US09287238B2

A semiconductor package includes a plurality of bond pads having a first side and a second side opposing the first side, a coating covering the first side of the bond pads, semiconductor dies and electrical conductors attached to the second side of the bond pads, and a molding compound encasing the semiconductor dies and the electrical conductors at the second side of the bonds pads. The molding compound has a first side through which the bond pads protrude and a second side opposing the first side, the first side of the molding compound having a planar surface between adjacent ones of the bond pads. The package further includes a material plated on exposed sidewalls of the bonds pads uncovered by the molding compound and which is detectable by optical inspection. A corresponding method of manufacture is also provided.
US09287236B2

A method for assembling a thin, flexible integrated circuit (IC) device includes using an etched contoured lead frame having raised features. A die is attached to the lead frame to form a sub-assembly that is then selectively coated with a low-modulus gel. The sub-assembly is covered with a temporary mask for sputter deposition of a metallic seed layer for interconnects between the die and the raised features. The mask is removed and more robust metal interconnects are grown over the seed paths using electroplating. The sub-assembly top is then coated with another gel layer. The bottom of the sub-assembly and of the contoured lead frame is removed, which transforms the raised features into leads. The newly exposed bottom of the sub-assembly is covered with a third layer of gel to complete assembly of the packaged device.
US09287231B2

A package structure includes a first insulation layer, a first conductive layer, a direct bond copper substrate, and a first electronic component. A first conductive via is formed in the first insulation layer. The first conductive layer is disposed on a top surface of the first insulation layer and in contact with the first conductive via. The direct bond copper substrate includes a second conductive layer, a third conductive layer and a ceramic base. The ceramic base is disposed on a bottom surface of the first insulation layer and exposed to the first insulation layer by press-fit operation. The first electronic component is embedded within the first insulation layer and disposed on the second conductive layer. The first electronic component includes a first conducting terminal. The first conducting terminal is electrically connected with the second conductive layer and/or electrically connected with the first conductive layer through the first conductive via.
US09287230B2

An assembly of a semiconductor chip having pads to a substrate having pads aligned to receive the semiconductor chip is provided, whereby at least one of the semiconductor chip pads and substrate pads include solder bumps. The solder bumps are deformed against the substrate pads and the semiconductor chip pads, whereby an underfill material is applied to fill the gap between the semiconductor chip and substrate such that the underfill material envelopes both the deformed solder bumps and the substrate pads. The underfill material does not penetrate between the deformed solder bumps, the semiconductor chip pads, and the substrate pads based on a compression force causing the solder bumps to be deformed against the substrate pads and the semiconductor chip pads. At least one of the solder bumps have not been melted or reflowed to make a metallurgical bond between the semiconductor chip pads and the substrate pads.
US09287229B2

A semiconductor device with redistribution layers on partial encapsulation is disclosed and may include providing a carrier with a non-photosensitive protection layer, forming a pattern in the non-photosensitive protection layer, providing a semiconductor die with a contact pad on a first surface, and bonding the semiconductor die to the non-photosensitive protection layer such that the contact pad aligns with the pattern formed in the non-photosensitive protection layer. A second surface opposite to the first surface of the semiconductor die, side surfaces between the first and second surfaces of the semiconductor die, and a portion of a first surface of the non-photosensitive protection layer may be encapsulated with an encapsulant. The carrier may be removed leaving the non-photosensitive protection layer bonded to the semiconductor die. A redistribution layer may be formed on the contact pad and a second surface of the non-photosensitive protection layer opposite to the first surface.
US09287213B2

Integrated circuits with improved contact structures are provided. In an exemplary embodiment, an integrated circuit includes a semiconductor substrate disposed with a device therein and/or thereon. The integrated circuit includes a contact structure in electrical contact with the device. The contact structure includes a plug metal and a barrier layer, and the barrier layer is selected from fluorine-free tungsten (FFW), tungsten carbide, and tungsten nitride. The integrated circuit further includes a dielectric material overlying the semiconductor substrate. Also, the integrated circuit includes an interconnect formed within the dielectric material and in electrical contact with the contact structure.
US09287210B2

A semiconductor device includes: a first semiconductor-chip including a first electrode; a second semiconductor-chip including a second electrode; and a switch including a core element configured to contract and expand by a temperature change, a heat generation unit configured to heat the core element, a first metal element configured to cover the core element and connected to the first electrode, and a second metal element configured to cover the core element and connected to the second electrode, wherein, when the core element contracts, the first metal element and the second metal element come in contact with each other so that the first semiconductor-chip and the second semiconductor-chip are electrically connected with each other, and when the core element expands, the first metal element and the second metal element become in non-contact with each other so that the first semiconductor-chip and the second semiconductor-chip are electrically separated from each other.
US09287200B2

A packaged semiconductor device includes a lead frame having a plurality of leads; a semiconductor die mounted onto the lead frame; and an encapsulant surrounding the semiconductor die. At least a portion of each of the leads is surrounded by the encapsulant, wherein, each lead includes a thin portion external to the encapsulant and a thick portion that is surrounded by the encapsulant, wherein the thin portion is thinner than the thick portion.
US09287195B2

A microelectronic assembly can include a microelectronic package connected with a circuit panel. The package has a microelectronic element having a front face facing away from a substrate of the package, and electrically connected with the substrate through conductive structure extending above the front face. First terminals provided in first and second parallel grids or in first and second individual columns can be configured to carry address information usable to determine an addressable memory location from among all the available addressable memory locations of the memory storage array. The first terminals in the first grid can have signal assignments which are a mirror image of the signal assignments of the first terminals in the second grid.
US09287184B2

Apparatuses and methods can include a die seal between an integrated circuit region of a die and a periphery of the die. A via chain(s) may be arranged around an inner circumference of the die seal between the die seal and the integrated circuit region and/or around an outer circumference of the die seal between the die seal and the periphery of the die. The via chain may include a plurality of contacts comprised of conductive material and extending through portions of the die. Circuitry may be coupled to an end of the via chain to detect an electrical signal. Additional apparatuses and methods are described.
US09287178B2

Aspects of the disclosure provide a multi-gate field effect transistor (FET) formed on a bulk substrate that includes an isolated fin and methods of forming the same. In one embodiment, the multi-gate FET includes: a plurality of silicon fin structures formed on the bulk substrate, each silicon fin structure including a body region, a source region, and a drain region; wherein a bottom portion the body region of each silicon fin structure includes a tipped shape to isolate the body region from the bulk substrate, and wherein the plurality of silicon fin structures are attached to the bulk substrate via at least a portion of the source region, or at least a portion of the drain region, or both.
US09287177B2

A substrate dividing method which can thin and divide a substrate while preventing chipping and cracking from occurring. This substrate dividing method comprises the steps of irradiating a semiconductor substrate 1 having a front face 3 formed with functional devices 19 with laser light while positioning a light-converging point within the substrate, so as to form a modified region including a molten processed region due to multiphoton absorption within the semiconductor substrate 1, and causing the modified region including the molten processed region to form a starting point region for cutting; and grinding a rear face 21 of the semiconductor substrate 1 after the step of forming the starting point region for cutting such that the semiconductor substrate 1 attains a predetermined thickness.
US09287175B2

A fabrication method for dicing semiconductor wafers using laser cutting techniques, which can effectively prevent the devices on semiconductor die units from the phenomenon of etching undercut caused by the sequential steps after laser cutting, comprises following steps: covering the wafer surface with a protection layer; dicing the wafer by laser and separating the die units from each other; removing the laser cutting residues on the devices on the die units via wet etching by an acidic water solution; removing the protection layer by a non-acidic water solution and cleaning the devices on the die units. The selection of materials for the protection layer must consider the following factors: where (1) the materials for the protection layer must have relatively good properties for adhering and covering on the wafer; (2) the materials for the protection layer must be corrosion-resistant to the acidic water solution for etching residues.
US09287170B2

A semiconductor device and methods of formation are provided. A semiconductor device includes an annealed cobalt plug over a silicide in a first opening of the semiconductor device, wherein the annealed cobalt plug has a repaired lattice structure. The annealed cobalt plug is formed by annealing a cobalt plug at a first temperature for a first duration, while exposing the cobalt plug to a first gas. The repaired lattice structure of the annealed cobalt plug is more regular or homogenized as compared to a cobalt plug that is not so annealed, such that the annealed cobalt plug has a relatively increased conductivity or reduced resistivity.
US09287168B2

A semiconductor device having a contact structure is provided. The semiconductor device includes: a conductive region; a first film and a second film which are formed over the conductive region to realize a layer; and a contact electrode which extends through the layer to the conductive region, and is formed so as to replace a portion of the layer with a portion of the contact electrode, where the portion of the layer is constituted by only the first film, only the second film, or both of a portion of the first film and a portion of the second film, and the portion of the first film occupies a major part of the portion of the layer.
US09287167B2

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device, comprising: forming a plurality of memory cell strings; coupling an interconnection to at least two of the memory cell strings; and coupling a bitline to the interconnection. The interconnection includes a body extending along a first direction and a protrusion protruding from the body along a second direction.
US09287164B2

Cavities of possibly different widths can be etched in a stack of conductive layers (such as metal) using the same lithographic mask. Dielectric can be formed in the cavities. The cavities may contain voids. Other embodiments are also provided.
US09287159B2

A device isolation layer of the memory device includes a first insulation layer in a lower portion of a device isolation trench, a second insulation layer in an upper portion of the device isolation trench and a separation layer between the first insulation layer and the second insulation layer. First and second conductive fillers are in the first and second insulation layers and are separated by the separation layer.
US09287156B2

The electrostatic chucking device 1 of the invention includes an electrostatic chucking portion 2 which includes a plate-like body 11, a top surface 11a of which is used as a mounting surface that mounts a plate-like specimen W, an electrostatic adsorption electrode 12 provided in the plate-like body 11 and a power-feeding terminal 13 that applies a direct-current voltage to the electrostatic adsorption electrode 12; and a base portion 31 that supports the electrostatic chucking portion 2, in which the plate-like body 11 is a corrosion-resistant ceramic, a circular insulation member 21 is provided in a circumferential edge portion between the electrostatic chucking portion 2 and the base portion 31, and a heat radiation plate 34 is provided on the top surface 31a of the base portion 31.
US09287150B2

A fabrication system comprises a global system comprising a plurality of stockers and a global transportation system connected to the stockers, a local system coupled to the global system through the global transportation system, wherein the local system comprises a first buffer located at a boundary between the global system and the local system, a plurality of lithography apparatuses coupled to the first buffer through a local transportation system and an empty pod buffer.
US09287135B1

A method of using sidewall image transfer (SIT) process to pattern fin structures is provided. The method includes providing a fin-patterning substrate containing a first hard-mask layer and a second hard-mask layer over a semiconductor substrate. Trench openings formed on the semiconductor substrate extending vertically through the first hard-mask layer and the second hard-mask layer. Trench openings are filled with a third hard-mask material. The second hard-mask layer is removed to reveal hard-mask mandrels. First sidewall spacers are formed on the opposite sides of the hard-mask mandrels using atomic layer deposition (ALD) process. The semiconductor substrate is etched using the first sidewall spacers and the hard-mask mandrels as mask, subsequently the spacers, the mandrels and the hard-mask layer are removed to reveal fin structures. The method of the present invention is to form fins at a very tight fin pitch by using the very tight thickness controllability of ALD process. By repeating the ALD step twice or more to form multiple SIT spacers the fin pitch size can be reduced further. The inventive method is suitable for fabricating tight fin pitch to less than about 20 nm.
US09287129B2

The disclosure relates to a method of fabricating a semiconductor device including forming a patterned hardmask layer over a substrate comprising a major surface. The method further includes forming a plurality of first trenches and a plurality of second trenches performed at an electrostatic chuck (ESC) temperature between about 90° C. to 120° C. in the substrate. The plurality of first trenches have a first width and extend downward from the substrate major surface to a first height, and the plurality of second trenches have a second width less than first width and extend downward from the substrate major surface to a second height greater than the first height.
US09287126B2

An electric field concurrently anodically bonds together wafers of each of a plurality of independent wafer pairs.
US09287113B2

Methods and apparatus to form films on sensitive substrates while preventing damage to the sensitive substrate are provided herein. In certain embodiments, methods involve forming a bilayer film on a sensitive substrate that both protects the underlying substrate from damage and possesses desired electrical properties. Also provided are methods and apparatus for evaluating and optimizing the films, including methods to evaluate the amount of substrate damage resulting from a particular deposition process and methods to determine the minimum thickness of a protective layer. The methods and apparatus described herein may be used to deposit films on a variety of sensitive materials such as silicon, cobalt, germanium-antimony-tellerium, silicon-germanium, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, tungsten, titanium, tantalum, chromium, nickel, palladium, ruthenium, or silicon oxide.
US09287098B2

This disclosure describes a non-dissipative snubber circuit configured to boost a voltage applied to a load after the load's impedance rises rapidly. The voltage boost can thereby cause more rapid current ramping after a decrease in power delivery to the load which results from the load impedance rise. In particular, the snubber can comprise a combination of a unidirectional switch, a voltage multiplier, and a current limiter. In some cases, these components can be a diode, voltage doubler, and an inductor, respectively.
US09287081B2

The invention relates to a charged-particle multi-beamlet lithography system for transferring a pattern onto the surface of a target. The system comprises a beam generator for generating a plurality of charged particle beamlets, a beamlet blanker array for patterning the beamlets in accordance with a pattern, and a projection system for projecting the patterned beamlets onto the target surface. The blanker array comprises a plurality of modulators and a plurality of light sensitive elements. The light sensitive elements are arranged to receive pattern data carrying light beams and to convert the light beams into electrical signals. The light sensitive elements are electrically connected to one or more modulators for providing the received pattern data. The blanker array is coupled to a fiber fixation substrate which accommodates end sections of a plurality of fibers for providing pattern data carrying light beams as an assembled group with a fixed connection.
US09287078B2

A method of manufacturing a display apparatus includes forming a display device on a display area of a rear substrate, aligning the rear substrate and an encapsulation substrate, such that the display device is between the rear substrate and the encapsulation substrate, disposing a sealant between the rear substrate and the encapsulation substrate, such that the sealant is outside the display area and surrounds the display area; and rotating a laser beam along a closed curve while irradiating the laser beam onto an outer surface of the rear substrate or the encapsulation substrate, such that the rear substrate and the encapsulation substrate are sealed.
US09287070B2

A DC circuit breaker arrangement for interrupting a direct current on a line, includes: n DC circuit breakers connected in parallel, where n>2, which parallel connection of DC circuit breakers is connected in series with the line, the direct current of the line being divided between the n DC circuit breakers, and n reactors, each reactor being connected to one of the DC circuit breakers, for preserving the current division during current interruption. A method for interrupting or commutating a direct current on a transmission line or in a HVDC circuit is also provided.
US09287065B1

A circuit breaker system includes a circuit breaker that includes an electrical input for a power circuit and positioned on a first holder in a housing of the circuit breaker system; a cooling device positioned on a second holder adjacent to the first holder in the housing, the cooling device configured to dissipate heat generated by the circuit breaker; and a control system coupled to the circuit breaker and the cooling device, the control system configured to determine a temperature condition of the circuit breaker and control the cooling device based at least in part on the determined temperature condition.
US09287064B2

This switching device comprises at least one pair of fixed contacts and, for each pair of fixed contacts, a movable contact that is movable between a closed position and an open position. A contact holder capable of holding in place each movable contact is also provided. The contact holder is movable along a vertical direction between a first position corresponding to the closed position of each movable contact and a second position corresponding to the open position of the or each movable contact. The device also includes a plate capable of applying a force on the movable contact holder so as to move it between its first and second positions. The plate is movable relative to the movable contact holder. The device includes a sensor capable of measuring the movement of the movable plate relative to the movable contact holder, during the actuation of the movement of the plate in order to drive the movement of the contact holder from its first position to its second position. A detection member for detecting a malfunction in the switching device based on at least one value measured by the sensor is also provided.
US09287062B2

A switching element that is at least partially implemented in one or more printed wiring boards (PWBs). A first input and a plurality of outputs may be integrated into the PWB(s). In some embodiments, a plurality of contacts may also be integrated into the PWB(s). The switching element is selectively operable in first and second states, the first state in which the first input is coupled to a first output and the second state in which the first input is coupled to a second output.
US09287051B2

A capacitor element includes an anode foil, the first oxide film on a surface of the anode foil, a solid electrolyte layer formed using π-conjugated conductive polymer dispersing material on the first oxide film, and a cathode foil on the solid electrolyte layer. The cathode foil faces the first oxide film across the solid electrolyte layer. An electrolytic capacitor includes the capacitor element, an anode terminal connected to the anode foil, and a second oxide film on a surface of the anode terminal. The second oxide film provided on the anode terminal has higher water repellency than the first oxide film provided on the anode foil. This electrolytic capacitor can reduce a leakage current.
US09287049B2

The described embodiments relate generally to a capacitor assembly for mounting on a printed circuit board (PCB) and more specifically to designs for mechanically isolating the capacitor assembly from the PCB to reduce an acoustic noise produced when the capacitor imparts a piezoelectric force on the PCB. Termination elements in the capacitor assembly, including a porous conductive layer in the capacitor assembly may reduce an amount of vibrational energy transferred from the capacitor to the PCB. Termination elements including a soft contact layer may also reduce the amount of vibrational energy transferred to the PCB. Further, capacitor assemblies having thickened dielectric material may reduce the amount of vibrational energy transferred to the PCB.
US09287048B2

A capacitor includes a capacitor main body with first and second primary surfaces and first through fourth side surfaces, internal electrodes, and first through fourth terminal electrodes, wherein the third terminal electrode includes a first electrode layer provided on the third side surface and a second electrode layer provided on the first electrode layer, the fourth terminal electrode includes a third electrode layer provided on the fourth side surface and a fourth electrode layer provided on the third electrode layer, the first electrode layer includes a conductive material and Si, the second electrode layer includes a conductive material and Si, and a ratio by weight of Si in the first electrode layer is greater than a ratio by weight of Si in the second electrode layer.
US09287045B2

There are provided a dielectric ceramic composition and a multilayer ceramic capacitor including the same. The dielectric ceramic composition according to embodiments of the present disclosure includes a base powder represented by xSrTiO3-(1−x)BiMO3 (M includes Mg and Ti) containing a first main component represented by SrTiO3 and a second main component represented by BiMO3, wherein x satisfies 0.5≦x≦0.9.
US09287042B2

A winding device includes a bending mechanism for bending a rectangular wire, a feed mechanism for feeding the rectangular wire, a coil guide for supporting an edgewise coil formed by alternately repeating the feeding of the rectangular wire by the feed mechanism and the bending of the rectangular wire by the bending mechanism, and a coil-guide moving mechanism for moving the coil guide while rotating the coil guide. The coil guide includes a guide column to be brought into engagement with an inner circumference of a first coil portion having a cylindrical shape, and a guide base on which a second coil portion is to be placed, the second coil portion having a cylindrical shape connected to the first coil portion through a connecting wire and having a center axis that is shifted in position from a center axis of the first coil portion to form a stepwise shape.
US09287035B2

Disclosed is a flyback converter using a coaxial cable transformer which includes: a flyback driving unit that supplies a primary current; a transformer that is formed by winding a cable, which has a plurality of inner conductors as a primary cable and an outer conductor enclosing the inner conductors as a secondary cable, around a magnetic core and by connecting both ends of the primary cable and that receives the primary current and outputs a secondary current in accordance with the turn ratio of the primary cable and the secondary cable; a rectifying diode that rectifies the secondary current; and an output capacitor that smoothes a voltage through the rectifying diode.
US09287031B2

A multilayer inductor may include: a body having a plurality of dielectric layers stacked therein; a plurality of conductor patterns formed on the plurality of dielectric layers; via electrodes formed in the dielectric layers and connecting the conductor patterns disposed adjacent to each other in a vertical direction to form a coil; and pad patterns formed between the conductor patterns and the dielectric layers at positions of the via electrodes.
US09287025B2

A protection assembly with an operating knob (1) for an electrical potentiometer comprises a substantially tubular housing (2) defining a longitudinal axis (L), an electrical adjustment device (3) held within the housing (2) and having an adjustment shaft (4) rotating about the longitudinal axis (L) and an internal variable resistor interacting with a longitudinal end (5) of the shaft (4), an operating knob (6) attached to the other end (7) of the shaft (4), limit stop means (8) for restricting the rotation of the shaft (4) within a predetermined maximum angle of rotation (a). The knob (6) comprises an annular anchoring member (9), which is designed to be removably coupled to the housing (2) and an operating member (10) coupled to the shaft (4) and rotating relative to the anchoring member (9). The anchoring member (9) and the operating member (10) have mutually facing cylindrical surfaces (11, 12), with said limit stop means (8) interposed therebetween to limit the infiltration of external impurities.
US09287024B2

The invention provides an aerial lift bucket insert having a raised step. The bucket insert is comprised of a pan, the pan having a raised rim wall that includes a handle and a raised step. The raised step has an area beneath the raised step that is sufficient to accommodate a worker's boot. The bottom of the pan and the top of the step are provided with scuff pads. In other embodiments, there can be a plurality of raised steps one atop the other or in opposing corners. The raised formed step is 9 inches high, has a depth of 5.5 inches and the distance between the bottom of the raised formed step and the pan is 5 inches. A cutout handle in the wall facilitates cleaning of the insert.
US09287017B2

In X-ray differential phase-contrast imaging. In order to enhance the information acquired by phase-contrast imaging, an analyzer grating (34) is provided with an absorption structure (48). The latter includes a first plurality (50) of first areas (52) with a first X-ray attenuation, and a second plurality (54) of second areas (56) with a second X-ray attenuation. The second X-ray attenuation is smaller than the first X-ray attenuation, and the first and second areas are arranged periodically in an alternating manner. A third plurality (58) of third areas (60) is provided with a third X-ray attenuation, which lies in a range from the second X-ray attenuation to the first X-ray attenuation, wherein every second of the first or second areas is replaced by one of the third areas.
US09287016B2

The device is configured from: a reflective surface shape controllable mirror in which a band-shaped X-ray reflective surface 2 is formed on a central portion of a front surface of a substrate 1, reference planes 3 are formed along both sides of the X-ray reflective surface, and a plurality of piezoelectric elements 4 are attached to at least one of front and back surfaces of the substrate so as to be arranged in the longitudinal direction of the X-ray reflective surface on both side portions of the substrate, and a multichannel control system for applying a voltage to each of the piezoelectric elements.
US09287003B2

A memory controller includes logic to determine corresponding reference voltage values and delay values for one or more memory devices. The memory controller includes a command-address (CA) interface to send a command to a memory device to set a reference voltage value of the memory device to a test value, a data interface to write a data pattern to the memory device and read the data pattern from the memory device, and test reference voltage logic to perform a density check on at least a portion of the data pattern read from the memory device and determine whether the test value is a potential reference voltage value based on the density check. An operational reference voltage value selected from one or more potential reference voltage values may be used to determine a delay value.
US09287001B2

A shift register circuit includes a first pull-down control circuit, a first pull-down circuit electrically connecting to the first pull-down control circuit, a first inversed pulse signal coupling circuit outputting a first inversed pulse signal, a first pull-up circuit outputting a first gate control signal, and a first main pull-down circuit electrically connecting to the first pull-up circuit. The first pull-up circuit receives a first driving signal and a first pulse signal to output the first gate control signal. The first inversed pulse signal coupling circuit duly outputs the first inversed pulse signal to compensate a surge occurring in the first driving signal.
US09286991B1

A method of healing a plurality of non-volatile semiconductor memory devices on a multi-chip package is disclosed. The multi-chip package can be heated to a temperature range having a temperature range upper limit value and a temperature range lower limit value. The temperature of the multi-chip package can be kept essentially within the temperature range for a predetermined time period by monitoring a thermal sensing element with a sensing circuit outside of the multi-chip package. The thermal sensing element may be located near the components with the lowest failure temperature to ensure the multi-chip package is not damaged during the healing process.
US09286989B2

A method includes, at a non-volatile memory having a three dimensional (3D) memory configuration, performing an erase operation. Performing the erase operation includes providing a first control signal to isolate a first portion of a string of the non-volatile memory from a second portion of the string. Performing the erase operation further includes providing a first erase signal to erase the second portion of the string while data is maintained at the first portion of the string.
US09286986B2

A data writing method for writing data into a memory cell of a rewritable non-volatile memory module, and a memory control circuit unit and a memory storage apparatus using the same area provided. The method includes recording a wear degree of the memory cell and detecting an operating temperature of the memory storage apparatus. The method further includes adjusting at least one predetermined operation parameter corresponding to the rewritable non-volatile memory module to generate at least one adjusted operation parameter corresponding to the rewritable non-volatile memory module and writing the data into the memory cell based on the at least one adjusted operation parameter if the operating temperature of the memory storage apparatus is larger than a predetermined temperature. Accordingly, the method can accurately store data into the rewritable non-volatile memory module, thereby lowing the operating temperature of the memory storage apparatus.
US09286984B2

A nonvolatile semiconductor device is provided that includes a substrate and a plurality of blocks forming a string. Each block is positioned on the substrate and includes a plurality of word lines disposed on the substrate. The string includes a single ground select line disposed at one side of the plurality of blocks, and a single string select line is disposed at another side of the plurality of blocks. In some embodiments, the word lines of the plurality of blocks define gaps separating each block of the string from neighboring blocks of the string. One or more dummy word lines may be disposed in each gap between blocks of the string. Corresponding methods of manufacturing the nonvolatile semiconductor device and manipulating the nonvolatile semiconductor device are provided.
US09286979B2

The present disclosure provides a resistive random access memory (RRAM) structure. The RRAM structure includes a bottom electrode on a substrate; a resistive material layer on the bottom electrode, the resistive material layer having filament features with a filament ratio greater than about 0.5; and a top electrode on the resistive material layer.
US09286972B2

An exemplary method for reading data stored in a flash memory. The method includes: controlling the flash memory to perform a read operation upon a first page of the flash memory; obtaining a first codeword of the first page; obtaining a first set of log-likelihood ratio (LLR) mapping values of the first codeword according to a first LLR mapping rule; performing an error correction operation according to the first set of LLR mapping values; obtaining a second set of LLR values of the first codeword according to a second LLR mapping rule, if the error correction operation performed according to the first set of LLR mapping values indicates an uncorrectable result; and performing the error correction operation according to the second set of LLR mapping values.
US09286971B1

A method and various circuit embodiments for low latency initialization of an SRAM are disclosed. In one embodiment, an IC includes an SRAM coupled to at least one functional circuit block. The SRAM includes a number of storage location arranged in rows and columns. The functional circuit block and the SRAM may be in different power domains. Upon initially powering up or a restoration of power, the functional circuit block may assert an initialization signal to begin an initialization process. Responsive to the initialization signal, level shifters may force assertion of various select/enable signals in a decoder associated with the SRAM. Thereafter, initialization data may be written to the SRAM. Writing initialization data may be performed on a row-by-row basis, with all columns in a row being written to substantially simultaneously.
US09286965B2

The present disclosure describes DRAM architectures and refresh controllers that allow for scheduling of an opportunistic refresh of a DRAM device concurrently with normal row activate command directed toward the DRAM device. Each activate command affords an “opportunity” to refresh another independent row (i.e., a wordline) within a memory device with no scheduling conflict.
US09286959B2

A memory is provided that comprises a bank of non-volatile memory cells configured into a plurality of banklets. Each banklet in the plurality of banklets can be enabled separately and independently of the other banklets in the bank of non-volatile memory cells. The memory further comprises peripheral banklet circuitry, coupled to the bank of a non-volatile memory array, that is configured to enable selected subsets of bit lines within a selected banklet within the plurality of banklets. Moreover, the memory comprises banklet select circuitry, coupled to the peripheral banklet circuitry, that is configured to select data associated with a selected banklet for reading out from the banklet or writing to the banklet.
US09286946B2

A voice recording and playback device of the present invention is capable of storage management of generated voice data, to which date information has been attached, as voice files, and comprises a display section capable of calendar display, and a control section for, at the time of retrieving voice files from a storage section, performing movable identification on a calendar display, as well as retrieving voice files that have been stored in the storage section based on date information attached to the files, and performing display of results of this retrieval indicating the existence of voice files close to day display on the calendar display, wherein the control section moves the identification position based on an instruction operation by the retrieval instructions section, and generates a notification in accordance with voice files that exist on the date of the identification position that has been moved.
US09286942B1

A unified digital media player control apparatus automatically reproduces (i.e., renders) gapless transitions, as suitably adjoined or concurrently-overlapping events, between a discrete first media file (e.g., sound recording) and a discrete second media file. One embodiment is implemented on a computing device with a graphical user interface and access to a library of digital media files. Logic can distinguish between the production sound design of recordings which have a desirable “creative content” duration (i.e., interval) that will resolve either abruptly or with a gradual fade. Responsive to media file content assessments, and without operator actions or media file preparation, the invention can use at least one programmatically-addressable event timer object to robotically assign discrete player reproduction timing instructions enabled to cause the system's associated media player objects to consistently interoperate with natural, optimally-timed transitions.
US09286941B2

The system enables conversion of black and white images to color images and/or two-dimensional images into three-dimensional images based on adding color and/or depth to images using masks for regions in the images, as well as reshaping of masks to cover objects that have moved and changed shape as the objects move in a sequence of images. Also, includes motion picture project management system for reviewers, coordinators and artists. Artists utilize image analysis and image enhancement and computer graphics processing for example to convert two-dimensional images into three-dimensional images or otherwise create or alter motion pictures. Enables the efficient management of projects related to motion pictures to enable enterprises to manage assets, control costs, predict budgets and profit margins, reduce archival storage and otherwise provide displays tailored to specific roles to increase worker efficiency.
US09286937B2

The invention can be a computerized method for creating a composite media program. The method can include receiving from a first user over a network at least a first media segment, wherein the first media segment includes a first plurality of media frames. The method can also include receiving from a second user over the network at least a second media segment, wherein the second media segment includes a second plurality of media frames. Finally, the method includes automatically combining at least the first media segment and the second media segment into the composite media program including a series of media segments, wherein the composite media program is available for viewing by at least a set of members of a social network.
US09286936B1

Systems and methods for zone-based band mapping in a data storage device are disclosed. In one embodiment, a device may comprise a first data storage medium including a first band of tracks and a second band of tracks, each band of tracks including multiple adjacent tracks that are at least partially overlapped. The device may further comprise a processor configured to receive a write command to store received data to the first band of tracks, read previously stored data from the first band of tracks, modify the previously stored data with the received data to generate first modified data, write the first modified data to the second band of tracks, and assign a first data storage location indicator previously associated with the first band of tracks to the second band of tracks.
US09286930B2

A device and associated method of use can have at least an object with a work surface that contacts a lapping surface of a tool. Topography of the lapping surface can be mapped in-situ by an adjacent sensor array and the topography stored in a memory. The sensor array may be configured with a plurality of sensors positioned on opposite sides of the object.
US09286929B2

A method for performing recording on a multilayered optical disk which has three or more recordable or rewritable information recording layers with a first recording layer and a second recording layer located nearer to a light incident surface than the first recording layer, and which respectively has a first test area configured by a plurality of segments in the first recording layer and in the second recording layer, wherein a predetermined radial distance L is defined beforehand. When an arbitrary segment in the second test area is test-recorded, a segment in the first test area, the radial distance of which from the recorded test area in the second test area is within the range of the predetermined radial distance L, is set as a segment in which test recording is not performed.
US09286923B2

Implementations described and claimed herein address the foregoing problems by providing a suspension assembly used in a storage device to support a transducer head, wherein the suspension assembly comprises a base plate for attaching to an actuator arm and a moving portion movably attached to the base plate. The base plate is fixed and/or clamped to the actuator arm and the moving portion adapted to rotate about a center of rotation. The moving portion is adapted to have a center of mass of its moving mass substantially close to its center of rotation. In one implementation, a counter-weight is attached to the moving portion to move the center of mass of its moving mass substantially close to its center of rotation to minimize inertial loads to the system during suspension actuation.
US09286917B1

A write pole may be formed by first depositing a dielectric layer onto a substrate and then patterning the dielectric layer to form a trench with a write pole shape. The trench is subsequently filled with the evaporation deposition of a magnetic material to form a write pole. The trench may have a greater depth dimension than width dimension.
US09286914B2

Embodiments of the disclosure relate to a cartridge that includes slots for storing biosample capillary tubes. The cartridge has the same form factor as data tape cartridges to allow the cartridge to be handled by the same robotic mechanisms that handle data cartridges in an automated tape library. One aspect of the disclosure concerns a cartridge comprising an enclosure that includes a movable door to provide access to a tube holder in the enclosure. The tube holder includes cylindrical holes or slots for receiving capillary tubes which contain biosamples scanned and analyzed an automated tape library.
US09286908B2

A method for noise reduction is provided including: beamforming audio signals sampled by a microphone array to get a signal with an enhanced target voice and a signal with a weakened target voice; locating a target voice in the audio signal sampled by the microphone array; determining a credibility of the target voice when the target voice is located; updating an adaptive filter coefficient according to the credibility, and filtering the signal with the enhanced target voice and the signal with the weakened target voice according to the updated adaptive filter coefficient to get a signal with reduced noise; and weighing a voice presence probability by the credibility, and enhancing the signal with reduced noise according to the weighed voice presence probability.
US09286907B2

According to various embodiments of the invention, a new and effective keyboard click noise reduction scheme is presented. The keyboard click noise reduction scheme may have various processing units including: Dynamic Signal Modeler, Smart Model Selector, Adaptive Filtering Module, Keyboard/Impulse Noise and Voice Activity Detectors, and a Post-Processing Unit. By adaptively changing the coefficients of the proposed adaptive filter through minimizing the output energy, the scheme can provide the target signal/voice with nearly zero keyboard click noise. The scheme could be used in real-time to minimize keyboard click noise or any kind of unwanted noise, especially noise having transient impulse characteristics.
US09286899B1

Techniques for authenticating users at devices that interact with the users via voice input. For instance, the described techniques may allow a voice-input device to safely verify the identity of a user by engaging in a back-and-forth conversation. The device or another device coupled thereto may then verify the accuracy of the responses from the user during the conversation, as well as compare an audio signature associated with the user's responses to a pre-stored audio signature associated with the user. By utilizing multiple checks, the described techniques are able to accurately and safely authenticate the user based solely on an audible conversation between the user and the voice-input device.
US09286893B2

Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to virtualization and provide a novel and non-obvious method, system and computer program product for annotation of street grammar in speech enabled navigation devices. In an embodiment of the invention, a pre-processing street grammar annotation system can be provided. The system can include an annotated street grammar storage that contains street root names wherein each street root name has more than one street suffix associated with said street root name, and a street annotation pre-processor wherein the street annotation pre-processor contains logic enabled to annotate a set of street suffixes to a street root name prior to processing a voice input in a speech enabled navigation device, wherein the street root name has more than one street suffix associated with said street root name.
US09286891B2

In an embodiment, an automaton determinization method includes: state-generating, first-transition-generating, second-transition-generating, and first-deleting. The state-generating includes generating, assigned with a first symbol, a second state newly. The first-transition-generating includes generating a second transition that leaves from the first state and enters to the second state and that is assigned with the first symbol. The second-transition-generating includes generating, regarding the first transitions, a fourth transition where a state previous to a third transition is substituted with the second state. The third transition is an outgoing transition from a next state of the first transition. The first-deleting includes deleting states that are next to the first transitions where the fourth transitions are generated and that do not have incoming transitions other than the first transitions, deleting outgoing transitions from the deleted states, and deleting the first transitions where the fourth transitions are generated.
US09286890B2

A system and method are disclosed for retrieving audio segments from a spoken document. The spoken document preferably is one having moderate word error rates such as telephone calls or teleconferences. The method comprises converting speech associated with a spoken document into a lattice representation and indexing the lattice representation of speech. These steps are performed typically off-line. Upon receiving a query from a user, the method further comprises searching the indexed lattice representation of speech and returning retrieved audio segments from the spoken document that match the user query.
US09286889B2

Systems and methods for improving communication over a network are provided. A system for improving communication over a network, comprises a detection module capable of detecting data indicating a problem with a communication between at least two participants communicating via communication devices over the network, a management module capable of analyzing the data to determine whether a participant is dissatisfied with the communication, wherein the management module includes a determining module capable of determining that the participant is dissatisfied, and identifying an event causing the dissatisfaction, and a resolution module capable of providing a solution for eliminating the problem.
US09286884B2

An embodiment of the present application is directed to a method including providing a keyboard, including a plurality of keys, at least some of the keys including polysemous symbols which provide distinctive tactile feedback to a user; and accessing a word, phoneme or plural word message, based upon sequentially selected ones of the polysemous symbols providing distinctive tactile feedback. Another embodiment of the present application is directed to a system, including a keyboard, including a plurality of keys, at least some of the keys including polysemous symbols which provide distinctive tactile feedback to a user; and a processor to access a word, phoneme or plural word message, based upon sequentially selected ones of the polysemous symbols providing distinctive tactile feedback.
US09286883B1

Features are disclosed for performing acoustic echo cancellation using random noise. The output may be used to perform speech recognition. Random noise may be introduced into a reference signal path and into a microphone signal path. The random noise introduced into the microphone signal path may be transformed based on an estimated echo path and then combined with microphone output. The random noise introduced into the reference signal path may be combined with a reference signal and then transformed. In some embodiments, the random noise in the reference signal path may be used in the absence of another reference signal, allowing the acoustic echo canceler to be continuously trained.
US09286879B2

A scheme for localizing a wireless user equipment (UE) device's relative position with respect to a spatial configuration based on audio signatures received via a multi-channel audio system, e.g., an audio system of a vehicle or home entertainment system. The wireless UE device is configured to capture the audio signatures received from a head unit that are placed in an out-of-hearing band of a captured signal. The wireless UE device includes a persistent memory module having program instructions for processing the captured signal including the out-of-band signatures, which may comprise either channel-specific pseudo-random noise (PN) sequences or single-frequency tones, in order to compute time delays or power levels associated with the speaker channels. A localization module is configured to estimate the wireless UE device's relative position based on the time delays or power levels.
US09286878B2

A transducer device includes first and second resonant elements and a common coupling cavity. The first resonant element includes a first membrane arranged over a first cavity in a substrate and a first transducer structure stacked on the first membrane. The second resonant element includes a second membrane arranged over a second cavity in the substrate. The common coupling cavity is configured to couple acoustic signals from the first and second resonant elements.
US09286877B1

An altered but recognizable variant of an input musical composition is created by parsing the input into elements, selecting elements for replacement using a hole-selecting algorithm, and replacing the selected elements using a substitution algorithm. A plurality of tracks from the same composition, or from different compositions, can be separately varied and combined, or concatenated and varied together, or used as a seed source of a substitution algorithm, to create a remix or mash-up. Music variants can be combined with photographs, images, or videos, for distribution to recipients, or for a project presentation or story board. Greeting cards, MP3 players, mobile electronic devices, wearable electronic devices, toys, video games, websites, and ringtones can be configured to create and play a new variant of an input composition each time it is accessed. Websites can be used to host and track successive, “chain” variations of an input musical composition.
US09286870B2

A pedal device for an electronic percussion instrument, including: a base; a foot board pivotable in a pivotable range between lower and upper limit positions; and an elastically holding mechanism for holding the foot board such that the foot board keeps an equilibrium state at an initial position within the pivotable range, the foot board being configured such that (a) when the foot board is located between the initial and the upper limit positions, it is given by the mechanism a return force having a linear characteristic with respect to a change of its pivot angle, the return force being for permitting the foot board to return to the initial position, and (b) when the foot board is located between the initial and the lower limit positions or between: an intermediate position and the lower limit position, the foot board is given the return force having a nonlinear characteristic.
US09286868B2

A decorative drum pad and cymbal cover that includes a back plate with a back side and a top side, the back plate is secured in position by a cymbal or drum stand and a mounting, the mounting removably secures the back plate to the cymbal stand and an image holding area placed on the top side of the back plate. The decorative drum pad and cymbal cover also includes a protective cover placed on top of the image holding area, the protective cover protects the image holding area from a plurality of drumstick strikes from a user and an drum trigger that includes a back side and an electrical signal outlet jack, the electrical signal outlet jack is attached to the back side of the back plate with one or more fasteners and the electrical signal outlet jack is disposed on the back side of the drum trigger.
US09286863B2

Exemplary embodiments are directed to a sound modification system and loud speaker system. The system may impose amplitude, frequency and delay modulation on a signal representing the output of an musical instrument or other sound source while also imposing a sense of movement of the sound to the listener and a periodic variation of the harmonic content of the sound. Further, the system may simultaneously amplify sound signals without the amplitude, frequency, delay and spatial sense of modulation or a different sense of modulation. The system combines a plurality of sound transducers, a plurality of amplifiers and signal processors to provide a flexible, portable and practical sound modification and amplification system.
US09286860B2

An image display apparatus includes a light source device, a light source control unit which controls power supplied to the light source device and an image light emission unit which, utilizing a source light emitted from the light source device, emits an image light. A light quantity measurement unit measures a quantity of the source light. A power/light quantity characteristic derivation unit derives a power/light quantity characteristic. A light quantity adjustment unit, based on the power/light quantity characteristic, adjusts the quantity of the source light or the image light. The light source control unit controls the supplied power to gradually change the light quantity of the source light. The light quantity measurement unit measures the light quantity of the gradually changing source light and acquires light quantity data. The power/light quantity characteristic derivation unit, based on the light quantity data and the supplied power, derives the power/light quantity characteristic.
US09286854B2

A streaming media device includes a printed circuit board hosting components configured to access internet data. An audio/visual connector is linked to the printed circuit board, wherein the audio/visual connector is adapted for connection to an audio/visual device, wherein the audio/visual connector is adapted to operate with a first audio/visual interface having sufficient power to fully operate the printed circuit board and a second audio/visual interface having insufficient power to fully operate the printed circuit board. A power connector is linked to the printed circuit board, wherein the power connector selectively receives power based on the audio/visual connector utilizing one of the first audio/visual interface and the second audio/visual interface.
US09286853B2

Video signals for a mobile terminal are converted to accommodate reproduction by an alternative display terminal. The video signal is processed to provide a converted video signal appropriate for an alternative display terminal that is separate from the mobile terminal. This converted video signal is then provided for the alternative display terminal to accommodate the corresponding video display on a screen provided by the alternative (e.g., external) display terminal.
US09286850B2

To provide a display method capable of displaying the original power saving effect if a monitoring display of the power saving effect is not made when the monitoring display of the power saving effect is made. Provided is a display method including capturing an image in front of an image display surface included in a display apparatus that displays the image and detecting presence of a moving body positioned in front of the image display surface, deciding a power saving amount of the display apparatus including the power saving amount of the image display surface by using an analysis result of the presence or absence of a human face and a detection result of the moving body in the captured image, and deriving and displaying the actual power saving amount when no display is made on the image display surface on the image display surface when information about the power saving amount is displayed on the image display surface. Accordingly, when a monitoring display of a power saving effect is made, an original power saving effect if no monitoring display of the power saving effect is made can be displayed.
US09286838B2

There are provided a display device which can accurately estimate an ambient temperature around the display device, a computer program, a recording medium, and a method for estimating an ambient temperature. A panel temperature sensor and a switch board temperature sensor are disposed in different positions of a display device. A control unit specifies correlation information indicating the correlation between a first temperature difference between a temperature detected by the panel temperature sensor and an ambient temperature and a second temperature difference between a temperature detected by the switch board temperature sensor and the ambient temperature. The control unit estimates the ambient temperature on the basis of the specified correlation information and the temperatures and detected by the panel temperature sensor and the switch board temperature sensor.
US09286837B2

A display device includes: a display panel configured with rows of pixels, each row pixels including a first color pixel, a second color pixel, and a third color pixel; and a backlight assembly configured to supply light to the display panel, in which: a data signal is alternately applied to a first color pixel disposed in an odd row on an odd frame, and to another first color pixel disposed in an even row on an even frame, a data signal is alternately applied to a second color pixel disposed in the odd row on the odd frame, and to another second color pixel disposed in the even row on the even frame, a data signal is applied to a third color pixel on both frames, and colors of light supplied to the display panel on the odd frame and the even frame are different from each other.
US09286834B2

An organic light emitting diode display device comprises: a plurality of pixels, wherein each of the pixels comprising: a driving TFT including a gate electrode coupled to a first node, a source electrode coupled to a second node, and a drain electrode coupled to a high-potential voltage source; an organic light emitting diode including an anode coupled to the second node and a cathode coupled to a low-potential voltage source; a first TFT in response to a first scan signal to connect the first node to a data line; a second TFT in response to a second scan signal to connect the first node to a first reference voltage source; a third TFT in response to an emission signal to connect the second node to the third node; and capacitors.
US09286831B2

An AC drive circuit for OLED comprises a light emitting control unit, a charging control unit, a drive unit, a storage unit, a first voltage signal input terminal, a second voltage signal input terminal and a third voltage signal input terminal. The AC drive circuit enables that the current flowing in an OLED is independent of the internal resistance of the circuit, thus the brightness of the OLED will not be influenced by the internal resistance of the circuit. Meanwhile, the AC drive circuit compensates the threshold voltage of the drive transistor, thus the influence of the threshold voltage of the drive transistor on the current of the OLED for emitting light is eliminated. In addition, the AC drive circuit reversely biases the OLED, thereby the un-recombined carriers accumulated at the light emitting interface inside the OLED and the built-in electrical field formed by these carriers are eliminated.
US09286827B2

An organic light emitting display (OLED) apparatus including a power driver for applying a driving voltage to a display panel, a driver driving unit for applying a driving signal to the power driver, and a processor for applying a display data signal, which corresponds to a value of data displayed on the display panel, to the power driver. The power driver is configured to apply the driving voltage to the display panel when the driving signal and display data signal are each in an active state.
US09286826B2

An electronic device may include a display. The display may be an organic light-emitting diode display. The organic light-emitting diode display may have a substrate layer, a layer of organic light-emitting diode structures, and a layer of sealant. Vias may be formed in the substrate layer by laser drilling. The vias may be filled with metal using electroplating or other metal deposition techniques. The vias may be connected to contacts on the rear surface of the display. Components such as flexible printed circuits, integrated circuits, connectors, and other circuitry may be mounted to the contacts on the rear surface of the display.
US09286824B2

A display apparatus includes a display unit which includes a plurality of pixels having an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a power supply which supplies power to the display unit, an image processor which processes an input image to display an image on the display unit, and a controller which determines whether an average picture level (APL) of the input image is a predetermined value or more. Based on the APL value, the controller controls the image processor to compensate for a gray scale of the input image to thereby increase a brightness of the input image, and controls the power supply to reduce the power supply corresponding to the brightness increased as a result of the compensated gray scale.
US09286820B2

A thin film transistor array panel and a display device including the same are disclosed. In one aspect, the thin film transistor array panel includes a plurality of dots located in a display area, each of the plurality of dots including a plurality of pixels, and a plurality of data lines applying data voltages to the plurality of pixels. The thin film transistor array panel also includes a plurality of first dummy data lines located in a first peripheral area of a peripheral area around the display area, the plurality of first dummy data lines are adjacent to a first edge of the display area. The thin film transistor array panel further includes plurality of first data lines applying data voltages to the pixels included in a first dot adjacent to the first edge and are respectively connected to the plurality of first dummy data lines.
US09286817B2

A picture-dimensionality check unit checks whether or not a picture to be reproduced is a three-dimensional picture containing a first parallax image and a second parallax image, which are images of an object from different points of view in a three-dimensional space. A display panel check unit configured acquires, from a display apparatus by which the picture is displayed on a display panel, information including the type of the display panel on the condition that the picture to be reproduced is a three-dimensional picture. A picture adjusting unit retrieves from a database a picture output condition that provides suitable display of the picture on the display panel, on the basis of the information acquired by the display panel check unit, and to adjust the picture in accordance with the retrieved picture output condition.
US09286813B2

A street sign fabricated from a composite material having at least on panel for displaying indicia such as street names. Electrical conductors may be embedded into the panel to permit attachment and electrical coupling of lights and other electrical devices thereto. A battery may be installed in a hollow post supporting the panel to provide power to the electrical devices. The battery can be recharged using a solar panel mounted proximate the top of the sign.
US09286812B2

In embodiments of a flexible display extendible assembly, an extendible assembly includes a slideable display guide integrated in a first housing part of an extendible electronic device. The extendible electronic device includes a flexible display that slide-engages into the first housing part of the extendible electronic device. The extendible assembly includes an extendible mechanism that is coupled in a second housing part of the extendible electronic device and to the slideable display guide. The first and second housing parts of the extendible electronic device slide-engage relative to each other. The extendible mechanism is implemented to extend as the first and second housing parts slide apart relative to each other, and also to retract as the first and second housing parts slide together relative to each other.
US09286801B2

Techniques, systems, and articles of manufacture for leveraging information for use in a traffic prediction scenario. A method includes extracting transportation-related information pertaining to a geographic region from multiple user-driven information systems, processing said transportation-related information by merging the transportation-related information across the multiple user-driven information systems and one or more transportation-related databases, and determining a supply and demand estimation for one or more aspects of transportation in the geographic region based on said processing of said transportation-related information.
US09286794B2

A pedestrian warning system monitors an attention level of a pedestrian and alerts the pedestrian of traffic areas or detected vehicles.
US09286793B2

Real-time high-fidelity spatiotemporal data on transportation networks can be used to learn about traffic behavior at different times and locations, potentially resulting in major savings in time and fuel. Real-world data collected from transportation networks can be used to incorporate the data's intrinsic behavior into a time-series mining technique to enhance its accuracy for traffic prediction. For example, the spatiotemporal behaviors of rush hours and events can be used to perform a more accurate prediction of both short-term and long-term average speed on road-segments, even in the presence of infrequent events (e.g., accidents). Taking historical rush-hour behavior into account can improve the accuracy of traditional predictors by up to 67% and 78% in short-term and long-term predictions, respectively. Moreover, the impact of an accident can be incorporated to improve the prediction accuracy by up to 91%.
US09286792B2

A notification signal, intended to be received by a wireless communication device, is repetitively broadcast by a portable activity-monitoring device that generates user-activity data corresponding to activity of an individual bearing the portable activity-monitoring device. The notification signal conveys information that identifies the portable activity-monitoring device and indicates whether or not the portable activity-monitoring device seeks establishment of a wireless communication link to enable transmission of the user-activity data to the wireless communication device.
US09286790B2

Some embodiments are directed to a lockdown apparatus for facilitating initiation of lockdown procedures at a facility that is configured for occupation by facility occupants and that includes a fire alarm. The fire alarm can include a fire alarm actuator and a fire alarm communicator configured to produce a fire alarm communication for communicating actuation of the fire alarm actuator. The lockdown apparatus can include a manually operated lockdown actuator disposed at the facility and configured to transmit a lockdown initiation signal upon being manually actuated, the manually operated actuator being configured to be recognizably distinguishable from the fire alarm actuator. The lockdown apparatus can include a lockdown communicator configured to produce a lockdown communication for communicating initiation of lockdown procedures to the facility occupants and individuals not disposed proximate the facility upon transmission of the lockdown initiation signal, the lockdown communication being recognizably distinguishable from the fire alarm communication.
US09286786B2

Surveillance systems and methods are described herein. Surveillance systems and methods can include detecting a number of interactions within a building, determining an event based on the number of interactions, and sending a message to a number of contacts relating to the event.
US09286783B1

Disclosed herein are methods and systems that involve monitoring presence of items based on context. An exemplary method involves: (i) determining a context for a given user; (ii) determining a proximity framework between a monitoring device and one or more items, based on the determined context, wherein the proximity framework comprises (a) one or more proximity requirements, each proximity requirement indicating a required proximity between the monitoring device and at least one of the items and (b) a notification process corresponding to each proximity requirement; (iii) monitoring proximity of each of the items relative to the monitoring device, based on a presence signal from each of the items, in order to determine when one of the proximity requirements is not met; and (iv) responsive to determining that one of the proximity requirements is not met, initiating the corresponding notification process.
US09286773B2

A vehicle seat assembly is provided. The vehicle seat assembly includes a bottom seat member with a seat pan with a first side and a second side, a first bolster positioned on the first side of the seat pan, and a second bolster positioned on the second side of the seat pan. The first bolster defines a first depression. The vehicle seat assembly further includes a haptic alert assembly with a first actuator having a first housing and a first motor within the first housing. The first housing is mounted within the first depression.
US09286769B2

The gaming system disclosed herein changes the focal point of a display device at different points in time to assist the player in focusing on different simultaneously or concurrently played games at different points in time. Specifically, the gaming system displays a plurality of simultaneously or concurrently played games on a display device. In response to a designated event occurring in association with a specific one of the plurality of simultaneously or concurrently played games, the gaming system changes the focal point of the display device to draw the player's focus or attention to that specific one of the simultaneously or concurrently played games. Put differently, the gaming system dynamically allocates and/or indicates different portions of a display device to different simultaneously or concurrently played games at different points in time to account for different events occurring in such simultaneously or concurrently played games.
US09286768B2

A gaming machine and method for displaying and highlighting a scatter symbol among a matrix of symbols. The display includes a first layer for displaying a background and a second layer overlying the first layer. The layers are virtual layers or discrete physical layers. The second layer displays the matrix of symbols including any scatter symbol included in the matrix of symbols. The second layer enables a gaming machine player to simultaneously view the background, or at least portions of the background. According to one aspect of the invention, the second layer is at least partially transmissive to permit simultaneous viewing of the background and the matrix of symbols. The background is changeable to highlight at least one of the symbols of the matrix of symbols. Preferably, the background highlights the scatter symbol by adding depth, color, light and imagery, such as a still, changing, or moving image.
US09286766B2

Disclosed herein are wager game machines and methods. In one example, a method involves: selecting a first symbol set from a global symbol group; displaying the first symbol set, wherein the first symbol set includes at least two symbols; determining that a trigger event has occurred; responsive to determining that the trigger event has occurred, identifying at least one symbol in the first symbol set that is in a replaceable symbol group which is a subset of the global symbol group; for the or each symbol in the first symbol set which is in the replaceable symbol group, selecting a replacement symbol that is in the global symbol group; and displaying a second symbol set consisting of (i) the symbols in the first symbol set which are not in the replaceable symbol group, and (ii) the or each replacement symbol.
US09286763B2

Methods of administering wagering games include comparing a longest straight of a first set of cards with a longest straight of a second set of cards. A payout may be paid to a player associated with the first set of cards when the longest straight of the first set of cards is longer than the longest straight of the second set of cards or the longest straight of the first set of cards is of equal length to the longest straight of the second set of cards and a final card of the longest straight of the first set of cards is higher or equal in rank to a final card of the longest straight of the second set of cards. Systems, gaming tables, and electronic gaming machines to perform such methods are disclosed.
US09286762B2

A matching game is triggered for play by a plurality of players while the players are performing a transaction. A matching rule is established for playing the matching game and a jackpot pool is established for awarding prizes to the players. The players are allowed to initiate a session by logging onto a gaming machine to perform the transaction and the players are identified. A selected set of symbols are established for each player and a match set of symbols are generated. The matching game is triggered in response to a predetermined trigger where only the players in the current session are eligible for the matching game. The match set of symbols are compared against each selected set of symbols. The prize is responsively awarded from the jackpot pool to each player whose selected set of symbols satisfies the matching rule.
US09286761B2

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to gaming systems that allow customers to wager, or “trade-in” an object of value or winning situation for a chance to win an even more valuable award. The chance for valuable award may be a bonus game or chance to win a bonus game. Bonus awards are “funded” by the savings achieved from the players trading in their wins in the base game, which would otherwise be paid. Players who do not trade-in see no changes from the base game paytable, while those players who participate in the trade-in bonus have a different gaming experience.
US09286757B2

A wagering game system and its operations are described herein. In some embodiments, the operations can include detecting a trigger for a bonus game associated with presentation of a wagering game. The operations can further include, in response to the trigger, providing, for presentation, an option to select either a prize or play of the bonus game. The operations can further include detecting a selection of either the prize or the play of the bonus game, and providing either the prize or the play of the bonus game based on the selection.
US09286748B2

A gaming machine that is capable of imparting diversified variations to the play of a bonus game is provided. A main CPU displays a selection screen in a case where a feature game trigger is established, and causes a player to select one of a free game and a roulette game. In a case where the free game is selected, a total of values of BONUS symbols that correspond to the feature game trigger is determined as the number of free games. On the other hand, in a case where the roulette game is selected, a game is completed by carrying out roulette game processing once, and the amount of payouts is determined based on the number of free games. The free game and the roulette game are respectively set so that expectation values of the number of payouts are equal to each other.
US09286744B2

A mechanical module, such as for a vehicle comprises a body having a first body part and a second body part, a printed board and a battery. The first and second body parts are fixed mechanically relative to one another. The printed board is permanently fixed to the first body part. The battery is positioned between the printed board and the second body part, and the body is designed such that the battery can be exchanged without giving access to a compartment of the body between the printed board and the first part of the body.
US09286743B2

Methods and systems for providing key storage and retrieval services to be performed by a service provider. The service provider provides a template to a client and instructs the client to use the template to capture, for each vehicle of a plurality of vehicles, both a vehicle identifier and a key of the vehicle in an image. The service provider stores the image in a computing system, extracts the vehicle identifier from the stored image, and associates the vehicle identifier with a location identifier corresponding to a location where the key is stored. When the service provider receives from the client a request for retrieving a key for a specific vehicle, the service provider searches a vehicle identifier of the specific vehicle in the computing system, retrieves the requested key from the location associated with the vehicle identifier, and sends the requested key to the client.
US09286737B2

The invention relates to a method of determining at least one eco-driving indicator wherein at least a first indicator (IND) is determined as an optimal speed (Vopt) that minimizes the energy consumption. Calculation of optimal speed Vopt is constrained by measured instant speeds Vmes at breakpoints of the travel where the driver has to adapt his driving according to conditions external to the travel. Once the eco-driving indicator is determined, it can be displayed (AFF) and/or the vehicle can be controlled (COM) in accordance with the indicator.
US09286736B2

An automobile including a self-diagnostic monitoring server and healing can be implemented. The vehicle monitoring system can include an automobile system comprising a self-powered motor vehicle used for transportation. The vehicle system can include a sensor system arranged on a set of components of the automobile system and coupled to an energy providing system in the automobile system to be provided with energy by said energy providing system, said sensor system obtaining data about at least one property for each component of the set of components of the automobile system and converting the data into signals. The vehicle system can include a communication system in the automobile system. The vehicle system can include an analytics system to receive the data and determine a state of each component of the automobile system based on the at least one property of each component.
US09286735B1

Methods, systems, and computer program products for generating wear-based indicators for vehicular components are provided herein. A method includes assigning a failure class label to each data point, from multiple data points derived from measurements associated with a vehicular component across a fleet of vehicles, that is within a pre-specified number of runtime hours of a replacement; assigning a non-failure class label to each data point not within the pre-specified number of runtime hours of a replacement and each data point associated with a component yet to be replaced; estimating a failure probability at each data point over a pre-specified future runtime of the component based on the assigned class label; determining a cumulative hazard function for the vehicular component based on the failure probability; and generating a cumulative wear-based indicator for the vehicular component by executing a regression function at a given time based on the cumulative hazard function.
US09286733B2

A system and methods using applications for entry and exit from registered locations, where a registered location has an associated geo-fence of any size or shape. A registered location may be mobile or stationary. An internet-connected device running an app transmits the current geographic location of the device, and a remote processing center executes a default action when finding correspondence between the geo-fence of a registered location and the current geographic information of an end user's device, and in one embodiment, the default action may be to enter and pay for parking at a registered location.
US09286732B2

A nuclear image system for updating an original nuclear image, the nuclear image system comprising: a data memory for storing the original three-dimensional nuclear image; a nuclear radiation detector, which is movable along a freely variable path, for measuring nuclear radiation, in order to obtain nuclear radiation values; a tracking system for tracking the nuclear radiation detector while measuring the nuclear radiation, so that detector coordinates are obtained which indicate a posture of the tracked nuclear radiation detector in relation to an image coordinate system of the nuclear image; a nuclear data input configured to receive the nuclear radiation values from the nuclear radiation detector and the detector coordinates from the tracking system, and to associate the nuclear radiation values with the respective detector coordinates; and an image updating module including an updating rule for changing the original nuclear image on the basis of the nuclear radiation values and the detector coordinates, wherein the image updating module is configured to generate an updated three-dimensional nuclear image by applying the updating rule to the original nuclear image.
US09286729B2

Provided is a computer system and method for mapping a visual path. The method includes receiving one or more images included in a predefined area; receiving one or more parameters associated with the image; and integrating the images and parameters into a map of the predefined area to enable mapping the visual path through the predefined area in response to one or more input path parameters.
US09286728B2

Aspects of the present invention relate presentation of digital content, in a see-through display, representing a known location in an environment proximate to a head worn computer.
US09286722B2

There is provided an information processing apparatus including a comparing unit comparing a size of at least one of virtual clothing or accessories based on dimensions set in advance and a size of a subject that has been captured; and a display control unit reshaping at least one of the virtual clothing or accessories in accordance with a comparison result produced by the comparing unit and displaying at least one of the reshaped virtual clothing or accessories overlaid on the subject.
US09286715B2

According to at least one embodiment, a computer-implemented method for generating a virtual try-on is described. A first model is obtained. The first model includes a first set of attachment points. A second model is obtained. The second model includes a first set of connection points. The first model and the second model are combined. Combining the first and second models includes matching the first set of attachment points with the first set of connection points. An image is rendered based on at least a portion of the combined first and second models.
US09286714B2

A method and apparatus includes primitive setup circuitry for determining a plurality of functions for an input graphics primitive, including an edge function associated with each edge of the input graphics primitive and a depth function associated with the input graphics primitive. Rasterization circuitry performs a rasterization operation in order to calculate position data for a plurality of graphics fragments to be used to represent the input graphics primitive. In a default mode of operation, depth bound clipping circuitry performs a depth bound clipping operation by determining, for each graphics fragment in said plurality of graphics fragments, a depth value for said graphics fragment using the depth function, and determining whether said depth value resides within a valid depth range of a view frustum, the graphics fragment being discarded from further processing if its depth value does not reside within said valid depth range.
US09286707B1

In one aspect, the present subject matter is directed to a computer-implemented method for removing transient objects to synthesize an unobstructed image. The method includes receiving a plurality of images from a user. A most common value at a same pixel of each image is determined to infer pixels associated with a background of the images. A composition is generated from the received images, wherein the composition includes one of the pixels associated with the background of the images in place of a pixel associated with a foreground of at least one of the images.
US09286706B1

Implementations relate to editing image regions based on previous user edits. In some implementations, a method includes detecting a region depicting an identified subject in a target image and determining an identity of the identified subject. The method retrieves one or more stored user edits associated with the identity of the identified subject, where the user edits were previously made by a user to one or more other regions in one or more source images, and the other regions depict the identified subject having the identity. The method applies the one or more user edits to the region in the target image.
US09286705B1

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for displaying an area of wireless-telecommunications coverage of a geographic region by a plurality of images is provided. In embodiments, an image representing an amount of wireless-telecommunications coverage for a geographic region is referenced. A plurality of image data points, including corners, is mapped to real-world geographic coordinates to create a registered image. A plurality of colors, each representing a different wireless-telecommunications coverage area, is identified. A second image is created that includes only pixels associated with selected colors and, thus, only represents the wireless-telecommunications coverage areas associated with the selected colors.
US09286698B2

A tile of pixels is encoded by variable length encoding blocks of pixels constituting different subsets of the tile to form sequences of symbols as encoded representations of the pixel values. A respective size indication is determined for each set of at least block. A size indication is representative of a compression ratio of a combined sequence corresponding to the at least one sequence of symbols obtained for the at least one block of the set. The combined sequences are arranged in a pixel value buffer in a buffer memory. The size indication determined for a given set is also stored in the pixel value buffer in the buffer memory to precede, according to a reading order of the pixel value buffer, the combined sequence of the given set.
US09286696B2

The present disclosure relates generally to a system and method for file compression. More specifically, the disclosure introduces to a method for file compression wherein a group of files is identified by comparing a plurality of similarity characteristics. The group of files may then be compressed relative to at least one base file to improve compression efficiency.
US09286693B2

Provided are a method and apparatus for detecting an abnormal movement. The apparatus includes a feature tracing unit configured to extract features of a moving object in an input image, trace a variation in position of the extracted features according to time, and ascertain trajectories of the extracted features; a topic online learning unit configured to classify the input image in units of documents which are bundles of the trajectories, and ascertain probability distribution states of topics, which constitute the classified document, by using an online learning method which is a probabilistic topic model; and a movement pattern online learning unit configured to learn a velocity and a direction for each of the ascertained topics, and learn a movement pattern by inferring a spatiotemporal correlation between the ascertained topics.
US09286691B2

The subject disclosure relates to motion estimation and compensation of feature-motion decorrelation. In an aspect, coupled filtering can be employed to solve feature-motion decorrelation problems. In further aspects, a linear convolution model can be employed to model image variation caused by motion, and an image before motion and a warped image after motion can be filtered with a pair of filters having motion parameters shared with a tissue motion model. Compensation of feature-motion decorrelation in ultrasound images demonstrates various aspects of the subject disclosure.
US09286689B2

A method and system for recognizing a pedestrian's step is provided for a portable terminal. The portable terminal has an acquisition unit. In an image of a sequence of images acquired by the acquisition unit, an object is, in each case, detected which represents at least a part of a foot, a shoe, and/or a leg. The position of the object is determined in the respective image, and a pedestrian's step is recognized as a function of a position change of the object between at least two images of the sequence of images.
US09286685B2

Some implementations may provide a method for generating a portrait of a subject for an identification document, the method including: receiving a photo image of the subject, the photo image including the subject's face in a foreground against an arbitrary background; determining the arbitrary background of the photo image based on the photo image alone and without user intervention; masking the determined background from the photo image; and subsequently generating the portrait of the subject for the identification document of the subject, the portrait based on the photo image with the determined background masked.
US09286681B2

A computerized mask edit guided processing method for time-lapse image analysis performs by a computer program an assisted mask editing on an input image sequence to generate mask edit data, and performs a mask edit guided processing using the image sequence and the mask edit data. A computerized track edit guided processing method for time-lapse image analysis performs by a computer program an assisted track editing on an input image sequence to generate track edit data, and performs a track edit guided processing using the image sequence and the track edit data. A computerized edit guided processing method for time-lapse image analysis performs by a computer program a combination of assisted mask editing and assisted track editing on an input image sequence to generate edit data, and performs a combination of mask edit guided processing and track edit guided processing using the image sequence and the edit data.
US09286675B1

A method for classifying defects of a wafer, the method is executed by a computerized system, the method may include obtaining defect candidate information about a group of defect candidates, wherein the defect candidate information comprises values of attributes per each defect candidate of the group; selecting, by a processor of the computerized system, a selected sub-group of defect candidates in response to values of attributes of defect candidates that belong to at least the selected sub-group; classifying defect candidates of the selected sub-group to provide selected sub-group classification results; repeating, until fulfilling a stop condition: selecting an additional selected sub-group of defect candidates in response to (a) values of attributes of defect candidates that belong to at least the additional selected sub-group; and (b) classification results obtained from classifying at least one other selected sub-group; and classifying defect candidates of the additional selected sub-group to provide additional selected sub-group classification results.
US09286674B2

There is provided an ophthalmic analysis apparatus configured to acquire an analysis result of a tomographic image of a subject eye which is acquired by using optical coherence tomography (OCT), and to output the analysis result. The apparatus functions as a display control unit configured to control a display unit to display a two-dimensional image based on an OCT tomographic image; an analysis region setting unit configured to set multiple analysis regions on the two-dimensional image displayed on the display unit by the display control unit; and an output control unit configured to acquire an analysis result in the multiple analysis regions set by the analysis region setting unit and to output the acquired analysis result.
US09286667B2

A method of eliminating spurious echoes in SAR imaging comprises a step Etp1 of defining the SAR imaging parameters, a step Etp2 of calculating the spectrum of the signal received, in each distance bin, of a zone of interest 51, a step Etp3 of filtering the spectra in each distance bin, a step Etp4 of SAR imagette 51 formation and a step Etp5 of concatenating the SAR imagettes 51 to form the final SAR image.
US09286642B2

A content access management system receives an access determination requested identifying an access rule and a requesting user. The access rule may be created in advance by the content owner at the content access management system. The access rule may allow access to content objects based on the requesting user's biographic information, geographic information, affiliation information, payment information, or any other user characteristic. The user information may be entered by the requesting user at a social networking system interface for purposes unrelated to the content object or content owner. The content access management system retrieves the identified access rule and retrieves requesting user information based on the access rule. An access determination is made based on the retrieved access rule and requesting user information, and is transmitted to the content owner.
US09286627B1

Architectures and techniques are described to provide a personal webservice for item acquisitions. In particular implementations, the personal webservice of the individual indicates items that have been acquired by the individual and/or items that the individual has indicated an interest in acquiring. Information specifying items acquired by the individual may be obtained from computing devices of the individual, third-party data sources (e.g. financial entities, socials networking sites), or both. Additionally, a number of webservice applications and/or webservice agents may provide supplemental information about items included in the personal webservice of the individual, provide notifications derived from the supplemental information about the items, or both. The supplemental information may be obtained from manufacturers of the items, online content related to the items (e.g. news articles, blog posts, reviews), information from merchants offering the items for acquisition, and the like.
US09286624B2

A system and method of displaying information on images representing geographic objects captured by a camera is provided. In one aspect, the information is an advertisement and the advertisement is displayed such that its shape is based on the surface angle of the geographic object relative to the perspective from which the object is being viewed.
US09286622B2

A press release distribution system provides press release and other news to forum sites as posts. The forum software that runs at forum sites includes press release interface software or is adapted to receive press release interface plug-in modules for interfacing with the press release distribution system. The press release interface software or plug-in module may also monitor and/or analyze user data of forum members and/or forum activities of the users. The monitored user data and forum activities may be provided to the press release distribution system for analysis and generation of user profiles. Using the result of the analysis (e.g., user profiles), the press release distribution system can target particular users or forums to direct the press releases, news, or advertisements for most effective advertising campaign.
US09286621B2

A system may include a database configured with individual partitions, one of the partitions corresponding to a sponsored content campaign of a social network. The system may further include multiple servers each communicatively coupled to the database, and each configured to implement a campaign having a campaign termination criterion. Each of the servers may include a processor configured to track sponsored content event data received from a user device based on the campaign and transmit the event data to the database and terminate the campaign based on a comparison of the event data as received from a partition of the database corresponding to the campaign and an estimation of event data not received from the database. The database may be configured to store the event data as received from the servers in the partition corresponding to the campaign upon receipt of the event data.
US09286616B2

A method, apparatus, article of manufacture, and a memory structure for providing advertisements with a media program transmitted to a user device are described. The method permits the user to control the presentation of advertisements. In one embodiment, the method receives an identification of the media program to be sent to the user device, transmits metadata defining an advertising break having at least one advertisement opportunity within the media program, at the advertisement opportunity, transmits advertising control options, receives a user selection for the advertising control options, sends the advertisement to the user device according to the user selection for the advertising control options, receives advertising viewing data describing the streaming of the advertisement to the user device, and stores the advertisement viewing data.
US09286613B2

A memory tag is a transponder device with a memory for storing digital content. The memory contains code for generating an order for goods or services from a plurality of order choices.
US09286609B2

A wireless device is enabled to receive a financial account card that is inserted into a card slot of the wireless device. The wireless device reads card data from the financial account card when it is inserted into the slot and programs an RFID (radio frequency identification) tag or a memory included in the wireless device. The wireless device may then be used to provide payment by transmitting the card data via radio frequency to a nearby RFID reader using the RFID tag. The financial account card may also be ejected from the wireless device and swiped by a magnetic card reader.
US09286608B1

Embodiments may include a payment management system that receives information indicating a first transaction is to be initiated, the information specifying a first quantity of funds. The system may determine that an additional transaction for a respective quantity of funds is expected to be initiated within a given time period. The system may, prior to initiation of the additional transaction, generate a payment authorization request for a combined quantity of funds equal to at least a sum of the first quantity of funds and the respective quantity of funds of the additional transaction. The system may, subsequent to receiving information indicating that a payment authorization for the combined quantity of funds was issued and subsequent to receiving information indicating that the additional transaction is to be initiated, initiate settlement of the first transaction and the at least one additional transaction using the combined quantity of funds of the payment authorization.
US09286607B2

A contactless card reader system comprises the a contactless card reader for short range wireless communication with a payment device using a contactless card protocol. The reader also comprises a terminal for exchanging data with the payment device and with a remote server to perform a contactless card transaction. The terminal is comprised in a personal computing device. The remote server may provide functionality to the terminal in performance of the transaction. A method of performing a transaction is also described.
US09286604B2

Systems, apparatus, and methods for managing a payment application installed on a mobile device, such as a mobile phone are provided. An Issuer of a payment device can remotely control the payment application by instructing a wireless network carrier or operator to transmit a message to the mobile phone, where the message contains an instruction to perform an operation related to the payment application. The Issuer can remotely reset a counter or a password associated with the payment application, lock or unlock a payment application, and set the access control data to a predetermined value, to prevent unauthorized use of the payment application in the situation in which the mobile phone is lost or stolen, or the Issuer desires to limit access to the payment application for other reasons, such as limiting its exposure to unauthorized uses of the payment device.
US09286595B2

A compliance manager system automates monitoring, reporting, certification and remediation of user entitlements and roles, making it possible for organizations to easily establish a sustainable access governance model. The system enables organizations to gain enterprise-wide visibility into all user entitlements and roles and, in particular, to monitor who has access to what application, how they got access, and who approved such access. In one embodiment, a discovery and aggregation mechanism acquires identity, entitlement and role information together with associated metadata from enterprise infrastructure and applications. This information is normalized producing a unified view that is complete and correlated across users, entitlements, roles and resources.
US09286591B2

A preferred embodiment of a version of the invention is directed to a system that streamlines and manages the process of managing shipments, deliveries, returns, customers and manifesting. A preferred implementation comprises a system that is based on user's being grouped with specific customers and each specific customer's information being grouped separately from other customers in the system. Preferably, the system comprises permission levels for granting user's access to specific customer information. Permission levels may grant users access to customer specific or system wide information. A preferred implementation further comprises a system for creating manifests and a mobile manifest application.
US09286587B2

Methods, computer-readable media, software, and apparatuses provide a system for establishing base stations and allocating service vehicles to the base stations in order to provide roadside assistance. The system may include computing devices associated with customer vehicles and service vehicles as well as network computing devices. The system may receive a service request from a customer regarding a disabled vehicle. The system may then identify an appropriate service vehicle to assist the customer and assign the service request to the identified service vehicle. The system may select the appropriate service vehicle based on a location of the disabled vehicle. In an example, the system may choose a service vehicle from a base station closest to or within the shortest driving time to the disabled vehicle. By setting-up base stations in advance of service requests, service vehicles may reach disabled vehicles within a predetermined period of time.
US09286586B2

A method, computer program product, and system for information governance crowd sourcing by, responsive to receiving a data quality exception identifying one or more data quality errors in a data store, identifying a performance level required to correct the data quality errors, selecting, from a crowd hierarchy, a first one or more crowds meeting the defined performance level, wherein the crowd hierarchy ranks the performance of one or more crowds, and routing, by operation of one or more computer processors, the one or more data quality errors to the selected crowds for correction.
US09286584B2

A business scenario landscape map can show a scenario-centric view of a business scenario landscape that includes business scenarios accessible to members of an organization and supported by a business software architecture. In the scenario-centric view, first user interface elements can be arranged to show a linear representation of business process features of a selected business scenario and a visual depiction of relationships between the selected business scenario and other business scenarios. Upon receiving selection of a first user interface element(s) related to another business scenario, at least some of the first user interface elements can be rearranged to show a new scenario-centric view of the business scenario landscape in which business process features of the newly selected business scenario are arranged in a new linear representation including a visual depiction of relationships between the newly selected business scenario, the originally selected business scenario, and/or relationships with other additional scenarios.
US09286581B2

A user interface for a portable computing device provides two modes of operation. In a first mode, an inbox of all documents accessible by the portable computing device are presented. Each of the items in the inbox is selectable, and if selected, the user interface transitions to a second document presentation mode. In the document presentation mode, the user may annotate the document and upon providing a single input (selecting a submit button), the system automatically forwards the document (including the annotations) to the next state in the workflow. If the user transitions back to the inbox mode from the document presentation mode, no action is taken on the document but the strokes are stored with the document on the portable computing device.
US09286577B2

Articles of manufacture that are sustainably recyclable and related methods are provided. The article can include a first element having a first polymeric material and a first physical parameter and a second element having a second polymeric material and a second physical parameter. The first polymeric material of the first element and the second polymeric material of the second element are substantially chemically similar while the first physical parameter of the first element and the second physical parameter of the second element are physically different. Methods for manufacturing sustainably recyclable articles are also provided.
US09286565B2

A composite container lid which includes an inner cap fitted onto the container mouth portion by screw engagement, an over-cap fitted onto the inner cap, and an IC tag. The over-cap has a top panel and a skirt descending from the circumferential edge of the top panel. The inner cap has a top plate and a cylindrical wall descending from the circumferential edge of the top plate and has a thread formed in the inner surface thereof to come into screw engagement with the outer surface of the container mouth portion. An engaging means is provided between the inner surface of the skirt of the over-cap and the outer surface of the cylindrical wall of the inner cap to transmit the turn of the over-cap fitted onto the inner cap to the inner cap.
US09286561B2

One variation of a payment card includes: a sheet comprising first and second icons; a transducer configured to output a voltage in response to an impulse on the sheet; a wireless communication module; a first input region adjacent the first icon; a second input region adjacent the second icon; a magnetic stripe emulator; and a processor configured to transition from a passive state to an active state in response a voltage output from the transducer, to receive a first magnetic sequence command associated with a first payment method and a second magnetic sequence command associated with a second payment method, to assign the first payment method to the first input region and the second payment method to the second input region, to receive a selection for the second payment method from the second input region, and to control the magnetic stripe emulator according to the second magnetic sequence command.
US09286553B2

There is provided an image forming method using an image forming system that includes a plurality of image forming apparatuses. A print setting using attribute information that is necessary for image formation performed by a first image forming apparatus is registered in a second image forming apparatus in advance, it is determined whether a print setting of print data coincides with the registered print setting when a rasterization process of image data is performed by the second image forming apparatus, when the print settings coincide with each other, the attribute information is generated by the second image forming apparatus and is transmitted from the processing unit of the second image forming apparatus to an image forming unit of the first image forming apparatus together with the image data and the print setting, whereby the image formation is performed.
US09286547B2

Applicants have discovered a multi-layer quality control/quality assurance system that provides higher quality data, without human intervention, by rejecting images that do not achieve a pre-determined quality threshold. In some embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a new method of processing an image from a data set through a pipeline wherein quality control/assurance allows to determine a quality of the image processing, the method comprising; receiving a test image; pre-processing the test image; registering the test image to a reference image; calculating a test image quality using a correlation of image intensity values between corresponding locations of the test image and the reference image; providing a plurality of training images and calculating training image quality distribution statistics for the training images with respect to the reference image; and relating the test image quality to the training image quality distribution.
US09286530B2

A handheld device and method using the device, the device comprising a sensor receiving light from within a field of view (FOV) to generate a plurality of consecutive images of the FOV, a structured light source that is controllable to generate a plurality of light patterns, the source arranged to project at least one light patterns into the FOV where at least a portion of a pattern reflects from an object and is captured by the sensor and a processor to receive images, the processor programmed to control the source to project a pattern into the FOV, locate the pattern in at least one of the generated images, locate discontinuities in the pattern and use the discontinuities to measure at least one dimension.
US09286528B2

The present invention provides techniques for efficient searching of a multi-modal biometric database. Nested searching improves search efficiency by using the results of a previous biometric modality search to limit the search population for subsequent biometric searches. The method can also be used in combinations of non-biometric searches limiting subsequent biometric searches or vice versa.
US09286527B2

Techniques are provided for segmenting an input by cut point classification and training a cut classifier. A method may include receiving, by a computerized text recognition system, an input in a script. A heuristic may be applied to the input to insert multiple cut points. For each of the cut points, a probability may be generated and the probability may indicate a likelihood that the cut point is correct. Multiple segments of the input may be selected, and the segments may be defined by cut points having a probability over a threshold. Next, the segments of the input may be provided to a character recognizer. Additionally, a method may include training a cut classifier using a machine learning technique, based on multiple text training examples, to determine the correctness of a cut point in an input.
US09286517B2

Methods and apparatus to specify regions of interest in video frames are disclosed. Example disclosed methods to mark a region in a graphical presentation include selecting a first point located at a substantially central position within the region, selecting a plurality of second points to define a boundary of the region, and comparing a plurality of stored templates with the selected first and second points to identify a first one of the stored templates to represent the region.
US09286513B2

An image processing apparatus includes: a processor configured to: store information on a reference area that has been extracted from a first image not including a target object by using a condition regarding color, generate, by using the condition, information on a target area in a second image that has been captured at a point in time different from a point in time at which the first image has been captured, determine, by using the target area and the reference area, whether or not there is an overlap between the reference area and the target object, when the overlap exists, identify an overlap area, and extract, by using the difference area between the reference area and the target area, and the overlap area, the target object from the second image.
US09286511B2

A system and method employing geo-tagging and/or biometric identification is employed for registration and management of various events. Electronic devices are configured for capturing images and geo-tagging the captured images using the geographic position of the electronic device. Data relating thereto and related data concerning persons and/or locations and/or other things are associated with a unique identifier and are stored in a relational database from whence they may be retrieved and processed for generating a response or other follow up which can be communicated to an electronic device.
US09286504B2

Methods, storage mediums, and systems for image data processing are provided. Embodiments for the methods, storage mediums, and systems include configurations to perform one or more of the following steps: background signal measurement, particle identification using classification dye emission and cluster rejection, inter-image alignment, inter-image particle correlation, fluorescence integration of reporter emission, and image plane normalization.
US09286500B1

A card reader includes a body, the body being configured for coupling with a device, the device including a device light sensor and a device light source; a reader light sensor that is configured to capture light being emitted from the device light source, wherein, when the body is coupled to the user device, the reader light sensor is positioned adjacent to the device light source; a reader light source that is configured to emit light to the device light sensor, wherein, when the body is coupled to the user device, the reader light source is positioned adjacent to the device light sensor; a reader interface positioned in the body and configured to read the card; and circuitry configured to communicate data between the card reader and the user device using the reader light sensor and the reader light source.
US09286498B2

A computer includes an application that expects to receive data via a unidirectional communication interface. The computer also includes a background service having a first thread and a second thread. The computer additionally includes device management client software. A barcode reader scans one or more barcodes to generate scanned data. The scanned data is sent to the computer via the unidirectional interface. The first thread of the background service reads the scanned data from the unidirectional interface and sends the scanned data to the application. The second thread of the background service enables the device management client software to perform management operations on the barcode reader via a bidirectional communication interface.
US09286494B1

A card reader for a point-of-sale system that is configured to accept both magnetic strip-type and integrated circuit (IC) chip-type payment cards. The card reader is a component of a point-of-sale system including a portable computing device in communication with the card reader that is configured to present a first graphical user interface (GUI) when a magnetic stripe-type card is detected and a second GUI when an IC chip-type card is detected in the card reader. The card reader comprises a slot configured to receive the payment card, a magnetic reading device and an IC chip reading device. The card reader also includes a discriminator contact disposed within the slot that is configured to conduct across a surface of a metal pad of the IC chip-type card prior to the CI chip reading device making contact with the IC chip.
US09286493B2

A method of operation of an encryption bridge system that includes: verifying an authentication parameter using a self-authenticating encryption bridge; and controlling encryption for using the self-authenticating encryption bridge disposed between a computer system and a storage system in response to the verification including determining whether data is received from the computer system or received from the storage system.
US09286490B2

This disclosure relates to systems, methods, computer program products, and means that control access to position information at a receiver, or at another device external to the receiver, based on various considerations, including a requested service type, a user type, a device type, a software application type, a payment, and/or other characteristics associated with a particular software application or distributor of that software application. The disclosure further relates to systems, methods, computer program products and means for carrying out secure data transmissions intended for a particular application among other applications.
US09286487B2

This method comprises the steps of: —choosing (1) a security parameter n,—segmenting (2) the file in n chunks S1, . . . , Sn, —randomly choosing (3) n2 coefficients aij for i=1, . . . , n and j=1, . . . , n,—verifying (3) that the vectors ai1, . . . , ain, for i=1, . . . , n, are linearly independent, otherwise generating the coefficients again, —computing (4) n linear combinations Ci=ai1S1+ . . . +aijSj+ . . . +ain·Sn, for i=1, n,—choosing (5) n storage service providers Oi, . . . , On among said plurality of storage service provider, —generating (6a; 6b; 6c) n file identifiers ID′1, . . . , ID′n designating said file (F),—storing (6a; 6b; 6c) the combination Ci at the storage service provider Oi in association with the file identifier ID′i, for i=1, . . . , n,—storing the file identifier ID′i and the provider identifier Oi, for i=1, . . . , n, in a file descriptor corresponding to the file (F), this file descriptor being stored in a local memory (LM),—storing the set of coefficients ai,1, . . . , ain so that it can be re-associated with the combination Ci, for i=1, n;—randomly choosing n super-coefficients a′1, . . . , a′j, . . . , a′n for j=1, . . . , n,—computing a linear over-combination OC′=a′1-C1+ . . . +a′j·Cj+ . . . +a′n·Cn,—and storing the over-combination OC′ and the coefficients a′1, . . . , a′j, . . . , a′n for j=1, . . . , n.
US09286483B2

Embodiments of the present invention provide an approach for protecting visible data during computerized process usage. Specifically, in a typical embodiment, when a computerized process is identified, a physical page key (PPK) is generated (e.g., a unique PPK may be generated for each page of data) and stored in at least one table. Based on the PPK a virtual page key (VPK) is generated and stored in at least one register. When the process is later implemented, and a request to access a set of data associated the process is received, it will be determined whether the VPK is valid (based on the PPK). Based on the results of this determination, a data access determination is made.
US09286478B2

An image processing device is provided. The image processing device includes a scanner to scan an image formed in a scannable area which is allocated on a sheet, an image obtainer to obtain a processible image formed in the scannable area and scanned by the scanner, a judging unit to judge as to whether the processible image obtained by the image obtainer includes an identifying image, which qualifies a predetermined authentication criterion, and a function controller to activate a predetermined function of the image processing device, which processes the processible image obtained by the image obtainer, when the judging unit judges that the obtained processible image includes the identifying image therein.
US09286469B2

A system receives information from at least one security interceptor associated with at least one computer system. The information identifies details associated with a traffic flow in a computer system of the computer networking environment. The system determines a probability that an attack on the computer system is in progress based on a probabilistic link provided by the information. The probabilistic link is determined by attack information associated with previous attacks. Based on the information provided by the at least one security interceptor, the system generates a signature utilized to prevent a similar attack on the computer system.
US09286466B2

A method for registering a computing device to a user account using at least one user-selected fingerprintable device externally accessible to the computing device including transmitting a registration information request to the computing device, receiving at least one device fingerprint of the at least one user-selected fingerprintable device accessible by the computing device, and primary identification data of the computing device, generating a skeleton key, recording the primary identification data, and associating the skeleton key and the primary identification data with the user account. A method for authenticating the computing device including transmitting an authentication information request to the computing device, receiving an encrypted identification data from the computing device, decrypting the encrypted identification data using a skeleton key associated with the user account, comparing the decrypted identification data with a primary identification data associated with the user account, and authenticating the computing device.
US09286461B2

A multisided card having at least two obverse faces and two reverse faces that are adjacent one another, can be used to print and store relatively insecure information of the obverse faces and to have more sensitive information stored and printed on the adjacent reverse faces. To protect privacy, a caricature or cartoon of an individual can be placed on an obverse face, or in a virtual card, wallet or purse, which image cannot be read by facial recognition techniques but could be recognized by human observers.
US09286460B2

Devices and methods provide for enabling a user to use a single user authentication device such as smart-card reader, such that the user is capable of securely interfacing with two or more isolated computers and enabling the user to authenticate and remain authenticated at multiple computers at the same time. Once the user removes the smart-card from the smart-card reader, the authentication session on all coupled computers is terminated at once. The user authentication device comprises: an authentication module connected via a channel selection switch to one of a plurality of channels, each interfacing with a respective coupled computer.
US09286458B2

A system controlling online access to a study course verifies the identity of an individual taking a study course over a global computer network from a first computer at a node of the network. The first computer has a biometric identification program and communicates over the network with a second computer that is at a network node other than a node of the first computer. The second computer includes study program material. The first computer operates a biometric reader, which obtains a first set of biometric data from the individual and a second set of biometric data from the individual while access is granted to course material. The biometric identification program compares the first set of data with the second set of data to make a verification of the identity of the individual and communicates the verification to the second computer.
US09286457B2

Biometric data are obtained from a biometric sensor on a mobile device, containing an ASIC, which is connected to or incorporated within it. The mobile device and ASIC, in combination or individually, capture biometric samples, extract biometric features and match them to a locally stored, encrypted template. For extra security, the biometric matching may be enhanced by the use of an entered PIN. The biometric template and other sensitive data are encrypted using hardware elements of the mobile device and ASIC, together with a PIN hash. A stored obfuscated Password is de-obfuscated and released to the mobile device authentication mechanism in response to a successfully decrypted template and matching biometric sample. A different de-obfuscated password may be released to authenticate the user to a remote computer and to encrypt data in transit. The system eliminates the need for the user to remember and enter complex passwords on the mobile device.
US09286455B2

A real identity biometric authentication device includes a USB thumb drive form factor, with a biometric sensor and designated device processor and stored instructions in firmware which perform authentication in a secure manner, independent of processing and storage resources on a host platform. The device and authentication process require biometric data and are secured against effects of malware or other security risks presented by applications running on the host platform. During an enrollment process, a unique encrypted enrollment biometric token is created using biometric data and uploaded securely to an authentication server. During an authentication process, the encrypted enrollment biometric token is downloaded to the real identity authentication device firmware and is decrypted on the device. The biometric data obtained from the decrypted data and is compared with live, real-time biometric data obtained from the user, for example, by a real-time fingerprint scan. If the real-time biometric data and the enrolled, decrypted biometric data match, the user is authenticated.
US09286452B2

An image processing apparatus comprises: a transmitter that transmits user information input by a user, to an authentication server; a receiver that receives an authentication result from the authentication server; a job execution portion that executes a job if the user is successfully identified as an authorized user; a register storage that stores accumulated information including information about the executed job; an information transfer portion that transfers the accumulated information to the authentication server; a detector that detects an event if the authentication server is down; a time settings portion that specifies either “at a predetermined time” or “when log-on is requested”, as the time to check the status of the authentication server; and a status checking portion that: transmits acknowledgment request data to the authentication server at the specified time; and checks the status of the authentication server if acknowledgment data is received from the authentication server.
US09286449B2

A method, system and device for allowing the secure collection of sensitive information is provided. The device includes a display, and a user interface capable of receiving at least one user-generated interrupt in response to a stimulus generated in response to content received by the device, wherein the action taken upon receiving the user-generated interrupt depends on a classification of the content, the classification identifying the content as trusted or not trusted. The method includes detecting a request for sensitive information in content, determining if an interrupt is generated, determining if the content is trusted, allowing the collection of the sensitive information if the interrupt is generated and the content is trusted, and performing an alternative action if the interrupt is generated and the content is not trusted. The method may include instructions stored on a computer readable medium.
US09286446B2

Managing and accessing media items, including: a plurality of domains configured to provide access to media items; a plurality of clients associated with the plurality domains, and providing a pathway for accessing the media items; and a spanning application configured to track and aggregate accessible media items from the plurality of domains based on authentication and registration information and associated rights of the plurality of clients and the plurality of domains, wherein the spanning application enables accessing of the media items across the plurality of domains.
US09286445B2

A rights management system monitors and controls use of a computer program to prevent use that is not in compliance with acceptable terms. The system monitors usage of the computer program for usage and activities that are not in compliance with the license or other use terms. Upon detection of a violation of these terms, state information pertaining to the computer program is saved and operation of the computer program and/or a portion of the computer system is suspended. The system maintains the suspension for as long as the violation exists. Once compliance has been reestablished, the suspension is terminated.
US09286444B2

A system includes a cloud-computing infrastructure to provide multitenant access from a public Internet Protocol (IP) network and multiple instances of a virtualized secure gateway operating on one or more physical devices within the cloud-computing infrastructure. The multiple instances of the virtualized secure gateway provide a point of entry to a private IP network. Each instance of the multiple instances of the virtualized secure gateway is configured to terminate multiple virtual private network (VPN) tunnels from a single customer accessing the private IP network via the public IP network, and each instance of the multiple instances of the virtualized secure gateway resides on a different processing core of the physical devices within the cloud-computing infrastructure.
US09286437B2

Systems and methods for positioning horizontal wells within a limited-pre-defined boundary. The systems and methods include an automated process for creating jointed target pairs or horizontal laterals to be utilized for planning horizontal wells in order to position the horizontal laterals within limited pre-defined boundary(ies).
US09286436B2

Methods for product data management and corresponding systems and computer-readable mediums. A method includes receiving a three-dimensional CAD model in the data processing system, the CAD model including a plurality of geometries. The method includes identifying equivalence relationships between multiple ones of the geometries and receiving at least one Relationship Implication (RI) definition. Each RI definition defines a relationship implication according to a plurality of the geometries and at least one type of the equivalence relationships. The method includes applying each RI definition to the geometries to produce groups of geometries corresponding to each RI definition and selecting a representative geometry for each group. The method includes filtering out geometric relationships for each geometry in each group other than the representative geometry and manipulating the CAD model without the filtered-out geometric relationships.
US09286430B1

A system or technique provides for a hierarchical visual-based analysis of electrical integrated circuit system simulation results. A 3D visualization may be used to identify and conduct an analysis of the integrated circuit. An analysis is done on a specific feature of the integrated circuit that is visible in the 3D visualization. The specific feature may be one that is obscured by other layers of the integrated circuit visualization.
US09286424B1

An emulation environment includes a host system and an emulator. The host system configures the emulator to emulate a design under test (DUT) and the emulator emulates the DUT accordingly. During emulation, the emulator traces limited signals of the DUT and stores values of the traced signals. When values of certain signals of the DUT are needed for analysis or verification of the DUT but the signals were not traced by the emulator, the host system simulates one or more sections of the DUT to obtain values of the signals. Signals traced by the emulator are used as inputs to simulate the one or more sections.
US09286423B2

A method, system and computer program product are disclosed for using a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) to simulate operations of a device under test (DUT). The DUT includes a device memory having a number of input ports, and the FPGA is associated with a target memory having a second number of input ports, the second number being less than the first number. In one embodiment, a given set of inputs is applied to the device memory at a frequency Fd and in a defined cycle of time, and the given set of inputs is applied to the target memory at a frequency Ft. Ft is greater than Fd and cycle accuracy is maintained between the device memory and the target memory. In an embodiment, a cycle accurate model of the DUT memory is created by separating the DUT memory interface protocol from the target memory storage array.
US09286420B1

Various processes or modules described herein enable the schematic design tools to obtain physical data of a physical design and to perform one or more simulations in the schematic domain with such physical data such that the schematic design tools are made electrically aware of the physical data. Various types of data in the physical domain may be transferred to the schematic domain for the performance of one or more schematic simulations with the transferred data. The schematic designs are thus made electrically aware of such data from the physical domain and may incorporate any layout induced effects early in the schematic design stage or even at the time a schematic instance of a physical module is to be created in the schematic domain.
US09286419B2

A method and system is provided for solving for electromagnetic fields by approximating an electromagnetic function as a sum of basis functions multiplied by coefficients to be determined. The set of equations used to determine the coefficients results from taking derivatives of the action integral with respect to the coefficients (and/or other parameters) and setting the derivative equal to zero, thereby extremizing the action integral.
US09286418B1

A method for designing an acoustic array includes establishing a desired beam pattern, acoustic wavelength and beamwidth for the array. Geometric parameters are calculated from these constraints. The array is modeled as a plurality of elements positioned in accordance with the geometric parameters. An amplitude shading function is calculated. An array of acoustic elements is constructed having an area calculated from the calculated amplitude shading function. An acoustic array designed by this process is further provided.
US09286417B2

Computer-implemented method for digitally designing a dental restoration for a rest tooth, wherein the rest tooth is described by data of the rest tooth and wherein a tooth template is described by data of the tooth template, wherein the method comprises the step of: automatically deforming the tooth template by means of Laplacian surface deformation such that a prepared part of the rest tooth is covered by a portion of the tooth template; obtaining axis data defining an axis; based on the obtained axis data, automatically generating a line going through a point, such as a vertex or a point inside a polygonal mesh, on the surface of the rest tooth or the tooth template, wherein the line orthogonally intersects the axis; and when the line intersects with the tooth template and with the surface of the rest tooth, automatically choosing the intersection point of the line with the tooth template as handle and the intersection point with the surface of the rest tooth as target; and automatically deforming the tooth template.
US09286416B2

A modeling technique is provided. The modeling technique includes inputting tool parameters into a model and inputting basic model parameters into the model. The technique further includes generating a simulated, corrected reticle design using the tool parameters and the basic model parameters. An image of test patterns is compared against the simulated, corrected reticle design. A determination is made as to whether δ1<ε1, wherein δ1 represents model vs. exposure difference and ε1 represents predetermined criteria. The technique further includes completing the model when δ1<ε1.
US09286412B2

A service provider presents results from a search query with dynamic category ranges, with each category range having approximately the same number of items within the category range.
US09286409B2

A method, computer program product, and system for providing advanced downloading of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for a WEB browser running on a computer. The system is capable of providing a WEB browser with Uniform Resource Locators (URLs). The system comprises a client computer and a server. The client computer includes the WEB browser for use by a user and includes a URL component. The server provides WEB data to the client computer. The server includes a URL downloader, which is responsive to the URL component for downloading the URLs to the client computer.
US09286408B2

Methods for analyzing a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and apparatus for performing such methods. The methods include parsing the URL into text segments and generating n-grams from the text segments. The methods further include generating annotations, each annotation corresponding to one of the n-grams and comprising a match value for its corresponding n-gram, a description of its match value, and a score. The methods still further include selecting a subset of the annotations.
US09286404B2

A computer-implemented method involving a corpus of documents. The method includes accepting search criteria from a user, the search criteria including a domain identifier identifying a domain and including a filter condition specifying a geometric relationship between co-referenced locations; in response to accepting the search criteria from the user, searching among the corpus of documents to identify a set of documents, wherein each document among the set of documents contains anywhere within the document location-related information that refers to a location within the domain and satisfies the filter condition, and wherein the set of documents only includes documents that satisfy the filter condition; and identifying to the user the documents in the set of documents.
US09286398B2

A data retrieval system comprising a first computing device communicatively coupled to a second computing device; the first computing device having a processor that supports operation of at least one software application that is used for retrieving data; the second computing device communicatively coupled to one or more storage media; the software application having a retrieval module for retrieving data from the one or more storage media; a storage and backup map that maps to the second computing device; and a data index stored on the second computing device that indicates to the retrieval module a particular location of the data that is to be retrieved by the retrieval module.
US09286397B1

Example techniques for generating customized content may include the following operations: receiving a search query from a computing device associated with a user; performing a search of electronic content based on the search query; obtaining a search result based on the search of electronic content; obtaining configurable content that relates to the search query, where the configurable content includes a field that is configurable; identifying user-specific content based on the search query; configuring the field of the configurable content based on the user-specific content to thereby produce configured content; and outputting data corresponding to the search result and the configured content for use in generating a Web page containing the search result and the configured content.
US09286389B2

A semiotic square search and/or sentiment analysis system and method are provided. In one implementation, a software implemented document search system and method are disclosed. The system and method may be used to analyze sentiments in various types of data including documents, blogs, text strings, posts, etc. . . . .
US09286386B2

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for an iterative disambiguation interface. A system practicing the method receives a search query formatted according to a standard XML markup language for containing and annotating interpretations of user input, the search query being based on a natural language spoken query from a user and retrieves search results based on the search query. The system transmits the search results to a user device and iteratively receives multimodal input from the user to change search attributes and transmits updated search results to the user device based on the changed search attributes. The search results can include a link to additional information, such as a video presentation, related to the search results. The standard XML markup language can be Extensible MultiModal Annotation (EMMA) markup language from W3C. The system can generate an iteration transaction history for each multimodal input and updated search result.
US09286383B1

The present disclosure relates to a method for synchronization of audio data, such as music, with events that occur in interactive media, such as computer games. In particular, a user can define choreography data that an interactive computer application can use to synchronize to audio, such as music, one or more aspects of the application, such as the GUI, animations, rendering, sound effects, etc.
US09286380B2

A system analyzes data to determine an activity around a product. The system includes a user interface configured to enable one or more data analysts to provide input data and an acquisition module coupled to user interface and configured to retrieve social media data in response to the input data. The social media data is received from one more social media platforms. The system further includes processing circuitry coupled to the acquisition module and includes an analysis module configured to analyze the social media data to generate processed data and classify the processed data based on a plurality of criteria and a visualization module coupled to the analysis module and configured to generate a plurality of visual representations of classified data.
US09286374B2

Systems and methods for use in association with a master entity index system may allow data records to be grouped together into various entities, where each of the entities may represent a logical or physical item. These entities may also be associated with one another in a manner such that relationships between entities may likewise be represented. In one embodiment, an interface may be provided for use in conjunction with the master entity index system such that these various entities and relationships may be better managed, manipulated or visualized. This interface may allow a user to search for or otherwise obtain an entity, where a representation of this entity and one or more associated entities may be presented to the user along with representations of the relationships between these entities.
US09286373B2

Computer-implemented systems and methods are disclosed for comparing and associating objects. In some embodiments, a method is provided for associating a first object with one or more objects within a plurality of objects, each object comprising a first plurality of properties, each property comprising data reflecting a characteristic of an entity represented by the object, the associated objects comprising matching data in corresponding properties for a second plurality of properties. The method may include executing, for each object within the plurality of objects and for the first object, the following: creating a slug for the object, the slug comprising the second plurality of properties from the object; and inputting the slug for the object into a Bloom filter. Further, the method may include creating for a bin within the Bloom filter corresponding to the slug for the first object, an association between objects whose slugs correspond to the bin if the slugs for those objects match.
US09286371B2

A computer-implemented method for presenting a multidimensional decision table includes: receiving a decision table that defines columns as respective dimensions, each row having a value in only one of the columns, the decision table specifying results for respective value combinations in the dimensions; identifying each value in an innermost dimension of the decision table; and generating a table representation for the decision table that has a corresponding column for each of the dimensions except the innermost dimension, and a separate column for each of the identified values, wherein the separate columns include corresponding ones of the results.
US09286364B2

Method and systems for sharing product data involved in a supply chain among a plurality of subscribers to an on-demand database is described. Data related to a product is received from a first subscriber and stored into a first section of the on-demand database reserved for the first subscriber. The first subscriber then communicates a request to share the product data with one or more second subscribers. Once the first subscriber receives an acceptance from the one or more second subscribers, the product data is stored in a second section of the on-demand database reserved for the second subscriber. Changes made to the data associated with the product are synchronized between the two subscribers.
US09286362B2

A metadata management system and method enables complex query searches by users, e.g., different users having different query needs, using the same infrastructure. For querying metadata, the metadata management system provides functionality for aggregating all the concepts (metadata items) and relationships of the metadata across one or more users in a common format; extracting concepts and storing them in a metadata store (e.g., a relational database); extracting relationships and modeling them in a standard semantic representation. The system and method further records users' different needs on relationships into user-specific configuration files. The system is configured for retrieving, in response to a user query, relevant data items by using the meta-data selectively. In one embodiment, a selection of meta-data used in the retrieving is determined according to captured context information.
US09286361B2

A controller is coupled to an Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) processor, which is connected to data storage devices. The controller comprises: a hardware storage device; a storage control component for storing, on said hardware storage device, a set of criteria for preferredness of ETL stage placements; an I/O input device detecting component for recognizing a proposed placement of a stage on a GUI canvas on the display device; an analytical component for analyzing an eventual result of the proposed placement in an ETL activity represented on the GUI canvas; a comparator for comparing the eventual result of the proposed placement in the ETL activity with the set of criteria; and an indicator control component for, responsive to an outcome of an operation of the comparator, providing to the user an indicator of a degree of preferredness of said proposed placement according to the set of criteria.
US09286355B2

The present document describes a method for producing a knee joint treatment plan and/or surgery plan for a patient, the method comprising: obtaining 3D kinematic data of the knee joint in movement; determining, from the 3D kinematic data, scores characterizing the joint function of the patient, the one or more scores being relative to one or more criteria; and comparing the scores to data in a database which characterize a plurality of treatment plans and/or surgery plans to generate the list of one or more treatment plans and/or surgery plans which match the scores.
US09286354B2

Certain example embodiments described herein relate to forecasting the future behavior of event streams in Complex Event Processing (CEP) environments. For each received event in an event stream, a reference window indicative of a predefined temporal range during which the forecast is to be computed is updated so that the reference window ends with the received event, with the reference window moving with the event stream. Within this processing loop, when a forecasting update policy indicates that the forecast is to be updated based on the received event: a forecasting window indicative of a temporal range in which events are to be forecasted is updated; and while the time period of the forecasting window is not exceeded, (a) a next forecasted event is generated via at least one processor and (b) the next forecasted event is inserted into the forecast window; and the forecast window is published.
US09286353B2

At least one processing specification is generated for a stream of data items captured by a sensor. A plurality of proposed window specifications is generated. The at least one processing specification is generated based on at least one of the proposed window specifications. The plurality of proposed window specifications being generated based on a similarity metric is configured to identify similar pairs of data items in the stream of data items.
US09286352B2

Techniques for implementing the hybrid execution of continuous and scheduled queries are provided. In some examples, a query engine may be initialized with relational data from at least a first source. For example, the first source may include a database or other system that can provide historical data. Additionally, the query engine may be enabled to provide query results based at least in part on the relational data from at least the first source and streaming data from at least a second source. In some examples, the second source may be a data stream.
US09286345B2

System, computer implemented method and computer program product for preparing and navigating a query tree including a plurality of query nodes and informational nodes. Each query node is associated with a prompt, branching criteria and keywords. A current query node provides a prompt to a user and a user response is received and analyzed to identify branching criteria and keywords from the user response. The method navigates to another node in the query tree in consideration of the branching criteria received in the user response and a comparison between the keywords received in the user response and the keywords associated with the query nodes. The comparison may validate navigation to a destination node corresponding to the branching criteria or the comparison may indicate incorrect navigation of the query tree. Corrective navigation can be implemented in various ways based upon the keywords received in the user response.
US09286344B1

A method for maintaining consistency for I/O operations on metadata distributed amongst a plurality of nodes forming a ring structure.
US09286343B2

Statistics mechanisms in multitenant database environments. A master statistics file is maintained in a multitenant database system. The master statistics file has statistics corresponding to multiple tenants within the multitenant database system. Statistics for a selected table within the multitenant database system are generated. The selected table corresponding to a selected tenant of the multitenant database system. The master statistics file is updated based on the generated statistics for the selected table.
US09286335B1

Abstraction and/or integration can be performed on information, e.g. transaction data items in standard and/or proprietary formats, using data processing systems. For example, standard-based abstraction operations can analyze transaction data items in standard format to obtain transaction segment data items, each about a transaction segment; transaction segment data items can be used to obtain and store segment group data structures, each about a type of transaction segment data items and which can also include standard-based abstraction artifacts. Abstraction operations on standard or proprietary format can automatically extract pre-integration information, such as usage attributes. A resulting data structure can include test case scenarios, each a combination of segment group data structures with usage attributes. Integration can be performed on transaction type attribute data, producing integration attributes such as merged attribute data. A universal integration attribute language can be used, allowing comparison of segment group data structures from different proprietary formats.
US09286327B2

According to certain aspects, systems and methods are provided for automating recovery of a networked data storage environment. For instance, a system can generate a data recovery package configured to automatically carry out a process for recovering a data storage environment and/or associated data. The content of the particular workflow depends on the data storage environment, and can be defined by a user.
US09286325B2

A method, a system, and a computer program product for extracting one or more images from a storage medium. A search model is selected based on the availability of a semantically related aesthetic model. A search model includes a generic aesthetic model if the semantically related aesthetic model for query is not available. A semantic score and an aesthetic score are computed based on the selected search model. The images are further ranked based on the semantic and aesthetic score.
US09286323B2

A method for tag-based search includes capturing an image, extracting a tag from the image, identifying a location associated with the captured image, and querying stored content for information that matches the location and the tag. Local storage is checked for the information first, and remote storage may be checked subsequently. Any located information may be used to augment the image. Information located in the remote storage may be saved in the local storage until it reaches a certain age, until it fails to be accessed for a threshold period of time, or until the location moves outside a threshold radius associated with a location of the information located in the remote storage.
US09286322B2

Embodiments of the present invention recite method for implementing a dual purpose Geographic Information Systems (GIS) network. In one embodiment, a first data stream which is compatible with a dedicated GIS data collection device is generated. The method further comprises generating a second data stream which is compatible with a mobile electronic device configured for collecting GIS data and which was not originally intended for use as a GIS data recording device.
US09286318B2

A first edge server which is configured to provide a first home directory performs preventive processing of preventing a first file in a first home directory from overwriting a second file in a core space prior to coping an update of the first home directory to the core space. The second file is a file that has been updated in a second home directory and copied to the core space. The first file is a file that corresponds to the second file and that has been updated in the first home directory and has not been copied to the core space.
US09286309B2

A method, system, and computer program product for storing the settings of a last edited page or a last viewed page of a document and preprocessing the document to generate a thumbnail of the document. In an embodiment of the invention, the thumbnail comprises a representation of the last edited page or last viewed page of the document.
US09286308B2

The present invention provides a method for modifying a first storage medium having a plurality of files, the method including providing a first modification tool; operatively coupling the first storage medium to the modification tool, wherein the operatively coupling includes bypassing a first operating system used to access the plurality of files; and dematerializing, using the first modification tool, at least a first file to form one or more dematerialized files. In some embodiments, the present invention provides a modification system for modifying a first storage medium having a plurality of files, the system including a first modification tool that includes an attachment module configured to operatively couple the modification tool to the first storage medium such that a first operating system used to access the plurality of files is bypassed; and a dematerialization module configured to dematerialize at least a first file to form one or more dematerialized files.
US09286306B2

The present invention is to improve user operability when the same operation is repeated on a document image management device. A device having a executing unit for receiving selection of processing to be executed on a file or folder from an operator, and executing the processing, which selection is received, on the file or folder, includes: a search unit for searching for a file or folder on which the processing has been executed in the past in the executing unit when receiving the selection of the processing from the operator; and an operation target display unit for showing on a display screen the identification information on the file or folder searched for by the search unit.
US09286295B2

An apparatus and method for cloud-based storage, retrieval and sharing of files tagged with scannable tags and alphanumeric coding is provided. This application and method includes: either scanning a scannable tag by mobile device or inputting a code into a computer; decoding of the scannable tag or text provided, by installed application; accessing, by a cloud based storage system which hosts the associated or tagged file; and retrieving the file associated with the scannable tag or alphanumeric code. This method also includes a process by which: either by smart phone or personal computer; uploading or storing of files onto a cloud-based storage system; tagging of those stored files with a unique scannable tag and alphanumeric code; generating a scannable tag and alphanumeric code to associate with those tag files; and a method of transmitting scannable tag or alphanumeric codes between smart-phone users or computer uses for the purposes of sharing extra information with others using momentos.
US09286293B2

Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to client-side caching. In aspects, when a client receives a request for data that is located on a remote server, the client first checks a local cache to see if the data is stored in the local cache. If the data is not stored in the local cache, the client may check a peer cache to see if the data is stored in the peer cache. If the data is not stored in the peer cache, the client obtains the data from the remote server, caches it locally, and publishes to the peer cache that the client has a copy of the data.
US09286286B1

The present disclosure provides a method, an apparatus, and a computer program product to interact with a spreadsheet application for computing the value of a formula that depends explicitly or implicitly on one or more cells designated as variables, based on provided values for the variables, and without modifying any data of the spreadsheet application. In one aspect, the present disclosure provides an optimization process executed by spreadsheet functions of a spreadsheet application, and arranged in a functional paradigm for computing optimal parameters for a parameterized system modelled by variables, parameters, and dependent formulas.
US09286283B1

A method and apparatus for form processing is provided, requiring little to no data entry. Upon receiving an electronic notification containing a form, a validation server extracts an electronic contact address from the electronic notification. The validation server then applies a template associated with the sender's electronic contact address to an OCRed document to extract information necessary to generate an electronic form comprising machine parsable data. The sender is then granted access and prompted to validate the electronic form. The sender entity validates the electronic form by making any necessary changes or revisions and by submitting the editable web form. The form's parsable content is then stored directly as data in a database. In some embodiments, the validation server may accept the electronic validation with additional revision information. In these embodiments, the revision information may be applied to future forms received from the sender. Optionally, the revision information may also be used to create a new version of the template specifically associated with the sender's electronic contact address.
US09286281B2

A system and method for facilitating the entry by a signer user of information into a scaffold electronic document having multiple information entry fields, over the internet or similar network. The system includes a document summary server, in communication with a document execution server, and associated with a scaffold electronic document via network. The document summary server facilitates the entry by a signer user of information into one or more information entry fields in a scaffold document.
US09286278B2

Embodiments relate to text editing. An aspect includes changing a first word or phrase in a sentence for a second word or phrase while maintaining semantic content of the first word or phrase and such that the sentence falls within a predetermined range by, in response to the second word or phrase having more characters or words than the first word or phrase, changing a third word or phrase within the sentence for a fourth word or phrase, such that the sentence falls within the predetermined range; and in response the second word or phrase having fewer characters or words than the first word or phrase, changing a fifth word or phrase within the sentence for a sixth word or phrase, such that the sentence falls within the predetermined range. Another aspect includes displaying the sentence including the second word or phrase on the display screen.
US09286268B2

A method and an apparatus embodying the method for fast convolution of a signal with a one-sided exponential function is disclosed. Additionally, a method and a system embodying the method for fast convolution of a signal with complex exponential function localized around an origin by an exponential function envelope utilizing the method and a system embodying the method for fast convolution of a signal with a one-sided exponential function is disclosed.
US09286266B1

This disclosure generally relates to systems and methods to receiving onboard diagnostic data associated with an operational state of a vehicle of a user and pushing a message to the user, the message including information associated with the onboard diagnostic data.
US09286261B1

A parallel supercomputing cluster includes compute nodes interconnected in a mesh of data links for executing an MPI job, and solid-state storage nodes each linked to a respective group of the compute nodes for receiving checkpoint data from the respective compute nodes, and magnetic disk storage linked to each of the solid-state storage nodes for asynchronous migration of the checkpoint data from the solid-state storage nodes to the magnetic disk storage. Each solid-state storage node presents a file system interface to the MPI job, and multiple MPI processes of the MPI job write the checkpoint data to a shared file in the solid-state storage in a strided fashion, and the solid-state storage node asynchronously migrates the checkpoint data from the shared file in the solid-state storage to the magnetic disk storage and writes the checkpoint data to the magnetic disk storage in a sequential fashion.
US09286259B2

The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for lowering I/O power of a computer system and a computer system. According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for lowering I/O power of a computer system, comprising: buffering a plurality of ways of data to be sent to a bus; encoding each of the plurality of ways of data buffered from n bits to n+m bits based on an encoding rule, wherein n and m are both an integer larger than or equal to 1, the encoding rule is used to lower code switching frequency; and sending the plurality of ways of data encoded to the bus.
US09286258B2

A host system may couple to a PCIe subsystem. During setup of the PCIe subsystem, the BIOS in the host system may first be informed that the devices to be coupled are not PCIe devices, and certain amount of memory is required for these devices. The BIOS may therefore not attempt to configure the devices, and may instead allocate the required memory space. When the operating system boots up, it may not attempt to configure the devices, loading a custom driver instead of an existing PCI driver to configure the bus. Once loaded, the custom driver may configure the devices, then inform the OS that there are PCIe devices in the system at the specified addresses, which may cause the OS to load and execute existing PCIe device drivers to operate/use the devices. The proprietary driver may also be used to handle traffic between the PCIe drivers and the OS.
US09286255B2

A motherboard includes a platform controller hub (PCH) chip, a connector, and a switch chip. The PCH chip includes a first group of pins and a second group of pins. The switch chip is connected to either the first group of pins or the second group of pins according to a type of a card connected to the connector.
US09286251B2

A transceiver is designed to share memory and processing power amongst a plurality of transmitter and/or receiver latency paths, in a communications transceiver that carries or supports multiple applications. For example, the transmitter and/or receiver latency paths of the transceiver can share an interleaver/deinterleaver memory. This allocation can be done based on the data rate, latency, BER, impulse noise protection requirements of the application, data or information being transported over each latency path, or in general any parameter associated with the communications system.
US09286249B2

A universal serial bus (USB) device communication method that relates to the field of communications includes: receiving, by a USB device, a device type query message sent by a peer device, where a human interface device (HID) descriptor and a HID report descriptor are added to a driver of the USB device; sending, by the USB device according to the HID descriptor and HID report descriptor, a query response message that carries a HID identifier to the peer device, where the HID identifier is used to enable the peer device to identify the USB device as a HID device; and encoding and encapsulating, by the USB device, data to be sent to generate a HID packet, and sending the HID packet to the peer device, or receiving a HID packet from the peer device, and decapsulating and decoding the received HID packet, where the HID packet carries a data type and data usage manner information.
US09286244B2

A method and a device for monitoring an unauthorized memory access to a predetermined memory area in a computing device are described, in which a monitoring medium is provided, having at least one sensor medium, which is set up for the purpose of recognizing an event of the computing device, and at least one recognition medium, which is set up for the purpose of tracking the behavior of the event recognized by the sensor medium, the monitoring medium being integrated into a sequence pattern on the computing device, and the monitoring medium being set up for the purpose of monitoring the sequence pattern at its runtime, in that memory accesses to a memory address or an address range are detected by the monitoring medium as events.
US09286243B2

A method for making memory more reliable involves accessing data stored in a removable storage device by translating a logical memory address provided by a host digital device to a physical memory address in the device. A logical memory address is received from the host digital device. The logical memory address corresponds to a location of data stored on the removable storage device. A physical memory address corresponding to the local address is determined by accessing a lookup table corresponding to the logical zone.
US09286242B2

According to one embodiment, an information processing apparatus includes a processor, a main memory, and a memory controller. The memory controller executes an access restriction for each memory region. A first program decodes a protected program which was encrypted in a secure mode. The first program places the protected program which was decoded in a memory region. A second program executes the protected program in a secure mode. The processor places a code region and a protected data region in the protected program which was decoded in a memory region having an access restriction by using the first program. When an access to the protected data region is confirmed, the processor confirms by using the second program that the access is caused by a command from the code region placed by the first program, and then, executes the command.
US09286237B2

Embodiments of methods, apparatuses, and storage media for memory imbalance prediction-based cache memory management are disclosed herein. In one instance, the apparatus may include a memory controller associated with a memory having a plurality of storage units. The memory controller may include logic configured to determine whether the memory enters into an imbalance state based at least in part on a difference in numbers of pending access requests to different storage units, and cause an adjustment of replacement management of a cache memory, based at least in part on a result of the determination. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.
US09286232B2

Administering registered virtual addresses in a hybrid computing environment that includes a host computer, an accelerator, the accelerator architecture optimized, with respect to the host computer architecture, for speed of execution of a particular class of computing functions, the host computer and the accelerator adapted to one another for data communications by a system level message passing module, where administering registered virtual addresses includes maintaining a cache of ranges of currently registered virtual addresses, the cache including entries associating a range of currently registered virtual addresses, a handle representing physical addresses mapped to the range of currently registered virtual addresses, and a counter; determining whether to register ranges of virtual addresses in dependence upon the cache of ranges of currently registered virtual addresses; and determining whether to deregister ranges of virtual addresses in dependence upon the cache of ranges of currently registered virtual addresses.
US09286228B2

Embodiments of the present invention provide a system for performing caching in an image-processing system. The system starts by receiving a filtering query for resources in a cache. The system then returning a subcache in response to the filtering query. Upon receiving a resource query for resources in the subcache, the system performs the filtering query on the cache, populates the subcache with addresses of resources returned by the filtering query until the resource query is satisfied, and returns available resources from the subcache in response to the resource query.
US09286227B2

For a plurality of input/output (I/O) operations waiting to assemble complete data tracks from data segments, a process, separate from a process responsible for the data assembly into the complete data tracks is initiated, and the at least one complete data track is removed off of a free list by a first I/O waiter.
US09286217B2

A method for memory utilization by an electronic device is described. The method includes transferring a first portion of a first decision tree and a second portion of a second decision tree from a first memory to a cache memory. The first portion and second portion of each decision tree are stored contiguously in the first memory. The first decision tree and second decision tree are each associated with a different feature of an object detection algorithm. The method also includes reducing cache misses by traversing the first portion of the first decision tree and the second portion of the second decision tree in the cache memory based on an order of execution of the object detection algorithm.
US09286213B2

A file management system for managing a file using a logical erase block (LEB) corresponding to a physical erase block (PEB). The file management system includes a free LEB list storing a free LEB allowing writing on all pages; a dirty LEB list storing a dirty LEB that is not the free LEB; and an obsolete area determining module determining an obsolete area in at least one dirty LEB, by referring to a block table storing information about whether or not at least one block is being used and according to whether or not the at least one dirty LEB is mapped to a PEB.
US09286212B2

A control circuit of a semiconductor device (memory module) realizes long life and others by a mechanism that suppresses and smoothes variations in use of a memory by equalizing the sizes of data write and data erase with respect to a data write request and sequentially allocating and using addresses of the memory in data write to an overwritable non-volatile memory device without carrying out an overwriting operation even in the case of an overwrite request. The control circuit realizes data write by a set of two types of operations of (a) an operation of erasing data of a first address or an operation of setting a flag value to an invalid state and (b) an operation of writing data to a second address different from the first address or an operation of setting a flag value to a valid state.
US09286211B2

Methods and devices are provided for adapting an I/O pattern, with respect to a processing device using a non-volatile block storage device based on feedback from the non-volatile block storage device. The feedback may include information indicating a status of the non-volatile block storage device. In response to receiving the feedback, a storage subsystem, included in an operating system executing on processing device, may change a behavior with respect to the non-volatile block storage device in order to avoid, or reduce, a negative impact to the non-volatile block storage device or to enhance an aspect of the non-volatile block storage device. The feedback may include performance information and/or operating environmental information of the non-volatile block storage device. When the non-volatile block storage device is not capable of providing the feedback, the processing device may request information about the non-volatile block storage device from a database service.
US09286208B2

According to one embodiment, a controller includes a first command queuing part corresponding to a first bank, the first command queuing part queuing a first command, a second command queuing part corresponding to a second bank, the second command queuing part queuing a second command, and a command execution control part which is configured to generate a first sub-command sequence based on a group of commands in the first command, generate a second sub-command sequence based on a group of commands in the second command, and determine whether or not to execute the first and second sub-command sequences in parallel as an interleave operation between the first and second banks, by comparing an additional value of a first numeric converted parameter of the first sub-command sequence and a second numeric converted parameter of the second sub-command sequence with a threshold data.
US09286206B2

According to one embodiment, a memory system includes nonvolatile memories each storing data and an address table for acquiring an address of the data, and a control unit which is configured to be capable of accessing the nonvolatile memories in parallel, and issues table read requests for reading the address tables and data read requests for reading the data to the nonvolatile memories in response to read commands from a host. When a table read request and a data read request are issued to a same nonvolatile memory, the control unit processes the data read request in priority to the table read request.
US09286204B2

A microcomputer retains a group definition table associating the sector sections created by dividing all sectors into multiple sections under a given condition with different memory regions on a flash memory, respectively. A memory control section makes reference to the group definition table to identify a memory region corresponding to a specified sector, and searches the identified memory region range for a physical address corresponding to the specified sector. Furthermore, the memory control section moves a specified sector within the identified memory region range for rewriting data corresponding to the specified sector.
US09286200B2

A system comprises a first storage system including a first storage controller, which receives input/output commands from host computers and provides first storage volumes to the host computers; and a second storage system including a second storage controller which receives input/output commands from host computers and provides second storage volumes to the host computers. A first data storing region of one of the first storage volumes is allocated from a first pool by the first storage controller. A second data storing region of another one of the first storage volumes is allocated from a second pool by the first storage controller. A third data storing region of one of the second storage volumes is allocated from the first pool by the second storage controller. A fourth data storing region of another one of the second storage volumes is allocated from the second pool by the second storage controller.
US09286199B2

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for modifying memory space allocation for inactive tasks. Information is maintained on computational resources consumed by tasks running in the computer system allocated memory space in the memory. The information on the computational resources consumed by the tasks is used to determine inactive tasks of the tasks. The allocation of the memory space allocated to at least one of the determined inactive tasks is modified.
US09286196B1

A method, apparatus and computer program, each for optimizing execution of a computer program is disclosed in which a topology-based control flow analysis of basic blocks of the computer program is performed and a data flow analysis of the instructions within the basic blocks is performed to determine if each instruction of said computer program is uniform or non-uniform (variant or invariant). Subsequently, when the computer program is executed, storage of a copy of a variable dependent on a uniform instruction is suppressed.
US09286194B2

Embodiments relate to a method, system and computer program product for operating a data processing system. The data processing system includes a display device, a processing device connected to the display device, and one or more user input devices connected to the processing device. The display device is configured to display a Gantt chart comprising a plurality of tasks and a plurality of constraints. Each constraint connects two tasks. A method comprises highlighting a task in the Gantt chart. In response to receiving a forward user input, the method further comprises highlighting a constraint exiting a previously highlighted task in the Gantt chart, or in response to receiving a back user input, highlighting a constraint entering the previously highlighted task in the Gantt chart.
US09286185B2

Technologies are generally described for systems, methods and devices configured to monitor a performance of a resource of a device. In some examples, a processor may receive an application code. The application code may include at least one application thread configured to implement at least one task for the application code. The application code may be configured to spawn a performance thread. The processor may execute the application thread on the computing device. The application thread may be configured to use at least one resource of the computing device. The processor may further execute the performance thread on the computing device. The performance thread may be configured to calculate a value relating to the resource.
US09286180B1

Provided are a system and method for generating final result checking for a test case. A test case is executed for a coherent memory system having a processor core. An event log is generated for the processor core. The event log is analyzed. The test case for the core is annotated with a checker for performing expected data checking for physical addresses modified by the processor core.
US09286179B1

Disclosed are various embodiments for a service testing application. A service testing application executes test operations for services in a service-oriented architecture. If a test is failed, services that are dependent upon a failing service are reconfigured to instead call a corresponding service in a different installation of the service-oriented architecture. A dependency model of the service-oriented architecture may be searched to determine which service dependencies to reconfigure.
US09286173B2

Data associated with a workload is stored in a first composite array of data storage devices, and is automatically stored in a second composite array in response to predicting failure of one of the data storage devices in the first composite array. The data may be stored in the second composite array by either converting the first composite array or migrating the data to the second composite array. One of the data storage devices may predict its own failure and issue a predictive failure alert.
US09286166B2

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.
US09286159B2

Data storage devices using a two-level ECC scheme are described. Embodiments of the invention allow the recovery of sectors in a squeezed group of tracks in a that includes both a single track level ECC scheme and a track band ECC scheme that functions across the set of tracks in the band. The track band ECC scheme uses additional parity information calculated using input data from multiple tracks to allow correction across tracks.
US09286157B2

An address detection circuit comprises first to N-th address storage units suitable for storing an address, first to N-th calculation units each suitable for performing a counting operation when an address is stored in a corresponding address storage unit among the address storage units or the address stored in the corresponding address storage unit is inputted, a control unit suitable for sequentially storing an input address in the address storage units, and storing the input address in a selected address storage unit among the address storage units when of the address storage units each store an address, and a detection unit suitable for detecting an address, which is inputted a reference number of times or more, among the addresses stored in the address storage units, based on outputs of the calculation units.
US09286153B2

An approach is provided for monitoring the health of a Question/Answer (QA) Computing System. In the approach, performed by an information handling system, a number of static questions are periodically submitted to the QA system, wherein each of the static questions corresponds to a previously established verified answer. Responses are received from the QA system, with the responses including answers corresponding to the submitted static questions. Monitoring the performance of the QA system based on the received responses. When the monitoring detects a problem with the QA system, a user is notified of the detected problem.
US09286146B2

Techniques are described for managing interactions between workflows being performed by different applications, such as to enable a combination of multiple workflows in multiple applications of different types to aggregate varying capabilities available from the different types of applications. In some situations, an integrated workflow is created by separating portions of its functionality into multiple constituent workflows that is each performed by a different application and that initiate one or more inter-workflow interactions between the constituent workflows as they are performed (e.g., for one of the constituent workflows to, while it is being performed, invoke another constituent workflow in order to begin its performance). As one non-limiting example, the multiple applications of different types may include a least an enterprise business application program that provides various core business functions, and a desktop collaborative application program that provides various user activity management capabilities.
US09286141B2

An image forming apparatus may be coupled to another image forming apparatus that manages first programs using a first program execution environment providing part in response to a request in accordance with first interface specifications using a predetermined communication protocol. The image forming apparatus manages second programs using a second program execution environment providing part that has a structure different from that of the first program execution environment providing part in response to an a request in accordance with second interface specifications, accepts the request in accordance with the first interface specifications, and converts the accepted request into a request in accordance with the second interface specifications to be input to the program management part.
US09286132B2

A mechanism is provided in a data processing system for performing a logical partition migration utilizing multiple paths. Responsive to a virtual machine monitor initiating a logical partition migration operation to move a logical partition from a source system to a destination system, the mechanism allocates a plurality of memory pools and a plurality of threads from a mover service partition to the virtual machine monitor. The virtual machine monitor performs the logical partition migration operation utilizing each of the plurality of threads to transfer a corresponding one of the plurality of memory pools from the source system to the destination system to effect the logical partition migration operation.
US09286131B2

A system and method for withdrawing virtual processors from virtual machines (VMs) are disclosed. In accordance with one embodiment, a hypervisor executed by a computer system detects when a measure of system load for a virtual machine falls below a threshold. In response, the hypervisor withdraws a virtual processor from the virtual machine.
US09286127B2

The present invention discloses a method for allocating processor resources precisely by means of predictive scheduling based on current credits, wherein the run queue of the Credit scheduler comprises virtual central processing units (VCPUs) with UNDER priority located at the head of the queue, VCPUs with OVER priority, VCPUs with IDLE priority located at the end of the queue and a wait queue for saving all VCPUs with overdrawn credits. Based on credit values of VCPUs, the method predicts the time of the credit overdrawing, and sets a timer which is triggered after the time to notify the Credit scheduler to stop scheduling corresponding VCPU. Thus the method effectively controls credit consumption and achieves the object of precise allocation of processor resources. The method is suitable to multi-core environment, and is also capable of reserving the advantages of the existing Credit scheduler, which are quick response for small task loads and load balancing.
US09286105B1

In a computer system, joint operation of multiple hypervisors is coordinated. A persistent hypervisor and a non-persistent hypervisor are executed. The non-persistent hypervisor is executed in the supervisor mode according to an operating regime controlled by a scheduler engine, and the persistent hypervisor is executed in the hypervisor mode under the control of a handler engine. The handler engine monitors, and responds, to an attempted mode transition of the processor between the hypervisor and supervisor modes, and coordinates the suspension and resumption, as appropriate, of the persistent hypervisor.
US09286090B2

A method in a system for handling compiled code is provided. The system comprises a Just-In-Time, JIT, compiler for compiling code, and at least one array processor unit comprising a plurality of processors for executing program code. The method comprises compiling input program code, whereby compiled program code is generated for the input program code. While compiling at least two parts of the compiled program code to be executed in parallel are identified. The identified at least two parts of compiled code are executed in parallel speculatively on at least two respective of the plurality of processors. Control if the at least two parts of in parallel executed code are in conflict with each other is performed, and if the parts are in conflict, the parts are executed again.
US09286089B2

Using stored information about the compilation environment during compilation of a code segment to improve performance of just-in-time compilers. A set of characteristic(s) of a compilation environment is measured during compilation of a code segment. Information that may be relevant to how the compilation is performed is derived from at least one of the measured characteristics and stored in a persistent storage device. Upon a subsequent request to compile that code segment, the information is retrieved and used to change compilation behavior. The set of characteristic(s) relate to at least either compilation backlog or peak memory usage. The changed compilation behavior involves at least adjusting the scheduling of the subsequent compilation request or adjusting the compiler optimization level.
US09286083B2

A method for satisfying loader dependencies on a running embedded computing device is provided. When a software application is loaded on a running embedded computing device, one or more binary files are identified that need to be loaded in order to run the software application. A determination is made as to whether the identified binary files are stored on the embedded computing device. If one or more of the identified binary files are missing from the embedded computer device, one or more file storage devices are identified that contain the missing binary files. The missing binary files are obtained from the one or more file storage devices during runtime and used to complete the load of the software application.
US09286075B2

Systems and methods for efficient out-of-order dynamic deallocation of entries within a shared storage resource in a processor. A processor comprises a unified pick queue that includes an array configured to dynamically allocate any entry of a plurality of entries for a decoded and renamed instruction. This instruction may correspond to any available active threads supported by the processor. The processor includes circuitry configured to determine whether an instruction corresponding to an allocated entry of the plurality of entries is dependent on a speculative instruction and whether the instruction has a fixed instruction execution latency. In response to determining the instruction is not dependent on a speculative instruction, the instruction has a fixed instruction execution latency, and said latency has transpired, the circuitry may deallocate the instruction from the allocated entry.
US09286072B2

Two computer machine instructions are fetched for execution, but replaced by a single optimized instruction to be executed, wherein a temporary register used by the two instructions is identified as a last-use register, where a last-use register has a value that is not to be accessed by later instructions, whereby the two computer machine instructions are replaced by a single optimized internal instruction for execution, the single optimized instruction not including the last-use register.
US09286069B2

Within a processing pipeline 14, issue control circuitry 12 serves to arbitrate write port availability when floating point multiplication instructions are issued into a floating point pipeline 14. If not operating in a flush-to-zero mode, then depending upon the output operands generated denormal handling may or may not be required. A pessimistic assumption is made upon issue that denormal handling will be required and accordingly the write port reserved is a first predetermined number of processing cycles after the start cycle to take account of use of the denormal handling pipeline stage 20. Partway along the processing pipeline 14, state becomes available which indicates whether or not denormal handling is actually required. If denormal handling is not required and a write port is available one processing cycle earlier, then bypass circuitry 22 serves to bypass the denormal handling pipeline stage 20 such that the output operand will be written to the register bank 16 one processing cycle earlier. Write port usage is tracked by a write port usage scoreboard 26 which is both read and updated by the bypass circuitry 22 when re-arbitrating write port availability partway through a floating point multiplication instruction passing along the pipeline 14.
US09286063B2

The techniques and supporting systems described herein provide a comprehensive and customizable approach to identifying the use of best practices during the design and development of software applications, as well as recommending additional enhancements or courses of action that may be implemented to further improve the application. Target software application code is received specific application security best practices applicable to the target software application are identified. Locations in the code where the various best practices ought to be implemented are then identified, and a determination is made whether the relevant best practices are implemented for each location. Finally, positive feedback is provided to the developers for what appears to be their correct implementation of best practices.
US09286062B2

A structure analysis device comprises a storage means wherein modules are stored, and an analysis means for carrying out a structural analysis of a prescribed subject module of the modules which are stored in the storage means. If a hierarchical structure of a first subject range and a hierarchical structure of a second subject range of the subject module are the same, the analysis means creates similarity notification information in association with the first subject range and/or the second subject range. The first subject range and the second subject range are respectively different subject ranges of the subject ranges of the subject modules which are acquired from the storage means. The similarity notification information denotes that respectively similar subject ranges are present in the subject module.
US09286059B2

An information processing device includes: an application recording portion in which application software is recorded; a patch obtaining portion obtaining patch data from a server; a patch recording portion in which the obtained patch data is recorded; and an application executing portion executing an application using the application software and the patch data. The patch obtaining portion includes a difference information obtaining unit obtaining data block difference information between a latest patch file retained by the server and a patch file recorded in the patch recording portion, and a download executing unit downloading an updated data block from the latest patch file according to the difference information.
US09286054B2

The embodiments herein relate to a method and system for design and deployment of cross platform native mobile enterprise applications. Multiple versions of the same application need not be installed repeatedly instead the existing version can be updated. Mobile Applications User Interface and Business Logic are recognized by a smart mobile client (specific for each operating system), which allows changes to User interface and business logic to be pushed from the application management server to the client without need for re-installation. Information between Mobile Server and smart client is exchanged using a proprietary message structure, which has been developed to build complex mobile application. A smart interpreter interprets and parses the application while also rendering it at run time. The smart mobile client has pre-built ability to use native mobile device features and support for offline storage and synchronization with the mobile server.
US09286053B2

A management server comprises: a control program storing unit which stores control programs of multiple types that correspond to respective user skill levels, which allow the user to remotely control an apparatus via a portable information terminal; a device information acquisition unit which acquires device information with respect to the apparatus to be controlled; a history acquisition unit which acquires the user's operation history; a control program judgment unit which judges the control program type to be transmitted based upon the operation history; and a version management unit which transmits the latest-version control program when a control program already transmitted to the portable information terminal does not match the latest version. When the latest-version control program is transmitted to the portable information terminal, the control program judgment unit again judges the control program type to be transmitted, based upon the user's operation history.
US09286050B2

An application is installed on a user device based on context information of another user device. A retail service platform determines that context information of a user device satisfies pre-defined context information, initiates installation of an application on the user device based on the pre-defined context information, and then initiates installation of the application on another user device based on a request from the (first) user device. The retail service platform determines to uninstall the application from the other user device based on a change in the context information of the (first) user device.
US09286022B2

In a method of processing display data, a host device (e.g. a PC) determines display data to send to a remote device and compresses it, and determines processing resources required at the remote device to decompress the compressed display data. The host sends the compressed display data and control information regarding the required processing resources data to the remote device, and the remote device adjusts its processing resources based on the control information, saving energy. The required processing resources can be the number of processing units, clock speed, or operating voltage required by the remote device. The host may determine the required resources for each display frame. The remote device may send details of its processing capabilities to the host.
US09286019B2

An image processing apparatus is provided that includes a controller configured to control a communication device to transmit, to an information processing terminal device, image processing information indicating a specific one of image processing operations that has been selected at a time when the controller starts establishment of communication with the information processing terminal device, control the communication device to receive execution instructing information from the information processing terminal device, and control a specific one of image processing executing devices that corresponds to the received execution instructing information to execute the specific image processing operation in accordance with the received execution instructing information.
US09286016B2

A system and method for enabling content to be displayable in association with a local client printing system associated with a printer provider. The local client printing system, in response to commands entered through the user interface, communicates with a remote printer provider server to retrieve displayable content associated with the commands entered through a user interface. The local client printing system, in response to commands entered through the user interface, communicates with the remote printer provider server to identify the display device upon which the retrieved displayable content is to be displayed. The display device receives, from the remote printer provider server, the retrieved displayable content and displays the retrieved displayable content thereupon.
US09286012B2

A system and method is disclosed for imposing a print job. In one example, the system discloses a computer programmed with executable instructions which operate a set of modules, including an imposition sequence module 104 which calculates a time to process the print job 102 relative to a processing operation 117, and an imposition module 114, 116 , or 118 which variably imposes the print job 102 based on the time to process. In one example, the method discloses how to balance a print job 102 workflow relative to a processing operation 117 , and impose the print job 102 based on the workflow balancing.
US09285996B2

Various embodiments for improving tape drive efficiency using a processor device are provided. In one embodiment, a method comprises aggregating one of records and filemarks, the aggregating restricted to being performed only on read operations, from a plurality of data segments into at least one single data segment, including sequentially aggregating the one of the records and filemarks into the at least one single data segment.
US09285993B2

Interfaces to storage devices that employ storage space optimization technologies, such as thin provisioning, are configured to enable the benefits gained from such technologies to be sustained. Such an interface may be provided in a hypervisor of a virtualized computer system to enable the hypervisor to discover features of a logical unit number (LUN), such as whether or not the LUN is thinly provisioned, and also in a virtual machine (VM) of the virtualized computer system to enable the VM to discover features of a virtual disk, such as whether or not the virtual disk is thinly provisioned. The discovery of these features enables better management of the LUN during near full and out-of-space conditions.
US09285992B2

Systems and methods that enable the optimal creation of a storage object within a virtual storage system are disclosed. In accordance with embodiments, an optimal location with the storage system is determined in response to receiving an indication that a storage object is to be created within the storage system. The system and method prioritize physical storage resources in which to create the storage object, prioritize components to be provided access to the created storage object, and prioritize the interface between the physical storage resources and the accessing component. The storage object is optimally created within the storage system based on the priorities and based, at least in part, on other created storage objects.
US09285987B2

A multi function peripheral is provided with a display controller for causing a display section to display reception screens for respective settings on functions executable in the electrical apparatus, an instruction receiver for receiving an instruction to designate a content of each setting from the user, a display format receiver for receiving an instruction to select any one of a wizard display format, a list display format and a menu display format from the user, and a storage for storing the display format received by the display format receiver while relating it to the contents of the respective settings received by the instruction receiver.
US09285969B2

An approach is provided to direct data to different applications based upon the amount of pressure applied by a user of a pressure sensitive touch-enabled screen. In this approach, a touch input is received at a location of the pressure sensitive touch-enabled screen. The various applications currently being displayed at the location are identified along with the physical pressure level (amount of pressure applied) at the location on the pressure sensitive touch-enabled screen. One of the applications running on the device is selected based on the amount of pressure applied and the touch-based input provided by the user is directed to the selected application.
US09285960B2

In one example, a method comprises rendering a dashboard assembly user interface comprising a canvas section and a resource section, the resource section comprising one or more resource content elements, and the canvas section comprising one or more dashboard content elements. The dashboard assembly user interface enables resource content elements to be selectably added to the canvas section as dashboard content elements in response to user inputs, thereby configuring a business intelligence dashboard. The method further comprises searching for relationships between information associated with the one or more resource content elements and information associated with the one or more dashboard content elements; and, for a first resource content element from among the resource content elements that has a relationship with a first dashboard content element from among the dashboard content elements, rendering a visual indication of the relationship between the first resource content element and the first dashboard content element.
US09285954B2

Systems and techniques are provided for dynamically generating a list of selectable options based on one or more applicable factors, which include visual representations of input components that can be used to select from among the options. For example, an icon corresponding to an input component may be displayed proximate to a respective selectable option such that activating the input component elects the selectable option. Additionally, each icon may be visually similar to its respective input component.
US09285953B2

A display apparatus and a method for inputting characters thereof are provided. The display apparatus includes: a display unit which displays a character input UI including a plurality of character items, each character item comprising a border and a character located in the border, an input unit which receives a user command to select one of the plurality of character items, and, a controller which, if a first character item is selected from among the plurality of character items through the input unit, controls the display unit to display at least one recommended character item associated with the first character to partially overlap with character items adjacent to the first character item. Accordingly, a user can input characters more easily using the character input UI.
US09285947B1

Features are disclosed for presenting multiple content items based on one or more rules defining how the multiple content items are to be presented. One content item may be a primary content item and any number of additional content items may be related to or supplement the primary content item in some way. Rules may define which related content items may be presented and, in the case of multimedia content (e.g., content with both audio and video elements), which elements of the primary content may be overridden by or mixed with related content, and which may not. References to related content may be embedded in the primary content item, or references may be accessed at a content management system or service.
US09285945B2

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for displaying a multi-task interface. The method includes: receiving, by a terminal, a request submitted by a user for displaying a multi-task interface; acquiring tasks started by the user and setting, according to the number of tasks started by the user and a start sequence, an arrangement manner of the multi-task interface; classifying the tasks started by the user into a video playing task and a non-video playing task; and separately drawing the video playing task and the non-video playing task according to the arrangement manner of the multi-task interface to obtain the multi-task interface, and displaying the multi-task interface to the user. In addition, embodiments of the present invention provide a corresponding terminal and a remote control.
US09285941B2

A liquid crystal display includes a liquid crystal panel, a backlight assembly, and a digitizer module. The liquid crystal panel is configured to display an image. The backlight assembly includes: a light emitting diode configured to provide light to the liquid crystal panel; and a light guide configured to guide the light from the light emitting diode towards the liquid crystal panel. The digitizer module includes: a sensor board and a supporting substrate configured to support the sensor board. The backlight assembly is disposed between the liquid crystal panel and the supporting substrate. A size of the supporting substrate is greater than a size of the sensor board. The light emitting diode and the sensor board are disposed on the supporting substrate.
US09285935B2

A capacitive type touch screen device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of driving electrodes and a plurality of sensing electrodes overlapped with the plurality of driving electrodes, at least one driving electrode includes a plurality of cells and a plurality of connecting lines, and the plurality of cells are mutually connected through the plurality of connecting lines.
US09285929B2

A simplified touch screen system that can sense when an object is held in continuous direct or indirect contact with a transparent substrate of the touch screen system as well as determine a location (e.g., X, Y coordinates) of the object in relation to the transparent substrate. The touch screen system employs capacitance technology to sense whether the object is held in contact with the transparent substrate and acoustic sensing technology to determine a position of the object that is contacting the transparent substrate. The touch screen system requires a reduced number of shielding and isolation layers to be deposited upon the transparent substrate, partially because the touch screen system utilizes a bezel associated with an underlying display to provide shielding against electromagnetic radiation emitted by the display.
US09285922B2

The present disclosure provides a touch stack-up structure, which can be applied in a touch panel to make the panel have excellent appearance and reliability. An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a touch stack-up structure that comprises sequentially forming a patterned transparent conductive layer, a first transparent insulation layer with low refractive index, a second transparent insulation layer with high refractive index, and an optical clear adhesive on a transparent substrate.
US09285921B2

A touch panel display device and a driving method thereof are disclosed. The touch panel display device and the driving method thereof sense illumination of external light using a photo-sensor formed on a touch panel, and control a PWM duty of a light source suited to each mode when the sensed illumination of external light corresponds to illumination in a gray zone to be a difference between the illumination of light created by the light source and that of external light, thereby improving touch recognition capability in a gray zone.
US09285914B2

A method for detecting a touch spot of the touch panel includes the following steps. The electrode pairs are scanned along the impedance direction to obtain an electrical signal curve for determining a first coordinate. A number of first driving electrodes and a number of second driving electrodes near the first coordinate are selected. The selected first driving electrodes are scanned to obtain a first sensing signal. The selected second driving electrodes are scanned to obtain a second sensing signal. A second coordinate is determined according to the first and second sensing signals. Finally, the touch spot is determined according to the first and second coordinates.
US09285911B2

According to one embodiment, a display device includes a display pixel allocated at a matrix state in a display area, an image-reading device which detects strength of capacitive coupling by a dielectric material coming close to or making contact with the display area, and a control portion which controls each transistor of the image-reading device. The image-reading device includes a detection electrode which forms capacitance between the detection electrode and the dielectric material, a pre-charge gate line, a coupling pulse line, a readout gate line, a pre-charge line and a readout line. These lines supply a signal which drives the image-reading device. The image-reading device further includes a pre-charge transistor, an amplification transistor, a readout transistor, a compensation transistor, and a power-source switching transistor.
US09285898B2

A computer input device (10), typically a mouse, having a body (12) with a generally planar base (14) for resting on a work surface, the body (12) being elongate in a direction extending away from the base and having a thumb support ledge (41) defining a thumb surface (40) for engagement by only the tip of a thumb (60) of a user and an opposed finger surface (42, 44) for engagement by only the tip of one or more fingers (62, 64) of the user, wherein the thumb support ledge (41) is located a distance in the range 15 to 30 mm above the base, with the spacing between the thumb surface (40) and the finger surface (42, 44) being in the range 8 to 40 mm. The body (12) is preferably symmetrical about a plane perpendicular to the base (14) so that the device (10) can be held either by a right hand (58) or left hand of the user.
US09285891B2

A method for processing data entered using a keyboard and a keyboard capable of implementing the method is described. In one embodiment, the keyboard includes keys associated with at least one input data value and at least one multi-value key associated with at least two input data values. Each key includes a unit and each multi-value key includes a plurality of units and each input data value corresponds to at least one unit. The keyboard also includes an eye-tracking system that determines an area where a user is gazing by monitoring eye movements of the user, and an input value selection module coupled to units and to the eye-tracking system. The input value selection module determines probabilistically which input data value was entered based on a value received from at least one unit and on the area where the user is gazing.
US09285886B2

Embodiments are provided for intelligently activating an amplifier in a playback device based on proximity detection. The playback device may be in a quasi-idle state when the playback device is not rendering media content. The quasi-idle state of the playback device may involve an amplifier in the playback device being inactive, while some other components or modules of the playback devices remain active. The playback device may include a proximity sensor configured to detect movement relative to the playback device. If movement is detected indicating that a user input to cause the playback device to render media content is anticipated, the amplifier may be pre-emptively activated such that the playback device enters an active state from the quasi-idle state. In some cases, the playback device may send a message to one or more other playback devices to cause the other playback devices to enter an active state.
US09285884B2

Receiving user gesture input commands and interpreting the commands to conduct presentation level control system processing and related presentation communications includes, in one example, detecting an input gesture command via a controller and processing the input gesture command via a processor. The example may also include retrieving at least one data file object responsive to the processed input gesture command, and transmitting the at least one media object to a remote device.
US09285862B2

The present invention provides a power-saving method for a mobile terminal, comprising the steps, after setting the mobile terminal to be in a data service power-saving state, monitoring, by the mobile terminal, a data service in accordance with a monitoring strategy for the data service power-saving state, and triggering a data service power-saving operation when a triggering condition set in the monitoring strategy is met. The present invention further provides a power-saving apparatus arranged within a mobile terminal, comprising a monitoring unit and an executing unit, wherein the monitoring unit is configured to monitor data services of the mobile terminal in accordance with a preset monitoring strategy, and send a power-saving command to the executing unit when a data service power-saving strategy is met. The present invention further provides a mobile terminal comprising the power-saving apparatus. As a result, the mobile can rapidly enter the data service power-saving mode according to the monitoring strategy, reduce unnecessary power consumption, and prolong the service time for the mobile terminal.
US09285859B2

This invention relates to assignment of mobile clients (such as mobile telephones or software agents) to mainly stationary servers (such as mobile network base stations or computer servers) with the objective of reducing or minimizing the number of active servers. Once the number of users of a server drops below a specified level, the server may be deactivated resulting in power and efficiency savings. Preferably the method of the invention operates dynamically and during run time. In certain embodiments, the method can accept trade-offs in the quality of service or the number of active servers. In an embodiment of the invention, servers are arranged to “compete” with adjacent servers for their clients. This competition may be in a self-amplifying manner such that with the effect that more “popular” servers are more likely to succeed thus resulting in servers which are below a utilization threshold and can therefore be switched off.
US09285856B2

A method and system for managing sleep states of a portable computing device are described. They include maintaining a sleep set of resource states and an active set of resource states in memory. A request may be issued for a processor to enter into a sleep state. This causes a controller to review a trigger set to determine if a shut down condition for the processor matches one or more conditions listed in the trigger set. Each trigger set may comprise a “trigger event” that may allow a controller to select a specific resource set which is desired by a particular processor based on a trigger event detected by a system power manager. If a trigger set matches a shut down condition, then switching states of one or more resources in accordance with the sleep set may be made by the controller without using a software handshake.
US09285852B2

According to one embodiment, an information processor is equipped with an information processor terminal that contains a main control unit that processes information, an IO control unit that supplies electrical power to connected equipment (peripheral devices) and that controls communications, and a power supply unit that supplies electrical power, as well as a first switching circuit that connects a plurality of batteries and supplies electrical power to the main control unit, a second switching circuit that connects a plurality of batteries and supplies electrical power to the IO control unit, and a battery unit that contains a battery control part that controls the first switching circuit and the second switching circuit.
US09285850B2

There is provided an information processing apparatus which validates addition of hardware even if the addition takes place before activation of the apparatus, a control method therefor, and a program. To accomplish this, the information processing apparatus includes a monitoring circuit that is supplied with a power from a backup power supply, monitors addition of the hardware, and temporarily holds, when addition of the hardware occurs, information of the addition. If the information of the addition is held, the information processing apparatus initializes the added hardware in activation of the information processing apparatus.
US09285848B2

Provided is a power reception device in which power consumption at the time of wireless power supply is reduced. A power reception device is provided with a power reception control device capable of temporarily stopping supply of power supply voltage to a communication control unit for controlling communication in a break period of communication intermittently performed between a power transmission device and a power reception device. In the structure, a clock signal is generated on the basis of a power receiving signal transmitted from the power transmission device, and a period of communication intermittently performed can be measured using the clock signal. Further, a structure may be employed in which supply of power supply voltage to the communication unit in the power reception control device can be stopped in the break period of the communication.
US09285846B2

The present application describes various embodiments regarding systems and methods for providing efficient heat rejection for a lightweight and durable compact computing system having a small form factor. The compact computing system can take the form of a desktop computer. The desktop computer can include a monolithic top case having an integrated support system formed therein, the integrated support system providing structural support that distributes applied loads through the top case preventing warping and bowing. A mixed flow fan is utilized to efficiently pull cooling air through the compact computing system.
US09285844B2

A chassis with horizontal plugged frames includes an air inlet, a board area, a first air chamber, a second air chamber, and an air outlet. The air inlet is set in the board area and is linked to the first air chamber; the air outlet is set on a wall of the second air chamber where the second air chamber contacts external air; and the first air chamber is located on one side of the board area, and the second air chamber is located on the other side of the board area.
US09285829B2

A mobile terminal includes a window having a pattern formed to recognize a user's touch input, a key region formed on one surface of the window, and a key body assembly disposed on the other surface of the window to be laminated on the key region, and the key body assembly has one surface equipped with at least one recess member or protrusion member and the other surface equipped with a key body coupled to a light guide film, whereby the mobile terminal can have a distinguished attraction and a quality-enhanced appearance.
US09285814B1

A feedback path may be provided within the voltage regulator to reduce the effect of a current step or load transient on the output of a voltage regulator. The feedback path may provide a fast path for stabilizing the voltage regulator after the load transient. The feedback path may be configurable to be activated or de-activated during operation of the voltage regulator. The feedback path may be activated when the voltage regulator takes over generation of an output voltage from another voltage regulator. The feedback path may then be de-activated to allow normal operation of the voltage regulator after a steady-state condition is reached.
US09285812B2

A regulator control circuit includes a switch control signal generator to generate a switch control signal and a soft start circuit to generate a soft start signal for use by the switch control signal generator. The soft start circuit includes a soft start controller and a decreasing circuit to decrease the soft start signal in response to the soft start controller. The soft start controller may comprise a non-regulation detector to detect a non-regulation condition. Embodiments include decreasing the soft start signal in response to a non-regulation condition lasting a predetermined time, detecting the non-regulation condition in response to a maximum duty cycle of the regulator switch, generating a soft start level indicator to control decreasing the soft start signal, and maintaining the soft start signal at a predetermined relationship with respect to a feedback signal.
US09285808B2

Exemplary embodiments are related to a switching voltage regulator. A device may include a first transistor having a gate configured to receive a first signal and a second transistor having a gate configured to receive a second signal. The device may also include a controller configured to measure at least one of a difference between a rising edge of the first signal and an associated rising edge of the second signal and a difference between a falling edge of the first signal and an associated falling edge of the second signal. The controller may also be configured to delay one of the first signal and the second signal if the rising edge of the first signal occurs before or after the associated rising edge of the second signal or if the falling edge of the first signal occurs before or after the associated falling edge of the second signal.
US09285807B2

A water delivery system is disclosed. The water delivery system may have an electronic user interface. The electronic user interface may be a portable device. The electronic user interface may include inputs to select water temperature, water flow rates, water flow patterns, and/or task based presets. A mixing valve for use with either manual faucets or electronic faucets is disclosed.
US09285803B2

A field device for use in a process control system includes a scheduling module configured to receive a time input which specifies a scheduled time for performing a scheduled action or a scheduled sequence of actions and to receive an action input which specifies the scheduled action or the scheduled sequence of actions. At the scheduled time, the scheduling module automatically initiates the scheduled action or the scheduled sequence of actions. After initiating the action or the sequence of actions, the scheduling module causes an initiation status indicating that the action or the sequence of actions has been initiated to be sent to a host and/or causes the initiation status to be stored in a local memory of the field device.
US09285796B2

Methods and apparatuses for approximate functional matching are described including identifying functionally similar subsets of an integrated circuit design or software program, distinguishing control inputs of the subsets from data inputs, and assigning combinations of logic values to the input control signals to capture co-factors for functional matching.
US09285794B2

Integrated methods and systems for optimizing drilling related operations include global search engines and local search engines to find an optimal value for at least one controllable drilling parameter, and decision trees to select algorithms such as between learning mode algorithms and application mode algorithms for generating operational recommendations based on the results from global and local search engines. The operational recommendations are used to optimize the objective function, mitigate dysfunctions, and improve drilling efficiency.
US09285793B2

A data processing unit combines a scalar processor and a heterogeneous processor which includes a vector processing array. The vector processing array includes a plurality of vector processors which are operable in a single instruction multiple data configuration.
US09285792B2

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for sampling air at multiple locations in a controlled environment. The system includes one or more air sampling devices configured to monitor and test a volume of air within a controlled environment. A control center including a programmable logic controller (PLC) is configured to monitor and control the one or more air sampling devices. One or more touch panel displays are connected to the control center and provide a human-computer interface between the control center and users.
US09285790B2

A method of integrating a relay bank for use with a pool or spa control system includes, establishing an electrical connection between the relay bank and a control panel, discovering the relay bank by a control panel processor, and assigning the relay bank a network address upon discovery thereof. A method of integrating a smart component for use with a pool or spa control system includes, establishing an electrical connection between the smart component and a control panel, discovering the smart component by a control panel processor, and assigning the smart component a network address upon discovery thereof. A method of integrating an expansion panel for use with a pool or spa control system includes, establishing an electrical connection between the expansion panel and a control panel, discovering the expansion panel by a control panel processor, and configuring the expansion panel upon discovery thereof.
US09285786B2

In a method for determining adapted measuring values and/or model parameters for controlling the air flow path of internal combustion engines, at least two measuring values and/or model parameters are simultaneously adapted, at least one total error variable which describes an inconsistency of the measuring values and model parameters being divided into individual correction variables for the measuring values and/or model parameters to be adapted, and these correction variables being applied to the measuring values and/or model parameters to be adapted.
US09285785B2

A frequency component extracting unit (15) extracts a frequency component included in a control signal at a first frequency step size. A frequency detection unit (16) detects, from the extracted frequency component, a frequency corresponding to a natural frequency of a target object constituted of a motor (3) and a driven member (4). A frequency step size setting unit (17) sets a second frequency step size smaller than the first frequency step size. A center frequency changing unit (18) increases or decreases a center frequency of a variable bandstop filter (13) at the second frequency step size in order to output a control signal after the variable bandstop filter (13) removes a frequency component corresponding to the natural frequency after the change from the control signal.
US09285783B2

Power utilized in a local power network may be managed. The local power network may include a power management system. The power management system may communicate with one or more of a circuit controller, a switch controller, and/or an outlet controller in order to manage power utilization.
US09285773B2

A balance staff including a main shoulder of a balance, a first radial lateral bearing surface for this balance, a roller sleeve shoulder, and a balance spring collet shoulder. The roller shoulder is adjacent to a first radial shoulder, the collet shoulder is adjacent to a second lateral surface, which defines, with the first radial shoulder, a collar including the balance shoulder which is adjacent to a first lateral bearing surface for the bearing of a balance, the first lateral bearing surface facing the same side as the first radial shoulder, the balance shoulder is separated from this collet shoulder by a seat forming the largest diameter of the collar.
US09285772B2

A barrel for timepiece movement, comprising a barrel shaft (20) around which is arranged, in a rotationally mobile manner, an assembly comprising a drum (30) and a cover (40) delimiting a housing (50) for receiving a barrel spring (51), the drum (30) and the cover (40) each having a wall (31, 41) extending from a peripheral end (34, 44) of the barrel to a central end of the barrel at the level of the barrel shaft (20), wherein at least a part of at least one of said walls (31, 41) has a variable thickness which increases continually with distance away from the peripheral end of the barrel.
US09285767B2

An image forming apparatus includes a main body having a fusing unit, a first temperature sensor which is disposed in an external surface of the main body and measures an outside temperature, a humidity sensor which is disposed in the external surface of the main body and measures an outside humidity, a second temperature sensor which is disposed inside the main body and measures an inside temperature, at least one fan disposed in the main body, and a controller configured to calculate a dew point temperature using the inside temperature and the outside humidity and operate the at least one fan based on the calculated dew point temperature.
US09285764B2

An image forming apparatus includes a main casing, a supporting frame movable relative to the main casing in a first direction between an internal position and an external position, and a developer container supported in the supporting frame. The main casing includes first and second walls extending in the first direction and opposing each other in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. The supporting frame includes first and second plates opposing the first and second walls in the second direction respectively. The developer container includes: a first chamber disposed between the first plate and the second plate; a second chamber for storing developer and disposed between the first wall and the first plate; a third chamber for communicating between the first chamber and the second chamber; and a conveying portion for conveying the developer in the second chamber to the first chamber via the third chamber.
US09285763B2

A cap is configured to be attached to a developer container that discharges developer contained in the container body out of the container body through a discharge port defined in a portion of the container body. The cap includes a first attaching member and a second attaching member that are detachably assembled into one piece. When the first attaching member or the second attaching member receives a rotary force, the first attaching member and the second attaching member are separated from each other, and only the first attaching member is released from the container body.
US09285761B2

A cover opening and closing mechanism includes a first cover member having a first sheet placing surface and a second cover member having a second sheet placing surface. The first cover member has a first engagement part at a distal end of the first sheet placing surface, the second cover member has a second engagement part at a distal end of the second sheet placing surface so that the first sheet placing surface is flush with the second sheet placing surface. During a process in which the first cover member swings in a close direction, a first contact part of the first cover member, which is other than the first sheet placing surface, contacts to a second contact part of the second cover member, which is other than the second sheet placing surface, before the first engagement part contacts to the second engagement part.
US09285759B2

An image forming apparatus includes a main casing, an opening-closing member configured to open and close an opening on a side of the main casing and to move between an open position and a closed position, a belt unit configured to move between a first position and a second position, a drum unit configured to move between a third position and a fourth position, a developing device unit configured to move in an arrangement direction of developing rollers, and an interlock mechanism configured such that in response to a movement of the opening-closing member from the closed position to the open position, the belt unit moves from the first position to the second position and the drum unit moves from the third position to the fourth position.
US09285750B2

Disclosed is an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus includes a housing having a discharge port, a plurality of photosensitive bodies mounted in the housing, a transfer unit to transfer visible images formed on the plurality of photosensitive bodies onto a printing medium, a fusing unit to fuse transferred visible images to the printing medium, and a reverse unit to reverse a moving direction of the printing medium, after the printing medium has passed through the fusing unit. As the moving direction of the printed printing medium is reversed by the reverse unit, the printing medium may be discharged while a printed surface of the printing medium is directed downward, allowing a user to easily draw out the printing medium.
US09285747B2

An image forming apparatus includes a dot count unit configured to count a number of dots of print data, a first toner remaining amount value calculation unit configured to, in a case where received print data satisfies a printing condition, calculate a toner remaining amount value for the print data based on the number of dots obtained by the dot count unit, and a second toner remaining amount value calculation unit configured to, in a case where the received print data does not satisfy the printing condition, set a predetermined toner remaining amount value as the toner remaining amount value for the print data.
US09285737B2

A fixing device includes a fixing rotator and a pressure rotator contacting the fixing rotator to form a fixing nip therebetween, through which recording media of a plurality of sizes are conveyed. The recording media create a plurality of non-conveyance spans on a lateral end of the fixing rotator in an axial direction thereof where the recording media are not conveyed. A heater is disposed opposite the fixing rotator to heat the fixing rotator. A multi-view thermopile array is disposed opposite an outer circumferential surface of the lateral end of the fixing rotator in the axial direction thereof and angled relative to the fixing rotator to detect a temperature of the fixing rotator. The thermopile array includes an inboard temperature detection element directed to a conveyance span on the fixing rotator where the recording medium of a decreased size is conveyed.
US09285734B2

Provided is an image forming apparatus including a first image unit that uses toner which contains a flat pigment, a second image unit that uses toner which does not contain a flat pigment, and a fixing unit that fixes an image which is formed on a recording medium to the recording medium by using heat while transporting the recording medium, wherein the recording medium is transported again to the fixing unit after the image formed on the recording medium by the toner containing the flat pigment is fixed to the recording medium by the fixing unit.
US09285733B2

A fixing device may include a first fixing member, and a second fixing member, and may be configured to heat-fix a developer image on a recording sheet at a fixing nip formed between the first fixing member and the second fixing member. The fixing device may further include a charge-removing member arranged upstream of the fixing nip in a conveyance direction of the recording sheet and in a vicinity of a conveyance path of the recording sheet conveyed towards the fixing nip, and including a main body part and an end edge positioned at an edge of the main body part, and an insulating member arranged between the conveyance path and at least the entire end edge of the charge-removing member.
US09285731B1

A fixing device includes a roller, a pressing member pressed against the roller, such that when a sheet having an unfixed image is passed thorough a nip formed between the roller and the pressing member, the unfixed image is fixed on the sheet, a first heater configured to heat the roller, a second heater configured to heat the pressing member, and a controller configured to control the second heater, such that a time-averaged heat generation by the second heater when an image of a decolorable material is fixed is greater than a time-averaged heat generation by the second heater when an image of a non-decolorable material is fixed.
US09285721B2

A transfer unit includes: a transfer belt mounted over a plurality of rollers to run to transfer toner images on a plurality of image carriers to a front side of the transfer belt; transfer rollers provided for the respective image carriers to give a transfer potential to the transfer belt to transfer the toner images thereto; a drive mechanism configured to move only the transfer rollers for formation of a multicolor image into and out of contact with the transfer belt; a cleaning member contactable with a back side of the transfer belt to clean the back side; and a shifting mechanism configured to, upon contact of the transfer rollers with the transfer belt, shift the cleaning member into contact with the back side of the transfer belt and, upon departure of the transfer rollers from the transfer belt, shift the cleaning member out of contact with the back side.
US09285720B2

An image forming apparatus has an image carrying body, a first electrically conductive member, a bias application device, and a controller. The first electrically conductive member makes contact with the photosensitive layer of the image carrying body The bias application device applies a bias containing an AC bias to the first electrically conductive member. The controller controls the bias application device. The image forming apparatus can execute, while no image formation is being performed, a temperature raising mode in which, with the first electrically conductive member in contact with the image carrying body outside the image formation region, an AC bias having a peak-to-peak value twice as high as the discharge start voltage between the first electrically conductive member and the image carrying body is applied to the first electrically conductive member to raise the temperature of the surface of the image carrying body.
US09285712B2

A developing device configured to prevent a leakage of developer through a gap between a frame and a longitudinal end of a developer supply roller, includes an elastic bush member, a groove to which the bush member is attached and including an opening to allow an end of the developer supply roller to pass through a seating surface when the developer supply roller is mounted on the groove in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction, an abutment portion for regulating movement of the bush member in the longitudinal direction, and a bearing member configured to rotatably support an end of the developer supply roller and compress, in the longitudinal direction, the bush member sandwiched between the abutment portion and the bearing member and bias the bush member against an inner wall of the groove.
US09285702B2

In the image forming apparatus, the space detecting unit detects the space between the image carrying surface and the developer carrying surface. The correcting unit corrects the intensity of the development field for developing the electrostatic latent image on the image carrying surface based on the acquired correspondence relation and the space detected by the space detecting unit, for example. In this case, the correspondence relation is a relation between the image density of the visible image transferred from the image carrying surface to the transferred medium and the development filed for suppressing the density unevenness of the visible image.
US09285693B2

The disclosure describes a process to produce toner with tunable gloss levels comprising a stabilizer to freeze particle growth following aggregation, where the stabilizer does not chelate metal ions.
US09285685B2

In an immersion lithography apparatus or device manufacturing method, the position of focus of the projected image is changed during imaging to increase focus latitude. In an embodiment, the focus may be varied using the liquid supply system of the immersion lithographic apparatus.
US09285683B2

An apparatus and method provide fluid for immersion lithography. A nozzle member that can move in a direction, is arranged to encircle a space under the optical element. The nozzle member can have an input to supply the immersion liquid to the space under the optical element during the exposure, and an output to remove the immersion liquid from a gap between the nozzle member and the wafer during the exposure. Immersion liquid can be supplied at a first rate to the space from a first portion of the nozzle member and at a second rate to the space from a second portion during the exposure. A wafer substrate is exposed by light through the immersion liquid.
US09285678B2

A sulfonium salt of formula (1) is provided wherein A1 is a divalent hydrocarbon group, A2 is a divalent hydrocarbon group, A3 is hydrogen or a monovalent hydrocarbon group, B1 is an alkylene or arylene group, k is 0 or 1, R1, R2 and R3 are alkyl, alkenyl, oxoalkyl, aryl, aralkyl or aryloxoalkyl. A resist composition comprising the sulfonium salt as PAG exhibits a very high resolution when processed by EB and EUV lithography. A pattern with minimal LER is obtainable.
US09285674B2

A photomask includes at least one feature disposed thereon. The at least one feature has an associated design location, where a distance between a location of the at least one feature and the associated design location defines a positional error of the at least one feature. A method for improving a performance characteristic of the photomask includes directing electromagnetic radiation toward the photomask, the electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength that substantially coincides with a high absorption coefficient of the photomask; generating a thermal energy increase in the photomask through incidence of the electromagnetic radiation thereon; and decreasing the positional error as a result of the generating the thermal energy increase in the photomask.
US09285662B2

In at least one embodiment, a projector includes an operation reception unit, and selection unit, and a correction unit. The operation reception unit receives an input operation. The selection unit allows selection of one of a plurality of controlled objects located in correspondence with vertices of a contour of an image based on image information and sides of the contour. The correction unit allows movement of the controlled object selected by using the selection unit within the image based on the input operation and corrects the contour of the image based on the moved controlled object.
US09285661B2

A projector includes a light source section that outputs light, a light modulator that modulates the light outputted from the light source section based on image information, a projection lens that projects the modulated light, an enclosure that accommodates the light source section, the light modulator, and the projection lens, a base that supports the projection lens and fixes the projection lens to the enclosure, and a restricting portion that restricts movement of the base.
US09285657B2

Disclosed is an articulating arm camera mount for mounting an imaging device. The disclosed camera mount comprises a base, one or more arms, and a head that are movably secured to one another and are generally interchangeable with different components and pieces. The disclosed camera mount allows for greater flexibility and creativity in the placement and positioning of an imaging device.
US09285656B2

A system for determining lens position including a first capacitor plate disposed on a stationary housing of a camera. A second capacitor plate is disposed on a rotating lens component of the camera. A processor is operatively connected to the first and second capacitor plates to identify the position of the lens of the camera based on capacitance between the first and second capacitor plates.
US09285654B2

A miniature MEMS autofocus camera module includes a MEMS actuated movable lens group and at least one fixed lens group defining an optical axis within a camera module housing. Objects disposed an arbitrary distance from the camera module are automatically focused at a determined zoom to an image sensor. MEMS actuation of the movable lens group is performed to accomplish autofocus functionality.
US09285636B2

An image retention phenomenon and black unevenness generated after long-time operation in the liquid crystal device are prevented. By using a material having a polyamide acid ester as a precursor less likely to adsorb impurities on a boundary for an alignment film and a material having a dielectric constant anisotropy Δ∈ of 5 or less for liquid crystals, adsorption of an antioxidant dispersed in the liquid crystals is suppressed to prevent oxidation of the liquid crystals. The extent that impurities are intruded into the liquid crystals is reduced by restricting the dielectric constant anisotropy Δ∈ of the liquid crystals to 5 or less, thereby capable of preventing the image retention phenomenon and the black unevenness.
US09285635B2

This disclosure describes stereoscopic flat panel display systems based on the polarization encoding of sequentially displayed left and right eye images. The systems comprise line-by-line addressed liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, illuminating back light units and polarization control panels (PCPs). Right and left eye images are written sequentially onto the LCD whose polarization is controlled by a substantially synchronously driven PCP. The backlight may be continuously illuminated, or modulated temporally, spatially or both, as can the PCP.
US09285620B2

Provided is a liquid crystal display device including: a CF substrate; a TFT substrate disposed at a position facing the CF substrate; a transfer member provided at a corner portion in a bezel region of the TFT substrate; a spacer member for maintaining a distance between the CF substrate and the TFT substrate within a predetermined range; and a cutting mark made of the same material as that of the spacer member, and disposed on the CF substrate between a cutting line for the CF substrate from a mother CF substrate and the transfer member.
US09285619B2

A liquid crystal display panel includes a thin film transistor disposed on an insulating substrate in a display region, an external wiring for connecting the thin film transistor to a terminal electrode, and a planarized film disposed on the thin film transistor, and having a planarized upper surface. The planarized film is not disposed, or a planarized film having a smaller film thickness than that of the planarized film in the display region is disposed, above the external wiring in a frame region.
US09285616B2

The present invention provides a backlight module and a liquid crystal display device using the backlight module. The backlight module includes: a backplane (2), a backlight source (4) arranged in the backplane (2), a light guide plate (6) arranged in the backplane (2), and a reflector plate (8) arranged between the backplane (2) and the light guide plate (6). The backplane (2) includes a bottom plate (22) and a plurality of side plates (24) perpendicularly connected to the bottom plate (22). The bottom plate (22) has a surface that faces the light guide plate (6) and is an arc curved surface (222). The reflector plate (8) is positioned on the arc curved surface (222) and shows an arc curved configuration. The light guide plate (6) is supported on opposite ends of the reflector plate (8) to effectively reduce the thickness of the backlight module and not to be in complete contact with the reflector plate to thereby effectively prevent the occurrence of abrasion and wear of the light guide plate resulting from insufficient smoothness of the bottom plate of the backplane and effectively extend the lifespan of the backlight module.
US09285609B1

Disclosed are ergonomic power switches for wearable electronic devices. A wearable electronic device may include a circuit including a power supply, and an ergonomic power switch to selectively close the circuit. The ergonomic power switch may comprise multiple elements that are configured to cause closure of the circuit in response to a connection event. The connection event may occur in response to a portion of a user's body being positioned between the multiple elements.
US09285604B2

A blur correction apparatus includes a first fixing member, a moveable member and a second fixing member. A coil for generating a magnetic flux is arranged on the first fixing member. The movable member includes (1) a first magnet facing the coil, (2) a second magnet arranged adjacent to the first magnet, such that the first magnet is arranged between the second magnet and the coil arranged in the first fixing member, and (3) an optical element. The movable member can move in a direction perpendicular to an optical axis of the optical element relative to the first fixing member. The second fixing member includes a hall element that is arranged adjacent to the second magnet in the movable member.
US09285603B2

Provided is an image blur correction apparatus including a lens unit configured to include at least one lens and configured to be turnable in two different directions using, as supporting points, two axes that are orthogonal to an outer housing, a fixed member configured to turnably support the lens unit in the two directions, a first drive motor configured to be mounted on the fixed member and configured to turn the lens unit in one of the two directions, a second drive motor configured to be mounted on the fixed member and configured to turn the lens unit in another of the two directions, and a coupling member configured to be coupled to the first drive motor and the second drive motor and configured to include a coupling portion.
US09285601B2

A light source unit (110) emits linearly polarized laser light of a given wavelength. A wave plate (121) transmits the laser light emitted from the light source unit (110) and has a phase delay axis of which the direction is adjusted to about 0 degrees with respect to the polarization direction (101) of the laser light. A liquid crystal cell (123) transmits laser light that has passed through the wave plate (121) and by a switchable rotation amount, rotates the polarization direction (101) of the laser light transmitted through the liquid crystal cell (123). A wave plate (125) transmits laser light that has passed through the liquid crystal cell (123); and further has a phase delay axis of which the direction is adjusted to about 0 degrees with respect to the polarization direction (101) of the laser light.
US09285600B2

In the field of optical systems comprising at least one optical objective, a photosensitive detector and an image processing unit, the optical objective comprising a pupil encoding filter, the image processing unit performing digital filtering of the images output by the photosensitive detector, a system has a processing unit comprising means arranged in such a way as to process at least one preset, the characteristics of the digital filtering applied to the image depending on this preset. The preset may come from external sensors of temperature and/or pressure or be one of the parameters of the optical objective such as the focal length value, the aperture of the iris, or the desired focal distance. The preset can also be different for different zones of the image, to better take into account the variations of the aberrations in the field of the focusing objective.
US09285598B2

A display apparatus is disclosed which comprises a plurality of layers arranged in a light emitting direction of a light source, wherein a diaphragm layer configured to enhance an emitting brightness of the display apparatus is arranged on one of the plurality of layers. With such diaphragm layer in the display apparatus, the brightness of the display apparatus can be enhanced by the Fresnel diffraction effects of the diaphragm layer. In the 2D display, for a same brightness, the power consumption in the display apparatus may be reduced. In the 3D display, the brightness of the display apparatus may be improved and the crosstalk may be reduced.
US09285594B2

Methods for producing a laser-guided underwater electrical discharge are provided. One or more electrodes defining a desired electrical discharge path are situated in a body of water and are attached to an external electrical power supply. A high-powered, intense laser beam is fired through one or more focusing lenses into the water. The laser beam forms an optical filament in the water, which in turn forms an ionized channel having a much greater conductivity than the surrounding water. An external power supply drives an electrical discharge along the path of the ionized channel due to its greater conductivity.
US09285593B1

Beam shaping methods, systems, devices and apparatus to provide transformation of a TEM00 beam which intensity distribution is described by the Gaussian or similar functions to a focused spot of round or square shape with uniform intensity distribution achieved through introducing in the TEM00 beam a phase shift function with smooth phase transition and further focusing of the transformed beam; the resulting intensity distributions are created around the focal plane of a focusing optical system. The phase shift function is introduced by a phase transforming optical system implemented in apparatuses of the invention in form of a plate, or a telescope, or a collimator, or integrated to the focusing optical system: the phase transforming optical system including an aspheric optical surface providing the phase shift function with smooth phase transition. As a focusing optical system any diffraction limited optics with positive dioptric power can be applied.
US09285589B2

This disclosure concerns an interactive head-mounted eyepiece with an integrated processor for handling content for display and an integrated image source for introducing the content to an optical assembly through which the user views a surrounding environment and the displayed content, wherein the eyepiece includes an event and sensor triggered control of eyepiece applications.
US09285588B2

The present application discloses a see-through display device a light source configured to emit light, a projection optical system configured to project image light generated from the light; a transmissive hologram including a first surface which the image light enters from the projection optical system; and an interface configured to cause Fresnel reflection of the image light deflected by the hologram. The hologram includes a first interference fringe recorded by object light and reference light which are incident on the first surface by means of two-light flux interference. The image light incident on the first surface is deflected by the first interference fringe toward the interface. The interface reflects the image light toward the first surface.
US09285579B2

A light modulating device (101A) comprises a reflective SLM (107) for modulating a laser beam (Lr) entering along a first optical path extending in a first direction; a dielectric multilayer film mirror (106), formed on a light transmitting member (105) transparent to illumination light (Li), for reflecting the laser beam (Lr) incident on a front face thereof from the reflective SLM (107) onto a second optical path extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction, and transmitting the illumination light (Li) incident on a rear face thereof onto the second optical path; and a light collecting lens (109) for receiving the illumination light (Li) and laser beam (Lr) from the dielectric multilayer film mirror (106) and converging the illumination light (Li) and laser beam (Lr).
US09285575B2

A microscopy imaging system is disclosed that includes a light source system, a spectral shaper, a modulator system, an optics system, an optical detector and a processor. The light source system is for providing a first train of pulses and a second train of pulses. The spectral shaper is for spectrally modifying an optical property of at least some frequency components of the broadband range of frequency components such that the broadband range of frequency components is shaped producing a shaped first train of pulses to specifically probe a spectral feature of interest from a sample, and to reduce information from features that are not of interest from the sample. The modulator system is for modulating a property of at least one of the shaped first train of pulses and the second train of pulses at a modulation frequency. The optical detector is for detecting an integrated intensity of substantially all optical frequency components of a train of pulses of interest transmitted or reflected through the common focal volume. The processor is for detecting a modulation at the modulation frequency of the integrated intensity of substantially all of the optical frequency components of the train of pulses of interest due to the non-linear interaction of the shaped first train of pulses with the second train of pulses as modulated in the common focal volume, and for providing an output signal for a pixel of an image for the microscopy imaging system.
US09285570B2

A zoom lens comprises in order from an object side, a first lens unit having a positive refractive power, a second lens unit having a negative refractive power, and a third lens unit having a positive refractive power, and the third unit having a positive refractive power comprises in order from the object side, a first lens component having a positive refractive power, and a second lens component having a negative refractive power in which, a lens having a positive refractive power and a lens having a negative refractive power are cemented, and the zoom lens satisfies the following conditional expressions (1), (2), and (3) 1.4<|f3—2p/f3—2n|<2.6  (1) nd3—2p−nd3—2n≧0  (2) nd3—2n≧1.8  (3).
US09285559B1

A protective caddy for the installation of an optical fiber cable in optical fiber ducting which temporarily protects a duplex optical fiber cable assembly for an optical fiber duplex connector during insertion of the assembly into a length of ducting. The duplex optical fiber cable assembly comprises a duplex optical fiber cable and a pair of optical fiber connector sub-assemblies. The protective caddy comprises a pair of receptacles, each for receiving one of the optical fiber connector sub-assemblies. Each receptacle has a recess for protectively receiving the termination end of one of the optical fiber ferrules. In use, both the duplex optical fiber cable and the pair of optical fiber connector sub-assemblies are held to the elongate body so that the termination ends are protected by the recesses during insertion of the protective caddy and duplex optical fiber cable assembly into the length of ducting.
US09285552B2

An adapter block assembly includes an adapter block, a circuit board arrangement, and a cover attached to the adapter block so that the circuit board arrangement is held to the adapter block by the cover. Contact assemblies can be disposed between the adapter block and the circuit board arrangement. The cover can be latched, heat staked, or otherwise secured to the adapter block. Each component of the adapter block assembly can include one or more parts (e.g., multiple adapter blocks, multiple circuit boards, and/or multiple cover pieces).
US09285546B2

A conduit for passing fiber optic cables through a fiber optic shelf includes a floor section and two sidewalls joining opposing sides of the floor extending towards a top of the conduit. The sidewalls and floor form a u-shaped enclosure having an opening at the top. A fastening anchor having a first tab joins the floor and extends away from the top perpendicular to the floor. A fastener perforation on the first tab is dimensioned to receive a fastener for affixing a fiber optic cassette to a fiber optic shelf. An engagement anchor joins the floor at an opposite end from the fastening anchor and extends away from the top. A protrusion on the engagement anchor extends towards the first tab so as to engage a fastener perforation of a mounting rail in the fiber optic shelf and secure the conduit to the mounting rail.
US09285545B2

The present disclosure relates to a compressive sensing imaging system which may include a compressive sensing optic (CSO) that includes a plurality of compressive sensing elements (CSEs), a fiber optic bundle (FOB) that includes a plurality of fiber optic elements (FOEs) and a sensor that includes a plurality of optical sensing elements (OSEs). Each CSE is configured to capture a respective random CSE optical sample related to a respective portion of a scene and to provide the respective CSE optical sample to the FOB. Each FOE is configured to integrate one or more accepted scene optical samples to produce an associated compressed optical sample and each scene optical sample corresponds to at least a portion of a respective CSE optical sample. Each FOE is further configured to provide the associated compressed optical sample to the sensor. Each OSE is configured to integrate one or more received sensor optical samples.
US09285540B2

A method for realizing a semiconductor waveguide and an ultra-low-loss dielectric waveguide disposed on the same substrate is disclosed. The method includes forming a partial dielectric waveguide structure on the substrate, wherein the dielectric waveguide is annealed to reduce hydrogen incorporation, and wherein the top cladding of the dielectric waveguide is only partially formed by a first dielectric layer. A second substrate comprising a semiconductor layer having a second dielectric layer disposed on its top surface is bonded to the first substrate such that the first and second dielectric layers collectively form the complete top cladding for the dielectric waveguide. The second substrate is then removed and the semiconductor layer is patterned to define the semiconductor waveguide core.
US09285536B2

An optical fiber comprises a glass portion comprising a core and a cladding surrounding the core, and, a resin portion comprising a non-removable resin layer tightly covering the glass portion and comprising an ultraviolet curing resin and a buffer layer covering the non-removable resin layer and comprising an ultraviolet curing resin. A diameter of the core falls within a range from 20 μm or larger to 80 μm or smaller, and an outer diameter of the non-removable resin layer falls within a range from 120 μm or larger to 127 μm or smaller. In this optical fiber, when flexural rigidity of the glass portion is EI(g) and flexural rigidity of the resin portion is EI(r), EI(g)≧EI(r) is satisfied.
US09285535B2

An optical resonator made from an elongated fiber having a proximal and distal end. A sphere is created on the distal end by locating the distal end in cylindrically symmetrical heating zone along a centerline. For some embodiments, the distal end is rapidly cooled by allowing it to retract away from the heating zone along the centerline during the formation and solidification of the molten microsphere. The resulting optical resonator has an intrinsic quality factor greater than 106 over the 2.0 to 3.2 μm MIR wavelength range.
US09285534B2

A fiber-optic surface plasmon resonance sensor may include an optical fiber and a surface plasmon excitation layer. The optical fiber may include a core, a cladding surrounding the core, and a depression. The surface plasmon excitation layer may include a first excitation layer, a second excitation layer and an optical waveguide layer between the first excitation layer and the second excitation layer. Incident light incident through the core may be coupled to the surface plasmon excitation layer at a specific angle of incidence and wavelength satisfying the surface plasmon resonance condition. Depending on the polarizing direction of the incident light, an s-polarized component may be coupled to the guided-wave mode in the optical waveguide layer constituting the surface plasmon excitation layer.
US09285532B2

A backlight module for illuminating a display is described. The backlight module may be provided in an electronic device along with a light source for illuminating an LCD display. The backlight module includes a diffuser, a light guide having a top surface and a bottom surface, a reflector, and a prism structure positioned between the light guide bottom surface and the reflector. The prism structure has a plurality of prisms extending towards the light guide. The prism structure may include a film or a top portion of the reflector having a plurality of prisms extending towards the light guide.
US09285517B2

The present invention provides a back cover for a backlight source, a backlight source and a display apparatus. The back cover includes at least one reflection surface arranged on one surface of the back cover. The reflection surface includes a first reflection region and a second reflection region, each of which includes a plurality of concave arc-shaped regions. The concave arc-shaped regions of the first reflection region have curvature increasing toward the second reflection region, and the concave arc-shaped regions of the second reflection region have curvatures decreasing in a direction away from the first reflection region. The concave arc-shaped region having a maximum curvature in the first reflection region is connected with the concave arc-shaped region having a maximum curvature in the second reflection region.
US09285511B2

Liquid lens cells are used in a compound variable power optical system that forms an intermediate image between the object and the final image. A first variable power optical component is located between the object and an intermediate real image. The first variable power optical component varies power to change the magnification of the intermediate real image. A second variable power optical component is located between the intermediate real image and the final image. The second variable power optical component varies power to change the magnification of the final image. At least one of the first and second variable power optical components is stationary on the optical axis and comprises at least two liquids with different refractive properties and at least one variable shape contact surface between the two liquids, with variations in the shape of the contact surface producing a change of optical power in the optical system.
US09285509B2

A lens is obtained by injection molding. The lens includes a plurality of projections arranged on a surface at a pitch smaller than or equal to a predetermined value to reduce reflection of light with a wavelength equal to or greater than the pitch, and a gate mark formed on an outer periphery of the optical element in the injection molding. A peripheral portion of the surface includes a first region whose circumferential position corresponds to the gate mark, and a second region being adjacent to the first region. A pitch of first projections in the first region is greater than a pitch of second projections in the second region.
US09285507B2

The present application relates to a high-refractive composition. The composition of the present application exhibits excellent transparency, moisture resistance, heat resistance, water resistance, weather resistance, light resistance, and durability, and enables formation of a highly refractive film having a high index of refraction. The composition exhibits little outgassing during or after a process and can be applied to a solution application method, and thus can be effectively used in various electronic optical devices.
US09285499B2

This detecting and/or monitoring device (2) is intended to be mounted on optically invisible objects and to be placed substantially parallel to the general direction of said objects. The detecting and/or monitoring device (2) comprises at least one electrically or optically conductive linear element (3) and an insulating sheath (4) covering the linear element. The insulating sheath (4) comprises at least one first face (5) having at least one substantially flat portion (5a) intended to be mounted on said objects.
US09285494B2

Method for managing shots in a multi-vessel seismic system, including for each slave shooter vessel: a) computing first theoretical shot times, based on a speed a scheduler shooter vessel and shot points associated to the scheduler shooter vessel, associated next shots of the scheduler shooter vessel; b) computing, based on a speed of the slave shooter vessel and the shot points, second theoretical shot times associated to the next shots; c) computing, based on the first theoretical shot times, interpolated virtual shot times; d) computing, based on the first theoretical shot times, the interpolated virtual shot times and a minimum shot time interval, shooting time windows; e) for each next shot: if the second theoretical shot time is in the shooting time window, selecting as a predicted shot time the second theoretical shot time; otherwise, selecting a border of the shooting time window closest to the second theoretical shot time.
US09285491B2

An improved method for P-wave modeling in inhomogeneous transversely isotropic media with tilted symmetry axis (TTI media), suitable for anisotropic reverse-time migration, is based on an acoustic TI approximation. The resulting wave equations (2.20) & (2.21) are derived directly from first principles, Hooke's law and the equations of motion, and therefore make no assumptions on spatial variation of medium parameters. Like in the acoustic VTI case, the wave equations are written as a set of two second-order partial differential equations. However, unlike in the acoustic VTI case, the acoustic TTI wave equations contain mixed second-order derivatives. The discretization scheme uses centered finite-difference operators for first- and second-order derivative operators to approximate the mixed and non-mixed second-order derivatives in the wave equation. The discretization scheme is stabilized by slightly weighing down the mixed derivatives, with almost negligible effect on the wave field kinematics.
US09285490B2

A radiation detection apparatus is provided with a detection element group which includes a plurality of detection elements arranged on a support substrate, a shield body of which a pinhole is formed on front surface and a slit is formed on back surface, the shield body putting the detection element group therein, a signal processing substrate which processes a detection signal respectively detected by each detection element, is provided outside of the shield body, and has a dimension being larger than a width of the slit, and a relay substrate which goes through the slit and connects each detection element with the signal processing substrate.
US09285489B2

An x-ray detector assembly is disclosed that includes a mounting substrate having a plurality of electrical contacts, the mounting substrate comprising one of an integrated circuit and a circuit board. The x-ray detector assembly also includes a first electrode patterned on a first portion of a top surface of the mounting substrate, wherein the first electrode is electrically coupled to the plurality of electrical contacts. An organic photodiode layer is formed atop the first electrode and has a bottom surface electrically connected to the first electrode. A second electrode is coupled to a top surface of the organic photodiode layer and a scintillator is coupled to the second electrode.
US09285488B2

A detector and methods for inspecting material on the basis of scintillator coupled by wavelength-shifting optical fiber to one or more photo-detectors, with a temporal integration of the photo-detector signal. An unpixelated volume of scintillation medium converts energy of incident penetrating radiation into scintillation light which is extracted from a scintillation light extraction region by a plurality of optical waveguides. This geometry provides for efficient and compact detectors, enabling hitherto unattainable geometries for backscatter detection and for energy discrimination of incident radiation. Additional energy-resolving transmission configurations are enabled as are skew- and misalignment compensation.
US09285486B2

The invention relates to a method for radiation detection signal processing, and more particularly to a method capable of using a periodic signal to control the time of charging/discharging to a capacitor of an integrator. The method can be used for detecting the energy of incident photon of Gamma ray during the happening of an event while reducing dead time, and thereby, the count rate is increased. As the periodic signal is used as the signal for controlling the time of charging/discharging to a capacitor, the charging/discharging time of the integrator is no longer being controlled by the triggering time of the event, and thus, the present method is advantageous in that: the control method and circuit architecture are comparatively simpler since the charging/discharging time of the integrator no longer required to be controlled precisely, and thus the integration error due to insufficient resolution in delay element can be avoided.
US09285484B2

The disclosure relates to determining a position of a mobile device relative to a perimeter of a virtual fence. An embodiment receives coordinates representing the perimeter of the virtual fence, determines a proximate location of the mobile device using a hybrid combination of a satellite-based proximate location and an auxiliary local station-based proximate location, and provides feedback based on a comparison of the proximate location of the mobile device to the coordinates representing the perimeter of the virtual fence.
US09285483B2

A location calculating method includes acquiring measurement information by receiving satellite signals from positioning satellites and storing the acquired measurement information in a storage unit in association with acquisition time, calculating movement information that includes a movement direction and a movement distance by using a detection result of a sensor unit that at least includes an acceleration sensor and storing the calculated movement information in the storage unit in association with calculation time, and calculating a location at desired time by using at least the measurement information of which the acquisition time satisfies a predetermined proximity time condition and the movement information of which the calculation time is between the acquisition time of the measurement information and the given desired time.
US09285478B2

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to detecting and/or estimating multipath signals. For an example, a signal comprising at least one binary offset carrier (BOC) modulation signal is received. The BOC modulation signal is modulated with a pseudorandom noise sequence comprising a plurality of chips, wherein each of said chips has a set interval. In another aspect, the received signal is correlated with portions of the plurality of chips to provide a power signal. The portions of chips are less than the set interval. In a further aspect, presence of a multi-path signal in the received signal is detected. The detection of multipath is based, at least in part, on one or more characteristics of the power signal.
US09285477B1

A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system has an emitter which produces a sequence of outgoing pulses of coherent collimated light that transmitted in a given direction, a mirror system having a scanning mirror that is positioned to deflect the outgoing pulse sequence towards a scene, and a detector collocated with the emitter and aimed to detect a sequence of incoming pulses being reflections of the outgoing pulses that are returning from said given direction and have been deflected by the scanning mirror. An electronic controller communicates with the emitter and the detector and controls the scanning mirror, so that the outgoing pulses scan the scene and the controller computes a radial distance or depth for each pair of outgoing and incoming pulses and uses the computed radial distance to provide a scanned 3D depth map of objects in the scene. Other embodiments are also described.
US09285476B2

Means are provided for the support of the automated process of supplying beverages. More particularly, the detection of the presence and the contents of exchangeable supply packs in beverage dispensing machines is automated. A pack-in-place detection is provided by emitting light and measuring the presence of the emitted light on one light detector, the system determines the absence or the correct/incorrect placement of the supply pack. A product availability detection is provided by detecting the intensity of light coming through a transparent element in the supply pack by another light detector, the system identifies the degree of product presence in the supply pack.
US09285472B2

A transponder system that is adapted to be positioned in an aircraft includes a transponder that is adapted to transmit information pertaining to the aircraft in which the transponder is positioned includes at least one receiver that is adapted to receive information including information pertaining to another aircraft. The receiver(s) is adapted to receive different types of data on multiple different frequencies. A display, which may be integral with the system housing or remotely mounted, is adapted to display (i) information received by said receiver and/or (ii) information to guide user input selection of information transmitted by said transponder. The housing houses the transponder, the receiver and, in one embodiment, the display. The existing transponder in the aircraft can be removed thereby leaving an opening in the aircraft and the transponder installed in the opening.
US09285470B2

A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag distance measuring system and method is disclosed. One example includes a first replica path that receives a signal that is simultaneously transmitted to an RFID tag. The first replica path includes a plurality of taps at known distances along the first replica path. Each of the plurality of taps has a first tap input coupled with the first replica path. In addition, an RFID signal receiver receives a return signal from the RFID tag and provides the return signal along a measurement input, wherein each of the plurality of taps have a second tap input coupled with the measurement path. A distance determiner detects at least the first of the plurality of taps to have an output and determine a distance measurement to the RFID tag based thereon.
US09285468B2

A reflector is used to extend an aperture of an omni-directional, single-point remote-sensing echo-system utilizing secondary round-trip reflections of a transmitted sensor signal. The reflector is spatially displaced from a transmission element to contribute a secondary reflection whose echo from the target object provides additional information used to triangulate both azimuthal and elevation angles of the target object.
US09285456B2

The invention relates to a system and a method for locating at least one target (X) using an array of transceivers or sensors (S), in which at least a portion has a known geographic location, each comprising data processing means (S1) implementing at least one algorithm (AA, AS, AR, AF) for locating a target, means (S2) for transmitting/receiving a signal that decreases with the distance, the sensor array (S) covering at least one geographic area or area (Z), characterized in that they implement for each instant (t) an exchange of data or similarity data (DS) between the sensors (S) and a leading sensor (SL), and a distribution determination (DP) of the probability of the location of the target (X) using at least one regression algorithm (AR) on the basis of the similarity data (DS).
US09285455B2

A technique is disclosed for estimating the location of a wireless terminal at an unknown location in a geographic region. The technique is based on a two-part recognition, the first part being that there are certain optical and acoustic characteristics that are present in some environments while not being present in others, such as lighting flicker and sound reverberation. The second part of the recognition is that a correlation exists between the presence of flicker and reverberation in the vicinity of a wireless terminal and whether the wireless terminal is indoors or not. Under certain environmental conditions, flicker and reverberation are often present indoors but not outdoors. By accounting for flicker and reverberation being detected or not being detected in the vicinity of the wireless terminal, the disclosed technique is able to estimate whether the wireless terminal is indoors, which the technique also uses to improve the location estimate.
US09285453B2

A method of near-field electromagnetic ranging and location exploits the long-wavelength, near-field characteristics of low-frequency RF signals like those in the vicinity of the AM broadcast band. These signals are robust against scattering from small objects and only mildly perturbed by the urban landscape including building structures. They are thus amenable to an RF fingerprinting approach exploiting a coarse calibration to capture the behavior of the gradually varying signal characteristics. In embodiments, a method of near-field electromagnetic ranging and location may exploit transmit tags transmitting to an infrastructure of locator-receivers, or locator-receiver tags detecting signals from an infrastructure of fixed transmitter beacons. In still further embodiments, fixed transmitter beacons may be supplemented by uncooperative signals sources including signals-of-opportunity like AM broadcast band signals.
US09285445B2

Methods, systems and apparatus for magnetic resonance imaging that facilitate applying a gradient waveform to generate a k-space trajectory in a subject, applying radio frequency (RF) pulses having a pseudorandom phase distribution, such that the RF pulses are applied to the subject at a plurality of non-uniform locations near a center of the k-space trajectory and collecting, based on the applied RF pulses and the applied gradient waveform, imaging data from the subject.
US09285435B2

A two-core optical fiber magnetic field sensor is configured from at least a light incidence/emission unit; a lens; a magnetic garnet; and a reflector, wherein the lens and the magnetic garnet are disposed between the light incidence/emission end of the light incidence/emission unit and the reflector; a light beam is emitted from one optical fiber; the light beam is reflected by the reflector after being transmitted through the lens and the magnetic garnet; the light beam is transmitted again through the magnetic garnet and the lens after the reflection; and incident on the other optical fiber, the light beam is emitted again from the other optical fiber, and reflected by the reflector after being transmitted through the lens and the magnetic garnet; and the light beam is transmitted again through the magnetic garnet and the lens after the reflection and incident again on the one optical fiber.
US09285432B2

A method and system for manipulating, adjusting or otherwise controlling a state-of-charge (SOC) operating range for a high voltage vehicle battery, such as the type used for hybrid or electric vehicle propulsion. By providing a dynamic SOC operating range that changes in response to changing battery conditions, the battery performance may be improved so that the battery life is extended. Depending on the particular embodiment, the dynamic SOC operating range may have different combinations of hard and/or soft boundaries or limits.
US09285431B2

A method for monitoring and managing battery charge level and an apparatus for performing the same, wherein the method comprises steps as follows: A current charge level of a battery equipped in the electrical apparatus is acquired. A coefficient of current battery power consumption is directed in accordance with a user.
US09285423B2

A system and method of a test structure for testing a chip is disclosed. The system may include a scan channel comprising a plurality of scannable latches. The scan channel may be configured to scan input data to apply to logic circuits on a chip and further configured to receive outputs from logic circuits on the chip. The system may further include, a storage configured to store unmodified a selected bit of the scan channel during a scan out of the scan channel.
US09285415B2

A built-off test (BOT) device includes a signal processing block, an output selection block and a signal control block. The signal processing block duplicates a test signal to apply a plurality of duplicated test signals to each of a plurality of devices under test (DUTs) through each of corresponding channels, and the signal processing block provides a plurality of decision signals based upon a plurality of test result signals received from each of the DUTs. The output selection block merges the decision signals as a final decision signal or sequentially outputs the decision signals as the final decision signal, in response to an output mode selection signal. The signal control block provides the test signal to the signal processing block or provides the final decision signal externally, in response to a first switching control signal.
US09285414B2

A method for testing a semiconductor device includes testing the semiconductor device in a plurality of operation modes sequentially, and programming the semiconductor device to operate in at least one of the operation modes when the semiconductor device passes the testing.
US09285409B2

An apparatus for inspecting static electricity of a substrate includes a probe having substantially a same shape as a substrate to be inspected, the probe including a contact surface made of a conductive material, a wiring connected to the contact surface of the probe and delivering static electricity collected by the probe, and a measurement unit connected to the wiring, the measurement unit receiving the static electricity from the wiring and analyzing an intensity of the static electricity.
US09285408B2

A method for position determination, having a first step, in which a first sequence of positions is determined from radio signals of stationary transmitters, and a second sequence of positions being determined from other sensor data by dead reckoning. The first sequence of positions and the second sequence of positions are compared with one another in a second step. A computer program product for carrying out the method is also provided. A position determining device, in particular in a mobile terminal is also provided, having a receiver for radio signals of stationary transmitters, having position determining means for determining a first position of the receiver from radio signals of stationary transmitters, sensors at least for determining a direction and a distance in order to determine a second position by dead reckoning, and a memory for storing a sequence of first positions and a sequence of second positions. The first position determining device has a processing unit for comparing the sequence of first positions and the sequence of second positions.
US09285406B2

In an impedance measurement system, a reference impedance (2) to be measured is periodically connected and disconnected by means of switch (3) in parallel to the unknown impedance (1) to be measured. The thus generated amplitude modulation of the measurement current is demodulated, and the amplitude of the demodulated signal is indicative of the reference impedance to be measured. Using a low frequency modulation of the reference impedance enables to measure the impedance of the reference impedance without disconnecting the unknown impedance.
US09285405B2

The present invention relates to a thin film sensor, capacitive touch panel having the sensor and preparation method thereof and terminal product. The thin film sensor of the present invention has only one optically conductive substrate. Specifically, only one optically transparent substrate is used, a sensing electrode layer and a driving electrode layer are coated on the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate, respectively, which helps to reduce the thickness of the thin film sensor on one hand, thus contributes to the development of light and thin of a touch panel and touch electronics; on the other hand, the material selection and the preparation process are simple, the selection of two substrates is not necessary to prepare two optically conductive thin film.
US09285399B2

A switching regulator includes an output phase having a high-side transistor and a low-side transistor operable to switch on and off at different periods responsive to a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal applied to the output phase, each cycle of the PWM signal having an on-portion and an off-portion. The switching regulator further includes a current sense circuit operable to sense the current of the low-side transistor, an analog-to-digital converter operable to sample the sensed low-side transistor current during the off-portion for each PWM cycle and a current estimator operable to estimate a cycle average current for the present PWM cycle based on the low-side transistor current sampled during the off-portion for the immediately preceding PWM cycle and a pulse width estimate for the on-portion for the present PWM cycle.
US09285394B2

A test apparatus includes a DUT block, at least one probe and at least one variable-length pusher. The DUT block is used for allowing the DUT to be disposed thereon. The probe is located on the DUT block. The variable-length pusher is located above the probe. The actuator is used for moving the variable-length pusher to push against the DUT to force the DUT to be in electrical contact with the probe.
US09285384B2

The invention relates to a device for preparing and/or treating a biological sample including an assembly (2) of storage chambers (3) and/or reaction chambers intended for receiving a fluid and means arranged to move an amount of fluid from and/or to at least one of the chambers (3) of the assembly (2) of chambers (3), the chambers (3) being separated by walls (5) so as to form an assembly of adjacent chambers (3) aligned in a given direction. The means arranged to move an amount of fluid include a needle (6) connected to a transfer space (9), means (8) arranged to enable the suction of a liquid towards a chamber (3) from a transfer space (9) via a needle or delivery from the transfer space (9) to a chamber (3), and driving means (7) arranged to translate the needle (6) and the assembly (2) of chambers relative to one another in the chamber (3) alignment direction, and in that two adjacent chambers (3) are separated by a wall including a sealing membrane (5) or septum capable of being pierced by the needle (6) and of then recovering the seal thereof once the needle is removed. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing such a device.
US09285377B2

The present invention is directed to a cartridge device for a measuring system for measuring viscoelastic characteristics of a sample liquid, in particular a blood sample, comprising a cartridge body having at least one measurement cavity formed therein and having at least one probe element arranged in said at least one measurement cavity for performing a test on said sample liquid; and a cover being attachable on said cartridge body; wherein said cover covers at least partially said at least one measurement cavity and forms a retaining element for retaining said probe element in a predetermined position within said at least one measurement cavity. The invention is directed to a measurement system and a method for measuring viscoelastic characteristics of a sample liquid.
US09285376B2

A method for the quantitative determination of an analyte in a sample is provided comprising: (a) providing an analyte-specific substance which is able to undergo a reaction which generates a detectable signal when it is contacted with an analyte; (b) providing at least two calibration graphs which have been generated by reacting in each case the same analyte-specific substance with different amounts of in each case the same test analyte for in each case a predetermined reaction time; (c) contacting the analyte-specific substance with a sample which contains the analyte to be detected; (d) measuring the signal at a first predetermined reaction time for which a first calibration graph according to (b) is provided; (c) checking whether the signal measured according to (d) enables a quantitative determination of the analyte with a desired accuracy; (f) (i) quantitatively determining the analyte on the basis of the signal measured according to (d) if the desired accuracy is reached, or (ii) measuring the signal at a second predetermined reaction time for which a second calibration graph according to (b) is provided; (g) checking whether the signal measured according to (f(ii)) enables a quantitative determination of the analyte with a desired accuracy; and (h) (i) quantitatively determining the analyte on the basis of the signal measured according to f(ii) if the desired accuracy is reached, or (ii) continuing the determination at at least one further predetermined reaction time (corresponding to (f)(ii), (g), (h)(i)).
US09285358B2

The present invention relates to a novel method for high throughput detection of wide range of genotoxins in eukaryotic cells wherein the eukaryotic cell based tool combines the ability to detect a broad spectrum of genotoxic signaling events and a simple and reproducible assay technique. The present invention further comprises expression cassettes, vectors, and eukaryotic cell lines for the same.
US09285354B2

A method and device for the detection of low-level harmful substances in a large volume of fluid comprising using a concentrator system to produce a retentate and analyzing the retentate for the presence of at least one harmful substance. The concentrator system performs a method comprising pumping at least 10 liters of fluid from a sample source through a filter. While pumping, the concentrator system diverts retentate from the filter into a container. The concentrator system also recirculates at least part of the retentate in the container again through the filter. The concentrator system controls the speed of the pump with a control system thereby maintaining a fluid pressure less than 25 psi during the pumping of the fluid; monitors the quantity of retentate within the container with a control system, and maintains a reduced volume level of retentate and a target volume of retentate.
US09285352B2

An apparatus may be configured to test a beverage, the apparatus may include but is not limited to, a beverage container that may be configured to hold a beverage, wherein the beverage container may include a material. An indicator may be chemically bonded to at least a portion of the material of the beverage container, wherein at least the portion of the material of the beverage container may include the indicator, wherein the indicator may be associated with at least part of a brand profile to identify a brand of the beverage, wherein the indicator may visibly react when the indicator is contacted with the beverage to show whether the beverage may be identified as the brand of the beverage, and wherein the visible reaction may be shown on at least the portion of the material of the beverage container via the indicator chemically bonded to at least the portion of the material of the beverage container.
US09285351B2

A sensor assembly includes a replaceable sensor module and an assembly housing. The assembly housing contains an assembly housing processor and an electrical connector connected to the processor. The replaceable sensor module has an enclosure adapted to be mounted in a position to sense a process variable, a process variable transducer positioned in said enclosure so as to be exposed to the process variable, and a non-volatile memory having stored therein specific profiling data for the sensor module. The assembly housing processor has data representing a desired sensor assembly output characteristic, and is responsive to receipt of specific profiling data and to the data representing the desired sensor assembly output characteristic to calibrate the sensor assembly to provide the desired sensor assembly output characteristic when connected to the sensor module having the specified profiling data. Radial and axial seals are provided for the openings in the assembly housing. Measurement of loop current (IL) in a two-wire loop current communication system for the sensor assembly and detection of sensor aging are also included.
US09285350B2

Apparatuses, systems, and methods for measuring the hydration profile of seeds during Soaking. In some example embodiments, the volume change of irregular-shaped seeds during soaking is measured as the difference in the volume for a given chamber and the volume of water to fill a chamber with seeds at pre-defined time intervals. A device according to some example embodiments of the present general inventive concept includes a soak chamber to hold the seed, a water bath as a source of the input water, and a measuring tank where the water volume can be determined with a level sensor. The soaking temperature is maintained constant by water baths with a circulating tank surrounding the soak chamber to reduce heat loss.
US09285344B2

To provide a discharge ionization current detector 3, where a partition 13a in which a through hole for penetrating a tubule 24 for introducing a sample gas is created is provided between a collector electrode 20 and an outlet for discharging a gas 26 so that a gas for generating plasma that has been generated by electrodes for discharge 15, 16 and 17 passes through a gap between the through hole and the tubule 24 so as to be directed towards the outlet for discharging a gas, and thus, the air that has entered from the other side 25 of the partition cannot pass through the through hole in the opposite direction.
US09285343B2

One aspect of the present invention is to extract multiple ionic species in a FAIMS into one or more IMS drift tubes simultaneously. By adjusting FAIMS operational parameters, ions in FAIMS are detected on IMS detectors through separation in FAIMS and/or separation and collection in the IMS. This method provides a continuous separation of specific ions from an ion swarm by employing a high-field differential mobility analyzer (FAIMS) with a plurality of orthogonal transitions paths spaced incrementally along the electrodes which allow additional separation by a conventional IMS drift tube. The components of the sample can be collected or detected.
US09285333B2

A combustible gas detection device includes an energization control circuit which controls the switching of the energization state of a heat generation resistor every predetermined time period such that the heat generation resistor alternately has resistances corresponding to two predetermined temperatures, a temperature measurement resistor disposed on the same substrate on which the heat generation resistor is disposed, where its resistance changes with the environmental temperature, a gas concentration computation section which calculates the combustible gas concentration by using a voltage generated across the heat generation resistor which is detected when electricity is supplied to the heat generation resistor and the environmental temperature based on a voltage change caused by a change in the resistance of the temperature measurement resistor. The predetermined time period is such that a change in the environmental temperature which occurs when the energization control circuit switches the energization state, falls within a range of 0.5° C.
US09285327B2

An Adjustable Photon Detection System (APDS) for multi-slice X-ray CT systems and a multi-slice X-ray CT system using the APDS are disclosed; wherein the APDS can be adjusted to be aligned to different X-ray source positions; wherein the multi-slice X-ray CT system comprises one or more X-ray sources, and one or more APDS; wherein the multi-slice X-ray CT system may also include a detector position calculator for calculating effective detector positions and a detector position corrector for correcting projection data using calculated effective detector positions.
US09285325B2

Further, the present specification is directed towards personnel screening systems comprising modular components, including detector and source units, where a dual axis scanning beam is employed. In one configuration, the subject under inspection remains stationary and is positioned between two scanning modules. The X-ray source assembly is designed to minimize the overall system footprint while still yielding the requisite field of view, low radiation exposure level, and required resolution. The modular components allow for a compact, light and yet sufficiently rugged overall structure that can be disassembled for ease of transportation and is also simple to reassemble at a required site for inspection.
US09285323B2

Color quantification of chemical test pads and titration of analytes can be performed under different lighting conditions. In one embodiment, the lighting condition is estimated under which a digital image is captured and utilized to select a set of reference colors from which the quantified color is compared to determine the titration. In another embodiment, a plurality of comparisons are made with different lighting conditions with the result having the highest confidence level being selected to determine the titration.
US09285321B2

A fluorescence detection device includes: a light source that emits excitation light in a first direction; a base unit (30) to which the light source is attached; an opening (30a) that is provided on a side in the first direction of the base unit (30) with respect to the light source; a cantilever (31) that is cantilevered to the base unit (30) to extend from an inner edge of the opening (30a) toward a center side of the opening (30a); an optical path conversion unit (20) that is fixed to a free end of the cantilever (31), converts a traveling direction of the excitation light emitted from the light source into a second direction different from the first direction, and irradiates a measurement object with the excitation light turned in the second direction; and a photodetection element that is disposed on a side of the opening (30a) opposite to the measurement object and detects fluorescence passing through the opening (30a) in fluorescence emitted from the measurement object irradiated with the excitation light. Accordingly, a loss in the fluorescence guided to the photodetection element can be reduced, and thus fluorescence detection efficiency can be improved.
US09285320B2

Cyano-substituted anthracene containing polyamines were synthesized and shown to be efficient polyamine transporter ligands. Moreover, these compounds (3 and 4) had improved fluorescence properties over previously known anthryl-polyamine conjugates, which facilitated their intracellular trafficking by confocal microscopy and fluorescence methods. These cytotoxic fluorescent agents may find use as molecular probes which traffic into cells via the polyamine transport system and may also be viable anticancer drugs which are readily quantified in human tissues due to their excellent fluorescence properties: (excitation: λ 405 nm) and emission (420 nm) occurs in the visible light range. The ability to excite and emit in the visible range provides an advantage to these probes as these wavelengths are considered non-toxic to human cells (versus ultraviolet mediated excitations, λ<400 nm) and visible light lasers are less costly to purchase and operate than UV laser sources.
US09285316B2

System and method for fluorescent light excitation and detection from samples to enhance the numerical aperture and/or reduce the cross-talk of the fluorescent light. The system for analyzing samples comprising: a light source that provides a non-coherent excitation light; at least one housing, wherein the housing transports samples and propagates the non-coherent excitation light by total internal reflection; a coupling optical element configured to introduce the non-coherent excitation light into the at least one housing through a wall of the at least one housing; and at least one NA enhancing optical element to collect an emitted fluorescence, wherein the NA enhancing optical element is constructed of a first material and the housing is constructed of a second material, wherein the first material has a greater index of refraction than the second material.
US09285303B2

The invention relates to an optical sensor device (100) that comprises a plurality of objectives (152) for generating primary images of corresponding sensor regions (111). The primary images are then mapped with intermediate optics (153) onto a detector plane (154), particularly onto the sensitive plane of an image sensor.
US09285296B2

A system for stand-off inspection comprising local positioning system hardware and a nondestructive evaluation instrument supported by a pan-tilt mechanism. The system further comprises a computer system that is programmed to perform the following operations: (a) directing the local positioning system hardware toward an area of a surface on a target object by control of the pan-tilt mechanism; (b) activating the local positioning system hardware to acquire an image; (c) processing the image to determine whether an anomaly is present in the area; (d) if an anomaly is present, determining coordinates of a position of the anomaly in a coordinate system of the target object; and (e) directing the nondestructive evaluation instrument toward a position corresponding to the coordinates. Optionally, the computer system is further programmed to measure one or more characteristics of the anomaly.
US09285292B2

A method of optimizing the performance of a rotary wing aircraft having at least one turbine engine with a gas generator and a turbine assembly comprising at least one turbine. In a definition step (STP1), first and second performance levels are defined for the aircraft. During a health check step (STP2), a first power margin is determined as a function of a speed of rotation of said gas generator and a second power margin is determined as a function of a temperature in said turbine assembly. During an evaluation step (STP3), each power margin is compared with a first threshold in order to determine whether a target performance level is equal to the first performance level or to the second performance level. During a display step (STP4), the target performance level is displayed.
US09285288B2

A retractable flow conditioner that includes a body adapted for insertion into a fluid in a confined conduit upstream of a differential pressure measuring probe. The body has at least one flow conditioning element. The retractable flow conditioner also includes a mounting assembly attached to the body. The mounting assembly is configured to retractably mount the body into the confined conduit.
US09285282B2

Designs to package a magneto-elastic torque sensor in an automotive transmission for volume production applications are provided. One transmission includes an output shaft and a magnetic torque sensor. The output shaft has a magnetized region. The sensor, for detecting torque of the output shaft, is mounted on friction reduction members such as bushings supporting the output shaft. In another transmission, the sensor is alternatively mounted to a transmission case.
US09285278B2

A portable electronic device including a temperature sensor embedded in a die is provided. To process temperature measurements the portable electronic device includes a processor circuit coupled to the temperature sensor, the processor circuit configured to read a measurement from the temperature sensor when an integrated circuit in the die is inactive. Furthermore, a memory circuit coupled to the processor circuit and the temperature sensor stores a temperature gradient provided by the temperature sensor. A Printed Circuit Board for use in a portable electronic device as above is also provided. A method for performing thermal control in a portable electronic device as above is also provided.
US09285270B2

A spectroscopic module 1 is provided with a spectroscopic unit 8 and a photodetector 9 in addition to a spectroscopic unit 7 and a photodetector 4 and thus can enhance its detection sensitivity for light in a wide wavelength range or different wavelength regions of light. A light-transmitting hole 4b is disposed between light detecting portions 4a, 9a, while a reflection unit 6 is provided so as to oppose a region R in a light-absorbing substrate 2, whereby the size can be kept from becoming larger. Ambient light La is absorbed by the region R in the substrate 2. Any part of the light La transmitted through the region R in the substrate 2 is reflected to the region R by the unit 6 formed so as to oppose the region R, whereby stray light can be inhibited from being caused by the incidence of the light La.
US09285263B2

To prevent measurement errors caused by impact including an impact load transmitted at high speed or static electricity and prevent destruction of a sensor unit due to the above-mentioned impact load. Through-holes (12f) are formed in four corners of a pan receiver, upwardly protruding pieces (14a) of a plate spring fixed to a bottom surface of the pan receiver are inserted into the through-holes (12f), and pan receiver legs are attached to the upwardly protruding pieces (14a). When a pan is mounted on the pan receiver, four corners of the pan are supported by the upper surfaces of gel-like cushioning bodies and the upper ends of coil springs, impact applied to the pan including an impact load transmitted at high speed is absorbed by the gel-like cushioning bodies, and the lower ends of the coil springs contact the upwardly protruding pieces (14a) of the plate spring, so that the pan assumes a conducting state with the pan receiver via the coil springs and the plate spring, and even if the pan is charged with static electricity, the static electricity due to charging can be released to the pan receiver via the coil springs and the plate spring.
US09285257B2

A gas meter for ultrasound measurements in a breathing apparatus has a gas conduit having an inner wall defining an inlet of the gas conduit and an outlet in a second end of the gas conduit, and an ultrasound transducer arrangement configured to measure the speed of sound in a gas flowing through a part of said gas conduit forming a measurement chamber. The gas meter has a self-draining design to prevent condensation water and other liquids from negatively affecting the ultrasound measurements. To this end, at least a lower surface of the inner wall of the gas conduit is inclined downwardly relative to the horizontal plane in the longitudinal direction of the gas conduit, at both sides of the measurement chamber causing condensation water to be pulled away from the measurement chamber by gravity.
US09285255B2

Disclosed aspects relate to a flow meter comprising a flow target arranged to be disposed in a fluid flow path in a conduit; a beam coupled to the flow target and arranged to extend outside of the conduit; a sensor having a moveable sensor part coupled to the beam at a position which in use is outside of the conduit, and a static sensor part, wherein displacement of the moveable sensor part with respect to the static sensor part generates a signal. In use, fluid flow acting on the flow target causes displacement of the moveable sensor part, thereby generating a signal which is representative of the fluid flow rate.
US09285249B2

One embodiment is directed towards a physics package of an atomic sensor. The physics package includes a frame composed of metal and including a plurality of slender support members extending between one another in a three dimensional structure. The support members define boundaries between adjacent apertures defined in the frame. The plurality of support members include a plurality of mounting surfaces adjacent to the apertures. The physics package also includes a plurality of panes attached to the mounting surfaces of the frame. The plurality of panes cover the apertures such that the frame and the plurality of panes define a vacuum chamber and provide three light paths that cross within the vacuum chamber at 90 degree angles with respect to one another. The physics package also includes a chamber evacuation structure for evacuating the vacuum chamber.
US09285247B2

A cable circuit includes a contactless interface for signal transmission between the cable circuit and the sensor module, wherein the sensor module is galvanically isolated from the cable circuit, and wherein signal transmission between the cable circuit and the sensor module occurs on an optical, inductive or capacitive path. Additionally, the cable circuit includes a signal processing unit, as well as a cable interface for connecting a cable, which connects the cable circuit with the measurement transmitter. The signal processing unit is integrated into the signal path. The signal processing unit is embodied to receive, via the cable interface, signals from the measurement transmitter, to condition them and to transmit them via the contactless interface to the sensor module, and to receive, via the contactless interface, signals from the sensor module, to condition them and to transmit them via the cable interface to the measurement transmitter.
US09285239B2

A navigation device for displaying at least one point-of-interest on a map comprises a channel set module to record a user defined channel set. The channel set includes at least one point-of-interest criteria. A channel set options module provides a user of the navigation device with an option to select the channel set. A channel set display module displays the point-of-interest criteria associated with the user selected channel set.
US09285237B2

A method and system for representing traffic control signals in a road network database is provided. The database may include lane-level modeling, intersection modeling, and traffic signal modeling of a road network. An individual traffic signal is represented in the database with data indicating the traffic signal's geographic location and other attributes of the traffic signal such as an arrangement of lenses in the signal, an indication as to whether the signal is vertically or horizontally oriented, a height of the traffic signal over the roadway, and others. The database can be used by a system in a vehicle that provides convenience features to the vehicle's driver. The system may attempt to warn or control a vehicle that is determined to be at imminent risk of violating a traffic signal.
US09285234B1

An interactive digital map of a geographic area is provided via a user interface of a computing device. A selection of a point on the digital map is received, where the selected point corresponds to a selected location within the geographic area. In response to receiving the selection of the point and without receiving a request for directions from a user via the user interface, an indication of a length of a trip between a current location of the computing device and the selected location is automatically obtained. The indication of the length of the trip along with the interactive digital map are displayed via the user interface.
US09285228B2

A navigation system for an automotive vehicle that travels on roads includes a vehicle positioning apparatus that determines location data associated with the vehicle. A source of attraction location data provides location data associated with a plurality of attractions that are of interest to a user of the vehicle. A processing device is communicatively coupled to the vehicle positioning apparatus and to the source of attraction location data. The processing device calculates a distance and direction from the vehicle to at least one of the attractions of interest. The calculating is based upon the location data associated with the vehicle and the location data associated with the attractions of interest. A graphical display arrangement is communicatively coupled to the processing device. The graphical display arrangement indicates the calculated distance and direction without graphically indicating orientation of roads on which the vehicle may travel.
US09285224B2

Methods and systems for compensating for gyroscopic errors. A system uses magnetometers to detect and measure a magnetic field local to a personal navigation device. When the local magnetic field is quasi-static, the rate of change of the magnetic field is combined with the rotational rate of change of the device. This generates an estimated gyroscope error. The error can then be used to correct for time-varying inherent gyroscope errors.
US09285223B1

A method for determining a yaw angle estimate or vehicle heading direction is presented. A potential range of yaw angles is generated based on a plurality of primary telematics data. One or more yaw angle estimates are generated from the potential range of yaw angles. A driving pattern is determined based on at least one of the yaw angle estimates. The primary telematics data is a plurality of telematics data originated from a client computing device. The effects of gravity have been removed from the plurality of telematics data in a first primary movement window.
US09285222B2

A system and method for providing autonomous navigation for an Autonomous Vehicle such as an Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) or an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) in the vicinity of power lines or other signal carrying lines or underwater cable is presented. Autonomous navigation is achieved by measuring the magnitude and phase of the electromagnetic field at an unknown location within a space under excitation by a set of power cables of the power line with one or more orthogonal electromagnetic sensors formed on the AV; and estimating parameters related to a position and orientation of the AV, and load parameters of each cable based on the residual error between the measured set of complex electromagnetic field values corresponding to a combined model of the set of power cables.
US09285221B2

A method, system and computer readable media for route re-planning including generating enemy force movement predictions to be used during mission planning. During a mission, enemy force movements can be compared to the predictions. By using enemy force movement predictions for an initial comparison, the enemy force movements may only need to be compared to the own force mission plan if the enemy forces deviate from the predictions. When enemy force movement deviates from the predictions, new enemy force movement predictions can be generated. The new enemy force movement predictions can then be compared to the own force mission plan to determine if a route re-plan is needed. The route can be re-planned to determine a route that reduces or eliminates the chance of a lethal encounter with an enemy or threat.
US09285218B2

A shortest path from a source to a destination for a current start time in a set of start times is determined. A processor identifies a critical start time in the set of start times that is temporally separated from the current start time by at least one intermediate start time. The shortest path from the source to the destination for the current start time is set as the shortest path for the at least one intermediate start time without separately determining the shortest path for the at least one intermediate start time. A different shortest path is determined from the source to the destination for the critical start time.
US09285212B2

The general field of the invention is that of systems for detecting the posture of a mobile object in space. The system according to the invention comprises an electro-optical device comprising a light source, a photoreceptor and means of analysis, and a retro-reflecting cube corner disposed on the mobile object. The cube corner comprises a mask disposed on its entry face. The source emits a parallel or almost-parallel pencil beam. The electro-optical device comprises means for deviating, about a fixed point, the said pencil beam of light by an angle varying as a function of time. The photoreceptor is configured for receiving the pencil beam of light retro-reflected by the cube corner. The means of analysis are configured in such a manner as to determine, based on the signal coming from the photoreceptor, the position of a number of points representative of the borders of the mask and, using this positional information, the posture of the cube corner in space.
US09285209B2

Provided are a tomography image generating method and an apparatus for generating a tomography image. The method of generating a tomography image includes, in response to a depth scan operation performed on an object, generating a candidate tomography image by using an interference signal acquired by the performed depth scan operation, determining a pixel pattern by using the generated candidate tomography image; and when the depth scan operation performed on the object is completed, generating a final tomography image of the object by using a finally determined pixel pattern. The generating the candidate tomography image and the determining are parallel processed by at least one processor during the depth scan operation being repeatedly performed.
US09285207B2

A method and system for measuring displacement of a structure is disclosed. The method and system comprise providing a first capacitance and providing a second capacitance. The first and second capacitances share a common terminal. The method and system further include determining a difference of the inverses of the value of the first and second capacitances when the structure is displaced. The first capacitance varies in inverse relation to the displacement of the structure.
US09285206B1

A displacement measuring system to measure the displacement of a structural object that includes a transmitter having a signal generator and an antenna wherein the antenna is securable relative to one of a displaced object and a support. The antenna defines a transmitter axis that is parallel to the displacement axis of the object and a centerline that is perpendicular to the displacement axis. The system further includes a first receiver and a second receiver having antennas securable relative to the other of the object and the support. The receiver antennas are positioned along a receiver axis that is parallel to the displacement axis and being spaced along the receiver axis on either side of the center line. The receiver antennas are configured to detect a signal emitted by the transmitter. The system further includes a phase detector to triangulate phase change and calculate object displacement.
US09285203B1

Some embodiments are directed to a gauge for determining relative positional relationships among assembled vehicular components. The gauge can include a gauge body defining a hook configured to be retained within a ditch joint. The gauge body can also define a curved exterior surface corresponding to a contour of a portion of the exterior surface of a side panel outer that is disposed adjacent a section of the ditch joint in which the hook is retained. The gauge can also include an indicator disposed at a lower portion of the gauge body below the hook. The indicator can determine and indicate a distance separating the lower portion of the gauge body from the door sash in a direction perpendicular to the exterior surface of the door sash, the distance being indicative of an assembly tolerance of relative positions of the side panel outer and the door sash.
US09285200B2

An in-process diameter measuring apparatus equipped with a function of determining a measurement abnormality of a grinding machine is provided. The apparatus measures the diameter of a to-be-processed surface of a workpiece in the process of the workpiece. A sizing device (2) is provided including measuring heads (2X and 2Y) for detecting two locations spaced apart from each other in a diametric direction of the workpiece (W). Based on respective measured values of those measuring heads (2X and 2Y), the diametric dimension is calculated by a dimension calculator (32). With respect to the abnormality detection, the difference between the measured values (G1 and G2) of the measuring heads (2X and 2Y) is determined by a measurement abnormality determiner (34) and the occurrence of the measurement abnormality is determined when this measurement value difference (Δα) depart from a predetermined permissible range.
US09285198B2

An ARM-FIRE device for a pyrotechnic system includes a first pyrotechnic, a second pyrotechnic, a passage extending between the first and second pyrotechnics, and an actuator/blocking device positioned between the first and second pyrotechnics. The first pyrotechnic is configured to be ignited by a heat source, and the second pyrotechnic is configured to be ignited by the first pyrotechnic in the FIRE arrangement. The actuator/blocking device includes a body configured to move between a first position in the SAFE arrangement and a second position in the FIRE arrangement, an aperture extending through the body, and an actuator. The aperture is offset from the passage in the first position of the body and is aligned with the passage in the second position of the body. The actuator is configured to move the body between the first and second positions. The first pyrotechnic, the second pyrotechnic, and the actuator/blocking device occupy a volume of approximately 49 cubic cm (3.0 cubic inches)or less.
US09285191B2

A coating of atactic polypropylene over a transparent armor substrate improves resistance to penetration while allowing convenient repair of minor abrasions and scratches.
US09285187B2

A reticle piece for use in an optical sight includes a generally cylinder-shaped body having a front face and a back face opposed therefrom. The reticle piece includes a reticle pattern and a level indicating device positioned between the front face and the back face of the body. The level indicating device includes a moveable leveling indicator.
US09285184B1

A gun stock, for attaching to a rifle having a receiver with a grip mounting plate and a barrel extender, the stock having a main part, a forward grip, a rear grip having a rear grip front, and a butt extending behind both the rear grip and main part. The forward grip has a grip mount for attaching to the grip mounting plate and a thumb opening. The rear grip has a pair of indentures that extend from near the butt forwardly toward the rear grip front. The main part has a front surface, a barrel extender tube having a barrel extender opening on the front surface and extending rearwardly to the butt. The barrel extender is inserted into the barrel extender opening and to the butt where it is secured to the gun stock with a barrel extender bolt.
US09285182B2

A manually assisted bowstring drawing mechanism may be used with a crossbow. The drawing mechanism may include a pair of handles attached to opposite ends of a rope and an engaging mechanism. The engaging mechanism may have two pieces that may receive the rope and may be selectively separated and connected together. When separated, the pieces may be extended up opposite sides of the crossbow from a trigger mechanism to a bowstring. The pieces may then be connected together and engaged to the bowstring. Next, the handles may be pulled by a user to move the bowstring from an uncocked position to a cocked position.
US09285180B2

A bow limb retaining assembly comprises a limb and a retainer having a cavity for receiving the limb. The retainer comprises opposed lateral surfaces, a first abutting surface arranged to contact a compression surface of the limb and a second abutting surface arranged to contact a tension surface of the limb. A first length portion of the retainer includes the first abutting surface and excludes the second abutting surface, and a second length portion of the retainer includes the second abutting surface and excludes the first abutting surface.
US09285179B2

A cable guard for a compound bow deflects cables of the compound bow away from the path of an arrow and away from a plane in which a string of the compound bow travels to prevent interference between the cables and the arrow and string. The compound bow includes a riser and spaced apart limbs extending from the riser. The cables and the string extends between the limbs. The cable guard comprises a frame for attachment to the compound bow. A first bearing is supported by the frame and extends along an axis. A second bearing and a third bearing each extend along a respective axis transverse to the axis of the first bearing. The second bearing and the third bearing each present a bearing surface with the bearing surface of the second bearing spaced from and facing the bearing surface of the third bearing for receiving the cable therebetween.
US09285174B2

The present invention relates to a thermal energy system (1) that includes at least one exchanger module (100, 200, 300) that includes at least one heat exchanger (110a, 110b, 210a, 210b, 310a, 310b), in particular two heat exchangers, each module including at least a first circuit (140a, 140b, 240a, 240b, 340a, 340b) for a first fluid traversing, in a regular mode of operation, through the heat exchanger in a main flow direction, a second circuit for a second fluid for exchanging thermal energy between the first fluid and the second fluid, and at least one pump (160, 260, 360) including a fluid drive device (162, 262, 362) for driving the first fluid in the main flow direction, characterised in that the drive device is arranged, along the main flow direction, upstream of the heat exchanger. In addition, the invention relates to the application of such a system in ocean thermal energy conversion systems.
US09285159B2

There are provided a refrigerator and a dispenser for the refrigerator. A light emitting unit is provided to emit light toward manipulation member of the dispenser so that the dispenser can be conveniently used and have a better aesthetic appearance.
US09285154B2

A cooling system for a machine room of a refrigerator is provided. More particularly, a cooling system for a machine room of a refrigerator is provided, which is capable of cooling the machine room of the refrigerator using a smaller blowing fan in a nacelle-shaped or nacelle duct, which can acquire more air than using conventional fan blades, remarkably reducing noise of the fan and ensuring sufficient space, thereby efficiently cooling the compressor and the condenser installed in the machine room. The apparatus for cooling a machine room of a refrigerator may include a compressor installed in the machine room, a condenser installed in the machine room and connected to the compressor via a connection pipe, and a nacelle duct installed in the machine room that cools the compressor and the condenser by blowing air, the nacelle duct having a central opening.
US09285138B1

A mobile system for simulating a thermal load and airflow expected in the operation of a data center includes a thermal energy source, an impeller and impeller drive unit, an outlet port, a frame and a ground engaging member. The thermal energy source provides thermal energy to air adjacent to the thermal energy source. The impeller controls a flow rate of air adjacent to the adjacent to the thermal energy source. The outlet port outputs the flowing air. The impeller drive unit drives the impeller at a frequency based on a determined airflow at the outlet port. The frame supports the thermal energy source, the impeller, the output port and the drive unit. The ground engaging member supports the frame and enables the mobility of the system.
US09285133B2

A humidifier for use in a central HVAC duct. The humidifier includes a water delivery system for applying water to an evaporator pad, a drain system for removing excess water that is not evaporated, and a control system employing two temperature sensors directly measuring the temperature of the air before and after the evaporator pad. The control system uses the two temperatures to adjust the water flow across the pad by cycling the water delivery system so that drain water is minimized while maximizing the evaporative capacity of the humidifier thus satisfying the humidification load as quickly as possible with the least amount of drain water. The humidifier may have either an integral fan or a flow-through housing for passing air across the wetted evaporator pad to increase the humidity level of the air.
US09285132B2

A saw enclosure having a waterproof metal base pan, with integral receiver brackets for supporting enclosure frame work, and a built in shop-vac attachment port for using a vacuum to produce negative air pressure within enclosure; removing dust, moisture and particulate laden air. The saw enclosure framework assembly includes an electric control panel comprising of a switch controlled, duplex, GFCI outlet, for simultaneously energizing the saw and vacuum, and a continuously powered duplex outlet for powering a jig saw, grinder, drill, light, or any other electrical item. The enclosure, a seamed and fitted cover of flexible fabric or plastic, includes weights or magnets to ensure a tight fit at the base pan. All components disassemble quickly, and fit within base pan, which has a detachable cover for ease of transport.
US09285129B2

A system and method for liquid-liquid free-cooling that may include a modular coolant distribution unit (CDU) is provided. CDUs can incorporate integral free-cooling or bolt on free-cooling switch modules. The free-cooling flow can be either direct or indirect. Units can interface with each other to provide scalable cooling for computer data centers. Embodiments of the system can integrate with electronics rack passive rear door liquid heat exchangers.
US09285127B2

A hardware system that performs new energy- and water-saving, restorative tasks upon use is provided. In some aspects of the invention, energy-saving hot water recapturing techniques are provided. In a preferred embodiment, the system may push hot water back to a water tank, and halt such pushing after capturing all such hot water. In other aspects, specialized energy-saving pipes further assist the system, and a user's behavior may also assist the system in implementing additional energy and water-saving options and settings, including, but not limited to, a “Final Rinse” option and the timing of ending water service.In still other aspects, a user's ending use of water service a plumbing may also trigger an ending spray of handled parts of those fixtures and, optionally, a soap or antiseptic spray or other secretion. The same technology may be applied to other handles and fixtures, like door handles or elevator buttons.
US09285125B2

A prefabricated heat-insulation panel has two hot water flow paths installed separately inside a panel, with primary and secondary connection parts provided in the panel and connected to a boiler or allowing hot water to circulate to adjacent panels. A polybutene layer with rosin as an activator is formed on the inner surface of the hot water supply pipe made of thermoplastic elastomer, and reduces the diameter and the length of the hot water supply pipes installed in the panel and the panel thickness and minimizes the boiler load.
US09285121B2

A cooling circuit of a gas turbine passes an airflow through a combustor section that includes a plurality of mixing tubes for transporting a fuel/air mixture and a perforated plate including a plurality of impingement holes and a plurality of tube holes for accommodating the mixing tubes. The tube holes and the mixing tubes form a plurality of annulus areas between the perforated plate and the mixing tubes. The impingement holes and the annulus areas are configured to pass the airflow through the perforated plate. A flow management device modifies an effective size of the annulus areas to control a distribution of the airflow through the impingement holes and the annulus areas of the perforated plate to enhance cooling efficiency.
US09285119B2

Electrical connection for connecting a phase conductor and ground cable of a thermocouple to the magnet assembly of a gas supply safety cock, including a thermocouple connection head that can be coupled to a complementary contact portion of the magnet assembly, in which the connection head of the thermocouple has a first terminal for the phase conductor, or for the ground cable, and a second terminal for the ground cable, or for the phase conductor, and in which the aforesaid contact portion of the magnet assembly has a complementary jack for the first terminal and a coupling collar for the second terminal. The second terminal advantageously has at least one thin elastic plate internally insertable in the collar, and the thermocouple's connection head and the contact portion of the magnet assembly are shaped to deform the thin elastic plate when inserted inside the same collar in contact with the latter.
US09285113B2

A burner has a fuel/oxidant nozzles and a pair of dynamical lances spaced on either side thereof that inject a jet of fuel and primary oxidant along a fuel injection axis, and jets of secondary oxidant, respectively. Jets of actuating fluid impinge against the jets of secondary oxidant to fluidically angle the jets of secondary oxidant away from the fuel injection axis. The action of the angling away together with staging of the oxidant between primary and secondary oxidant injections allows achievement of distributed combustion conditions.
US09285109B1

An underwater light or submersible luminaire may include a housing and a transparent pressure bearing window positioned at a forward end of the housing. Window supporting structure may be mounted in the housing behind the transparent window. A water-tight seal may be located between the window and the housing. A circuit element may be configured and positioned within the housing behind the window supporting structure to bear at least some of the pressure applied to the transparent window. At least one solid state light source may be mounted on the circuit element behind the transparent window.
US09285105B2

A portable light may comprise: a light housing for enclosing a source of electrical power and supporting an electrical light source, a face cap rotatably mounted to the light housing. The face cap may have one or more lenses positionable in front of the electrical light source. A light source control circuit interior the light housing has at least one switch actuator for selectively energizing the light source, and an actuator member of the face cap. Rotating the face cap moves the actuator member into a position to actuate the switch actuator, whereby rotating the face cap produces the selective energization of the light source. The portable light may require a tool to open the housing, e.g., to replace the source of electrical power and/or may be pivotably mounted to a light base.
US09285098B2

A luminaire having an array of light emitting diodes on a circuit board, and a generally planar lens element adjacent each of the LEDs, wherein each lens element has a plurality of concentric ridges projecting from a surface of the lens member to define Fresnel facets for redirecting light emitted from the corresponding LED, providing more uniform light distribution in a compact configuration.
US09285095B2

The present invention relates to a combination type illumination apparatus that includes a lamp body, a lamp cap module and a LED light emitting module. The LED light emitting module is disposed on the lamp body. The lamp body has an accommodation hole and a center sleeve stored in the accommodation hole. The center sleeve includes a first joggle structure. The lamp cap module includes a second joggle structure. The second joggle structure of the lamp cap module is assembled to the first joggle structure of the center sleeve. With such structure configuration, manufacturers may assemble the combination type illumination apparatus in a joggling way instead of in a screwing or gluing method.
US09285086B2

Light diffusing optical fibers and light emitting apparatuses including light diffusing optical fibers are disclosed. In one embodiment, a light emitting apparatus includes a base, a transparent or translucent enclosure affixed to the base, a light diffusing optical fiber including a coiled filament enclosed within the enclosure, and a light source optically coupled to the light diffusing optical fiber. The coiled filament includes a glass core, an outer surface, and a plurality of light scattering structures situated within the coiled filament for scattering light through the outer surface of the coiled filament. The coiled filament has a loss in a range of 0.5 dB/turn to 10.0 dB/turn at a turn radius of less than 50 mm.
US09285076B2

The anchor device includes a post movably connected to a base and is lockable in shovel, anchor and storage positions. First, it is locked in a shovel position and a hole is dug in beach sand. The anchor device is then disengaged from the shovel position and then locked into an anchor position and then inserted into the hole and then covered with beach sand to secure the post portion of the anchor device in a vertical position with a portion of the post exposed above the surface of the sand. A beach umbrella is inserted into and secured to the post. To remove the anchor device from the sand, the anchor lock position is disengaged from above the sand to permit the post and the base to freely pivot relative to each other so the base and post can be easily pulled from the sand.
US09285071B1

A system for supporting a condenser above a ground surface generally includes a beam that elevates the condenser above the ground surface, the beam incorporating or coupled to a wall sleeve on one end and a frame on the other end and adapted to allow a line set from the condenser to pass through at least a portion of an interior channel or passageway of the beam into the wall sleeve. In use, the beam is joined to a sleeve and placed in a hole in the building structure, such as a foundation wall, and secured to resist rotational force. The beam is joined to a frame, the condenser is placed on the frame, and the line set is run through the beam and sleeve. Thereby, the condenser becomes elevated above the ground on the condenser supporting system. The beam may be cantilevered.
US09285060B2

A coupling for joining plan end pipe having a housing made from a casting with a pocket disposed in the casting. The pockets holds an insert that engages the plain end pipe, and the insert is secured to the housing without the use of machined features on the housing or the use of additional components or adhesives to secure the insert to the housing. In a preferred embodiment, each insert is disposed in a pocket on the inner surface of the coupling assembly, with projections extending from the inner surface disposed within cavities on opposing sides of each insert to retain the insert within the pocket by obstructing the opening to the pocket. A preferred device and method of forming the projections is a press that deforms the projections to retain the inserts in the pockets.
US09285056B2

In an electropneumatic field device for controlling a pneumatic actuator, an energy converter converts pneumatic energy of a pneumatic power supply of the actuator into electrical energy. An oscillating permanent magnet receives a compressed air pulse to perform a forward motion. A return device transmits a return force to the oscillating permanent magnet for performing a return motion opposite to the forward motion. An electrical voltage is induced into a coil of the energy converter by the forward and return motions of the oscillating permanent magnet. The return device is designed to generate a magnetic field that is polarized with respect to the oscillating permanent magnet such that a magnetic repulsion return force induces the return motion.
US09285054B2

A control valve according to an embodiment includes a guide member of a cylindrical shape extending coaxially with a valve hole, a valve element of a bottomed cylindrical shape for opening and closing a valve section such that the valve element touches and leaves the valve hole, and a pressure-canceling structure for canceling out at least part of pressure acting on the valve element by introducing a working fluid into a back pressure chamber via a leak passage, the pressure-canceling structure including the back pressure chamber, surrounded by the valve element and the guide member, and the leak passage communicating between the valve hole and the back pressure chamber. A sliding portion and a spacing are formed in an overlapped portion which is a region overlapped by the valve element and the guide member. The sliding portion is connected circumferentially at least when the valve section is closed, and the proportion of the spacing occupied in the overlapped portion is larger than the proportion of the sliding portion occupied at the time when the valve section is open.
US09285048B2

An enclosure for a valve assembly includes a base having an opening that allows a portion of a valve assembly to pass therethrough, and a valve handle shroud, extending from the base, to encapsulate a handle/stem assembly of the valve assembly.
US09285037B2

A mud valve having a flange frame and yoke that are permanently connected to form a single unit without the aid of removable fasteners is described. Installation of the drain plug is facilitated by an arrangement of guide tabs on either side of the drain plug that are of different distances from the surface of the drain plug. This staggered arrangement allows the drain plug to be installed through a tilting and rotating of the drain plug that brings the tabs into alignment with guide rails on the yoke without necessitating the separation of the yoke from the flange frame. Similarly, the construction described allows the drain plug to be removed for repair or replacement in the field without disassembling the yoke and flange frame.
US09285017B2

An automatic transmission for adjusting the relative speed between an input and output member. The transmission being configured with four planetary gears, the first having first to third rotary elements, the second having fourth to sixth rotary elements, the third having seventh to ninth rotary elements, the fourth having tenth to twelfth rotary elements. Three couplings between (i) first and sixth rotary elements, (ii) second and fifth rotary elements, and (iii) eighth and twelfth rotary elements. Three clutches are provided between (i) the second coupling and input member, (ii) third coupling and input member, and (iii) seventh rotary element and input member. Three brakes are provided at (i) the fourth rotary element, (ii) third coupling element, and (iii) tenth rotary element. The output member is connected to the third rotary element.
US09285014B2

A transmission gearing arrangement has four simple planetary gear sets and five or six shift elements. A ring gear is fixedly held against rotation. A sun gear and a carrier are fixedly coupled to the input shaft. One embodiment has two brakes and three clutches and produces seven forward speeds by selective engagement of various combinations of two of the shift elements. Other embodiments have two brakes and four clutches and produce nine forward speeds by selective engagement of various combinations of two of the shift elements. Each embodiment may optionally include a passive one way brake that simplifies the control of certain shifts.
US09285012B2

The invention concerns an internal combustion engine and a method of producing the engine in which the engine has at least one cylinder and with a crank drive comprising a crankshaft, in which the crankshaft mounted in the crankcase has an associated crankshaft throw, the crankshaft throws being arranged spaced apart along the longitudinal axis of the crankshaft, and at least one compensation weight serving as imbalance is arranged on the crankshaft on the side opposite at least one crankshaft throw. The compensation weight has an arcuate form on the outward-facing side, the outside of which running in the peripheral direction has a constant distance S from a reference axis which runs parallel to and spaced by a distance Δ from the longitudinal axis of the crankshaft, wherein the reference axis is arranged on the side facing away from the compensation weight, starting from the longitudinal axis of the crankshaft.
US09285010B2

A damper device includes a protruding portion located outside a closing portion of a cylinder body facing a piston body and forming a flow path communicating inside and outside of the cylinder body; a plug body including a shaft portion inserted into the flow path from an outside of the cylinder body; and an urging device of the plug body. An insertion length of the shaft portion of the plug-like body into the flow path against urging of the urging device increases by change in pressure due to a movement or a relative movement of the piston body in a direction separating from the closing portion of the cylinder body.
US09285009B2

A hydraulic damper includes at least one valve assembly (9, 19) provided with rebound (11, 21) and compression (12, 22) valves and at least one resilient deflective disk covering flow channels (13, 23) of the valve assembly and preloaded by a spring (16, 26). The hydraulic damper includes means for clamping together the components of the at least one valve assembly and for preloading the spring. In order to increase the repeatability coefficient among dampers of the same production batch and render it independent on the geometrical tolerances of the valve assembly components, the means have a form of an adjustable nut assembly (17a, 27a) comprising a clamp nut (171, 271) and a shoulder sleeve (172, 272) fixed on the perimeter of the clamp nut. The clamp nut clamps together the components of the valve assembly and the shoulder sleeve preloads the spring with a predetermined force. method of assembling such a damper.
US09285006B2

A shock absorber including a piston inserted into a cylinder (2) having a hydraulic oil sealed therein. An outer tube (3) is provided around the outer periphery of the cylinder to form a reservoir (4) therebetween. A bottomed circular cylindrical casing (25) is joined to a side surface portion of the outer tube, and a damping force control valve (27) is housed in the casing. The bottomed circular cylindrical casing has a bottom (25A) formed with a joint surface (25B) curved along the outer peripheral surface of the outer tube and a flat inner surface (25C). The casing is integrally formed by forging.
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