US08323472B2
The method of surface treatment, as applied onto a metal base material, of the present invention includes a reduction treatment step of reduction-treating the oxide film formed on the metal base material and an oxidation treatment step of oxidation-treating the oxide film having been subjected to the reduction treatment.
US08323464B2
Electrochemical sensors for investigating a physiological sample and methods of manufacture are disclosed. The sensor includes a longitudinally extending reaction cell, having electrodes and a reagent, and laterally spaced electrical contact points for electrically communication with a meter. An array of such sensors is further disclosed including connective flaps for joining adjacent sensors. In use, the array of sensors can be stored in a folded configuration and dispensed individually.
US08323447B2
A process for the manufacturing of a decorative laminate, which laminate comprises an upper decorative and abrasion resistant thermosetting laminate layer and a carrying core. The upper side of the core is provided with the abrasion resistant thermosetting laminate while the lower side of the core is provided with a balance layer. This balance layer has the purpose of preventing warping of said decorative laminate while at the same time having the purpose of acoustic dampening. The balance layer comprises a layer of a polymer. The balance layer and the thermosetting laminate are joined with said core by means of pressing. Said carrying core further is provided with a dampening foil of an elastomer arranged between the upper side of the core and the abrasion resistant thermosetting laminate. The elastomer and thermosetting laminate are joined with each other and with the core by means of pressing. The achieved laminate is then cut into panels and provided with edges intended for joining.
US08323445B2
A process for lining a pipeline, comprising the following steps: pouring in an adhesive, introducing the tube with inversion into the pipeline by applying pressure, providing the conditions for the adhesive situated on the outside of the tube by irradiation using energy-containing waves, and maintaining the internal pressure in the introduced tube until the adhesive is cured, severing the connection between the tube and a retaining strap, which extends through the entire tube in the longitudinal direction thereof, at the end which is at the front in the direction of movement of the tube after the tube has been introduced, coupling the severed end of the retaining strap outside the pipeline to a radiation unit, using the retaining strap to pull the radiation unit, in the non-activated state, through the tube as far as the end thereof which is at the rear in the direction of movement of said tube, pulling the supply cable for the radiation unit into the tube behind said unit, and then using the supply cable to pull the radiation unit, in the activated state, through the tube.
US08323443B2
The present invention relates to a new worn article, which gives a close fit and with which it is possible to reduce the production cost. A worn article of the present invention includes a main body portion 20 including an absorbent core 25 and covering a front torso area, a crotch area and a rear torso area of a wearer, and a pair of side panels PL and PR attached to the main body portion 20 and located between the front and rear torso areas when the worn article is worn. Each of the side panels PL and PR is stretchable in an around-the-torso direction X. At least a portion of the side panel PL and PR includes an elastic thread G sandwiched between at least two sheet-like materials S1 and S2 and is in a contracted state where the elastic thread is contracted, thus forming gathers.
US08323435B2
A mechanical fastening system for products, for example, an absorbent article such as infant training pants, in which the mechanical fastening system is a hook-and-loop type fastening system on the garment in which the loop material is a nonwoven material laminate which has been post bonded after the laminate has been constructed.
US08323433B1
A method of making a corded surface flexible elastomer golf club grip. An underlist is extruded of seamless tubular uncured elastomer and a pattern of textile cords wound thereon. In one version of the method, an outer seamless tubular extruded uncured elastomer layer is assembled over the cord patterned underlist. A core rod is inserted in the underlist, an uncured elastomer cap assembled on the end and the assemblage cured in a heated compression mold. Upon removal from the mold, some material is removed from the outer surface to expose some of the cord. In another version, the uncured cord wound underlist with core rod is inserted in a mold cavity and a thin outer layer of elastomer injection molded thereover and the assemblage cured in the mold.
US08323427B1
Disclosed embodiments disclose processes for making shaped metal alloy parts, and deal more particularly with forming features and reducing residual stresses in such parts. Residual stresses introduced into a metal alloy part by heat treatment, which may include solution annealing and quenching, are reduced by processes that plastically deform the part while forming part features. An embodiment comprises: producing a metal alloy blank; subjecting the blank to a process that introduces residual stresses into the blank and plastically deforming the blank to reduce the residual stresses in the blank. Embodiments comprise: subjecting a part to a heat treatment that introduces residual stresses in the part; and age forming the part to shape the part and reduce the residual stresses, incrementally forging at least one feature into the part and reducing the residual stresses in the part, friction welding the part, or gauge rolling the cast part to desired dimensions.
US08323426B2
The present invention is directed to a substantially unrecrystallized rolled aluminum alloy product, obtained from a plate with a thickness of at least 30 mm, comprising 2.2 to 3.9 wt. % Cu, 0.7 to 2.1 wt. % Li, 0.2 to 0.8 wt. % Mg, 0.2 to 0.5 wt. % Mn, 0.04 to 0.18 wt. % Zr, less than 0.05 wt. % Zn, and optionally 0.1 to 0.5 wt. % Ag, remainder aluminum and unavoidable impurities having a low propensity to crack branching during L-S a fatigue test. A product of the invention has a crack deviation angle Θ of at least 20° under a maximum equivalent stress intensity factor Keff max of 10 MPa √m for a S-L cracked test sample under a mixed mode I and mode II loading wherein the angle Ψ between a plane perpendicular to the initial crack direction and the load direction is 75°.
US08323416B2
One exemplary embodiment can be a process for removing one or more scale deposits formed on a surface. The process can include contacting the surface with a composition for a period of time sufficient to remove the scale deposits that comprise coke or metal sulfides or mixtures thereof. Generally, the composition includes an effective amount of an organic acid and/or a salt thereof, and an effective amount of an oxidizing agent.
US08323415B2
A method for recovering ruthenium oxide or gold and titanium or titanium oxide from a bipolar plate at the end of the life of a fuel cell stack so as to use these materials in other fuel cell stacks thereafter. The bipolar plate is immersed in a solution including a suitable acid that dissolves the titanium or titanium oxide. The ruthenium oxide or gold will be released from the plate and will float on the solution from which it can be removed. The solution is then heated to evaporate the acid solution leaving a powder of the titanium oxide. The stainless steel of the bipolar plate is thus cleaned of the titanium or titanium oxide, and can be reused.
US08323409B2
Systems and methods for forming components with thermal barrier coatings are provided. In this regard, a representative method includes: providing a component having a first side and an opposing second side; and using a preformed mask to obstruct vapors from being deposited on the second side of the component while moving the component relative to the vapors such that the vapors form a thermal barrier coating on the first side of the component.
US08323405B2
An apparatus and associated method for large-scale manufacturing of gallium nitride is provided. The apparatus comprises a large diameter autoclave and a raw material basket. Methods include metered addition of dopants in the raw material and control of the atmosphere during crystal growth. The apparatus and methods are scalable up to very large volumes and are cost effective.
US08323404B2
A group III nitride crystal containing therein an alkali metal element comprises a base body, a first group III nitride crystal formed such that at least a part thereof makes a contact with the base body, the first group III nitride crystal deflecting threading dislocations in a direction different from a direction of crystal growth from the base body and a second nitride crystal formed adjacent to the first group III nitride crystal, the second nitride crystal having a crystal growth surface generally perpendicular to the direction of the crystal growth.
US08323399B2
A high early strength blended cement composition includes larger sized fly ash and/or natural pozzolan particles blended with smaller sized hydraulic cement particles containing tricalcium silicate and/or dicalcium silicate (e.g., Portland cement and/or ground granulated blast furnace slag). Excess calcium released from the hydraulic cement particles when mixed with water forms calcium hydroxide available for reaction with the fly ash and/or natural pozzolan. The fineness of the hydraulic cement particles is substantially greater than the fineness of the fly ash and/or natural pozzolan particles (e.g., about 1.25 to about 50 times greater). Reducing or eliminating coarse hydraulic cement particles that cannot fully hydrate but include unreacted cores reduces or eliminates wasted cement normally found in concrete. Replacing some or all of the coarse cement particles with coarse pozzolan particles provides a blended cement composition having significantly lower water demand compared to the hydraulic cement fraction by itself.
US08323396B2
An orange pearlescent pigment comprising a substrate and a first layer containing FeOOH, and a second layer containing Fe2O3 located between the substrate and the first layer. The color of the pigment is such that a homogeneous coating of the pigment, measured over a white background, has a CIELAB hue angle, hab, from about 40 to about 60 degrees, and the chroma value is greater than 50. The pigment may be used in a cosmetic, coating, or ink composition.
US08323391B2
A paint composition is disclosed, the paint having a binder and an omnidirectional structural color pigment dispersed throughout the binder. The omnidirectional structural color pigment can be made from a plurality of flakes that have a multilayer structure, the pigment and the paint having a reflection band of less than 200 nanometers when viewed from angles between 0 to 45 degrees.
US08323388B1
A filtration system has a filter housing, a pollution filter, and a connection conduit. The filter housing has an inlet chamber having openings. The pollution filter is positioned within the filter housing adjacent the inlet chamber to cover the openings. The connection conduit connects the filter housing with a relief valve so that gasses vented from a hydrocarbon distribution system through the relief valve are directed into the inlet chamber and through the pollution filter, which removes pollutants from the gasses.
US08323385B2
A conducting filter adapted for removing airborne particles from the atmosphere and a filter assembly including such a filter. The conducting filter is made from a polymer which has received significantly increased electrical conductivity by a doping process, the doped polymer referred to as a synthetic metal, the synthetic metal having electrical properties such that the filter according to the invention, including such polymer, may be supplied with electrical charge and whereby maintain its efficiency with regards to the electrostatic properties during operation. In the filter assembly according to the invention, the conducting filter may be supplied with electrical charge by connecting it to a voltage source.
US08323379B2
A method of improving the blood compatibility of a blood-contacting surface includes immobilizing carbonic anhydrase on the surface, wherein the surface exhibits carbonic anhydrase activity of at least 20% of maximum theoretical activity of the surface based on monolayer surface coverage of carbonic anhydrase.
US08323378B2
A method and apparatus for supplying oxygen to meet a user demand in which oxygen is separated from air by an electrically driven oxygen separation device to supply oxygen to meet the user demand and to charge an adsorbent bed with all or part of the separated oxygen. When a user demand exists, oxygen can be supplied from both the electrically driven oxygen separation device and from oxygen desorbed from the adsorbent bed.
US08323373B2
The invention is a process for manufacturing a nano aluminum/alumina metal matrix composite and composition produced therefrom. The process is characterized by providing an aluminum powder having a natural oxide formation layer and an aluminum oxide content between about 0.1 and about 4.5 wt. % and a specific surface area of from about 0.3 and about 5. Om2/g, hot working the aluminum powder, and forming a superfine grained matrix aluminum alloy. Simultaneously there is formed in situ a substantially uniform distribution of nano particles of alumina. The alloy has a substantially linear property/temperature profile, such that physical properties such as strength are substantially maintained even at temperatures of 250° C. and above.
US08323366B2
A process for producing synthesis gas (S) from biomass, includes drying the biomass and gasifying the biomass. An equipment to carry out the process is also disclosed. The process further includes: subjecting the outgoing gases (CO2, N2 and H2O) from the gasifying step to a first heat exchange, where the outgoing gases (CO2, N2 and H2O) are cooled, purifying the outgoing gases (CO2, N2 and H2O) to achieve a process gas (P), the purification being effected by eliminating nitrogen (N2) from the outgoing gases (CO2, N2 and H2O), subjecting the process gas (P) to heat exchange, where the process gas (P) is heated, reducing the process gas (P) to synthesis gas (S), subjecting the synthesis gas (S) to heat exchange, where the synthesis gas (S) is cooled and supply air to the gasification is heated.
US08323362B2
A composition for improving the combustion efficiency of an internal combustion engine. The composition includes a mixture of a hydrocarbon fuel and an organometallic soap selected from among several cerium-containing and ferric compounds. The cerium-containing compound or compounds increase the energy released during combustion of the fuel. The ferric compound or compounds coat an interior wall of a combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine to increase the power output of the engine by reducing the accumulation of residues deposited on the interior wall which interfere with the combustion of fuel.
US08323360B2
A method of crystallization is provided. The method includes providing a solution comprising a solute dissolved in a first solvent. The method includes providing a dispersion comprising a plurality of nanoparticles in a second solvent. The first solvent and the second solvent are mutually miscible. The method includes combining the solution and the dispersion to form a mixture. The nanoparticles remain dispersed in the mixture and the solute remains dissolved in the mixture at or below a saturation concentration. The method includes cooling the mixture such that the solute exceeds the saturation concentration forming crystals in the presence of the dispersed nanoparticles. The method includes separating the crystals from the mixture, wherein the nanoparticles remain dispersed in the mixture.
US08323353B1
A compression stabilized prosthetic socket for a patient having an amputated limb and a remaining portion includes a first socket portion for contacting a patient's remaining portion of a limb, and a second socket portion for attachment of a prosthetic device. The first socket portion has compression portions having a radius for compressing portions of the patient's remaining portion of a limb, and relief portions receiving any portions of the patient's remaining limb which bulge upon the compression applied by the compression portions. The relief portions may be formed as openings or as enlarged radius portions.
US08323346B2
The invention reduces wear in total joint articulations by modifications of the shape of either component of the kinematic pair, so as to result in an annular surface contact between the two components. Fluid trapped between the two components within the inner contour of the annular contact area is pressurized under load due to elastic deformation of the components and exuded out through inter-articular gap over the surface of contact, aiding in lubrication and reducing the wear. Reduced to practice for a total hip joint with UHMWPE-metal pair, the wear rate tested in a hip joint simulator up to five million cycles was reduced by factor seven to fifteen compared to conventionally shaped components.
US08323345B2
The disclosure relates to a cage device for performing spinal fusion, including, in some embodiments: a housing defining one or more ports that is selectively disposed in an intervertebral space between adjacent vertebrae; one or more extensible retention structures that are selectively advanced out of the housing through the one or more ports and into one or more endplates of the adjacent vertebrae; and one or more actuation mechanisms for selectively advancing the one or more extensible retention structures out of the housing through the one or more ports and into the one or more endplates of the adjacent vertebrae.
US08323344B2
A device is disclosed for insertion in the human or animal body in order to increase the spacing between adjacent spinous processes of the spinal column. The device comprises a plurality of shaped members which are pivotally joined to each other and arranged around a central screwed rod which is supported by a collar at one end and a threaded collar at the opposite end said collar and collar being located within the pivoting axis of the adjacent members forming each end of the device. Following insertion in the body and positioning between adjacent spinous processes the device may be deployed by rotation of the central screwed rod in order to achieve the desired separation of adjacent spinous processes while at the same time providing a secure location of the device in the deployed condition.
US08323340B2
An artificial interbody spinal implant adapted for placement across an intervertebral space formed across the height of a disc space between two adjacent vertebral bodies is disclosed. The implant has an asymmetrical leading end adapted to sit upon the more peripheral areas, such as the apophyseal rim and the apophyseal rim area, of the vertebral end plate region of the vertebral bodies without protruding therefrom. The asymmetrical leading end allows for the safe use of an implant of maximum length for the implantation space into which it is installed. The implant can also include an asymmetric trailing end adapted to sit upon the more peripheral areas of the vertebral end plate region of the vertebral bodies.
US08323332B2
Methods of reducing retrograde fluid flow through a valve within a body vessel are provided. The methods can include the steps of identifying a valve exhibiting an undesirable amount of retrograde fluid flow within a body vessel, such as a venous valve or a heart valve, and providing a means for reducing the retrograde fluid flow. A medical device providing a desired amount of retrograde fluid flow can be modified after permitting the medical device to remain in a body cavity for a remodeling-effective time period. The implanted medical device can be modified by subsequently reducing the amount of retrograde fluid flow permitted across the implanted prosthetic valve within the body vessel.
US08323327B2
A catheter system for implanting an endoprosthesis at a treatment site in a patient's body lumen. The catheter includes an elongated shaft outer member and a stent sheath distal portion and a self-expanding stent radially restrained in a collapsed configuration within the stent sheath distal portion. A balloon catheter dimensioned for relative axial movement within the shaft outer member has an elongated shaft having an inflation lumen and a device receiving lumen. A stent stop secured to the balloon catheter is reversibly radially expandable to deploy from a collapsed to a radially expanded configuration. In the expanded configuration, the stent stop prevents longitudinal displacement of the stent. A balloon is located on a distal shaft section is releasably locked with respect to the shaft outer member and slidably disposed therein in an unlocked configuration.
US08323325B2
The present invention provides a catheter system which includes a catheter, an expandable balloon, at least one securement member, and a stent. The stent is disposed about the catheter and comprises at least one undulating band that extends circumferentially around the longitudinal axis of the catheter system. The undulating band includes interconnected strut members which form a series of alternating peaks and valleys. Adjacent strut members comprise a strut pair, wherein each strut member of the strut pair includes a protuberance positioned along the length of the strut member, between a peak and a valley. The protuberances, which are substantially circumferentially opposed to one another, engage a securement member, thereby minimizing lateral stent movement on the delivery system during delivery.
US08323312B2
Devices and methods are disclosed herein for a closure device. A closure device includes a body movable from a pre-deployed configuration towards a deployed configuration, a plurality of tissue-engaging portions extending from the body. At least two of the tissue-engaging portions are separated by a first distance in the deployed configuration and a second distance in the pre-deployed configuration in which the first distance is smaller than the second distance. The closure device also includes a plurality of device-capture features secured to the body. The device-capture features are configured to move the tissue-engaging portions to a separation greater than the first distance.
US08323306B2
A vaso-occlusive device includes a microcoil formed into a minimum energy state secondary configuration comprising a plurality of curved segments, each defining a discrete axis, whereby the device, in its minimum energy state configuration, defines multiple axes. Confinement of the device within an aneurysm causes it to assume a three-dimensional configuration with a higher energy state than the minimum energy state. Because the minimum energy state configuration of the device is larger (in at least one dimension) than the aneurysm, the deployed device is constrained by its contact with the walls of the aneurysm from returning to its minimum energy state configuration. The engagement of the device with the aneurysm wall minimizes shifting or tumbling due to blood flow.
US08323305B2
A device for expansion within a blood vessel having a wall defining a lumen in the body. The device comprises an elongated tubular member having proximal and distal extremities and having a longitudinal axis. An expansile member is carried by the distal extremity of the elongated tubular member and is movable between contracted and expanded configurations. A deformable membrane having proximal and distal outer surfaces at least partially covers the expansile member in the expanded configuration. The proximal and distal outer surfaces have substantially different configurations when the expansile member is in the expanded configuration. Deployment means is carried by the proximal extremity of the elongated tubular member and is coupled to the expansile member for moving the expansile member between the contracted and expanded configurations. A handle assembly is carried by the proximal extremity of the elongated tubular member and coupled to said deployment means.
US08323298B2
Devices, systems, and methods for suturing of body lumens allow the suturing of vascular puncture sites located at the distal end of a percutaneous tissue tract. An elongated articulated foot near a distal end of a shaft is inserted through the penetration and actuated so that the foot extends along the lumenal axis. The foot carries suturing attachment cuffs, and needles are advanced from the shaft through the vessel wall outside of the penetration and into engagement with the needle cuffs after the foot has been drawn proximally up against the endothelial surface of the blood vessel. The cross-section of the shaft within the tissue tract can be minimized by laterally deflecting the needles as they leave the shaft, while tapered depressions within the foot can guide the advancing needles into engagement with the cuffs. The cuffs lockingly engage the needles and can be withdrawn proximally along the needle paths and through the tissue tract so as to form a loop of suture across the puncture. The articulating foot may be realigned with the shaft and withdrawn proximally through the tissue tract without dilating the tissue tract.
US08323284B2
An adapter for a crossbar surgical reamer having a base with an interface for connecting with another style of reamer such as a crossbar reamer. Intersecting axially facing recesses are provided on the end of the base for connection with a crossbar type of reamer. A pair of grips are pivotally mounted on the base and urged to a closed position by a cross spring to releasably hold the crossbar reamer within the recesses for installation and removal substantially in an axial direction.
US08323281B2
External fixation devices and methods of use are provided. A device for external fixation of a joint includes a first pin block for connection to a first skeletal element and a second pin block for connection to a second skeletal element. The device includes a connection assembly that is releasably attached to at least one of the pin blocks. The device is locked in an original position when the connection assembly is attached to both of the pin blocks, and is unlocked when the connection assembly is detached from at least one of the pin blocks.
US08323277B2
A combined electrical and chemical stimulation lead is especially adapted for providing treatment to the spine and nervous system. The stimulation lead includes electrodes that may be selectively positioned along various portions of the stimulation lead in order to precisely direct electrical energy to ablate or electrically stimulate the target tissue. The invention also includes a method of activating electrodes in the electrical stimulation lead whereby an ablative lesion can be formed in a desired shape and size. The invention further includes a method of managing pain in a sacrum of a patient, and a method of assembling an electrical stimulation device.
US08323271B2
A sterile surgical tray includes structure for receiving a plurality of surgical instruments, a pump fluid reservoir within the tray, a pump contained within the sterile tray and connected to the pump fluid reservoir, and a motor contained within the sterile tray and connected to the pump. Sterile surgical tray 10 also may include electrical input and output connectors attached to tray.
US08323270B2
A magnetically controlled pump is implanted into the brain of a patient and delivers a plurality of medicating agents mixed with Avastin at a controlled rate corresponding to the specific needs of the patient. The current invention comprises a flexible double walled pouch that is formed from two layers of polymer. The pouch is alternately expanded and contracting by magnetic solenoid. When contracted, the medicating agent Avastin is pushed out of the pouch through a plurality of needles. When the pouch is expanded, surrounding cerebral fluid is drawn into the space between the double walls of the pouch from which it is drawn through a catheter to an analyzer. In cases where a tumor resection is not performed, an intratumoral catheter will be implanted. Cerebral fluid drawn from the patient is analyzed. The operation of the apparatus and hence the treatment is remotely controlled based on these measurements and displayed through an external controller.
US08323265B2
Apparatus is disclosed for applying negative pressure to a wound site to promote healing. The apparatus includes a porous pad for application to the wound, a suction tube linking the porous pad to a source of negative pressure, a container for collecting fluid exudate from the wound interposed between the porous pad and the source of negative pressure and a quick disconnect connector linking a first section of the suction tube leading to the porous pad with a second section leading to the container, said connector comprising two separable and non-interchangeable parts, said first section of the suction tube comprising a multi-lumen tube, one lumen being provided for applying suction to the porous pad and another being provided for monitoring pressure, said multi-lumen tube being fixedly attached at one end to the container and at the other end to one of said separable parts, said one separable part including sealing means whereby the lumens are connected in air-tight manner to said second section of the suction tube.
US08323261B2
Devices and methods for the treatment of chronic total occlusions are provided. One disclosed embodiment comprises a method of facilitating treatment via a vascular wall defining a vascular lumen containing an occlusion therein. The method includes inserting an intramural crossing device into the vascular lumen, positioning at least the distal tip of the crossing device in the vascular wall, advancing an orienting device over the crossing device such that an orienting element of the orienting device resides in the vascular wall, inserting a re-entry device, and re-entering the true vascular lumen.
US08323258B2
A quiet fastening system that includes a silicone-based adhesive. The silicone-based adhesive is applied to an engaging member or receiving member of the fastening system. The engaging member and receiving member are releasably joined to engage the quiet fastening system. When disengaged, the quiet fastening system exhibits a noise level of less than 15 dB. The quiet fastening system also exhibits desirable Shear Hang Time and Peel Force.
US08323255B2
A bowel management system includes a waste collection catheter having at least two distinct sections. The first section is patient proximal when disposed in the patient's rectum and has durometer hardness in the range of about 50 A to about 90 A. The second catheter section is connected to the first section and has durometer hardness in the range of about 5 A to about 49 A. A selectively collapsible, substantially spherical retention balloon is attached coaxially and exterior of the first catheter section such that the proximal-most end of the retention balloon is coincident to the proximal-most end of the first section of the waste collection catheter, the substantially spherical retention balloon having an inflated size so as to be sufficiently large enough to retain the patient proximal end of the catheter in the patient's rectum without being so large as to trigger a defecatory response in the patient.
US08323254B2
A tube assembly for carrying malodoriforous matter from the human body comprises a silicone based tube having a central bore for the malodoriforous matter, and a tubular sleeve member comprising an odor barrier material, the silicone based tube and the tubular sleeve member being arranged one within the other such that the tubular sleeve member provides an odor barrier to obstruct leakage of odors from malodoriforous matter in the bore of the silicone based tube. The tube assembly is especially suitable for use in fecal or bowel management apparatus.
US08323245B2
An infusion device with safeguards for protecting a patient from inappropriate infusion during a malfunction comprises a pump, an electronic controller for controlling the pump, and a mechanical stop facility for stopping the pump by mechanically blocking pump motion. The stop facility periodically requires resetting by the controller to continue infusion.
US08323243B2
An intravascular device can comprise a carrier and an expansion apparatus. The device can be used for intravascular treatment of atherosclerotic plaque. The carrier can be reversibly expandable and collapsible within a vessel and can have ribbon strips extending between opposite ends in a longitudinal direction of the carrier. The ribbon strips can each be formed with a plurality of elongated protrusions thereon. The expansion apparatus can be used to actuate the ribbon strips each with the plurality elongated protrusions to pierce a luminal surface of the plaque with lines or patterns of microperforations which act as serrations for forming cleavage lines or planes in the plaque.
US08323241B2
Steerable medical delivery devices and their methods of use.
US08323239B2
An apparatus for imparting a tensile force to deflect a distal portion of a catheter while maintaining its exterior dimensions may include a handle grip including a cross-section of generally predetermined exterior dimensions, and a longitudinal axis. A flexible elongate member may include proximal and distal end portions, with the proximal end portion being coupled to the handle grip. An adjustment knob may include a cross-section of generally predetermined exterior dimensions, and is rotatably coupled to the handle grip around the longitudinal axis. An elongate deflection member may be operably coupled to the adjustment knob and to the distal end portion of the elongate member. Rotation of the adjustment knob may impart a tensile force to the deflection member thereby causing the distal end portion of the elongate member to deflect from a prior configuration while maintaining the generally predetermined exterior dimensions of the handle grip and the adjustment knob.
US08323237B2
A drug mixing and expelling device (1) for mixing a drug with a liquid, thereby forming a reconstituted liquid drug. The device comprises a reservoir (2) containing a liquid, a vial (4) containing a drug, a vial, means (5) for establishing a fluid connection between the reservoir and a vial positioned in the vial adapter (3), means (7, 8) for forcing the liquid from the reservoir to a vial, and means (9) for activating said forcing means during establishment of the fluid connection between the reservoir and the vial. The forcing of liquid into the vial provides a pressure therein, which can be used for infusion of the reconstituted drug directly from the vial. The device also comprises a suction unit (13) for aspiration.
US08323231B2
A peritoneal dialysis system includes: (i) a fluid cassette including diaphragm operated first and second pump chambers; (ii) a first pressure sensor operable with the first pump chamber; (iii) a second pressure sensor operable with the second pump chamber; and (iv) a to-patient port of the cassette in fluid communication with the first and second pump chambers, wherein the first pressure sensor is located between the first pump chamber and the to-patient port and the second pressure sensor is located between the second pump chamber and the to-patient port.
US08323227B2
Multi-lumen catheters with improved tip configurations, including a triple-lumen catheter which may be useful for apheresis. In one variation, the catheter has three lumens with distal openings angularly spaced apart and staggered axially with respect to one another. In another variation, the catheter has two lumens exiting distally and one centrally positioned lumen exiting proximally. A third variation is a catheter with a single distal opening and two proximal openings. The staggered lumen openings along the axial length of the catheter may decrease recirculation while maximizing flow rates.
US08323226B1
The invention provides a multilayer sleeve liner for application to the skin of a limb before applying a cast or brace. The liner is readily conformable to the limb configuration. It has a first layer that is applied to the skin. This has protective and cushioning functions. A second layer has a mesh structure that encircles the limb. It is constructed so that when its first end is pulled away from its second end, the encirclement of the limb is tightened. When one end of the mesh is attached to one end of the cast, and the other end is attached to another end of the cast, tension on the limb will tighten the liner. Without removing the cast, the liner may be adjusted by releasing one end of the mesh from the cast, and increasing or decreasing tension as necessary, then reattaching the mesh to the cast. A third layer may be provided to prevent adhesion of the cast to the liner.
US08323224B2
Disclosed is an ankle foot orthotic device for assisting a user during gait. The device comprises: a foot support having a shape and size configured to the plantar aspect of a user foot, the foot support having a forward portion and a rearward portion and a heel plate coupled to an upper surface of the rearward portion. The device further comprises: an upper rod having a longitudinal axis and a lower end connected to an offset and a lower rod having: a longitudinal axis; a lower end connected to the heel plate; and an upward end connected to the offset.
US08323216B2
Applied kinesiology method and device utilizes an examiner's autonomic response to truth/false or beneficial/non-beneficial stimulus and provides immediate feedback to the examiner in the context of an applied kinesiology exam. Kinesiology glasses detect local pupillary response to truthfulness locally and remotely. Through measurements of the pupils dilation or constriction and processing of the measurements, the response is obtained and feedback, via sensory stimulation, is provided to the examiner that reflects the pupillary response. The device and method effectively eliminate the subjective components of prior art muscle testing response from the hands of the testing examiner.
US08323213B2
A quantitative and qualitative analysis apparatus of a body fluid serves as a replacement of a Foley catheter and a urine bag connected The analysis apparatus is capable of automatically measuring the volume of a body fluid (urine volume) and specific constituents in a body fluid (urine and blood) in a real time mode and is capable of outputting the measurement results with ease, thereby promoting the efficiency of human resource management so that medical staff may be able to make a quick diagnosis on the current state of the patient based on the provided data and thus, take all necessary measured to improve the patient's condition at proper time.
US08323212B2
The present invention relates to an attachment (X) for body fluid sampling device, comprising: a lancing member (21) including a lancing needle (28); an analyzing implement (5) for obtaining information on a target component in body fluid; and an attachment main body (1) holding the lancing member (21) and the analyzing implement (5). The attachment main body (X) includes a movable member (3) movable with the analyzing implement (5) longitudinally of the lancing needle (28). The attachment main body (1) includes for example, a holder (2) for holding the lancing member (21). The holder (2) has an inner space (22) for movement of the lancing needle (28). The lancing needle (28) is held preferably as sealed in the inner space (22).
US08323205B2
A method of identifying a potential cause of pulmonary edema is provided. The method includes obtaining one or more impedance vectors between predetermined combinations of the electrodes positioned proximate the heart. At least one of the impedance vectors is representative of a thoracic fluid level. The method also includes applying a stimulation pulse to the heart and sensing cardiac signals of the heart that are representative of an electrophysiological response to the stimulation pulse. The method further includes monitoring the cardiac signals and at least one of the impedance vectors with respect to time to identify the potential cause of pulmonary edema.
US08323202B2
Minimally invasive systems and methods are described for measuring pulmonary circulation information from the pulmonary arteries. A transbronchial Doppler ultrasound catheter is advanced through the airways and in the vicinity of the pulmonary artery. Doppler ultrasound energy is sent through the airway wall and across the pulmonary artery to obtain velocity information of blood flowing through the artery. The velocity information is used to compute pulmonary circulation information including but not limited to flowrate.
US08323201B2
Under one aspect, an ultrasound system for producing a representation of an object includes: a concave transducer array configured to transmit ultrasonic pulses into the object and to receive ultrasonic pulses from the object, the ultrasonic pulses from the object containing structural information about the object, each transducer in the array generating an output signal representative of a portion of the structural information about the object; a multi-focal lens structure for focusing the transmitted ultrasonic pulses; a multiplexing structure in operable communication with the concave transducer array and including logic for coupling the output signals from at least one pair of transducers in the concave transducer array; and a beamformer in operable communication with the multiplexing structure and including logic for constructing a representation of structural information about the object based on the coupled output signals from the multiplexing structure.
US08323197B2
Means for measuring and evaluating a dynamic property of a blood flow in a superficial blood vessel of a living body are constructed.A physical stimulus is given to the blood flow, and an ultrasonic response from the blood flow to the physical stimulus is measured and evaluated, which allows the blood property to be evaluated noninvasively and dynamically. Therefore, a medical check and a lifestyle-related diseases prevention effect are promising.
US08323193B2
An implantable biosensor, which comprises a measuring (or first) chamber filled with the test fluid, which is able to convert a change of the concentration of a predetermined analyte or ion type into a change of a physical variable. To this end, the measuring chamber is closed by at least one membrane, which is permeable to the analyte or ion type and impermeable to the test fluid. In addition, the biosensor is equipped with at least one microacoustic sensor, which is operatively connected to the test fluid such that it can detect the physical variable that changes with the concentration of the analyte or ion type. Further relates to a sensor arrangement comprising at least one such implantable biosensor, the arrangement including a polling system that is wirelessly coupled to the biosensor.
US08323192B2
Disclosed is an ambulatory system for monitoring one or more physiological parameters in a body lumen, such as the esophagus. The system includes an implantable probe having a sensor for the physiological parameter and a transmitter for transmitting data to an external receiver. The probe may be used for monitoring any of various physiological parameters, including pH, temperature, and pressure, within the esophagus or other body lumens. Methods and deployment catheters are also disclosed.
US08323190B2
A Comprehensive Neuromuscular Profiler (CNMP) allows the observation of human and equine muscle functionality and characteristics. The CNMP consists of an integrated system which combines EMG technology, electromagnetic range-of-motion (ROM) technology, and functional capacity sensors. Output signals from the devices are digitized and stored in computer memory. The data may be transmitted to a server computer for further analysis. The server computer examines the data to determine patterns and consults an expert database to determine a diagnosis based on the patterns and combinations of patterns detected.
US08323186B2
A device for facilitating the examination of an orifice includes a mount for a light source for illuminating the orifice, a connector for detachably mounting a dilator for insertion into and dilation of an orifice, and an actuator for operating a mounted dilator. The mounted dilator includes operative parts able to move apart from one another.
US08323183B2
A forward-looking, optical coherence tomography, endoscopic probe is disclosed capable of high resolution with a small diameter. Light is focused and scanned during three passes through a lens. A light source supplies light to the proximal side of the lens. The light makes a first pass through the lens, and is reflected from a fixed mirror on the distal side. The reflected light makes a second pass from the distal side to the proximal side, and exits the lens at the proximal side, and is reflected by a scanning mirror. The light makes a third pass through the lens from the proximal side to the distal side to a sample to be imaged. The light is focused during each of the three passes through the lens. Light reflected from the sample passes back through and is focused by the same system.
US08323181B2
Endoscope and method comprise a micro endoscope with insertion end that is about 1-2 millimeters in outer diameter and includes an optical fiber image bundle, two optical laser fibers, two illumination source optical fiber bundles, along with three focusing lenses for image bundle and laser fibers. Insertion end may be inserted in a female milk duct, other body cavity, or internal organ to inspect for cells and lesions. Visual inspection is aided by the use of special mixtures of light sources to observe the distinction between normal and abnormal cells. If abnormal cells or lesions are detected and the surgeon decides cells or lesions are non-cancerous, the surgeon may then use endoscope to precisely burn, ablate, or otherwise kill abnormal cells at their point of origin on the milk duct, other body cavity, or internal organ. The procedure is minimally invasive and much less costly than many other similarly functioning medical procedures.
US08323173B2
A physiologic control method and system for an implantable blood pump includes operating the pump at a predetermined speed and monitoring the patient's diastolic pump flow rate. The predetermined speed is varied in response to the diastolic pump flow rate. The pump speed may further be adjusted in response to the patient's heart rate. The speed may be increased and decreased in response to corresponding changes in the diastolic pump flow rate, and increased in response to an increase in heart rate.
US08323169B2
A fixed angle centrifuge rotor is provided. The rotor includes a rotor body having a circumferential sidewall and a plurality of tubular cavities. Each of the cavities has an open end and a closed end and is configured to receive a sample container therein. A pressure plate is operatively coupled to the plurality of tubular cavities so that the pressure plate, in combination with the plurality of tubular cavities, defines an enclosed hollow chamber between each adjacent pair of the plurality of tubular cavities. Each of the plurality of tubular cavities has a sidewall facing an interior of the rotor body and a bottom wall at the closed end.
US08323167B2
A method for facilitating the alignment of first and second side panel portions of a pants-type diaper whilst feeding a pants-type diaper precursor in a machine direction through processing apparatus. The pants-type diaper precursor includes a leading edge region, a trailing edge region and first and second side edge regions, each of the first and second side edge regions having a first side panel portion at the leading edge region and a second side panel portion at the trailing edge region. The method includes applying elastic elements under tension to a flat continuous web having a predetermined width in the cross-machine direction, the web forming either the backsheet or the topsheet of the pants-type diaper. The elastic element in the trailing edge region is adapted to generate a greater gathering force than the elastic element in the leading edge region such that the first and second panels are better aligned when brought into overlapping relationship.
US08323163B2
A positioning-jig 42 is cylindrical shape and chamfered at the top side; wherein a bottom side inner diameter of the positioning-jig 42 is larger than outer diameter of the marking-member 12, and the bottom side outer diameter of the positioning-jig 42 is same or slightly smaller than the through-holes 20 belongs to the face plate 15.
US08323154B1
Trampoline systems are disclosed. The trampoline systems comprise one or more step assemblies. The step assemblies have one or more flight of steps and include one or more sides. The step assemblies may have one or more landing surfaces. One or more trampolines may be located peripherally about the one or more sides of the step assemblies. The trampolines each have at least one rebound top surface. The trampoline systems provide a landing and rebalancing opportunity from the step assemblies onto the rebound top surfaces of the trampolines. Methods of using the trampoline systems are disclosed.
US08323152B2
A method is provided for automatic shutdown of an internal combustion engine in a motor vehicle, in particular in a vehicle having an automatic transmission, by way of a stop-start unit which automatically shuts down the internal combustion engine when the vehicle is decelerated to a standstill and kept at a standstill by operation of the brake pedal for a predetermined interval of time. Within the predetermined interval of time, the driver is given an opportunity to prevent the automatic shutdown. According to the invention, an automatic shutdown is prevented when the driver of the vehicle depresses the brake pedal fully within the predetermined interval of time and then releases the brake pedal again.
US08323143B2
A wheel drive assembly includes a rotatable spindle-carrier affixed to a wheel. A fixed housing includes an output ring gear and the spindle-carrier resides generally within the housing. An output sun gear driven by an input carrier drives output planetary gears which, in turn, interengage the output ring gear driving and rotating the spindle-carrier. A fixed drive end housing includes an input ring gear and houses a noise reducing radially floating input carrier and a plurality of input planet gears rotatably mounted in the input carrier. The input sun gear is driven by an electric motor and drives the plurality of input planet gears which mesh with the input ring gear causing rotation of the input carrier about its true center. The input carrier is partially nested within the spindle-carrier and the motor is partially nested within the fixed drive end housing.
US08323142B2
A multi-speed transmission includes a first input shaft, a second input shaft, a first friction engagement mechanism, a second friction engagement mechanism, a first synchromesh mechanism, a second synchromesh mechanism, and a third friction engagement mechanism. A differential mechanism includes a first rotational element, a second rotational element, and a third rotational element. The first rotational element is coupled to a first countershaft. The second rotational element is coupled to a second countershaft. The third rotational element is coupled to an output member. A third synchromesh mechanism is capable of coupling a driving gear of a first gear train to the first input shaft or is capable of coupling a driven gear of the first gear train to the output member so as to enable power to be transferred between the first input shaft and the output member using the first gear train.
US08323133B1
Fletching comprises a first material for a blade portion of the fletching and a second material for a cup portion of the fletching in accordance with one embodiment. These materials can be co-extruded. The vane forming material is desirably stiffer than the cup forming material when cured. In addition, the cup forming material desirably has a greater bondability than the vane forming material. The fletching can also be formed as a shield cut with a relatively high rear edge to facilitate gripping of the fletching as the fletching is mounted to the shaft of an arrow.
US08323130B1
A sports racquet including a handle assembly coupled to, and longitudinally extending from, a head portion. The handle assembly includes an elongate tubular shaft, a pallet positioned over the shaft, and a plurality of support members. The pallet defines a plurality of longitudinally extending planar regions and a plurality of longitudinally extending recesses. The recesses are respectively positioned between two of the plurality of planar regions. The support members are positioned within the respective recesses. Each of the support members has an outer surface that forms an elongated corner. The handle assembly has an outer surface that includes a plurality of longitudinally extending flats and a generally polygonal-shaped transverse cross-sectional area. Each of the plurality of planar regions forms at least part of a separate one of the plurality of flats.
US08323129B1
An elongated shaft has a shock-absorbing core, a fiber-reinforced durable plastic outer skin encasing the core, and an elongated stiffening member encased within the core. The elongated stiffening member may be a spar or a hollow tube. If it is a hollow tube, the tube may contain a weight that moves along the inside of the tube as the shaft is swung. The shaft also has a way to attach athletic equipment, such as a lacrosse head frame and net or hockey blade, to one end.
US08323112B2
Systems and method for providing a game achievements system where players are rewarded with game achievements based on mastering certain in-game facets of the games they play. Each game achievement may be conveyed in a profile as a badge or trophy, title, description, date, etc. Players may also accumulate points based on game achievements. A display interface may be made available such that a player may see his achievements and total points, as well as those of others.
US08323106B2
Game interface tracks the position of one or more game controllers in 3-dimensional space using hybrid video capture and ultrasonic tracking system. The captured video information is used to identify a horizontal and vertical position for each controller within a capture area. The ultrasonic tracking system analyzes sound communications to determine the distances between the game system and each controller and to determine the distances among the controllers. The distances are then analyzed by the game interface to calculate the depths within the capture area for each controller.
US08323103B2
Techniques are disclosed for facilitating configuration of a gaming machine, and for facilitating authentication testing of selected components of a gaming machine. In at least one embodiment, configuration of the gaming machine may be effected via the use of a gaming machine configuration device. When the presence of a gaming machine configuration device is detected, configuration indicia stored on the configuration device may be accessed and used to determine at least one configuration parameter relating to configuration of the gaming machine. Configuration or reconfiguration of the gaming machine may then be implemented using the at least one configuration parameter. In at least one embodiment, authentication of the gaming machine component may be effected via the use of a gaming machine authentication device. When the presence of a gaming machine authentication device is detected, authentication information stored on the authentication device may be accessed and used to generate authentication output data relating to the component being authenticated. The authentication output data may then be provided to an external entity for verifying the results of the authentication test.
US08323102B2
In various embodiments, a player may participate in a game at a nearby gaming table via a mobile device.
US08323099B2
Embodiments of a portable wagering game machine and a stationary wagering game machine are described herein. In one embodiment, a plurality of portable wagering game machines are associated with a stationary wagering game machine. Group wagering game data is displayed on the stationary wagering game machine. The group wagering game data includes wagering content for viewing by multiple players. At each of the plurality of portable wagering game machines, individual wagering game data is displayed. The individual wagering game data and the group wagering game data relate to a wagering game.
US08323097B2
Non-transitive gaming elements, including a first, a second and a third one or more gaming elements, respectively, wherein the second provides an advantage represented by higher scores, on average, as compared with the scores of the first, the third provides an advantage represented by higher scores, on average, as compared with the scores of the second and the first provides an advantage represented by higher scores, on average, as compared with the scores of the third, and wherein each of the three respective advantages are all less than 3 percent and each advantage does not differ from the mean of the three advantages by more than 20 percent.
US08323090B2
A gaming system of the present invention comprises a plurality of gaming machines and a control device including a processor, and the processor is programmed to execute processing of (A) cumulatively counting a part of the number of betted game media as a cumulative value based on the number-of-game-media information received from the gaming machine, and (B) paying out the game media in number based on the cumulative value to any of the gaming machines, as well as displaying a numeral image corresponding to the cumulative value to the common display, when the cumulative value has reached a predetermined value.
US08323086B2
A gaming apparatus with geometrically oriented elements is disclosed. Specifically, an array of game elements are displayed, each of which has a discrete geometric orientation, and whose relative geometric orientations, in addition to relative placement of each gaming element, determines winning patterns which result in payout to a player.
US08323080B2
System and method for controlled atmosphere stunning of chickens or turkeys in a batch mode is provided. The disclosed method includes the steps of: loading one or more batches of chickens or turkeys in a stunning chamber and sealably enclosing the stunning chamber to isolate the atmosphere therein. Carbon dioxide is then introduced to the isolated atmosphere in a series of three, four, five or more phases to humanely stun and eventually kill the poultry. The carbon dioxide containing atmosphere is subsequently forcibly exhausted from the stunning chamber and the ranks of cages or modules containing the stunned poultry are advanced to a subsequent processing station such as a tipper or dumping station.
US08323077B2
A blade sharpening assembly generally including a pair of clamping members disposable in coextensive relationship, each providing end portions for receiving a blade therebetween with a cutting edge thereof disposed beyond the ends thereof; means interengaging the clamping members functional as a fulcrum in permitting the end portions to displace in clamping a blade therebetween; means interconnecting the clamping members for angularly displacing the clamping members about the fulcrum; a guide member pivotally connected to a second end portion of each of the clamping members, pivotal between a first position disposed coextensively with a connected clamping member, and a second position at an angle relative to the connected clamping member, alignable with the guide member of the other of the clamping members, when the clamping members are disposed in coextensive; means interconnectable between the guide members when the guide members are disposed in alignment for releasably retaining the guide members in alignment; and an elongated member including a honing section and a guide member section cooperable with one of the guide for guiding the honing section along a cutting portion of a blade disposed between the clamping members.
US08323075B2
A polishing head having a disklike carrier in which an annular projecting portion and a carrier-engagement portion are formed in a peripheral portion, a disklike head body in which a head-body-engagement portion is formed outside, a diaphragm for connecting the head body with the carrier, a spacer located between the carrier-engagement portion and the head-body-engagement portion in a part of the carrier-engagement portion and/or the head-body-engagement portion, in which the spacer abuts on the carrier-engagement portion and/or the head-body-engagement portion at the time of lifting the head body so that the workpiece is demounted from the polishing pad by lifting the carrier with it inclined. As a result, there is provided a polishing head in which the workpiece can be easily, safely and surely demounted from the polishing pad by lifting the polishing head holding the workpiece without overhanging the polishing head from the turn table and the like.
US08323073B2
A gear grinding tool can be trued and re-profiled. The geometry of the individual profiles in the direction of the tool axis is designed so that at least more than two, preferably all, flanks of the tool are used for rough machining of the work piece flanks, and that during finishing the re-profiled flanks provided only for roughing are set back far enough so that during finishing they do not come into contact with the work piece flanks.
US08323071B2
There is provided a method of polishing the inner peripheral end surfaces of disk-like substrates for a recording medium using a brush comprising, providing a plurality of pieces of disk-like substrates having circular holes at the central portion thereof; bringing a polishing material slurry containing a polishing material into contact with the object to be polished; inserting a polishing brush into the circular hole of the object from a first side of the object to be polished, and rotating the polishing brush with the shaft as a center to polish the inner peripheral end surfaces of the substrates; and inserting the polishing brush into the circular hole of the object to be polished from a second side opposite to the first side and rotating the polishing brush with the shaft as a center axis to polish the inner peripheral end surfaces of the substrates.
US08323060B2
A coaxial cable connector comprising a connector body; a post engageable with the connector body; a nut, rotatable with respect to the post and the connector body, the nut having a first end and an opposing second end, wherein the nut includes an internal lip; and a continuity member disposed within a second end portion of the nut and contacting the post and the nut, so that the continuity member extends electrical grounding continuity through the post and the nut is provided.
US08323050B2
A retainer shell used to install in a mounting hole on a device panel designed to accommodate electrical connector from an end of a standard extension harness. The retainer shell is designed to lock securely in an opening of the device panel without specialized tools to be required for such installation. The locking retainer shell is designed to have simple and reliable front panel push action installation and provide front panel interconnect to a mating cable assembly as example with the opposite mating gender.
US08323049B2
An electrical power connector is provided that is configured to mate with a complementary electrical connector. The electrical power connector includes a connector housing that retains both electrical signal contacts and electrical power contacts. The electrical power connector includes an engagement assembly that includes 1) at least one polarization member configured to mate with a polarization member of the complementary electrical connector only when the electrical power connector is in a desired orientation relative to the complementary electrical connector, and 2) a securement member configured to releasably engage a securement member of the complementary electrical connector.
US08323045B2
A card edge connector has a plurality of contacts, a housing configured to hold the plurality of contacts arranged in a first direction, and a pair of arm members held on the housing so as to extend along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Each of the arm members includes a latch portion and an interference portion. The latch portion is configured to engage with a side edge of a card when the card is connected to the card edge connector. The interference portion is configured to interfere with the side edge of the card in the first direction so as to prevent the latch portion from engaging with the side edge of the card when the card is improperly connected to the card edge connector. The interference portion projects inwardly in the first direction beyond the latch portion.
US08323041B2
Systems and methods for modular projection that enable a flexible and extendible modular picoprojector system with multiple projector modules and application modules that may be interconnected in a variety of ways for various applications and use models. The systems and methods include connectors and interfaces that enable rapid design of various types of modules for a modular picoprojection system. The systems and methods also include orientation and compatibility features that may be employed in a modular picoprojection system to control connections of various modules with specific features and functions.
US08323040B2
A dock includes a moveable connector to allow connection to a handheld electronic device. Generally, the connector moves between a closed position and an open position where the connector is placed in at least one substantially upright position for receiving a handheld electronic device. The connector may be hidden from view or lie flush relative to the body of the dock, thereby making the dock more portable and easily organized with other objects, e.g. in stacking. Various motions can be used to move the connector. Examples include one or more rotations, translations, and/or the like. Various retention mechanisms may be employed to retain the connector in an open position when connected to the media player. Also, various electrical mechanisms can be used to couple the movable connector to a fixed printed circuit board (PCB) contained inside the body of the dock.
US08323035B2
A swivel mechanism comprising a first swivel portion having a first coupling portion and a second swivel portion having a second coupling portion, the second swivel portion dimensioned for mechanically engaging with the first swivel portion to provide at least a first mechanical coupling position and at least a first data communication channel, wherein the first data communication channel is provided through a hollow cavity formed when the first swivel portion and the second swivel portion are in the first mechanical coupling position and wherein the first data communication channel is configured to convey 60 GHz data signals when the first swivel portion and the second swivel portion are in the first mechanical coupling position.
US08323034B1
A system and method for assisting a surgeon during a surgical procedure. The system including a portable device having a display and a database in data communication with the portable device. The database including a program having a first image of the first set of instructions to be conducted by a surgical scrub assisting the surgeon during the first step of the surgical procedure and a second image of the second set of instructions to be conducted by the surgical scrub during the second step of the surgical procedure.
US08323025B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for automatic driver evaluation of a person's driving capabilities and render an outcome of pass or fail without the need for a trained observer to evaluate driver's performance. In one embodiment, the automatic driver evaluation system facilitates the display of a predetermined driving route designed for a predetermined demography, observe simulated driving performance of a user on the predetermined driving route, record errors made by the user while performing the simulated drive, and compare the performance errors to at least one threshold value and generate a score based on the comparison.
US08323021B2
A sheet of material having a central body portion with attached wings capable of folding towards each other on either side. The wings of the bite block fold toward each other along fold lines adjacent the central body portion and provide a structure for biting down upon for propping the mouth of a patient open during a dental procedure. A mirrored surface may be placed on the central body portion for improving visibility in the mouth. The bite block also holds or retracts the tongue and cheeks away from a work area in the mouth. The wings protect the cheeks as well as provide improved visibility within the mouth. Additionally, moisture control within the mouth is improved. The bite block may be made inexpensively and is disposable.
US08323008B2
An exemplary pump includes a pump housing defining a pump cavity, a movable pumping member situated in the pump cavity, and at least one pressure-absorbing member located inside the pump housing. The housing also has an inlet and an outlet, and includes at least one interior non-wearing location that contacts liquid in the pump housing when the pump housing is primed with the liquid. The movable pumping member, when driven to move, urges flow of the liquid from the inlet through the pump cavity to the outlet. The at least one pressure-absorbing member is located inside the pump housing at the non-wearing location and contacts the liquid. The pressure-absorbing member has a compliant property to exhibit a volumetric compression when subjected to a pressure increase in the liquid contacting the pressure-absorbing member, the volumetric compression being sufficient to alleviate at least a portion of the pressure increase.
US08323003B2
A pump includes a housing partially bounded by first and second outer walls, an inner wall fixed within a bore, a first piston disposed between the first outer wall and the inner wall, a second piston disposed between the second outer wall and the inner wall, a coupling member coupling the first and second pistons, a plurality of valves, and a control unit configured to communicate with the plurality of valves. Wherein One of a first inner chamber and a first outer chamber is configured to receive process fluid and the other of the first inner chamber and the first outer chamber is configured to receive working fluid, and one of a second inner chamber and a second outer chamber is configured to receive damping fluid and the other of the second inner chamber and the second outer chamber is configured to receive working fluid.
US08322999B2
A hydrostatic axial piston machine, in particular a swashplate machine, has a cylinder drum (3) mounted so that it can rotate around an axis of rotation (2). The cylinder drum (3) is provided with cylinder bores (4), in each of which a piston (5) is mounted so that it can be displaced longitudinally. The cylinder drum (3) is axially supported on a control surface (8) affixed to the casing and on which an inlet connection (10) and an outlet connection (11) are realized. The cylinder bores (4) can each be placed in communication by a connecting channel (12) with the control surface (8). The connecting channel (12) is provided with a cross-section that increases from the cylinder bore (4) toward the control surface (8).
US08322996B2
Aspirators for inflating devices such as (but not limited to) aircraft evacuation slides and rafts are detailed. Housings of the aspirators may be made of wound filaments of composite materials, reducing their weight as compared to conventional metal structures. Such actions as reconfiguring and repositioning jet nozzles within the housings also contribute to enhancing performance of the aspirators.
US08322989B2
An embodiment of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) concept with vanes coupled to central shaft thorough supports that are connected in such a way that vanes can be moved closer or further away from the central shaft of the wind turbine. The rotational speed of the wind turbine can be regulated by adjusting the distance of the vanes. Additionally, the turbine can be put into storm protection mode by bringing the vanes right next to the central shaft where the profile of the wind turbine is reduced to minimum.
US08322979B2
The invention relates to a turbocharger (1) provided with a turbine housing (2) for turbine wheels, a cartridge (K) for the variable turbine geometry positioned in the turbine housing (2), a bearing housing (3) which is arranged between said turbine housing (2) and a compressor housing of the compressor wheel and in which a bearing arrangement for a shaft (W) carrying the turbine and compressor wheels is mounted and a pane system (4) placed between the cartridge (K) and the bearing housing (3). The inventive turbocharger is characterized in that said pane system (4) consists of at least two material layers (5, 6), an air gap (7) is formed between the material layers (5, 6), the materiel layer (5) is embodied in the form of a conical plate and the other material layer (6) is provided with a bend (8).
US08322976B2
A turbine includes a static member, a moveable member fluidly connected to the static member, and a flexible seal. The flexible seal includes a spring component having a base section mounted to one of the static member and the moveable member of the turbine and a plurality of biasing members. Each of the plurality of biasing members includes a first portion extending from the base section and a cantilevered portion. The flexible seal further includes a seal component provided on the cantilevered portion of each of the plurality of biasing members. The seal component is biased into contact with the other of the static member and the moveable member.
US08322970B2
A conveying and stacking apparatus for stacking items or substrates carrying items received from an infeed conveyor is provided. The stacker has a housing and at least one movable platform upon which the item or substrate with one or more items located thereon is placed. An overhead loading belt assembly which includes at least one belt assembly positioned to travel over at least a portion of the infeed conveyor adjacent to the at least one moveable platform and the at least one moveable platform is provided. The at least one belt assembly carries the item or the substrate with the items located thereon to a stacking position on the at least one platform.
US08322967B2
Embodiments include a loading rack apparatus mountable on a vehicle having a hoist motor, an extendable horizontal trolley to permit a load to be lifted with the hoist, moved horizontally into a vehicle, and lowered. A variety of embodiment trolley drive mechanisms are disclosed including but not limited to a lead screw trolley drive. An arcuate embodiment crossbar member permits more stable positioning of items on the apparatus's topmost surface. A method for safely moving a load is disclosed.
US08322964B2
The present application provides an all terrain vehicle for load hauling. The all terrain vehicle may include a cargo box and a winch assembly positioned about the cargo box.
US08322963B2
Embodiments of the present invention generally provide an apparatus and method for transferring substrates in a processing system (e.g., a cluster tool) that has an increased system throughput, increased system reliability, improved device yield performance, a more repeatable wafer processing history (or wafer history), and a reduced footprint when compared to conventional techniques.
US08322954B2
A transportation system and a method for transporting a rotor blade under a height-restricting obstacle defining a clearance height are disclosed. The method includes transporting a first end of the rotor blade under the height-restricting obstacle. A transportation vehicle is configured to transport the rotor blade, the transportation vehicle including a bed on which the rotor blade is disposed. The method further includes moving a second end of the rotor blade from a raised position to a lowered position relative to the bed, the second end in the lowered position having a height less than or equal to the clearance height, and transporting the second end of the rotor blade under the height-restricting obstacle.
US08322952B2
The present invention concerns a bore head, which consists essentially of a body (1) provided with a radial piston (2) for receiving a bore tool (3) which can be tightened in said radial piston (2) with a tightening means (4), where the position of said radial piston (2) can be regulated by means of a micrometric screw (5), and where the radial piston is guided and tightened in the regulation position with a guidance and tightening means, and where, moreover, said body is provided with a balancing device (7) with balancing weights (8 and 9).Bore head characterized in that the means (4) for tightening the bore tool (3) in the radial piston (2) of the body (1) is in the form of a screwing device (10), equipped with a movable center punch (11) which is under tension caused by a spring (12), and in that the means for guidance and tightening in the position of regulation of the radial piston (2) is an indirect tightening means which carries out said guidance and tightening radially.The invention can be applied more particularly in the field of accessories for machine tools, with digital control, for machining centers, cells and workshops for multiple purposes.
US08322951B2
Apparatus comprising an implement for extracting charges of uniform size of articles from a mass of the articles and delivering the charges to a receiver. The implement has a chamber for receiving the articles to form the charge. The chamber has a mouth through which articles are drawn into the chamber by applying a vacuum to the chamber. The implement then delivers and deposits the charge by releasing the vacuum. The chamber has a vent with an air permeable article barrier for access to a vacuum generator.
US08322950B2
A cable bolt (10, 60) comprising a flexible cable (11) formed from a plurality of wound strands, wherein at least one of the strands is a hollow strand (12b). In one form, at least one region (14) of the hollow strand is formed with a helical formation or is otherwise arranged to resist radial compression. A cable bolt (60) is also disclosed with a hollow strand (12b) that has a coupling (65) fitted at one end (14) and a resin retainer (61) fitted on the other end of the hollow strand.
US08322944B2
A modular trench drain system with sloping overlay rails. A non-sloping section of trench drain is transformed into a sloping trench drain by installing sloping overlay rails. The overlay rails rest on the top of the upper edge of the sidewalls and may have a ledge which allows grating, which spans across the channel, to rest on top. The modular channel sections may be held together and in place by a channel bracket with holes for accepting support rods which further secure the channels in place before and after the concrete has been poured and cured around the channels.
US08322940B2
A binder is configured such that a plane portion is formed on an outer peripheral surface of at least one ring part at a portion intersecting with a back part of the binder, and such that, when a binder holding member of a binding processing machine holds the binder, the plane portion of the binder contacts with a plane table provided on the binder holding member. Because the binder contacts the plane table on the binder holding member when the binder holding member holds the binder, the binder is held in such a state that the binder cannot incline or rotate. Thus, a binding processing operation can be carried out in the binding processing machine while the binder is held in a regular orientation. Accordingly, a mounting failure due to an inclined orientation of the binder and be resolved.
US08322933B2
Information processing equipment includes a photoelectric conversion module disposed on a circuit substrate, a first optical connector connected to the photoelectric conversion module through a plurality of first optical fibers and disposed to an edge portion of the circuit substrate, and a second optical connector disposed on an optical backplane and optically connected to the first optical connector. The disposing direction of the optical fibers in the photoelectric conversion module is in nonparallel with the main surface of the circuit substrate and the disposing direction of the optical fibers in the first optical connector and the disposing direction of the optical fibers in the second optical connector are in nonparallel with the main surface of the circuit substrate.
US08322930B2
A washer, including a central axial hole, a first oil retainer, and at least one oil-storage groove. The central axial hole allows a motor shaft to pass therethrough. The first oil retainer is formed on one side of the washer. The oil-storage groove is disposed on the surface of the first oil retainer.
US08322929B2
A slide bearing has at least one bearing shell for accommodating a component to be supported. The at least one bearing shell has two grooves that run in a circumferential direction on its slide surface, into which grooves guide elements for lubricant are laid. The grooves and the guide elements are disposed convergent to one another at least over a partial circumference of the slide surface. least one bearing shell for accommodating a component to be supported. The bearing shell has two grooves that run in the circumferential direction on its slide surface, into which grooves guide elements for lubricant are laid.
US08322922B2
A method of outputting temperature data in a semiconductor device and a temperature data output circuit are provided. A pulse signal is generated in response to a booting enable signal activated in response to a power-up signal and the generation is inactivated in response to a mode setting signal during a power-up operation. A comparison signal is generated in response to the pulse signal by comparing a reference voltage independent of temperature with a sense voltage that varies with temperature change. The temperature data is changed in response to the comparison signal. Thus, the temperature data output circuit can rapidly output the exact temperature of the semiconductor device measured during the power-up operation.
US08322915B2
A compensation adjustment mechanism for a mechanical timepiece is provided including a gear set and a crown. A first gear at the input end of the gear set is connected to the crown, a second gear at the output end of the gear set is connected to a regulator pin on a balance spring, and a chapter ring is connected to the gear set and capable of rotating together with the crown. Adjustment of the regulator pin is performed by rotating the crown and is visible on the chapter ring. The scale on the chapter ring is predetermined according to the characteristics of the balance spring.
US08322905B2
A light emitting assembly comprises a light source and a light emitting panel member having a panel surface and an input edge for receiving light from the light source. On or in the panel surface is a pattern of individual light extracting deformities. Each of the deformities has a well defined shape and a length and width substantially smaller than the length and width of the panel surface. At least some of the deformities have only two surfaces, each having opposite peripheral edge portions that intersect each other and intersect the panel surface. One of the surfaces of the deformities is substantially perpendicular to the panel surface and is curved in a transverse direction. The other surface of the deformities is a sloping surface.
US08322898B2
A bulb-type lamp having both heat dissipation and size/weight reduction properties with a lower thermal load on a lighting circuit. An LED module is mounted in a case with a base member to allow dissipation of heat. An LED mount member closes another end of the case and allows conduction of heat to the case. A lighting circuit receives power via the base member. The lighting circuit is disposed inside a circuit holder. An air space exists between the circuit holder and both the case and the mount member. The lighting circuit is isolated from the air space by the circuit holder. A relationship 0.5≦S1/S2≦3.0, is satisfied where S1 denotes an area of a portion of the mount member in contact with the case and S2 denotes an area of the portion of the mount member in contact with a substrate of the LED module.
US08322888B2
An illumination system shares portions of an objective of an optical inspection system. A plurality of beam-shaping optics collects light from a plurality of effective light sources and directs the light through a portion of the objective for illuminating an object under inspection. The objective includes a front relay lens, a rear relay lens, and an objective stop disposed between the front and rear relay lenses for collecting light scattered from the object and forming an image of the object with the collected light. The beam-shaping optics, which surround the objective stop, are arranged together with the associated effective light sources for non-uniformly distributing light within a range of angles required for illuminating the object.
US08322884B2
Where a lighting device uses solid state emitters and an optic processes light from the emitters, it may improve efficiency in light extraction from the emitters to have an index of refraction matching material in between emitter output and a surface of solid of the optic that receives emitted light. However, such improved out-coupling or extraction efficiency may cause an overall color shift in the output of the overall lighting device, for example, if improved emitter output reduces internal reflection and associated internal phosphor excitation. To reduce the color shift in the output of the lighting device, the device may have index matching material used in association with one or some of the solid state light emitters but not all of the emitters, so that the combined light output of the device exhibits a desired spectral characteristics, e.g. remains a desirable color of white light.
US08322882B2
A precursor structure for fabricating light sources, the light sources fabricated therefrom, and the method of fabricating the precursor structure are disclosed. A precursor substrate includes a flexible printed circuit board on which dies are bonded and a separation ridge. The flexible printed circuit board has a bottom heat-conducting layer, an insulating layer, and a circuit layer. The insulating layer and the circuit layer include a plurality of openings that expose the top surface of the heat-conducting layer. The separation ridge extends above the circuit layer and the dies and is configured to prevent contact with the dies and any structures constructed above the dies when the precursor substrate is in contact with a surface positioned over the die and in contact with the separation ridge. The structure is well suited for roll-to-roll processing equipment.
US08322879B2
A multi-wavelength semiconductor laser device includes a plate stem; a prism shaped submount with a bottom face on a face of the stem; laser diodes having emission wavelengths different from each other are mounted on lateral sides of the submount so that their respective emission points are positioned at substantially the same distance from a center axis of the stem; and lead pins penetrating the stem are located along and opposite edge lines between adjacent pairs of the lateral sides of the submount.
US08322875B2
A novelty light device that provides a light assembly capable of adhesion to the bottom of a cup, vase or bottle connected to a switch-able power supply by a thin electrical conductor. The thin electrical conductor enhances the stability of the bottle by minimally interfering with the configuration of the bottom of the bottle. A power supply is also provided that may be adhered to the side of the bottle. Variations in the switching means allow the device to be turned on once only or repeatedly selectable to on and off.
US08322864B2
A projection system incorporating a prism with dual total internal reflection function, to increase the performance of DLP™ projection, by offering a solution to combine 2 light paths to contribute to the brightness on the screen and at the same time rejecting flat-state and off-state light from entering the projection lens thereby enhancing contrast. In one implementation those two light paths can be collecting light from 2 different light sources which are driven in a pulsed manner with a duty cycle of approximately 50% for each of the two light sources at increased power. In a second implementation with a color sequential single DMD™ projector, while one light path passes a primary color the second light path passes the complementary secondary color. A special color transformation algorithm is proposed to transform the image input signals to make optimal use of the capabilities offered by the second implementation, and create maximum brightness and color saturation of the image.
US08322862B2
A projector includes: a storing unit that stores setting data indicating a manual trapezoidal distortion correction system selected out of plural kinds of manual trapezoidal distortion correction systems; an operation unit that generates operation information; an imaging unit that picks up an image of a projection target area and generates a pickup image; an automatic trapezoidal distortion correction unit that performs automatic trapezoidal distortion correction; a projecting unit that projects, after the automatic trapezoidal distortion correction is performed, irrespectively of the manual trapezoidal distortion correction system indicated by the setting data, an adjustment instruction image for urging adjustment of a vertex position of a display planned area of the image in the projection target area; and a manual trapezoidal distortion correction unit that performs manual trapezoidal distortion correction on the basis of operation information indicating an adjustment instruction for the vertex position.
US08322856B2
This invention relates to methods and apparatus for improving communications between humans and devices. The invention provides a method of modulating operation of a device, comprising: providing an attentive user interface for obtaining information about an attentive state of a user; and modulating operation of a device on the basis of the obtained information, wherein the operation that is modulated is initiated by the device. Preferably, the information about the user's attentive state is eye contact of the user with the device that is sensed by the attentive user interface.
US08322854B2
There is provided a technique for efficiently acquiring a tomogram of an eye portion. A diagnosis support apparatus includes a wide-area image acquisition means for acquiring a wide-area image of an eye portion, a detection means for detecting a lesion candidate on the eye portion by analyzing the wide-area image acquired by the wide-area image acquisition means, a determination means for determining a parameter associated with acquisition of a tomogram of the eye portion, based on a lesion candidate detection result obtained by the detection means, and a tomogram acquisition means for acquiring a tomogram of the eye portion based on the parameter determined by the determination means.
US08322850B2
An eyeglass device includes a lens unit and a pair of temple pieces connected to the lens unit. Each temple piece includes a rigid upper portion and a soft lower portion. The rigid upper portion has a rigid front end connected to the lens unit, and a rigid rear end. The soft lower portion has a front soft section disposed below and connected to the rigid front end, a rear soft section connected to the rigid rear end, and an intermediate soft section disposed between the front and rear soft sections and below the rigid upper portion. The intermediate soft section and the rigid upper portion cooperatively define an elongate gap therebetween. The soft lower portion has a bottom abutment face extending from the front soft section to the rear soft section for contacting a user's ear.
US08322842B2
An inkjet printer includes a controller configured to operate the printer in a gel maintenance cycle to clean residual ink and other material from an image receiving member in the printer to maintain image quality in the printer. The controller operates the image receiving member and a drum maintenance unit in the printer to flood the image receiving member with release agent that is removed from the member by wipers in the drum maintenance unit. The removed release agent is removed from a sump, filtered, and returned to an applicator for use in printing operations.
US08322841B2
A printing apparatus has been developed that prints inkjet images on a continuous web with a configurable number of distinct ink colors. The printing apparatus includes a frame configured to support a plurality of components to form a printing system, the frame including a plurality of mounting locations, a plurality of printing system components including at least one printhead array and at least one first ink composition curing assembly, each printing system component in the plurality of printing system components being configured to mount to a mounting location on the frame, and the printing apparatus being enabled to eject a first ink composition onto an image receiving surface when a first set of printing system components selected from the plurality of printing system components is mounted to the frame and being enabled to eject a second ink composition onto an image receiving surface when a second set of printing system components selected from the plurality of printing system components is mounted to the frame, the second set of printing system components not including a first ink composition curing assembly.
US08322833B2
The invention describes an ink supply system (2) for an inkjet printer (1) with a print head arrangement (6) for at least one color, wherein the print head arrangement (6) comprises several print heads (7) each with several jets, and wherein the print heads (7) are arranged in a row next to one another to form a complete printing area width (10) corresponding to a multiple of a printing area width (9) of an individual print head (7). Each of the print heads (7) is connected by a line to an intermediate tank (12) for ink of the respective color, wherein several print heads (7) are connected to a common intermediate tank (12).
US08322830B2
A piezoelectric element has a piezoelectric body, two electrodes sandwiching the piezoelectric body, a protective layer covering the piezoelectric body and the two electrodes, and an antistatic layer formed on and/or in the protective layer.
US08322823B2
A liquid ejecting head includes: a flow path forming substrate; an actuator device having a plurality of mounting portions provided on the flow path forming substrate; a wiring substrate which has flexibility and is electrically connected to the mounting portions to supply a driving signal to the actuator device; and a protective substrate provided on the mounting portions side of the flow path forming substrate, wherein a plurality of through-holes, into which the wiring substrate can be inserted, is provided in the protective substrate, a partition wall partitioning the mounting portions is provided between at least adjacent through-holes, and resin is provided in the through-holes.
US08322807B2
Ink jet printing apparatus and ink jet printing method with stir mode for stir operation of ink tank
The present invention provides an ink jet printing apparatus and a method for controlling an ink jet printing apparatus which, during a non-print operation excluding a print operation, can stir ink at a required time and to a required level according to the state of the ink in the ink tank. During a non-print operation excluding a print operation accompanied by a reciprocal movement of the carriage, a stir operation is executed to stir the ink in the ink tank by reciprocating the carriage according to a stir mode. As the stir mode, one of different modes is set according to an elapsed time from the previous stir operation.
US08322806B2
A method and device for coding and marking printing including defining a print image in dot formation of various sizes and locations; determining and providing a set of individual print control instructions for individually controlling a plurality of dot image print head nozzles to form the defined print image at absolute dot positions; and undertaking the individual control instructions to provide a printed image on a printing substrate corresponding to the defined print image, whereby the system allows for calculated adjustment of each dot position without computational limitation during the printing cycle.
US08322802B2
Office furniture system, in particular, a desking system, with various useful features including a display pool, a vertical storage system, a support system for facilitating the distribution of power and data to electrical devices used with the desk system as well to adjacently disposed desks to enable a wide range of multi-desk configurations, and privacy panels. The support system includes a central spine and various ribs for supporting accessory brackets including a tackable binder.
US08322779B2
A base support assembly for the cargo bed of a pickup truck mounted on the truck including a pair of parallel side by side slotted side guide rails installed on a respective cargo bed sidewall and a pair of U-shaped end support frames each having a pair of legs pivotally mounted to each of the opposite ends of the side guide rails so as to able to be swung up to an erect position or lowered down position after the base support assembly is installed on the pickup truck cargo bed side walls. An elongated slotted top guide rail may be connected at either end to the top of each end support frame. The end frames can be collapsed into a support for a rigid tonneau cover by lowering the end support frames.
US08322777B2
A top for a convertible vehicle includes a folding roof which can be moved by a top linkage between a closed position in which it can be fixed to a windshield frame and an open position in which it is stowed in a rear side stowage position.
US08322773B2
A recliner mechanism (100) configured for selectively adjusting a seat back in a second row of a vehicle (10), such as a sedan, includes a close out device (200) in the form of an adjustable package shelf (210) of the vehicle (10) to cover a gap between the seat back (20) and the vehicle structure (11) as the seat back (20) is moved from the fully reclined position. This package shelf recliner mechanism (100) further includes a track system (110) mounted relative to the vehicle structure (11), a cross plate (130) coupled to the track system (110) and configured for translational movement relative thereto, a latch system (150) for releasably securing the cross plate (130) and an actuator, such as a handle or lever, for the user to selectively actuate the recliner mechanism (100).
US08322760B2
A battery cover mechanism used in a portable electronic device includes a housing having an assembly groove and at least one holding aperture, a cover forming at least one lock and a rib at two ends thereof respectively, a latch member, and an elastic unit. The lock latches the holding aperture correspondingly, the latch member is slidably assembled in the assembly groove, the elastic unit is assembled in the assembly groove and resists the latch member, and the latch member latches the rib to latch the cover with the housing.
US08322759B2
In a pod used in an FIMS system, an engaged portion is provided on the outer surface of the lid of a pod. A through hole is provided in a flange portion that is provided around the pod opening and in which the lid is to be received. The through-hole allows access to the engaged portion from the external space. A latch mechanism is supported on the pod body side surface of the flange portion in such a way that it can slide in a direction parallel to the side wall of the flange. The engagement portion of the latch mechanism reaches the engaged portion through the aforementioned through-hole. Movement of the latch mechanism brings the engagement portion into an engaging state and a disengaged state.
US08322758B2
A juncture assembly is provided between first and second ends of respective first and second tubes. The assembly includes a first flange that is located at the first end and a second flange that is located at the second end, with the second flange being in confronting relationship with the first flange. The first and second flanges define a gap between them. A gasket member contacts the first and second flanges and is configured to prevent flow of fluids through the gap. A clamp member of the assembly secures the gasket member to the first and second flanges with the clamp member including a channel for receiving the first and second flanges and first and second restriction elements that extend into the channel for positioning the first and second flanges within the channel.
US08322745B2
A tandem stroller frame includes two lateral frame units, a handle unit, two side rod units, and a footrest plate. Each lateral frame unit includes front and leg rods connected pivotally to each other. The handle unit includes two side handle rods connected pivotally and respectively to the lateral frame units. Each side rod unit is disposed between the front leg rod of a respective one of the lateral frame units and a corresponding one of the side handle rods, and includes a front leg connecting portion connected pivotally to the front leg rod of the respective lateral frame unit, and a rear connecting portion connected pivotally to one of the corresponding side handle rod and the rear leg rod of the respective lateral frame unit. The footrest plate interconnects the rear leg rods of the lateral frame units.
US08322742B2
A human powered vehicle having a mechanism to run the vehicle by applying the operator's weight on at least one pedal in a reciprocating manner. The pedal moves a cranking body, which unwinds a drum. The drum is attached to at least one wheel by a directional freewheel clutch. The vehicle can also be simultaneously powered by a motor, whereas the motor takes over only when the vehicle reaches a certain speed, and automatically disengages when the vehicle slows down below a certain speed. Both the human powered and motor mechanism can operate independently without rotating any part of the other.
US08322739B1
A boat trailer step assist includes a first and second support arm in pivotal relation to one another which provide steps that assist a user in entering or exiting a boat when trailered or in the process of being trailered. The support arms are arranged at an angle relative to the trailer tongue, with the first step at the level of the trailer tongue. When not in use, the second support arm pivots downward for compact stowage. When deployed, the support arms are in alignment with one another. A grab handle may be provided to assist the user in climbing or descending the steps.
US08322731B1
A kneeling/sledding snow board apparatus provides a retention device connecting to a gliding board. The retention device has a tray mounted to a mounting device connected possibly with snow board binding connections. The tray receives a knee pad having a seat extension extending up from a mid portion of the knee pad. Cutouts allow the rider's legs to extend therethrough. A lap and knee straps restrain the legs of a rider along with vee straps. The tray preferably tapers upwardly and outwardly from a base to provide somewhat of a U-shaped cross section which may assist in deflecting snow and providing increased comfort to a rider.
US08322728B2
The present invention provides a suspension control apparatus requiring a reduced number of sensors. A pitch rate estimating unit 21 calculates a pitch rate used for creating a control instruction value, with use of a wheel-speed time-rate-of change obtained based on wheel speeds vcFL and vcFR detected by wheel speed sensors 7FL and 7FR, and an estimated forward/backward acceleration aes calculated by a forward/backward acceleration estimating unit 20.
US08322727B2
A quick change system for quench press tooling is disclosed. The system including an upper adapter subassembly, an inner bottom adapter, and an outer bottom adapter, the upper adapter subassembly configured for attachment to a machine and the bottom adapters configured for mechanical attachment to the tooling of the machine. The upper adapter assembly further including an inner top adapter having a plurality of notches radially along the outer diameter of the inner top adapter, an inner collar having a plurality of radially inwardly extending tabs at top and bottom ends of the inner collar, a ring shaped holding plate having a series of bolt holes, an outer top adapter in communication with the holding plate, having a notched outwardly extending flange lip, and an outer collar having an outwardly extending lip at a top end and a sidewall extending perpendicularly downward.
US08322726B2
A seal for a compressor for sealing a shaft comprises a first seal part with a sealing edge which is provided on a circular cylindrical surface along a line which deviates from a circular shape and which is closed in itself in the peripheral direction for adjoining and sealing the shaft, and a second seal part with a sealing section which is intended to adjoin the shaft and which is hollowly cylindrical when it adjoins properly with the inside surface which comprises a return structure for a fluid.
US08322712B2
A sheet-material transporting device includes: plural first endless-belts; a driving-member around which the first endless-belts are trained to circulate; a first driven-member around which the first endless-belts are trained, being slave-rotated; a supporting-member provided at an inner-peripheral-side of the first endless-belts; a second endless-belt provided between the first endless-belts, trained around the driving-member and circulating; a second driven-member provided between the first driven-member and the driving-member, around which the second endless-belt is trained at an opening portion provided in the supporting-member, being slave-rotated; and a detecting-member detecting a sheet-material, the supporting-member including a downstream-side-supporting-member disposed at a downstream-side having a concave-portion formed in an end portion, and an upstream-side-supporting-member disposed at an upstream-side and that is set against the end portion of the downstream-side-supporting-member such that the concave portion forms the opening portion, and a tension-imparting section imparting tension to the second endless-belt being provided at the downstream-side-supporting-member.
US08322702B2
An image recording apparatus according to one aspect comprises: a first tray disposed within an opening of a main body to allow a recording medium to be placed thereon; a second tray disposed above the first tray, the second tray having a second end portion located on a side of the opening; a conveying unit; and a recording unit. The second tray is movable between a first posture and a second posture. When the second tray is in the first posture, a top surface of the second tray in the vicinity of the second end portion is positioned at a predetermined height relative to the first tray. When the second tray moves from the first posture to the second posture, the top surface in the vicinity of the second end portion is moved toward the first tray.
US08322697B2
A clamping device for adjoining board materials includes: a C-shaped base having a base section, a top arm and an upright arm; a first press rod and a second press rod vertically movably fitted through the top arm; two first fastener assemblies for fastening and locating the press rods; a horizontal holder mechanism fitted on the first press rod and vertically movable along the first press rod; and a second fastener assembly for adjustably fastening the holder mechanism to the first press rod at a height. The holder mechanism includes at least one horizontally movable guide pin and an abutment member disposed at a front end of the guide pin. In use, a horizontal board material and an upright board material are placed in the base and fixedly held with the first and second press rods respectively. The abutment member serves to abut against and hold the upright board material.
US08322696B2
A three piece vacuum cup is made from rubber to resist damage and facilitates reconfiguring when badly damaged or for specific applications. The vacuum cup includes top, center, and bottom parts. The top is easily and inexpensively replaceable. A flexible lip seal surrounds the top edge of the top to seal against irregular surfaces and damage to the lip seal may be addressed by inserting a cord seal into slots in the top to form a second seal. Part of the top may be cut away to use with small parts and sealed using the cord seal. The center includes a family of passages which may be selectively blocked to permit use of partial tops. A bar pattern on the top has bars aligned in perpendicular directions to better hold material in all cutting directions.
US08322695B2
The present invention is a mechanical element, commonly referred to as a “Jack Spring” that is based upon the concept of adding and subtracting coils from a spring. In particular, with the method and apparatus of the present invention, by changing the number of coils in a spring, the actual or intrinsic stiffness of the spring is structurally changed. A very simple and practical method is used to adjust the number of coils. The Jack Spring actuator of the present invention is based upon adjusting the effective structure of a spring.
US08322691B2
A winch (1) for pulling a cable (C) for maneuvering a load is composed of two motorized drums (3) each including an active cylindrical peripheral surface (5) equipped with several annular grooves (6), the cable intended to be wound around the two drums (3) according to a helical arrangement. The motorized drums are each formed from at least three pulleys (11), that can each be rotated around a common central axis (10), cooperating with their own dedicated motor element (4) and including a cylindrical peripheral surface equipped with at least one of the grooves: two pulleys known as outer pulleys (11a, 11d), positioned between which is at least one pulley known as a central pulley (11b, 11c). The central pulleys include at least one axial cylindrical extension, the cylindrical peripheral surface of which constitutes a rotation bearing for the central cylindrical surface of at least one of the other pulleys.
US08322684B2
An electromagnetically actuated valve including a solenoid with a coil that generates a magnetic field upon being energized, a tubular member made of a non-magnetic material and disposed on an inner circumferential side of the coil, a movable valve body disposed within the tubular member and movable in an axial direction of the tubular member by an attraction force that is generated upon energizing the coil to thereby open and close a fluid passage, a first member made of a resin material and including a seat portion that is brought into contact with the movable valve body to close the fluid passage, and a first biasing member that biases the movable valve body toward the seat portion.
US08322681B2
The invention relates to a relief valve comprising a first valve body for opening and closing a fluid passageway between a first valve connection and a second valve connection, a second valve body which is disposed on the first valve body and is used for opening and closing a valve passageway located between the first valve connection and a valve interior, a one throttle duct between the valve interior and a face of the first valve body, a spring for opening the second valve body, and an actuator for closing the second valve body. This relief valve further comprising a movable member that can be moved further in the same direction once the second valve body has been closed, thus allowing the first valve body to be opened by having the second valve body engage a valve seat located on the first valve body, and a stop element connected to the second valve body and/or the movable member engages the first valve body via the spring to close the first valve body.
US08322678B2
A metal post support ground spike is disclosed having a post receiving socket, and a flat plate. The flat plate is welded to four walls of the post receiving socket. The post support may also comprise a blades portion welded to the flat plate. The blades portion, post receiving socket and flat plate may all have reinforcement lines stamped therein and may comprise metals of varying thickness and rigidity. The flat plate may comprise the thickest and most rigid metal, whereas the post receiving socket and/or the blades may be made from a thinner and/or less rigid metal.
US08322674B2
A suspension system for a ceiling mount of a medical device is suggested, comprising an attachment device provided at a ceiling and a console arranged between the attachment device and the ceiling mount for movement of the ceiling mount parallel to the ceiling. Said console comprises a support plate connected to the attachment device and a carriage that is movable with respect to the support plate and is connected to the ceiling mount. This allows movement of the medical device to the greatest extent possible to all positions in the surgical area without colliding with alternately usable operating lights.
US08322662B2
A clevis hanger has an upper strap and a lower strap. The upper strap can be supported by a hang rod or the like. The lower strap and the upper strap can be snapped open and snapped closed such that the lower strap can be secured to the upper strap without additional hardware.
US08322653B2
Latch beams and hinge beams of an aircraft thrust reverser and a method for manufacturing the beams. The latch and hinge beams may comprise a plurality of hollow composite tubes joined with a plurality of machined metal fittings in alternating succession. The metal fittings may comprise at least one of hinge fittings and latching fittings. The latch and hinge beams may further comprise slider tracks configured to slidably attach to a translating sleeve of the thrust reverser. The hinge beams may each be rotatably attached to an engine strut or pylon of the aircraft, and the latch beams may each be mechanically latched with each other. Each of the latch and hinge beams may also be fixedly attached to an inner engine cowling of the thrust reverser.
US08322648B2
The invention provides a hovering aerial vehicle with removable rotor arms and protective shrouds. Removing the shrouds reduces the weight of the vehicle and increases flight time. Removing the rotor arms makes the vehicle easier to transport. Removable rotor arms also simplify field repair or replacement of damaged parts.
US08322639B2
The method and systems efficiently extract recyclable materials from a mixed solid waste stream. The methods and systems use sizing, density and dimensional separation to produce intermediate waste streams that are enriched in particular recyclable materials. The recyclable materials can then be efficiently sorted from the individual intermediate streams using mechanized sorting equipment.
US08322638B2
In the invention, a hydraulic powder is prepared by a step of grinding a hydraulic compound in the presence of compound (a) that is obtained by adding an alkyleneoxide having 2 to 4 carbon atoms to a compound which has no amino group, but has an active hydrogen, provided that polyethyleneglycol and polypropyleneglycol are excluded. Alternatively, the hydraulic compound can be ground in the presence of compound (a) and anti-foaming agent (b).
US08322634B2
A micro bubble generating system includes a shell having a well for retaining a first liquid to immerse an object. A micro bubble apparatus is provide to the shell for providing a pressurized mixture of a second liquid and a dissolved gas into the well so as to create a plurality of micro bubbles within the first liquid for engaging the object. A shower apparatus includes a head having a plurality of projections for engaging a surface of an object, and an orifice therein; and a micro bubble component for fluid communication with the orifice.
US08322633B2
A nozzle assembly for encapsulating a gaseous solution in bubbles comprises a discharge tube having a diffuser and a foam solution spray nozzle mounted therein. The discharge tube has upstream and downstream ends. The discharge tube has a front face at the upstream end with a first opening configured to be joined to a gas supply line that provides a gaseous solution and a second opening configured to receive a non-expanded foam solution. The downstream end of the discharge tube is open. A chamber is formed within the discharge tube to receive the gaseous solution at the upstream end and release the gaseous solution through the diffuser into the discharge tube towards the downstream end.
US08322631B2
A trigger pump sprayer in combination with a liquid dispensed from the sprayer. The sprayer is suitable for dispensing liquid from a reservoir, through a nozzle into particles. The trigger sprayer provides for efficacious particle size distributions of the liquids, when sprayed under non-ideal conditions. Non-ideal conditions include only partial strokes of the trigger, rather than full strokes and relatively slow trigger strokes. The trigger sprayer advantageously delivers a particle size distribution suitable for liquids having particular rheological properties. The advantageous particle size distribution difference is accomplished by using a precompression piston which reciprocates in response to trigger strokes, and selecting a liquid having appropriate properties to correspond to the trigger pump operating characteristics.
US08322629B2
Disclosed is a fuel injector in which at least one electrically triggered valve is disposed inside an injector member and is connected to an externally accessible injector member contact by means of a solid conductor, the solid conductor and the electrical valve contact being interconnected directly via an electrically conducting positive connection or indirectly via an electrically conducting connecting element. The solid conductor is configured so as to substantially maintain the shape thereof under the influence of the proper weight thereof.
US08322626B2
An integrated circuit (IC) die includes a high capacitance solid state circuit region configured to perform predetermined operations and an RFID block configured for wireless communication with an external source. The RFID block is configured to record results from a plurality of stages of a manufacturing process. The RFID block is further configured to generate an internal BIST command in response to an external command wirelessly received by the RFID. The integrated circuit die also includes a built-in self-test (BIST) block coupled to carry out testing of the high capacitance solid state circuit region in response to the internal BIST command. The RFID block is configured to be capable of storing store information relating to the testing. The RFID block is further configured to enable wireless retrieval of the test results from the testing of the high capacitance solid state circuit region.
US08322620B2
A method is provided for reading distorted optical symbols using known locating and decoding methods, without requiring a separate and elaborate camera calibration procedure, without excessive computational complexity, and without compromised burst noise handling. The invention exploits a distortion-tolerant method for locating and decoding 2D code symbols to provide a correspondence between a set of points in an acquired image and a set of points in the symbol. A coordinate transformation is then constructed using the correspondence, and run-time images are corrected using the coordinate transformation. Each corrected run-time image provides a distortion-free representation of a symbol that can be read by traditional code readers that normally cannot read distorted symbols. The method can handle both optical distortion and printing distortion. The method is applicable to “portable” readers when an incident angle with the surface is maintained, the reader being disposed at any distance from the surface.
US08322616B2
An automated signature detection system and method of use and, more particularly, a predictive modeling component configured to accurately predict maintenance events for optical elements used in lithographic tools. The system comprises at least one module configured to analyze data associated with power illumination at a surface. The at least one module also is configured to fit a curve to the analyzed data using an exponentially based decay model.
US08322613B2
In some embodiments, quality assurance systems for verifying branding of at least one medication container associated with at least one of a prescription and medication order are provided. The systems including: a transport system that transports at least one first container branded with a particular branding among a plurality of brandings to and from a pharmaceutical and/or medical product dispensing system, and transports the at least one first container to the pharmaceutical and/or medical product dispensing system after correcting the particular branding when correction is performed; a scanning system including at least one scanner for scanning identification information associated with the at least one first container; a display that displays order information associated with the identification information received from the scanning system including information indicating a correct branding for the at least one first container; and a pharmacist station for determining whether the correct branding matches the particular branding and correcting the particular branding if the correct branding does not match the particular branding.
US08322608B2
A system and method for authenticating radio frequency identification (RFID) devices and validating readers of the RFID devices are disclosed. Embodiments of the invention use RFID devices adapted for storing data in a form of data segments selectively associated with promiscuous and non-promiscuous regions of their memories and monitor algorithmic, computational, communicational, or tampered errors of the readers.
US08322604B2
A system and method for independently verifying a bank note processor's handling of circulating bank notes. Independent detectors are provided along the transport path of a bank note processing device. Also provided is at least one independent memory storage device for logging data from the independent detectors. As the note passes along the transport path, the independent detectors evaluate the note's fitness. The independent detector data is subsequently provided to the central bank or commercial organization for auditing of the bank note processor and for generating bank note statistics. Independent detectors may also be used on the transport path output bins to corroborate the other detectors and to verify the integrity of the sorting logic. Mirrored independent detectors allow for corroborating independent data. The invention is operable on any bank note processing device that performs at least a subset of a fitness determination on each note.
US08322596B2
A wiring substrate manufacturing method includes: preparing a wiring substrate including a core layer having a principal surface, a resin insulating layer and a conductor layer alternately laminated to form at least one laminated layer on the one principal surface of the core layer, a solder resist layer including opening portions and formed on an outermost surface of the at least one laminated layer such that respective portions of an outermost conductor layer are exposed from the opening portions; forming a Sn-containing underlying layer on the respective portions of the outermost conductor layer by a plating process; and fusing the Sn-containing underlying layer to the respective portions of the outermost conductor layer by a heating process, then mounting solder balls directly on respective portions of the Sn-containing underlying layer, and then connecting the solder balls to the respective portions of the Sn-containing underlying layers.
US08322585B2
Golf bags and other shoulder borne devices have strapping systems capable of converting between a single strap configuration and a double strap configuration. The strapping system includes two main straps. In the double strap configuration, the first strap member has three ends, each of which is attached to a location on the golf bag (or other structure), and the second strap member has one free end attached to the golf bag (or other structure) and one free end attached to a central area of the first strap member. When converting to the single strap configuration, the first strap member is removed from the golf bag (or other structure) completely, and the free end of the second strap member that was attached to the first strap member is removed therefrom and engaged with the golf bag (or other structure).
US08322582B2
A cargo carrier kit for a truck comprises a plurality of first rail sections for joining end to end to provide a first side rail. The cargo carrier also includes a plurality of second rail sections for joining end to end to provide a second side rail having a separation from the first side rail and a parallel relationship thereto. A forward load bar, supportable on the first side rail and the second side rail provides a connection over the cab of the truck, between the side rails. The cargo carrier kit also includes mounting blocks for releasable attachment of at least a first load bar and at least a second load bar to provide cross members connecting the side rails and positioning the first and second load bars respectively over the mid-section and rear of the truck bed.
US08322572B2
The present disclosure relates to a beverage dispenser formed in the shape of a gun.
US08322567B2
A container useful for singly dispensing a tablet includes a leaf integrally formed with the sidewall and projecting generally radially inward to a distal portion. One or more such leaves define a dispensing opening having a smaller diameter than the mouth of the container. The leaves or other undercut structure can be formed using a mold element having a leading portion for forming a portion of the part beyond the resilient projection and a following portion for forming a portion of the sidewall short of the resilient projection. The following portion is withdrawn at least partially away from the outside surface of the resilient projection, leaving a space between the leading and following portions. The leading portion is withdrawn from the mold cavity against an undercut portion of the resilient projection, folding the resilient projection into the space left by retracting the following portion.
US08322566B2
The present invention is directed to a secured group lock box. The group lock box includes a body having a latch and a lid connected to the body. The lid includes a main member and a back member. The main member of the lid includes a plurality of slots and the back member of the lid includes a plurality of pins. One of the pins is installed in each of the slots for enabling the main member of the lid to slidingly extend over the body of the group lock box before the lid is rotated away from the body to provide access to the contents therein.
US08322561B2
A container assembly (1) having a container body (11) and exterior shelf structures (41, 44) that are each reversibly attached to exterior surfaces (35, 38) of first (17) and second (20) sidewalls of the container body (11), is described. Each exterior shelf structure (41, 44) has a shelf base (47), and a forward shelf portion (56) and a rear shelf portion (62) that each extend upwardly from the shelf base (47). Each exterior shelf structure has a shelf space (77) that resides between and is defined in part by the forward (56) and rear (62) shelf portions. The forward shelf portion (56) of each exterior shelf structure (41, 44) has an open front or face (86) that is in communication with a recessed chamber (89) of the forward shelf portion (56). The exterior shelf structures (41, 44) may each be reversibly attached to the container body sidewalls (17, 20) by means of tabs (98) that are received within tab apertures (110) of the sidewalls. The exterior shelf structures (41, 44) may be removed from the container body sidewalls (17, 20) and stored within the container interior (32), allowing the container body to be compactly stored and/or shipped. The container assembly, including the container body and exterior shelf structures, may be used to store items, such as personal items, e.g., toys and/or clothing.
US08322553B2
A container can include a base, a lid, and one or more vents. The lid can be removed from the base and can be reattached to the base. Moreover, when the lid is attached to the base, it can permit self-venting of the container. Pressure within the container can cause the lid to move relative to the base so as to open the vents while the lid remains coupled with the base.
US08322547B2
A sediment removal assembly (10) is provided for removal of sediment (110) in a container (100). The assembly has a container seal (12) for sealing an opening (114) to the container. The container seal is formed with a seal body (14) with a flow through passageway (20) between opposite ends of the seal body, and a valve arrangement (26) with a valve member (34) normally spring biassed to close said passageway. One end of said seal body is adapted to sealingly engage said container at an opening thereof to close the opening. The assembly also has a sediment reservoir (40) adapted for removable sealing engagement with the opposite end of the seal body and in communication with the flow through passageway so that upon opening the valve member.
US08322546B2
A teat unit for sucking a liquid from a liquid container includes a teat and a flow restrictor with a through-opening. The teat comprises a mouthpiece, with a suction opening, and a main body which is formed integrally on the mouthpiece and widens relative to the mouthpiece. The flow restrictor defines a maximum flow of the liquid passing through the suction opening from the liquid container. According to the invention, the flow restrictor is arranged outside the mouthpiece, and the suction opening has a greater cross-sectional surface area than the through-opening of the flow restrictor. The teat unit permits a feeding action that is as true to nature as possible, since the mouthpiece can be deformed very considerably, without substantially impairing the flow restriction.
US08322537B2
A food handling system having a vacancy reduction system. The vacancy reduction system includes the main conveyor, a food product parking station, a vacancy detector, a robot, and a controller. The vacancy detector is configured to detect a vacant food product position on the main conveyor. The robot has a working range for moving between the parking station and the main conveyor. The controller is signal-connected to the vacancy detector. The controller is configured to receive a signal from the vacancy detector indicating a vacant food product position on the conveyor. The controller is signal-connected to the robot and has control instructions for instructing the robot to move the food product from the food product parking station to the vacant food product position on the main conveyor.
US08322529B2
A hanger assembly for supporting an item suspended from a support structure includes a hanger and a sleeve. The hanger includes a display section, which defines a bottom edge and including a hanging feature configured to receive a portion of the support structure, and a drop section extending downwardly from the display section. The drop section includes a primary shaft and an arm. The primary shaft extends the length of the drop section and defines a front surface configured to be placed adjacent the item. The arm extends upwardly from a lower portion of the drop section to define a lower slot between the primary shaft and the arm. The sleeve extends entirely around the primary shaft through the lower slot. The sleeve is initially loose around the primary shaft and is configured to shrink to tightly fit around and secure the item to the primary shaft.
US08322526B2
A retail display includes a first box that includes a hollow first compartment for receiving and holding an item and a shirt that is folded and disposed within the first compartment. The display further includes a second box that is smaller than the first box and is disposed within the first compartment adjacent the folded shirt, with the second box having a base portion that includes a hollow second compartment. A neck tie is disposed within the second compartment of the second box. The neck tie includes a narrow end and an opposite broad pointed end. A transparent cover extends across and covers the first and second compartments and allows the shirt and tie to be seen by a consumer.
US08322524B2
A cigarette box, of a rectangular prism shape, formed of a storage part adapted to accommodate cigarettes within and a hinged lid connected with the said storage part by means of an articulated joint placed on the rear wall. The front wall of the lid is longer than its rear wall, and the side walls are oblique. The storage part, is provided with an additional inside front wall (7) and the outside front wall (8) of the storage part is hinged. Between the hinged front wall (8) and the inside front wall (Z) there is an additional compartment useful for matches (9), lighters or other objects. The inside front wall (7) has two extrusion ridges (10, 11) oriented towards the box interior, where the lower extrusion ridge forms the storage space. The outside front wall is made of the same substance as the box and may feature an extrusion ridge (17) oriented towards the outside which would form an additional storage space.
US08322522B2
A nested end protector link for capturing first and second elongate link pins of a multi-link conveyor chain that includes a first link segment having an outer wall in a first vertical plane defining a protective bearing surface having a forward-facing convex face, and a rearward-facing concave face and a first pin access bore extending perpendicularly through the link between the forward-facing convex face and the rearward-facing concave face. A second link segment is integrally-formed with the first link segment and has an outer wall in a second vertical plane defining a protective bearing surface having a forward-facing concave face. A rearward-facing convex face is provided and has a second pin access bore extending perpendicularly through the link between the forward-facing concave face and the rearward-facing convex face.
US08322510B2
There is described an automated laboratory system for handling test tubes containing biological material specimens supported by conveying devices (3) along guide lanes (1, 2), in which motorized conveyor belts (62) run, comprising main lanes (1) and secondary lanes (2) for overtaking the conveying devices (3) and/or routing the conveying devices (3) of the test tubes (4) to the various pre-testing, (19-20), testing (17) and post-testing stations (21). Said system further comprises a detecting device (5) of the test tube (4) positioned in the loading area of the test tube (4) into the conveying device (3), a reading device of a barcode applied onto the side surface of said test tube (4) adapted to identify the test tube (4), said barcode being applied to the test tube before it is loaded into the conveyor device, identifying and control means, preferably of the RFID type, of the conveying device (3) of the test tubes (4), comprising a network of antennas (23) appropriately located in the system at stop devices (8) so as to be able to communicate with the transponders of corresponding conveying means (3) storing recognizing data of the corresponding conveying device (3), and a control unit (100) capable of associating the conveying devices (3) of the test tubes (4) to the corresponding test tubes by receiving data and transmitting commands to the devices mounted in the system.
US08322508B2
The step support (17) or plate support comprises a rear crossmember (22) and a front crossmember (24) which together form a plane (E3) for receiving the tread element (9). There are two outer step cheeks (20.1, 20.2), wherein one of the step cheeks (20.1) is arranged on the right and one of the step cheeks (20.2) is arranged on the left, substantially perpendicular with respect to the crossmembers (22, 24). The two crossmembers (22, 24) are manufactured from deep-drawing sheet metal and are welded or joined or riveted or screwed or adhesively bonded or clinched to the step cheeks (20.1, 20.2) or plate cheeks to form a load-hearing frame. The height (H2) of the crossmembers (22, 24) at its ends is smaller than the height (H3) of the crossmembers (22, 24) in the center, with the result that the crossmembers (22, 24) have a curved shape.
US08322506B2
An end of a detection body provided contactable with an upper side peripheral surface of a coin rolling on a coin path hooks into reeding of the coin, and thus the detection body is moved to a moving direction. The movement of the detection body moves a receiving portion in the same direction, and rotates in a predetermined direction an axis support integrally provided with the receiving portion. The rotation of the axis receiver retracts from the coin path a sorting body projecting to the coin path. A release body proceeds to the coin path. The retraction of the sorting body from the coin path allows the coin to further roll on the coin path, press the release body, rotate the axis support reversely, and return the detection body and the sorting body to a standby position.
US08322504B2
A combined power transmission and drive unit for the application in drive trains in hybrid systems with at least two prime movers that can be coupled via a power transmission unit with a consumer, in particular transmission. Between a first prime mover and the power transmission unit, a device is provided for connecting/disconnecting the power flow between the latter and the power transmission unit, including a friction clutch that can be actuated by a pressure medium, including a first clutch part and a second clutch part which can be brought in active connection with one another via a servo unit featuring a piston element that can be pressurized by a pressure medium. A combined power transmission and drive unit according to the invention, with control of a rotation speed difference of a flow medium on either face side of a piston element.
US08322500B2
A shock absorber housing for a shock absorber of a vehicle comprises a tube, which has a tubular wall, and an attaching element joined onto the tubular wall, the attaching element determining a critical force introduction area of an introduction of a force into the tubular wall, the tube in a longitudinal direction being built up from a first tube section having a first tubular wall and at least a second tube section having a second tubular wall, the first tube section and the second tube section being joined together by their ends facing one another. The first tube section and the second tube section are joined together with a tubular wall overlap of the first and second tubular wall, which overlap extends in a longitudinal direction, the tubular wall overlap being situated in the critical force introduction area of the attaching element.
US08322498B2
A shock absorber includes a cylinder, at least two magnetic blocks, and a connection rod. The cylinder includes a first end, an opposite second end defining a slide hole, and absorption particles are filled in the slide hole. The at least two magnetic blocks are fit in the slide hole and the proximate end surfaces of two adjacent magnetic block have the same magnetism. The connection rod includes a flange portion and a rod portion. The flange portion defines a receiving hole for receiving one of the at least two magnetic blocks.
US08322496B2
Disclosed is a mechanical drum brake capable of returning brake shoes into the initial position thereof when the braking operation is released. In the mechanical drum, the brake shoes are smoothly returned to the initial position thereof due to leaf springs, which are fixed to the back plate and interpose an adjusting nut of an adjuster therebetween, when braking is released.
US08322489B1
An aerial rescue device is a powered platform that quickly elevates the fireman to height, or powers the secure descent of a rescued person. A powered carriage rides between two extensible booms. Two rungs secured to the carriage enable a fireman to stand on one and hold onto the other. The two booms have rails within. The rails guide trolleys secured to the ends of the two rungs. The carriage is moved by two cables. Each cable is connected at one end to the carriage and at the other end to two winches. These winches are computer controlled to enable the carriage to ride up and down while the booms are being extended. Preferably, there are also rotatable boom segments at the top of the booms.
US08322474B2
When a drive wheel (3) of a vehicle is driven by a motor generator (10) that operates as a motor, electric power is supplied from a storage battery (20) to the motor generator (10). When the drive wheel (3) is braked by the motor generator (10) that operates as a generator, electric power is supplied from the motor generator (10) to the storage battery (20), and a first thermoelectric conversion element (11) is supplied with electric power from the motor generator (10) to cool the motor generator (10).
US08322472B2
A hybrid vehicle emission control method may include operating the hybrid vehicle in a first mode during which a combustion engine is off and an electric motor propels the hybrid vehicle. An electrically heated selective catalytic reduction catalyst (EHSCR) may be energized during the first mode. The vehicle may be operated in a second mode after the first mode during which the engine propels the hybrid vehicle.
US08322460B2
Systems and methods for lifting drilling fluid from a well bore in a subsea formation are disclosed. Some system embodiments include a drill string suspended within a drilling riser to form the well bore, and a drilling fluid source for supplying drilling fluid through the drill string during drilling. A diverter is coupled between the drilling riser and a return line, while a power riser coupled to the return line at an interface. A lift fluid source supplies lift fluid through the power riser into the return line. The lift fluid is intermittently injected from the power riser through the interface into the return line to form one or more slugs of lift fluid positioned between slugs of drilling fluid, such that the combined density of lift fluid and drilling fluid in the return line is less than the density of the drilling fluid alone.
US08322459B2
A pneumatic power tool includes a pneumatic motor mounted in a housing and supplied to pressured air through an air control unit to rotate a drive coupler, a coupling shell member surrounding the drive coupler and having axially opposite actuating and engaging regions, an output spindle having a bearing surface disposed between the drive coupler and the engaging region, and an override clutch unit coupling the drive coupler to the coupling shell member. An override movement of a driven clutch half on the engaging region brings the actuating region to move axially so as to force a latch to an unlatched position such that the air control unit is displaced to a shut-off state.
US08322446B2
A method of selectively actuating well tools includes the steps of: selecting a well tool for actuation by current flow in one direction through a set of conductors; and selecting another well tool for actuation by opposite current flow through the set of conductors. A system includes multiple control devices that control which well tool is selected for actuation in response to current flow in at least one conductor set. A current direction in the conductors selects a certain well tool for actuation. A method of using n conductors to selectively actuate n*(n−1) well tools includes the steps of: arranging the conductors into n*(n−1)/2 sets; connecting the conductor sets to respective groups of the well tools; and controlling direction of current flow through at least one of the sets of conductors, thereby selecting at least one well tool in the respective group of the well tools for actuation.
US08322438B2
An offshore drilling riser joint has a central riser pipe, a number of auxiliary lines mounted around it, and a buoyancy module assembly of a buoyant material. A pair of upper thrust sleeves slide over two of the auxiliary lines, each of the upper thrust sleeves having a flange in contact with an upper end of the buoyancy module assembly. Each of the upper thrust sleeves transfer upward thrust imposed by the buoyancy module assembly to an upper support flange mounted to the central riser pipe. A pair of lower thrust sleeves slide over two of the auxiliary lines. Each lower thrust sleeve has a lower thrust flange that is engaged by a lower end of the buoyancy module assembly. Each of the lower thrust sleeves transfer weight of the buoyancy module assembly while out of water to a lower support flange mounted to the central riser pipe.
US08322429B2
A method for interchangeably connecting undersea a marine package with first and second pressure control devices. The method includes lowering undersea the marine package toward the first pressure control device such that a first half of a feed-thru component mounted to the marine package contacts a second half of the feed-thru component mounted on the first pressure control device; engaging the first and second halves, wherein the first and second halves of the feed-thru component were not previously engaged while the marine package and the first pressure control device were each assembled above sea; and locking the first half to the second half by using an external pressure such that a functionality of the feed-thru component is achieved.
US08322423B2
According to an embodiment, a method for thermally insulating a portion of a tubular located inside an enclosed conduit comprises the steps of: (A) introducing a grouting composition into an annulus between the tubular and the enclosed conduit, the grouting composition comprising: (i) an oil-swellable binding material; and (ii) a hydrocarbon liquid, wherein the hydrocarbon liquid is the continuous phase of the grouting composition; and (iii) an insulating material comprising a hollow microsphere; and (B) allowing or causing the grouting composition to set after the step of introducing, wherein after setting the grouting composition has a thermal conductivity of less than 0.3 BTU/hr·ft·° F. According to another embodiment, a grouting composition for use in insulating a portion of a tubular located inside an enclosed conduit comprises: (A) an oil-swellable binding material comprising a organophilic clay; and (B) a hydrocarbon liquid, wherein the hydrocarbon liquid is the continuous phase of the grouting composition; and (C) an insulating material comprising a hollow microsphere, wherein after the grouting composition has set, the grouting composition has a thermal conductivity of less than 0.3 BTU/hr·ft·° F.
US08322422B2
A method for removing at least a portion of an object in an annulus formed between an external surface of a tubular element and a wall surface. A method for removing an annulus packer, of the swellable type or the foam type, from an annulus in a wellbore comprises the placement of a jetting tool inside the tubular element and effecting a high-pressure fluid flow from the jetting tool to the object, whereby the object is removed.
US08322418B2
A slurry discharge device for use in a subterranean well can include a slurry flow passage extending longitudinally in the device. The slurry flow passage has flow passage sections. One flow passage section is positioned downstream of, and is laterally offset relative to, another flow passage section. Another slurry discharge device can include the slurry flow passage having multiple flow areas. One flow area is positioned in a downstream direction from, and is greater than, another flow area. A method of delivering a slurry into a subterranean well can include discharging the slurry from a tubular string through a first sidewall section of a slurry discharge device; and flowing only a returned fluid portion of the slurry through a second sidewall section of the slurry discharge device. The second sidewall section has a lateral thickness greater than a lateral thickness of the first sidewall section.
US08322416B2
An apparatus for obtaining a fluid at a position within a wellbore that penetrates a subterranean formation includes a body adapted to be disposed in the wellbore on a conveyance equipped with one or more expandable packers providing a sample region disposed between an upper cleanup zone and a lower cleanup zone when expanded into abutting contact with the wellbore wall. An upper cleanup port is provided at the upper cleanup zone. A lower cleanup port is provided at the lower cleanup zone. A fluid cleanup flowline in fluid connection with the upper and lower cleanup ports can be provided. A sampling inlet is provided at the sampling region, and a sampling flowline is in fluid connection with the sampling inlet for drawing fluid from the sampling region.
US08322415B2
Apparatus and methods for deploying one or more sensors into a wellbore. The method can include at least partially embedding one or more sensors in one or more swellable elements; conveying the one or more sensors and the one or more swellable elements into the wellbore; at least partially swelling one or more of the swellable elements; and measuring at least one wellbore property with the one or more sensors.
US08322414B2
Distinctive and analytically distinguishable water-soluble and oil-soluble tracer compositions are applied as coatings to the exterior surface of one or more lengths of production tubing installed in a horizontal well bore between open-hole packers adjacent one or more inflow control devices, (ICD), whereby water and/or oil contacting one or more of the respective tracer coatings and passing a faulty open-hole packer seal will solubilize the tracer coating(s) and be detectable by appropriate tests on the produced water and/or hydrocarbon fluids at the earth's surface.
US08322407B2
A heat exchanger and related method of making is disclosed herewith. The heat exchanger may have first and second fluid reservoirs that retain a quantity of fluid and also a plurality of tubes that extend between the first and second reservoirs and circulate the fluid therebetween. First and second header plates may be retained respectively in the first and second reservoirs through which the plurality of tubes are mounted. First and second pressure reduction plates may each have a plurality of apertures that respectively encompass first and second ends of each of the plurality of tubes. The plurality of apertures may have tapered side walls that taper outwardly from the respective ends, to reduce turbulence of the fluid between the plurality of tubes and the first and second reservoirs.
US08322401B2
A method for making long metal rolled products by continuous casting, made by a continuous casting machine to two casting lines; shearing to size of the cast product; direct introduction of each segment, having an average temperature of at least 1000° C.-1150° C., into a maintenance and/or heating furnace that has a first and a second movement sections, each of the movement sections is disposed in axis respectively with one of the two casting lines to receive a respective segment; lateral transfer of each segment inside the furnace to dispose each segment in a third movement section disposed parallel and misaligned with respect to the first and the second movement sections and aligned to a rolling axis of a rolling line parallel and offset with respect to the two casting lines; and reduction of the section in a rolling mill defining said rolling axis.
US08322398B2
A process for the production of an aluminum-diamond composite, characterized by comprising the step of preparing a diamond powder having a specific diameter, the step of adding a colloidal silica to the diamond powder to form a slurry, the step of subjecting the slurry to press forming or slip casting to produce a compact of the diamond particles, the step of firing the compact either in air or in a nitrogen atmosphere to form a porous diamond preform, the step of heating the porous diamond preform, the step of heating an aluminum alloy to a temperature equal to or above the melting point of the alloy and impregnating the molten alloy into the porous diamond preform to make a flat plate-like aluminum-diamond composite wherein both surfaces are covered with surface layers containing an aluminum-base metal, and the step of working the aluminum-diamond composite into an aluminum-diamond composite.
US08322396B2
In a screening arrangement comprising a top element, a bottom element, and a screening body, the top element includes two end pieces (410) and a spring-biased roller bar mounted on a roller shaft (461). The roller shaft (461) and one of the end pieces (410) constitute an integral one-piece unit formed by molding.
US08322384B2
A select-fill dispensing system and method for a dispenser assembly utilizes a camera to sense a desired fill level based on the location of a user's finger with respect to a container. In use, a consumer places his or her finger along a container to indicate the desired fill level of the container. Image data from the camera is transmitted to a controller and processed for distortion correction, edge based image segmentation and morphological operations are carried out to remove background noise. The processed image data is utilized to detect the presence of the container, as well as the shape of the container, the position of the container opening, and the top and bottom points of the container. The controller provides a means for controlling the dispensing operation, including a fill rate, based on the desired fill level and the shape of the container.
US08322379B2
A diverter valve for a material transportation system includes a front cover defining an inlet passage, a rear cover defining first and second outlet passages, a casing connected to the front and rear covers and an inner tube arranged in the casing. The inner tube rotates to selectively align an outlet thereof with the first or second outlet passage. An inlet of the inner tube aligns with the inlet passage and the first outlet passage to thereby provide a straight passage through the diverter valve which aligns with a straight passage through the transportation system. When the inlet of the inner tube aligns with the second outlet passage, it provides a straight, branched passage through the diverter valve to, e.g., a receiving container. The inner tube is rotated between its alignment with the first or second outlet passage by an actuator.
US08322372B2
A fluid flow control device for improving, for example, valve operation by reducing “error forces” occurring due to fluid communication between ports of a valve having two or more ports. Incremental pressure drop passages bleed incrementally the flow of fluid between first an second ports as the valve spool is moving between the first and second positions to decrease the pressure differential generated force exerted on the spool whereby the energy required to be applied to the spool for moving the spool between the first and second positions is decreased.
US08322370B2
A hydraulic system with a pressure reducing valve having at an inlet side a tank connection, a system pressure connection, and an outlet side working pressure connection that is connected to the system pressure connection or to the tank connection through the pressure reducing valve. The pressure reducing valve has a first and a second system pressure connection, wherein the second system pressure connection is pressurized at a significantly higher pressure than the first system pressure connection, and is connected to the working pressure connection through the pressure reducing valve.
US08322361B2
An annular dual-flow check valve for controlling the flow through concentric channels that have a common outlet, comprising: an outer body and an inner body that define the concentric channels, which include an outer channel and an inner channel formed therein; a spring activated annular poppet that resides in the outer channel and has a range of motion in the axial direction; and an opening through the inner body that connects the outer channel to the inner channel; wherein: the axial movement of the annular poppet is regulated by the pressure of the flow upstream of the annular poppet in the outer channel; and the axial range of motion of the annular poppet includes at least two axial positions: a closed position where the annular poppet substantially covers the opening and a open position where at least a portion of the opening is not covered by the annular poppet.
US08322359B2
A gas pressure regulator comprises a main body having a first, gas inlet pipe and a second, gas outlet pipe, a calibrated gas passage through which gas flows from the first pipe to the second pipe, a shutter housed at least partially in the main body and mobile lengthwise along a first defined line to adjust the opening of the calibrated passage, a device for actuating the shutter and a regulator spring unit opposing the movement of the shutter.
US08322353B2
A hair treatment foil includes a first hook fastener anchoring strip aligned with and proximal to a leading edge of the foil, and a second hook fastener anchoring strip offset from the first strip, the hooks of the second anchoring strip being taller and less dense than the hooks of the first anchoring strip. In embodiments, the hooks of the first anchor strip are offset or randomly placed, and/or the hooks of the second anchor strip are aligned or arranged in a mechanical weave pattern. A push flap is included for urging the foil forward after attachment. The leading edge may be pinked for picking and placing hair on the foil. Shoulders wider than the leading edge may be included. Embodiments include a retaining appliance having a base plate with a hooked fastener anchor strip attached to its underside and a pinked edge for picking of hair from underneath.
US08322344B2
An oral orthosis includes a holder in the shape of a mouthpiece, including a curved arcuate trough-like upper section which receives a formable material. The formable material does not occupy the entire trough but rather includes voids between the formable material and the inner surfaces of trough of the holder to allow expansion of the formable material into the voids during the molding process when tooth pressure is placed on the formable material. This design results in elimination of the excess formable material which otherwise would require removal by trimming. Additionally, the formable material is placed in the trough in a configuration which includes indexing indentations along the centerline of the material, such that, during the molding process, the mouthpiece containing the formable material is easily centered along the edges of the user's teeth to provide a precise fitting.
US08322340B2
A description is given of an endonasal filter including two essentially planar filtering components joined at their respective ends by a flexible element mounted, similar to a spring, across the cartilage between the two nostrils. The shape of the filtering components is that of a lunette as is the shape of the section at entry to the channel communicating with the nasal cavities. The filtering components are joined by a thin piece of plastic shaped to form a U-bend, the two parallel sides of which extend towards the filtering components on whose surfaces they assume the form of an oval that supports the component and to which it is made to adhere by application of heat.
US08322327B2
An open or closed loop EFI system integrating an alcohol sensor is provided on a genset engine. The EFI system provides acceptable engine performance and efficiency when using fuels or fuel blends over a wide band and when starting from a cold state, i.e., starting the engine after the engine has not run for a relatively long period of time. The alcohol sensor enables acceptable operation while the genset engine is cold. The alcohol sensor sends data to the electronic control unit (ECU) and this data, as well as data provided by other sensors that may be available such as an air flow sensor, is used to determine the optimal air-to-fuel ratio (AFR). The ECU actuates the fuel injector which sends the correct amount of atomized fuel to mix with the air flow to be combusted. The fuel mixture, at the requested AFR, enables the engine to start and operate efficiently from a cold state even if the fuel blend has been changed from a previous operation of the engine.
US08322325B2
Disclosed is a method and corresponding fuel injector for injecting gaseous and liquid fuel into an engine. The method comprises delivering a liquid fuel to a fuel injector, delivering a pressurized gaseous fuel to the fuel injector, entraining the liquid fuel within the gaseous fuel within a chamber of the fuel injector and injecting the gaseous fuel and atomized liquid fuel into the combustion chamber. The liquid fuel can be passed through and dispensed from a needle into a chamber in the injector nozzle where it is entrained in the gaseous fuel during an injection event. The liquid/gas mass ratio is controlled by the needle movement, hydraulic resistances or electronic valves so that the majority of the liquid is injected during the first part of the gas injection. The injector can be used for late cycle direct injection of natural gas, or any number of gaseous fuel blends combined with many liquid fuels such as diesel, biodiesel and DME.
US08322323B2
The fluid system is intended for an oscillating-piston engine (100) which has at least two double-armed oscillating pistons (4) arranged in a spherical housing (19) and revolving together about an axis (23) of revolution arranged in the housing center, wherein the oscillating pistons, when revolving, mutually perform reciprocating oscillating movements about an oscillation axis (24) perpendicular to the axis (23) of revolution, and guide members (5) attached to at least two pistons (4) engage in at least one guide groove (17) formed in the housing (19) and serving to control the oscillating movements. The fluid system (70) comprises at least one central feed opening (1), lying in the vicinity of an end of the axis (23) of revolution, for a fluid, continuous cavities and/or bores (10) in the pistons (4) for the fluid, and a fluid discharge on the outer side (3) of the respective piston. A rotation of the pistons (4) about the axis (23) of revolution causes a pressure difference which acts as suction at the feed opening (1) and as pressure in the discharge region (16) and thus makes possible a pumpless fluid system or a fluid system which needs only a low supply pressure. The fluid system serves, for example, to lubricate the oscillating-piston engine (100) and—when fuel is used as the fluid—can be supplied with fluid from a fuel tank together with a fuel supply and with cooling of the oscillating-piston engine.
US08322316B2
An engine is disclosed. In one implementation, the engine includes a camwheel mounted to an output shaft. Eighteen cylinder-enclosed pistons are positioned in a circular plane about the camwheel such that the radius of the circular plane and the camwheel are coplanar. Lobes integrally formed on the camwheel define a guiderail including a continuously, substantially sinusoidal surface biased for rotation in the direction of the rotary motion of the output shaft. Drive bearings associated with each piston engage and maintain contact with the guiderail. The rotary motion is obtained by transferring the displacement of the plurality of pistons from respective top dead center positions and bottom dead center positions to the guiderail, thereby rotating the camwheel and output shaft.
US08322314B2
A boiler furnace avoids NOx and increases thermal efficiency with a small boiler. The boiler furnace has a outer water walls and inner water walls. All of the water walls contain water which absorb heat from the flame and cool the water tube which act as a container, passage, evaporator of water and water walls with membrane that connect water tubes to each other. The spaces between outer water walls and inner water walls makes a cylindrical space which contain fires and avoids making a fire that produces nitrogen oxides due to high temperature induced from a concentrated flame.
US08322312B2
Methods and systems for operating a water heater to limit the effects of stacking in a water heater tank are disclosed. In some cases, the water heater controller may determine a rate of change of the water temperature in the water heater tank. If the rate of change exceeds a threshold value, the controller may adjust the water heater temperature set point downward to help reduce stacking in the water heater. In some cases, the water heater temperature set point may be returned to the original water heater temperature set point when stacking is no longer likely to be of a concern. In one illustrative embodiment, the controller may track the time that the heater of the water heater is in the “on” state, or the time that the heater is in the “off” state, during subsequent heating cycles. The controller may then compare the “on” time or the “off” time to respective recovery threshold times. If the “on” time or the “off” time exceeds its respective recovery threshold time, then the controller may adjust the set point toward the original water heater temperature set point, sometimes in an incremental manner.
US08322310B2
A laboratory specimen, such as a mouse or rat, can be accurately and repeatedly imaged in an imaging machine, such as an MRI machine, when securely positioned on a specimen support bed. The support bed includes contours and accessories for centering a specimen on the support bed. One or more bite bars coact with a head clamp to accurately fix a specimen's head in the same position time after time.
US08322301B2
An intermediate reserve tank for temporarily storing a conductive coating medium is provided in a coating medium supply passage for supplying the conductive coating medium from a color switch valve mechanism to a spray gun. A block valve mechanism for electrically insulating the color switch valve mechanism and the intermediate reserve tank is provided. A coating medium extrusion portion for supplying water or a cleaning solution is connected to a transmission passage between the intermediate reserve tank and the spray gun via a switch valve. When an amount of the coating medium necessary until an end of a coating operation becomes a predetermined amount, the conductive coating medium is extruded by the water or the cleaning solution by switching the switch valve.
US08322297B2
A flag securing assembly includes elongate member formed with an opening, opposed notched ends, and a lug projecting away from the elongate member and which terminates with a free end. A major loop of a line is applied through the opening and is folded over the elongate member forming in the line opposite minor loops applied to the opposed notched ends, a length of the line extending between the minor loops along the elongate member, and standing parts that project outward in opposite directions from the opposed notched ends. A grommet of a flag is applied to the lug between the free end of the lug and the elongate member, and a fastener is applied to the free end of the lug captively retaining the grommet of the flag between the free end of the lug and the elongate member.
US08322292B2
An object holding table comprising a table top, a frame body, two rotating shaft sets and a foot stand set. The rotating shaft sets are used to movably attach the table top and the frame body to allow the table top to turn 90 degrees. The foot stand set has a first lateral foot stand and a second lateral foot stand both capable of overturning outwards and supporting the object holding table to stand; and when not in use, to withdraw and being stored at the inner side of the table top. By assembling the foregoing assemblies, the object holding table of the present invention is hence capable of holding a portable electronic device and turning 90 degrees to reach a convenient watching position.
US08322283B2
Printing forms are prepared in assembly positions on one of several printing cylinders in a printing press. Several such printing forms are made available at a distance from the printing press, at the end of at least one sheet extruder with a sheet exposure device. A particular printing form for the printing cylinder is distributed among mobile collector containers that are standing ready on the sheet extruder. Different mobile collection containers, with printing forms for the same printing cylinders are supplied to that printing cylinder. At a particular time, and on an operating side of the printing press, several such mobile collection containers are provided and are positioned adjacent each other in the axial direction of the print cylinder. Print forms for the assembly positions, which are arranged adjacent to each other on the print cylinder, in the axial direction of the print cylinder, and which have been provided to the printing press in the various mobile collection contains, are taken from the mobile collection containers and are provided on the assembly positions of the printing cylinder.
US08322281B2
A color deck of a printing machine is usable to ink a printing cylinder. A roller nip is formed by at least one friction cylinder that is driven by a drive motor for rotary movement. A freewheel clutch is situated between the first friction cylinder and the drive motor for that first friction cylinder.
US08322274B2
A machine for producing ice-cream and the like including an outer boxlike housing, a processing tank that extends into the boxlike housing, and a discharge manifold which branches from the bottom of the processing tank to reach the boxlike housing at a front wall of the latter, and is structured so as to allow a product contained in the processing tank to flow out of the machine. The discharge manifold includes a tubular duct which protrudes from the bottom of the processing tank and ends with a mouth assembly which through-engages an appropriate opening obtained on the front wall of the boxlike housing. The mouth assembly includes a central sleeve that is rigidly and fixedly attached to the tubular duct.
US08322270B2
A reciprocating piston machine, such as an air-conditioning compressor for motor vehicles, having a housing, a rotationally drivable shaft, a shaft sealing device, in particular a mechanical shaft seal, at least one radial shaft bearing, especially a radial rolling-contact bearing, and at least one axial shaft bearing, in particular an axial rolling-contact bearing, a bearing sleeve which accommodates at least the radial shaft bearing, being configured within an opening in the housing, extending into the same.
US08322264B1
A pressure release mechanism for a sonic rarefaction wave-type low-recoil gun system employing controlled plastic venting that exhibits adiabatic shear banding to effect a delayed pressure release.
US08322262B2
A cartridge for an edible film dispenser protects a mounted edible film having a roll form, enables easy mounting of the edible film in the edible film container, and simplifies the structure of the edible film dispenser. The cartridge includes an edible film tape, which has a cylindrical main bobbin and a cylindrical take-up bobbin, a cartridge body, which includes a main shaft, a draw shaft, a take-up shaft, and an edge perpendicular wall, which are spaced apart from each other, and a plate-like cartridge cover, which has a size and profile equal to those of the cartridge body.
US08322258B2
The present invention relates to a tool holder (1) that either has a modular design, and the modules of which are centered via interfaces, or/and in which a centered interface (9) is provided between the tool (5) and the tool receiver (4) such that high concentricity, and thus a high processing accuracy are achieved. The present invention further relates to a system comprising a tool holder (1) and a tool (5).
US08322255B1
A multi-wrench gear head apparatus for adjusting tie-rod assemblies of dissimilar size. Such an apparatus employs a plurality of driven wrench (socket) portions, which can be provided to engage and adjust tie-rods of different and particular sizes. The wrench portions share a common gear train, such that multiple wrench portions may be driven by a single drive means.
US08322254B2
A carpentry tool for the installation of parallel boards includes an elongated lever having a rotatable cam pivotally affixed adjacent to a distal end of the lever, a gripper body pivotally affixed at a distal end of the lever, the gripper body having two lugs or brackets extending downward from the lower end of the gripper body, wherein the gripper body includes a multi-piece telescopic section having outer and inner tubing members in slidable engagement, the one tubing member including a first lug or bracket on a lower face thereof, another tubing member including a second lug or bracket on a lower face thereof, opposing the first bracket, and a spindle extending from an upper face of the gripper body, and a mechanism for reversibly adjusting the sliding tubing members at predetermined points.
US08322239B2
A controller capable of realizing continuous click feelings within an operation range of the controller and a specific click feeling at a specific position of the operation range with continuous natural maneuvering feeling. When a first member to which an element shaft of an electronic device is fixed is rotated relatively to a second member to which an element body of the electronic device is fixed to rotate the shaft, the controller adjusts the control amount the element. A notch array, formed of a serration and a first pawl, and a position confirmation means, formed of a notch and a pawl, are disposed between the first member and the second member. Both members are disposed oppositely with respect to the shaft. A center click feeling, different from the feeling in the notch array, can be obtained at the center within the range of the notch array.
US08322238B2
Systems, apparatuses, and methods for evaluating medical device performance are provided. A corresponding method may include deploying an implantable medical device into an apparatus for evaluating performance of an implantable medical device. The apparatus may include a support structure and simulated tissue operatively associated with the support structure. The method may further include manipulating the support structure and/or the simulated tissue to simulate physiological forces on the implantable device.
US08322236B2
A measuring apparatus having a measurement voltage input with at least one input contact for an input voltage of a measuring element and a method for detecting moisture on the measurement voltage input of such a measuring apparatus are provided, wherein the measuring apparatus includes a supplemental voltage source, which delivers at least one supplemental voltage and is connected with a supplemental contact arranged in the region of the at least one input contact.
US08322235B1
A microactuator test assembly is disclosed for testing a microactuator mounted at a joint coupling a base end of a load beam to a distal end of an actuator arm. A spreader pin deflects the load beam by moving from a first position to a second position, and a signal detector measures a sensor signal generated by the microactuator while deflecting the load beam with the spreader pin.
US08322226B2
Methods and apparatuses are provided for testing and quantifying structural durability characteristics of bridging materials. Embodiments include sieving bridging materials to create uniform batches having particles within a predefined range. Embodiments further include selecting a batch and drying the batch, separating the dried batch into dry samples, and selecting a test sample having an initial mass. Embodiments include sealing the test sample, a volume of liquid, and a rod in a cylindrical testing cell and rotating the cylindrical testing cell containing the rod such that the rod rolls in relation to an inner wall of the cylindrical testing cell and applies force partially crushing the test sample. Embodiments further include sieving a resulting sample to create a durable sample having particles within the predefined range and drying the durable sample. Embodiments of methods further include measuring a mass of the dried durable sample to define a durable mass and comparing the durable mass to the initial mass.
US08322208B2
A fluid meter is described having a housing with housing walls defining a measurement volume, an inlet to connect the measurement volume to a fuel reservoir, and an outlet to connect the measurement volume to a fuel dispensing hose, wherein the housing walls may comprise one or more elastically displaceable wall portions arranged to be elastically displaced in response to a pressure variation propagating into the measurement volume.
US08322205B2
A method of fabricating a pressure sensor (30) for harsh environments such as vehicle tires, formed from a first wafer substrate (32) having first and second opposing planar surfaces. CMOS circuitry (34) is deposited on the first planar surface and a layer of passivation material is deposited on the circuitry. Openings in the passivation layer are etched to expose parts of the circuitry and an aperture is etched into the first wafer from the first planar surface towards the second planar surface. Sacrificial material is deposited in the aperture and then a flexible membrane (50) is deposited on the sacrificial material and the exposed parts of the circuitry. The sacrificial material is subsequently plasma cleaned out of the aperture from the second surface and a second substrate is sealed to the second planar surface of the first wafer substrate to define a chamber (58) containing a fluid at a reference pressure. During use, the flexible membrane deflects due to pressure differentials between the reference pressure and the fluid pressure and the circuitry converts the deflection of the flexible membrane into an output signal indicative of the fluid pressure.
US08322204B2
An unbalance correction device of a high speed rotary apparatus which can prevent the lowering of productivity in the production line of a high speed rotary apparatus while reducing variation in the posture of a workpiece supported by a jig and suppressing vibration of a member (clamp member) for securing the workpiece to the jig, and can enhance the precision of unbalance correction. The unbalance correction device (1) of a high speed rotary apparatus includes a plurality of claw structures (10) (clamp members) for fixing, by clamping, a workpiece (20) to a turbine housing section (3); a cylinder mechanism (30) for moving and energizing the claw structures (10), a solenoid valve (35) for adjusting the moving amount and energizing force of the claw structure (10) by the cylinder mechanism (30); a position sensor (37) for detecting the position of the claw structure (10); and posture control means for controlling each solenoid valve (35) such that the position shift of the claw structure (10) detected by the position sensor (37) becomes smaller than its acceptable value.
US08322202B2
The invention relates to a method for inspecting especially a gas turbine installation or steam turbine installation. An actual condition of a component of the turbine installation is determined using a suitable system, the determined actual condition is compared with a predetermined desired condition of the component, and the result of comparison between the actual condition and the desired condition is used to determine whether an overall inspection of the turbine installation is required. The component is a guide vane whose angular position in relation to the direction of influx is the actual condition to be determined. The actual condition is determined by an imaging device. The invention also relates to a turbine inspection system for carrying out the method.
US08322199B2
The present invention provides an automatic sampling and dilution apparatus for use in a polymer analysis system. The apparatus comprises (a) a primary mixing chamber; (b) a primary pump capable of continuously withdrawing a variable viscosity liquid from a reactor at a selectable, fixed withdrawal rate over a varying viscosity range of about 50 to about 5,000,000 centipoise (cP) for continuously conveying the variable viscosity polymer-containing liquid into the primary mixing chamber; (c) a first dilution pump for continuously delivering a first dilution solvent into the primary mixing chamber at a selectable, fixed flow rate to mix with the variable viscosity liquid in the mixing chamber and thereby form a diluted polymer-containing liquid therein; and (d) a secondary pump for continuously conveying the diluted polymer-containing liquid into a flow-through detector. A polymer analysis system utilizing the automatic sampling and dilution apparatus is also provided.
US08322192B2
A sensor apparatus includes a metal oxide semiconductor sensor and a housing having an internal chamber in which the sensor is disposed. The housing includes at least one window for the ingress of a gas into the internal chamber from an atmosphere exterior to the housing. A gas-selective barrier is disposed across the at least one window.
US08322172B2
A key cylinder installation structure includes a key cylinder including a flange that is fixed to a trunk of a vehicle, the flange including a mounting hole through which a mounting bolt is inserted into a reference hole and a secondary reference hole, respectively, formed in the trunk, the key cylinder being operable to lock and unlock the trunk, and a pad that is attached to the flange of the key cylinder and includes a hole through which the mounting bolt is inserted and a projection projecting toward a center of the key cylinder in the hole of the pad. When the mounting bolt is inserted into the mounting hole, the projection of the pad lies between the mounting bolt and the mounting hole.
US08322169B2
A laundry system comprises a first laundry appliance, a second laundry appliance, and a vertical laundry module. The vertical laundry module can have a housing with a width less than the width of each of the first and second laundry appliances and a stain treatment assembly. The stain treatment assembly can include a screen slidable mounted to the housing of the vertical module for supporting a fabric item and a wand extendable from the housing for applying a stain treatment agent to the fabric item on the screen.
US08322149B2
Provided is a method for selecting a lubricant and a refrigerant for use in a vapor-compression refrigeration device such that the combination of the lubricant and refrigerant produces a fluid system having a lubricant-rich phase and a refrigerant-rich phase, yet exhibits miscible-type properties.
US08322143B2
According to various embodiments, a system includes a staggered multi-nozzle assembly. The staggered multi-nozzle assembly includes a first fuel nozzle having a first axis and a first flow path extending to a first downstream end portion, wherein the first fuel nozzle has a first non-circular perimeter at the first downstream end portion. The staggered multi-nozzle assembly also includes a second fuel nozzle having a second axis and a second flow path extending to a second downstream end portion, wherein the first and second downstream end portions are axially offset from one another relative to the first and second axes. The staggered multi-nozzle assembly further includes a cap member disposed circumferentially about at least the first and second fuel nozzles to assemble the staggered multi-nozzle assembly.
US08322128B2
A hydrogen engine 10 supplies hydrogen, oxygen, and an argon gas serving as a working to a combustion chamber 21 to combust the hydrogen. H2O in a recirculating gas discharged from the combustion chamber 21 is separated and eliminated from the gas by a condenser 66. A three-way valve 72 is switched over in such a manner that the recirculating gas flows through a product eliminating section 70 (a carbon dioxide absorbing unit 71), when the concentration of carbon dioxide in the recirculating gas is higher than a predetermined concentration, so that the carbon dioxide is separated and eliminated from the recirculating gas.
US08322119B2
The agricultural system includes a baling device having a bale forming mechanism to form a bale including a pivotable rear flap to open a baling chamber in which the bale can be formed, and a wrapping device to wrap the bale in wrapping material, the wrapping device including a wrapping table to support the bale during wrapping and wrapping mechanism. The wrapping mechanism has one or more movable parts that can be rotated during wrapping along a trajectory around the bale supported on the wrapping table. The wrapping device is partially located below the baling device, wherein the trajectory of the one or more moving parts of the wrapping device and a trajectory of the pivotable rear flap of the baling device are non-overlapping.
US08322117B2
A deflator apparatus for use in a farm, fill and seal bagging machine to deflate excess air from and form a filled or partially filled package of bulk goods includes a first deflator having a plurality of first flexible bands that extends between a pair of first arms. The apparatus further includes a second deflator having at least one second flexible band that extends between a pair of second arms. The first and second deflators are spaced from one another and movable relative to one another to sandwich the package of bulk goods between the plurality of first flexible bands and the at least one second flexible band to remove excess air from the package and form the package.
US08322109B2
A spacer for positioning and locking spaced reinforcing cages into a combined integral unit for reinforcing large concrete structures is disclosed that is readily snapped into place even with narrow lattice cages.
US08322100B2
An easy-to-install and remove flooring system comprises three components: 1) a plurality of rolled-out liners, 2) a plurality of tiles, particularly resilient tiles, and 3) an adhesive adhering the tile to the liner. A grid pattern matching the size of the tiles is printed on the liner to enable easy centering and balancing of the tile in the room. The edge portions of adjacent liners are adjacent or overlapped. At least some of the tiles are adhered to two of the liners.
US08322096B2
A fire-resistant assembly may be attached to a wall frame assembly of a building and configured to transfer loads from a load-bearing assembly into the wall frame assembly. The assembly provides for a desired amount of fire resistance by virtue of a fire-resistant filler and provides for a desired amount of structural capacity by virtue structural sheets that form a cavity for the filler. In addition, a load-limited connector may be coupled to the assembly to transfer loads from the load-bearing assembly up to a desired load threshold.
US08322090B2
A window assembly according to various embodiments includes a frame, a sash, an insulating unit (e.g., one or more glass panels), a glass stop, an elongated frame insulating element slidably disposed on an inner surface of the frame, an elongated sash insulating element slidably disposed on an outer surface of the sash, and an elongated inner sash insulating element slidably disposed on an inner surface of the sash. The elongated frame insulating element, the elongated sash insulating element, and the elongated inner sash insulating element each define a plurality of chambers that extend substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of each element. These chambers reduce the size of the space between the frame and sash and the size of the space between the sash, the insulating unit, and the glass stop, which results in smaller convection currents within these spaces and a more thermally efficient window assembly.
US08322088B2
A ventilated roofing structure includes a modular roofing panel unit adapted to form part of an outermost layer of a roof, a wall unit which is secured to the roofing panel unit, and which extends downwardly to terminate at an anchored end to partition a space under the roof into outside and inside spaces, and which has a ventilation opening communicating the inside and outside spaces, and a modular drainage-route forming panel unit which is fastened to an overhanging eave of the roofing panel unit to form a gap therebetween. The drainage-route forming panel unit extends downwards to separate the outside space into an airflow transit chamber and an outdoor space, and has an anchoring edge secured to the anchored end, and a drainage port communicating the airflow transit chamber with the outdoor space.
US08322087B1
Modular landscape borders can include curb and planter sections, and adjacent modular borders can engaged to each other via coupling members. The curb section can include channels for receiving electrical and/or irrigational devices. The curb section can include a face having openings for receiving illumination devices and/or irrigation devices. The planter section can include irrigation drainage and a conduit for receiving irrigation tubing and/or for distributing irrigation water. Openings can be provided for receiving retaining spikes for securing the modular border to the ground. Supporting structures can provide rigidity and/or structural support to the curb and/or the planter. The modular border may include partition lines for division into smaller partitions.
US08322068B2
Provided is a gun mounting kit for quickly and easily mounting a gun in a position favorable for cleaning the gun. It is understood that guns may include mounting rails, such as a Picatinny-style rail or other similar mounting structures. The gun mounting kit includes a clamping unit that is sized and configured to clamp onto the mounting rail of the gun to secure the gun for cleaning.
US08322067B2
A firearm steady-rest which is incorporated as part of a rifle sling. The steady-rest may be a single support arm or a folded support arm system deployed by folding it outward to provide either a V-shaped support configuration or a U-shaped support configuration whereby the upwardly extending distal ends of the support engage and support the firearm therebetween. The steady-rest may be grasped by the operator's forward extending hand to provide maximum steadying of the firearm for sighting and shooting. A gravity deploying bi-pod leg set is also provided which automatically locks into position when fully deployed by a gravity slide lock.
US08322066B2
An auxiliary device includes a housing and a rail mount coupled to the housing. The rail mount includes a first rigid member and a second rigid member extending substantially longitudinally along at least a portion of the housing, the first and second rigid members configured to engage a mounting rail defined on a frame portion of a weapon. The rail mount further includes a flex member having a first end coupled to the first rigid member and a second end coupled to a tightening member being movable between a first position and a second position, the flex member configured to provide a gripping force on the mounting rail of the weapon and couple the auxiliary device to the weapon. A shock absorbing member may be provided to prevent or reduce damage to an internal power supply upon discharge of the weapon.
US08322065B2
A magazine carrier for a firearm, the magazine carrier including a frame having walls to releasably hold an ammunition magazine, and an external track element defined on the frame for engaging a complementary engagement element. The complementary track element can be on a clip, on an adapter or on another similar frame.
US08322062B1
A marketing sign is constructed of a sheet material. The sheet material includes a free portion, a base portion and a connecting portion that couples the base portion to the free portion. The base portion is configured to engage with a product display structure, which has a price holder. The connecting portion is defined between a first connecting bend line spaced apart from a second connecting bend line by a distance. The distance substantially corresponds with an edge thickness of the price holder.
US08322057B2
Disclosed is a stretcher bar framing and canvas fastening system. This system consists of side bar segments of variable lengths and pre-molded corner segments for quick and easy assembly and disassembly. The snap fit interlocking bar and corner segments features a locking mechanism utilizing a male plug member and a female socket member. The plug member includes a pair of resilient flexible arms with a flat surface tooth that interlocks during insertion of the socket member. The plug and socket members snap together for a tight and straight fit is released using a side release mechanism. The side release mechanism disengages the stretcher bar segments by pressing inward on the flat tooth surface of the latching arms located within the side apertures. The back side of the stretcher bar features a self-healing canvas fastening block for insertion of staples allowing canvas to be mounted or dissembled.
US08322056B2
Methods and systems for preparing a torrefied biomass fuel are disclosed. Moisture is initially extracted from relatively wet biomass fuel to produce a relatively dry biomass fuel. Remaining moisture is then extracted from the relatively dry biomass fuel in a final drying stage, using steam at a temperature of about 900° F. The resulting dried biomass fuel is conveyed downward using gravity and undergoes torrefaction, which produces torrefied biomass fuel and torrefaction gases. A gaseous mixture of steam and torrefaction gases is vented to a heat exchanger, where the gaseous mixture is heated by a flue gas, and the heated gaseous mixture is used to support the extraction of the remaining moisture in the final drying stage and to support the torrefaction of the dried biomass fuel. Embodiments disclosed herein efficiently use available energy resources to the benefit of manufacturers, consumers, and the environment.
US08322052B2
A modular shoe system having interchangeable uppers and outsoles, comprising an internal support structure, a plurality of interchangeable first removable covers and a plurality of interchangeable second removable covers. The internal support structure includes a midsole, a heel counter and a toe box. The internal support structure has a front portion including the toe box and a rear portion including the heel counter. Each of the first removable covers includes a front upper and a front outsole. Each of the first removable covers is configured for being alternately removably attached to the front portion. Each of the second removable covers includes a rear upper and a rear outsole. Each of the second removable covers is configured for being alternately removably attached to the rear portion.
US08322050B2
A footwear sole includes an upper surface and a lower surface. The lower surface includes a plurality of tread members formed thereon. The tread members include a plurality of projections or lugs of various sizes and shapes which are grouped together into specific patterns. The material from which the projections are formed increases the shoe sole's ability to resist slipping on floor surfaces which are covered with oil, water, soap, etc. The shape and pattern of the projections or lugs enable them to resist flexing and disengaging the floor surface. This increases the footwear sole's ability to resist slipping.
US08322030B1
A method of making a substrate for a semiconductor package includes providing a laminated layer structure including a backing layer and a metal layer attached to the backing layer. A circuit layer is plated atop a first surface of the metal layer to form a circuit-on-metal structure. The circuit-on-metal structure is coupled to a dielectric layer by causing the dielectric layer to flow around the circuit layer to the first surface of the metal layer so that the circuit layer is embedded within the dielectric layer and the first surface of the metal layer is in direct contact with a first surface of the dielectric layer. The backing layer is then removed completely. The metal layer is then removed completely.
US08322029B2
A composite interface and methods of fabrication are provided for coupling a cooling assembly to an electronic device. The interface includes a plurality of thermally conductive wires formed of a first material having a first thermal conductivity, and a thermal interface material at least partially surrounding the wires. The interface material, which thermally interfaces the cooling assembly to a surface to be cooled of the electronic device, is a second material having a second thermal conductivity, wherein the first thermal conductivity is greater than the second thermal conductivity. At least some wires reside partially over a first region of higher heat flux and extend partially over a second region of lower heat flux, wherein the first and second regions are different regions of the surface to he cooled. These wires function as thermal spreaders facilitating heat transfer from the surface to be cooled to the cooling assembly.
US08322025B2
Closely spaced, high aspect-ratio gridline structures are formed on the surface of a substrate using two or more co-extrusion heads that co-extrude gridline material and sacrificial material such that the deposited gridline material is compressed between opposing portions of the sacrificial material. The co-extrusion heads include three-channel cavity structures that converge to a relatively small outlet orifice that dispenses the gridline material with relatively fine features and a relatively high aspect ratio. The outlet orifices of the co-extrusion heads are disposed in a staggered arrangement such that gridlines extruded from the first co-extrusion head are disposed between two gridlines extruded from the second co-extrusion head. Photovoltaic cells are produced with metal gridlines formed in this manner.
US08322020B2
A space transformer for a semiconductor test probe card and method of fabrication. The method may include depositing a first metal layer as a ground plane on a space transformer substrate having a plurality of first contact test pads defining a first pitch spacing, depositing a first dielectric layer on the ground plane, forming a plurality of second test contacts defining a second pitch spacing different than the first pitch spacing, and forming a plurality of redistribution leads on the first dielectric layer to electrically couple the first contact test pads to the second contact test pads. In some embodiments, the redistribution leads may be built directly on the space transformer substrate. The method may be used in one embodiment to remanufacture an existing space transformer to produce fine pitch test pads having a pitch spacing smaller than the original test pads.
US08322016B2
Methods for manufacturing cast titanium helmets include casting a helmet in an oversized mold. The resulting oversized cast helmet is then exposed to a hot isostatic press (HIP) process that applies heat and pressure for a predetermined period of time. The resulting oversized cast helmet is then exposed to an acid bath that chemically mills the helmet to a desired thickness and removes contaminants formed during casting of titanium.
US08322008B2
A method of repairing a metallic artefact (40) with an open defect in or on a metallic surface or substrate of the metallic artefact includes cold forging the open defect to close the open defect and thereafter laser cladding the cold forged defect with a plurality of laser clad beads (44) applied to the metallic surface or substrate to cover the cold forged defect with a cladded metal layer. Advantageously, in-situ repair of fluid-filled vessels, pipes or the like is made possible by the repair method, in some instances eliminates the need to shut equipment down thereby reducing downtime and the cost associated with lost production.
US08322005B2
A weather strip installation device for mechanically installing weather strip along the opening of a vehicle door is disclosed. The device includes a frame outlining said opening, and a plurality of contact pads enclosing the frame. A selectively movable unit is disposed between the frame and the contact pads, wherein the selectively movable unit is operable to push each of the contact pads outwardly from the frame. In the first preferred embodiment the movable unit is a plurality of expandable bladders disposed between the contact pads and the peripheral edge of the frame. In the second preferred embodiment, the movable unit is an extensible arm rotatably attached to the frame. The extensible arm includes a roller disposed between the frame and contact pads that presses against the contact pads thereby installing the weather strip along the opening of the door as the extensible arm rotates about the frame.
US08322002B2
One aspect of the present invention provides a fastening strap assembly for used in a foam article. The fastening strap assembly includes a substrate having two sidewalls each formed along one side thereof in a longitudinal direction and spaced apart from each other; a substantially fishbone-shaped fastening member disposed between the sidewalls and adhered to the substrate, the fastening member having an elongate central rib and a plurality of fastening parts laterally extending from either sides of the rib and longitudinally spaced apart from each other, each fastening part having a plurality of hooks formed on a upper surface thereof; and a magnetic layer disposed between the substrate and the fastening member. The fastening strap assembly of the present invention has a unique sideway bending/curving function. Another aspect of the present invention provides a foam article, such as a seat cushion, including the sideway-bendable fastening strap assembly.
US08321993B2
The invention relates to a device for cleaning a ground surface of artificial turf with filler, comprising a frame, moving and supporting means arranged on the frame for the purpose of moving the device over the ground surface, and processing means arranged on the frame for processing a flow of material taken up from the ground surface, such as dirt and filler, wherein the processing means comprise: a take-up means, a separating means, a collecting means, a feedback means. The invention is characterized in that the processing means further comprise a dust suction device, wherein the dust suction device comprises at least a pump means for creating an underpressure and a dust inlet which is connected to a suction side of the pump means and which is arranged in the vicinity of the separating means in the device.
US08321988B1
The grooved broom for use with a refrigerated trailer floor that includes a plurality of separated regions of bristles having the same length. The separated regions of bristles form grooves, which are adaptively engaged upon a grooved or notch floor, which is typically associated with trailer floors. The grooved broom features adjustable ends that extends and retracts along each end of said broom, and which provides a means to sweep against sides of said floor. The adjustable end is adjusted via a spring-loaded button that is located on the broom, and which can lock upon one of a plurality of holes located on the respective adjustable end.
US08321981B2
A stapler capable of dispensing staples therefrom and comprising a head and a handle. The head comprises a staple dispenser configured to dispense a staple from the stapler when a compressive force is applied to the staple dispenser, and a blade carriage that carries a blade and is configured such that the blade is extendable from the head of the stapler and is retractable into the head of the stapler. The handle is attached to the head, and permits the stapler to be swung like a hammer to drive staples dispensed from the staple dispenser.
US08321976B1
The present invention has a deck supported by at least one parallelogram. When two parallelograms are used, the first has first and second levers and a drag link, and the second has third and fourth levers and a second drag link. Each parallelogram is raised and collapsed with an actuator. The first lever and the fourth lever each have an arm with an interface. The actuators are pivotally and movably connected to the interfaces and pivotally connected to the drag links. The location of the actuators relative the interfaces is controlled with control arms. The control arms have ends that are connected to the respective drag link and each rotates at an offset circular path about a central point of the adjacent levers.
US08321965B2
A head and neck protector for use by a race car or other driver includes a yoke which is mounted on the shoulders of the driver, and a helmet which is mounted on a portion of the yoke extending around the sides and back of the driver's neck. The helmet is securely latched to the yoke to prevent rotation of the helmet relative to the yoke. The interior volume of the helmet is sufficiently large that the driver can freely move his or her head without corresponding movement of the helmet.
US08321962B2
An adapter system for a protective mask (2) serves for movably attaching a protective mask (2) to a helmet (1), wherein the adapter system includes two individual adapters (3), which on the one hand serve for coupling to a connecting device (11) of the helmet (1) by means of a helmet coupling (31) and on the other hand for attaching to the protective mask (2) by means of a mask coupling (37), and the adapters (3) each respectively have a swivelling joint (34), around which a protective mask (2) attached to the adapter (3) is capable of being swivelled. In doing so, the adapters (3) each respectively include a swivelling arm (35) capable of being swivelled relative to the swivelling joint (34), wherein the swivelling arm (35) is adjustable in its length.
US08327457B1
A system is provided for managing asset access. The system includes a processor, a user manager interface, an asset manager interface, and an access tool. The access tool, when executed by the processor, compiles a user list of user access to restricted assets, provides the user list to the user manager interface, and receives a modified user list of user access to the restricted assets from the user manager interface. The access tool also compiles an asset list of user access to the restricted assets, provides the asset list to the asset manager interface, and receives a modified asset list of user access to the restricted assets from the asset manager interface. Additionally, the access tool modifies the user access to at least one of the restricted assets based on at least one of the modified user list and the modified asset list.
US08327452B2
A program obfuscation method includes: detecting a loop from an obfuscation target program; adding a conditional expression to the obfuscation target program at a preceding stage of the loop, wherein the conditional expression is neither permanently invalid nor permanently valid and adding a flow in which (a) when a logical value of the conditional expression is false, processing of the obfuscation target program proceeds to a start of the loop, and (b) when the logical value of the conditional expression is true, the processing executes a set of executable statements equivalent to a set of executable statements which are ones from the first executable statement to a middle executable statement among a plurality of executable statements in the loop, and then the processing proceeds to an executable statement subsequent to the middle executable statement in the loop.
US08327451B2
The invention includes various systems, architectures, frameworks and methodologies that can securely enforce a privacy policy. A method is included for securely guaranteeing a privacy policy between two enterprises, comprising: creating a message at a first enterprise, wherein the message includes a request for data concerning a third party and a privacy policy of the first enterprise; signing and certifying the message that the first enterprise has a tamper-proof system with a privacy rules engine and that the privacy policy of the first entity will be enforced by the privacy rules engine of the first enterprise; sending the message to a second enterprise; and running a privacy rules engine at the second enterprise to compare the privacy policy of the first enterprise with a set of privacy rules for the third party.
US08327450B2
A system that enables secure data storage into a third party managed electronic storage vault is disclosed. This electronic storage vault provides customers with a secure location to store important data such as insurance policies, automobile titles, deeds, wills, birth certificates, tax documents or the like. An interface can be provided which secures (e.g., encrypts, digitally signs) data related to transmission, storage and retrieval. A management component can be employed to regulate (e.g., authenticate) deposit or access of documents to/from the storage vault.
US08327447B2
Systems and methods for content filtering are provided. According to one embodiment, a self-extracting archive is received with an electronic mail (email) message. Prior to delivery of the email message, a determination is made regarding whether a file contained in the archive may be malicious or undesired. A type of archive and associated structure of the archive are determined by examining identification bytes stored within a header portion of the archive that identify the type of archive. Based on the type and associated structure, for each contained file, descriptive information, including a checksum of the file in uncompressed form, a size of the file in uncompressed form and/or a size of the file in the compressed form, is extracted from the header portion. A file is identified as potentially malicious or undesired when the descriptive information matches a detection signature of a known malicious or undesired file.
US08327446B2
The invention provides an antivirus network or Internet appliance and methods therefor. A preferred embodiment of the Internet appliance according to the invention comprises an interface connecting the Internet appliance to a terminal, a memory, and a network connection connecting the Internet appliance to a network (such as a wide area network (WAN) or the Internet) wherein data in the network are operable with a corresponding network protocol (such as TCP/IP). Protocol-level programs are stored in the memory for receiving data being transmitted from the network to the terminal through the Internet appliance wherein the protocol-level programs are compatibly operable with the network protocol. Application-level antivirus programs are stored in the memory for detecting computer viruses in the received data serving as a firewall against the detected computer viruses for the terminal. The Internet appliance according to this particular embodiment of the invention further includes a processor (such as a central processor unit or CPU) and an operating system for implementing the protocol-level programs and the antivirus programs, wherein the antivirus programs are advantageously transparent to the terminal.
US08327445B2
Systems and methods for reviewing email messages after delivery to an inbox. An inbox filter maintains a suspect list identifying of the email messages including unwanted content and identifies unread email messages in the inbox of the user. The inbox filter moves each identified unread email message to a suspect folder when the determined source of the identified unread email message is contained in the suspect list of sources.
US08327434B2
Networked resources that are not located behind a proxy authentication server may be enabled to use the proxy authentication server for authentication. This may provide one or more of the features associated with a proxy authentication server (e.g., centralized administration of authentication and/or access information, enhancing software security, centralized administration of permission information, and/or other features) for the resources not located behind the proxy authentication server. These features may be provided without requiring substantial modification of the proxy authentication server.
US08327431B2
A method for processing packets in a computer undergoing transitioning from a first configuration of a firewall to a second configuration of the firewall is disclosed. Packets arriving in the computer are associated with the first configuration of the firewall existing in the computer, and after a second configuration of the firewall becomes available, the computer starts associating packets arriving in the computer with the second configuration of the firewall, and processing packets associated with the second configuration according to the second configuration of the firewall, while continuing processing the packets associated with the first configuration according to the first configuration of the firewall until all packets associated with the first configuration are processed. Packets are processed by a plurality of firewall processing modules asynchronously. First and second reference counts, counting numbers of packets processed according to respective firewall configuration are conveniently introduced. A corresponding system is also provided.
US08327425B2
A method is disclosed for establishing an agency relationship to perform delegated computing tasks. The method provides for initiation of the agency relationship, establishment of credentials to perform a delegated computing task, and performance of the delegated computing task. Benefits of establishing an agency relationship in a computing environment include improved security, efficiency, and reliability in performing delegated computing tasks.
US08327419B1
Some embodiments provide a system and method that secures access to data objects of an enterprise that includes multiple data objects and multiple user applications that access data attributes of the data objects. In some embodiments, access is provided by secure resources that (1) filter a set of the data objects using a user attribute to identify a subset of data attributes of the data objects and (2) performing a query by identifying the secure resources accessible by the user based on the particular user attribute and retrieving data attributes from the secure resources according to the query.
US08327417B2
Techniques for the remote authorization of secure operations are provided. A secure security system restricts access to a secure operation via an access key. An authorization acquisition service obtains the access key on request from the secure security system when an attempt is made to initiate the secure operation. The authorization acquisition service gains access the access key from a secure store via a secret. That is, the secret store is accessible via the secret. The secret is obtained directly or indirectly from a remote authorization principal over a network.
US08327415B2
In one embodiment, the present invention includes a method for setting an extensible policy mechanism to protect a root data structure including a page table, interpreting a bytecode of a pre-boot driver in a byte code interpreter, and controlling access to a memory location based on the extensible policy mechanism. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US08327408B2
A method for troubleshooting a set top box is disclosed and can include receiving a trouble ticket from a set top box and initiating a self test at the set top box. The method can also include receiving test results from the set top box and analyzing the test results to isolate a problem.
US08327406B2
The invention applies to the transmission of a multimedia content from a server to a client terminal. The multimedia content is available from the server as one or more sets of files. Upon reception of an initial request from the client, the server sends a document back to the client, said document causing the client to repetitively send fetching request. Upon reception of a fetching request, the server selects the file to download.
US08327398B2
A data distribution apparatus includes a data file configured to store video data and advertisement data to be provided to a receiving terminal of a Video on Demand service; a video distributing unit configured to distribute video data in accordance with a distribution request from the receiving terminal; a video presentation confirming unit configured to confirm a presentation state of the video data at the receiving terminal; an advertisement distribution determining unit configured to determine distribution of advertisement data to the receiving terminal when it is confirmed that the video data to be distributed by the video distributing unit is being called; and an advertisement distributing unit configured to distribute the advertisement data.
US08327395B2
Embodiments are described that enable remote and interactive access, navigation, and analysis of reactions from viewers to a media instance. The reactions include physiological responses, survey results, verbatim feedback, event-based metadata, and derived statistics for indicators of success and failure from the viewers. The reactions are aggregated, and an interface enables remote access and navigation of the media instance, aggregated physiological responses synchronized with the media instance, survey results, and/or verbatim feedback related to the media instance. This enables users to interactively divide, dissect, parse, and analyze the reactions as they prefer. This automation provides an automated process enabling non-experts to understand complex physiological data, and to organize presentation of complex data according to their needs so as to present conclusions as appropriate to the media instance.
US08327385B2
Unobserved user interface events may be detected based on upon previously recorded data streams of events. The prior data streams are obtained by recording events from users who have browsers that support both event capturing and bubbling. When users with browsers that support only event bubbling interact with the page, the data stream is augmented by inferring unobserved events based on similarity to other event stream records.
US08327384B2
This disclosure relates to systems, methods and apparatuses for managing the retention and disposition of data for an event consumer using an Enterprise Retention Management System wherein the management is driven by business events.
US08327355B2
Virtual machine guest migration overcommit is supported by providing a virtual machine with an unschedulable resource that is not available for system scheduling. The unschedulable resource may, but need not, be provided in the form of a memory buffer, or one or more network resources, or one or more resources that are accessible from a network. The unschedulable resource is utilized in one or more domains to temporarily conceal one or more user environments that do not fit into a set of currently available resources, such that the one or more temporarily concealed user environments are not terminated or paged out.
US08327353B2
Hierarchical virtualization is disclosed, where such virtualization can be accomplished with a multi-level mechanism. The hierarchical virtualization includes using a hypervisor that maintains a first partition and using a virtualization stack within the first partition to create and control a second partition. Multiple virtualization stacks can subsist within the first partition, and each such virtualization stack can create and control multiple partitions. In one particular implementation, a child partition can have exclusive control over a portion or all of its resources with respect to a parent partition. The hypervisor as the ultimate arbiter in such a virtualized environment enforces such a setup and is able to communicate directly within any partition within the virtualized hierarchy.
US08327350B2
A computer implemented method, data processing system, and computer usable program code are provided for creating a set of virtual machine image for software. A virtual software resource template is retrieved. Metadata associated with the virtual software resource template is copied and the copy of the metadata is modified to generate personalized metadata for each virtual machine image in the set of virtual machine images. Then, the set of virtual machine images is deployed using the personalized metadata.
US08327348B2
A method for generating a Set Top Box (STB) code download step sequence includes the steps of retrieving a code object from a Software Download Generator (SDG) memory in response to an instruction signal, generating at least one of a control message and a decoder conditional command using a SDG processor in response to the code object, accessing information in a channel map in the SDG memory, combining the at least one of a control message and a decoder conditional command with the code object to generate the STB code download step sequence for a target STB, transmitting the at least one STB code download step sequence from the SDG memory to a Digital Addressable Controller (DAC), re-transmitting the STB code download step sequence from the DAC to a Remote Addressable DANIS/DLS (RADD), and re-transmitting the STB code download step sequence from the RADD to the target STB.
US08327342B2
A computing system for reducing logging code includes a virtual machine configured to control the flow of operations in the computing system and a compiler configured to receive bytecode instructions from the virtual machine and convert the bytecode instructions into machine instructions. The computing system also includes a compilation store configured to receive and store the machine instructions from the compiler and a recompilation store configured to receive and store recompiled machine instructions from the compiler. The system also includes a software transactional memory engine configured to receive instructions from the compilation store or, in the event that the recompilation store has recompiled machine instructions stored therein, from the recompilation store.
US08327341B2
A method and apparatus for integrating aspect-oriented programming (AOP) into the deployment layer of an application server. In one embodiment, the method includes analyzing a structure of a deployment within an application server, and translating the deployment from a first form to a second form using results of the analyzing. The method further includes indicating in the deployment that a cross-cutting concern is to be resolved by aspects at runtime.
US08327334B2
A method for replay of program executions using cross-entropy is provided. The method comprises identifying a first sequence of decision points, wherein the first sequence represents a first execution of a logic code; identifying a second sequence of decision points, wherein the second sequence represents a second execution of the logic code; computing a distance between the first and second executions; and minimizing the distance between the first and second executions using cross-entropy, in response to determining that the second execution is not within a predetermined threshold distance of the first execution.
US08327331B2
A method for verifying an input/output (I/O) hardware configuration is provided. A verification command is processed. The verification command includes a software device address range associated with a logical control unit (LCU) of the I/O hardware. The LCU utilizes a first logical path. The software device address range utilizing the first logical path is compared with an existing software device address range utilizing at least one additional logical path. The verification command is accepted if the software device address range and the existing software device address range match.
US08327323B2
A method of automatically defining a new class in a class hierarchy includes creating a descendent class that descends from one or more specified ancestor classes; sequentially analyzing each class along each inheritance path from the specified ancestor classes to a specified similar class to identify each class item in each class that is not selected from the specified ancestor classes; storing a respective pointer for each class item identified in each class that is not inherited by the class referencing the class item and associated with the class; storing a respective pointer for each class item identified in each class that is inherited and redefined by the class referencing the class item and being associated with the class if a pointer referencing the class item is not already stored; and copying each class item referenced by a stored pointer to the descendent class.
US08327322B2
The present invention provides a system and method for allowing integration of loosely coupled components for applications requiring templates and, more specifically, for utilizing the property broker and component technology to solve the missing sandbox model for Lotus Notes out of the box templates on the rich client. It utilizes the property broker and component technology so that components can communicate with one another as standard “out of the box” templates (such as Notes mail8.ntf and pernames.ntf) are allowed to publish properties automatically, e.g., when the selections in views/folders change. Customers are then allowed to define their own applications via an editor using pre-existing or “out of the box” components or custom components of disparate technologies. Component views from the out of the box templates can easily be reused by graphically dragging them from a component palette and dropping them onto the page. The composite application is stored in a separate database (in Lotus Notes, the database extension is “.nsf”) and so there are no template changes to the contacts database necessary.
US08327310B1
A software tool and method for analyzing the reliability or failure rate of an integrated circuit (IC) are disclosed. The IC may include a plurality of circuit designs, and the software tool and method may aid a designer of the IC in determining a reliability rating of the IC based on reliability ratings of transistors or other circuit devices used in the circuit designs. In particular, the IC may include one or more circuit designs that have multiple instances within the IC (i.e., the same circuit design is instantiated multiple times), and the software tool and method may take into account the multiple instances when determining the reliability rating of the IC.
US08327306B2
The present invention relates to a method for optimizing power/ground pads in a power/ground distribution network. A power/ground distribution network is created for each of multiple voltage domains and a load current source of each node of the power/ground distribution network is modeled in consideration of the actual shapes and areas of functional blocks. A local optimization method is developed to solve problems generated when a conventional optimization method is applied to optimization of power/ground pads in a bump shape used for a flip chip, and a combination of global optimization and local optimization is applied to layouts using bump bonding, which is discriminated from the conventional optimization method restrictively applicable to layouts using wire bonding.
US08327304B2
A circuit design is partitioned for hardware-accelerated functional verification using a directed hypergraph with edge weights that are a function of slack. Slack may be computed as the difference between the early and late ranks for the source of an edge. The weight may further be computed as the difference between the edge's slack and a maximum slack value. In a preferred implementation each vertex also has multiple weights associated with resource requirements of different node types, and the partitioning is constrained to prevent vertex movement that would result in vertex weights for a given partition exceeding a partition resource capacity based on the accelerator architecture. Edge and vertex weights can be recomputed for the next level of partitioning. The partitioning process can be repeatedly iteratively until a termination criterion is met, the termination criterion being based in part on the number of directed cuts in each of the partitions.
US08327301B2
In a method of designing a double patterning mask set, a chip is first divided into a grid that includes grid cells. A metal layer of the chip is laid out. In substantially each of the grid cells, all left-boundary patterns of the metal layer are assigned with a first indicator, and all right-boundary patterns of the metal layer are assigned with a second indicator. Starting from one of the grid cells in a row, indicator changes are propagated throughout the row. All patterns in the grid cells are transferred to the double patterning mask set. All patterns assigned with the first indicator are transferred to a first mask of the double patterning mask set, and all patterns assigned with the second indicator transferred to a second mask of the double patterning mask set.
US08327298B2
Evaluating error sources associated with a mask involves: (i) receiving data representative of multiple images of the mask that were obtained at different exposure conditions; (ii) calculating, for multiple sub-frames of each image of the mask, values of a function of intensities of pixels of each sub-frame to provide multiple calculated values; and (iii) detecting error sources in response to calculated values and in response to sensitivities of the function to each error source.
US08327297B2
One or more handheld devices may be configured to receive and display content. A server may be configured to help the handheld devices display content. For example, by using at least some of the contents of one or more of feeds, the server may generate user interface data, which the handheld devices may use to display user interfaces that are configured to request content associated with the feeds.
US08327289B2
A user interface for a device comprises a plurality of layers. The content for the user interface is associated with one of the plurality of layers.
US08327275B2
A method and apparatus is provided that allows a user to automatically add content, such as an event, to a container, such as, a calendar without directly accessing the container. Second and third preferred embodiments are also provided.
US08327269B2
A method, system, and computer-readable product for positioning a virtual sound capturing device in a graphical user interface (GUI) are disclosed. The method includes displaying a virtual sound capturing device in relation to a virtual sound producing device in a three dimensional interface and in a two dimensional graphical map. Additionally, the method includes adjusting the display of the virtual sound capturing device in relation to the virtual sound producing device in both the three dimensional interface and the two dimensional graphical map in response to commands received from an input device.
US08327266B2
Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for a peer device on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network are disclosed. A client application executing on the peer device provides and enables the GUIs. One of the GUIs may display a media item playlist. The user manages the media items displayed on the media item playlist by utilizing sorting criteria. The media item playlist displays a list of the users subscribing to the P2P network, the title of and information concerning media items recommended by the users and media items stored locally on the peer device, and a score for each media item on the media item playlist. The score may be determined by applying to the media items preferences defined by information provided by the user of the peer device, a profile developed from the defined preferences, and other information provided by the user. The user of the peer device provides the information to the peer device using other GUIs provided and enabled by the client application.
US08327263B2
A method and system for retrieving and maintaining presentation data in a presentation cache is provided. In a preferred embodiment, a presentation cache object provides a presentation cache with multiple cache entries. Each entry contains an indication of the format of the presentation data and the presentation data stored in that particular format. In addition, other information, such as the advisees of advisory connections for notification of cache updates, can be maintained. The presentation cache object responds to requests for retrieving source object data by returning presentation data cached within the presentation cache when it is available. In addition, the presentation cache object determines when it should delegate requests to the source object and when it can satisfy them on its own. The presentation cache object can return presentation data to a requesting client program even if the server program implementing the source object is unavailable or not running. The presentation cache object can also choose to persistently store its cache entries so that the presentation cache is maintained when the source object is closed. In addition, client programs can provide control over the frequency and subject of presentation data updates within the presentation cache.
US08327257B2
Optimal presentation and editing of business data in a browser-based user interface of an integrated web-based business information system is described, including a browser at a user computer in dynamic communication with a web server allowing database editing and updating without browser page refreshes. For optimizing the data input/editing experience of the user, an array of features in various combinations is provided including: single-click instantiation of cell editing in a table displayed by the browser; single off-click or keyboard commits instantiating cell-wise data transfers; bulk editing allowing group modification of data elements across a plurality of adjacently-displayed or non-adjacently displayed records; client-side, location-based caching of old cell values allowing selective go-back for any edited or bulk-edited cell, in any order desired by the user, prior to a page-refreshing input event; and easy establishment/modification of sub-records associated with any of a displayed list of records using sub-record access icons, rollover menus, and auxiliary browser windows.
US08327245B2
Apparatus and methods store data in a non-volatile solid state memory device according to a rate-compatible code, such as a rate-compatible convolutional code (RPCC). An example of such a memory device is a flash memory device. Data can initially be block encoded for error correction and detection. The block-coded data can be further convolutionally encoded. Convolutional-coded data can be punctured and stored in the memory device. The puncturing decreases the amount of memory used to store the data. Depending on conditions, the amount of puncturing can vary from no puncturing to a relatively high amount of puncturing to vary the amount of additional error correction provided and memory used. The punctured data can be decoded when data is to be read from the memory device.
US08327240B2
Handling burst error events with interleaved Reed-Solomon (RS) codes. A received signal, that has undergone convolutional interleaving sometime before, is received from a burst noise affected communication channel. The signal undergoes convolutional deinterleaving and the codewords generated there from undergo appropriate successive cyclic shifting to arrange burst noise affected symbols of various codewords into at least some common symbol locations. For example, at least two codewords have burst noise affected symbols in common symbol locations. An ensemble decoder jointly decodes multiple codewords during a same time period (i.e., processes multiple codewords simultaneously). By processing multiple codewords simultaneously, the ensemble decoder has greater error correction capability than a decoder that processes a single codeword at a time.
US08327232B2
Various techniques are disclosed for improved reliability of wireless communications using packet combination-based error correction. For example, a method includes receiving a first message transmitted wirelessly, where the first message contains a first copy of a data packet and has at least one error. The method also includes receiving a second message transmitted wirelessly, where the second message contains a second copy of the data packet and has at least one error. The method further includes identifying a set of bit positions based on where the first and second copies of the data packet differ and modifying the set of bit positions to produce a modified set of bit positions. In addition, the method includes modifying one or more bit values in the modified set of bit positions to produce at least one modified copy of the data packet and determining if the at least one modified copy of the data packet is error-free.
US08327231B2
A system and method for achieving higher data rates in physical layer devices. Costs imposed by large data rate increases represented by generational increases in Ethernet standards activities are avoided through physical layer device modifications that enable marginal increases in data bandwidth. Building-block reuse can be promoted through the selective use of clocking rate increase, increase in coding efficiency, and bit reuse.
US08327229B2
A data memory system is provided which includes a nonvolatile memory cell array, an error correction code generation circuit, an error correction code decoding circuit, and a first circuit. The nonvolatile memory cell array includes a plurality of memory cells which store digital data each having at least a value of “1” or “0” as a charge of a charge accumulation layer included in each memory cell, and use a difference between charges of the accumulation layer as a writing bit or an erasing bit. The nonvolatile memory cell array erases memory cells in units of pages, each page being formed of adjacent memory cells included in the plurality of memory cells.
US08327226B2
An apparatus includes a memory that is allocated to reported portions and overprovisioned portions. The apparatus includes an error correction circuit that communicates with the memory in error correction coded data that has a controllable ECC length. The ECC length is a function of a history of error reports. A memory allocation engine balances a size of the overprovisioned portions to maintain a size of the reported portions. The balancing is performed as a function of an average of ECC lengths in the ECC length table over a time interval in which a size of the memory decreases with accumulated erase cycles of the memory.
US08327213B2
A data receiving method for an electronic system including a host apparatus and a target apparatus, wherein the host apparatus transmits at least one request to the target apparatus for requesting at least one desired data, and the target apparatus transmits the desired data to the host apparatus according to the request. The data receiving method includes: (a) generating a statistic value according to a number of the requests; (b) varying the statistic value according to a number of the desired data; and (c) determining if data received by the host apparatus is the desired data corresponding to the request according to the static value, and storing the data received by the host apparatus to the host apparatus when the data received by the host apparatus is determined to be the desired data corresponding to the request.
US08327208B2
There is provided a time-division duplex transmit-receive apparatus in which the respective amplitude and phase characteristics of N sets of transmitting unit-receiving unit pair connected with N antenna elements are corrected all together and at the same time. At the time of reception, the reference signal from reference signal generator is branched into N reference signals. The branched reference signal is applied to the reception system through the transmit-receive switching switch. The reception-side error detector detects the error between the output signal of the reception-side amplitude-phase correction circuit and the reference signal to control the reception-side amplitude-phase correction circuit so that the error becomes zero. At the time of transmission, a part of transmitting signal is applied to the reception system through the antenna path. The transmission-side error detector detects the error between the output signal of the reception-side amplitude-phase correction circuit and the transmitting signal to control the transmission-side error detector so that the error becomes zero.
US08327205B2
A method is provided for testing an integrated circuit comprising multiple cores, with at least two cores having different associated first and second clock signals of different frequencies. A test signal is provided using a clocked scan chain clocked at a test frequency (TCK). A transition is provided in a clock circuit reset signal (clockdiv_rst) which triggers the operation of a clock divider circuit (44) which derives the first and second clock signals (clk_xx, clk_yy, clk_zz) from an internal clock (40) of the integrated circuit. The first and second clock signals thus start at substantially the same time, and these are used during a test mode to perform a test of the integrated circuit. After test, the test result is output using the clocked scan chain clocked at the test frequency (TCK). Clocking hardware is also provided, and these provide at-speed testing which enables on the fly switching between a relatively slow tester driven clock for the shift modes and faster clocks generated by on-chip PLLs and divider circuits for the test mode.
US08327200B1
An integrated circuit (“IC”) in which a debug signal is fed back within a core block is disclosed. The core block generates the debug signal. The core block includes a hardened routing that routes the debug signal within the core block. The IC also includes a programmable routing, coupled to the core block, to route the debug signal external to the core block. The hardened routing transmits the debug signal at a faster rate than the programmable routing. Further, the IC includes a selection device, coupled to the hardened routing and the programmable routing, to select one of: the hardened routed signal or the externally routed signal. In addition, the IC includes an external debug circuit, coupled to the programmable routing, to condition the externally routed signal.
US08327198B2
In one embodiment, the present invention includes a semiconductor die such as a system on a chip (SoC) that includes a logic analyzer with a built-in trace buffer to store information communicated between on-die agents at speed and to provide the information to an off-die agent at a slower speed. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US08327196B2
Identifying an optimized test bit pattern for analyzing electrical communications channel topologies
Identifying an optimized test bit pattern for analyzing electrical communications channel topologies, including: ranking according to channel quality, from worst to best, a set of channel topologies for an electrical communications channel; and for each ranked channel topology beginning with the worst, carrying out the following steps in an iterative loop until a concatenated test bit pattern and a previously optimized test bit pattern are functionally equally fit: concatenating to a previously optimized test bit pattern an additional test bit pattern; optimizing the concatenated test bit pattern values for a next ranked channel in the subset, leaving the optimized values of the previously optimized test bit pattern unchanged; and comparing through use of a fitness function the relative qualities of the previously optimized test bit pattern and the optimized concatenated test bit pattern.
US08327191B2
A solution is proposed for populating a symptom collection—such as a symptom database—for a software application. The symptom collection includes an indication of a set of symptoms; each symptom consists of an undesired behavior of the software application, which symptom is due to each one of a set of corresponding problems of the software application (resulting from a misuse thereof). The symptom database also includes an indication of an explanation of each problem. A corresponding method involves performing a test of the software application for verifying a correctness of the software application. The symptom collection is then populated according to a result of the test.
US08327186B2
A cluster comprises a plurality of nodes that access a shared storage, each node having two or more partner nodes. A primary node may own a plurality of aggregate sub-sets in the shared storage. Upon failure of the primary node, each partner node may take over ownership of an aggregate sub-set according to an aggregate failover data structure (AFDS). The AFDS may specify, an ordered data structure of two or more partner nodes to take over each aggregate sub-set, the ordered data structure comprising at least a first-ordered partner node assigned to take over the aggregate sub-set upon failure of the primary node and a second-ordered partner node assigned to take over the aggregate sub-set upon failure of the primary node and the first-ordered partner node. The additional workload of the failed primary node is distributed among two or more partner nodes and protection for multiple node failures is provided.
US08327174B2
Methods, systems, apparatuses and program products are disclosed for managing multiple OSes within a single computer and the like.Provision is made for swapping OSes with BIOS assistance and conforming with ACPI features for System State management especially as related to ACPI system sleep State S3.
US08327169B2
Power management in a virtual machine environment that includes at least one virtual machine platform providing a plurality of virtual machines, and a plurality of separate (user) computers, each connected to a respective one of the virtual machines in a typical virtual machine distribution environment. There is also provided a function, independent of the connections of the user computers to the virtual machines, for determining if each of said computers connected to the virtual machines is in an active state together with a function for switching the virtual machine platform into a reduced power consumption state in the platform when all of the computers connected to virtual machines are in a non-active state.
US08327166B2
Methods and systems are provided for managing power allocation to a SAS target coupled with a SAS initiator through a SAS expander. The expander exchanges messages with the target to manage the power allocation to the target. The target transmits a power request message through the expander to the initiator. In some embodiments, the initiator transmits a power request received message to the expander. The expander may then transmit a power grant message to the target in response to receiving the power request received message. In other embodiments, the expander monitors the messages transmitted from the target to the initiator. The expander may then transmit a power grant message to the target in response to the expander monitoring the power request message.
US08327165B2
A power supply input circuit includes an input node configured to removeably couple to an electrical source. A solid state switch is coupled between the input node and a capacitive load. An RC soft start circuit is coupled to the input node and the switch. The soft start circuit has a capacitor that causes the switch to increasingly pass electrical power from the source to the load as the capacitor charges from the source. An active reset circuit is coupled to the soft start circuit. The reset circuit is configured to detect when the source is removed from the input node and in response to the source being removed from the input node, the reset circuit discharges the capacitor to reset the soft start circuit.
US08327152B2
This invention describes a system and methods for media content subscription service distribution; typical services include cable television, premium content channels, pay-per-view, XM radio, and online mp3 services. Subscribers use portable electronic devices to store digital certificates certifying the subscriber's privileges and an assigned public key. The devices can communicate with specially enabled televisions, radios, computers, or other media presentation apparatuses. These, in turn, can communicate with central databases owned by the provider, for verification purposes. Methods of the invention describe media content subscription service privilege issuing and use. The invention additionally describes methods for protecting media content transmitted to users with a variety of encryption schemes. The invention also comprises methods for subscribed users to bestow a subset of their privileges to a number of secondary users, with appropriate permission from the media content subscription service provider.
US08327147B2
The present invention relates electronic receipts. There is provided a method for generating an electronic receipt in a communication system providing a public key infrastructure, the method comprising the steps of receiving by a second party a request message from a first party, the request message comprising a transaction request and a first public key based on a secret owned by the first party and wherein the secret is associated with at least the secret of a further public key of the first party, electronically signing at least part of the request message with a second public key assigned to the second party to issue the electronic receipt, and providing the electronic receipt to the first party. Further, there is provided a method for verifying the ownership of an electronic receipt in a communication system providing a public key infrastructure, the verification arising out of a series of messages being sent and received between a first party and a verifying party, the method comprising the steps of receiving a proof message from the first party, the proof message being derived from at least a first public key based on a secret owned by the first party and wherein the secret is associated with at least the secret of a further public key of the first party and an electronic receipt that has been issued by electronically signing a request message with a second public key, determining whether or not the proof message was derived from the second public key.
US08327144B2
The present invention provides an authentication method for inter-domain information communication applied to first and second domains. The method instructs a first electronic device belonging to the first domain to request, through an intermediary node device simultaneously registered in the first and second domains, to obtain a first key from a second key distribution center in the second domain for transmission to a second electronic device in the second domain, and instructs the second electronic device to request, through the intermediary node device, to obtain a second key from a first key distribution center in the first domain for transmission to the first electronic device. Therefore, the first and second electronic devices are instructed to generate a shared third key using the first and second keys to perform secure information communication authentication.
US08327143B2
According to an example embodiment, an apparatus may include a client device including a processor and memory. The client device may be configured to obtain, via a secure communication, a certificate identifying a publically accessible wireless access point (AP) and a public key for the AP, the AP being publically accessible. The client (or client device) may be configured to generate a challenge, send the challenge to the AP, wherein the AP has a private key securely stored in a hardware security module of the AP. The private key may correspond to the public key for the AP. The client may be configured to receive a response from the AP, the response being generated by the AP based on the challenge and the private key for the AP, and authenticate the AP based on the response.
US08327141B2
A token-based centralized authentication method for providing access to a service provider to user information associated with a user's relationship with the service provider includes the steps of: authenticating a user presenting a user token at a user terminal, the user token having stored thereon a user ID; deriving a resource identifier using at least two data input elements, the at least two data input elements including the user ID of the user and a service provider ID of the service provider, wherein the user information is stored in a storage network and the resource identifier is associated with the user information; retrieving the user information from the storage network using the resource identifier; and providing the retrieved user information to the service provider.
US08327140B2
The present invention is directed to perform high-reliable authentication using a one-way function that a communication is a communication which was performed with the same apparatus to be authenticated by storing a password only in an apparatus to be authenticated (it is unnecessary to store a password in both of an authentication apparatus and an apparatus to be authenticated) without transmitting a challenge code. When a setting is updated in a setting management server, authentication is performed by using a one-time password obtained last time. A sound communication terminal performs a process using a hash function once on a one-time password transmitted this time, and performs authentication by determining whether the processed one-time password matches a one-time password obtained last time or not. Whether the information at the time of the change in the setting is proper or not is determined by a sound terminal.
US08327134B2
A system, method and program product for checking the revocation status of a biometric reference template. The method includes creating a revocation object for a reference template generated for an individual, where the revocation object contains first plaintext data providing a location for checking revocation status of the reference template and containing ciphertext data identifying the unique reference template identifier and a hash of the reference template. The method further includes providing the revocation object to a relying party requesting revocation status and sending a request to an issuer of the reference template for checking the revocation status of the reference template, without revealing identity of the individual. The method further includes returning results of the revocation status check to the relying party. In an embodiment, a random value is added to the ciphertext data for preserving privacy of the reference template holder.
US08327131B1
A target machine can be verified prior to being granted access to a resource on a network by interrogating and analyzing digests of various elements of the target machine. The digests can be collected into an integrity report and provided to a Trust Scoring Service. The Trust Scoring Service receives the integrity report and compares the digests with signatures stored in a signature database. A trust score certificate can then be issued to the target machine. The Trust Scoring Service can include a Score Evaluation Server which can interact with a Kerberos Authentication Server and a Ticket Granting Server to embed a trust score within a Kerberos Ticket to enforce a richer set of access policies. The integrity of a web server can be verified and a Trust Score Certificate Logo can be displayed on a corresponding home page of a merchant. By clicking on the Trust Score Certificate Logo, a user can verify the integrity of the merchant's web servers prior to completing a transaction with the merchant.
US08327129B2
The present invention discloses a method, an apparatus, and a system for IKE negotiation. One method comprises: upon receiving a data packet, selecting one of multiple service cards according to a pre-configured policy and triggering the service card to send an IKE negotiation packet; and saving the mapping between the IKE negotiation packet and the service card. The other method comprises: upon receiving an IKE negotiation packet, selecting one of multiple service cards according to a pre-configured policy, triggering the service card to perform IKE negotiation, and saving the mapping between of the IKE negotiation packet and the service card. The solution enables a network node a node to distribute IKE negotiations to different service cards to perform IKE negotiation at the same time, improving IKE negotiation speed.
US08327128B1
A proxy server in a cloud-based proxy service receives a secure session request from a client device as a result of a Domain Name System (DNS) request for a domain resolving to the proxy server. The proxy server participates in a secure session negotiation with the client device including transmitting a digital certificate to the client device that is bound to domain and multiple other domains. The proxy server receives an encrypted request from the client device for an action to be performed on a resource that is hosted at an origin server corresponding to the domain. The proxy server decrypts the request and participates in a secure session negotiation with the origin server including receiving a digital certificate from the origin server. The proxy server encrypts the decrypted request using the digital certificate from the origin server and transmits the encrypted request to the origin server.
US08327124B2
A cellular handset, including a cellular base band modem, including a UART interface, and an SD host interface, a NAND flash memory, a NAND controller coupled with the NAND flash memory, a host device including a host controller, wherein the electronic host device supports an SD connection, and a convergence controller coupled with the cellular base band modem, the host device and the NAND controller, including a UART port for transferring data to and from the cellular base band modem via the UART interface, an SD port for transferring data to and from the cellular base band modem via the SD host interface, an SD port for transferring data to and from the NAND flash memory via the NAND controller, an SD port for transferring data to and from the host device via the host controller, a first mailbox into which the base band modem writes messages and from which the host device reads messages, and a second mailbox into which the host device writes messages and from which the cellular base band modem reads messages. A method is also described and claimed.
US08327121B2
A microprocessor includes an N-way cache and a logic block that selectively enables and disables the N-way cache for at least one clock cycle if a first register load instructions and a second register load instruction, following the first register load instruction, are detected as pointing to the same index line in which the requested data is stored. The logic block further provides a disabling signal to the N-way cache for at least one clock cycle if the first and second instructions are detected as pointing to the same cache way.
US08327115B2
A matrix of execution blocks form a set of rows and columns. The rows support parallel execution of instructions and the columns support execution of dependent instructions. The matrix of execution blocks process a single block of instructions specifying parallel and dependent instructions.
US08327111B2
A method, system and computer program product for batched remapping of virtual memory addresses for garbage collection in a large object area. A mapping from a table having a first set of virtual memory addresses and sizes of non-contiguous, page-aligned large objects in a large object area to a remapping table having a second set of virtual memory addresses is determined. In a single batch, a request is received that includes the second set of virtual addresses and requests a remapping of the large objects to the second set of virtual memory addresses. The second set of virtual memory addresses is validated, and the large objects are remapped to the second set of virtual memory addresses according to the request. The remapping results in a compaction so that the large objects are contiguous in the large object area. The remapping does not require copying data in physical memory.
US08327094B2
The present invention transfers replication logical volumes between and among storage control units in a storage system comprising a plurality of storage control units. To transfer replication logical volumes from a storage control unit to a storage control unit, a virtualization device sets a path to the storage control unit. The storage control unit then prepares a differential bitmap in order to receive access requests. When the preparation is completed, the virtualization device makes access requests to the storage control unit. The storage control unit then hands over the access requests to the storage control unit. Subsequently, the storage control unit performs a process so that the access requests are reflected in a disk device and performs an emergency destage of storing data in a cache memory into disk device. When the emergency destage is ended, the storage control unit connects to an external storage control unit and hands over access requests to the external storage control unit.
US08327087B1
Methods and systems are provided that may include a controller comprising an access element and a command interface. Access element may provide access to a physical nonvolatile memory device. Physical nonvolatile memory device may have a default setting permitting a direct read operation of the physical nonvolatile memory device while prohibiting a direct write operation of the physical nonvolatile memory device. A command interface may modify access to the physical nonvolatile memory device by issuing a command through at least one write overlay window of a memory partition to change the default setting to write to the physical nonvolatile memory. The at least one write overlay window may be logically separate from at least one read overlay window of the memory partition.
US08327082B2
A snoop look-up operation is performed in a system having a cache and a first processor. The processor generates requests to the cache for data. A snoop queue is loaded with snoop requests. Fullness of the snoop queue is a measure of how many snoop requests are in the snoop queue. A snoop look-up operation is performed in the cache if the fullness of the snoop queue exceeds the threshold. The snoop look-up operation is based on a snoop request from the snoop queue corresponding to an entry in the snoop queue. If the fullness of the snoop queue does not exceed the threshold, waiting to perform a snoop look-up operation until an idle access request cycle from the processor to the cache occurs and performing the snoop look-up operation in the cache upon the idle access request cycle from the processor.
US08327079B2
A cache memory control device includes: a determination unit for determining whether or not a command provided from, for example, each core is to access cache memory during the execution of the command; and a path switch unit for putting a command determined as accessing the cache memory in pipeline processing, and outputting a command determined as not accessing the cache memory directly to an external unit without putting the command in the pipeline processing.
US08327077B2
A prefetch system improves a performance of a parallel computing system. The parallel computing system includes a plurality of computing nodes. A computing node includes at least one processor and at least one memory device. The prefetch system includes at least one stream prefetch engine and at least one list prefetch engine. The prefetch system operates those engines simultaneously. After the at least one processor issues a command, the prefetch system passes the command to a stream prefetch engine and a list prefetch engine. The prefetch system operates the stream prefetch engine and the list prefetch engine to prefetch data to be needed in subsequent clock cycles in the processor in response to the passed command.
US08327075B2
In a first aspect, a first method is provided. The first method includes the steps of (1) providing a cache having a plurality of cache entries, each entry adapted to store data, wherein the cache is adapted to be accessed by hardware and software in a first operational mode; (2) determining an absence of desired data in one of the plurality of cache entries; (3) determining a status based on a current operational mode and a value of hint-lock bits associated with the plurality of cache entries; and (4) determining availability of at least one of the cache entries based on the status, wherein availability of a cache entry indicates that data stored in the cache entry can be replaced. Numerous other aspects are provided.
US08327063B2
A memory system with a semiconductor memory device, in which a physical block of n-bits serves as an erase unit, wherein the address management of the memory device is performed by a logical block with m-bits, “m” being larger than “n” and expressed by a power of two, and wherein a n-bit portion continued from the head address in the logical block is defined as a first management unit corresponding to one physical block of the memory device, and a number of the remaining fraction portions each defined as a second management unit are gathered so as to correspond to one physical block of the memory device.
US08327061B2
A digital data storage device physically stores blocks of identical data only once on its storage medium wherein a second or even further identical blocks are stored only as reference referring to the first block of these identical blocks. By this technique, storage of duplicate data is most effectively avoided on the lowest storage level of the disk storage device, even in cases where identical blocks are written by different operating Systems. In the preferred embodiment, the underlying storage medium (magnetic hard disk, optical disk, tape, or M-RAM) is segmented into two areas, the first area particularly comprising a relatively small block reference table and the remaining physical storage area for storing real blocks of information.
US08327041B2
A storage device is connected to a tape library having a plurality of tapes holding data and a host device. The storage device includes a receiving section, a first determining section and a reading section. The receiving section receives a request for data held in one of the tapes from the host device. The first determining section determines whether the data requested by the host device is stored in a storage section on the basis of the request received by the receiving section. The reading section reads the data in a predetermined amount to a memory from the tape in a case where the first determining section determines that the data is not stored in the storage section. The transferring section transfers the data in the memory to the host device and writes it on the storage section.
US08327039B2
A method and system for facilitating communication between a host system and one or more hardware-based functional verification systems. The one or more hardware-based functional verification systems verify the functionality of electronic circuit designs. A controller switch comprises a host interface connecting to a host system, and a plurality of device ports. Each device port connects to a hardware emulator. The controller switch further comprises a plurality of direct memory access (DMA) engines and a plurality of execution units. An execution unit comprises an instruction cache and memory storing at least one DMA instruction and at least one address for performing a software instruction and a plurality of execution unit registers.
US08327037B2
An image input and output system is provided in which a common operation screen for a plurality of image output devices having different attributes is displayed. Based on attribute information of each of printers, the server generates a signal for generating an operation screen, and transmits the signal to the scanner. At the scanner, image data is inputted, and a common operation screen, which is generated based on the signal for generating the operation screen, is displayed on a display panel. When information designating the printer and information relating to an output format of an image is inputted from the display panel, the inputted information and the image data are transmitted to the server. The server transmits, to a designated printer, the image data and the information relating to the output format of the image, which are transmitted from the scanner, and images are outputted.
US08327035B2
The invention relates to a method for carrying out an application with the help of a portable data carrier (1). With the method according to the invention via a first data channel (5) of the portable data carrier (1) a data connection with a first external device (2) is formed. Involving the first external device (2), a first part of the application is executed. Via a second data channel (6) of the portable data carrier (1) a data connection with the first or a second external device (3) is formed. From the portable data carrier (1) via the second interface (6) there are transferred identification data, which were provided on the execution of the first part of the application, to the external device (3). A second part of the application is not executed until after a release by a user.
US08327034B2
A slave device (20) communicates with a host system (21) via a host communications bus (22). The host system (21) includes one (or more) processing units that can act as bus masters and send access requests for slave resources on the slave device (20) via the communications bus (22). The slave device platform (20) includes a memory management unit (23), a programmable central processing unit (24) and one or more slave resources (25). The memory management unit (23) acts as an address translating device, and accepts requests with virtual addresses from the master device or devices on the host system (21), translates the virtual addresses used in the access requests to the “internal” physical addresses of the slave's resources and forwards the accesses of the appropriate physical resources (25). When an address miss occurs in the memory management unit (23), it passes the handling of the access request over to the controlling CPU (24) which executes software to then resolve the address miss and handle the access request. The memory management unit (23) also includes a write buffer (29) into which it can write the write value received from a master on the host system (21) on an access when an address miss occurs, and a read buffer (28) for storing values relating to read requests that have generated an address miss.
US08327032B2
In order to efficiently utilize processor resources, a storage system according to this invention includes: a protocol processor; a processor; a local router; a first memory; and a disk drive. In the storage system, the protocol processor transmits, upon transmitting a frame to the host computer, information on a transmission state of the frame to the local router, and the local router determines, upon the protocol processor receiving a frame, which of the processors processes the received frame, based on which a subject the received frame requests for an access to, transfers the received frame to the determined processor, determines, upon the protocol processor transmitting a frame, which of the processors processes information on a transmission state of the frame, based on an exchange of the transmitted frame, and transfers the information on the transmission state of the frame to the determined processor.
US08327031B2
Network devices and methods are provided involving a support chip in association with network chips. One embodiment includes a network device having a processor, a high speed interconnect, and a number of network chips coupled to one another through the high speed interconnect. The number of network chips include a conduit port which can be selectively chosen to exchange packets, received to the number of network chips, with the processor. The support chip is coupled to the number of network chips in association with selecting a conduit port on one of the number of network chips to exchange packets with the processor.
US08327028B1
A method and apparatus for synchronizing time within a data protection system is described. In one embodiment, the method includes processing input/output activity information associated with at least one client computer, wherein the input/output activity information comprises at least one local client timestamp, determining at least one server timestamp for the at least one local client timestamp and modifying the input/output activity information with the at least one server timestamp.
US08327023B2
A querier election method, a router, and a network system are disclosed. The method includes: a querier starts a sticky-querier-timer; the querier enters the sticky-querier state if the sticky-querier-timer expires; and the querier starts a sticky-query-timer, where the sticky-query-timer is configured to periodically trigger the querier to send a sticky-query message to network devices. With the present invention, the stability of the querier and the network stability can be guaranteed.
US08327019B2
Method and system for routing EPP requests over a network are provided. The EPP request can include XML namespace information and optionally XML sub-product information. A gateway can receive the request and analyze the namespace and in some instances, sub-product information to determine the service to which the request is directed. Thereupon, the gateway can route the request to the appropriate service by consulting a routing table that can have status and connectivity information for all the available services.
US08327014B2
Methods and apparatus for intelligent sharing and tighter integration between a service engine (SE) for network communication and a high-speed forwarding device, such that certain network flows may be offloaded from the SE to benefit from the high-speed forwarding capacity of such a device are provided. To accomplish the integration, an application binary interface (ABI) may be employed as an in-band high-priority communication protocol between the data planes of the SE and the high-speed forwarding device, and an application programming interface (API) may be utilized to leverage the ABI and any in-band or out-of-band channel to allow the master SE to control the high-speed slave device. Such integration techniques are not limited to a few specialized hardware components, but may also be applied to other types of hardware resources, such as flow tables, quality of service (QoS) tables, access control list (ACL) tables for security, forwarding and adjacency tables, etc.
US08327001B2
A method for requesting presence information from a presence source by a presence server is provided. The method includes receiving, from a presence source, media feature tag value corresponding to presence information published by the presence source, respectively; requesting specific presence information from the presence source using a specific media feature tag value from among the media feature tag values; transmitting a publication rule for controlling publication operation of the presence source; and receiving, from the presence source, the specific presence information published by the presence source, according to the publication rule. Each of the media feature tag value represents a type of presence information published by the presence source.
US08326998B2
A system receives, when a multimedia component is operating in a first identity, a first communication request from a first user. The first communication request includes a voice session establishment request or a video session establishment request. The system provides, in response to receiving the first communication request, first multimedia content to the first user based on the first identity and an identifier associated with the first user. The system further receives, when the multimedia component is operating in the first identity, a second communication request from a second, different user. The second communication request includes a voice session establishment request or a video session establishment request. The system provides, in response to receiving the second communication request, second, different multimedia content to the second, different user based on the first identity and an identifier associated with the second, different user.
US08326994B2
A method is proposed for setting up a communications path between a first communications sub-network and a second communications sub-network by means of an intermediate communications sub-network in an extended communications network. More specifically, to set up the communications path, said intermediate sub-network comprises at least two tunnel end-points and an input tunnel end-point of said intermediate sub-network which performs the following steps of: receiving, from a tunnel of said input tunnel end-point, a relay activation message to set up said path, said message referring to a local relay involving said input tunnel end-point; determining, from said relay activation message, an output tunnel end-point of said intermediate sub-network involved in the local relay; activating the local relay for a part of said path between said first sub-network and said second sub-network transmitting the relay activation message to said output tunnel end-point.
US08326992B2
A method for controlling the provision of resource nodes for streaming multimedia content of a channel viewed by consumer nodes in a peer-to-peer network. The method comprises initializing the channel with at least an initial number of resource nodes allocated to provide a desired level of quality of service (QoS) to the consumer nodes, the resource nodes and the consumer nodes are part of the peer-to-peer network; checking periodically a number of consumer nodes currently connected to the channel and an experienced level of QoS of the channel; predicting, based on the number of the consumer nodes currently connected, an increase trend or a decrease trend in the number of consumer nodes, and the experienced level of QoS level, a number of predicted consumer nodes of the channel and a predicted number of resource nodes required to provide the desired level of QoS; and changing the number of resource nodes allocated to the channel to provide the desired level of QoS and to meet the predicted number of consumer nodes.
US08326984B1
A system, apparatus, and method selectively provides content compression to a client based, in part, on whether the network connection from the client is determined to be a high latency, low-bandwidth connection. The present invention gathers one or more network metrics associated with the connection from the client. In one embodiment, the metrics include estimated TCP metrics, including smoothed round trip time, maximum segment size (MSS), and bandwidth delay product (BWDP). These estimated network metrics are employed to make an application layer decision of whether the client connection is a high latency, low-bandwidth connection. If it is, then content may be selectively compressed virtually on the fly for transfer over the network connection. In one embodiment, the selective compression uses a content encoding compression feature of the HTTP protocol standard.
US08326980B2
A top level domain name system (DNS) server receives a DNS query from a local DNS resolver, the DNS query requesting a network address corresponding to a domain name. The top level DNS server reflects the local DNS resolver to a reflector DNS server. The reflector DNS server reflects the local DNS resolver to a collector DNS server, which in turn returns the network address to the local DNS resolver. The reflector DNS server and collector DNS server are both in the same data center, and one or more network performance measurements for communications between the local DNS resolver and the data center are determined based on the communications between the local DNS resolver and both the reflector DNS server and the collector DNS server.
US08326976B2
The invention is directed to configuring an application management reporting service for managing a networked application carried over a WAN service without requiring knowledge of a network operator's infrastructure that is providing the WAN service. This capability aims at providing an abstraction from both the architecture of the operator's network and the technical details of its QoS management.
US08326972B2
A provisioning server can manage network connections in the software provisioning environment. The provisioning server can maintain a network record of network configurations for the networks served by the provisioning server. The network record can include information describing the structure, hardware, software, and configuration of the networks served by the provisioning server. The provisioning server can manage and configure existing networks and instantiate new networks or sub-networks associated with the provisioning server. The network configuration module can retrieve the network configurations maintained in the network record to manage, configure, and instantiate existing or new networks.
US08326962B2
An automation management system is deployed and operates on a plurality of network devices in a network in a distributed manner. The plurality of network devices may comprise a plurality of routers, for example. Automation management services are deployed and operate on the network devices in accordance with a service-oriented architecture model. At least one of the services may comprise a first instance of the service deployed on a first network device and a second instance of the service deployed on a second network device. Methods for deploying and operating an automation management system on a plurality of network devices in a network are also provided.
US08326961B2
Methods and apparatuses for inspecting packets are provided. A primary security system may be configured for processing packets. The primary security system may be operable to maintain flow information for a group of devices to facilitate processing of the packets. A secondary security system may be designated for processing packets upon a failover event. Flow records may be shared from the primary security system with the secondary security system.
US08326957B2
An information processing apparatus communicates with a device connected to a network through a network management application. The information processing apparatus includes a determination unit configured to determine whether an instruction to operate the device is allowed to be issued based on operation priority of the device and status of the device, and a device operation unit configured to issue the instruction to the device in the case where the determination unit determines that the instruction is allowed to be issued.
US08326954B2
A method is disclosed for synchronizing configuration data. The method may include providing a controller network that includes a plurality of control modules and each control module may have registration information stored thereon. The method may include detecting a registration information change associated with a control module and receiving current configuration data from the control module, if the registration information change is detected. The method may also include creating new configuration data for each control module in the controller network based on the received current configuration data, and synchronizing the configuration of each control module with the created new configuration data.
US08326948B2
An abstraction layer (e.g., transport) between consumer logic (e.g., presentation) and provider logic (e.g., business) that makes composition of, for example, many presentation technologies to many business logic data providers possible without imposing strict interface boundaries to each. The abstraction layer can be an abstract transport data model bus that provides serialization, transformation, and transport services. A core concept of the data access library implementation is a transmittable data object based on a flexible property bag data structure and abstract type system. Pluggable data providers declare the associated data model, and pluggable consumer clients declare the data model consumed (a many-to-many implementation). In other words, declarative (codeless) combinations of front ends and back ends are employed. Moreover, the abstraction layer is hidden from the developer.
US08326943B2
Methods and systems that can launch applications into existing isolation environments do so by executing a run module on a computing machine to intercept requests to execute an application. A client communicating with the computing machine generates requests to execute an application on the computing machine. A run module identifies a profile associated with the requested application and queries an application delivery service to identify at least one isolation environment that corresponds to the profile. The run module receives from the application delivery service a response that identifies a first isolation environment associated with the application, and issues a command to a launch module to launch the application into the first isolation environment.
US08326938B1
An apparatus including a first memory, a second memory, and a direct memory access engine. The first memory stores one or more packet descriptors. The second memory stores one or more packets for transmission via a communication link. The direct memory access engine is configured to i) determine when the one or more packet descriptors have been written, by a host, to the first memory, ii) read the one or more packet descriptors from the first memory in response to determining that the one or more packet descriptors have been written to the first memory by the host, iii) determine, using the one or more packet descriptors, one or more respective locations of one or more packets in a host memory, and iv) initiate a direct memory access transfer of the one or more packets from the one or more respective locations in the host memory to the second memory.
US08326936B2
The inventive methodology provides an integrated plug and play solution designed to protect home networks against spam, phishing emails, viruses, spyware as well as other similar threats. The described content filtering appliance can be used for processing of web and email traffic implemented and can be deployed as a stand-alone appliance. In one implementation, the content processing appliance utilizes backend content filtering provided by a remote scanning service accessed via a network. The system employs network level analysis and translation of content and executes various procedures to handle the network traffic. In an embodiment of the invention, the appliance is provided with an automatic remote updating capability, wherein the software and data used by the appliance can be updated remotely via a network. Finally, the appliance may also implement parental controls.
US08326927B2
A conferencing system and method includes, during the conference session, invoking an interactive voice response (IVR) routine that provides names of one or more conference participants to a user of an audio-only endpoint device responsive to a request from the user to create a sidebar session. An invitation to join the sidebar session is then communicated to each of one or more participants selected by the user, the invitation being communicated via a private media channel separate from a media stream associated with the conference session. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract that will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.
US08326917B2
The application concerns a method for invoking a communication service that is realized by means of a peer of a peer-to-peer system, the method comprising the step of identifying a peer hosting the communication service and invoking the communication service by means of a distributed directory, where the distributed directory carrying entries that enable a client to invoke the communication service, the method further comprising the step of identifying an alternative peer hosting an alternative communication service in case the identified peer or the communication service is unavailable, where the distributed directory carrying entries that enable a client to invoke the alternative communication service. And the application concerns a computer software product and a telecommunication system for providing communication services corresponding to the method.
US08326915B2
A communications system having a data transfer pipeline apparatus for transferring data in a sequence of N stages from an origination device to a destination device. The apparatus comprises dedicated memory having buffers dedicated for carrying data and a master control for registering and controlling processes associated with the apparatus for participation in the N stage data transfer sequence. The processes include a first stage process for initiating the data transfer and a last Nth stage process for completing data transfer. The first stage process allocates a buffer from a predetermined number of buffers available within the memory for collection, processing, and sending of the data from the origination device to a next stage process. The Nth stage process receives a buffer allocated to the first stage process from the (N−1)th stage and to free the buffer upon processing completion to permit reallocation of the buffer.
US08326910B2
Programmatically validating service level policies established for business applications of an Information Technology environment. The programmatic validation predicts whether the policies are achievable within the environment. Examples of service level policies include quantitative goals, redundancy levels and resource use.
US08326891B2
Monitoring an activity profile for a given row of a database and determining a target database for a given row based on the activity profile of the given row. Identifying any row related to the given row and moving the given row and any row related to the given row into the target database while preserving referential integrity.
US08326890B2
A search tool for an electronic information resource, which is typically a database of products and services, is provided. The search tool can be used to assist a user to search, evaluate and select anything capable of being chosen. The search tool includes a user interface which includes a scale, a user input element and a potential attributes area. The user input element includes one or more indicators enabling a user to associate a point along the scale with the user's preference for each potential attribute.
US08326889B2
The present disclosure involves systems, products, and methods for generating software documentation. One method includes operations for identifying a transport request containing information associated with a set of software modifications; identifying at least one view identified by the transport request, each identified view comprising a modified view of information associated with the software; accessing metadata information describing a structure for each identified view; identifying at least one database table associated with each identified view; accessing, for each identified database table, at least one database table field modified by the transport request and values associated with each of the database table fields; outputting, for each identified view, at least a portion of the set of metadata information describing the structure of the identified view; and outputting, for each identified database table associated with each identified view, at least a portion of the values associated with each database table field.
US08326885B2
A frequent changing pattern extraction device which extracts a frequent changing pattern from an ever-changing network structure includes: a conversion unit which converts each of a plurality of graph sequences into an operator sequence by expressing changes, from a first graph included in the graph sequence to a second graph which is temporally adjacent to the first graph, using operators indicating operations necessary to transform the first graph into the second graph, each graph sequence including a plurality of graphs that show temporal changes in the graphs and each of the graphs including a vertex corresponding to a data piece and an edge corresponding to a link between data pieces; and an extraction unit which extracts an operator subsequence that appears at least a predetermined number of times in the plurality of operator sequences corresponding to the plurality of graph sequences, based on the anti-monotonicity used in the Apriori algorithm.
US08326883B2
Provided are methods and systems for distributing an asset to a multi-tiered network node. A pending notice is received from a distribution server. If the notice indicates that at least one asset is pending, i.e., awaiting deployment, an asset descriptor manifest is received from the distribution server. The asset descriptor manifest, which is stored in a memory on a node, identifies at least one asset to be deployed to the node and includes an offset associated with the asset identifier. A fragment, associated with the asset, is received and stored in the memory. The offset associated with the asset is marked with the end of the fragment and a second fragment, beginning at the offset, is received. Additional fragments are received, and the offset updated, until the entire asset is deployed to the node. Alternately, the entire asset or multiple assets are received in the first fragment.
US08326867B2
An object of the present invention is to convert JCL files into a job network without manual labor.An apparatus interprets dependency between JCL files as a logical expression, performs deduction for the logical expression to solve the dependency, and converts the JCL files into a job network in consideration of the above information. The apparatus reads the JCL files, analyzes dependency between the JCL files, and interprets the dependency as a logical expression. The apparatus expresses the logical expression obtained by interpreting the dependency using an algorithm in a list form. The apparatus reads the JCL files, converts the JCL files into intermediate files, and converts the intermediate files into a job network. The apparatus divides the intermediate file into parts based on a JCL command left in the intermediate file and converts the JCL command into components of the job network to generate a job network flow.
US08326866B1
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that that uses geographic data to identify correlated geographic synonyms in search queries. A correlated geographic synonym occurs when two terms that are possible synonyms should not be considered synonyms because they are associated with related geographic context. During operation, the system receives a term and a possible synonym for the term. The system then determines whether the term and the possible synonym are both present in a geographic data set. If so, the system uses the geographic data set to determine whether the possible synonym is a correlated geographic synonym for the term.
US08326850B2
A data converting apparatus includes a storage unit that stores encoded meta-definition information, a data converting function, a conversion rule table, and a conversion rule; an input unit that receives input of data to be converted; a detecting unit that uses the encoded meta-definition information to detect metadata codes for a conversion source and a conversion destination for which the conversion rule code matches; a determining unit that determines whether the detected metadata codes match; a specifying unit that, by referring to a conversion rule and based on the determination result at the determining unit, specifies the data converting function, according to the combination of the metadata codes for the conversion source and for the conversion destination; and a converting unit that uses the specified data converting function to convert the data of the conversion source to have a property prescribed by metadata for the conversion destination.
US08326847B2
A system, method and computer program product for executing a query on linked data sources. Embodiments of the invention generate an instance graph expressing relationships between objects in the linked data sources and receive a query including at least first and second search terms. The first search term is then executed on the instance graph and a summary graph is generated using the results of the executing step. A second search term is then executed on the summary graph.
US08326833B2
A natural language processor receives a document and accesses commentary related to the document. In response to accessing commentary related to the document, the natural language processor processes the commentary to generate data structures corresponding to the commentary. Rules are executed on these data structures to generate metadata for the document. The resulting metadata is associated with the document, which can be harnessed by the features of the document management systems to provide additional operations on the document.
US08326832B2
An on-demand data management system. The system comprises a file management module and a demand analysis module. The file management module receives files. Each file has attributes. The file management module segments the files according the attributes. The demand analysis module receives a data demand and selects data from the segmented files according to the data demand.
US08326823B2
A method is illustrated as retrieving a plurality of search queries and defining relationships between search queries in the plurality of search queries based on semantic data associated with the search queries. A visual representation of the plurality of search queries may be generated and the visual representation may be partitioned into a plurality of tiles, each tile representing a predefined portion of the visual representation.
US08326818B2
A method of managing websites registered in a search engine in a search engine administration system includes receiving, by an interface module, website information on a website. A website registration module sorts the website information according to an information field. The sorted website information is recorded in a database, and an adult keyword database stores adult keywords. An HTML file of a web page of the website is extracted, and a redirection tag included in the HTML file is extracted by analyzing the HTML file. A character string associated with a target URL of the redirection tag is also extracted so that the adult keyword database is searched for an adult keyword corresponding to the extracted character string. When an adult keyword corresponding to the extracted character string is found, a process for the website is also performed. The process for the website includes contacting a registrant of the website.
US08326817B2
Systems and methods for handling input search engine data. A data store is searched based upon one or more data items contained within the input search engine data. The result of searching the data store is used to determine which data items in the input search engine data might be a search term. Search terms are extracted based upon the result of searching the data store.
US08326814B2
A system and method for integrating a plurality of web-based applications with a web-based file management system. The web-based application may provide a service to the users of the web-based file management system, such that the web-based application can interact with the files of said users. The integration of the service of the web-based application with the web-based file management system is achieved through a simple web interface to configure the service, without the developer of the web-based application having to change the application programming interface (API) of the application. The user of the web-based file management system may add services of a plurality of available web-based applications and use these services with one or more files that are stored on the web-based file management system.
US08326810B2
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for block compression of tables with repeated values. In general, value identifiers representing a compressed column of data may be sorted to render repeated values contiguous, and block dictionaries may be generated. A block dictionary may be generated for each block of value identifiers. Each block dictionary may include a list of block identifiers, where each block identifier is associated with a value identifier and there is a block identifier for each unique value in a block. Blocks may have standard sizes and block dictionaries may be reused for multiple blocks.
US08326798B1
A replication operation service migrates data from a source volume having a source file system type to a destination volume having a destination file system type, where the source file system type may be different from the destination file system type. The replication operation is completed without interrupting the operations of a client device in the system. A stable copy of the source file system is generated on the source volume. A file system agnostic representation of a portion of the data in the source volume is generated from the stable copy. The representation is transmitted to the destination volume where it is converted to conform to the destination file system type.
US08326781B2
In various embodiments, a method for compressed transmission of data packet header fields in a packet-oriented data stream may comprise: estimating in advance a data packet header field in a packet-oriented data stream from at least one preceding data packet header field; forming a piece of comparison information which indicates the difference between the data packet header field and the data packet header field estimated in advance using the transmitter neural network; transmitting the comparison information as a compressed data packet header field from the transmitter to a receiver; estimating in advance the data packet header field from at least one already transmitted data packet header field in the packet-oriented data stream using the receiver neural network; and generating the data packet header field from the data packet header field estimated in advance using the neural network of the receiver and from the transmitted piece of comparison information.
US08326774B2
The present embodiments provide methods, apparatuses, and systems to distribute content over a network. Some embodiments provide methods to distribute content within a local media network. These methods receive a request for a first content to be transferred to a sink device, request from the source an access criteria for a first content that is protected according to a first digital rights management (DRM), forward the access criteria to the sink device, receive an evaluation of the access criteria from the sink device regarding at least whether the sink device can interpret the first DRM, determine according to the evaluation received from the sink device whether the sink device can utilize the first content that is protected according to the first DRM, and initiate a transfer of the first content from the source device to the sink device when the sink device can utilize the first content.
US08326773B1
Systems and methods, specifically computer implemented systems and methods for determining cost-plus pricing for pharmaceuticals. Specifically, systems and methods which can provide for transparent pricing which helps to provide a reasonable profit for a pharmacy while also generally providing competitive or reduced cost prescriptions to individual patients.
US08326769B1
A method and system for billing and paying friends on a social network is described. A monetary transfer module generates an invoice for sharing an expense with at least one friend on a social network. The monetary transfer module identifies users on the social network. The monetary transfer module generates a group that includes the users based at least in part on at least one common feature between the users. At least one of the users included in the group incurs an expense. The monetary transfer module generates an invoice for paying for the expense. The monetary transfer module sends a notification to at least one of the users that includes the invoice.
US08326763B2
This invention improves upon existing pay-per-click arrangements periodically generating a code associated with the search-engine users. This code, preferably in the form of a serial number, is compared to the user of the website, such that by observing a metric like the number of clicks for a given period of time, be it a short time or a longer period, such as a day or a week, the system can automatically determine if certain clicks are illegitimate. This allows the pay-per-click company to more fairly invoice the merchants, thereby preventing fraudulent over use.
US08326758B2
A proxy card used at an ATM or at any vendor store that has a legacy point of sale unit or at a store with the smart point of sale. In general, it can be used with any vendor and otherwise as any credit or debit card might be used. The point-of sale unit interacts with a multi-source processing system (MSPS) that, instead of servicing a single money source, interacts with more than one of a plurality of monetary sources that may be associated with the proxy card. The money transferred from credit or debit accounts of the user may be either transferred directly or indirectly via a proxy central account associated with the MSPS that a user maintains.
US08326750B1
A financial analysis program includes an object oriented architecture having a number of abstract classes associated with performing financial calculations. The abstract classes include an instruments class that defines a number of financial instruments in a hierarchical manner. The abstract classes also include a models class that defines a number of objects or functions used to perform financial calculations. The program also includes an interface to allow a user to pass instrument parameters to the objects or functions and execute the object or function using the instrument parameters.
US08326746B1
A Monte Carlo simulation engine configured to perform a primary beneficiary test to determine whether a variable interest entity holder is a primary beneficiary of a financial instrument. The engine includes a cash flow engine configured to generate a set of default/prepayment curves representing one or more discrete cash flow scenarios for one or more loans for the financial instrument, the default/prepayment curves representative of systemic risk associated with the financial instrument. The engine further includes an idiosyncratic risk module configured to convert the set of default/prepayment curves defined by the cash flow engine into a number of occurrences, which, at an aggregated level, mimic the default/prepayment curve from a systemic risk model.
US08326743B1
A system and method of trading combined orders in an exchange configured for trading by a combination of electronic and open-outcry trading mechanisms is provided. One method includes receiving an incoming order having a first order component and a second order component at an electronic trade engine and routing the first and second order components to a first electronic database. The first and second order components are matched and executed against order components maintained in the first and second electronic databases, respectively. Any unexecuted first and second order components are placed in an electronic book according to a predetermined program if the first or second order component cannot be completely matched against any order components maintained in one of the first or second electronic databases. The system includes a trade engine configured for receiving combined orders from market makers.
US08326742B2
An Internet based investment account management system that consists of data, a rules database, a business logic manager and user profiles is described. The rules database stores information about system responses to modifications of the data. The user profiles store information concerning the availability of information and displays depending upon the user. Automatic updates to user profiles in response to modifications to the data are performed. The business logic manager can be configured to define whether the trader is authorized to execute a trade and whether sufficient holdings are available at a custodian bank in order to execute trade. A data exchange link may then be used to send data to a broker/dealer system to execute the trade.
US08326740B2
A computer implemented method, system, and software for calculating and using an intraday indicative value of a leveraged Bullish or Bearish exchange traded fund (“ETF”) for arbitrage purposes, includes calculating an intraday current value of all the equity securities in the ETF (applicable only to Bullish ETFs), calculating mark to market gains or losses of at least one derivative product, and retrieving an accumulated loss or gain of the at least one derivative product and other cash equivalent amounts. The intraday indicative value of the ETF is determined by combining the calculated intraday current value of all the equity securities (applicable only to Bullish ETFs), the accumulated loss or gain, the mark to market gains of the at least one derivative product and other cash equivalent amounts. The determined intraday value of the ETF is used, by a party, for arbitrage purposes.
US08326734B2
A system and appertaining method are provided in which a brokerage firm transmits confidential information about security trading intentions to an anonymous server that follows through on a trade only if there is a likelihood that the trade can be completed. Pricing inputs are obtained that help a price engine determine pricing information for securities. The trade itself is executed by a primary trading system. If the trade is not completed, then the confidential information is not shared with a market maker or other purchasing or selling entity. When security is low and trust is high, for speed purposes, among other things, the anonymous server may be located with a market maker. When security is high and trust is low, any or all of the anonymous server, price engine, and primary trading system can be collocated on site with the broker in a secure environment.
US08326729B2
An automatic Financial Risk Cover configuration which receives returns behaviors connecting statistical behavior of each potential allocation of a submanager to a resultant statistical behavior of a Financial Risk Cover associated with a client portfolio, creates a total set of Financial Risk Cover configurations using genetic optimization processes to produce unpredictable variations of configurations, simulates and models each configuration in the total set against a set of potential or expected transient market events representative of a plurality of combinations of transient events, removes from the total set each configuration which fails to meet performance objectives during the modelling from the total set of configurations; and outputs each remaining configuration in the total set, wherein each configuration represents a plurality of investment instruments, each investment instrument being associated with an initial cash position.
US08326726B2
The present invention provides apparatus and methods to facilitate allocation of find assets amongst asset classes including: equity inverse assets, precious metal assets, commodities and hard assets, international equity, international fixed income, domestic fixed income and domestic equity.
US08326722B2
An estimate of the effect of a market condition or conditions on a portfolio of financial investments is determined. Financial risk for a portfolio of financial investments is estimated for particular observed parameter values that affect the value of the portfolio. The financial risk is estimated based on previously calculated measurements of risk of the portfolio for a previously selected range of values of the parameters.
US08326721B2
A system and method are provided that, among other things, can reduce the burden on receiving computers, increase data throughput, reduce system failure, and provide components of a scalable and flexible network architecture. Specifically, the system and method provide a multichannel-multicast network environment for use in dynamically assigning data to channels. This configuration is particularly useful in a trading network environment, as it effectively performs channel reassignments in a way not to disturb the receipt of the underlying data. While the example embodiments described herein pertain to electronic trading, the principles of the present invention may be equally applied in other environments where the advantages presented herein are beneficial.
US08326715B2
Methods and systems for creating and trading derivative contracts based on a statistical property reflecting a variance of an underlying asset are disclosed. Typically, an underlying asset is chosen to be a base of a variance derivative and a processor calculates a value of the statistical property reflecting an average volatility of price returns of the underlying asset over a predefined period. A trading facility display device coupled to a trading platform then displays the variance derivative based on the value of the statistical property reflecting the volatility of the underlying asset and the trading facility transmits variance derivative quotes from liquidity providers over at least one dissemination network.
US08326709B1
A process for increasing profits of a business engaged in the purchase of large numbers of products and/or products of volatile pricing from numerous vendors that operates to identify pricing errors, preferably typically before payment, by automatically reviewing all invoices typically in the order they are received to determine a best system price for each line item of each invoice by reference to pricing factors such as volume discount, seasonal pricing, price protection, commodity pricing, competition pricing, and cash discount recorded in memory for the subject item and reference to payment history data, accounts payable data and invoice data. From the pricing factors and associated data, a best system price is determined and compared to the invoice price for the item so that pricing errors are automatically uncovered and, if appropriate, flagged to identify the same as an exception for warning or notification.
US08326702B2
Methods and apparatus, including systems and computer program products, for a services architecture design that provides enterprise services having supplier relationship management functionality at the level of an enterprise application. The design includes a set of service operations, process components, and optionally deployment units. Suitable business objects are also described.
US08326697B2
A method for pricing independent sellers' goods. A marketeer exploits the nature of readily identifiable, fungible, durable goods by determining a price for a good, such as a used good, by using a price of a comparable good, such as a new good, as an index price and deriving a discounted sale price for the good from the price of the comparable good having essentially the same value due to its fungible, durable nature. A best price for the good is ensured by using as the index price a lowest price among a group of vendors for the comparable good. A shopping agent program may be used to query one or more vendors to determine a best price for the comparable good, and a pricing agent program may be used to derive a discounted sale price for the good from the best price for the comparable good.
US08326692B2
A method and system for providing a transactional environment including a server and one or more set-top boxes in communication with the server. The server stores product information data, which is updated in the server as soon as the product information data changes. The set-top boxes receive the product information data as well as navigable displays in a single transmission, which guide a user through a product ordering process on his or her television. The user may navigate and complete the ordering process in a real-time basis using a television remote control. The product information, e.g., available inventory, is updated as soon as the product information changes, and the set-top boxes replaces outdated navigable page data on a real-time basis.
US08326684B1
A system for publishing a sponsor-comment together with content of a publisher that is associated with a particular file. A code segment is included in the particular file. A database relates a plurality of keywords with one or more sponsors. A registration module is operative to register one or more channels of the publisher, each said channel including at least one of the plurality of files. A communication module is operative to receive a sponsor-comment across the network. A comment management module is operative to selectively associate the sponsor-comment with the particular file in accordance with at least one criterion accessible to one or more of the servers. Upon opening each respective file in a browser of a client machine, the code segment executes to cause the browser to include in the display the sponsor-comment together with the publisher-content. Variations of systems and methods that publish sponsor comments are disclosed.
US08326677B1
A system for determining an optimal forecasting hierarchy includes setting a plurality of hierarchies by setting each hierarchy in terms of a hierarchy structure. The system also includes generating top level forecasts for a training period and a testing period, each top level forecast being based upon an aggregation of the base forecast levels. The system further includes calculating a forecast error. An optimization routine includes determining an optimal hierarchy and an optimal base level, both being based upon a smallest associated forecast error. The optimization routine also includes calculating a deficiency ratio for each level within each hierarchy by comparing forecast errors associated with the optimal base level and the optimal hierarchy to forecast errors associated with each of the other base levels and hierarchies. The optimal forecasting hierarchy is determined by comparing the deficiency ratio to a significance level.
US08326675B2
In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for selecting a synchronous or asynchronous process to determine a forecast. These mechanisms and methods for such synchronous/asynchronous process selection can enable embodiments to determine forecasts for multiple users (e.g. with hierarchical relationships, etc.) over an arbitrary time interval. The ability of embodiments to provide forecasts that involve such a large amount of data in an effective way can enable forecasting that was otherwise infeasible due to resource limitations.
US08326674B2
In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for selecting a synchronous or asynchronous process to determine a forecast. These mechanisms and methods for such synchronous/asynchronous process selection can enable embodiments to determine forecasts for multiple users (e.g. with hierarchical relationships, etc.) over an arbitrary time interval. The ability of embodiments to provide forecasts that involve such a large amount of data in an effective way can enable forecasting that was otherwise infeasible due to resource limitations.
US08326667B2
A method for staffing a call center involves, via a processor at the call center, generating a work schedule of a call center advisor for a then-current work day, the work schedule including i) information related to at least one planned activity, and ii) information related to at least one shrink activity, the information related to the at least one shrink activity being forecasted from a time-based, graduated ramp schedule. The method further involves, via the processor, utilizing the work schedule to determine an appropriate number of call center advisors for the call center throughout a future work day.
US08326666B2
Methods, systems, and computer-executable instructions for event synchronized reporting in an process control system are disclosed. Events may be synchronized by a synchronization parameter, whose instances of occurrence may be non-contiguous in time. Examples of synchronization parameters may include a work shift, a work group, an individual's on-duty time, a logged-on period of an individual, the execution times of a process control entity, a batch run type, and a procedure or sub-unit of a batch run. Instances of occurrence of the synchronization parameter may be recorded into a process control event database. Event synchronized reports may contain at least one synchronization value based on both the instances of occurrence of the synchronization parameter as well as historical process control data. Data from various historian databases may be accessed from process control system tools and integrated into a single report.
US08326654B2
A data processing system for providing a service to a service requester is provided. The data processing system includes a filtering module to receive a request for a service from the service requester, and a ticket module to create a ticket. The ticket includes a risk profile level which is one of a predefined number of levels. The system further includes at least a first and second rule. The first rule specifies a control and the risk profile level response to a result obtained from the service requester. The second rule specifies a maximum acceptable risk profile level required to serve the service. An interface includes an output module to output the control to an agent and an input module to allow input of the service requester's response to the control. A modifier modifies the risk profile level according to the first rule and the service requester's response. The modifier compares the risk profile level with the maximum acceptable risk profile level. A service provision module allows the service to be performed if the risk profile level is less than or equal to the maximum acceptable risk profile level.
US08326643B1
A system for providing phone conversation analysis may comprise at least one subsystem that monitors a phone conversation for key words or key phrases as defined by business rules. Conversations containing such words may be tagged with appropriate metadata to identify the conversation for subsequent analysis, and for conducting trending and analysis of the collected data. Also, a system for providing phone conversation analysis may comprise subsystems for monitoring a phone conversation for key words or key phrases, and associating the key words or key phrases with pre-determined offers or services.
US08326639B2
Lossless audio coding performs decorrelation and encodes the transformed signal. The encoded bit stream comprises de-correlation parameters and the lossless representation data of the transformed signal. However, in the case of lossy based lossless coding, the additional amount of information exceeds the base layer amount of data. Therefore the additional data cannot be packed completely into the base layer e.g. as ancillary data. The data streams resulting from the combination of lossy coding format with a lossless coding extension are the base layer containing the lossy coding information and the enhancement data stream for rebuilding the mathematically lossless original input signal. Every higher layer depends on the lower layers and can only be reasonably decoded in combination with these lower layers. According to the invention, a special combination of one-time header information with repeated header information in a block structure is used. Assignment information data identify the different layers.
US08326638B2
For audio encoding and decoding, in order to enhance coded audio signals, the audio signal is divided into at least a low frequency band and a high frequency band, the high frequency band is divided into at least two high frequency sub-band signals, and parameters are generated that refer at least to the low frequency band signal sections which match best with high-frequency sub-band signals.
US08326636B2
A transmission device such as a cell phone or other mobile communication device includes a physical phenomenon detection device to perform a “push to talk” function by detecting the occurrence of a particular physical phenomenon and using such detection to start and stop recording an utterance for subsequent analysis by a speech recognition engine. A method of controlling operation of a speech recognition engine in response to detection of a physical phenomenon includes detecting or sensing, via a physical phenomenon detection unit, a predetermined physical phenomenon representative of an intent to invoke operation of a speech recognition engine. In response to the detection or sensing of the predetermined physical phenomenon, a signal is transmitted to a control unit in a communication device. In response to the receipt of the transmitted signal, the utterance received from a user via the communication device is recorded, and the recorded utterance is provided to a speech recognition engine for operation thereon. The user may thus effectuate operation of the speech recognition engine upon the utterance by causing the physical phenomenon to occur.
US08326623B2
According to one embodiment, an electronic apparatus includes a sound characteristic output module configured to analyze audio data in video content data, thereby outputting sound characteristic information indicative of sound characteristics of the audio data. A talk section detection process module detects talk sections in which talks are made by persons, which are included in the video content data, on the basis of the sound characteristic information, and classifies the detected talk sections into a plurality of groups which are associated with different speakers. A display process module displays, on a time bar which is representative of a sequence of the video content data, a plurality of bar areas indicative of positions of the detected talk sections in the sequence of the video content data, in different display modes in association with the groups.
US08326612B2
A non-speech section detecting device generating a plurality of frames having a given time length on the basis of sound data obtained by sampling sound, and detecting a non-speech section having a frame not containing voice data based on speech uttered by a person, the device including: a calculating part calculating a bias of a spectrum obtained by converting sound data of each frame into components on a frequency axis; a judging part judging whether the bias is greater than or equal to a given threshold or alternatively smaller than or equal to a given threshold; a counting part counting the number of consecutive frames judged as having a bias greater than or equal to the threshold or alternatively smaller than or equal to the threshold; a count judging part judging whether the obtained number of consecutive frames is greater than or equal to a given value.
US08326609B2
An apparatus for processing an audio signal and method thereof are disclosed, by which the audio signal can be efficiently processed. The present invention includes obtaining start position information of a sub-frame from a header of the main frame and processing an audio signal based on the start position information of the sub-frame, wherein the main frame includes a plurality of sub-frames.
US08326605B2
A dictionary for compressing and decompressing textual data has a number of keys. Each key is associated with an identifier. The keys include static word or phrase keys, where each static word or phrase key lists one or more unchanging words in a particular order. The keys further include dynamic phrase keys, where each dynamic phrase key lists a number of words and one or more placeholders in a particular order, and each placeholder denotes a place where a word or phrase other than the words of the dynamic phrase key is to be inserted. At least one of the dynamic phrase keys may identify one or more of the words by identifiers for corresponding static words or phrase keys. At least one of the static word or phrase keys may identify one or more of the words by identifiers for corresponding other static words or phrase keys.
US08326604B2
A dictionary for compressing and decompressing textual data has a number of keys. Each key is associated with an identifier. The keys include static word or phrase keys, where each static word or phrase key lists one or more unchanging words in a particular order. The keys further include dynamic phrase keys, where each dynamic phrase key lists a number of words and one or more placeholders in a particular order, and each placeholder denotes a place where a word or phrase other than the words of the dynamic phrase key is to be inserted. At least one of the dynamic phrase keys may identify one or more of the words by identifiers for corresponding static words or phrase keys. At least one of the static word or phrase keys may identify one or more of the words by identifiers for corresponding other static words or phrase keys.
US08326603B1
A memory system for storing and retrieving experience and knowledge with natural language through methods and apparatus is disclosed. The primary components of this memory system include syntactic processes, function word processes, ellipsis processes, morphology processes, meaning word sense number processes, purpose identification processes, plausibility and expectedness processes, communication processes, context storage processes, and text generation processes. The function word processes select and evaluate functions associated with function words which are certain words in each part of speech. Ellipsis processes replace unstated words. Morphology processes replace morphological words with phrases or clauses composed of function words and word sense numbers. A word sense number is an address to the meaning of a word. Certain nouns, verbs, and adjectives are meaning words. Word sense numbers are selected to be consistent with the context of the clause containing the words, the context, and stored experience and knowledge. Experience and knowledge are stored as nodes with associated clause implying word sense numbers organized into paths in a directed graph. Nodes in the directed graph have access conditions which determine if a node is accessible on a path. A path has an associated purpose relation which is any concept that labels the path. Purpose identification processes select: purpose relations, experience and knowledge, processes for setting a verb's result states or a state value, object classification paths, and activity selection paths. The communication processes coordinate incoming and outgoing natural language text. Text generation processes generate natural language text from word sense numbers.
US08326601B2
The claimed subject matter provides systems and/or methods that produce multilingual capabilities for use in text based chat rooms. The system can include components that receive textual messages from a first client, route these messages to a first queue, and subsequently direct the textual messages to a translation facility that transforms the language of the textual messages from a first language to a second language. The system can further include devices that supply the converted messages to a second queue that is periodically polled by a second client prior to the messages in the second language being retrieved by the second client for display on the second client in the second language.
US08326597B2
A setting unit sets an input language and an output language, a first receiving unit receives input data in a language, a storage unit stores the input data, a detection unit detects a discrepancy between the input language and the language of the input data, a swapping unit swaps the settings of the input language and the output language if the discrepancy is detected, a recognition unit recognizes the input data from the storage unit in the input language set by the setting unit if the discrepancy is not detected, and recognizes the input data read from the storage unit in the input language swapped by the swapping unit if the discrepancy is detected, and a translation unit translates a recognition result recognized in the input language set by the setting unit into the set output language if the discrepancy is not detected, and translates the recognition result recognized in the input language swapped by the swapping unit into the output language swapped by the swapping unit if the discrepancy is detected.
US08326595B2
A mechanism for identifying invalid syllables in Devanagari script is disclosed. A method of embodiments of the invention includes receiving Devanagari text from an application of a computing device for parsing, determining a character type for a character of the Devanagari text, determining a new state associated with the character by referencing a Devanagari state machine with the determined character type and a current state of the Devanagari text, and transmitting an invalid syllable signal to the application for display on a display device to an end user of the application if the determined new state is invalid.
US08326594B2
A method analyzes a model of a balanced power distribution system by transforming a model of the balanced distribution system with zero impedance branches to an equivalent model of the balanced power distribution system with non-zero impedance branches. Decoupled power mismatch equations with second orders are generated for each bus in the equivalent model. Power mismatches are determined using the bus power flow equations. The power mismatches are compared to a predetermined threshold. Then, for each bus, solving iteratively, if the comparing is true, the power mismatch equations to obtain a bus voltage magnitude correction and a bus phase angle correction until the comparing is false.
US08326578B2
An equipment monitoring device for monitoring equipment and transmitting an operational status of the equipment to a remote monitoring device that is provided in a remote location relative to the equipment includes an anomaly detection unit, an anomaly identifying unit and an anomaly reporting unit. The anomaly detecting unit is configured to detect an anomaly that occurs in the equipment. The anomaly identifying unit is configured to identify the anomaly based on at least one of an anomaly category and an anomaly level. The an anomaly reporting unit is configured to issue an anomaly report of the anomaly to the remote monitoring based on identification of the anomaly by the anomaly identifying unit.
US08326574B2
A method for issuing alert signals as a reminder to perform a recurring act. The method comprises providing a device with a programmable electronic circuit, an electrical power source, a control switch, and an alert body controlled by the electronic circuit, programming the device with a signaling pattern, determining a first alert time based at least in part on the signaling pattern, issuing a first signal from the alert body, issuing a second signal from the alert body at the first alert time, the second signal being different from the first signal, and determining a next alert time upon activation of the control switch, wherein the next alert time is based at least in part on the signaling pattern and the time elapsed between the first alert time and activation of the control switch.
US08326565B2
A chip tester for testing at least two devices under test connected to the chip tester has a timing calculator for generating a timing information for the channels of the chip tester. The timing calculator is adapted to obtain a propagation delay difference information describing a difference between, on the one hand, a propagation delay from the first channel port of the chip tester to the first terminal of the first device under test and, on the other hand, a propagation delay from the first channel port of the chip tester to the second terminal of the second device under test. The timing calculator is adapted to provide a timing information for a second channel of the chip tester connected to the first device under test or to the second device under test on the basis of the propagation delay difference information. The channel module configurator is adapted to configure the second channel of the chip tester on the basis of the timing information.
US08326561B2
In one embodiment a method and corresponding apparatus are arranged to determine an accurate device heading by continuously combining an average magnetic heading with the compensated inertial heading. The example embodiment obtains the compensated inertial heading by compensating for a time delay of an inertial heading.
US08326553B2
A method (300) for fault detection in a system under control includes monitoring a command value and a wraparound signal (301) by a fault detection module (203); determining a standard deviation of the command value (302) by the fault detection module; determining a standard deviation of the wraparound signal (303) by the fault detection module; determining a ratio of the standard deviation of the command value to the standard deviation of the wraparound signal (304) by the fault detection module; and determining the presence or absence of a fault in the system under control by the fault detection module based on the ratio (305) by the fault detection module. A fault detection module (203) and a computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium containing computer code that, when executed by a computer, implements a method (300) for fault detection are also provided.
US08326546B2
Methods for evaluating changes in glucose levels include selecting a repeating event, obtaining a pre-event measurement and a post-event measurement for a plurality of occurrences of the repeating event wherein a glucose change between the pre-event measurement and post-event measurement may be determined for each of the plurality of occurrences of the repeating event, and, recording unique details for each of the plurality of occurrences of the repeating event such that the unique details may be correlated with the glucose change for each of the plurality of occurrences of the repeating event.
US08326541B2
A method for estimating fluid volumes moved in compartmented areas of the subsoil, the method including the steps of a) performing a series of gradiometric measurement campaigns at pre-established time intervals in a survey field, in which the relative variation ΔVi of the fluid volumes contained in a corresponding compartmented area of the subsoil is known; b) determining, for each measurement campaign after the first campaign, a parameter P1i based on the entire survey area; and c) determining a variability law that correlates the parameter P1i to the known relative variation ΔVi in fluid volumes in the compartmented area of the subsoil.
US08326525B2
According to a navigation server (1) of the present invention, in a mileage matrix containing elements which denote a mileage and are defined by respective mileage factors, a first element of the elements in the mileage matrix which is defined by recognized mileage factors is determined on the basis of the mileage of the recognized mileage of a first vehicle. A second element of the elements in the mileage matrix which is defined by unrecognized mileage factors is determined on the basis of the first element. According thereto, even when the mileage factors of a second vehicle are used to define the second element but not the first element, the previous mileage of the second vehicle can be evaluated with high accuracy in consideration of a relationship between the mileage and the mileage factors of the first vehicle estimated according to the known relationship therebetween.
US08326521B2
Traffic situation determination systems, methods, and programs acquire a current position of the vehicle based on a radio signal received from a GPS satellite and determine a first travel path of the vehicle based on the acquired position of the vehicle. The systems, methods, and programs determine whether a road on which the vehicle is traveling has a traffic jam. If the road on which the vehicle is traveling has a traffic jam, the systems, methods and programs transmit first information relating to the first travel path from the vehicle to an information center. The systems, methods, and programs receive second information relating to a second travel path of the vehicle, the second information being received from a mobile phone communication center and being based on a mobile phone signal received by the mobile phone communication center. The systems, methods, and programs determine a road corresponding to the first travel path as having a traffic jam and determine a road corresponding to the second travel path, and not corresponding to the first travel path, as having no traffic jam.
US08326520B2
A process and a corresponding system are provided for automatically turning off and starting an internal-combustion engine in a motor vehicle via a start-stop device, which automatically turns off the internal-combustion engine if the vehicle is braked to a stop and is held in the stopped position by the operation of the brake pedal, and which, if the internal-combustion engine is automatically turned off and the operated brake pedal is released, automatically starts the internal-combustion engine. If the internal-combustion engine is automatically turned off, an automatic starting of the internal-combustion engine by releasing the brake is prevented if the brake pedal was increasingly depressed beforehand while the internal-combustion engine was turned-off.
US08326515B2
An engine control system includes a coefficient calculation module that selects one of N coefficients based on an AFM selection by a corresponding one of N users. A switching torque calculation module calculates an adjusted active fuel management (AFM) switching threshold based on the one of the N coefficients, a maximum torque of an engine, and a default AFM switching threshold.
US08326507B2
A method is described which is used to check the correct function of the under-pressure brake system of a motor vehicle having an internal combustion engine and in particular of the output signals of a pressure sensor. The pressure sensor is arranged in the under-pressure region of the brake system.
US08326500B2
A row unit of a planter or other agricultural machine having ground engaging wheels is equipped with a rotation sensor to determine if and when a wheel stops rotating. An alert is issued by a monitor to the operator so that corrective action can be taken. Further, further the monitor also determines when the machine is in use depositing an input versus turning at the end of the rows so that the rotation sensors to not generate an alert when the machine is not in use delivering an input to the field.
US08326498B2
A vehicle is provided which includes a closure member such as a powered window or a moon roof or sunroof that may be controlled in an auto close mode. The closure member may be controlled with anti-pinch control to provide a plurality of thresholds that are selected based on the presence of an occupant in close proximity to the vehicle, such as in the vehicle, so that an unsupervised control of the closure member provides a lower anti-pinch threshold than a supervised control of the closure member.
US08326497B2
A vehicle door actuating device for a vehicle includes an actuator device disposed on one of a vehicle door and a door frame of the vehicle. A bumper is disposed on the other of the vehicle door and the door frame opposite the actuator device. A door sensor is disposed on the vehicle that measures door position and door movement. A controller receives data from the door sensor relating to the door position and door movement and activates the actuator device when the vehicle is in a parked position. The controller instructs the actuator device to repel the bumper to assist a user in opening the vehicle door and attract the bumper to assist a user in closing the vehicle door during closure.
US08326490B2
A steering angle sensor system for measuring a steering angle in a motor vehicle. The steering angle sensor system includes a magnetic encoder which is coupled to at least one magnetic field sensor that senses a variation in the steering angle even when the ignition is switched off, and an electronic memory for storing the steering angle variation. The steering angle sensor system also includes at least one magnetic-field-sensitive element which is coupled to the magnetic encoder for detecting the occurrence of steering movements at an early time in order to at least partially activate the steering angle sensor system and/or another system.
US08326484B2
A system employing a vehicle module, and an intelligent connector in communication with the vehicle module implements a method for controlling the vehicle module. First, the intelligent connector receives a wireless transmission of a command signal. Second, the intelligent connector determines one or more control actions responsive to the command signal. Finally, the intelligent connector communicates one or more control signals indicative of the control action(s) to the vehicle module.
US08326481B2
A vehicle driving assist system calculates a risk potential indicative of a degree of convergence between a host vehicle and a preceding obstacle. Then, the system performs a driver notification operation that produces a driver notification stimulus based on the risk potential such as decreasing the driving force exerted against the vehicle as the risk potential increases and increasing an actuation reaction force exerted on the accelerator pedal during its operation as the risk potential increases. If a failure is detected in a reaction force generating device serving to add a reaction force to the accelerator pedal in accordance with the risk potential, then the system corrects an engine torque characteristic such that the engine torque does not increase even if the accelerator pedal is depressed to suppress an odd feeling in the vehicle performance by the driver when a failure occurs in the reaction force generating device.
US08326479B2
The present disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method of controlling an engine fuel pump in a hybrid-electric vehicle. The method includes: cycling a vehicle powertrain between an electric mode, where an engine is commanded off, and a mechanical mode, where the engine is commanded on; depowering an engine fuel pump when the engine is commanded off; and determining if the engine is operating in a fuel shut-off mode.
US08326477B2
A system and method for providing nearly instantaneous power in a fuel cell vehicle. The method includes monitoring the brake pedal angle and the accelerator pedal angle of the vehicle, and if the vehicle driver is pressing both the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal at the same time and the vehicle is in a drive gear, activating a heel and toe mode. When the heel and toe mode is activated, the speed of a cathode compressor is increased to a predetermined speed set-point, which is higher than the normal compressor speed for the pedal position. Thus, when the vehicle brake is removed, the compressor speed is high enough to provide enough air to the cathode, so that the stack can generate nearly immediate power.
US08326476B2
In a vehicle, a power storage device starts to be charged at a set time. An electric power control unit monitors a charging/discharging device from startup of the charging/discharging device to the moment when charging starts. When the electric power control unit detects a problem in the charging/discharging device, a signal is sent to a timer control unit in order to cancel setting of the charging start time. When receiving the signal, the timer control unit cancels the setting. Specifically, even when the present time reaches the charging start time, the timer control unit does not transmits a signal for canceling the setting of the charging start time, i.e., a start instruction to the electric power control unit. The electric power control unit never allows operation of the charging/discharging device to start unless it receives the signal, so the charging/discharging device remains stopped.
US08326468B2
Disclosed is a substrate transfer apparatus including a transfer arm of a joint type having an arm portion rotatably connected with a holding portion for holding a substrate, the apparatus including: a heating unit for heating the arm portion; a temperature detection unit for detecting a temperature of the arm portion; and a control unit for heating the arm portion by the heating unit prior to a start of a transfer of the substrate, allowing the transfer of the substrate after a temperature detection value obtained by the temperature detection unit reaches a preset temperature range, and then controlling the heating unit so as to maintain the temperature detection value within the preset temperature range.
US08326457B2
An apparatus for identifying a user in a service robot for domestic use is provided, the apparatus comprising a feature vector classifying unit for classifying feature vectors converted from a user voice signal for statistics into a feature vector not causing a user identification error and a feature vector causing the user identification error to thereby set user modes corresponding to the respective feature vectors for each user, and an identifying unit for identifying the user by utilizing the classification result of the feature vector classifying unit as data for the user identification. Accordingly, time restriction caused when the service robot for domestic use identifies who a user is can be overcome, and, the degradation of the user identification due to the lack of absolutely needed data amount when the user is identified only by the user's short voice can be solved.
US08326453B2
Sorting machine for sorting mail items according to destination codes, each mail item being provided with a destination address, includes: first and second sorting routes for sorting mail items of first and second format ranges, respectively, and an output station. The output station includes first output positions for the first sorting route for receipt of sorted mail items from the first format range, and a same number of second output positions for the second sorting route. Each first output position is arranged each time at one second output position to form a combined output position. Each combined output position is associated each time with one of the number of destination codes. Each destination code is associated with one or more destination addresses. Each combined output position is associated each time with one of the number of destination codes. Each destination code is associated with one or more destination addresses.
US08326452B2
System and method for sortation of picked inventory into individual orders in an order fulfillment process, for example order fulfillment processes in materials handling facilities. Collections of items picked from inventory for multiple orders are stowed to locations at a stow and sortation station. The items for a particular order may be stowed to two or more different locations, and items for two or more orders may be stowed to one location; no particular location is assigned to or reserved for each order. Thus, no space is allocated or reserved for incomplete orders at the station. When all items for a particular order are stowed to locations at the station, the order may be picked from the various locations at the station and placed into order receptacles. The order receptacles may be shipping containers.
US08326447B2
An advanced production planning system for allocating production capacity to meet a demand includes a demand receiver, a demand consolidator, a capacity balancer, and a planning module. The demand receiver is configured to receive input demand data and is in communication with the demand consolidator, calculates a consolidated demand as a sum of all input demand data. The capacity balancer calculates and stores a production capacity, and the planning module creates a production plan by allocating production capacity to meet the consolidated demand based on the consolidated demand and the production capacity.
US08326442B2
This disclosure describes a method for camera/user view navigation about enclosed 3D environment (e.g., the inside of a sports stadium or arena). The navigation system constrains the user view (camera) to a (pre-defined) guide based on the shape and size of the interior area which is the focus of the 3D virtual world. In the case of an arena this would generally be the playing surface. The user can easily control the camera movement on this guide with traditional up/down and left/right controls. These controls could be implemented as buttons within the application, keyboard controls, or mouse controls.
US08326439B2
The present application includes treatment systems having delivery-activated inflatable members, and associated systems and methods for treating the spinal cord and other tissues. A treatment system in accordance with one embodiment includes a lead body having an opening, an inner surface position around the opening, and an inflatable member carried by the lead body, with at least one of the inflatable member and the lead body including a frangible portion accessible from the opening. The inflatable member can have an expandable interior volume bounded at least in part by the frangible portion. The system can further include a delivery device received in the opening of the lead body and positioned to open a passage through the frangible portions between the interior volume of the inflatable member and the opening of the lead body when the delivery device is removed from the opening of the lead body.
US08326434B2
A medical electrical lead electrode assembly includes an insulative carrier and at least one conductive component. The at least one conductive component includes an electrode portion disposed on a first side of the carrier and at least one tab extending away from the electrode portion, through the carrier to a second side of the carrier. The electrode portion of the at least one component includes an outward facing contact surface and an inward facing surface, the inward facing surface being disposed opposite the contact surface and against a surface of the first side of the carrier. The electrode assembly further includes a joint coupling a flexible elongate conductor to the tab of the at least one component on the second side of the carrier, and an insulative layer extending over the joint and the tab and the conductor, the insulative layer being bonded to the second side of the carrier.
US08326433B2
A system and method for providing a volume of activation (VOA) of a stimulation electrode leadwire may include a processor that calculates a VOA for each of a plurality of sets of parameter settings of the leadwire, stores in a database each of the calculated VOAs in association with the respective set of parameter settings for which it was calculated, performs a curve fitting on threshold values determined for a plurality of waveforms to obtain an equation, obtains a set of parameter settings of the leadwire for a stimulation, and determines a VOA for the obtained set of parameter settings based on the stored VOAs, for example, using the equation.
US08326431B2
Implantable medical device adapted to be implanted in a patient having a plurality of neurological disorders. First and second therapy modules are adapted to provide first and second outputs to the patient for the treatment of first and second of the plurality of disorders, respectively. Also, a method for the treatment of a plurality of neurological disorders in a patient. A first output is provided to the patient for the treatment of a first one of the plurality of neurological disorders and a second output is provided to the patient for the treatment of a second one of the plurality of neurological disorders.
