US08960901B2
Lenses are designed using wavefront measurements amenable to correction factors for near and far vision as well as pupil size to slow or stop myopia progression.
US08960886B2
An inkjet printing system includes a print head in fluid communication with an ink reservoir and having a plurality of orifices and a corresponding plurality of associated ejection chambers. The print head includes a substrate and a barrier layer disposed on the substrate. The barrier layer defines in part a plurality of fluid channels and the plurality of ejection chambers. The barrier layer includes a material selected from epoxy-based photo resist materials and methyl methacrylate-based photo resist materials. An orifice plate is disposed over the substrate. The orifice plate includes the plurality of orifices in fluid communication with the ejection chambers. The system includes a reservoir containing an organic solvent-based ink composition, wherein the ink composition includes an organic solvent selected from C1-C4 alcohols, C3-C6 ketones, C3-C6 esters, C4-C8 ethers, and mixtures thereof, in an amount 60% or more by weight of the ink composition.
US08960882B2
An ink jet recording method includes forming a glittering image on a recording medium by ejecting a glittering ink containing silver onto the recording medium by an ink jet method, applying a protective ink containing a resin and substantially no coloring material onto the glittering image, and forming a color image by ejecting a color ink containing a coloring material to the glittering image by an ink jet method. The protective ink is applied between the glittering image and the color image.
US08960880B2
Enhanced media transport systems and structures are provided for printing environments. Enhanced vacuum table structures and associated methods may also be implemented for a variety of printer systems. Enhanced rail systems and associated carriage structures may preferably be used within a variety of printing environments, such as for but not limited to grand scale printers. Water-based binary epoxy ink compositions and associated processes provide adhesion and material compatibility that exceeds that of currently available UV curable products, while providing ultra-low volatile organic carbon (VOCs), and no hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). An integrated system and method for identification of consumables through a central database may also be implemented within different printing systems.
US08960876B2
A liquid ejection head includes nozzles ejecting liquid droplets; individual liquid chambers in communication with the nozzles; liquid supply paths in communication with the individual liquid chambers; a common liquid chamber storing liquid to be supplied to the liquid supply paths; filter members disposed between the common liquid chamber and the respective liquid supply paths, the filter members including filter regions to filter the liquid; and one or more dividing wall sections, each disposed between the liquid supply paths. Further, the filter region of the filter member is bonded to the one or more dividing wall sections and the outer peripheral parts with adhesive and the filter region of the filter member is bent in a direction opposite to a direction in which liquid flows from the common liquid chamber to the liquid supply paths.
US08960870B2
A liquid ink container having mating features for self alignment with an ink delivery station. The ink delivery station includes a receiver with an actuated puncture ring. The liquid ink container includes a cap that is punctured by the ring to allow fluid flow from the container. The receiver and container also include means for introducing pressurized gas into the container to facilitate evacuation of liquid ink.
US08960868B1
An automated system for filling printer ink cartridges comprising at least one of a particle filtration element and a degassing filter element for removal of suspended particles and gas from ink. The system transfers ink from a large ink reservoir to an ink dispending element which dispenses ink into reservoirs within printer ink cartridges. The system can include one or more of each of the particle filtration elements and the degassing filter elements. When a plurality of filtering elements are present, the filtering elements can be integrated into the system in a parallel arrangement, a serial arrangement or both. When both the particle filtration element(s) and the degassing filter element(s) are included, the particle filtration element(s) are located up-flow from the degassing filter element(s). The degassing filter element(s) are preferably located down-flow of an ink pump. The reduced particles and gasses improves the print quality and print head lifespan.
US08960866B2
Disclosed is an electromechanical transducer element including a first electrode disposed on a substrate; an electromechanical transducer film disposed on a first portion of the first electrode; and a second electrode disposed on a second portion of the electromechanical transducer film, wherein an actuator portion formed by laminating the substrate, the first electrode, the electromechanical transducer film, and the second electrode has a stiffness such that, in a cross section of the actuator portion, the stiffness gradually increases from an end portion of the actuator portion to a center portion of the actuator portion.
US08960861B2
A liquid droplet ejecting head includes: a base substrate that has a concave portion that is formed to be open toward an upper surface and a wiring pattern; and an IC package that is electrically connected to the wiring pattern. The concave portion has a bottom portion and a pair of first side wall portions which stand obliquely on the bottom portion so as to be opposed to each other. Further, the wiring pattern has a plurality of linear objects, each of which is continuous and is constituted of a first part, a second part, and a third part. In addition, the IC package is formed in a chip shape, has a plurality of terminals which are formed on a front side surface, and is disposed such that the front side surface faces the concave portion, and each terminal is electrically connected to the first part.
US08960849B2
A method for analyzing positional deviation of head modules of an inkjet head having head modules connected and joined with each other includes: dividing a printing pattern and thereby creating division patterns; obtaining conversion factors of the nozzles of each division pattern; changing the number of nozzles used in calculation and thereby obtain a minimum value of a standard error of a positional deviation shift amount; changing the number of divisions of the division patterns and performing the calculation of the conversion factor and the standard error with the changed division patterns; determining the number of divisions and the number of nozzles with which the value of the standard error is minimal; and creating an analysis chart with the determined number of divisions and calculating the positional deviation shift amount based upon an average value of the positional deviation shift amounts of nozzles corresponding to the determined number of nozzles.
US08960848B2
A liquid ejection head includes: a nozzle plate formed with a nozzle aperture through which liquid is ejected; and a flow channel plate formed with at least a flow channel connected to the nozzle aperture, the flow channel plate being bonded to the nozzle plate with the flow channel aligned to the nozzle aperture in the nozzle plate, wherein the nozzle plate is provided with a detection element configured to detect a mechanical abnormality in the nozzle plate.
US08960845B2
Techniques related to color analysis are disclosed herein. In an example, substrate locations on a printed pattern are selected based on a set of measurements related to substrate-height. Further, color of the printed pattern is determined at the selected locations.
US08960841B2
A printing apparatus includes a printing mechanism performing printing by ejecting ink from a printing head which is relatively moved with respect to the printed medium and a printing control section controlling operation of the printing mechanism. A plurality of nozzle rows are formed side by side for each of ink types in a main scanning direction in the printing head. The printing mechanism includes a transportation section which is configured so as to be capable of switching a transportation direction of the printed medium between a first direction and a second direction. The printing control section performs the printing by switching the first printing mode which uses two or more nozzle rows and the second printing mode which uses one or more nozzle rows, which is caused by switching the transportation direction.
US08960829B2
A printing apparatus includes a transporting unit which transports a medium, a head unit which discharges a plurality of types of ink onto the medium, a storage unit which stores white ink of the plurality of types of ink, a plurality of supply flow paths for supplying the white ink from the storage unit to the head unit, a plurality of bypass flow paths which are bridged between different supply flow paths from each other, and a controller which repeatedly performs a transport operation by the transporting unit, a color print operation and a white print operation to perform an image forming process on the medium and circulates the white ink in a circulation flow path formed only of the supply flow paths and the bypass flow paths among the storage unit, the head unit, the supply flow paths and the bypass flow paths, during the color print operation.
US08960828B2
A printing process may involve providing a wood-based flat panel, which is made from a mass of wooden particles, a preliminary step of graphic composition of a multi-colored image using an electronic processor and relative software, and a printing step for printing the wood-based flat panel with the multi-colored image using an ink-jet printer provided with print heads. The colors employed by the ink-jet printer may include the prime colors cyan, magenta, and yellow in addition to black. The ink-jet printer may be controlled by the electronic processor. The wood-based flat panel may move relative to the ink-jet printer while at least one of the print heads propels ink micro-droplets onto the wood-based flat panel. The print heads may be stationary during the printing operation.
US08960826B2
A refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator may include a cabinet having a first storage region with a plurality of shelves, a first door coupled to the cabinet by a first connection member and having a second storage region with a plurality of shelves and an opening providing to access to the second storage region, and a second door rotatably coupled to the first door by a second connection member so as to selectively provide access to the second storage region through the opening in the first door. An auxiliary shelf may be rotatably coupled in the opening formed in the first door such that an axis of rotation of the auxiliary shelf crosses, or is orthogonal to, the axis of rotation of the first and second doors.
US08960825B2
A refrigerator includes: a refrigerator main body having a cooling chamber; a cooling chamber door for opening and closing the cooling chamber; a shelf assembly provided within the cooling chamber such that a height thereof is adjustable; and a basket provided in any one of the refrigerator main body and the cooling chamber door such that a height thereof is adjustable. A space of the refrigerator main body or the cooling chamber door can be utilized to facilitate receiving and keeping food items.
US08960819B2
A spice rack for attaching to the inner surface of kitchen cabinet doors provides a low profile support and spice containers that may fit substantially within the gap between the cabinet door and the front of the shelves defined by a thickness of the face frame and a small clearance gap between the shelves in the rear of the face frame.
US08960815B2
A multipoint door latch apparatus for use in a switchgear enclosure comprising a door assembly, a latch handle and latch handle mechanism, a plurality of catch tabs affixed to the face frame of the enclosure. Top, side, and bottom latch bars in latch bar chambers are provided, each having at least one latch tooth and being linked by latch bar linkages such that a displacement of one latch bar along results in the same magnitude displacement in the other two latch bars. The catch tabs or latch teeth, or both, are tapered to provide a suitable seal between the door assembly and the enclosure when the door assembly is latched.
US08960809B2
A continuous miner includes a mining portion, a support frame connected to the mining portion, and a discharge portion pivotally attached to the support frame. The discharge portion swings laterally relative to the support frame about a pivot axis. The continuous miner also includes a conveyor extending across the support frame and discharge portion. The conveyor moves mined material from the mining portion to the discharge portion. The conveyor includes a conveyor chain, a rear roller, and a front roller. The continuous miner also includes a conveyor drive system for driving the conveyor chain. The conveyor drive system is located on a bottom surface of the continuous miner and between the rear roller and the front roller.
US08960806B2
The present invention relates to a method for operating a ground milling machine which comprises at least one height-adjustable milling roller, wherein the milling roller performs a tumbling movement (T′) which is controlled by way of open-loop and/or closed-loop control during lowering in operation. The present invention further relates to a control device for the closed-loop and/or open-loop control of this method, and also to a ground milling machine with such a control device.
US08960805B2
A work vehicle includes a vehicle body, a seat section including a forward driver's seat and a rear seat, a rear seat posture changing mechanism for changing the rear seat in its position between a first posture where the rear seat is in a non-use condition and a second posture where the rear seat is in a use condition, a load-carrying platform disposed rearwardly of the seat section, and a partitioning member for partitioning the seat section from a space behind the seat section. The load-carrying platform includes a forward platform and a rearward platform and is switchable in its state between an extended state where a fore/aft length of the load-carrying platform is increased after the forward platform is moved forward, and a contracted state where the fore/aft length of the load-carrying platform is decreased after the forward platform is moved rearward.
US08960794B2
A rigid wearable child carrier with shoulder strap, restraint system with integrated handle, and kickstands to be used with a corresponding car seat wherein the child carrier operates both independently and in conjunction with the car seat and the car seat operates independently and also operates normally when the carrier is present.
US08960792B1
The present disclosure is directed to a monobloc rocking chair. The rocking chair includes a seat, backrest, a pair of front legs, a pair of rear legs, and rockers extending between front and rear legs. The chair is molded of a single material include a downwardly opening cavity and formed to taper outwardly from top to bottom. The cavity is formed by the seat being supported directly from below by front legs and being supported directly from above by a backrest. Rear legs are spaced from the seat. This allows two identical chairs to nest when vertically stacked for compact shipping, storage, or display. The monobloc rocking chair can include one or more arms or be armless.
US08960786B2
A center armrest supporting structure for mounting an arm support can be swiveled between a lower use position and an upper rest position for use in a vehicle. Here, the carrying structure as an element of the vehicle features a left and a right console part made of a metal sheet, which have the arm support mounted thereon via bolt sections. Here, each console part on the side facing toward the arm support features a bearing shell made of plastics, wherein the bearing shell can be mounted on the console part by an assembly movement which is directed at least partially in parallel to the swivel axis.
US08960784B1
An inclined chair assembly includes a foldable seat that may support a user on an inclined support surface. A leg is coupled to the foldable seat so the leg may abut the inclined support surface. A support is coupled to the foldable seat so the support may support a user's arm.
US08960782B2
A drive mechanism includes a guide channel and a slide shoe. The guide channel comprises a first part extending in a substantially horizontal direction for moving the shoe on a first level, and a second part extending downwardly relative to the horizontal direction for moving the shoe to a lower second level. A drive member attaches to the shoe and extends along the channel, substantially parallel to the first part. The guide channel defines two spaced guide channel parts cooperating with two corresponding slide shoe parts. The slide shoe between its spaced slide shoe parts includes a recess allowing the slide shoe to move from the first to the second level without engaging the drive member. The drive member is located within the vertical projection at a level above the level assumed by at least one of the slide shoe parts when the slide shoe is at its second level.
US08960781B2
A vehicle rocker panel is provided that is extruded as a single piece. As extruded, the rocker panel may include one or more interior reinforcing walls as well as interior and exterior design features.
US08960776B2
A vehicle frame assembly, system and method includes a vehicle frame assembly having a variable length longitudinal frame component. The longitudinal frame component is formed at a first length when used on a first vehicle type and formed at a second length when used on a second vehicle type.
US08960771B2
The invention is a vehicle for ground transportation that is an aerodynamic shell attached to wheels. The aerodynamic shell is shaped according to airship technology and is elevated such that air flow around the shell is like air flow would be for that shell in flight. The elevation is accomplished with attached structure and attached wheels. Wheels at each side of the vehicle are arranged in wheel trains that are filled in and streamlined to form secondary aerodynamic units, with space between wheels used for equipment. The invention requires changing the position of the engine from its usual place that is low and at the front of the vehicle to a very different position that is high and at the rear of the vehicle.
US08960759B2
A vehicle body front structure includes a brake master cylinder mounting surface that is formed in an arc shape toward a vehicle interior, a plurality of mounting surface beads that are formed on the brake master cylinder mounting surface only in a vertical direction and an inclined direction inclined with respect to the vertical direction, and a reinforcing plate that is joined to the plurality of mounting surface beads.
US08960754B1
A utility vehicle 1 equipped with main frames 11 for forming a framework of a chassis; a ROPS (Roll-Over Protective Structure) 6 provided at an intermediate portion of the main frame in the front-rear direction of a body of the vehicle so as to enclose a cabin 5; a seat 7 disposed inside the ROPS; an engine 20 disposed under the seat; a storage box 30 disposed under the seat and on the outside of the engine in the width direction of the vehicle to store equipment requiring inspection and maintenance; and a lid 40 engaged with a box body to cover an opening 30a for the inspection and maintenance of the equipment.
US08960750B2
A device for vacuum-lifting workpieces includes a driving assembly, a rotating table, a plurality of suction assemblies mounted on the rotating table spaced from each other, and a vacuum pump. Each suction assembly includes a suction cup. An airflow guiding part is configured to align each suction cup with a vacuum when the suction cup is positioned above a picking station. The driving assembly makes the suction cups communicate with the airflow guiding part in succession. Each suction assembly is capable of picking a different type of workpiece, therefore the suction device can take the place of a plurality of individual manipulators.
US08960744B2
A multifunctional shovel is disclosed, comprising an elongated handle hingedly affixed to the reverse face of the shovel body such that the shovel body rotates axially around the distal end of the handle. In various embodiments, the shovel body comprises a plurality of ground engaging edges, such as a scrapper and plow, which can be positioned for ground engagement by rotating the target edge of shovel body into position around the distal end of the handle. The shovel also comprises a hinge and locking mechanism in some embodiments. The components are all of sufficient rigidity and durability to withstand compressive and tensile forces imposed on the shovel.
US08960743B1
Disclosed herein are several examples of an adapter for a modular tool system. The adapter in one form comprising: a handle attachment device fixed to a shovel head; the handle attachment device removably attached to a coupler which is fixed to one longitudinal end of an elongate handle; the elongate handle having a longitudinal axis wherein the coupler is in line with the longitudinal axis of the longitudinal axis of the handle; an offset arm having a first end fixed to the handle attachment device, the offset arm extending from the handle attachment device and extending to a second end removably coupled to the elongate handle at a point longitudinally distal of the coupler; and wherein the offset arm extends from the handle attachment device at a vertical offset distance from the longitudinal axis of the elongate handle.
US08960735B2
A latch system includes a catch member and a sear element engaged with the catch member when the catch member is in a latch position. A swing lever is in geared engagement with the sear element. When the latch system is subjected to an acceleration event, the swing lever pivots in one direction so that the sear element pivots in the opposite direction to move the sear element out of engagement with the catch member. The latch system may be installed on a container so that the catch member engages with a latch receptacle coupled to a hinged lid of the container. When the container experiences the acceleration event, the sear element disengages from the catch element and the hinged lid falls open thereby causing the catch member to pivot to the release position. The latch system automatically re-engages when the container is returned to its upright position.
US08960730B2
An apparatus for remotely opening the door of a pet cage. The apparatus has a linear solenoid connected to a latch on the enclosure. The solenoid is connected to control circuitry operated by a remote control unit. The apparatus is mounted on the cage with a spacer plate and a mounting plate. The spacer plate has a recess to receive the free end of the bolt portion of the latch and guide its travel away from interference with parts of the cage when the solenoid is operated. The mounting plate extends behind the latch portion on the door to prevent the caged pet from pawing at the latch and possibly opening it. A second mounting plate may be mounted behind the latch portion on the cage to protect that part of the latch. The spacer plate is uniquely designed to allow application of the apparatus to any size and/or configuration of cage without the need of any separate or additional pieces of adaptor hardware.
US08960729B2
An improved clamp assembly that has two adjacent annular clamps and the user has the choice of tightening just one of them or both of them. A bridge element is provided that presses against one or more sealing rings when tightening the annular clamp.
US08960727B2
A connector arrangement for attaching a gas conduit to a gas supply device and visually indicating the proper connection between the two components. The connector arrangement includes a connector attached to a gas conduit and a receptacle formed on a gas supply device. A visual indicator is associated with the receptacle such that when the connector is properly received within the receptacle, the visual indicator provides a visual indication to the user that the connection has been made. The visual indicator can include two distinct colors that provide a visual indication of whether a proper connection has been made. The visual indicator could alternatively include a light that is illuminated when the proper connection is made.
US08960725B2
A fender is disclosed for use with a mobile machine. The fender may have a first wall, a plurality of corrugations formed within the first wall and extending in a lengthwise direction, and a second wall spaced apart from the first wall to at least partially form a hollow enclosure. The fender may also have a first lip integral with a lengthwise edge of the first wall and a lengthwise edge of the second wall and extending in a direction generally perpendicular to the first and second walls; and a lengthwise recess disposed within the first lip. The first wall, the second wall, and the first lip may be fabricated from a plastic material.
US08960716B2
The housing structure for a curtain airbag includes: an airbag body; an inflator configured to inflate and deploy the airbag body; a bracket configured to fix a base end portion of the airbag body to a roof side or a front pillar; and a tether configured to anchor a front end portion of the airbag body to the front pillar. The airbag body is wound into a long narrow shape and covered with a roof lining, and the tether and a portion fixed by the tether are covered with a front pillar trim. The bracket is disposed adjacent to a joint portion of the roof lining and the front pillar trim and has an extension piece extending along the front pillar. An end portion of the airbag body wound together with the tether or a portion of the tether adjacent to the end portion is fixed to the extension piece with a releasable binding member.
US08960692B2
A semi-generic underframe assembly configured to be mounted to an underside of a vehicle is disclosed. The underframe assembly provides preconfigured mounting locations where track systems used to replace wheels can be properly mounted. The underframe assembly comprises at least one customized adapter frame particularly configured to be mounted at specific locations on the underside of a specific model of vehicle, and at least one generic adapter frame configured to be mounted to the customized adapter frame, the at least one generic adapter frame generally comprising the preconfigured mounting locations. The underframe assembly generally allows track systems to be mounted to the vehicle while avoiding attachment at inconvenient and/or weak locations.
US08960691B2
The invention relates to a vehicle oscillation device having two vehicle parts arranged to be movable relative to each other, wherein one of the two vehicle parts is supported in a substantially horizontally oscillatory manner in relation to the further one of the two vehicle parts in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and/or in the width direction of the vehicle, wherein said two vehicle parts are coupled with each other in an pivoting manner by a transmission system having more than one transmission element, and a damper is provided in a damping manner between a first transmission element and one of the two vehicle parts or a further transmission element.
US08960690B2
A rear-wheel toe angle variable vehicle changes a toe angle of a rear wheel by a rear toe actuator including: a housing connected to one of a rear-wheel support member and a body; a motor in the housing; a rod connected to the other of the rear-wheel support member and the body; a nut provided in one of the housing and the rod; a screw shaft provided in the other of the housing and the rod; a rotation transmission unit in the housing for transmitting rotation of the motor to the nut or screw shaft; and a rotation amount detection unit for detecting a rotation amount of one of the rotation transmission unit and the nut or screw shaft. The vehicle estimates an operation amount of the rear toe actuator based on the detected amount, and performs feedback control of the motor using the estimated amount.
US08960681B2
A cylinder head gasket 1 is sandwiched between a cylinder head 2 and a cylinder block 3 with a cylinder bore 4 and includes a substrate 10 with a combustion chamber hole 14 drilled at a position of the cylinder bore 4, and seal plates 11 to 13, the substrate 10 and the seal plates are stacked on one another. Fixation members 21 and 22 are secured to the substrate around a periphery of the combustion chamber hole. The seal plates include an engagement hole 23 formed therein and with which the fixation members are engaged. The engagement hole is engaged with the fixation members. The fixation members are sandwiched between the cylinder head and the cylinder block. The cylinder head and the cylinder block can be firmly coupled together via the fixation members.
US08960665B2
A sheet conveyance apparatus includes a first conveyance roller configured to convey a sheet, a second conveyance roller configured to convey the sheet at a variable speed ranging from a first sheet conveyance speed to a second sheet conveyance speed wherein the first sheet conveyance speed is less than a sheet conveyance speed of the first conveyance roller and the second sheet conveyance speed is greater than the sheet conveyance speed of the first conveyance roller, a driving unit configured to drive the second conveyance roller, and a control unit configured to control the driving unit.
US08960662B2
An image reading apparatus, which includes a housing including a first housing and a second housing; a first opening located in between the first housing and the second housing; a second opening formed to communicate with the first opening through a first path; a third opening, a length of which along the first direction is smaller than a length of the first opening; a fourth opening, including a part of the second opening, formed to communicate with the third opening through a second path; a fifth opening located in a position where a part of the second path and the first path merge with each other; an image reader; a first roller exposed to a part of the first path ranging between the image reader and the fifth opening; and a second roller exposed to a part of the second path ranging between the third opening and the fifth opening, is provided.
US08960658B2
Embodiments of the present invention comprise a platform attachment for use with a power hand tool which has a housing with a front nose portion with a rotary output shaft extending therefrom, and a tool holding mechanism on the output shaft for holding a tool, the attachment comprising a mounting component having an opening generally aligned with the output shaft through which a tool can extend, a platform component having a base portion and a platform portion, the base portion being adjustably attached to the mounting component, the platform portion having an outer generally planar main surface that is perpendicular to the axis and having an opening through which a tool can extend, and a generally planar secondary surface that extends downwardly from the main surface at a predetermined angle relative to the axis, and a mechanism for releasably locking the platform component on the mounting component.
US08960655B2
A flexure bearing “planar” spring that can spring multiple, independently reciprocating bodies, such as springing each body to a third body or springing a first body to a second body and springing the second body to a third body. A primary arm set of primary spring arms are separated from each other by openings and extend inwardly from a peripheral frame along a non-radial primary path progressing inwardly toward a central axis and angularly about the central axis. A secondary arm set of at least one secondary spring arm extends along a non-radial secondary path progressing radially and angularly about the central axis. Each secondary arm is interposed in an opening between the primary arms allowing the primary arms and the secondary arms to pass by each other through the openings without interfering with each other.
US08960652B2
A column structure (1) for the containment of high surface area packing (5) and absorbent liquid reagent for the removal of a target gas from a gas stream having an elongate upright wall structure defining a perimeter comprising a closed simple polygon or closed simple curve; a support structure extending inwardly from the perimeter of the column towards the top thereof; and slung tensile members (16) attached to the wall structure of the top support structure and extending downwardly to support at least internal column structure within the walls of the column.
US08960650B2
A multifunctional Schumann wave machine of the present invention includes a shell, a luminous device, a rotary device, a rotary blade, a droplets straining device and an air blower. The present invention provides color therapy as its luminous bodies emit lights to outside of the shell and release Schumann waves. The rotary blade and droplets straining device can produce and spray fine droplets with anions. Additionally, the water contained in the present invention is added some aromatic essential oil. Bodies and minds of users are relaxed and happy in the fresh and clean environment which is full of sunlight, air and water.
US08960642B2
The disclosed embodiments include ball valves having integrated seats. The integrated seats are included in a ball body assembly of a valve body. The ball body assembly may rotate with respect to the valve body to open or close the valve. The integrated seats may contact walls of a bore to sealingly close the valve.
US08960631B2
A diaphragm 34 which defines a liquid sealing chamber 32 has a curved surface shape where the diaphragm 34 bulges toward a partition body 40 side with a center portion 34A thereof forming a peak portion, and a projection 44 which is an injection port mark of an elastic material formed at the time of forming the diaphragm 34 is formed on a film surface of the diaphragm 34 at the center portion 34A on the partition body 40 side. A recessed portion 62 which receives the projection 44 is formed in a center portion 56 of the partition body 40 which faces the projection 44 in an opposed manner, and a liquid-sealed antivibration device 10 is assembled in a state where the projection 44 of the diaphragm 34 is inserted into the recessed portion 62.
US08960630B2
A support structure includes: a base, having an accommodation slot; a support portion, having a first end and a second end, in which the first end is connected to the base and the second end is received in the accommodation slot; and an elastic part, located at the first end of the support portion and encapsulated by the support portion, in which when the first end experiences a force, the elastic part generates an elastic deformation to make the second end extend beyond the accommodation slot.
US08960623B2
An adapter apparatus interfaces an accessory including a portable handheld device and a mounting product for a physically secure and stabilized assembly for stabilized, hands-free functionality. The adapter apparatus is ergonomically designed to enable optimal viewing angles of a portable handheld device as well as facilitate neutral postures of a user through elevation of the portable handheld device to improve head and neck posture of a user thereby increasing comfort and minimizing neck pain of the user.
US08960616B2
Mounting clips and decorative mounting articles removably engage to vertically disposed mounting surfaces, such as rain gutter downspouts. The mounting clips support arms, hooks, plates, decorations, and brackets for display of banners, flags, security lights, decorative lights, etc., on a downspout or other comparable mounting surface. The mounting clips include a frame having arms with projections separated by channels configured for attachment to a profiled outer surface of the mounting surface. Decorative mounting articles include a rear section forming channels having inner sidewalls with engagement portions configured for direct attachment of the decorative mounting article to a profiled outer surface of the mounting surface.
US08960613B2
A tube interconnection system is disclosed that includes multiple interconnection components having base portions and one or more band connection systems. The interconnection components can be configured to interact to be in a coupled state. To this end, a ratcheting mechanism can be configured to releasably hold the first interconnection component and the second interconnection component in various rotated positions relative to one another in the coupled state.
US08960604B1
A method and apparatus comprising a composite section. The composite section has a cylindrical shape. The composite section also has an outer wall configured to be bonded to a first inner wall of a first composite cylindrical fuselage section and a second inner wall of a second composite cylindrical fuselage section for an aircraft.
US08960603B2
An aircraft fuselage part (31) located in a section of an aircraft (11) having a propulsion system (13) attached by upstream pylons (17), the fuselage part includes a skin (35); a plurality of frames (37) arranged perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis (33); a single or internally divided upper longitudinal box (41) and a single or internally divided lower longitudinal box (51) which are configured to form with the skin (35) a multi-cell structure, belonging in each cell the external side to the skin (35) and the internal sides to the longitudinal boxes (41, 51); a plurality of lateral beams (61) that are interconnected with the frames (37) to form together with the skin (35) a structural unity. The fuselage components (35, 37, 41, 51, 61) are dimensioned so that the aircraft can withstand the effect of pre-defined failure events keeping a sufficient number of closed cells.
US08960600B2
In one embodiment, a variable surface landing platform (VARSLAP) includes a base for contacting a landing surface; at least 3 adjustable struts interconnected with the base, wherein each strut is bisected by a strut actuator-housing, and wherein the at least 3 adjustable struts are interconnected to a main body aerospace craft (MAC); a sensor array on the base; and an attitude determination and control system (ADCS).
US08960597B2
This propulsion unit for an aircraft comprises: a fan (3) comprising a fan casing (23) the interior wall of which has a coating (25) the upstream edge of which is set back relative to the upstream edge (29) of the said casing (23), and an air intake assembly (A) comprising an air intake structure (1) comprising an air intake lip (7) and an acoustic shroud (11) extending between this air intake lip (7) and the upstream edge of the said coating (25). The said shroud (11) is connected to the said casing (23) simply by nesting inside this casing (23), this nesting possibly being supplemented by discrete means of connection between these two elements (11, 23).
US08960587B2
A mat rolling machine for rolling a mat having a leading edge and a trailing edge may include a frame, at least one first drive belt, a plurality of second drive belts, a plurality of third drive belts, and a plurality of fourth drive belts. At least one of the belts may be coupled together at an oblique angle relative to the direction of travel of the belt. The mat rolling machine may include a plurality of primary fingers and a plurality of secondary fingers having a smaller radius of curvature on a lower face than the plurality of primary fingers. The mat rolling machine may include at least one support member for guiding a mat along a path through the mat rolling machine, and at least one pusher for discharging a rolled mat from the rear of the mat rolling machine.
US08960580B2
An electric grinder includes a bottle, a housing, a grinding assembly and a driving device mounted inside the housing, wherein, the housing detachably connected to the bottle, the grinding assembly has a female grinding head and a male grinding head, the driving device has an output engaged to a central driving rod, and the central driving rod passes through the grinding cavity and drives the male grinding head. As the constancy overall volume of the grinder, the storage amount of condiments is relatively larger, the electric grinder has well-arranged and aesthetically-designed components and is reliable in use, with uniform electric grinding and uniform discharging.
US08960579B2
Food processing utensil comprising: paddles, central utensil comprising: shaft coupleable to food processor motor, and connected to base coupleable to food processor bowl, and cutting blades, the paddles coupled to the central utensil and the blades configured to allow uniform cutting of food, providing paddles are not on blades.
US08960577B2
A method of crushing material between a first crushing surface and a second crushing surface of a crusher, including the steps of measuring a crushing parameter, and analyzing, based on the measured crushing parameter, which type of material that is being crushed in the crusher.
US08960570B2
The present technique provides a system and method for improving a tip assembly for a spray coating device. An exemplary spray coating device of the present technique has a twist tip with air-assist channels. The twist tip may be applied to a spray gun and provides a portion of the fluid flow passage of the gun. Rotation of the twist tip alters the fluid flow path, resulting in increased operator control.
US08960569B2
A spray head for a powdered power washer designed to produce a wide diameter spray of water under both high and low water pressure conditions. The washer head includes a spinner tube mounted inside a cylindrical-shaped nozzle body. The upper segment of the spinner tube is held inside the nozzle body by a fixed cassette assembly. A middle and lower segments of the spinner tube extend below and are bent outward and axially offset from the upper segment and from each other. Mounted inside and over the upper end opening of the nozzle tube is an adapter with a threaded cavity formed on one end. The adapter includes a water orifice that delivers water from the handle or wand to the spinner tube. A flat washer with a narrow water orifice is used to deliver a narrow, high velocity stream of water to the spinner tube.
US08960565B2
A hot water pressure washer with an automatic burner cool-down includes a water inlet assembly, a low pressure water supply assembly, a coil outlet assembly, a control system, and other related components which are required for the functionality of the pressure washer. A shut-down timer of the control system shut down a power source so that the pressure washer can be automatically shut down through the control system when the pressure washer is not operated. Then a cool-down timer of the control system efficiently cools down a heating coil of a burner assembly. The cool-down timer activates the water inlet assembly, the low pressure water supply assembly and the coil outlet assembly through a pair of solenoid valves in order to cool down the heating coil, where the thermal energy within the heating coil is removed from a phase change of water into water vapor and convection.
US08960561B2
A wireless communication device includes a wireless IC chip that processes a high-frequency signal and a feeding substrate including a coil conductor, a plane conductor, and a matching circuit that is connected to the wireless IC chip and that has a predetermined resonant frequency. The coil conductor and the plane conductor are connected to the matching circuit. The wireless communication device, when used by itself, operates as a monopole antenna in which the plane conductor functions as a ground and the coil conductor functions as a radiation element. When a conductive object is in a vicinity of the plane conductor, the plane conductor is coupled to the conductive object, and the wireless communication device operates as a dipole antenna in which the plane conductor and the conductive object function as a first radiation element and the coil conductor functions as a second radiation element.
US08960560B2
An electronic tag capable of coupling to metal can be attached to the metallic surface of a product, and includes a substrate, a radiation body arranged on a surface of the substrate, a grounding body and a reference line. The grounding body is also arranged on the aforementioned surface and electrically connects to the radiation body. The reference line is arranged on the aforementioned surface and in the grounding body. While such electronic tag is attached to the metallic surface of a product, a portion of the grounding body, which is opposite to the radiation body, contacts with such metallic surface, so that the signal reading distance of such electronic tag can be broadened and extended in virtue of coupling such grounding body with such metallic surface to cause the grounding area to be enlarged. The extent of such contact shall not extend beyond such reference line.
US08960555B1
A medical information device (1) and two dimensional bar code (2) for storing an individual's emergency medical information on and/or providing remote access to the medical information. The medical information device may be updated by an individual over the Internet by sending updated information to a central location that updates the information in a central database. The medical information device is capable of storing medical information directly therein and/or of providing remote access to medical information stored in a central database. This is accomplished by using a two-dimensional barcode 2, such as a Quick Response Code (“QR code”) (3) or other matrix barcode, that is capable of storing text and/or URL information that may be opened by an electronic device or other imaging device, such as a smart phone.
US08960550B2
An arrangement for, and a method of, minimizing misdecodes of GS1 DataBar Limited (Databar-limited) symbols in a reader for electro-optically reading symbols of different symbologies, such as Universal Product Code (UPC) Version A (UPC-A) symbols, includes a data capture assembly for capturing light from a target symbol, and for generating an electrical signal indicative of the captured light; and a controller for processing and decoding the electrical signal, and for determining whether the decoded signal is indicative of a Databar-limited symbol, and for determining whether the decoded signal has characteristics indicative of a different symbology, such as the UPC-A symbol, to indicate whether a misdecode of the Databar-limited symbol has occurred.
US08960545B1
Programming fixtures are provided that program devices, such as payment cards, with data, such as personal data, using light transmitters and receivers for powered cards, or using magnetic write heads for non-powered cards. A processor within the powered card computes a magnetic stripe message and associated longitudinal redundancy check (LRC) value based upon the personal data. The processor compares the LRC value against a list of LRC exceptions and changes the magnetic stripe message to change the LRC value based upon a positive comparison. A programming fixture may compute the magnetic stripe message and may change the magnetic stripe message before writing the magnetic stripe message to a static magnetic stripe upon a detection that the associated LRC value matches an LRC exception.
US08960543B2
An RFID reader that is situated in a recess of an apparatus housing, such that the apparatus housing is constituted of an electrically conductive material, and such that the RFID reader is configured as an RFID reader operating according to the “EMV Contactless Protocol Specification, Version 2.1, March 2011,” such that the RFID antenna is situated in or on a plane constituted by the apparatus housing or inside the apparatus housing, such that the RFID reader has a transmitting power of more than 400 milliwatts, and that a quality factor (Q) of the RFID antenna is in a range between Q=12 and Q=20. In addition, the invention relates to an apparatus with an RFID reader of this type.
US08960540B2
A system and method for operating a payment terminal, the method including receiving a list of eligible applications from a payment device; generating a candidate list including applications from the list of eligible applications received that are supported by the payment terminal; determining a reduced candidate list, the reduced candidate list including applications from the candidate list that match merchant-specified network preference criteria; determining a final selection of an application based on the reduced candidate list; and providing an indication of the final selection application.
US08960534B2
A quality management system for products including a multiplicity of barcoded quality indicators, a barcode indicator reader and a product type responsive indication interpreter, each of the barcoded quality indicators including a first barcode including at least one first colorable area, the first barcode being machine-readable before exceedance of the at least one time and temperature threshold, at least a second barcode including at least one second colorable area, the second barcode not being machine-readable before exceedance of the at least one time and temperature threshold, a coloring agent located at a first location on the indicator and a coloring agent pathway operative to allow the coloring agent to move, from the first location to the first and second colorable areas simultaneously thereby causing the first barcode to become unreadable and at the same time causing the second barcode to become machine-readable.
US08960533B2
A secure asset storage and transfer system. A first display displays a first bar code encoding a request message including an asset value amount to be transferred. A first camera-equipped device is configured for: reading the first bar code, decoding the first bar code to recover the request message; generating a value transfer message for transferring asset value amount to be transferred from a storage medium associated with the camera-equipped device; encoding the value transfer message to generate a corresponding second bar code; and displaying the second bar code on a second display. A second camera-equipped device is configured for reading the second bar code, and decoding the second bar code to recover the value transfer message.
US08960530B2
A receptacle for receiving and securely storing mail includes a body defining an opening through which mail is received and a storage area into which mail is stored. A door is pivotably mounted within the opening and configured to close the opening in a closed position and to pivot away from the body to facilitate access to the opening in an opened position. A ramp is mounted within the body and configured to receive and direct mail into the storage area. A closing member is pivotably mounted within the body and linked to the door, such that movement of the door from the closed position to the opened position causes the closing member to pivot towards the ramp to substantially prevent access to the storage area from the opening when the door is in an open position.
US08960529B2
Provided is a fare box which enables passengers to smoothly pay fares using bills without hesitation even when a bill transportation passage is disabled due to jamming of a bill or a breakdown. Two entrances, which are a bill normal receiving opening and a bill backup receiving opening, are provided as bill receiving openings of the fare box. Either of the bill normal receiving opening and the bill backup receiving opening is allowed to be selectively opened by a shutter member. At normal times, the bill normal receiving opening is put into operation with the shutter member positioned at a normal position. When a bill normal transportation passage has become jammed with a bill, the shutter member is shifted from the normal position to a bypass position on the basis of an operation performed on a bill receiving opening switch lever, whereby the bill backup receiving opening is opened instead of the bill normal receiving opening.
US08960527B2
A foldable box that includes a cover; a bottom; a right side; a front side; a left side; a rear side; an outside connector; a front connector; and a rear connector. The cover and the bottom can be foldably connected to the outside connector. The right side, the front side, the left side and the rear side can be foldably connected to each other. Also, a portion of the front connector can be foldably connected to a bottom edge of the left side, a portion of the front connector can be foldably connected to a bottom edge of the front side, a portion of the rear connector can be foldably connected to a bottom edge of the rear side and a portion of the rear connector can be foldably connected to a bottom edge of the right side.
US08960526B2
There is provided a flux for soldering and a soldering process which form better solder connection without the occurrence of the poor connection nor the insulation degradation.Such flux which is placed between a solder portion formed on a first electrode and a second electrode when the first electrode is soldered to the second electrode contains: a liquid base material made of a resin component which is dissolved in a solvent, an active component which removes an oxide film, and a metal powder made of a metal of which melting point is higher than that of a solder material which forms the solder portion, and the flux contains the metal powder in an amount in the range between 1% and 9% by volume based on a volume of the flux.
US08960524B2
A burring apparatus for a friction welding machine comprises a clamp unit provided at the front end of a horizontal main spindle, for holding work piece W1 coaxial with the main spindle, a clamp unit provided at the front end of a slide movable to and away from the main spindle in the direction of the axis of the main spindle and a doughnut-shaped cutter for shearing off a burr. Work piece W2 is moved forward together with the slide until work piece W2 comes into contact with work piece W1 so that the mated ends of work pieces W1 and W2 are friction welded together to form a joint work piece W. The burr formed on the jointed work piece W is sheared off by the cutter. The jointed work piece W is then liberated from the main spindle.
US08960519B2
A shaft being, e.g., flexible, that includes an elongated outer sheath, at least one drive shaft disposed within the outer sheath and a ring non-rotatably mounted on the at least one rotatable drive shaft and at least one light source mounted within the shaft, such that, upon rotation of the at least one rotatable drive shaft, the ring alternately blocks and allows light from the light source to be detected. The shaft may also include a moisture sensor disposed within the outer sheath of the shaft and configured to detect moisture within the outer sheath. The shaft may include couplings that connect a distal end of the outer sheath to a surgical attachment and a proximal end of the outer sheath to a remote power console.
US08960514B2
The present invention relates to a dispenser for supplying a disposable paper product of a roll type such as a toilet paper, a hand towel and etc. The dispenser has a main body casing which accommodates the paper product and has a rotating shaft supporting the paper product to be rotatable and a discharging part for discharging the paper product, and a wet type cutting unit which is located at the discharging part to provide liquid to a part of the paper product that is to be cut. Liquid is provided to an area of the paper product to be cut, so that the paper product can be easily cut with a relatively small force.
US08960508B2
A sliding nozzle device automatically performs a series of operations of loading and unloading pressure between plates and opening and closing a slide frame; maintaining the pressure without additional operations; and operates at full stroke during molten steel flow control. An auxiliary plate-exchanging mechanism includes slide axes moving in the same direction as a hydraulic cylinder operates, and an arm having a proximal end placed around the slide axis. The plate-exchanging mechanism is fixed on an upside frame. A first engagement pin mounted on the proximal end of the arm is inserted in a first engagement groove in a first engagement member engaging with the slide axis, and second engagement pins mounted on bearings are inserted in second engagement grooves in the slide axes. With movement of the slide axes the engagement pins respectively move in the engagement grooves, thereby rotating the slide axes and the arm.
US08960505B2
The device for the quantitatively regulated delivery of bulk product includes a supply tank for the bulk product and a slider element, which forms the boundary of an outlet gap on one side. The slider element comprises on its front end an elastic, U-shaped loop, the upper part of which is fixed in position, whereas a rear portion of the lower part of the loop is connected to a linear drive. The linear drive can be used both to adjust the width of the outlet gap by translational movement of the lower section of the loop and to produce a small-amplitude back-and-forth movement of the lower section of the loop. In this way, it is possible to release bulk product of various shapes and sizes reliably and without damage in a quantitatively regulated manner.
US08960481B2
An adaptable bin includes a bin floor and at least two bin walls. The bin floor and the bin walls define a storage volume. An opening is defined by the bin walls, and allows access to the storage volume. The adaptable bin includes a moveable shelf, which has a shelf floor and a shelf connector mated to one of the bin walls. The shelf connector is rotatable, relative to the bin walls, about an axis. The moveable shelf also includes a shelf arm connecting the shelf floor to the shelf connector. The moveable shelf is selectively rotatable about the axis between a first position and a second position. The first position substantially blocks access to the bin floor from the opening. The second position allows substantially-unimpeded access to the bin floor from the opening.
US08960480B2
A clamshell-style food container having a beverage holder that can also act as a closure mechanism for securing the container in a closed configuration. In some embodiments, the food container also has multiple compartments for separating food items.
US08960478B2
A food and condiment container having a first storage space for a food item and a second storage space for a condiment. The container includes a paperboard carton and an appliqué fold-out pocket affixed thereto and moveable between open and closed positions for receiving a condiment The pocket includes a front panel, a back panel, and first and second side panels extending therebetween. The back panel is joined to the carton, and the front panel is joined to the back panel along a portion thereof to hinge forward from the back panel. The side panels are connected between the front and back panels and are collapsible along a crease extending the vertical length of the side panels. Prior to use, the appliqué pocket remains flush with the carton and is opened along a perforation line to form a storage space for a condiment.
US08960475B1
A universal container seal for sealing a container opening includes a resilient body having a top surface and a bottom surface. The body is further configured in a geometric plan form and having a width significantly greater than a thickness, the thickness being greater at a center of the resilient body than at a periphery of the resilient body. At least one finger tab extends upwardly from the top surface of the body. The body further defines a plurality of grooves in the top surface.
US08960474B2
A vessel cover and/or splash guard for cooking or household vessels, which may be formed from a plurality of individual segments that may be supported relative to one another so as to be rotatable about an axis of rotation at different heights, so that they can be fanned out a screen-like manner.
US08960472B2
A seamless can body in which the flatness of a center panel of a bottom of the thin can body can be stably maintained and the can body has high pressure resistance, high formability, and excellent properties for an internal pressure test. The seamless can body has a can bottom shape having a rim portion protruding to an outside of the can, an annular concave portion protruding to an inside of the can, and a flat center panel extending continuously from an inner peripheral side of the annular concave portion with a corner portion interposed therebetween. The curvature radius (R3) of the corner section is in the range of 1.5 mm
US08960465B2
A teat unit for sucking a liquid from a liquid container includes a teat and a flow restrictor with a through-opening. The teat comprises a mouthpiece, with a suction opening, and a main body which is formed integrally on the mouthpiece and widens relative to the mouthpiece. The flow restrictor defines a maximum flow of the liquid passing through the suction opening from the liquid container. According to the invention, the flow restrictor is arranged outside the mouthpiece, and the suction opening has a greater cross-sectional surface area than the through-opening of the flow restrictor. The teat unit permits a feeding action that is as true to nature as possible, since the mouthpiece can be deformed very considerably, without substantially impairing the flow restriction.
US08960454B2
A combination is disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the combination includes a suspension bar, a tool holder adapted for attachment to the suspension bar, a hook device for suspending an object and a fastening device which enables the hook device to be releasably attached to the suspension bar. In at least one embodiment, the fastening device includes a first and a second portion for retaining engagement with the web of the suspension bar and its respective flanges. The first portion forms the upper portion of the fastening device, when mounted, to which portion the hook device is fixedly attached either directly or indirectly. The second portion of the fastening device is pivotally attached to the first portion by way of a joint, which, with the tool holder in its mounted state, is oriented parallel with and located between the flanges of the suspension bar.
US08960453B2
A hanging device is used to hang a pincer body which is displayed. The pincer body includes a first clamp body and a second clamp body The first clamp body has an adjusting opening. The hanging device includes a hanging member having a hanging hole, a positioning member having a base and a positioning portion, the base having a top portion and a bottom portion, the bottom portion of the base assembled to the hanging member, and a width of the positioning portion being longer than a width of the base and a width of the adjusting opening of the first clamp body. When the base is inserted into the adjusting opening, the positioning portion is assembled to a top of the base so that the first clamp body is locked between the positioning portion and the hanging member.
US08960451B2
An apparatus includes a large server storage frame including a base, a ceiling and supports that are supportive of the ceiling above the base and separable from one another by a variable distance, first and second brackets disposable at variable vertical positions along first and second ones of the supports, respectively, and a turnbuckle assembly including an extendible member and first and second connectors connected to first and second ends of the extendible member, respectively. The first and second connectors are rotatably connectable to the first and second brackets, respectively, and the extendible member is extendible such that the first and second connectors reach the first and second brackets with the first and second brackets respectively disposed at the variable vertical positions.
US08960447B2
A separator method and apparatus that includes a rotatable drum defining an annular passageway therein, a plurality of blades coupled to the rotatable drum and located in the annular passageway, each of the plurality of blades including a leading section, a trailing section, a concave surface, and a convex surface, the concave and convex surfaces extending from the leading section to the trailing section, each of the plurality of blades disposed circumferentially adjacent to at least another one of the plurality of blades so as to define blade flowpaths therebetween, and a housing at least partially surrounding the rotatable drum and defining a fluid collection chamber fluidly communicating with the annular passageway.
US08960446B2
A seal can have a middle portion, an upper lip, and a lower lip. The upper lip has a configuration with an upper end portion, an upper top portion, and an upper bottom portion with a void space defined in part by the upper end portion, the upper top portion, and the upper bottom portion. The lower lip can have a configuration with a lower end portion, a lower top portion, and a lower bottom portion with a void space defined in part by the lower end portion, the lower top portion, and the lower bottom portion. A middle portion connects the upper lip and the lower lip.
US08960445B2
A support structure for supporting screening media in a vibrating screen. The support structure is received on longitudinal beams of the vibrating screen. The support structure is formed of fixation strips having fixation parts, on which fixation parts carriers are received. The fixation strips and carriers are placed perpendicular to each other.
US08960438B2
A multi-compartment flexible pouch with an insulated compartment and method of forming includes a pouch body formed from a panel of material, and the pouch body has at least one compartment for a product. An opening means for accessing the product is disposed in the pouch body. A first insulating compartment seal having a predetermined shape is applied to the pouch body and a second insulating compartment seal having a predetermined shape is applied to the pouch body and spaced a predetermined distance apart from the first seal to form the insulated compartment. The insulated compartment contains a pressurized gas and a surface temperature of the insulated compartment is less than a surface temperature of the product compartment after the pouch is heated.
US08960435B1
A stackable and linkable container system that includes a container having a cavity; an entry slot formed in at least an upper portion of the front wall; an exit slot formed in at least a lower portion of the front wall; a cover; one or more vertical stack aligning tabs extending from a top surface of the cover; one or more ribs extending from an outer surface of the bottom wall; at least one horizontal aligning dovetail extending from the first side wall; at least two, spaced apart, horizontal aligning pins extending from the second side wall, wherein at least one horizontal aligning dovetail socket is defined between the spaced apart horizontal aligning pins, and wherein the horizontal aligning dovetail is formed so as to be at least partially received within the horizontal aligning dovetail socket.
US08960434B2
The present invention provides a liquid crystal display module packaging structure, which includes a package box and a cushioning device received in the package box. The cushioning device includes a bottom cushioning piece and a top cushioning piece used in combination with the bottom cushioning piece. The bottom cushioning piece includes a cushioning bottom board, two cushioning side boards mounted to the cushioning bottom board and arranged at two ends of the cushioning bottom board, and three positioning boards mounted to the cushioning bottom board and arranged, in a spaced manner, between the two cushioning side boards. The cushioning side boards and the positioning boards form therein first and second accommodation spaces. The first and second accommodation spaces are filled with a plurality of inflatable cushioning bodies.
US08960428B2
A case for accommodating a fiber cleaver is capable of preventing the fiber cleaver from being damaged. The case accommodating a fiber cleaver includes a base and a lid such that the lid is openably and closably provided for the base in an integrated fashion. The base of the case has therein a positioning space for the cleaver on its inner bottom surface, the positioning space positioning a main body included in a cleaver unit. Latches protruding inwardly in the base of the case are arranged on positioning walls defining part of the positioning space for the cleaver. The latches have a function of retaining a support of the main body of the cleaver in a direction along the height of the base of the case. The latch further has a function of retaining a slider included in the cleaver unit in a sliding direction.
US08960427B2
A case for a portable electronic device that includes a first section having a first plurality of apertures, a second section having a second plurality of apertures, and a plurality of decorative pieces that have a base. The second section is slideable in relation to the first section such that the second plurality of apertures overlaps the first plurality of apertures when the first section and the second section are in a first position or in a second position. The base of each decorative piece is sized and configured to pass through a first overlap region when the first and second sections are in a first position and the base is held in a locked engagement in a second overlap region when the first and second sections are in a second position.
US08960425B2
A spray package including a container defining a cavity and having an opening; a spray container movable disposed in the cavity, the spray container having a fluid container portion movably disposed in the cavity and a projection portion having an orifice in fluid communication with the first fluid container portion, the projection portion being movable through the opening in the container between a retracted and extended position; and a therapeutic liquid disposed in the fluid container portion and being discharged through the orifice upon application of a force to the container.
US08960416B2
Disclosed is a grip width adjusting mechanism incorporated in a packaging machine having a grip unit. The grip width adjusting mechanism includes a plurality of grip width adjusting plates disposed at the steps and set with distances between the guide rail and the grip width adjusting plates according to the work content of the steps, respectively and a grip width adjusting lever having a distal end having a grip width adjusting roller abutting against each grip width adjusting plate by a biasing force of the spring, respectively. The grip width adjusting lever is located on either one of the arms so as to be rotated with the arm. A rotational movement angle of the grip width adjusting lever is set according to the distance between the guide rail and the grip width adjusting plate, with the result that the grip width is adjusted.
US08960413B2
An article conveyer belt assembly used for example, in a coin sorting device for positively pushing an article, such as a coin along a support surface is provided. A toothed belt has teeth for transmission of power by mounting a plurality of pushers on the belt with a connector removably mounted with a connecting body, a first holder and a second holder spaced a distance from each other to hold onto the conveyor belt. One of the first and second holders has a hook member to close a spaced opening at one end. The first and second holders are cantilevered to be mounted on a conveyor belt. At the other end of the connector body a pusher unit has a first shaft part and a second shaft part cantilevered from the connector body, with a hollow roller snap fitted on the first shaft part and the second shaft part.
US08960409B2
The invention relates to a transport unit for conveying items to a scanning unit or a self-service cash register system with a belt conveyor for transporting the items in a transport direction and with a marking unit assigned to the belt conveyor for identifying placement areas open for the placement of items on an item placement surface of the belt conveyor, where a detection unit is assigned to the belt conveyor for detecting a rear edge of the items, and a control unit cooperates in such a manner with the marking unit and the detection unit, and a restricted area not open for the placement of items is formed between a front placement surface, and a rear placement surface where the front face of said area, is defined by the rear edge of the item assigned to the front placement area.
US08960408B2
A moving walkway or escalator includes a handrail and a guide for the handrail. The handrail is driven by motor and moved along the longitudinal axis thereof at or on the guide. The handrail is guided at or on the guide along an arcuate portion of the guide while rotated or twisted about the longitudinal axis thereof, so that it can be guided more easily around curves of the moving walkway.
US08960404B2
The bezel assembly for data reception, for use with a bill validator in a financial transactional device, includes a bezel housing and a data reception assembly. The bezel housing includes a customer-facing front portion and a back plate connectable to the bill validator that is mounted within the transactional device cabinet. The front portion includes an insertion/dispensing slot for receiving currency and a projecting hollow tongue forward of the casing. The forward-extending hollow tongue accommodates at least a portion of the data reception assembly. The bezel assembly can include a wireless communication function that is communicably connectable with a mobile device via a wireless communication method, a manual entry function, a biometric reader, one or more cameras for scanning and decrypting 2D barcodes and the like, thus enhancing the overall functionality of the financial transactional device.
US08960398B2
A power unit for a motorcycle having a clutch operation assisting device. The clutch operation assisting device includes a push shaft, a bearing plate that supports the push shaft, and a first rotary plate rotatably supported on the bearing plate and connected to a clutch wire. The first rotary plate causes the push shaft to slide as it rotates and is gear-coupled to a second rotary plate. A spring unit that applies an assist force in a direction for disengaging a friction clutch is pin-coupled to the second rotary plate. The spring unit is supported on a mounting seat in a swingable manner and is installed such that, as viewed from the axial direction of the push shaft, the expansion/contraction direction of an auxiliary spring in the spring unit does not pass through a rotation center of the pressure plate.
US08960389B2
A damper for a bicycle having a primary unit and a remote unit that, in some arrangements, is substantially entirely outside of the primary unit. The remote unit comprises a remote fluid chamber and, in some arrangements, an inertia valve within the remote unit. The inertia valve is preferably responsive to terrain-induced forces and preferably not responsive to rider-induced forces when the shock absorber is assembled to the bicycle. The inertia valve, which is configured to slidably move within the remote reservoir unit relative to a reservoir shaft, comprises a main portion and at least one protective coating or layer configured to contact the reservoir shaft. The protective coating or layer helps shield said main portion from contact with reservoir shaft, advantageously providing wear resistance, anti-friction properties, durability and other benefits to the damping system.
US08960388B2
A spring (1) with fluid (2) including a containment body (3) having an inner chamber (4) in which the fluid (2) is inserted, a compression unit (8) slidably mounted on the containment body (3) and a sealing gasket (11) for the fluid (2) interposed between the containment body (3) and the compression unit (8) for preventing escape of the fluid (2) from the inner chamber (4); the spring (1) includes at least one closed loop (13) surrounding the compression unit (8), connected to the containment body (3) and in contact with the sealing gasket (11) so as to limit the deformation of the latter.
US08960380B2
A brake for a rotating member is disclosed. The brake is used with a liquid coolant, and includes a housing for containing the liquid, a stationary element disposed in the housing, a wear plate disposed on the stationary element, a friction element coupled to the rotating member for contacting the wear plate, and a removable heat transfer insert disposed adjacent the wear plate and in fluid communication with the coolant, the heat transfer insert consisting of a non-galvanic material.
US08960372B2
An apparatus for use with an elevator car is operable to selectively lock an elevator car door. The apparatus verifies that the elevator car door is closed, locks the elevator car door, and verifies that a lock is engaged. Once conditions are met, the apparatus signals an elevator controller that the elevator car can move through a hoistway. The apparatus further ensures that passengers can safely disembark from the elevator car by detecting the position of the elevator car relative to a designated landing zone within the hoistway, and confirming the elevator car is stopped at a landing zone prior to disengaging the lock. The apparatus thus ensures that the elevator car door remains closed while the elevator car is in motion or between landing zones.
US08960371B2
When main power to an elevator system 10 is lost, an automatic rescue operation is performed using power from a backup power source 46. A rescue run for an elevator stopped between floors is initiated by lifting a brake 28 and allowing the elevator car 12 to move by gravity. If the car 12 moves as a result of a weight imbalance between the car 12 and a counterweight 14, operation of the hoist motor 24 is synchronized with sensed movement of the car 12 to generate electricity. If weight is balanced so that the car 12 does not move, backup power is supplied to the hoist motor 24 to apply a motor torque to drive the car 12 in a selected direction during the rescue run.
US08960370B2
A drain valve for draining liquid out of a container which comprises an essentially cylindrical opening that passes through a thickened area of the container wall, with an internally threaded section formed at an outer end thereof, followed by an interior space with a larger diameter into which a duct opens, and opposite the interior space an inner section with a smaller diameter opens into the container. A step is provided between the interior space and the inner section and serves as the seat for an associated end face of the valve element. A step between the interior space and the bore, on the one hand, and the inner end face of the valve element, on the other hand, are designed to co-operate as a valve seat which progressively opens and closes as the valve element is displaced.
US08960369B1
An air accelerating system includes a housing that has a bore extending through top and bottom ends of the housing. A mounting collar mounted on the bottom end fluidly couples the housing to an oil fill hole of a valve cover. An axle mounted in the bore has a plurality of main blades mounted thereon which are rotated when the axle is rotated to exhaust air from the bottom end to blow oil out of engine valves and into an oil pan of an engine. A drive mount mounted to the top end has at least one vent aperture extending therethrough that is in fluid communication with the bore. A drive spindle rotatably mounted to the drive mount is engaged with the axle and engageable with a drill. The drill rotates the axle to draw air into the vent aperture and expel it outwardly of the bottom end.
US08960360B2
A frame is disclosed for a vehicle having a vehicle body, a vehicle suspension, and a power-plant configured to generate torque and an exhaust gas stream. The frame includes a tubular frame rail in fluid communication with the power-plant, wherein the rail is defined by a fully-closed cross-section that provides a fluid passage. The frame rail is configured to support the vehicle body and the vehicle suspension. The fluid passage is configured to channel the exhaust gas stream through the frame rail and away from the vehicle body. A vehicle employing such a frame is also disclosed.
US08960351B1
A utility vehicle equipped with a main frame for forming a framework of a chassis; a ROPS (Roll-Over Protective Structure) provided at an intermediate portion of the main frame in a front-rear direction of a body of the utility vehicle so as to enclose a cabin; a seat disposed inside the ROPS; an engine disposed under the seat; and a battery disposed under the seat and on an outside of the engine in a width direction of the utility vehicle.
US08960350B2
A vehicle includes a floor panel and an electric storage apparatus fixed to a lower face of the floor panel and outputting an energy for use in running of the vehicle. The electric storage apparatus includes a first electric storage stack including a plurality of electric storage elements, an electronic device used to control charge and discharge of the electric storage apparatus and located below the first electric storage stack in the vehicle, and a case accommodating the first electric storage stack and the electronic device and fixed to the lower face of the floor panel.
US08960348B2
A four-wheeled vehicle is provided which increases and secures the volume of an air cleaner while avoiding increase in the number of components and reducing the influence of the air cleaner on other components. The vehicle is equipped with a driver seat and a passenger seat arranged on a vehicle body frame side by side in the vehicle width direction, and is equipped with an engine disposed on the vehicle body frame substantially at the center in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. An air cleaner, constituting a part of an intake device of the engine and formed in an elongated shape in the vehicle width direction, is disposed between the driver seat and the passenger seat.
US08960334B1
A differential pressure release sub includes a sub housing having a housing bore, a piston chamber communicating with the housing bore and at least one fluid port communicating with the piston chamber. A piston having a piston bore is disposed for axial displacement in the piston chamber from a first position wherein the at least one fluid port is fluidly sealed from the piston bore to a second position wherein the at least one fluid port is disposed in fluid communication with the piston bore. A first surface having a first surface area is on the piston. A second surface having a second surface area less than the first surface area of the first surface is on the piston.
US08960330B2
A system and method facilitate directional drilling. The technique employs an orienting tool which may be connected into a coiled tubing drilling system to selectively orient a drilling assembly. The orienting tool is able to cause relative rotation of an outer housing to orientate a tool face. The relative rotation is facilitated by utilizing floating members, such as a floating piston and a floating nut, in the internal orientation assembly. The floating member or members are decoupled in a radial direction to better facilitate the relative rotation of the housing with respect to components of the internal orientation assembly.
US08960324B2
An automatic drilling system includes a top drive comprising a proximity sensor disposed in a housing thereof. A portion of the top drive is coupled to elevators through load transfer springs such that axial loading applied to the elevators results in relative movement between a link load collar and a load ring. A proximity sensor is mounted such that the relative movement results in a change in signal output thereof. A processor is in signal communication with the proximity sensor and is configured to operate a drive shaft motor. The processor is configured to disable rotation of the motor when the relative movement is indicative of axial loading on the elevators.
US08960321B2
A towable soil pulverizer having a center section and foldable wings mounted by hinges on opposite sides of the center section to fold upwardly or downwardly about substantially longitudinal hinge axes. Each hinge has a spaced ball joint and guide roller in roller slot. A wing float axis for each wing extends substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal hinge axis in a transverse direction, each wing also being pivotal about the float axis. The hinge design with the float axis prevents weight transfer between the center section and wing sections when the pulverizer operates over uneven soil, providing uniform soil conditioning over the width of the pulverizer. The center section rollers are positioned ahead of, behind, or co-linear with the wing rollers. Lockout kits are provided for mounting in the roller guide slots for restricting motion.
US08960318B2
A fire extinguishing device for the uniform distribution of compressed air foam for fire suppression, connected to a piping network of a CAF system. Multiple nozzles of different types are connected to a single body, set at specific angles both horizontally and vertically. Each nozzle is selected to provide a set discharge spray angle and positioned in the body of the device to provide the proper distribution. The device body has a female thread at the inlet for connection to the CAF system in addition to female outlets at the discharge for connection of spray nozzles. The device may be used to create a 360° spray pattern or a 120° spray pattern depending on the application.
US08960309B2
An oil well pumping apparatus for pumping oil from a well to a wellhead provides a tool body sized and shaped to be lowered into the production tubing string. A working fluid is provided that can be pumped into the production tubing, by a prime mover. A flow channel into the well bore enables the working fluid to be circulated from the prime mover via the production tubing to the tool body at a location in the well and then back to the wellhead area. A pumping mechanism is provided on the tool body, including upper and lower spur gear or gears connected with a common shaft. The upper spur gear is driven by the working fluid. The lower spur gear is rotated by the first spur gear. The tool body has flow conveying portions that mix the working fluid and the produced oil as the oil is pumped.
US08960304B2
An underwater fluid transport apparatus (10) to transport a fluid between a sea bed (12) and the surface (14) of the sea vertically above the sea bed. A riser (20) is connected to a flexible pipe (32) leading to the sea surface (14). A retaining float (24) is installed around the riser in order to maintain the riser (20) in a stretched suspended position between the sea bed (12) and a subsurface region situated between the sea bed and the surface (14) of the sea. The flexible pipe (32) extends in a catenary curve between the riser (20) and the sea surface. An additional float (28) is installed between the riser (20) and the sea surface (14). The riser (20) is attached to the additional float (28) to increase the buoyancy of the riser.
US08960301B2
An underwater well is completed by extending an elongate stinger laterally outward from a vessel positioned at the water surface. The stinger is extended to curve downward toward a wellhead of the well. A well completion string is deployed from the vessel on the stinger while supporting the completing string to curve outward and downward from the vessel toward the wellhead. The completion string is then guided into the wellhead.
US08960300B2
A subsea connection system includes a support unit with a first connector and a distribution unit including an external frame to be landed on and supported by the support unit and an inner frame that is movable within the external frame. An outwardly facing connector may be connected via a long umbilical to a remote platform. Nevertheless, a nearby installation may be controlled via a short umbilical from another connector and thus the nearby installation does not require a long umbilical connected to the remote platform.
US08960291B2
A method for forming a radio frequency (RF) radiator in a laterally extending wellbore in a subterranean formation containing a hydrocarbon resource may include positioning at least one electrically conductive member within the laterally extending wellbore. The method may also include supplying a solidifiable material adjacent the at least one electrically conductive member, and solidifying the solidifiable material to form a dielectric material layer over the at least one electrically conductive member to form the RF radiator.
US08960290B2
The present invention relates to environmentally friendly delayed crosslinking complexes that are useful in subterranean treatment fluids. One embodiment of the present invention provides a method of providing a treatment fluid having a first viscosity and includes: an aqueous base fluid, a viscosifying agent, a delayed crosslinking complex having: a metal and a ligand, the ligand having at least one hydroxyl group and at least one carboxylic acid group; and placing the treatment fluid in a subterranean formation. In some embodiments, the delayed crosslinking complex is compliant and/or the viscosifying agent is compliant.
US08960269B2
A heat exchanger includes: a bypass valve; a stack of standard tubes; and, in the stack, a pair of stacked-together adapter tubes. Each standard tube end has spaced-apart walls including openings. Each adapter tube end has: a wall including an opening; and a passage. At one end of the pair, the passages communicate with one another and the openings communicate with the openings in adjacent standard tubes; at the other end, the openings communicate with the openings in adjacent standard tubes. The valve includes a plug with opposed plug walls, one plug wall having one of an inlet and outlet, the plug being disposed with its walls between and at said other end of the pair and with the inlet and outlet communicating with the passages. An actuator is adjacent to the plug and has a reciprocating plunger for selectively blocking at least said one of the inlet and outlet.
US08960266B2
A semiconductor wafer joined to a carrier via a double-faced adhesive tape having an adhesive layer of a heating separation property is heated for removal from the carrier. The double-faced adhesive tape is separated from the semiconductor wafer on a holding table. Thereafter, an air nozzle preliminarily cools the semiconductor wafer for a given time during transportation with a wafer transport section. Upon completion of the preliminary cooling, the semiconductor wafer is placed on a cooling stage to cool it to a target temperature.
US08960265B2
Apparatus and method for continuously casting metal strip includes a pair of casting rolls having casting surfaces with a center portion, edge portions each having average surface roughness between 3 and 7 Ra, and intermediate portion between each edge portion and the center portion, the center portion average surface roughness between 1.2 and 4.0 times the edge portion surface roughness, and the intermediate portions average surface roughness between that of the edge and center portions. The surface roughness of the center portion is tapered across its width, and may be tapered across its width is in stepped zones. The center portion may have surface roughness varied across the surface to correspond to a desired variation in metal shell thickness across the cast strip. The center portion may be at least 60% of the casting roll width, and each edge portion may be up to 7% of the casting roll width.
US08960258B2
The invention relates to a device (1) for winding up and unwinding raising cords of a screen, comprising: an elongate housing (2); a shaft (3) intended for rotation in the housing; a number of winding rollers (4) which are coaxially mountable on the shaft for winding up and unwinding the raising cords (5) and which are adapted for releasable fastening of the raising cords; a number of winding roller holders (6) for bearing-mounted support of the winding rollers, which winding roller holders are adapted to be received in the housing. The device further comprises a number of blocking elements (10), each arranged on one of the winding rollers, for blocking one of the degrees of freedom of movement of the winding rollers, wherein each blocking element is movable between an assembly position, in which the respective winding roller is blocked against rotation, and a position of use in which the respective winding roller is blocked against translation, wherein the blocking elements are adapted for releasable fastening of one of the raising cords.
US08960257B2
Apparatuses, methods and systems for directionally controlling a movable partition are provided. In one embodiment, an apparatus for controlling lateral displacement of a movable partition includes a bracket, a roller assembly, a first attachment bracket, and a second attachment bracket. The roller assembly is coupled to the bracket and includes a roller element. The first attachment bracket attaches to a first panel of the movable partition and is configured for hinged coupling to a first side of the bracket such that a first pivot line substantially coincides with a centerline of the first panel. The second attachment bracket attaches to a second panel of the movable partition and is configured hinged coupling to a second side of the bracket such that a second pivot line substantially coincides with a centerline of the second panel.
US08960254B2
A method and a plant for manufacturing tires for vehicle wheels wherein the method includes the steps of: a) building in a building station a substantially cylindrical carcass structure; b) manufacturing in a finishing station a substantially cylindrical sleeve including a tread band applied at a radially outer position with respect to a belt structure including at least one belt layer. Step b) includes the steps of assembling a first belt structure at a first working position on a first auxiliary drum of the finishing station; applying a tread band at a second working position at a radially outer position with respect to a second belt structure previously assembled on a second auxiliary drum of the finishing station, positioning the first auxiliary drum supporting the first belt structure at the second working position; and positioning the second auxiliary drum supporting the substantially cylindrical sleeve thus obtained at a picking position of the finishing station.
US08960250B2
An article having a fluid permeation prevention layer, such as a pneumatic tire or hose. A tire for example includes an outer tread layer, intermediate sidewall and carcass layers and an innermost air permeation prevention layer: (i) the air permeation prevention (APP) layer having an upper and a lower surface, the layer having a polymer composition exhibiting an air permeation coefficient (APC) of about 25×10′12 cc cm/cm2 sec cmHg (at 30° C.) or less and a Young's modulus of about 1 MPa to about 500 MPa, the polymer composition comprising: (A) at least 10 wt % of at least one. thermoplastic resin component having an APC of about 25×10″12 cc cm/cm2 sec cmHg (at 30° C.) or less and a Young's modulus of more than 500 MPa, which is preferably a polyamide resin or mixture, and (B) at least 10 wt % of at least one elastomer component having an APC of more than about 25×10″12 cc cm/cm2 sec cmHg (at 30° C.) and a Young's modulus of not more than 500 MPa, which elastomer component is preferably a halogen-containing rubber or mixture, the total amount (A)+(B) being not less than about 30 wt %, and the elastomer component is a dispersed vulcanized, discontinuous phase in the thermoplastic resin matrix; and (ii) at least one thermoplastic laminate layer bonded to at least said lower surface of the APP layer, the thermoplastic layer comprising a film-forming, semi-crystalline, substantially hydrophobic carbon chain polymer having a glass transition temperature, Tg, of less than about −200 C.
US08960238B2
An article of manufacture, a quick cap device for use with a tire valve stem, which may be a pushed-to-put-on/squeezed-to-remove tire valve stem cap.Optional interior female threads and grooves may also be used with versions of the invention.
US08960236B2
A series progressive divider valve comprises a valve body and pistons. A fluid inlet extends into the valve body. Stations are disposed in the valve body and extend from a first end to a second end; each station comprises piston stations extending through the valve body and a bypass station fluidly isolating the first end from the second end. The piston stations comprise a piston bore and a piston. The bypass stations comprise first and second fluid passages extending from the first and second ends to positions inside the valve body. Outlet bores extend into the valve body, and each comprises first and second sets of outlet bores. Porting forms passageways connecting the stations to each other and with the outlet bores such that when high pressure fluid is applied to the inlet the pistons reciprocates from the first end to the second end in sequence.
US08960232B2
A latch valve includes a first port containing line pressure, a second port containing control pressure, a third port located between the first and second ports, alternately connecting the first and second ports to a transmission control element, and a fourth port containing control pressure that tends to close the second port and open the first port in opposition to a spring force.
US08960228B2
A control valve comprises a first spool 22, a second spool 24 encircling at least part of the first spool 22 and angularly moveable relative thereto, and a sleeve 32 encircling at least part of the second spool 24, the second spool 24 being angularly moveable relative to the sleeve 32, the first and second spools 22, 24 having first and second series of ports 28, 30 registrable with one another, depending upon the relative angular positions of the first and second spools 22, 24, to control communication between at least a pressure line 16, a return line 18 and a control line 50 provided in or connected to the sleeve 32, the second spool 24 and the sleeve 32 having third and fourth series of ports 66, 68, axially spaced from the first and second series of ports 28, 30 and registrable with one another, depending upon the relative angular positions of the second spool 24 and the sleeve 32, to control communication between at least the control line 50 and the return line 18, and latch means 56 operable to resist movement of the second spool 24 relative to the sleeve 32.
US08960227B2
A tank for a hydraulic fluid has a housing with opposed end walls and side walls defining an interior chamber. A primary baffle is disposed inside the housing and divides the interior chamber into an inlet chamber and an outlet chamber, with a primary gap between the primary baffle and the housing fluidly communicating between the inlet chamber and the outlet chamber. The primary baffle further defines a contact surface facing the inlet chamber and has first and second weirs which extend into the inlet chamber. A first fluid inlet fluidly communicates with the inlet chamber and is oriented along a first inlet axis that intersects the contact surface, while a fluid outlet communicates with the outlet chamber. The tank produces an interior flow that mixes and deaerates the fluid as it travels from the first fluid inlet to the fluid outlet.
US08960225B2
A method for detecting a closing moment of a valve having a coil drive includes impressing an electrical voltage in the exciter coil to generate an exciter current through the coil, which attracts the movable armature and lifts the valve element off its valve seat. After the exciter current decays to zero, the voltage profile at the exciter coil is sampled and read out over time in the form of time value/voltage value pairs. The detected voltage values and time valves are transformed by the formation of a logarithm to form a transformed function. The transformed function is subsequently derived numerically with the formation of a derivation function. A transformed time value corresponding to the valve closing moment is detected based on the derivation function of a predetermined threshold value S being undershot, and the closing moment is calculated therefrom by inverse transformation.
US08960219B2
Actuator for a seat valve or a butterfly valve which is of the type that is normally closed (NC) or normally open (NO), and also has a cylinder and a piston being held in the normal position by a spring. The spring includes a closed space with a pressurized fluid, and the actuator further has at least a top unit, with two or more connections for a pressurized fluid. The actuator is with one of the connections in the top unit that is connected to the inside of the cylinder through one or more openings at one end of the cylinder and another connection is connected to the inside of the cylinder through one or more openings at the other end of the cylinder. The top unit is designed to allow the connections to be interchanged by changing the position of the top unit, e.g. by turning the top unit 180 degrees around an axis corresponding to or parallel to the axis of the piston and cylinder.
US08960218B1
A valve control system for a compressed air foam generation apparatus includes a control board with a scrolling light display to indicate the quality of foam being produced. The control board is coupled to a manually operated valve by a string potentiometer. The string potentiometer connects at a ring coupled to the valve, such that turning of the valve causes the string potentiometer cable to extend or retract, thereby indicating the degree to which the solution valve is opened.
US08960215B2
A method for repairing a component with a leak are disclosed. In an embodiment, a component having at least one fluid flow path with a leak therein is provided. The component may be made of a first material. A second material may be introduced into the fluid flow path, and propelled into the location of the leak in the flow path. Once there, the second material is melted and solidified, forming a plug that occludes the leak.
US08960211B2
The invention combines the functionality of a hiking pole and a camera tripod. A hiking pole is augmented with an attachment for a camera and with a plurality of flexible tethers, each of which have one end that attaches near the top of the pole and the other end which can be stood on or otherwise immobilized relative to the ground. The combination of the tethers and the rigid pole will restrict all freedom of motion of the camera and allow stabilized, long exposure pictures to be taken. When not taking pictures, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the tethers can be retracted and stored, leaving the user with a functioning hiking pole.
US08960209B2
A dishwasher includes a wash tub enclosing an interior and a clean water feed line which passes through a port of the wash tub into the interior. The feed line has a line end leading from outside to the wash tub. An inlet bolt can be fastened from the interior to the line end and has an axial bore to extend the feed line. The axial bore leads into a plurality of inlet openings which are distributed over a circumference on a circumferential surface of the inlet bolt projecting into the interior. The inlet bolt has an end which faces the interior and is implemented as a cover to protect the axial bore from ingress of splash water.
US08960197B2
A filter (11) for a smoking article (10) comprises a first flowpath (13) through the filter, a second flowpath (14) through the filter, the second flowpath being disposed around the first flowpath, and a selector (16) for allowing flow selectively through the first and second flowpaths.
US08960195B2
A versatile, intubation-facilitating oxygen mask is provided including at least one diaphragm configured with a continuous, flexible, modifiable membrane from which an instrument-access port may be manually constructed, when and if needed. The novel oxygen mask preferably includes a multiple-inlet port having a standard oxygen tube connector and an interchangeable breathing-therapy device connector, a carbon dioxide sampling port, an exhaust port, and a nose clip. The mask can be worn as a standard oxygen mask during traditional oxygen therapy, yet quickly converted into an intubation mask. The clinician manually perforates the nasal and/or oral membranes of the one or more diaphragms to create a point and size of entry perfectly matched to the requirements for a variety of procedures that may be performed involving nasally or orally introduced scopes or probes—without disturbing the ongoing benefits of increased oxygen saturation and continuous monitoring of expired gases.
US08960185B2
A solar collector is formed as a compound arrangement of a multiple number of tapered, pyramidal-type structures. This forms an N-stage solar collector, each stage providing a degree of concentration and thus forming an arrangement that is smaller than a single stage collector (while achieving the same amplification factor). The stages are arranged in tandem along a common optical axis, with the output of the first stage becoming the input for the second stage, and so on. It was found that a reduced number of reflections is required, reducing the loss of the overall system.
US08960184B2
A solar receiver is provided, comprising a receiver housing extending along a longitudinal axis, having front and rear ends; a window configured to allow radiation to pass therethrough, the window being mounted at the front end and projecting within the housing; a receiver chamber defined between the housing and the window, the receiver chamber having a working fluid inlet for ingress of working fluid to be heated therewithin, and a working fluid outlet for egress therethrough of the heated working fluid; and a solar radiation absorber configured for absorbing the radiation and heating the working fluid thereby, the absorber being located within the receiver chamber and surrounding at least a portion of the window, the solar radiation absorber being formed with channels and made of a foam material, such as a ceramic or metallic foam material, having a characteristic average pore diameter.
US08960182B2
A device for storage and conveyance of thermal energy for an energy production system apt to receive solar radiation and based on the use of a modular fluidizable granular bed and a heat exchanger associated thereto is described.
US08960168B2
An arrangement for cooling of recirculating exhaust gases of a combustion engine (2) in a vehicle (1). The arrangement comprises a first EGR cooler (14), a driving means (15, 31) adapted to driving air through the first EGR cooler (14) in order to cool the exhaust gases in a return line (11) which are subjected to a first step of cooling in the first EGR cooler (14), and at least one second EGR cooler (19, 20) in which the exhaust gases in the return line (11) are intended to undergo a second step of cooling. The arrangement comprises an air line (16) which extends at least from the first EGR cooler (14) to the exhaust pipe (4) at a location between the turbine (5) and the exhaust-treating component (18a, 18b), which air line (16) is adapted to leading warm air from the first EGR cooler (14) into the exhaust line (4) at said location.
US08960164B1
A volumetric expansion assembly for increasing the volume of a gaseous fuel through electromagnetic means includes a housing that may be operationally coupled to an engine. A tubular fuel line is operationally coupled to the housing. The tubular fuel line is operationally coupled between a fuel supply and the engine. The tubular fuel line delivers the fuel to the engine. A magnetron is operationally coupled to the housing. The magnetron heats the tubular fuel line so a volume of the fuel in the tubular fuel line is increased. A tubular cooling line is operationally coupled to the tubular fuel line. The tubular cooling line is operationally coupled to a coolant supply. The tubular cooling line cools the tubular fuel line after the tubular fuel line is heated by the magnetron.
US08960163B2
A fuel evaporation gas discharge suppressing device of an internal combustion engine includes a gas storage tank for storing a fuel evaporation gas in a communication passage for causing an air intake passage and a fuel tank in an internal combustion engine of a vehicle to communicate with each other in the communication passage. Control unit controls canister opening/closing unit, fuel tank opening/closing unit and gas tank opening/closing unit based on an internal pressure of the fuel tank. The control unit opens the canister opening/closing unit and opens the fuel tank toward the communication passage, and then opens the gas storage tank toward the communication passage when reducing the internal pressure of the fuel tank.
US08960161B2
The present application relates to a fuel injection system of an internal combustion engine having an automatic stop-start system, the fuel injection system comprising a high pressure fuel pump, which via a fuel pump line delivers fuel towards a common fuel rail, to which a fuel return line is connected. It is proposed that the fuel return line comprise a control element system, which firstly discharges a fuel pressure to a fuel tank, when a first predefined pressure limit is reached in the fuel return line, and which secondly prevents a further flow of fuel from the return line into the fuel tank, but allows a flow of fuel from the fuel tank into the fuel return line, so that the return line is designed as a fuel pressure accumulator.
US08960150B2
A piston arrangement comprising a piston movable within a cylinder and having a stroke with a first end and a second end, wherein the piston is coupled to a crankshaft by a linkage mechanism including a toggle link which is pivotally coupled to the piston and pivotally coupled to a con-rod, wherein the toggle link has a first position corresponding to the first end of the piston stroke, a second position different to the first position also corresponding to the first end of the piston stroke, and an intermediate position between the first and second positions corresponding to the second end of the piston stroke such that the piston completes four strokes for every one revolution of the crankshaft. Also a piston arrangement comprising first and second pistons movable respectively within first and second cylinders, wherein the first piston is coupled to a crank shaft by a first linkage mechanism including a first toggle link pivotally connected to the first piston and pivotally connected to a first con-rod, wherein the second piston is coupled to the crank shaft by a second linkage mechanism including a second toggle link pivotally connected to the second piston and pivotally connected to a second con-rod, wherein the first and second con-rods have different lengths such that the first and second pistons operate out of phase with each other. Also an engine comprising at least two high pressure pistons movable within respective high pressure cylinders and at least one low pressure piston movable within a low pressure cylinder, wherein the low pressure piston moves through twice the number of strokes moved through by each of the high pressure pistons in the same period of time, wherein a linkage mechanism coupling the low pressure piston to a crankshaft includes a toggle link.
US08960147B2
An intake manifold is provided with a chamber member provided with an exhaust port and a chamber formed therein, a port member provided with an intake groove forming a ventilation passage bent so as to be communicated with the exhaust port and the chamber of the chamber member when the chamber member and the port member are welded together, and a cover member that covers the port member from a side opposite to the welded side between the chamber member and the port member. The intake groove has an outer wall surface opposing to the chamber member is formed with a reinforcing member so as to protrude from at least one of the port member side or chamber member side toward another one thereof, and the reinforcing member extends along an extending direction of the intake groove, the reinforcing member is welded to another reinforcing member protruding from another outer wall surface of the port member and chamber member, or from the port member and the chamber member.
US08960146B2
A variable-angle vortex generator (10) installed in an intake pipe (100) of an internal combustion engine includes a shaft seat (1), a plurality of vanes (2) and a position restoring mechanism (3). Each vane (2) is arranged radially with an interval apart from each other and pivotally coupled to the shaft seat (1) and each vane (2) has a movable end (21) at an edge of the vane (2). The position restoring mechanism (3) is installed at the shaft seat (1) and includes a synchronizing element (31) for connecting each movable end (21). Each vane (2) is pushed by a fluid to produce a swing movement and let the fluid in the intake pipe (100) form a smooth vortex.
US08960144B2
The present invention provides a variable valve mechanism of an internal combustion engine, which includes a main arm having at a rear end thereof a supported portion that is continuously supported swingably by a support member without floating upward, a sub arm which has a tip end to which a roller contacting a cam is rotatably attached, in which a center of the roller is located rearward of the pressing portion and forward of a swing center of the supported portion, which has a rear end that is swingably supported with respect to the main arm by a support pin, and in which a center of the support pin is located rearward of the center of the roller and forward of the swing center of the supported portion, and a switch pin that is inserted in a central portion of the roller.
US08960136B2
An air flow apparatus and method are provided. The apparatus includes a shroud having a first end for connection to a cooling package, and a second end for connection to a fan ring. The fan ring of the apparatus is configured to mount directly to an engine block and surround a fan of the engine block. The apparatus also includes a duct positioned below the shroud and fan ring. The duct has a first opening that opens to an engine compartment, and a second opening that opens to ambient. A flow path extends between the first and second openings and is arranged to route heated air in proximity to the shroud and fan ring to ambient.
US08960131B2
A water heater system comprises a water tank, a burner plenum, a flue, a blower, a combustion air passageway, a dilution air passageway, an upstream manifold, and a downstream manifold. The upstream manifold divides air from the blower so that some air flows through the combustion air passageway to the burner plenum and some air flows through the dilution air passageway to the downstream manifold. The downstream manifold combines the air from the dilution air passageway with combustion products from the flue.
US08960115B2
A vehicle for use on the water that can be propelled into the air above the water is provided. The vehicle can include a main body, a board provided on the bottom of the main body, a seat, an inlet for receiving a pressurized incoming water stream, a main nozzle positioned to direct a flow of water beneath the board, handlebars having handle conduits, each handle conduit ending in a nozzle for discharging a flow of water out of the handle conduit and rotatable relative to the vehicle, and conduits supported by the main body, the conduits connected to the inlet and positioned to route a first portion of the incoming water stream to the main nozzle and a second portion of the incoming water stream to the handlebars. The water stream can be supplied to the vehicle from an outlet on a personal water craft.
US08960114B2
A catamaran lifting apparatus includes first and second vessels that are spaced apart during use. First and second frames span between the vessels. The first frame connects to the first vessel with a universal joint and to the second vessel with a hinged connection. The second frame connects to the second vessel with a universal joint and to the first vessel with a hinged or pinned connection. The catamaran hull arrangement provides longitudinal flexibility in a quartering sea state due to the unique universal joint and hinge placement between the frames or trusses and the hulls or barges. Each of the frames extends upwardly in an inverted u-shape, providing a space under the frame and in between the barges that enables a marine vessel to be positioned in between the barges. An object that has been salvaged from the seabed can be placed upon the marine vessel.
US08960112B2
Aspects and embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems and methods for embellishing fabric. In accordance with embodiments, a stitching system for a sewing machine is provided comprising a processor configured to control the sewing machine and a user interface configured to receive a stitch selection corresponding to a set of commands executable by the processor to instruct the sewing machine to sew the stitch selection. The set of commands may comprise a first command to sew a first portion of the stitch selection, a second command to stop sewing after completion of the first portion, and a third command to sew a second portion of the stitch selection after completion of the second command. The systems and methods of the present invention may advantageously allow an operator to create a running sequence of perfectly replicated embellishments.
US08960108B1
This invention provides a system and method for efficiently and completely combusting oil in mixture with particulate solids. A furnace (kiln) having a feed nozzle with a lead screw drives the mixture from a feed hopper. This nozzle includes forced-air jets/ports at its tip providing makeup air and allowing atomization of the mixture. The nozzle thereby directs the mixture into a rotating combustion chamber that is tilted downwardly from the front toward a solid waste outlet port at the rear. Uncombusted fuel and air backflow to an upper, secondary chamber near the primary chamber front, and are completely combusted at a high temperature. Gasses exit a flue that can include a heat exchanger. This heat exchanger can be operatively connected to a heating device or other mechanism that converts the heat into usable energy. The nozzle can include a cone with axially tilted air ports about its perimeter.
US08960092B2
Device for setting off an avalanche, comprising a support intended to be fixed to the mounting side, for example on a concrete slab, and an enclosure one end of which is open, this enclosure being mounted on the support, said open end of the enclosure being intended to face towards the snow cap. The device further comprises means of filling the enclosure with an explosive gaseous mixture, firing means designed to set off the explosion of the said mixture and a remote-communication system. The enclosure is mounted removably on the support, by fitting its lower face, intended to receive the gaseous mixture, onto a bearing piece of the support, and the enclosure is autonomous in terms of energy supply and carries means of storing the gases that are intended to form the gaseous mixture.
US08960090B2
This application relates to a baren 100 comprising a base 20 having a substantially flat surface 21 adapted for applying pressure to a work piece and a handle 10 removably connected to the base 20, wherein the handle 10 has an end that is adapted to receive a craft blade 60. the application also relates to a stamp 200 comprising a base 20′ having a stamping surface 50 adapted for transferring a marking medium from the stamping surface 50 to a substrate and a handle 10′ removably connected to the base 20′, wherein the handle 10′ has an end that is adapted to receive a craft blade 60.
US08960087B2
A device and method for transferring an image-forming layer from a transfer foil to a printing sheet is provided. The device includes an application unit for coating an image area of the printing sheet with an adhesive pattern that is colored and a coating module for transferring the image-forming layer from the transfer foil to the printing sheet. The image forming layer having a visual effect. The color of the adhesive pattern and the visual effect of the image-forming layer are configured such that the color of the adhesive pattern modifies the visual effect of the image forming layer when the image forming layer is applied to the printing sheet over the adhesive pattern.
US08960083B2
A multifunction barbecue oven includes a main furnace, an auxiliary furnace arranged below the main furnace and a charcoal disc selectively placed on the bottom of the main furnace or the bottom of the auxiliary furnace. The top of the main furnace has an inclined tile roof shaped main furnace top portion with hinged left and right triangular side plates and a detachable connecting rod means. The furnace chamber can be covered by hinged front and rear covers. The handled fork can be inclined erected on top portion of the main furnace or inclined inserted into the interior of the main furnace chamber and the auxiliary furnace chamber for grilling or roasting in a hanging manner to avoid the food to contact the iron grid. The barbecue oven can be used for grilling, roasting, grilled and hot pot cooking and other function, and can be stored and carried conveniently.
US08960081B2
A steam cooking apparatus having a water retaining member and a reversible steamer insert member, the steamer insert member having a perforated main body defining two steaming surfaces, the first surface provided with upstanding annular forming walls for forming patties, the second surface being flat and unobstructed.
US08960074B2
A pair of penetrating holes are formed along a longitudinal direction in the interior of a cylinder body that constitutes a fluid pressure cylinder. One end of the pair of penetrating holes is sealed by a pair of caps formed in plate-like shapes. The caps, for example, are formed by press molding a plate body made up from a metal material such as aluminum or the like. Outer edge portions of the caps include bent portions, which are inclined at a predetermined angle in a radial outward direction. In addition, the caps are installed by means of the bent portions biting into inner circumferential surfaces of the penetrating holes.
US08960072B2
A multilayer lubrication coating film is formed on the outer surface of an object to be coated. The multilayer lubrication coating film comprises a lower-layer coating film formed on an outer surface of the object to be coated, and an upper-layer coating film formed on a surface of the lower-layer coating film. The lower-layer coating film has a higher Vickers hardness than the Vickers hardness of the object to be coated.
US08960071B2
Described are embodiments of a pump having a diagnostic port that enables users and support personnel to diagnose the source of a pump leak. The diagnostic port is monitored visually or with a pressure or liquid detection sensor. In some embodiments, fluid detected at the diagnostic port corresponds to a leak around a circumference defined at an outer sealing surface of a high pressure seal. In other embodiments, fluid detected at the diagnostic port corresponds to a leak around a plunger at the inside diameter of the high pressure seal. Multiple diagnostic ports can be provided to allow separate determinations of leaks about the different portions of the high pressure seal. The embodiments may eliminate the need to disassemble the pump to determine the source of leaks. Thus the effort required to diagnose and repair the pump can be substantially reduced, and fewer misdiagnosed components are ordered or replaced.
US08960069B1
Methods, systems and devices for an adjustable gas block with variable gas port dimensions to control the amount of gas in the gas block before the gas enters into the gas tube. The adjustable gas block includes a gas block barrel bore to slide over a barrel and a gas tube bore to mate with the firearm gas tube, a gas port between the barrel bore and the gas tube bore, a sliding regulator plate to slide one of the gas ports into alignment with the block gas port and the barrel gas port, and a spring and detent pin to hold the sliding regulator plate in alignment with the barrel gas port. An alignment hole in the gas tube bore can align the block gas port with the barrel gas port.
US08960065B2
A method of braiding reinforcing fibers on a mandrel (8) with a machine having a ring (9) carrying at least two series of reels of fibers, by moving the mandrel at a predetermined forward speed while moving the two series of reels along the ring (9) so that they cross while rotating in opposite directions and at a predetermined speed of rotation about an axis (AX) of the ring. The braid is formed on the mandrel (8) in the vicinity of a region of convergence (R) of the fibers that together define a conical shape (C). The method comprises: a step of reconfiguring the machine in which the angle (a2) at the apex of the cone (C) defined by the fibers takes on a new value (a2); and a step of restarting braiding in which the movement of the reels along the ring (9) and the forward movement of the mandrel (8) are re-established with a new speed of rotation and a new speed of advance.
US08960064B2
A configurable cutter mechanism for a printer and corresponding methods are provided. The cutter mechanism may comprise a rotary cutter mounted for rotation about a rotation axis and for translation across at least a portion of a width of a paper path perpendicular to the rotation axis. A fixed blade assembly may be provided that is adapted to cooperate with the rotary cutter. The fixed blade assembly may extend across the width of the paper path. A controller may be provided for controlling a variable length of travel of the rotary cutter across the width of the paper path. The paper path runs between the rotary cutter and the fixed blade assembly.
US08960062B2
A vise clamping tool for a table-type circular sawing machine includes a rotating arm assembly connected to a supporting shaft. The rotating arm assembly has a first rotating arm connected to the supporting shaft and a second rotating arm provided with a clamping component. The second rotating arm is pivotally connected to the first rotating arm around a first pivoting axis oriented along the horizontal direction.
US08960058B2
A torque adjustment device for a screwdriver includes a tube located in the handle of the screwdriver and has an adjusting member connected to the first end thereof, a cap is connected to the second end of the tube. A first block and a second block are connected with each other by engagement of the teeth on the two blocks. A spring is biased between the first block and the adjusting member. A link is connected to the cap which pushes a pushing member to move the second block toward the first block when using an assistance tool to rotate the cap. The first block is able to move toward the second block by rotating the adjusting member so as to change the matching force between the teeth of the blocks. The cap has digits and marks to acknowledge the user the setting value of the torque.
US08960057B2
A C-type pliers contains a first elongated jaw including a first recess and a third recess, a second elongated jaw including a second recess and a fourth recess; a first handle further including a first notch, and a second handle including a second notch; a switching unit including a first cover, a second cover, a shaft extending outwardly from the second cover and used to drive the first cover and the second cover simultaneously, the shaft pivots the first handle, the second handle, the first elongated jaw, and the second elongated jaw; a switching unit also including a first retainer, a second retainer, when the first retainer retains in the first recess, the second retainer retains in the fourth recess simultaneously, and when the first retainer retains in the second recess, the second retainer retains in the third recess synchronously.
US08960055B2
Disclosed is a method for marking a socket. The method includes the steps of providing a socket, making at least one indented mark in the surface of the socket, executing a heat treatment on the surface of the socket, providing at least one colored layer in the indented mark, providing an electroplated layer on the surface of the socket except the colored layer, removing a portion of the electroplated layer from the surface of the socket to form an exposed portion of the surface of the socket, and providing a black-dyed layer on the exposed portion of the surface of the socket. The heat treatment can be executed after the colored layer is provided.
US08960053B2
A manpower-driven device has a bi-directional rotational input for providing output to the input end of a constant rotating direction output transmission device, which is used to drive a loading wheel train, wherein the direction of the driving input can be freely selected by the user. The manpower-driven device includes a rotation direction detection device and a sound generator whose sound output depends on the detected rotation direction.
US08960052B2
A device for exposing at least one opening in a housing part of a steering gear in a vehicle steering system is provided with a closure element, which closes the opening, and an operating element. At least one of the properties of the operating element changes when coming in contact with a liquid so that the opening can be exposed by the closure element after cooperation of the operating element with the closure element. The closure element is at least partially covered by a cover part and is designed as a buoyant body, or is provided with one or more buoyant bodies, wherein the cover part completely exposes the opening when liquid makes contact with the cover part.
US08960049B2
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a vehicle brake system having a high degree of mounting freedom. The present vehicle brake system is configured in such a manner that an input device into which braking operation of the operator is inputted and a motor cylinder device which generates hydraulic brake pressure on the basis of an electric signal according to at least the braking operation are disposed so as to be separated from each other in the engine room partitioned in front of the dashboard. The vehicle brake system is characterized in that the input device is disposed behind a power device in such a manner that at least a part of the input device overlaps the power device in the front-rear direction.
US08960044B2
Construction is achieved that is capable of maintaining overall strength of a cylindrical-shaped steering column, while at the same time making it possible to make the thickness part of the steering column thin. An outer column 10b, which is a column member of a steering column is formed by connecting in the axial direction a main portion 18 made using a light metal alloy with a cylindrical member 19 made of an iron-based alloy by a concave groove 20 that is formed around the outer circumferential surface of the front end section of the cylindrical member 19 engaging with a protrusion 21 that is formed around the inner circumferential surface of the rear end section of the main portion 18. A ring 22 made using a metallic material is fitted and fastened inside the inner diameter side of the cylindrical member 19 in the connecting section between the main portion 18 and the cylindrical member 19.
US08960040B2
A latching shifter mated with a shift-by-wire transmission in which the gear cam includes a momentary shift lever position which is spring biased toward the drive gear notch. A driver is enabled to shift the transmission into a desired gear by passing the shift lever into and out of the momentary shift lever position in the event of autonomous shifting by the transmission or to otherwise provide a selected gear of the transmission. Preferably a dynamically changeable gear shift display is provided, the indicia of which is responsive to the gear status of the transmission.
US08960038B2
A motion transmission module with a cooling device is aimed at solving the disadvantage of the conventional motion transmission module that the cooling structure of the conventional motion transmission module would increase the length or outer diameter of the nut. The nut is formed with a flat surface for mounting the cooling device, so that the length of the nut won't be increased. Furthermore, the cooling device also serves as a positioning block to fix the return member, it doesn't increase the outer diameter of the nut.
US08960037B2
A ball screw device has a plurality of spiral raceways. One end and the other end of each raceway is connected via a bridge. An annular flange of a ball nut has a plurality of mounting portions at equal intervals in a circumferential direction. A fixing screw is fitted to each mounting portion. The bridges arranged so as to overlap with the annular flange in position in an axial direction are arranged at positions different in the circumferential direction from positions at which the mounting portions are arranged, and are arranged at unequal intervals in the circumferential direction.
US08960035B2
A rack shaft supporting device includes a support yoke, a plug, an intermediate component, a torque generation spring, and rolling elements. The plug has a plug end portion and plug cam faces formed in the plug end portion. The intermediate component is arranged between the plug and the support yoke in a state where the intermediate component is rotatable relative to the rack housing and movable relative to the rack housing in a pushing direction. The intermediate component has an intermediate opposed portion opposed to the plug end portion and intermediate cam faces opposed to the plug cam faces. The rolling elements are arranged between the plug cam faces and the intermediate cam faces, and make contact with each of the plug cam faces and the intermediate cam faces.
US08960033B2
A hybrid drive of a motor vehicle having an automated manual transmission with two coaxial input shafts and a common output shaft. The input shafts are respectively driven by an engine and an electric machine and can couple the output shaft via respective groups of gearwheel sets. Each gearwheel set comprises a gear fixed to the associated input shaft and an idler gear supported by respective countershafts. At least two idler gears disposed on one of the two countershafts of two gearwheel sets, within the transmission, assigned to two different input shafts, can be coupled via a winding-path shift element, and the two output constants are disposed in a common radial plane by using a common output gear disposed on the output shaft.
US08960031B2
An actuator for actuating movement of a control surface relative to a structure can include a high-efficiency assembly and a low-efficiency assembly. The high-efficiency assembly can be connectable between a control surface and a structure for providing a first load transfer assembly and the assembly can have minimum backlash. The low-efficiency assembly is connectable between the control surface and the structure for providing a second load transfer assembly. The low-efficiency or irreversible assembly can be disposed in parallel relationship to the high-efficiency assembly and can have a higher backlash than the low-efficiency assembly. The low-efficiency assembly can be unloaded in normal operation. The actuator also can include a coupler for that can have a closed state in which both load transfer assemblies are synchronously driven by the drive mechanism, and an open state in which the drive mechanism is decoupled from the low-efficiency assembly and the low-efficiency assembly can inhibit movement of the control surface.
US08960029B2
A PTO shaft is disclosed that includes an inner shaft having a first spline gear at the proximal end, and a notch proximate to the distal end. The PTO also includes a hollow outer shaft removably disposed over at least a portion including the notch of the inner shaft. The outer shaft comprises a second spline gear configured to mate with the first spline gear. The PTO also includes a self-lubricating sleeve disposed on the notch of the inner shaft and configured to contact both the inner shaft and the outer shaft. The PTO also includes a seal disposed on the inner shaft between the first spline gear and the notch to resist movement of a lubricating oil from the proximal end of the inner shaft to the notch.
US08960028B2
A method for identifying and/or authenticating a material or an object, especially for the purpose of sorting materials or objects, includes: an excitation step including application of excitation vectors to a material or an object; a detection step in which the responses of the materials or objects subjected to the excitation vectors are detected; and a step of determining at least one item of information relating to the material or object on the basis of the responses obtained and of a pre-established look-up table. These steps will have been preceded by the incorporation, into or on the surface of the materials or objects, of at least one substance selected so as to react to at least one excitation vector and by the generation of a look-up table consisting of a set of one-to-one relationships between a combination of responses and an item of information relating to the material.
US08960026B2
Provided herein is technology relating to collecting samples of soft matter compositions, and particularly, but not exclusively, to devices and methods for collecting stool samples.
US08960025B2
A force sensor that detects external force includes a sheath, a pressure member configured to be provided on the sheath, a sensor unit configured to detect force applied to the pressure member, and a slip ring unit configured to supply power or transmit signals through a contact between a brush and a ring. The sensor unit and the slip ring unit are stored in the sheath, and power is supplied or signals are transmitted between the slip ring unit and the sensor unit.
US08960021B2
A non-contact type torque and angle of rotation sensing device consisting of a magnetic member, sensing members and a computing unit for measuring a torque being applied to rotate a transmission member and the angle of rotation of said transmission member in a first axial direction is disclosed. The magnetic member defines a first center, and is mounted on and rotatable with the transmission member. The magnetic member deflects relative to the transmission member in a nonparallel manner relative to the first axial direction when rotating with the transmission member. Sensing members induce a magnetic field variation to output respective electrical signals that exhibit a phase difference there between. The computing unit receives and calculates the electrical signals of the sensing member to obtain the amplitude and to further translate the amplitude into torque value and angle of rotation.
US08960015B2
A load test stand includes a frame, a flange, and a spring mechanism. The spring mechanism is mounted on the frame and includes a symmetrical arrangement of at least four spring elements. The spring mechanism also includes frame points connecting the spring mechanism and the frame and articulation points connecting the spring mechanism and the flange. The flange can be coupled, by an adapter, to the output shaft of a servo system that is to be tested.
US08960011B2
A wheel operating force sensor includes: an attachment fixed to a vehicle body member supported by a suspension device; a hub to which a wheel is fixed and which is rotatably supported about a wheel axis with respect to the attachment; a sensing body having a tube formed substantially concentrically with the wheel axis, one end of the tube being fixed to the attachment, and the other end being connected to the hub, with a hub bearing being interposed between the other end and the hub; and a component force sensing unit having a bridge circuit including per component force at least four strain gauges that are provided on a circumferential surface of the tube of the sensing body. The hub bearing has: a radial bearing provided between the sensing body and the hub and receiving a load in a radial direction; and a thrust bearing provided between the sensing body and the hub and receiving a load in a thrust direction, and moreover provided separately from the radial bearing.
US08960010B1
A system for controlling the position of a diaphragm in a diaphragm-containing pressure pod, is provided. The system can include a peristaltic pump, a pressure pod having a flow-through fluid side and a gas side that are separated by a diaphragm, and a pressure sensor operatively connected to the gas side. The pressure sensor is configured to sense pulses of pressure resulting from movement of the diaphragm and caused by the action of the peristaltic pump. A gas source and a valve can be in fluid communication with the gas side of the pressure pod and can be configured to provide gas to, or vent gas from, the gas side. A controller receives pressure signals from the pressure sensor and controls the valve in response, and in so doing, controls the position of the diaphragm. Methods for positioning the diaphragm are also included.
US08960005B2
Frequency-steerable acoustic transducers (FSATs) that allow directional generation or sensing of waves propagating in two-dimensional domains. Directionality is the result of the spatial filtering effect produced by the characteristic shape of the sensing surface. A wavenumber spiral FSAT (WS-FSAT) maps the direction of wave sensing in the [0°, 180°] range to a specific frequency component in the spectrum of the received signal. The use of a wavenumber spiral FSAT operating in sensing mode can be used for the localization of broadband acoustic events. One configuration includes a broadband source generating guided elastic waves in an isotropic plate. The WS-FSAT records the plate response and defines the source location through a time-frequency analysis of the received signal. The frequency selective response of the WS-FSAT directly maps the dominant component of the received signal to the direction of arrival of the incoming wave, thus greatly facilitating the source localization procedure.
US08959998B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide an ultrasonic probe having an increased number (e.g., twelve) of ultrasonic sensors for measuring the level of liquid within a sealed container. The ultrasonic probe includes a neck tube that enables the ultrasonic probe to be used with existing, standardized container fittings despite having an enlarged barrel to accommodate the increased number of ultrasonic sensors. Embodiments of the present invention also provide a system and method in which ultrasonic sensors within an ultrasonic probe are activated one at a time to reduce crosstalk between the ultrasonic sensors and their wiring.
US08959995B2
A thermal flow sensor for vehicles includes a bridge circuit unit having a heating resistor whose resistance value changes according to temperature, a resistance thermometer, detecting a temperature of a fluid, whose resistance value changes according to temperature, and an integrated circuit unit controlling the bridge circuit unit and outputting a signal of detected fluid flow rate. A drive power source for the bridge circuit unit is supplied from a battery, and a drive power source for the integrated circuit unit is supplied from a constant voltage source stabilized by a fuel injection control device.
US08959992B1
A solar-powered windsock assembly indicates wind direction and relative wind speed while also providing a light for illuminating the assembly at night. The assembly includes an elongated tube having an open top end, an open bottom end, and a perimeter wall extending between the open top and bottom ends. A support apparatus is coupled to the tube and extends upwardly away from the open top end wherein the support apparatus is configured for coupling the tube to a mounting pole and directing wind therethrough. A plurality of solar cells is coupled to the tube and electrically coupled to a power supply wherein the solar cells recharge the power supply. A light is coupled to the tube and is operationally coupled to the solar cells wherein the light is configured to emit light energy through the tube when the power supply delivers power to the light.
US08959986B2
An apparatus having a roughness sensing system and a roughness measurement sensor, wherein a slide element and a probe tip come to operation, and method of use thereof. The slide element is arranged on an extreme end of a probe pin in the form of a scan-slide element. The probe tip is integrated into the probe pin, and the distance between the scan-slide element and the probe tip is predetermined. The roughness sensing system is a 1D-, 2D- or 3D-scanning system having a parallelogram configuration. The apparatus further has a serving device which enables moving the probe pin together with the scan-slide element and the probe tip jointly over a surface to be scanned.
US08959984B2
This invention relates to methods for the evaluation and/or quantification of the binding affinity of small molecules or other compounds to target components contained within an analyte, such as target proteins contained within the proteome of a cell or tissue.
US08959975B2
A method for the production of a cold-rolled profile having at least one thickened profile edge made of a metal strip is provided. For this purpose the metal strip is guided through at least one clamping nip formed by at least one guide roll and at least one lateral edging roll, wherein the roll axis of the guide roll is disposed parallel to the web level of the metal strip, while the roll axis of the edging roll is disposed transverse to the roll axis of the guide roll, and is lined up at an angle to the strip level such that in addition to the upsetting force exerted by the edging roll onto the strip edge a clamping force is also applied that acts on the side of the metal strip facing away from the guide roll. The edging roll may be configured in steps, and surrounds the web edge at least on the side of the metal strip facing away from the guide roll.
US08959970B2
An apparatus and method for moving a wire along its own axis against a high resistance to its motion causing a substantial uniaxial compression stress in the wire without allowing it to buckle. The apparatus consists of a wire gripping and moving drive wheel and guide rollers for transporting the moving wire away from the drive wheel. Wire is pressed into a peripheral groove in a relatively large diameter, rotating drive wheel by a set of small diameter rollers arranged along part of the periphery causing the wire to be gripped by the groove.
US08959969B2
Elimination of play between rolls 13 and main bearings 12 in a non-forming area and forming of material to be formed in a forming area are repeated while play between a housing 10 for the rolls 13 and main bearing axle boxes 11 is always eliminated.
US08959967B1
Controlling a flatness of a first surface of a sheet material can include: (a) determining a first surface contour of the first surface of the sheet; (b) applying compressive stresses to one or more portions of the first surface of the sheet after the determination of the first surface contour of the sheet; (c) annealing compressive stresses in one or more portions of the first surface of the sheet after the determination of the first surface contour of the sheet; (d) determining a second surface contour of the first surface of the sheet after the compressive stresses have been applied to, and annealed from, the sheet; (e) comparing the second surface contour to a threshold flatness; and (f) performing (b)-(e) one or more times until the determined second surface contour is less than the threshold flatness.
US08959961B2
The invention provides an apparatus and method for use in the cleaning of soiled substrates, the apparatus comprising: (a) housing means, having: (i) a first upper chamber having mounted therein a rotatably mounted cylindrical cage, and (ii) a second lower chamber located beneath said cylindrical cage; (b) at least one recirculation means; (c) access means; (d) a multiplicity of delivery means; and (e) sealing means, wherein said sealing means is removably attached to the outer surface of the cylindrical side walls of said rotatably mounted cylindrical cage, and is adapted to prevent the ingress or egress of fluids and solid particulate matter from the interior of said cage. The method involves cleaning the soiled substrate by treatment of the substrate with a formulation comprising solid particulate cleaning material and wash water, the method being carried out using the apparatus of the invention, and the apparatus and method find particular application in the cleaning of textile fabrics.
US08959957B2
Methods are described for manufacturing silica-based glass, in which silica precursor material is supplied to a synthesis flame in the form of an emulsion. The methods involve the steps of: forming an emulsion of an aqueous phase in a non-aqueous liquid silica precursor material; supplying the emulsion as a spray of droplets into a synthesis flame, whereby the precursor material is converted in the flame into a silica-containing soot; and collecting the soot on a substrate, either as a porous soot body for subsequent consolidation to glass or directly as a substantially pore-free glass.
US08959946B2
A refrigerator is provided having an outer housing and an inner housing which is at a distance from the outer housing and is surrounded by the latter, with the hollow space produced between the outer housing and the inner housing being filled with foam for insulation purposes. An inner chamber is surrounded by the inner housing and is cooled by the circulation of cooling air supplied to the inner chamber by means of a cooling-air duct and is arranged between the outer housing and the inner housing. A method is provided for forming the cooling-air duct from a shaped part that has insulating material and a closed rear-wall element and rests on an outer face of the inner housing.
US08959941B2
A cooling apparatus and method are provided for cooling an electronics rack. The cooling apparatus includes an air-cooled cooling station, which has a liquid-to-air heat exchanger and ducting for directing a cooling airflow across the heat exchanger. A cooling subsystem is associated with the electronics rack, and includes a liquid-cooled condenser facilitating immersion-cooling of electronic components of the electronics rack, a liquid-cooled structure providing conductive cooling to electronic components of the electronics rack, or an air-to-liquid heat exchanger associated with the rack and cooling airflow passing through the electronics rack. A coolant loop couples the cooling subsystem to the liquid-to-air heat exchanger. In operation, heat is transferred via circulating coolant from the electronics rack, and rejected in the liquid-to-air heat exchanger of the cooling station to the cooling airflow passing across the liquid-to-air heat exchanger. In one embodiment, the cooling airflow is outdoor air.
US08959931B2
The present application is directed to methods and systems for transporting or importing LNG via vessels. Under the present techniques, SRTs, which are equipped with regasification equipment, LNG offloading equipment (e.g. marinized mechanical loading arms), LNG storage tanks, and equipment to transfer natural gas to an import terminal are utilized as temporary interchangeable FSRUs (TIFs). Two or more TIFs in conjunction with transport vessels (e.g. LNGCs) are utilized to transfer LNG between an export terminal and an import terminal. A first of the TIFs is utilized at an import terminal to offload LNG from LNGCs, while the second of the TIFs is utilized as a LNGC, carrying LNG between the export terminal and import terminal. The first of the TIFs may be replaced by the second of the TIFs to maintain operations for the import terminal. The use of multiple TIFs in combination with LNGCs provides an alterative LNG delivery approach in comparison to having a permanently moored FSRU located at the import terminal or using a fleet of SRT vessels to transport LNG between an export terminal and an import terminal.
US08959926B2
A turbomachine including an intermediate casing including, fastened to the end thereof, an outer casing of a high pressure compressor, and an air bleed mechanism bleeding air downstream from the stream through the compressor and including an outlet connected to an air reinjection mechanism reinjecting air upstream from the compressor via an annular manifold surrounding the inner wall of the intermediate casing and situated radially between the inner wall and an outer wall defining a secondary flow stream of the turbomachine.
US08959925B2
A method is disclosed for controlling gas turbine operation in response to lean blowout of a combustion can. The gas turbine comprises a pair of combustion cans. The method includes sensing that a first combustion can is extinguished during a full load operation of the gas turbine, adjusting a fuel ratio between the fuel nozzles in each can, delivering a richer fuel mixture to the fuel nozzles nearest to the cross-fire tubes, generating a cross-fire from the second combustion can to the first combustion can, detecting a recovery of the turbine load, and adjusting the fuel ratio to the normal balanced fuel distribution between the fuel nozzles in each can.
US08959924B2
Disclosed is a turbofan engine for an aircraft. An inner fan cowl of the turbofan engine bounds an annular cold-stream duct proximate to the engine's central hot-stream generator, and an outer fan cowl bounds the annular cold-stream duct proximate to an outer nacelle cowl. An annular boss is provided along the inner fan cowl, with the annular boss having a rounded cross section that projects with respect to a smooth shape configuration of the inner fan cowl. The annular boss is configured to locally change speed of a cold stream flow in the annular cold-stream duct from a subsonic range to a supersonic range and to originate a first shockwave characteristic in a succession of shockwave characteristics, with the first shockwave characteristic being inclined from its origin toward the rear portion of the turbofan engine.
US08959923B2
An arrangement for preparation of a fuel for combustion including a burner is provided. The arrangement includes a combustion chamber associated with the burner and in which combustion of a fuel is to take place, as well as means for supplying liquid fuel to the arrangement through an internal passage in the burner for the combustion, solid portions of the burner body being heated by the combustion, wherein the internal passage is located inside the solid portions of the burner body for receiving heat energy evaporating the fuel from these body portions, and that it includes means for conveying vaporized fuel to the combustion chamber to take part in the combustion.
US08959916B2
A thermal power plant is proposed for achieving high reliability, low material cost, and low construction cost by devising the arrangement and structures of a boiler, steam turbines, and a flue gas treatment apparatus to reduce a usage amount of high-temperature resistance material and further to reduce a thermal elongation of piping. In a thermal power plant including a 2 pass-type boiler having a furnace for burning fuel, a rear heat recovery area for recovering heat from combustion gas exhausted from the furnace, steam turbines are arranged near the rear heat recovery area.
US08959911B2
A powertrain assembly includes an internal combustion engine, a boost mechanism and a fluid supply mechanism. The boost mechanism is in communication with an air source and the internal combustion engine. The fluid supply mechanism includes a first accumulator in communication with a pressurized fluid supply from the internal combustion engine and the boost mechanism. The accumulator receives pressurized fluid from the internal combustion engine during engine operation and provides the pressurized fluid to the boost mechanism during an engine off condition.
US08959909B2
In a brake-by-wire vehicle brake system using a feedback control unit (12a, 12b, 31, 36, 45) for producing a brake fluid pressure according to a brake input, a response restricting unit (26, 39, 48) restricts a response property of the feedback control unit when an extraneous brake fluid control operation is detected. Thereby, the control unit is prevented from excessively reacting to changes in the brake fluid pressure caused by the extraneous brake fluid control operation, and the vehicle brake system can provide a highly responsive property and a resistance to changes in the brake fluid pressure at the same time.
US08959906B2
One or more examples of the gas boosters described herein aim to provide a light weight gas booster configured to produce high output pressure levels at high volumes. Generally described, one or more examples of the gas boosters reduce the dead volume in a piston assembly, thereby increasing the ratio of the output pressure to the input pressure. In that regard, several examples of the gas boosters disclosed herein have a first check valve as a disk-type check valve or the like and a second check valve as a ball-type check valve or the like. Furthermore, one or more examples include an inwardly acting cam configured to convert rotary motion to reciprocating motion by an inner surface thereof.
US08959902B2
An exhaust aftertreatment system may include a first housing and a burner. The first housing may include first and second chambers. The first chamber may include an exhaust gas inlet receiving exhaust gas from an engine. The second chamber may receive exhaust gas from the first chamber and may include an exhaust gas outlet. The burner may include a second housing and a combustion chamber disposed within the second housing. The second housing may be at least partially disposed within the first chamber. The burner may supply heated gas to the second chamber. The heated gas within the burner may be fluidly isolated from exhaust gas in the first chamber. The second housing may be in a heat transfer relationship with exhaust gas in the first chamber.
US08959900B2
A mixing plenum for exhaust gas comprises a canister with an inlet and an outlet. A bulkhead is located downstream from the inlet to define an exhaust gas consolidation chamber. An opening in the bulkhead allows exhaust gas to enter a u-shape conduit configured to direct the exhaust gas from a downstream direction to an upstream direction before releasing the exhaust gas back into the plenum downstream of the bulkhead. An injector is configured to inject fluid into the exhaust gas entering the conduit. A conduit exit located a distance “E” from the downstream side of the bulkhead allows the exhaust gas/fluid mixture to exit the conduit into a larger exit volume of the compact mixing can, in the manner of an expansion chamber, where its velocity slows and further mixing of the fluid/exhaust gas occurs and exits the compact mixing can through the outlet flange.
US08959898B2
A method of regenerating a particulate filter of an exhaust system is provided. The method includes determining a first regeneration mode based on a soot level; generating control signals to a first fuel injector associated with an engine based on the first regeneration mode; determining a second regeneration mode based on the soot level; and generating control signal to a second fuel injector associated with an exhaust stream of the exhaust system based on the second regeneration mode.
US08959894B2
MnOx-containing, base-metal oxide mixtures (e.g., MnOx—CeO2) are useful NOx oxidation catalyst materials and NOx storage materials in lean-burn engine exhaust gas treatments using Lean NOx Trap (LNT) systems. These oxidation catalyst materials are used in combination with a NOx storage material and a NOx reduction material. MnOx-containing oxide mixtures can replace platinum (Pt) in LNT systems where the exhaust of the engine is repeatedly varied between a relatively long fuel-lean mode of operation and a relatively short fuel-rich mode of operation. The combination of the MnOx oxidation catalyst, NOx storage material, and NOx reduction catalyst material serves to complete the oxidation of unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, and to convert NOx to nitrogen.
US08959885B2
A heat recovery system for use with a gasification system is provided. One system includes a gasification system and an organic Rankine cycle system coupled to the gasification system. The organic Rankine cycle system is configured to receive heated fluid from the gasification system and to deliver cooled fluid to the gasification system. The organic Rankine cycle system is configured to produce power by converting heat energy in the heated fluid.
US08959884B2
CO2 compression is a main step in carbon capture and storage, which is essential to control global warming. CO2 compressors are powered by electric motors, which increase operational flexibility but require much energy leading to additional expenses, power and efficiency losses. A method is provided for optimized operation of a plant including a power generation unit with a CO2 capture system and compressor with minimum losses during normal operation, allowing flexible part load. The method allows steam from the power unit to drive a steam turbine, which drives the CO2 compressor via an engaged overrunning clutch if a sufficient amount of steam is available from the power unit, and to drive it by the generator, which is used as motor when insufficient steam is available from the power unit. When no or insufficient steam is available the clutch is disengaged and the steam turbine may be at standstill or idling.
US08959883B2
Rotor strippers are sized and shaped to securely fit between adjacent rotor fingers on a rotor shaft of a rotor for stripping crop material and for conveying the crop material to a bale chamber for forming a bale. Each rotor stripper is formed of a segment comprised of two opposing side walls with an interior section extending between the two opposing side walls. A first end portion has a curved hook section shaped to securely fit around a majority portion of the rotary shaft for secure engagement therewith; a second end portion is secured to a backbone portion of the rotor allowing the segment to remain fixed with respect to rotation of the rotary shaft; and a middle portion extends between the first and second end portions in a curved manner.
US08959874B2
A portable drilling rig apparatus includes a rig floor having a pedestal structure thereon, the pedestal structure comprising a lower pivot point and a lower attachment point and wherein the pedestal structure is configured to be rotated to a vertical position about the lower pivot point. The drilling rig further includes a mast structure having a mast pivot point at a lower end of the mast structure wherein the mast pivot point is configured to be pinned to an upper pivot point of the pedestal structure.
US08959872B2
Systems, methods, and components for the construction and disassembly of raised panel assemblies. These systems, methods, and components may include a flow-limiting structure that is configured to define at least one boundary of a channel that includes at least a portion of a gap between adjacent raised panels and is configured to receive a sealant material. The flow-limiting structure may limit a flow of the sealant material therepast, thereby decreasing an overall volume of sealant material needed for construction of the raised panel assembly and/or limiting undesired adhesion of the raised panels to other structures. These systems, methods, and components also may include an elongate disassembly aid that is configured to sever at least a portion of the sealant material from between adjacent raised panels upon removal from the raised panel assembly, such as to decrease a time needed for disassembly and/or repair of the raised panel assembly.
US08959866B2
A tongue with edge sections that are used to glue the tongue into a groove of panel. A tongue for connection of a building panel, said tongue is of an elongated shape and made of molded plastic, the tongue including at least two protrusions at a first long edge of the tongue, wherein the protrusions are bendable in a plane parallel to the upper surface of the tongue and extending essentially in the parallel plane and, wherein the tongue has a second long edge, which is essentially straight over substantially the whole length of the tongue and the tongue includes a gluing part configured to be glued into a groove at an edge of the building panel.
US08959865B2
The present invention relates to a method for erecting a building structure with construction elements, wherein the construction elements comprise block-shaped bags filled with filling material and having an upper side, a lower side, a front side, a rear side, a right end surface and a left end surface, and wherein the block-shaped, bag-like construction elements of a first type are basic wall elements provided with connecting flaps at least close to the two end surfaces; the method comprising at least the steps of: —arranging at least two basic wall elements adjacently of each other on a ground surface, wherein the right end surface of the first basic wall element and the left end surface of the second basic wall element are placed close to each other; —placing against each other the connecting flaps of respectively the first and second basic wall elements situated close to the end surfaces placed closely together; and—mutually connecting the connecting flaps. The invention further relates to a system of construction elements for applying such a method.
US08959864B2
A crack-resistant member for preventing crack propagation, a method of preventing crack propagation, and method of assembly a tower are provided. The crack-resistant member includes at least one insert attached to at least one removed portion at a predetermined location along a girth weld and adjacent a heat affected zone of the tower. The at least one insert is positioned perpendicular to a weld direction and intersecting the girth weld. The at least one insert prevents crack propagation in the girth weld of the tower.
US08959853B2
A gasket for use on a drip edge flashing and a fascia board on a roof overhang is provided. The gasket is mounted intermediate the fascia of the sidewalls of a structure and the drip edge flashing which overhangs a portion of the perimeter of the roof. The drip edge flashing has a u-shaped element which is adapted to receive a bracket which is attached to the gasket. The gasket may also be affixed to the fascia board by an adhesive. The gasket prevents ice, water and humidity from entering any of the sub-roof structure, which inhibits rot, molds or insect infestation. The gasket may be placed on new structures or retrofit. In the retrofit embodiment, a support flashing with a u-shaped element is interfit between the drip edge flashing and the gasket. In this case the u-shaped element on the support flashing receives the gasket bracket therein.
US08959843B2
A telescoping frame system comprising a non-telescoping frame with a longitudinal side, first and second attachment arms; a main arm that is parallel to the longitudinal side of the non-telescoping frame; a first pivot arm with a top surface that acts as a rail for a first roller wheel; a second pivot arm with a top surface that acts as a rail for a second roller wheel; and first and second brace arms that maintain each pivot arm at a ninety-degree angle to the longitudinal side of the non-telescoping frame when the first pivot arm is fully extended. The first and second pivot arms are pivotally attached to the first and second attachment arms, respectively. The first roller wheel is pivotally attached to a first end of the main arm, and the second roller wheel is pivotally attached to a second end of the main arm.
US08959841B1
A gutter debris deterrence device is disclosed having a multiplicity of fins, each fin longitudinally coupled one to another in a generally parallel manner to define a debris fence collectively and configured for insertion into a roof rain gutter protection system. The gutter debris deterrence device, upon insertion into a gutter protection system, provides improved debris deterrence as water and debris round a gutter protector cover for entry into a gutter and hit the gutter debris deterrence device thereby preventing entry of the debris into the gutter. The device can include a spine disposed longitudinally to provide structural support and rigidity. The device can include a coupling channel disposed longitudinally generally parallel to the spine and configured to couple to an upper portion of a front wall of a gutter.
US08959840B1
A system for displaying a strand of lights on a residence or building using an elongated member which attaches to a standard gutter or an eave of the building. The member can be made of metal and has a number of spaced apart hooks for securing a portion of the strand of lights. The system can include a plurality of vertically spaced clips located on a downspout or other structure of the building which secure a portion of the strand of lights or an electric wire such as an extension cord. Additionally, a mesh gutter guard can be utilized with the system and attached to the elongated member. The guard spans the width of the gutter and can be tucked under the drip edge of the roof or under shingles.
US08959834B2
A plant cultivation container includes a container body having: a plant cultivation space with an opening for planting a plant formed in a front face thereof; and a water reservoir portion for pooling plant cultivation water formed in a lower portion of the plant cultivation space, in which container a water-absorbing plant cultivation flooring material is mounted in the plant cultivation space so that a part of the plant cultivation flooring material is positioned inside the water reservoir portion. One of right and left walls of the container body disposed at right and left ends, respectively, of a front face of the container body is provided with an engaging portion, and the other of the right and left walls is provided with an engaged portion engageable with the engaging portion of another container body, such that a relative angle between two adjacent container bodies is changeable.
US08959833B2
The present invention provides for novel methods to facilitate germplasm improvement activities through the use of high throughput, nondestructive sampling of seeds. A method of evaluating seeds for a desired trait, for example, for facilitating germplasm improvement activities, etc., generally includes removing tissue samples from individual seeds using an automated seed sampler without affecting germination viability of the seeds, analyzing the tissue samples for one or more characteristics indicative of a desired trait, and selecting the sampled seeds that include the desired trait.
US08959831B2
The invention relates to an insect trap (10), which mimics certain characteristics of a mammal and comprises a housing comprising a base (22) and a cover (24). The pad generates an infrared heat source (14) and can also generate water vapour (16). The trap has an insect retention surface (18) and is characterized in that the cover is positioned over the base in a manner such that it defines an opening (50) around the base/cover interface (52). The opening has a depth (d) of less than 1.5 cm and is sized and positioned such that at least one attractant signal (14′, 16′) is directed out of the opening in a manner allowing effective operation for at least 8 hours.
US08959824B2
The present invention relates to target acquisition and related devices, and more particularly to telescopic gunsights and associated equipment used to achieve shooting accuracy at, for example, close ranges, medium ranges and extreme ranges at stationary and moving targets.
US08959817B1
Frame arrangements with magnetic assembly features have a frame with a body and a rabbet containing embedded magnets, a lens through which items to be displayed in visible fashion can be viewed, and a backing plate. The lens has a plurality of embedded magnets, and the backing plate is receptive to magnetic attraction with respect to the magnets embedded into the lens, into the frame or both. When desired, the frame arrangement has multipurpose characteristics in that the backing plate can be easily reoriented and provide dry-erase capabilities such that the frame arrangement not only provides a framing function but also is able to provide a message board or similar function.
US08959814B2
A poster clamp (1) comprising first and second members (3, 5), the members (3, 5) comprising first and second gripping surfaces (7), respectively, for gripping opposing sides of a poster or a like, and a poster mounting system comprising a hoarding (208) and a plurality of such clamps (1), and a wire (210) on which the clamps (1) are to be mounted for tightening a poster within the frame of the hoarding (208).
US08959810B1
A power transfer system to facilitate the transfer of electrical power between tree trunk sections of an artificial tree is disclosed. The power transfer system can advantageously enable neighboring tree trunk sections to be electrically connected without the need to rotationally align the tree trunk sections. Power distribution subsystems can be disposed within the trunk sections. The power distribution subsystems can comprise a male end, a female end, or both. The male ends can have prongs and the female ends can have voids. The prongs can be inserted into the voids to electrically connect the power distribution subsystems of neighboring tree trunk sections. In some embodiments, the prongs and voids are designed so that the prongs of one power distribution subsystem can engage the voids of another power distribution subsystem without the need to rotationally align the tree trunk sections.
US08959806B2
A lip for excavator buckets that is manufactured of rolled steel which gives it better mechanical properties than cast lips, achieving a better weight and decreasing manufacturing times. The lip has a machined slot formed in each nose. The slots allow the deformity and wear of the noses to be verified, facilitating repair operations.
US08959804B2
A shoe or other footwear, including a footwear or orthotic sole, including a sole section with an outer bladder having a uppermost surface curved concavely in a U-shape relative to an intended wearer's foot location in the device, as viewed upright and unloaded in a frontal plane. The outer bladder forms a component of the sole section. An inner bladder includes a gas located inside and is substantially surrounded on at least the top, bottom and sides by the outer bladder. The outer bladder and inner bladder are separated by an internal sipe. The sipe is formed by an inner surface of the outer bladder and an outer surface of the inner bladder. An attachment is provided between the surfaces of the sipe and located in an upper, central portion of the sipe between sidemost extents of the outer surface of the inner bladder, viewed in a frontal plane cross-section.
US08959803B2
According to various aspects, exemplary embodiments are disclosed of articles of footwear or foot-receiving devices having inner and outer tongues, such as double tongue snowboarding boots, etc. In an exemplary embodiment, an article of footwear or foot-receiving device (e.g., snowboarding boot, etc.) generally includes a housing member at least partially defining a chamber for receiving a foot. An inner tongue is coupled to the housing member. An outer tongue is coupled to at least one of the inner tongue and the housing member. Other aspects of the present disclosure relates to methods. An exemplary method of wearing an article of footwear (e.g., snowboarding boot, etc.) generally includes tucking a portion of a wearer's pants leg generally between inner and outer tongues of the snowboarding boot. Another example method includes inserting a foot through an opening of a housing member of a foot-receiving device (e.g., snowboarding boot, etc.), that also includes first and second tongues.
US08959801B1
An ankle and foot protector accessory for hockey players includes a front flexible vertically elongated rectangular instep protector pad constructed of fabric laminations having formed therebetween a vertical series of laterally elongated pockets, each holding an impact force attenuating shield made of a strip of hard, elastic material such as high density polyethylene (HDPE). Flexible laminated ankle protector pads protruding from opposite vertical sides of the instep protector pad are bendable over opposite sides of a skate and releasably secured by a strap and buckle protruding from opposed pads. Each ankle protector pad has a pocket holding an impact force attenuating shield consisting of a circular meniscus-shaped, outwardly convex shell made of an elastic material such as HDPE, which. reversibly deforms into a concave shape upon impact, thus attenuating forces transmitted to the ankles. Optionally, one or more shields may be backed by a resilient material such as a gel.
US08959799B2
A shoe having a sole, an upper including a first opening and a second opening, and shoelace means, the upper including: a first side edge portion having a plurality of first eyelets; a second side edge portion arranged between the plurality of first eyelets and having one or more second eyelets which the shoelace means engages with; a movable portion for allowing the second eyelet to move with respect to the first eyelets both in a transverse direction across the second opening and a diagonal front-back direction that is perpendicular to the transverse direction and is extending along the instep; and a main portion covering a medial side surface, a lateral side surface, a toe, the instep and a back surface of a foot, the main portion including the first side edge portion and excluding the second side edge portion and the movable portion; the second eyelet is relatively displaced via the movable portion with respect to the main portion both in the transverse direction and the diagonal front-back direction in response to a change in a direction of a resultant force between a first tensile force and a second tensile force acting upon the second side edge portion from a V-shaped portion of the shoelace means engaging with the second eyelet while transitioning from a flat-footed position to a heel-raised position.
US08959798B2
A midsole element to be mounted to the lower surface of an insole of a shoe as a heel, wherein the midsole element has a upper surface adapted to be mounted on the lower surface of the insole and a lower surface, wherein the midsole element comprises a core and a resilient compression element being softer than the core. The midsole element allows a pivoting movement of the upper surface of the midsole element against the lower surface of the midsole element in, at least, an essentially transverse direction to the longitudinal axis of the midsole element in a mounted state, wherein the core has a form of a rounded cone or sphere within the resilient compression element. The midsole element can also be mounted to the lower surface of a shoe under the forefoot portion, wherein the core has the form of a round ridge.
US08959784B2
Systems and methods are provided herein that provide for remote leveling and positioning. An embodiment includes a leveling device assembly. Another embodiment provides a system including a leveling device assembly and a plurality of audio devices. Further embodiments provide for systems having a plurality of leveling device assemblies.
US08959780B2
A cutting blade includes a first and a second elongated frame part, and projections protruding from the first and the second elongated frame part in the cross direction. The first and the second frame part are attached to each other by blades, the blades being individually attached to the first frame part at first pivot points and to the second frame part at second pivot points so that the opposite ends of the blades protrude from the first and second pivot points, respectively, in the cross direction of the frame parts. The first and the second elongated frame part are movable relative to each other to rotate the blades around the first and second pivot points and to generate a cutting movement between each end of the blade and projection approaching each other.
US08959778B2
A surgical safety scalpel having a handle, a blade fixed at one end of the handle, and a sheath slidably and inseparably attached to the handle. The sheath slides lengthways along the handle alternating between a blocking position in which the sheath covers the blade, and a ready position in which the blade is exposed and the sheath forms part of the grip. An aperture in the sheath and two stoppers on the handle form an interlocking mechanism for maintaining the sheath in the blocking position, and a third stopper on the handle prevents the sheath from sliding off the handle in the ready position.
US08959775B2
A nose hair trimmer that facilitates removal of clipped hair from a blade. A main body case of the nose hair trimmer includes an interior chamber, a disposal opening, and a ring-shaped shutter. The interior chamber accommodates an inner blade rotor, which supports an inner blade, and collects clipped nose hair. The disposal opening communicates the chamber with the exterior. The shutter opens and closes the disposal opening. The shutter includes a communication portion, which communicates the interior chamber and disposal opening to the exterior. The position of the shutter in the circumferential direction when the disposal opening is closed is set as a reference position, and the shutter opens the disposal opening when rotated from the reference position by an amount that is less than one complete rotation.
US08959774B2
A method of constructing a modular, commercial unit includes arranging components of said commercial unit in separate modules, each of the separate modules having a frame assembly. The modules are then transported to a predetermined location where certain of said separate modules are connected together, via the frame assemblies, to form an operation superstructure. The components are not removed from the separate modules prior to the separate modules being connected via their respective frame assemblies.
US08959773B2
Wall flow membrane filters, fabricated by masking a first subset of the channels at one or both ends of a honeycomb body comprising an array of open-ended through-channels separated by porous channel walls, applying a membrane-forming composition to the porous channel walls of a second subset of the channels, curing the membrane-forming composition to provide a wall-adhering fluid-permeable membrane; and then plugging the first subset of channels at a first end of the body and the second subset of channels at a second end of the body, are useful in exhaust systems of improved particulate filtration efficiency for gasoline direct injection or diesel engines.
US08959769B2
A method of assembling a syngas cooler is provided. The method includes coupling a supply line within a cooler shell, coupling a heat transfer panel within the cooler shell, and coupling a heat transfer enclosure within the cooler shell such that the heat transfer enclosure substantially isolates the heat transfer panel from the cooler shell. A manifold is coupled in flow communication with the supply line, the heat transfer enclosure, and the heat transfer panel.
US08959767B2
A method of refurbishing a gas turbine engine rotor is disclosed and includes an initial step of inspecting a rotor for defects such as cracks. A strain is then generated around any detected cracks in the rotor to create enhanced plasticized zones about the detected defects that delay defect propagation. Strain is generated by rotating the rotor at speeds greater than operational speeds to induce the desired strain and delay the propagation of defects.
US08959764B2
A structure and method for manufacturing the same for manufacturing a contact structure for microelectronics manufacturing including the steps of forming first and second metal sheets to form a plurality of outwardly extending bump each defining a cavity. Symmetrically mating the first and second metal sheets in opposing relation to each other to form upper and lower bumps each defining an enclosure therebetween wherein the mated first and second sheets form a contact structure. Coating the contact structure with an insulating material, and fabricating helix shaped contacts from upper and lower bumps. The helix shaped contacts having first and second portions being in mirror image relationship to each other.
US08959758B2
A method of manufacturing a circuit board includes forming a first electrode on a support substrate, covering the support substrate and the first electrode with a first insulating layer, polishing the first insulating layer to expose a first surface of the first electrode, forming a first wiring on the first insulating layer after exposing the first surface of the first electrode, the first wiring being connected to the first electrode, and removing the support substrate to expose a second surface of the first electrode after forming the first wiring.
US08959757B2
In one embodiment, a shielded electronic module is formed on a substrate. The substrate has a component area and one or more electronic components attached to the component area. One set of conductive pads may be attached to the component area and another set of conductive pads may be provided on the electronic component. The conductive pads on the component area are electrically coupled to the conductive pads of the electronic component by a conductive layer. A first insulating layer is provided over the component area and underneath the conductive layer that may insulate the electronic component and the substrate from the conductive layer. A second insulating layer is provided over the first insulating layer that covers at least the conductive layer. In this manner, the conductive layer is isolated from an electromagnetic shield formed over the component area.
US08959752B2
A transformer core manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing an annular transformer core having thin plates formed of magnetic materials laminated includes an uncoiler unit which allows a plurality of uncoilers each having a thin plate magnetic material coiled hoop-like to uncoil the magnetic material, a carrier unit for guiding a plurality of the magnetic materials uncoiled from the plurality of the uncoilers as a single group of magnetic body, a first alignment unit for aligning the carried group of the single magnetic body in a width direction, a cut-off unit for cutting the magnetic body aligned by the first alignment unit in a predetermined dimension, a laminating unit for laminating a plurality of the groups of the magnetic body cut by the cut-off unit, a second alignment unit for aligning the magnetic body laminated on the laminating unit, and a control unit for controlling operations of the above cited units.
US08959746B2
The inventive subject matter is to provide a device and method to attach a head gear to a surface where said head gear is a replica of a group consisting of a football helmet, baseball helmet, hockey helmet, motorcycle helmet, race car helmet, bicycle helmet, paint ball helmets, lacrosse helmets, and boxing head gear.
US08959737B2
A tool or fixture having a locating device for locating the tool or fixture on an article. The locating device is formed from a series of plates laminated together and having a spring element and a catch element where the catch element locates the tool or fixture in a machine bed. The catch element is retractable into the body of the locating device to protect if from damage when the tool of fixture is being stored or transported.
US08959735B2
In the case where a slit is provided in a projection portion of an outlet plate, patterning property of a slit can be improved, and a desired slit can be formed. The present invention is a manufacturing method of a liquid ejection head including a substrate; an ejection outlet plate; a channel; and the supply ports formed between the substrate and the ejection outlet plate by joining of the ejection outlet plate onto the substrate; and a projection portion having a slit at a position facing the supply port of the ejection outlet plate, the method including the steps of: forming a first member on the substrate; forming a mold material for forming the slit between first member on the substrate; forming a second member serving as the ejection outlet plate on the mold material; forming the projection portion by removing the mold material.
US08959731B2
A memorial urn includes a central core having at least one vessel stored therein, the vessel functioning to house and identify cremated remains. A plurality of commemoratory items are secured to the central core and a protective outer shell having a plurality of indicia are secured around the core and commemoratory items. A candleholder is positioned onto the outer coating and functions to receive any number of conventional candles.
US08959730B2
A push-on clip fastener for securing two components together, such as interior automotive components. The push-on clip fastener includes a housing, a cover and a spring. The housing may include an aperture, wherein the housing may be capable of being located over a stud to secure an interior automotive component there between. The cover may include a pair of legs, wherein the cover may be insertable into the housing. The legs may be inserted into the housing cause the spring to straighten. The spring may include a slot, wherein the slot may be aligned with the aperture in the housing. The straightening of the spring may cause a clamp load. The housing may also include projections located on each side of the housing. The cover may also include retaining features located on each side of the cover that may be engageable with the housing projections to secure the fastener together.
US08959724B2
A fixing element fixes a part to a support wall. When the fixing element is inserted into an opening in the support wall and reaches a predetermined end position, the fixing element locks to the support wall. The fixing element includes a stop element, a snap-on element, and an unlocking element. The stop element bears against a side of the support wall when the fixing element is locked to the support wall. The snap-on element is positioned on an inner side of the support wall when the fixing element is locked to the support wall. The unlocking element is connected to the snap-on element. The unlocking element is configured to permit the snap-on element to be unlocked and the fixing element to be removed from the opening. An installation tool and a testing tool may be used in conjunction with the fixing element.
US08959712B2
A door arrester for vehicle doors of motor vehicles, comprising a retaining part for fastening to a door or door pillar and a housing. A door retaining bar passes through a through-opening in the housing in a longitudinally displaceable manner. The door retaining bar is pivotably fastened to the door or door pillar and has a contact surface which comprises at least one first contact portion and at least one ramp-shaped second contact portion. At least one retaining body is pretensioned in the direction of the door retaining bar by a spring element and guided in the housing. The retaining body comprises at least two contact elements, wherein the contact elements have different coefficients of friction relative to the operative connection with the contact surface of the door retaining bar.
US08959705B2
An automatic robot for cleaning smooth surfaces includes a base having a traveling device, a water feed line and a water drain line. The traveling device is configured to automatically move the base on a smooth surface to be cleaned. The water feed line is configured to apply water to the smooth surface using a capillary effect. The water drain line is configured to drain dirty water from the smooth surface.
US08959700B2
A wiper blade includes a wiper strip having an elongated retained portion, a backing, and a case, which retains therein the retained portion and the backing. The cap is attached to at least one of the ends in the longitudinal direction of the backing or to at least one of the ends in the longitudinal direction of the case. The interior space of the cap communicates with the interior space of the case. The cap has a rubber insertion hole that opens to the outside of the cap. The retained portion can enter the interior of the cap via the rubber insertion hole.
US08959683B2
Embodiments are directed towards a pillow with a removable core that includes a plurality of cut foam pieces of various or similar shapes/sizes. The pillow may include an outer shell case and an inner shell case (i.e., the removable core). The outer shell case may be made of a plurality of layers, including a backing layer positioned between an external layer and an internal layer. The backing layer may comprise a foam material. And the internal layer and the inner shell case may comprise an open mesh material. The inner shell case may be removably inserted into the outer shell case. A plurality of foam pieces may be disposed inside the inner shell case.
US08959682B2
A disposable transporter that is absorbent, portable, and lightweight, and having sufficient strength to carry an injured soldier or medical patient is provided. The transporter has a backing substrate, an absorbent body, and a gripping device in an edge formed by the backing substrate. The absorbent body absorbs a large amount of body fluids, and can have an active agent that reduces contamination, infection, and odor. A transporter kit that encloses the transporter in a case for ease of storage and transport is also provided.
US08959679B1
A beach blanket assembly facilitates comfortable relaxation while also providing secure storage of items. The assembly includes a sheet having a first face, a second face, and a perimeter edge extending around the first face and the second face. A pillow is coupled to the sheet and extends from the first face. A first pocket is coupled to the first face. An aperture extends through the first pocket wherein the first pocket is configured for holding a device therein. A wire may extend from the device through the aperture.
US08959673B2
An elongate beading for attaching a pool liner to a pool wall includes a substantially planar liner attachment portion having an outer surface for attachment to a pool liner and a hook portion having a pair of opposed first and second legs interconnected by a connector portion. The first and second legs and connector portion have inner surfaces defining a channel and the first leg is substantially coplanar with the liner attachment portion. The second leg defines with the connector portion a downwardly facing shoulder and includes a narrowing intermediate its ends which defines first and second sections, the second section being the free end portion which is separable from the first section. The free end portion tapers outwardly from the narrowing towards its free end, includes a plurality of spaced apart raised ribs on its surfaces and terminates in an enlarged protuberance.
US08959670B2
A pair of swim goggles include a lens frame body, a lens unit, and buckle devices, characterized in that each of the buckle devices includes: a resilient element, an engaging arm, and at least a button, wherein the resilient element has a first base plate and a second base plate both bending in a same direction and spaced away from each other, the first and second base plates having end portions at opposite ends thereof, the engaging arm having a connecting end and an engaging end opposite the connecting end, the connecting end connected with the first base plate, the engaging end engaged with a head strap after being assembled, the at least a button having a press portion and a linking portion opposite the press portion, the linking portion connected to one of the end portions of the first and second base plates.
US08959668B1
A device includes a chinstrap with two or four-point attachment which also incorporates jaw protection and inertia displacement. The chin protection consists of a padded chin cup with interior webbing to align the chin cup on the user's chin. To either side of the chin cup, jaw protecting portions laterally emanate to either side of the chin along the jaw line of the user/wearer. These jaw protecting structures are as wide as the chin cup at their attachments to the chin cup and may taper to a thinner configuration as they extend away from the chin cup. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, two opposed straps emanate laterally to either side of the chin cup and two other straps emanate laterally from respective ones of the jaw protecting structures. An alternate embodiment with only two attachment points is also disclosed.
US08966661B2
Disclosed is a method for fabricating a nanoscale probe. A first conductor and a second conductor are immersed into an electrolyte contained in an electrolytic tank. The first conductor and the second conductor are connected to a power source respectively. An electrolytic reaction is established when an electrical circuit is established between the first conductor and the second conductor. The second conductor is configured to output electrons. The first conductor is configured to receive electrons. Therefore, the first conductor is etched when the electrical circuit is established between the first conductor and the second conductor. A necking portion is created at the first conductor approximately near the surface of the electrolyte. A nanoscale probe is fabricated when first conductor breaks at the necking portion.
US08966659B2
A computing device analyzes digital certificates received from various different sites (e.g., accessed via the Internet or other network) in order to automatically detect fraudulent digital certificates. The computing device maintains a record of the digital certificates it receives from these various different sites. A certificate screening service operating remotely from the computing device also accesses these various different sites and maintains a record of the digital certificates that the service receives from these sites. In response to a request to access a target site the computing device receives a current digital certificate from the target site. The computing device determines whether the current digital certificate is genuine or fraudulent based on one or more of previously received digital certificates for the target site, confirmation certificates received from the certificate screening service, and additional characteristics of the digital certificates and/or the target site.
US08966657B2
In some embodiments a secure permit request to change a hardware configuration is created. The secure permit request is sent to a remote location, and a permit sent from the remote location in response to the permit request is received. The hardware configuration is changed in response to the received permit. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US08966653B2
A method and apparatus for provisioning a mobile application that is related to a desktop software application comprising capturing a code using a mobile device, where the desktop software application generates and displays the code for capture by the mobile device; decrypting the code using the mobile device; validating the code; validating a user based on the code; and enabling functionality of the mobile application for use by the mobile device based on the validation of the user.
US08966650B2
Portable on-line identity verification technology includes, for example, portable widgets with an identity rating, and other on-line identification verification icons and identity rating scores.
US08966646B2
A method of managing a software license comprises loading a software program into volatile memory, obtaining authorization data, modifying a portion of the volatile memory relied upon by the program in accordance with the authorization data, executing the program, and causing the modifications to be deleted from the volatile memory. In some embodiments, selection criteria compared with the authorization data does not contain information corresponding to all of the content of the authorization data, thereby denying a software attacker the benefit of identifying and exploiting the selection criteria.
US08966642B2
Verification of trustworthiness of a computing platform is provided. The trustworthiness of the computing platform is dynamically assessed to determine whether a root of trust exists on the computing platform. Responsive to determining existence of the root of trust, data is unsealed from a sealed storage facility. The sealed storage facility is unsealed responsive to a root of trust being determined to exist on the computing platform. The data can be used to attest to the trustworthiness of the computing platform to other device on a network.
US08966639B1
Techniques for ranking a set of vulnerabilities of a computing asset and set of remediations for a computing asset, and determining a risk score for one or more computing assets are provided. In one technique, vulnerabilities of computing assets in a customer network are received at a vulnerability intelligence platform. Breach data indicating set of breaches that occurred outside customer network is also received. A subset of the set of vulnerabilities that are most vulnerable to a breach is identified based on the breach data. In another technique, multiple vulnerabilities of a computing asset are determined. A risk score is generated for the computing asset based on the vulnerabilities. In another technique, multiple remediations associated with a risk score and multiple vulnerabilities are identified. The remediations are ordered based on the remediations that would reduce the risk score the most if those remediations were applied to remove the corresponding vulnerabilities.
US08966635B2
In one implementation, an object analysis system identifies an object within a software module, and determines a size of the object based on at least one operation within the software module. The object analysis system identifies the object and determines the size of the object without reference to source code of the software module.
US08966633B2
The present invention discloses a method and device for detecting and killing computer viruses using multiple antivirus engines. The method includes: receiving a request for scanning a file to be scanned; sending the information of the file to multiple antivirus engines for scanning, receiving the scanning information returned by the antivirus engines; determining the scanning result of the file, and sending the scanning result of the file, thereby supporting virus killing by using multiple antivirus engines. The present invention integrates the scanning result of multiple antivirus engines according to specific strategies, and utilizes characteristics of different antivirus engines to completely detect and kill various computer viruses based on the scanning result, thereby improving accuracy of virus killing and security of the system.
US08966619B2
A device receives an attack on a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based device, determines a type of the attack, and applies, based on the determined type of the attack, a return routability check filter to the attack.
US08966617B2
Techniques are disclosed for providing an image pattern unlock mode in electronic touch sensitive devices. The image pattern unlock mode can display an unlock screen to the user, prompting the user to arrange or create or otherwise select a specific image pattern in order to unlock the device. The customizable image pattern may include any uniquely identifiable unlocking pattern including a combination of images, or even a single image selected from an image group. The unlocking mechanism may include images gathered from the user's photo collection and/or one or more online profiles, and the unlock pattern could be a selection of such images. In other embodiments, a combination of color and images can also be used, such as matching colors to images. When the user has arranged the proper image pattern, the device unlocks and may be used. If the correct image pattern is not arranged, the device remains locked.
US08966602B2
In one embodiment, receiving, at a first computing device associated with a social-networking system and from a second computing device, a first request to verify an identity of a user of the social-networking system; sending, by the first computing device and to a mobile device associated with the user, a second request for information about the user; receiving, at the first computing device and from the mobile device, the information about the user; determining, by the first computing device, a confidence score indicating a probability that the identity of the user is true based on the information about the user received from the mobile device and information available to the social-networking system; and sending, by the first computing device and to the second computing device, the confidence score.
US08966600B2
A manageability engine, and/or operations thereof, for controlling access to one or more resources of a computer device. In an embodiment, the manageability engine executes an authentication agent to perform authentication of a local user of a computer platform which includes the manageability engine. In another embodiment, the manageability engine includes a device driver to control an input/output device for the local user to exchange an authentication factor via a trusted path between the input/output device and the manageability engine.
US08966594B2
A first application that is hosted by a first machine receives a login request from a user. The first application requests authentication verification from a second application that is hosted by a second machine. The first application authenticates the user if the user was authenticated by the second application, wherein the user can be authenticated by both the first application and the second application after having provided authentication credentials to one of the first application or the second application.
US08966591B2
An adaptive strike count management is implemented for securing resources. The method authorizes access to a resource if a security credential matches pre-stored security data. However, when the security credential does not match the pre-stored security data, the adaptive strike count management method denies access to the resource; assesses the risk level based on the security credential; increments a strike counter by a predetermined value based on the risk level; and disables further access attempts to the resource if the strike counter exceeds a threshold. The strike counter is incremented by a first value when the risk level is assessed to be a first level, a second value when the risk level is assessed to be a second level, and a third value when the risk level is assessed to be a third level.
US08966583B2
The present disclosure discloses a method, apparatus, and server for user verification to store a plurality of pictures in a database and define a plurality of rotational directions. The method includes: when receiving from a client a request for a checkcode, rotating a picture retrieved from a database according to a defined rotational direction; after storing a correlation between an identification of the client and the rotational direction of the retrieved picture, outputting the rotated picture to the client; receiving a rotational direction of the picture from the client; finding the stored correlation between the identification of the client and the stored rotational direction of the retrieved picture according to the identification of the client; determining whether or not the rotational direction of the picture returned from the client matches the stored rotational direction. If they match, user verification is passed; otherwise, the user verification is failed. The large number of pictures in the database makes it difficult for enumeration. In addition, by using the rotational direction as identification information to verify user, the safety and accuracy of user verification can be enhanced.
US08966578B1
A service request for a managed computer system is received and once a primary authorization for same has been given, a secondary authorization management system (SAMS) determines whether or not the service request requires secondary authorization. This determination is made according to a context of the managed computer system and an authorization profile for the received service request. If needed, the SAMS resolves the secondary authorization request and returns the resolution decision.
US08966574B2
A novel security framework that is part of an operating system of a device is provided. The framework includes a security assessor that performs security policy assessments for different operations that need to be performed with respect to an application executing on the device. Examples of such operations include the installation of the application, execution of the application, and the opening of content files (e.g., opening of documents) by the application.
US08966568B2
A method and a device for data processing are provided comprising a first instance comprising at least one local trusted unit (LTU) and a local trust manager (LTM), the method comprising the step: The local trust manager provides a policy related information to the at least one local trusted unit and/or to a second instance.
US08966561B2
A method and a system of controlling application devices simultaneously. The application devices can be a Web tablet, a set-top box, a VCR, a TV, and PDA, a lamp, a coffee machine, a radio, a telephone, a background wall, a DVD player or an electronic information panel. The method includes four steps controlled by a server: retrieving first documents (501) from a first set of application devices; retrieving identification (502) of a user; generating (505) second documents, each comprising an instruction, on the basis of at least a part of the retrieved identification of the user and at least a part of the first documents; simultaneously sending (506) at least one of the second documents to each device of a second set of the application devices; and performing (507) for a given device of the second set one instruction from at least one of the second documents received in the given device. The step of retrieving identification by the server includes the steps of retrieving user profile (503) information based on the user identification, and retrieving context profile information (504) relating to present surroundings of the user. The said documents include Hyper Text Markup Language, Scalable Vector Graphics, Resource Description Framework and Extensible Markup Language (XML).
US08966553B2
A video-on-demand (VOD) server in an Internet protocol television (IPTV) network with a network of set-top boxes includes IPTV operational data and an analysis module that selects a content item. The VOD server divides the content item into sequential chunks, divides the chunks into stripes, pre-populates set-top boxes in a peering network with at least one stripe from each chunk, receives a request for the content item, and directs each set-top box to sequentially stream its stripes. A method includes selecting a content item based upon IPTV operational data, dividing the content item into sequential chunks, dividing the chunks into stripes, pre-populating set-top boxes in a peering network with at least one stripe from each chunk, receiving a request for the content item, and directing each set-top box to sequentially stream its stripes.
US08966552B2
A method and system for providing content includes a network having a plurality of receiving units generating a plurality of recording requests for content and communicating the recording requests through the network. The system also includes a first receiving unit of the plurality of receiving units that is selected by the network to record content corresponding to the request in a first memory and storing the content in a first memory of the first receiving unit. The network communicates a do-not record signal to the plurality of receiving units except the first receiving unit. A second receiving unit of the plurality of receiving units forms a selection for the content and communicating the selection to the first receiving unit. The first receiving unit streams the content to the second receiving unit through the network. The second receiving unit displays the content on a display associated with the second receiving unit.
US08966551B2
In one embodiment, a method comprises receiving a stream of transport packets encapsulating media packets, and generating a reference to the point-of-interest media packet relative to the location of the point-of-interest within the transport packet stream. The reference is generated for each media packet that is identified as a point-of-interest.
US08966550B2
Systems and methods are disclosed of a network including a primary device, a plurality of remote devices, and a shared peripheral device. The network allows the remote devices to operate the peripheral device, such as a DVD player, VCR, or camcoder, via the primary device and the network. The peripheral device is typically connected to the primary device and shared among all devices. The network also includes a splitter/isolation module (SIM) that routes the signals between the primary device and the plurality of remote devices.
US08966535B2
A broadcast receiving device which automatically detects whether digital channels are scrambled according to a command and a method for searching channels thereof are provided. The broadcast receiving device includes a channel map storage unit which stores broadcast channel data regarding broadcast channel, an input unit which receives a command, and a channel searching unit which scans digital channels among the broadcast channel data according to the command and detects whether the digital channels are scrambled.
US08966529B2
A virtual channel table for broadcasting protocol and a method for broadcasting by using the virtual channel table includes identification information identifying and permitting discrimination of active and inactive channels contained in the virtual channel table. At a receiver, the virtual channel table transmitted from the transmitting side is parsed, thereby determining whether the current received channel is an active or inactive channel.
US08966524B2
There is provided a method of associating program content data in a peer-to-peer digital television network. The network comprises a program content source, a network comprising a plurality of network nodes operable to receive data blocks corresponding to program content propagated from the program content source, and at least one user node coupled to the network. The method includes steps of: (a) receiving one or more user profiles of the at least one user node; (b) matching the one or more user profiles with the program content for determining preferential program content for presentation to the at least one user; (c) including identifiers of the preferential program content in the one or more program content lists for receipt at the at least one user node; (d) procuring for the at least one user node the preferential program content using the identifiers from the plurality of network nodes; and (e) selectively presenting at least part of the preferential program content to the at least one user node.
US08966518B2
A method for validating access to a product by a security module associated with a user unit unidirectionally connected to a managing center MC transmitting management messages being generated following the receipt of a request for an access right to the product, said method comprises the steps of purchasing a product, determining a code representing the product, displaying said code on a display device, transmitting to the MC, a request comprising said code and an security module identifier, transmitting a right confirmation message addressed to the user unit associated with said security module, wherein, at purchasing of the product, a temporary right is registered in the security module, said temporary right being replaced by a definitive right by the right confirmation message received from the MC, said definitive right authorizing the access to the purchased product by debiting the value amount associated with said product.
US08966517B2
An affiliate site commands the central site to construct a unique broadcast event log through the affiliate site's command browser. The sequenced data stream of broadcast content is combined with a digital artifact inserted into the digitized broadcast video and/or audio content immediately prior to the data transmission process. Transmission to the affiliate site is accomplished utilizing Internet Protocol. Upon reception at the destination, the commercial advertising or prepared program content is input to the affiliate site's system, routed to the broadcast production system, and in turn, processed by the broadcast transmission site, where it is converted from a digital to an analog signal, and transmitted electromagnetically in the radio frequency spectrum by the broadcast transmitter.
US08966511B2
A computer system and method for preventing a Dynamic-Link Library (DLL) injection attack are provided. The computer system monitors an operation where a process attempts to dynamically link an executable code library to another process, and intercepts the dynamic link of the executable code library.
US08966510B2
A method for executing kernels in a hybrid system includes running a program on a host computer and identifying in an instruction stream of the program a first instruction including a function of a target classification. The method includes generating a first kernel including the function and transmitting the first kernel to a client system to execute the first kernel based on identifying the first instruction as being of the target classification. The method also includes determining whether to store results of executing the first kernel in a read-only buffer of the client system based on determining whether a subsequent instruction of the target classification relies upon results of the first instruction.
US08966506B2
Provided are an apparatus and method for managing related drivers associated with a bus driver. In one embodiment, the apparatus may comprise a physical device object table configured to contain a plurality of entries, a child device associated with each of the plurality of entries, each of the child devices configured to have a name associated therewith, the name configured to provide information about the child device sufficient to allow user environment applications an doperating system drivers to directly access the child device, and a virtual bus driver configured to interface between the child devices and an adapter.
US08966497B2
Methods and systems for load balancing of Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) object servers. A name service cluster is invoked. It is indicated to a user whether bind interceptors are in use. The user is provided with a class having relevant methods if bind interceptors are in use. The class that contains the most relevant methods is specified. Name service clusters are established for object servers where each name service cluster contains a unique object binding table containing object server reference bindings. Object server reference bindings having identical names are clustered into common clusters. A load balance is performed by having a name service select an object server located in an invoked cluster. A cluster component is appended to the invoked cluster to provide failover upon failover of the object server; and a selected object server reference binding is forwarded to a client upon completion of the load balance.
US08966484B2
An information processing apparatus makes a plurality of threads concurrently execute tasks stored in a task queue associated with the thread a prescribed number of times of execution. The information processing apparatus includes a processor that executes the plurality of threads that executes a procedure. The procedure includes generating a task from among a plurality of tasks into which a serial program processing corresponding to a processing request is divided, selecting the task queue associated with one of the plurality of threads, enqueuing the generated task to the selected task queue, dequeuing the enqueued task to the task queue associated with the thread, and executing the dequeued task.
US08966483B2
The invention relates in particular to the optimization of the execution of a software application in a system having multiprocessor architecture including a plurality of input/output controllers and secondary processing units. After determining (300) the system topology, a call to a function to be executed by a secondary processing unit is intercepted (305). The main processor that generated said call is identified (310). A secondary processing unit is then identified (315) according to the main processor identified and according to the topology of said system. Advantageously, the secondary processing unit thus identified is the secondary processing unit that is the closest to the identified main processor. The call is then modified (320) in order to force the execution of at least one part of the function called in the identified secondary processing unit.
US08966476B2
A system includes a storage subsystem and a first virtual machine to manage access of the storage subsystem. A second virtual machine is coupled by a virtual machine channel to the first virtual machine. The second virtual machine has software to issue a object-level input/output (I/O) request to the first virtual machine over the virtual machine channel to access data in the storage subsystem.
US08966474B2
A method for managing a computing system comprises identifying read-only portions of a file system, sharing the read-only portions of the file system among a plurality of virtual machines, and managing the shared read-only portions of the file system as a single unit.
US08966471B2
In a method for determining and scoring signatures for a software package, a processor compares files on a clean computer system after installation of a software package to files on the clean computer system before the installation. The processor determines a signature of the software package. The signature includes files on the clean computer system after installation of the software package that were not present on the clean computer system before the installation.
US08966450B2
A facility for executing an application program in a cloud computing environment is described. The facility identifies dependencies of the application program, and identifies support software components that satisfy the identified dependencies. The facility then causes the application to be executed in conjunction with the identified support software components on the nodes of the cloud computing environment on which they were installed.
US08966436B2
Systems and methods for customizing the functionalities and content of virtual event platform are disclosed. Content is received from a user using a template. Within the template the user defines and/or implements calls to an application programming interface to access various functionalities existing within the virtual event platform, as well as system variables exposed by the existing virtual event platform. The user uses the API system variables to define the customizations.
US08966432B1
Reducing jitter in a circuit design includes selecting a plurality of circuit elements of a circuit design clocked using a first clock signal and assigning, using a processor, the plurality of circuit elements to different ones of a plurality of groups according to a balancing criterion. The circuit elements assigned to a first group of the plurality of groups are clocked using the first clock signal. The circuit elements assigned to a second group of the plurality of groups are clocked using a second clock signal different from the first clock signal.
US08966430B1
Systems and techniques are described for performing numerical delay, area, and leakage power optimization on a circuit design. During operation, an embodiment can iteratively perform at least the following set of operations in a loop, wherein in each iteration a current threshold voltage value is progressively decreased: (a) perform numerical delay optimization on the circuit design using a numerical delay model that is generated using gates in a technology library whose threshold voltages are equal to the current threshold voltage; (b) perform a total negative slack based buffering optimization on the circuit design; and (c) perform a worst negative slack touchup optimization on the circuit design that uses gates whose threshold voltages are greater than or equal to the current threshold voltage. Next, the embodiment can perform combined area and leakage power optimization on the circuit design. The embodiment can then perform multiple iterations of worst negative slack touchup optimization.
US08966419B2
Systems and methods are disclosed for testing a stack of dies and inserting a repair circuit which, when enabled, compensates for a delay defect in the die stack, particularly where the defect is located in the inter-die data transfer path. Intra-die and inter-die slack values are determined to establish which die or dies in the die stack would benefit from the insertion of a repair circuit.
US08966418B2
An approach for methodology, and an associated system, enabling a prioritizing of devices, circuits, and modules of interest is disclosed. Embodiments include: determining a first electrical layout indicating an electrical performance of a physical layout of an IC design, the first electrical layout indicating a plurality of devices of the physical layout; selecting a subset of the plurality of the devices based on one or more connections of the devices; and generating a second electrical layout indicating the electrical performance of the physical layout, the second electrical layout indicating the selected devices without at least one of the plurality of devices.
US08966414B2
An environment and method are provided for designing and implementing a circuit comprising an integrated circuit (IC) including a number of parametric analog elements for which operating parameters can be set. Generally, the method comprises: specifying requirements for the circuit including physical properties to be sensed by the circuit and actions to be taken by the circuit; designing the circuit based on the specified requirements and resources available on the IC; and setting parameters of at least one of the parametric analog circuit elements of the IC based on the circuit design. In one embodiment, the specifying, designing, and setting parameters steps are performed using a computer executable code embodied in a computer readable medium on a server coupled to a client computer through an internet protocol network. Other embodiments are also provided.
US08966413B2
A chip generator according to an embodiment of the present invention codifies designer knowledge and design trade-offs into a template that can be used to create many different chips. Like reconfigurable designs, an embodiment of the present invention fixes the top level system architecture, amortizes software and validation and design costs, and enables a rich system simulation environment for application developers. Meanwhile, below the top level, the developer can “program” the individual inner components of the architecture. Unlike reconfigurable chips, a chip generator according to an embodiment of the present invention, compiles the program to create a customized chip. This compilation process occurs at elaboration time—long before silicon is fabricated. The result is a framework that enables more customization of the generated chip at the architectural level because additional components and logic can be added if the customization process requires it.
US08966388B2
Systems and method for dynamic creation of product structure using a graphical user interface (GUI) are disclosed. A method for dynamic creation of products structures may include displaying information specifying a set of product items using the GUI. Input can be received via the GUI. The input may be indicative of one or more product levels within a product structure. A user may indent or otherwise manipulate the set of product items into one or more product levels. A product structure can then be generated based on the one or more product levels. In some embodiments, display of the set of product items can be updated to reflect the product structure.
US08966387B2
A method and an apparatus for managing icons in a portable terminal are provided. The method includes displaying a folder item including at least one icon; sensing a user touch action on the folder item; and moving a plurality of the icons included in the folder item to an area outside of the folder item according to the user touch action.
US08966379B2
Dynamic configuration of cross-environment applications enhances the computing experience in a computing environment with an extended active user environment and/or multiple active user environments. A mobile computing device maintains multiple active device configurations associated with multiple active user environments and/or application windows within active user environments. Device configuration qualifiers are determined from a variety of sources including device characteristics, device indicators, user settings, and/or application presentation. The mobile computing device selects active resource sets for applications based on the device configuration qualifiers. Application presentation is dynamically updated by disestablishing an application screen and establishing a new active application screen using a different resource set. The mobile computing device may be a smartphone running the Android mobile operating system and a full desktop Linux distribution on a modified Android kernel.
US08966370B2
A video quality module receives data indicating a visibility status of a tab of a web browser running on a user device. The video quality module determines, based on the data indicating the visibility status of the tab whether the tab of the web browser is currently visible to a user of the user device, the tab of the web browser comprising a streaming media player. If the tab of the web browser is not currently visible to the user, the video quality module decreases a quality of a video component of a streaming media file playing in the streaming media player.
US08966369B2
A method and system for the high quality semi-automatic production of customized rich media video clips is disclosed. Media source material, such as text, graphics, pictures, and video clips can be submitted by a customer. A computerized content aggregator utilizing an automated production assistant can locate additional source material by searching available information libraries and databases. The computerized content aggregator may be programmed to organize and assemble the various source materials to create suggested video elements and a suggested voice-over script or recording. A human video producer can then quickly and efficiently create a rich media video clip from the suggested video elements and the voice-over script or recording.
US08966362B2
A system is provided to facilitate content dissemination. During operation, the system allows a user to add a tag to a first document, wherein the tag indicates an operation to be performed on a portion of the document. The system then processes the tag and performs the operation on the document portion based on the tag.
US08966359B2
A method of mapping between visual objects and web messages. The method comprises monitoring a plurality of web messages transmitted during at least one of loading and modifying a webpage having a plurality of dynamic visual objects by a browser of a client terminal, providing a dynamic model having a plurality of model elements each indicative of another of the plurality of dynamic visual objects, monitoring changes to the dynamic model to identify a first of the plurality of web messages has an effect on a first of the plurality of dynamic visual objects, and mapping, using a processor, between the first dynamic visual object and the first web message according to a source of the first web message.
US08966351B2
According to one embodiment, an encoding apparatus includes an input unit and a generation unit. The input unit inputs a data symbol sequence containing q(N−J) symbols (q, J, and N are integers, N>J). The generation unit generates a codeword containing qN symbols by adding a parity symbol sequence containing qJ symbols to the data symbol sequence. The codeword satisfies parity check equations of a parity check matrix of qJ rows×qN columns. A first submatrix of qJ rows×qJ columns that corresponds to the parity symbol sequence in the parity check matrix includes a second submatrix. The second submatrix includes a first identity matrix of qL rows×qL columns (L is an integer, J>L) and a first non-zero matrix of q(J−L) rows×qL columns.
US08966348B2
A system includes a memory controller, a buffer, a first channel to couple the memory controller to the buffer, and a second channel to couple the buffer to a memory. The first channel and second channel are to transmit a codeword including a plurality of symbols. A symbol is formed from a plurality of bursts based on data access of the memory. The memory controller is to identify a memory error based on a corrupted symbol pattern of the codeword. The memory controller is to discriminate between a chip failure, a first pin failure of the first channel, and a second pin failure of the second channel, as being a type of the memory error, according to the corrupted symbol pattern.
US08966346B2
Apparatus and method for processing a physical layer protocol convergence (PLCP) header. In one embodiment, a wireless device includes a PLCP header processor. The PLCP header processor is configured to: process a physical layer header, process a check value based on the physical layer header, and process an error correction code based on the physical layer header and the check value. A concatenation of the physical layer header, check value, and error correction code the PLCP header processor is configured to process consists of a number of information bits that is an integer multiple of a number of information bits per symbol used to encode the PLCP header.
US08966342B2
Data that are stored in cells of a multi-bit-per cell memory, according to a systematic or non-systematic ECC, are read and corrected (systematic ECC) or recovered (non-systematic ECC) in accordance with estimated probabilities that one or more of the read bits are erroneous. In one method of the present invention, the estimates are a priori. In another method of the present invention, the estimates are based only on aspects of the read bits that include significances or bit pages of the read bits. In a third method of the present invention, the estimates are based only on values of the read bits. Not all the estimates are equal.
US08966338B2
Disclosed are a semiconductor memory device, and a method of driving the same, and a cyclic redundancy check code generating circuit capable of performing cyclic redundancy check. A semiconductor memory device according to an aspect of the present invention includes a memory cell array, a data processing unit receiving data that is read from the memory cell array and selectively outputting at least some of the data according to ordering information, bit structure information, and burst length information, and a check code generating unit generating a cyclic redundancy check code to detect an error in the data being output, the check code generating unit generating and outputting the cyclic redundancy check code by using the read data, the ordering information, the bit structure information, and the burst length information.
US08966336B2
Selective merge and partial reuse LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code construction for limited number of layers Belief Propagation (BP) decoding. Multiple LDPC matrices may be generated from a base code, such that multiple/distinct LDPC coded signals may be encoded and/or decoded within a singular communication device. Generally speaking, a first LDPC matrix is modified in accordance with one or more operations thereby generating a second LDPC matrix, and the second LDPC matrix is employed in accordance with encoding an information bit thereby generating an LDPC coded signal (alternatively performed using an LDPC generator matrix corresponding to the LDPC matrix) and/or decoding processing of an LDPC coded signal thereby generating an estimate of an information bit encoded therein. The operations performed on the first LDPC matrix may be any one of, or combination of, selectively merging, deleting, partially re-using one or more sub-matrix rows, and/or partitioning sub-matrix rows.
US08966332B2
A circuit having a component for signal recovery, such as an adaptive equalizer, may be tested in order to ensure that the component operates properly. Unfortunately, external test equipment may be expensive and prone to being damaged. According to an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a circuit including BIST (Built-in Self-Test) circuitry for testing a component for signal recovery with a stress signal that simulates an imperfect signal received over a communication channel. The circuit also has a detector for determining whether the component is operating properly with the stress signal. Thus, no external test equipment is needed for testing the component. In some implementations, the BIST circuitry includes a low-pass filter for filtering a transmit signal into the stress signal. Thus, the amount of circuitry involved in generating the stress signal can be reduced.
US08966326B2
An error detecting circuit of a semiconductor apparatus, comprising: a fail detecting section configured to receive 2-bit first test data signals outputted from a first block and 2-bit second test data signals outputted from a second block, disable a first fail detection signal when the 2-bit first test data signals have different levels, disable a second fail detection signal when the 2-bit second test data signals have different levels, and disable both the first and second fail detection signals when the 2-bit first test data signals have the same level, the 2-bit second test data signals have the same level, and levels of the 2-bit first test data signals and the 2-bit second test data signals are the same with each other.
US08966321B2
A test configuration resource manager and a method of managing test configuration resources in a network test system. A computer readable storage medium may store instructions that, when executed, cause a computing device to receive a user input identifying a portion of a first test configuration, store the identified portion of the first test configuration as a test configuration resource in a library of test configuration resources, receive a user input identifying a stored test configuration resource, retrieve the identified stored test configuration resource, and incorporate the retrieved test configuration resource into a second test configuration. The library of test configuration resources may include one or more of port resources, protocol resources, and traffic resources.
US08966317B2
A computer-implemented method detects a stability change in a computer system, and identifies a first set of at least one capability of the computer system that is affected by the stability change. In response to detecting the stability change, the method identifies a software application that was installed prior to the stability change, and identifies a second set of at least one capability of the computer system that is utilized by the identified software application. The method compares the first and second capability sets to determine a degree of similarity, and compares the time that the stability change was detected to the time that the identified software application was installed to determine a temporal proximity. The method then identifies the likelihood that the identified software application is the cause of the stability change, wherein the identified likelihood is a function of the degree of similarity and the temporal proximity.
US08966314B2
A test controller translates test rules into executable code and validates the test results using the executable code. The test controller translates the test rules using a test grammar. The test rules are used to indicate expected test results of a device under test. The test controller further generates the test results by executing test instructions. In addition, the test controller uses the test grammar to validate the test rules.
US08966291B2
A method for saving power in transmission of data across buses. By knowing the power characteristics of a bus and characteristics of data to be transmitted across the bus, the data can be encoded in such a fashion as to conserve system power over transmitting the same data in an unencoded format across the bus. The encoding method may be selected before transmission of the data across the bus, and may change depending on the data to be transmitted across the bus.
US08966289B2
Various embodiments relate to a tamper-proof vehicle sensor system and a related method for sending secure packets between components. A sensing unit may include an angular sensor, such as an anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) sensor, which determines the angular position of a magnetic field and produces related angle sensor data. The sensing unit may place the angle sensor data in a packet and may encrypt the packet using a selected encryption key. The sensor may append an encryption key identifier (ID) associated with the selected encryption key onto the packet and send the secure, unidirectional packet to an electrical control unit (ECU). The ECU may then use the appended encryption key ID to retrieve the selected encryption key to decrypt the packet. The ECU may then extract the angle sensor data from the packet to modify the configuration of the vehicle.
US08966275B2
A method for authenticating a portable data carrier (10) to a terminal device by the following steps: In the data carrier (10) a public session key (PKSession) is derived (S5) from a public key individual to the data carrier (PKi) which has in its turn been derived (TS32; S1) from a public group key (PK). Further, a secret session key (SKSession) is derived (S4) from a secret key individual to the data carrier (SKi) which has in turn been derived (TS31) from a secret group key (SK). Subsequently, a secret communication key (KK) is agreed on (S7) between the data carrier (10) and the terminal device. Finally, the terminal verifies (S8) the public session key (PKSession) of the data carrier (10).
US08966274B2
This disclosure relates generally to methods and systems for determining when a file has changed. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method of determining if contents of a file have changed can include determining if a digital signature created as a function of contents of the file has changed, and when the digital signature has changed, overlaying the contents of the file with a first mark that indicates the contents have changed and blocks a view of the contents of the file.
US08966268B2
A handheld authentication device comprising a data processor and a display is adapted to: generate an input value; submit the input value to an asymmetric cryptographic operation; obtain the result of said asymmetric cryptographic operation; generate an authentication message substantially comprising the result of the asymmetric cryptographic operation; encode the authentication message into one or more images; and display these images on the display. A method for securing computer-based applications remotely accessed by a user comprises capturing images displayed on the display of an authentication device of the user whereby these images have been encoded with an authentication message generated by the authentication device and whereby the authentication message comprises the result of an asymmetric cryptographic operation on an input value; decoding the images to retrieve the authentication message; retrieving the result of the asymmetric cryptographic operation from the authentication message; verifying the authentication message.
US08966259B2
An access control system including bi-directional communication between a controller and peripheral authentication devices utilized for selectively accessing a locked door is provided. The access control system provides components and circuitry to enable a user to securely assign and designate any card reader compatible card as an appropriate programming card and thereby activate or deactivate users and/or cards. The present invention further provides encrypted communication between the controller device and a PC.
US08966258B2
The present invention deals with a method for securely downloading from distributed download sources. The greatest possible download security with a simultaneously minimized server load is achieved in this case. The object of the present invention was to provide an improved download method which also allows simple servers, without the possibility of setting up a secure connection, to be used as download servers and allows the total CPU load on the servers involved to be minimized, wherein the data transmission security can be kept the same, in comparison with a download from a single server, via a secure connection. This object is achieved by the method according to the invention for securely downloading from distributed download sources according to the main claim with the aid of a secure database server, a secure main server and 1 to n non-secure download servers, wherein the non-secure download servers newly encrypt the symmetrically encrypted download packets at predefined intervals of time independently of the secure main server.
US08966255B2
A communication apparatus including: a reception portion that receives identification information for a first apparatus to identify a second apparatus, and authentication information for the first apparatus to authenticate the second apparatus, from a network, the network being different from a route used when wireless communication between the first apparatus and the second apparatus is executed; and a communication unit that substitutes for the second apparatus and executes the wireless communication with the first apparatus by using the identification information and the authentication information when the second apparatus fails to execute the wireless communication with the first apparatus.
US08966253B1
A method and apparatus for authenticating a bitstream used to configure programmable devices are described. In an example, the bitstream is received via a configuration port of the programmable device, the bitstream including instructions for programming configuration registers of the programmable device and at least one embedded message authentication code (MAC). At least a portion of the instructions is initially stored in a memory of the programmable device without programming the configuration registers. At least one actual MAC is computed based on the bitstream using a hash algorithm. The at least one actual MAC is compared with the at least one embedded MAC, respectively. Each instruction stored in the memory is executed to program the configuration registers until any one of the at least one actual MAC is not the same as a corresponding one of the at least one embedded MAC, after which any remaining instructions in the memory are not executed.
US08966247B2
A method and data processing system for managing security certificates in a data processing environment is disclosed. A computer identifies a security certificate associated with a management interface of a device in the data processing environment. The computer determines whether the security certificate was issued by a certificate authority that is trusted. In response to determining that the security certificate was not issued by the certificate authority, the computer identifies the security certificate as invalid. Subsequent to identifying the security certificate as invalid, the computer determines if a service exists in the data processing environment that includes a feature for sending information about critical events associated with the data processing environment. Responsive to determining that the service with the feature exists in the data processing environment, the computer generates a certificate-signing request for the management interface of the device and sends the certificate-signing request via the feature in the service.
US08966245B2
A method of assessing risk in an electronic transaction involves assignment of quality attributes to cryptographic identities presented in a digital transaction. The quality assignment supports assessment of risk in the transaction. The evaluation of risk in the transaction is made by assessing machine readable attributes of the digital identities along with transaction details. The digital identity attributes may be constructed using extensions of existing standards. A guarantee against risk of loss may be obtained by procuring insurance on the transaction before execution. Third party insurers may analyze the risk of loss in a transaction by assessing the attributes of digital identities along with transaction details and may provide a requestor with an insurance premium quote. Based on the value of the quote, the transaction participants may decide whether or not to execute the transaction.
US08966242B1
A browser application has at least two web browser objects for browsing Private PAIR while hiding multi-page navigation from a user. The browser application is configured to automatically download XML data from Private PAIR, and generate one or more reports therefrom, including a Daily Updates report, a Cross Checker report, and a Docket Listing report. The browser application is preferably configured to selectively provide limited access to Private PAIR by restricting user navigation to programmatic navigation.
US08966241B2
An apparatus and method for sending encrypted data to a conditional access module (CAM) over a common interface (CI). A plurality of data packets are formed, and one data packet of the plurality of data packets includes a header and a payload for storing the encrypted data. The data packets are sent to the CAM over a transport stream (TS) interface of the CI. Encrypted data in different file formats can be sent over the TS interface. An initialization message including information about a selected format can be sent to the CAM over a control interface of the CI, and the CAM can send data request messages over the control interface to request specific data.
US08966238B2
The described embodiments include an electronic device that performs configuration operations. During operation, an administrative electronic device receives an indication that an electronic device that is presently checked out to a user is to be checked in. The administrative electronic device then requests a backup file with information from the electronic device, wherein the information comprises information about one or more changes made to the electronic device since the electronic device was checked out. Next, the administrative electronic device receives the backup file from the electronic device. The administrative electronic device then restores the electronic device to an initial state, wherein, in the initial state, changes made to the electronic device since the electronic device was checked out are reversed to return the electronic device to the initial state.
US08966235B2
There is provided a method and system to automatically provide software and/or firmware updates to the electronic devices, particularly mobile devices used by consumers such as portable health-care data interchange devices. There is also provided a method and system of updating software in electronic devices without requiring a wired data interface to affect changes. There is also provided a method and system for tracking the configuration of electronic devices that are sold to and configured by particular consumers, especially consumers/patients using electronic devices related to health care. Further, there are also provided a methods and systems for integrating the purchase, and ordering, and software configuration of electronic devices.
US08966229B2
Processing systems and methods are disclosed that can include an instruction unit which provides instructions for execution by the processor; a decode/issue unit which decodes instructions received from the instruction unit and issues the instructions; and a plurality of execution queues coupled to the decode/issue unit, wherein each issued instruction from the decode/issue unit can be stored into an entry of at least one queue of the plurality of execution queues. The plurality of queues can comprise an independent execution queue, a dependent execution queue, and a plurality of execution units coupled to receive instructions for execution from the plurality of execution queues. The plurality of execution units can comprise a first execution unit, coupled to receive instructions from the dependent execution queue and the independent execution queue which have been selected for execution. When a multi-cycle instruction at a bottom entry of the dependent execution queue is selected for execution, it may not be removed from the dependent execution queue until a result is received from the first execution unit. When a multi-cycle instruction at a bottom entry of the independent execution queue is selected for execution, it can be removed from the independent execution queue without waiting to receive a result from the first execution unit.
US08966224B2
A parallel computer that includes compute nodes having computer processors and a CAU (Collectives Acceleration Unit) that couples processors to one another for data communications. In embodiments of the present invention, deterministic reduction operation include: organizing processors of the parallel computer and a CAU into a branched tree topology, where the CAU is a root of the branched tree topology and the processors are children of the root CAU; establishing a receive buffer that includes receive elements associated with processors and configured to store the associated processor's contribution data; receiving, in any order from the processors, each processor's contribution data; tracking receipt of each processor's contribution data; and reducing, the contribution data in a predefined order, only after receipt of contribution data from all processors in the branched tree topology.
US08966222B2
Technologies pertaining to cluster-on-chip computing environments are described herein. More particularly, mechanisms for supporting message passing in such environments are described herein, where cluster-on-chip computing environments do not support hardware cache coherency.
US08966207B1
Virtual defragmentation of a storage. In one example embodiment, a method for virtual defragmentation of a storage includes various steps. For example, the method includes intercepting a move command directed to a storage during a defragmentation of the storage. The move command specifies an actual location of a block and a defrag location for the block in the storage. The method also includes updating a virtual defragmentation map to record the actual location of the block and the defrag location for the block. The method further includes preventing the block from being moved to the defrag location. The method also includes allowing file system metadata of the storage to be updated to falsely reflect that the block has been moved to the defrag location.
US08966205B1
A data storage system is disclosed that utilizes garbage collection and hybrid self-mapping for managing system data. In one embodiment, a system data region having an amount of valid system data that is below a threshold is freed. Write amplification associated with managing and storing system data can be reduced at least in part because only valid system data can be copied during garbage collection of the selected region. Mapping information associating system data with physical locations in non-volatile storage where system data is stored can be generated, which can reduce system data reconstruction time during start-up of the data storage system. Increase in efficiency and reduction in startup and initialization time can be attained.
US08966199B2
A storage system includes a replication source storage device equipped with a replication source storage unit storing replication target data, and a replication destination storage unit which is provided to a replication destination storage device and is a replication destination of the replication target data, which are connected with each other over a network. The replication destination storage unit is equipped with a host bus adapter which is an interface for connecting the replication destination storage unit with the network. Each of the replication source storage device and the host bus adapter provided to the replication destination storage unit is equipped with a connection device which uses the network, located between them, as an extension of a bus of the replication source storage device, and connects the replication source storage device and the host bus adapter provided to the replication destination storage unit with each other.
US08966197B2
Systems and methods for providing an efficient partitioned resource server are disclosed. The partitioned resource server includes a plurality of individual servers, and the individual servers support a storage service. The systems and methods provide archiving processes for partitioned resources. To this end, the systems and process include a snapshot process operating on a server and capable of coordinating with other snapshot processes operating on the other servers for generating state information representative of the state of the partitioned resources.
US08966193B2
Electrical interfaces, addressing schemes, and command protocols allow for communications with memory modules in computing devices such as imaging and printing devices. Memory modules may be assigned an address through a set of discrete voltages. One, multiple, or all of the memory modules may be addressed with a single command, which may be an increment counter command, a write command, a punch out bit field, or a cryptographic command. The commands may be transmitted using a broadcast scheme or a split transaction scheme. The status of the memory modules may be determined by sampling a single signal that may be at a low, high, or intermediate voltage level.
US08966188B1
Various systems and methods for sharing data in a virtual environment are disclosed. For example, one method involves receiving a request to access data. The request can be received from a first virtual machine of a plurality of virtual machines. The method then involves retrieving a signature for the data where the signature is stored in a deduplicated data store. Next, the method involves detecting whether the signature is included in a map. In order to do so, the method compares the signature with entries in the map. The entries in the map identify data stored in RAM. The data is also stored in the deduplicated data store. If the signature is found in the map, the method involves granting the request to access the data. Otherwise, the method involves creating a new entry in the map and adding the signature to the new entry.
US08966185B2
According to exemplary embodiments, a computer program product, system, and method for prefetching in memory include determining a missed access request for a first line in a first cache level and accessing an entry in a prefetch table, wherein the entry corresponds to a memory block, wherein the entry includes segments of the memory block. Further, the embodiment includes determining a demand segment of the segments in the entry, the demand segment corresponding to a segment of the memory block that includes the first line, reading a first field in the demand segment to determine if a second line in the demand segment is spatially related with respect to accesses of the demand segment and reading a second field in the demand segment to determine if a second segment in the entry is temporally related to the demand segment.
US08966182B2
A pattern matching accelerator (PMA) for assisting software threads to find the presence and location of strings in an input data stream that match a given pattern. The patterns are defined using regular expressions that are compiled into a data structure comprised of rules subsequently processed by the PMA. The patterns to be searched in the input stream are defined by the user as a set of regular expressions. The patterns to be searched are grouped in pattern context sets. The sets of regular expressions which define the pattern context sets are compiled to generate a rules structure used by the PMA hardware. The rules are compiled before search run time and stored in main memory, in rule cache memory within the PMA or a combination thereof. For each input character, the PMA executes the search and returns the search results.
US08966177B2
Portable electronic devices typically have reduced computing resources, including reduced screen size. The method, apparatus and system of the present specification provides, amongst other things, an intermediation server configured to access network content that is requested by a portable electronic device and to analyze the content including analyzing images in that content. The intermediation server is further configured to accommodate the computing resources of the portable electronic device as part of fulfilling content requests from the portable electronic device.
US08966167B1
A content addressable memory (CAM)-based search engine is disclosed that reduces power consumption during a plurality of different search operations concurrently performed in a plurality of device pipelines by selectively applying one of a number of different power reduction techniques for each pipeline in response to configuration data indicating the type of search operation that is being performed in the pipeline.
US08966157B2
A data management method, a memory controller and a memory storage apparatus are provided. The method includes grouping a plurality of physical units of a rewritable non-volatile memory module into at least a data area and a free area. The method also includes configuring a plurality of logical units for mapping a part of the physical units. The method further includes receiving at least two pieces of update data, which are corresponding to different logical pages of the logical units. The method further includes getting a physical unit from the physical units. The method further includes writing the at least two pieces of update data into the same one physical page of the gotten physical unit. Accordingly, the use efficiency of the physical units could be improved.
US08966150B2
The invention relates to an automated system in which a targeted search may be made for connecting terminals without having to actuate a load connected thereto. For this purpose, the automated system has a communication network, a programmable control unit, and at least one modular bus subscriber which are connected to the communication network. The modular bus subscriber has multiple groups of connecting elements, a display element being associated with each group of connecting elements. An evaluation and control unit is also provided which actuates at least one selected display element in response to signaling information originating from the programmable control unit. The programmable control unit is designed to provide this type of signaling information.
US08966147B2
A method for resolving deadlock in a multi-threaded computing system using a novel lock lease is disclosed. A first thread leases a lock held by the first thread to a second thread different from the first thread. The leasing transfers control of the lock to the second thread while the first thread retains ownership of the lock. To lease the lock: (1) the second thread applies for the lease from the first thread; (2) the first thread grants the lease; (3) the first thread waits for the second thread to complete a task; (4) the second thread terminates the lease; (5) the first thread confirms termination of the lease. The first thread receives control of the lock back from the second thread after the second thread has finished using resources controlled by the lock. The second thread also can sublease the lock to a third thread.
US08966139B2
A memory access request is received from a first lower-level device among a plurality of lower-level devices and, when an address of the memory access request is an address in a given range, the memory access request is converted into a setting request from the upper-level device to a second lower-level device among the lower-level devices, the second lower-level device corresponding to the address of the memory access request.
US08966137B1
A storage device and memory accessing method configure two separate memory units, each with dedicated I/O channel, accessible by two controllers, each corresponding to an interface connected to a host, and allows the storage device to establish at least two connections to the different hosts. As more than one connection is established between the storage device and the hosts at the same time, a first controller has both read and write accessibility to a first memory unit and a second controller has both read and write accessibility to a second memory unit, while the first controller has read-only accessibility to the second memory unit and the second controller has read-only accessibility to the second memory unit.
US08966128B1
Apparatus and method generally relating to load detection associated with an analog video port are disclosed. An embodiment of the apparatus for detection of a remote termination resistance includes a pulse detection circuit configured to generate a detection pulse within a blanking interval. A pulse insertion circuit is coupled to receive the detection pulse and is configured to insert the detection pulse onto a line, where the line is an analog color signal line.
US08966121B2
An exemplary method includes booting a computing device, in response to the booting, accessing a file that includes domain names and resolving at least one of the domain names by issuing a request to a server where the resolving occurs as a background process. An exemplary method includes receiving a notice to invalidate client DNS resolver cache information for a domain name, accessing a list of client subscribers to an invalidation service for the domain name and issuing an instruction to the client subscribers to invalidate their respective client DNS resolver cache information for the domain name. An exemplary method includes receiving a request to resolve a domain name, resolving the domain name and transmitting information for the resolved domain name and additional information for at least one other domain name. Other methods, devices and systems are also disclosed.
US08966113B2
A technique dynamically restores original attributes of a Traffic Engineering Label Switched Path (TE-LSP) that are provided in a source domain for a destination domain when traversing one or more intermediate domains that may translate the TE-LSP attributes in a computer network. According to the novel technique, a head-end node requests an interdomain TE-LSP having one or more original TE-LSP attributes (e.g., priority, bandwidth, etc.) using a signaling exchange. The head-end node may also request restoration of the original TE-LSP attributes upon entrance into the destination domain. Intermediate domains (e.g., border routers of the domains) receiving the request may translate the original TE-LSP attributes into corresponding intermediate domain TE-LSP attributes. When the request reaches the destination domain, the intermediate domain TE-LSP attributes of the requested TE-LSP are restored into the original TE-LSP attributes.
US08966099B2
A technique is disclosed to realize the change of session seamlessly and with high degree of freedom while reducing the increase of the processing load on a session control server upon a request to change the session from a terminal and to decrease the load on network traffic. According to this technique, trigger information is embedded in a session of content used by the terminal. When this trigger information is detected, the terminal carries out an operation to set up as trigger action (e.g. the change to another session). The relation between the trigger information and the trigger action may be described in sequence information, which is held by the terminal in advance or the trigger action may be described in the trigger information. With regard to certain trigger information, different types of trigger actions may be set up for each terminal (or, depending on the condition of the terminal). As a result, different types of session change can be performed, depending on each terminal and on the conditions of the terminals.
US08966094B2
The present invention relates to a method for managing session data of a composite service session in a communication network, the composite service session originating from executing a composite service. The method comprises determining (101) a subset of the session data which will likely be used for executing the composite service at a certain execution state of the composite service session, and transmitting (103) the subset of the session data over the communication network towards a certain session node, the certain session node being involved in executing the composite service at the certain execution state.
US08966091B2
The present invention provides with a method of distinguishing a plurality of calling UEs sharing a PUID in a calling S-CSCF of IMS network and the device thereof. When a calling UE using a shared PUID in the calling-party network requests to establish a session with some called UE in the called-party network, the calling S-CSCF adds a extension identification corresponding to the calling UE into the session request message from the calling UE and sends the session request message with the extension identification added therein to the called UE in the called-party network, such that the called UE may realize which one is the actual calling UE according to the extension identification in the session request message and the shared PUID used by the calling UE. Therefore, after completion of such session, the called UE may re-establish a session with the calling UE according to the extension identification of the calling UE and the shared PUID thereof.
US08966081B1
An automated, policy-based system and method provides information security at various levels in the network, including at the baseline inventory, device, network frame, and command level. This approach improves over the conventional distributed security model by centralizing security in one multi-level management structure. Embodiments of the present invention may also provide a scheme for mapping vendor-unique opcodes to access rights.
US08966067B2
A database performance monitor monitors performance of a distributed database, identifies a database performance issue for the distributed database, determines from a distributed virtual network mechanism which physical networks are related to the database performance issue, determines a potential solution to the database performance issue that changes configuration of the distributed database, and applies the potential solution by automatically changing configuration of the distributed database without intervention of a user to address the database performance issue.
US08966065B2
Methods for controlling online session inactivity timeouts between a user terminal and a server involves the server polling the user's local terminal to determine whether the user presence at the terminal can be confirmed if there is a period of inactivity within the session. If so, or if the server can otherwise confirm that the terminal is secured from use by other users, then the user session is maintained. Otherwise, the user session is allowed to timeout due to inactivity. The server may issue an alert to the user whenever a timeout is imminent, and may restore any information entered by the user prior to the timeout, if the user later returns and validates his identification.
US08966064B2
Controls electronic devices and/or throttles electronic devices and/or information for electronic devices based on agreements or events or any combination thereof. An agreement includes one or more conditions to satisfy the agreement, such as one or more tasks or activities to be performed by an agreement performer or events that may be detected, and actions performed to enforce or assert the agreement such as controlling the electronic device and/or enabling or disabling or otherwise limiting, reducing or increasing the amount or type of information allowed with respect to any or all electronic devices associated with the agreement performer. For example, the system controls the electronic device and/or enables, disables or limits the amount or type of information on an electronic device, e.g., telephone, computer, game, television, vehicle based on whether the child has finished assigned homework, chores or extracurricular activities as specified as conditions of the agreement.
US08966061B2
A lawful interception apparatus of a service providing system inquires of a trust server in which a law execution server commissions lawful interception authority whether a terminal that connects to a service connection point is an interception target, determines whether a terminal that connects to a service connection point is an interception target, and if a terminal that connects to a service connection point is an interception target, and the lawful interception apparatus intercepts communication traffic that is related to the terminal.
US08966057B2
Aspects describe using a Policy Access Gateway to facilitate scalability within a communication network and to provide a solution to deploy an enhanced policy gateway. The Policy Access Gateway can enhance standard defined Diameter Routing Agent (DRA) functions with session binding mechanisms. Further, the Policy Access Gateway is scalable and can be deployed in a very large network that supports hundreds of millions of users. Further, the Policy Access Gateway can provide additional policy information to enable policy information consolidation and caching capabilities.
US08966051B2
The present invention provides a technique for measuring the efficiency of components in a computer. An echo server is provided which comprises several units. A socket generation unit generates a receiving server socket on the basis of information on a correspondence between a plurality of components in a computer. And generates a client socket that is a dedicated socket inheriting information of the receiving server socket when data is transmitted. A stream acquisition unit acquires a transmission path for acquiring data transmitted and received between components. A thread generation unit generates a transmission path by coupling streams. A transfer execution unit transfers data acquired via a thread to an original destination component. Using these units, the technique monitors and running verifies behavior by observing data running on the network.
US08966048B2
A method, system, apparatus, and computer-readable medium for providing a common management console for managing the pre- and post-operating system operation of a computer system are provided. The method includes: receiving, at a management appliance, first and second requests from one or more remote management consoles to manage first and second server computers, respectively; receiving first and second remote console data formatted according to first and second remote console protocols from the first and second server computers, respectively; converting, at the management appliance, the received first and second remote console data to first and second converted remote console data, respectively, in a common format in accordance with a common protocol capable of expressing the first and second remote console protocols; and transmitting the first and second converted remote console data in the common format to the remote management console for display.
US08966045B1
An identity migration program provides interfaces for a user to manage operations for migrating locally-managed identities to centrally-managed identities. The provided interfaces include a project management interface, an identity selection interface, a migration rule editor interface, and a project scheduling interface. In certain embodiments, the identity migration program includes a communication module that provides interfaces for managing communication between the identity migration program and locally-managed and centrally-managed servers. Interfaces may also be provided to manage identity group migration and migration error resolution. A migration process management interface enables the user to halt, roll back, or resume a migration project.
US08966041B1
A system for developing and managing information technology infrastructure management and operations has been developed. The system includes establishing a remote system help desk to clear IMO problems based on severity. Also, a remote network operations center (NOC) is established to monitor system equipment and provide IMO incident management and remediation. Additionally, a staging center is established to perform setup, configuration and testing of system upgrades and new equipment installations. Finally, a report for system status and performance for storage in an electronic media is generated.
US08966036B1
A method for categorizing multiple users of a website based on their respective transition patterns between successive types of user activities is implemented at a computing device having one or more processors and memory. After receiving one or more log files from a data source, the computing device generates respective event transition matrixes for multiple users in accordance with the users' event records such that each element of each respective event transition matrix includes a probability of an occurrence of two consecutive event types A and B for the same user. Based on an analysis of the multiple users' event transition matrixes, the computing device categorizes the multiple users into at least two distinct groups of users and performs one or more operations to the website's user accounts associated with one or more users from one of the groups.
US08966029B2
Some embodiments provide a method for configuring a logical middlebox in a hosting system that includes a set of nodes. The logical middlebox is part of a logical network that includes a set of logical forwarding elements that connect a set of end machines. The method receives a set of configuration data for the logical middlebox. The method uses a stored set of tables describing physical locations of the end machines to identify a set of nodes at which to implement the logical middlebox. The method provides the logical middlebox configuration for distribution to the identified nodes.
US08966024B2
Some embodiments provide a system for implementing a logical network that includes a set of end machines, a first logical middlebox, and a second logical middlebox connected by a set of logical forwarding elements. The system includes a set of nodes. Each of several nodes includes (i) a virtual machine for implementing an end machine of the logical network, (ii) a managed switching element for implementing the set of logical forwarding elements of the logical network, and (iii) a middlebox element for implementing the first logical middlebox of the logical network. The system includes a physical middlebox appliance for implementing the second logical middlebox.
US08966013B2
A unified device management method and system for unified management of a fixed and mobile device includes a command execution controller which receives a device management command, sends a query message to the device, receives a response message transmitted by the device, creates a command execution policy based on the settings contained in the response message, and executes the device management command according to a policy, the device which generates and sends the response message to the command execution controller according to user inputs, and a remote access server which connects the device and the command execution controller by using a remote access protocol.
US08966011B2
One embodiment of the present invention may take the form of a method and a system for performance enhancing proxy (PEP). A PEP system may include a configuration of software components and hardware devices to increase the performance of a two-way satellite broadband service. The PEP system may include one or more embodiments to reduce the time necessary for users to transmit and receive data provided through a communication network.
US08966010B1
Techniques for performing services in a secure and scalable manner in a network environment. Code modules and data used for performing a service and that contain proprietary, confidential, or trade secret information, are stored and executed by service provider systems that are not exposed to user systems used to configure the service requests. The techniques are scalable as the number of service provider systems performing the services can be scaled, either up or down, in proportion to the demand for the services.
US08966005B2
An information processing system providing a composed service to a user device is provided. The system includes: a service acquisition unit configured to acquire descriptions defining raw services; a capability information acquisition unit configured to acquire capability information; a composition unit configured to compose the acquired descriptions to create a description which defines a composed service to be supported by the user device based on the acquired capability information; a presentation unit configured to present the created description to the user device; a request acquisition unit configured to acquire a request for the composed service from the user device; a specifying unit configured to specify raw services composing the requested composed service; a processing unit configured to gather responses from the specified raw services composing the requested composed service, and to create the composite response; and a response unit configured to respond the composite response to the user device.
US08966004B2
Systems and methods are described for embodiments of a mobile virtualization platform (MVP) where in some aspects a wireless mobile device including multiple virtual machines (VMs) may receive data from a remote content provider and process/execute the data using an appropriate virtual machine. In some examples, the MVP may facilitate communication between and coordination among different virtual machines in the MVP, such as to facilitate optimization of data processing/execution.
US08965990B2
Systems and methods for the forming of user device groups are presented. Logical relationship information describing logical relationships among a plurality of users is accessed and potential membership of a first user in a first group of users is determined based on the logical relationship information, by selecting the first group from a plurality of possible groups, the selecting being based on scores generated, for each of the plurality of possible groups, by a candidate scorer module, the first group of users containing a plurality of users, including one or more users who are not logically connected to the first user in the logical relationship information. Then, in response to the receiving of content, scores for each of the plurality of possible groups are generated based on the content, and the first user is added or removed from a second group of users selected from the plurality of possible groups based on the regenerated scores.
US08965980B2
A method, system, computer system, computer program product and application programming interface to support the use of multiple external messaging systems from within an application program and to track activities performed using any of the multiple external messaging systems. The application program allows a preferred messaging system to prepare, send, and receive messages from within the application program to be specified for each user of the application program. Multiple external messaging systems are available to be configured as the preferred or default messaging system for a given user. Activities performed using any of the external messaging systems can be tracked in a comprehensive collection of data about activity performed via the application program.
US08965979B2
Among other disclosure, a knowledge network and semcards enabling intelligent matching of offers and requests, involving all types of information and knowledge, including information such as classified ads, data about products and services, or knowledge, expertise, ideas, suggestions, opinions, and other forms of tacit knowledge is described.
US08965973B2
The invention discloses a method for call proceeding in call control of an application server, comprising: the application server sending an Offer message to a second party after making a media consultation with a first party; the application server receiving an Answer message sent from the second party, and transforming the Answer message into the Offer message and then sending to the first party, wherein, the Offer message carries a confirmation request for a Precondition state of the first party; the application server receiving the Answer message sent from the first party, wherein, the Answer message carries a confirmation response to the Precondition state from the first party; when determining that the Answer message meets a condition for transforming the Answer message, the application server transforming the Answer message into the Offer message and then sending to the second party.
US08965972B2
A method automatically plans a meeting between at least two participants taking into account electronically stored calendar data relating to the participants. After the participants have been input and after at least one period of time and/or one duration and/or one item of location information for the meeting has/have been input, at least one proposed appointment is automatically determined, taking into account at least one item of arrival information relating to at least one participant in the meeting and the calendar data. The proposed appointment is displayed to at least one participant, in particular at least the person scheduling the meeting.
US08965971B2
A system, method, and computer-readable medium, is described that implements a domain name registration suggestion tool that receives one or more inputs, extracts information from the inputs into a submission string, submits the submission string to a domain name suggestion tool, and receives domain name suggestions based on the submission string. Inputs types may include images, audio clips, and metadata. The inputs sources may be processed to extract information related to the image source to build the submission string.
US08965969B2
A method and apparatus each facilitate communication between users of a SIP-based network and SIP users external to that network. Each user of the SIP-based network possesses a SIP URI comprising a host name part belonging to the network and a user name part. The external users have access to a peer-to-peer network to resolve SIP URIs into contact IP addresses. The method comprises publishing into said peer-to-peer network a mapping between an identifier of a gateway to said SIP-based network and an IP address of the gateway. The identifier corresponds to or is derivable from said host name part. Upon receipt of a query at the gateway in respect of a URI associated with one of said users of said SIP-based network, the URI is resolved into a contact IP address. The contact IP address is returned to a node from which the query originated.
US08965964B1
Communicating between electronic devices involves sending messages between the electronic devices. An original message having an original source indicator and an intended destination indicator identified is sent. A reply to that original message is sent by the recipient of the original message. The reply message has a reply source indicator and a reply destination indicator. A communication based on the reply message is sent. The communication based on the reply message has a reply source indicator that is the same as the intended destination indicator identified by the sender of the original message. In one example, a message is sent from computer operating an instant messaging program and forwarded to a mobile telephone. The reply sent from the mobile telephone is provided to the sender of the original message without revealing the telephone number of the mobile telephone to which the original instant message was forwarded.
US08965963B2
Techniques for improving scrolling performance in a web-based data grid. In one set of embodiments, when a user scrolls through a data grid rendered in a viewport of the user's web browser, client-side code executing in the web browser can detect whether a scroll event has occurred that requires a portion of the viewport to be filled/refreshed with data from a server. The client-side code can further determine whether the scroll event is a short scroll or a long scroll, and can send a request to the server that indicates the type of scroll event. If the scroll event is a short scroll, the server can determine a first amount of data to fetch based on one or more first parameters. If the scroll event is a long scroll, the server can determine a second amount of data to fetch based on one or more second parameters.
US08965961B1
In one aspect, a system and method are provided whereby latency in network communication protocols such as the TCP/IP suite of protocols is reduced by transmitting a new and second connection request from a sending device to a receiving device over a network based upon adaptively determined dynamic initial timeout values, where the dynamic initial timeout values are adaptively determined based upon data associated with one or more historical requests transmitted over the network by the sending device.
US08965955B2
The present disclosure presents systems and methods for policy based redirection of network traffic, by an intermediary device, to a horizontally deployed WAN device. An intermediary receives a request from a client to access a server. The request was previously modified by a first WAN device to include information in a first option field of a transport layer. The intermediary may determine, responsive to a redirection policy, to send the request to a second WAN optimization device deployed horizontally from the intermediary, instead of the server. The intermediary transmits the request to the second WAN optimization device, while maintaining the information from the first option field. The intermediary device receives the request including the information in the first option field identifying the first WAN optimization device to the second WAN optimization device. The intermediary receives a modified request from the second WAN device, the modified request determined by the intermediary to be sent to the destination server.
US08965950B2
Request data is generated at a client device having at least one managed copy client application. The request data includes an identifier (e.g., a uniform resource locator, class ID, etc.) for an integration control (e.g., an ActiveX control, Java applet, etc.) installable on the client device. The request data is transmitted and, in response to the request data, response data (e.g., an object element in an HTML page) is received from a server (e.g., an e-commerce server). The response data facilitates installation of the integration control on the client device, and the integration control provides an interface to facilitate communication between the server and the managed copy client application.
US08965949B2
A system and method are provided for acquiring and processing device usage data and applying a computational knowledge thereto for proactively determining customer state, including inferring device usage patterns, and accordingly proposing at least one action, if any, to be undertaken. In particular, computational knowledge represented by a set of rules is applied to the processed device data for analyzing the processed data and describing at least one feature or characteristic relating to the processed data using keywords. A rules database is accessed and at least one rule is selected from a set of rules. The at least one selected rule includes keywords which substantially match the keywords used to describe the feature or characteristic of the processed data. The at least one selected rule is then correlated to at least one proposed action using the rules database. The at least one determined rule and/or at least one proposed action are then outputted.
US08965943B2
The subject invention pertains to a method and apparatus for performing computations using residue arithmetic. The subject method and apparatus can utilize logic gates for performing calculations such as multiplication by a constant, computing a number theoretic logarithm of a residue for a given base αi and modulus pi, and computing the product of two residues, modulo pi. The use of logic gates can offer advantages when compared with the use of ROMs for table look-up functions in integrated RNS digital signal processor implementations.
US08965942B1
Systems and methods for sample rate tracking are provided. An example method includes computing an actual latency associated with an output sample from an output sample stream. The actual latency is calculated using a phase and a phase increment (conversion rate ratio). A measured latency is determined using an internal clock using a presentation time of the output sample, or an input sample from an input sample stream, or both. The measured latency is compared to the actual latency to generate a latency error. A successive phase increment can be determined based on the latency error by using a low-pass or adaptive filter to adjust the latency error.
US08965939B2
A method begins, in accordance with a segmentation approach, dividing large data to be stored into regions and dividing a region into segments. The method continues by generating preliminary DSN storage information for one or more regions. The method continues by identifying other large data stored in the DSN that has a relationship with the large data to be stored in the DSN and retrieving DSN storage information for the other large data. The method continues by comparing, at a region level, the preliminary DSN storage information with the retrieved DSN storage information. When a region of the large data to be stored has substantially similar DSN storage information as a region of the other large data, the method continues by utilizing the DSN storage information for the region of the other large data for the DSN storage information of the region of the large data.
US08965938B2
A method, computer program product, and apparatus for managing a file system is presented. An object in the file system is identified in which one of a first pointer from the object to a first folder in the file system and a second pointer from the first folder to the object is incorrect. A number of folders is generated within a second folder in the file system that represents a path from a root of the file system to the first folder. The first pointer for the object is set to a last folder in the number of folders in which the last folder represents the first folder.
US08965932B2
A method of sequencing and scheduling web resources, via a software application that collects URLs and feeds them to a Web browser, so that the amount of clicks and decisions are reduced when browsing the Internet. The method begins after a computer user with Net-access encounters a URL that leads to a collection of other URLs that the software application has arranged to be presented in a continuous, show manner. This collection of resources then plays automatically, going from one resource to the next without the user being required to make a decision or click. The decision-making process is not inhibited, it is made optional. A method of inserting full-screen advertising, public service announcements, news, etc. has been developed. The server software application module described herein allows a publisher to stream URLs to a user who does not have the client-side software. The publishing module allows a user to format resources to a particularly desirable size and characteristic that promotes readability during a show viewing session. This same module can publish collections of nodes for others to view as a whole sequence, accessible via e-mail, screen saver or as a web resource.
US08965927B2
One or more servers perform functions that include: maintaining a database including information relating to facilities that are subject to a first entity, the facilities being dispersed geographically, the information including geographic locations for at least some of the facilities; receiving a first message from a facility for which information is in the database, the first message identifying a fixture of the facility that requires attention, where information in the database for the facility identifies the fixture by at least one of a designation of the fixture and a characteristic of the fixture; sending a second message to a second entity that has contracted with the first entity to provide service within a geographic location of the facility; and enabling the second entity to access the database to identify the fixture.
US08965925B2
Systems and methods for controlling access to objects within a file system utilizing data associated with those objects are disclosed. In one embodiment, access controls pertaining to a user may be specified in terms of tags which may be associated with an object, and a user's access to objects may be controlled based upon these tags. These tags may reflect the content of the object, or a grouping, category or another type of classification of the object and may be determined through the processing of the object. In one embodiment, metadata associated with an object may be classified and associated with classification tags associated with those classifications. A user's access to objects may then be specified through a set of classification tags, where the user may access objects associated with those classification tags.
US08965920B2
A method may include receiving, from a first user device associated with a user profile, a first request for a media file and streaming the media file over a network to the first user device in a first format appropriate for the first device. The method may also include stopping the streaming of the media file and associating a stop time with the stopping, wherein the stop time indicates a position in the media file and receiving, from a second user device different from the first user device, a second request for the media file, the second user device being associated with the user profile. The method may also include streaming, starting at the stop time, the media file over the network to the second user device in a second format appropriate for the second device and different than the first format.
US08965917B2
Methods and systems for optimizing cell searches in a mobile communication system supporting variable channel bandwidths are disclosed. A user device stores data identifying frequency bands, networks associated with the frequency bands, and various channel bandwidths supported by the networks. The user device is operable to dynamically update the stored data upon detecting a new network associated with one of the frequency bands.
US08965913B2
The present invention includes systems and methods for retrieving information via a flexible and consistent targeted search model that employs interactive multi-prefix, multi-tier and dynamic menu information retrieval techniques that provide context-specific functionality tailored to particular information channels, as well as to records within or across such channels, and other known state information. Users are presented with a consistent search interface among multiple tiers across and within a large domain of information sources, and need not learn different or special search syntax. A thin-client server-controlled architecture enables users of resource-constrained mobile communications devices to locate targeted information more quickly by entering fewer keystrokes and performing fewer query iterations and web page refreshes, which in turn reduces required network bandwidth.
US08965909B2
Techniques are provided for efficiently performing a series of searches. After an initial set of search results is determined from a data set based on a search query, one or more additional characters are added to the search query. In response, another search is performed, using the updated search query, but the new search is limited to searching the initial set of search results. Thus, the original data set is not accessed or searched again. This is possible due to the nature of the data. Each subsequent search is based on one or more characters that were added to a previous search query. Thus, each subsequent search is constrained to the search results that were identified in a previous search.
US08965905B2
A method, system, and computer program product for discovering relationships between data processing environment components are provided in the illustrative embodiments. Whether a log entry in a set of log entries references a combination of the data processing environment components is detected. The combination of components includes a first component and a second component present in the data processing environment. A type of the log entry is determined. A weight is assigned to the log entry according to the determined type. the weight of the log entry is combined with a second weight of a second log entry to form a cumulative weight. A strength level for which the cumulative weight qualifies is determined. The strength level is assigned to a relationship between the combination of components.
US08965901B2
Aspects of the present invention are directed to system and methods for optimizing identification of locations within a search area using hash values. A hash value represents location information in a single dimension format. Computing points around some location includes calculating an identification boundary that surrounds the location of interest based on the location's hash value. The identification boundary is expanded until it exceeds a search area defined by the location and a distance. Points around the location can be identified based on having associated hash values that fall within the identification boundary. Hashing operations let a system reduce the geometric work (i.e. searching inside boundaries) and processing required, by computing straightforward operations on hash quantities (e.g. searching a linear range of geohashes), instead of, for example, point to point comparisons.
US08965899B1
The invention progressively indexes a database by building partial indexes over subsets of the data are built as the data is scanned, i.e., traversed, during execution of ad-hoc queries. Indexes are built as ad-hoc queries “touch” the data. This permits ad-hoc queries to utilize partial indexes built by other ad-hoc queries. If an ad-hoc query scans more data during execution than was previously indexed, the ad-hoc query will utilize the existing partial indexes to the extent they are relevant while adding to them or building additional partial indexes as the query executes.
US08965894B2
Described herein are methods and systems implementing a web page classification system for automatically generating at least one context feature for a web page and classifying the web page based on the at least one context feature. In one implementation, a context feature generating module of the web page classification system is configured to automatically generate at least one context feature based on at least two of uniform resource locator (URL) features, title features, and meta tags features of a web page and a classifying module is configured to classify the web page based on the at least one context feature.
US08965892B1
In some embodiments, techniques for determining a reputation associated with an electronic document may include determining an identity associated with the electronic document; determining an identity reputation associated with the identity, and determining a document reputation using the identity reputation.
US08965891B1
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for training scoring models. One method includes storing data identifying a plurality of positive and a plurality of negative training images for a query. The method further includes selecting a first image from either the positive group of images or the negative group of images, and applying a scoring model to the first image. The method further includes selecting a plurality of candidate images from the other group of images, applying the scoring model to each of the candidate images, and then selecting a second image from the candidate images according to scores for the images. The method further includes determining that the scores for the first image and the second image fail to satisfy a criterion, updating the scoring model, and storing the updated scoring model.
US08965889B2
Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with bi-temporal user profiling are described. An event is detected that occurs at a valid event time. In response to the event, a repository is accessed that stores data describing one or more user profiles that include a profile record valid time period specifying a time at which the given profile record is valid. A prior user profile record is retrieved that has a profile record valid time period that overlaps with the valid event time. An updated user profile record is created based, at least in part, on the event. The updated user profile record is saved with the valid event time demarcating the start of a profile valid time period. The prior user profile with the valid event time demarcating the end of the profile record valid time period is also saved for subsequent processing.
US08965885B2
A mobile device (102) for browsing web pages is described. The mobile device (102) comprises a wireless transceiver (202), a processor (204) and a display (208). The wireless transceiver (202) is configured to receive (306) a web page from a remote server (104) via a wireless communication link (106, 108, 110). The processor (204) is configured to determine (308) whether a display parameter associated with the received web page exceeds a display threshold value. The display (208) is configured to display (310) the received web page in a first navigation mode if the display parameter does not exceed the display threshold value, and display (312) the received web page in a second navigation mode if the display parameter exceeds the display threshold value.
US08965884B2
A system for ranking geospatial entities is described. In one embodiment, the system comprises an interface for receiving ranking data about a plurality of geospatial entities and an entity ranking module. The module uses a ranking mechanism to generate place ranks for the geospatial entities based on the ranking data. Ranked entity data generated by the entity ranking module is stored in a database. The entity ranking module may be configured to evaluate a plurality of diverse attributes to determine a total score for a geospatial entity. The entity ranking module may be configured to organize ranked entity data into placemark layers.
US08965880B2
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for transcoding and providing resources. A query is received. A resource is generated, and the resource, when processed by a client device, causes the client device to perform various operations. The operations include displaying a search result having an associated landing page and detecting user interaction with the search result. The operations include, in response to detecting user interaction with the search result, displaying a first portion of the landing page that is embedded within the resource and requesting, over a network, a second portion of the landing page. The operations include receiving the second portion of the landing page, and loading the second portion of the landing page. The generated resource is provided in response to the query.
US08965879B2
Enterprise systems, methods and computer program products are disclosed for providing caching of data retrieved from joined tables and an inheritance table hierarchy of a database in an enterprise. The computer implemented method comprises creating a queue of cursors of a statement associated with a database; evaluating a cursor of the queue and marking as one of a unique record and an object of an inheritance table; and, if a cursor of the queue is marked as one of a unique record and a unique object, then, storing data associated with one of the unique record and object in a data cache for subsequent retrieval, thus avoiding costly network calls. If the process leaves a cursor unevaluated, the method retrieves data from an enterprise database associated with the statement. The process is implemented on an application object server including a data access layer and a kernel instance.
US08965877B2
A system and methods for automatically assigning of classification codes to a business based on information about the business collected from the Internet are provided in which data extracted from trawling the Internet is compared to a node structure based on a taxonomy of a selected business classification code system.
US08965875B1
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for removing substitution rules. According to one implementation, a method includes identifying a plurality of revised search queries associated with a substitution rule, wherein the substitution rule is used to generate the revised search queries from each of a plurality of original search queries to include a substitute query term for an original query term included in the original search queries; for each of the revised search queries, accessing query log data that identifies (i) a set of search results generated by the respective revised search query, and (ii) a particular, user-selected search result in the set of search results; determining a quality metric for the substitution rule using the query log data; determining that the quality metric does not satisfy a threshold; and in response to determining that the quality metric does not satisfy the threshold, removing the substitution rule.
US08965873B2
Computer-implemented systems and methods are described for eliminating duplicate events. In accordance with some implementations, a computer-implemented system is provided which includes a computer-readable storage medium that stores program code and a processor that executes the program code. The operations performed by the processor may include capturing an event comprising a user interaction with an article stored in association with a client device and determining a level of similarity between the event and a stored event. The operations performed by the processor may also include determining if the event is a duplicate of the stored event based at least in part on the level of similarity between the event and the stored event and indexing the event on the client device dependent on the determination of whether or not the event is a duplicate of the stored event.
US08965872B2
Systems, methods and computer-storage media are provided for identifying low-match search queries and determining comparable item matches to suggest to the user in response to a low-match query. “Low-match queries” are queries for which an insufficient number of exact item matches are available. In embodiments, exact and/or comparable item matches may be determined via semantic analysis. Also provided are systems, methods and computer-storage media for informing the user, by way of a presented indicator, or the like, that a presented item was selected for presentation based upon a similarity metric rather than being determined an exact match for the input query.
US08965871B2
A system and method for providing a personalized advertisement for a good or service for display to a user is described. The system includes a communications device operated by the user; a virtual person database comprising information about the user; and a search engine useful for finding advertisements of interest to the user and generating personalized advertisements for display on the communications device.
US08965869B2
Methods and systems for displaying popular internet searches on a webpage are provided. Popularity data is received which includes a plurality of search terms, and each of the search terms has an associated popularity index. A determination is made as to whether any of the search terms is an approved term by referencing the search terms against a list of approved terms. If any of the search terms is an approved term, then that search term's corresponding entry in the list of approved terms is updated with that search term's associated popularity index. The search terms that are not approved terms define a set of unclassified search terms. The unclassified search terms are classified by updating the list of approved terms to include the unclassified search terms and their associated popularity indices. The most popular search terms in the list of approved search terms is determined based upon the popularity index. A webpage is generated including images associated with each of the most popular search terms.
US08965860B2
Methods and systems for bulk uploading of data in an on-demand service environment are described. In one embodiment, such a method includes retrieving a bulk transaction request from a transaction queue within a host organization, where the bulk transaction request specifies a plurality of database transactions to be processed against a multi-tenant database system of the host organization. Such a method further includes determining a current computational load of the multi-tenant database system, processing a subset of the plurality of database transactions specified by the bulk transaction request against the multi-tenant database system when the current computational load is below a threshold, and updating a bulk transaction results log based on the subset of the plurality of database transactions processed. Remaining database transactions specified by the bulk transaction request may then be re-queued for later processing.
US08965856B2
Exemplary embodiments provide improvement of deduplication efficiency for hierarchical storage systems. In one embodiment, a storage system comprises a storage controller; and a plurality of first volumes and a plurality of external volumes which are configured to be mounted to external devices. The storage controller controls to store related data which are derived from one of the plurality of first volumes in a first external volume of the plurality of external volumes. In another embodiment, the storage controller receives object data from a server and allocates the object data to the plurality of pool volumes. The plurality of pool volumes include a plurality of external volumes which are configured to be mounted to external devices. The storage controller controls to store the object data to the plurality of pool volumes based on object allocation information received from a backup server.
US08965852B2
Mechanisms are provided for performing network efficient deduplication. Segments are extracted from files received for deduplication at a host connected to a target over one or more networks and/or fabrics in a deduplication system. Segment identifiers (IDs) are determined and compared with segment IDs for segments already deduplicated. Segments already deduplicated need not be transmitted to a target system. References and reference counts are modified at a target system. Updating references and reference counts may involve modifying filemaps, dictionaries, and datastore suitcases for both already deduplicated and not already deduplicated segments.
US08965851B2
Systems and methods are provided for storing and restoring digital data. In some implementations, a method is provided. The method includes receiving, while a current view of an application is displayed in a user interface, a first user input requesting that a history view associated with the current view of the application be displayed, retrieve data associated with the history view, determining a presentation format for the data, and displaying the history view in response to the first user input in accordance with the presentation format, the history view including data associated with at least a first visual representation of an earlier version of the current view of the application.
US08965847B1
A method including storing a first data object and metadata associated with the first data object at a computing device, storing metadata at the computing device for which a second data object associated with the metadata is not stored at the computing device, and displaying, in the appearance of a single file system, information identifying both the first data object and the second data object.
US08965846B2
In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for synchronizing data in a database network system. These mechanisms and methods for synchronizing data in database network system can enable embodiments to provide users a synchronization button on a UI or synchronization field through an API for specifying data for synchronization. The ability of embodiments to provide users a synchronization button on a UI or synchronization field through an API for specifying data for synchronization can enable users to easily and efficiently change and update data in a database system.
US08965845B2
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of proactive data object replication in named data networks. In various examples, proactive data object replication may be implemented in one or more named data networks in the form of systems, methods and/or algorithms.
US08965839B2
A computer-implemented method, a computer-implemented system, and a computer program product for data binning are disclosed. In a first aspect, the computer-implemented method comprises in response to a determination that a data value is greater than an estimated maximum data value, calculating a new bin position for the data value by adding multiples of a bin width to the estimated maximum data value until a bin where the data value belongs is found.
US08965835B2
A method for generating a trend report for a non-sentiment phrase. The method comprises generating a plurality of term taxonomies between non-sentiment phrases and sentiment phrases; storing the plurality of term taxonomies in a database; performing periodically at least a statistical analysis respective of the plurality of term taxonomies in the database; receiving a request for a report with respect of at least a non-sentiment phrase in the database; generating a trend report based at least on the at least statistical analysis; and providing the report to the requestor of the report.
US08965834B2
Aspects herein describe new methods of determining optimal actions to achieve high-level goals with minimum total future cost. At least one high-level goal is inputted into a user device along with various observational data about the world, and a computational unit determines, through particle methods, an optimal course of action as well as emotions. The particle method comprises alternating backward and forward sweeps and tests for convergence to determine said optimal course of action. In one embodiment a user inputs a high-level goal into a cell phone which senses observational data. The cell phone communicates with a server that provides instructions. The server determines an optimal course of action via the particle method, and the cell phone then displays the instructions and emotions to the user.
US08965826B2
A method of performing constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) solving. The method comprises evaluating the nodes of a CSP tree for a TRUE or FALSE state according to a script, wherein the tree models a CSP problem and the script associates rules and corresponding actions with each tree node. During a step of evaluating a specific node, there is dynamically computed a backjump pointer according to a specific rule associated with the specific node, wherein the value of the computed backjump pointer identifies an ancestor node of the tree. Upon a failure to evaluate the node to a TRUE state, the evaluation is restarted at the ancestor node identified by the backjump pointer.
US08965825B2
Embodiments relate to mode determination for multivariate time series data. An aspect includes determining first within-mode and first cross-mode parameters for a first number of modes, each mode comprising one or more time periods in the multivariate time series. Another aspect includes determining a first likelihood of the at least one multivariate time series based on the first sets of within-mode parameters and first set of cross-mode parameters. Another aspect includes determining second within-mode and second cross-mode parameters for a second number of modes. Another aspect includes determining a second likelihood of the at least one multivariate time series based on the second sets of within-mode parameters and second set of cross-mode parameters. Another aspect includes based on the first likelihood being higher than the second likelihood, selecting the first number of modes to model the at least one multivariate time series.
US08965818B2
Methods and systems may support conclusions of a clinician by enabling the clinician to arbitrarily define the symptoms according to the patient's record. The method may comprise: (a) determining a plurality of symptoms representing a patient and including characteristics of the patient, the symptoms being categorized as present symptoms, absent symptoms or open symptoms; (b) establishing a multi-tier relationship between said symptoms and a plurality of diseases based on a knowledge model; (c) adjusting weighting factor(s) for at least one multi-tier relationship based on said knowledge model; (d) optionally adjusting at least one weighting factor of step (c) by an expert; and (e) building a ranking of diseases from said multi-tier relationship based on said weighting factors. The method may provide an efficient ranking of disease information, thereby supporting a clinical diagnosis that may consider multiple symptoms while emphasizing particular symptoms in view of the clinician's expertise.
US08965812B2
Various tools, strategies and techniques are provided for evaluating the condition of one or more commodities in one or more regions of interest. Collection of image data associated with the commodities can be facilitated through use of an aircraft traveling a predetermined travel route over the regions of interest. The collected image data may be analyzed to evaluate the condition of the commodities, forecast commodity production, and/or to perform other tasks.
US08965809B1
The present invention is directed to systems and methods which restrict the use of Value Bearing Indicia (VBI) such that a general purpose interface application can be used to securely and/or precisely print VBI. A method and/or system of embodiments of the invention, includes a general purpose interface application being operated on a general purpose processor to request VBI, and in response to that request, receiving a content object comprising both the VBI and defined parameters which are controlled such that the general purpose interface application's use of the VBI is restricted.
US08965806B2
An image managing apparatus includes a storage unit that stores image data, a receive unit that receives an image transmission request, and a controller. Herein, the controller adds security information to the image data and transmits the image data from the storage unit to an external apparatus in response to the image transmission request. Moreover, the controller determines whether to add the security information to the image data on the basis of a value of a security addition flag for the box in which the image data is stored or a value of a security addition flag for the image data.
US08965796B1
The disclosure herein provides system, methods, and devices for tracking and estimating inventory. A real-time inventory system for tracking and estimating inventory of a plurality of items comprises an electronic items database configured to store data relating to the plurality of items; an electronic inventory database configured to store inventory count data; a counting interface configured to receive current count data from a user access point system; a variance calculator configured to access the estimated current quantity to determine a first variance; a prioritization engine configured to analyze the first variance and to increase the first count frequency such that the first item will be counted more frequently than at least one other item.
US08965794B2
An interactive retail identification system for identifying a retail object based upon known or identified features of master object is disclosed, wherein the system utilizes a graphical user interface having a computer display screen for displaying a plurality of input fields related to a retail object and an input device for selecting variables based upon a physical inspection of a known master object having known or identifiable features. The graphical user interface is electronically connected to a database which identifies a specific retail object equivalent to the master object through comparison of the retail object variables. The systems includes a plurality of compartments for holding retail objects based upon the retail object variables and an indicator for identifying the compartment having the retail object is provided.
US08965793B2
A method and system for auctioning an auction item in a multi-attribute auction. A winning bid is selected by determining a secret value function indicative of acceptable combination of attribute values for the auction owner. The auction owner computing device or the auction server generates alternate combinations of attribute values based at least in part on the secret value function. To generate the alternate combinations of attribute values at least some of the combinations of attribute values are perturbed so as to hinder the bidders from deriving or finding the secret value function. The auction server informs the bidders, via a bidder interface of a client computing device, about the alternate combinations of attribute values and required biding directions. The bidder can offer a bid in a next round based on the alternate combinations of attribute values, in a progressive manner and without knowledge of the secret value function.
US08965775B2
A method of binary allocation in an enhancement coding/decoding for improving a hierarchical coding/decoding of digital audio signals, including a core coding/decoding in a first frequency band and a band extension coding/decoding in a second frequency band. For a predetermined number of bits to be allocated for the enhancement coding/decoding, a first number of bits is allocated to a coding/decoding for correcting the core coding/decoding in the first frequency band and according to a first mode of coding/decoding and a second number of bits is allocated to an enhancement coding/decoding for improving the extension coding/decoding in the second frequency band and according to a second mode of coding/decoding. Also provided are an allocation module implementing the method and a coder and decoder including this module.
US08965762B2
A method is disclosed in the present disclosure for recognizing emotion by setting different weights to at least of two kinds of unknown information, such as image and audio information, based on their recognition reliability respectively. The weights are determined by the distance between test data and hyperplane and the standard deviation of training data and normalized by the mean distance between training data and hyperplane, representing the classification reliability of different information. The method recognizes the emotion according to the unidentified information having higher weights while the at least two kinds of unidentified information have different result classified by the hyperplane and correcting wrong classification result of the other unidentified information so as to raise the accuracy while emotion recognition. Meanwhile, the present disclosure also provides a learning step with a characteristic of higher learning speed through an algorithm of iteration.
US08965753B2
An assignment device (1) assigns word class information (WKI) to one or more words of text information (ETI). Based on word-class sequence information (WK-AI) formed from this assigned word class information (WKI), actions (A) are executed in order to notify the user of conflicts or to provide the user with background information (HI) relating to words in the text information (TT).
US08965751B2
Multi-lingual translation for third party content feed applications is provided in social network and similar environments in an independent manner from the content feed. A copy of a content feed may be distributed to consumers via content feed channels of a social network or similar service with language specific views. Translation is performed post-content feed based on tagged format of the content feed translating language dependent text into a selected (or detected) language for a user and leaving language independent text in its original form. Support for new languages may be added or existing languages removed independent of the content feed.
US08965748B2
Method, system and computer program product for estimating the overall energy efficiency of a data center over a period of time. In one embodiment, a computer processor coupled to computer readable memory is configured to receive time parameters indicating the period of time over which the overall energy efficiency of the data center is to be estimated, receive component parameters indicating the performance characteristics of data center components and the operational interactions between the data center components, simulate the operation and interaction of the data center components based, at least in part, on the component parameters for the period of time over which the energy efficiency is estimated, and output results of the simulation to estimate the overall energy efficiency of the data center.
US08965741B2
A system for generating and updating a 3D model of a structure as the structure is being constructed or modified is described. The structure may comprise a building or non-building structure such as a bridge, parking garage, or roller coaster. The 3D model may include virtual objects depicting physical components or other construction elements of the structure. Each construction element may be associated with physical location information that may be analyzed over time in order to detect movement of the construction element and to predict when movement of the construction element may cause a code or regulation to be violated. In some cases, a see-through HMD may be utilized by a construction worker while constructing or modifying a structure in order to verify that the placement of a construction element complies with various building codes or regulations in real-time.
US08965740B2
This invention relates to a method of estimating fluxes for the processes of matter and field transport through fluid-saturated or gas-saturated porous solid. The method comprises obtaining three-dimensional porous solid images by, but not limited, X-ray microtomography, 3D NMR imaging, 3D reconstruction from petrographic thin-section analysis etc., digital processing and morphological analysis of the 3D core images by consecutive application of the image filtering, segmentation and multiple property recognition for obtaining digital 3D models of porous solid samples and performing a set of morphological and geometrical statistical property analysis. For the above mentioned 3D model (models) heat, mass, chemical and electric fluxes are modeled (separately or in combination) under given boundary conditions by means of numerical solver. The new models, which are statistically equivalent to the abovementioned model (models) are generated by means of random field and stochastic geometry theory; heat, mass, chemical and electric fluxes are simulated for new models. The obtained fluxes are averaged over realizations to be used in macroscopic calculations.
US08965737B2
A device, including sample and reference channels through which first and second solutions flow, respectively, the first solution including an analyte, the channels having a metal film in contact with the first and second solutions, the metal film configured with a linker to selectively bind the analyte; a light source whose output is modulated by an optical system, so that light is directed from the optical system alternately towards the sample and reference channels, surface plasmons within the metal film being created; a first photodetector that monitors the strength of the output from the light source; a second photodetector that collects optical signals reflected from the metal film; electronics that monitors output from the first and the second photodetectors, thereby detecting a noise-compensated difference in signals from the two channels; and a computer processor that determines, from analysis of the noise-compensated difference, presence of the analyte in the first solution.
US08965735B2
The invention relates to a signal processing device having a first signal processing unit (101), a second signal processing unit (103), a third signal processing unit (105), and a safety unit (107). The first signal processing unit (101) and the second signal processing unit (103) are operable in parallel for providing signal processing redundancy, and are designed to output an output signal in each case in response to an input signal. The safety unit (107) is designed to replace the first signal processing unit (101) or the second signal processing unit (103) with the third signal processing unit (105).
US08965731B2
Methods and devices to determine a mobile device housing position are described. An example device disclosed herein includes a housing having a first portion movably coupled to a second portion, the second portion to have a first position, a second position, and at least one intermediate position relative to the first portion, wherein the intermediate position is between the first and second positions; a position detector in the first portion, the position detector to measure a transitional magnetic field when the second portion is in the intermediate position and to measure a second magnetic field; and a processor to determine that the second portion is in the first position or the second position based on the transitional magnetic field and the second magnetic field.
US08965727B2
An automated phase noise test measurement system includes a software controlled phase shifter to maintain quadrature so that a carrier may be removed from a signal provided by UUT. In this fashion, the UUT's phase noise may be measured. Based upon the UUT's measured phase noise, controllable variable(s) within the UUT are tuned so as to minimize the measured phase noise.
US08965723B2
Provided are battery SOC estimating apparatus and method. The battery SOC estimating apparatus according to the present invention includes a first SOC calculating unit which applies a predetermined parameter to calculate a first state of charge (SOC) of a battery; one or more second SOC calculating units which individually apply different parameters to calculate one or more second SOCs of the battery; and an optimal parameter extracting unit which confirms a second SOC which is the closest to an actual SOC of the battery from one or more second SOCs to extract a parameter which is applied to the second SOC which is the closest to the actual SOC as an optimal parameter, in which the first SOC calculating unit applies the optimal parameter to calculate a final SOC of the battery.
US08965721B2
A method and apparatus for measuring battery cell DC impedance by controlling charging of the battery cell. The method includes real-time characterization of a battery, (a) measuring periodically a DC impedance of the battery to determine a measured DC impedance; (b) ratioing the measured DC impedance to a reference DC impedance for the battery to establish an impedance degradation factor; (c) obtaining, during use of the battery and responsive to a set of attributes of the battery, an operational reference impedance for the battery; and (d) applying the impedance degradation factor to the operational reference impedance to obtain a real-time effective impedance for the battery.
US08965718B2
Techniques pertaining to analyzing power consumed by a processing unit in a mobile computing device caused by execution of certain modules are described herein. A power trace is generated that indicates an amount of power consumed by the processing unit over time, and the power trace is aligned with an execution log. Spikes are extracted from the power trace, and computing operations are performed over the spikes to acquire data pertaining to power consumed by the processing unit that are attributable to modules in the execution log.
US08965714B2
A diagnostic mechanism includes: a flow rate control part configured to control an opening degree of a flow rate control valve provided in a flow passage so that a measurement flow rate value outputted from a flow rate sensor becomes a target flow rate value; an inspection value output part configured to output an inspection value related to a time integral of the measurement flow rate value in a diagnostic period which is defined in correspondence with a part of a period from a time point of closing the flow passage upstream of the flow rate sensor to a time point of expiration of a state that the measurement flow rate value and the target flow rate value are substantially nearly equal; and a diagnosing part configured to compare the inspection value and a predetermined specified value to diagnose whether an abnormality relating to the flow rate sensor is present.
US08965712B2
A life predicting method for a solder joint includes a step of referring to a temperature history of a measurement object having a solder joint, a step of examining at least one physical quantity selected from the group consisting of amplitude, a cycle number, a mean temperature, and a periodic length of a temperature variation with a cycle count method from the temperature history, a step of calculating a strain range by utilizing a previously prepared response surface from the physical quantity examined with the cycle count method, and a step of calculating a strain range increasing rate from a strain range with reference to a previously obtained damage index and a strain variation history of the strain range.
US08965711B2
A system for determining the quality of predicted DNA base identifications is disclosed, the system comprising a processor configured to receive a training data set, the training data set comprising a plurality of predicted DNA base identifications, define a group of subsets, compare the predicted DNA base identifications with actual DNA base identifications for training data within each subset of the group, determine a sampling characteristic for each subset of the group based on training data within the respective subset, and determine a quality characterization for predicted DNA base identifications within at least one of subset of the group based on the comparison and determined sampling characteristic, wherein the sampling characteristic comprises a confidence value comprising a binomial proportion confidence interval value.
US08965707B2
An apparatus and method for generating a prescription form is disclosed. The method includes displaying a first menu containing a plurality of therapy menu items. The method also includes displaying a second menu containing at least one qualifier menu item. The method further includes displaying a third menu containing at least one drug menu item. The method includes, upon selection of a therapy menu item, a qualifier menu item, and a drug menu item, selecting a protocol including one or more patient specific pump parameters corresponding to the therapy menu item, the qualifier menu item, and the drug menu item. The method also includes displaying a prescription form including at least one of the one or more patient specific pump parameters.
US08965703B2
Downhole drilling fluid measurements are made as a function of time or as a function of depth. A change in the downhole drilling fluid measurements is correlated to a feature of a formation penetrated by a drill bit or to a feature of fluids in the formation. The downhole drilling fluid measurements may include density, photoelectric factor, hydrogen index, salinity, thermal neutron capture cross section (Sigma), resistivity, slowness, slowing down time, sound velocity, and elemental composition. The feature may include fluid balance, hole-cleaning, a kick, a shallow water flow, a formation fluid property, formation fluid typing, geosteering, geostopping, or an environmental correction. A downhole system has a measurement-while-drilling tool or a logging-while-drilling tool and a processor capable of obtaining the downhole drilling fluid measurements and correlating the change in the downhole drilling fluid measurements.
US08965697B2
A navigation device or method is configured to identify location information and a route setting method from a recognition result obtained by constantly recognizing user's utterance contents, and set a route based on the location information and the route setting method.
US08965693B2
A system, method and computer-readable medium are disclosed that can detect an address, geographic coordinates or business name in text displayed on a device and geocode or reverse geocode, respectively, the address/business name or geographic coordinates to provide geocoded data. The detecting and geocoding/reverse geocoding can be performed automatically. The geocoded data can be displayed in-place with the text in a user interface of the device or be provided to another application.
US08965686B2
Disclosed are an apparatus and method for computing a vehicle path by considering satellite communication channel states. The method includes: searching for a plurality of candidate paths, each path connected from a starting point to a destination; analyzing a satellite communication channel state with respect to each of the candidate paths, based on a receiving sensitivity of an electric wave received from a satellite; setting one of the candidate paths as a first path, based on the analyzed satellite communication channel states; and mapping the first path onto a map, and displaying the first path on a display unit.
US08965681B2
The present invention is a system and method for caching data in mobile devices to improve field assessment capabilities in a relief management system. The system analyzes captured geolocation information associated with one or more mobile field devices to identify a set of data to be cached by a mobile field device. The system then communicates the set of data to be cached to the mobile field device. The data cached is predicated upon the predicted likely location of field assessment operations and the data includes server-side image tiles.
US08965679B2
Systems and methods are operable maintain a proscribed Self Separation distance between an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) and an object. In an example system, consecutive intruder aircraft locations relative to corresponding locations of a self aircraft are determined, wherein the determining is based on current velocities of the intruder aircraft and the self aircraft, and wherein the determining is based on current flight paths of the intruder aircraft and the self aircraft. At least one evasive maneuver for the self aircraft is computed using a processing system based on the determined consecutive intruder aircraft locations relative to the corresponding locations of the self aircraft.
US08965678B2
A device for assisting the driver of a vehicle in the process of parking is provided. The device includes sensors for detecting obstacles in an environment of the vehicle, at least in an environment in front and in back of the vehicle, and a display for indicating the distance between the vehicle and an obstacle identified in the environment. The display includes a first means, with which the distance between the vehicle and an obstacle identified in front of the vehicle can be displayed on a windshield of the vehicle, and a second means, with which the distance between the vehicle and an obstacle identified in back of the vehicle can be displayed on a rear window of the vehicle.
US08965673B2
This disclosure is concerned with a method of detecting conflicts between aircraft passing through managed airspace, and to resolving the detected conflicts strategically. The method may include obtaining intended trajectories of aircraft through the airspace, detecting conflicts in the intended trajectories, forming a set of the conflicted aircraft, calculating one or more revised trajectories for the conflicted aircraft such that the conflicts are resolved, and advising the conflicted aircraft subject to revised trajectories of the revised trajectories.
US08965669B2
To provide remote services, including dynamic, interactive assistance to electric vehicle (EV) users, a central server is arranged for electronic communications with EVs (15) and with client devices (11). The server also communicates with at least one EV charging station network, which in turn communicate with individual charging stations (30). Remote services may include trip planning, locating charging stations, checking availability and suitability of charging stations, making reservations at charging stations, and updating plans en route. The server collects data from the EV and analyzes the data to determine various statistics. The system advises a user on readiness of the EV to complete a proposed trip before recharging the EV batteries. Client devices may include smart phones, computers, or a head unit in the EV. Application software programs are executable on the client devices to provide user interfaces for accessing the remote services and for communicating with the central server.
US08965666B2
A knock control device is provided in which erroneous knock detection can be reduced by suppressing sudden knock signal changes due to noise, without causing any increase in the number of matching steps, deterioration in the S/N in knock detection and decrease in detection performing frequency. In the knock control device, an open gain is applied to the detected signal only during a knock detection window set in advance by a knock window setting means. The window corresponds to a period in which vibration due to knock arises. During other periods, either a closed gain or an interpolated gain value is applied to the detected signal.
US08965665B2
An air-fuel ratio imbalance among cylinders determining apparatus according to the present invention obtains an output Vabyfs of an air-fuel ratio sensor disposed at a portion downstream of an exhaust gas aggregated portion of an exhaust gas passage, and obtains a second-order differential value d2AF (a change rate of a change rate of a detected air-fuel ratio abyfs) of a detected air-fuel ratio abyfs represented by the air-fuel ratio sensor output Vabyfs. The imbalance determining apparatus determines that an air-fuel ratio imbalance state among cylinders is occurring when a detected air-fuel ratio second-order differential corresponding value (for example, a second-order differential value d2AF per se) obtained in accordance with the second-order differential value d2AF is larger than a first threshold value.
US08965662B2
An abnormality determining apparatus includes an air-fuel ratio controller, an output change period parameter calculator, an output change amount extremum calculator, and an abnormality determining device. The abnormality determining device is configured to determine an abnormality of an air-fuel ratio sensor based on a relationship between an output change period parameter and an output change amount extremum.
US08965649B1
A vehicle includes an internal combustion engine, an engine control module (ECM) programmed to estimate engine torque as a function of throttle request, and a transmission assembly. The transmission assembly includes a plurality of gear sets and clutches, including an offgoing clutch and an oncoming clutch for a power downshift, and a transmission control module (TCM). The TCM includes a processor and memory on which is recorded a shift line for the downshift, and instructions for executing the downshift. The TCM communicates an estimated throttle level at the shift line to the ECM, receives an estimated engine torque for the estimated throttle level at the shift line from the ECM, and decreases offgoing pressure to the offgoing clutch to a threshold pressure level prior to executing the downshift. The TCM then decreases the offgoing clutch pressure to a calibrated pressure at the shift line to execute the downshift.
US08965647B2
A control apparatus for a continuously variable transmission is capable of continuously changing an output of an internal combustion engine mounted on a vehicle and allowing a transmission mode to be switchable between a continuous transmission mode in which a transmission ratio is set continuously and a stepped transmission mode in which the transmission ratio is set stepwise. A transmission mode selector is configured to change the transmission mode in such a manner that in a case where the stepped transmission mode is selected, when a engine rotation speed reaches a first predetermined rotation speed, then falls below a second predetermined rotation speed which is lower than the first predetermined rotation speed, and further falls below a third predetermined rotation speed, the transmission mode is switched from the stepped transmission mode to the continuous transmission mode.
US08965643B2
A method controlling an agricultural sprayer includes identifying an herbicide to be sprayed using the agricultural sprayer, determining a geoposition associated with the agricultural sprayer within a field, determining if crop planted at the geoposition is tolerant to the herbicide using as-planted data, and if the crop is not tolerant of the herbicide, preventing herbicide spraying operations while the agricultural sprayer is at the geoposition. An agricultural sprayer adapted for performing the method is also provided.
US08965642B2
A display system of an excavating machine including a work machine having a bucket with an excavation edge and an arm to which the bucket is swingably attached, and a body to which the work machine is attached, the system including: a vehicle condition detector detecting first information related to a current position of the excavating machine and second information related to a posture of the body; a storage storing position information of a target surface indicating a target shape of an object and appearance information of the bucket; and a processor obtaining virtual images indicating positions of planes passing through both ends of the excavation edge from among planes parallel to a plane on which the arm moves based on the first and second information, and the appearance information, and displaying the virtual images on a screen with the bucket as viewed from above the excavating machine.
US08965640B2
Real time determination of current vs. optimum performance in a track-type tractor is complex and requires information about both a state of the tractor and the operating environment, such as soil conditions. Presenting such data to an operator creates a problem of conveying sufficient information without undue complexity. A three part display for an operator shows a full range of performance, a subset range of performance associated with peak performance that is overlaid on the full range of performance, and a current performance indicator also overlaid on the full range of performance, such that peak performance is achieved when the current performance indicator is centered on the subset range of performance. The subset range of performance may move over the full range of performance to indicate operating conditions favoring a particular condition, e.g., low slip. An operator may then effect a change by adjusting, for example, speed or load.
US08965639B2
The disclosure describes a control system for controlling the movement of an implement associated with a machine. The control system includes a speed sensor, a grade control system, an implement position sensor, and a controller. The speed sensor is configured to generate a speed signal indicative of a machine speed. The grade control system is configured to generate a desired implement position signal indicative of a desired implement position. The implement position sensor is configured to generate an implement position signal indicative of a position of the implement. The controller is configured to generate a machine control command to move the implement as a function of the speed signal, the desired implement position signal, and the implement position signal.
