, analog outputs provide visual real-time data link statistics.
US08667342B2
The subject matter described herein is directed to an apparatus and a method for reduction of bit errors in continuous data transmission via a data transmission medium, the apparatus having a monitoring unit for monitoring of transceiver parameters of at least one transceiver transmitting said data and/or medium parameters of said data transmission medium and a calculation unit for predicting a time and a duration of an occurrence of at least one event affecting a bit error rate of said continuous data transmission depending on the monitored parameter; and a control unit for throttling a bandwidth of a data switch connected to said transceiver during the predicted duration of the event for bit error reduction.
US08667339B2
A server apparatus, a mobile terminal, an electric appliance, a communication system, a communication method and a program for notifying a mobile terminal user in the open of the cause of a failure of P2P connection. In a communication system, an electric appliance (101), a server apparatus (103) and a mobile terminal (105) each detect a failure in preparation for P2P connection between the electric appliance (101) and the mobile terminal (105). When the electric appliance (101) detects the failure, it notifies the mobile terminal (105) of the failure via the server apparatus (103). When the server apparatus (103) detects the failure, it notifies the mobile terminal (105) of the failure. The mobile terminal (105) notifies the user of the failure detected by the mobile terminal itself or of the failure notified of by the server apparatus (103).
US08667338B2
A system and method for a software override capability for enforcing a predetermined state for an otherwise hardware-programmable device. Software that may think it knows what it is doing may try to control a hardware device, but may not know about a hardware issue, such as another feature or defect requiring that the device stay in a certain state. The technique programmatically maintains a persistent hardware state independent of any other control software. To other software, the software layer of the invention is indistinguishable and inseparable from hardware. Nothing can slip in between. Any insertion attempt will be detected and disallowed. Features of the processor or system chips actually weld the software to the hardware, which feature disallows any software intervention between the welded software layer and the hardware.
US08667332B2
A method for optimizing a diagnostic reasoner model, for use in connection with a diagnostic system for testing a system under test of an aircraft, includes the steps of querying for a plurality of primary indicators, further querying for a plurality of supplemental indicators, and updating the diagnostic reasoner model based at least in part on the supplemental indicators. The primary indicators identify one or more potential faults in the system under test. Each supplemental indicator provides information either validating or invalidating a particular primary indicator or association of primary indicators.
US08667327B2
A failover information management device manages information on a failover system including two storage processing devices to each of which a storage medium is connectable. The failover information management device stores unsuitability information from which a combination of two storage processing devices determined to be unsuitable for constituting the failover system is identifiable.
US08667326B2
A system is provided. The system detects a dropped write from a hard disk drive (HDD). The system includes two or more HDDs, each being configured to define a data block spread across the two or more HDDs. The data block is configured to regenerate a checksum across the full data block during a read operation to detect the dropped write.
US08667323B2
Processing for file system volume error detection and processing for resultant error correction are separated to support system availability and user satisfaction. File system volumes for storing data structures are proactively scanned while the volumes remain online to search for errors or corruptions thereon. Found errors are scheduled to be corrected, i.e., spot corrected, dependent on the severity of the identified errors, error correction scheduling and/or at the determination of a file system administrator and/or user, to assist in maintaining minimal user and file system impact. When spot correction is initialized, one file system volume at a time is taken offline for correction. Spot correction verifies prior logged corruptions for the offline volume, and if independently verified, attempts to correct the prior noted corruptions. Volumes are retained offline only for the time necessary to verify and attempt to correct prior noted volume corruptions.
US08667321B2
A memory controller including a detection module and a protection module is provided. The memory controller is applicable to a memory having a command transmission port and a data transmission port. The detection module detects whether an error condition occurs in an electronic device associated with the memory. When the error condition is detected, the protection module sends an interrupt command to the memory via the command transmission port to stop an operation associated with the data transmission port.
US08667305B2
An apparatus and a method for encrypting a username is described. In one embodiment, a hashed username is encrypted with an encryption function. An input size of the encryption function matches an output size of the encryption function. The password associated with the hashed username is replaced with a function of the encrypted username. The function includes a linear combination operator of the password and the encrypted username. The encrypted username is then swapped with the replaced password. The encryption, replacement, and the swapping are iterated for at least two rounds using a different key with each iteration.
US08667298B2
A module building system, hosted by a server, receives a user script to be run to monitor software on a client using an introspection tool. The server adds safety constraints to the user script and generates a client kernel module using the user script which includes the safety constraints. The server signs the client kernel module and sends the signed client kernel module to the client. The signed client kernel module allows a user to use the introspection tool to load and execute the client module on the client for monitoring the software on the client.
US08667295B1
A password authentication mechanism is capable of determining whether a password has expired without referring to a database or other information repository. Additional information can be encoded in the password without unduly lengthening the password, so that the additional information can be extracted from the password when the user provides the password for authentication purposes. Thus, the password serves as an information-carrying data item as well as acting as an authentication mechanism. Such a password can be used, for example, to provide time-limited access to a vehicle in response to receipt of timely payment, and to disable the vehicle if payment is not made.
US08667292B2
Privacy-preserving metering with low overhead is described. In an embodiment consumption of a resource such as electricity, car insurance, cloud computing resources is monitored by a meter and bills are created in a manner which preserves privacy of a customer but at the same reduces bandwidth use between a meter and a provider of the resource. For example, fine grained meter readings which describe customer behavior are kept confidential without needing to send large cryptographic commitments to meter readings from a meter to a provider. In an example, meter readings are encrypted and sent from a meter to a provider who is unable to decrypt the readings. In examples a cryptographic signature is generated to commitments to the meter readings and only the signature is sent to a provider thus reducing bandwidth. For example, a customer device is able to regenerate the commitments using the signature.
US08667286B2
According to one embodiment, encrypted secret identification information (E-SecretID) and the key management information (FKB) are read from a memory device. Encrypted management key (E-FKey) is obtained using the key management information (FKB) and index information (k). The index information (k) and the encrypted management key (E-FKey) are transmitted to the semiconductor memory device. An index key (INK) is generated using the first key information (NKey) and the received index information (k). The encrypted management key (E-FKey) is decrypted using the index key (INK) to obtain management key (FKey), which is transmitted to the host device.
US08667282B2
An information processing device including a receiving unit that receives a first random number from another information processing device; a generating unit that generates a second random number; a time-variant-key generating unit that generates a time variant key for encryption according to the second random number; an encrypting unit that encrypts the first random number with the time variant key; and a transmitting unit that transmits the first random number encrypted by the time variant key and the second random number to the other information processing device.
US08667275B2
Content is encoded with a watermark that associates it with a particular consumer. When presented for playback, the rendering equipment examines the watermark to confirm that the consumer with whom the content is associated, is also the consumer with whom the equipment is associated. If there is no watermark—or if the watermark is associated with a different consumer, then playback is refused. The equipment also desirably checks whether the content has a second watermark (or even a very feeble remnant thereof), indicating that the content has been derived from content earlier provided to a different consumer. If so, playback is again refused. Thus, this embodiment will refuse to play if there is no watermark; if there is one watermark not associated with the proprietor of the equipment; or if there are two or more watermarks.
US08667274B2
A system and method for Write Once, Read Many (WORM) compliant storage is disclosed. A storage administrator in user space is employed as an interface between the kernel space WORM VFS and the user applications. The storage administrator accesses the WORM VFS through the operating system's Virtual File System. The WORM VFS comprises of three layers: a data encryption\compression layer, the WORM filesystem layer and a logical volume manager. The data encryption\compression layer preprocesses the data as it moves between from the user space and the WORM filesystem layer. The WORM filesystem layer stores the compressed and encrypted data on the physical disk drives in a specialized disk format. The logical volume manager manages the physical disk drives. A NVRAM journal aids in crash recovery.
US08667272B2
A content distribution method with broadcast encryption, comprising an encryption process that includes the computation of a ciphertext using a differential ciphertext generation method. The ciphertext needs to be recomputed whenever the subscriber set changes. The differential ciphertext generation method computes the new ciphertext by reusing previously preserved computational results of a previous ciphertext, thereby improving the efficiency of the system. A content distribution method with broadcast encryption also comprises a decryption process that includes the reconstruction of the encryption secret that is used for decrypting the encrypted content. A wide window point addition method is used in the encryption secret reconstruction. The wide window point addition method reuses previously preserved computational results of group-divided point additions of public parameters, thereby improving the efficiency of the system. A clustering solution with multiple instances of key server and entitlement server allows the expansion of user population in the content distribution network.
US08667264B2
The present invention discloses an expedited computer boot system and method. The expedited computer boot system includes: ROM, RAM, and a module for selecting a boot mode. The module for selecting a boot mode at least includes: a detecting unit and a fast boot unit. The fast boot unit reads configuration settings stored in the RAM and loads into operating system based on the configuration settings if the detecting unit detects no device changed. Otherwise, the fast boot unit reads ROM and Power-On Self Test (POST) is executed if any device is changed. Therefore, the computer system can quickly boot and the time for booting computer is shortened.
US08667256B1
One embodiment of a computing system configured to manage divergent threads in a thread group includes a stack configured to store at least one token and a multithreaded processing unit. The multithreaded processing unit is configured to perform the steps of fetching a program instruction, determining that the program instruction is a branch instruction, determining that the program instruction is not a return or break instruction, determining whether the program instruction includes a set-synchronization bit, and updating an active program counter, where the manner in which the active program counter is updated depends on a branch instruction type.
US08667255B2
A post-silicon testing apparatus, method, and computer program product provide for runtime coverage measurement methodology to measure the architectural events in hardware. Measurement of all architectural events discernable from the instructions and architectural state changes are tracked and recorded. A mechanism to ensure capturing of maskable events is also provided. A feedback driven test-generation approach is enabled by the runtime coverage measurement. The runtime coverage measurement system presents a live view of the comprehensive architectural event coverage to the user/tester. The methodology can be implemented on an operating system environment and also as a standalone/bare-metal tool.
US08667247B2
A method for optimizing a plurality of volume records stored in cache may include monitoring a volume including multiple data sets, wherein each data set is associated with a volume record, and each volume record is stored in a volume record data set. The method may include tracking read and write operations to each of the data sets over a period of time. The method may further include reorganizing the volume records in the volume record data set such that volume records for data sets with a larger number of read operations relative to write operations are grouped together, and volume records for data sets with a smaller number of read operations relative to write operation are grouped together. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also disclosed.
US08667246B2
A system (10) for virtual disks version control includes a selectively read-only volume (12); at least one topmost overlay (141, 142, 143, 144, 145); and at least two intermediate, selectively read-only overlays (16, 16′, 16″, 16′″) configured as at least two mounting points. The at least one topmost overlay (141, 142, 143, 144, 145) is configured to store the results of redirected write operations. One of the at least two mounting points (16, 16′, 16″, 16′″) and the volume (12) form an image, and the other of the at least two mounting points (16, 16′, 16″, 16′″) and the volume (12) form another image. The at least two intermediate overlays (16, 16′, 16″, 16′″) are operatively located between the volume (12) and the at least one topmost overlay (141, 142, 143, 144, 145). Each of the at least two mounting points (16, 16′, 16″, 16′″) is configured to enable a plurality of client computers (18) to concurrently read the image or the other image and to concurrently write to a respective one of the at least one topmost overlays (141, 142, 143, 144, 145).
US08667238B2
For selecting an input/output tape volume cache (TVC), a history module maintains access history instances for a plurality of clusters, each cluster comprising a TVC. A request module receives an access request for a logical volume wherein an instance of the logical volume is stored on each of the plurality of clusters and each instance of the logical volume is synchronized with each other instance of the logical volume. An adjustment module weights the access history instances in favor of recent access history instances. A calculation module calculates an affinity of the logical volume instance stored on each cluster of the plurality of clusters. A selection module selects a cluster TVC with a highest logical volume affinity as the TVC for the logical volume.
US08667229B2
The invention provides a data access method of a memory device. In one embodiment, the memory device comprises a plurality of memories. First, a plurality of commands sequentially received from a host is stored in a command queue. A target command is then retrieved from the command queue. A target memory accessed by the target command is then determined. Whether the target memory is in a busy state is then determined. When the target memory is not in a busy state, access operations requested by the target command are then performed. When the target memory is in a busy state, a substitute command is selected from a plurality of subsequent commands stored in the command queue and access operations requested by the substitute command are performed, wherein the sequence of the subsequent commands in the command queue is subsequent to the target command.
US08667228B2
A memory system connected to another apparatus via a data crossbar, has a first memory, a second memory that forms a dual configuration together with the first memory, a first memory controller that transmits or receives data to be written into the first memory or data read out from the first memory to or from the other apparatus, a second memory controller that transmits or receives data to be written into the second memory or data read out from the second memory to or from the other apparatus, and a system controller that instructs the first memory controller and the second memory controller to read out, from the first memory and the second memory, data requested to be read out by the other apparatus if the system controller detects that any one of the first data crossbar and the second data crossbar being not capable of transmitting or receiving data.
US08667225B2
A system and method for efficient data prefetching. A data stream stored in lower-level memory comprises a contiguous block of data used in a computer program. A prefetch unit in a processor detects a data stream by identifying a sequence of storage accesses referencing a contiguous blocks of data in a monotonically increasing or decreasing manner. After a predetermined training period for a given data stream, the prefetch unit prefetches a portion of the given data stream from memory without write permission, in response to an access that does not request write permission. Also, after the training period, the prefetch unit prefetches a portion of the given data stream from lower-level memory with write permission, in response to determining there has been a prior access to the given data stream that requests write permission subsequent to a number of cache misses reaching a predetermined threshold.
US08667222B2
An apparatus and method are described for implementing an exclusive lower level cache (LLC) policy within a computer processor. For example, one embodiment of a computer processor comprises: a mid-level cache circuit (MLC) for storing a first set of cache lines containing instructions and/or data; a lower level cache circuit (LLC) for storing a second set of cache lines of instructions and/or data; and an insertion circuit for implementing a policy for inserting or replacing cache lines within the LLC based on values of use recency and use frequency associated with the lines.
US08667220B2
The present invention measures an actual utilization frequency of data and controls a location of this data in a storage apparatus in a case where a host computer makes joint use of a storage apparatus and a cache apparatus. A portion of data used by an application program 1A is stored in a storage apparatus 2 and a cache apparatus 3. A management apparatus 4 detects an I/O load of a page (4A), and detects an I/O load of cache data (4B). The management apparatus 4 determines a corresponding relationship between the page and the cache data (4C), and adds the I/O load of the cache data to the I/O load of the page.
US08667211B2
A method, computer readable medium storing instructions and system for managing flash memory. Data sector are received and each is written into a data block of a buffer of a non-volatile memory device. Pointers in a data management structure are created for each data sector corresponding to an associated logical block and a storage location of the data sector in the buffer. When a predefined criterion is fulfilled before the buffer becomes full, a number of logical blocks to be merged is determined and data sectors corresponding to the number of logical blocks to be merged are written from the buffer to a primary non-volatile data storage memory of the non-volatile memory device.
US08667202B2
A method of powering on a server is provided, wherein the server includes power consumption modules with the same functions, connectors, and a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). The power consumption modules are connected to the server via the connectors respectively. This method includes the steps as follows. At first, the BIOS detects a delay power-up setting. When the delay power-up setting is detected, the BIOS staggers initialization times of the connectors, so that the connectors can be initialized respectively. When one of the connectors has been initialized, the connector is electrically connected to the corresponding power consumption module, so that the power consumption module can be delayed to be powered on.
US08667201B2
A system, method and article of manufacture for an accelerated processing device (APD) to request a central processing unit (CPU) to process a task, comprising enqueuing a plurality of tasks on a queue using the APD, generating a user-level interrupt and transmitting to the CPU the plurality of tasks in the queue using an interrupt handler associated with a CPU thread.
US08667192B2
An integrated circuit can include a processor system configured to execute program code. The processor system can be hard-wired and include a processor hardware resource. The IC also can include a programmable circuitry configurable to implement different physical circuits. The programmable circuitry can be coupled to the processor system. The programmable circuitry can be configurable to share usage of the processor hardware resource of the processor system. The processor system further can control aspects of the programmable circuitry such as power on and/or off and also configuration of the programmable circuitry to implement one or more different physical circuits therein.
US08667185B2
According to one implementation, the slave identifier bits are tested recursively in groups of p bits. For these p bits, each slave will recognize, in its p corresponding identifier bits, one combination out of the 2p possible combinations. The slaves respond simultaneously (20) over the bus, for example an I2C bus, to a request from the master. The response is given by outputting a series of “1” bits in which each slave inserts a “0”, which is, for example, the priority logic value on the bus, the position of the “0” in the series of “1” bits being dependent on the binary value of the combination recognized by the slave in the group of p bits of its identifier. The master progressively determines on the fly, based on the bits of the frame received, the values of bits of these digital information items.
US08667181B2
A communication device may receive a first request packet from a first device and receive a second request packet from a second device. The communication device may send a first response packet to the first device in response to the first request packet and send a second response packet to the second device in response to the second request packet. The communication device may decide a timing for sending the second response packet to the second device. The timing may be decided such that a time period from receiving the second request packet to sending the second response packet in response to the second request packet is longer than a time period from receiving the first request packet to sending the first response packet in response to the first request packet. The communication device may send the second response packet to the second device at the decided timing.
US08667179B2
Dynamic utilization of condensing metadata is enabled by condensing information being communicated to/from a mobile device. The communication exchange occurs between a mobile device and an internet service, and it involves a mobile internet service proxy. The information is condensed responsive to condensing metadata and uncondensed using the condensing metadata. In an example embodiment, condensing metadata comprises encoding metadata for tags and compression metadata for other data. In a first described implementation, a mobile internet service proxy effectuates a static installation of condensing metadata to the mobile device from the internet service. In a second described implementation, the internet service lacks condensing metadata. The mobile internet service proxy therefore retrieves the schema defining the relevant information and dynamically generates condensing metadata. This dynamically-generated condensing metadata is copied to the mobile device so that condensed data may be communicated at least between the mobile device and the mobile internet service proxy.
US08667178B2
A transmitting apparatus includes an MPEG encoder; a baseband unit; transceiving devices for transmitting the video signal output from the baseband unit as a wireless LAN radio wave and for acquiring the incoming transmission rate that shows the receiving condition of the video signal from the receiving apparatus; and a control device. The control device controls the MPEG encoder and baseband unit so as to reduce the outgoing transmission rate of the video signal when the incoming transmission rate is smaller than a first threshold value, and reduce the resolution of the video signal when the incoming transmission rate is smaller than a second threshold value, which is smaller than the first threshold value. When the transmission condition is poor, it is possible to alleviate frame loss and breakup of vide signal to be displayed in a display apparatus.
US08667175B2
In one embodiment, a first request is received for a probe link from a client that has downloaded a page. The request is received from an application. A test may be performed to determine a server that could optimally service a content request from the client. After receiving the request, the content router sends a re-direct to the client where the re-direct causes the client to follow the re-direct to the server. The server then sends a re-direct back to the client, which the client follows by sending a second request to the content router. The second request is associated with the client and the round-trip time is calculated for the server. It is then determined if the location for the server should be designated as the content deliverer to the client based on the calculated round-trip time.
US08667170B2
The conventional address translation techniques cannot allow multiple terminal devices to be accessed by using one identical port number because they can associates one port number with only one device if the terminals do not support encapsulation.According to the present invention, access from a global network to a private network is restricted in accordance with an access control rule established for each device or network sending a packet. Furthermore, address translation is performed in accordance with address translation rules established on a per sending device basis to provide communication between a global network and a private network.When a connection request is received from the global network and if authentication of the connection request is successful, an access control rule is established on a per sending device basis or on a per sending network basis and recorded. After the communication ends, the added access control rule and address translation rule are deleted.
US08667164B2
A method for providing a client with a playlist of content segments accessible in a live streaming service provided in a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) adaptive streaming format is provided. A live content processing method for a broadcast system includes transmitting and updating content-related information sent from a server to a client, checking, at the client, content segments accessible in real time and saving a previous content-related information, retrieving the content segments playable by referencing the previous content-related information, determining, at the client, whether the content requested for playback can be playable using a playlist, and notifying the user of the playback result.
US08667163B2
Methods, systems and devices are described for place shifting media content from a computer system to a remotely-located display over a network. The media content to be place shifted is captured at the computer system, wherein the media content includes a portion of imagery presented on a local display associated with the computer system. The captured media content is transcoded or otherwise converted to a media stream in a format that is transmittable on the network. The media stream is then transmitted on the network for presentation on the remotely-located display.
US08667162B2
An apparatus for providing a mobile streaming adaptor includes a processor configured to receive media content from a remote camera, process the received media content by capturing, encoding and encapsulating the media content at a mobile electronic device, connect to a remote streaming server through function of a mobile networked device; and stream the encapsulated media content to the mobile networked device for communication of the encapsulated content to the remote streaming server through an Internet Protocol (IP) network for real-time distribution to a communication device. A corresponding computer program product and method are also provided.
US08667158B2
A method of video splitting and distributed placement scheme for clustered video servers including defining a network packet format for the streaming media and the distributed control file formats for the clips; obtaining the information of streaming media files, getting the basic information of streaming media files and accepting the preliminary splitting requirements of users; defining the placement strategy of clips, obtaining the placement requirements configured by users; analyzing the streaming media files and generating the lists of splitting tasks; running the splitting tasks. According to the number of the clips requested by users, the job is to created multi-threads and each thread processes a splitting task; clips transmission and storage. According to the placement strategy of clips, the job is to transfer the clips to the corresponding storage nodes.
US08667153B2
A first computing device maps a virtual network address for a virtual resource that is accessible to the first computing device to an address of a designated resource that is inaccessible to the first computing device but accessible to a remote second computing device. The first computing device generates a control message that, when acted upon by the second computing device, causes the second computing device to transmit the resource message to the designated resource. The first computing device then attaches the resource message to the control message. The first computing device sends the control message to the second computing device, wherein the second computing device acts on the control message to send the resource message to the designated resource without having a resource driver for the designated resource installed on the second computing device.
US08667152B2
An enhanced content sharing framework, in which a presence table indexing content globally stored on a respective home network, and policy information identifying users who are authorized to access the respective home network are received from first and second home network manager devices that respectively manage first and second home networks that each comprises one or more content rendering devices and content storing devices. A message is received from a user requesting that particular content be provided from the first home network to a particular content rendering device or content storing device of the second home network. Based on the presence table of the first home network, it is determined that the particular content is stored on the first home network, and, based on the policy information of the first home network, it is determined that the user is authorized to access the particular content on the first home network.
US08667150B2
A method and an apparatus for processing a session request in an Internet Protocol network are disclosed. For example, the method receives a session request, and queries an tElephone NUmbering Mapping (ENUM) server for a called party of the session request. The method determines if at least one Naming Authority Pointer (NAPTR) resource record associated with the called party is received from the ENUM server, and forwards the session request to a circuit switched network if the at least one NAPTR resource record is not received from the ENUM server. The method determines a Session Description Protocol (SDP) value of the session request if the at least one NAPTR resource record is received from the ENUM server, and processes the session request in accordance with the SDP value if the at least one NAPTR resource record is received from the ENUM server.
US08667149B2
A communication device performs P2P communication with the other communication device by establishing a session through a server, and includes a first transmitting portion, if the communication device operates as a called device requested to establish the session, upon the receiving a session start message from the other communication device, transmits to the other communication device a response message including information on a port for directly receiving data from the other communication device; a session establishing portion establishes the session by transmitting a control message to a port specified by information in the session start message or a response message received from the other communication device; a command accepting portion accepts a user's command permitting to receive from the other communication device; and a starting portion starts transmitting and receiving of data to and from the other communication device, upon the accepting of the command.
US08667148B1
An alternate access mechanism provides reduced cost Internet access using a streamlined sign-on procedure. The alternate access mechanism employs a specialized access medium including an array of nodes interconnected back to a trunk line access point. The trunk line access point allows greatly reduced cost because of competitive access to the Internet backbone. The interconnected nodes include readily available components, such as wireless routers, microwave radios, and routers, and/or integrated versions thereof which leverage close proximity to adjacent nodes for establishing a path back to the trunk line access point. Subscriber access is facilitated by a “one click” or “minimal click” sign on sequence by startup logic encoded in the components and through a web service for identifying the nearest adjacent node, establishing communication with the adjacent node via an access token such as an SSID, automatically reconfiguring the subscriber's newly connected node and reestablishing a traffic connection, all following user assent to the sign-on conditions.
US08667144B2
Aspects describe service discovery of wireless MDDI client-capable devices though interaction with an underlying bearer protocol. Service discovery can be performed when the underlying layer supports multicasting, when the underlying layer is wiMedia UWB MAC and/or UDP/IP. Service discovery can be initiated by a w-MDDI sender and/or a w-MDDI receiver. An optional mutual security association procedure can be conducted if both devices support security and security is necessary.
US08667140B1
A method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for managing a cloud computing environment. In some embodiments, this includes designating a tenant space for a tenant, allocating resources to the tenant in the tenant space based on the tenant, associating the tenant with a tenant authentication, and storing the association in a storage device. The tenant is allowed access to the allocated resources upon successful authentication of the tenant.
US08667137B2
A resource-allocation management method includes generating budget-allocation-plan information indicating how a budget used by each client for auction is allocated to each interval on the basis of demand-estimation information indicating an estimation value of the amount of resources each client needs for each interval and of budget-estimation information indicating an estimation value of a budget each client uses in an auction, and determining the upper limit of a budget each client uses in the auction on the basis of the budget-allocation-plan information.
US08667135B1
A method, system and computer readable storage medium for reporting on a measured change in a consumption rate. Media consumption histories for a plurality of entities are received. A monitored audience is selected from the plurality of entities by selecting entities which have completed an online purchase. A category value for each of two or more categories of media content is determined. One category of media content includes one or more items of media content. One category value represents the measured change in consumption rate for one category of media content for the monitored audience between at least two time intervals. One consumption rate is determined based on the number of times each item of media content in the one category has been delivered over a network during one time interval. A report including a reference to two or more categories and their associated category values is generated.
US08667132B2
An arrangement for communications about, and management of a resource, such as energy, using a mobile device. A utility provides a resource for a facility. The facility can provide a resource in another sense. The utility has an information system that sends messages and data relative to the utility and the facility, to the mobile device. The mobile device provides commands and data, based on messages from the utility to an energy management system of the facility. The energy management system sends messages and data to the mobile device. The mobile device sends commands and data to the utility information system. A facility manager uses the mobile device and makes decisions relative to communications at the device. The communications are wireless and the device is portable and operated at various locations. The communications can involve other energy management systems and facilities.
US08667128B2
Monitoring aging information for multiple devices. Aging information of the devices may be received. Statistics regarding the multiple devices may be determined based on the aging information. For at least some of the devices, update information may be determined based on the respective aging information. The update information may include modifications to operating parameters of the devices. For example, the devices may operate according to initial parameters that are above sustainable parameters and the update information may lower the operating parameters based on the aging information.
US08667123B2
A network diagnostic device is provided, which comprises a passive real-time measurement tool that is useful for, among other things, expediting fault identification, isolation, and repair of a communication network or bus. The device also facilitates prediction of failures by identifying marginal operating conditions. The device analyzes data flowing through the communication network, including through an analysis of variations in bit waveform shape carried by the network physical interconnect media. In one embodiment, an implementation of the network diagnostic device is particularly useful in a DeviceNet-compatible network or, more generally, a Controller Area Network (CAN). The device identifies faults by comparing measurements made on the actual DeviceNet bus with worst-case acceptable criteria. The device interfaces with a remote monitoring computer via an Ethernet compatible medium to display parsed bit-level waveforms, network warnings and errors, as well as an overall network health index.
US08667121B2
In one embodiment, a method is provided and includes capturing a plurality of packet streams, recreating a plurality of flows from the packet streams, and analyzing the flows to identify one or more incidents. The incidents identify one or more pieces of data. The incidents are filtered and the incidents are rendered on a display for an end user that initiated the filtering operation. In other embodiments, the display allows the end user to view a selected one of a group of attributes for the incidents. The display allows the end user to open a captured object associated with a specific incident. In still other embodiments, the display allows a user to filter the incidents using a selected one of a group of group options such as content, destination IP, destination location, destination port, filename, host IP, etc.
US08667117B2
An exemplary method for protecting web browsers from spam includes providing a multi-layer model that includes a doorway layer, a redirection domain layer, an aggregator layer, a syndicator layer and an advertiser layer; identifying domains as being associated with at least one of the layers; and, based at least in part on the identifying, taking one or more corrective actions to protect web browsers from search spam. An exemplary method for identifying a bottleneck layer in a multi-layer spam model includes providing a multi-layer spam model, collecting spam advertisements, associating a block of IP addresses with the collected spam advertisements and identifying a bottleneck layer based on the block of IP addresses. Other methods, systems, etc., are also disclosed.
US08667116B2
A method and apparatus is provided to supervise a network, in which a first device supervises a network node element, and a second device partially supervises the network node element.
US08667107B2
A method of managing a domain, a method of extending a domain, and a method of selecting a reference point controller are provided. The method of operating the domain includes: receiving a request for authenticating a reference point controller from a reference point controller candidate; invalidating a membership of the stored reference point controller; generating a unique reference point controller membership for verifying that the reference point controller candidate is a new reference point controller; and transmitting the generated reference point controller membership to the reference point controller candidate. Accordingly, even when an error occurs in the reference point controller, the function of the reference point controller can be rapidly replaced by using the reference point controller candidate.
US08667094B2
According to embodiments described in the specification, a method, system and apparatus for delivering web content are provided. The method comprises maintaining a web page in a memory of a web server identifiable by a network address, the web page including at least one reference to a foreign element maintained at a second web server identifiable by a second network address; identifying the at least one reference; transmitting a request from an interface of the web server for obtaining the second network address; receiving the second network address of the second web server and storing the second network address in the memory in association with an identifier of the web page.
US08667088B1
Objects in a content delivery network are modified at delivery to users. Individual content servers include copies of the content objects and receive requests from users for a copy of the object. The request includes a program from the content provider on how the content object is to be modified at delivery to the user. The program is executed on delivery of the object to provide the user with a modified content object. Modification can occur as the content is delivered from the content server to the user.
US08667085B2
Provided are communication devices and methods for requesting content in a network based on a hierarchical name structure. A content requester may search for content without the use of the entire content name in the network based on the hierarchical name structure.
US08667082B2
A comprehensive platform for merchandising intellectual property (IP) and conducting IP transactions is disclosed. A standardized data collection method enables IP assets to be characterized, rated and valuated in a consistent manner. Project management, workflow and data security functionality enable consistent, efficient and secure interactions between the IP Marketplace participants throughout the IP transaction process. Business rules, workflows, valuation models and rating methods may be user defined or based upon marketplace, industry or technology standards.
US08667079B2
A method for providing a local device service over a network, where the local device service is not configured for network access. The method includes determining whether the local device is busy, and if the local device is not busy, broadcasting over the network an available first service provided by the local device. Then, if the local device is not busy and is selected by a computer, providing by the connecting station, the computer access to the local device.
US08667076B2
An arrangement is provided in which a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) device exposes a service for mapping a UPnP discovered content item to a server message block (SMB) location. The service is arranged to expose an SMB share path to a user at a remote client using a UPnP protocol. The user is then enabled with access to the share via SMB to gain file access, write changes or exercise file level control of the discovered content item. Authentication is optionally utilized to verify that the user is authorized to receive the SMB share location from the service or to verify that the user is authorized to access the SMB share.
US08667072B1
A method and apparatus of providing notifications to a customer is disclosed. One example method of operation may include identifying a notification event associated with a customer via a customer management module and retrieving a customer preference record and determining a notification device preference for a customer Internet protocol (IP) device included in the customer preference record. The method may also include transmitting the notification event to the customer's IP device based on the notification device preference, the notification event may include a live agent support option which may be accessed in the event that the automated support options fail to satisfy the customer's questions and concerns.
US08667068B2
Timely delivery of electronic messages during a presentation is a valuable tool. The embodiments describe a method and apparatus for delivering electronic messages. One method includes creating the electronic message by identifying auxiliary media content associated with a main presentation and marking temporal locations within the main presentation to allow delivery of electronic messages based on auxiliary media content. Another method includes receiving a package containing first and second content, separating the first content from the second content, providing the first content on a first medium, and providing an electronic message based on the second content on a second medium. Finally, a composition playlist includes a main presentation file and an auxiliary content file containing temporal links associated with the main presentation with the auxiliary content file to be delivered as an electronic message at a predetermined time based on the temporal links during presentation of the main presentation file.
US08667057B1
A distributed network system includes at least one server and one client device, each having memory and one or more processors. The server performs the following operations: selecting a first client-object registration record including a first client identifier and a first object identifier; retrieving a pair of server-side object version and client-side object version from the first client-object registration record; determining a first set of incremental payloads to be delivered to the client device associated with the first client identifier in accordance with the pair of server-side object version and client-side object version; retrieving the first set of incremental payloads from a first object update record including the first object identifier; and sending a first object update message to the first client device, wherein the first object update message includes the first object identifier, the server-side object version and the retrieved first set of incremental payloads.
US08667053B2
A system and method for facilitating asynchronous transmission of digital data between at least two parties over a communication network. The system comprises a digital data facilitator having a digital storage device for storing digital data transmitted over the communication network from a first party, the digital data facilitator having the ability to review a request transmitted from a second party, the digital data having an associated first and second identifier, the second identifier being associated with the second party, the second identifier being associated with a telephone number, the first identifier being associated with an electronic identifier of the first party.
US08667047B2
A system and method are provided for monitoring traffic in an enterprise network. Similar hosts may be grouped using flow information. Network policy may then be created at the group level based on the signatures of the hosts and groups of hosts in the enterprise. Hosts may be arranged in hierarchical clusters. Some of these clusters may be selected as groups based on a desired degree of similarity between hosts in a group. The similarity between hosts may be determined based on similarity of network behavior of the hosts.
US08667043B2
Method and apparatus for multiplying a signed first operand na bits and a signed second operand nb bits, wherein na and nb are different positive integer numbers, the method comprising generating single bit products of pairs of a single bit from the signed first operand and a single bit from the signed second operand with a logical AND function to produce na times nb single bit products, selectively inverting for the signed first operand and the signed second operands the single bit products of the first operand bit na-1 multiplied with the second operand bits 0 to nb-2, selectively inverting the single bit products of the signed second operand bits 0 to na-2 multiplied with the signed second operand bit nb-1, after the step of inverting adding the single bit products in accordance with their respective order for producing an intermediate product, and adding a ‘1’ bit value at bit positions nb-1, na-1 and na+nb-1 for receiving a final product.
US08667042B2
A vector functional unit implemented on a semiconductor chip to perform vector operations of dimension N is described. The vector functional unit includes N functional units. Each of the N functional units have logic circuitry to perform: a first integer multiply add instruction that presents highest ordered bits but not lowest ordered bits of a first integer multiply add calculation, and, a second integer multiply add instruction that presents lowest ordered bits but not highest ordered bits of a second integer multiply add calculation.
US08667039B2
Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for data processing. As an example, a data processing circuit is disclosed that includes: a noise predictive filter circuit, a scaling factor adaptation circuit, and a scaling factor application circuit. The noise predictive filter circuit is operable to perform a noise predictive filtering process on a data input based on a filter tap to yield a noise filtered output. The scaling factor adaptation circuit is operable to calculate a scaling factor based at least in part on a derivative of the noise filtered output. The scaling factor application circuit is operable to apply the scaling factor to scale the noise filtered output.
US08667036B2
Local storage on player instruments provides the ability for adding further amendments and most recent supplements to the optical disc content. A problem arising with this technically applicable possibility is the protection of copyrights bound to disc and supplement data. The present invention describes a technique to ensure a security framework that is able to handle this, by creating a virtual file system (VFS) by merging optical disc data and local storage data based upon a common identifier.
US08667021B2
An intelligent system for database retrieval includes a computing device, an input device, a display device, and a storage device. A user initiates a free-form or structured inquiry of the storage device and the system executes a search for the free-form or structured inquiry and additionally for related knowledge if a free-form inquiry was initiated. The related knowledge search is system initiated and based upon the sensory information of the user and the user's behaviors. The free-form or structured inquiry and related knowledge results are returned to the computing device for formatting in a manner compatible with the user, the user's behavior, and the operating environment. The free-form or structured inquiry and related knowledge results are then displayed on the display device.
US08667015B2
Disclosed is a method of automatically extracting data from a target web page, comprising selecting (302) data in a source web page; determining (304) the respective DOM (document object model) trees of the source and target web page, and identifying the one or more nodes comprising the selected data in the source web page DOM tree; determining (306) matching paths in the respective DOM trees; for selected data in a node of an unmatched branch of the source web page DOM tree, identifying (308) the nearest matched path in the source web page; identifying (310) the unmatched branch nearest to the corresponding matched path in the target web page; determining (312) if said identified unmatched branch in the target web page DOM tree comprises a target node matching the selected data node; and if so: extracting (322) data from the target node if the mismatch between the respective unmatched branches does not exceed a predefined threshold. A computer program product and system implementing this method are also disclosed.
US08667010B2
Various embodiments provide a set of algorithms and scripts, e.g., SQL scripts, to perform automatic horizontal table and index partitioning that allows overlapping of data records, used in full-text search queries. In at least some embodiments, table creation and populating script is utilized to create a set of smaller tables partitioned by one column. In at least some embodiments, SELECT query modification script is provided to generate a query that works on the partitioned tables to achieve better performance. In at least some other embodiments, other query creation script is provided to modify the INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE queries for the original large table to automatically keep these queries synchronized with partitioned tables.
US08667004B2
Various embodiments enable information, in addition to textual information, to be presented to a user when the user enters a search query in a search box forming part of a user interface of an application. In one or more embodiments, a Web browser provides a search box in which a user can enter a search query. While the user is entering a search query, the Web browser can communicate with a third-party search provider to receive information, such as non-textual information, which can be presented to the user to assist in formulating their search query. The non-textual information can include images and other visual information of a non-textual nature.
US08666999B2
A search utility for industrial control programs accepts as a query an example program fragment which is abstracted into a graph-form capturing, for example, instruction control-flow and data-flow. This graph-form may be compared to a graph-form transformation of other portions of the program to provide a more sophisticated matching process that considers underlying logical hierarchy of the program elements rather than their superficial expression in the source code embodiment.
US08666996B2
A method for detecting broken links using a computer coupled to a database is described. A plurality of links including valid links and broken links are embedded within data files stored in the database. The method includes receiving, at the computer, a selection of at least one directory that includes a plurality of data files to be analyzed. The method also includes analyzing all links embedded within the data files stored in the at least one selected directory to detect broken links. The method also includes determining that no other links are embedded within the data files stored in the at least one selected directory and generating a broken link report that includes broken link data for each broken link detected.
US08666993B2
The present invention relates device, system and method for facilitating receiving active note(s) from active note(s) provider(s) from the client device and responding multidimensional active resources & actions(s) for said active note(s) by multidimensional active resources & actions(s) provider(s) to the client device. A real time and/or near real communication mechanism such as online, smart and mobile communication applications like web site, smart client, instant messaging, e-mail may be used to communicate with a client device and a community of responders or multidimensional active resources & actions(s) provider(s). One or more Active Note(s) are received from client devices, processed, and sent to responders. Responses from the responders are received, and response is sent to the client device.
US08666990B2
Methods and systems are provided for weighting contemporaneous content includes, in response to a user content request, by determining a plurality of contemporaneous content items relating to the user content request, the contemporaneous content items including, ultra-fresh content items having been only recently generated. For each of the contemporaneous content items, one or more authors of the content items are identified, and an expertise level for the one or more authors and an expert weighting for each of the content items based on the expertise level for the corresponding one or more authors are determined. Weighting the contemporaneous content includes ranking the contemporaneous content items in response to the user content request based on the expert weighting and presenting at least a portion of the contemporaneous content items in response to the user content request.
US08666987B2
Disclosed is an apparatus and method for processing documents to extract expressions and descriptions. The apparatus for processing documents includes a document collection unit, which collects documents from websites and divides each of the collected documents into a script portion and a description portion to thus generate a script document and a description document, and an expression extraction unit, which extracts expression description sentences on the basis of the description document, and extracts expressions described by the expression description sentences from the script document. According to the invention, study material, including a pair that comprises an expression to be studied and a description thereof, can be automatically constructed.
US08666985B2
An indexing database utilizes a non-transitory storage medium. A pattern matching processing unit generates preclassification data for the network data packets utilizing pattern matching analysis. At least one processing unit implements a storage process that receives the network data packets, stores the network data packets in at least one of the slots, and transfers the network data packets to a packet capture repository when slots in a shared memory are full. A preclassification process requests from the pattern matching processing unit the preclassification data. An indexing process determines, based upon the preclassification data, whether to invoke or omit additional analysis of the network data packets, and performs at least one of aggregation, classification, or annotation of the network data packets in the shared memory to maintain one or more indices in the indexing database.
US08666984B2
Unsupervised clustering can be used for organization of micro-blog or other short length messages into message clusters. Messages can be compared with existing clusters to determine a similarity score. If at least one similarity score is greater than a threshold value, a message can be added to an existing message cluster. If a message is not similar to an existing cluster, the message can be compared against criteria for starting a new message cluster.
US08666981B2
Methods, systems and computer program products for concurrency control in a hierarchical arrangement of nodes of a data structure by traversing a single search path in a hierarchical arrangement of nodes of a data structure, recording a version number for each node in the search path, identifying at least one node in the search path to be updated, latching the at least one node, reading a version number of the latched at least one node and comparing the recorded version number of the latched at least one node to the read version number of the latched at least one node.
US08666979B2
A system and method for recommending interesting content is provided. A content profile including a vector of words extracted from messages associated with a user is obtained. One or more content pointer profiles each including a vector of words associated with a content pointer located within one or more messages are obtained. The content profile is compared with each of the content pointer profiles. A relevance score is determined for that content pointer by calculating a similarity between the user words and the content pointer words. The content pointers are ranked based on the relevance score. A threshold is applied to select the content pointers and those content pointers that satisfy the threshold are selected as the content pointers most relevant to the user.
US08666972B2
A system, method and article of manufacture for managing, e.g., extracting and displaying, search condition result data, which has been modified since a previous search. Embodiments of the present invention associate search conditions and modification programs with unique identifiers (e.g., a keyword) and log every use of thereof. Thereafter, contextual relationships (e.g., where a search conditions and a modification program are linked to the same unique identifier) between the data modifications and search conditions are identified using search condition and modification program usage logs, and based on the contextual relationships, embodiments of the present invention extracts and displays the result data that has been modified since the search condition was last executed.
US08666960B2
Systems and methods are described for performing a schema-based data transfer between a database associated with a data-based application and a document associated with a document application. In one implementation, connection information established during an initial schema-based data transfer between the database and the document is maintained in association with the document. This connection information is then used to facilitate subsequent updating of the document based on information currently residing in the database as well as subsequent updating of the database based on information currently residing in the document in a manner that is highly automated and easy to use.
US08666954B2
A server system receives a first request for a data item from a web application on a client device, wherein the first request includes an identifier of the data item. In response to the first request, the server system calculates a first checksum of the data item and sends the data item and the first checksum to the web application, for storage in the local database. The server system receives a second request for the data item from the web application, calculates a second checksum of the data item and compares the first and second checksums. The server system, determines that the data item has been updated by comparing the first checksum to the second checksum; and in response to determining that the data item has been updated, the server system a reply to the web application a indicating that the data item has been updated.
US08666952B2
Concurrent resizing and modification of a first RCU-protected hash table includes allocating a second RCU-protected hash table, populating it by linking each hash bucket of the second hash table to all hash buckets of the first hash table containing elements that hash to the second hash table bucket, and publishing the second hash table. If the modifying comprises insertion, a new element is inserted at the head of a corresponding bucket in the second hash table. If the modifying comprises deletion, then within an RCU read-side critical section: (1) all pointers in hash buckets of the first and second hash tables that reference the element being deleted are removed or redirected, and (2) the element is freed following a grace period that protects reader references to the deleted element. The first table is freed from memory after awaiting a grace period that protects reader references to the first hash table.
US08666951B2
A method, system and program product of managing multiple versions of enterprise meta-models within an enterprise model using semantic based indexing. The steps include: receiving a query; determining from the query a topic and at least two versions of a topic map meta-model of the enterprise meta-models to compare; applying the query to a merged topic map meta-model of the at least two versions of the topic map meta-model by searching a topic map based index of the merged topic map meta-model for the topic, producing a result; and using the result to translate the topic from the query in at least one of the at least two versions of the topic map meta-model to coexist and correspond to the other version of the topic map meta-model, allowing data between the at least two versions topic map meta-model of the enterprise meta-models within the enterprise model to be correlated.
US08666948B1
A customer communication system of a mobile communication network automatically generates a report concerning the location of a customer notification file within the customer communication system to allow for easier file review in response to an error message. In the examples, a file information database is accessed to obtain information regarding the expected file name or expected location of the customer notification file. Using the file information, a search is conducted for the location of the customer notification file. Error correction information is also collected regarding the customer notification file. The system then generates a report combining the information regarding the location of the customer notification file with the reference information regarding any error correction instructions. The report is published, thereby allowing any user responsible for the correction of an error message to access the file location information and the associated error correction instructions.
US08666944B2
A system and method for performing a granular restore operation of a database from a differential backup of the database. A bitmask is created during a differential backup and stored with the differential backup file. When a user requests a granular restore operation, views of how the database existed at different points of time may be presented to the user. The objects the user wishes to restore may be selected from one of the views. Next, the bitmask may be read to determine if the objects should be retrieved from the differential backup file or a full backup file. Finally, the objects may be restored to the database from the proper file.
US08666942B2
Systems and methods for managing copies of database data. For instance, in one configuration, prior to the database transactions being committed on either of the source data base and the target database, a first copy of the database can be stored on a target system. Subsequent to said generating the first copy, the data transactions are committed into the target database, and a second copy of the target database is created. Then the target database can be reverted back to a state in which the target database existed at the time of said generating the first copy. The second copy can be accessed without the use of the database application.
US08666922B2
Information processing systems, reasoning modules, and reasoning system design methods are described. According to one aspect, an information processing system includes working memory comprising a semantic graph which comprises a plurality of abstractions, wherein the abstractions individually include an individual which is defined according to an ontology and a reasoning system comprising a plurality of reasoning modules which are configured to process different abstractions of the semantic graph, wherein a first of the reasoning modules is configured to process a plurality of abstractions which include individuals of a first classification type of the ontology and a second of the reasoning modules is configured to process a plurality of abstractions which include individuals of a second classification type of the ontology, wherein the first and second classification types are different.
US08666921B2
An embodiment of a method for providing technical support service includes generating a plurality of problem resolutions that are determined to resolve an identified technical problem; attributing weights to each of said plurality of problem resolutions according to frequency of use; and in response to a request to resolve said identified problem, selecting a problem resolution from among said plurality of problem resolutions based at least in part on said attributed weights.
US08666911B2
An apparatus and method are disclosed for a measurement system that reports as a measurement result a confidence interval associated with a histogram bin into which a measurement value falls. The confidence interval is calculated from a subset of training values that also fall within the histogram bin. A training process may be performed in which a plurality of training values is obtained and a mean and standard deviation of the values determined. A plurality of histogram bins are defined from the mean and standard deviation and, for the subsets of training values that fall into each bin, confidence intervals calculated. A need to perform the training process may be determined from a plurality of measured values.
US08666907B1
A return request processing engine automatically approves or denies requests for authorization to return a purchased item to the seller of the item. The return request processing engine utilizes return request rules to determine whether a particular return request can be approved or denied without input from the seller. When a request is received from a buyer to return an item, the return request processing engine utilizes the return request rules to determine if the request to return the item can be automatically approved or denied without input from the seller. If the return request processing engine cannot automatically approve or deny a return request, the return request processing engine causes a message to be transmitted to the seller of the item that provides a user interface through which the seller can indicate whether the return request is approved or denied by way of a single user input.
US08666895B2
Embodiments of the invention allow a user to wirelessly transmit payment information from a mobile device to a point-of-sale terminal by the user performing only a minimum number of inputs, such as a single input. Some embodiments of the invention provide an apparatus comprising an input device configured to receive input from a user, a communication device configured to transmit wireless signals to a transaction device, a memory comprising predetermined payment information stored therein and a processor communicably coupled to the input device, the communication device and the memory and configured to: receive transaction information from the transaction device related to a transaction; receive a first input from the user; determine if the first input matches a user defined action stored in memory, and use the communication device to wirelessly transmit the predetermined payment information and authorize payment if the first input matches the user defined action stored in memory.
US08666882B2
Computerized capping of mortgage foreclosures.
US08666879B1
A method for managing best efforts forward commitments for loans to be sold by a lender, where each loan has loan level data and the best efforts forward commitments have commitment data includes determining a price for the best efforts commitment based on at least the loan level data and tracking the loan level data for each loan. Upon identifying a change to the loan level data, the loan level data and the commitment data including the price is updated based on the change.
US08666878B2
In automated exchange system, a matching unit is supplemented with a calculation unit and a global memory accessible by both the calculation unit and the matching unit. This computer architecture makes it possible to perform some of the calculations related to the volume and/or prices of the baits needed in the matching to be performed in advance. The matching process uses the values resulting from the pre-calculation when needed, and since no or few calculations are done in the matching unit, the process of matching combination contracts can be performed at a higher rate, thereby significantly improving the performance of the matching process. The provision of one or several calculation units makes it possible to perform very complex calculations since many calculations need not be performed in real time.
US08666872B2
A versatile and efficient electronic spread trading tool to be used when buying and selling comparable commodities either simultaneously or in conjunction with one another. The spread trading tool involves a method of displaying, on an electronic display device, the market depth of a plurality of commodities including an anchor commodity and a non-anchor commodity, where the method includes dynamically displaying a plurality of bids and asks in the market for the commodities, statically displaying prices corresponding to those plurality of bids and asks, where the bids and asks are displayed in alignment with the prices corresponding thereto, displaying an anchor visual indicator corresponding to and in alignment with a desired price level of the anchor commodity, displaying a price level indicator corresponding to and in alignment with a price level of the non-anchor commodity. Based on an unhedged position, and taking into account the parameters and spread price point values, as determined by the trader, price level indicators are calculated and displayed, which provide a visual representation of where the trader should buy and sell the applicable commodities. The price level for the price level indicator in the non-anchor commodity is determined based upon said desired price level of the anchor commodity. The price level indicator also includes a first visual indicator corresponding to and in alignment with a first price level of the non-anchor commodity and a second visual indicator corresponding to and in alignment with a second price level of the non-anchor commodity.
US08666865B2
A method begins with a payment entity device receiving payables process data from a client device. The payables process data includes a list of a plurality of creditors and associated payment data, wherein, for a creditor of the plurality of creditors, the associated payment data includes at least one payment scheme for paying at least a portion of debt owed to the creditor via at least one of: a client credit card, a funds transfer, commercial paper, tangible consideration, and a debit account. The method continues with the payment entity device determining level of service for a client associated with the client device. The method continues with the payment entity device generating a payables profile for the client based on the payables process data in accordance with the level of service.
US08666850B2
Systems and methods are provides that access a tag cell file in computer storage media, wherein the tag cell file is associated with a abstract representation of a component to be included in a semiconductor device. The tag cell file includes a tag that identifies the component as being based on intellectual property of a third party. The abstract representation of the component is translated to a computer data file for manufacturing the semiconductor device. The tag associated with the component is included in the data file, and the data file may be parsed by accounting programs to determine the extent of usage of the intellectual property in the semiconductor device.
US08666844B2
Systems and methods of utilizing communications networks and multivariate analysis to predict or recommend optimal products from a predefined population of commercially available products are disclosed. The recommendations are based on intelligence contained in processing elements and subjective and/or objective product information received from consumers or input to the systems as part of their initial setup. The output of the systems comprise sets of products that they predict the consumer will prefer and/or perform well for the problem or concern identified by the consumer. The performance and preference predictions are a function of consumer problems and product responsiveness patterns. Objective product information is generally obtained with diagnostic instruments. Data measured with the diagnostic instruments may be communicated to the data processing portions of the invention via the Internet. The outputs of the data processing portion of the system may be presented to consumers via the Internet as well.
US08666843B2
Embodiments relate to systems and methods for generating a synchronous sales stack for a customer dialog. A user can visit a Web site and load selections into a checkout basket to prepare to purchase desired products and/or services. The user can select a live chat feature, which invokes an instant message, audio or video dialog with a sales representative. The sales representative can initiate a synchronous sales stack with the user, by which the user and sales representative can share a common view of purchase selections and potential alternatives or add-ons to the selections, as they are made. The customer and sales representative can continue their dialog as possible selections are explored, and the resulting sales stack is updated in real-time. When the user is satisfied with their selections, the sales stack can be stored as the customer's finalized checkout basket and the transaction can be completed.
US08666842B1
A transaction-based social network for a life science vertical industry is provided. A method for implementing the network includes qualifying a user to join the transaction-based social network based on a minimum set of qualifications. The method also includes creating, from input received by the user, an opportunity with respect to an offer, identifying members of a target user community in the network based on the input from the user, and posting the opportunity over the social network to the members of the target user community. The method further includes receiving at least one response from the target user community that is indicative of a bid to accept the opportunity. The method also includes providing a view of the bid for the user and, once accepted, executing a transaction based on a pre-negotiated fee. The executing includes validating regulatory compliance of content associated with the transaction.
US08666841B1
A fraud detection system and method uses unique indicators for detecting fraud that extend beyond traditional transaction-based indicators. These unique indicators may include environmental information about a customer or a transaction. Such indicators may be used to identify fraud events based on computer-executable instructions that evaluate fraud risk. Further, an improved fraud detection system may include a learning component with a feedback loop. Also, authenticating and other information may be directed to the system for updating indicating data, fraud models, and risk assessments.
US08666840B1
In one embodiment, the instant invention provides for a method that includes the following steps of: programming a computer system to perform the steps of: receiving, from a seller, seller information for an item that the seller offers to sell; determining from the seller information: identifying characteristics that specifically describe the item and specifically identify the seller; Minimum Acceptable Price (MAP) and Minimum Acceptable Price Range (MAPR), and Maximum Allowable Number of Negotiating Chances per each buyer (MANBCs); receiving, from the potential buyer, a buyer offer for the first item and consummating a sale transaction when: a monetary amount or a range of monetary amounts submitted by the buyer respectively matches the MAP or the MAPR, and the potential buyer has not previously submitted an other offer for the item so that a total number of offers made by the potential buyer is equal or less than the MANBCs.
US08666830B1
The top rated products in a product category are identified by computing a score for each product in the category. The score is computed by calculating a time decay factor for each product category. The time decay factor is utilized to decay the ratings of each product as a function of time. A relevance value is also computed for each product. The relevance value is utilized to modify the ratings for each product in view of the recency of the ratings. The score may be computed for each product using the ratings for the product, the computed time decay factor, and/or the relevance value. The computed scores are utilized to rank the products in the product category.
US08666829B1
In one embodiment, a method includes accessing event information and payment information associated with an event listing on an event management system, and calculating a fraud risk score for the event listing based at least in part on the event information and payment information.
US08666826B2
Concepts and technologies are described herein for providing media content sharing. The concepts and technologies disclosed herein can be employed to share media content with a social network, even for content subject to access control mechanisms and/or copyright laws. According to various embodiments disclosed herein, media content can be shared with a social network, or the like. An application running at or in conjunction with a computer can obtain information relating to media content displayed at or accessible to the computer, format the data, and transmit the data to a social networking site or other location in a format appropriate for the site. Contents and technologies for viewing the shared content also are disclosed.
US08666824B2
Systems and methods for locating digital media content. The systems and methods include receiving search terms from a client device through a single interface, searching a plurality of digital media content providers for digital media content using the search terms to obtain search results, sorting and organizing the search results, and returning the search results to the client device through the single interface.
US08666815B1
Systems, methods, and computer storage mediums for directing a user to an image of an advertiser's geolocation are provided. An exemplary method includes retrieving a first image associated with a geolocation, where the geolocation is based on a user action. At least one advertising unit is also selected based on at least the geolocation associated with the first image. Each advertising unit includes at least one geolocation associated with an advertiser. At least one advertising unit is then placed on the first image. Finally, a second image is retrieved when a placed advertising unit is selected by the user. The second image is retrieved based on the geolocation associated with the placed advertising unit.
US08666814B2
There is provided an advertising method comprising receiving a broadcast request signal from a video on demand (VOD) terminal to download data broadcast; receiving an advertisement request signal from a mobile communication terminal to download advertising broadcast including information on goods related to contents of the data broadcast; synchronizing the data broadcast with the advertising broadcast in such a way that an advertising broadcast scene corresponding to the data broadcast is displayed on the mobile communication terminal while replaying the data broadcast on the VOD terminal; sending the data broadcast to the VOD terminal; and sending the advertising broadcast to the mobile communication terminal.
US08666808B2
The notification system identifies media content based on personal preferences of individual users and provides notification of identified media content to the users. In one embodiment, the system includes a number of user nodes that communicate with a registration site and a notification site via the interne. The notification site includes a media content database and a processor running contents election logic. The processor accesses the media content database in order to identify content that may be of interest to particular users of the user nodes. In this regard, content for a particular user may be identified by matching interest information obtained from the registration site with the content information of the media content database.
US08666802B2
This specification describes technologies relating to content presentation. In general, one aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods that include the actions of receiving data from a plurality of users within a geographic region associated with a location; analyzing the received data to derive a category for the location; annotating the location with the category; and using the category to boost candidate content items for delivery to users in the location in response to future content item requests.
US08666801B2
A method, computer system, and non-transitory computer-readable medium storing software for performing wireless payment of road tolls from a vehicle. An in-vehicle device includes a way for a vehicle occupant to communicate input to the device, as well as a screen for outputting data to the vehicle occupant. The device communicates with a base station, exchanging various codes and data, including a method of payment for the toll selected by the vehicle occupant. Eventually, the device acquires a Gate ID code from the base station, which is then transmitted to the tollroad gate prior to the vehicle passing that tollroad gate. Codes are created using a particular described approach.
US08666800B2
Described herein is a system and method for providing entity investment guidance via a communication network. The system includes a server, at least one entity-issued disclosure received by the server via the communication network and a storage accessible by the server. The storage includes at least one forecast data extracted from the at least one entity disclosure, said forecast data indicative of a projection of an entity performance parameter, and a context file for each of the forecast data, the context file including at least a portion of the entity disclosure associated with the forecast data. Also included in the system is a user interface in communication with the server, wherein the server generates an investment guidance display of the forecast data and the context file and transmits the display to the user interface via the communication network.
US08666798B2
A system and method for providing a monthly cumulative prediction of pharmaceutical sales of a particular pharmaceutical, or group of pharmaceuticals, in a current month is disclosed. In particular, the technique of the present invention provides for extrapolating a sample of sales data for a given day across that entire day (114), extrapolating sales data for at least 14 prior days across an entire month (116); adjusting the monthly cumulative prediction by comparing past predicted values with past actual values (118); adjusting the monthly cumulative prediction to account for sales anomalies created by national or local holidays (120); and provides confidence intervals indicating the believed accuracy of the current monthly cumulative prediction (122).
US08666794B1
A computer implemented method for project management is provided. A project manager creates sub-project data for a sub-project based on project data for a project. The project manager also modifies the project data. A sub-project manager modifies the sub-project data, wherein modification of the sub-project data enables modification of the project data. The project data and the sub-project data are displayed.
US08666790B2
A point of view shopper camera system is provided to generate and analyze shoppers' view data. The point of view shopper camera system may comprise a head device including an eye camera and a head orientation sensor, a position tracking sensor to identify a shopper's position, and an analysis computing device. The eye camera may be configured to be mounted to the head of the shopper, and to capture a still or moving image of the field of view of the shopper. The analysis computing device may be configured to receive the captured image data from the eye camera, head orientation data from the head orientation sensor, and the shopper's position data from the position tracking sensor, and determine an estimated field of view of the shopper during a trip in a shopping environment.
US08666786B1
A computerized method for a commercial insurance policyholder, agent and/or insurer to maintain and manipulate data that is relevant to the cost of their insurance and risk to a loss or injury. A number of parties may view the relevant data to determine the risk of the policyholder and determine if the premium charges forecasted are accurate preferably in real-time such as during the policy period.
US08666774B1
The present invention provides solutions to many of the problems face by hospitalist medicine providers by supporting the ability to manage patient workflow, improve physician communication, integrate with hospital information systems, identify and document accurate diagnosis codes and capture professional fee charges. The system and method of the present invention enforces discipline in the clinical decision making process by ensuring proper and specific diagnoses and documentation thereof. This system supports the diagnosis, reports patient progress, enhances continuity of care through enhanced communication and notification throughout the treatment episode with all clinical and operational providers, automates core measure compliance documentation and ensure proper notification of any program specific risk management initiatives.
US08666773B1
The present invention provides solutions to many of the problems face by hospitalist medicine providers by supporting the ability to manage patient workflow, improve physician communication, integrate with hospital information systems, identify and document accurate diagnosis codes and capture professional fee charges. The system and method of the present invention enforces discipline in the clinical decision making process by ensuring proper and specific diagnoses and documentation thereof. This system supports the diagnosis, reports patient progress, enhances continuity of care through enhanced communication and notification throughout the treatment episode with all clinical and operational providers, automates core measure compliance documentation and ensure proper notification of any program specific risk management initiatives.
US08666772B2
This invention is a method creating a machine readable language of medical billing codes from medical records by artificial intelligence and human intelligence both. The software related engine is achieved by converting difficult billing code numbers into and from easy code letters. Also, this software makes scheduling easier, with reappointments and sends letters by electronic means, messaging, voice over internet protocol and wireless connections using an unique implementation of other applications in combination with this novel medical software operation.
US08666770B2
Methods of developing equations for objectively assigning or predicting an apparent age are disclosed. Advantageously, the equations of objective apparent age may be based on a relatively small number of critical parameters combined in a way that accounts for all or most of the apparent skin aging in a defined population or sub-population. Despite the relatively small data collection requirements, the present invention includes an objective model of apparent age that is useful for evaluation of products, useful for predicting treatment outcomes and useful for predicting the effects of deteriorative factors. The formalization of an Objective Apparent Age Score allows one to identify the biophysical and biochemical parameters that mostly influence an individual's apparent age, and can be used to select specific anti-aging treatments with increased chances of visible success. The Objective Apparent Age Score may also be used to support marketing claims.
US08666762B2
The present invention provides a comprehensive tissue management system for transplantable materials like tissues and organs. The tracking portion of the system prompts and verifies that staff members of a medical establishment like a hospital have handled, stored, transported, reconstituted, and used the tissue or organ materials in a safe and regulatory-compliant manner from the point of receipt to the point of issuance or surgical use throughout the hospital's organization. The tracing portion of the system creates an integral record that documents which hospital staff members have provided which processing steps to the tissue or organ, any associated materials used in conjunction with such tissue or organ, and an identification of the tissue or organ that was transplanted or implanted inside a patient. Such a system will enable adverse reaction investigations for transplant patients, and recalls of transplantable materials.
US08666760B2
A system and method for managing medication orders, including verbal orders and changes to those orders, is described. A server receives mediation orders from a pharmacy and communicates those orders to an infusion pump. The infusion pump communicates status messages to the server and the server compares the status messages to the medication orders to determine if the there were any changes to the order, or if a medication was administered absent a medication order. The server assigns a new order identification number to the status message if needed. The system may also reconcile original medication orders with information associated with a new order identification number and stores the information in the eMAR of a patient.
US08666759B2
A method of exchanging documents among multiple businesses relating to common customers, including publishing documents relating to a first customer of a first business in a secure medium, determining whether the first customer is the same person as a second customer of a second business, and if the first customer is the same person as the second customer, granting access to the second business to the published documents.
US08666754B2
When a frame immediately preceding an encoding target frame to be encoded by a first encoding unit operating under a linear predictive coding scheme is encoded by a second encoding unit operating under a coding scheme different from the linear predictive coding scheme, the encoding target frame can be encoded under the linear predictive coding scheme by initializing the internal state of the first encoding unit. Therefore, encoding processing performed under a plurality of coding schemes including the linear predictive coding scheme and a coding scheme different from the linear predictive coding scheme can be realized.
US08666746B2
A system and method are disclosed for generating customized text-to-speech voices for a particular application. The method comprises generating a custom text-to-speech voice by selecting a voice for generating a custom text-to-speech voice associated with a domain, collecting text data associated with the domain from a pre-existing text data source and using the collected text data, generating an in-domain inventory of synthesis speech units by selecting speech units appropriate to the domain via a search of a pre-existing inventory of synthesis speech units, or by recording the minimal inventory for a selected level of synthesis quality. The text-to-speech custom voice for the domain is generated utilizing the in-domain inventory of synthesis speech units. Active learning techniques may also be employed to identify problem phrases wherein only a few minutes of recorded data is necessary to deliver a high quality TTS custom voice.
US08666733B2
When encoding an audio signal, it is possible to efficiently encode the audio signal while maintaining high register signal components, and prevent deterioration of sound quality of decoded signal. A digital audio signal is divided into a plurality of frequency bands. The digital audio signal having been divided into each band is function-approximated for each divided band. Further, parameters of function having been function-approximated are encoded. When performing decoding process, parameters of the function of each band are used to perform function interpolation, synthesize the function-interpolated signal of each band interpolated, and decode the signal. Thus, when function-approximating each band, by suitably setting the function equation, it is possible to perform an encoding process while maintaining the high register components and perform a compression-coding process which enables reproduction with very good sound quality.
US08666723B2
Certain embodiments of the present invention are configured to permit development and validation of a device driver or a device application program by using improved virtual devices. Such improved virtual devices facilitate driver development without use of real devices or hardware prototypes. The present invention also may be configured to permit advanced validation of a device-driver combination that would be difficult to achieve even with a real device. Certain embodiments also may detect inconsistencies between virtual and real devices, which may be used to improve drivers and device application programs and increase compatibility of such drivers and device application programs with real devices.
US08666722B2
In a STA method, after accessing data sets regarding the IC, vectors of the data sets for STA can be generated. Each vector can include a base value and a plurality of tokens, wherein each token is quantized. For each vector, the data of the vector can be adjusted. Adjusting can include shifting a predetermined token to zero and adjusting the base value and remaining token values based on the shifting. Incremental compression can be applied within the vector by storing each token value as a difference versus its previous token value. Differential compression can then be applied by storing each token value as a difference versus a corresponding token value in a predetermined reference vector. A resulting vector can be stored. At this point, an operation for STA can be performed using multiple resulting vectors without de-quantizing or decompressing.
US08666713B2
A method of stimulating a deformable object comprises modeling deformable elasticity for the object by defining an actual shape and a goal shape and pulling points in the goal shape towards corresponding points in the goal shape.
US08666697B2
A light directing system including first and second relay lenses through which light passes, the first and second relay lenses being positioned at conjugate positions, the first relay lens being positioned between the second relay lens and a light source, a focal length of the first relay lens being longer than a focal length of the second relay lens.
US08666684B2
An air conditioning system includes a plurality of indoor units and one or more outdoor units to drive the indoor units. The one or more outdoor units are coupled to the indoor units through refrigerant pipes that include one or more branch points. A calculator calculates an amount of filling refrigerant based on capacities of the indoor units and the one or more outdoor units and lengths of the refrigerant pipes.
US08666681B2
The present invention aims at providing a method and apparatus for analyzing a mass spectrum on which multivalent ion peaks originating from a target compound appear, and calculating the mass of the target compound. First, each peak on the mass spectrum is analyzed to detect isotopic clusters, and the valence and the representative point (m/z value) of each isotopic cluster are obtained (S1 through S3). Since the range of the m/z value of the component which is added to or desorbed from the compound is limited, by using this factor, the isotopic clusters originating from the same compound are deduced. By combining the deduced isotopic clusters, the candidates for the m/z value of the added/desorbed component are deduced (S5). Among the plurality of selected candidates, clearly abnormal candidates are eliminated by using a plurality of conditions such as the degree of distribution of the m/z values and the similarity of the relative intensities of the representative points of the isotopic clusters (S6 through S9). The candidate having the smallest distribution of m/z values or the candidate having the highest similarity of the relative intensities of the representative points is finally selected. After the m/z value of the added/desorbed component is determined, the mass of the compound is calculated (S10 through S16).
US08666674B2
Provided in certain embodiments are methods for pairing patient cells and donor cells to prepare cytotoxic T cells, either in vitro or, when their formation is induced in a subject, in vivo. Such cytotoxic T cells could be administered to the patient for treating certain disorders, such as a cancer (for example, brain cancer).
US08666671B2
A method that creates a new class of pharmaceutical combinations (specific ratio combinations) that offer an improved therapeutic profile with reduced side effects is provided. Safer, more cost-effective drugs for treating various diseases or medical conditions are created by combining receptor activating, inhibiting or modulating drugs in specific ratio combinations that optimize the therapeutic profiles for various pharmaceutical compositions. The method demonstrates how to combine biological or pharmaceutical molecules or drugs in order to create specific ratio combinations that are optimized to improve the overall safety and therapeutic efficacy of the individual molecules or drugs alone. These techniques create novel receptor-activating drugs that are anticipated to prove useful for future therapeutic treatments.
US08666663B2
A technology for searching for a recommended route matched to a search condition is provided for route search that involves substitution with a learned route. A route search device comprises: a storage unit to store therein, as learned routes, routes corresponding to sections where traveling deviated from recommended routes have been performed; a setting unit to set a search condition matched a recommended route; a recommended-route search unit to find a recommended route on the basis of the search condition; an application unit to select any one of the learned routes that is applicable to the thus found recommended route, and apply the selected learned route to the recommended route; and a display unit to display the recommended route to which the learned route has been applied. The storage unit stores therein category information of the learned routes in association with the respective learned routes. The application unit selects, from the storage unit, any one of the learned routes that is associated with the category information matched to the search condition.
US08666651B2
In a left-hand traffic rule, a subject vehicle turns right at an intersection and then passes over a crosswalk, which is corresponded to by a pedestrian-use traffic signal. When the pedestrian-use traffic signal presents a green color as a currently indicating signal color, an obstacle report range is designated as covering both an area A and an area B so as to report an existence of an obstacle. In contrast, when the pedestrian-use traffic light presents a red color as a currently indicating signal color, an obstacle report range is designated as covering only the area A during a red light elapsed time ranging greater than a first marginal time and less than a time, which is obtained by subtracting a second marginal time from a red light cycle time.
US08666644B2
Disclosed is a drive assistance apparatus capable of assisting safer driving of a vehicle. The drive assistance apparatus that includes a position detection unit detecting a positional relationship between a preceding vehicle present in front of a subject vehicle and the subject vehicle and executes a drive assistance control assisting the driving of the subject vehicle according to the detected results, wherein the drive assistance apparatus includes an acquisition unit that acquires signal device information regarding a signal device on a traveling path of the subject vehicle and a setting unit that sets execution conditions for executing the drive assistance control based on the signal device information acquired by the acquisition unit.
US08666633B2
An engine system for starting a gas turbine engine is provided. The system includes a starter generator coupled to the gas turbine engine and configured to provide torque to the gas turbine engine and a controller coupled to the starter generator and configured to provide a command signal to the starter generator. The starter generator provides the torque to the gas turbine engine based on the command signal, and the controller is configured to command the starter generator at a dwell speed until ignition.
US08666630B2
A method for increasing active duration time of an automatic freewheeling function in a vehicle with cruise control and during a cruise control active period is provided. The function includes an arrangement for determining a vehicle set speed for when the function is allowed to he activated and an arrangement for calculating a predetermined allowable vehicle speed drop to a first under speed value below the vehicle set speed. The function is controlled based on the under speed value, m order to extend active duration time of the function.
US08666629B2
A method for determining a driving strategy for a driver of a motor vehicle includes receiving local information about a plurality of other motor vehicles using a receiving device, wherein the plurality of other motor vehicles are ahead of the motor vehicle and are relevant to the traffic situation. The method further includes recording the local information using the receiving device and deriving driving information from the local information so as to provide a driving strategy in the form of at least one action recommendation for the driver, the at least one action recommendation including a recommended speed based on an average speed of the plurality of other motor vehicles and on a desired speed of the motor vehicle.
US08666623B2
A method for controlling and/or regulating an automatic transmission of a vehicle, depending on the driving route slope in which a winding mountain pass road detection is carried out, depending upon a topography of the driving route, in such a way that a time for either setting or resetting winding mountain pass road detection is determined.
US08666619B2
A method includes: receiving M solenoids, each marked with a unique one of M identifiers, where M is an integer greater than one; receiving M lookup tables associated with respective ones of the M identifiers, wherein each of the M lookup tables establishes a relationship between input current and output pressure for only one of the M solenoids; assembling a transmission with a selected one of the M solenoids; selecting one of the M lookup tables based on one of the M identifiers marked on the selected one of the M solenoids; storing the selected one of the M lookup tables in memory of a transmission control module of a vehicle that is assembled with the transmission; and controlling output pressure of the selected one of the M solenoids based on the selected one of the M lookup tables and the input current using the transmission control module.
US08666618B2
A machine control system for use with a machine having a power source and a transmission is disclosed. The machine control system may have a clutch configured to connect an output of the power source with an input of the transmission. The machine control system may also have a sensors configured to generate signals indicative of machine operations, and a controller in communication with the clutch and the sensors. The controller may be configured to determine the current machine application based on the signals, and vary an actuating force of the clutch based on the type of machine application.
US08666614B2
A twin-clutch type hybrid transmission is configured to include an input shaft 10, an odd-numbered stage shift mechanism 30, an even-numbered stage shift mechanism 60, a motor power mechanism 20, and an output mechanism 90. The shift mechanisms 30 and 60 include transmission gear trains 32 and 62, and main clutches 34 and 64, respectively, the main clutches 34 and 64 for selectively transmitting the power of the transmission gear train 32 and the power of the transmission gear train 62 to transmission shafts 40 and 70, respectively. The shift mechanisms 30 and 60 also include shift gear trains 41, 43, 45, 47, 72, 74, 76, and 78 provided to the transmission shafts 40 and 70 to transmit rotation to the output mechanism 90, respectively, and mechanical clutches 50, 52, 80, and 82 for selectively engaging the corresponding shift gear trains and the transmission shafts 40 and 70, respectively. As a result, a compact twin-clutch type hybrid transmission having high transmission efficiency can be obtained.
US08666612B2
Earth moving equipment and other heavy machinery for environmentally harsh conditions are controlled by a control panel supplied with a lock, and such panels are frequently removable to prevent theft or unauthorized operation. The interface is in the form of a plug-and-socket, the parts of which have to be sealed against dust and humidity when not interfacing. In order to prevent wear and to assure reliable control, according to the invention, no part of the connection between the control panel and a receptable is galvanic, the power supply for the control panel is wireless, such as inductive or optical, while communications may occur by means of a two-way radio protocol or by optical means.
US08666608B2
An agricultural cart including a product metering system comprising an auger assembly extending generally along an axis non-parallel to a horizontal plane and non-perpendicular to the horizontal plane, and a holding chamber disposed at an upstream end of the auger assembly and configured to reduce pulsations within a flow of agricultural product from the auger assembly. The agricultural cart also includes an air source coupled to the product metering system and configured to transfer the agricultural product to an agricultural implement via an airflow.
US08666600B2
A rear toe control (RTC) system and method for a vehicle includes rear actuators for applying rear steering to rear wheels of the vehicle and rear sensors for measuring individual toe angles of the rear wheels. The system further includes a RTC failure module that determines when the RTC system has failed and a road condition determining module that determines whether the vehicle is encountering a poor road surface condition. An electronic control unit (ECU) is disposed on the vehicle and is configured to impose a speed limit for the vehicle when the RTC failure module determines that the RTC system has failed and the road condition determining module determines that the vehicle encountering a poor road surface condition.
US08666598B2
A method of controlling a yawing movement of an aircraft running along the ground, the aircraft comprising at least one first landing gear with a steerable bottom part bearing wheels. The method comprises the steps of (1) on the basis of a yaw rate setpoint {dot over (φ)}c, determining a wheel-steering prepositioning angle θp; and (2) using closed-loop control which as its input has the yaw rate setpoint and which generates a command to steer the bottom part in order to steer it through a steering angle θc equal to the sum of this prepositioning angle θp and of an angle θz which is determined taking account of an error between the yaw rate setpoint {dot over (φ)}c and the measured yaw rate {dot over (φ)}m when the steerable bottom part is steered by the steering angle θc.
US08666596B2
A method and a system generates signals for influencing the movement of the body of a vehicle, wherein the chain of movements of which can be controlled or adjusted. The movement of the vehicle body is determined by sensors in relation to at least three wheels of the motor vehicle and the vertical acceleration of the vehicle body, the sensor signals that correspond to the determined sensor values are fed to a shock absorber controller which delivers at least one control signal to control actuators, in particular semi-active or active shock absorbers which are used to influence the movement of the body. The control signal for controlling the actuators is determined by the shock absorber controller from the sensor signals, with the aid of condition-dependent adjustment algorithms, taking into consideration current and/or expected conditions in conjunction with selectable requirements for the movement of the vehicle body and driving safety requirements.
US08666589B2
A method for determining the driving state of a vehicle in three-dimensional space comprising the steps: sensing of first signals over a specific time period, these signals being based on the first sensor signals which correspond to the three-dimensional acceleration of the vehicle; sensing of seconds signals over the specific time period, these signals being based on the second sensor signals which correspond to the three-dimensional angular rates of the vehicle; calculating the driving state variables of the three-dimensional velocity and/or three-dimensional orientation of the vehicle by integrating the first signals and or the second signals over the specific time period according to the system of equations of motion for the corresponding driving state variables; sensing of one or more third signals which are based on one or more additional third sensor signals with which one or more components of the calculated driving state variables can be determined; and correcting the first and second signals of the specific time period or the calculated driving state variables in such a way that the calculated driving state variables correspond as precisely as possible to the driving state variables determined from the third signals.
US08666588B2
A vehicle testing system and method includes a vehicle testing system that is operatively connected with a vehicle computer whereby the system is able to evaluate signals within the vehicle computer. The system includes a tamper testing sequence for detecting vehicle tampering comprising applying a test action to the vehicle intended to generate a signal in the vehicle computer responsive to the test action, monitoring the signal of the vehicle computer associated with the test action, and determining whether the signal meets an expected response. A determination that the signal of the vehicle computer associated with the test action does not meet the expected response indicates that tampering has occurred.
US08666586B2
An enterprise fuel management system for managing fueling operations of an aircraft fleet operated by a fleet operator having a central computer system at a data center and operating aircraft at multiple airports avoids reliability problems associated with synchronizing a central database with local databases. Data collection units communicate collected fueling information wirelessly to a central data center, and the data collection units are not in direct communication with the fleet operator's central computer system. Moreover, the central data center gathers fueling information from the various data collection units and communicates the gathered fueling information to the fleet operator's central computer system as data messages for subsequent processing and action. In this way, the fleet operator's central computer system can maintain the only database of fueling information and flight information, obviating the need to synchronize the data in the fleet operator's computer system with data in some other computer system.
US08666580B2
A crankshaft of an engine, an output shaft of a first electric motor, and an output shaft of a second electric motor are directly or indirectly connected to each other mechanically. When the engine is started, a vibration reduction torque is caused to act on the crankshaft that is set in the form of a periodic torque based on the crank angle, so that torque pulsation of the engine is suppressed. The output torque of the first electric motor is controlled in accordance with the sum of a motoring torque and a part of the vibration reduction torque. The output torque of the second electric motor is controlled in accordance with the sum of its essential output torque for causing the vehicle to travel and a torque for compensating for a shortage of the vibration reduction torque that occurs because a part of the vibration reduction torque is output from the first electric motor.
US08666578B2
Disclosed is a method and a system for cutting fuel for a hybrid vehicle. More specifically, a control unit in the vehicle is configured to determine margin torque according to each driving mode, determine whether a current vehicle driving condition is a coasting driving condition, compare a engine torque and a sum of friction torque and the margin torque to determine whether the engine torque is greater than the sum of the friction torque and the margin torque and cut fuel injection to the engine when the engine torque is equal to or less than the sum of the friction torque and the margin torque.
US08666573B2
A shift control system for a hybrid vehicle having an engine and a motor as power sources may include a driving condition detector which detects whether a kick-down shift-request occurs in EV (Electric Vehicle), and a hybrid control unit which changes a driving mode from the EV (Electric Vehicle) mode to HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle) mode by connecting an engine clutch when the kick-down shift-request may be detected and an engine may be operated, and executes a kick-down shift.
US08666559B2
A method of reducing electricity usage during peak demand periods includes the steps of establishing predetermined load reduction criteria representative of a desire by a power provider to reduce loading on an electricity supply grid, and coordinating with a facility having lighting equipment to permit the power provider to turn-off one or more of the lighting equipment by sending instructions to a master controller at the facility in response to the predetermined load reduction criteria, and establishing a list of lighting equipment to be turned-off in response to the instructions, and configuring the master controller to send an override control signal to the lighting equipment to implement the instructions, and configuring the lighting equipment to send a response signal to the master controller providing a status of the lighting equipment.
US08666558B2
A power outage restoration system manages a power network including a plurality of switching devices. The power outage restoration system includes an outage management system having a network model of said power network. A plurality of local restoration controllers are in communication with the outage management system and each said local restoration controller includes a trimmed network model correlating to a respective area of responsibility.
US08666553B2
The present invention relates to an overhead transmission line inspection robot and system for inspecting transmission line components and right of way conditions. The overhead transmission line inspection robot includes a communications and control system adapted to control the robot and transmit information and a drive system for propelling the robot along a shield wire to enable inspection over a large area. The robot further includes a camera adapted to inspect right of way and component conditions; a light detection and ranging (LiDar) sensor adapted to measure conductor position, vegetation, and nearby structures; and a global positioning system adapted to identify the robot's position and speed.
US08666550B2
An apparatus comprises a vehicle, a sensing unit, and a control unit. The vehicle is movable in a path and has a first number of cutting elements. The sensing unit detects an obstacle in the path. The control unit is connected to the first number of cutting elements and is configured to autonomously adjust a height of a second number of cutting elements of the first number of cutting elements in response to the sensing unit detecting the obstacle in the path.
US08666542B2
One aspect of the present invention provides a multi-channel controller that can control a plurality of fuel pump devices, with each fuel pump device having its own dedicated communications channel. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention enable existing wiring and fuel pump devices to be preserved while turning an existing fuel pump device installation into a network of may point-to-point networks.
US08666532B2
A method, system and computer program product for controlling a manufacturing process of an electronic circuit, the method includes: calculating at least one layer misalignment between layers of an electrical circuit that are expected to be mutually aligned; wherein the layers are manufactured by at least a direct imaging device that exposes a photo-resistive material to radiation to provide a pattern; selecting, in response to the at least one layer misalignment and in response to at least one allowable misalignment threshold, a selected response out of: manufacturing at least one additional layer of the electrical circuit; and stopping the manufacturing process of the electrical circuit; and participating in executing the selected response.
US08666530B2
An etching control system controls exposure of a silicon workpiece to a spontaneous etchant. The system determines an amount of material to be removed from the silicon workpiece, based on metrology information corresponding to the silicon workpiece. An estimated etch time duration is determined for removing the amount of the material upon exposing the silicon workpiece to the spontaneous etchant for the estimated etch time duration. In some embodiments, the system monitors a change in mass of the silicon workpiece caused by exposure of the silicon workpiece to the spontaneous etchant to determine when the amount of the material has been removed from the silicon workpiece. Exposure of the silicon workpiece to the spontaneous etchant is stopped when the change in the mass of the silicon workpiece indicates that the amount of the material has been removed.
US08666527B2
A method and system is provided for eliminating acoustical feedback in a system. The method determines a parameter for at least one notch filter, adjusting the notch filter based on the parameter, processing the digital signals through the notch filter, testing at the effect of the notch filter in the system, and removing the notch filter if the notch filter is not effective. Also disclosed is a method and system of selecting candidate frequencies which might be feedback, as opposed to other wanted sound frequencies. The selection method sampling the digital signals, converting the time domain digital signal samples by a fast Fourier transform algorithm into the frequency domain, using a ballistics approach to find prominences in the frequency spectrum, and testing the sizes of the prominences.
US08666526B2
A transmission device includes: a reproduction audio producing unit which produces reproduction audio; a continuous audio producing unit which produces continuous audio; a synthesized audio producing unit which synthesizes the reproduction audio and the continuous audio to produce synthesized audio; a capture audio data producing unit which captures the synthesized audio to produce capture audio data; and a transmitting unit which transmits the capture audio data to a reproduction device.
US08666520B2
A load shedding system for operating at least one circuit breaker positioned within an enclosure is described. The load shedding system includes a processor configured to receive a demand signal and to provide a predetermined load shedding signal. The load shedding system also includes at least one load shedding apparatus configured to receive the load shedding signal from the processor. The load shedding apparatus is configured to be coupled to a door of the enclosure. The load shedding apparatus is further configured to be operatively coupled to the at least one circuit breaker and further configured to actuate the at least one circuit breaker in response to the load shedding signal.
US08666512B2
A medical device lead includes a proximal connector configured to couple the lead to a pulse generator and an insulative lead body extending distally from the proximal connector. The lead also includes an inner conductor and one or more cable conductors coupled to the proximal connector at a proximal end and extending through the lead body. The lead further includes one or more defibrillation coil electrodes coupled to a distal end of the one or more cable conductors. The one or more defibrillation coil electrodes are disposed around and electrically isolated from the inner conductor. The one or more defibrillation coil electrodes have a first winding direction and the inner conductor has a second winding direction opposite the first winding direction.
US08666511B2
This disclosure describes an implantable medical lead, and method of making such a lead, that reduces the undesirable effects the fields generated by an MRI device may have on the implantable medical lead and the implantable medical device. The implantable medical lead has a proximal end configured to connect to an implantable medical device and a distal end. The lead also includes at least one electrode located near the distal end and at least one coiled conductor that extends along a length of the lead from the proximal end to a respective electrode. The lead further includes an outer jacket that is configured to only partially extend between turns of one or more of the coiled conductors.
US08666500B2
The present invention is an electrode array for neural stimulation. In particular it is an electrode array for use with a visual prosthesis with the electrode array suitable to be positioned on the retina. The array includes multiple attachment points to provide for even pressure across the electrode array surface. The attachment points are arranged so as to not damage retinal tissue stimulated by the electrode array.
US08666499B2
Disclosed are a system and a method for artificial nerve networking capable of restoring a damaged nerve and allowing selective detection, analysis, transmission and stimulation of a signal from the damaged nerve. The artificial nerve networking system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: a first nerve conduit connected at one end of a damaged nerve; a second nerve conduit connected at the other end of the damaged nerve; and an artificial nerve networking unit electrically connected to the first nerve conduit and the second nerve conduit and recovering the function of the damaged nerve by transmitting and receiving a signal to and from the damaged nerve.
US08666497B2
In an implantable medical device having individual modules, a coupling module couples the modules to one another. The coupling module supports electrical and/or mechanical coupling of the modules. The coupling module may assume a variety of shapes or configurations. The various embodiments of the coupling module may offer the modules varying degrees of freedom of movement relative to one another.
US08666496B2
The present invention provides systems, apparatus and methods for selectively applying electrical energy to body tissue. A device is provided with an electrode positioned within the interior of an enclosure and a fluid passage coupled to the enclosure for delivery of an electrically conductive fluid such that the electrically conductive fluid. The conductive fluid allows for the passage of electrical energy from the electrode through the fluid and the outer wall of the enclosure for treatment of tissue on or in a patient. The electrode does not directly contact the tissue of the patient, which reduces the potential for collateral tissue damage or necrosis and/or excessive electric fields in the tissue.
US08666492B2
A housing for an electrostimulation device comprising a charger plug and a stimulation plug, designed to receive respectively a connector linked to a charger and a connector linked to a stimulation electrode, characterized in that it comprises a mobile locking element designed to alternately lock the charger plug or the stimulation plug.
US08666488B2
Patient data is stored in a medical device, such as an external defibrillator, and may be transferred, or downloaded, from the medical device to a computing device for storage or analysis. In response to the transfer, the medical device protects the patient data so that at least a subset of users cannot access the patient data from the medical device. The other device to which patient data is transferred from the medical device may be remote from the medical device or may be configured to be part of the medical device. The device to which the patient data is transferred from the medical device can be a remote computing device like a computer or server and/or may include or may be an intermediary data management device (DMD). The medical device may be a wearable medical device, such as a wearable defibrillator or a wearable automatic external defibrillator (AED).
US08666486B2
The present invention provides a device for iontophoretic delivery of a drug to on into a tissue, comprising an arrangement that prevents operation of the device at a current density that is higher than a predetermined value, the arrangement including first means responsive to a first data item, indicative of the surface area through which the current is to pass, as to set the maximal current allowed at the surface area indicated by the data item. The present invention also provides a method for iontophorectivally administering drug to or into a tissue, comprising determination of a maximal allowed level of current density and preventing application of current density above the maximal allowed level.
US08666484B2
A method and system for displaying EEG data is disclosed herein. A plurality of epochs are stitched together with an overlapping section in order to present a continuous EEG recording. Artifact reduction is performed on the epochs and then the epochs are combined together with overlapping sections of preferably two to four seconds.
US08666480B2
An ECG signal processing system which removes the CPR-induced artifact from measured ECG signals obtained during the administration of CPR.
US08666478B2
A method for accurate localization and visualization of implanted electrodes, such as implanted intracranial electrodes, is provided. More particularly, a realistic representation of intracranial electrode positions on patient-specific post-implantation MRI brain renderings is obtained. The resulting computer models provide an accurate depiction of electrode locations on three-dimensional brain renderings that are suitable for use in surgical planning of resection boundaries around, for example, epileptic zones. Electrodes placed inter-hemispherically are also visible with this method. In addition, a method for creating electrode “shadows” cast upon the brain model surface is provided. These electrode shadows are useful for estimating cortical areas sampled by iEEG and for locating electrodes that may straddle sulci and contact two adjacent cortical gyri.
US08666471B2
Provided herein are implantable biomedical devices, methods of administering implantable biomedical devices, methods of making implantable biomedical devices, and methods of using implantable biomedical devices to actuate a target tissue or sense a parameter associated with the target tissue in a biological environment. Each implantable biomedical device comprises a bioresorbable substrate, an electronic device having a plurality of inorganic semiconductor components supported by the bioresorbable substrate, and a barrier layer encapsulating at least a portion of the inorganic semiconductor components. Upon contact with a biological environment the bioresorbable substrate is at least partially resorbed, thereby establishing conformal contact between the implantable biomedical device and the target tissue in the biological environment.
US08666466B2
A method and medical device for detecting signals that detects emitted light scattered by a volume of tissue delivered along a first pathway and a second pathway different from the first pathway, detects emitted light scattered by a volume of tissue delivered along a third pathway and a fourth pathway different from the third pathway, determines a first uniformity corresponding to the emitted light detected along the first pathway and the second pathway, determines a second uniformity corresponding to the emitted light detected along third pathway and the fourth pathway, determines a total uniformity in response to the determined first uniformity and the determined second uniformity, and alters sensing by the device in response to the determined total uniformity.
US08666463B2
A portable communication apparatus in which an LCD can slide and stand at a desired angle is provided. To this end, the portable communication apparatus includes a first housing extending in a longitudinal direction and a second housing that slides substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction and rotates while facing the first housing to stand at a desired angle. A guide member guides the sliding and rotational movement of the second housing, and a rotational moving member is included between the first housing and the second housing to make the second housing stand at the desired angle.
US08666457B2
The present invention includes a device, method, and user interface for providing optimized entry of alphanumeric text. In one form, a method for providing selectable characters within a user interface includes determining an operating mode of a communication device and receiving an input associated with a selected input key. The method determines a group of characters associated with the selected key based on the operating mode and displays the group of characters within the user interface. The user interface may display a first character of the group of characters within a first portion of the user interface and the group of characters proximal to the first character within a second portion of the user interface.
US08666441B2
A system and method for uplink power control in a wireless communications system are provided. A method for power control of uplink transmissions by a communications device includes computing a power offset based on a signal target and a measured received signal power strength, generating a power control command from the power offset, and transmitting the power control command to the communications device. The signal target is based on control information provided by the communications device.
US08666440B2
A signal transmission method and related mobile terminal and base station thereof. The method includes: the base station determines a special transmit time interval (TTI) in a downlink carrier (S301); the corresponding time length for which a first type mobile terminal has sent an uplink sounding reference signal to the base station is included in the special TTI; the first type mobile terminal is a mobile terminal which sends the uplink sounding reference signal to the base station in the special TTI; the base station sends a first control signal within a first time length in the special TTI (S302); the first control signal enables a second type mobile terminal to determine that the base station hasn't sent a downlink signal within the remainder time length in the special TTI; the second type mobile terminal is a mobile terminal which does not send the uplink sounding reference signal to the base station in the special TTI. Using the method and the related device enables the future mobile communication system which uses the downlink carrier to introduce the uplink transmission to be compatible with the existing mobile terminals and the future mobile terminals.
US08666438B1
The invention is directed to methods and systems for managing communications between a user of a mobile device and a content provider. Registration information is received from a mobile device indicating that a communications manager is authorized to communicate with the content provider and act on behalf of the mobile device with respect to blocking and unblocking certain messages received from the content provider. The content provider registers with the communications manager so that the communications manager knows specific codes and methods for communicating with the content provider. Modified user preferences are received from the mobile device, and these are communicated to the content provider by the communications manager.
US08666427B2
A method for mobile communication and a system thereof are provided. The system for mobile communication includes a main base station and a plurality of sub-communication devices. The sub-communication device is one of a sub-base station and a user equipment. The sub-base stations and the user equipments are located in the macrocell of the main base station. The method includes the following steps. First, locations of the sub-communication devices are obtained. Then, the sub-communication devices are grouped based on the locations of the sub-communication devices. And, an allocation of resource blocks is obtained according to the grouping results. The sub-communication devices receive the allocation of resource blocks for control signaling and data transmission. And, the usage of same resource blocks are enabled by the sub-base station allocated in the same resource blocks in response to receipt of the allocation.
US08666420B2
In an example embodiment, an access point (AP) uses out-of-band signaling on a single non-DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection) frequency band radio in an N-radio system to synchronize information with neighboring APs and to learn about their radio interfaces. This enables the AP to be able to acquire information about neighbor APs on different frequency bands and to build and maintain mesh routing structures while minimizing backhaul down-time.
US08666413B2
Embodiments of the present invention make it possible to reduce loss and delay of downlink user data transmitted at regular time intervals in a mobile communication system employing a hard handover method, and make it possible to easily perform high-quality handover solely by a handover-starting base station. A base station for transmitting downlink user data at regular time intervals to a mobile station is disclosed. The base station is configured to transmit a handover-command signal immediately after transmitting the downlink user data to the mobile station.
US08666410B2
A method of controlling CSG, known as closed subscriber group, cell selection for a wireless communication system is provided. The wireless communication system includes a network and a user equipment including a whitelist capable of providing a list of accessible CSG cells. The method includes updating the whitelist when the user equipment subscribes to a CSG cell that is not included in the whitelist or does not subscribe to a CSG cell in the whitelist.
US08666403B2
Methods, apparatuses, and systems are provided for facilitating device-to-device connection establishment. A method may include directing broadcast of an indication of a device-to-device registration area identification in each of one or more cells forming a device-to-device registration area identified by the device-to-device registration area identification. The method may further include directing receipt of a device-to-device registration request originated by a first terminal apparatus in response to the broadcast indication. The first terminal apparatus may be located within the registration area. The method may additionally include registering the first terminal apparatus based at least in part upon the device-to-device registration request. Corresponding apparatuses and systems are also provided.
US08666397B2
Area event triggers are handled by receiving an original area event trigger with an initial target area within a given mobile network, for a given target mobile device. When the target mobile device is outside the mobile network serving the target area, a first changed area event trigger based on entry into the given mobile network is transmitted to the given target mobile device. When the first changed area event trigger becomes satisfied, a second changed area event trigger is generated based on entry into the initial target area, and transmitted to the given target mobile device. The second changed area event trigger may be based on entry into a region larger than, but including, the initial target area. Then when the second changed area event trigger becomes satisfied, the original area event trigger may be transmitted to the target mobile device.
US08666392B2
A method, a signal generator, an appliance for a mobile radio system, and a measurement system are provided. First of all, a signal generator generates signal data. The signal data are used to generate a signal which is sent to the appliance which is to be tested. The appliance which is to be tested receives the signal and evaluates it. The evaluation of the received signal is taken as a basis for generating a response signal, wherein the response signal has an envelope which is characteristic of the information which is to be returned. This characteristic envelope is measured and a measurement signal which is representative thereof is generated. The measurement signal is supplied to a correlator in the signal generator and is compared with a comparison signal stored in the signal generator.
US08666391B2
Provided is an interference control method that, in the case where a macro terminal does not exist close to the femtocell terminal, improves the coverage performance and bit rate of femtocell terminals, and also prevent deterioration in the performance of femtocell base stations, femtocell terminals, or macro terminals. In this method, the macro terminals (102, 103) will transmit, when the difference value between the RSRQs of the femtocell base stations (104) and the RSRQ of a macro base station (101) is greater than a prescribed threshold value, a request to start an interference control, the difference value, and identification information of the femtocell base station (104), to the macro base station (101). The macro base station (101) will transmit, on the basis of the request, the difference value, and identification information, an interference-control start-up request signaling to the femtocell base station (104) specified by the identification information. The femtocell base station (104) will conduct interference control, on the basis of the interference-control start-up request signaling, to femtocell terminals (105) registered with the femtocell base station (104).
US08666389B2
A method of handling system information reception with measurement gap configuration for a mobile device in a wireless communication system is disclosed. The method comprises performing reception of a first system information broadcasted by a network of the wireless communication system, and prioritizing reception of the first system information over utilization of a measurement gap for measurement when the measurement gap overlaps a period for the reception of the first system information, wherein the mobile device is configured with the measurement gap.
US08666384B2
Disclosed is a cordless telephone set capable of suppressing power consumption during power failures to lengthen the time for a call. A cordless telephone (1) receives power supply from a handset (3) placed on a charging section (26) of a base unit (2), during power failures. In order to suppress current consumption of a secondary battery (BT) of the handset (3), the base unit (2) instructs a base unit radio section (21) to be switched to a transmission power-saving mode in which transmission power of the base unit radio section (21) is reduced down to a level at which no communication error occurs, according to radio wave information transmitted from the handset (3) and indicates the received signal strength of a radio signal from the base unit radio section (21) of the base unit (2), received by a handset radio section (39) of the handset (3).
US08666380B2
The present invention relates generally to a method and system for communicating over a telecommunications network between a service provider and one or more users, wherein the service provider has access to multiple distinct addresses in the telecommunications network and each user is identified by an address, more specifically where a first message can be sent over at least a portion of the telecommunications network to a user's address, the reply address of the message having a first reply address selected from the multiple distinct addresses and determining, based on a reply from a user's address to the first reply address, a second message and a second reply address, wherein the second reply address can be selected from the available multiple distinct addresses and is distinct from the first reply address.
US08666370B2
A portable terminal can analyze a voice of the other party and update a phonebook. A voice pattern can be extracted from an incoming voice signal. A determination is made whether the extracted voice pattern is contained in a list of voice patterns stored in the portable terminal. If the extracted voice pattern is contained in the list, a determination is made whether a stored phone number matches a received phone number. If the stored phone number is not identical to the received phone number, the stored phone number is changed with the received phone number. Therefore, the phonebook can be automatically (e.g., without user input) updated although the user does not directly change and store phone numbers of other parties.
US08666356B1
Systems, methods, and computer-readable media, for facilitating voice and data transmission over a single communication path during an aggregate communication event are provided. In some embodiments, the method includes aggregating voice data until a full voice frame can be transmitted or a maximum delay of voice transmission exists. A voice frame comprising the aggregated voice data is transmitted upon attaining the full voice frame or the maximum delay in voice transmission.
US08666353B2
A wireless device includes processing circuitry, a receiver section, a transmitter section, and an antenna. The processing circuitry determines a set of information signals of a RF Multiple Frequency Bands Multiple Standards (MFBMS) signal. The receiver section down-converts a portion of the RF MFBMS signal by one or more respective shift frequencies to produce a corresponding baseband/low Intermediate Frequency (BB/IF) information signal from which the processing circuitry extracts data. The transmitter section converts a respective BB/IF information signal received from the processing circuitry by a respective shift frequency to produce a corresponding RF information signal and a combiner that combines the RF information signals to form a RF MFBMS signal. The receiver section and the transmitter section include ADCs and/or DACs, respectively, that are adjustable based upon characteristics of the RF MFBMS signal, the BB/IF MFBMS signal, and/or based upon signals carried therein, e.g., modulation type, SNR requirements, etc.
US08666352B2
A radio frequency (RF) receiver, such as a television tuner, includes a harmonic cancellation circuit. The harmonic cancellation circuit includes a primary signal path to generate a first intermediate frequency (IF) signal by mixing an RF signal with a reference signal and a harmonic feedforward signal path to generate a second IF signal representing signal content of the RF signal near an nth-order harmonic of a frequency fLO of the first reference signal, n comprising a positive integer. The harmonic cancellation circuit further includes a summation stage to generate a third IF signal based on a difference between the first IF signal and the second IF signal.
US08666348B2
A noise canceling control apparatus obtains information about current communication quality of a terminal, obtains a terminal state, obtains canceling parameters and data indicating the degree of a canceling effect from a holding unit configured to make an association among a terminal state, canceling parameters used when a canceling process is executed for a noise, and data indicating the degree of a canceling effect, and to record the terminal state, the canceling parameters, and the data, calculates communication quality when the canceling process is assumed to be executed for the terminal by using the obtained canceling parameters using the information about the current communication quality, and the data indicating the degree of the canceling effect, outputs canceling parameters with which the communication quality is predicted to be obtained, and executes the canceling process for the noise that occurs within the terminal by using the output canceling parameters.
US08666345B2
The invention relates to a filter (20) filtering a downlink signal of an antenna (13) of an indoor cellular system, the filter comprising a signal determining unit (24) determining a signal strength of an uplink signal received by said antenna (13), the filter adjusting a signal strength of the downlink signal of said antenna (13) in accordance with the signal strength of the uplink signal.
US08666344B2
A satellite signal reception device has a reception unit that receives a satellite signal transmitted from a positioning information satellite, a reception state display device for displaying the satellite signal reception state, a reception state evaluation unit that determines the reception condition of the satellite signal received by the reception unit, and a display controller that controls the reception state display device to display the reception condition determined by the reception state evaluation unit. The reception state evaluation unit determines the level of the reception condition based on the number of positioning information satellites from which satellite signals are received and the signal level of each received signal, and the display controller controls the mechanical drive unit based on the reception level determining by the reception state evaluation unit to display the reception level using the time display device that displays the time.
US08666340B2
Methods and systems for on-chip impedance control to impedance match a configurable front end are disclosed and may include selectively enabling one or more amplifiers coupled to taps on a multi-tap transformer in a chip including the amplifiers. The impedances of the amplifiers may be matched to impedances of the taps on the transformer. The amplifiers may include low noise amplifiers wherein the input impedance of each of the low noise amplifiers may be different. The amplifiers may include power amplifiers wherein an output impedance of each of the power amplifiers may be different. The transformer may be coupled to an on-chip antenna, or to an antenna integrated on a package coupled to the chip. The multi-tap transformer may be integrated on the package. RF signals may be communicated via the selectively enabled amplifiers and the multi-tap transformer. The multi-tap transformer may include ferromagnetic materials integrated in the chip.
US08666335B2
Methods and systems for an n-phase transmitter utilizing a leaky wave antenna (LWA) are disclosed and may include transmitting an n-phase wireless signal at a first frequency via the LWA utilizing a plurality of second frequency signals from one or more signal sources, and the second frequency may be lower than the first frequency. Each of the second frequency signals may be configured with a phase difference and may be communicated to the LWA utilizing one or more power amplifiers (PAs). The PAs may be operated in switching mode, thereby generating a square wave. The LWAs may be integrated on the chip, on a package to which the chip is affixed, and/or on a printed circuit board to which the chip is affixed. Square wave signals may be generated utilizing the signal sources. The transmitted wireless signal may be amplitude modulated utilizing a bias voltage applied to the LWAs.
US08666329B2
According to one embodiment, a radio device comprises a differential antenna that has a pair of differential power supply terminals, a transmitter that transmits a first signal via the differential antenna, a receiver that has a pair of differential input terminals and receives a second signal via the differential antenna, a first control unit, and a second control unit. The first control unit causes a signal conduction state between the differential antenna and the receiver when the receiver receives the second signal. The second control unit switches from a signal conduction state to a signal block state between one of the differential input terminals and one of the differential power supply terminals based on a reception state when the receiver receives the second signal.
US08666327B2
A method and device for frequency deviation pre-correction are provided. The method includes: estimating an uplink frequency deviation value of a terminal, and obtaining a historic value of the uplink frequency deviation pre-correction that has been used for the frequency deviation pre-correction of the terminal; according to the historic value of the uplink frequency deviation pre-correction, determining a current value of the uplink frequency deviation pre-correction of the terminal, the current value of the uplink frequency deviation pre-correction being closer to the uplink frequency deviation value than the historic value of the uplink frequency deviation pre-correction; by using the current value of the uplink frequency deviation pre-correction, pre-correcting the frequency deviation of the terminal, thereby the signal detection performance of the terminal can be effectively improved.
US08666320B2
The amount of operation processing is reduced without largely degrading an estimation precision of radio wave propagation estimation.The radio wave propagation characteristic estimating system for estimating a radio wave propagation characteristic by taking into decision-theoretical consideration such a structure as a building or indoor furnishings includes the object selecting unit for selecting, from objects within a region to be analyzed, an object whose effect on an estimation precision is small by using position data of a transmission point, the number of constituent faces reducing unit for reducing the number of constituent faces of the selected object, and the radio wave propagation estimating unit for estimating radio wave propagation by using an object within the region to be analyzed which is not selected by the object selecting unit and an object whose number of constituent faces is reduced by the number of constituent faces reducing unit.
US08666313B2
Two devices (110, 120) can be determined to be within near field communication (NFC) range of each other. Pairing information for a service can be conveyed over an out-of-band channel (114, 124). The out-of-band channel can be a near field communication (NFC) channel. The service can be a Bluetooth service provided via an in-band (e.g., BLUETOOTH) channel (112, 122). The conveying of the pairing information can require the first device (110) to request at least one desired service, to provide a device ID, and to provide an authorization code in a single message (150). In response to the single message (150), the second device (120) can either deny the request (160, 162) or can convey resource use parameters for the desired service and an ID for the second device within a second single message (164). Pairing the two devices (110, 120) can require use of the authorization code and the resource use parameters.
US08666310B2
In some examples, a method of transmitting data in a radio communication system is described. The method can include dividing data intended for a communication receive node into a high priority code stream and a low priority code stream. The method can also include transmitting the high priority code stream to the communication receive node and a relay node. The method can also include transmitting the low priority code stream to the communication receive node. The relay node may be configured to receive, amplify and forward the high priority code stream to the communication receive node. The communication receive node may be configured to receive the high priority code stream substantially during first time intervals and may be further configured to receive both the low priority code stream and the amplified high priority code stream substantially during second time intervals interleaved with the first time intervals.
US08666309B2
In accordance with aspects of the present invention, a method, apparatus and system for learning antenna weighting factors in a communication system including relay nodes. In one embodiment, an apparatus (e.g., a relay node (325)) for use with a communication system includes a first antenna (330) configured to receive a first signal including a pilot training sequence from a source node (305) and a second signal including a power-based feedback signal or a signal-to-noise based feedback signal from a destination node (350). The apparatus also includes a second antenna (335) configured to transmit at least a portion of the first signal with an antenna weighting factor (e.g., a perturbed antenna weighting factor). The apparatus further includes an antenna weighting factor module (340) coupled to the first antenna (330) and configured to iteratively adjust the antenna weighting factor in response to the second signal.
US08666294B2
A carrier removing apparatus, including: an electrode, having a plurality of openings through which a carrier passes, disposed to oppose an image carrier, and a power source to apply a voltage onto the electrode so as to separate the carrier on the image carrier from the image carrier, wherein the electrode has a surface along a surface of the image carrier.
US08666289B2
A development system (10) for an electrophotographic printer with multiple augers containing a development roller (11) and a first channel contains a feed auger (13) and developer, with a plurality of paddles (12) attached to the feed auger, at least some the paddles increase in size with respect to a previous paddle along a direction of developer flow (18). This arrangement of paddles ensures that a uniform layer of developer is formed on the development roller despite the volume of developer in the first channel decreasing along the length of the first channel in the direction of developer flow.
US08666278B2
In an image forming apparatus including a door 10 openable with respect to a main assembly of the image forming apparatus, a drum cartridge 8 detachably mountable to the image forming apparatus main assembly, and detachably mountable developing cartridges 4k-4y provided above the drum cartridge 8, wherein the door 10 includes a positioning urging portion 26 contacting the developing cartridges in a state in which the door 10 is closed, the door 10 includes drum cartridge mounting and demounting guides 28R and 28L for regulating the drum cartridge 8 so as to pass along a non-interference path with the positioning urging portion 26 in contact to the drum cartridge 8 when the drum cartridge 8 is demounted from the image forming apparatus.
US08666276B2
An image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus includes a chassis having an opening, a cover, photosensitive members, an intermediate transfer belt, a primary-transfer member, a secondary-transfer roller, a cleaner device, a waste toner container, which is movable along a predetermined direction to be removably installed in the chassis through the opening and stores residual toner, a connector, and a feed roller, which is arranged within the feeding path to feed the recording sheet in the feeding path. The feed roller is arranged in a position to at least partially fall within a vertical range of the waste toner container and to be aligned with the waste toner container along an axial direction of the second feed roller.
US08666275B2
An image forming apparatus includes a drum for bearing a toner image; a rotatable belt onto which the toner image is to be transferred from the drum; a primary transfer member for primary transferring the toner image from the drum onto the belt; a secondary transfer member for secondary transferring the toner image from the belt onto a transfer material; and a charging member for electrically charging toner remaining on the belt. The image forming apparatus is capable of executing a belt cleaning mode in which the toner remaining on the belt is electrically charged, and a charging member cleaning mode in which the toner is transferred from the charging member onto the belt and then onto the drum. When the charging member cleaning mode is executed, the charging member is moved at least once from a belt separation position or away from a belt contact position.
US08666267B2
An image forming apparatus having a development unit which develops an electrostatic latent image formed on an image carrier to form a visible image and includes an input unit adapted to accept input of a print job, an analysis unit adapted to analyze the print job, and a prediction unit adapted to predict, based on an analysis result by the analysis unit, a consumption amount of a developing material for printing the print job. In addition, a generation unit generates a schedule for supplying the developing material to the development unit, based on the predicted consumption amount of the developing material, and a supply control unit controls, when a first image data included in the print job has been formed and a second image data included in the print job is formed using the development material having a higher density than a density of the development material needed for forming the first image data, a supply of the development material to the development unit to allow time for stabilizing a density of the development material before image forming of the second image data, based on the schedule generated by the generation unit.
US08666265B2
An image forming apparatus that is capable of reducing a sequential variation of graininess and keeping imaging quality. An exposure unit exposes the photoconductor to a light beam to form an electrostatic latent image. A development unit develops the electrostatic latent image with a toner. A change unit changes a height of toner image by changing an exposure spot area of the light beam on the photoconductor. A formation unit forms test patterns corresponding to different exposure spot areas on a recording sheet. A read unit reads the test patterns. A control unit detects graininess of each test pattern based on information about the test patterns read by the read unit, determines an exposure spot area where the graininess becomes good relatively, and controls the height of toner image on the photoconductor by setting the exposure spot area determined so as to be an exposure spot area for image formation.
US08666261B2
A photoelectric encoder includes a scale; a detector; alight application section; a pair of origin signal reception sections; and a signal processing section adapted to provide the maximum value of the signal level output from the origin signal reception sections by side lobe light occurring as reflected on the origin mark as a stipulated value, provide an effective area of origin detection between the first position at which output of one of the origin signal reception sections for outputting a larger signal level than the stipulated value earlier than the relative displacement becomes a larger signal level than the stipulated value and the first position at which output of the other origin signal reception section exceeds the stipulated value and then becomes a smaller signal level than the stipulated value, and configured to generate the origin detection signal in the effective area.
US08666254B2
Systems, methods, and a vehicle are disclosed to enable wireless optical communications. A wireless optical transceiver includes transmitter light source configured to transmit a first optical signal at a first wavelength via a first ball lens to generate a distributed first optical signal. The distributed first optical signal is configured to be received by a remote receiver via a first line-of-sight transmission. A detector is configured to receive a focused second optical signal at a second wavelength via a second ball lens. A controller is operably coupled to the light source and to the detector. The controller is configured to receive outgoing data and to generate a first electrical signal configured to modulate the first optical signal to transmit the outgoing data. The controller also is configured to receive a second electrical signal from the detector and to demodulate the second electrical signal to generate incoming data.
US08666248B2
A photonic-based distributed network switch and method where the switch is designed to reduce or filter optical data frames entering a port of the switch so that only data frames that are appropriate for the port are forwarded from the port. This reduces the amount of data that needs to be handled by the port interface, which is especially important where the port may be using legacy interface technology that may be incapable of handling the volume of data entering the port.
US08666245B2
The invention provides a system and method for measuring optical signal-to-noise-ratio (OSNR) in an optical communication system. A channel filter is adapted to select one specific optical communication channel from a wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) optical communication system, wherein the channel comprises an optical signal carrying digital bit information and noise from associated optical power amplifiers in the system. At least one optical delay interferometer is adapted to measure at least two interferograms of the noisy signal. The invention provides a mechanism for calculating the in-band OSNR from extinctions of the interferograms measured at different optical delays by referring to each other, wherein said optical delays are selected to be substantially less than a bit period of the optical channel. Because of the selection of the optical delays and/or the self-reference between the two measurements, the system can follow any changes happening to the signal such as additional filtering, self (cross)-phase modulation, the bias and drive signal change of the modulator used to generate the optical signal.
US08666238B2
A fluid preheater (10) includes a body (12) having an interior wall (28) defining a chamber (42) and having an inlet (50) and an outlet (52). One or more heaters (18) are disposed in the wall (28), but not exposed to the chamber (42). The chamber (42) has one or more baffles that cause turbulence in the flow of fluid through the chamber (42) from the inlet (50) to the outlet (52) in order to increase the exposure of the fluid to heat from the heaters (18, 64).
US08666235B2
The efficiency and effectiveness of apparatuses for vaporizing and combusting liquid fuel can be improved using thermal conductors. For example, an apparatus having a liquid fuel vaporizer and a combustion chamber can be characterized by a thermal conductor that conducts heat from the combustion chamber to the vaporizer. The thermal conductor can be a movable member positioned at an insertion depth within the combustion chamber that corresponds to a rate of heat conduction from the combustion chamber to the vaporizer. The rate of heat conduction can, therefore, be adjusted by positioning the movable member at a different insertion depth.
US08666226B1
The present invention provides a method for converting an original script code of video having relative dynamic descriptors of objects' orientation into video with absolute descriptors orientation for objects in the video. The method includes the steps of: identifying exchangeable dynamic objects in the video, parsing each frame script code for analyzing relative dynamic descriptors of objects for determining absolute descriptors values for each object, creating new script code for the video, determining the absolute descriptors values for each object in each frame and generating a video template which supports the creation of customized videos by altering or exchanging dynamic objects.
US08666224B2
A storage medium including meta data for providing an enhanced search function on AV data supporting multi-angle, and a reproducing apparatus and method for reproducing AV data from the storage medium are provided. The storage medium comprises moving picture data for supporting multi-angle; and meta data for providing an enhanced search function on the moving picture data, wherein the meta data is defined according to scene, and comprises information regarding at least one search keyword to be applied to a corresponding scene and information regarding an angle supported by the corresponding scene. Such meta data further includes information regarding a start location and a reproduction duration time of the corresponding scene. As a result, an enhanced search function can be realized according to scene, character, actor, or search criterion which a producer arbitrary defines, with respect to moving picture data supporting multi-angle.
US08666221B2
An imaging apparatus includes a temperature sensor configured to sense a temperature associated with a case of the imaging apparatus, a moving image recording unit configured to generate moving image data based on one of a plurality of recording methods which determines image quality of a recording image, and records the moving image data in a recording medium, and a controller configured to control the recording method set on the moving image recording unit. The controller changes the recording method to be set on the moving image recording unit, according to a result of the sensing by the temperature sensor.
US08666219B2
An interface cable assembly, which enables the user of either an iPhone® or Android® smartphone to record both incoming and outgoing telephone conversations on a standard dual channel (stereo) audio recorder in either WMA or MP3 format, includes one four-conductor plug that engages the audio input/output jack of the smartphone, one three-conductor plug that engages the dual-channel input jack of an audio recorder, and one four-conductor jack that engages the plug of a standard earphone and microphone assembly. In addition, the cable assembly includes resistors and capacitors which provide an impedance match between the input/output circuitry and the audio recorder input circuitry. In order to clearly distinguish between the participants in a recorded telephone conversation, outgoing voice signals are recorded on one channel of the audio recorder, while incoming voice signals are recorded on the other channel.
US08666216B2
A telecommunications infrastructure includes first and second trough members for routing signal-carrying fibers. Coupling members may be used to adjustably couple a first trough member arranged alongside a second trough member together. Coupling members may also be used to adjustably couple a first trough member together with a second trough member terminating at the first trough member.
US08666208B1
A waveguide suitable in form factor and weight for use in a heads-up display or similar wearable display and a method of manufacturing the waveguide are disclosed. The waveguide comprises a waveguide body of light-weight, optically transparent solid material, such as plastic, with a series of micro structures embedded in the waveguide body at a top surface of the waveguide body. A first set of the micro structures near one end of the waveguide body serves to couple light into the waveguide, whereby a portion of the coupled light propagates subject to total internal reflection toward a second set of micro structures that reflects a portion of the propagated light out of the waveguide at a bottom surface of the waveguide body. The waveguide can deliver an image provided by an input light source to a human eye (or other detector) situated near the bottom surface of the waveguide body. In particular, the source image can be focused at infinity so that it appears in focus as viewed by the eye at the output of the waveguide. Methods for simple and inexpensive mass production of the waveguide are also disclosed.
US08666196B2
A method and system for improving picture quality of color images by combing the content of a plurality of frames of the same subject; comprising: at least one processor; the at least one processor comprising a memory for storing a plurality of frames of a subject; the at least one processor operating to combine the content of plurality of frames of the subject into a combined color image by performing: a process in which at least two multicolored frames are converted to monochromatic predetermined color frames; a gross shift process in which the gross shift translation of one monochromatic predetermined color frame is determined relative to a reference monochromatic predetermined color frame; a subpixel shift process utilizing a correlation method to determine the translational and/or rotational differences of one monochromatic predetermined color frame to the reference monochromatic predetermined color frame to estimate sub-pixel shifts and/or rotations between the frames; and an error reduction process to determine whether the resolution of the resulting combined color image is of sufficient resolution; the error reduction process comprising applying at least one spatial frequency domain constraint and at least one spatial domain constraint to the combined color image to produce at least one high-resolution full color image.
US08666188B2
A computer-implemented method for identifying the edges of web media transported on a movable transport surface includes sensing, using a linear array sensor positioned along a process path of a web, the web media and the movable transport surface to obtain image data representative of variations in optical textural properties of the web media and variations in optical textural properties of the movable transport surface, wherein the variations in the optical textural properties of the movable transport surface are different from the variations in the optical textural properties of the web media; and processing the image data to determine differences between the variations in the optical textural properties of the web media and the variations in the optical textural properties of the movable transport surface to identify an edge of the web media.
US08666179B2
A picture encoding apparatus divides an input picture into a plurality of regions and produces quantized transform coefficients of one of the regions. A zero/non-zero coefficient information encoding unit included in the picture encoding apparatus encodes information representing the respective quantized transform coefficients of the one region as either a zero coefficient or a non-zero coefficient. A non-zero coefficient encoding unit included in the picture encoding apparatus encodes non-zero quantized transform coefficient included among the quantized transform coefficients of the one region. The non-zero coefficient encoding unit is configured to select, from a probability model composed of a plurality of estimated probabilities, an estimated probability used to encode an absolute value of a next non-zero quantized transform coefficient of the one region. The estimated probability is selected from the probability model based on a quantity of already encoded non-zero quantized transform coefficients of the one region.
US08666177B2
The invention is related to encoding an image block of an image using a partitioned block transform. The inventors recognized that applying a texture-pattern associated invertible mapping to the pixels of a first partition, said first partition resulting from partitioning said image block according to a current texture pattern with which said texture-pattern associated invertible mapping is associated, allows for limiting the maximum number of required first 1-D transforms to not exceeding a number of columns in the image block as well as limiting the maximum number of required second 1-D transforms to not exceeding a number of rows in the image block, also. Achieving limitation of maximum required 1-D transforms enables more efficient implementation on hardware and improves encoding performance but also allows for further partitions according to texture patterns which comprise at least one of multiple strips, texture patterns with highly unsymmetrical pixel distribution and non-directional texture patterns.
US08666170B2
It is provided a computer system for matching between images/graphs comprising a processing unit, a storage unit, an input unit and a data recording unit, wherein the computer system includes a feature pattern generating unit for generating a set of feature patterns of the image and the graph from the received image and the received graph, segmenting each of the image and the graph into a plurality of regions centered on a sample point, and determining characteristics of the plurality of regions; a correspondence computing unit for computing correspondence between the image and the graph to be matched by comparing the generated feature patterns; a transform unit for transforming a coordinate system of at least one of the image and the graph to be matched; and a combination unit for combining the image and the graph that have been subjected to the transform of the coordinate system.
US08666159B1
A computer-implemented method for method for detecting features in an image, comprising, receiving a first image at a GPU, wherein the GPU comprises a plurality of memory units and wherein the first image is stored in a first memory unit of the plurality of memory units, processing a second image stored in a second memory unit, of the plurality of memory units, to detect one or more features within the second image and writing one or more processed portions of the second image to a third memory unit of the plurality of memory units. In certain aspects, the method further comprises steps for outputting a third image stored in a fourth memory unit of the plurality of memory units. A mobile computing device and GPU are also provided.
US08666152B1
Techniques are described for improving accuracy and speed of video fingerprinting and identification by using video frame color and intensity information. Multiple approaches for generating a novel signature based on video frame color information are described. One is based on spatial distribution of pixel intensities with reference to derived color groups, while another is based on thresholding a joint histogram of pixel intensity, color, and spatial coordinates. These color based signatures can be deployed either as primary video content signatures, or as hash traversal signatures used to improve speed of an initial stage of video data base search procedures. They can also be used as secondary signatures during a video signature data base search with primary video content signatures, to help disambiguate possible false positive matches, and to improve marginal matches which might not be identified otherwise.
US08666149B2
A computer system and a hybrid method for combining multipoint statistic and object-based methods include creating a multi-point statistics (MPS) model using a MPS method that satisfies conditioning data and constraints, the multi-point statistics being derived from a training image created using training-image generation parameters; generating one or more object-shape templates and depositional coordinates of each facies type using the parameters; positioning the templates within the MPS model such that the templates maximally correlate to the MPS model; assigning to each of the positioned templates a unique event; determining which cells are available for editing; and assigning the cells that are available for editing to facies if the cells are contained by a facies template positioned within the MPS model at its optimally correlating location.
US08666148B2
Techniques are disclosed relating to automatically adjusting images. In one embodiment, an image may be automatically adjusted based on a regression model trained with a database of raw and adjusted images. In one embodiment, an image may be automatically adjusted based on a model trained by both a database of raw and adjusted images and a small set of images adjusted by a different user. In one embodiment, an image may be automatically adjusted based on a model trained by a database of raw and adjusted images and predicted differences between a user's adjustment to a small set of images and a predicted adjustment based on the database of raw and adjusted images.
US08666142B2
A method includes receiving a predetermined object pattern representing a portion of a three-dimensional object, modifying the predetermined object pattern to correct for geometric distortion of a pattern generator, and generating the modified pattern using the pattern generator. The generated pattern interacts with a reactive material to form the portion of the three-dimensional object defined by the predetermined object pattern.
US08666139B2
The invention provides a novel method of high-resolution quantifiable pulmonary regional ventilation imaging using a package of computer programs, including deformable image registration and local volume change calculation on 4-D or breath-hold CT images. High resolution 3D ventilation images have been generated using this technique with superior quality. The deformation matrices between different respiration phases are calculated using deformable image registration and applied to calculate local volume change ΔV between respiration phases. The invention provides less image-noise and mismatch sensitivity than other techniques based on CT images, and is less expensive than nuclear medicine imaging. Implemented clinically, the method can derive a patient's pulmonary ventilation information from the same set of 4-D CT images, providing a cheaper but more accurate method to generate clinical lung ventilation image. Such information can be utilized in treatment planning sparing functional lung volumes without additional procedure and cost for lung functional imaging.
US08666107B2
A loudspeaker includes a housing, a conducting sound element, a rotating element, and a modulating element slidably mounted to the rotating element. The housing defines an insertion chamber and a notch. The conducting sound element is mounted in a front of the insertion chamber. The rotating element is rotatablely mounted in a rear of the insertion chamber. A rear end of the rotating element defines a holding groove. A portion of the rear surface of the rotating element is recessed forward to form a sliding groove. A front surface of the modulating element is equipped with an audio plug and defines a sliding element slidably located in the sliding groove. The audio plug is capable of being inserted into the holding groove or projecting out of the holding groove and the notch under a rotation of the modulating element together with the rotating element with respect to the housing.
US08666099B2
A hearing aid (62, 72, 82, 92, 102, 112) adapted for alleviating tinnitus of a user (75), comprises an audio input means (83), a signal processing unit (88, 98, 108, 118) and an output transducer (80). The hearing aid further comprises a band stop filter (87) arranged to match a tinnitus of the user and switching means (86, 116) and switch control means (84, 114) for controlling the switching of said band stop filter (87) into and out of the signal path between the audio input means (83) and the output transducer (80), in response to a predefined trigger event. The invention further provides a method of adjusting a hearing aid.
US08666098B2
A single Airbed style earphone employing a standard three-conductor stereo headphone plug is adapted to enable the use of one earpiece to hear the combined left and right channels of stereo audio in a single ear. The single Airbed invention employs a three-conductor plug and is wired in such a way that it may be used equally well with both stereo and mono audio devices without the need for any kind of adapter, switch or sensing circuit. A pair of resistors matches the impedance load of a stereo headphone set.
US08666097B2
An electrostatic speaker is constituted of upper/lower electrodes, upper/lower cushion materials, and a diaphragm. Cutouts are formed in the upper/lower electrodes, upper/lower cushion materials, and diaphragm, wherein they are shifted in position such that a part of the diaphragm and a part of the lower electrode are exposed and seen through those cutouts to horizontally adjoin in the cutout of the upper electrode. The electrostatic speaker is driven via a clip having electrodes in response to audio signals, wherein drive voltages are applied to each of the upper/lower electrodes and the diaphragm.
US08666092B2
A method and apparatus are provided for estimating the noise spectrum of an audio signal occupying a certain frequency range. The amplitude of the audio signal is measured at only a subset of the frequency range having a low expected signal to noise ratio at the time of measuring such that the measured amplitude is indicative of noise amplitude at that subset of the frequency range. A predefined noise spectral shape is then adapted by fitting to the noise amplitude so as to form the estimated noise spectrum. The noise spectrum so estimated is used to remove interference noise from the audio signal.
