US08486285B2
A method for forming a write pole comprises forming a stop layer over a substrate layer of a wafer, the stop layer having an opening above a damascene trench in the substrate layer, and forming a buffer layer over the stop layer, the buffer layer having an opening above the opening of the stop layer. The method further comprises plating a layer of magnetic material over the wafer, disposing a first sacrificial material over a region of the magnetic material above the damascene trench, performing a milling or etching operation over the wafer to remove the magnetic material not covered by the first sacrificial material and to remove the first sacrificial material, disposing a second sacrificial material over the wafer, and performing a polishing operation over the wafer to remove the region of the magnetic material above the damascene trench, the second sacrificial material, and the buffer layer.
US08486284B2
A method for forming a touch sensing pattern and signal wires, comprises the steps of: installing a first and a second conductive plating films on a surface of a highly transparency substrate; projecting a high energy light beam to the conductive plating films; and the high energy light beam moving with respect to the substrate along a predetermined track; a plurality of insulating trenches being formed in the first and second conductive plating films so as to form predetermined patterns for a sensing area and a wire area; a yellow light process being performed on the substrate; a layer of light resistor thin film being formed on a surfaces of the wire area; and etching the first conductive plating film in the sensing area; by above steps, the predetermined pattern in the sensing area being formed in the second conductive plating film.
US08486281B2
A nickel-chromium alloy etching composition comprising sulfuric acid, a source of chloride ions, including hydrochloric acid or sodium, potassium or ammonium chloride, and a sulfur compound comprising a sulfur atom with an oxidation state between −2 to +5, such as thiosulfate, sulfide, sulfite, bisulfite, metabisulfite and phosphorus pentasulfide that can efficiently remove nickel-chromium alloy in the presence of copper circuits is disclosed.
US08486264B2
Housings for reverse osmosis filter cartridges and methods of making the same. The housings include: (1) a hollow cylindrical liner formed of a thermoplastic polymer that is adapted to surround a reverse osmosis filter cartridge; (2) a hollow head assembly that includes a transition collar portion formed of a thermoplastic polymer that is joined to said liner and a barrel portion formed of a chopped glass fiber-filled polymer that is overmolded onto said transition collar portion; (3) an end plug that is adapted to be received within an opening in the barrel portion; and (4) an overwrap layer comprising wound glass filaments and a polymeric resin that covers the outer surfaces of the liner and head assembly.
US08486255B2
A primary pump current is directed through a primary electrochemical cell system between first and second constant primary pump currents to direct a first ion flow into and out from a shared measuring chamber. A first output signal generated by the primary electrochemical cell system in accordance with a first ion concentration within the shared measuring chamber is detected. A second output signal generated by a secondary electrochemical cell system in accordance with a second ion concentration within the shared measuring chamber is also detected. Based on a relationship between the first and second output signals, a secondary pump current is directed through the secondary electrochemical cell system between first and second constant secondary pump currents to direct a second ion flow into and out from the shared measuring chamber.
US08486253B2
A process for electrocoagulation fluid treatment utilizing a tubular member with a plurality of electrocoagulation assemblies disposed therein. The assemblies have first and second conductive plates that are angularly oriented in relation to one another to promote turbulent flow through the tubular member. A non-conductive block is positioned between the plates to stabilize and orient the plates within the tubular member. The conductive plates may be provided with alternating negative and positive charges to combat corrosion.
US08486245B2
Electrochemical measurement techniques for measuring the concentration of an analyte in a physiological fluid sample are described. More particularly, the present invention relates to techniques for distinguishing a signal caused by an extraneous event from a desired information providing signal such as one indicative of a measurement error.
US08486244B2
Described herein is an electrochemical enzymatic analyte test strip and method for making the test strip. The test strip utilizes isolated conductive areas inside the electrodes to define electrode whiskers. The method utilizes laser ablation to define electrode patterns.
US08486240B2
A corrosion-resistant ceramic electrode material includes ceramic particles and, present between them, a three-dimensional network electroconducting path composed of a reductively fired product of a carbon-containing polymeric compound. This material is manufactured by a method in which a polymerization reaction of a polymerizable monomer previously contained in a ceramic slurry is performed to gel the ceramic slurry to thereby give a green body; and after drying and degreasing, the green body is fired in a reducing atmosphere.
US08486239B2
Methods systems and devices for impeding an anode from being corroded or dissolved are provided. In one example, an electrolysis system includes an anode, the anode disposed on a support including a housing, the housing having an inverted cup on an end, the anode on an interior wall of the inverted cup such that electrical contact with an electrolysis solution is made along a concave portion of the inverted cup. Such an example may further include a cathode, the cathode disposed within a collection pipe such that gas produced at the cathode is retained within a channel of the collection pipe.
US08486238B2
Disclosed herein is a surface renewable iridium oxide-glass or ceramic composite hydrogen ion electrode and, more particularly, a surface renewable iridium oxide-glass or ceramic composite hydrogen ion electrode, which has a long life due to its excellent physical strength, pH dependency approximate to a theoretical value (59 mV/pH unit), and high surface renewability, and a method of manufacturing the same. The iridium oxide composite hydrogen ion electrode according to the present invention is effective in that, when the electrode is contaminated or inactivated, the surface of the electrode can be regenerated through a simple grinding process because the electrode has high surface renewability, unlike conventional electrodes. The iridium oxide composite electrode according to the present invention can be usefully used in a water-quality monitoring system for monitoring the hydrogen ion concentration of a solution for a long period, an online pH measurement system, and pH measurement for samples, which causes serious contamination of the surface of a sensor.
US08486234B2
A plating apparatus can form a bump having a flat top or can form a metal film having a good in-plane uniformity even when the plating of a plating object (substrate) is carried out under high-current density conditions. The plating apparatus includes a plating tank for holding a plating solution; an anode to be immersed in the plating solution in the plating tank; a holder for holding a plating object and disposing the plating object at a position opposite the anode; a paddle, disposed between the anode and the plating object held by the holder, which reciprocates parallel to the plating object to stir the plating solution; and a control section for controlling a paddle drive section which drives the paddle. The control section controls the paddle drive section so that the paddle moves at a velocity whose average absolute value is 70 cm/sec to 100 cm/sec.
US08486233B2
A fluid delivery apparatus is provided for supplying a fluid mixture to a distillation column or reactor. The apparatus can be used to enhance the heat duty, the flow and/or the flow stability of an existing thermosiphon reboiler which supplies a heated fluid to the column or reactor. The apparatus includes an integrated eductor which receives and increases the fluid velocity of a supplemental fluid into which the heated fluid is aspirated to form a fluid mixture then delivered to the column or reactor. A process and a system utilizing the apparatus are also disclosed, as well as a method of retrofitting an existing system with the apparatus.
US08486229B2
A device for drying and treating a fiber-based moving fiber web (1) in a machine intended for producing tissue paper includes a metal belt (2) which is arranged to support the fiber web (1) and to transfer the fiber web (1) in the machine direction and which metal belt (2) is arranged as a continuous rotating cycle, at least one roll (3) the shell of which is in contact with the metal belt (2) arranged to rotate around, which roll (3) is for supporting and/or controlling the metal belt (2), and at least one counter element (5) arranged to create a contact area outside the metal belt (2) between the metal belt (2) and the counter element (5) for a process zone (6), via which process zone (6) the fiber web (1) is arranged to travel when using the device.
US08486228B2
Provided is a lignocellulosic biomass saccharification pre-treatment device capable of producing a pretreated material for saccharification. The lignocellulosic biomass saccharification pre-treatment device comprises a separation unit 4 which separates ammonia gas by heating a pretreated material for saccharification obtained from a substrate mixture obtained by mixing lignocellulosic biomass and ammonia water; a first heat recovery unit 25 which recovers heat-of-dissolution generated when ammonia gas is dissolved in water, and the heat supply units 8, 9, 10 which generate heat by using heat-of-dissolution recovered by the frst heat recovery unit 25 and supply the heat to the separation unit 4.
US08486227B2
A process for the production of paper, board and cardboard by draining a paper stock containing interfering substances in the presence of polymers which contain vinylamine units and which have an average molar mass Mw of at least 1 million, a high-consistency stock first being prepared, at least one polymer containing vinylamine units and having an average molar mass Mw of at least 1 million and a degree of hydrolysis of from 1 to 20 mol % being metered into the high-consistency stock, the high-consistency stock being diluted to a low-consistency stock by adding water, and the low-consistency stock being drained, the polymers being hydrolyzed homo- or copolymers of N-vinylcarboxamides additives for reducing deposits in the wire part, press section and drying section of paper machines.
US08486215B2
A two-piece washing tank for a dishwasher and a method for manufacturing the two-piece washing tank for a dishwasher. The dishwasher includes a washing container and an assembly base made from plastic. The washing container has a base formed from a substantial portion of the top side of the plastic assembly base and side and rear walls formed substantially of stainless steel.
US08486213B2
A method of making a composite light diffusing panel including at least spaced apart lites with a fabric layer applied to an inner surface of at least one of said lites, involves applying a transparent adhesive to the layer of fabric or the lite(s), firmly applying the layer of fabric onto the lite(s) to avoid wrinkling fabric, curing the adhesive to bond the fabric to the lite(s), and assembling the lites to form the light diffusing panel. In this way, a functionally useful product can be obtained that does not suffer from wrinkling and other distracting effects.
US08486212B2
An electronic component mounting apparatus is capable of significantly reducing a warpage amount of an electronic component warped in a case of thermocompression bonding using a conductive adhesive agent having conductive particles and a low minimum melt viscosity where a thin electronic component having a thickness smaller than or equal to 200 μm is mounted on a wiring board. In the mounting apparatus, an anisotropic conductive adhesive film having the minimum melt viscosity lower than or equal to 1.0×103 Pa·s is placed on a wiring board placed on a base, and an IC chip having a thickness smaller than or equal to 200 μm is placed on the anisotropic conductive adhesive film. In the mounting apparatus, the IC chip is pressurized by a thermocompression bonding head having a compression bonding portion made of elastomer having a rubber hardness lower than or equal to 60, so that the IC chip is bonded onto the wiring board by thermocompression.
US08486208B2
A paving advertisement has an elongated flexible tape body with a base substrate layer. The base substrate layer has front and rear faces, the front face having at least one text message that conveys information. The base substrate layer is treated with a cold crack additive, thereby increasing strength and flexibility.
US08486207B2
The present invention provides a chlorine-containing pyrotechnic composition which is substantially free of per-chlorate which composition comprises a nitrocellulose which is derived from a fibrous nitrocellulose starting material that has at least partially been dissolved during the process of preparing the pyrotechnic composition, and a colorant. The invention further provides a firework article comprising said pyrotechnic composition, and a method for preparing the same.
US08486189B2
A cosmetic containing a pearlescent pigment comprising a substrate and a first layer, wherein the first layer comprises iron oxide, wherein the iron has from about 1% to about 30% Fe(II) and from about 70% to about 99% Fe(III).
US08486187B2
The invention relates to a coating composition comprising at least one binder and a multipurpose additive obtainable by reacting a vegetable oil with a diol or by transesterifying a vegetable oil lower alkyl ester with a diol, both reactions in the presence of a catalyst. The multipurpose additive is used to replace partly the solvent of the coating composition and/or to replace partly the binder thus reducing the VOC content and the viscosity.
US08486186B2
This invention provides a magenta ink composition that, when recorded, is excellent in color development, graininess, and gloss, is less likely to cause clogging in an ink jet recording head, and is excellent in color reproduction in a high-chroma and high-lightness red region. The magenta ink composition has an L* value of not less than 60 and a b* value of not more than −17 when the a* value in CIE standard calculated from a visible absorption spectrum in a not more than 10000-fold diluted aqueous solution is 80.
US08486185B2
An inkjet recording ink containing: water; a water-soluble organic solvent; a colorant; and at least one fluorochemical surfactant having a formula selected from the group consisting of (b), (a), (a′), and (h): [(RfSO2)2]N−M+ (a), [(RfSO2)(RSO2)]N−M+ (a′), [(FSO2)2]N−M+ (h), wherein M+ is Li+, Na+, K+, or NH4+, Rf is CF3, C2F5, C3F7, or C4F9, and R is C1-C10 alkyl group.
US08486172B2
A filter element including an end cap is provided. The end cap includes an annular seal support carrying an annular seal member and a mounting arrangement to seal and support the filter element in a filter housing. The end cap is configure to engage with a mating engagement structure of the housing to provide self alignment feature of the filter element.
US08486165B2
In one embodiment, a gasification system includes a black water processing system with flash tanks. The flash tanks may separate gases from black water to produce a first discharge of the black water and another discharge of separated gases. The gasification system also includes a heat exchanger that transfers heat from the discharge of separated gases to a process stream of the gasification system.
US08486161B2
The present invention is generally directed to methods for processing lignin-containing biomass so as to render it more amenable to hydroprocessing, wherein such processing typically reduces the level of oxygen in the biomass. Following such processing, the resulting reduced-oxygen lignin-derived product can be hydroprocessed into a biofuel suitable for use as a transportation fuel. Additionally, in some embodiments, such methods can be integrated with one or more other processes, wherein such other processes can be production and/or logistical in nature.
US08486154B2
The device made in a resorbable material intended to be placed in urethra for Treatment of stricture has the shape of a tube (1), the wall of which has offices (2).
US08486150B2
An orthopedic implant includes a first portion including at least one feature modified to be patient-specific and match the anatomy of a specific patient from a three-dimensional digital image of a patient's joint using computer modeling. The orthopedic implant includes a non-custom inner bone-engaging surface including a plurality of planar surfaces configured for engagement with non-custom bone cuts.
US08486135B2
This invention relates to implantable medical devices, such as stents, fabricated from hyperbranched-like polymers, comb-like polymers, star polymers, dendrimer-like star polymers, dendrimers, and mixtures thereof.
US08486125B2
Disclosed are several methods, apparatus, and a system for providing diabetic symptom relief through a laser based medical instrument. In one embodiment, a method includes generating a radiation of a laser-light created by a laser diode of a first medical instrument. In addition, the method includes applying a treatment of the radiation to a portion of a body. The method also includes reducing elevated blood glucose and/or glycosylated hemoglobin levels caused by one or more metabolic diseases such as diabetes. The method further includes providing a relief from the secondary complications of elevated blood glucose levels such as blurred vision, etc., when the treatment is complete.
US08486115B2
A bone plate assembly includes a plate, at least one bone screw, and at least one cap member. The screw extends into a through hole of the plate and a head of the screw seats in the through hole. The plate includes an undercut slot adjacent to the through hole. The cap includes at least one tab member that extends radially outward. The cap is mounted in the through hole with the tab member positioned in the undercut slot to inhibit the screw from backing out of the plate. In some arrangements, the tab member is rotatable within the undercut slot from an unlocked position to a locked position.
US08486101B2
This is a device for occluding a space within the body. In particular, the device comprises an expandable member, an inner member and one or more stop elements. The devices may be placed in a desired site within a mammal to facilitate the formation of an occlusion.
US08486097B2
A tissue cutting device includes an outer cannula, and axially fixed inner member, an actuation assembly, a slidable shuttle member, and a vacuum fitting configured to connect to a vacuum source. The outer cannula is configured for selective rotation. The shuttle member is operatively connected to the outer cannula to reciprocate the outer cannula. The axially fixed inner member is disposed within the outer cannula.
US08486094B2
An apparatus for assisting in a vascular procedure includes an obturator operable to be mounted on a medical device to guide the medical device into a targeted region, whereby the obturator is substantially blunt such that it exhibits a snag-resistant property. In alternative embodiments, the apparatus includes an interface element operable to be used in conjunction with the obturator and to engage an interface of the targeted region such that pressure is maintained within the targeted region. The interface element includes a convex portion that operates to seat the interface element at a selected location. The interface element is substantially transparent and includes a magnification element that magnifies materials underlying the interface element. In other embodiments, the apparatus includes a tray operable to provide a mold for forming the obturator, which may include a gas, water, sugar, clotted blood, a gelatinous material, a protein, a saline solution, or dry-ice.
US08486092B2
A clip for engaging tissue includes a generally annular-shaped body defining a plane and disposed about a central axis extending normal to the plane. The body includes alternating inner and outer curved regions, defining a zigzag pattern about a periphery of the clip. The body is biased towards a planar configuration lying in the plane and deflectable towards a transverse configuration extending out of the plane. Tines extend from the inner curved regions, the tines being oriented towards the central axis in the planar configuration, and parallel to the central axis in the transverse configuration. The tines may include primary tines and secondary tines that are shorter than the primary tines. The primary tines may be disposed on opposing inner curved regions and oriented towards one another such that they overlap in the planar configuration.
US08486084B2
A slap hammer including an adjustable striking member and a releasable retaining mechanism for releasably retaining a sliding weight is disclosed. One described slap hammer comprises a guide rod having a first end and a second end; a striking member coupled to the second end of the guide rod and movable relative to the first end of the guide rod; a sliding weight slidable along the guide rod between the first end of the guide rod and the striking member; a biasing element positioned between the sliding weight and the first end of the guide rod, the biasing element biasing the sliding weight towards the second end of the guide rod; and a releasable retaining mechanism for releasably retaining the sliding weight against the action of the biasing element.
US08486081B2
A method and system for insertion of an implant is disclosed. One embodiment of a system for use in implanting a spinal prosthesis incorporating principles of the invention includes an insertion assembly housing with a channel extending from a distal end portion to a proximal end portion, a gripper having a prosthesis coupling portion for coupling with a spinal prosthesis and an end portion, and a coupler member having a gripper coupling portion rotatably positioned within the channel and configured to couple with the end portion of the gripper within the channel.
US08486079B2
A method and apparatus for remote alignment of a cut guide. The cut guide may be positioned on a base which is remote from a surgical site and positioned on a docking station. An alignment jig is removably positioned on a bone and is used to provide alignment information to the docking station. The docking station remotely aligns the cut guide relative to the base. Thereafter, the cut guide and base are removed from the docking station and positioned on the bone in place of the alignment jig. A surgical procedure using the cut guide may then be completed.
US08486076B2
Oscillating rasps for the surgical preparation of the bone prior to the implantation of a glenoid or acetabular component with complex geometry are disclosed. Surgical methods for the use of such oscillating rasps are also disclosed. The oscillating rasp includes an attachment head configured to be secured in a chuck of an oscillating tool, and a cutting head secured to the attachment head. The cutting head includes a cutting surface extending posteriorly from the longitudinal axis of the oscillating surgical rasp. The cutting surface has a plurality of cutting teeth arranged in a geometry that, when oscillated along a predetermined path in contact with the glenoid of the patient, corresponds with the geometry of the augmented glenoid prosthesis.
US08486069B2
A fixator for use in the reconstruction of acute, chronic and traumatic injuries to the upper and lower extremities. The fixator has a unique clamping system that allows for the snapping in of pins and rails, and for multi-planar fixation of bones.
US08486067B2
A bone graft applicator for applying bone graft to an orthopaedic implant. The bone graft applicator includes a pair of arms and a bone graft receptacle sized and shaped to be able to receive a portion of the orthopaedic implant within the receptacle. The bone graft receptacle is coupled to each of the pair of arms. The bone graft applicator also includes a linking mechanism. The linking mechanism includes a recess sized and shaped to extend at least partially around the portion of the orthopaedic implant and is coupled to the bone graft receptacle.
US08486063B2
Devices, systems and methods are disclosed for the ablation of tissue. Embodiments include an ablation catheter which has an array of ablation elements attached to a deployable carrier assembly. The carrier assembly can be constrained within the lumen of a catheter, and deployed to take on an expanded condition.
US08486061B2
An electrosurgical generator for supplying electrosurgical energy to tissue is disclosed. The generator includes sensor circuitry configured to measure an imaginary impedance and/or a rate of change of the imaginary impedance of tissue. The generator also includes a controller configured to regulate output of the electrosurgical generator based on the measured imaginary impedance and/or the rate of change of the imaginary impedance.
US08486058B1
The present invention provides an Electro Surgical Generator (ESG) optimized for lung biopsy. The ESG is exclusively battery operated and fits within the handpiece of modern endoscopic electrosurgical/electrocautery instruments, thereby avoiding wires, adapters, and coupling mechanisms. The ESG is adaptable to generate different waveforms that vary with respect to frequency, pulse width, amplitude, etc. through the use of timing circuits and voltage control (i.e. transformers). The ESG is both energy-efficient and safe. A closed loop feedback system featuring a monitor and controller ensure no more power than necessary is provided to achieve a goal current level. Dynamic Power Control (DPC) and Dynamic Temperature Control (DTC) systems vary power to maintain temperature with the lowest possible power. These features prolong battery life and guard against tissue damage. The generator includes other safety features such as resiliency against and the ability to overcome single fault events such as short circuits.
US08486057B2
A microwave ablation system includes a generator including a first energy source, a second energy source and a diplexer, the diplexer multiplexes a first energy from the first energy source and a second energy from the second energy source. The system also includes a cable including a center conductor and an outer sheath where the multiplexed energy is transmitted through the center conductor. In addition an antenna is provided that is operable to receive the multiplexed energy from the center conductor and to deliver the multiplexed energy to a region of tissue. The outer sheath acts as a return path of the second energy to the second energy source. A sensor is also provided that measures at least one parameter of the second energy generated by the second energy source and the second energy returned from the region of tissue.
US08486056B2
Skin disorders such as, for example, atopic dermatitis, dyshidrosis, eczema, lichen planus, psoriasis, and vitiligo, are treated by applying high doses of ultraviolet light to diseased regions of a patients skin. The dosage employed exceeds 1 MED, an MED being determined for the particular patient being treated, and may range from about 1 MED to about 20 MED or higher. The ultraviolet light has a wavelength within the range of between about 295 nanometers to about 320 nanometers and preferably is between about 300 nanometers and about 310 nanometers. High doses of ultraviolet light are restricted to diseased tissue areas so as to avoid risk of detrimental side affects in healthy skin, which is more susceptible to damage from UV light. Cooling the skin prior to and/or while exposing the skin to the UV light can be used to minimize tissue damage resulting from exposure to the UV light. Higher doses of UV light can therefore be employed without injurious affects.
US08486054B2
A method of providing optometric parameters for an optometric procedure includes locating patient identification information on a central data storage by transmitting a search query from a computing device communicating with the central data storage. The search query generates a result set containing at least one patient having patient identification information substantially matching the search query. From the result set, a patient undergoing the optometric procedure is selected. An input form for this patient is then displayed with input fields corresponding to each of the optometric parameters. A qualified collector obtains the measurement values for the optometric parameters and inputs them into respective input fields. A data record containing the measurement values and the patient identification information is generated and transmitted to the central data storage. The data record can then be transmitted to a planning tool communicating with the central data storage for performing the optometric procedure.
US08486052B2
A delivery device that allows for the sustained release of an agent, particularly useful for the sustained release of a therapeutic agent to limited access regions, such as the posterior chamber of the eye and inner ear. The delivery device is minimally invasive, refillable and may be easily fixed to the treatment area. The delivery device includes a hollow body with an inlet port at its proximal end for insertion of the agent, a reservoir for holding the agent and a delivery mechanism for the sustained delivery of the agent from the reservoir to the patient.
US08486043B2
Described here are unit dose containers, methods, and kits for treating asthma and other pulmonary conditions by nebulization. The unit doses of active agents are provided in a low volume formulation, which results in faster nebulization of the unit doses. The containers are also formed to minimize internal surface area so that effective re-dispersion of the active agents can be achieved while reducing adsorption to the walls of the containers.
US08486040B2
A wearing article includes front and rear waist regions joined together. A joint strength of joint arrays along the front and rear waist regions is generally uniformed. A chassis is formed along front waist region's side edges and rear waist region's side edges with the joint arrays. A liquid-absorbent structure includes front and rear ends opposed to each other in a longitudinal direction and extending in a transverse direction. The front end is covered with a front waist sheet and the rear end is covered with a rear waist sheet. Along the respective joint arrays, the front and rear waist sheets are spaced from each other in the longitudinal direction.
US08486032B2
Reduced-pressure treatment systems and methods are disclosed that employ debridement mechanisms to remove unwanted tissue. In one instance, a reduced-pressure treatment system for treating a tissue site on a patient includes a manifold member for distributing reduced pressure to the tissue site, a support member for disposing proximate the tissue site and the manifold, and a debridement mechanism coupled to the support member. The debridement mechanism is for debriding the tissue site. The system further includes a sealing drape for placing over the tissue site and manifold member. The sealing drape is operable to form a fluid seal over the tissue site and manifold member. The system also includes a reduced-pressure subsystem for delivering a reduced pressure to the sealing drape. The system may further include a chemical-debridement subsystem. Other systems, manifolds, and methods are disclosed.
US08486031B2
An eye treatment apparatus having a guide device structured to guide a nozzle of an applicator to a position in front of an eye is provided. The guide device includes a guide surface and a stop. The guide surface is easily accessible. That is, the nozzle of an applicator may be moved, generally laterally, into contact with the guide surface. The nozzle may then slide over the guide surface to the stop. The stop is positioned so that the nozzle is disposed centrally in front of the eye.
US08486028B2
A tissue marking apparatus includes a marker introducer that has a cannula and a stylet. The cannula has a lumen and a marker exit port. The stylet is slidably received in the lumen. The stylet has a distal end. A tissue marker is configured to be received in the lumen distal to the distal end of the stylet. The tissue marker is a drug-eluting tissue marker for marking a site in a tissue mass, and has a drug-eluting portion having a drug for release to the site and a material that can be imaged using an imaging technique.
US08486023B2
An apparatus includes a catheter for an intrathecal drug delivery system and a stylet having a curved forward end. Preferably, the curved forward end has a shape in the form of a “J” or a “C.” Also preferably, the catheter has a distal end that conforms to the curved forward end of the stylet. Thus, the present invention provides a catheter having a blunt forward end that minimizes the risk of penetrating the substance of the spinal cord. Additionally, the curved forward end of the stylet can be formed of a springy material so that it straightens out during the processes of insertion through a guide needle and retraction from the needle.
US08486022B2
A needle catheter configured for injecting an agent into a wall of a patient's body cavity, which directs a needle from the distal tip of the catheter into the wall of the body cavity at an angle relative to the axis of the shaft. The resulting angled injection pathway improves the retention of the agent in the body cavity wall, while keeping a distal section of the catheter substantially perpendicular to the body cavity wall for optimal push against the tissue at the injection site.
US08486021B2
Provided is a syringe drive unit (1) which is capable of imparting a fine moving amount to a plunger pressing member (6) when a plunger is pushed into a syringe body using a feed screw mechanism, to thereby eject liquid medicine from the syringe body with high accuracy. The syringe drive unit (1) includes: a syringe holder (3) which is fixed to a front surface side of a base plate (2) and holds the syringe body; a guide rail (4) which is provided on a rear surface side of the base plate (2) along an axial-line direction of the syringe body; a slider (5) which is assembled to the guide rail (4) through intermediation of rolling elements; a plunger pressing member (6) which is fixed to the slider (5) and includes an arm portion (61) projecting from the rear surface side of the base plate (2) to the front surface side of the base plate (2), the arm portion (61) holding the plunger housed in the syringe body; a screw shaft (7) which is provided parallel to the guide rail (4) and has predetermined rotation imparted by a motor (9); and a nut member (8) for imparting a moving amount corresponding to a rotation amount of the screw shaft (7) to the plunger pressing member (6).
US08486015B2
A safety shield apparatus is provided that includes a housing that defines a cavity. A distal end of the housing includes a cover having a movable tab. A hub is disposed for movement within the housing and includes a needle having a distal end and a movable projection. The hub is biased between an extended position, such that the distal end of the needle is exposed and the movable projection is releasably disposed with the cavity, and a retracted position whereby the distal end of the needle is disposed within the housing. The movable tab is engageable with the movable projection to release the movable projection from the cavity to facilitate movement of the hub. The distal end of the housing may define a lip that is configured to capture the distal end of the needle. The hub can define an angled distal surface to orient the needle out of axial alignment with the housing and into capture with the lip.
US08486014B2
A balloon dilatation catheter for use in a valvuloplasty procedure includes a catheter shaft and a spiral perfusion balloon mounted thereon. The perfusion balloon is formed from an inflatable tube that is in fluid communication with a catheter shaft inflation lumen. The inflatable tube is coiled into a series of windings that in an inflated configuration form a cylindrical or hourglass profile. In the inflated configuration, inner surfaces of the coiled windings of the inflatable tube define a perfusion lumen to allow blood flow through the perfusion balloon. Adjacent windings may be secured together with a flexible adhesive and/or a support weave formed from one or more filaments of material that criss-crosses between the adjacent windings along substantially the entire length of the spiral perfusion balloon.
US08486008B2
A medical fluid injector and methods for operation thereof. In certain embodiments, the medical fluid injector includes a medium that is expandable and contractible in response to a thermal gradient, a thermal device coupled to the medium, and a syringe interface coupled to the medium. The thermal device may include a heater, a cooler, or a combination thereof.
US08486005B2
Systems and methods for detecting an occlusion in a fluid delivery device are disclosed. The system includes a fluid delivery tube, an occlusion detection sensor configured to be coupled to the fluid delivery tube and further configured to detect occlusion within the fluid delivery tube. The fluid delivery tube includes an occlusion detection portion. The occlusion detection sensor is further configured to detect alteration of a shape of the occlusion detection portion when at least one condition occurs within the fluid delivery tube.
US08486002B2
Drug delivery devices and methods are provided for delivering a substance into a human or animal tissue. The device includes a gas source comprising a gas or capable of selectively producing a gas. The device also includes a drug source positioned and configured to release a drug into the gas. The drug source includes a release-activatable tape having the drug disposed thereon. The device also includes a first collimator fluidly connected with the gas source. The first collimator, which has an inlet end and an outlet end, is adapted to form a collimated gas stream comprising the drug in the gas.
US08485995B1
A method for providing a combined DVT and compression therapy to a patient is provided. The method includes providing a control unit configured to condition heat transfer fluid and to selectively provide a compressed gas, providing a thermal compression device that is mountable to a select portion of the patient, and programming the control unit to supply heat transfer fluid to the thermal compression device and to supply compressed gas to the thermal compression device.
US08485977B2
An ultrasound diagnosis apparatus that can acquire ultrasound image data having excellent spatial resolution and contrast resolution by electrically controlling focusing points of transmission/reception waves so as to form transmitting beams and receiving beams having substantially uniform thin beam width along an elevation direction. Ultrasounds emitted from a prescribed number of transducers are focused at a hypothetical point sound source. Wave-fronts reflect at a plurality of observing points. Ultrasounds reflected at the observing points are received through a prescribed number of transducers generating a plurality of channels of receiving signals, which are focused by performing phase compensation and summation so that the observing point becomes a reception focusing point. The receiving signals are focused to correct transmitting delays due to propagation distances between the transmitting focusing point and the observing points.
US08485976B2
Even when a region of interest (ROI) is changed on a frozen image, an elasticity image of ROI after the change can be displayed without executing re-measurement. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 has a control unit 110 having a first ROI setting unit 38 and a second ROI setting unit 39. When ROI is set by the first ROI setting unit 38 of the control unit 110, an elasticity information calculating unit 32 sets an area larger than ROI as a calculation area, calculates distortion, elasticity modulus, etc. of a tissue corresponding to each measurement point on a tomographic image of the calculation area, generates elasticity information based on the distortion, the elasticity modulus, etc., and outputs the elasticity information to an elasticity information storing unit 33. The control unit 110 changes the position/size of ROI by the second ROI setting unit 39 under a state that the frozen image is displayed. The elasticity image constructing unit 34 reads the elasticity information corresponding to the changed ROI from the elasticity information storing unit 33, forms an elasticity image of the changed ROI and displays it on an image display unit 26.
US08485973B2
A system and method for detecting a surgical implement retained within a surgically exposed human body cavity, includes a tag adapted to be attached to a surgical implement insertable within a human body cavity, including a receiver for receiving an electromagnetic signal and converting it into electric signal; and a circuit to impress said electric signal on the internal human (or an animal) body where the medical product is used; and a transmitter to transmit the electromagnetic signal; and a detector including a receptor for receiving the electric signal from the body and a detector connected to the receptor for detecting the electric signal. The envelope of the induced RF wave is demodulated, thus allowing the voltage at the output to vary at a significantly lower frequency. In the event such pulses are sensed, a sensory alert is actuated.
US08485965B2
An endoscope main body constituting an endoscope in a state in which an elongated detachable observation optical system is attached to the endoscope main body, and in a proximal end of an insertion section of the endoscope main body, a branch member is disposed. The branch member is provided so that a first extended section and a second extended section are branched from each other and thereby first and second operating sections are separately arranged. Furthermore, the branch member has an opening as an inlet which guides an imaging module in a distal end of the observation optical system to a hard portion of the insertion section.
US08485964B2
A balloon-type gastric band includes a balloon shaped and dimensioned to circumscribe the stomach at a predetermined location. The balloon includes a longitudinally extending body. A supply tube is secured to the balloon for fluid communication with an internal cavity of the balloon, wherein the supply tube includes a valve controlling the flow of fluid to and from the balloon.
US08485962B2
A method of treating urinary incontinence includes making an incision and exposing urethral tissue in a patient and employing a tool to place an implant into the incision. The method also includes coupling a first end of the implant to the tool and directing the tool and the first end of the implant through a first obturator foramen of the patient and following the same approach on a contralateral side of the patient thus suspending the implant between the first obturator foramen and the second obturator foramen of the patient. The method additionally includes elevating a urethra of the patient with a central portion of the implant, and securing the first end of the implant relative to a first descending ramus of the patient and securing the second end of the implant relative to a second descending ramus of the patient.
US08485961B2
Disclosed herein are heart pumps that include a catheter assembly and that can be applied percutaneously. Some embodiments include a locking device that prevents components of the catheter assembly from being separated when in use. The catheter assembly can include an expandable tip. In some embodiments, the catheter assembly includes a housing having a wall structure, a portion of which can have a bulbuous shape or can be deformable. In other embodiments, the housing can be configured to reduce fluttering or deflection of the housing and/or to maintain a gap between the housing and an impeller blade disposed therein.
US08485948B2
The invention discloses a fitness equipment which comprises a ring-shaped gravity body and a handle connected with the gravity body, wherein, the handle is positioned in the radial position of the interior of the ring-shaped gravity body, the end parts of the handle are detachably and fixedly connected with the gravity body, protective covers are embedded into the inner surface of the ring-shaped gravity body, and through the coverage of the protective covers, the connecting parts between the ring-shaped gravity body and the handle are rendered smooth. Through the application of the protective covers and the appropriate structural design of the two end parts of the handle, the surfaces of the fitness equipment provided by the invention can be rendered smooth, thereby effectively avoiding injuries to users.
US08485946B2
Devices, apparatuses, systems and/or methods related to weight plates. Specifically, the disclosed devices, apparatuses, systems and/or methods relate to nested weight plates including a first weight plate increment and a second weight plate increment configured to receive the first weight plate increment. The nested weight plates may include a turning mechanism including a turning circle and/or a screw. The screw may be received by the first weight plate increment such that rotation of the turning circle engages and/or disengages the second weight plate increment. In this manner, a user may select to total weight desired.
US08485944B2
Contribution of energy to an intelligent electrical network through an exercise apparatus is disclosed. In one aspect, an exercise apparatus includes a frame and a movable object coupled to the frame to generate an electrical energy when a mammal applies a force upon the movable object. In addition, the exercise apparatus includes an energy capture mechanism coupled with the movable object and the frame to harness the electrical energy from the movable object. The exercise apparatus also includes an energy transfer mechanism coupled with the movable object and the frame to transfer the electrical energy to an intelligent electrical network. The mammal described herein may be a human, a domesticated animal, a pack animal, and a beast of burden.
US08485941B2
A driver controllable low speed mode for a stop/start technology-equipped vehicle. The vehicle comprises an internal combustion engine with stop/start technology having an engine controller, a transmission connected to the internal combustion engine, and a shifter connected to the transmission and the engine controller. The shifter is operable to place the transmission into one of a plurality of operating modes, the operating modes including at least a low speed mode wherein stop/start technology is disabled. The engine controller is operable to detect vehicle operation above a speed or acceleration threshold and cause an audible chime or message to be played or a visual cue displayed to prompt the driver to deactivate the low speed mode. The engine controller is further operable to detect a sustained acceleration attempt when the transmission is in low speed mode and to disable low speed mode for a predetermined period of time upon this detection.
US08485935B2
A switchable gear in a handheld power tool has at least two gear stages which are to be engaged via an adjustable switching member, the switching member being in a latched position via a retaining element fixedly held against a housing in a first gear stage. Furthermore, a spindle for receiving a tool may be driven via an axially spring-loaded gear wheel, the gear wheel being axially supported on the retaining element on the side opposite the switching member.
US08485934B2
A multi-ratio transmission comprising four planetary gearsets, eight rotary shafts and six shifting elements including first, second, third and fourth clutches and first and second brakes. The shafts either directly couple or selectively couple, via the shifting elements, the gearsets to each other or a housing of the transmission so as to implement nine forward gears and one reverse gear.
US08485925B2
A tensioner in accordance with the present invention employs a spindle and a tensioner arm which are preferably manufactured by a suitable manufacturing process, such as die casting, negating a requirement for machining operations. The biasing spring of the tensioner is wound with wire having a non-circular cross section to increase the spring force of the spring compared to a similar spring wound with wire of circular cross section and, as the tensioner arm is moved away from the flexible drive, the diameter of the biasing spring expands and the coils press a dampening shoe into contact with a wall of the tensioner arm producing a dampening force. The tensioner is simple to assemble and requires a relatively small package volume for the biasing force it can produce.
US08485924B2
A bicycle chain guide includes a first guide plate, a second guide plate, a first connection part and a second connection part. The first guide plate has a first chain engagement surface and the second guide plate has a second chain engagement to form a chain receiving area. The first and second connection parts extend between the first and second guide plates to connect the first and second guide plates together at first and second spaced locations, respectively. The first connection part is fixed to the first guide plate by a fastener. The first guide plate has a first abutment and the first connection part has a second abutment. The first and second abutments are arranged at a rear end of the chain guide to limit relative movement of the first and second guide plates.
US08485922B2
A ball holder and base plate fixing structure for batting practice apparatus is provided, including a sheath tube and a base plate. The sheath tube includes a first segment and a second segment, connected to each other. The first segment has a round tube shape for providing placing said ball holder. The second segment has a trumpet shape, said sheath tube having compressible resilience. The base plate has an installation hole. When assembled, the second segment of the sheath tube is compressed into the installation hole for tight engagement so as to fix the sheath tube to the base plate. In this manner, the ball holder is sheathed into the sheath tube and fixed to base plate. During batting practice, the resilience of sheath tube allows the ball holder to swing and twist on impact to absorb and annihilate some of the impact. After batting, the resilience of sheath tube can restore the ball holder to original position.
US08485904B2
Provided is an operation device, including: a magnetic sensor (21); and an operation button (14) used for operation input by a user, in which the operation button (14) has a spring (14a) integrated therein, and the spring (14a) is formed of a non-magnetic material.
US08485903B2
Systems, methods, and apparatus for communicating information regarding movement of a gaming device are presented herein. A gaming device can include at least one sensor configured to measure information associated with at least one of a position of the gaming device or an attitude of the gaming device. Further, a communications interface component can be configured to communicate the information to a controller. A method can detect, via sensors of a handheld gaming device, information related to a movement of the handheld gaming device; and transfer the information to a controller communicatively coupled to the handheld gaming device. A system can include means for receiving information related to a position of a gaming device or an attitude of the gaming device, and means for predicting an anticipated position of the gaming device based on the means for receiving the information.
US08485901B2
A gaming system and method providing a multi-dimensional symbol wagering game is provided. A player selects a payline, places a wager on the selected payline, and selects a plurality of a plurality of different symbols in a selection order. Symbols are generated and displayed at each of a plurality of symbol display positions. If at least a designated quantity of the symbol display positions associated with the selected payline displays any one of the selected symbols, the gaming system determines a display order of the generated and displayed symbols associated with the selected payline, and determines any awards associated with the selected payline based on a quantity of the symbol display positions associated with the selected payline that display the player selected symbols and a comparison of the selection order with the display order. Any awards are provided to the player. Cascading and rotating symbol features are provided.
US08485899B1
A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, receiving a first group of gaming results associated with a first garner, receiving a second group of gaming results associated with a second garner, presenting renditions of first and second peripherals, where the first peripheral represents a first gaming accessory for use by the first gamer to generate a first group of stimulus signals, and where the second peripheral represents a second gaming accessory for use by the second gamer to generate a second group of stimulus signals, and presenting competitive information of the first and second garners determined from at least a portion of the first and second group of gaming results, the first and second group of stimulus signals, or combinations thereof. Additional embodiments are disclosed.
US08485894B2
In one embodiment, a method includes determining an event at a gaming device during game play for a first player. One or more bonus event symbols are determined in response to the event. The method sends the one or more bonus event symbols for a bonus game to a second player. When one or more of the bonus event symbols match a predetermined outcome, the second player is awarded a bonus award. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a bonus event symbol from a second gaming device during game play on a first gaming device for a first player. It is determined if the bonus event symbol provides a match to a predetermined outcome. The second player is awarded a bonus award if the match is determined.
US08485893B2
Apparatus and methods related to multi-player casino games are described. An electronic gaming device is provided that allows a live player to compete against a virtual player in a multi-player wager-based game. The electronic gaming device can comprise a multi-player game engine that does not distinguish between virtual players and live players. The electronic gaming device can be configured to simulate the decision making of a virtual player and associated behaviors of the virtual player during game play. In some instances, the simulated behaviors of the virtual player output at the electronic gaming device can be learned by a live player so that the live player can make better or more advantageous game play decisions. The simulated behaviors of the virtual player can be conveyed to the live player via visual images, such as simulated facial expressions of the virtual player.
US08485888B2
A gaming device includes a game requiring the same average investment from a player to win an award, including a jackpot award, regardless of the amount the player bets at any one time. The award can be unchanging each time a player plays the gaming device. The award can also vary such as with a progressive jackpot, i.e., the jackpot builds until a player “hits” the jackpot. The game enables the average investment necessary to win the jackpot to be uniform by varying the odds of winning the jackpot as the player's bet varies. That is, a player betting less money needs to play the game more times, on average, to win the jackpot. Likewise, a player betting more money needs to play the game less times, on average, to win the jackpot. The average overall bet or investment thus remains constant despite the player's betting habits or betting ability.
US08485885B2
A gaming machine and method are provided which provide a video slot game to a player. The video slot game includes a plurality of cells arranged in a grid. The grid has a plurality of rows and columns. The machine and method display a first instance of the video slot game and in response to occurrence of a triggering event, video slot game is split and second and third instances of the video slot game are displayed and played.
US08485884B2
Generally, the systems and methods presented herein (the “utility”) provide for reverse gaming. This utility allows players to vote for the next number to be chosen, in essence, shifting the odds of winning to the card that the players are holding. To illustrate, each player in a game may be given a card with a random selection of numbers. Instead of the House drawing certain numbers or balls, the players of the game vote on numbers to be selected. The number with the most votes, for example, may be selected and the players with that number may accordingly mark their cards. Players may also conspire together to hopefully increase the chances of their winning. For example, two players may compare cards to ascertain any common numbers between the two cards such that the two players may vote as one for a particular number.
US08485878B2
Methods of implementing geocaching games are provided in which information is provided regarding a location of a waypoint. Thereafter, it is confirmed that a player of the game physically arrived at the waypoint. After such confirmation has been obtained, the player may be awarded a virtual prize. Related geocaching games and computer program products are also disclosed.
US08485859B2
Demounted beehives wherein the air circulation is realized effectively and the heat isolation is enhanced. The beehive essentially comprises one or more body (5), a top cover (2) and also a lower cover (7).
US08485838B2
A first housing (10) has a frame (11) with concave accommodation portions (20). A sub-connector (31) with female terminal fittings (33) is accommodated in the concave accommodation portions (20). A collective rubber stopper (36) is accommodated inside the concave accommodation portions (20) to seal a gap between a peripheral surface of an electric wire (34) pulled out of the sub-connector (31) and an inner peripheral surface of each concave accommodation portion (20). A first cam follower (19) is formed on an outer surface of the frame (11) and can engage an operation member (80). The frame (11) has an outer wall (12) defining an outer surface thereof where the first cam follower (19) is formed and an inner wall (18) separated from the outer wall part (12) via separated spaces (17) and constructing the inner peripheral surface of each concave accommodation portions (20).
US08485836B2
A connector has a first housing (10), a pair of first terminal fittings (50) accommodated in parallel with each other inside the first housing (10), a short-circuiting terminal (40) mounted inside the first housing (10) and short-circuiting a pair of the first terminal fittings (50), and a sub-housing (30) having insulating properties and holding the short-circuiting terminals (40). An accommodation chamber (17) formed inside the first housing (10) is open on an outer side surface of the first housing (10) as a mounting/removing opening (18). The sub-housing (30) is inserted into the accommodation chamber (17) in almost parallel with a direction in which a pair of the first terminal fittings (50) is arranged.
US08485835B2
A suspended ceiling grid tee of conventional cross-sectional shape having a plurality of generally planar parallel and orthogonal surfaces and at least two electrically isolated conductor strips attached to the planar areas of the tee surfaces extending along substantially the full length of the tee, a connector for supplying low voltage electrical power to or from the conductors, the connector having a configuration complementary to the cross-sectional shape of the grid tee and including at least two electrical contacts for energizing each of said conductor strips when said connector is positioned on said grid tee.
US08485830B1
An socket for light string is provided to include a pair of symmetrically arranged first and second casings mated together. Each of the first and second casings is featured with a side opening, and a first and second end channels, interlocking arrangements provided at internal wall thereof so as to securely interlock the first and second casings to configure the socket with a LED seat formed by the openings to host an LED, and passages for securely receiving conductive wires configured by the first and second channels. A partition is provided under the LED seat so as to insulatively isolated the conductive wires. Inner surfaces of the channels are provided with teeth to firmly hold the conductive wires. The socket is preferable for the use of configuring a light string.
US08485825B2
Systems and methods for providing realistic simulation of forcible entry techniques using replaceable components that are designed to be deformed and/or destroyed during use. One embodiment includes a simulator having a door frame, a door pivotally mounted on the door frame, and at least one training station sub-unit that is mounted on either the door or the frame. The training station sub-unit includes at least one component that is designed to be destroyed and replaced (sometimes known as a “consumable” component). The consumable component is destroyed during use of the training station in order to produce a realistic training experience for the trainee using the station. The training station may be a door edge insert sub-unit that holds a consumable metal insert at an edge of the door proximal to the door latch, where the metal insert is deformed upon forcibly prying the door open.
US08485824B2
An apparatus for a dynamic foreshortening visual aid. A manikin having articulated limbs and a poseable torso and neck is located in space in fixed dynamic natural and unnatural positions for viewing by a comic book artist. Variable orientation connectors are applied between the manikin and a flexible rod and/or between the flexible rod and a base plate or clamp. The manikin is removeably connected to the flexible rod such that various figures are used with a single flexible rod and base plate. A visual aid having multiple manikins that are viewed interacting with each other is also disclosed.
US08485822B2
A simulation system for a machine is disclosed. The simulation system has a user interface configured to display a simulated environment, and a controller in communication with the user interface. The controller is configured to receive historical information related to performance of a machine, and recreate a past operation of the machine from the received historical information. The controller is also configured to provide to the user interface the recreated past operation for display in the simulated environment.
US08485821B2
A dental tray with a hydrophobic tooth whitening formulation where the tooth whitening formulation is substantially non-water soluble, and a method of using this dental tray to whiten the teeth. The tooth whitening formulation is primarily comprised of a hydrophobic polymer and a peroxide or a peroxide yielding compound. Preferably the hydrophobic polymer is the condensation product of a silicone resin and an organosiloxane. The dental tray is formed to encompass the front and the rear surfaces of the teeth. The dental tray is comprised of a thermoplastic or thermoset polymer. The teeth whitening formulation is placed into the dental tray and the tray placed against the teeth to be whitened. This is for a sufficient period of time to at least partially whiten teeth. This can be a period of time from about 0.5 hour to 2 hours or more. The substantially non-aqueous tooth whitening formulation is effective over a longer period of time since it is not significantly diluted or removed from the dental tray during the treatment time.
US08485810B2
The invention is directed a rotary molding machine having a wheel mounted for rotation on a pair of shafts positioned along the rotational axis of the wheel. A first shaft cooperates with a first turntable of the wheel and a second shaft cooperates with a second turntable. The first and second turntables extend transversely to the rotational axis. A plurality of modular mold clamp assemblies are positioned on the wheel, with each modular mold clamp assembly being moveable between an open and a closed position. Each modular mold clamp assembly has mounting areas which are mounted with respective mounting locations each turntable. The modular mold clamp assemblies provide the structure and rigidity between the turntables to help maintain the turntables in position relative to each other.
US08485808B2
An apparatus for producing a three-dimensional shaped product in which a powder and a shaped article are loaded on a base plate, a frame body is installed upright on a table, a support projecting from the frame body and/or a restraining support provided at the top of the frame body are used to support the base plate, the base plate is supported by arranging the center of gravity of the base plate so as to be present, two or more recesses provided at the back of the base plate are fitted into two or more extension supports which cross each other and/or restraining supports, and projected parts provided on supports and/or wall parts of the frame body are contacted with horizontally surrounding parts of the base plate on both sides in the longitudinal direction of at least one recess among the recesses, thereby attaining the above object.
US08485806B2
A tire vulcanizing device includes a plurality of opening/closing cylinders for respectively independently moving a plurality of mold holding members, which respectively hold a plurality of segmented molds arranged in a circumference direction, forward and backward in radial directions, a plurality of positioning blocks arranged in respective spaces in the circumferential direction between the plurality of segmented molds, respective pairs of engaging members respectively provided at opposite sides of the respective mold holding members, and respective pairs of stopper members each pair of which are provided on the adjoining positioning blocks, for restricting the advanced end positions of the segmented molds in engagements with the respective pairs of engaging members.
US08485801B2
A novel valve assembly is provided. In one embodiment, the valve assembly includes a seat plate having a plurality of fluid conduits. The valve assembly may also include a plurality of poppet assemblies. In some embodiments, a poppet assembly of such a plurality includes at least one fluid port and a housing configured to be coupled to the seat plate to facilitate flow of a fluid through a respective fluid conduit via the at least one fluid port of the respective poppet assembly. Other devices, systems, and methods related to poppet assemblies are also disclosed.
US08485799B2
The present invention is centralizing vertical flow cage attachable to a subsurface pump in a downhole recovery application, and method of use. In one embodiment, the vertical flow cage is defined as comprising a hollowed, centralizing cone portion having at least one spiral vein formed in the cone's surface. In another embodiment, the centralizing cone includes a ledge having at least one discharge hole disposed thereon, with each discharge hole being selectively located above each vein. Each discharge hole is formed through the centralizing cone so that each hole formed is in fluid communication with the hollow interior portion of the centralizing cone. In this regard, during the pump process upstroke, any fluid below and outside of the centralizing cone will be forced vertically upwards through each vein. This fluid flow will be assisted by the flow of fluid through each hole, as any fluid within the hollow portion will flow upward and through each hole, thereby providing a synergistic vertical fluid flow effect.
US08485795B2
A diesel pump having enhanced durability in a high pressure environment, capable of being produced at high productivity, and at low cost. The diesel pump is provided with a cylinder formed in a pump housing, a plunger reciprocatably provided in the cylinder, and a drive mechanism for driving the plunger. The cylinder is a separate part from the pump housing and is mounted in the pump housing. The cylinder consists of sulfur-less alloy steel, is a tubular part and may be press-fitted in the pump housing. The front end of an outlet joint reaches the cylinder, and a fuel discharge route directly connects to the outlet joint from the cylinder without passing through the pump housing.
US08485785B2
A turbine airfoil support system for supporting a turbine blade to prevent wear during turning gear operation when a rotor assembly supporting the turbine blade rotates at about two revolutions per minute (RPM) to keep the turbine ready for quick startup requirements. The turbine airfoil support system may be formed from a radial biasing spring positioned between a radially outermost point of a disk steeple extending from a rotor assembly and a radially inner surface of the platform. The radial biasing spring may be formed from a first flat member with a disk steeple engaging surface, a second flat member with a blade platform engaging surface, a bent biasing section extending from the first flat member to the second flat member and biasing the first and second flat members away from each other, and a stress reducing member extending from the second flat member toward the first flat member.
US08485764B2
A cutting insert according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an upper surface; a lower surface; a side surface; and a cutting edge which is located in an intersection region of the upper surface and the side surface, and includes a major cutting edge, a flat cutting edge, and a minor cutting edge located between the major cutting edge and the flat cutting edge. The cutting edge reaches a top portion thereof while being inclined upward from the flat cutting edge to the major cutting edge with respect to a reference plane perpendicular to a central axis of the cutting insert in a side view. The cutting edge is thereafter inclined downward with respect to the reference plane. A peripheral cutting edge angle of the minor cutting edge is larger than a peripheral cutting edge angle of the major cutting edge. A cutting tool including the cutting insert; and a method of manufacturing a machined product using the cutting tool are provided.
US08485759B2
The invention relates to a method for stabilizing and securing banks, hillsides and slopes, and structures present at least partly in moving waters, such as supporting and construction elements, by composite materials comprising mineral particles, preferably stones, in particular crushed rock, and an epoxy resin.
US08485753B2
Various self-cleaning delineator embodiments incorporate a delineator design that includes a shell portion, a core disposed inside the shell portion, and a reflective sheet coupled to an outer surface of the core. A wind turbine mounted on or in the delineator energizes a mechanical energy storage device, such as a spring, in response to wind or other air movement. A drive mechanism couples to the storage device and is adapted to use energy from the storage device to provide relative rotational motion between the shell portion and the core. A cleaning material disposed on an inner surface of the shell contacts the reflective sheet such that the relative rotational motion between the shell portion and the first core causes the cleaning material to slide across the reflective sheet to remove debris therefrom. The drive mechanism may include an escapement mechanism to limit the rotational motion to a maximum speed.
US08485749B2
Ink delivery systems to provide ink from a reservoir to an applicator pad for marking a surface. Ink is stored in a reservoir within a marker body. A valve system controls the flow of ink to the applicator pad to prevent puddling of ink on the marking surface. The reservoir is a hollow body with free flowing ink or may contain a fiber reservoir at least partially saturated with ink. The reservoir may also contain capillary channels and ribs to aid in transporting ink to the valve system. The valve system includes a plug and a spring to bias the plug in a closed position. The plug includes at least one contact surface to contact a housing, and thereby control the flow of ink from the reservoir to the applicator pad. The spring may be a coil spring or a compressible foam-like spring.
US08485741B1
A method and apparatus for generating an image. Light is passed though an opening of a housing. The light has an intensity. At least a portion of the light received through the opening is increased using an intensifier unit to form intensified light. The intensified light is converted into a number of signals for the image using an image detection system located inside of the housing.
US08485736B2
An optical connector which enables an operator to easily remove a ferrule from a housing without using a special jig by himself alone. A supporting member that is mounted in a housing in a manner capable of being inserted and removed in a state in which the ferrule is held therein, includes a supporting member main body which is accommodated in the housing, and an operating portion which temporarily releases an engagement between protrusions formed on the supporting member main body and through holes formed in the housing. The operating portion is arranged in a manner protruding outside the housing when the supporting member is mounted in the housing.
US08485733B2
A cage is formed of a plurality of spacers that are arranged along a circumference of a same circle. Each spacer includes: first, second and third cage bars extending in substantially an axial direction of the circle and located at intervals from each other; a first coupling portion that couples an end portions of the first and second cage bars at one of the axial direction; and a second coupling portion that couples the other end portions of the second and third cage bars at the other one of the axial direction. The first cage bar, the second cage bar and the first coupling portion define a first pocket that is open at the other one of the axial direction side, and the second cage bar, the third cage bar and the second coupling portion define a second pocket that is open at the one of the axial direction side.
US08485718B2
A lockable timing apparatus for multiple electronic devices includes an enclosure having a bottom, two side walls, an end wall, and a lid, with a door member opposing the end wall and hingedly attached to a side wall, the bottom, or the lid. At least one notch is in an exposed edge of at least one of the door member and the lid. Inside the enclosure are at least one electrical timer with a power supply cord, and at least two electrical outlets electrically connected to the at least one electrical timer. A locking means is disposed at least in part on the door member for denying unauthorized persons access to the electrical timer and the at least two electrical outlets.
US08485716B2
An agitation apparatus and an agitation method that ensure rapid and homogeneous agitation/mixing of fluids with a wide spectrum of viscosities from low to high levels and fluids with high thixotropy throughout an agitation vessel are provided. In an agitation apparatus, a lowest upper agitation blade is arranged to be vertically adjacent to a lower blade. As viewed from above, a line on a plane connecting a lower end portion of the lowest upper agitation blade to the center of an agitation shaft is arranged by a predetermined angle with respect to the center line of the lower blade in a blade radial direction. As viewed from the side, a horizontal cross section including the lower end portion of the lowest upper agitation blade is located below a horizontal cross section including an upper end portion of the lower blade.
US08485705B2
An improved light collecting efficiency in a projector type automotive headlamp is achieved by including a curved mirror to re-direct light otherwise absorbed by a rear surface of the blocking cut-off shield in “low beam” operating mode of the headlamp. When the shield is moved to a second non-blocking position, a mirror segment conforms to the curved surface of the substantially ellipsoidal reflector to maximize lumen output in “high beam” operating mode of the headlamp. In addition, auxiliary mirror segments may be used to provide a more complete substantially ellipsoidal reflector configuration that maximizes the light collection efficiency. Preferably, the cap holder is purposefully offset in order to position the centerline of the bowed arc of the arc discharge light source in alignment with the optical axis of the optical system in order to maximize light collection efficiency.
US08485696B2
Embodiments of the invention provide a lighting and ventilating system including a main housing. The main housing can include an inlet through which air can be received within the main housing and an outlet through which the air can exit the main housing. A fan wheel can be supported in the main housing and it can be operable to generate a flow of air. A grille can be coupled to the main housing and the grille can include louvers. The system further can include a lamp housing coupled to the grille, the lamp housing can include a first set of illumination devices and a second set of illumination devices. The second set of illumination devices can be capable of emitting a dynamic illumination event.
US08485695B2
The present invention provides a backlight system, which includes a reflector plate, a light guide plate, and a back frame. The reflector plate and the light guide plate are stacked on the back frame and the back frame carries the light guide plate and the reflector plate. The back frame includes at least two primary assembling pieces, the at least two primary assembling pieces being joined to form a main frame structure of the back frame; and lifting adhesive spots are formed between the reflector plate and the light guide plate. The backlight system of the present invention has a back frame having a simple structure, saves material for the back frame, and reduces the cost of the back frame so as to lower down the cost of flat panel display device. Further, the present invention arranges lifting adhesive spots between the reflector plate and the light guide plate so as to provide a lifting effect on the reflector plate and bond the reflector plate to the light guide plate, thereby alleviating the problem that easy collapse of the reflector plate occurring after assembling leads to poor quality of reflection and causes poor backlighting.
US08485687B2
A light assembly includes a lighting module having a number of LEDs and a reflector assembly disposed on the lighting module. The reflector assembly includes a number of individual reflector portions, each reflector portion being of generally concave shape and structured to selectively direct light emitted from a respective one of the number of LEDs. A lens member is disposed over the reflector assembly and a membrane is disposed between the reflector member and the lens.
US08485683B2
A flashlight includes a housing including a hollow interior bound by a chamber wall having opposed inner and outer surfaces; a lens carried by the housing opposing the hollow interior; a light source supported by a movable light source support in the hollow interior; and a focusing assembly for moving the light source relative to the lens in a longitudinal motion comprising an external movable element movably arranged on the outer surface of the chamber wall and coupled with the light source support in the hollow interior for movement with the external movable element.
US08485679B2
The present invention provides a flat panel display device, which includes a backlight system and a display panel. The backlight system includes an LED light source, a back frame, and a PCB. The LED light source comprises an LED lamp and an LED substrate. The LED substrate includes, sequentially stacked, a first conductor wiring layer, a first insulation layer, an aluminum substrate, a second insulation layer, and a second conductor wiring layer and the LED lamp is mounted on the first conductor wiring layer. The back frame carries the LED light source and includes at least two primary assembling pieces. The at least two primary assembling pieces are joined to form a main frame structure of the back frame. The PCB is disposed on the second conductor wiring layer of the LED substrate. The present invention also provides a stereoscopic display device. The flat panel display device and the stereoscopic display device of the present invention can reduce the cost of back frame mold and save the material and space of the back frame, so as to lower down the cost of the flat panel display device and the stereoscopic display device.
US08485672B2
A prepared substrate including an array of cube corner cavities and protrusions interspersed between the cube corner cavities is described herein.
US08485669B2
An illumination apparatus includes a fluorescence unit, laser light irradiation means, and a beam integration unit. The fluorescence unit has a plurality of phosphors, in which the colors of fluorescence generated due to excitation differ, arranged in different regions. The laser light irradiation means irradiates laser light onto the regions of each color of the fluorescence unit while changing the position at which the laser light strikes the fluorescence unit. The beam integration unit integrates fluorescence from each region of the fluorescence unit on a display panel.
US08485668B2
Techniques for utilizing an infrared illuminator, an infrared camera, and a projector to create a virtual 3D model of a real 3D object in real time for users' interaction with the real 3D object.
US08485665B2
A method and system are described for projecting stereoscopic images using circularly polarized light with at least one polarizer for limiting the amount of light or radiant energy reaching a projection lens system and associated optical elements, and system configurations are discussed with respect to desired performance characteristics.
US08485664B2
A macular pigment reflectometer is handheld, light, and portable. It can be provided as a part of a self-contained system. The self-contained system includes a docking station in which the macular pigment reflectometer is placed between uses. The docking station is used to recharge the battery of the handheld macular pigment reflectometer. The docking station also has one or more types of communication ports, such as one for a wired or wireless internet connection, through which the handheld macular pigment reflectometer can communicate with a computer or an electronic medical records system. The instrument operates in a pulsed operating mode wherein relative instrument-to-eye motion is reduced and, preferably, nearly eliminated. The handheld macular pigment reflectometer contains an on-board spectrometer which is designed to capture spectra in very short intervals of time. A trigger on the instrument allows for a rapid, intuitive, and sequential alignment followed by rapid data gathering.
US08485661B2
A vision training system comprises a display device configured to display dynamic visual content having a flicker rate, a flicker generator configured to adjust the flicker rate according to a duty cycle, a visual signal source configured to provide a visual signal in the form of dynamic content to the flicker generator, or, alternatively, to the display device, and a receiver configured to receive indications that the flicker rate should be adjusted.
US08485652B2
An ink supplying and collecting apparatus includes a case, ink cartridges detachably attached to the case, and a collecting container detachably attached to the case. The ink cartridges supply ink to a recording head of a printer via ink supply tubes. The collecting container collects ink drained from the recording head via an ink drain tube. The case is located outside of and is separate from the printer. Thus, the sizes and shapes of the ink cartridges and the collecting container can be freely designed.
US08485648B2
An inkjet recording apparatus is provided with an ink head having a nozzle face on which a nozzle for discharging ink is formed, a first tank stored with the ink to be supplied to the ink head through a first ink passage, a second tank stored with the ink not having been discharged from the ink head through a second ink passage, and a third ink passage connecting the second and first tanks. The inkjet recording apparatus is further provided with a pump disposed in the third ink passage and configured to feed the ink from the second tank into the first tank, a fourth ink passage connected in parallel with the pump, and a pressure regulation valve incorporated in the fourth ink passage.
US08485642B2
An ink tank is attachable to the attachment section by positioning first engagement sections at first fitting sections on the attachment section and then locking a second engagement section to a second fitting section of the attachment section by rotating the tank. The multiple supply ports are arranged on a bottom face of the tank such that the supply ports are on both sides of a center line in a width direction of the tank, and that distances between each of abutting centers configured to abut ink receiving parts of the attachment section, and the first engagement section side in a direction along a center line are mutually different. It is possible to avoid reception of a reactive force to the ink receiving parts at one time when rotating and attaching the tank, and to achieve stable attachment while suppressing excessive inclination of the tank at the time of attachment.
US08485638B2
An inkjet printhead includes: a substrate having a drive circuitry layer; a plurality of nozzle assemblies disposed on an upper surface of the substrate and arranged in one or more nozzle rows extending longitudinally along the printhead; a nozzle plate extending across the printhead; and a conductive track disposed on the nozzle plate which extends longitudinally along the printhead and parallel with the nozzle rows. The conductive track is connected to a common reference plane in the drive circuitry layer via a plurality of conductor posts extending between the drive circuitry layer and the conductive track.
US08485633B2
Provided is an ink detecting module (100) that detects the discharge state of a liquid droplet by receiving a light beam emitted to a flying path of the liquid droplet discharged from a nozzle row (103) of an inkjet printer, the ink detecting module including: a light emitting unit (104) that emits a light beam; a light receiving unit (105) that receives the emitted light beam; and a module base (108) that integrally supports the light emitting unit (104) and the light receiving unit (105), the module base (108) including: positioning pins (106, 107) that are engaged with the inkjet printer and determine the fastening position in the inkjet printer; and a fastening unit that is fastened to the inkjet printer, in which, in the state of being fastened to the inkjet printer, only the positioning pins (106, 107) and the fastening unit are in contact with the inkjet printer.
US08485631B2
When an original point position of a transport roller is detected using an original point detecting sensor and a downstream end in the transport direction of an elongated sheet is positioned on a more downstream side in the transport direction than a cutting position, the sheet is cut by a cutter. Thereafter, a correction chart is generated by driving the transport roller and a recording unit.
US08485626B2
An image forming device includes: an endless transport belt in which a plurality of through holes are formed, the transport belt circulating to carry sheets; a recording head with a plurality of nozzles through which ink droplets are discharged, the nozzles being arranged in a width direction of the transport belt. The image forming device performs preliminary discharge of ink droplets in which the ink droplets discharged through the nozzles pass through the through holes. The image forming device further includes: a sensor that detects an element to be detected formed on the transport belt when the transport belt circulates; and a preliminary discharge control unit that controls timings of discharge of ink droplets through the nozzles in the preliminary discharge based on a plurality of results of detecting the elements to be detected given from the sensor.
US08485622B2
If an ink amount supplied from an ink tank to an ejection head reaches a predetermined limit value, ink ejection is not permitted. If initialization data are input and the input initialization data are appropriate, a count value of the ink amount is initialized, and the ink ejection is started again. In addition, the initialization data which is input once and determined to be appropriate is determined to be inappropriate thereafter. By doing so, although ink of which the property and state are inappropriate is used for the refilling, since appropriate initialization data may not be input, it is possible to avoid the inappropriate ink from being used for the refilling.
US08485618B2
A kitchen device, in particular, a refrigerator or freezer, with an interior, in which at least one height-adjustable support for accommodation of goods is provided, wherein at least one transport carriage running along guide rails is provided on the kitchen device, wherein said transport carriage may be fixed to the support and adjusted in height by a drive with a height adjustment. The invention is characterized in that the shell surface may be particularly simply and easily adjusted for height without the need to remove the goods from the kitchen device operation of the kitchen device being particularly simple.
US08485617B2
Disclosed is a refrigerator including a main body provided with a storage chamber; a door to respectively open and close the storage chamber; a control unit installed the door to select an operation; a reception part provided in the door to receive the control unit; and an installation hole provided on a side end of the door to cause the control unit to be inserted into the reception part. The control unit is installed through the side end of the door, which is deviated from a user's line of sight.
US08485606B2
A seat structure includes a frame having a plurality of parts having respective joining surfaces. Two respective joining surfaces, which belong to two respective different parts, are joined to one another by laser-welding. A method of forming a seat frame having a plurality of parts includes the steps of positioning the parts in a fixture, fixing the position of the parts relative to one another and laser-welding the parts to form the seat frame.
US08485602B1
A motorized chair device for promoting movement, balance, and vestibular processing and integration. The chair device features a chair component comprising a back support portion disposed atop a seat portion. The back support portion is formed from a first side panel, a middle panel, and a second side panel connected together, wherein rigid intersections are formed between the side panels and middle panel. A rocking component is positioned below the chair component. The rocking component is shaped to allow the chair component to rock. A motor system is operatively connected to a piston, the piston being mounted to a ground surface. The motor system functions to automatically rock the chair component forwardly and backwardly by pushing against the piston to pivot the device in a forward motion. A control button is operatively connected to the motor system. The control button functions to turn the motor system on and off.
US08485584B2
A method and device for blocking sun rays from shining through the side window of a vehicle. Custom sized sun shade panels are cut. A first sun shade panel is inserted between the window and window seal of the side window of a vehicle. Then at least one other sun shade panel is inserted adjacent to the first sun shade panel to form a stack of sun shade panels. The number of sun shade panels in the stack may be adjusted to achieve the desired blockage of sun rays from entering the vehicle.
US08485578B2
The present invention is comprised of an elongate piece of first material having flexible qualities with a flexible strip of second, more rigid, and bendable material enclosed within the first material. The apparatus may be twist-tied around equipment for relatively easy transport.
US08485573B2
In a handle device for a vehicle door, a base member made of a synthetic resin is provided with: a pin support part having a support hole; and a pair of restricting walls which flexes so as to allow a pin to pass through when the pin is inserted into the support hole and which opposes an end part of the pin after insertion of the pin is completed. The pin is formed so as to integrally have: a pin main portion being formed in a round bar shape having a constant diameter and a circular cross-sectional shape and being inserted from one end side through the support hole; and a large diameter portion being coaxially connected to the other end of the pin main portion. The two restricting walls, which are formed in a flat plate shape, are provided on the base member so that the gap between opposing faces of the two restricting walls in a state in which no external force is acting on the restricting walls is larger than a diameter of the pin main portion and smaller than the maximum diameter of the large diameter portion. Accordingly, it is possible to achieve the assemblability of the pin to be enhanced and molding of the base member to be made easy, thus reducing the number of operating steps.
US08485568B2
A locking device having positioning and floating adjustable capability is provided, which includes a positioning part, disposed on a lateral side of an apparatus, the lateral side has at least one fixing opening, having a positioning opening at a periphery of the at least one fixing opening, and at least one side of the positioning opening has a necking channel; a bracket, having a sliding slot while being disposed on a frame; and a locking element, slidably coupled to the sliding slot, and enters the positioning opening under the guide of the necking channel while sliding in the sliding slot, so as to be aligned with the fixing opening. Moreover, the locking device is applicable to an apparatus having different fixing opening locations, so that the locking element can be aligned with the fixing opening easily and conveniently, thereby locking the apparatus to the bracket.
US08485561B2
A combined structure for air-conditioning ventilation comprises a tee connector (1), an easy connector (40), and a caliber adapter (30). The tee connector (1) comprises a tubular adjustable part (10) at its cylindrical tube (3) for outflow ventilation. The caliber adapter (30) may be installed at the inflow cylindrical tube (14) of the tee connector (1). By clamping the snap-fit points of the easy connector (40) into the snap-fit points (7) that is located on a first cylindrical tube (3) of the tee connector (1), the easy connector (40) may be installed at the first cylindrical tube (3). The resulting combined structure can be easily installed and used, and can have its parts easily switched.
US08485559B2
Techniques are described for authenticating security documents having security images that incorporate multiple security features. The techniques may produce robust template matching results in situations of lighting unevenness, even with stronger occluding objects. The techniques may be particularly useful in validating a security document having a security image composed of one or more “virtual” retroreflective images formed over a background of a repeating retroreflective image. The virtual retroreflective images within the security image provide strong signals that may dominate analysis and validation of the background retroreflective image, thereby resulting incorrect authentication. The techniques provide a modified normalized cross-correlation analysis that masks out the strong signals contributed by the additional security features, such as the retroreflective virtual images, while still allowing for fast and efficient template matching to be performed with respect to the background image.
US08485544B2
A method of making a galvanized upper coupler assembly for use in a trailer and the corresponding upper coupler assembly apparatus is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of providing a frame, covering at least one area of the frame with a mask, galvanizing the portions of the frame that are not covered, removing the mask, providing a kingpin, and attaching the kingpin to the frame. After attachment of the kingpin to the frame, the combined assembly can be coated with a rust resistant coating. if desired, a cover plate can be attached to the frame, over the kingpin.
US08485534B2
A metal gasket includes an outer ring that is formed in a substantially C-shaped cross-section having an opening in a circumferential direction and an inner ring that is disposed inside the outer ring, wherein the inner ring is configured in a polygonal shape of a cross section, and a pair of corner portions opposing to each other in the inner ring are disposed on inner circumferential faces on the both sides of the opening in the outer ring.
US08485531B2
The invention concerns an oil seal assembly 12, especially for a gas turbine engine, for use in situations, for example, where a shaft passes 2 through the wall of a bearing chamber 10, so that one side of the seal is in a “wet” zone 8 and the other side in a “dry” zone 14. The seal comprises two parts, a relatively stationary annular seal member 32 which runs against the surface 34 of a seal runner 36 carried by the rotatable shaft 2. Both parts of seals of this kind are designed to be a demountable service items. Usually the seal runner 36 is bolted to a flange 16 on the shaft 2. However, problems may arise with oil leakage through the bolt holes formed in the flange 16 and along the bolt threads. In order to solve these problems the invention proposes a double flange arrangement 42, 44, 46 (FIG. 3) in which the seal runner 36 spans both flanges 42, 44 and is secured to the flange 42 in the dry zone 14.
US08485527B2
A card shuffler that moves cards one-at-a-time from the bottom of a group that may be a deck in a deck-crib, to randomly designated single-card receptacles in a receiving or dealing rack. Either the deck-crib or the receiving rack is moved by a motor to align a receptacle, randomly selected from among remaining empty receptacles, with an outfeed slot of the deck-crib to receive each card to be moved from the deck-crib. A space is provided in the dealing rack in one embodiment, where a dealer's hand can reach cards and remove them from the dealing rack. A controller can cause the dealing rack to move so as to allow a selected number of cards to be removed by the dealer for a player hand or a dealer hand. A card reader may be included, and positions in the receiving or dealing rack of cards identified by the card reader can be stored in memory in the controller.
US08485521B2
Provided is an automatic document conveying device, including: a document feeding portion that feeds a document from a document stacking tray; a conveying portion that conveys the document which is fed, to a document reading portion; a discharge portion that discharges the document after being read to a discharge tray; a branching guide that switches a conveying path so that a second surface is read after a first surface of the document is read; and a switchback portion including a switchback roller pair for sending the document to the conveying portion again after the conveying path is switched by the branching guide, in which a switch of the conveying path by the branching guide and open/close of a nip of the switchback roller pair are performed in one drive portion.
US08485501B1
A wirelessly controlled apparatus for pulling a free end of wire into the mouth of a conduit and out of the destination end of the conduit. The apparatus includes a wireless spooling controller having an RF transceiver in cooperating communication with a spooling machine having an RF transceiver, for transmitting signaling activating or deactivating the motor-drive of the spooling machine, and for receiving wire-pull completion signaling from the spooling machine. The spooling machine includes a chock pivot-mounted at a mounted end to a frame anchoring the spooling machine near the destination end of the conduit, the chock engageable with a motor-driven gear-wheel engageable with a cogged spool-wheel driven by the motor-drive. Pivotal movement of the chock to the gear-wheel facilitates the fulcrumatic disengagement of the gear-wheel from the spool-wheel cogs, to ready the spooling machine in a starting configuration; activation of the motor-driven gear-wheel essentially causes unchocking of the gear-wheel. The spooling machine also includes an extension spring having one end affixed to the motor-drive proximal to the gear-wheel, and another end affixed to the anchoring frame, spring biasing the unchocked gear-wheel into engagement with the spool-wheel cogs.
US08485494B2
The concepts disclosed herein provide for a concrete mold that improves upon existing concrete molds known in the art. The hinged side-panel members that are locked to a hold-down frame allow for the mold to cure a concrete member, and then allow the concrete member to be removed without the need to break-down the frame surrounding the concrete member. During the pouring and ensuing curing process of the concrete member, the hinged side-panel members are secured to the hold-down frame and to each other in order to hold the concrete in the mold. Once the concrete is cured, the hinged side-panel members may be unlocked and opened quickly, allowing for expedient removal of the concrete member. After closing and re-locking the hinged side-panel members, the mold may be reused to cure another concrete member without the need to rebuild the frame around the mold.
US08485493B2
Methods and apparatus providing a column forming assembly formable from multiple column forming sub-assemblies that are stackable providing a compact storage or transport configuration. A column forming structure is formed from multiple elongated wall sections configured for interlocking engagement with each other to form a hollow, open ended structure adapted to accept a settable substance, such as concrete or plaster. The multiple elongated wall sections are stackable and can be stored to shipped to a job site in a condensed or nested configuration. The nested configuration reduces empty or hollow spaces provided by assembled forms. In some embodiments, the forms can be disassembled after use for transport from the jobsite, storage, and later reuse. The column forming assembly can be combined with one or more column-end forms and with thin-walled column forming inserts.
US08485491B2
Anti-vibration mount comprising first and second mounting members connected to each other by an elastomer body. The first mounting member comprises a head integral with the elastomer body and a connector rigidly fixed to the head by a connection permitting a degree of relative positioning tolerance between the head and the connector in a first direction. The head comprises a deformable stop that is interposed between the second mounting member and the connector, the deformable stop being capable of not obstructing the relative positioning tolerance between the head and the connector, and of abutting against the second mounting member by pressing against the connector in the first direction.
US08485480B2
A cabinet leveling device has a first channel for receiving a first cabinet sidewall, a second channel for receiving a second cabinet sidewall, an intermediate section connecting said first and second channel, and an adjustable threaded member received through said intermediate section for providing leveling adjustability to said device.
US08485473B2
According to the invention, the method comprises exposing a surface (3) sensitive to relative wind and monitoring the thermal flow variations between the surface (3) and the aerodynamic flow, said variations resulting from that of the forced-convection thermal exchange coefficient between the surface (3) and the aerodynamic flow depending on the rime or ice build-up, using the temperature sensor (12) under the surface (3), considering that stripping occurs by the flow of an ice layer formed on the surface (3) if it is detected, preferably after heating by at least one heater (4), that there is a brisk rise of the flow at a temperature close to 0° C., and supplying after the detection of ice stripping, a signal indicating the presence of rime or rime conditions. A cooler (5) may cool the surface (3) for anticipating the formation of ice with a heating process. The invention can be used for detecting rime and/or rime conditions on a flying aircraft.
US08485472B2
A sealing (1) for a fairing (2) against transverse airflow between a wing (3) and a fuselage (4) of an aircraft. Inner and outer sides (7, 8) of the sealing (1) are provided with lips biased against the fairing (2) and the wing (3). At least two gaskets (5, 6) are positioned between respective ends of the sides (7, 8), thus sealing the fairing (2) and the wing (3) against longitudinal airflow.
US08485462B2
A paper transportation control method for an apparatus enables conveying paper with appropriate tension on the paper by appropriately controlling a paper delivery operation of a delivery roller. When paper is conveyed by a paper feed roller pair of a roll paper printer, and tension on the paper is detected to exceed an upper tension limit based on displacement of a damping mechanism (a first time), a paper delivery operation of a delivery roller pair starts at a second time after a start operation delay time corresponding to a feed rate passes after the first time. When the tension returns to or below the upper tension limit, the paper delivery operation stops at a third time after a stop operation delay time similarly corresponding to the feed rate passes.
US08485461B2
A spinning reel spool coupling structure has a pin insertion portion, an anti-rotation pin, a retainer, and an anti-rotation groove. The pin insertion portion has a through hole passing through the spool shaft. The anti-rotation pin includes a first anti-rotation portion, a fitting portion, and a second anti-rotation portion. The fitting portion adjoins the first anti-rotation portion, and fits into the pin insertion portion. The second anti-rotation portion extends from the fitting portion and has a diameter greater than that of the pin insertion portion. The retainer member prevents the anti-rotation pin from being detached from the spool shaft, is disposed on an outer peripheral side of the first anti-rotation portion, and has an axial length such that the retainer member contacts the spool shaft. The anti-rotation groove is formed to extend in a direction substantially perpendicular to a length of the spool shaft, and engages the second anti-rotation portion.
US08485451B2
A method and system for generating a visual key enables improved security and user-friendliness in defining a humanly readable visual code of characters. The method includes generating a random or pseudo random first arrangement of a plurality of symbols. An analysis is then conducted of the first arrangement to determine that no character of a predetermined character set is defined by the first arrangement. Next, an analysis is conducted of the first arrangement to determine that characters of the predetermined character set can be generated when the first arrangement is aligned with a second arrangement of a plurality of the symbols. A determination is then made, based on the above analyses, that the first arrangement is acceptable as a visual key.
US08485450B2
The invention described herein represents a significant advancement in systems that enable a user to control systems and input data into a very wide range of systems. User interface devices that comprise an array of input devices such as buttons on a remote control, keys on a computer keyboard, touch screens, and a computer mouse. Such devices comprise an array of contacts that can be used to capture a user's inputs and communicate them wirelessly using passive RFID apparatuses and processes. Contacts can be positioned in physical proximity to graphics or alphanumeric characters and this proximity can be stored in memory such that a user altering a specific contact status represents specific data to a controlled system or memory. Also, the sequence or change or direction of changes in contacts can be used to control systems or processes in predetermined ways. Remote controls, computer keyboards, a computer mouse, touch screens and pads created with the present contact array invention need not use complex circuits and do not require batteries to operate wirelessly.
US08485446B1
A card may include a magnetic stripe emulator having a coil with magnetic or non-magnetic material located inside and/or outside of the coil. A shield may be located adjacent to the magnetic emulator that may include a magnetic or a non-magnetic material. The shield may attract magnetic flux lines generated by the magnetic stripe emulator to reduce a magnitude of an electromagnetic field generated on one side of the card as compared to a magnitude of an electromagnetic field generated on another side of the card. A shield may be laminated between layers of a card or may be fixed on a surface of a card.
US08485444B2
An apparatus and method for reading symbol information enabling improvement of decoding accuracy, not being affected by the condition of a reflection coefficient waveform of a reflected light beam and the kind of symbol information to be read. The method includes: reading a reflected light beam from symbol information irradiated with a light beam; detecting peak values in a reflection coefficient waveform of the reflected light beam; calculating a first peak value according to a peak value at a high reflection coefficient side (white level) among the peak values detected; calculating a second peak value according to a peak value at a low reflection coefficient side (black level) among the peak values detected; and calculating a binarization threshold based on the first peak value and the second peak value.
US08485441B2
Embodiments of systems, computer program product, and related computer implemented methods to issue a closed-loop retail prepaid card including a user-designed external face using a chit, the chit being defined by an identification mechanism representing a financial commitment to issue a closed-loop retail prepaid card in an amount associated with a value paid for the chit, are provided. Embodiments of the present invention advantageously provide a service that enables a consumer to purchase, at the storefront of a retail establishment, a chit card that the consumer can subsequently redeem through a graphical user interface of an Internet website for a closed-loop retail prepaid card with a user-designed external face. The user-designed closed-loop retail prepaid card, for example, can be subsequently printed and delivered to an intended recipient. Advantageously, such a service can be made available to any retail establishment that uses a point-of-sale system.
US08485438B2
User credentials are passed to a mobile computing device using scannable images. A scannable image is generated based on a previously created user profile. A user accesses a website from a computer and, in response, the scannable image is locally displayed on the computer. The mobile computing device may be authenticated by capturing the scannable image that is displayed on the computer. In the event that a user profile stored on the mobile computing device matches the previously created user profile that is encoded in the scannable image, the mobile computing device is authenticated. The user may then directly access data and/or interact with the website using the authenticated mobile computing device.
US08485429B2
A computer-implemented method includes receiving a container image including container content characteristic information. The illustrative method further includes analyzing the container content characteristic information and determining the identity of the container contents based on the container characteristic information. Also, the method includes transmitting container content identity information for printing a bar code relating to the container content identity information. The method additionally includes generating a bar code based on the container content identity information. The illustrative method also includes printing a label including the bar code relating to at least the container content identity information.
US08485420B2
An apparatus for constructing a container from a continuous blank of sheet material including a plurality of panels coupled together at a plurality of fold lines is provided. The apparatus includes a mandrel that is rotatable about a rotational axis. The mandrel includes a rotary head that defines a plurality of exterior surfaces each corresponding to a panel of the continuous blank of sheet material. The rotary head forms an opening in at least one exterior surface configured to receive at least one panel for facilitating forming the blank of sheet material into a configuration with respect to a shape of the rotary head as the mandrel rotates about the rotational axis.
US08485417B1
A micromachined switch is provided including a base substrate, a bond pad on the base substrate, a cantilever arm connected to the bond pad, the cantilever arm having a conductive via from the bond pad, a first actuation electrode on the base substrate, and a second actuation electrode on the cantilever arm connected to the bond pad by way of the conductive via, positioned such that an actuation voltage applied between the first actuation electrode and the second actuation electrode will deform the cantilever arm, wherein the first actuation electrode is facing a side of the cantilever arm opposite the second actuation electrode.
US08485413B2
In various embodiments, a surgical stapling instrument can comprise a plurality of magnetic elements configured to articulate an end effector of the surgical instrument. The surgical instrument can comprise at least one electromagnet which can be selectively activated, or polarized, to generate a magnetic field sufficient to motivate a second magnetic element, such as a permanent magnet and/or an iron core, for example, mounted to the end effector. In certain embodiments, a surgical stapling instrument can comprise a plurality of magnetic elements configured to open and/or close an end effector of the surgical instrument. In at least one embodiment, a surgical stapling instrument can comprise a plurality of magnetic elements configured to advance and/or retract a firing bar, cutting member, and/or staple sled within the surgical instrument in order to incise and/or staple tissue positioned within an end effector of the surgical instrument.
US08485405B2
A device for carrying an ammunition magazine has a band which encircles a conventional magazine and which has two downwardly extending plastic tabs. The two plastic tabs are spaced sidewardly to define an downwardly opening, downwardly extending gap, which permits the tabs to be received within openings in two adjacent loops presented by a standard MOLLE webbing on a Pouch Attachment Ladder System or PALS grid on a vest or other clothing item. The tabs are shaped to slide behind standard MOLLE webbing and engage the webbing to hold the magazine securely until the user grabs the magazine and pulls it away from the MOLLE webbing. The tabs are biased towards the magazine, and have a lower protrusion which engages beneath a belt, allowing the same device to be attached to a belt.
US08485398B2
The one-way valve for discharging a liquid out of a container, comprising an outer cap which is fastened to the container neck and comprises an exit channel for the liquid is characterized in that a valve body of elastic material is arranged between the container and the outer cap, that the valve body extends over the opening of the container neck and comprises a projection which projects into the exit channel of the outer cap and is arranged therein to be movable back and forth, that a space remains between the inner wall of the exit channel and the outer circumference of the projection, and that at least one cut severs the wall of the valve body, through which cut liquid passes into the space of the exit channel upon exertion of pressure on the container.
US08485396B1
A combination storage and dispensing device for laundry products featuring a housing with a plurality of snap-tight drawers for holding various items including measuring cups and coins, liquid dispensing units for storing and dispensing liquid-based laundry products, and powder compartments for holding and dispensing powder-based laundry products. The drawers may be divided into sub-sections via dividers. The liquid dispensing units each have an inner cavity, a dispensing unit opening with a snap-tight dispensing unit top, a spout, and a downwardly sloped wall in the inner cavity. The spout is positioned near the sloped wall. The powder compartments each have an opening and a snap-tight lid. Lids are pivotally disposed in the top of the housing for covering the snap-tight dispensing tops of the liquid dispensing units.
US08485392B1
A system for dispensing solvents removes the need for storing solvents in multitudes of small containers or containers which are not suitable for storing the solvents for a long duration. The system minimizes laboratory space requirements for the storage and handling of solvents. The system minimizes waste generation. With the system for dispensing solvents, the solvents are stored properly and are able to be dispensed in small quantities for use as needed. The system for dispensing solvents also includes leak detection, a spill tray, a fume hood and other precautionary measures to ensure a safe handling environment.
US08485384B2
A refrigerator with a refrigerated goods container on its back accommodates a vertical partition, which is connected via at least one holder in the vicinity of its upper edge and with the refrigerated goods container. At least one receiving portion is molded in the refrigerated goods container, in which the at least one holder of the partition can be hooked in.
US08485381B2
A refuse container has a lid rotatably coupled to a bin. A locking mechanism for the lid includes a latch including a handle and is moveable between a locked lid position and an unlocked lid position. A detent acts between the bin and the lid and cooperates with the latch so as to effect locking of the lid to the bin when the latch is in the locked lid position, and permit movement of the lid, relative to the bin, from the closed position to the open position when the latch is in the unlocked lid position.
US08485372B2
A lotion bottle in which different lotions are received for separate use or mixed use is provided. The lotion bottle includes an outer bottle and an inner bottle. Different lotions are received in the outer bottle and the inner bottle respectively. By pushing out a rotating assembly, a lotion received in the inner bottle moves towards a feeding head so as to be mixed with the other lotion received in the outer bottle.
US08485371B2
A railroad coupler assembly having at least a body and a knuckle both formed in a no-bake manufacturing process, the body and the knuckle having dimensional tolerances of distances between features that wear during operation that are about half those obtained from a body and a knuckle manufactured by a green sand process, resulting in increased fatigue life compared to the body and the knuckle manufactured by a green sand process.
US08485361B2
The invention relates to an empty container (1) for receiving air- and/or moisture-sensitive compounds, comprising a connecting unit (2) and an inner volume of at least 300 liters and adapters for connecting the empty container, and to the use thereof.
US08485360B2
A container fracturable along a break path having a generally constant wall thickness about the break path is disclosed. In order to provide a specific break path without reducing the structural integrity of the container, the body of the container is configured to concentrate stress along the break path.
US08485358B2
The present embodiments are directed towards securing wire within a container. Advantageously, the present embodiments provide a system in which wire may be secured without modification of the container. Specifically, the present embodiments provide a floating tie down assembly configured to hold together a bundle of welding wire in a welding wire container. The floating tie down assembly is configured to float within the welding wire container, and the floating tie down assembly includes a lower removable insert, an upper removable insert, and a resilient material extending between the lower insert and the upper insert.
US08485354B2
The present invention provides a structure for storing coreless roll paper R having a hollow portion in the axis portion instead of a winding core, wherein the structure includes an outer case 2 for storing roll paper R; and a lower holding member and an upper holding member 4 respectively having concave portions 31,41 each having an inside diameter that closely matches the outside diameter of the roll paper R, each of the lower holding member 3 and the upper holding member 4 having an external shape that fits the outer case 2, wherein the lower holding member 3 is disposed in the outer case 2 with the concave portion 31 facing upward, and the upper holding member 4 is disposed in the outer case 2 at the location above the lower holding member 3 with its concave portion 41 facing downward.
US08485352B1
A yad-mezuzah casement includes a yad, at least a portion of which serves as a mezuzah casement. A mezuzah may be contained within the mezuzah casement. The mezuzah casement may be contained within the yad, attached to an outer surface of the yad or interposed between the yad and a bracket that includes an attachment fixture used for mounting the yad-mezuzah casement to a doorpost of a building or a room. The yad-mezuzah casement, which itself includes no attachment fixture, provides an opportunity for continuous display of a yad that may be received by a Jewish youth participant at a B'nai Mitzvah ceremony. Together, the yad-mezuzah casement and the mounting bracket provide a yad-mezuzah casement kit.
US08485351B2
Disclosed is a multi-link conveyor that includes nestable end protector links that capture and retain link pins. The end protector link includes a first link segment having an outer wall, a non-circular bore having a cross-section larger than a cross-section of one of the pins, a circular counterbore connected to the non-circular bore and having a diameter larger than the head of one of the pins, and a circular countersink connected to the counterbore and having a first diameter that equals the diameter of the counterbore and a second diameter, flush with the outer wall, having a diameter larger than the first diameter. The end protector link includes a second link segment, adapted to nest with the first link segment of another end protector link, having an outer wall in a second vertical plane and a flush non-circular bore extending perpendicularly through the outer wall.
US08485336B2
Chutes and other components may include composite liners to improve performance. Composite liners generally comprise a base metal having a ceramic material embedded therein. The composite liners exhibit improved resistance to wear and, therefore, have a longer usable life than liners formed of the base metal alone.
US08485335B2
A torque coupling assembly including: a driving assembly with a driving axle and a rotatable driving shell; a driven assembly with a driven axle and a rotatable driven shell; and a frame element. The driving and driven shells each include an axial projection. In an assembled position, the driving and driven assemblies are both connected to the frame and their respective axial projections are aligned to transmit rotational torque between the driving shell and the driven shell. In a removed position, one of the driving assembly and the driven assembly may be removed in a generally radial direction relative to the frame and the other of the driving assembly and the driven assembly. The driving and/or driven assembly may include ramped lead-in geometry. The driving and/or driven assembly may include shielding geometry to axially overlap at least a portion of the axial projection.
US08485330B2
A cable handling system mounted to a mobile robot to dispense and retrieve cable at zero tension includes a cable reel drive and a downstream tension roller drive that includes an idler. As a cable passes through the tension roller drive, position along the length of the cable and/or the cable speed is monitored accurately by a sensor attached to the idler. A system controller in communication with the sensor controls the cable reel drive and the tension roller drive for dispensing and retrieving cable downstream of the tension roller drive.
US08485325B2
A stop damper including a damper member with a cylinder. A piston is moveably guided inside a receiving space of the cylinder. The cylinder has a sliding surface against which the piston rests with a sealing element. A braking force that acts upon the piston can be applied using the air pressure generated in the receiving space because the piston is displaced, the receiving space being connected to the environment via an air-conducting connection to reduce the air pressure. In order to improve the braking effect of the sliding element, the sealing element of the piston and the sliding surface of the cylinder can contact each other in at least some areas via a defined rubbing surface geometry, the peak-to-valley height of the sliding surface being <1 μm and the peak-to-valley height of the facing surface of the sealing element being =4.5 μm in at least some areas.
US08485308B2
An electric power steering apparatus including a motor includes: a steering torque sensor; a speed sensor; an auxiliary steering force setting unit configured to output a signal representing a linear change of a gradual increase or decrease; a map setter configured to receive a signal output from the auxiliary steering force setting unit and to set an auxiliary steering force map where a maximum steering torque, a maximum target motor current, or a ratio of a target motor current to a steering torque at a specific speed gradually increases or decreases; a current signal supply configured to output the steering torque signal and a target motor current signal corresponding to the speed signal according to the auxiliary steering force map; and a motor driving unit configured to supply a current corresponding to the target motor current signal to the motor.
US08485307B2
A rack driving-type power assisted steering apparatus having effects of preventing a lock screw from being loosened due to vibration in axial and radial directions generated by a rack bar, a ball nut, and a rack housing when the rack bar slides while the ball nut rotates, reducing vibration and noise of the ball nut and the rack bar transferred through a bearing, and providing a driver with steering comfortability.
US08485306B2
An electric power steering apparatus for assisting steering of a steered wheel. The electric power steering apparatus includes an electric motor with a built-in controller for controlling rotation, a transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotation of the electric motor to the steering shaft, a connector used to pull out wiring from the controller to the outside, a first casing in which the connector and the electric motor are to be mounted and which includes an work hole used for a wire connection operation of the controller and the connector, a lid member for closing the work hole, and a second casing to be fixed to the first casing while housing the transmission mechanism. The second casing including a cover part for covering the lid member in a state fixed to the first casing.
US08485292B2
In cooling apparatus for a hybrid vehicle having driving apparatus including a generator driven by an engine and an electric motor (12) for driving the vehicle, the driving apparatus, a radiator arranged in a front portion of an engine compartment and an inverter (41) are coupled by a cooling circuit for the motor equipment. An electric water pump (45) for circulating cooling water is arranged in the cooling circuit. Mounting apparatus (15) for supporting the driving apparatus to the vehicle body is arranged laterally in the vehicle width direction of the driving apparatus. The electric water pump (45) is arranged under the mounting apparatus (15). By the use of such a structure, a situation in which the electric water pump (45) gets sandwiched between the engine radiator which has been shifted backwardly in the presence of an external force acting from the front of the vehicle, and the driving apparatus and gets damaged can be prevented.
US08485285B2
A vehicle for transporting or vending refrigerated product having a peripheral body extending vertically from the supporting surface, the peripheral body having a driver area, retail area, and cooling area, a bulk head for dividing the retail area from the cooling area, an auxiliary power system for powering at least one electrical component, having a battery bank and a charging mechanism, the charging mechanism having a vehicle charging system, shore power charging system, and solar array charging system, the charging mechanism imparting electrical charge to the battery bank, where the electrical component is a temperature control system for maintaining the temperature of the cooling area within a desired temperature range.
US08485270B2
An early suppression fast response pendent-type fire protection sprinkler is suitable for use in accordance with one or more of NFPA 13, NFPA 231 and NFPA 231C to protect single row rack storage, double row rack storage and multiple row rack storage, the sprinkler having a K-factor of about 25 and flowing pressure of about 15 pounds per square inch. Preferably, the sprinkler has a body defining an orifice and an outlet for delivering a flow of fluid from a source, and a deflector mounted with a first surface opposed to flow of fluid from the outlet. The deflector defines at least one pair of generally opposed reentrant slots extending from the first surface through the deflector, the reentrant slots extending from slot openings at an outer peripheral edge of the deflector inwardly from the peripheral edge toward a deflector axis.
US08485269B2
A control line running system includes a control line storage unit and a guiding system having a guiding device and a guide rail for guiding a control line from the control line storage unit toward a well center. The system may also include a control line manipulator assembly for moving the control line toward a tubular and a control line clamp for attaching the control line to the tubular.
US08485262B1
A modular wellhead system having the capability for single or dual annulus via interchangeable heads, a unique capping system, and other features. A unique wellhead manual positive lock system incorporating an energizable inner bite ring for engaging the casing tubing, a compressible slip hanger for the tubing, as well as a hydraulic jack for lifting the tubing from the well to reintroduce tension are provided, the system being particularly suitable for use in conjunction with repair or low pressure plug and abandon (P&A) operations. Components of the system are designed for assembly via locking pins for diver friendly operation, While the present system is designed principally for use in subsea environments, the system can likewise be utilized on land or platforms.
US08485255B2
A well treatment composition comprises: an aqueous liquid; a fluid loss additive, wherein the fluid loss additive comprises a high molecular weight, water-swellable polymer; and an amphiphilic dispersant, wherein the well treatment composition has an activity of at least 10%. A method of cementing in a subterranean formation comprises: introducing a cement composition into the subterranean formation, the cement composition comprising: (i) cement; (ii) water; and (iii) the well treatment composition; and allowing the cement composition to set.
US08485246B2
This invention relates to a spiral heat exchanger including a spiral body formed by at least one spiral sheet wound to form a first spiral-shaped flow channel for a first medium, and a second spiral-shaped flow channel for a second medium. The spiral body is enclosed by a substantially cylindrical shell with connection elements communicating with the first flow channel and the second flow channel. The shell includes at least two shell parts, and the spiral body is provided with at least one fixedly attached flange on its outer peripheral surface, whereupon the at least two sell parts are removably attached.
US08485230B2
A gas delivery pipe for transmitting a gas, the pipe comprising: a wall defining a lumen of the pipe; an inlet aperture through which gas flows into the pipe; an outlet aperture through which gas flows out of the pipe; wherein the pipe has an index, SI, characterizing a degree to which the pipe is serpentine that is equal to an integral of an absolute value of changes in angle of direction that a unit vector tangent to a midline of the lumen undergoes in moving along the midline from the inlet to the outlet aperture, which integral has a value greater than or about equal to 180°.
US08485222B2
Systems and methods are provided for preventing oil migration in an engine lubrication system. The system includes a gearbox, a shaft disposed at least partially in the gearbox, an oil reservoir in flow communication with the gearbox, an oil supply pump in flow communication with the oil reservoir and coupled to the shaft, an oil scavenge pump coupled to the shaft and configured to pump oil from the gearbox, and an oil cooler in flow communication with and disposed between the oil scavenge pump and the oil reservoir. The system also includes a bypass drain line disposed between the oil source and the oil supply pump, a drain valve disposed in the bypass drain line configured to close when the pressure is above a predetermined pressure, and a check valve disposed between the oil supply pump and the gearbox configured to open when the pressure is above the predetermined pressure.
US08485208B2
The present invention relates to a connection device installed on a top of a canopy tent, comprising: a main body having a hollow interior, a sliding member having an interior with a downwardly protruding cylinder, support poles each having one end hinged to the main body, and the other end connected to a tent pole for standing the tent fabric upright, a joint bar having one end hinged to the sliding member, and the other end having one side hinged to a first connection bar hinged to the support pole and the other side hinged to a second connection bar hinged to the main body; The hollow interior of the main body is equipped with a compression spring and a spring holder. The cylinder of the sliding member is fitted into the hollow interior of the main body from the top of the hollow interior to be movable in the upward and downward directions to set up or taken of the tent canopy.
US08485206B1
A sun shade designed for portability and selective angular orientation in a body of water. The device comprises an umbrella portion, together with at least two distally joined buoyant members to keep the umbrella from sinking. The umbrella portion's cover comprises generally opaque material to keep the sun's rays from penetrating. The user orients the expanded umbrella towards the sun and allows the umbrella to float on the buoyant members while the user is below the umbrella. The shape and selective angular orientation of the sun shade enable the user to block rays of the sun from 0° to 90° relative to the surface of the water.
US08485205B2
An automatic dishwasher has a rotatable spray arm and at least one rotatable sprayer, a drive link coupling the rotation of the rotatable spray arm and the at least one rotatable sprayer, and a drive for directly driving at least one of the rotatable spray arm and the at least one rotatable sprayer.
US08485204B2
Selective recovery of excess process fluid from within a closed process chamber is achieved by providing a magnetically drive ring chuck and at least one process fluid collector within the closed process chamber, with the ring chuck and the fluid collector being vertically movable relative to each other.
US08485201B2
A cosmetic applicator includes a handle, a drive coupled to the handle, an applicator head coupled to the drive, and a torque limiter. The torque limiter includes a magnetic coupling, the magnetic coupling being coupled to at least one of the drive and the applicator head such that the torque applied via the applicator head does not exceed a predetermined allowable torque.
US08485197B2
A dental orthotic covering a plurality of teeth is provided for improving various obstructive syndromes of the human upper airway. The orthotic may be relatively thickened on the lingual side of the orthotic, compared to the facial or occlusal side; and in particular may relatively thickened in the more posterior aspects of the lingual side of the orthotic as compared to the more anterior aspects of the lingual side of the orthotic. The orthotic may be formed of one piece or two, and may be purely mandibular, or may be coupled to a maxillary orthotic. A method of progressive fitting of the orthotic for optimization of a patient's blood oxygen level is described.
US08485195B2
The present invention discloses an apparatus for treating patient body or an organ thereof, especially his/her head and neck, by controllably maneuvering said treated organ, comprising; cradle adapted for holding said treated organ stably and comfortably; and, a maneuverable platform upon which said cradle rests, comprising maneuvering means adapted for rotating the platform in the Sagittal, Coronal, Horizontal planes or in any combination of the planes thereof for a predetermined duration; wherein said maneuver of said organ is characterized by parameters selected from the Allowed Movements. It is especially in the scope of the invention wherein the treated organ is maneuvered in a lobular three dimensional manner. The invention also discloses methods for treating patient body or an organ thereof by this apparatus; methods for decreasing HIT, MIDAS, VAS/NRS, NDI and EPS, and a method for increasing (S)MFA.
US08485191B2
A patient interface having a forehead support adjustably. The forehead support assembly includes a support arm that is adjustably mounted to the mask shell, thereby allowing the adjustment of the distance between the forehead support bracket and the mask shell in order to adjust for patients of different sizes. A forehead support bracket is pivotally connected to the support arm. The pivoting forehead support bracket is self-aligning to allow the forehead pad to remain parallel to the patient's forehead at all times, thus enhancing comfort and stability. The forehead support bracket is removable from the support arm, allowing the headgear (with support bracket attached) to be donned separately from the mask and support arm. The forehead support bracket in one embodiment has a forehead pad formed from the headgear itself.
US08485189B2
A breathing mask is provided which prevents condensation in the interior space of the mask. The mask body (2) is provided in some sections with a material (8) that is waterproof but permeable to water vapor.
US08485188B2
An airway device for human or animal use comprising an airway tube having a distal end and a proximal end, the distal end of which is surrounded by a laryngeal cuff, wherein the cuff is non-inflatable and is pre-formed in a shape such that a face region of the cuff is adapted to fit snugly over the laryngeal inlet of a patient, and wherein the external profile of the tube is substantially uniform between the distal end of the tube where it starts to meet the cuff and the proximal end of the tube, and wherein the face region of the cuff is formed from a material with a Shore hardness on the A scale of between 0 to 30.
US08485187B2
Systems, methods, and apparatus for removing volatile anesthetics from an anesthesia or ventilation system to minimize the effects of malignant hyperthermia in susceptible patients. According to one aspect of the present invention, a system for removing volatile anesthetics is provided. A first filter component placed in fluid communication with an inspiratory limb of an anesthesia or ventilation system such that volatile anesthetics will pass through the first filter component during operation of the anesthesia or ventilation system. A second filter component is operably coupled to the expiration port of the anesthesia or ventilation system such that gases passing through the expiratory limb of the anesthesia or ventilation system pass through the second filter component. The first filter component and second filter component are adapted to effectively remove volatile anesthetics passing through the respective filters.
US08485182B2
A ventilation device for non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) or continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment of a patient has a gas flow generator, a gas delivery circuit optionally including a humidifier, a controller and sensors monitoring values of operational parameters of the device. The device further includes one or more relationships stored in data storage of the controller relating combinations of parameter values as being indicative of fault conditions of the device operation, the sensors and/or the fault detection process.
US08485180B2
A pulmonary drug delivery system is disclosed, including a breath-powered, dry powder inhaler, and a cartridge for delivering a dry powder formulation. The inhaler and cartridge can be provided with a drug delivery formulation comprising, for example, a diketopiperazine and an active ingredient, including, peptides and proteins such as insulin and glucagon-like peptide 1 for the treatment of endocrine disease, for example, diabetes and/or obesity.
US08485177B2
A drive mechanism for a down draft vent system comprising a vertically directed, retractable open framework, which can be moved between an extended position and a lowered position by means of a drive motor, comprising at least two switches for switching off the drive motor and at least one actuating element for actuating the switch. In this arrangement at least one switch is actuated by means of the at least one actuating element depending on a force (FW) acting externally on the open framework. In addition to an end switch-off of the drive motor, this invention provides a safety function as a result of a resistive load switch-off which is effective both in the event of a resistance from below during retraction and also in the event of a resistance from above during extension of the open framework.
US08485176B2
A cooking apparatus with a cooking container in which is received a fuel component support device. The cooking apparatus having an adjustment mechanism drivingly connected with the fuel component support device. The adjustment mechanism includes a handle section and an interconnected shaft assembly connected with the handle section, the interconnected shaft assembly including a first shaft section and a linkage assembly drivingly connected to the first shaft section and positioned between a base portion of the cooking container and the fuel component support device such that rotation of the first shaft, as by a vertical swinging of the handle section, produces an opposite direction change in vertical height in the linkage assembly and the supported fuel component support device. A handle engagement section is provided as in one that includes a plurality of height position stop engagement locations. Also, in an embodiment, the handle section is releasably engageable with the engagement locations as to releasably fix the fuel component support rack at one of a plurality of different height positions.
US08485171B2
An apparatus for launching projectiles. The apparatus includes a hollow cylinder and a piston in sliding engagement through the hollow cylinder. The piston is configured to drive a fluid through the hollow cylinder. The apparatus further includes a barrel defining an open end and a chamber in fluid communication with the hollow cylinder. The chamber is configured to receive a projectile and to receive fluid driven from the hollow cylinder wherein the projectile is driven from the barrel through the open end.
US08485163B2
An apparatus improves the efficiency and emissions of a combustion process by producing sufficient amounts of ozone in the air flow to the combustion chamber to enable more complete and cleaner combustion of the fuel. The apparatus may include a plurality of cell elements disposed within a housing that is in placed in the air intake to a combustion chamber such as a diesel engine. The cell elements create an electrical plasma field that produces ozone. The apparatus may also include a scrubber in the housing to cause the air flow to have a vortex action to increase the amount of ozone that flows into the combustion chamber.
US08485157B2
A control system for an internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders including first and second cylinder groups. The first and second intake systems correspond respectively to the first and second cylinder groups, and first and second throttle valves are provided respectively in the first and second intake systems. An output of the engine is reduced upon deceleration of a vehicle driven by the engine. A pressure parameter indicative of an assisting force generated by a brake booster is detected. An intake negative pressure is supplied to the brake booster from the first and second intake systems. One of the first and second throttle valves is opened to increase the engine output when the pressure parameter is equal to or less than a first threshold value which indicates that the assisting force of the brake booster has decreased.
US08485156B2
A rotary internal combustion engine, includes a housing, a rotating plate assembly and a stationary plate assembly. The rotating plate assembly has a plurality of vanes disposed between an inflow passage and an outflow passage. The stationary plate assembly defines a piston chamber in which is disposed a reciprocating piston. Rotation of a crank shaft rotates the rotating plate assembly and rotation of the rotating plate assembly rotates the crank shaft. Valves are coupled to the crank shaft, such that rotation of the crank shaft opens and closes the valves during the combustion cycle. Each piston is coupled to the crank shaft such that rotation of the crank shaft results in reciprocal movement of the pistons in the piston chambers.
US08485147B2
A cylinder cooling construction includes a cylinder liner with a sidewall, exhaust and intake ports opening through the sidewall, a bore, and a plurality of feed channels that are formed with and extend along the sidewall from a central band of the cylinder toward the exhaust and intake ports. A sleeve covering the sidewall includes a plurality of impingement jet ports that are arranged in at least one sequence extending around the central band and that are in liquid communication with the plurality of feed channels. An annular member disposed between the liner and the sleeve reinforces the central band. The sleeve further includes an inside surface with spaced-apart annular recesses that with the sidewall define liquid coolant reservoirs in the vicinity of the ports that are in liquid communication with the feed channels. Channels through bridges of exhaust port have first ends in liquid communication with the coolant reservoir in the vicinity of the exhaust port and second ends that open through a portion of an exhaust end of the cylinder.
US08485144B2
An internal combustion engine includes a cylinder block and a cylinder head, with at least one first cooling jacket (1) being arranged in the cylinder block and at least one second cooling jacket (2) being arranged in the cylinder head, and a cooling fluid can flow through the cooling jackets (1, 2) substantially in the longitudinal direction of the internal combustion engine, and with both the cylinder block and the cylinder head having separate inflows (6, 8) and outlets (7, 9) for the cooling fluid which communicate with the respective cooling jacket (1, 2) in the cylinder block and cylinder head. In order to ensure even cooling especially of thermally loaded regions of the cylinder head, at least one flow transfer (10, 11) is arranged between the first cooling jacket (1) of the cylinder block and the second cooling jacket (2) of the cylinder head.
US08485143B2
A valve arrangement for venting a coolant circuit of an internal combustion engine having several subcircuits includes a valve which is in fluid communication with a primary vent line extending from one of the subcircuits. At least one secondary vent line is in fluid communication with the valve and extends from another one of the subcircuits. The primary and secondary vent lines are connectable to a shared third vent line which feeds into a compensating reservoir arranged at a geodetically highest point in the coolant circuit. The valve is constructed to establish a continuous fluid communication of the primary vent line with the compensating reservoir via the third vent line and to establish a fluid communication of the secondary vent line with the compensating reservoir via the third vent line only in the presence of air bubbles in the secondary vent line.
US08485134B2
An animal containment unit comprises a lid and a base container. The base container comprises an animal compartment with breathing holes, a foot release pedal, and a lock receiver. The lid is attached to the base container by means of a hinge and comprises a sliding gate, a locking mechanism, a slot opening gasket and bristle which act as a protective barrier and reduces the risk of animal strike back. The sliding mechanism provides users with access into the animal compartment when the lid is in a closed position and secured to the base container.
US08485132B2
The present invention relates to a container for transporting live fish, in which a protein skimmer is installed together with a fish tank in an interior of a cargo room of the container, bubbles discharged from the protein skimmer are stored in a large-capacity bubble tank, a water cooler having a refrigerating unit is installed in a container driver unit such that water discharged from the fish tank is cooled and resupplied to the fish tank, or water cooled by the water cooler can be brought into contact with the external air while the water is being injected into a dry filtering tank installed on the fish tank, and a filtering member impregnated with microorganisms that have been cultured therein is arranged in the dry filtering tank.
US08485131B2
One embodiment may take the form of a litter box having a base portion having a floor and a plurality of walls extending in an upward direction from the floor. The litter box may also have a cover portion having a ceiling and a plurality of walls extending in a downward direction from the ceiling. The base portion and the cover portion may combine to define an inner cavity. The litter box may also include a circulating filter in communication with the inner cavity of the litter box and the circulating filter may be configured to filter air from within the inner cavity of the litter box.
US08485130B2
A tube bird feeder comprising a seed tube having an open top and an open bottom, a cover fitting on top of the seed tube to cover the open top, a base portion which is removably secured to the side wall, and a removable seed port structure mounted in a seed access opening.
US08485128B2
A movable ground ring of a movable substrate support assembly is described. The movable ground ring is configured to fit around and provide an RF return path to a fixed ground ring of the movable substrate support assembly in an adjustable gap capacitively-coupled plasma processing chamber wherein a semiconductor substrate supported in the substrate support assembly undergoes plasma processing.
US08485125B2
A transformer arrangement is disclosed for an electrostatic sprayer or in an adjacent moving element of a coating machine. A transformer provides a galvanic isolation between the line arrangement provided for supplying power to the sprayer arrangement, and consumers at high voltage in the sprayer or possibly in the robot arm. This isolation may be provided with an isolating transformer which has a sufficient isolation distance or other isolation device between the primary and secondary circuits.
US08485122B2
There is described a gluing unit (1) for applying adhesive to a succession of opening devices (3) to be fitted to respective sealed packages of pourable food products, the unit (1) having: conveying means (20) for feeding the opening devices (3) along a path (A); and adhesive dispensing means (21) located along the path (A) and interacting with each opening device (3) on the conveying means (20) to apply the adhesive to a portion (10) of the opening device (3); and the unit (1) being characterized in that the dispensing means (21) are movable parallel to the path (A), so as to increase output of the unit (1).
US08485118B2
In one aspect, a submarine with a boat hull and a propulsion drive for the submarine the propulsion drive is arranged outside the boat hull and comprises a housing and a first electric motor, with the housing embodying a channel for a flow of water through the channel in a main direction of flow from an inlet to an outlet of the channel, and with the first electric motor featuring a rotor which is arranged in the channel and is supported rotatably around an axis of rotation in the housing, with the rotor being embodied in the shape of a ring with a ring inner side and a ring outer side, and with blades for propelling the submarine being arranged on the ring inner side of the rotor.
US08485115B2
A watercraft has a hull having a bow, a deck disposed on the hull, an engine connected to the hull, a propulsion system operatively connected to the engine, a first bow sponson disposed on a starboard side of the bow, and a second bow sponson disposed on a port side of the bow. A sponson suitable for use on a bow of a watercraft is also disclosed.
US08485113B2
A system and method to secure a free-standing automatic teller machine (ATM). An attachment plate having a plurality of sleeves that align with attachment point on an ATM is embedded in a concrete platform before the concrete is cured. The ATM is positioned on the surface of the attachment plate so that its attachment points aligned with a subset of sleeves. The ATM is then bolted into the sleeves. When so installed it is nearly impossible to dislodge the ATM from the platform with typical mechanical equipment such as trucks, tractors etc.
US08485105B2
Devices and systems for stopping travel of a railcar along rails is provided, the railcar having wheel treads that ride on the rails. A railcar stop is configured to engage at least one wheel tread of the railcar to stop travel of the railcar along the rails. The railcar stop extends above the rails at a first height prior to engagement with a wheel tread and extends above the rails at a second, greater height after engagement with the wheel tread.
US08485100B2
Provided is ammunition capable of increasing the movement velocity and shooting range of a bullet and enhancing the target hitting rate. The ammunition includes a case having a propellant chamber and a front mouth, a propellant charged into the propellant chamber of the case, a primer installed in the case for exploding the propellant when a physical or electrical impact is applied thereto, a bullet arranged in the front mouth of the case, the bullet having a streamlined tail portion for reduction of air resistance when the bullet is shot, and a wad fitted to the front mouth of the case for removably holding the bullet and closing the front mouth, the wad being separable from the bullet during explosion of the propellant.
US08485091B2
A cook top includes a lower grill and an upper grilling unit that is mounted adjacent to a back edge of the lower grill. The upper grill unit can be moved from a recessed position at a back edge of the cook top to a raised vertical position by a raising mechanism. From the raised position, the upper grilling unit can be rotated forward so that food placed on the lower grill can also be cooked by the upper grilling unit.
US08485087B2
A fluid distributor apparatus includes a body having distribution ports; a spool adapted for controlling the distribution ports and mounted slidingly in a first sliding seat obtained in the body and communicating with the distribution ports; a copying-member mounted slidingly and sealed in a second seat obtained in the spool; and a supply system for a controlled supply of the fluid to the second seat, so that the copying-member slides in a controlled way. The supply system includes also a chamber containing the fluid and communicating with said the seat, and a pushing device of the fluid mounted slidingly and sealed in the chamber.
US08485078B2
A combination table-miter saw including a base, an arm rotatably coupled to the base and moveable relative to the base between a first position and a second position, and a platform coupled to the arm and moveable relative to the arm between a first position and a second position. The combination table-miter saw also includes a safety device configured to allow the combination table-miter saw to function as a table saw when the arm is in the first position and to allow the combination table-miter saw to function as a miter saw when the platform is in the first position.
US08485071B2
A wrench has an elongated handle pivotally connected to a first clamping jaw which is pivotally connected to a second clamping jaw, The wrench has a spring-loaded latch that locks the second clamping jaw to the first clamping jaw. The spring-loaded latch is disengaged by actuating a push-button release mechanism disposed within the handle that causes the spring-loaded latch to pivot to release the second clamping jaw. This press-button release mechanism enables single-handed operation of the wrench. Accordingly, a user can hold and operate two wrenches simultaneously which is not possible with the prior-art wrenches. In other words, the user may clamp a first self-clamping wrench to a tube, pipe, or other such object and then, with only one hand, clamp a second self-clamping wrench to the same tube, pipe, or object.
US08485069B1
A wrench with a ratchet device includes a wrench body, a driving set, a cover member and a controlling member. A hole is opened on the wrench body. A receiving space is defined near the hole. An assembling groove is defined near the receiving space. The controlling member is assembled into the receiving space. The driving set has a ratchet and a driving block. The ratchet is assembled into the hole and the driving block is assembled into the receiving space. The driving block abuts against a bottom of the receiving space. The ratchet is engaged with the driving block. The controlling member has a switching member inserted into the assembling groove to move the driving block. Under this arrangement, when the ratchet engages with the driving block, the driving block is stable because the bottom of the receiving space abuts against the driving block.
US08485066B2
A bit for removing a broken security fastener having an elongated shaft with a longitudinal axis. The shaft has a first end and a second end. The first end terminates in a tip region having a recess for receipt of the post of the security fastener, the recess being disposed substantially along the longitudinal axis. The second end of the shaft is configured to be received by the chuck of a tool which provides rotational torque.
US08485057B1
Push-pull controls utilizing linear and rotational inputs to create linear output are disclosed. One control includes an elongate push rod and a roller pin. The rod has an outer surface, a generally circular cross-section perimeter, a center axis, a proximal end with a user input, and a distal end configured to directly or indirectly interact with an apparatus to be controlled. The rod is rotatable and slidable along the rod axis. The roller pin has a center axis and an outer surface that contacts the push rod outer surface. The roller pin center axis is angularly offset from and non-intersecting with the push rod center axis. The amount of angular offset is greater than zero degrees.
US08485054B2
An electrically driven linear actuator has an actuator body with a ball screw to convert a rotational motion to a linear motion. An electric motor provides the rotational motion. A gear mechanism transmits rotational motion of the electric motor to the ball screw of the actuator body. A position holding mechanism holds the position of the ball screw of the actuator body by engaging teeth, specifically a space between adjacent teeth, of a gear forming the gear mechanism.
US08485051B2
An apparatus (10) for testing an aircraft pedal system (12) comprises a pedal actuation device (14) for actuating an aircraft pedal (12′, 12″), a force sensor (26) for sensing an actuation force applied to the aircraft pedal (12′, 12″) upon actuation of the aircraft pedal (12′, 12″) and for providing a signal indicative of the actuation force, a deflection sensing device (28, 30) for sensing an angular deflection of a device (12′, 12″; 13) deflected in response to the actuation of the aircraft pedal (12′, 12″), and a control unit (32) adapted to process the signals of the force sensor (26) and the deflection sensing device (28, 30) so as to generate an output indicating the angular deflection of the device (12′, 12″; 13) deflected in response to the actuation of the aircraft pedal (12′, 12″) in dependence on the actuation force applied to the aircraft pedal (12′, 12″).
US08485044B2
A device for determining a physical value of a liquid flowing in a pipe, without contact with said liquid, said device comprising: a sensor (3) for said physical value; a connector (2) to insert into said pipe and comprising: an internal passage (13) extending between two apertures (11, 12), a flexible membrane (6) for a pressure sensor, forming a wall of said internal passage (13); and means (27, 62) for fastening said sensor (3) onto said connector (2); characterized in that said sensor is a temperature sensor (3) fastened to said connector (2) with the sensitive part of said sensor (3) turned towards said membrane (6).
US08485039B2
A multiple chamber test system is provided. The multiple chamber test system includes a plurality of test chambers that each include a vibration table. In addition, each of the test chambers is provided with thermally controlled air from a common source. An output plenum for providing thermally controlled air to the test chambers may include a flow control device, to provide the same or similar thermal conditions in each of the test chambers. Where pneumatic actuators are used to impart movement to the vibration tables, the exhaust air from the actuators can be prevented from mixing with the thermally controlled chamber air.
US08485035B2
A method for detecting defects in a railway rail including a search unit and preferably a roller search unit (“RSU”) mounted on a test vehicle and in rolling contact with the running surface of the rails to inspect each rail. The RSU includes a tire filled with a liquid and a transducer assembly mounted within the tire. The transducer assembly includes one or more arrays of ultrasonic transducers directed toward the running surface of the rail. A laser profiler mounted on the test vehicle in combination with a linear encoder provide profile data which is communicated to a system controller to dynamically adjust the focal laws for the one or more arrays of transducers to dynamically steer the transmitted beams to produce the ideal inspection beam sets while the test vehicle is in motion.
US08485025B2
The present invention provides a standing wave fiber assembly for the collection and detection of a biological target in a complex biological fluid, including: an oscillator; and an elongated fiber coupled to the oscillator, wherein the elongated fiber is selectively exposed to a fluid potentially containing the biological target, and wherein the resonated elongated fiber attracts the biological target, and wherein a change in a response of the resonated elongated fiber indicates the presence of the biological target. The assembly also includes a top cover plate including one or more electrical connections and a port through which the fluid is introduced. The assembly further includes a bottom cover plate including a well in which the fluid is contained. Optionally, the elongated fiber includes one or more probes homogenously functionalized along its length that bind targeted biological materials.
US08485022B2
Systems, methods, and apparatus are provided for detecting improperly sealed portions of sealed packages. For example, in one embodiment, a package leak detection system automatically provides pressure within a tank for a predetermined period of time. The tank is at least partially filled with colored fluid with a sealed package being at least partially submerged in the colored fluid. In the tank, the pressure inside the tank forces the colored fluid into improperly sealed portions of the sealed package. After the predetermined period of time has elapsed, the package leak detection system automatically shuts off the package leak detection system and releases the pressure within the tank so the sealed package can be inspected for potential leaks.
US08485020B2
One way of practicing the method of the invention is to follow these steps, not necessarily in the disclosed sequence: (1) providing a hot gas spike apparatus to load one or more diffusion denuders with a compound selected from the group consisting of a calibration standard, an internal standard, and a surrogate standard compound in a solvent carrier; (2) pulling one or more samples of ambient atmosphere through at least one of the diffusion denuders in a multicapillary collection device; (3) extracting analytes from at least one of the diffusion denuders in an analyte transfer apparatus or from a filter using an extraction device; (4) optionally cleaning up gaseous extracts or extracts of filters using chromatography, and transferring the collected analytes into an analytical device. To practice the method, an apparatus is disclosed that has a hot gas spike component, a high-flow multicapillary collection device and an analyte transfer apparatus.
US08485019B2
An environmental monitoring system and methods of a site are disclosed. The system includes one or more environmental measurement instruments, of which at least one instrument is capable to measure a concentration of particles in a certain size range. The system may also include an instrument that is capable of measuring a first concentration of particles in a first size range and a second concentration of particles in a second size range. The system may also include an instrument that is capable to measure a wind speed and a wind direction. The system may also include one device capable of recording an image of a location related to the site. The system includes a controller in communication with the one or more environmental measurement instruments, and a display device capable of displaying data generated by the one or more environmental measurement instruments. The system contains a network. Alerts can be provided based on conditions of the environment.
US08485008B2
An automotive key fob includes a leaf-style spring positioned within the key fob so that, while a removable key is inserted into the key fob, the removable key engages, and at least partially collapses, the spring thereby reducing movement of the key within the key fob and thereby reducing noise associated with movement of the key within the key fob. The leaf-style spring may be positioned in a spring-surrounding pocket within an external housing of the key fob. The spring-surrounding pocket may be at least partially defined by a wall having a height that is less than a height of the leaf-style spring while the spring is installed within the key fob.
US08485002B2
A plastic tub for a washing machine includes a cylindrical casing; and an end face wall sealing the cylindrical casing. The end face including a bearing mount for a shaft of a laundry drum and radially-aligned reinforcing ribs molded into the end face wall. The reinforcing ribs begin at the bearing mount and branch in a Y-shape along their radial extent.
US08484993B1
This disclosure describes systems, methods, and apparatus for an earring safety device that can be clipped to an ear enveloping an earring so as to protect the ear and the wearer's head from the earring during fast-paced activities. The earring safety device can enable athletes to participate in contact sports without removing the earring, especially where rules would otherwise preclude the athlete from competing. The earring safety device can also protect the wearer from snagging the earring during high-intensity activities and jobs The protection also protects the athlete from injury due to impacts made to the earring.
US08484991B2
A heat pump having a cooling mode includes a cooling evaporator coupled to an advance flow and a backflow. The cooling evaporator is brought to a pressure such that a vaporization temperature of the working liquid in the backflow is below a temperature of an object to be cooled to which the backflow may be thermally coupled. In this manner, an area having vapor at high pressure is generated. This vapor is fed into a dynamic-type compressor which outputs the vapor at a low pressure and provides electrical energy in the process. The vapor at low pressure is fed to a cooling liquefier which provides vapor liquefaction at a low temperature, this temperature being lower than the temperature of the object to be cooled. The working liquid removed from the cooling evaporator due to the vaporization is refilled by a filling pump. The heat pump having a cooling mode also results when a specific heat pump is operated in the reverse direction, and provides cooling without any net use of electrical energy. Instead, the cooling even generates electrical energy.
US08484990B2
A method is provided for operating a refrigerant vapor compression system, for example an air-cooled chiller or air-cooled condensing unit, at optimal energy efficiency rating. The method includes the steps of: determining the instantaneous values of a plurality of selected operating parameters of the system's refrigeration unit, calculating a desired control parameter set point indicative of an optimal energy efficiency rating for the refrigeration unit as a function of the selected operating parameters, sensing the instantaneous value of the control parameter, comparing the sensed instantaneous value of the control parameter to the calculated control parameter set point, and adjusting the operating speed of the condenser fans associated with the air-cooled condenser of the refrigeration unit in response to that comparison.
US08484983B2
A device for producing electrical power has a thermoelectric device coupled to an aircraft bleed system for generating electrical power using temperature differentials between ram air and bleed air. A system control is coupled to the ram air and the bleed air to control a temperature of the bleed air and to control a temperature gradient of the thermoelectric device.
US08484978B2
A method of assembling a fuel nozzle assembly for a gas turbine engine having a natural operating frequency includes providing a flange and providing a premix tube. The flange is fabricated from a first alloy such that the flange is configured to exhibit a first frequency that is different than the natural operating frequency of the gas turbine engine. The premix tube is fabricated from a second alloy such that the premix tube is configured to exhibit a second frequency that is different from the natural operating frequency of the gas turbine engine. The premix tube is coupled to the flange.
US08484976B2
A fluidic effector provides enhanced plume mixing for an aircraft engine. Air jet injectors are located on both the external and internal cowl surfaces and angled in opposite directions to induce large scale vortices in the exhaust plume. The vortices mix actuation air with the exhaust plume to produce ejector action. The plume mixes out quickly, thereby lowering jet noise and jet exhaust temperature. The injectors have orientations and injection rates that are adjustable to allow variable mixing rates for use at different flight and engine conditions.
US08484975B2
A power plant is provided which includes a gas turbine having a compressor for producing compressed air and a combustor for combusting the compressed air with a combustible fuel to produce a heated combustion gas. The power plant also includes a heat recovery steam generator for generating a flow of steam from an exhaust of the gas turbine and a steam turbine for expanding the flow of steam from the heat recovery steam generator. The steam turbine has a rotor having a rotor bore disposed axially therein. The power plant also includes a conduit for directing at least a portion of the compressed air or at least a portion of the heated combustion gas from the gas turbine to the rotor bore of the steam turbine, wherein the compressed air or the heated combustion gas may warm the rotor bore of the steam turbine.
US08484973B2
A method for alternate storage and outputting of the thermal energy which is obtained in the primary circuit of a solar-thermal power station, using a heat carrier medium, which can be partially fed between a plurality of storage tanks, in each case flowing through a heat transmission apparatus which is operatively connected to the primary circuit and/or to the steam/water circuit, which heat carrier medium can be heated to a higher temperature or can be cooled to a lower temperature, the aim is to provide a solution which makes it possible, with a storage capacity which is the same as that of installations known from the prior art, to avoid the disadvantages of the prior art, in particular with a smaller space requirement and occupying a smaller installation area. This is achieved in that at least one of the plurality of storage tanks is alternately used for storage of a respectively partially fed volume of the heat carrier medium in the state of its higher temperature and for storage of a respectively partially fed volume of the heat carrier medium in the state of its lower temperature.
US08484969B2
In an engine such as an engine for driving a pump or dynamo, in which a load increasing state does not appear as an accelerating state of rotation speed, it is intended to prevent the smoke emission in an abruptly load-increasing state, which might otherwise be caused by the suppression or interruption of an EGR quantity. The engine 10 comprises a supercharger 11 and an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) device 12. The engine 10 makes an isochronous control or a droop control, when its rotation speed N is shifted from a no-load (idle) or light-load run to a high-load (load-increasing) state. In case it is detected, when the state of the engine 10 shifts to a load state, that the actual rotation speed N becomes lower by a predetermined rotation speed ΔN than a target rotation speed Nm, an EGR valve 13 of the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) device 12 is either throttled to an opening smaller by a predetermined opening ΔF than the ordinary set opening F corresponding to the load state or fully closed.
US08484968B2
A method of operating a compression-ignition engine includes adjusting timing of fuel injection if a sensed parameter indicative of a maximum pressure within a combustion chamber varies relative to a selected pressure and if fuel injection timing is greater than a preselected timing.
US08484961B2
A vacuum accumulator system includes a booster, a vacuum accumulator disposed in fluid communication with the booster and an engine disposed in fluid communication with the vacuum accumulator.
US08484953B2
An exhaust system that processes exhaust generated by an engine is provided. The system generally includes a particulate filter (PF) that filters particulates from the exhaust wherein an upstream end of the PF receives exhaust from the engine. A grid of electrically resistive material is applied to an exterior upstream surface of the PF and selectively heats exhaust passing through the grid to initiate combustion of particulates within the PF. A catalyst coating is applied to the PF that increases a temperature of the combustion of the particulates within the PF.
US08484949B2
A method is provided for monitoring of the functionality of an After Treatment Injector (ATI) for injection of a fluid in an engine exhaust gas system upstream of an exhaust gas treatment unit. The monitoring is performed by using a pressure sensor which detects the pressure of the fluid delivered to the ATI for a specific condition or injection cycle. The pressure sensor is located downstream of a flow regulator and upstream of the ATI in a conduit for supplying of a substance from a container to the ATI. An ECU is programmed to perform a predetermined sequence of opening and closing commands for the flow regulator and the ATI, furthermore perform a frequency analysis of the measured pressure value in order to monitor the functionality of the flow regulator, the ATI and the pressure sensor. The method is adapted to be used in connection with an On Board Diagnosis (OBD) system.
US08484944B2
A method and aerodynamic device for modifying at least one vane of a cascade thrust reverser. One or more of the aerodynamic devices may be formed and attached to forward-facing surfaces of vanes of the thrust reverser. The aerodynamic device may include a first side shaped to rest flush against at least a portion of the forward-facing surface of the vane, a second side opposite of the first side, a ledge portion protruding from the first side and configured to rest flush against a blunt leading edge of the vane, a rounded first end portion extending from the ledge portion to the second side of the aerodynamic device, and a second end opposite of the first end portion at which the first side and the second side converge. The aerodynamic device changes the size and contour of airflow channels between the vanes, increase the efficiency of the thrust reverser.
US08484943B2
A system comprises a bypass duct, a turbine case, a turbine exhaust ring and a splash plate. The turbine case is formed along a radially inner margin of the bypass duct, and the turbine exhaust ring is coaxially disposed within the turbine case. The splash plate extends axially along the turbine exhaust ring, radially spaced between the turbine exhaust ring and the turbine case. There are cooling fluid apertures in the turbine case to provide cooling fluid flow from the bypass duct onto the splash plate, and impingement holes in the splash plate to provide impingement flow onto the turbine exhaust ring.
US08484942B1
A gas turbine engine has a fan, first and second compressor stages, first and second turbine stages. The first turbine stage drives the second compressor stage as a high spool. The second turbine stage drives the first compressor stage as part of a low spool. A gear train drives the fan with the low spool, such that the fan and first compressor stage rotate in the same direction. The high spool operates at higher pressures than the low spool. A lubrication system is also disclosed.
US08484938B2
A crop harvesting header with a cutter bar and a draper assembly has a draper canvas driven by a drive roller with a cylindrical roller body having an outer surface surrounding an axis of rotation of the roller for engaging an inner drive surface of a canvas wrapped therearound. The roller has a plurality of ribs arranged on the outer surface of the roller body extending along a part of the body in an axial direction and angularly spaced around the outer surface. The ribs have a height less than 6 mm and a width less than 6 mm arranged such that the ribs do not engage into any recesses in the drive surface of the canvas.
US08484937B1
This disclosure relates to foiiuing food packages with a lap seal. A continuous, peelable hermetic seal is formed by activating a conductive element to emit an electrical impulse while contacting the overlap region of a pouch. The overlap is sealed by the heat generated from the activation of the conductive element, for example a wire. The conductive element is placed longitudinally along the overlap area of the pouch, which results in a sealed line. A second parallel sealed line may also be made to add redundancy, thereby better sealing the pouch. The disclosed method results in a package with an unsealed flap between first seal line and the film edge that allows for easy opening of the pouch.
US08484934B2
The present disclosure relates to a high burst slider zipper which allows for bottom filling of reclosable packages, such as large bags, and further provides increased resistance to damage from the dropping or shock loading of the filled package. This is achieved by providing a peel seal or other frangible or separable connection between the zipper profiles, and by sealing a portion of one of the flanges to itself by a hard seal above the peel seal. This causes the external forces on a bag from bottom filling or shock loading to be directed toward the hard seal and further directed so as to cause a shear force against the peel seal, thereby increasing the resistance of the package to external forces.
US08484929B1
A method of constructing a subterranean storage facility formed by an array of abutting shipping containers. The inner side panels and structural bars of adjoining containers are removed to form an interstitial space defined by the remaining outer side panels of the array. The removed panels and bars are repurposed in the construction to provide an external shell and enhanced structural support.
US08484928B2
Method of producing a wall-floor reinforced concrete construction in which use is made of prefabricated permanent shuttering systems made up of a wall shuttering system (100) with two shuttering panels (101; 103) and a floor shuttering system (120) which comprises a base plate (123) with a multiplicity of individual longitudinal bars (121) next to one another which are each fastened by means of a multiplicity of stirrups (122) on the base plate (123) at a distance above the base plate in such a way that they come to lie in the lower region of the floor (171) to be produced. The connecting element between the wall and floor that is used is a coupling reinforcement (150) which, on one side, is fastened into the wall shuttering system (100) and, on the other side, to the individual longitudinal bars (121) of the floor shuttering system (120) which extend perpendicularly to the wall shuttering system (100).
US08484926B1
A frame member for use in constructing screen walls, screen doors, window screens and related structures. The frame member has an elongate channel-containing section and an elongate plate section that extends from the channel-containing section. The channel-containing section has a longitudinally extending channel that has a narrow section and a relatively wider section. The narrow section of the channel defines an entrance to the channel. The channel is sized for receiving spline that secures a screen to the frame member. The channel-containing section has a rear wall and a pair of sidewalls. Each sidewall has an outer surface. The channel-containing section has a pair of front wall sections. Each front wall section is on a corresponding side of the channel entrance. The elongate plate section has a first surface and an opposite second surface and is substantially perpendicular to the rear wall of the channel-containing section. The first surface of the elongate plate section is substantially coplanar with an outer surface of one of the sidewalls of the channel-containing section.
US08484921B2
A rain-screen apparatus including a substantially rigid air barrier (10) adapted for attachment to a building structure, a rain-screen panel (20) adapted for attachment over the air barrier, a spacing member adapted to provide a clearance space (14) between the air barrier and the rain-screen panel and sealing means adapted to provide substantial pressure equalization between within the clearance space.
US08484919B2
A structure to form flooring transitions having outer surfaces comprising two disparate materials. In a preferred embodiment the flooring transitions includes a T-shaped molding and at least one attachment thereto. The outer surfaces of the T-molding and attachment may be comprised of different materials, even though they may sometimes have the same pattern or décor. For example, the T-molding may have a surface of real wood or veneer and the attachment may have an outer surface of abrasion resistant foil, metal, or even a visual perception element, such as lights or reflective tape. A kit is also disclosed.
US08484891B2
A decorative cover positionable about a flower pot is formed of a polymeric material or a laminated polymeric material. The decorative cover has a texture and/or appearance simulating the texture and/or appearance of paper on at least a portion of one surface thereof while exhibiting improved durability and decreased sensitivity to water, humidity and pressure when compared to a decorative cover formed of paper.
US08484888B2
Disclosed is an exemplary landscape soil and moisture retaining device. The retaining device may include a wall having a first region and a second region adjacent the first region, the second region inclined relative to the first region, and a flange extending outward from the first region of the wall. The retaining device may further include a raised lip extending from the flange and defining an upper edge of the retaining device. The second region of the wall defining a bottom edge of the retaining device, such that the flange is arranged between the upper and bottom edges of the retaining device.
US08484881B2
A device for mitigating parallax in a reflex sight. The reflex sight having a front portion for receiving light and a rear portion for providing a visual of a target to a user. The parallax mitigation device defines a reticle positioned in an optical path of the reflex sight. The reticle is configured to indicate a center of the visual provided to the user.
US08484880B1
A bore sight (10) is provided that can be used with many calibers of firearms (12) to align optical devices such as rifle scopes. The bore sight (10) has a housing (22) with a spring loaded arbor (26) extending from one end thereof. The arbor (26) has a tapered face (32) varying in diameter in a range including popular calibers, such as .17 to .50 caliber. The arbor (26) is inserted in the end (20) of the barrel (18) as far as the caliber of the barrel (18) permits. The arbor (26) then starts retracting into the housing (22) against the spring force to allow the magnetic alignment face (24) of the housing to move into contact with the end (20) of the barrel to align the bore sight (10) and laser (30) with the bore (16).
US08484878B2
The present disclosure relates to firearms and more specifically an apparatus and method useful in positioning and stabilizing shoulder-fired firearms. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a front portion, said front portion further comprising a curved medial side, a lateral side, a front panel and a stabilizing element. In a further embodiment, the apparatus is reversibly attached to a body armor.
US08484874B2
Systems and methods for receiving and loading cartridges in bulk are disclosed herein. A device described herein includes multiple parallel partition walls configured to couple with cartridge carriers and segregate, group and single file line the cartridges removed from the cartridge carriers and placed onto a receiving surface. An alignment wall on the receiving surface works in conjunction with the partition walls in aligning groups of cartridges into single files on the receiving surface. A loading rod slideably engaged with the receiving surface urges single filed groups of cartridges from the receiving surface into a magazine coupled with the receiving surface.
US08484872B2
The invention relates to a messaging sign apparatus with informative indicia plates that externally display information regarding patient care. The messaging sign apparatus having a framed housing, a plate, a locking member, and a covering. The framed housing includes a passageway on an inner body thereof and a slot on an outer surface leading into the passageway. The plate is positioned in the passageway and moveable through the slot to a displayed position opposite the passageway. The locking member is arranged on the framed housing and engageable with the plate to lock the plate into the displayed position. The cover is disposed over the framed housing and covering the passageway.
US08484852B2
A shaving system including a bifurcated razor handle (1,90) having a unitary, two-shot plastics molding having a pair of hinges (4) with elastomeric springs (11) joined by a cartridge mounting portion (30,91) which receives the bottom side of a generally flat, multi-blade cartridge (60) in fixed, snap-fit relation. The cartridge is retained in a dispenser (80) beneath a resilient leaf (84) and pressed onto the mounting portion along an engagement axis E normal to the shaving plane, the leaf being received in a recess (48) between the mounting portion and the cartridge. The cartridge is then retracted from the dispenser along a retraction axis R generally parallel with the shaving plane. The mounting portion includes digit-receiving regions 40 for pressing the mounting portion onto the cartridge, an ejection element (41,141) for disengaging the cartridge from the handle, and an elastomeric skin-engaging platform (51) arranged in advance of the shaving plane.
US08484847B2
A showerhead is disclosed in this invention. The showerhead includes a bottom portion, at least one plate, and a top portion. The bottom portion includes a plurality of gas tubes which are integratedly formed on the bottom portion. The gas tubes include at least one first gas tube. The at least one plate includes a first plate. The first plate includes a plurality of first openings, wherein the gas tubes pass through the first openings. The top portion is coupled to the bottom portion for forming at least one inner space.
US08484841B1
A method of fabricating a stimulation lead comprises: providing a central insulator member; helically wrapping a plurality of conductors about the member, by arranging the plurality of conductor wires in groups with an inter-group spacing that is larger than an inter-conductor spacing within each group; providing an outer insulator layer to form an intermediate lead body assembly; forming a lead body by heating polymer material of the intermediate lead body assembly to cause insulative material of the lead body to form a solid, fused cylindrical body about the plurality of conductors, which comprise a first conductor, a last conductor, and inner conductors between the first and last conductor, wherein the first and last conductor comprise respective helix diameters that are smaller than the helix diameters of the inner conductors; and forming a plurality of electrodes and terminals on the lead body that are electrically connected through the plurality of conductors.
US08484839B2
Provided are processes for making multi-layer chip carriers comprising an asymmetric cross-linked polymeric dielectric film.
US08484826B2
An apparatus and method for installing a piston and connecting rod assembly in a cylinder of an engine block includes a frame, an installation rod and a guide defining a channel complementary to the rod. The frame is disposed about an opening at the bottom of the engine block and the guide is positioned on the frame in alignment with a cylinder. The installation rod is coupled to the connecting rod and the rod and the piston and connecting rod assembly are slid into the cylinder. The installation rod is received within the guide channel and maintains the connecting rod perpendicular to the crankshaft and away from the cylinder wall. As the connecting rod moves toward the crankshaft, the guide and rod move the connecting rod into proper alignment and contact with the crankshaft.
US08484824B2
A method of forming a wearable surface of a body sized and configured to comminute material includes positioning at least one first insert in a first portion of a first metal structure at a first depth, positioning at least one second insert in a second portion of the first metal structure at a second depth and positioning at least one third insert in a third portion of the first metal structure at a third depth. At least one of these depths is different than the other depths. A second metal structure may be positioned adjacent to the first metal structure and at least one explosive material may be detonated to attach the inserts to the first metal structure. Material may then be removed to shape and form a wearable surface of a crushing body, which may be, for example, a crushing member or a segment of a crushing member.
US08484820B2
Respective attracting openings of a bonding head are disposed so as to avoid joining regions at which bump electrodes (obverse electrodes) of a semiconductor chip are joined with bump electrodes of a package substrate. Bump electrodes (reverse electrodes) that are connected to the bump electrodes are provided at a reverse side of the semiconductor chip at positions opposing the bump electrodes. Because the attracting openings do not overlap the joining regions, the bump electrodes (reverse electrodes) are not suctioned at the joining regions.
US08484818B2
System(s), method(s), and device(s) that facilitate efficient removal of a nut(s) from a wheel stud or bolt are presented. A nut removal facilitator device comprises a first arm with a holder component, wherein the first arm is attached to a lever component and a second arm, which includes a force applicator component. A socket of a wrench is placed on a desired nut, with the wrench handle portion near the socket held within the holder component and an end portion of the wrench handle in contact with the force applicator component. A force can be received at the top portion of the lever component is leveraged based on the length of the lever component. The leveraged force is transferred to the force applicator component which applies the transferred force to the wrench handle to move the handle and socket in the desired direction to loosen and remove the nut.
US08484817B2
A dismounting device is provided for efficiently and effectively dismounting an environment-friendly oil filter from an engine. The device includes an oil storage container that forms an oil discharge mouth and includes an oil guide tube extending into an internal oil storage space thereof. The oil guide tube has an exposed upper end carrying a pusher in which a central bore is defined and communicating the internal oil storage space of the container. The pusher has an upper portion forming a threaded section that is engageable with an internal thread of an oil discharge opening of the oil filter and a push tube extendable into the oil filter to open an internal valve of the oil filter so that oil remaining in the filter is allowed to flow into the central bore of the pusher and is conducted by the oil guide tube into the oil storage space of the container.
US08484816B1
A system is disclosed for securing devices to various openings in tanks, vessels, walls, and the like. The system includes a fastening mechanism, a securing device, and a raised lip. The fastening mechanism functions to hold devices up against the vessel opening where the system is used while the securing device may function to secure hoses that may be utilized with fans or ventilators that are to be utilized with the system.
US08484810B2
A continuous-coil type waterproof slide fastener includes two support tapes each having opposing first face and second face, two rows of coupling elements respectively formed of a continuous length of monofilament and respectively secured to along the inner longitudinal edge of the second face of each of the two support tapes, a high polymer elastic member bonded to the vertical wall of the inner longitudinal edge of each support tape and transversely extending from the vertical wall of the inner longitudinal edge to a predetermined distance, each high polymer elastic member further having a covering portion on the inner longitudinal edge of the second face of the associating support tape and a filling portion penetrates into inner chinks in the associating row of coupling elements, and a fluid impervious film covered at least on the first face of each support tape and the associating high polymer elastic member.
US08484808B2
A clip mounting structure for a writing implement has a shaft tube, a clip mounted at the rear part of the shaft tube, and an insertion member inserted into the rear part of the shaft tube. A clip mounting section to which the rear part of the clip is fitted and aligned is formed at the rear part of the shaft tube. Mounting sections curved in the direction along the inner peripheral surface of the shaft tube are formed at opposite sides of the rear part of the clip. Fitting recesses into which the mounting sections of the clip are fitted are formed in the outer wall of the insertion member. With the mounting sections of the clip fitted in and engaged with the fitting recesses in the insertion member, the insertion member is inserted into the rear part of the shaft body to fit the rear part of the clip into the clip mounting section of the shaft tube. Thus, the insertion member is engaged in position inside the shaft tube.
US08484804B2
A hood hinge assembly is provided for operatively attaching a hood to a vehicle. The assembly includes a base link configured to be coupled to the vehicle; a deploy link coupled to the base link; and a hood link coupled to the deploy link and configured to be coupled to the hood. In a first transition from a first position into a second position, the base link and the deploy link pivot with one another relative to the base link, and, in a second transition from the first position into a third position, the hood link pivots relative to the deploy link.
US08484802B1
A combination castor includes a linking device, and a plurality of castor assemblies connected with the linking device. Each of the castor assemblies includes an operation unit, a braking unit, and at least one roller. The operation unit of each of the castor assemblies includes a mounting seat, a slide, and a driven block. The braking unit of each of the castor assemblies includes a bushing, a housing, a control shaft, and a braking member. The roller of each of the castor assemblies has an inner periphery provided with a plurality of locking grooves. Thus, the linking device can drive and operate the castor assemblies to brake and position the castor assemblies simultaneously.
US08484796B2
Air rinse and transport apparatus (10) comprises a bottle air-rinsing device (12) for air rinsing a turned bottle (16) with ionized air, and an air conveyor (14) for moving a bottle (16) to and/or from the air-rinsing device (12). The air conveyor (14) includes a bottle guide (24) along which a bottle (16) is moved by air pressure. The guide (24) is at least in part helical so as to turn a longitudinal extent of the said bottle (16). Preferably, the turning causes the said bottle to be inverted.
US08484790B2
A cleaning mechanism for and method of autonomously removing deposits from the interior surface of a tube comprises a cleaning member secured relative to the surface and preferably, an active material element drivenly coupled to or engaged with the member so as to selectively cause the member to translate, thereby removing deposits from the surface.
US08484788B2
The brushhead is used in a power skin brush appliance which includes a drive system having a single drive member. The brushhead includes a base assembly mountable to the drive system with an optional outer annular fixed portion and an inner portion which in operation oscillates back and forth at a selected sonic frequency through a selected angle in response to action of the drive system. Mounted on the outer portion is a first group of filament tufts. Mounted on the oscillating portion are three concentric groups of filament tufts. Each oscillating group of filament tufts includes two annular rings of filament tufts. The filament tufts in the oscillating filament tuft groups have a selected physical characteristic which in one embodiment is diameter, which differs between the respective oscillating filament tuft groups sufficiently to produce a differential stiffness between the filaments thereof to in turn produce an out of phase motion of the tips of the filaments between the three oscillating filament tuft groups.
US08484787B2
A system is disclosed for protecting supporting structures, such as those of a bridge or other such marine supporting structure, from the force of an impact of a vehicle/vessel. Such a system includes a plurality of modular components arranged in series and configured to dissipate the energy of the force through the progressive buckling of one or more of the modular components. Each modular component contains an energy dissipation unit that includes a plurality of adjacent cells. The energy of the force is dissipated in the buckling of the walls of the cells of the energy dissipation units through the formation of one or more plastic hinges and/or volume reduction of the cells.
US08484785B1
A combination handle clamp, beverage bottle and can opener having a generally curved shaped body and integral attachment point to allow connection to other personal item such as a key ring. A secondary and tertiary integral curved section form a pair of loading points for fixing open a handle-trigger assembly and incorporate a gripping edge to facilitate opening a crimped or vacuum sealed bottle top. The tertiary curved section additionally functions as a second clamp position for the larger handles and also doubles as a pry mechanism to assist opening a pop-top can. The said gripping edge of the invention which contacts with said bottle top to be constructed of a durable material that won't abrade from its intended use.
US08484779B1
A table suited for a stylist when styling hair of a deceased body is configured to hold the deceased body to allow hair to be styled. The table has a set of scissor-like supports with a foot-actuated control, thereby providing a means to adjustably elevate and lower the table. The table may also be angled via a pair of foot-actuated controls. A footrest at the table's base supports the deceased person along with a plurality of body securing straps. The table also comprises a separate platform for allowing the stylist to store products within and a neck support to further support the deceased body configuration resulting in optimum hairstyling.
US08484766B2
Athletic apparel containing protective underlayer comprising molded foam padding that are shaped and curved to match the anatomical regions to reduce the bulk of the underlayers. The molded foam pads a perforated structure to allow for increased flexibility and ventilation. Protective underlayers that surround regions of motion, such as the hip joint, are notched to provide articulation of the protective underlayer that will improve mobility of the athletic apparel wearer.
US08484764B2
A zipper arrangement is configured to fasten a first fabric portion to a second fabric portion. The zipper arrangement includes a plurality of first zipper elements positioned along the first fabric portion and a plurality of second zipper elements positioned along the second fabric portion. A zipper closure includes a first closure member releasably coupled to a second closure member. The first closure member is positioned on a mid-portion of the first fabric portion and the second closure member is positioned on a mid-portion of the second fabric portion. A first slider is positioned on one side of the zipper closure and a second slider positioned on an opposite side of the zipper closure. When provided on a garment, the zipper arrangement may be used in association with a method for fastening a first garment portion to a second garment portion by moving the sliders in opposing directions.
US08490211B1
Methods for referencing related magnetic head microscopy scans to reduce processing requirements for high resolution imaging are provided. One such method includes performing a low resolution pole tip recession scan of a pole tip area of a magnetic head, performing a high resolution writer pole recession scan of a writer pole area of the magnetic head, preparing a portion of the low resolution scan for alignment, performing a rough leveling of the high resolution scan, aligning the portion of the low resolution scan and the high resolution scan using pattern recognition and a database of features, subtracting the high resolution scan from the aligned portion of the low resolution scan, and leveling the high resolution scan based on a result of the subtraction.
US08490210B2
A contact type plasmonic nano optical probe, a parallel probe constituted of the same, a plasmonic optical apparatus including the parallel probe, and a method of fabricating the parallel probe are disclosed. A contact type plasmonic nano optical probe includes a probe tip which protrudes in a truncated shape having a narrower plan surface and a wider plan surface relatively wider than the narrower plan surface, of which a metal thin film is coated on a surface, of and which an aperture of nm diameter included in a portion of the metal thin film on a central portion of the narrower plan surface, a spring structure disposed at a perimeter of the probe tip and configured to maintain a distance between the probe tip and a film to be exposed, a dielectric filled within the aperture, and a protection layer disposed on the narrower plan surface of the probe tip. Here, an optical transport path is included within the probe tip to be connected to the aperture. A plasmonic optical apparatus including a parallel plasmonic probe is constituted of a probe array including a plurality of probe modules in which the contact type plasmonic nano optical probes are disposed at a uniform distance on a substrate.
US08490207B2
A method and system for sending data in a file system that uses cryptographic signatures to protect data integrity. A computer system calculates a signature based on the content of a page of a memory. The memory is shared by processes that run on the computer system. The computer system write-protects the page while the page is used for calculation of the signature. When a first process attempts to modify the page, a page fault is triggered. In response to the page fault, the content of the page in memory is copied to a new page in the memory. The new page is accessible by the processes. Access to the page by the first process is redirected to the new page. Subsequent to the page fault, access to the page by the second process is also redirected to the new page.
US08490199B2
Methods, apparatuses, and techniques for detecting and discouraging cheating in an online game session are described. Aspects include playing an online game. During play of the game one of the players detects suspected cheating behavior by another online game player. Game information is collected about the activity of all players in the online game, the game information includes a period of the game during which the suspected cheating behavior occurred. The game information is communicated to a game cheat monitoring entity that evaluates the game information to determine if there was cheating activity, and if there was cheating activity appropriate action is taken.
US08490197B2
A distributed multi-agent system and method is implemented and employed across at least one intranet for purposes of real time collection, monitoring, aggregation, analysis and modeling of system and network operations, communications, internal and external accesses, code execution functions, network and network resource conditions as well as other assessable criteria within the implemented environment. Analytical models are constructed and dynamically updated from the data sources so as to be able to rapidly identify and characterize conditions within the environment (such as behaviors, events, and functions) that are typically characteristic with that of a normal state and those that are of an abnormal or potentially suspicious state. The model may further recommend (or alternatively implement autonomously or semi-autonomously) optimal remedial repair and recovery strategies as well as the most appropriate countermeasures to isolate or neutralize the threat and its effects.
US08490194B2
Method for detecting malicious behavioral patterns which are related to malicious software such as a computer worm in computerized systems that include data exchange channels with other systems over a data network. Accordingly, hardware and/or software parameters are determined in the computerized system that is can characterize known behavioral patterns thereof. Known malicious code samples are learned by a machine learning process, such as decision trees and artificial neural networks, and the results of the machine learning process are analyzed in respect to the behavioral patterns of the computerized system. Then known and unknown malicious code samples are identified according to the results of the machine learning process.
US08490191B2
Method for protecting computer software by detecting an attack of an intruding program interfering with the execution of said protected software on a computer system with a processor and at least a processor memory, wherein the computer software to be protected communicates with a license container containing a license for using and executing the protected computer software and containing at least one cryptographic key, wherein the license container provides licenses and cryptographic keys for the protected software to protect its usage and its integrity, and wherein the protected computer software is at least partly encrypted and uses the associated cryptographic keys to decrypt said protected software for executing comprises the following steps: during execution of the protected software, analyzing the behavior of the protected software and/or the execution environment of the protected software on the computer system, and searching for patterns of an intrusion or an intruding program, detecting an intrusion into the protected software during the execution of the protected software, wherein the intruding program uses a monitoring component for gaining unauthorized access, and creating a signal on detection of an attack.
US08490180B2
A computer readable medium storing program causing a computer to execute a process for controlling execution of a processing, the process includes receiving, outputting, and executing. The receiving step receives a first request indicating an execution request of the processing from a user. The outputting step outputs processing correspondence information corresponding to the processing to recording medium when an execution result of the processing at the time of receiving the first request from user to which a first authority is given and a second authority is not given differs from an execution result of the processing at the time of receiving the first request from a user to which the second authority is given in case that the first request is sent from user to which both of the first authority and the second authority are given.
US08490176B2
A system includes a controlling module for controlling a mobile device remotely A system includes a controlling module for controlling a mobile device remotely, wherein the controlling module includes a parental control module for controlling a mobile device used by a child. A system includes a controlling module for controlling a mobile device remotely, wherein the controlling module includes a parental control module for controlling a mobile device used by a child, wherein the parental control module includes a monitoring module for monitoring a use of the mobile device, and a filtering module for filtering an inappropriate content.
US08490171B2
There is provided a rule-set generator and a method of automated configuration of a security gateway. The method comprises setting-up an initial rule-set; obtaining log records of communication events corresponding to the initial rule-set so as to obtain a sufficient amount of log records; transforming the obtained log records into respective rules, wherein source, destination and service fields in each rule correspond to source, destination and service values in respective obtained log record, and the action in all rules is defined as “Accept”, thus giving rise to a transformation-based rule-set; and processing the transformation-based rule-set so as to generate an operable rule-set by processing the transformation-based rule-set.
US08490170B2
An Internet-based fill-level measurement value and diagnostic information polling system includes several field devices, a central server and a processing unit that is connected to the server by way of the internet. In response to a user inquiry the server generates a certificate and an associated data object that characterizes the data that may be polled by the user. In response to an inquiry by the user, with which inquiry the certificate is sent along to the server, the server automatically transmits the requested data to the user if a check of the certificate shows that the user is authorized to receive this.
US08490168B1
A method and an apparatus with computer readable media for creation of a common token, with at least one associated usage limitation, for authenticating a user within a multiple website environment are disclosed. The methodology employs a secured user authentication mechanism, for example, as a common token representative of the user, to be used in the authentication of a user and for performing secure online network transactions by the authenticated user in a multiple website environment. The common token can be used at a first website to perform a business, financial, or personal transaction for example; and then, the common token can be used again at a second website, a third website, etc. to perform one or more tasks on behalf of the authenticated user and within the token's usage or associated limitations.
US08490167B2
A method, system or computer usable program product for preventing a password from being presented in a data entry field on a computer display including, responsive to user entry of a character set in the data entry field, comparing the character set to a securely stored password set for a potential match of the character set with leading characters of a password in the password set, responsive to detecting a match, inhibiting presentation of at least one character of the character set in the data entry field, and responsive to detecting a lack of a match, presenting the character set in the data entry field.
US08490166B2
Locating social networking system accounts for user of the social networking system permits the users to locate and access their accounts even if they cannot provide a user login ID or a login email address associated with their social networking system account. The social networking system locates a user account by receiving a user name associated with the user and a friend name of a friend connected to the user in the social networking system and identifying a user account wherein the identified user account has a user name matching the received user name and the identified user account is connected with another user in the social networking system who has a user name matching the received friend name.
US08490162B1
A system includes a memory and a processor. The memory is operable to store a credential verifier associated with a user account and a counter. The processor is coupled to the memory and the memory includes executable instructions that cause the system to receive a first authentication attempt and increment the counter if validation of the first authentication attempt against the credential verifier fails. The instructions also cause the system to receive a second authentication attempt and increment the counter only if validation of the second authentication attempt against the credential verifier fails and the second authentication attempt is distinct from the first authentication attempt.
US08490152B2
An entitlement management system is described herein that models each entitlement as a resource within a resource management system. In a resource management system that applies policy to all requests to create, update, and delete a resource, this approach allows rich application of policy to the creation, delegation, renewal, expiration, and deletion of entitlements. A resource management system that can synchronize data to connected systems can thereby grant or revoke these permissions in those systems. This approach also facilitates role mining, attestation, and compliance reporting. Entitlements stored as resources may also include properties, such as workflows and policies related to the entitlements. Thus, the entitlement management system provides a more formal and automated facility for managing entitlements in organizations.
US08490147B2
A method and system for sharing information of contents possessed by audio/video (A/V) devices having network interface, which are connected with each other on a network, and efficiently controlling the execution of the contents are provided. In a control device which receives a list of contents from a collection device collecting content information of each content possessed by a source device within an audio/video (A/V) network and controls execution of the content using the list of the contents, the control device includes a contents list requester requesting the list of the contents existing on the A/V network from the collection device in response to a user's command, a web browser displaying a list page, which is provided by the collection device in response to the request of the list, and receiving from the user a command to execute a content selected from the contents displayed on the list page, a content decoder restoring the content from a content stream provided by the source device possessing the selected content, and a content display displaying the restored content to the user.
US08490142B2
A method of tagging video content includes receiving video content at a set-top box device via a private video distribution access network. The method also includes receiving a tag associated with the video content at the set-top box device and sending the tag to a tag management system via the private video distribution access network. Further, the method includes sending a request for content associated with the tag to the tag management system and receiving the video content at the set-top box device.
US08490138B2
Systems and method for receiving user channel search criteria, searching for channels based on representative content information, and presenting the channel results to the user. The interactive media guidance application prompts the user to enter channel search criteria by selecting categories or inputting keywords. The interactive media guidance application gathers information about channels in the form of channel attribute data. The channel attributed data identifies attributes of the typical programs provided by the channel over time. The application compares the channel attribute data for each channel with the user-entered channel search criteria. Matches or lack thereof are then displayed to the user by the interactive media guidance application.
US08490124B2
Various techniques for receiving broadcast at a mobile broadcast receiver are described. In an aspect, the broadcast receiver provides user notification and/or automatically launches an application based on user preferences. In another aspect, the broadcast receiver improves channel switching time by predicting future channel selection based on real-time monitoring of user inputs. In another aspect, the broadcast receiver supports drag-and-drop user interface. In another aspect, the broadcast receiver provides additional information associated with a selected broadcast stream. In another aspect, the broadcast receiver processes a broadcast stream and sends output data to an external device for further processing and/or display. In another aspect, the broadcast receiver simultaneously displays live content and stored content. In another aspect, the broadcast receiver simultaneously receives multiple broadcast streams for displayed on one or more display units. In another aspect, the broadcast receiver collects user statistics and sends the statistics to a network entity.
US08490113B2
Messaging in a parallel computer using remote direct memory access (‘RDMA’), including: receiving a send work request; responsive to the send work request: translating a local virtual address on the first node from which data is to be transferred to a physical address on the first node from which data is to be transferred from; creating a local RDMA object that includes a counter set to the size of a messaging acknowledgment field; sending, from a messaging unit in the first node to a messaging unit in a second node, a message that includes a RDMA read operation request, the physical address of the local RDMA object, and the physical address on the first node from which data is to be transferred from; and receiving, by the first node responsive to the second node's execution of the RDMA read operation request, acknowledgment data in the local RDMA object.
US08490112B2
Algorithm selection for data communications in a parallel active messaging interface (‘PAMI’) of a parallel computer, the PAMI composed of data communications endpoints, each endpoint including specifications of a client, a context, and a task, endpoints coupled for data communications through the PAMI, including associating in the PAMI data communications algorithms and bit masks; receiving in an origin endpoint of the PAMI a collective instruction, the instruction specifying transmission of a data communications message from the origin endpoint to a target endpoint; constructing a bit mask for the received collective instruction; selecting, from among the associated algorithms and bit masks, a data communications algorithm in dependence upon the constructed bit mask; and executing the collective instruction, transmitting, according to the selected data communications algorithm from the origin endpoint to the target endpoint, the data communications message.
US08490111B2
The invention provides hardware logic based techniques for a set of processing tasks of a software program to efficiently communicate with each other while running in parallel on an array of processing cores of a multi-core data processing system dynamically shared among a group of software programs. These inter-task communication techniques comprise, by one or more task of the set, writing their inter-task communication information to a memory segment of other tasks of the set at the system memories, as well as reading inter-task communication information from their own segments at the system memories. The invention facilitates efficient inter-task communication on a multi-core fabric, without any of the communications tasks needing to know whether and at which core in the fabric any other task is executing at any given time. The invention thus enables flexibly and efficiently running any task of any program at any core of the fabric.
US08490110B2
Data processing on a network on chip (‘NOC’) that includes integrated processor (‘IP’) blocks, routers, memory communications controllers, and network interface controllers, with each IP block adapted to a router through a memory communications controller and a network interface controller, where each memory communications controller controlling communications between an IP block and memory, each network interface controller controlling inter-IP block communications through routers, with each IP block also adapted to the network by a low latency, high bandwidth application messaging interconnect comprising an inbox and an outbox.
US08490105B2
A system, method, and computer program product are provided for initiating an application in communication with a database management system via a bridge. Application memory is allocated to the application from a shared memory space within the database management system.
US08490099B2
A system and method for controlling a scheduling order per category is disclosed. A scheduling order can be designated for the delivery and playback of multimedia content (e.g., music, news, other audio, advertising, etc) with respect to particular slots within the scheduling order. The broadcast day is divided into dayparts according to specific time slots. The dayparts are assigned with specific daypart categories wherein multimedia is scheduled. The scheduling order can be configured to include a slotted by daypart scheduling technique to control the scheduling order for the eventual airplay of the multimedia content over a radio station or network of associated radio stations.
US08490094B2
In a NUMA-topology computer system that includes multiple nodes and multiple logical partitions, some of which may be dedicated and others of which are shared, NUMA optimizations are enabled in shared logical partitions. This is done by specifying a home node parameter in each virtual processor assigned to a logical partition. When a task is created by an operating system in a shared logical partition, a home node is assigned to the task, and the operating system attempts to assign the task to a virtual processor that has a home node that matches the home node for the task. The partition manager then attempts to assign virtual processors to their corresponding home nodes. If this can be done, NUMA optimizations may be performed without the risk of reducing the performance of the shared logical partition.
US08490086B1
A computer-implemented method for filtering input/output communications of guest operating systems may include: 1) identifying a guest operating system running in a virtual machine, 2) creating an input/output filtering layer that resides outside the guest operating system, 3) intercepting, at the input/output filtering layer, an input/output communication involving the guest operating system, and then 4) performing a filtering operation on the input/output communication. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
US08490084B1
A system and method of deploying applications to networked computing environments is disclosed. Application packages and installation instructions are received by a deployment manager. The installation instructions include test instructions. Application packages are distributed in response to requests by developers and installation instructions executed on a target computing environment. Failure of an installation test provides an indication of issues with the application in the target environment. Records of failures received are stored for use by application developers.
US08490083B1
During installing a first computer software product, a computer system advertises a second computer software product other than the first computer software product and demonstrates a feature of the second computer software product. The feature is responsive to said installing but unnecessary to said installing.
US08490081B2
Disclosed is a method and an apparatus for installing software in a mobile communication terminal. The apparatus for installing software in a mobile communication terminal, includes an external memory having software to be installed, a detector of the mobile communication terminal for, if an external memory is plugged in the mobile communication terminal, detecting a plugging state of the external memory, a memory being embedded in the mobile communication terminal, and a controller of the mobile communication terminal for reading the software to be installed from the external memory and storing the software in the memory if connection with the external memory is detected.
US08490075B2
An approach is provided for optimizing an exchange of service updates. A service update manager determines factors related to a level of activity, context, status, or combination thereof between a first device and a second device with respect to an information sharing service. The service update manager then computes a pair update rate for sharing information between the first device and second device via the information sharing service based on the determined factors, and transmits the pair update rate to the first device and the second device. If the first device and second device are members of a group created in the information sharing service, the service update manager computes respective pair update rates for each pair of members within the group, and computes a group update rate based on the respective pair updates. If one or more members of the group are members of one or more other groups, the service update manager computes respective group update rates for the group and each of the one or more other groups, and computes an aggregate group update rate based on the respective group update rates.
US08490069B2
A method for validating a translation of a graphical workflow of activities into an arbitrary, but structured language uses as input a term of a high level graphically expressed language having a number of graphical elements related logically to each other and analyzes its content and/or structure in order to translate this content and/or structure into a structured set of instructions. The graphical workflow of activities is simulated to arrive at a first set of activity results. Each instruction is translated into a generic language in order to trace the execution of such instruction to arrive at a second set of results from the translated instructions. The first set of activity results is compared with the second set of results, and the translation is validated in case of a match among the first set of activity results and the second set of results.
US08490063B2
Disclosed is a method and system for debugging XML files or documents by inserting a breakpoint into an XML file and converting the XML file into a bytecode format, where the breakpoint is propagated into the bytecode format and stored in runtime libraries. During runtime, on encountering the breakpoint, the location of the breakpoint is internally determined in the bytecode and points to the location of the breakpoint in the XML file.
US08490059B2
An apparatus for cross-browser testing of a web application is disclosed, including: a first broker residing among a plurality of browsers for receiving information of a user action from a browser operated by a user among the plurality of browsers and for transmitting the information of the user action to other browsers so that the other browsers can execute the user action; a second broker residing between the plurality of browsers and the web application for receiving at least one web request generated by executing the user action from the plurality of browsers and for determining whether to be able to merge the at least one web request, so as to determine whether the plurality of browsers are compatible with the web application. An associated method is also provided.
US08490057B2
Systems, methods and program products are provided for confidence-based static analysis, including initiating a static analysis of computer software, associating a confidence value with a first element of the static analysis, determining a current state of the static analysis, calculating an adjusted confidence value in accordance with a confidence adjustment function as applied to the current state and the confidence value associated with the first element, associating the adjusted confidence value with a second element of the static analysis resulting from a transition from the first element, and eliminating the second element from the static analysis if the adjusted confidence value meets elimination criteria.
US08490053B2
One embodiment of the present invention provides a software domain model that enables simultaneous independent development of software components. A system using this model includes a first component, a second component, and a core layer that defines an item that can be accessed by the first and second components. Both components are able to independently and separately extend the definition of the item. A high-level software layer uses a set of micro-orchestrations to perform a holistic task, with each micro-orchestration invoking a piece of functionality in a component, the core layer, and/or the software layer.
US08490050B2
A communications schema is captured into a service-neutral interface schema created by inspecting metadata received from an object and creating from it an abstract user interface model. A transform is applied to the abstract user interface model to generate a user interface that targets a particular user interface technology. Any user interface technology can be targeted so that a user interface for any user interface technology can be auto-generated.
US08490038B1
A system, method, and computer program product for automatically placing contact cuts in integrated circuit layouts, particularly in guard rings, inter-layer via connections, and various space-filling structures typically defined by polygons or paths. Areas to be filled with contact cuts are partitioned horizontally and vertically, and decomposed into shared and exclusive type regions that are sorted directionally. Contact cuts are placed in each region according to its type and according to relevant design rules on contact cut spacing and enclosure constraints. Contact cuts that may cause design rule violations are deleted. Narrow jogs or cuts, merged shared regions, and non-orthogonal edges or segments in the decomposed regions are handled by alternate embodiments. The result is automated contact cut placement, even for merged/chopped layout features, that is generally more symmetric, collinear, and adds an optimal number of contact cuts in most cases than with existing tools.
US08490034B1
Computationally intensive electronic design automation operations are accelerated with algorithms utilizing one or more graphics processing units. The optical proximity correction (OPC) process calculates, improves, and optimizes one or more features on an exposure mask (used in semiconductor or other processing) so that a resulting structure realized on an integrated circuit or chip meets desired design and performance requirements. When a chip has billions of transistors or more, each with many fine structures, the computational requirements for OPC can be very large. This processing can be accelerated using one or more graphics processing units.
US08490031B2
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes the steps of reading physical layout data of a circuit to be manufactured and performing calculation to modify a pattern width in the physical layout data by a predetermined amount; reading a physical layout and analyzing a pattern that is predicted to remain as a step difference of a predetermined amount or more in a case where a planarization process is performed on a planarizing film on a pattern by a quantitative calculation by using at least one of a density of patterns, a pattern width, and a peripheral length of a range of interest and a range in the vicinity of the range of interest; and reading data of the pattern that is predicted to remain as a step difference, and making a correction to a layout in which a step difference of a predetermined amount or more does not remain.
US08490030B1
An dual function distance metric for pattern matching based hotspot clustering is described. The dual function distance metric can handle patterns containing multiple polygons, is easy to compute, and is tolerant of small variations or shifts of the shapes. Compared with an XOR distance metric pattern clustering, the dual function distance metric can achieve up to 37.5% accuracy improvement with 2X-4X computational cost in the context of cluster analysis. The dual function distance metric is reliable and accurate for characterizing clips (e.g. hotspots), thereby making it desirable for industry applications.
US08490022B2
Embodiments of the present invention relate to audiovisual content authoring methods and systems and in particular to novel menu systems and the production thereof, for example implemented for DVD-Video discs. In one aspect, the present invention relates to a method of authoring an audiovisual product, for example a DVD-Video disc, comprising the steps of providing audiovisual content, generating at least a first menu (505) and a second menu (510), each menu comprising at least one menu option (506, 511), arranging the first menu (505) to be displayed during playback of the audiovisual content and arranging a menu option (506) of the first menu to cause display of the second menu during playback of the audiovisual content. Such a method facilitates hierarchical menu generation for DVD-Videos and the like.
US08490021B2
A system and method of displaying user interface information with respect to navigation of a hierarchical namespace is disclosed. The hierarchical namespace includes a first set of items representing a top level portion of the hierarchical namespace and a second set of items representing lower levels of the hierarchical namespace.
US08490013B2
A touchscreen display device implements a single touch operation using a spiral rotation gesture on a touchscreen display device to magnify the display of an image. Continued spiral rotations result in continued magnification. A zoom-in or zoom-out operation is implemented by a single touch spiral rotation. In one example, a spiral rotation defining an increasing area has a corresponding action to reduce a display portion of the display screen. Similarly, a spiral rotation defining a decreasing area has a corresponding action to magnify the display portion of the display screen. A floating origin may be used to identify gestures at various positions on a touchscreen display.
US08490012B2
Methods, systems, and apparatus for collaborative media editing. In one aspect, a method includes presenting, to an originator, an originator interface including multiple media panes; establishing a connection with a collaborator; receiving from the originator a selection indicating an item of media content associated with at least one of the multiple media panes; transmitting to the collaborator the selected item of media content; and enabling inter-user communication relating to the selected item of media content in the originator interface with the collaborator. Further, a connection can be established with a second collaborator, the item of media content can be transmitted to the second collaborator, and communication can occur in the originator interface with the second collaborator.
US08489996B2
A remote control apparatus and method. A client-side remote control method includes: receiving characteristic information for each of plural windows from a server; identifying each of the plural windows by referring to the received characteristic information; and transmitting a display update request for the each of the identified windows to the server.
US08489993B2
A game apparatus saves, in accordance with an instruction of a user, a photographing image taken by an inward camera or an outward camera, or a handwriting image of a handwritten note inputted using a touch panel. Moreover, in accordance with an instruction of the user, position information is saved together with the photographing image or the handwriting image. That is, a photographing place or a creation place of the handwritten note is registered on a map. When the photographing image or the handwriting image is reproduced, an image of a landmark set near a position on the map indicated by the position information is reproduced before the photographing image or the handwritten image.
US08489981B2
A computationally-implemented method comprises retrieving at least a portion of data from a data source, determining an acceptability of an effect of the retrieved at least a portion of the data at least in part via a virtual machine representation of at least a part of an end user's real machine having one or more end-user specified preferences, and providing at least one data display option to the end user's real machine based on the determining acceptability of the effect of the retrieved at least a portion of the data.
US08489975B2
A semiconductor memory includes multi-mode reporting signals, a state register, and parity detectors. The parity detector determines whether signals received on a communication bus contain a desired parity. The multi-mode reporting signals enable reporting of communication faults without adding additional signals to the semiconductor memory by being configured in a normal operating mode or a parity fault mode for reporting communication faults to an external memory controller. The state register enables storing of received values from the communication bus. With the state register, a memory controller may determine correctly received signal patterns and failing signal patterns. Parity may be defined as even or odd and may be generated based on various signal configurations. The embodiments may be configured as a computing system comprising a processor, an input device, an output device, the memory controller, and at least one semiconductor memory.
US08489971B1
A system for adapting coefficients of a soft output Viterbi algorithm (SOVA) is disclosed. The system includes a receiver configured to select an output of an SOVA detector at least in part based on a criterion. The receiver is configured to store the selected output of the SOVA detector. The receiver is further configured to store a signal that corresponds to the stored selected output of the SOVA detector, wherein the input to the SOVA detector is derived from the signal. The receiver is further configured to adapt a plurality of coefficients of the SOVA detector at least in part based on the stored selected output of the SOVA detector, the stored signal, and a corresponding data pattern. The system includes an interface coupled to the receiver and configured to receive samples.
US08489970B1
A receiver includes a seed recovery module and a pseudo-random binary sequence generator. The seed recovery module is configured to receive a pseudo-random binary sequence and a signal including a seed value, recover the seed value from the signal using the pseudo-random binary sequence, and determine a likelihood that a bit of the seed value was recovered accurately. The pseudo-random binary sequence generator is configured to generate the pseudo-random binary sequence, and adjust the pseudo-random binary sequence based on the likelihood until the likelihood is greater than a threshold.
US08489965B1
Some of the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method comprising receiving a stream of codewords from a hard disk controller (HDC), receiving a write gate signal, the write gate signal configured to request a read/write (R/W) channel to write at least a first part of the stream of codewords to a media, and receiving a symbol count signal indicating a number of symbols in the first part of the received stream of codewords. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
US08489962B2
An LDPC decoder iteratively decodes an LDPC code represented by a parity check matrix H consisting of a plurality of circulants based on a Log-Likelihood Ratio Belief-Propagation algorithm. First computation means (1010) compute for a next iteration symbol messages λκm from a representation of a corresponding symbol value stored in a first memory 1005 and from check node messages Λmn from a previous iteration. A shuffler (1030) changes a sequence of the symbol message received from the first computation means (1010) in dependence on a position of the non-zero elements in a corresponding sub-matrix. Second computation means (DP-O, DP-I, DP-D-I) compute the check node messages in dependence on symbol messages received from the barrel shifter and store a representation of the computed check node message in a second memory (1015). Third computation means (1020) update the representation of the symbol values in the first memory in dependence on output of the first and second computing means. The principle of “staggered” or “shuffled” LDPC decoding is used. One embodiment is designed for multi-diagonal circulants.
US08489960B1
A communications device including a low-density parity check (LDPC) encoder and a transmitter. The LDPC encoder is configured to (i) receive data, and (ii) in response to the received data, generate encoded data using a predetermined LDPC matrix, in which the predetermined LDPC matrix is specified by a predetermined base matrix. The transmitter is configured to transmit the encoded data over a communications channel.
US08489957B2
Low density parity check (LDPC) decoders are described utilizing a sequential schedule called Zigzag LBP (Z-LBP), for a layered belief propagation (LBP) architecture. Z-LBP has a lower computational complexity per iteration than variable-node-centric LBP (V-LBP), while being simpler than flooding and check-node-centric LBP (C-LBP). For QC-LDPC codes where the sub-matrices can have at most one “1” per column and one “1” per row, Z-LBP can perform partially-parallel decoding with the same performance as C-LBP. The decoder comprises a control circuit and memory coupled to a parity check matrix. Message passage is performed within Z-LBP in a first direction on odd iterations, and in a second direction on even iterations. As a result, a smaller parity check matrix can be utilized, while convergence can be more readily attained. The inventive method and apparatus can also be implemented for partially-parallel architectures.
US08489950B2
A method includes, in response to a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle being configured, and in response to a hybrid automatic repeat request round trip time (HARQ RTT) timer for an associated one of n hybrid automatic repeat request processes expiring in a current subframe when data in a corresponding hybrid automatic repeat request buffer is not successfully decoded, determining if a single discontinuous reception retransmission timer has been started. The single discontinuous reception retransmission timer is associated with all n of the hybrid automatic repeat request processes, where n is an integer equal to one or more than one. The method further includes, if the single discontinuous reception retransmission timer has not been started, starting the single discontinuous reception retransmission timer and setting an associated expiry value to a basic value. The method further includes, if the single discontinuous reception retransmission timer has been started, updating the expiry value by adding an increment value.
US08489931B2
Methods, media, and systems for detecting an anomalous sequence of function calls are provided. The methods can include compressing a sequence of function calls made by the execution of a program using a compression model; and determining the presence of an anomalous sequence of function calls in the sequence of function calls based on the extent to which the sequence of function calls is compressed. The methods can further include executing at least one known program; observing at least one sequence of function calls made by the execution of the at least one known program; assigning each type of function call in the at least one sequence of function calls made by the at least one known program a unique identifier; and creating at least part of the compression model by recording at least one sequence of unique identifiers.
US08489930B1
A method is integrated into the local operating system of a test machine. The disclosed technique preferably uses a master copy of one or more data objects from a first location to create virtual data objects (e.g., files or folders) that appear to be part of a file system mounted to a test machine in a second location. This disclosure describes a “projection” method and computer program that enables access to a destination object at a target location immediately upon initiation of a copy command at a source location while a copy operation is carried out in a background manner.
US08489928B1
A computerized method for electronic communication includes issuing via a mail client a set of extensions in a command to a MX server for an initial electronic communication; determining in the mail client one or more of the extensions, which failed; and for a subsequent electronic communication between the mail client and the MX server, for a predetermined time period, not issuing to the MX server by the mail client the one or more extensions, which failed.
US08489927B2
A device for use in inspecting a CPU and a method thereof are provided. The device comprises a receiving interface and a processor. The receiving interface receives a first data stream from the CPU when the CPU executes a reference hardware inspection program in a first time interval, and receives a second data stream from the CPU when the CPU executes the reference hardware inspection program in a second time interval. The processor sets the first data stream as a good log, and sets the second data stream as an erroneous log. The processor compares the good log and the erroneous log to determine a segment of the erroneous log as an erroneous range, and determine a defect of the CPU according to the erroneous range.
US08489926B2
The present disclosure generally relates to the testing of a system that includes software or hardware components. In some embodiments, a testing framework generates a set of test cases for a system under test using a grammar. Each test case may perform an action, such as provide an input to the system under test, and result in an output from the system under test. The inputs and outputs are then compared to the expected results to determine whether the system under test is performing correctly. Prior to generating the set of test cases from the grammar, the testing framework processes the grammar to identify attributes of the test cases to be derived from the grammar and facilitates the modification of the grammar.
US08489925B1
A system and method that handles and prevents application installation and execution errors in computer systems using an expert data acquired by analysis of the application and errors detected in the emulator. The system also handles the errors raised during an application update. The system allows for testing of applications for execution on a system with a particular configuration. The system can determine all possible errors that can be raised in different execution environments. Additionally, the system can determine system error causes and modify the computer system in order to prevent the system errors. An automated analysis of the application execution in the emulated execution environment is performed. An expert system of error handling scenarios is formed based on the emulation. The system includes an emulator, an expert system, an expert database and an error processor.
US08489915B2
A storage integrity system in a dispersed storage network scans an address range of data slices to identify errors in one of a plurality of encoded data slices, wherein the plurality of encoded data slices are generated from a data segment using an error encoding dispersal function. When the storage integrity system detects an error, it identifies one of the encoded data slices for rebuilding. The identified data slice is rebuilt in response to the type of error. For example, when the type of the error includes a temporary error, the storage integrity system waits a predetermined time period to determine whether the error still exists prior to rebuilding the identified data slice.
US08489910B2
A timing controller includes a controller that controls an operation timing of a controlled unit, and a setting unit that associates a timing obtained by dividing a setting of the operation timing into a plurality of timings, each timing having an identification number, and sets the control unit so that an offset period based on the associated timing is added to the operation timing of the controlled unit.
US08489893B2
Storage media is coupled to first and second storage controllers. When the first storage controller performs encryption key rotation, the first storage controller writes a key rotation message to a storage controller metadata section of the storage media indicating that key rotation is underway. The second storage controller observes the key rotation message indicating that key rotation is underway and suspends access by the second storage controller to encrypted portions of the storage media.
US08489886B2
A method, data processing system and program product is provided for performing double authentication for controlling disruptive operations on storage resources generated by a system administrator. A first request is received from a first user for generation of a first key. A first key is generated, provided to the first user and associated with the storage resource. An input is received from the administrator, the input comprises a second key and a command for performing the disruptive operation. The second key and the first key are compared. It is verified that the administrator is authorized as an administrator of the storage resource. The disruptive operation is performed on the storage resource if the second key and the first key match and the administrator is authorized. Otherwise, the performance of the disruptive operation is denied.
US08489884B2
Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture for media monitoring are disclosed. In particular, the example methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture generate signatures. Initially, a first plurality of filtered values are identified by performing a wavelet transform on a first frame of media samples. A first energy value is determined based on a first portion of the first plurality of filtered values, and a second energy value is determined based on a second portion of the first plurality of filtered values. A first descriptor of the first frame of media samples is determined based on a comparison of the first energy value and the second energy value. A first signature is generated based on the first descriptor.
US08489880B1
A command processor providing user authentication and message tamper detection, comprising: an interface to read email; and a processor for (i) analyzing command processor messages to determine an authentication of a sender; (ii) analyzing command processor messages to determine if the command message has been altered from an authentic message content; and if the command processor message is from an authenticated sender and unaltered, passing the message to a command processor.
US08489879B2
Provided is an information processing apparatus including a communication unit for communication with an external apparatus, an operating system running unit for running first and second operating systems, the first for communication via a first communication path under a first communication protocol, and the second for communication via a second communication path under a second communication protocol. The apparatus includes a storage including first and second data areas for the operating systems, and a shared area for both operating systems. A first encryption key is stored in the first area for first protocol communication. The first operating system encrypts the communication via the first path by the first key, acquires, from the external apparatus via the first path, a second encryption key for second protocol communication, and stores the second key into the shared area. The second operating system transfers the second key to the second data area.
US08489878B2
Communication across domains is described. In at least one implementation, a determination is made that an amount of data to be communicated via an Iframe exceeds a threshold amount. The data is divided into a plurality of portions that do not exceed the threshold amount. A plurality of messages is formed to communicate the divided data across domains.
US08489875B2
Methods, systems and devices for transmitting DHCP message are provided according to the present invention so that encrypted transmission of user sensitive information is achieved. The method includes receiving, by a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server, a DHCP request from a DHCP relay agent, wherein the request carries encrypted relay agent options; decrypting, by the DHCP server, the encrypted relay agent options to obtain the relay agent options. With the present invention, safe transmission of the user sensitive information in the DHCP message is ensured.
US08489854B1
A non-volatile semiconductor memory comprising (1) a non-volatile memory array including a plurality of blocks with at least some of the plurality of blocks comprising a plurality of memory segments and with at least some of the plurality of memory segments each assigned a physical address and (2) a volatile memory. Upon a power-up of the non-volatile semiconductor memory, a translation table is generated in the volatile memory for mapping logical addresses to physical addresses in the non-volatile memory array. The generating includes reading at least one entry comprising a logical address from an inverse map stored in the non-volatile memory array. The logical address corresponds to a physical address of one of the memory segments. In response to determining that the memory segment corresponding to the logical address is valid, the translation table is updated using the logical address.
US08489853B2
What is disclosed is a frame management function defined for a machine architecture of a computer system. In one embodiment, a frame management instruction is obtained which identifies a first and second general register. The first general register contains a frame management field having a key field with access-protection bits and a block-size indication. If the block-size indication indicates a large block then an operand address of a large block of data is obtained from the second general register. The large block of data has a plurality of small blocks each of which is associated with a corresponding storage key having a plurality of storage key access-protection bits. If the block size indication indicates a large block, the storage key access-protection bits of each corresponding storage key of each small block within the large block is set with the access-protection bits of the key field.
US08489847B2
A system memory is partitioned into a first paged partition for a first operating system and a second paged partition for a second operating system. The first paged partition is mapped into a first virtual memory partition, and the second paged partition is mapped into a second virtual memory partition. A subset of pages within the second virtual memory partition is marked as reclaimable by the first operating system to produce a set of marked pages. Responsive to a request by the first operating system for further memory, at least one reclaimable page selected from the set of marked pages is swapped out to a storage file, and the first operating system writes to the at least one reclaimable page.
US08489845B2
A pool, which is configured by multiple actual areas, is formed on the basis of two or more storage devices. A second storage control apparatus (DKC) determines, for each storage device, an unused capacity to be given to a first DKC with respect to each first DKC based on an unused capacity of each storage device and a request value of each storage device for each first DKC, and gives, for each first DKC, the unused capacity for each storage device determined with respect to the first DKC, to this first DKC. The request value of the storage device is based on a performance value, which is a value related to the performance of this storage device. The total capacity of multiple actual areas allocated to the virtual volumes by the first DKC is equal to or less than the unused capacity given with respect to each storage device.
US08489840B2
Some embodiments of discontiguous object addressing have been presented. In one embodiment, a set of objects, each having one or more properties, are stored in a memory of a computer system. The memory is divided into chunks. The properties of at least one of the objects are stored in discontiguous chunks of the memory. Furthermore, a processor in the computer system may independently access the individual properties in the discontiguous chunks of memory.
US08489838B2
A method for erasing data of a terminal includes: receiving a data erasing request from a management server; deleting data corresponding to an erasing range node according to a value of a flag bit of the erasing range node in an erasable list; and deleting the erasing range node from the erasable list.
US08489836B2
The present invention describes a system and a method for securely loading digital information from a storage device into a memory module in a data processing system, said data processing system comprising at least one storage device, one memory module and at least one processor, said data processing system further comprising a memory access controller module connected between the processor and the memory module, and a secure memory management module connected to the processor, the memory module, the storage device and the memory access controller. Requests by the processor for data are passed to the secure memory management module, which loads the data from the storage device to the memory module and configures the memory access controller such that the processor will have access to the data.
US08489835B2
It is an object of the present invention to conduct data transfer or data copying between a plurality of storage systems, without affecting the host computer of the storage systems. Two or more auxiliary storage systems 100B, 100C are connected to a primary storage system 100A connected to a host device 180. The auxiliary storage systems 100B, 100C read journals of data update from the primary storage system 100A at respective independent timings, save the journals in prescribed logical volumes JNL 2, JNL 3, produce copying of the data present in the primary storage system 100A based on the journals present in the logical volumes JNL 2, JNL 3 at the independent timings, and save the copies in auxiliary logical volumes COPY 1, COPY 3. The primary storage system 100A holds the journals till both auxiliary storage systems 100B, 100C read the journals and restore. The timing of journal read can be controlled according to the journal quantity, processing load, and the like.
US08489825B2
A method for storing a vector of process data elements (D1, . . . , D8) that have a size of n bits from a register file (RF) into a memory (M) is described. The memory is arranged for storage of a vector of storage data elements in locations (M1, . . . , M5) having a size of m bits, wherein m>n. The method comprises the steps of: exchanging bits (S2) between process data elements in the vector stored in mutually subsequent register elements, the exchanging resulting in a vector of modified data elements (DmI, . . . , Dm8), shuffling (S3) groups of k subsequent bits in the resulting vector, —storing (S4) the resulting shuffled vector of modified data elements as a vector of storage data elements in the memory (M).
US08489823B2
A microprocessor configured to access an external memory includes a first-level cache, a second-level cache, and a bus interface unit (BIU) configured to interface the first-level and second-level caches to a bus used to access the external memory. The BIU is configured to prioritize requests from the first-level cache above requests from the second-level cache. The second-level cache is configured to generate a first request to the BIU to fetch a cache line from the external memory. The second-level cache is also configured to detect that the first-level cache has subsequently generated a second request to the second-level cache for the same cache line. The second-level cache is also configured to request the BIU to refrain from performing a transaction on the bus to fulfill the first request if the BIU has not yet been granted ownership of the bus to fulfill the first request.
US08489814B2
A cache controller, a method for controlling the cache controller, and a computing system comprising the same are provided. The computer system comprises a processor and a cache controller. The cache controller is electrically connected to the processor and comprises a first port, a second port, and at least one cache. The first port is configured to receive an address of a content, wherein a type of the content is one of instruction and data. The second port is configured to receive an information bit corresponding to the content, wherein the information bit indicates the type of the content. The at least one cache comprises at least one cache lines. Each of the cache lines comprises a content field and corresponding to an information field. The content and the information bit is stored in the content field of one of the cache lines and the corresponding information field respectively according to the information bit and the address. Thereby, instruction and data are separated in a unified cache.
US08489813B2
One storage area is selected from two or more storage areas of a high load physical storage device, a physical storage device with a lower load than that of the physical storage device is selected, and it is judged whether the redundancy according to the RAID level corresponding to the logical volume decreases when the data elements stored in the selected storage area are transferred to the selected low load physical storage device. If the result of this judgment is that the redundancy does not decrease, the data elements stored in the selected storage area are transferred to a buffer area of the selected low load physical storage device and the logical address space of the logical volume that corresponds to the selected storage area is associated with the buffer area.
US08489812B2
An approach for automatic storage planning and provisioning within a clustered computing environment is provided. Planning input for a set of storage area network volume controllers (SVCs) will be received within the clustered computing environment, the planning input indicating a potential load on the SVCs and its associated components. Analytical models (e.g., from vendors) can be also used that allow for a load to be accurately estimated on the storage components. Configuration data for a set of storage components (i.e., the set of SVCs, a set of managed disk (Mdisk) groups associated with the set of SVCs, and a set of backend storage systems) will also be collected. Based on this configuration data, the set of storage components will be filtered to identify candidate storage components capable of addressing the potential load. Then, performance data for the candidate storage components will be analyzed to identify an SVC and an Mdisk group to address the potential load.
US08489806B2
To extend endurance and reduce bit cost, a storage apparatus includes a controller and a first storage device and a second storage device having a smaller erase count upper limit than the first storage device. Area conversion information includes correspondence of a first address of a data storage destination and a second address of a data storage area The controller selects an area corresponding to the first address, determines whether a rewrite frequency of the selected area is equal to or larger than a first threshold and, when the rewrite frequency is equal to or larger than the threshold, selects an area of the first storage device, and, when the rewrite frequency is smaller than the threshold, selects an area of the second storage device and maps the address of the selected area to the first address.
US08489805B2
The present disclosure includes methods and devices for logical memory blocks. One method for operating a memory device includes receiving a command to operate X pages of the memory device, X being greater than Y, and executing the command by executing multiple subcommands, each subcommand operating on a logical memory block portion of the X pages, each logical memory block including at most Y pages. T is a timeout limit, N is a number of pages comprising a block of memory, and Y is number of pages that can be operated within time T.
US08489802B2
A recordable memory device includes a nonvolatile semiconductor memory, and a controller controlling the nonvolatile semiconductor memory based on a recordable system. The nonvolatile semiconductor memory has a user area capable of directly making an access from a host, and a system area managed by the controller. A data writing to the reformatted user area of the nonvolatile semiconductor memory executes from a start point which is an unused area after the final physical address of old recordable data recorded in the user area before the reformat. The data writing executes from a start point which is a top physical address in the user area, when the start point exceeds the final physical address in the user area.
US08489801B2
Various embodiments of the present invention are generally directed to an apparatus and associated method for a non-volatile memory with a hybrid index tag array. In accordance with some embodiments, a memory device has a word memory array formed of non-volatile resistive sense memory (RSM) cells, a first index array formed of volatile content addressable memory (CAM) cells, and a second index array formed of non-volatile RSM cells. The memory device is configured to output word data from the word memory array during a data retrieval operation when input request data matches tag data stored in the first index array, and to copy tag data stored in the second index array to the first index array during a device reinitialization operation.
US08489798B2
An electronic device is connectable to an external device. An interface substrate is detachably connected to a main substrate. A first interface is installed on the interface substrate, and the first interface which is connectable to the external device. A second interface is installed on the main substrate, and the second interface which is connectable to the external device. A selection unit selects one interface of the first interface on the interface substrate and the second interface on the main substrate. A communication unit communicates information with the external device through the interface selected by the selection unit. The selection unit selects an interface which is pre-designated or preferentially selects an interface which first receives a signal from the external device, between the first interface and the second interface.
US08489791B2
Described embodiments provide a system having a bridge for communicating information between two processor buses. The bridge receives a command from a first bus, the command having an identification field and an address field. As the command is entered into a buffer in the bridge, the address field is checked against one or more addresses. If there is a match, then control bits are checked to see if the command will be allowed or not depending on the identification field value. If the command is not transferred to the second bus, a flag is set in the buffer, and an error message is returned to the first bus, and an interrupt may be generated. The control bits allow commands access to specific addresses on the second bus or deny the access depending on the command identification field. Bit-wise masking provides a range of values for identification and address field matching.
US08489786B2
A slave device has an input/output adapted for connection to a serial data line of an I2C bus configuration, a clock input adapted for connection to a serial clock line of the I2C bus configuration, and an interrupt input adapted for connection to the serial clock line of the I2C bus configuration. The slave device senses transitions on the serial clock line through the interrupt input to trigger capturing of a command code on serial data line through the input output. In response to receipt of the command code, the slave device controls the serial data line through the input/output to send an acknowledgement of receipt of the command code. However, if the captured command code is not recognized the slave device inhibits sending of the acknowledgement of the command code. The pull up connection on the serial data line of the I2C bus configuration will, when the slave device is inhibited from acknowledging, produce a high logic state indicative of a no acknowledgement.
US08489782B2
A detection circuit can be configured to receive a digital value from an identification register and to determine a resistance at a conducting terminal of an audio or video jack plug using the digital value. The detection circuit can include a current source that outputs a current according to the digital value from the identification register and a comparator that compares a reference voltage to a voltage created by the current source across the resistance at the conducting terminal of the audio or video jack plug. A control logic circuit can be configured to store the digital value in the identification register, generate an interrupt signal to cause a processor to read the digital value, and identify a function of an accessory device including the audio or video jack plug, when the detection circuit determines the resistance at the conducting terminal of the audio or video jack plug.
US08489775B2
A power management control system for an information handling system is disclosed. The power management control system includes a power management interface bus interfacing a plurality of devices, where one or more of the devices is each associated with a time clock. The power management control system further includes a management agent interfacing the power management interface bus. The management agent is configured to: receive a system time; synchronize the one or more time clocks based, at least in part, on the system time; and maintain synchronization of the one or more time clocks, at least in part, via a set of telemetric primitives.
US08489772B2
A method for inserting content through a service delivery hub includes the steps of designating a set of tags to be made available through an API, providing the API for use by third parties; intercepting a communication from the third party; interrogating the communication for a data tag, substituting content for the data tag and delivering the communication to an intended recipient. The method may further include that the content substituted for the data tag is dependent upon a parameter such as the MSISDN.
US08489769B2
A method and apparatus for socialization of electronic devices is provided. Communications from a first person to a second person or to a group of persons may be enhanced, such as modified or supplemented, based on a user profile of the first person, the second person, and/or the group of persons. The user profile may comprise any one or any combination of the following: presence, expression, shared context, surrounding context, and device context. Moreover, enhancing the communication may comprise modifying or supplementing text, audio, video, image, scent, tactile and taste output. In addition, a communication is sent based on changes in a user profile. Changes in the user profile may comprise manual changes or automatic changes. Further, the content of the communication sent may depend on the aspect changed in the user profile.
US08489767B2
Disclosed herein is a VPN service with fully meshed virtual paths obtained with a smaller number of settings, thus facilitating expansion of the VPN service. This is attained by providing a communication device in a virtual private network (VPN) having a VPN accommodation function for connecting an intra-organization network or inter-organization network through the Internet.
US08489765B2
In one embodiment, a root device may request that one or more devices of a computer network build a directed acyclic graph (DAG) for routing traffic within the computer network based on an objective function (OF), where the OF has one or more metrics to optimize the DAG against and optionally certain constraints. Particular devices that receive the request may then build the DAG based on the OF, and may determine and report OF feedback to the root device. Upon receiving the reports regarding OF feedback, the root device may then adjust the OF based on the feedback, and request a rebuild of the DAG from the devices based on the adjusted OF.
US08489755B2
The invention detects a denial of service attack at a node by monitoring the number of discarded packets in relationship to the number of inbound packets. When an attack is detected, relevant inbound packet information is collected during the attack to help characterize the attack and at least to pinpoint the source of the last hop to the attacked node.
US08489754B2
An optimized spanning tree protocol (OSTP) minimizes latency and provides high throughput in a full-mesh portion of a network, and is compatible with external networks where a standard spanning tree protocol is used. The OSTP enables traffic traversing the full-mesh portion to take a shortest path from source to destination through use of full-mesh connectivity. In some embodiments, a cluster includes a plurality of servers connected in a full mesh, and the OSTP is used on internal ports of the servers. In some embodiments, the OSTP is configured on a per-VLAN basis. In some embodiments, the servers exchange special messages enabling determination of full-mesh connectivity. In further embodiments, sending of the special messages is suppressed on certain port types, such as external ports. In some embodiments, determination of the full-mesh connectivity disables use of a standard spanning tree protocol and/or enables use of OSTP on the full-mesh portion.
US08489748B2
A system for providing various overlay information one UPnP AV media renderers. According to the present invention, indications of messages and/or other information received by a UPnP mobile telephone or other UPnP control point can be directly transmitted to a renderer and exhibited in different manners. The present invention also permits the UPnP control point to transmit an event subscription to the renderer for subsequent use. The renderer permits accept or reject the receipt of various information at the particular time.
US08489744B2
A host controller migrates live virtual machines from one host to another host to balance the load in the host cluster. In one embodiment, the host controller identifies an overloaded host from the host cluster. The host controller selects a virtual machine from the existing virtual machines that run on the overloaded host based on a percentage value associated with the virtual machine. The percentage value represents CPU usage incurred by the virtual machine on the host. In one embodiment, the selected virtual machine is one that incurs the least amount of load on the host. The host controller then selects a target host from the host cluster as a destination for migrating the selected virtual machine.
US08489743B2
There is a need in the art for application servers to be able to exhibit the same behavior irrespective of the used access technology. In order to address this need the present invention provides methods and apparatuses for allowing one or more subscribers to be administratively registered.
US08489738B2
An event notification matching system, including an event matching table forming a plurality of nodes. Each node is assigned a subscriber request value and contains identifiers for one or more subscribers to be notified at the occurrence of an event relating to the subscriber request value. The event notification matching system may also include a table index. The table index receives input values from an event processing module and selects one or more of the nodes that have subscriber request values corresponding to the received input values. The event processor receives event data from a predetermined source, and formats the input values to simplify the operations performed by the event matching table. The event notification matching system is configured such that the event data need not be compared to non-matching nodes in the event matching table.
US08489720B1
Methods, apparatuses, and systems directed to cost-aware bandwidth management schemes that are adaptive to monitored network or application performance attributes. In one embodiment, the present invention supports bandwidth management systems that adapt to network conditions, while managing tradeoffs between bandwidth costs and application performance. One implementation of the present invention tracks bandwidth usage over an applicable billing period and applies a statistical model to allow for bursting to address increased network loading conditions that degrade network or application performance. One implementation allows for bursting at selected time periods based on computations minimizing cost relative to an applicable billing model. One implementation of the present invention is also application-aware, monitoring network application performance and increasing bandwidth allocations in response to degradations in the performance of selected applications.
US08489719B2
Techniques are provided for desktop delivery in a distributed enterprise. In one embodiment, a system comprises multiple computing devices that are communicatively connected to a data center. The data center comprises a separate virtual disk for each separate computing device. A virtual disk for a computing device comprises an image that includes: an Operating system (OS) for the computing device; one or more applications for a user of the computing device; a machine profile associated with the computing device; and user data and settings that are specific for the user of the computing device. The data center also comprises logic which is stored in a storage medium and which, when executed at the data center, is operable at least to: send the image to the computing device; receive, from the computing device, changes made by the user at the computing device to each of the OS, the one or more applications, and the user data; and update the image for the computing device by applying the changes to each of the OS, the one or more applications, and the user data.
US08489717B2
A system for the accelerated re-provisioning of data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS) configuration files between a DOCSIS provisioning server and a plurality of network nodes that are configured according to the DOCSIS configuration files is provided. The system includes: a memory; and a caching entity configured to monitor transmissions from the provisioning server of the configuration files to the network nodes so as to both store the configurations files in the memory and to pass-through the configuration files to the network nodes; the caching entity being further configured to monitor requests to the provisioning server for respective ones of the DOCSIS configuration files from the network nodes, the caching entity being further configured to determine for each of the requests whether the requested configuration file has been previously requested node such that if the caching entity determines that the requested configuration file has been previously requested the caching entity retrieves the previously requested configuration file from the memory and returns the retrieved-from-memory configuration file to the network node.
US08489711B2
A service distribution method includes the steps of: firstly generating, by a management system, a corresponding configuration file from service information of a user, and sending the configuration file to an Optical Network Termination (ONT) of the user through an Optical Line Terminal (OLT); and then performing, by the ONT, corresponding configuration in accordance with the configuration file. A service distribution system and a management system are provided. The invention is applied to enable service distribution with good extendibility.
US08489708B2
A virtual application may be configured with several extension points within a host operating system. The virtual application may be configured with a private namespace in which various components, such as registry settings, dynamic linked libraries, and other components may reside. During configuration, links may be placed in the host operating system that may point to objects in the virtual application's private namespace so that the operating system and other applications may launch, control, or otherwise interact with the virtual application. The links may be located in a file system, registry, or other locations and may be available to other applications, including other virtual applications. A configuration routine may place the links into the host operating system at the time the application may be configured.
US08489706B2
Protocol is provided for safe transfer of files from between nodes of a communication system. The protocol includes a handshake operation between a source (local or initiating) node sending one or more files and a remote (responding) node receiving the files to ensure that control of the file remains with the source node a configurable amount of time until the file is successfully transferred. A file transfer manager controls the transfer process through a series of file moves that include moving the file into a directory associated with the file transfer manager, from which the file is sent and moving the file out of that directory after the remote node acknowledges a safe copy operation of the file. Files can be retrieved by the remote node after they have been transmitted, after which they will be deleted from the local node.
US08489704B1
A Display generating data for transmission on a remote viewing session throttles the generation of updates so that updates are provided at a relatively constant rate during the remote viewing session. Remote viewing software executing on the Display estimates when a transport layer of the display will complete sending a current update. If there is data to be sent, the remote viewing software will start to process a next subsequent update prior to the time that the remote viewing software estimates that the transport layer will finish sending the current update, so that the remote viewing software is able to provide a pipeline of data just in time to the transport layer to keep the transport layer active in transmitting data on the remote viewing session.
US08489701B2
Architecture for exposing a virtual private network of peer devices into the public domain via an overlay network. Computing devices, peripheral devices, as well as mobile devices can be physically distributed, but appear to belong to the same virtual private (or home) network, and be accessible from anywhere. Benefits include access to user media/documents from anywhere, searching of all connected devices from one location, multicast and broadcast connectivity, management of the private network and the associated policies, and device discovery on the private network from across public networks. P2P networks and ad-hoc networks can be exposed as a virtual interface, as well as the utilization of client operating systems to create the virtual network, grouping, graphing, the integration with relay services and other NAT/firewall traversal schemes, and the creation of a P2P overlay manager on a physical NIC (network interface card) address rather than a virtual address.
US08489695B2
The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or method for establishing proxy communications between users on a social network. An exemplary method includes creating an alias on a primary social network when a user logs in to the primary social network, wherein the alias comprises the user's identity on a secondary social network. The method further includes creating a cache comprising a map relating a second user's identity on the primary social network to the second user's identity on a secondary social network, wherein the creation of the map is based, at least in part, on the user and the second user being identified as friends in the secondary social network. Communications from the user to the second user are directed through the primary social network based, at least in part, on the map. The communications are formatted to appear as if they were sent from the user's account on the secondary social network.
US08489694B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide an approach for an enhanced pub/sub environment whereby a peer group of publishers is defined and can collaborate to determine when to cache data being sent to a common broker or brokers. Specifically, in a typical embodiment, configuration data or the like will be read to define a peer group among the publisher systems in the pub/sub messaging environment. Once such a group has been identified, communication therebetween will be established. Once cacheable data has been identified, a unique identifier/set of cache keys will be generated corresponding thereto and associated with the set of data. A message comprising the set of data and corresponding unique identifier will then be sent to a broker system (e.g., from the publisher system(s)), which will store (or have stored) the set of data in a cache, and pass the underlying message along to applicable subscriber system(s).
US08489691B2
A method of initiating a communication event via a packet-based communication network in a media appliance having a processor executing a communication client, comprising: retrieving a stored list comprising a plurality of contacts associated with a user of the communication client; generating a first two-dimensional contact grid comprising a first arrangement of entries; displaying the first contact grid on a display means such that each of a plurality of the entries comprises a graphical representation of a respective one of the plurality of contacts, wherein the graphical representations are sized so as to fit in the entries of the first contact grid; receiving a selection of a subset of the graphical representations in the first contact grid from a user of the communication client; generating a second contact grid comprising a second arrangement of entries corresponding to the selected subset; displaying the second contact grid on the display means in replacement of the first contact grid, such that each of a plurality of the entries comprises a graphical representation of a respective one of the plurality of contacts, and wherein the graphical representations are resized so as to fit in the entries of the second contact grid; receiving a selection of one of the graphical representations in the second contact grid from the user of the communication client; and initiating a communication event with the contact represented by the selected graphical representation via the packet-based communication network.
US08489682B2
A method and application server for handling a supplementary services message in a communication network. A subscriber's Home Location Register (HLR) sends an Interrogation marker to the subscriber's Mobile-services Switching Center/Visitor Location Register (MSC/VLR) instructing the MSC/VLR to forward all supplementary services messages from the subscriber to the HLR. When the subscriber's user terminal sends a supplementary services message to the MSC/VLR requesting a supplementary service, the MSC/VLR forwards the message to the subscriber's HLR. The HLR retrieves an address of an IP Multimedia Application Server associated with the subscriber, and sends the supplementary services message to the addressed Application Server for handling the supplementary services request.
US08489679B2
A method and apparatus is disclosed herein for monitoring network traffic. In one embodiment, the method comprises monitoring, using a monitoring device located near a first end of one segment of a connection with a client and a server in a network, packets that are part of an initial TCP handshake between the client and the server and determining a network time, a server time, and a client time based on information collected when monitoring the one segment.
US08489664B2
A method is provided for first order accumulation in a single clock cycle. The method accepts a limited gain value and an accumulated value stored in a previous clock cycle. Using combinational logic, the limited gain value is summed with the accumulated value. If the summed value is between upper and lower limits, a non-weighted correction signal is supplied, and the summed value is the storage value. If the summed value is greater than the upper limit, a positive weighting is supplied, the (upper limit+1) is subtracted from the summed value, and the result is the storage value. If the summed value is less than the lower limit, then a negative weighting is supplied, the lower limit is subtracted from the summed value, and the result is the storage value. The storage value is loaded in memory for use as the accumulated value in the subsequent clock cycle.
US08489663B2
A decimal floating-point (DFP) adder includes a decimal leading-zero anticipator (LZA). The DFP adder receives DFP operands. Each operand includes a significand, an exponent, a sign bit and a leading zero count for the significand. The DFP adder adds or subtracts the DFP operands to obtain a DFP result. The LZA determines the leading zero count associated with the significand of the DFP result. The LZA operates at least partially in parallel with circuitry (in the DFP adder) that computes the DFP result. The LZA does not wait for that circuitry to finish computation of the DFP result. Instead it “anticipates” the number of leading zeros that the result's significand will contain.
US08489661B2
A signal processing system includes a digital sample rate converter to convert a signal sampled at a first sampling frequency into a corresponding signal sampled at a second sampling frequency. In at least one embodiment, the sample rate converter includes a digital sample rate conversion filter. The digital sample rate conversion filter includes a digital filter that models a continuous time filter such as a low pass RC filter and generates filtered samples. The digital sample rate conversion filter also includes an interpolation filter that determines samples between the digital filtered samples. A sample selector selects the samples generated by the interpolation filter at the second sampling frequency. In at least one embodiment, the sample selector determines when to generate interpolated samples and the amount of time offset from an adjacent sample generated by the digital filter.
US08489658B2
Each data file of a distributed file system is identified by a corresponding globally-unique object identifier that is independent of any attribute of the data file. A node in the distributed file system has a file system that includes a plurality of directory entries, where each directory entry has a file name field, an attributes field, and an object identifier field configured for specifying a globally-unique object identifier. The globally-unique object identifier is universally reachable by any node of the distributed file system and uniquely identifies the data file, enabling the data file to be universally identifiable by any node based on the corresponding object identifier. The data file can be stored independently of a device file system based on providing a resolution between the data file name and its object identifier, followed by a resolution between the object identifier and a selected location for the data file.
US08489657B2
Systems and methods identify a current location of a user based on a known location of an electronic device including kiosk, beacon, or location-aware camera when the user interacts with the electronic device. The systems and methods automatically create a user status data file based on the known location. The user status data file contains data identifying that the user is currently at the known location and other data captured about the event or venue at that location. The systems and methods automatically upload the user status data file to a personal storage account which can then be used to post to a social networking web site associated with the user as an activity post associated with the user.
US08489652B2
A method for managing an object watchpoint during a garbage collection cycle, including identifying an object having a field, where the object is associated with an original object location, where the field is associated with an original field location, and where the object and the field are located in a memory heap of a virtual machine memory, setting, within a debugger, the object watchpoint on the original field location, where the object watchpoint is a memory trap associated with the object, determining, after a relocation of the object by a garbage collector (GC), a new object location associated with the object, determining a new field location of the field based on the new object location, and setting, within the debugger, the object watchpoint on the new field location.
US08489651B2
The reconstruction of garbage collection information corresponding to an application. Upon accessing a portion of compiler generated application code, a computing system generates computational results that identifies one or more program state storage locations that track live references or memory pointers that can be displaced during garbage collection. This may be performed for multiple application code portions (such as methods or functions of an application), and may be performed just before garbage collection. To generate the computational results, the application code portion may first be subjected to a liveness analysis to generate liveness analysis results in the form of one or more live program state storage locations in the application code portion. The computational results may then be generated using the liveness analysis results and type information from a type service to provide the set of storage locations referencing live memory objects.
US08489648B1
In one embodiment, the present invention is a computer-implemented system for designing software-based components for systems of systems including multiple software-based components saved in a relational database where the functions of each software component are defined by one or more examples of its operation using a natural language. Each software component is assigned a searchable, unique free-text field such that each of the components have multiple indexed levels in a literal restriction path. The system further includes means for retrieval, synthesis, substitution, reuse and modification of the components at every level of the multiple levels, including means for defining a new software component.
US08489630B2
In one aspect, the invention comprises a computer system for searching databases and displaying search results, comprising databases storing information regarding publications and authors comprising author, title, date of publication, cited references, and citing references data; and Internet servers in communication with those databases; wherein at least one of those Internet servers is in communication with and operable to transmit data to a Web browser resident on a user's computer, and wherein the data is sufficient to enable the browser to display a citation overview page comprising: (a) a list of one or more titles of publications or names of authors, and (b) one or more displayed numerals representing how many publications in one or more specified categories cite to each of the publications, or, for author names, how many publications in one or more specified categories cite to publications on which those names are listed as authors.
US08489629B2
A communication terminal device includes: a communication unit configured to connect to a network to transmit and receive contents among a plurality of nodes; a memory configured to accumulate a history table that stores a search history of a content search; and a processor configured to execute a process comprising: storing the search history of the content search in the history table; comparing metadata attached to a search object content that is a content search object with metadata attached to a content stored in the history table; determining whether the content stored in the history table is similar to the search object content based on the comparing of the metadata; and making the transmission unit transmit information inquiring about possession of the search object content to a node that possesses a content determined to be similar to the search object content.
US08489626B2
A method and apparatus for recommending a short message recipient. The method includes parsing history short messages of a user to generate data associated with contacts, constructing a semantic association database by using the data, identifying a critical object in a new short message text of the user, analyzing an association between the critical object and the contacts by using the semantic association database, and recommending a short message recipient to the user according to a strength of association.
US08489620B2
An analysis preprocessing system is provided which is capable of, when large amounts of data are received from a large number of data generation sources, rapidly passing those data to means for analyzing the data in order of time of generation thereof. Data acquisition means 71 acquires a data group generated by a plurality of data generation sources. Data clipping means 72 clips each data from the data group. Rearrangement control means 73 retains each clipped data therein, selects data generated prior to the corresponding data when data from a delay maximum data generation source is detected, and rearranges the selected data in order of time of generation thereof. A data storage buffer 74 stores the data rearranged in order of time of generation thereof. Analysis data determination means determines an analysis data group which is a set of data used for analysis, from the data stored in the data storage buffer 74.
US08489619B1
Systems and methods are described for performing the dynamic generation of correlation scores between arbitrary objects. When a behavioral event is recorded, that is to say when an end user interacts with multiple objects, relationships between objects are created. These relationships are maintained as a list. When a request for correlated items is requested based upon a seed object, a list of correlated items is dynamically created through the generation of a pivot set and a scoring algorithm to compute the list of correlated items.
US08489618B2
Disclosed is a system for, and method of, calculating parameters used to determine whether records and entity representations should be linked. The system and method use a symmetric and reflexive function to allow for linking records and entity representations whose field values differ. The system and method apply iterative techniques such that parameters from each linking iteration are used in the next linking iteration. The system and method need no human interaction in order to calibrate and utilize record matching formulas used for the linking decisions. These techniques may be used for geographic location proximity matching.
US08489607B2
A method and system are described for providing context sensitive data to a system user. The method includes the steps of identifying the user and querying databases to create a user context. Information is aggregated from the network databases and filtered using the user context. Providing the correct data needed by the user for that particular time, location and job function.
US08489591B2
A computer-implemented method is disclosed. The method includes receiving from a remote device a search query, generating a local result set and one or more non-local result sets for the search query, determining a display location for the local result set relative to the non-local result set based on a position of the search query in a local relevance indicium.
US08489589B2
An initial ranked list of a first plurality of visual documents is obtained from a first source in response to a query, and a second plurality of visual documents relevant to the query is gathered from a plurality of second sources. Visual patterns identified from the second plurality of visual documents are compared with the first visual documents for reranking the first visual documents.
US08489586B2
Methods and systems for improving user search experience with a search engine by providing a way for associated users to create and share personalized lists of local search results and/or advertisements through endorsements of such local search results and/or ads. Local search endorsements can be used to personalize the search engine's ranking of local search results by offering a way for users to re-rank the results for themselves and for those who trust them.
US08489582B2
One or more query terms that were submitted by a user in connection with a first vertical of a plurality of verticals and not in connection with any other vertical of the plurality of verticals are received. A first set of search results that are both (a) indexed in the first vertical and (b) relevant to the one or more query terms is determined. A second set of search results that are both (a) indexed in a second vertical, but not in the first vertical and (b) relevant to the one or more query terms is also determined. A search results page that contains search results both sets of search results, and that visually distinguishes the sets from each other, is generated. According to one aspect, the results from the second set are shown on the search results page in what appears to be a yellow sticky note.
US08489573B2
A search engine for generating an improved search query, the engine comprising: input means for receiving a search request, the search request comprising N search terms; processing means arranged to formulate a search query from the received search request; output means arranged to output the search query wherein the processing means is arranged to formulate the search query by generating a plurality of search strings, each search string comprising a different combination of a subset of the N search terms.
US08489556B2
A system, method and program product for decommissioning database instances. A computer system is disclosed that includes an agent processing system that deactivates agents associated with a database instance; an access processing system that restricts further access to the database instance; and a mailer processing system that deactivates mailing transactions associated with the database instance.
US08489553B2
Managing data by: receiving a group of individually accessible data units, each data unit identified by a key value, with key values determined such that the key value identifying a first data unit received before a second data unit occurs earlier in a sort order than the key value identifying the second data unit; and processing the data units for storage in a data storage system. The processing includes: storing blocks of data, the blocks being generated by combining a plurality of the data units; providing an index with entries that enable location, based on a provided key value, of a block that includes a data unit corresponding to the provided key value; and generating one or more screening data structures associated with the blocks for determining, based on a given key value, whether to search the stored blocks for a data unit corresponding to the given key value.
US08489548B2
A method for data synchronization (DS) is provided, which includes comparing data fingerprints in databases of two parties in need of DS, determining data that needs to be synchronized, and DS is then performed on the data that needs to be synchronized. A system and two devices for DS are further provided. Therefore, DS is implemented through data fingerprints in the technical solutions, thus avoiding transmitting a mass of data between the two parties in need of DS.
US08489530B2
A system, method and computer program product for the root cause analysis of the failure of a manufactured product is disclosed. The present invention includes the development of a knowledge model, based on information obtained from historical warranty claim forms and various manufacturing data sources. The invention also includes processing text information in a free-form text that is obtained from warranty claim forms by using text-tagging and annotation techniques. Thereafter, the knowledge model is converted to a Bayesian network. The present invention provides a user interface to select parameters and corresponding instances from current warranty claim forms. The selected parameters and corresponding instances are used as input evidence for the Bayesian network. The present invention facilitates the process of drawing inferences for root cause analysis of the failure of manufactured products and corresponding probabilities.
US08489519B2
The present invention provides a plurality of Enterprises with a single online user interface with which the Enterprise can provide Enterprise Shippers, shipping origination users and shipping intermediary users with an automated parcel management system for a plurality of supported Carriers for a plurality of services. The present invention provides for the hierarchical definition of users, including the establishment of at least one user for each Enterprise as a Super-Administrator with the highest level of privileges and authority for the Enterprise, and the identification of other users as Sub-Administrators, Desktop Users and Shipping Station Users. The present invention also provides for the hierarchical definition of organizational units within each Enterprise, including the definition of sites, groups within a site, and users within a group and for a distinct definition of policies, privileges, and other types of specifications for each user level, each user, and each organizational unit.
US08489518B2
A system and automated method for verification of employment history regarding a job applicant, the method including receiving information identifying an applicant, receiving employment history information for the job applicant, receiving information identifying an identified verification contact for verification of the employment history information, automatically providing the identified verification contact with a question pertaining to employment history information, receiving an answer from the identified verification contact, storing the answer.
US08489516B1
Systems and methods for controlling access to relationship information in a social network are described. One described method comprises receiving a request from an observer for relationship information indicating at least a first relationship between a target in a social network and a second entity in the social network, identifying at least a first privacy rule for the first relationship, and outputting at least part of the relationship information to the observer if the first privacy rule is satisfied.
US08489510B1
Selling intangible property rights may include receiving content from a seller and determining one or more potential purchasers for the content's intangible property rights. The potential purchasers may be determined according to the subject of the content, the audience for the content, and the intangible property rights being sold. An offer to sell the intangible property rights may then be transmitted to one or more potential purchasers, along with a portion of the content. Upon receiving the one or more purchaser's acceptance of the offer, a complete copy of the content may be transmitted to the purchaser.
US08489506B2
A method for verifying a portable consumer device. The method includes receiving an authorization request message associated with a transaction conducted using a portable consumer device. The portable consumer device includes a portable consumer device fingerprint. The authorization request message includes an altered portable consumer device fingerprint and an algorithm identifier. The method also includes selecting an algorithm from among a plurality of algorithms using the algorithm identifier, determining the portable consumer device fingerprint using selected algorithm and the altered portable consumer device fingerprint, determining if the portable consumer device fingerprint matches a stored portable consumer device fingerprint, and sending an authorization response message after determining if the portable consumer device fingerprint matches the stored portable consumer device fingerprint.
US08489500B2
A method and system is provided for monitoring mortgagee regulatory compliance using a centralized repository. A centralized repository hosts loan origination software (LOS). The centralized repository can be accessible to a compliance monitor and a mortgagee. The mortgagee records borrower loan information into the centralized repository using the LOS. The compliance monitor retrieves borrower loan information using the LOS. The compliance monitor audits borrower loan information for regulatory compliance. The compliance monitor reports audit results to the mortgagee.
US08489495B2
Systems and methods for implementing post-matching trading are provided. A financial instrument transaction system may include a database configured to store financial instrument information for reference entities; a memory for storing execution instructions; and a processor. The processor may execute the instructions. The processor may initiate a trading session for a predetermined duration. Prior to and during the trading session, the processor may receive from a plurality of trader clients trading instructions associated with the reference entity. The instructions may include either a buy or sell position and a price. At the end of the trading session, the processor may determine, based on predefined criteria, whether the trading session qualifies for a post-matching session. If the trading session qualifies for a post-matching session, the processor may provide a graphical user interface to a selected group of traders for trading in the post-matching session.
US08489493B2
In an automated exchange comprising a matching module and a dissemination module a market model state is controlled in the matching module and in the dissemination module, respectively. Hereby it is made possible to, during ongoing trading, change market model for the automated exchange.
US08489489B2
A system and method for trading derivatives in penny increments while disseminating quotes for derivatives in nickel/dime increments is disclosed. A trading engine receives quotes for a derivative in penny increments from at least one entity. The trading engine rounds out the quotes for the derivative in penny increments to quotes for the derivative in nickel/dime increments. The quotes in nickel/dime increments are aggregated and disseminated. The trading engine receives bids and offers to take positions in the derivative based on the aggregate quotes for the derivative in nickel/dime increments and executes trades for the derivative by matching bids and offers to buy and sell positions in the derivative.
US08489486B2
Positions held by a trader are made fungible by selecting a first position in a first futures contract that is deliverable and selecting a second position in a second futures contract, wherein the first and second futures contracts are traded in a first and second market, respectively. Offsetting the first and the second positions eliminates a delivery obligation of the trader.
US08489485B2
A method and system for debt-to-asset-value balancing of a reverse mortgage benefiting both the lender and the borrower. Options and mechanisms are provided for equalizing borrower debt balance with appraised fixed assets of the reverse mortgage.
US08489483B1
A method performed by a transfer instrument issuer involves issuing, to a recipient, a certificate which is linked to a national card account obtained by the transfer instrument issuer from an account issuer different from the transfer instrument issuer, without both issuing and providing a physical card for the national card account to the recipient of the certificate, the certificate having been purchased by a purchaser, who is not also the recipient, and containing all information necessary for the purchase of goods or services from any merchant who is capable of processing economic transactions involving one of the plurality national card accounts for which a physical card has issued, but without presentment of the physical card.
US08489474B2
In certain example embodiments of this invention, systems and/or methods for managing transformations in Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and/or Business Process Management (BPM) Environments are provided. In certain example embodiments of this invention, when a process and/or transform is defined, design-time encoding data is extracted and stored as metadata. When the process or transform is implemented, runtime data is captured and/or managed, and also stored as metadata. When new processes and/or transforms are defined, and/or when an already-defined process and/or a transform is executed, heuristics may be applied so as to suggest one or more already-existing transformation chains for use in accomplishing at least a part of the same and/or a similar process or transform.
US08489463B2
In one embodiment, a method includes accessing first information identifying a sensor-data set that includes sensor-data from multiple sensor-data streams from multiple sensors over a period of time, with the sensor data from the sensor-data streams having been combined with each other based on a relationship of the sensor data to a sensor subject; accessing second information identifying one or more offers to purchase the sensor-data set; and matching one of the offers with the sensor-data set to facilitate a purchase of the sensor-data set based at least on the one of the offers matched to the sensor-data set.
US08489461B2
The exemplary embodiments described herein relate to the field of electronic registration (ER) of purchased products and, more particularly, to an improved electronic registration system that enables unique item-level tracking from an initial point-of-sale (POS) transaction involving a post-paid service/subscription and related device or product, to any cancellations in service and returns to the store or service provider. Certain exemplary embodiments thus advantageously “close the gap” between retailers and service providers, e.g., in connection with subscriptions/post-paid service agreements and related devices or products. In certain exemplary embodiments, an “interest” may be taken and charged in the event that the customer does not return the device when or after an associated service has been cancelled.
US08489459B2
Disclosed herein are demographic based content delivery systems and associated methods that automatically and non-invasively detect information regarding one or more persons within a designated viewing area. In embodiments of the systems and methods, two different automatic viewer identification and demographic classification technologies may be utilized, either alone or on combination. The technologies include image recognition technologies that utilize computer driven image and pattern recognition analysis algorithms and radio frequency identification tagging and reading technologies. Data collected from either one of or both of the two technologies is used to feed a demographic classification algorithm which then delivers different multimedia content based upon the determination of the algorithm. The embodiments of the invention may therefore be advantageously utilized to market in real time to consumers at the point of sale.
US08489446B2
A method of and system for defining a sales promotion is disclosed. The method includes receiving a hierarchical listing of items, including a plurality of levels, each level including at least one node. The method also includes selecting a first node to define a first sales promotion, and selecting a second node below the first node to define a second sales promotion, wherein the second sales promotion is more specific than the first sales promotion. The system includes means for receiving a hierarchical listing of items, including a plurality of levels, each level including at least one node. The system also includes means for selecting a first node to define a first sales promotion, and means for selecting a second node below the first node to define a second sales promotion, wherein the second sales promotion is more specific than the first sales promotion.
US08489437B1
A method automatically to certify an agricultural product includes receiving agricultural product data, writing to an agricultural product, at a management information system. The agricultural product data may reflect any one of multiple conditions (e.g., production conditions, processing conditions, packaging conditions and transport conditions) relating to the agricultural product. The agricultural product data is automatically contained against compliance requirements stored by the management information system. A compliance result is then automatically generated based on the comparison of the agricultural product data against the compliance requirements.
US08489430B1
A system and methods for coordinating and displaying a short name of a drug are disclosed. The short name may be a subset of the prescribed drug's name, it may be an independent name, or it may be a graphical symbol. Short names for multiple drugs of a patient may be related by a common naming convention. Short names may be printed onto a reference card along with an indication corresponding to the drug's dosing regime. Short names may also be printed onto medicament container labels, additional instruction sheets, labels used for stocking and the like. The short name may be selectable and may be stored.
US08489429B2
A system and method provide for determining a patient's infection risk associated with a specific healthcare provider encounter. The method incorporates the steps of assessing infection risk factors for a particular patient and comparing those factors to a set of benchmark infection risk factors derived from historical patient outcomes data. Based on the results of the comparison the infection risk assessment for the particular patient is determined and displayed.
US08489424B2
An apparatus for communicating health care data from a sender to a receiver is provided. The apparatus has a first computer system, a second computer system, and a rules engine. The first computer system has health care data stored therein. The second computer system is in operable communication with, and is configured to extract the health care data from, the first computer system. The rules engine normalizes the extracted health care data to a predefined format.
US08489423B2
An apparatus for communicating health care data from a sender to a receiver is provided. The apparatus has a first computer system, a second computer system, and a rules engine. The first computer system has health care data stored therein. The second computer system is in operable communication with, and is configured to extract the health care data from, the first computer system. The rules engine normalizes the extracted health care data to a predefined format.
US08489419B2
Transportation mode determination in non-mass casualty triage is provided and involves receiving, from incident personnel at a casualty scene, patient screening information for a victim or victims at the casualty scene. Location screening information for the victim or victims is also established and received. Victim eligibility for Medevac transport is determined by logically factoring the patient screening information and the location screening information. The determination can be performed by computer implemented decision logic. In addition to determining eligibility of the victim or victims for Medevac transport, transportation mode determination (e.g., what type of transportation) can be established for those determined eligible, determination of whether to transport to a trauma center or care facility, determination/selection of a specific trauma center or care facility for treatment, and/or a determination of an order of treatment, or transport for treatment, for each of the victims.
US08489414B2
A system and method for conducting surveys, and, more particularly, an at least partially automated and efficient system and method for collecting, processing, and displaying customer satisfaction survey information that enables a product or service provider to evaluate the quality of goods and/or services received based on ratings and reports obtained by performing surveys of customers, employees, and/or staff. The system utilizes an execution platform using a clinical process improvement methodology. The system provides the execution platform with software scripts implementing the clinical improvement process, using drill-down questioning techniques and verbatim comments tailored to the survey participants comments and/or status information to gain insights into the participants' reasons for their opinions. The system obtains raw survey data and processes that data into useful survey information, such as graphs and charts, for presenting to survey consumers (i.e., system users) who may be remotely located. In this way the system and method can be utilized in a quality improvement program for any service or product provider.
US08489411B1
Systems and methods for auditing claim reimbursement transactions to ensure that pharmacy benefit management services (PBMs) are properly calculating the appropriate spread values and honoring existing contractual obligations with health plans and/or employer groups. When a discrepancy has been detected and is larger than preset tolerance parameters allow, the adjudicated claim will be sent to the corresponding PBM for explanation of the discrepancy and/or corrective action. Example embodiments of the auditing process may analyze transaction data in batch form, or in alternative embodiments of the invention, the adjudicated reimbursement claim transactions may be audited in real-time or near real-time.
US08489409B2
Systems and methods are provided for facilitating the electronic collection and dissemination of newborn screening results to identified and/or default recipients of the results. A newborn screening manager may be provided to receive and store newborn screening results in an associated database. The newborn screening results may then be communicated electronically to any number of recipients of the results. In some cases, a notification may be provided to the recipients, indicating that the newborn screening results are available to be reviewed. The recipients may then access and review the results.
US08489403B1
The APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR SPARSE SINUSOIDAL AUDIO PROCESSING AND TRANSMISSION (hereinafter “SS-Audio”) provides a platform for encoding and decoding audio signals based on a sparse sinusoidal structure. In one embodiment, the SS-Audio encoder may encode received audio inputs based on its sparse representation in the frequency domain and transmit the encoded and quantized bit streams. In one embodiment, the SS-Audio decoder may decode received quantized bit streams based on sparse reconstruction and recover the original audio input by reconstructing the sinusoidal parameters in the frequency domain.
US08489402B2
A client device for providing dynamic speech processing services during variable network connectivity with a network server includes a connection monitor that monitors network connectivity between the client device and the network server. The device further includes a simplified speech processor that processes speech data and is initiated based on an assessment from the connection monitor that the network connectivity is impaired. The device further includes a speech data storage that stores processed speech data from the simplified speech processor and a transmitter that is configured to transmit the stored speech data to the network.
US08489398B1
A method is performed by a communication device that is configured to communicate with a server over a network. The method includes outputting, to the server, speech data for spoken words; receiving, from the server, speech recognition candidates for a spoken word in the speech data; checking the speech recognition candidates against a database on the communication device; and selecting one or more of the speech recognition candidates for use by the communication device based on the checking.
US08489394B2
A method, an apparatus, and a computer program, which can suppress a low frequency range component with a small amount of calculation, and can achieve a noise suppression of high quality, are provided. The noise superposed in a desired signal of an input signal is suppressed by converting the input signal to a frequency domain signal; correcting an amplitude of the frequency domain signal to obtain an amplitude corrected signal; obtaining an estimated noise by using the amplitude corrected signal; determining a suppression coefficient by using the estimated noise and the amplitude corrected signal; and weighting the amplitude corrected signal with the suppression coefficient.
US08489376B2
In an embodiment, a model may be created using a register-transfer level (RTL) representation (or other cycle-accurate representation) of the controller and the circuitry in the communication fabric to the controller. The request sources may be replaced by transactors, which may generate transactions to test the performance of the fabric and controller. Accordingly, only the designs of the controller and the fabric circuitry may be needed to model performance in this embodiment. In an embodiment, at least some of the transactors may be behavioral transactors that attempt to mimic the operation of corresponding request sources. Other transactors may be statistical distributions, in some embodiments. In an embodiment, the transactors may include a transaction generator (e.g. behavioral or statistical) and a protocol translator configured to convert generated transactions to the communication protocol in use at the point that the transactor is connected to the fabric.
US08489375B2
LWD measurements to be used for proactive well placement while drilling a high angle or horizontal wellbore in a reservoir are defined. An initial reservoir model is provided and a section is extracted for a planned wellbore trajectory. A secondary model is generated for the planned trajectory. An area of interest is identified where statistical uncertainty is high. Possible causes of the statistical uncertainty are identified that are not present in the initial reservoir model. A set of parameters are defined based on the possible causes of statistical uncertainty. The area of interest is logged with LWD tool. Sensitivities of the LWD tool response to a subset of parameters are evaluated by performing tertiary model for a range of the subset of parameters. The most sensitive parameters from the subset of parameters and corresponding measurements are identified. LWD measurements are defined based on the most sensitive parameters.
US08489373B2
A method of computer simulation of an aerodynamic behavior of an aircraft in flight close to the ground includes generating a volume mesh of a three-dimensional geometric domain. The volume mesh is at least partly delimited by a three-dimensional geometric model of the aircraft and by a plane modelling the ground. The volume mesh defines a computational domain. The method also includes imposing a uniform boundary condition on the plane comprising a predetermined speed vector with a non-zero tangential component and a non-zero normal component, and solving a discrete numerical model of the Navier-Stokes equations by computer on the volume mesh with the uniform boundary condition imposed on the plane to obtain a numerical solution of a fluid flow inside said computational domain.
US08489372B2
Systems and methods of numerically simulating physical phenomena of firing an electromagnetic rail-gun using a coupled FEM-BEM procedure are disclosed. Electromagnetic rail-gun includes a pair of parallel rails and a projectile located therebetween. Rails and projectile are represented by a FEM model, while the ambient air surrounding the rail-gun is represented by a BEM mesh for simulating the electromagnetic fields. The BEM mesh is generated from the FEM model as a surface encasing the projectile and rails. A sliding contact interface between each of the rails and the projectile causes the BEM faces in contact to be removed and thus resulting into a hole/gap in the BEM mesh. The hole/gap is patched up with new triangular BEM faces without adding new nodes in accordance with a predefined set of rules, such that the resulting BEM mesh is suitable for carrying out the coupled FEM-BEM procedure.
US08489365B2
A computer-implemented method for measuring the “greenness” of an IT environment is provided. The method comprises extracting asset data from a plurality of IT assets located on a network and extracting one or more greenness attributes from each of the plurality of IT assets. Key performance indicators are calculated, using the one or more greenness attributes, for each of the plurality of IT assets, and the key performance indicators are presented to a user in a graphical user interface. According to more particular embodiments, the greenness attributes comprise numerical values representing one or more of power requirements, power consumption, and resource utilization.
US08489354B2
A method for verifying the speed of a vehicle having at least a front axle and a rear axle, using sensors separated by a distance. The presence of the vehicle is sensed and an image of the vehicle is recorded to enable the vehicle to be identified. The sensors are triggered to emit signals which are received by the system to enable the speed of the vehicle to be determined. The signals are also used to determine a wheel base measurement for the vehicle. The determined wheel base measurement is compared to an actual wheel base measurement of the vehicle being sensed and any discrepancy between them is taken to be indicative of potential errors in the speed of the vehicle determined by the method. In one embodiment, the a database is provided, the database containing data relating to various vehicle types associated with vehicle specifications including a validated wheel base measurement for each vehicle type.
US08489351B2
A system and methods for determining points for an algorithm to calculate the frequency of a waveform measured from a monitoring device. Data points are measured from the waveform. A last point of interest from the previous cycle of the waveform is referenced. Four points of interest at equally spaced phase angles from the current cycle of the waveform are determined by calculating the average of the data points around each of the respective equally spaced phase angles of the current cycle of the waveform. The average value of the points of interest in the current cycle is subtracted from the four points of interest and the last point of interest from the previous cycle to compensate for DC bias. A frequency of the waveform is determined based on the determined four points of interest of the current cycle and the last point of interest from the previous cycle. The correction factor for determining sample frequency may be reduced for subsequent cycles in order to increase stability.
US08489343B2
Some embodiments of the present invention provide a system that detects the presence of constrained motion in one or more components in a computer system. First, a vibrational spectrum of the computer system is monitored while the computer system operates. Then, the vibrational spectrum is analyzed using a pattern-recognition model to detect constrained motion in one or more components in the computer system, wherein the pattern-recognition model classifies the vibrational spectrum as indicating constrained motion or as not indicating constrained motion.
US08489335B2
The invention relates to a method of diagnosing the presence and/or severity of a hepatic pathology and/or of monitoring the effectiveness of a curative treatment against a hepatic pathology in an individual, comprising the establishment of at least one non-invasive diagnostic score, in particular a diagnostic score for portal and septal fibrosis and/or an estimate score for the fibrosis area and/or an estimate score for the fractal dimension.
US08489326B1
A system and method provides turn-by-turn directions including placemarks. Each placemark represents a geographically located object such as a business or landmark. A client device may transmit an initial and a final location. Upon receipt of the locations, a server may determine a route comprised of a plurality of route segments. For each route segment associated with one or more placemark, the server may conduct an auction to choose one of the placemarks. The server may receive a plurality of bids associated with a particular route segment. Each bid is associated with a particular placemark. The server selects the placemark by determining a highest bid or other auction criteria. The selected placemark is associated with the route segment and is used to generate a turn-by-turn direction for the route segment, where information associated with the placemark is displayed on a client device.
US08489323B2
A method for controlling a map is provided. The method comprises displaying a map on a display module of a mobile terminal and registering a point on the map, selected by using at least one of a user input unit and a sensing unit, as a shortcut point and displaying a shortcut icon on the map.
US08489317B2
A method for predicting future states of a vehicle including the steps of selecting a model having n states reflecting dynamic features of the vehicle; inputting noisy sensor measurements representing a current state of the vehicle to generate (2n+1) sigma points Xi where i=0, . . . . 2n, each of the sigma points having n states; performing (2n+1) integrations, each integration includes propagating the n-states of the respective sigma points Xi through the non-linear function Yi=f(Xi); and combining the propagated sigma points to generate the predicted future states of the vehicle.
US08489311B2
A method is implemented in a vehicle having an electronic control unit (15), vehicle sensors, a data communication bus (16), and an on-board electrical network. The micro-hybrid system (1) comprises at least one rotary electrical machine (2) which is provided with a device (8) for detection of rotation, power circuits (14) comprising an inverter (7) and an excitation circuit (4) which supplies the rotary electrical machine (2), and a rectifier (11) which is supplied by the said rotary electrical machine (2), energy conversion circuits (12) which are connected to an energy storage device (9) which is supplied by the rectifier (11), a first circuit (13) to control the power circuits (14), and a second circuit (25) to control the energy conversion circuits (12). The method generates control signals (Dd. Exc., Dd. Ond., Auth. Exc., Auth. Ond.) on the basis of first information signals (Capt. Véh.) which are representative of a state of functioning of the vehicle, obtained from the vehicle sensors; and generates by means of the first control circuit (13) signals (Cd. Exc., Cd. Ond.) to control the power circuits (14) on the basis of diagnostic signals (Diag2. Exc., Diag2. Ond.) which are representative of a state of functioning of the system. The method additionally generates control signals (Dd. Exc., Dd. Ond., Auth. Exc., Auth. Ond.) by means of the second control circuit (25), under the control of the electronic control unit (15).
US08489310B2
In an apparatus for controlling a general-purpose internal combustion engine having an electronic control unit (ECU) mounted on an electronic circuit board installed near a body of the engine and being connectable to a load such as an operating machine that consumes power generated by the engine, there are equipped with a first temperature sensor installed on the board at a position remote from the body and a second temperature sensor installed on the board at a position closer to the body than the first temperature sensor. A warm-up time period is determined based on an output of the first temperature sensor and a difference between outputs of the first and second temperature sensors, and an engine speed is controlled to a predetermined operating speed when the determined warm-up time period has elapsed (S18, S22), thereby improving the fuel efficiency and preventing engine stall.
US08489309B2
In a feedback control system in which a base gain having a constant value or a variable gain is set as a feedback gain in accordance with the state of the system and an input value is calculated based on a function having, as variables, a proportional term and an integral term, the integral term is recalculated when a discriminant value obtained by substituting a base proportional term calculated using the base gain for the proportional term and a normal integral term calculated using the feedback gain for the integral term in the function is larger than an upper limit value. The integral term is recalculated in such a way that a value obtained by substituting the base proportional term for the proportional term and the recalculated integral term for the integral term in the function becomes equal to or smaller than the upper limit value.
US08489308B2
A method and a control system are provided for estimating oxygen concentration downstream a diesel oxidation catalyst within a diesel engine system. The method includes, but is not limited to at least an intake manifold, a combustion chamber, an exhaust manifold, and the diesel oxidation catalyst located in the exhaust line upstream a diesel particulate filter, the method comprising: determining unburned fuel mass flow ejected from the combustion chamber, determining air mass fraction in the exhaust manifold, estimating air mass fraction downstream the diesel oxidation catalyst as a function of said unburned fuel mass flow and said air mass fraction in the exhaust manifold, estimating oxygen concentration downstream the diesel oxidation catalyst as a function of the estimated air mass fraction downstream the diesel oxidation catalyst.
US08489296B2
In a controller for a belt-type continuously variable transmission including a hydraulic actuator that changes a groove width of a primary pulley, a hydraulic actuator that changes a groove width of a secondary pulley, and a belt clamping pressure control solenoid that controls the hydraulic pressure supplied to the hydraulic actuator of the secondary pulley, a mechanism calculates a transmission ratio between the primary pulley and the secondary pulley and determines whether or not there is belt slippage based on that calculated transmission ratio, and a mechanism determines normalcy of the belt clamping pressure control solenoid. The input torque when belt slippage has actually occurred, i.e., when a failure has been determined, is used as a condition when performing the normalcy determination. By setting such a condition, it is possible for a normalcy determination threshold value (input torque value α) used for the normalcy determination to be a small value, and thus it is possible to suppress erroneous normalcy determination.
US08489290B1
An apparatus and method using GNSS for dynamically adjusting side-to-side positioning of a farm implement along a geographical path.
US08489285B2
A control device and a method for triggering personal protection arrangement for a vehicle are provided, an energy reserve supplying electrical energy for the triggering. A control circuit is provided, which, as a function of the personal protection arrangement to be triggered, forms from the electrical energy at least one individual firing pulse for triggering the individual personal protection arrangement, with respect to a first firing pulse amplitude and a first firing pulse duration.
US08489284B2
A driver's orientation within a vehicle is monitored. A change in the driver's orientation is detected. A change to a blind spot of the vehicle is calculated based upon the detected change in the driver's orientation. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.
US08489280B2
A system and a method for determining an absolute rotational position of the vehicle handwheel are provided. In one exemplary embodiment, a method includes monitoring an amount of torque applied to the vehicle handwheel. The method further includes monitoring a rotational speed of the vehicle handwheel. The method further includes setting an absolute position value indicating the absolute position of the vehicle handwheel equal to a predetermined steering travel limit of the vehicle handwheel when both the amount of torque applied to the vehicle handwheel is greater than or equal to a threshold torque level, and the rotational speed of the vehicle handwheel is less than or equal to a threshold rotational speed. The method further includes storing the absolute rotational position value in a memory device.
US08489279B2
A damping force control apparatus includes a damping force control device controlling a damping force of a shock absorber provided between a sprung mass and an unsprung mass of each wheel of a vehicle, a detection device detecting at least an acceleration of the sprung mass in an up-down direction and a relative displacement between the sprung mass and the unsprung mass, a damping coefficient calculation device calculating a damping coefficient to be applied to the damping force control by the damping force control device based on detected results of the detection device, a sensed acceleration increment calculation device calculating a sensed acceleration increment corresponding to an increment of sense according to the Weber Fechner law on the basis of the detected results of the detection device, and a modification device modifying the damping coefficient in accordance with a sensed acceleration increment calculated by the sensed acceleration increment calculation device.
US08489277B2
An electronic suspension control apparatus is provided with a signal receiving section, a suspension lockout determination section and a signal output section. The signal receiving section selectively receives input signals. The suspension lockout determination section determines a suspension lockout state. The signal output section outputs a temporary lockout release signal in response to the signal receiving section receiving a suspension height adjustment signal as one of the input signals while the suspension lockout determination section determines that a suspension lockout state exists.
US08489272B2
A diagnostic system for a vehicle driven by an internal combustion engine acquires a diagnostic driving pattern defined by a vehicle speed; stores a drive train model for calculating a torque and rotational speed of the internal combustion engine backward from a vehicle speed and an acceleration; stores map data in which a fuel consumption is associated with a torque and rotational speed of the internal combustion engine; updates the map data on the basis of a result of actual control over the internal combustion engine; uses the drive train model to calculate changes in torque and rotational speed of the internal combustion engine when the vehicle is caused to drive in accordance with the driving pattern; and uses the calculated changes in torque and rotational speed and the map data to calculate a fuel efficiency when the vehicle is caused to drive in accordance with the driving pattern.
US08489268B2
A predefined operating strategy permits a predefined operating mode of the motor vehicle. A first operating variable value of the operating mode and/or one additional variable value, which is independent of the operating mode are sensed and one estimated value is determined depending thereon, which is representative of one expected value of the one first operating variable of a second operating variable of the operating mode. One predicted value is determined depending on the sensed values of the one first operating variable, the one additional variable, and/or the one determined estimated value. The predicted value represents an expected operating state and is compared with one predefined comparison value, which is representative of one predefined operation state. The operating strategy is set as a function of the comparison and of the at least one estimated variable in such a way that the predefined operating state is as far as possible avoided.
