US08323850B2
A direct methanol fuel cell liquid fuel including methanol and water to be supplied to an anode of a direct methanol fuel cell, in which an electrical resistance of the liquid fuel is 5×105 Ω·cm or more and 1×107 Ω·m or less at 25° C. A direct methanol fuel cell cartridge storing the direct methanol fuel cell liquid fuel, and a direct methanol fuel cell system. Such structures can provide a direct methanol fuel cell liquid fuel, a direct methanol fuel cell cartridge, and a direct methanol fuel cell system all appropriately used for stable electricity generation over a long period of time.
US08323848B2
A membrane-electrode assembly for a fuel cell of the present invention includes a polymer electrolyte membrane with a layer of inorganic fine particles on either side. Catalyst layers are positioned on the layers of inorganic fine particles with gas diffusion layers positioned on the catalyst layers. The resulting polymer electrolyte membrane provides improved cell efficiency.
US08323843B2
A fuel cell assembly having a terminal plate that is isolated from fluid flows passing to the fuel cell stack through manifolds is provided. A corrosion resistant member is positioned between the fuel cell stack and the terminal plate and sealingly engages with the manifold. The sealing engagement between the manifold and the corrosion resistant member prevents fluid flowing through the manifold to the fuel cell stack from contacting the terminal plate. Thus, a fuel cell assembly according to the present invention can be operated while preventing a fluid flow through the manifold from contacting the terminal plate.
US08323837B2
Provided is a porous film comprising a heat-resistant resin and two or more fillers, wherein a value of D2/D1 is 0.15 or less where among values each obtained by measuring the average particle diameter of particles that constitute one of the two or more fillers, the largest value is let be D1 and the second largest value is let be D2.
US08323832B2
Nanoscale ion storage materials are provided that exhibit unique properties measurably distinct from their larger scale counterparts. For example, the nanoscale materials can exhibit increased electronic conductivity, improved electromechanical stability, increased rate of intercalation, and/or an extended range of solid solution. Useful nanoscale materials include alkaline transition metal phosphates, such as LiMPO4, where M is one or more transition metals. The nanoscale ion storage materials are useful for producing devices such as high energy and high power storage batteries, battery-capacitor hybrid devices, and high rate electrochromic devices.
US08323830B2
An electrode composite material includes an individual electrode active material particle and a protective film coated on a surface of the particle. A composition of the protective film is AlxMyPO4, AlxMy(PO3)3, or a combination thereof. M represents at least one of Cr, Zn, Mg, Zr, Mo, V, Nb, or Ta. A valence of M is represented by k, in which 0
US08323825B2
A secondary battery comprising: an electrode assembly; a can to house the electrode assembly; and a cap assembly to seal the can. The cap assembly includes a vent plate. The vent plate includes a concave deforming portion, a protrusion formed in the center of the deforming portion, and a notch formed around the deforming portion.
US08323822B2
In a stacked battery including a plurality of electrolyte layers having substantially the same resistance value, an uneven temperature distribution during charge and discharge changes the resistance values of solid electrolyte layers to cause variations in output among a plurality of unit cells in a stacking direction. A power storage device includes a plurality of electrolyte layers which are stacked with an electrode element interposed between them, wherein the plurality of electrolyte layers include an electrolyte layer provided at a first position in a stacking direction and an electrolyte layer provided at a second position different from the first position, heat radiation being lower at the second position than at the first position, and the electrolyte layer at the second position has a resistance value higher than that of the electrolyte layer at the first position.
US08323820B2
Li/air battery cells are configurable to achieve very high energy density. The cells include a protected a lithium metal or alloy anode and an aqueous catholyte in a cathode compartment. In addition to the aqueous catholyte, components of the cathode compartment include an air cathode (e.g., oxygen electrode) and a variety of other possible elements.
US08323819B2
Disclosed herein is a battery module configured to have a structure in which a plurality of plate type battery cells is mounted in a module case so that the battery cells are arranged adjacent to one another. The battery module includes a plurality of insulative members disposed between the respective battery cells so that each of the insulative members corresponds to the peripheral shape of a corresponding one of the battery cells and a plurality of cooling members disposed at the interfaces between the respective battery cells. Each of the cooling members includes a heat dissipating fin disposed in contact with the outer surface of a corresponding one of the battery cells and a coolant conduit provided at the lower end of the heat dissipating fin.
US08323810B2
The present invention relates to a novel proton-conducting polymer membrane based on polyazole block polymers which, owing to their outstanding chemical and thermal properties, can be used widely and are suitable in particular as polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) for producing membrane electrode units or so-called PEM fuel cells.
US08323797B2
A composite article comprises a first glass layer, a silicone layer, a second glass layer, and an organic layer. The silicone layer is disposed adjacent to the first glass layer. The silicone layer includes a cured silicone composition. The second glass layer is disposed adjacent to the silicone layer, spaced from and substantially parallel to the first glass layer. The organic layer is disposed adjacent to the second glass layer, spaced from and substantially parallel to the silicone layer. The organic layer includes a cured organic composition. A method of making a composite article including a first glass layer and a polymeric layer disposed adjacent to the first glass layer includes providing a dual-compartment chamber. The chamber includes a first compartment and a second compartment separated by a polymeric separator. The separator can be manipulated through pressure differentials between the compartments. Pressure is applied to at least one of the silicone layer and the first glass layer with the polymeric separator.
US08323790B2
Multimodal cermet compositions having lower melting point metal binders and methods of making are provided. The multimodal cermet compositions having a low melting point metal binder include: a) a ceramic phase, and b) a low melting point metal binder phase, wherein the ceramic phase is a metal boride with a multimodal distribution of particles, wherein the metal of the metal boride is chosen from Group IV, Group V, Group VI elements of the Long Form of the Periodic Table of Elements, and mixtures thereof, and wherein the low melting metal binder phase is represented by the formula (DEF), wherein D is a base metal chosen from Fe, Ni, Co, Mn and mixtures thereof, E is an alloying metal comprising Cr, Si, and B, and F is an alloying element chosen from C, N, P, Al, Ga, Ge, As, In, Sn, Sb, Pb, Sc, La, Y, Ce, Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Mo, W, Re, Ru, Rh, Ir, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, Au and mixtures thereof, and wherein said low melting metal binder phase has a melting point less than 1250° C. The multimodal cermet compositions having a low melting point metal binder may be formed by a powder metallurgy process or an infiltration process. One or more advantages of the multimodal cermets with low melting point binder are high packing density of the ceramic phase, high fracture toughness, and improved erosion resistance at high temperatures up to 1000° C. The multimodal cermets with low melting point binder are suitable in high temperature erosion/corrosion applications in various chemical and petroleum environments.
US08323787B2
Polymeric foam and polymeric foam products that contain a foamable polymer material, at least one blowing agent, an additive blend of polyethylene oxide and a copolymer of polystyrene and maleic anhydride, and optionally, an infrared attenuating agent, are provided. In exemplary embodiments, the polyethylene oxide is ethoxylated polyethylene oxide. Additionally, in at least one embodiment, the blowing agent includes at least one hydrofluorocarbon blowing agent. The blend of ethoxylated polyethylene oxide and copolymer of polystyrene and maleic anhydride provides a water vapor permeability of 1.1 perm inch or greater in the extruded foam product and increases the average cell size of the foam product without detrimentally affecting physical or thermal properties of the product. Additionally, the additive acts as a cell enlarger, a water vapor permeability enhancer, a plasticizer, and a processing aid. A method of forming an extruded foam product is also provided.
US08323786B2
The invention provides a lightweight cement panel which achieves light weight, high strength, and durability, is free of degraded strength or deformation due to water absorption or fluctuation of ambient temperature, etc., provides satisfactory processing capabilities including nailing, etc. and can be used as a concrete formwork panel, floor material, wall material, ceiling material, and others of architectural structures.A panel proper 2 is formed by a porous compact 8 produced by filling, curing, and solidifying a mixture prepared by kneading cement, water, reinforcing fibers, and foam obtained by prefoaming a foaming agent in a hermetically sealed cement form block block, contains the reinforcing fibers 7 and foam in a dispersion state in the compact 8, and provides the specific gravity within the range between 0.5 and 1.0. The surface of this panel proper 2 is integrally covered with a surface reinforcing sheet 4 comprising woven cloth or unwoven cloth, and the surface is further integrally covered by a surface protection layer 5.
US08323784B2
Various methods related to the preparation of transparent electrical conductors based on carbon nanotubes having enhanced optical and electrical properties are disclosed. In some embodiments, the methods involve employing carbon nanotubes that have been presorted according to electronic type and/or optical absorbance for use in transparent electrical conductors. Other embodiments involve use of carbon nanotube bundles that have been pre-sorted according to bundle density.
US08323782B2
The present invention relates to a method for forming a stratified cementitious body comprising placing a cementitious slurry comprising a cementitious binder, to form the body in a single pour and curing the slurry to form a stratified cementitious body. The method may also comprise the steps of mixing a cementitious binder and at least one aggregate material with water to form a slurry, pouring the slurry into a mold, allowing the slurry to stratify into layers under the influence of gravitational forces and/or buoyancy forces, optionally applying vibrations to the slurry to encourage the slurry to stratify into layers, and curing the slurry to form a stratified cementitious body.
US08323778B2
An environmentally resilient building product of a vinyl laminated formed-sheet metallic substrate wherein the vinyl laminate is adhesively attached to the formed-sheet metallic substrate to provide a durable and attractive surface. Possible decorative and resilient surfaces include, but are not limited to solid colors, metallic finishes, and graphical images or patterns, all available in a variety of textures.
US08323776B2
A method of fabricating a composite ferrite sheet including the steps of: (a) forming a grooved green ferrite sheet having a non-intersecting grid pattern by pressing a groove forming die including a plurality of first protrusions and a plurality of second protrusions having a triangular cross sectional shape, each protrusion of at least one of the plurality of first protrusions and the plurality of second protrusions being discontinuous at each imaginary intersecting portion at which extension lines of the respective first and second protrusions intersect each other, (b) firing the grooved ferrite green sheet to obtain a sintered ferrite sheet, (c) bonding at least one supporting sheet to at least one of opposite major surfaces of the sintered ferrite sheet, and (d) rupturing the sintered ferrite sheet along the grooves into a multiplicity of separate and independent rectangular planar ferrite segments which are bonded to the supporting sheet.
US08323767B2
A honeycomb structure includes at least one a honeycomb unit having a longitudinal direction. The at least one honeycomb unit includes a SOx occluding agent, inorganic particles, an inorganic binder, and partition walls extending along the longitudinal direction to define plural through-holes. A relationship 5X+30≦Y≦5X+45 (about 1.0≦X≦about 2.5) is satisfied, wherein a content of the SOx occluding agent in the partition walls is expressed by X (mol/L) and a porosity of the at least one honeycomb unit is expressed by Y (%).
US08323765B2
An interlocking sheet profile connector comprises a first and a second connecting profile. The first connecting profile includes a base attached to the first sheet pile wall element, a neck strip projecting from the base and a head strip of larger cross section on the free end of the neck strip. The second connecting profile possesses a base attached to a second sheet pile wall element and a claw strip to secure a head strip. The head strip of the first connecting profile is thus configured both to secure the claw strip of a sheet pile as a sheet pile wall element and to secure the claw strip of the second connecting profile, while the claw strip of the second connecting profile serves both to secure the head strip of a sheet pile as a sheet pile wall element and to secure the head strip of the first connecting profile.
US08323760B2
Biodegradable endoprostheses are formed from amorphous polymers having desirable biodegradation characteristics. The strength of such amorphous polymers is enhanced by annealing to increase crystallinity without substantially increasing the biodegradation time.
US08323759B2
A long life balloon formed from a lamination. The lamination includes a polyester film with a total thickness of 4 μm to 12 μm. The polyester film includes a biaxially oriented polyester core layer and at least one amorphous copolyester skin layer. The lamination also includes a sealant layer and a gas barrier layer on an opposite side of the polyester film from the sealant layer. The oxygen transmission rate of the balloon is less than 0.1 cc/100 sqin/day, a bonding strength of the gas barrier layer to the surface of the polyester film is more than 300 g/in at dry conditions, a sealing strength of the balloon is more than 3.5 kg/in, and a floating time of the balloon is more than 20 days.
US08323753B2
Disclosed are methods for deposition of a chemical compound or element using an atmospheric pressure glow discharge plasma in a treatment space comprising two electrodes connected to a power supply for providing electrical power during an on-time (ton). The treatment space is filled with a gas composition of an active and an inert gas mixture, including a precursor of the chemical compound or element to be deposited. Dust formation is prevented by using Nitrogen in the gas composition, applying short pulses and using a predetermined residence time of the gas composition in the treatment space. Best results are obtained when using a stabilized plasma.
US08323740B2
A process for producing preshrunk hardwood floors. The process comprises the steps of selecting untreated hardwood flooring having a predetermined thickness and a predetermined width and then placing such untreated hardwood flooring in a drying kiln. Another step is operating the drying kiln for a predetermined time at a predetermined temperature in order to remove moisture from the hardwood flooring and then determining one of the moisture remaining in the hardwood flooring or the moisture that was lost during the operation of the drying kiln. Another step is removing the hardwood flooring that was dried in the drying kiln in the previous steps. This is followed by sealing the pores of the hardwood flooring, while the wood is still hot, that was kiln dried in the previous steps, with a sealer.
US08323738B2
Provided are a coated cutting tool having excellent wear resistance and excellent resistance to chipping as well as excellent fracture resistance such that the coated cutting tool is unlikely to cause backward movement of the tool edge position due to wear or chipping, and a method for producing the same.A coated cutting tool comprising a base material having a surface coated with a coating film, wherein the coating film comprises at least one layer comprised of a TiCN columnar crystal film, wherein the TiCN columnar crystal film has an average grain size of 0.05 to 0.5 μm, as measured in the direction parallel to the surface of the base material, and exhibits an X-ray diffraction pattern having a peak at a diffraction angle 2θ in the range of from 121.5 to 122.6° wherein the peak is ascribed to the (422) crystal facet of the TiCN columnar crystal as measured using CuKα radiation.
US08323734B2
A Fabry-Perot filter is applied as a thin coating on a film, for example, a packaging film, and permits interesting color effects. The coating has a layered construction in which both reflecting layers of the filter may be made of aluminum and the intermediate layer between the reflecting layers may be made of aluminum oxide.
US08323728B2
A method for making an article comprising a multilayered structure comprising a series of magnetic layers is provided. The method includes providing a substrate and depositing a series of magnetic layers on the substrate and disposing insulating layers between successive magnetic layers. Each magnetic layer has a thickness of at least about 2 micrometers and magnetic material has an average grain size less than 200 nm.
US08323722B2
The present invention provides polymeric substrates comprising a biocompatible coating and methods of preparation thereof. In particular, the coating may be a ceramic material, especially a calcium phosphate material, which may be functionally graded. The invention provides the ability to apply high quality coatings to polymeric substrates without damaging the substrate (e.g., melting the polymeric material). The functionally graded coating can provide crystalline calcium phosphate near the coating interface with the substrate and provide amorphous calcium phosphate at the outer surface of the coating.
US08323713B1
An apparatus to make home carbonated aqueous solutions using commercial low cost screw capped disposable pressurizable beverage containers. The apparatus including screw capped bottles with barbed fittings and flexible tubing and a manifold connection to connect the reservoir bottles with the reactor bottle and the receiver bottle. Valves or pinch clamps, tubing connectors and a pressure relief valve are used. Yeast and a fermentable carbohydrate and water are mixed together in one disposable reactor bottle. The carbon dioxide emanating from the disposable reactor bottle is fed into two or more disposable reservoir bottles such that the carbon dioxide is separated from the yeast, sugar, water, and fermentation alcohols. A pressure relief valve is placed on tubing whose internal pressure is derived from the reactor bottle to prevent unsafe pressures from occurring within in the system. A pressure indicator shows when the system is properly pressurized. A chilled water-containing solution in a disposable receiver bottle to which flavors may be added is connected to the reservoir bottle(s) when the proper pressure has been achieved. The receiver bottle has adequate gas head space to allow the bottle contents to be shaken, hastening the dissolving of the carbon dioxide into the water.
US08323699B2
In a method of manufacturing a skin care cream containing baked shell powder, highly calcium-containing shells such as dead shells or pearls is baked and crushed to fine powder to obtain baked shell powder. Then, the obtained baked shell powder is added to mix with a raw material for manufacturing cosmetic cream.
US08323695B2
The present invention relates to a process for stabilizing phenylephrine including drying an acidic solution of phenylephrine and pharmaceutical compositions including stabilized phenylephrine.
US08323693B2
There is provided an external preparation for wounds which has novel usability in treating skin damages accompanied by a large amount of exudation such as bedsores, skin ulcers, and burns, and yet has such advantages as observed in conventional medicines having been employed in treating these wounds. The external preparation for wounds comprises a water-soluble polymer and a crosslinking agent, and has powdery/granular or ointment form. After absorbing an exudation, the preparation undergoes phase transition from a sol to a gel by the action of ingredient of the preparation, and thus exhibits actions of adsorbing and eliminating necrotic tissues, and protecting the wounded parts. Subsequently, it can continuously absorb the exudation. After being used, it can be easily separated substantially as a mass, thereby exhibiting high therapeutic effects and usability.
US08323685B2
Methods for processing microparticles involve providing a composition comprising a plurality of solid microparticles and at least one non-volatile material, providing a non-solvent, and exposing the composition to the non-solvent to remove at least a portion of the non-volatile material from the composition while retaining at least the microparticles.
US08323683B2
A chewing gum comprising at least one active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) with a core onto which is applied at least one inner polymer film coating and thereafter onto which is applied at least one outer hard coating. A preferred API is nicotine. Flavoring agents may be incorporated in the core, in the at least one inner polymer film coating and/or in the at least one outer hard coating. The gums formed exhibit a long lasting effect of flavoring agent(s) and result in the domination of flavoring agents in the coating(s) over flavoring agent(s) in the core, thereby (a) avoiding problems of chemical or pharmaceutical incompatibility between an API in the core and flavoring agent(s) in the coating(s) and (b) achieving an increased control of the release of the API and of non-active excipients.
US08323675B2
A soft tissue prosthesis for repairing a defect of an abdominal wall or a pelvic cavity wall, comprising: a three-dimensional mesh sheet comprising at least two types of yarn interlooped or intertwined to define at least two layers, wherein one of the at least two layers is substantially non-biodegradable and porous to allow for tissue ingrowth and another of the at least two layers is substantially biodegradable; and an adhesion barrier in the form of a film, foam or gel, the adhesion barrier polymerized to, and entrapping therein, at least some of the yarns of the substantially biodegradable layer, the substantially biodegradable layer making a connection between the adhesion barrier and the substantially non-biodegradable layer to decrease the likelihood of delamination therefrom, the adhesion barrier being an external layer on a first side of the prosthesis and the substantially non-biodegradable layer being an external layer on the side of the prosthesis opposite the first side, the substantially biodegradable layer being positioned between the substantially non-biodegradable layer and the adhesion barrier.
US08323674B2
A biocide composition, comprising 2-methylisothiazolin-3-one as a biocidal active ingredient and at least one further biocidal active ingredient, as an additive to materials capable of being attacked by harmful microorganisms, wherein the composition comprises a pyrithione as the further biocidal active ingredient.
US08323671B2
The present disclosure relates to HIF-1α prolyl hydroxylase inhibitors, compositions which comprise the HIF-1α prolyl hydroxylase inhibitors described herein and to methods for controlling, inter alia, Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD), Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), heart failure, ischemia, and anemia.
US08323669B2
[Problems] To provide a novel taxane derivative which can release the medicinal substance in a bioenzyme-independent manner, is expected to have an effective therapeutic efficacy, and has a water-solubility.[Means for Solving Problems] Disclosed is a polymer conjugate of a taxane, which comprises a polymer having a polyethylene glycol moiety and two or more succinic acid monoamide moieties and a taxane, wherein a carboxylate group in the polymer and an alcoholic hydroxyl group in the taxane are bound to each other via an ester bonding.
US08323666B2
A high potency botulinum toxin pharmaceutical composition comprising two excipients (such as albumin and sodium chloride) in a weight to weight ratio of between about 1 and about 100.
US08323665B2
The present invention provides methods to produce toxoid vaccines, such as ricin A chain vaccines, with reduced ability to promote vascular leak syndrome (VLS) and catalytic toxicity associated with various proteinaceous toxins, such as ribosome inactivating proteins. The invention also provides toxoids which have been mutated to lack amino acid sequences which induce VLS and toxic catalytic activity.
US08323664B2
A strain of Francisella species wherein a gene which encodes for part of the glutamate metabolic pathway has been inactivated, and which is able to produce a protective immune response in an animal, for use as live prophylactic or therapeutic vaccine against infection by said Francisella species. Particularly effective strains include those where the capB gene is deleted. Other embodiments of the invention describe strains which comprise a further genetic mutation wherein a gene which encodes for another component of the cell is also inactivated. Pharmaceutical compositions comprising said strains, together with methods which utilize such strains are also described and claimed.
US08323662B1
Materials and methods useful for generating highly mannosylated pseudotyped lentiviral vector particles comprising a Vpx protein are provided. More specifically, methods for generating such materials include culturing in a culture medium including kifunensine a virus packaging cell with a lentiviral vector genome including a polynucleotide encoding an exogenous antigen, a polynucleotide encoding a Sindbis E2 glycoprotein that preferentially binds dendritic cells expressing DC-SIGN, and a polynucleotide encoding a Vpx protein or a Vpr protein that retains SAMHD1-inhibiting activity, followed by isolating a pseudotyped lentiviral vector particle that preferentially binds dendritic cells expressing DC-SIGN.
US08323657B2
This invention provides a new tumor antigen having an epitope that induces a Th1 cell (a CD4-positive T cell specific to MAGE-A4), and a method ot application thereof.
US08323656B2
A dipeptide antigen determinant is disclosed where haptenic Cit and Cys residues are connected by means of a peptide bond having the formula III: where A is —NH2, B is —O—, D is —NH—, F is —NHCO—, or —NR—, where R is hydrogen or acyl, G is —CONH—, or —COOR, wherein R is alkyl, E is (CH2)n′, wherein n′ is an integer from 1 to 6, S is —SH, or —SS—, on the condition that free thiol (SH) of Cys is crosslinked by a disulfide bond to another Cys. The antigen determinant reacts sensitively and specifically with serum autoantibodies present in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) which is useful for diagnosing or treating RA.
US08323650B2
The invention relates to a monoclonal antibody or derivative or fragment thereof that is derived from a parental monoclonal antibody, that recognizes the Lewis Y antigen, characterized in that the Fc region or region equivalent to the Fc region of said antibody or derivative or fragment thereof carries a bi-sected hybrid type N-glycosylation pattern and that said antibody shows at least 10 fold increased ADCC and at least 10% reduced CDC activity.
US08323645B2
Antibodies and antigen-binding fragments of antibodies that bind OV064 are disclosed. The antibodies bind an extracellular domain of OV064. Some of the antibodies and antigen-binding fragments bind an epitope on OV064 sufficient to induce internalization. In some embodiments, the antibodies are humanized, chimeric or human. Nucleic acids and vectors encoding the antibodies or portions thereof, recombinant cells that contain the nucleic acids, and compositions comprising the antibodies or antigen-binding fragments are also disclosed. The invention also provides therapeutic and diagnostic methods utilizing the antibodies and antigen-binding fragments provided herein.
US08323627B2
A compound of the formula (I): where m is an integer equal to 0 or 1, and p is an integer equal to 0, 1, 2 or 3. A method for preparing the compound of the formula (I), and the use thereof as a skin lightening agent. A cosmetic composition and a drug containing the compound of the formula (I).
US08323616B2
The invention provides a process for the production of an 18F-labelled tracer which comprises treatment of a solid support-bound precursor of formula (I) SOLID SUPPORT-LINKER-X-TRACER (I) wherein X is a group which promotes nucleophilic substitution at a specific site on the attached TRACER and the TRACER is of formula (A).
US08323607B2
A carbon nanotube structure includes a number of carbon wires and a number of second carbon nanotubes. Each of the carbon nanotube wires includes a number of first carbon nanotubes joined end to end by the carbon-carbon bonds therebetween. The carbon wires and the carbon nanotubes are joined by van der Waals attractive force therebetween.
US08323602B2
Carbon monoxide (CO) may be removed from flue gas generated by oxyfuel combustion of a hydrocarbon or carbonaceous fuel, by contacting the flue gas, or a CO-containing gas derived therefrom, at a first elevated temperature, e.g. at least 80° C., and at a first elevated pressure, e.g. at least 2 bar (0.2 MPa), with at least one catalyst bed comprising a CO-oxidation catalyst in the presence of oxygen (O2) to convert CO to carbon dioxide and produce carbon dioxide-enriched gas. The carbon dioxide produced from the CO may be recovered from the carbon dioxide-enriched gas using conventional carbon dioxide recovery techniques. NO in the flue gas may also be oxidized to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and removed using conventional NO2 removal techniques, or may be reduced in the presence of a reducing gas to nitrogen (N2) which does not have to be removed from the gas.
US08323591B2
One exemplary embodiment can be a method of fabricating a mixing chamber in a hydroprocessing reactor. The method can include providing a first section forming an opening and coupling a second section including a sidewall to the first section. The second section forms a flange for coupling the mixing chamber and facilitating the mixing of one or more fluids.
US08323588B2
A sample handling device (100) for handling a sample, the sample handling device (100) comprising a drive shaft (101) being drivable by a drive unit (102), a base plate (103) mounted to follow a motion of the drive shaft (101) when being driven by the drive unit (102), wherein the base plate (103) is configured to receive a sample carrier block (104) mountable to follow a motion of the base plate (103), and a compensation weight (105, 106) mounted asymmetrically on the drive shaft (101) in a manner to at least partially compensate an unbalanced mass of the sample handling device (100) during the motion.
US08323581B2
The apparatus includes at least two adsorptive separation zones to separate para-xylene from a feed stream comprising C8 aromatic hydrocarbons and at least one C9 aromatic hydrocarbon component. The first adsorptive separation zone delivers a raffinate stream to a raffinate distillation zone and an extract stream to an extract distillation zone. The raffinate distillation zone delivers a stream to the second adsorptive separation zone and at least one of the extract distillation zone and raffinate distillation zone delivers a recycle stream to the first adsorptive separation zone.
US08323557B2
A method for manufacturing a honeycomb structure includes molding a ceramic raw material to manufacture at least one honeycomb molded body having a plurality of cell walls to define cells. First cells and third cells are filled with plug material paste at first end portions and at third portions, respectively, to form first plugs. The at least one honeycomb molded body is fired to manufacture at least one honeycomb fired body. The at least one honeycomb fired body is cut along a plane substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction to create a second end face side of the at least one honeycomb fired body. Second end portions of second cells are filled with plug material paste. The plug material paste in the second end portions is solidified through heating to form second plugs. A honeycomb block including at least one honeycomb fired body is produced.
US08323555B2
A container forming assembly and method includes receiving a parison within a cavity of a mold, enclosing the parison within the mold having a wall with a recess, inflating the parison in the mold to form a blow molded container where the blow molded container has a sidewall, a movable region formed at the recess, and a hinge circumscribing an interface between the sidewall and the movable region, and moving the movable region toward an interior of the blow molded container about the hinge before filling. Furthermore, a method for forming a container includes receiving a parison, enclosing the parison with a mold that includes a cavity, and inflating the parison in said mold to form a blow molded container with a moveable region at the cavity. The method further includes repositioning the moveable region before filling the blow molded container.
US08323552B2
A method for forming a clay slab includes providing a frame, a first panel supported on the frame in a vertical orientation and a second panel supported on the frame in a vertical orientation, with the first panel and the second panel defining a gap therebetween. The method further includes positioning a block of clay adjacent the gap defined by the first panel and the second panel, moving at least one of the first panel and the second panel from an initial position to an intermediate position to draw the block of clay between the first panel and the second panel and thereby form the clay slab, and moving at least one of the first panel and the second panel from the intermediate position back to the initial position to withdraw the clay slab from between the first panel and the second panel.
US08323547B2
Disclosed in the present invention are a microporous polyethylene film and a method of manufacture thereof. The polyethylene microporous film manufactured according to the present invention may contribute to an increased productivity of stable products as its extrusion and stretching may be done readily. And thus manufactured product may be used for battery separators and various filters owing to its high gas permeability, superior puncture strength, and small ratio of shrinkage.
US08323523B2
A method of bevel edge processing a semiconductor in a bevel plasma processing chamber in which the semiconductor substrate is supported on a semiconductor substrate support is provided. The method comprises evacuating the bevel etcher to a pressure of 3 to 100 Torr and maintaining RF voltage under a threshold value; flowing a process gas into the bevel plasma processing chamber; energizing the process gas into a plasma at a periphery of the semiconductor substrate; and bevel processing the semiconductor substrate with the plasma.
US08323520B2
According to a first aspect of the invention, a method for manufacturing a concave-convex pattern includes the steps of heating a sheet-like member, compressively bonding the sheet-like member, removing the sheet-like member after the compressively bonding, and transferring a pattern shape of a reverse concave-convex pattern layer to a surface of the substrate. The sheet-like member has a concave-convex pattern block on at least one of surfaces thereof, and is given flowability thereto by heating. The reverse concave-convex pattern layer is formed on the one of the surfaces, and continues over two or more concaves of the concave-convex pattern block so that the reverse concave-convex pattern layer meshes at least partially with the concave-convex pattern block. At least the reverse concave-convex pattern layer is left on the substrate. Here, the one of the surfaces has the concave-convex pattern block.
US08323513B2
A process for dewatering biomass material comprising polysaccharide and water. The process comprises wetting the biomass material with a wetting composition comprising an alcohol to form a biomass slurry comprising wetted biomass material and a liquid component, mechanically separating a portion of the liquid component from the biomass slurry, and mechanically separating at least a portion of the water from the wetted biomass material. A process for extracting polysaccharide from the biomass material and a dewatered biomass material are also disclosed.
US08323512B2
A method of and an apparatus for continuous sub-critical water decomposition treatment for material to be processed containing solid matter are provided, which are capable of controlling decomposition reaction of the material to be processed and suitable for large-scale operations. The method and the apparatus are also capable of minimizing equipment costs and selectively producing desired useful substances at high yield rates.Material to be processed is grinded in advance into particles, which are mixed with water to prepare slurry. The slurry is sent to a compressing device (1) through a pipe and is compressed. Next, the compressed slurry is sent to a heating device 2 and heated, and is brought into a sub-critical state. The slurry in a sub-critical condition is introduced through an inlet (8) into a bottom part of a reactor (3). In the reactor (3) a fixed bed, a fluidized bed, and a sub-critical water dissolution part are formed in that order from the bottom. One(s) of outlets (101) to 106 provided at top and side portions of the reactor 3 is/are selected so that the sub-critical water dissolution part is taken out therethrough, whereby the residence time of the sub-critical water is adjusted and thus the reaction time of sub-critical water decomposition of the material to be processed is adjusted.
US08323510B2
Methods and systems for heavy metal separation and recovery from heavy metal-containing sludge or wastes. The method utilizes ultrasonic treatment assisted acid leaching process to separate and recover different heavy metals from multi metals-containing sludge. The technique can be cost effectively implemented for heavy metal separation and purification processes in the real world at industrial scales.
US08323499B1
Biologically treated wastewater is directed as mixed liquor from a treatment tank to a downstream filtration tank having a having a submerged membrane module extending across the cross-sectional area of the filtration tank. Mixed liquor is directed from the bottom of the filtration tank upwardly into the membrane module such that substantially all of the mixed liquor received in the bottom of the filtration tank flows through the membrane module. A permeate stream is produced. A portion of a non-permeate stream is recirculated to the treatment tank. The filtration tank is sized such that there is no substantial recycle of mixed liquor in the filtration tank. Once the mixed liquor in the filtration tank makes one pass through the membrane module the mixed liquor is recycled to the treatment tank and generally not permitted to be recycled through the membrane module without first returning to the treatment tank.
US08323489B2
A method for removing immiscible fluid from contaminated water includes at least one chamber; an injection line in fluid communication with an inlet of the one chamber; bubble generation means in fluid communication with the injection line for injecting gas bubbles into the injection line and allowing mixing in the injection line of the gas bubbles and the contaminated water to form an inlet fluid; an inlet weir within the chamber adjacent the inlet; an immiscible fluid weir within the chamber; a trough for collecting the immiscible fluid and allowing the immiscible fluid to flow out of the at least one chamber through an immiscible fluid outlet; and a cleaned water outlet generally at the bottom of the chamber.
US08323488B2
Embodiments in accordance with the present invention relate to packed-column nano-liquid chromatography (nano-LC) systems integrated on-chip, and methods for producing and using same. The microfabricated chip includes a column, flits/filters, an injector, and a detector, fabricated in a process compatible with those conventionally utilized to form integrated circuits. The column can be packed with supports for various different stationary phases to allow performance of different forms of nano-LC, including but not limited to reversed-phase, normal-phase, adsorption, size-exclusion, affinity, and ion chromatography. A cross-channel injector injects a nanolitre/picolitre-volume sample plug at the column inlet. An electrochemical/conductivity sensor integrated at the column outlet measures separation signals. A self-aligned channel-strengthening technique increases pressure rating of the microfluidic system, allowing it to withstand the high pressure normally used in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). On-chip sample injection, separation, and detection of mixture of anions in water is successfully demonstrated using ion-exchange nano-LC.
US08323487B2
A method for producing a nitrite type nitrification-reactive sludge includes the step of subjecting an activated sludge to alkali treatment so that the pH of the activated sludge containing at least the ammonium oxidizing bacteria and nitrite oxidizing bacteria can be 10 or higher, in order to accumulate ammonium oxidizing bacteria with higher priority in the activated sludge.
US08323476B2
Systems and processes for the hydroprocessing of a hydrocarbonaceous feed are provided that utilize a plurality of moving bed reactors. The reactors may be moving bed radial flow reactors. A hydrogen injection point can be provided prior to each reactor by providing a mixer that mixes hydrogen with a hydrocarbonaceous feed, or with the effluent stream from an upstream reactor, to produce a reactor feed stream. Catalyst can be provided from the reaction zone of one reactor to the reaction zone of a downstream reactor through catalyst transfer pipes, and can be regenerated after passing through the reaction zones of the reactors. The moving bed reactors can be stacked in one or more reactor stacks.
US08323475B2
A system for operating at least first and second amperometric sensors includes a cartridge and a control device. The cartridge includes a first amperometric sensor and a second amperometric sensor. The first amperometric sensor is in fluid flow communication with a liquid sample inlet and includes a first electrode. The second amperometric sensor is in fluid flow communication with a liquid sample and includes a second electrode. The control device sets the first and second electrodes to about the same potential such that the first and second amperometric sensors can be operated simultaneously.
US08323468B2
A crown ether derivative that acts as cation capturing ligand and alkanethiol having a longer carbon chain than a linker are immobilized, coexisting together, on the surface of a gold electrode, by using as the linker an insulating molecule (e.g., alkanethiol) that forms self-assembled monolayers. Electromotive force produced in association with cation coordination is measured by a potentiometer through a change in interfacial potential on the surface of the gold electrode. Further, an insulated gate field effect transistor formed on the same substrate as the gold electrode is used as the potentiometer. Furthermore, a straight-chain polymer physically adsorbed on the gold electrode is used in order to reduce the influence of the adsorption of impurities on the surface of the electrode during biological sample measurement.
US08323465B2
A three-dimensionally ordered macroporous sensor apparatus and method of forming the same. A direct opal film associated with a number of pores can be formed by vertical deposition of one or more nanospheres on a glass substrate. The thickness of the direct opal film can be controlled by concentration of the nanospheres. A mixture of a precursor/monomer of a sensing material and a complexing agent can be filled into the pores associated with the direct opal film, such that the mixture permeates the interstitial spaces between the pores. The nanospheres may then be removed in order to form a three dimensionally-ordered macroporous electrode with an inverse opal structure. Optionally, the sensing material can be coated on an inverse opal backbone structure formed from an external inactive material and utilizing a coating operation.
US08323453B2
The present invention relates to a method for the combination of at least two plies of tissue paper without glue and by pressure marking, characterized in that it involves embossing at least one first ply according to an embossing design by passage between a first cylinder and a second cylinder covered externally with a rubber blanket, then combining at least one second ply with the first ply by causing both plies to pass between the first engraved steel cylinder of axis CC′ and at least one first series of small externally smooth coaxial cylinders of axis XX′. Both plies are then passed between the first cylinder and a second series of small externally smooth coaxial cylinders of axis YY′, the axes of CC′, XX′; and YY′ being horizontal and parallel. The invention also includes the apparatus for carrying out the disclosed method.
US08323451B2
A system and a method for self-aligned dual patterning are described. The system includes a platform for supporting a plurality of process chambers. An etch process chamber coupled to the platform. An ultra-violet radiation photo-resist curing process chamber is also coupled to the platform.
US08323448B2
A two-part type adhesive composition which comprises a first composition comprising (A) a nitrile butadiene rubber having an acrylonitrile content of from 10 to 30%, (B) a polymerizable (meth)acrylic liquid composition, (C) an organic peroxide and (D) a basic compound having an amine structure, and a second composition comprising (E) a reaction condensate of an amine and an aldehyde and (F) a reducing agent containing copper, is provided. In a preferred embodiment, the first composition also contains a photopolymerization initiator. A bonding method using the adhesive composition provides high adhesion and quick curing properties on the second time scale, and a high retention in durability on a high temperature and high humidity test.
US08323442B2
A cover tape for use with a carrier tape, where the cover tape includes at least one tear-initiation feature that defines a predetermined direction of tear to initiate a tear along portions of the cover tape.
US08323440B2
A process for making a plurality of hip, ridge or rake shingles, and the shingles produced thereby and stacks and packages of such shingles are provided.An adhesive impregnated mat is moved longitudinally, and granules are provided onto adhesive, in predetermined bands. An overlay band of adhesive, continuous or discontinuous is provided, with granules thereon, increasing the thickness of the shingle material being made, in predetermined bands, relative to the remainder of the shingle material. The shingle material is slit longitudinally, and one portion can be laminated to another portion, preferably creating a multiple-ply laminated shingle material with thickened overlay portions and optionally with shadow line portions. The material is then slit longitudinally, and cut transversely into a plurality of hip, ridge or rake shingles, which may be individually separated from each other, or which may comprise a plurality of connected together shingles. The shingles are then stacked and wrapped.
US08323437B2
A method and apparatus for the continuous production of a multiaxial laid scrim web (2) using at least one uniaxial laid scrim (4, 5), which is wound about a winding apparatus (3) for producing a substantially tubular multiaxial laid scrim (8). In order to provide a method that allows a multiaxial laid scrim web (2) to be produced in higher quality with higher speed, it is proposed according to the invention to apply the uniaxial laid scrim (4, 5) onto the winding apparatus (3) at least with portions of its surface and thereby transport it continuously through the winding apparatus into a feeding apparatus.
US08323432B2
A catheter basically has a catheter shaft in which a catheter tip of which is provided with a joint made of a material which is more flexible than the material of the catheter shaft. The joint is disposed between the distal end of the catheter shaft and the distal end of the catheter tip. The front end consists of a material being the same or more rigid than that of the catheter shaft.
US08323430B2
The invention relates to a method for the provision of activated temperature-sensitive and/or time-sensitive indicators for product marking. A first variant is characterized by the activation of an indicator and the subsequent application of a protective filter to the indicator, with the indicator being conveyed along an activation device and along a protective filter application unit subsequent to it in the conveying direction.A second variant is characterized by the activation of an indicator already provided with a protective filter.The invention furthermore relates to apparatus for the carrying out of the named methods as well as to a product marking which was manufactured in accordance with the methods in accordance with the invention.
US08323423B2
The present invention is directed to a method for protecting metal surfaces in oil & gas exploration and production, refinery and petrochemical process applications subject to solid particulate erosion at temperatures of up to 1000° C. The method includes the step of providing the metal surfaces in such applications with a hot erosion resistant cermet lining or insert, wherein the cermet lining or insert includes a) about 30 to about 95 vol % of a ceramic phase, and b) a metal binder phase, wherein the cermet lining or insert has a HEAT erosion resistance index of at least 5.0 and a K1C fracture toughness of at least 7.0 MPa-m1/2. The metal surfaces may also be provided with a hot erosion resistant cermet coating having a HEAT erosion resistance index of at least 5.0.
US08323421B2
An automatic cleaning system for solar panels has a time controller, a detection device, a perfusion device, a driving device and a cleaning device. Based on predetermined time values, execution signals are sent to the perfusion device, the driving device and the detection device to implement prompt assessment of the need for cleaning and cleaning, if warranted. Also provided is an automatic cleaning method using the system.
US08323417B2
A method of treatment for inhibiting sulfur-based corrosion or scaling or for removing scaling from a surface including inhibiting corrosion caused by sulfur-containing materials, reducing corrosion caused by sulfur-containing materials, inhibiting scaling caused by sulfur-containing materials in gas, liquid or solid phase or any combination of multiple phases of materials, reducing scaling caused by sulfur-containing materials, and removing scaling caused by sulfur-containing materials. The method involves contacting sulfur-containing materials with a composition containing a turpentine liquid. The method also involves contacting corrodible surfaces or surfaces prone to scaling with a composition containing a turpentine liquid.
US08323413B2
A susceptor and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including the same are provided. A wafer is loaded on a susceptor and the susceptor includes at least one pocket whose bottom surface is inclined. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a reaction chamber, a heating unit that generates heat in the reaction chamber, a susceptor on which a wafer is loaded and that includes at least one pocket whose bottom surface is inclined, and a rotation shaft coupled with the susceptor.
US08323412B2
A substrate support for supporting a substrate in a processing chamber comprises a frame for carrying the substrate, at least a first fastening means fixedly attached to the frame for aligning the substrate relative to the frame, and at least a second fastening means movably attached to the frame, the second fastening means being movable relative to the frame and/or the substrate. Furthermore, a processing device comprises an edge exclusion projecting over a portion of the surface of the substrate in order to prevent processing of the portion of the surface of the substrate. A part of the edge exclusion may be moved into a gap between the edge(s) of the substrate and the frame element of the substrate support to form a labyrinth seal between the frame element and the edge of the substrate. A method of placing the substrate on the substrate support is also disclosed.
US08323394B2
The present invention provides a functionally dry warm mix asphalt binder composition modified with lubricating agents or additives that can be mixed with aggregate and compacted at temperatures substantially below asphalt binder compositions that do not contain the disclosed lubricating additives.
US08323392B2
In a composition comprising an oil-in-oil emulsion containing a first oil phase dispersed as liquid droplets in a continuous second oil phase, which liquid droplets have a number median diameter of about 1 μm to 10 μm, the liquid droplets are substantially covered with a layer of relatively smaller hydrophobically surfaced solid particles as a result of controlling the size and size distribution of the liquid droplets. The first oil phase optionally further comprises colorant and/or polymer. Also disclosed is a method for making such oil-in-oil emulsions.
US08323389B2
An air scrubber for removing oils and contaminates from air has an underside inlet for the introduction of contaminated air. The contaminated air passes through a reduced aperture passageway which prevents retrograde flow of contaminates or cleaning fluids contained in the scrubber. The contaminated air is thereafter directed upwards through a scrub reservoir having a plurality of apertures, such that the contaminated air passing through the apertures forms jets which cause interaction between the cleaning fluid and the contaminates, thereby creating droplets containing cleaning fluid with entrapped contaminates, and cleaned air. The droplets and air are directed to a mist eliminator having a plurality of chevron V structures which capture the droplets and return them to the main reservoir. A circulating pump moves cleaning fluid from the main reservoir to an upper reservoir which spills into the cleaning reservoir.
US08323382B2
A black water treatment system for a flow of black water. The black water treatment system may include one or more non-vacuum flash drums and a scrub-cooler. The scrub-cooler may include a water pathway with a nitrogen tube and a flow of nitrogen therein.
US08323381B2
A two phase reactor includes a source of liquid reactant and a source of gas reactant. A chamber has an inlet coupled to the source of gas reactant and a flat jet nozzle coupled to the source of the liquid reactant.
US08323380B2
Systems and methods for producing an ozone destructor are disclosed herein. Generally, these systems and methods include an ozone destructor that has a housing defining an air passage duct. In some cases, this air passage duct includes a first chamber and a second chamber that are arranged so that air is able to flow into the first chamber, through the second chamber, and out of the destructor. In some cases, an air drying mechanism is disposed in the first and/or the second chamber. Additionally, in some cases, the ozone destructor further includes multiple mechanisms that reduce ozone to oxygen. In light of these features, the ozone destructor is capable of incrementally drying and reducing air and ozone, respectively, as they pass through the first chamber and the second chamber.
US08323376B2
The present invention describes a method of recycling lead from lead containing waste, the method comprising the steps of mixing the battery paste with aqueous citric acid solution so as to generate lead citrate; isolating lead citrate from the aqueous solution; and converting the lead citrate to lead and/or lead oxide.
US08323375B2
The present invention relates to a method of operating a converter, in particular a Peirce-Smith converter or a converter with similar design or mode of operation, and to an apparatus, for instance a plant, for carrying out the method. The method comprises the step of: loading the converter with a starting material comprising said metal, the metal in the starting material being chemically bound at least in part to at least one compound substance, in particular sulphur; maintaining a temperature within the converter interior space, which is above the melting temperature of the starting material; and supplying an oxygen-containing process gas into the converter interior space through injection nozzles arranged in the wall of the converter, the gas supplied through the injection nozzles comprising carbon dioxide, preferably very cold, technically pure carbon dioxide, as well as oxygen gas and/or air.
US08323370B2
The invention has a captive tooless fastener for securing the engine intake air filter. The tooless fastener comprises shaft and associated bodies. The body has two arms oriented about 180 degrees apart. The shaft is threaded through a sealing washer and an aperture in a closed end cap of the air filter. The shaft is expanded so it cannot be removed from the end cap. The body's threaded inner diameter mates with a threaded portion of a central shaft in an air filter housing. The body's arms are rotated to screw the fastener and the shaft of the housing together. When tightened, the sealing washer closes the aperture. To remove the air filter, the fastener is unscrewed from the shaft of the housing and in the shaft floats in the aperture. A person in the field can remove the air filter by inserting fingers under the arms and pulling.
US08323358B2
The present invention refers to a red-dyeing acid dye mixture comprising a dye of the formula (I) and at least one dye of the formula (II) a process for its manufacturing and a process for dyeing and printing of natural or synthetic polyamide fiber material in which it used.
US08323355B2
Anchoring system for a cable-activated prosthetic or orthotic device includes a fastener comprising a base and a clasp-engaging member, wherein the fastener further comprises an adhesive to secure the base directly to skin of a wearer; and a clasp comprising a first end configured to engage and rotate about the clasp-engaging member and a second end configured to engage the activation cable of a prosthetic or orthotic device. Also included is a prosthetic or orthotic system that includes the anchoring system in combination with a prosthetic or orthotic device comprising an activation cable and a terminal device, wherein the activation cable comprises a first end operatively coupled to the terminal device and a second end engaged with the second end of the clasp.
US08323351B2
The self-expanding plastic stent is a resilient plastic stent with such expansional strength that a small diameter delivery system may be used to implant the stent, thereby minimizing possible complications for the patient. The stent is made from a braided monofilament, which may be polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyetherketone (PEK), polyetherketoneketone (PEKK), polyaryletherketone (PAEK), polyetherketoneether-ketoneketone (PEKEKK), or any blends and alloys of these particular resins. The plastic stent may or may not be covered with polymer film. When used, the polymer film includes materials based on polyurethanes, silicones, or materials that biodegrade or erode in the body. Specifically the biodegradable materials might include poly-L-lactide, poly-D-lactide, polyglycolide, ε-caprolactone (epsilon-caprolactone), starch, and collagen or its polymer blends, alloys or copolymers. This material is heat-treated. The monofilament preferably has a diameter of 0.2-0.7 mm. The self-expanding plastic stent demonstrates better mechanical features, processibility, and shape memory.
US08323330B2
A stent having a compacted configuration in which adjacent crowns of its undulating rings overlap one another. The overlapping compacted configuration provides for a relatively low profile in view of the coverage that is achieved by the stent upon expansion.
US08323329B2
Stents and methods of manufacturing a stents with enhanced fracture toughness are disclosed.
US08323328B2
A stent-graft including a stent member having an inner surface and an outer surface, a generally tubular graft member and a coupling member that couples the stent member to the graft member. The coupling member, which is the preferred embodiment is in the form of a ribbon, covers only a portion of the inner or outer surface of the stent member and secures the stent member and graft member to one another. Alternatively, the coupling member can be described as interconnecting less than entirely the inner or outer surface of the graft member to the stent member. With this construction, regions of the stent member do not interfere with the coupling member. Shear stresses between the stent member and the coupling member and the risk of tearing the graft or coupling member or delamination therebetween may be reduced as compared to a fully enveloped stent member. This construction also provides improved flexibility and kink resistance.
US08323322B2
Medical implants are formed at least in part from porous metal wherein the pores of the metal are filled with a hardenable material. The hardenable material can be used to assist in the manufacture of the implant, permitting detailed machining of the implant. Further, the hardenable material can be a resorbable material that strengthens the implant during implantation but is resorbed, once implanted, to permit bone growth and infiltration. Further, in an alternate embodiment, the hardenable material can be a thermoplastic material that can be heated by ultrasonic energy to create an adhesive bond between a fastener and bone structure.
US08323315B2
A device for locking a suture in place without the need for tying knots once the suture is placed within tissue is provided. The device comprises an anchor having a cannula and a locking mechanism for securing the suture within the cannula.
US08323314B2
An electrosurgical system is provided and comprises a fastening device including a cartridge configured to retain a plurality of fasteners therein and an anvil configured to form the plurality of fasteners; a plurality of surgical fasteners loaded in the cartridge, at least one of the fasteners includes a backspan, a pair of legs depending from the backspan, and at least one contact pad fabricated from an electrically conductive material on the backspan, wherein at least one of the pair of legs is configured to contact the at least one contact pad upon a formation thereof; and an indicating circuit associated with the fasteners, the indicating circuit including an electrical conduit in electrical contact with the at least one contact pad, wherein the indicating circuit includes an energy source and an indicator, wherein the indicator activates upon one of a proper and improper formation of the fasteners.
US08323313B1
Apparatus for closing a surgical incision include a base having left and right panels, a force distribution structure coupled to each panel, and a closure component which releasably attaches to the force distribution structure to draw the inner edges of the panels together in order to close adhered tissue edges. The force distribution structures allow the inner edges of the panels to expand while restraining expansion of the outer edges of the panels and limiting elongation of the lateral dimension of the panels. The incision closure apparatus may be placed on skin or other tissue prior to forming the incision to be available to close said incision at the end of the surgical procedure.
US08323309B2
Disclosed is an adjustable occlusion device for use in a body lumen such as the left atrial appendage. The occlusion device is removably carried by a deployment catheter. The device may be enlarged or reduced to facilitate optimal placement or removal. Methods are also disclosed.
US08323291B2
A partial aiming device for targeting an arthroscopic operation site for a medical intervention has a circularly arcuate element and with a first, radially extending aiming rod which can be moved along the circularly arcuate element. It is proposed that on the circularly arcuate element there is a connecting device by means of which a medical instrument with a shaft can be connected to the partial aiming device in such a way that the shaft is orientated as a second aiming rod that extends radially towards the first aiming rod.
US08323287B2
A method of, and apparatus for, arthroplasty of a knee joint comprising obtaining a desired spacing of the femur from the tibia by inserting a spacer into the knee joint between the femur and the tibia. The spacer is used as a reference for securing a guide jig in position about the knee joint for guiding resection of one or both of the femur and tibia for fitting of tibial and/or femoral prostheses. A method of resecting the femur while moving the tibia through an arc of motion to remove bone to the desired depth, a method of determining the position of the guide jig, the guide jog, an alignment device and the spacer are also described.
US08323278B2
A medical device for performing a surgical procedure may include an elongate member having a proximal end, a distal end, and a lumen extending therebetween. The medical device may also include a handle connected to the proximal end of the elongate member, an end effector assembly connected to the distal end of the elongate member, and a cutting device configured to extend from the end effector assembly, wherein the cutting device has a retracted configuration in which the cutting device is withdrawn into the end effector assembly and a deployed configuration in which the cutting device extends from the end effector assembly.
US08323272B2
A medical device implant made with a shape-memory material is originally produced in a “permanent” configuration. The implant is then “programmed” into a temporary (typically smaller sized) configuration to facilitate implantation, after which, an external stimulus activates the implant to return to its permanent configuration. Apparatus and methods include inserting a first portion of the implant into an aperture of a compression fixture base, heating the implant, and then driving and compressing the remaining portion of the implant, which has a different, typically larger profile than that of the first portion, into the aperture with a compression fixture cover to “program” the remaining portion. The resulting programmed implant has first and remaining portions that have identical, or substantially identical, profiles.
US08323266B2
A fluid delivery device for transdermal delivery of a fluid to a patient. The device comprises an envelope that may be applied to a patient's skin. The envelope comprises at least one diffusion layer coupled to at least one impermeable layer such that at least a chamber is defined therebetween. Other embodiments include internal diffusion layers, and thus possess additional chambers, as well. In one arrangement, an adhesive boundary layer permits the device to be removably secured to a patient and inhibits radial migration of fluid beyond the periphery of the device. In another arrangement, preferably, an anti-microbial layer is provided to inhibit the growth of microorganisms.
US08323263B2
A system for perfusion management that monitors, maintains, diagnoses, or treats perfusion deficiencies.
US08323251B2
Needle covers are provided for medical needle assemblies having a base and a cannula. The needle cover includes hub and cap portions. The hub portion is adapted to be secured to the base. The cap portion is adapted to substantially enclose at least a distal end of the cannula when the hub portion is secured to the base. The cap portion includes at least one generally outwardly extending wing having an outer edge and an enlarged rib extending along only a portion of the outer edge of the wing and only in a direction substantially parallel to a central axis defined by the cap portion. The cap portion is separable from the hub portion upon application of a torsional force, with the rib of the wing being thicker than the portion of the wing radially inward of the outer edge to assist gripping during application of such force.
US08323250B2
Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to patches for medical devices. In various embodiments, an adhesive patch of a medical device may have selective areas with adhesive material of varying adhesion strengths. In other embodiments, an adhesive patch of a medical device may include adhesive material that may be activated by a catalyst to increase or decrease the adhesion strength of the adhesive material. In further embodiments, a medical device may include a pierceable membrane containing an agent, the pierceable membrane positioned to be pierced by a needle and to cause some of the agent to be carried to the user-patient.
US08323249B2
An integrated vascular delivery system having a frame configured to receive a catheter insertable in a patient to deliver fluid at an insertion site. The frame includes a first hub, a second hub, and a pair of flexible lateral members extending between the hubs and including a tubular lateral member. The system also includes a fluidic channel that fluidically communicates with the catheter, wherein the fluidic channel passes through the tubular lateral member and at least one of the hubs, and includes a fixed turnabout portion in which fluid flows in a direction different from that within the catheter. The first and second hubs provide anchoring points on the patient distributed around the insertion site and on opposite ends of the catheter, thereby anchoring the frame to the patient and stabilizing the catheter. A method is provided for using an integrated vascular delivery system.
US08323238B2
A medical injector is provided herein which includes first and second body portions rotatably coupled together; a displaceable plunger disposed in at least one of the first and second body portions; a spring disposed to advance the plunger; and, a releasable retainer for retaining the plunger in a first portion against force of the spring. The releasable retainer releases the plunger upon a predetermined extent of relative rotation between the first and second body portions, thus allowing the spring to advance the plunger. Advantageously, the subject invention provides a medical injector having an automated plunger drive which is triggered upon rotation of injector body portions, thereby minimizing premature or failed activations.
US08323235B2
A liner for use with a breast pump has an outer flange portion and a longitudinal portion extending outward from the outer flange portion. The outer flange portion has a first noncircular opening therein for receiving at least a portion of a breast including a nipple. The longitudinal portion has a second opening and a tubular passageway between the first noncircular opening and the second opening for allowing milk expressed from the breast received in the liner to pass through the liner. The outer flange portion is generally planar and adapted to engage a portion of the breast surrounding the nipple during use of the breast cup. The liner is configured for movement between an opened configuration of the noncircular opening and a collapsed configuration of the noncircular opening.
US08323234B2
The medication delivery device is designed to receive a replaceable medication container and to determine an adjusted medication dose AD for each medication container received if the amount of medication contained in the medication container is not a multiple of a prescribed dose D. The adjusted medication dose is the dose to be delivered instead of the prescribed dose at each use of the medication delivery device with the medication container received. The adjusted dose is determined by selecting one of a first dose, that is higher than the prescribed dose, and of a second dose, that is lower than the prescribed dose, as a function of a variable B that cumulates the values nAD·(AD−D), where nAD is equal to INT(Cont/AD) and Cont is the amount of medication in the medication container received.
US08323232B2
An instrument with a two-part plunger for subcutaneous implantation is provided. An incising body defines a non-circular coaxial bore and includes a cutting edge formed on a distal end. A two-part plunger is non-fixedly contained within the coaxial bore and includes a tongue blade assembly and a plunger assembly. The tongue blade assembly is provided on a bottom surface of the coaxial bore and includes a tongue blade shaft and a thin tongue blade with a sharpened clearing edge on a distal end. The tongue blade assembly has a length exceeding the coaxial bore. The plunger assembly has a length exceeding the coaxial bore and includes a plunger shaft and a plunger affixed on a distal end. The plunger is slidably positioned on a top surface of the tongue blade.
US08323229B2
A balloon type stent system for treatment of obesity is disclosed. An injection expansion unit and a plurality of distribution expansion units extend in a longitudinal direction of a stent unit body formed by coupling two sheets of synthetic vinyl in the shape of a cylinder. The injection expansion unit has an expansion agent injection port, and the distribution expansion units each have a distribution injection port communicating with a distribution channel. Connection ends are partially cut in the longitudinal direction such that the expansion units are divided into an integrated expansion unit and a separated expansion unit. The injection expansion unit and the distribution expansion units constituting the separated expansion unit are bent outward to form a balloon type stent unit. A tube has a length corresponding to a lumen length of the duodenum, and the tube is connected to the stent unit body by a connection wire.
US08323225B2
A toe extroversion correction device includes a support portion integrally formed and made of a soft material, a first toe sheath portion disposed on a lateral side of the support portion, a second toe sheath portion disposed on another lateral side of the support portion, and a protection pad portion protruded from a lateral side of the first toe sheath portion, such that the first toe sheath portion is sheathed on big toe, and the second toe sheath portion is sheathed on the second toe, and the support portion is clipped between the big toe and the second toe to produce an action force to push away the big toe, and the protection pad portion can be attached onto an internal side of a first toe joint of the big toe to prevent the protruding first toe joint of the extroverted big toe from being rubbed with a shoe.
US08323223B1
A wedge-shaped multiple drop traction (MDT) apparatus percussively moves at low frequencies and through displacement great enough to induce discontinuous displacement between adjacent cervical vertebrae. The MDT rests on a fixed surface beneath a patient's shoulders. A head traction applicator applies a traction force to a patient's head, and preferably a cushion is provided under the patient's head. The MDT has a motive power source mounted on a static base plate. The motive power source turns an eccentric shaft carrying bearings thereupon, and these bearings are coupled through contact pads to a vibrating plate that is pivotal with respect to the static base plate. Cushions couple the vibrating plate to the patient's back, and yet leave the spinal column unsupported and also displaced from direct contact with the vibrating plate. Additional synergy is obtained with smaller amplitude vibration therapy applied simultaneously to the cervical vertebrae region.
US08323220B2
A medical ultrasound apparatus and associated methods of use is disclosed enabling a relatively non-invasive or minimally invasive method to treat skin or tissue. The apparatus is constructed from an ultrasound tip mechanically coupled to a shaft. The shaft is mechanical coupled to an ultrasound transducer driven by an ultrasound generator. The ultrasound tip possesses at least one radial surface, a cavity, or some other form of a hollowed out area, within at least one of the radial surfaces, and a non-metallic sheath covering portions of the tip so that only the sheath and not the tip would normally contact the patient's skin. The disclosed method of treating spider, reticular or small varicose veins with the apparatus can be practiced by contacting the sheath with the patient's epidermal skin layers and delivering ultrasonic energy released from the various surfaces of the vibrating tip to the skin and/or tissue through direct contact and/or with a coupling fluid focused from a cavity.
US08323211B2
A sexually transmitted infection (STI) sampling device includes an elongated shaft that defines a first end separated from a second end, and an absorbent sampler coupled to one of the first and second ends. The absorbent sampler includes an absorbent core disposed on a longitudinal axis of the elongated shaft, and a plurality of fibers extending from the absorbent core. The plurality of fibers is configured to exfoliate and capture cells from a tissue surface of a patient, and the absorbent core is configured to absorb exfoliated cells not captured by the fibers.
US08323210B2
Fine needle arrangement for taking a sample of cells from suspicious lesions by using fine needle aspiration (FNA) technique, including a tubular needle member (1), a storage compartment (2) enclosing a chamber, and a coupling (3) to which a connector may be attached. The chamber is configured with a gradually increasing cross-sectional area from the distal part of the chamber to the proximal part of the chamber, such that the chamber has no residual spaces where cell samples may be trapped, and that an efficient air streaming is achieved.
US08323200B2
A PSK modulator 20 applies digital modulation processing to an RF wave supplied from an RF wave oscillator 22, by means of phase shift keying (PSK) based on a periodical signal sequence supplied from a pattern generator 24, to thereby generate a continuous wave. The continuous wave output from the PSK modulator 20 is delayed in delay circuits 26I and 26Q and is then supplied, as a reference signal, to each of mixers of a receiving mixer 30. Each of the delay circuits 26I and 26Q delays the continuous wave by a delay amount in accordance with a depth of a target position and outputs a delayed reference signal. Thus, demodulation processing is performed with a correlation between a reception signal from the target position and the reference signal being enhanced, and Doppler information from the target position is selectively extracted by a Doppler information analyzing unit 44.
US08323189B2
A heart monitoring system for a person includes one or more wireless nodes; and a wearable appliance in communication with the one or more wireless nodes, the appliance monitoring vital signs.
US08323185B2
A surgical access device assembly that allows access to a pathology being treated while significantly reducing the risk of damaging anatomical structures proximate the pathology. The access device assembly includes a base portion having a central bore extending therethrough, and retractor blades pivotably mounted to the base portion. An insertion handle is coupled to the base portion to thread the retractor blades into the patient. The insertion handle is removed from the base portion, and a core hollow screw is threaded into the base portion to separate the retractor blades to gain access to the pathology through the hollow screw.
US08323184B2
A surgical portal assembly includes a portal member adapted for positioning within a tissue tract and defining a longitudinal axis with leading and trailing ends. The portal member includes at least one longitudinal port for passage of an object. The portal member comprises a compressible material adapted to transition between a first expanded condition to facilitate securing of the portal within the tissue tract and in substantial sealed relation with tissue surfaces defining the tissue tract, and a second compressed condition to facilitate at least partial insertion of the portal within the tissue tract. The portal assembly also includes an elongated member extending through the at least one longitudinal port and mechanically couplable to the portal member adjacent the leading end thereof. The elongated member is adapted to move through the at least one longitudinal port in a trailing direction to exert a compressive force at least adjacent the leading end to cause the portal member to transition toward the compressed condition.
US08323166B2
The present invention relates to a multi-functional pharmaceutical package surface and a method of preparing a multi-functional pharmaceutical package surface. In particular, the present invention relates to a pharmaceutical package having a protein deterrent and lubricious surface and methods of preparing said surface by applying coatings directly to the pharmaceutical package that (a) reduce the adsorption of proteins onto pharmaceutical packaging while not affecting the activity of the protein solution and (b) provide a lubricious surface. The pharmaceutical package surface may also contain a barrier coating. Coatings can be deposited on a variety of pharmaceutical packaging materials and configurations by various methods.
US08323160B2
An exercise device is disclosed having at least a base, first and second knee supports which are bilaterally coupled to first and second pivots located off from the center of the base. Independently rotatable knee pads are coupled to the perimeter-side end of the first and second knee supports arranged around a perimeter of the base. An upper extremity support is coupled to the base, and a first base supporting member is positioned at a rear of the base and a second base supporting member is positioned at a front of the base, wherein at least one of an inclination and elevation of the base is determined by adjustment of the base supporting members, wherein the first and second knee supports move around different arcs to generate an elliptical motion for an individual.
US08323146B2
The present invention provides a control device for a vehicular drive apparatus with a structure of enabling the suppression of gearshift shock occurring during concurrent shifting executed of a first shifting portion and a second shifting portion. When the concurrent shifting are executed around the same time in which a down shift in one of a differential portion (first shifting portion) and an automatic shifting portion (second shifting portion) and an upshift in the other of them are executed, a first electric motor is caused to control a rotation speed of a second rotary element (sun gear). Thus, a shifting progress state upon the concurrent shifting is controlled. This causes shifting directions i.e., variation of the engine rotation speed in shifting of a shifting mechanism to be set in a unidirectional, enabling the suppression of gearshift shock.
US08323139B2
A vehicle drive device includes a case with a case main body portion accommodating the speed change mechanism, and a connection case portion connecting the engine and the case main body portion and having a diameter increased toward the engine; a hydraulic pressure control device that is provided under the speed change mechanism, and controls a hydraulic pressure to be supplied to the speed change mechanism; and an electric pump that generates the hydraulic pressure to be supplied to the speed change mechanism through the hydraulic pressure control device.
US08323137B2
A hydraulic tensioning element for a traction mechanism drive having a cylinder, having an axially movable piston which is guided in the cylinder, a spring element which is arranged between the cylinder and the piston, a pressure space which is formed in the cylinder, and a reservoir, which is formed in the piston, for hydraulic fluid. A valve permits an exchange of the hydraulic fluid between the pressure space and the reservoir as a function of an actuating movement of the piston. The cylinder (2) has a flanged portion (17) which reduces a size of its opening, and a free end of the piston (4) has formed on it an annular section (16) with a diameter which is larger than the piston diameter.
US08323135B2
The hollow plunger of a hydraulic tensioner for an engine timing chain protrudes from a tensioner housing in an oblique downward direction. An inner sleeve fixed to the housing slidably protrudes into the interior of the plunger, and has a ball check valve at its protruding end. Oil is supplied though the sleeve and the check valve to a high pressure oil chamber formed inside the plunger, and flows outward through a two-part leakage path formed by a gap between the sleeve and the interior of the plunger and a gap between the exterior of the plunger and an interior wall of a plunger-accommodating hole in the housing. Any air that enters the tensioner accumulates in a region surrounding the upper end of the sleeve, rather than in the high oil pressure chamber inside the plunger.
US08323132B2
A tracking apparatus for securing a transmitting device onto a target game animal. The tracking apparatus engages with a target and separates the apparatus from the arrow. The apparatus includes a transmitting device for transmitting a signal to a receiving device; a stopping component for detaching the tracking apparatus from the arrow after the arrow collides with the target; and a securing component for securing the tracking apparatus to the target, said securing component including barbs angled towards the rear of the arrow for stopping rebound motion of the tracking apparatus after the arrow collides with the target. In one embodiment, the barbs are reinforced with reinforcing arms. In another embodiment, the securing component includes a torsion spring. In another embodiment, the stopping component includes one or more wings with a front edge facing the front of the arrow that is relatively perpendicular to the axis of the arrow.
US08323127B2
A sports training device is worn by the trainee for developing skill and minimizing risk of injury in pitching, passing, swinging, kicking, and other such sports-related body movements. An illustrative embodiment includes an anchor member adapted for wear on the torso of a trainee, a first tension device coupled between a trainee's arm and the anchor member, and a second tension device coupled between a trainee's leg and the anchor member. The first tension device may include a bendable rod and elastic cord, the bendable rod selectively rotatable to adjust the rod and cord relative to a trainee's shoulder.
US08323125B2
A tee for use with a golf ball. It includes a first leg, a second leg, and a third leg, joined at a hub, each leg having an end that is coplanar to form a terrain plane with the ends of corresponding legs. It also has a first ball support; a second ball support; and a third ball support, extending from the hub, wherein each ball support has an end that is coplanar to the ends of the corresponding ball supports in a ball support plane The ball support plane may be within a few degrees of parallel to the terrain plane.
US08323120B2
A golf training method and device having at least one flat surface and an annular surface, wherein the annular surface is configured to receive contact with a golf club and the flat surface is configured to contact the surface on which the device is disposed. The device may have a radius greater than the height. The device may be sized to have the diameter of a standard regulation golf ball, and a height approximately 0.25 inches to require the user to swing within 0.25 inches precision in order to hit the training device. The device maybe made from a soft, resilient material suitable for use indoors.
US08323119B2
A tee-off golfing mat which includes an upper layer and which positions the upper layer on a distance D from a reference layer. The upper layer of the golfing mat provides a platform for teeing-off a golfing ball. At least a part of the upper layer, when exerting a force on the mat during teeing-off, is resilient in height direction of the golfing mat. The resiliency of the golfing mat is caused by magnetic forces.
US08323117B2
A wheel bearing device, a method of assembling a wheel bearing device, an assembly configured by the wheel bearing device and a drive shaft, and a method of assembling the assembly, in which the wheel bearing device eliminates a nut tightening operation, is capable of reducing costs, and has a projection and recess mating structure that can firmly connect an outer joint member and a hub. Axial direction load is applied to a stepped surface is provided on an outer diameter surface of an outer joint member. A projection that extends in the axial direction and is provided on one of a stem shaft of the outer joint member and an inner diameter surface of a hole section of a hub is press-fitted into a partner member along the axial direction, As a result, a recess that is in close contact with the projection over an overall mating contact area is formed in the partner member, thereby configuring a projection and recess mating structure.
US08323109B2
A method, gaming machine and gaming system is described that provides for session information monitoring. Session information is formed by monitoring play of a game by a player on a gaming machine. At the option of the player of the gaming machine the session information is either combined with session information from another gaming machine, or is not combined.
US08323108B1
An electronic apparatus that allows for the connection of a pair of bass drum pedals to a single controller further comprises an electronic circuit housed within an enclosure and provided with two (2) input jacks to allow connection of two (2) standard bass drum pedals from the drum controller used in the video game ROCK BAND® (video game). An output cable is then provided for connection to the drum controller. The electronic circuit accepts the switch closure connections from either pedal and uses an array of electronic components to drive a relay which produces a contact closure. This contact closure is then used to feed the controller. The electronic circuit eliminates the collision and cancellation effects associated with simply combining the pedal closures in parallel. In such a manner, a videogame player can generate a greater number of bass drum pedal actuations in a given period of time by using both feet.
US08323098B2
A gaming machine includes an operation unit that is operated by a player, a game mode switching unit that switches a game mode, and a game control unit that controls a game based on the game mode. The game mode switching unit switches, based on the operation via the operation unit, a game mode between an insured mode where a compensation function works to compensate for a loss and an uninsured mode where the compensation function does not work.
US08323095B2
A method for playing a game with a gaming machine is provided, which includes the steps of: (a) receiving a signal indicating an instruction of starting a game; (b) starting the game; (c) executing the game; (d) displaying a plurality of symbols on a display device; (e) each time a predetermined symbol or a predetermined combination of symbols is displayed on the display device as a result of the game, adding a predetermined point; (f) increasing a winning probability for a specific combination of symbols according to the point cumulatively added in step (e); and (g) if the specific combination of symbols is displayed on the display device, paying an award corresponding to the specific combination of symbols.
US08323093B2
An enhanced gaming system utilizes a touch panel as a user control device for game play features which provides users with the enhanced flexibility and interactivity of a video gaming device in a gaming device environment. The enhanced gaming system includes a set of reels, a panel, and a user control device. The panel overlays a set of reels. The set of reels are visible through at least one portion of the panel. The user control interface includes a substantially transparent touch panel overlaying the reels. In one embodiment, the user control interface enables a user control of reel spin direction in correspondence with direction in which the touch panel is touched by the user. In another aspect, the user control interface enables a user control of reel spin speed in correspondence with the speed in which the user touches the touch panel.
US08323084B2
The present invention provides a gaming system that can allow a game to be appropriately advanced even by an inexperienced dealer by way of navigating the dealer in game advancement, thereby allowing fraud to be avoided and cost to be reduced. A gaming system 1 gives an instruction to a dealer by operating indicators of card placement areas in which a card is to be placed based on a game advancement program. When a card is placed in a predetermined card placement area, the gaming system 1 reads at least one face of the card being placed by image input devices and determines whether the card is placed in a right place and a right orientation and whether the card is appropriate. After that the abovementioned processing is repeated for a predetermined number of times, a score is calculated based on image data and finally a game result is output.
US08323082B2
A game device which executes a baseball game where a batter character hits a ball object that is pitched by a pitcher character stores, for each batter character, first evaluation information showing an evaluation of battering power in each segment showing a region within a strike zone, and displays the region of the strike zone corresponding to respective segments after increasing transparency, as divergence from the first reference data of the first evaluation information increases, based on the first evaluation information of the batter character at bat.
US08323076B1
A plastic backing plate for cut-off wheels is herein disclosed, comprising a plastic circular plate which is placed directly behind or under an abrasive cut-off wheel. It is held in place by the wheel and the center nut that is typically used to secure only the cut-off wheel. During use, the backing plate helps to stabilize the cut-off wheel and maintain its shape while turning, thereby providing a more precise and accurate cut. Additionally, since a smaller amount of material is being removed, more material is left behind to perform additional welding on or other machining operations. Also, the life of the cut-off wheel is extended as well, since a reduced amount of cutting is taking place.
US08323074B2
A brake disk braking surface processing device 1 includes a rotation driving device 11 that rotates a brake disk 2, a processing section 12 that processes braking surfaces 4 and 5 of the brake disk 2, and pressing rollers 13 and 14 that press the braking surfaces 4 and 5 of the brake disk 2. The brake disk braking surface processing device 1 includes the pressing rollers 13 and 14 that press the braking surfaces 4 and 5 of the brake disk 2. Therefore, even when tools are pressed against the braking surfaces 4 and 5 in a direction perpendicular to the braking surfaces 4 and 5, deformation of the braking surfaces 4 and 5 of the brake disk 2 can be suppressed with certainty. As a result, processing accuracy of the braking surfaces 4 and 5 of the brake disk 2 can be enhanced.
US08323072B1
A method of polishing transparent armor, preferably to optical clarity. The method can be used on flat or contoured armor, manually or via robotic automation. The method includes using a step-wise progression of diamond, structured abrasive articles.
US08323068B2
A user interface for a virtual world includes a circular area forming a display for an item in the virtual world, and controls surrounding only a portion of the display for controlling that item.
US08323063B2
A surface drive that includes a shaft housing; a propeller; a propeller shaft that passes through the shaft housing with the propeller mounted at an end of the propeller shaft; and mounted to the shaft housing is at least one of a container, wherein a self-locking or automatic locking pitch change mechanism that is configured to adjust a propeller blade of the propeller is partially located in the container, or a propeller ventilation unit that is configured to direct exhaust gas to or away from the propeller based on a travel condition of the surface drive.
US08323057B2
A receptacle connector, comprising a housing, a tongue unit, a first terminal set, a second terminal set, a third terminal set and a shield. The housing comprises a base and an assembly slot on the base. The tongue unit is assembled in the assembly slot and includes a main body and an enhanced wall. The main body has a plug in part placed on the front and back and an assembly part combined with the assembly slot. The enhanced wall is located between the plug in part and the assembly part. Each of the first terminals may have a first contact part that exposes the upper surface of the main body and a first fixed part that extends backward from the first contact part and whose front section is disposed within the main body and whose rear section bends and is disposed within the enhanced wall.
US08323055B2
A cable assembly includes a coaxial cable and a plug-in connector. The cable has inner and outer conductors and an insulation layer between the conductors. The connector has first and second tubular components. The first tubular component is inserted between the insulation layer and the outer conductor at a free end section of the cable and the second tubular component is connected to the first tubular component and encloses the outer conductor whereby the plug-in connector is connected to the cable. The second tubular component forms a sleeve that opens toward the free end section of the cable.
US08323047B2
An extension cordset assembly includes a receptacle and a sealing gasket. The receptacle includes a receptacle main body, a receptacle connecting interface and first and second spade mating holes extending into the receptacle main body from the receptacle connecting interface. The receptacle is configured to mate with a plug having a standard spade configuration. The sealing gasket is positioned on the receptacle connecting interface and includes first and second spade openings aligned with the first and second spade mating holes, respectively. The sealing gasket is configured to provide a water-resistant seal between the receptacle and the plug.
US08323046B1
A ganged electrical connection system includes a plurality of first connectors matable to a plurality of second connectors along mating axes, and a connector position assurance (CPA) member. The CPA member includes a plurality of tabs and a plurality of release fingers. The plurality of first connectors include a plurality of lock arms and the plurality of second connectors include a plurality of inclined ramps. The plurality of tabs receive the plurality of lock arms and the plurality of inclined ramps deflectingly engage said plurality of release fingers to allow movement of the CPA member in to a position of the CPA member, that when disposed in the position, keeps the plurality of second connectors from unmating from the plurality of coupled first connectors. Methods of fabricating an electrical connection system and a ganged electrical connection system that include the CPA member are also presented.
US08323039B2
The invention concerns a contact element (10) with a sliding contact element (11) for fitting flush against an electrically conductive rail and a support element (12) for connecting the sliding contact to a contact plug (13), which serves as a connector to an electric conductor, wherein the sliding contact element, the support element, and the contact plug are parts of a molded part which is constructed as a single unit.
US08323029B2
Conductive elastomeric circuits are used in various simulated physiological structures such as tissues and organs, enabling feedback to be provided indicating whether a simulated task is being performed correctly. For example, a surgical trainer has a simulated human tissue structure made of an elastomeric composition, at least one reinforcing layer of a fibrous material, and at least one flexible electrical circuit. The surgical trainer preferably includes multiple areas for practicing surgical skills, each with evaluation circuits for providing feedback regarding that skill. Conductive elastomers are also incorporated into other types of medical training simulators, to similarly provide feedback. In another embodiment, a simulated organ has a conductive elastomeric circuit in the periphery of the simulated organ, enabling feedback to be provided to evaluate whether a person is properly manipulating the organ in response to a manual applied pressure.
US08323023B2
A method for providing orthodontic therapy. The method includes the steps of providing a kit that includes an enclosure and tools and components for providing orthodontic therapy using braces to a single patient, applying the braces to the single patient's teeth using the tools, placing the tools back into the kit, storing the kit, and reusing the kit at all of the single patient's subsequent visits during the term of the orthodontic therapy.
US08323015B2
The invention relates to an apparatus adapted to deliver a fat based confectionery product on demand, in a foodservice or household environment, which exhibits play value and enhanced decorative attributes. The apparatus of the invention comprises barrel means for receiving a predetermined amount of fat based confectionery material, a pressure engaging means for engaging under pressure the fat based confectionery material contained in the barrel means. The apparatus further comprises die means arranged for producing at least one elongated strand of the fat based confectionery product of a surface-area-to-mass ratio that is higher than 8.0 cm2 per gram unit, and control means for actuating the pressure engaging means with the barrel means upon the push of a button and for extruding the at least one strand of the fat based confectionery.
US08323011B2
A method of manufacturing a rotor to be used in a dual-rotor lobe pump system for pumping a material at a periodic rate is provided. The method includes selecting a desired periodic flow rate for the material, selecting a number of lobes for the rotor, and selecting either a thickness of the rotor or a spacing between the dual-rotors' axes of rotation in the lobe pump. The method also includes determining the profile for the rotor based on the desired periodic flow rate, so that when the rotor is operated within the dual-rotor lobe pump system, the material can be pumped at substantially the desired periodic flow rate. In another embodiment of the invention, a lobe pump rotor profile is formed by the method described above.
US08323000B2
A control method and apparatus for simultaneously protecting a compression system from driver overpowering and turbocompressor surge. When overpowering is detected, flow rate through the each compressor in the turbocompressor train is reduced by closing an inlet throttling valve at the inlet of each respective compressor stage unless a compressor operating point is sufficiently near surge. In this latter case, the inlet throttling valve is not closed. In this way, overall flow rate through the compressor train is reduced while maintaining adequate flow through compromised stages to avoid surge.
US08322995B2
Methods and apparatus are provided for determining pump fillage, using data arrays of pump plunger position with respect to time and/or pump plunger load with respect to time. In this manner, well operators may be able to accurately monitor the pump fillage and control the pump accordingly.
US08322993B2
An osmotic pump comprises a first chamber (8) comprising an osmotically active substance (18), a second chamber (15) arranged to be filled with a solvent (17), and a semi-permeable barrier (14) separating the first chamber (8) from the second chamber (15). The semi-permeable barrier (14) is impermeable to the osmotic active substance and permeable to the solvent (17). The osmotic pump further comprises a pressure device (60) in fluid communication with the second chamber (15), wherein the pressure device (60) is arranged for pressurizing the solvent in the second chamber.
US08322992B2
A method of making a vane assembly for use in a modular wind-driven electrical power generator is disclosed. The method including the steps of: providing an axial shaft; securing a plurality of spaced-apart plates around the shaft, providing plural sheets of bendable material, each sheet for forming a vane; bending each sheet to create a vane; securing the upper and lower sides of each vane between two plates to form the vane assembly, each vane extending radially outward from the shaft so that the shaft is balanced during shaft rotational displacement about the axis, the closed leading side faces a direction of shaft rotation and the open trailing side faces a direction opposite to the direction of shaft rotation; and securing an end cap over each vane outboard end.
US08322991B2
A balance weight adapted to be assembled to a nose cone assembly of a turbine engine for improving a balance of the nose cone assembly is disclosed herein. The balance weight is one-piece and formed from a plurality of different materials including at least first and second materials. The first and second materials are arranged substantially heterogeneously relative to one another such that said first and second materials are separate from one another and fixed together.
US08322987B2
With regard to cooling turbine blades in a gas turbine engine a compromise has to be made between convective cooling within the inner cavity defining a flow path for coolant and the blow rates for developing film cooling on an outer surface of the aerofoil. By providing a chamber between the flow cavity and external apertures reconciliation between the necessary flow rates for convective cooling within the cavity defining the pathway for coolant flow within the aerofoil and the necessary coolant blowing rate for film development can be achieved.
US08322986B2
A method of fabricating a rotor blade is provided. The method includes forming at least one passageway within the rotor blade, wherein the passageway extends substantially radially from a root of the rotor blade to a tip of the rotor blade, and coupling a shroud to the tip of the rotor blade. The shroud includes at least one substantially radially-outward extending wall that at least partially defines an outer plenum that is radially outward from at least the shroud, wherein the outer plenum is in flow communication with the passageway.
US08322982B2
A vane fixing apparatus for removably fixing a vane plate (14) to a web (12) is described. The vane fixing apparatus comprises a mounting bracket (16) attached to the vane plate (14), and a mounting block (20,30) held on the web (12) by at least one fastener (18), wherein the mounting block (20,30) is moveable between a first configuration in which the mounting bracket (16) may engage and disengage the mounting block (20,30) and a second configuration in which the mounting block (20,30) securely retains the mounting bracket (16) relative to the web (12), and wherein the mounting block (20,30) is moveable between the first and second configurations by operation of the fastener (18).
US08322980B2
A cooling system includes a moving rotor system which in turn includes: a rotating disk on which a plurality of heat conducting structures are distributed, the heat conducting structures including an inner arrangement of spiral blades; an air flow generating fan element; and an outer arrangement of heat transfer pins distributed along a perimeter of the rotating disk, the heat transfer pins having a high aspect ratio that maximizes a surface area to footprint area; wherein the spiral blades generate a mass fluid flow of ambient fluid toward the heat transfer pins such that the heat transfer pins are persistently cooled.
US08322973B2
A system for sensing at least one physical characteristic associated with an engine including a turbine having a plurality of blades turning inside a casing, the system including: a pressure sensor coupled substantially adjacent to the casing and including at least one output; a port in the turbine casing for communicating a pressure indicative of a clearance between the blades and casing to the pressure sensor; a cooling cavity substantially surrounding the pressure sensor; and, an inlet for receiving fluid from the engine and feeding the fluid to the cooling cavity to cool the pressure sensor; wherein, the pressure sensor output is indicative of the clearance between the blades and casing.
US08322971B2
A composite material casing of varying thickness, in particular for a gas turbine fan, is made by forming fiber reinforcement and densifying the reinforcement with a matrix. The fiber reinforcement is made by winding superposed layers of a fiber texture onto a mandrel, the texture being made by three-dimensional weaving with varying thickness.
US08322969B1
The front end loader and method of the present invention provides front end loader lift arms that may be removed from an implement, such as a bucket, and secured to the bucket in a cantilevered position for storage of the lift arms. Connections on the implement and lift arms allow the lift arms to be securely interconnected with connections on the bucket without the use of tools or pins so that the center of gravity of the lift arms is above the bucket. The lift arms may then be removed from a utility vehicle. In this storage position, the lift arms are stored and maintained in a secure position so that they may later be easily and quickly reattached to the utility vehicle.
US08322955B2
A radio frequency identification (“RFID”) apparatus includes a housing configured to mate with a channel of an extruded metal mounting system and a flange extending radially outwardly from the housing. The flange is configured to bear upon a lower portion of a channel lip to retain the housing within the channel. In addition, a seat is disposed within the housing to retain an RFID tag and a lock secures the housing at a particular location along the channel.
US08322948B2
A plastic leaching chamber has an arch shape cross section, corrugations, and one or more hollow pillars extending downwardly within the interior of the chamber, to support the top of the chamber when the chamber is under load during use. Chambers nest within one another to form a stack of chambers for transport or storage. Chambers have peak corrugations which are substantially wider than the intervening valley corrugations. Chambers having different widths and profiles have common size connectors.
US08322941B2
A connecting assembly for transmitting torque comprising a shaft journal with an outer annular groove and a hollow shaft with an inner annular groove, wherein, for torque transmitting purposes, the hollow shaft is rotationally fixed to the shaft journal and comprises at least one recess towards the outer circumferential face of the hollow shaft in a partial circumferential region of the inner annular groove. The connecting assembly also includes a radially elastically widenable axial securing ring which is positioned in the outer annular groove of the shaft journal and in the inner annular groove of the hollow shaft, wherein the axial securing ring comprises at least one outwardly projecting projection which is arranged in the at least one recess of the hollow shaft, and securing means which cover the at least one recess and prevent the axial securing ring from being radially widened.
US08322934B2
A drive mechanism (1) of a camera apparatus includes a worm gear (4) to which a rotational driving force of a drive motor (2) is transmitted, a worm wheel (6) around which a helical gear (5) is formed to engage with the worm gear (4), and a support frame (7) which supports the worm wheel (6) rotatably and movably along a rotation axis. A rotational driving force of the worm gear (4) is transmitted to the worm wheel (6) with reduced gear ratio. An externally threaded portion (10) of a shaft portion (8) of the worm wheel (6) is engaged with an internally threaded portion in a supporting hole (14) of the support frame (7), so that the shaft portion (8) moves along the rotation axis when the worm wheel (6) rotates. Consequently, the rotational driving force transmitted to the worm wheel (6) is converted into a linear thrust force along the rotation axis. This makes it possible to provide a camera apparatus which can develop a larger thrust force and adjust an amount of travel more finely.
US08322925B2
A container comprising an absorbent sheet and methods for manufacturing the container are disclosed. The absorbent sheet is attached to the upper part of the container inside in a manner that is readily detachable when needed to clean a contamination or a spill. The absorbent sheet may cover one side to as many as all four sides of the container, have one or more plies, form a continuous sheet or cover any one side as individual sheets, and contain perforations to reduce the likelihood of tearing the sheet upon removal. A method for affixing the absorbent sheet to the container comprises spraying adhesive onto designated areas on the base container sheet and affixing absorbent sheets to the areas containing the adhesive prior to folding the container. In another embodiment, the method comprises spraying the adhesive and affixing the absorbent sheet after the container is folded.
US08322924B2
Disclosed herein is a trash collection and removal system that includes a flexible, foldable heavy-duty dumpster bag configured to engage with specially designed clamps that are secured onto the tines of a front loader truck and that engage with the dumpster bag by means of connecting and receiving pipes.
US08322923B2
A bag has a panel made of film and having an inner face and an outer face and formed with at least two throughgoing and spaced attachment holes. A carry handle has a pair of spaced ends each having an adhesive-coated face engaging the outer face over a respective one of the holes. Respective inner patches each have an adhesive-coated face engaging the inner face over a respective one of the holes and engaged through the respective hole with the end face.
US08322921B2
A detection device is provided for detecting a temperature of an object, especially of a living being. The detection device may be connected to at least one temperature sensor and is designed to send a current for detecting the temperature to the temperature sensor and to receive at least one temperature signal, which represents a temperature of the temperature sensor. The detection device is designed to generate a temperature signal, which represents the temperature of the object, as a function of the temperature signal of the temperature sensor, and to send same on the output side. The detection device is designed to generate a heating current and to send the heating current to the temperature sensor during a heating time period, so that a total current, comprising the current for detecting the temperature and the heating current, is greater than the current for detecting the temperature, and thus to heat the temperature sensor.
US08322918B2
The invention relates to a method for testing of a tempering apparatus, wherein the method comprises the following steps: starting of the method; operation of at least said first tempering device for the duration of at least one first period from at least one first time; detection of at least one measurement temperature from said at least one first temperature measurement device, which is assigned to said first tempering device, at least at a second time; determining at least one first testing quantity of the tempering apparatus by using said at least one measurement temperature; and comparison of said first testing quantity with one reference quantity.
US08322911B2
A method for dispersing a water-soluble polymer includes: metering and prewetting polymer with primary water; grinding and draining of the dispersed polymer in a chamber comprising a rotor and a stator; and providing a ring with perforations fed by a secondary water circuit on all or part of the periphery of the chamber for spraying of pressurized water on the blades of the stator.
US08322908B1
A wall mounted swimming pool venturi jet return line designed to increase water flow for better circulation without effecting the pool pump and filter system. Warm surface water is drawn through a venturi, driving warmer water down to the floor of the swimming pool. Water flow is substantially increased through the venturi jet thus improving water flow throughout the swimming pool. This helps prevent algae growth in poor circulating pools. The return line can rotate in a 360 degree angle, thereby providing multiple benefits and effects. A built-in flange with a locking nut holds the return line in the desired position.
US08322904B2
A backlight unit is provided that may include a plurality of optical assemblies arranged in a matrix form, and a cover to receive the optical assemblies. Each optical assembly may separately include: a light emitting module having a plurality of light emitting devices, a light guide plate, and a cover provided over a portion of the light guide plate. The optical assemblies may include a first optical assembly, a second optical assembly and a third optical assembly. A top surface of the second optical assembly may be spaced from a top surface of the first optical assembly in a first direction by a first interval, and a top surface of the third optical assembly may be spaced from the top surface of the first optical assembly in the second direction by a second interval.
US08322902B2
An optical system for a motor vehicle, the optical system performing at least one main optical function and including in particular a diffusion screen, at least one light source of the LED type, each LED of the optical system producing a set of rays of light to be propagated in the diffusion screen wherein the screen is in the form of a curved sheet, with an upper lateral flange and a lower lateral flange which meet at a periphery which has in particular a rear face and a front edge and the principal function is performed essentially via an output face constituted by the front edge of the diffusion screen.
US08322894B1
A lamp assembly includes a shell wall defining a receiving space that retains a light source therein, and a reflecting unit. The shell wall has a central wall unit and a pair of connecting wall segments. The central wall unit has a base wall segment and a pair of connecting wall segments extending respectively from longitudinal ends of the base wall segment. The extending wall segments extend respectively from side ends of the base wall segment, interconnect the connecting wall segments and cooperate with the connecting wall segments to define an opening in spatial communication with the receiving space. A distance between the distal ends of the connecting wall segments is larger than that between the distal ends of the extending wall segments. The reflecting unit includes convex first reflecting members protruding inwardly from the extending wall segments, and prismatic second reflecting members protruding inwardly from the central wall unit.
US08322892B2
A heat sink is provided. The heat sink may include an open cavity formed by a cavity wall, a cavity bottom wall thereof including a light source region adapted to have a light source mounted thereon and a lateral cavity wall thereof including a reflection region adapted to reflect light emitted from the light source; a heat spreading and dissipation structure covering at least part of an exterior of the heat sink including a bottom region and a lateral region, the heat spreading and dissipation structure including a plurality of vertically aligned fins; an air guidance structure adapted to separate the heat sink from an air flow generator; and at least one mounting column for attaching the heat sink to a lighting device.
US08322891B2
An LED assembly comprising an LED light source positioned between a heat sink and a heat conductive glass element, and at least one hold-down element, such that the hold-down element provides a compressive force to hold the heat conductive glass element against the LED light source, thereby pressing the LED light source against the heat sink. In one example, a ⅛ inch glass element with a surface area of five times the LED diffuser surface area is held over the LED light source by one or more sections of spring wire inserted through holes in the heat sink.
US08322887B2
A lamp having a lighting source, integral electronics, and a thermal distribution mechanism disposed in a housing. The thermal distribution mechanism may include a variety of insulative, radiative, conductive, and convective heat distribution techniques. For example, the lamp may include a thermal shield between the lighting source and the integral electronics. The lamp also may have a forced convection mechanism, such as an air-moving device, disposed adjacent the integral electronics. A heat pipe, a heat sink, or another conductive heat transfer member also may be disposed in thermal communication with one or more of the integral electronics. For example, the integral electronics may be mounted to a thermally conductive board. The housing itself also may be thermally conductive to conductively spread the heat and convect/radiate the heat away from the lamp.
US08322883B2
An illumination device includes a flexible and substantially rod-like member having a predetermined length with a light-receiving surface and a light-emitting surface and an elongated light source extending along and positioned adjacent the light-receiving surface of the rod-like member, such that light entering the rod-like member from the elongated light source and through the light-receiving surface is preferentially scattered, thus causing a light intensity pattern that appears substantially uniform along the light-emitting surface of the rod-like member.
US08322881B1
A light emitting diode (LED) lighting fixture includes a base plate having a front side and a rear side. A plurality of lighting strips is mounted on the front side of the base plate. A reflector is mounted to each of the lighting strips and desirably comprises multi-faceted side walls extending away from the light strip. Driver circuitry and control circuitry are mounted to the base plate, and are electrically coupled to a power supply for powering and controlling the plurality of LEDs. Each of the lighting strips includes a plurality of linearly-arranged LEDs, and each of the light emitting diodes has a diode base and a light emitting portion. The multi-faceted side walls of the reflector cause light produced by the plurality of LEDs to be amplified and formed into a bath or wash of light.
US08322878B2
A linear light-emitting diode (LED)-based solid-state lamp having a double safety mechanism that comprises at least three shock protection switches, fully protects a person from possible electric shock during re-lamping or maintenance. One protection switch provided at each end of the lamp is able to cut off power when the associated end of the lamp is not inserted into the lamp socket. A third protection switch can be used to turn off the power from the AC main for additional shock protection.
US08322876B2
The invention discloses an electric power generating device applied on a wearable object. The electric power generating device comprises a transmission unit, a magnetic permeable member, a magnetic member, a core, and a coil. The transmission unit transfers an external force received by the wearable object to a driving force. The core is configured in the wearable object and has a first end. The coil is coupled to the core. The magnetic permeable member is configured in the wearable object to receive the driving force and move by the driving force. The magnetic member is configured on the magnetic permeable member and near the first end. When the magnetic permeable member pushes the magnetic member to move relatively to the first end through the driving force, the magnetic flux in the core varies to lead the coil to induce an induced electromotive force.
US08322872B2
A tubular structure with an opening defined thereon and having an inner surface and an outer surface. The tubular structure being substantially circular in shape and is made of a highly thermal conductive material. A plurality of light sources mounted on the inner surface of the tubular structure. The inner surface is coated with a diffused white coating. Light emitted from the plurality of light sources is reflected from the inner surface before exiting the tubular structure from the opening. This structure ensures emitting a uniform diffused light and prevents non-uniform illumination when disposed in an imaging forming device.
US08322867B2
A projector apparatus includes a housing having an air inlet and an air outlet, a light source device provided in the housing, an image projection unit provided in the housing and configured to emit an image projection light beam so as to project an image onto a screen, and a cooling device configured to cool the light source device and the image projecting unit. The cooling device includes a cooling passage extending from the air inlet to the air outlet, and a fan configured to suck in outside air from the air inlet and to exhaust the outside air passing through the cooling passage, out of the housing from the air outlet. The air filter section includes a cylindrical filter body, a filter support member configured to support the filter body, and a rotating unit configured to rotate the filter support member.
US08322863B1
An apparatus and a method are disclosed for automated projection image adjustments for a portable projection device. In one embodiment of the invention, the apparatus periodically polls a tilt sensor inside the portable projection device and uses the tilt sensor reading as a key to a lookup table which stores pre-computed visual distortion adjustment values. Furthermore, the apparatus can also poll a distance measurement sensor to measure a distance between a projector lens and a presumed projection surface periodically. The measured distance value can also be used as an additional parameter to the key for the lookup table to retrieve appropriate visual distortion adjustment values which are pre-computed and stored in the lookup table. The fast pre-computed adjustment value retrieval without real-time computation of graphical transformations to correct the visual distortions minimizes processor load, energy consumption, and processing delays for projection image corrections.
US08322859B2
A projector includes: a light source which emits light; a light modulating device which modulates the light emitted from the light source according to image information; an image forming system which forms an image corresponding to the optical image formed by the light modulating device of modulated light which is modulated by the light modulation device at an image forming position; a polarized light emitting unit disposed at the image forming position of the image forming system to selectively convert the polarization direction of a part of entering light; and a projecting device which projects the light from the polarized light emitting unit.
US08322858B2
A camera crane has a telescoping arm on a mobile base. The mobile base has a drive motor assembly at each corner of a chassis. The drive motor assemblies may have an electric motor linked to an axle via gearing, and two or more wheels attached to the axle. The wheels can be set to free wheel, so that the mobile base may be pushed or towed, without back driving the electric motor. The wheels may also be linked to the axle, so that the electric motor can provide torque to each of the wheels. The electric motors may be separately controlled to propel and steer the mobile base.
US08322852B2
The invention provides tinted contact lenses that enhance or change the color of the lens wearer's iris. The lenses of the invention impart a three-dimensional appearance to the pattern by the use of alternating clear and color layers.
US08322851B2
Contact lenses with stabilization zones are designed using mathematical constructs such as Bezier curves and which are subjected to modeling on-eye performance.
US08322839B2
An inkjet recording method including printing an image on a recording medium using an aqueous ink, wherein the recording medium includes a support containing a cellulose pulp, and a coat layer containing a pigment and a binder, and optionally containing a cationic additive in an amount of 0.1% or less in the total amount of the coat layer, which is formed in one or more layers on at least one surface of the support, wherein the recording medium has an outermost layer of the coat layer having a gloss at an angle of 60 degrees in accordance with JIS-ZS-8741 of 13 or less, and a centerline average roughness Ra of 0.2μm to 2.5 μm at a cut-off value of 0.8 and the aqueous ink contains coloring particles, a resin emulsion, water, and a wetting agent, the aqueous ink has a solid content of 3% by mass or more.
US08322834B2
A die-mount substrate for at least one inkjet printhead die, the die-mount substrate includes a die mount surface; an ink receiving surface opposite the die mount surface; at least one latchable projection extending from a first end wall which is disposed between the die mount surface and the ink receiving surface; at least one extension from a second end wall opposite the first end wall; and a plurality of ink passageways extending from the ink receiving surface to the die mount surface.
US08322832B2
An ink management system for supplying or receiving liquid at a controlled pressure, comprising: a closed reservoir; a weir disposed in the reservoir, configured to separate the reservoir into a first and a second chamber; the first chamber having an inlet for receiving liquid from a first remote location; and the weir being disposed such that the level of liquid in the first chamber can be maintained at a constant height; wherein the reservoir is sealed from the surrounding atmosphere and the system further comprises a pumped outlet disposed in the second chamber and arranged to remove liquid and gas contained within the reservoir.
US08322810B2
A printhead assembly is provided having a support member, a plurality of ejection integrated circuits supported by the support member, and a plurality of controllers mounted on respective printed circuit boards supported by the support member. Each ejection integrated circuit has a plurality of ejection nozzles. Each controller is connected to a plurality of the ejection integrated circuits via individual flexible printed circuit boards and to the other controllers. Each controller is configured to control operation of at least 10,000 of the ejection nozzles of the connected ejection integrated circuits.
US08322804B2
Provided is a container mounted on a refrigerator door to be capable of being elevated, where the container can be raised or lowered through a user's manipulation when mounted on the rear of a door.
US08322787B2
A clamping joint for a chair includes a joint coupling a front leg and a rear leg to the seat at an overlap with an inner clamp coupled to the seat and an outer clamp coupled to the inner clamp with the front leg and the rear leg clamped between the inner and outer clamps at the overlap. A finger on one of the inner or outer clamps extends towards the other and disposed between the front and rear legs.
US08322781B2
A hybrid cross bar is provided, such as for supporting a vehicle dash board. The cross bar is supported, directly or indirectly, on at least one body location of the vehicle by a deformation element. The deformation element has a first sub-region enclosed by a plastic encapsulation. A second sub-region of the deformation element has a deformation region outside of the plastic encapsulation.
US08322778B1
A drag reduction device for a trailer comprising a generally U-shaped upstanding wall means having a floor secured to the lower end thereof. The device is secured to the underside of the trailer so that the rearward end of the device is positioned just forwardly of the forward end of the rear wheel assembly of the trailer. In one embodiment, the device is coupled to the slider axle of the trailer so that the device is moved forwardly and rearwardly with the slider axle.
US08322776B2
The automobile vehicle (1) having a bodywork (2) in which a member or panel (W) is mounted and is operationally cleaned without wipers, a frame (3) being associated with its perimeter or contour. The surface of the member or panel (W) which is external in operation is water-repellent. Ejector means (5, 6, A, B) associated with the member or panel (W) comprise: a first plurality of openings or nozzles (A) for the discharge of a liquid provided in the frame (3), oriented towards the external surface of the member or panel (W), a second plurality of openings or nozzles (B) for the discharge of a gaseous fluid also provided in the frame (3) and interspersed with the openings or nozzles (A) of the first plurality, a first manifold duct (5) provided in the frame (3) and communicating with at least part of the liquid discharge openings or nozzles (A), and a second manifold duct (6) provided in the frame (3) and communicating with at least part of the discharge openings or nozzles (B) of the gaseous fluid. The first and second manifold ducts (5, 6) are connected to respective supply devices (10, 14) adapted to supply them with a flow of liquid and a flow of gaseous fluid respectively. The preferably combined action of the jets of liquid and gaseous fluid emitted through the openings or nozzles (A, B) is adapted to cause a turbulent movement of the liquid on the external surface of the member or panel (W) and of the materials which may be incorporated in this liquid.
US08322769B2
A multifunction device to be situated within a central console of a motor vehicle has an instrument panel for receiving one or more elements (e.g., display and/or operating elements), the instrument panel being designed as movable and being transferable from a closed position into an open position, the instrument panel being situated within an opening of the central console in the closed position. Furthermore the central console has a storage element, which is situated outside the field of vision of the vehicle occupants in the closed position of the instrument panel and which is freely accessible to the vehicle occupants in the open position of the instrument pane. It is thus possible to provide a multifunction device to be situated within a central console of a motor vehicle, which is particularly easily reachable for the driver of the motor vehicle and simultaneously can increase the possible useful space within a motor vehicle.
US08322766B1
A gripper applied in a transport mechanism for transporting a wafer is provided. The transport mechanism includes a bar. The gripper includes a fixing member fixed to the bar, and a carrying member. The fixing member includes two grooves adjacent to the bottom of the fixing member. Each groove includes an entrance and a retaining portion. The carrying member includes a notch and a first claw. The notch is located at the top of the carrying member and communicates two opposite sides of the carrying member. The notch includes two inner walls, each having a protrusion. The carrying member is assembled to the fixing member by sliding each protrusion along one of the grooves from the corresponding entrance and until abutting against the corresponding retaining portion. The first claw is located at a first sidewall of the carrying member. The edge of the wafer is supportable by the first claw.
US08322764B2
An industrial long handled tool component system is provided having interchangeable tool heads, connectors, handles and grips. The novel connector system provides a polygonal locking bar concentric with a round outer reinforcing collar both engaged by a material connector insert and separated by plastic isolations seals. The novel connector promotes connection integrity and prevents joint movement. An alternate embodiment provides a connector system without the collar to save weight and manufacturing cost.
US08322761B2
An apparatus for controlling an opening/closing body for automatically opening/closing the opening/closing body. The apparatus includes a displacement body movable and displaced between movable regions including a closing region, a releasing region and a neutral region, a neutral detecting first switch configured to output a first detection signal in response to passage of the displacement body through a first boundary portion of the neutral region, a neutral detecting second switch configured to output a second detection signal in response to passage of the displacement body through a second boundary portion of the neutral region, and a control unit for effecting braking control for reducing the moving speed of the opening/closing body if neither the first detection signal nor the second detection signal are detected within a predetermined period after starting of a neutral returning movement which is effected after a latch closing movement of the opening/closing body.
US08322757B2
A coupling flange assembly for connecting steel pipes including coupling flanges having stiffening plates located on the front side of the flange plate along axial directions of the steel pipes towards a coupling surface of the steel pipe to be connected. Equilibrium contact surfaces are set up on front end surfaces of the stiffening plates. Two abutting coupling flange assemblies may be used to connect two steel pipes, and when the two steel pipes are connected, the equilibrium contact surfaces of each stiffening plate of the coupling flange assemblies will be in contact with each other on a one-to-one basis.
US08322743B1
A trailer alignment apparatus for aligning a trailer with a hitch on a vehicle. The apparatus includes an elongated member having an upper end and an opposite lower end. A light is located on the upper end and a base is locating on the lower end. The base is attachable to a base surface of the vehicle. The elongated member is sized for a portion of the elongated member to be visible when seated on the base surface of the vehicle. The apparatus also includes a contact mechanism for sensing when a portion of the elongated member is touched by the trailer. The light illuminates when the contact mechanism senses the trailer touching the contact mechanism. A driver of the vehicle laterally aligns the elongated member with the trailer and stops the vehicle when the light illuminates.
US08322736B2
A swing arm assembly is configured for pivotal coupling with a frame of a vehicle. The swing arm assembly includes first and second support arms. A first axle support bracket is attached to the first support arm and a second axle support bracket is attached to the second support arm. A first reinforcement member includes upper, lower, forward and rearward edges, and is welded to the first axle support bracket along at least a portion of the upper edge and at least a portion of the lower edge of the first reinforcement member. The rearward edge of the first reinforcement member is devoid of weld material. The first support arm is attached to the first reinforcement member. Vehicles including a swing arm assembly are also provided.
US08322735B2
A scooter is presented which allows the rider to maintain a secure forward facing stance with both feet parallel to the direction of travel and a combined center of gravity of both rider and scooter centrally between the front and rear wheel irrespective of the vertical tilt of the scooter. The scooter comprises a frame with high torsional strength, suitable for attaching an adjustable footrest thereto. The footrest may comprise two footrests, one on each side of the frame, or a footboard sufficiently wide to allow the rider to place both feet parallel to the direction of travel thereon. The longitudinal position of the footrests or footboard may be adjustable by selectively attaching the footrests or footboard to one of two or more attachment features at the frame.
US08322723B1
A puzzle-based game system and method, having at least one risk element (e.g., wagering), is provided, enabling players to compete in a puzzle-based game of skill utilizing a system of risk-element-based rules, that are applied in a predetermined manner to: first partition a set of puzzles into a predefined plurality of puzzle elements, thereafter “dealing” the puzzle elements sequentially in a “round by round” sequence, and enabling, during at least a portion of the total game rounds, each player to selectively take one or more predefined risk-based actions (such as placing a wager), during a predefined time in each “risk” (e.g., wagering) round. The inventive system and method may also include an optional system and method enabling provision and management of dynamic online game environments and related infrastructures advantageously usable in plural multi-player online games having social interaction and competitive aspects, and utilizing virtual currency, with optional educational applications.
US08322720B2
The present disclosure provides a printing device comprising a sheet buffer including a paper path having a plurality of nip pairs for selectively receiving and releasing a plurality of printer sheets. The plurality of nip pairs include a fixed load nip pair, a fixed unload nip pair, and at least another intermediate fixed nip pair therebetween. In a first operation each subsequent sheet of the plurality of sheets is shingled over a previous sheet wherein the plurality of sheets can be stopped in the intermediate nip pair or pairs. Individual sheets of the plurality of sheets can be advanced to the unload nip pair sequentially in a second operation whereupon the individual sheets are successively unloaded as needed in a first in first out order.
US08322710B2
An automatic sheet feeder includes a sheet setting unit to set a sheet to be fed by a sheet feeding member, an openably closable cover rotatably disposed over an upper portion of the sheet setting unit, a sheet detector rotatably supported on the cover to detect whether or not a sheet is set on the sheet setting unit and including a detection member, a rotary shaft about which the detection member rotates, and a sensor to detect the setting of the sheet according to a movement of the detection member, and a rotating member to cause the detection member to rotate in a direction such that an angle between a line extending in a longitudinal direction of the detection member and a surface of the sheet set on the sheet setting unit decreases as the cover rotates from an open position to a closed position.
US08322704B1
A system that reduces pick skew and improves reliability of a picking mechanism by moving the pick arm to multiple locations across a media feed direction based on media size such that media pick forces are substantially balanced about the centerline of a media sheet to be picked. The system includes a pick arm slidably mounted on a shaft, at least one pick roller mounted to an end of the pick arm for contacting a top sheet of a stack of media sheets and driven to pick media sheets one at a time therefrom, and a pick arm translation mechanism for moving the pick arm along the shaft based on media sheet size of the media stack such that the at least one pick roller remains substantially evenly positioned about a centerline of a media sheet in a media feed direction.
US08322703B2
A sheet conveying device includes an accommodating unit, a conveying roller, a driving member, and a clutch mechanism. The accommodating tray has a sheet accommodating unit. The conveying roller is for conveying a sheet. The driving member supplies a drive force to the conveying roller. The clutch mechanism includes a link that moves in mechanical conjunction with the attachment or detachment of the accommodating tray and a movable member that moves in association with the movement of the link. The clutch mechanism selectively connects and disconnects a drive force transmitting path by the movement of the movable member. The clutch mechanism disconnects the drive force transmitting path when the accommodating tray is detached, and the clutch mechanism connects the drive force transmitting path when the accommodating tray is attached.
US08322698B2
The invention relates to a method for reducing vibrations of a machine element (9) and/or a workpiece (5) in a machine tool, a production machine and/or in a machine which is embodied as a robot. A clamping force (F), which is used to lock the workpiece (5) and which makes the workpiece holder (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 11a, 11b) act upon the workpiece (5), is modified when vibrations occur. The invention also relates to a corresponding machine. Due to said invention, vibrations of a machine element (9) and/or a workpiece (5), which occur during a machining process, are reduced.
US08322693B2
A milk froth machine includes a base and a top cover. A heating element is electrically connected to a controller mounted in the base. First and second electric connectors are respectively mounted to the base and top cover and electrically connected to the controller. The first and second electric connectors are coupled together when an agitator on the top cover is aligned with a supporting top face of the base. A motor is mounted in the top cover and electrically connected to the second electric connector. A container can be placed on the supporting top face with the agitator extending into the container and with the first and second electric connectors electrically coupled together. The controller controls the motor to drive the agitator to agitate milk in the container to form milk froth or controls the heating element to heat the milk.
US08322690B2
A fixture for dressing a plurality of cables into cable bundles is provided. The fixture includes a first panel having a plurality of first apertures extending through the panel. The first apertures are configured in a predetermined array in the first panel, with each first aperture located a first distance from each adjacent first aperture. A second panel is disposed at a distance from the first panel, the second panel having a plurality of second apertures extending through the second panel. The second apertures are configured in a second array corresponding to the array of apertures in the first panel. Each second aperture is located a second distance from each adjacent second aperture. The first plurality of apertures receives a plurality of cables fed into the fixture. The second plurality of apertures is adapted to receive the cables from the first apertures and to feed the cables from the fixture in a cable array ready to be tied into a bundle.
US08322687B2
A hydraulically operated wedge lock system provides a releasable mechanical lock between telescoping boom segments. Each wedge lock mechanism includes a stationary backing wedge block that defines an angled smooth surface. A stationary shaft and piston is supported generally parallel to the backing wedge block. A slidable wedge block biased by a spring to a locked position is supported for reciprocal movement on the shaft along the angled smooth surface. Hydraulic fluid urges the slidable wedge block against the bias of the spring to an unlocked position.
US08322686B2
An apparatus for applying or removing rail clips to secure a rail onto a rail tie including a frame, an operator workstation disposed on the frame, at least one workhead assembly constructed and arranged to move relative to the frame, at least one fastener assembly disposed on the workhead assembly, and at least one paddle assembly disposed on the workhead assembly for working in conjunction with the fastener assembly to push a clip in position for holding the rail to the tie.
US08322683B2
A damper actuator motor device includes a fan brake device which is secured to a motor rotor shaft and is configured to reduce motor rotation speed in a preferential direction. Preferably, the fan brake device has an asymmetric configuration, and is adapted to gather air radially in an enclosed cavity and discharge it axially in one direction. The fan device preferably is adapted to project a size that takes up more than half of the space of the cavity. When the motor is back driven, the fan brake device causes differentially pressure and air resistance in a confined area, producing a drag and braking force that increases with motor speed. The invention can be applied to motor actuators used to control air dampers and other valves in gas or fluid delivery systems. The invention can also be used to reduce water hammer in water delivery systems.
US08322680B2
The present invention relates to an exhaust system hanger of a vehicle, in which two protrusions facing and spaced apart from each other are integrally formed at a center portion between both distal ends of the hanger, and the two protrusions selectively contact each other to increase a spring constant, when the shape of the hanger is elastically deformed by external force beyond a predetermined elastic value.
US08322679B2
A container data center includes a container, a number of shock absorbers installed in the container, and a support plate installed on the shock absorbers. Each shock absorber includes a support bracket and two damping elements positioned at opposite ends of the support bracket. Each damping element includes a first connecting end fixed to a corresponding end of the support bracket, and a second connecting end fixed to the container. The first connecting ends of the damping elements are movable relative to the corresponding second ends of the damping elements through overcoming resistance. The support plate is installed on the support bracket and can support a number of servers.
US08322666B2
A portable and adjustable stand includes a base assembly having at least three legs pivotally coupled to an end cap and movable between retracted and extended configurations. The stand includes a length adjustable rod having first and second rod members for selectively adjusting the height thereof. The end cap is slidably coupled to a lower end of the first rod member. A drink holder assembly is mounted atop the second rod member. An auxiliary rod member and umbrella holder may be coupled to the second rod member.
US08322654B2
Galley units are provided having a moveable galley structure in the interior aircraft cabin. During passenger ingress/egress and during certain phases of the aircraft's flight (e.g., take-off and landing), the galley structure may be moved so as to be laterally adjacent the main cabin door and thereby provide access to the door. During other phases of the aircraft's flight (e.g., during cruise flight at altitude), the galley structure may be moved laterally so as to cover the main cabin door and thereby provide enhanced acoustic and/or thermal insulation in the main cabin door area. The space vacated by the moveable galley structure may thus expose other galley structures and/or equipment. An aircraft which includes such an aircraft galley unit and methods to achieve acoustic and/or thermal insulation for an aircraft cabin door using such an aircraft galley unit are also provided.
US08322652B1
A thrust mount arrangement is disclosed for mounting a gas turbine engine to an aircraft via a pylon. The thrust mount arrangement comprises a mounting bracket fixedly mountable to said pylon, and a pair of thrust links connected to said mounting bracket and connectable to said engine so as to define in combination with said mounting bracket a primary load path between the engine and the pylon to carry engine loads under normal operating conditions. The arrangement is characterized in that said thrust links are each configured to engage the pylon directly in the event of failure of the primary load path, so as to define an auxiliary load path between the engine and the pylon. This arrangement thus provides an auxiliary load path which follows a different route to the primary load path, by eliminating the mounting bracket from the auxiliary load path. This provides a more robust arrangement in the event that the mounting bracket itself should fail.
US08322651B2
A mounting structure for an aircraft engine including a rigid structure and a mechanism to mount the engine on the rigid structure. The mounting mechanism includes a thrust load device including two side thrust links each including an aft end mounted on an evener bar of the device, via a mechanical connection. Each connection is formed by a lug provided on the evener bar and passing through an orifice made in the aft end, the lug being arranged so as to extend substantially laterally relative to the mounting structure.
US08322650B2
An aircraft, particularly a solar powered, high altitude, long endurance, unmanned aerial vehicle, is equipped with a combination of canted down, raked back wing tips and trailing “tip tails” carried on booms from the tip regions of the mainplane. Each tip tail is positioned to be subject to the upwash field of the respective wing tip vortex, at least in the cruise condition of the aircraft. The wing tip form can achieve a reduction in induced drag and help to relieve wing root bending moment while the tip tails can act through their connections to the mainplane to provide torsional relief to the latter, particularly under lower incidence/higher speed conditions. In the higher incidence/lower speed cruise condition, however, the presence of the tip tails in the upwash fields of the wing tip vortices means that they can generate lift with a component in the forward direction of flight and hence contribute to the thrust requirements of the aircraft.
US08322646B2
A front winding base frame (1A) and a rear winding base frame (1B) are respectively provided with winding arms (3A and 3B) that hold winding shafts (4A and 4B) so as to be capable of ascending and descending vertically, and the winding arms (3A and 3B) are attached to the front winding base frame (1A) and the rear winding base frame (1B) so as to be capable of being exchanged between the front winding base frame (1A) and the rear winding base frame (1B). A front-side touch roller frame (13A) and a rear-side touch roller frame (13B) are respectively provided with touch rollers (16A and 16B) so as to be capable of ascending and descending vertically, and the touch rollers (16A and 16B) are attached to the front-side touch roller frame (13A) and the rear-side touch roller frame (13B) so as to be capable of being exchanged between the front-side touch roller frame (13A) and the rear-side touch roller frame (13B). In this winder, the winding shaft (4A or 4B) while being in pressure contact with the touch roller (16A) is passed on from the front winding base frame (1A) to the rear winding base frame (1B).
US08322635B2
An injector apparatus for an engine, may include an injector body, an actuator mounted in the injection body, a rotary rod rotatably received in the injector body and selectively rotated by the actuator, wherein a fuel groove may be formed on outer surface of the rotary rod along a longitudinal direction thereof, and a nozzle hole formed at a nozzle of the injector body to selectively communicate with the fuel groove in accordance with rotation of the rotary rod, wherein the rotary rod slidably contacts with the nozzle in the injector body.
US08322630B2
A trigger pump sprayer in combination with a liquid dispensed from the sprayer. 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. A bimodal distribution of particle sizes is obtained under two different operating conditions. The sprayer/liquid combination according to the present invention compresses the difference between the two modes, without requiring undue work by the operator. 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.
US08322625B2
The present disclosure relates to an RFID (Radio frequency identification) tag for metallic materials, including a dielectric substrate, a tag chip arrayed on the dielectric substrate for storing an object data, a feeding loop connected across the tag chip for forming an inner space, and a metallic radiator connected across the feeding loop for receiving an electromagnetic signal from outside.
US08322623B1
Layers of colored polymers are applied to a surface of a card and are hardened and adhered to a card via light such as ultraviolet or light having a wavelength in the blue spectrum. The layers may be applied to form three dimensional indicia on the surface of the card. For example, letters, numbers, logos, and other indicia (e.g., pictures) may be printed three dimensionally onto the surface of the card. Troughs may be formed via such layering such that indicia is provided as indentations into the added layers. Extensions may be formed via such layering such that indicia is provided as extensions from the added layers. Indicia may be provided via extensions and/or indentations. As such, embossed and/or engraved indicia may be provided on the surface of a card without impacting the structural integrity of the card.
US08322619B2
An account application product includes a package, an account identifier and a terms sheet. The package includes a first panel extending from a free edge to a first fold line, a second panel extending away from the first fold line to a second fold line, and a third panel extending away from the second fold line. The first panel is folded back along the first fold line toward a first surface of the second panel to define a storage area between the first panel and the second panel. The third panel is folded forward along the second fold line toward a second surface of the second panel. The account identifier indicates an account associated with the account application product and is configured to be machine readable. The terms sheet is selectively stored in the storage area and includes printed terms for the account. Associated packages and method are also disclosed.
US08322614B2
A library terminal permits a user to execute a loan transaction without assistance. The library terminal (i) provides a visible scan line from a bar code reader indicating the correct positioning of the bar code on a circulating item, (ii) leads a user through a loan transaction, (iii) provides an explicit feedback to a user when an article has an improper position on the article receiving area, (iv) both checks out and checks in circulating items, (v) stores fonts in bit maps of screen displays instead of in a separate font memory, (vi) integrates a security marker reader, a printer, and a controller in the same housing, (vii) processes financial transactions related to the borrowing of circulating items, and/or (viii) displays actions for helping the user to correct errors in use of the terminal.
US08322605B2
A dynamic identity matching facility that enables an operator to determine the status of an individual based on identification information contained on an identification record provided by the individual. The operator scans the individual's identification information from the identification record using a scanning device. The facility decodes the scanned identification information and identifies a number of candidates based on the decoded identification information. For each identified candidate, the facility generates a candidate score. Based on the candidate score of each identified candidate, the facility selects a number of the identified candidates for display. The facility displays the selected candidates to the operator along with the candidate's criminal or other acts.
US08322602B2
Payment systems are provided that utilize a portable device, and in particular, payment systems that utilize a first portable device that belongs to a seller and a second portable device that belongs to a buyer, but do not utilize a point of sale (POS) device.
US08322599B2
A method includes, but is not limited to: obtaining and controlling display of one or more portions of the flexible interface containing electronic device regarding display of second information having one or more classifications in response to the first information associated with the one or more changes in the one or more conformations of the one or more portions of the one or more regions of the flexible interface containing electronic device. In addition to the foregoing, other related method/system aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.
US08322595B2
A method of manufacturing an article by diffusion bonding, the method comprising the steps of assembling first and second component parts having a joint therebetween; sealing the joint against infiltration by solid particulate material, without causing phase change of the component parts; and applying heat and isostatic pressure via a solid particulate material to form a consolidated joint by diffusion bonding.
US08322586B2
A holster and belt clip assembly for a box cutter are disclosed. In the holstering system embodiment, a holster releasably retains the box cutter. The holster has a body substantially conforming to the shape of the box cutter, an open top end, and a closed bottom end. A lanyard secures the box cutter to the holster. A belt clip, which is releasably engaged with the holster, mounts the holster to a belt of an operator.
US08322581B2
A push tube adapter for an off-road vehicle which enables the rearward end of a push tube assembly to be mounted on various vehicle mounts.
US08322580B1
The present invention is a retractable cargo carrying device that can be mounted on the top of a trailer such as a horse trailer. The device is provided underneath with a telescoping rail system that secures to the top of the trailer and to a storage box of the device. This telescoping rail system allows the storage box to be lowered near to the ground so that items can be easily placed in the storage box from the ground. Once the storage box is loaded, it can then be retracted back onto the top of the trailer for transport. The storage box has a pivoting attachment to the telescoping rail system that maintains the storage box in a level position at all times, even when lowering and retracting the box relative to the trailer.
US08322574B1
A drinking water dispensing system for automobiles and associated method preferable includes a reservoir; an egress spout, a pump; temperature adjusting mechanism; a user interface; a thermodynamic conduit including first and second valves; cooling elements; heating elements and first and second insulating layers. The first and second passageways are coaxially oriented along the conduit and cooperate with the cooling/heating elements such that cold/hot water streams are independently transferred to the egress spout while maximizing/minimizing heat transfer losses. Separate water streams are passed through the first/second passageways by selectively toggling the first/second plurality of valves between open and closed positions upon receiving instructions signals from the user interface. Such a system provides users with a readily available source of hot/cold water for drinking while traveling, without requiring the use of separate water-transfer conduits.
US08322573B2
A package includes a pour spout and a closure cap. The pour spout is adapted to fit into a neck finish associated with a container using a wedging action.
US08322571B2
Fluid supply systems for storage and dispensing of chemical reagents and compositions, e.g., high purity liquid reagents and chemical mechanical polishing compositions used to manufacture microelectronic device products, having capability for detection of an empty or near-empty condition when the contained liquid is at or approaching depletion during dispensing operation. Fluid delivery systems employing empty detect arrangements are described, including pressure transducer monitoring of dispensed material intermediate the supply package and a servo-hydraulic dispense pump, or monitoring of dispenser chamber replenishment times in a dispenser being replenished on a cyclic schedule to flow material from the dispenser to a downstream tool utilizing the dispensed material.
US08322559B2
A shipping and storage drum comprises a unitary base of synthetic resin comprising a circular center wall connected at a peripheral edge to a connecting ring having an upwardly opening threaded annular channel. A tubular fiberboard sidewall defines a peripherally closed space having open opposite upper and lower ends. The tubular sidewall lower end is threaded into the threaded annular channel to close the sidewall lower end. The shipping and storage drum may also comprise a chime of synthetic resin comprising a connecting ring having a downwardly opening threaded annular channel receiving the upper end of the tubular sidewall, the chime for removably receiving a cover.
US08322558B2
A bowl includes a main bowl portion and an ancillary portion or trough integral with the side of the bowl that is shaped to receive cereal or other food as a staging location before the food is maneuvered into the main bowl portion.
US08322555B2
A lid includes a generally flat interior portion and an outer ridge area surrounding the interior portion. The outer ridge area includes a first ridge side, a ridge top, and a second ridge side. The first ridge side extends generally upward from the interior portion. The ridge top extends from the first ridge side and is generally parallel to the interior portion. The second ridge side extends generally downward from the ridge top. The second ridge side includes a top section and a bottom section. A thickness of the bottom section is smaller than a thickness of the top section. The bottom section includes at least one fixed tab and at least one tear band. The at least one fixed tab is separated from the at least one tear band by at least one vertical membrane.
US08322552B2
A fuel filler system for an automotive vehicle includes a filler pipe connected with a fuel tank and an interceptor mounted about an open end of the filler pipe, with the interceptor and filler pipe defining a generally annular contaminant collector having a drain extending from the collector. A filler cap closes both the open end of the filler pipe and the open end of the interceptor, so as to prevent ambient contamination from entering either the contaminant collector or the filler pipe. Removal of the filler cap from the filler pipe first causes venting of the fuel tank into the collector before a sealing condition between the filler cap and the interceptor is released.
US08322545B1
A shelf for a metal cabinet has a planar member, a ramped member extending from the planar member having a first, curved portion and a second, straight portion. The first, curved portion and second, straight portion are connected via a third, curved portion therebetween. The first curved portion has a first radius, and the second, curved portion has a second radius different from the first radius. The straight portion forms an outer wall of the shelf.
US08322544B2
A product management display system for merchandising product on a shelf includes using a trackless pusher mechanism that travels along a surface on which product is placed. The pusher mechanism of an exemplary embodiment includes a pusher surface and a pusher floor that extends forward of the pusher surface. A flat coiled spring or other biasing element may be operatively connected behind the pusher mechanism and extend across a divider and to the front of the shelf. In use, the product to be merchandised may be placed on the pusher floor. With this configuration, the pusher surface is prevented from tipping or bending backwards during operation. In an alternative aspect, the end of the coiled spring may be mounted to a retainer, to a divider or, alternatively, directly to the shelf.
US08322535B2
An apparatus for separating the arils from a fruit such as a pomegranate. The apparatus comprising a perforated grid for fixing over a receptacle, and a dome for covering the fruit and a corresponding method for removing seeds from a fruit comprising: (a) opening the fruit into at least two pieces; (b) placing the opened fruit opening side down onto a perforated grid and placing a dome over the piece of fruit; (c) placing the grid over a receptacle; (d) tapping the dome to separate and dislodge the arils from the fruit so that they fall through the openings into the receptacle.
US08322531B2
A knife package includes a card having a front side and a back side. The knife package further comprises a utility knife having a body and a plurality of blade holders movable within the body, and a plurality of slides on the body. Each slide is operatively connected with one of the blade holders, and the slides are arranged to move associated blade holders in the body. The knife package further comprises a securement structure that secures the utility knife to the card, wherein said utility knife is secured on the front side of said card by the securement structure such that the plurality of slides of the utility knife are visible when viewing the front side of the card from an angle normal to the front side of the card.
US08322528B2
A pillbox that can be used with a portable electronic device (“PED”) such as a cellular telephone or personal digital assistant includes a generally cubic body portion that is attached to one end of a PED. The body portion defines a compartment within which medication can be placed. Preferably, an extension projects from one wall of the body portion and the extension is connected to the PED. The body portion preferably conforms generally to the contour of the PED. A door is connected to the body portion to permit selective access to the compartment. Other embodiments of the invention include a holster within which the PED can be inserted. In some of the embodiments, the door defines the medication-storage compartment.
US08322527B2
A loading device includes a number of stacked loading plates and a fixing assembly. Each loading plate is used for loading a number of elements. The fixing assembly fixes the loading plates together. Each loading plate includes a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. A number of spacer blocks protrude from the first surface, forming an interval between two adjacent loading plates. Each loading plate defines a number of through holes passing through the first surface and the second surface. A number of blocks are positioned on the second surface. Each through hole is surrounded by at least three blocks. Each of the at least three blocks has an arc surface facing a corresponding through hole. The arc surfaces of the at least three blocks cooperatively define a groove communicating with the corresponding through hole.
US08322525B2
Holders for automatically treating cleaning implements (e.g. kitchen sponges) with antibacterial chemicals during storage are disclosed. These holders have a solid compressed chemical surface for contacting the cleaning implement between uses. Moisture from the used cleaning implement dissolves a small amount of the chemical (e.g. sodium chloride), thereby causing the chemical to treat the contact surface of the cleaning implement. Merely by placing a sponge or the like on a coaster, or against another holder surface, bacterial growth on the sponge or the like can be inhibited, thereby extending the useful life of such cleaning implements.
US08322520B2
A conveyor belt hold down for a draper platform comprises a planar portion having a front edge, a rear edge, a left edge, and a right edge, wherein one of the left and the right edges defines a first slot or groove structure, and the other of the left and the right edges defines a first tongue structure, wherein the first tongue structure is configured to be engaged in a second slot or groove structure of a similar hold down disposed immediately adjacent to the first tongue structure, and wherein the first slot or groove structure is configured to receive a second tongue structure of a similar hold down disposed immediately adjacent to the first slot or groove structure.
US08322518B2
Apparatus and method for recirculating articles on a belt conveyor. An article-recirculation path is formed in a pair of parallel conveyor belts running continuously in opposite directions. Article-supporting rollers in each belt rotate to transfer articles from one belt to the other in a transfer region at each end of the conveyor to form an endless recirculation path.
US08322517B1
A lightweight pallet for supporting and carrying workpieces along an overhead transfer conveyor. A metallic conveyor carrier is adapted to be carried by the overhead transfer conveyor, and a lightweight, non-metallic base is connected to the conveyor carrier. A first lightweight, non-metallic support member is connected to and extends downward from the base. The first support member is substantially planar and is adapted to support the workpiece. A first lightweight, non-metallic brace member is connected to the base and the first support member for stabilizing and supporting the first support member. The first brace member is substantially planar, wherein the first brace member extends substantially perpendicular to the first support member, and the first support member and the second support member cooperate to define a substantially T-shaped structure that extends downward from the base.
US08322513B2
A loading head for use with food articles has a main conveyor adapted to convey a plurality of food articles, an indexing conveyor positioned beneath the main conveyor, and a transfer member positioned between the main conveyor and the indexing conveyor. The transfer member is adapted to transfer each food article from the main conveyor to the indexing conveyor. A buffering mechanism is adapted to move the transfer member between a first position and a variable second position. A pusher mechanism is associated with the indexing conveyor to raise and lower gates from an open position permitting food article transfer to a closed position prohibiting food article transfer. The pusher mechanism includes a cam operably associated with the gates to open and close the gates.
US08322511B2
A method and apparatus for conveying a cigarette stream in a controlled manner into an initially empty conveying section of a machine for producing and/or packaging cigarettes, the conveying section being delimited laterally by walls and the cigarette stream being supported during conveying by a movable supporting element which is moved together with the cigarette stream along the conveying section. The walls which delimit the conveying section laterally can be moved at least partially in order to change the cross section of the conveying section.
US08322509B2
A solar cell module conveyer comprising an assembly line for intermittently feeding solar cells that constitute a solar cell module, and having machinery arranged for successively executing the working/treating steps; belt conveyers working as an inspection line which is synchronized with the assembly line to inspect the solar cell module fabricated on the assembly line through various working/treatment steps; and a transfer mechanism for transferring the solar cell module from the assembly line onto the belt conveyers.
US08322503B2
The inventive double-clutch transmission element for a hybrid pull chain of a motor vehicle comprises a motion input shaft (37), a motion output shaft (39), an electrical machine (31) comprising a stator (61) and a rotor (63), a first clutch (33) providing a connection between the input shaft (37) and an intermediate member (73), and a second clutch (35) providing a connection between the intermediate member (73) and the output shaft (39), the intermediate member (73) being coupled in rotation to the rotor (63). A casing comprising a first half-shell (51) rotatably supporting the input shaft (37) and a second half-shell (52) rotatably supporting the output shaft (39) defines a housing in which the two clutches (33, 35) and the electrical machine (31) are mounted in a co-axial manner. The invention also relates to a motor vehicle equipped with such transmission element and to a method of mounting same.
US08322502B2
The invention relates to a hydrodynamic coupling having two blade wheels, namely, an outer wheel and an inner wheel, The hydrodynamic coupling also has a coupling shell. The invention provides that the inner wheel and the coupling shell each have one hole and the holes are situated on the hydrodynamic coupling and can be moved into positions that are aligned with one another when the inner wheel and the coupling shell are rotated. The hole of the coupling shell is larger than the hole of the inner wheel. A measuring pin for passing through the two holes.
US08322499B2
The invention relates to a flow-control valve (1) for a hydraulic shock absorber. Components of the basic structure of the flow-control valve (I) are an axially movable slide (5) having a body (6) and a valve sleeve (7), an electromagnetic linear actuator (8) for axial displacement of the slide (5) and a fixed guide body (9) configured as a tube and having an end pin (10). The valve sleeve (7) is guided on the end pin (10) of the guide body (9) and cooperates with at least one valve opening (11) formed in the wall of the guide body (9) such that the flow cross section of the valve opening (11) can be altered by axial movement of the valve body (7). According to the invention the slide (5) is provided in a pole tube (12) fixed on the guide body (9). The body (6) of the slide (5) is guided with a clearance fit in a bearing ring (13) attached to a section of the pole tube (12) surrounding the body (6).
US08322497B2
A magneto-rheological fluid damper includes a damper body having a reservoir for a magneto-rheological fluid, a piston rod, a piston rod guide disposed within the damper body, where the piston rod guide has a passage therein for receiving the piston rod. The magneto-rheological fluid damper further includes at least a first piston rod seal and at least a second piston rod seal arranged to seal between the piston rod guide and the piston rod. The magneto-rheological fluid damper further includes a fluid chamber defined between the piston rod guide and the piston rod, the fluid chamber being in communication with the reservoir. The magneto-rheological fluid damper further includes a piston rod guide filter arranged in a communication path between the fluid chamber and the reservoir to filter particulates out of the magneto-rheological fluid entering the fluid chamber. The magneto-rheological fluid damper further includes an accumulator arranged between the piston rod guide and the damper body.
US08322493B2
A power unit provided with a dry sump type lubricating device includes a power unit case that is covered in part by a power unit case cover and is divided into a front unit case and a rear unit case. The power unit also includes a crankshaft rotatably supported by a crank chamber that is formed by the power unit case and a shift shaft rotatably supported by a transmission chamber that is provided adjacent to the crank chamber. The power unit also includes an oil tank disposed on the crank chamber side of an anteroposterior outside surface of the power unit case cover and a hydraulic control device for controlling a shift clutch, disposed on the transmission chamber side of the anteroposterior outside surface of the power unit case cover.
US08322486B2
An intake sound generation apparatus for an internal combustion engine, including an introduction duct connected to an intake passage of an intake system of the engine, a vibration member including a diaphragm portion which is vibrated by intake pulsation in the intake system, and a bellows portion configured to promote vibration of the diaphragm portion, the vibration member being so disposed as to cover one end of the introduction duct, and a resonance duct having one end connected to the introduction duct through the vibration member and the other end opened to an outside of the intake sound generation apparatus, the resonance duct acting to increase and emit a sound pressure of intake sound produced by vibration of the vibration member. A central axis of at least one of the introduction duct and the resonance duct is located offset relative to a central axis of the vibration member.
US08322483B2
An apparatus for determining an amount of rotation of a rotatable component that rotates with respect to a stationary component. The apparatus includes a cable with a first end fixed to the rotatable component and a second end fixed to the stationary component. The cable, which supports a sensing element, is configured to wind or unwind when the rotatable component rotates with respect to the stationary component. The sensing element extends along a length of the cable and is configured to flex in response to the winding or unwinding of the cable. The sensing element has a resistance that changes in response to flexion of the sensing element. An evaluation circuit is connected to the sensing element and is configured to determine a value having a relation to the resistance and determine the amount of rotation based on the value.
US08322477B2
A transporter for transporting a subject over a surface that may be irregular. The transporter includes a support platform for supporting a load, the loaded support platform defining fore-aft and lateral planes and characterized by a load distribution. A plurality of ground contacting elements are coupled to the support platform. At least one of the plurality of ground contacting elements is driven by a motorized drive arrangement. A sensor module generates a signal indicative of the load distribution of the loaded support platform. Based at least on the load distribution, a controller commands the motorized drive arrangement.
US08322476B2
The connecting bolts 5 are inserted through the connecting cylinders 21 to hold a plurality of battery holders 20 in the stacked configuration and form a battery block 2. The battery holder 20 connecting cylinders 21 are disposed at a plurality of locations on the perimeter of the battery block 2, and are disposed in straight-lines to form rows of partial-stack connecting cylinders 4 on battery holders 20 stacked in two levels or more, but not on the entire stack of battery holders 20. Connecting bolts 5 are inserted through each row of partial-stack connecting cylinders 4 to hold the connecting cylinders 21 that make up each row of partial-stack connecting cylinders 4 in a stacked configuration, and retain the battery holders 20 in a stacked configuration as a battery block 2.
US08322470B2
Configurations are provided for vehicular robots or other vehicles to provide shifting of their centers of gravity for enhanced obstacle navigation. Various head and neck morphologies are provided to allow positioning for various poses such as a stowed pose, observation poses, and inspection poses. Neck extension and actuator module designs are provided to implement various head and neck morphologies. Robot control network circuitry is also provided.
US08322469B2
Disclosed herein is a bidirectional moving micro-robot system. The bidirectional moving micro-robot system has a first body having a plurality of legs foldably/unfoldably connected thereto, a second body having a plurality of legs foldably/unfoldably connected thereto and a connection member having both end portions respectively connected to the first and second bodies. In the bidirectional moving micro-robot system, the length of the connection member exposed between the first and second bodies is extended or contracted.
US08322467B2
Cutting elements include an ultra-hard body, e.g., comprising diamond, that is attached to substrate, e.g., comprising a cermet. An interface exists between the body and the substrate, and an angle of departure as measured between the interface and a free edge of the cutting element within one or both of the body and substrate, is less than about 90 degrees to provide a desired stress reduction along the interface. The angle of departure can be from about 3 to 87 degrees. The desired reduced angle of departure is provided by a surface feature disposed along an outer side surface of the cutting element adjacent a free edge of the interface. The surface feature can in the form of a groove disposed circumferentially around the body and/or substrate outer side surface, that is configured to provide the desired reduced angle of departure within the body and/or substrate.
US08322466B2
A hardfacing is provided to protect surfaces of drill bits and other downhole tools. The hardfacing may include tungsten carbide particles or pellets formed with an optimum weight percentage of binding material and dispersed within and bonded to a matrix deposit. The tungsten carbide particles may be formed by sintering or other appropriate techniques. The tungsten carbide particles may have generally spherical shapes, partially spherical shapes or non-spherical shapes.
US08322462B2
A method and apparatus for magnetic field measurements to determine the proximity of a nearby target incorporating electrically conductive material includes a drill string (54) having multiple drill pipe sections (56, 57, 58, 59) connected end-to-end, with at least one of the drill pipe sections (57) being electrically conductive and isolated to provide an electrode section. A nonmagnetic drill pipe section (84) is connected in the drill string below the electrode section (57), and a hydraulic motor (62) having a rotatable drill bit sub (70) carrying a magnetic field sensing instrument package (102) is connected to a lowermost end of the drill string. A power supply provides a time-varying current to the drill pipe electrode section (57) to produce a corresponding target current magnetic field to be detected at the drill bit instrument (10)2, and a communication instrument package (94) is locatable within the nonmagnetic drill pipe section (84) to receive magnetic field data from the magnetic field sensing instrument package (102) on the drill bit (70).
US08322450B2
A wellbore packer having a setting mechanism adapted to apply an axial force along a force path; a seal member connected with the setting mechanism along the force path, the seal member set in response to the application of the axial force; a slip connected with the setting mechanism downstream of the seal member along the force path, the slip set in response to the application of the axial force; and an assembly adapted to transfer the axial force around the intervening seal member to the slip.
US08322449B2
A method of removing a downhole tool from a wellbore comprising contacting the tool with a heat source wherein the tool comprises at least one load-bearing component comprising a thermally degradable material. A method of reducing the structural integrity of a downhole tool comprising fabricating the load-bearing components of the tool from a thermally degradable material. A method of removing a downhole tool comprising mechanically milling and/or drilling the tool from a wellbore wherein the tool comprises at least one load bearing component comprising a phenolic resin wherein the phenolic resin comprises a rosole, a novalac or combinations thereof.
US08322439B2
An arrangement and a method to control and regulate the bottom hole pressure in a well during subsea drilling at deep waters: The method involves adjustment of a liquid/gas interface level in a drilling riser up or down. The arrangement comprises a high pressure drilling riser and a surface BOP at the upper end of the drilling riser. The surface BOP has a gas bleeding outlet. The riser also comprises a BOP, with a by-pass line. The drilling riser has an outlet at a depth below the water surface, and the outlet is connected to a pumping system with a flow return conduit running back to a drilling vessel/platform.
US08322436B2
A spider assembly is a round platform with a central bore used to support sections of casing as the sections of casing are joined to one another and lowered below a drilling platform. The spider assembly comprises two c-shaped section joined together at two seams, one seam at the end of each leg of the c-shape. A clamping plate is used to join each seam and apply a preload force on the joint. The preload force minimizes axial deflection at the joint.
US08322435B2
A pressure driven pumping system includes a piston disposed within a first bore of a housing to separate a process chamber from a working chamber. A rod member coupled to the separating member extends into a reduced pressure chamber. The piston has a first face exposed to the process chamber and a second face exposed to the working chamber. The second face has an effective area less than an effective area of the first face. The housing may be placed in seawater at a selected depth. The process chamber can be in fluid communication with a well to pass well fluid into the process chamber at well pressure to move the piston, to discharge seawater from the seawater chamber. The working fluid, typically seawater in a subsea application, is pumped into the working chamber to move the piston, which discharges well fluid from the process chamber.
US08322431B2
A method of servicing hydrocarbon production equipment comprising locating at least a portion of a hydrocarbon flow conduit experiencing a loss of functionality; creating a port to access an interior flow bore of the hydrocarbon flow conduit; installing at least one piece of equipment proximate the access port, wherein the equipment has access to the interior flow bore via the access port; and placing a servicing composition into the conduit via the access port, wherein the servicing composition prevents the loss of materials from the interior of the hydrocarbon flow conduit to the surrounding environment.
US08322427B2
A method of reducing a pressure within a first cavity of a subsea device is disclosed which includes transferring fluid within the first cavity to an accumulator, increasing a pressure of the fluid within the accumulator and, after increasing the pressure of the fluid within the accumulator, transferring at least some of the fluid in the accumulator into a second cavity, wherein the second cavity is at a higher pressure than said first cavity. A device for reducing a pressure within a first cavity of a subsea device is also disclosed which includes a transfer accumulator comprising a piston, the transfer accumulator being in fluid communication with the first cavity and a second cavity, at least one first valve positioned between the first cavity and the transfer accumulator, the at least one first valve adapted to permit fluid flow only from the first cavity to the second cavity, and at least one second valve positioned between the transfer accumulator and the second cavity, the at least one second valve adapted to permit fluid flow only from the transfer accumulator to the second cavity.
US08322425B2
A property of fluid within a well in a geological volume is controlled. The property of the fluid may include fluid density, pressure gradient, temperature, foaming characteristics, and/or other fluid properties within the well. In particular, the fluid property is controlled discretely within different sections (e.g., at different depths) of the well.
US08322420B2
Gravel packing of a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation is carried out in a wellbore having a cased section and an uncased section that contains water-based drilling fluids. A first water-based displacement fluid that contains a shale inhibitor is introduced into the wellbore to displace the water-based drilling fluids from the uncased section of the wellbore. A second water-based displacement fluid is introduced into the wellbore to displace fluids within the cased section of the wellbore. A sand control screen assembly is run to a selected depth within the uncased section of the wellbore to facilitate a gravel packing operation. A gravel pack slurry containing gravel and a viscosified carrier fluid is introduced into the wellbore to facilitate gravel packing of the uncased section. The gravel packing operation may be carried without the use of shunt flow paths and with the use of a sand screen assembly having at least one diverter valve to divert fluid returns to facilitate prevention of pressure build up.
US08322417B2
An actuator is disclosed which operates on the principle of the variable magnetic properties of materials with respect to temperature. As temperature is raised past Curie temperature, magnetic permeability of certain materials drops significantly to a value close to free space permeability. However, depending on the material selection, magnetic permeability may be significantly higher below Curie temperature. This principle is used to cause magnetic attractive force to move an actuator at one temperature, while permitting a return spring force to move the actuator at another temperature by changing the pathway traversed by most magnetic lines of flux from a magnetic source. The actuator may be employed to provide a temperature activated electrical switch or fluid valve. The temperature activated valves are suited to use in high temperature environments, such as SAGD wells.
US08322413B2
The retrieving tool engages an equalizing sleeve on a jar down movement while the packer or bridge plug release sleeve is held fixed with a locking dog. The initial jarring down allows the tool to engage the equalizing sleeve and pull it up subsequent to the initial engagement by jarring down. Pulling or jarring up then opens the equalizing ports while still holding the release sleeve locked using a trapped collet. A subsequent jarring down allows engagement of a second sleeve so that a subsequent pulling or jarring up moves the second sleeve away from the collet that had otherwise held the set position of the packer or bridge plug. A pull or jar force up brings up the now released packer or bridge plug.
US08322410B2
An apparatus including at least four different modules, the first module being a treatment conditions module structured to interpret a specified pumping rate and a specified salt concentration. The second is a hydration requirements module structured to determine at least one of a hydration vessel fluid volume and a specified temperature in response to the specified pumping rate. The third is a dynamic brine generation module structured to control a flow rate of a first fluid, at least one of a clay stabilizer precursor, an acid precursor and a base precursor; and a polymer material into a hydration vessel in response to the specified salt concentration and the at least one of the hydration vessel fluid volume and the specified temperature. The fourth is a treatment fluid flow module structured to control a flow rate of a treatment fluid from the hydration vessel in response to the specified pumping rate.
US08322400B2
A method for making long metal rolled products by continuous casting at high hourly productivity, by a single casting machine, a product with a rectangular section; shearing to size of the cast product to define a segment of a length between 16 and 150 m and a weight between 10 and 100 tons; introduction of the segment, having an average temperature of at least 1000° C., into a maintenance and/or possible heating furnace having a first section for moving the cast product disposed in axis with the casting axis; lateral transfer of the segment inside the furnace to transfer the segment to a second section for moving the cast product disposed parallel and misaligned with respect to the first section and aligned with a rolling axis parallel and offset with respect to the casting axis; and reduction of the section in a rolling mill.
US08322393B2
The system includes a module fixture supporting a plurality of elements, the module fixture defining a plurality of bonding wells with each bonding well accepting a first portion of one or more of the elements with the module fixture including one or more apertures communicated with one or more of the bonding wells with the bonding wells having a nominal depth; and a dispensing system, coupled to the module fixture, for dispensing a high-wettability adhesive into each the bonding well and surrounding each the element substantially filling the bonding well up to the nominal depth without significant overfill, the adhesive being selectively curable upon application of a curing modality; and a curing structure for selectively exposing the adhesive to the curing modality as the adhesive emerges from the apertures during dispensation of the adhesive.
US08322390B2
The present invention generally relates to light weight tire devices comprising a plurality of layers of steel belts. The layers are each a predetermined fraction of the footprint width, and the width of each layer can vary from one layer to another. Some embodiments also include a pair of wedge strips disposed between two reinforcing layers. Furthermore, some embodiments can include a split belt, wherein the gap between the split belts is substantially occupied by a gum strip. Additionally, the belt ply cords can be angled according to one or more patterns.
US08322388B2
A tire having a tread wherein a first shoulder region includes a plurality of shoulder blocks that are circumferentially separated by shoulder transverse grooves. A central region includes a plurality of substantially transverse grooves extending from a first circumferential groove toward the equatorial plane, wherein two circumferentially consecutive substantially transverse grooves delimit a central area. The central area includes a first central block; a second central block having one side forming a part of the wall of the first circumferential groove; and a third central block circumferentially shifted with respect to the first central block and positioned at a distance from the first circumferential groove, the third central block being separated from the second central block by a central transverse groove which is inclined with respect to the equatorial plane. The substantially transverse grooves have respective end portions at a distance from the equatorial plane.
US08322386B2
On a pneumatic tire provided with a lug-grooved rib 14 having a circumferentially continuous rib portion 14a and wing portions 14b defined by lug grooves 15, chamfers 14c of depth D2 and width L2 are formed on the wing portions 14b on the side facing a circumferential groove 11d. At the same time, the depth D2 and the width L2 of the chamfers 14c are so set that the ratio of the chamfer depth D2 to the groove depth D1 of the circumferential groove 11d satisfies 0.015≦(D2/D1)≦0.200 and the ratio of the chamfer width L2 to the axial length L1 of the lug grooves 15 satisfies 0.1≦(L2/L1)≦0.85, so that the load to be borne by the wing portions 14b is effectively shifted to the rib portion 14a. In this manner, the pitch noise caused by the lug grooves can be reduced without changing the basic features of the tread pattern, and thus the quietness of vehicular operation is improved.
US08322385B2
A double chain saw arrangement which has diametrically oppositely extending chain saws powered by a single motor driving two sprockets on said hub, each engaged with an associated chain saw chains on each chain saw bar mounted to the hub. A series of hooked capture pieces project from one side of the chain saw bars in a plane parallel to the chain saw bars, which pieces act to cause brush and limbs to be captured and forced into contact with the saw chains to be cut thereby.
US08322373B2
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an axial drag control valve which includes an internal disk stack trim and an internal actuator. The fluid inlet and outlet of the valve are disclosed along a common axis, which is further shared with the actuator of the valve. The actuator moves along this particular axis to control the fluid flow rate, pressure, or temperature of the system. The valve actuator may be powered by air from an external source.
US08322371B2
A ball seat valve, use thereof, and method for controlling a valve assembly comprising a ball seat valve, wherein the valve body has a chamber and a plurality of inlet openings in the chamber. The inlet openings together have an inflow area leading into the chamber through which a medium can flow, and wherein the medium flows through said openings simultaneously as these are connected to one another in parallel. The valve has a seat with an outlet opening leading out of the chamber through the valve body, and wherein the outlet opening has an outflow area leading out of the chamber through which the medium can flow. Additionally, the valve has a ball which is situated in the chamber so as to be displaceable to open up or block the outlet opening. It is advantageous that the plurality of inlet openings comprise more than 10, especially more than 50, individual such inlet openings, resulting in a decrease in pressure between the inflowing medium outside and that inside the chamber.
US08322367B2
An expandable chemical delivery system sharing a common bulk fluid inlet and bulk fluid flow path to direct a bulk fluid through one or more selected chemical eductors. Each chemical eductor is slidably insertable into an eductor port on the manifold body such that rotation of the chemical eductor is not required for installation. After installation, the orientation of the chemical eductor can be rotatably adjusted so as to avoid interference with adjacent chemical eductors. Delivery of a bulk fluid to each chemical eductor is controlled via a corresponding valve assembly that selectively allows or blocks flow of the bulk fluid from the bulk fluid flow path to the corresponding chemical eductor. The manifold body can include a plurality of individual manifold bodies approximated with a coupling system to define the bulk fluid flow path. Alternatively, the manifold body can comprise a single fabricated body for high pressure operation.
US08322366B2
A valve alarm for use with a valve having an open position, a closed position, and a knob is provided. The valve alarm includes a handle having a knob seat receivable about the knob, and a body defining a volume. The knob seat is carried within the volume and moveable relative the body between an open position and a closed position. A switch is carried by the handle and changed from an Off orientation to an On orientation when the knob seat is moved to the open position, and changed from the On orientation to the Off orientation when the knob seat is moved to the closed position. A timer circuit is coupled to the switch and carried by the handle and includes a time period counted down to zero upon activation by the switch changed to the On orientation. A signaling device is carried by the handle and coupled to the timing circuit for activation upon the timer circuit time period reaching zero.
US08322365B2
A valve unit capable of being implanted in a patient and having adjustable performance settings, such as pressure settings and/or flow control, to regulate passage of a bodily fluid. A casing defines a port for the bodily fluid, and a valve mechanism positioned at the port includes a movable valve member. The valve unit further includes a rotor disposed at a first location in the casing and having an axle which turns about an axis of rotation. The rotor defines a plurality of arcuate, radially flat cam surfaces. Each cam surface occupies an arc about the axis of rotation. A spring arm unit is disposed at a second location in the casing having a cam follower arm in slidable contact with the cam surfaces of the rotor and having a resilient spring element applying a closing effect with the movable valve member to establish a performance setting for the valve unit. Sufficient rotation of the rotor to change the cam surface in contact with the cam follower alters the closing effect with which the valve member moves relative to the port and thereby alters the performance setting of the valve unit.
US08322352B2
A multi purpose fluid container for an integrated makeup kit, particularly an integrated nail makeup kit, wherein a plurality of varieties of nail polishes, polish applicator brush, nail polish remover solvent, and nail polish remover pads are combined in a size and shape that is easily carried in a modestly sized purse or handbag, but which can quickly and easily be separated into a plurality of conventional nail polish applicator bottles with brush, and a jar containing a plurality of nail polish remover pads saturated with solvent. When separated, the bottles and jar can rest on a flat surface, or be readily held in one's hand, such that the bottles and jar can be used independently of each other, in any sequence or order, without danger of spillage or contamination.
US08322339B2
A breathing assistance system with functionality for detecting the existence of a fault condition may include a pressure detector, a flow detector and a fault detection system. The pressure detector may take pressure measurements, each measurement including a measurement of a gas flow rate in the breathing assistance system. The flow detector may take flow rate measurements, each flow rate measurement including a measurement of has flow rate in the breathing assistance system. The fault detection system may process the pressure measurements and/or flow rate measurements to determine the existence of a fault condition associated with the breathing assistance system.
US08322337B2
A fluid dispenser device comprising a body (10), said device further including: an elongate flexible strip (20) supporting a plurality of reservoirs (21) each containing a dose of fluid or powder; reservoir-opening means (30) for opening a respective reservoir on each actuation; first displacement means (40) for causing said flexible strip (20) to advance before and/or during and/or after each actuation, so as to bring a full reservoir into register with said reservoir-opening means; and second displacement means (45) for displacing a full reservoir (21) against said opening means (30) each time the device is actuated, the leading end (25) of said flexible strip (20), in the advance direction of said strip, being fastened to a receiver element (50) that is rotatably mounted relative to said body (10), said receiver element (50) being adapted to exert a traction force on said elongate strip (20), said traction force being independent of said first displacement means (40), said traction force being applied on said strip when said second displacement means (45) move the empty reservoir (21) away from said opening means (30) after each actuation.
US08322332B2
A solar radiation collector system may includes a gimbal with a rim that supports a solar radiation concentrator or collector assembly passing through the plane of the rim, and foundation structures that support and anchor the gimbal, allowing it to both rotate and be raised or lowered. One flexible structural member may support the gimbal rim and a second flexible structural device both anchors the rim and enables the gimbal-collector assembly to rotate around an axis parallel to the earth's polar axis providing the desired primary tracking motion following the daily apparent motion of the sun. Motion between the gimbal and the solar radiation collector assembly allows the assembly to follow the apparent seasonal motion of the sun, among other tasks.
US08322326B2
An internal combustion engine (8) has an ignition device, a device for supplying fuel and a device for detecting the rpm of the engine (8). The engine (8) includes a permissible limit rpm (ng) and a control range (A) of the rpm (n) above the limit rpm (ng). A method for operating the engine (8) provides that the rpm of the engine (8) is limited in the control range (A) because of suppression of the ignition in individual engine cycles wherein the rpm (n) lies above a control rpm (na) lying in the control range (A). In the control range, and to improve the exhaust-gas values, the noncombustion engine cycle ratio (NECR) is adjusted. The NECR indicates the ratio of the number of engine cycles wherein the ignition is suppressed to the total number of ignitions.
US08322322B2
The present apparatus includes an oil container (an oil pan); an oil path connecting the oil container to lubricated parts; an oil pump provided in the oil path and supplying the lubricating oil from the oil container to the lubricated parts; a bypass path having a first end side thereof connected to a downstream side of the oil pump of the oil path and a second end side thereof connected to an upstream side of the oil pump of the oil path; a fuel separator provided in the bypass path and separating fuel from the lubricating oil flowing in the bypass path; and an open/close valve provided in the bypass path and opening and closing the bypass path based on a temperature of the lubricating oil or a physical quantity the lubricating oil having a correlation with the temperature.
US08322321B2
An internal combustion engine inlet manifold including an inlet duct with an axis of symmetry, the inlet duct being open at one end and closed at the other end and opening on its lateral surface onto a plurality of outlet ducts, the open end allowing an inlet flow to pass, each outlet duct being associated with one cylinder of the engine. Each outlet duct is connected by a blend radius to the inlet duct in the opposite way to the direction of travel of the inlet flow. The blend radius of each duct increases as a function of the path length of the inlet flow from the open end to the axis of symmetry of the respective duct so as to distribute the inlet flow to each duct with uniform permeability.
US08322320B2
The invention provides a laser ignition device for a combustion engine, especially a four-stroke engine, powered by ethyl alcohol, methyl alcohol and petrol, kerosene and benzol (benzene). The device of the invention is provided, in addition to a pulse laser, with a housing (10), at the outlet of which a quartz window (11) is seated, with a control-operation system (18) and with a dumper (15) seated in the bottom (3.1) of the piston (3) of the engine cylinder (2). The operation surface of the dumper (15) is heated in pulses by the laser radiation beam and said heated up operation surface of the dumper (15) causes ignition when the fuel mix reaches its lower explosion range limit. When the amount of fuel in the mix increases, the loss of laser beam radiation in a gas cushion between the quartz window (11) and the dumper (15) increases exponentially, according to the Beer-Lambert-Bouguer rule, and at some specific concentration the temperature in the axis of the laser beam reaches a self-ignition point, which causes propagation of ignition to the gas cushion. In another embodiment, the dumper (15) is seated in two arms (14) fixed to an outer sleeve of the laser housing (10).
US08322307B2
A pet grooming device is provided including a brush base with a plurality of bristles and at least one base latch for securing a biased platform. Included with the biased platform is at least one platform latch for securing the biased platform to the brush base by interconnecting the brush base latch with the biased platform latch.
US08322300B2
A non-contact edge coating apparatus includes an applicator for applying a coating material on an edge of a solar cell substrate and a control system configured to drive the applicator. The control system may drive the applicator along an axis to maintain a distance with an edge of the substrate as the substrate is rotated to have the edge coated with a coating material. The applicator may include a recessed portion into which the edge of the substrate is received for edge coating. For example, the applicator may be a roller with a groove. Coating material may be introduced into the groove for application onto the edge of the substrate. A variety of coating materials may be employed with the apparatus including hot melt ink and UV curable plating resist.
US08322299B2
An apparatus includes an enclosure, at least one process chamber, a robot and at least one valve. The enclosure has a gas therein and at least one door configured to cover an opening into the enclosure. The gas includes at least one reduction gas. The robot is disposed within the enclosure and configured to transfer a substrate between the door and the process chamber. The valve is coupled to the enclosure.
US08322293B2
A method to precisely meter and dispense two or more crop inputs with a common metering disc is presented to achieve proper placement in the soil relative to one another. In one embodiment, dry granular or granulized fertilizer is metered from one side of the disc and seed is metered from the opposite side of the same metering disc. The fertilizer is placed in a concentrated “pulse” approximately equal distances between seeds within a common seed furrow and/or between seed furrows to improved nutrient use efficiency by minimizing soil to fertilizer contact and subsequent chemical reactions that make applied supplemental nutrients less available to plants. Pressurized air may be utilized to assist discharge of both the seed and fertilizer from the disc meter to assure precise spacing in the soil. A cover may be placed on the meter and metering disc to recirculate air and thus minimize potential atmospheric contamination from seed coatings and fertilizer materials.
US08322289B2
A low floor vehicle reduces, when the vehicle enters a curved track, the lateral force of the vehicle, prevents occurrence of vibration and creaking sounds of the vehicle, improves riding quality of passengers, and reduces wear of wheel flanges. A low floor vehicle includes a bogie frame 9 of a bogie 7, a pair of bogie frame cross beams 9a arranged along a vehicle lateral direction in the middle of a vehicle longitudinal direction of the bogie frame 9 and arranged spaced apart from each other in the vehicle longitudinal direction, and a pair of wheels 8 provided in each of a vehicle front edge direction and a vehicle rear edge direction with respect to the pair of bogie frame cross beams 9a of the bogie frame 9 and configured to travel on a track 1. A pair of flexible traction rods 15 arranged along the vehicle longitudinal direction and configured to be capable of extending and retracting in the vehicle longitudinal direction are provided in the bogie 7, the pair of flexible traction rods 15 are arranged spaced apart from each other in a vehicle lateral direction, one ends 15b of the flexible traction rods 15 are attached to the bogie frame cross beams 9a, and the other ends 15c of the flexible traction rods 15 are attached to a receiving section 6c of in the vehicle body 6, and the bogie 7 is configured to be capable of turning with respect to the vehicle body 6.
US08322285B2
A combined firework is disclosed. In the combined firework, several tubular holes whose central longitudinal axes are parallel to each other are uniformly distributed in a body, the tubular holes have openings upward and bottom ends closed. The closed end of the bottom of each tubular hole is provided with two small through holes penetrating through the bottom of the body and respectively provided with an inward fuse and an outward fuse in series connection. The body, the tubular holes and the small through holes thereof are an integrally molded structure. On the bottom in the tubular hole propellant powder is provided and connected with the outward fuse and the inward fuse. On the propellant powder an inner cylinder or effect powder is provided.
US08322280B2
The invention relates to a device for applying information onto a surface of an aircraft, wherein the information is applicable in variable locations and is modifiable. The device can include a pad unit having at least one pad, at least one hand grip, a press-on mechanism, a hand lever, at least one support, and a housing. By applying varying printing patterns to the pads, any combination of characters can be stamped on. Moreover, the device configured as a hand-held tool can be operated by a user in variable locations. The printing process is effected by operating the hand lever, causing the pads to be brought into contact with the surface, and the information or, as the case may be, the technical coding to be applied onto said surface.
US08322279B2
A machine for marking or labeling circularly symmetrical work pieces includes a marking or labeling member, elements for moving the member and a workpiece relative to each other in a first direction, and a cradle for holding a workpiece while it is being marked or while a label is being applied to it. The cradle includes components for moving the workpiece in rotation around an axis of revolution thereof. A drive carriage drives the cradle in translation in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction. There are components that drive the carriage in translation in a third direction that is perpendicular to the first and second directions. Other components make it possible to drive the cradle relative to the carriage in rotation about a first axis that is parallel to the first direction.
US08322271B2
A sealed capsule for use in apparatus including a capsule receiving station and a water delivery system for brewing a hot beverage in which a hot liquid under pressure infuses a material. A capsule base has a concave bottom floor with angularly spaced structural ribs that form channels for directing brewed beverage to a sharpened spout. A collar surrounds the dispensing spout. A foil attaches to the collar to overlie the spout. A filter lies on the structural ribs. Infusible material lies on the filter. A water distribution plate overlies the infusible material. A cover closes the base unit and includes a water inlet. As the capsule seats in the capsule receiving station, the foil seal is forced over the sharpened spout to rupture and enable brewed beverage to be dispersed. A probe of the water delivery system also penetrates the cover to direct water into the capsule without contacting the infusible material or the brewed beverage.
US08322269B2
Disclosed herein are stabilized weapon mount systems that allow a gunner (i.e. operator of a weapon) to mount and operate a standard weapon in a manner similar to a stand-alone weapon while compensating for the motion of the platform. The system includes an aiming gimbal that is movable by an operator during stabilization into an aiming orientation directed toward a target and a stabilization gimbal nested within the aiming gimbal and adapted to securely couple to a weapon. The stabilization gimbal and aiming gimbal are mechanically coupled by a control unit such that the stabilization gimbal is moved by the control unit and the aiming gimbal is not moved by the control unit. A stabilization device automatically commands the control unit to move the stabilization gimbal relative to the aiming gimbal using the motors to correct for the base movement and maintain the aiming orientation directed toward the target.
US08322265B1
In an electromagnetic rail gun launcher that includes a set of spaced-apart rails defining an inside bore for slidably receiving an armature-type projectile, with the rail gun and armature configured such that when powered up the projectile is forced from a breech of the rail gun toward a muzzle of the rail gun to then launch the projectile, the improvement wherein a lubricant reconditioning pad, containing a lubricant, is secured to the projectile in a location such that it contacts the rails. As the projectile moves through the bore, the pad cleans debris from, and applies lubricant to, the rails to thereby lubricate and recondition the rails during each shot.
US08322261B2
Embodiments of a power miter saw comprise a saw base, a rotatable table, a miter arm, a saw blade and motor assembly operatively connected to the table, a hinged linear guide mechanism configured to support and move the assembly along a predetermined linear path, the mechanism comprising a first hinge having first and second links pivotably connected together by a first shaft extending through aligned openings therein, and a locking lever having a handle and a locking blade at opposite end portions and a pivot portion with a pivot connection therebetween for pivotably mounting the lever to one of the links, the blade being configured to fit within a gap between adjacent surfaces of the first and second links when the guide mechanism is in one of its extended or retracted positions and the lever is moved into a locked position.
US08322260B2
An apparatus for cutting a window covering and methods of cutting a window covering are provided. A method of operating a window covering cutting machine comprises a) packaging a window covering comprising components in a package such that first ends of the components extend beyond a first end of the package and second ends of the components extend beyond a second end of the package; b) automatically moving the package and components in a first direction of travel against a first squaring surface such that the first ends of the components are in a common plane; c) cutting the first ends of the components; d) automatically moving the package and components in a second direction of travel against a second squaring surface such that the second ends of the components are in a common plane; and e) cutting the second ends of the components.
US08322251B2
A transmission arrangement (1) with at least two countershafts for a vehicle, in particular a utility vehicle is proposed, such that an auxiliary drive output (10) can be coupled by means of a torque-transmitting element (11) to a first countershaft (7), and such that a second countershaft (8) can be coupled with a transmission brake device (12) to bring about load equalization between the countershafts (7, 8) when the auxiliary output (10) is coupled to the first countershaft (7). In addition, a method is proposed for load equalization between the countershafts (7, 8) of a transfer transmission when an auxiliary output (10) is engaged, such that in a first shift position of a main group (2) of the transfer transmission, in which the second countershaft (8), not coupled to the auxiliary output (10), is free from load, a load torque is applied to the second countershaft (8) for load equalization.
US08322247B2
A shifter assembly for use in conjunction with an electronically shifted manual transmission of a vehicle includes a shift lever, a shift knob disposed on the shift lever, a guide and at least one shifter tactile sensor. The shift lever may be disposed in the guide and is operable to move relative to the guide. The guide includes a pattern of shift lever positions corresponding to specific gear ratios of the transmission of the vehicle. When the shift lever is positioned in a specific shift lever position, a corresponding gear ratio of the transmission may be selected. The at least one shifter tactile sensor may be disposed on the shift knob. When pressure is applied to the shift knob, the at least one shifter tactile sensor may output a tactile signal indicating that pressure is being applied to the shift knob.
US08322246B2
A gear shift mechanism of a gear shift transmission having a plurality of gears is described. A first movable gear shift fork and at least one second movable gear shift fork are provided for engaging gears of the gear shift transmission and assuming a neutral position as well as an engaged position where a gear allocated to a respective one of the first and second gear shift forks is engaged. A locking mechanism comprising a locking element is provided that prevents that both gear shift forks can assume at the same time unintentionally an engaged position. The locking mechanism is designed such that in a locking position a force for moving the first gear shift fork out of its neutral position does not generate a resulting component of force that would force the locking element against the second gear shift fork.
US08322231B1
A hydrostatic force/displacement measuring device measures the force and displacement exerted by a rotating tire in soil/aggregate. The measuring device has a hydrostatic actuation assembly having a pressure plate at near surface depths of soil/aggregate to provide hydrostatic pressures in a liquid representative of force and displacement created by the downward forces exerted by a rotating tire in the soil/aggregate at the near surface depths. A hydrostatic hose transmits the hydrostatic pressure forces in the liquid to a surface manifold assembly. The surface manifold assembly receives the hydrostatic pressure forces and has a gauge providing visual readouts of the hydrostatic pressure forces representative of the downward forces. The surface manifold assembly also has an axially displaceable piston defining an interface chamber. The piston is connected to an electronic sensor to provide visual readouts representative of displacements caused by the downward force.
US08322230B2
A vibratory flow meter (5) for determining one or more flow fluid characteristics of a multi-phase flow fluid includes one or more flow conduits (103A,103B). The flow meter assembly (10) is configured to generate a very low frequency response that is below a predetermined minimum decoupling frequency for the flow fluid and to generate a very high frequency response that is above a predetermined maximum decoupling frequency for the flow fluid, independent of the foreign material size or the foreign material composition. The meter (100) further includes meter electronics (20) configured to receive one or more very low frequency vibrational responses and one or more very high frequency vibrational responses and determine the one or more flow fluid characteristics from the one or more very low frequency vibrational responses and the one or more very high frequency vibrational responses.
US08322229B2
A measurement apparatus including a lining body and an electrode. The electrode includes an electrode head portion having a first surface to contact a measurement object and a second surface opposite to the first surface, an electrode anchor portion formed around a peripheral portion of the second surface, and an electrode shaft portion. A protruding portion having a semicircular cross-section and a size smaller than a radius of the electrode shaft portion is formed around a peripheral edge portion of the second surface. A counterbore flat surface portion is formed in the lining body to define an arc portion of the inner surface as a flat surface, and while uniformly coming into contact with the counterbore flat surface portion of the lining body with pressure, the protruding portion of the electrode anchor portion bites into the counterbore flat surface portion.
US08322228B2
A method and system for measuring a property of a multiphase fluid comprising a mixture of at least an oil phase and a water phase travelling through a conduit, the method comprising measuring the thickness of the liquid mixture, measuring the permittivity of a portion of the multiphase fluid, combining the thickness measurement with the permittivity measurement to obtain a derived value for the permittivity of the liquid mixture, and using at least the derived permittivity of the liquid mixture and a relationship between a single phase liquid property and a corresponding two-phase property of the liquid mixture, to obtain a calculated water-to-liquid ratio of the liquid mixture.
US08322227B2
A tension testing device for use in a tension test for evaluating the strength of bond between a body and a pin of an electronic device includes a base, a tensiometer, a hanger, and a clamp. The base includes a supporting member and a carrying member, wherein the tensiometer is carried by the carrying member and includes a pulling portion. The hanger is coupled to the pulling portion for underpinning the body and project the pin in the direction of the base. The clamp is disposed on the base, positioned beside the hanger, for clamping the pin. The tension testing device protects the electronic device against test-induced deformation, dispenses with an intricate step of the welding and unwelding of the pin and a test lead, precludes a tension test-induced component of force, manifests ease of use, ensures test stability, and enhances test efficiency and reliability.
US08322225B2
A pressure detection mechanism having a pressure sense die which may be attached directly to a surface of an alumina-based substrate with an adhesive having an optimum thickness. The adhesive may be stress compliant and may be one or more of silicone, silicone-epoxy, epoxy or any other suitable adhesive material. A compensation and interface application specific integrated circuit may be attached to the surface of the package substrate. The pressure sense die may be electrically connected to the integrated circuit with bond wires. The integrated circuit may be electrically connected to trace conductors on the package substrate with bond wires, and trace conductors may be connected to stress compliant metal conductors or leads for external connection to a mounting surface such as a printed circuit board. Hard plastic, or like material, symmetric covers, with one or more pressure ports or vents, may be attached to both sides of the substrate.
US08322220B2
A method, and corresponding apparatus, of imaging sub-surface features at a plurality of locations on a sample includes coupling an ultrasonic wave into a sample at a first lateral position. The method then measures the amplitude and phase of ultrasonic energy near the sample with a tip of an atomic force microscope. Next, the method couples an ultrasonic wave into a sample at a second lateral position and the measuring step is repeated for the second lateral position. Overall, the present system and methods achieve high resolution sub-surface mapping of a wide range of samples, including silicon wafers. It is notable that when imaging wafers, backside contamination is minimized.
US08322215B2
Disclosed are apparatus and methodologies for detecting inversion tamper, removal tamper, and taps using a three-axes accelerometer sensor in a utility meter environment. Inversion tamper is detected upon power up if the acceleration value along Y axis is greater than or equal to some small positive threshold. Removal tamper is detected if the average acceleration change of both Y and Z axes is greater than or equal to the removal threshold. A tap is detected if the average acceleration change along the X axis is greater than or equal to the tap threshold. The initial acceleration values are set upon power up. Removal tamper detection and tap detection are distinguished using a moving average filter. Tap detection uses timing constraints to avoid false tap detections.
US08322214B2
A sensor device includes a time determining part and an output circuit. The time determining part determines time point information, and adds the time point information to the output supplied from a part subjected to failure diagnosis and related to generation of a failure detection signal, and to the output related to generation of a sense signal. The output circuit outputs the sense signal with the time point information added by the time determining part after the failure detection signal correlated with the sense signal by the time point information is output.
US08322213B2
A vibratory rate z-axis gyroscope is characterized by drive-mode and sense-mode quality factors and rate sensitivity and is fabricated with at least two decoupled vibratory tines, a levered drive-mode mechanism coupled between the tines to structurally force anti-phase drive-mode motion of the tines at a predetermined drive frequency, to eliminate spurious frequency modes of the anti-phase drive-mode motion of the tines lower than the predetermined drive frequency and to provide synchronization of drive- and sense-mode motion of the tines, and a sense-mode mechanism coupled between the tines arranged and configured to provide a linearly coupled, dynamically balanced anti-phase sense-mode motion of the tines to minimize substrate energy dissipation and to enhance the sense-mode quality factor and rate sensitivity.
US08322211B2
The balancing machine for balancing vehicle wheels comprises a base frame supporting a balancing spindle for balancing a vehicle wheel, a lifting device associable with the base frame and suitable for fitting and removing the wheel onto and off the balancing spindle, and a protection guard associable with the base frame and suitable for covering the wheel fitted on the balancing spindle, the lifting device and the protection guard being integrated together in a multifunctional device.
US08322210B2
A micro scale includes one substrate forming a first zone constituting a first terminal, one conducting vibrating beam which has two opposite ends affixed on two supporting areas on the substrate, the conductive beam forming a second terminal; wherein the conductive beam is made of polymer gel having metallic microparticles in low quantity so as to avoid any contamination of a biological material to measure, the density of the metallic microparticles being high enough to achieve electrical conduction of the second terminal. A manufacturing process of such a micro scale circuit is also provided.
US08322209B2
At least one embodiment of the present invention relates to a device for providing a compensated measurement of the level of a liquid in a tank. In at least one embodiment, the device includes a transducer adapted to transmit and receive acoustic signals; a waveguide connected to the transducer and adapted to extend into the liquid; at least one collecting device for collecting free-moving portions of said liquid; and at least one directing device for directing fluid originating from liquid collected by the collecting device into or along a portion of the waveguide which during operation is located above the liquid level. At least one embodiment of the present invention also relates to a corresponding method.
US08322207B2
A tack adhesion testing device for quantitatively measuring tack adhesion between a material and an object with a planar surface for contact with the material. The device has a material mount for mounting a quantity of the material such that the quantity of material presents an exposed flat face, an object mount for securely holding the object such that the planar surface is in flat contact with the exposed flat surface, the material mount and the object mount being movable relative to each other, a contact force applicator for applying a known force urging the exposed flat face and the planar surface into contact and, separation mechanism for applying a variable force to the material mount and the object mount to slide the flat face and the planar surface relative to each other such that the variable force can be increased until the flat face and the planar surface slide relative to each other.
US08322201B2
A device and method for assessing the machinability, particularly the drillability, of epoxy resin laminates by reproducible indentation and analysis of the delamination area of a laminate sample thus provoked.
US08322200B2
The present invention uses the one or more on-line process analyzers that monitor the manufacture of petroleum products, such as gasoline or diesel fuel, to analyze and/or certify that the manufactured product meets regulatory and/or contractual requirements. The analysis is performed by re-introducing a manually or automatically collected sample that is representative of the manufactured product back into the one or more process analyzers. The results obtained for the representative sample from the on-line process analyzers are then used to represent the quality of the manufactured batch of petroleum material to certify that the manufactured batch meets regulatory, specification and/or contractual requirements.
US08322198B2
A method comprising preparing a baseline cement slurry comprising a cement, water, and one or more additives, placing a sample of the baseline cement slurry into a sample container having a vertical height, and measuring time of flight of energy through the sample at one or more locations along the vertical height to determine a settling property of the baseline cement slurry. A method comprising providing a settling test apparatus comprising a column having a vertical height and at least one pair of transducers positioned opposite each other with the column there between, placing a cement slurry sample within the column, and measuring time of flight of ultrasonic energy through the sample at one or more locations along the vertical height to determine a settling property of the cement slurry.
US08322197B2
Method for injecting a liquid sample in an HPLC analyzing device, using an apparatus which comprises a first liquid circuit, a second liquid circuit, a valve assembly of the stator/rotor type, and a sample loop. In a first and a second valve position, respectively, the sample loop is either part of the first or of the second circuit, respectively. During the switching of the valve assembly from the second valve position into the first valve position, the valve assembly automatically and temporarily assumes an intermediate valve position in which the sample loop is automatically decompressed via a fourth connection chamber and a third valve outlet. In that intermediate valve position the sample loop is neither part of the first circuit nor part of the second circuit.
US08322196B2
Vibrating wire viscometers are described. Some example vibrating wire viscometer housings include a flowline through the housing to expose a first wire to a downhole fluid, a cavity in the housing to hold a magnet and to conduct one or more additional wires from the flowline to a signal generator, first and second electrically conductive posts mechanically coupled to the housing to hold the first wire in tension within the flowline, and a seal mechanically coupled to the housing to prevent access to the magnet by the downhole fluid.
US08322189B2
The present invention is an improvement to two-dimensional comprehensive gas chromatography. The improvement is a one valve switching modulator connecting the two separation columns. The valve includes either a two position eight-port valve or a two position twelve-port valve, and two transfer lines.
US08322185B2
The various embodiments herein provide a mandrel assembly for tube bending. The mandrel assembly comprises a plurality of chains, a ring arranged between the plurality of chains links, a plurality of ball segments, a shank and a pin. The ring is placed between the set of chain links and the chain links are inserted into the one side of the ball segment and the other side of the ball segment is inserted with other set of chain links and the pin is held to hold the components firmly. The plurality of chains links are passed into a machined section of each of the plurality of ball segments and the pin is inserted into a groove of the ball segments to hold the plurality of chains and then connected to the shank thereby forming a mandrel joint.
US08322184B2
A method of producing a metallic shell for a spark plug, including steps of preparing a first intermediate article by using a first die including a first large diameter cavity larger in diameter than a metal blank, a first small diameter cavity smaller in diameter than the metal blank, a curved tapered cavity between the first large diameter cavity and the first small diameter cavity, and an oil drain cavity between the first large diameter cavity and the tapered cavity and substantially same in diameter as the metal blank, wherein the metal blank is inserted in the first large diameter cavity and extruded to allow a configuration of the metal blank to conform to the first large diameter cavity, the oil drain cavity, the tapered cavity and the first small diameter cavity while being pressed by a punch, and preparing a second intermediate article by using a second die.
US08322175B2
It shall be achieved by the invention that a workpiece for an explosion forming process, which can be inserted into a forming tool and which can be deformed from an initial shape by means of explosion forming, and the explosion forming method are improved such that a satisfactory quality of the workpiece with the desired wall thickness is achieved in a simple manner. This object is achieved by a workpiece and a respective explosion forming method in which the initial shape of the workpiece has at least in some portions a supply of material for the explosion forming process, which is pre-formed compared to adjoining portions or which is provided therewith.
US08322173B2
A method for utilizing a bending machine die layout includes designating a die layout of a bending machine, the designated die layout being defined by arrangements of replaceable punches and replaceable dies installed on the bending machine. The method also includes extracting, in the designated die layout, segments in each of which a punch and a die face overlapping to each other to be actually used for one of bending processes, as virtual die stages based on punch attachment positions and punch lengths of the punches, and die attachment positions and die lengths of the dies. The method further includes assigning, by using a sheet metal shape model of a bent product planned to be made by the bending machine, bend lines on the sheet metal shape model corresponding to actual bend lines of the bent product, to the virtual die stages.
US08322167B2
A cut-resistant fabric has at least a fabric section knitted with composite metallic core yarns (22, 24). One or each of some or all courses of the knitted section comprises a first core yarn (22) knitting alternate first stitches and a second core yarn (24) knitting alternate second stitches. Each core yarn (22, 24) extends between its respective alternate stitches floating in the intermediate stitch. This arrangement increases the bulk of the yarn material by unit area in the section, adding considerably to its cut-resistant properties. The fabric has a particular application in gloves for use in the meat-cutting and foam-cutting industries.
US08322162B2
The invention relates to a method of heating glass panels for tempering. The horizontal glass panels are heated in a lehr by upper and lower convection blast and by upper and lower radiation heating, information representing a load of the glass panels and used for the control and/or regulation of heating is read, the upper radiation heating is controlled and/or regulated in the way of a matrix by a profiling both in a conveying direction and a direction lateral thereto. At least the upper convection blast is controlled and/or regulated in various sections of the lehr in the way of a matrix by a profiling both in a conveying direction and a direction lateral thereto, and the relative blast effects of convection blowing elements successive in the conveying direction are regulated for a profiling in the conveying direction. The invention relates also to an apparatus applying the method.
US08322161B2
A process produces a glass sheet. The process includes down-drawing a molten glass into a sheet-like glass ribbon, in which the molten glass is fed to a forming trough arranged in a forming furnace and the molten glass is caused to flow down from the forming trough through a conveyance passage extending vertically. The process also includes removing an internal strain in the glass ribbon in an annealing furnace, cooling the glass ribbon to around room temperature in a cooling chamber, and cutting the glass ribbon into a given size, in which the cooling chamber is provided with a gas exhausting passage, thereby exhausting air in the cooling chamber to an outside.
US08322158B2
A refrigerator includes an ice storage bin, an opening provided in the ice storage bin through which ice is discharged, and a plurality of blades provided in the ice storage bin, such that the plurality of blades can rotate in a forward direction or in a reverse direction, to selectively discharge ice through the opening as whole ice or crushed ice, where gravity and the plurality of blades are the only forces exerted on the ice collected in the ice storage bin.
US08322157B2
A liquid coolant flow straightener is provided for use with a cooling system to at least partially straighten flow of liquid coolant, promoting de-aeration of the liquid coolant.
US08322152B2
A sensor assembly for detecting ice crystal formation on a heat exchange surface in an ice-making machine comprises at least one microphone monitoring the sound made by a rotating blade assembly within the ice-making machine during ice slurry formation. A filter filters the output of the microphone to remove background noise. A comparator receives the output of the filter and compares the filtered microphone output with a threshold to determine if the filtered microphone output signifies ice crystal formation on the heat exchange surface. The operation of the ice-making machine can then be adjusted in a manner to allow the formed ice crystals to be removed from the heat exchange surface.
US08322146B2
A transition duct assembly with a thermally free aft frame and mounting system for use in a gas turbine engine are disclosed. The aft frame is capable of adjusting to thermal gradients while the mounting system provides for at least transverse movement of the transition duct during engine assembly. The mounting system also provides a means for raising the natural frequency of the transition duct outside of the engine's dynamic excitation ranges.
US08322144B2
An annular cowl for a turbomachine nozzle, the cowl including a plurality of patterns arranged to extend a trailing edge of the cowl and circumferentially spaced apart from one another. Each pattern has an outline of substantially polygonal shape with a base formed by a portion of the trailing edge of the cowl and at least one vertex that is spaced downstream from the base and that is connected thereto by lateral edges, and in each of its lateral edges, each pattern includes at least one fin, each fin being inclined radially relative to the pattern in a plane that is inclined at an angle lying in the range 0° to 45° relative to a radial direction.
US08322140B2
A dry low NOx (DLN) fuel nozzle of a fuel system is provided and includes one or more downstream orifices formed to define a first fluid path along which fluid is directed to flow, an upstream orifice, located upstream from the one or more downstream orifices, formed to define a second fluid path along which the fluid is directed to flow and connecting passages disposed to fluidly couple the first and second fluid paths of the downstream and upstream orifices, respectively, to one another. At least one of a radial size and an axial location of the upstream orifice is set to cooperatively detune an acoustic impedance of the fuel system.
US08322139B2
A condenser that restrains fluctuations in the condenser vacuum in a power generating installation.In particular, the condenser has a circulating path through which cooling water flows; a tube nest for condensing steam from a steam turbine with the cooling water; and a discharge path. Additionally, a bypass tube; a control valve for controlling the flow rate of the cooling water supplied from the circulating path to the discharge path; a recirculating path; and a booster pump that controls the flow rate of the cooling water are provided. One of the temperature, the flow rate and both the temperature and the flow rate of the cooling water to flow through the two tube nests is deviated from the temperature and the flow rate of the cooling water on the upstream side of the circulating path using the control valve and booster pump.
US08322136B2
A method is provided for operating a turbo charger of a combustion engine that includes, but is not limited to providing a set of values of a basic boost pressure for opening a waste gate for the turbo charger at a standard Temperature and at a standard pressure and measuring an ambient air temperature and an ambient air pressure. The method also includes, but is not limited to calculating a density of ambient air based on a mathematical formula using the measured ambient air temperature and the measured ambient air pressure and transforming at least one point of the provided set of values of the basic boost pressure at standard conditions into at least one point of an estimated set of values of the basic boost pressure at ambient conditions by a correction factor based on the calculated density, and controlling the turbo charger with least one corrected value of the basic boost pressure.
US08322127B2
A nozzle assembly for a turbine engine has a convergent portion for converging fluid flow from a turbine engine core. A divergent portion for diverging fluid flow from the turbine engine core is in fluid communication with the convergent portion. A conduit is in communication with a bypass fluid flow. The conduit has a thrust vectoring port located near the divergent portion.
US08322121B1
An electric trimmer attachment for lawn tractors comprises an attachable apparatus for use with existing lawn tractors which provides trimmer capabilities. The apparatus comprises a mounting bracket, an arm, and a line trimmer. The mounting bracket provides a means for removably securing the device to a deck of an existing mower. The arm comprises a gooseneck arm attached to the bracket, which extends outwards. An outside end portion of the arm comprises a line trimmer with an electric motor and features such as automatic line advancement and safety controls. The motor is powered via a converter or battery pack on the mower. The arm provides an arc-shaped rotating motion to the trimmer.
US08322120B1
A fly blanket for laying atop a horse's rump behind a saddle comprising a mesh sheet having a generally rounded trapezoidal shape; two attachment components both for attaching the mesh sheet to a saddle ring disposed on the saddle; and stitched binding disposed along edges of the mesh sheet, wherein a weighted rope is disposed in all of or a portion of the stitched binding, wherein the weighted rope functions to help keep the fly blanket from flopping around while the horse is moving.
US08322118B2
Systems and methods for packaging information handling systems such as notebook computers. Information handling systems may be configured in a bulk shipping configuration to allow multiple information handling system units to be shipped in a bulk configuration, and then converted to a single pack shipping configuration to allow an individual information handling system to be shipped separately and alone, or vice-versa.
US08322115B2
A formwork assembly is adapted to receive concrete to produce structures such as wall structures. The formwork includes PVC tubular form elements having recessed female engagement portions. The female engagement portions are adapted to receive respective male engagement portions. An octagonal form element has a female engagement portion positioned at each vertex between adjacent sides. A recessed female engagement portion is closed to the interior of the form element but open to the exterior of the form element. Thus, the form element includes a plurality of vertices open to the exterior. The form elements also include male engagement portions at an open side. Wall panels, corner panels, and joint connectors can also include the male engagement portions. The male engagement portions and female engagement portions are adapted to mate to form a formwork arrangement having a substantially flat exterior wall. A formwork assembly can additionally include concrete flow apertures and insulation.
US08322108B2
A chair for supporting and spacing post-tension cables having a generally tapered body with an upper receiving area for securing the cables and a planar base adapted to rest on a flat support surface. The body has inner and outer surfaces that are substantially complementary to one another to allow a plurality of chairs to be stacked together. The receiving area includes posts extending upwardly between notches. The posts define passageways for guiding the cables into the notches. Detents project inwardly from the tops of the posts and fixedly retain the bars within the passageways. The chair may be formed from a resilient polymeric material.
US08322107B2
A wind turbine tower in which a horizontal force received by an upper part of the tower is dispersed to a lower part of the tower or to a base so as to reduce the load acting on a tower shell and suppress deformation of the tower caused by an external force is provided. A monotype-type wind turbine tower 2 in which mainly a tower shell 21 is configured to bear load includes a platform 22 connected to an inner wall of the tower shell 21 and dividing an internal space of the tower in the vertical direction; an elastic bearing 30 attached by fixing one end thereof to the platform 22; and a load transmission member 23 disposed in the internal space of the tower and connecting another end of the elastic bearing 30 to the platform 22 located at a position facing the elastic bearing 30 or to a base B so as to transmit a horizontal force from the elastic bearing 30 to the tower shell 21 or the base B.
US08322104B2
Building or structural panels may be joined, such as to form walls or floors. The panels have edge anchors with mounts. The anchors may comprise elongate members defining a trough having spaced cross-pins. A connector is positioned between adjacent panels. The connector engages the mounts of the anchors, such by having the cross-pins slide into slots of the connector. The panels may have outer skins located over an expanded core comprising a matrix of supporting elongate members and voids or openings, with the anchors located slots formed in the edges of the panels.
US08322099B2
There is disclosed apparatus for use in forming a decorative feature on a structure, and a method of forming a decorative feature on a structure. In an embodiment of the invention, apparatus (10) for use in forming a decorative feature on a structure such as a building is disclosed. The apparatus (10) comprises a support adapted to be mounted on a surface of a structure, the support having a planar outer face (23, 25) for receiving a decorative element (26, 28), for thereby mounting the decorative element (26, 28) on the surface of the structure to form a decorative feature; and at least one set of mounting elements (42, 44) provided on the outer face (23, 25) of the support (10); wherein the mounting elements (42, 44) in the/each set together define an at least one mounting area (22, 24) on the support outer face (23, 25), which mounting area is shaped to receive a decorative element (26, 28); and wherein the mounting elements (42, 44) define at least one border of the mounting area (22, 24) to facilitate positioning of the decorative element (26, 28) on the support outer face (23, 25).
US08322097B2
A method of constructing a building or building appurtenance, optionally without structural use of concrete except for floor slabs. The method contemplates excavating a hole to establish a natural base on which the structure is to be constructed, establishing layout locations where upright walls or other supports of the structure are to be erected, establishing a fabricated footer, optionally a fiber-reinforced polymeric footer, along the laid-out locations of the supports, placing pre-fabricated load-bearing fiber-reinforced polymeric building panels or other supports on the fabricated footer, and connecting the pre-fabricated wall panels or other supports to each other according to the structure plan thereby developing load-bearing walls or other supports, and erecting overlying structure on the load-bearing walls or other supports.
US08322095B2
A header assembly for a movable partition includes an overhead track and a header pan. The header pan is configured to extend from the overhead track to an adjoining structure. The header pan, the overhead track, or a combination of both may form a fire-resistant barrier extending from a wall of the adjoining structure to an opposing wall of the adjoining structure. Movable partition systems may include header assemblies. Methods of forming header assemblies include positioning a header pan proximate to an overhead track and extending the header pan between a first wall and a second wall to at least substantially occlude a section of space therebetween. Methods of installing a movable partition include securing an overhead track to an overhead support structure, securing a retainer clip to an adjoining structure, extending a header pan from the overhead track to the retainer clip, and suspending a partition from the track.
US08322089B2
A ridge ventilation system includes a plurality of ridge vent sections configured to be arranged end-to-end along the ridge of a roof covering a vent slot formed therealong. Each ridge vent section has an elongated longitudinally flexible top panel with a central portion, edge portions terminating at extreme edges of the top panel, and ventilation grids extending beneath and along the edge portions spaced from extreme edges thereof. The space between the extreme edges of the top panel and the ventilation grids forms or defines an overhang configured to receive edges of shingles in a course of shingles installed next to the vent section and to inhibit the edges of the shingles from rising up. The ridge vent sections also have depending deflectors for deflecting blowing rain and snow that might enter through the ventilation grids and filter fabric may be affixed to the bottom of the ridge vent sections to provide additional deflection of rain and snow. The ridge ventilation system is particularly useful with slate or slate-style roofs and the vent sections are sized so that ridge cap slates extend beyond the extreme edges of the sections to hide substantially the ridge ventilation system from view.
US08322082B2
Disclosed is a gutter cover comprising a elongated member adapted to fit over an existing gutter having a plurality of perforations to permit water flow and prevent clogging of the gutter with debris. The gutter cover has two raised areas on its surface to create three channels for water flow. The gutter cover can be fastened to a gutter without fasteners.
US08322069B2
An apparatus and method for detecting and/or controlling subterranean termites. A station at least partially receivable within a cavity has at least one opening therein to provide access by the termites to an interior volume of the station. The apparatus includes an aggregation base attractive to the termites and including at least one void for forming an aggregation site. The apparatus includes a replaceable container received within the interior volume of the station and positioned adjacent the aggregation base. The container has at least one opening in a surface thereof facing the aggregation base to permit the passage of termites from the aggregation base to an interior chamber of the container. The container is sized and shaped such that the container may be removed from the station with minimal disturbance to the aggregation base, thereby preserving any aggregation site formed by the termites.
US08322054B2
A shoe has a sole member with an upper surface for receiving a user's foot and a lower surface for contacting a support surface. An interchangeable strap has a sole member engaging portion and may be selectively interconnected with the sole member.
US08322044B2
A method of classifying a dent on a surface of a shipping container as being in an acceptable or unacceptable classification includes calculating at least one of an acceptable dent depth range corresponding to the acceptable classification and an unacceptable dent depth range corresponding to the unacceptable classification. The method further includes measuring a depth of the dent with a measurement apparatus and comparing the depth with the acceptable and/or unacceptable dent depth ranges to classify the dent in the acceptable or unacceptable classification. The method of classifying the dent on the surface of the shipping container is accurate and repeatable because it includes measuring the depth of the dent and comparing the depth with the acceptable and unacceptable dent depth ranges. The ability to classify dents allows recipients of the shipping containers to consistently accept or reject shipping containers having dents in the acceptable and unacceptable classifications, respectively.
US08322043B2
An automatic anthropometer for automatically measuring human height is provided. The automatic anthropometer includes a main post configured to stand vertically to a foot board and have a guiding rail formed integrally with an inner surface in a length direction, a sliding post configured to include a guide wheel that rotates along the guiding rail, and ascend and descend along the length direction of the main post under the guide of the guiding rail to measure height of a user, a head-touch bar configured to be coupled to the sliding post, and a lifting-driving device configured to raise and lower the sliding post.
US08322042B2
The present invention relates to an ophthalmic holding mechanism for holding an eyeglass frame. The holding mechanism includes a base, a clamping mechanism configured for releaseably securing a lens mount of an eyeglass frame, and an actuator operatively associated with the clamping mechanism for causing linear and rotational movement thereof. The clamping mechanism is moveably coupled to the base for linear and rotational movement about an axis of rotation relative to the base, wherein the clamping mechanism is rotatable about first and second spaced pivot points. The present invention also relates to a method of tracing a lens mount of an eyeglass frame.
US08322037B2
A system and method of manufacture providing reinforced structurally functional load-bearing members, including but not limited to using thermoplastic materials, such as High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), reinforced such as with an aluminum alloy or carbon fiber core element. Among its possible uses, the present invention has application for provision of structural support members, such as an illustrative I-joist product having a vertical center member preferably comprising HDPE, and top and bottom flanges having structurally meaningful reinforcement. The center member and flanges preferably comprising HDPE provides a relatively hard, durable, substantially weather-resistant structure.
US08322036B2
A method of constructing a self-inflating tire assembly includes molding in an air tube-receiving groove within a green tire carcass wall, the groove having an access opening, primary internal groove chamber and a secondary expansion groove chamber adjacent to and communicating with the internal groove chamber. A groove partial passageway is molded with the groove at a prescribed groove outlet location and extends from the groove partially through the tire carcass wall toward the tire cavity. A tire carcass wall barrier of reduced section between the partial passageway and the tire cavity is removed in a post-cure operation to create a through-bore from the groove to the tire cavity. A pump assembly inserts into the tube-receiving groove in a post-cure procedure with an outlet passage tube from a pump assembly outlet device extended through the through-bore to the tire cavity.
US08322032B2
A method for manufacturing a substrate structure is provided. The method includes the following steps. A substrate is provided. The substrate has a patterned first metal layer, a pattern second metal layer and a through hole. After that, a first dielectric layer and a second dielectric layer are formed at a first surface and a second surface of the substrate, respectively. The second surface is opposite to the first surface. Then, the first dielectric layer and the second dielectric layer are patterned. After that, a first trace layer is formed at a surface of the patterned first dielectric layer. The first trace layer is embedded into the patterned first dielectric layer and is coplanar with the first dielectric layer. Then, a second trace layer is formed on a surface of the second dielectric layer.
US08322027B1
A method for manufacturing a flexible circuit electrode array, comprising: a) depositing a metal trace layer containing a base coating layer, a conducting layer and a top coating layer on said insulator polymer base layer; b) applying a layer of photoresist on said metal trace layer and patterning said metal trace layer and forming metal traces on said insulator polymer base layer; c) activating said insulator polymer base layer and depositing a top insulator polymer layer and forming one single insulating polymer layer with said base insulator polymer layer; d) applying a thin metal layer and a layer of photoresist on the surface of said insulator polymer layer and selective etching said insulator layer and said top coating layer to obtain at least one via; and e) filling said via with electrode material. A layer of polymer is laid down. A layer of metal is applied to the polymer and patterned to create electrodes and leads for those electrodes. A second layer of polymer is applied over the metal layer and patterned to leave openings for the electrodes, or openings are created later by means such as laser ablation. Hence the array and its supply cable are formed of a single body. Alternatively, multiple alternating layers of metal and polymer may be applied to obtain more metal traces within a given width.The method provides an excellent adhesion between the polymer base layer and the polymer top layer and insulation of the trace metals and electrodes.
US08322023B1
A method for fabricating a magnetic transducer is described. The magnetic transducer includes a pole having a pole tip and a flared region. The method Includes providing a first mask layer on the pole and providing a second mask layer on the first mask layer. The first mask layer is soluble in a predetermined solution and has a first thickness. The second mask layer has a second thickness greater than the first thickness. The method also includes forming a mask from the first mask layer and the second mask layer. The step of forming the mask layer includes using the predetermined solution. The mask has a pattern that exposes a portion of the pole tip and covers a portion of the flared region. The method also includes providing a wrap-around shield on at least the pole tip.
US08322022B1
A method for providing energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) heads is described. The method comprises bonding a plurality of lasers to a first substrate. The plurality of lasers corresponds to the plurality of EAMR heads and is for providing energy to a plurality of EAMR transducers. The method further comprises fabricating the plurality of EAMR transducers for the plurality of EAMR heads on a second substrate, bonding the first substrate to the second substrate such that the plurality of EAMR transducers and the plurality of lasers reside between the first substrate and the second substrate, removing at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate, and separating a remaining substrate into the plurality of EAMR heads.
US08321999B2
Self-locking devices for locking cords against longitudinal movement and maintaining the cords in a locked position even with no tension on the cords. A cord locking device includes a body and a slide piece for locking two cord segments. The body includes a housing, and the slide piece slides within the housing. The slide piece includes two ears, each having a cord channel through which one of the cord segments may pass, and two arms extending toward the housing, with a substantially upwardly extending tab at the free end of each arm. The cord segments pass through the housing and between the inside surface of the housing and a toothed wedge at a lower end of the slide piece. The toothed wedge grips the cord segments and locks them in place when they are pulled downwardly in the direction that the wedge is tapered.
US08321998B2
A tensioning device that is inexpensive to manufacture and is useful for various rope tensioning applications. The rope locking device can be used anywhere along a length of rope that is being used to hold, tie down, or secure a load or item. The rope locking device includes: a body having a first end, a second end, and side ends; a first bore extending through the body; a second bore extending through the body, wherein the second bore is horizontally aligned and spaced apart from said first bore by a first space, wherein the first and second bore are located proximate to the first end of the body; a third bore extending through the body, wherein the third bore is located proximate to the second end of the body, and wherein the third bore is spaced from the first and second bores; a first slot vertically aligned with the first bore; a second slot vertically aligned with the second bore, wherein the second slot is spaced from the first slot by a second space; and a cam element pivotally mounted within the third bore.
US08321997B2
A holder for securing eyeglasses, sunglasses or other personal items that may be securely incorporated into an article of clothing at the time the article is manufactured. The holder includes a base member that can be inserted into an article of clothing. The base member can be securely attached to an interconnecting cord. The cord may have one end threaded through the article of clothing and securely affixed to the base member and the other end securely affixed to the external part of the holder. The external part of the holder can include a hanger with a support base and a loop. The holder allows a wearer to insert a temple piece of a pair of eyeglasses, or a hook attached to another personal item, through the loop and allows the item to assume a secure and relatively flat position against the wearer's body. The holder may also in include an RFID tag. The holder may also include a covered loop. The covering may be either internal or external. The covering may include a design, logo or monogram.
US08321990B2
A detachable multifunctional cleaner comprises a handle which has an insertion piece downwardly protruded from one end; a cover which has an insertion hole at one side of an upper surface for inserting the insertion piece; and a foreign substance removing means which is detachably attached to the cover, wherein the insertion piece and the insertion hole are assembled on a vertical line Z with respect to a bottom surface of the cover, and at least one position determination protrusion and at least one position determination groove are formed in the insertion piece and the insertion hole, respectively, for determining the engaging position of the handle.
US08321983B2
A method for controlling a laundry treating appliance having a treating chamber for treating laundry may provide a wash liquid including an enzyme into the treating chamber to effect an enzymatic reaction having at least one constituent product, monitor the concentration of the at least one constituent product, and alter the control of the laundry treating appliance in response to the concentration reaching a plateau.
US08321979B2
A toroidal cushion sized to fit and support a posterior of a human user. The toroidal cushion slopes significantly from the back toward the front and comprises an upper cushion surface comprising a depressed center within a surrounding upper cushion surface. The depressed center and the surrounding upper cushion surface are configured such that the user's weight is essentially supported by the surrounding upper cushion surface whereas the depressed center is substantially non-body-weight-bearing and provides an upward force that contacts and supports a rectal area of a user when the toroidal cushion is sat upon.
US08321977B1
A feeding pillow is constructed of a pillow body that is generally defined by a medial region and two opposing arms. The medial region is configured to be placed near or adjacent a user's stomach, with the arms generally near or adjacent the user's sides. The pillow body has a top surface that is adapted to hold a baby and a bottom surface that is adapted to be placed on the user's lap. The pillow body further includes a fabric cover and a fill material disposed within the fabric cover. Also, a support member is removably positioned at or above one of surfaces such that one surface is more firm than the other surface.
US08321975B1
The present disclosure relates to a bed sheet and to an apparatus for securing a bed sheet or fitted sheet to a mattress. The bed sheet and apparatus, namely a bed sheet retainer set, preferably comprise a fitted bed sheet having four corners and a flat sheet. Both the fitted sheet and flat sheet are placed on a mattress above a box spring. The bed sheet retainer set preferably comprises a fitted sheet restrictor having cylinder with a slot and a base for placement between the mattress and box spring, four corner grips for use on the fitted sheet and two flat sheet grips for use with the flat sheet. The corner grips and flat sheet grips are preferably made of machine-washable foam with a rougher surface. The corner grips preferably each have a semi-circular base and a rounded corner wall. The flat sheet grips preferably have an hour-glass shape and rounded edges.
US08321967B2
Disclosed are toilets suitable to be installed partially behind a bathroom wall. In some embodiments a siphon leg of the toilet trapway extends sideways between lateral studs of the wall. Thus, an elongated trapway can be accommodated without needing to position the siphon leg in the bathroom or behind the wall studs. In other embodiments the tank for the toilet is also positioned between studs of the room wall.
US08327441B2
An instrumented machine or platform having a target application thereon is disclosed. An attestation service may generate an application artifact having associated therewith a name and an application statement having at least one of a plurality of attribute value assertions describing the examined runtime local execution and introspection based derived security context. The application statements may represent the level of contextual trustworthiness, at near real time, of a running application on the instrumented target platform. A runtime process and network monitor may examine the local runtime execution context of the target application, and an identity provider may authenticate a user to the web application based on a web services query for attestation of the target application. A physical or logical authorization service may control access of an authenticated user to the target application, based on a dynamic application statement and multi-factor application attestation issued by the attestation service.
US08327427B2
System and method for transparent single sign-on authentication on computers in a networked environment. A preferred embodiment comprises receiving an authentication request from an operating system of a first computer, requesting credentials of an application making the authentication request, authenticating the credentials, storing the credentials if the authentication is successful, and transmitting the credentials to a second computer. On subsequent access requests made by the user on the second computer, the credentials can be retrieved from the secure store, eliminating the need to prompt the user to re-enter authentication information.
US08327424B2
A certificate authority selection unit implements a method for selecting one of a plurality of certificate authorities servicing a plurality of administrative domains in a communication system. The method includes: receiving, from an end-entity via an interface, a certificate service request associated with an identifier; selecting, based on the identifier, one of the plurality of administrative domains in the communication system, wherein the plurality of administrative domains are serviced by a plurality of certificate authorities; retrieving a security profile for the end-entity; and selecting, based on the security profile for the end-entity, one of the plurality of certificate authorities to process the certificate service request.
US08327407B2
A method of determining whether live media content or time-shifted media content is received at a communication device is presented. In the method, attribute information concerning media content received at a communication device at a specific time is received. Also received is schedule information including an identity of media content carried at the specific time over a channel identified in the attribute information. The media content identity from the attribute information is compared with the media content identity from the schedule information. The received media content is determined to be live media content if the media content identity from the attribute information agrees with the media content identity from the schedule information. The received media content is determined to be time-shifted media content if the media content identity from the attribute information does not agree with the media content identity from the schedule information.
US08327399B2
System and method for delivering targeted advertising data in an internet protocol television system
A system and method for delivering targeted advertising data over an internet protocol television (IPTV) network are disclosed for multicasting from an IPTV server a group of targeted advertising data to a group of end user client devices; receiving at the IPTV server from an end user client device in the group of end user client devices selection data indicating selected targeted advertising data from the group data; and unicasting from the IPTV server to the end user client device follow-on advertising data related to the selected targeted advertising data. A client device is disclosed for receiving a multicast group of targeted advertising data, selecting one of the group of targeted advertising data and receiving follow-on advertising data related to the selected advertising data.
US08327392B2
A disc transfer guide apparatus includes a guide plate for transferring a disc by clamping the disc in cooperation with a feed roller and a mount base to which the guide plate is mounted. The guide plate has a pair of plate portions coupled by a coupling portion that can be expandable and shrinkable in an axial direction of the feed roller. Each plate portion has a protruding piece at the outer end and the mount base has a slit engaged with the protruding piece for restraining the guide plate from moving in the axial direction of the feed roller. Each plate portion has inclined protruding threads having a protruding amount from the obverse face gradually increasing from the inner end toward the outer end.
US08327390B2
Extensions to operating systems or software applications can be hosted in virtual environments to fault isolate the extension. A generic proxy extension invoked by a host process can coordinate the invocation of an appropriate extension in a virtual process that can provide the same support APIs as the host process. Furthermore, a user mode context can be provided to the extension in the virtual process through memory copying or page table modifications. In addition, the virtual process, especially a virtual operating system process running on a virtual machine, can be efficiently started by cloning a coherent state. A coherent state can be created when a virtual machine starts up, or when the computing device starts up and the appropriate parameters are observed and saved. Alternatively, the operating system can create a coherent state by believing there is an additional CPU during the boot process.
US08327378B1
A method, system, and a computer program product for gracefully stopping a multi-threaded application. An aspect of the present invention requires each thread in a multi-threaded application to acquire a work permit before performing a task and to release the work permit after completion of the performance of the task. The multi-threaded application is stopped only when all of the work permits have been released by the threads in the application. The release of all of the set of work permits indicates that all the currently performing tasks/threads are completed, thereby “gracefully” stopping the multi-threaded application.
US08327377B2
Relationships between components in an application and the services they provide are identified, including redundant caller-callee sequences. Specific components of interest are instrumented to obtain data when they execute. Data structures are created which identify the components and their dependencies on one other. To avoid excessive overhead costs, redundant dependencies are identified. A dependency data structure can be provided for each unique dependency. When repeated instances of a dependency are detected, the associated dependency data structure can be augmented with correlation data of the repeated instances, such as transaction identifiers and sequence identifiers. Sequence identifiers identify an order in which a component is called. A flag can be used to force the creation of a new dependency data structure, and a calling component's name can be used instead of a sequence identifier. Agents report the dependency data structures to a manager to provide graph data in a user interface.
US08327376B2
Described herein are some embodiments that use smart objects in a virtual universe to conserve computing resources. Some embodiments describe a first object that detects an indication to reduce resource usage of a computing resource that supports a virtual universe. Some embodiments further describe reducing, based on detection of the indication to reduce resource usage, display quality of the first virtual object according to an order of degrees of display quality reduction that corresponds to one or more degrees of resource reduction required for the computing resource. Some embodiments further describe reducing the display quality of the first virtual object based on the first virtual object being a first category. Further, some embodiments describe a second virtual object that is not reduced in display quality while simultaneously the first virtual object is reduced in display quality. The second virtual object is second category different from the first category.
US08327371B2
A multinode server system includes several servers mutually connected, each of which processes one mesh obtained by dividing a virtual space. The virtual space is displayed as a result of processing of each mesh by the servers. A resource management node detects load states of the servers, and changes allocation of the servers to process the meshes in accordance with the load states. A network allows several clients to share the virtual space. The servers processing the meshes are changed while giving priority to an adjacent mesh beyond a server border in response to the load states.
US08327363B2
Scheduling of threads in a multi-core system running various legacy applications along with multi-core compatible applications is configured such that threads from older single thread applications are assigned fixed affinity. Threads from multi-thread/single core applications are scheduled such that one thread at a time is made available to the cores based on the thread priority preventing conflicts and increasing resource efficiency. Threads from multi-core compatible applications are handled regularly.
US08327361B2
A print control unit coupled with a printer, the print control unit having host to provide partial resource components to a complex resource generator, the partial resources components including printing instructions. The complex resource generator to generate a shell representing a complex resource, generate a partial complex resource having the partial resource components, the shell to hold the partial complex resource, and store the partial complex resource to be referenced later.
US08327356B2
A method and system for supporting Wake-on-LAN technology in a virtualized environment is described. An improved virtual switch comprises a listener, which receives a power-on message on behalf of virtual machines, extracts addresses of the virtual machines to be powered on, which are embedded in the power-on message, compares the extracted addresses with addresses of the virtual machines stored in a database, and selectively powers on those virtual machines for which the extracted and stored addresses match.
US08327340B2
An executable high-level trace file generation method provides reduced debugging effort and time, particularly on initial startup of new or modified hardware. An executable program invokes high-level application programming interfaces (APIs), to perform various tasks. Instructions within the APIs generate a trace file documenting the invoked sequence of APIs by writing a line to a trace file that documents the API and input parameters received by the API. Upon completion of execution of the API, the return value may be documented as a comment line in the trace file. The resulting trace file is then re-executable as a script and may be edited to alter the sequence of APIs invoked and/or the arguments provided. The script interpreter may be a command line interface through which the APIs are invoked, and trace files may be similarly generated that document sequences of manually entered commands.
US08327335B2
An improved method is provided for identifying a cause of a performance problem experienced by an application in a computing environment. To help a user find and isolate the problem quicker, the method proposes a unified performance analysis report that presents the most likely indicators of the source of the performance problem. The report presents performance metrics for the software services used by the application and charts the metric values over time since it is often the change in a metric that indicates a problem. Each metric chart should also include an indicator for the state of service for the application. This will help the user correlate metrics from multiple sources to the time period in which the application experienced a problem.
US08327333B2
An apparatus, method, and system of assisting a user in the process of developing software having a function to access a web service are disclosed. A determination result is generated, which indicates whether an operation test of determining whether the software under development properly operates should be performed by a first test module or a second test module. Based on the determination result, the operation test is performed by a selected one of the first test module and the second test module.
US08327332B2
In an embodiment, a computer system initiates an application debugging process for an application that is to be debugged and maps runtime object elements of the application to both code elements and graphical elements. The computer system appends portions of software code to each runtime object element so that a runtime event is outputted indicating which corresponding graphical or code element is currently being processed. The computer system accesses the outputted runtime events to determine which graphical or code element is currently being processed and, based on the accessed outputted runtime events and based on the mappings, displays the elements currently being debugged in a first view. The computer system, based on the accessed outputted runtime events and based on the mappings, switches views from the first view to a second view without restarting the application debugging process for the application being debugged.
US08327330B1
Systems and methods provide build instructions for generating output information from input information. Output information or files may be associated with a plurality of dependent input files. Build tools may be retrieved for operation on input files to generate a particular output file. A set of instructions is determined by evaluating dependencies which identify files and tools used to generate the output file. The instructions are ordered so as to reduce the number of times a build tool is retrieved and so that output files are used efficiently.
US08327320B2
A process model lean notation provides an easy to understand way to categorize the process elements of a process using a process definition grammar. Process model lean notation allows an organization to rapidly identify the process elements of a process and the interactions between the process elements, and produces a process categorization that includes an ordered sequence of the process elements. A process categorization provides a structured presentation of the process elements and clearly indicates for each process element the task accomplished, the actor responsible for and/or performing the task, the tool that may be used to perform the task, and the work product that may result by performing the task.
US08327319B2
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for defining interactions between two process components. For each process component, at least one inbound operation and at least one outbound operation are defined. The inbound operations can be initiated by the other process component to read or modify data encapsulated in a business object solely associated with the process component. The outbound operations can read or modify data encapsulated in a business object solely associated with the other process component. Each of the process components characterizes software implementing a respective and distinct process, and each of the process components defines a respective at least one service interface for communicating and interacting with other process components. In addition, all communication and interaction between process components takes place through the respective interfaces of the process components.
US08327314B2
A method for setting a test point is applied to dispose at least one test point on a circuit board in a trace file, which includes steps of reading the trace file, in which the trace file includes at least one trace; determining whether the trace has an initial test point; and setting a test point on the trace that does not have the initial test point. According to the method for setting a test point, cost and time for manually disposing the test point are saved, and an error rate when the test point is arranged is further reduced, thereby effectively improving production efficiency of the circuit board.
US08327313B2
A re-routing method for a circuit diagram includes the following steps. At least one pair of the signal lines is obtained from a routed circuit diagram. The routed circuit diagram is adapted to be laid out on a substrate of a Printed Circuit Board (PCB). The substrate includes warp wires and weft wires. At least one pair of the signal lines includes two signal lines in parallel. The pair of signal lines includes several pairs of line segments. It is determined whether at least one pair of parallel line segments exists in the pairs of line segments parallel to the warp or weft wires. If at least one pair of parallel line segments exists, at least one pair of parallel line segments on the routed circuit diagram is replaced with several pairs of 10-degree lines. Respective angle between the 10-degree lines and the warp or weft wires are 10 degrees.
US08327308B2
An integrated circuit designing apparatus for designing a semiconductor integrated circuit. The designing includes verifying the timing based on delay information included in the design data, the delay information is extracted from results of placing and wiring of the semiconductor integrated circuit; determining whether each value of hold-time errors generated as a result of the timing verification is smaller than a criteria value; extracting, when the value of a hold-time error is smaller than the criteria value, a wiring line in which the hold-time error is improved by performing a wiring line extension process, the wiring line is included in a path having the hold-time error; calculating, for the extracted wiring line, a wiring line extension distance corresponding to an insertion delay value that improves the hold-time error; and performing the wiring line extension process to extend the extracted wiring line by the calculated wiring line extension distance.
US08327296B2
The subject matter of this document can be implemented in, among other things, a method that includes displaying, on a user interface of a computing device, a base portion of a keyboard. The method further includes receiving, on the user interface, a user input that includes initiating a contact at a first region of the user interface that is associated with the base portion of the keyboard, moving the contact, while maintaining connection with the user interface, to a second region of the user interface that is outside the first region and that is associated with an extended portion of the keyboard, and releasing the contact at a location within the second region. The method further includes activating a selection in the extended portion of the keyboard based on the location within the second region at which the contact is released.
US08327295B2
There is provided an information processing apparatus, including a direction detection unit that detects a drawing direction of a locus drawn in an input process of a gesture when the gesture is input, a gesture search unit that searches for the gesture matching the drawing direction of the locus detected by the direction detection unit from among a plurality of predetermined gestures, and an auxiliary information display unit that displays a search result by the gesture search unit in a screen as auxiliary information each time the drawing direction of the locus is detected by the direction detection unit.
US08327294B2
Method and system to reduce workload and skills required in usage of mouse or other pointing devices
A method and system are disclosed for controlling operation of a cursor on a display screen of a computer system. In the operation of the computer system, one or more areas on the display screen are designated as user interface areas for receiving input from a user via a Graphical User Interface. The preferred method of this invention comprises the steps of, for each of the user interface areas, designating an area on the display screen as an associated cursor-auto area; and the user applying input to the computer system to move the cursor on the display screen and into one of the cursor-auto areas. When the cursor moves into said one of the cursor-auto areas, the computer system automatically performs a predefined operation to associate visually the cursor with the user interface area associated with said one of the cursor-auto areas.
US08327288B1
Systems and methods are disclosed for facilitating the display and use of objects in content creation environments, for example, by ensuring minimum object size properties for objects that would otherwise appear small or invisible. Various methods evaluate how to display objects in a collection or arrangement of objects while addressing potential conflicts and paradoxes that might otherwise exist based on the how size properties of the objects are defined in relation to one another. Certain embodiments facilitate improved display of nested containers including those whose size properties are defined as size to content. Certain embodiments also facilitate the improved display of containers whose children's size properties depend upon container size properties.
US08327287B2
A plurality of character input key images are displayed on the screen. One character is displayed on the screen as an undetermined character in a cyclic order from among a group of characters associated with one of the character input key images each time a button provided on the pointing device is operated while the character input key image is being pointed at by a pointing device. When the position pointed at by the pointing device moves out of the character input key image associated with the undetermined character being displayed on the screen, the undetermined character is displayed as a determined character on the screen. Thus, it is possible to suppress the lowering of the character input speed and the possibility of erroneous inputs while reducing the total number of keys required for inputting characters.
US08327286B2
Embodiments of the invention provide a method, system, and media for intelligently presenting buttons that correspond to running windows as well as a set of application launchers that launch instances of software applications. One version of the method includes receiving an indication that an instance of a software application has been invoked by a launching mechanism, which leads to creating a windowed process in which to present the instance of the software application; determining that at least one of the application launchers was the launching mechanism; automatically removing the launcher(s) from view; and presenting a button that corresponds to the windowed process.
US08327285B2
Text that is selected at a virtual keyboard is submitted to and displayed at an application data field and is echoed at a keyboard data field that is in relatively close proximity to virtual keys used to select the text. Thus, a user does not have to alter their field of view to the application data field to determine what was submitted to the application data field.
US08327280B2
A system and method for visually indicating one or more problems in a graphical program. The graphical program may be programmatically analyzed to discover a problem (or potential problem) in the graphical program. The problem found during the programmatic analysis of the graphical program may then be visually indicated on a display device. Visually indicating the problem may comprise visually indicating one or more objects in the graphical program to which the problem corresponds. Visually indicating the graphical program object(s) may comprise displaying information or altering the appearance of the object(s) in order to call the user's attention to the object(s).
US08327277B2
Techniques to automatically manage overlapping objects are described. An apparatus may include a context module operative to receive context information for a multimedia event, and determine various context parameters and control parameters for the multimedia event. The apparatus may further comprise a blending module communicatively coupled to the context module, the blending module operative to receive multiple media content streams for multiple media content views for the multimedia event, and blend the media content streams for the multiple media content views based on one or more control parameters to form a blended media content stream. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US08327274B2
A method and device are provided for customizing a model entity presentation based on a presentation policy. The method comprises: applying the presentation policy to a first model to generate a presentation model; creating a model entity thereof according to the first model; reading model content from the first model and reading presentation data from the presentation model; and applying the read model content and presentation data to the model entity. The presentation model and core model of data are separated, and their association may be configured through a presentation policy in real-time during operation. The real-time and dynamic configuration of the method and device provide enhanced flexibility for users.
US08327272B2
In accordance with some embodiments, a computer-implemented method is performed at a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display. The touch screen display includes a long axis, a short axis, a portrait view and a landscape view. The computer-implemented method includes executing a calendar application. In response to detecting the portable multifunction device in a first orientation that comprises a substantially vertical orientation of the long axis, a calendar is displayed for a first time period in the portrait view. In response to detecting the portable multifunction device in a second orientation that comprises the substantially vertical orientation of the short axis, a calendar is displayed for a second time period in the landscape view. The second time period is longer than and includes the first time period.
US08327271B2
A method and system is provided for testing and analyzing websites via a test-enabled web browser. In the representative embodiment a user controls a test-enabled web browser via a set of pull-down menus, thereby choosing between alternative testing and analysis functional capabilities, selecting files in which to store recordings (scripts), choosing files into which to place test results and messages, and setting various parameters that affect how the testing and analysis functions are performed. When the user requests it, the representative embodiment provides for deep recording of user interactions as they relate to a specific web page currently on display in the browser view area, for extracting key information from the current web page sufficient to validate that a future playback does or does not produce the same effects on the chosen website page, for playing back a prior recording to confirm that a website page continues to pass the user-defined tests, and for providing detailed analyses based on the specific contents of the current website page. The general result of systematic use of the test-enabled browser on websites is improved content quality, demonstrated website server behavior for deep tests, quicker delivery by the website server, and better serviceability for e-business.
US08327267B2
Disclosed herein is an image data processing method for processing image data forming a video material includes, an obtaining step of obtaining image data at a plurality of points in time forming the video material, from the video material, and a generating step of generating image data for display to display the image data at the plurality of points in time obtained in the obtaining step in a grouped state in a display area corresponding to the video material within a story board display area in which a plurality of materials are arranged.
US08327258B2
Automated form filling for mobile devices that provides reliable and accurate information to the forms, is easy to use, and is scaleable. A server-side approach is utilized, in which online applications for a mobile device are invoked on a server through a server-side proxy/cache. The proxy scans the content that is generated by the application for transmission to the mobile device to find forms that may be embedded in the content. When a form is encountered, fields of the form are filled with stored information based on automatically generated mapping information.
US08327252B2
A data receiving apparatus includes: a header analyzing unit that analyzes a header of a frame and outputs header information; a checksum judging unit that calculates and judges a checksum of the frame; a buffer unit that stores a data portion of the frame; a reading unit that reads connection information corresponding to the header information from a second storage unit; an identifying unit that identifies a write location for the data portion based on the connection information; a data writing unit that reads data from the buffer unit and starts writing the data to the identified write location in a first storage unit before the checksum is judged; and a writing unit that, if the judgment result is “pass,” writes the connection information updated based on the header information to the second storage unit while the data writing unit is writing.
US08327250B1
Verifying data integrity and parity consistency of data blocks in an array of mass storage devices includes retrieving a row parity algebraic signature and a diagonal parity algebraic signature for one or more data blocks, a row parity block and a diagonal parity block. The row parity algebraic signatures of the one or more data blocks are logically combined to generate a first result and the first result is compared to the retrieved row parity algebraic signature for the row parity block. The diagonal parity algebraic signatures of the one or more data blocks and the row parity block are logically combined to generate a second result and the second result is compared to the retrieved diagonal parity algebraic signature for the diagonal parity block.
US08327249B2
Methods and apparatus for performing parity and/or ECC operations are disclosed. An example method includes determining that an opcode is being transmitted on a bus and determining if the transmitted opcode is a memory operation. In the event the transmitted opcode is a memory write operation, the example method includes calculating a parity bit for data associated with the opcode, writing the calculated parity bit to a parity table and writing the data to a memory. The example method also includes, in the event the transmitted opcode is the memory read operation, recovering data from a previously written memory, calculating a parity bit for the recovered data, recovering a previously stored parity bit for the recovered data, comparing the parity bit for the recovered data with the previously stored parity bit and, in the event the recovered data parity bit does not match the previously stored parity bit, providing an error notification.
US08327247B2
The present techniques provide systems and methods for decoding an optical data signal returned from an optical disc to retrieve source information. The decoding method is based on a 16 state trellis diagram, and may decode an optical data signal encoded through a modulation code where the input-to-output relationship is not convolutional, such as the 17 Parity Preserve/Prohibit (17pp) modulation code. A trellis diagram may enable non-convolutional trellis-modulated data to be more efficiently decoded. Further, the 16 state trellis diagram of the present techniques provides a unique path for each input-to-output bit pair, such that no information about input bits may be lost on parallel paths in a trellis diagram.
US08327246B2
A method and system for writing in flash memory, the system operative for, and the method comprising, writing data onto a plurality of logical pages characterized by a plurality of different probabilities of error respectively, the writing including encoding data intended for each of the plurality of physical pages using a redundancy code with a different code rate for each individual physical page, the code rate corresponding to the probability of error in the individual logical page.
US08327242B1
Methods for Error Correction Code (ECC) decoding include producing syndromes from a set of bits, which represent data that has been encoded with the ECC. An Error Locator Polynomial (ELP) is generated based on the syndromes. At least some of the ELP roots are identified, and the errors indicated by these roots are corrected. Each syndrome may be produced by applying to the bits vector operations in a vector space. Each syndrome is produced by applying vector operations using a different basis of the vector space. The ELP may be evaluated on a given field element by operating on ELP coefficients using serial multipliers, wherein each serial multiplier performs a sequence of multiplication cycles and produces an interim result in each cycle. Responsively to detecting at least one interim result indicating that the given element is not an ELP root, the multiplication cycles are terminated before completion of the sequence.
US08327233B2
Forward Error Correction (FEC) coding is performed on data packets to generate verifying packets; corresponding information independent of a packet sequence number (SN) and denoting a corresponding relation between the data packets and the verifying packets is carried in the data packets, or in the verifying packets, or in the data packets and the verifying packets; the data packets and the verifying packets are transmitted by using a protocol based on a User Datagram Protocol (UDP). A method for receiving data packets and devices for transmitting and receiving data packets are further described. Thus, a receiving terminal correctly can recover lost data packets after a relay device modifies the packet SN.
US08327228B2
Methods and apparatus relating to home agent data and memory management are described. In one embodiment, a scrubber logic corrects an error at a location in a memory corresponding to a target address by writing back the corrected version of data to the target location. In an embodiment, a map out logic maps out an index or way of a directory cache in response to a number of errors, corresponding to the directory cache, exceeding a threshold value. Other embodiments are also disclosed.
US08327225B2
Electronic apparatus, systems, and methods to construct and operate the electronic apparatus and/or systems include a stack of memory dies with user data and/or first level error correction data stored in a stripe across the memory dies. One such stack can include a second level error correction vault, such as a parity vault, to store parity data corresponding to the user data and/or first level error correction data. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.
US08327224B2
Methods for data recovery and memory systems are provided. According to at least one such method, when defective data is read from a memory location, the data is recovered by an XOR operation on the remaining good data and associated RAID data to reconstruct the defective data. The defective data is excluded from the XOR operation.
US08327219B2
Disclosed is an apparatus having a detector for an iterative LDPC-coded MIMO-OFDM system, where the detector is configured to use a structured irregular LDPC code in conjunction with a belief propagation algorithm. Also disclosed is an apparatus having a detector for a structured irregular LDPC-coded MIMO-OFDM system, where the detector is configured to use an iterative Recursive Least Squares-based data detection and channel estimation technique. Corresponding methods and computer program products are also disclosed.
US08327218B2
A storage device and data processing method thereof is described. The invention provides different ECC for different memory pages. The storage device uses the long-bit ECC for easy interference page, and uses the short-bit ECC for hard interference page. Therefore, the accuracy of the data is maintained and the reading/writing speed is increased.
US08327217B1
A probability is determined, including by obtaining a set of probability ratios, wherein each probability ratio in the set is a ratio of a first probability to a second probability. A probability P(Em=z) that an mth error symbol Em has a level of z is determining based at least in part on one or more dominant error patterns.
US08327203B2
A process of selecting alternative test circuitry within an integrated circuit enables a test access port. Scan test instruction data is loaded into an instruction register of a test access port TAP, the instruction data including information for selecting the alternative test circuitry. An Update-IR instruction update operation is performed at the end of the loading to output scan test control signals from the instruction register. A lockout signal is changed to an active state to disable the test access port and enable scan test circuits.
US08327202B2
A scan system comprises a scan engine adapted to receive a scan request from a host system for performing a scan test on a system-under-test. The scan engine comprises dedicated logic where a state of the dedicated logic is adapted to control processing of the scan request on the system-under-test.
US08327199B1
Integrated circuits (ICs) with configurable test pins and a method of testing an IC are disclosed. An IC has input/output (I/O) pins that can be configured either as a test input pin, a test output pin or a user I/O pin. Selector circuits are used to selectively route and couple the I/O pins to various logic blocks and test circuitry on the IC. Selector circuits are also used to selectively couple either a user output or a test output to different I/O pins on the IC. Switches are used to configure the selector circuits and route test signals within the IC. Different configurations of the switches determine how the signals are routed. Test input signals from an I/O pin may be routed to any test circuitry within the IC and test output signals from a test circuit may be routed to any I/O pin on the IC.
US08327197B2
According to an aspect of an embodiment, an apparatus has a first storage, a read write unit for reading and writing data from/into the first storage, a first error detector for detecting an error of data read out from the first storage, an address storage for storing an address of the first storage, a determining unit for determining whether an address of the first storage in which data to be written is matched with the error detected address, a second storage for storing data to be written into the first storage when the address of the first storage in which the data to be written is matched with the error detected address, a second error detector for detecting an error of data read out from the second storage and a selector for outputting one of the data stored in the first storage or the second storage.
US08327188B2
The described embodiments provide a processor (e.g., processor 102) for executing instructions. During execution, the processor starts by transactionally executing instructions from a protected section of program code. The processor then encounters a transactional failure condition while transactionally executing the instructions from the protected section of program code. In response to encountering the transactional failure condition, the processor enters a transactional-scout mode and speculatively executes subsequent instructions in the transactional-scout mode.
US08327187B1
Managing processes in a computing system comprising one or more cores includes receiving a request for a first process on a first core to execute with at least one predetermined task of an operating system disabled on the first core. In response to the request, the operating system determines whether one or more potential errors in execution of one or more processes other than the first process executing on the first core would be caused by disabling the predetermined task on the first core. The operating system grants the request or rejects the request in response to determining whether one or more potential errors in execution of one or more processes other than the first process executing on the first core would be caused by disabling the predetermined task on the first core.
US08327185B1
A method for storing data. The method including receiving a request to write data. In response the request, selecting, a grid location in a grid to write the data, writing the data to memory, updating a data structure to indicate that the grid location is filled. The method further includes determining, using the data structure, whether a data grid in the grid is filled, where the grid location is in the data grid and based on a determination that the data grid is filled: calculating parity values for the grid using the data, determining a physical address in persistent storage corresponding to the grid location, writing the data to a physical location in persistent storage corresponding to the physical address, and writing the parity values to the persistent storage.
US08327184B2
Unique information including a logical type name is stored in a user data area of a management area as a media of the alternative disk drive to become an alternative of the storage device. Upon using the alternative disk drive, a disk controller reads the unique information of the alternative disk drive, and determines that copy back is unnecessary when the rotating speed and capacity belonging to the unique information of the alternative disk drive are the same as the rotating speed and capacity of the failed disk drive belonging to RAID, and otherwise determines that copy back is necessary.
US08327183B2
A switch connected to a network system including a computer and a storage apparatus: controlling read/write request from the computer to the storage apparatus and controlling to store journal data in the storage apparatus; wherein the storage apparatus includes a first storage area for storing data to be used by the computer and a second storage area for storing journal data including write data and first update log information corresponding to the write data when there is a write request from the computer for writing data in the first storage area; wherein when the switch detects an event of status change related to the network system, the switch marks a first point of time corresponding to the event as a recovery request point, and creates second update log information corresponding to the recovery request point.
US08327177B2
A storage device, such as a hard disk drive or solid state drive, reduces energy consumption by entering a reduced power state after an inactivity time where the inactivity time is set based upon I/O commands received at the storage device. For example, where commands received at a storage device are characterized in a predetermined way in terms of read commands, such as a last received command as a read command or a ratio of read commands versus write commands, a first inactivity time is applied, while commands characterized in a predetermined way in terms of write commands have a second inactivity time applied. Using a greater inactivity time during read activities than during write activities provides improved performance with reduced power consumption.
US08327175B2
A processing unit includes an instruction fetch unit that is configured to process a compiled instruction that includes a plurality of fields. The plurality of fields includes a flag field that identifies memory blocks to be activated for fetching a next instruction. Each of the memory blocks has stored therein one or more fields used to form the next instruction and assigned to the memory blocks in a predetermined way. A block enable signal generator is configured to generate at least one block enable signal to selectively activate the memory blocks in the predetermined way. The flag field is included in fields of an instruction having the shortest length among instructions of the processing unit.
US08327171B2
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that enables a computing device to save additional power by entering a “hibernation mode,” wherein the active state of the computing device is preserved in non-volatile storage while power to volatile storage is turned off. During operation, the system reanimates a computing device from a hibernation image by restoring reanimation code from the hibernation image and then executing the reanimation code. While executing this reanimation code, the system restores the rest of the hibernation image by, reading compressed data containing the rest of the hibernation image, and decompressing the compressed data using computational circuitry within the computing device. During this process, the decompression operations are overlapped with the reading operations to improve performance.
US08327168B2
A power throttling method and system for a memory controller in a computer system comprising a power supply module including a plurality of bulk power supplies (“BPSs”) are described. In one embodiment, each of the at BPSs provides to a power output monitor a status signal indicative of a status thereof. Responsive to receipt of the status signals, the power output monitor determines whether a bulk power supply capacity is below system power requirements. Responsive to a positive determination, the power output monitor drives a throttle control signal to the memory controller to a level indicative of an over-threshold state.
US08327167B2
A primary computing device and a secondary computing device couple with an internal storage component of the primary device powered by, and data accessed by either the first or secondary computing device. The internal storage component includes multiple connectors for connecting internal buses and external buses over which data can be accessed, internally or externally. It includes an internal storage unit (in general, at least one storage unit, and multiple storage units are supported) to which data can be written and from which data can be read. It also includes arbitration and isolation circuitry that makes it possible to access the internal storage unit (for read/write data access, etc.) over one of the buses. The arbitration and an isolation circuitry also facilitates powering the internal storage component employing power supplied by an internal power source, or via an external power source, such as power from an USB connection.
US08327154B1
A method to configure a programmable device is disclosed. The method includes receiving a scrambled configuration data at the programmable device. A bit sequence of a device tag that is stored in the programmable device is verified by determining whether the bit sequence of the device tag stored in the programmable device matches a bit sequence of a device tag within the scrambled configuration data. If the bit sequences match, the scrambled configuration data is transferred to a data re-formatter for descrambling. The descrambled configuration data is then transferred to a configuration memory of the programmable device. Circuitry that enables the method is also disclosed.
US08327149B2
Indicating data currentness includes, on any date of a sequence of dates, issuing a proof indicating the currentness status of the data during a particular time interval. The proof may be a digital signature. The time interval may be in the form of a current date and an amount of time. The proof may include a digital signature of the time interval. The proof may include a digital signature of the time interval and the data. The proof may include a digital signature of the time interval and a compact form of the data, such as a hash. Indicating data currentness may also include distributing the proofs to a plurality of unsecure units that respond to requests by users for the proofs. Indicating data currentness may also include gathering a plurality of separate pieces of data and providing a single proof for the separate pieces of data. The data may be electronic documents.
US08327148B2
A mobile system, a service system, and a key authentication method to manage a key in a local wireless communication are provided. The mobile system and the service system may generate a hash value with respect to a public key of the service system using an identical hash function, and output a result corresponding to the hash value.
US08327139B2
A system and method for securely exchanging sensitive information with an implantable medical device is presented. A crypto key stored on an implantable medical device is retrieved by a programmer via a secure short range interface. Sensitive information is encrypted as sensitive data using the crypto key. The encrypted data is stored on the implantable medical device.
US08327137B1
A virtualized computer system includes at least one guest environment (guest), a service guest environment (SG) and trusted software. The at least one guest includes at least one driver having a first private message interface. The SG includes a first USB host controller (HC) driver, which is in communication with a USB HC. The first USB HC driver includes a second private message interface. The trusted software is in communication with the guest and the SG. The trusted software includes a data intercept/routing mechanism that facilitates secure communication between at least one USB device coupled to the USB HC and the guest using the first and second private message interfaces.
US08327132B2
A method of certificate provisioning is provided for entities that are not associated with a domain. In some implementations, certificate provisioning methods allow non-domain-joined entities to request and receive certificates through an automated process with a certificate provisioning portal. Through the automated process, the identity of the client may be verified using security identity information. The security identity information may include a pre-shared secret or a previously issued certificate from a trusted Certificate Authority.
US08327130B2
Systems and methods are provided for issuing unique identification credentials to a plurality of devices, and their constituent components, in an industrial control system. Identification credentials are granted by an identification authority and conveyed to each of the credentialed devices and/or component through an identity token. The identification credentials include (1) a unique device identifier, (2) an identification authority component identifier, and (3) an indication of the location of the identification authority component. To secure the issued credentials, such credentials are encrypted and the identification token can be embedded with biometrics features. Identification credentials provide for the following prominent features: (i) Secure access to a device form a client and (ii) determination a topology of a set of credentialed devices in an industrial control system. The topology is network agnostic and facilitates organizational modeling of processes in the industrial control system.
US08327127B2
A user agent in a Web access device transmits an HTTP request for Web content to an origin server. The request contains a set of capabilities of the Web access device. A content authoring mechanism and adaptation determination service on the origin server process the request to determine what transformation is required to make the requested content fit the capabilities of the Web access device. The adaptation determination service invokes a niche transformation service that performs, in response to the content and the capabilities, the necessary transformation. The transformed Web content is transmitted to the user agent.
US08327126B2
A processor has multiple cores with each core having an associated function to support processor operations. The functions performed by the cores are selectively altered to improve processor operations by balancing the resources applied for each function. For example, each core comprises a field programmable array that is selectively and dynamically programmed to perform a function, such as a floating point function or a fixed point function, based on the number of operations that use each function. As another example, a processor is built with a greater number of cores than can be simultaneously powered, each core associated with a function, so that cores having functions with lower utilization are selectively powered down.
US08327122B2
A context switch method capable of promptly switching a context for a dynamically generated task and a dynamic link by converting a state of multiple register files, switching the context, and separately restoring and storing the context. That is, the context switch method includes: maintaining a multiple register files; establishing the multiple register to be in any one of a prefetch state, a current state, and a store state; converting a state of the multiple register files to be in any one of the prefetch state, the current state, and the store state when a context switch occurs; wherein, in the prefetch state, determining a memory address to read a next task context to be subsequently performed by the register file, in the current state, performing a task with the task context of the register file and in the store state, storing the register file in a memory.
US08327120B2
Methods and apparatus relating to instructions with floating point control override are described. In an embodiment, floating point operation settings indicated by a floating point control register may be overridden on a per instruction basis. In an embodiment, at least one of the one or more floating point operation settings is to cause a modification to one of the one or more default settings during execution of the instruction, wherein the second logic is to perform the floating point operation, at least in part, based on the modified default setting. Other embodiments are also described.
US08327119B2
An apparatus executes a bit scan instruction that specifies an N-byte input operand. A first encoder forward bit scan encodes each input byte to generate N first bit vectors. A zero detector zero-detects each input byte to generate a second bit vector. A second encoder forward bit scan encodes the second bit vector to generate a third bit vector. An N:1 multiplexor, controlled by the third bit vector, selects one of the N first bit vectors to output a fourth bit vector. The apparatus concatenates the third and fourth bit vectors into a fifth bit vector that indicates the bit index of the least significant set bit of the input operand. A third encoder forward bit scan encodes a bit-reversed version of each input by to generate N sixth bit vectors. A fourth encoder forward bit scan encodes a bit-reversed version of the second bit vector to generate a seventh bit vector. A second N:1 multiplexor, controlled by the seventh bit vector, selects one of the N sixth bit vectors to output an eighth bit vector. Selection logic selects a concatenation of the third and fourth bit vectors into the fifth bit vector if an input indicates forward bit scan, and the selection logic selects an inverted version of a concatenation of the seventh and eighth bit vectors into the fifth bit vector if the input indicates reverse bit scan.
US08327116B1
An off-load for processing a data frame containing information has a memory for storing information on a plurality of processing paths. A processor in the off-load engine determines which processing path the data frame is to be processed. Each one of a plurality of processing engines processes the data frame depending on whether the processing engine is within the determined processing path. Some of the processing engines are implemented in hardware and/or data frame type specific software and others makes use of generic software. In some embodiments, the data frame is also parsed for further processing by the processing engines. In some embodiments, a static header is also pre-pended to the data frame to allow easy access to information associated with the data frame by the processing engines.
US08327113B2
A dynamic reconfiguration to include on-line addition, deletion, and replacement of individual modules of to support dynamic partitioning of a system, interconnect (link) reconfiguration, memory RAS to allow migration and mirroring without OS intervention, dynamic memory reinterleaving, CPU and socket migration, and support for global shared memory across partitions is described. To facilitate the on-line addition or deletion, the firmware is able to quiesce and de-quiesce the domain of interest so that many system resources, such as routing tables and address decoders, can be updated in what essentially appears to be an atomic operation to the software layer above the firmware.
US08327110B2
The temporary area capacity required to be secured with respect to the whole permanent area is calculated in accordance with the capacity and access frequency of a host computer data permanent area of a disk device contained in the storage system and a disk device of an external storage device that is managed by a storage virtualization function of this storage system. The nonvolatile memory is defined as the temporary area and is used to temporarily store host computer data when a data I/O from the host computer is processed. The required capacity of the temporary area is re-calculated in accordance with an event such as a configuration change in the external storage system.
US08327098B2
Nearline disaster recovery (“nearline DR”) storage systems and methods that permit the use of previously restored stored data from a near time period by virtual applications operating off a backup storage location during the period of disaster recovery at a primary site. This is generally referred to as a “nearline DR storage process.”
US08327095B2
Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for maintaining information of a relationship of target volumes comprising logical copies of a source volume. Information is maintained on a source volume having a plurality of data units and a plurality of target volumes created at different points-in-time maintaining a logical copy of the data units in the source volume for the different points-in-time. A source downstream pointer is generated for each data unit in the source volume to point to a corresponding data unit in a first target volume. For each target volume data unit whose data is maintained in the source volume or another one of the target volumes, a first upstream pointer is generated indicating one of the source and target volumes from which the target volume data unit inherits data. For each target volume data unit whose data is maintained in the source volume or another one of the target volumes, generating a second upstream pointer indicating one of the source and target volumes having the data for the data unit.
US08327093B2
A unique system and method for ordering commands may reduce disc access latency while giving preference to pending commands. The method and system involves giving preference to pending commands in a set of priority queues. The method and system involve identifying a pending command and processing other non-pending commands in route to the pending command if performance will not be penalized in doing so. The method and system include a list of command node references referring to a list of sorted command nodes that are to be scheduled for processing.
US08327088B2
Disclosed is an isolation-free in-circuit programming system including an in-circuit programmer and an application board connected to the in-circuit programmer through a peripheral interface bus and having a bus controller and a memory, wherein the bus controller is connected to the memory through a system bus, in which the in-circuit programmer includes a leakage current discharging circuit connected to the bus controller for detouring a leakage current flowing from the memory or the in-circuit programmer to the bus controller to flow therethrough. The in-circuit programmer also includes an input level shifter for receiving data signals from the memory and adjusting the high-level input voltage of the in-circuit programmer to decode any weak high-level output voltage from the memory, thereby allowing the high-level output voltage of the memory to be higher than the high-level input voltage of the in-circuit programmer.
US08327085B2
An approach is provided that uses a hypervisor to allocate a shared memory pool amongst a set of partitions (e.g., guest operating systems) being managed by the hypervisor. The hypervisor retrieves memory related metrics from shared data structures stored in a memory, with each of the shared data structures corresponding to a different one of the partitions. The memory related metrics correspond to a usage of the shared memory pool allocated to the corresponding partition. The hypervisor identifies a memory stress associated with each of the partitions with this identification based in part on the memory related metrics retrieved from the shared data structures. The hypervisor then reallocates the shared memory pool amongst the plurality of partitions based on the identified memory stress of the plurality of partitions.
US08327080B1
A technique protects host data. The technique involves receiving, at a local computerized node, a block of data from a host computer, the block of data including data sub-blocks. The technique further involves storing the block of data, as a dirty cache block, in a local cache of the local computerized node. The technique further involves performing a set of external caching operations to cache a set of sub-blocks in a set of external computerized nodes in communication with the local computerized node. Each external caching operation caches a respective sub-block of the set of sub-blocks in a cache of a respective external computerized node. The set of sub-blocks includes (i) the data sub-blocks of the block of data from the host and (ii) a set of checksums derived from the data sub-blocks of the block of data from the host.
US08327071B1
In a multiprocessor system level 2 caches are positioned on the memory side of a routing crossbar rather than on the processor side of the routing crossbar. This configuration permits the processors to store messages directly into each other's caches rather than into system memory or their own coherent caches. Therefore, inter-processor communication latency is reduced.
US08327067B2
A nonvolatile memory system comprises a nonvolatile memory having a plurality of data areas; and a memory controller operative to control read and write operations to the nonvolatile memory. The memory controller successively executes read/write operations to plural sectors within a selected data area in the nonvolatile memory in accordance with a command and a sector count and sector address fed from a host device.
US08327052B2
Systems and/or methods are provided that facilitate employing a variable read latency on a serial memory bus. In an aspect, a memory can utilize an undefined amount of time to obtain data from a memory array and prepare the data for transfer on the serial memory bus. The serial memory bus can be driven to a defined state. When data is ready for transfer, the memory can assert a start bit on the serial memory bus to notify a host prior to initiating the data transfer.
US08327051B2
In one embodiment, a portable handheld memory card may include a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, USB controller circuitry, an input/output (I/O) port, a memory, and decompression circuitry configured to decompress compressed data stored in the memory. The memory card includes a housing storing the memory and exposing the USB port and the I/O port. The USB port and I/O port may be positioned to allow a same card-insertion direction irrespective of whether a host device comprises a mating USB port or a mating I/O port. In another embodiment, the memory card includes decryption circuitry to decrypt encrypted data stored in the memory, a power management unit, a host interface module, and circuitry configured to control read and write operations to the memory. The I/O port may include a Secure Digital port, and the memory may include Flash memory. Other embodiments are provided, and each of the embodiments described herein can be used alone or in combination with one another.
US08327049B2
An electrical process interface device for provision in a low control and protection level of a Substation Automation or Distribution Automation system; the device includes a process interface unit for interfacing the electrical process at the low control and protection level, which unit has a number of parallel data connections on which I/O data related to control and protective devices on higher control and protection levels may be transmitted. The device also includes a signal conversion unit connected to the data connections, which unit packets data of the data connections according to a communication standard used by control and protective devices on the at least one higher control and protection level for allowing data to be directly transmitted between the electrical interface device on the low control and protection level and other devices on higher control and protection levels.
US08327048B2
Methods and systems for communicating information through a USB device using suspend/resume states are presented. A USB host stops transmitting Start-of-Frame (SOF) packets to a USB device, causing the USB device to enter a sleep/suspend state. The USB host then restarts the transmission of SOF packets to trigger the USB device back into a normal/resume state. The USB host repeats this process in a temporal pattern corresponding to a message, such that a circuit monitoring the USB device can determine the message.
US08327045B1
A system and method stores wirelessly received communications for wireless retransmission, making space in a storage device, if necessary, by deleting any one or more communications corresponding to the same group as the received communication. If storage in the storage device remains insufficient, communications that have been previously retransmitted by that same device are deleted, according to one or more characteristics of such stored communications, such as age or number of times an instance of that communication has been received. If storage in the storage device remains insufficient, communications of a different group are deleted according to one or more characteristics of the stored communications.
US08327044B2
A PIO transaction unit includes an input buffer, a response buffer, and a control unit. The input buffer may receive and store PIO write operations sent by one or more transactions sources. Each PIO write operation may include a source identifier that identifies the transaction source. The response buffer may store response operations corresponding to respective PIO write operations that are to be transmitted to the transaction source identified by the source identifier. The control unit may store a particular response operation corresponding to the given PIO write operation in the response buffer prior to the given PIO write operation being sent from the input buffer. The control unit may store the particular response operation within the response buffer if the given PIO write operation is bufferable and there is no non-bufferable PIO write operation having a same source identifier stored in the input buffer.
US08327042B2
In a first embodiment of the present invention, a method for configuring a plurality of input/output (I/O) interconnect switch ports is provided, the method comprising: starting a link training and status state machine (LTSSM) for each of the plurality of ports; placing each of the LTSSMs in a receiver detect state; changing all of the LTSSMs to a polling state only once receivers are detected or timeouts occur in the receiver detect states in each of the LTSSMs; changing all of the LTSSMs to a configuration state only once polling is successful or timeouts occur in the polling states in each of the LTSSMs; and completing the configuration state of each of the LTSSMs.
US08327036B2
The method includes in placing an instruction presence parameter in the “argument” field of a binary word defining a read/write command generated by generic management programs (drivers) for removable data storage units. This makes it possible to circumvent the limitation of the set of the commands authorized by a generic program for managing a removable data storage unit, without running the risk of data being interpreted wrongly as instructions.
US08327033B2
A data interleaving device is provided that includes an input, an output, and a data interleaver coupled to the input and the output. The input receives data originating from a plurality of processing blocks. The output transfers interleaved data to the plurality of processing blocks. The data interleaver includes a controller, at least one interconnection module, and a plurality of memories. The controller prepares a data-to-memory assignment data structure. The at least one interconnection module switches data in parallel according to the data-to-memory assignment data structure and acts identically on all data switched simultaneously in parallel. The plurality of memories store the switched data. The data interleaver interleaves data received from the input and provides the interleaved data at the output.
US08327025B2
Publishing of a message divided into two portions, one portion not requiring computer recognition of it's content while another portion requires recognition of it's content. The non-recognized portion is published as-is with minimal processing by the system due to it being suited for easy human understanding of that respective portion (e.g., hand-written text). The recognized portion is processed by optical recognition software so that the output of the recognition process is an accurate representation of that information portion. The portion requiring recognition can be a critical portion such as in the case of the price for a food item on a daily specials menu, as one non-limiting example. In further aspects, messages can be published on a time and date scheduled basis.
US08327021B2
A technique of finding connectivity solutions for network elements to be switched into a path selected in a network managed by a network management system (NMS), wherein each network element comprises input ports and output ports, each of the ports enabling a plurality of connection points, the technique including providing, at the level of NMS, a connectivity table (CT) comprising data on possible internal connections between connection points of any input port and any output port of any of the network elements managed by the NMS. The technique enables, whenever a particular network element is selected with its input port and its output port to be used in the path, obtaining a connectivity solution for the particular network element at the level of NMS.
US08327015B2
A system and method for conveying data include the capability to determine whether a transaction request credit has been received at a computer module, the transaction request credit indicating that at least a portion of a transaction request message may be sent. The system and method also include the capability to determine, if a transaction request message is to be sent, whether at least a portion of the transaction request message may be sent and to send the at least a portion of the transaction request message if it may be sent.
US08327007B2
Systems and methods for SNMP access are disclosed. A computer-implemented method of SNMP access includes mapping a MIB object in a MIB into an XML object in an XML document, generating a class library based on the XML document, creating a service object representative of a service associated with SNMP access to the MIB object, and linking the class library according to the service object to perform the service.
US08327005B2
A method is provided to communicate media information over a network comprising: in response to a request from a first application running on a first endpoint device for a media connection with a second application running on a second endpoint device, sending a request over a network for a media connection with the second application; wherein the media connection request includes an application identifier (AppID) associated with the first application; sending an authorization request to an application manager server to obtain authorization for the requested media connection; wherein the authorization request includes the AppID associated with the first application; communicating control information over a control session set up between the first endpoint device and the second endpoint device; wherein the control information includes the AppID associated with the first application; and communicating media information over a media session.
