US09793088B2

An aberration corrector has two stages of dodecapole (12-pole) elements each of which has first through twelfth poles arranged in this order. Exciting coils of the (4n+1)th poles and the exciting coils of the (4n+4)th poles are connected with a first reversible power supply in series (where n=0, 1, 2) to produce magnetic fields which are identical in absolute value but mutually opposite in sense relative to the optical axis within a plane perpendicular to the axis. The exciting coils of the (4n+3)th poles and the exciting coils of the (4n+2)th poles are connected with a second reversible power supply in series to produce magnetic fields which are identical in absolute value but mutually opposite in sense relative to the optical axis within the plane perpendicular to the axis.
US09793086B2

An ion implanter has a coating of low resistivity silicon carbide on one or more of the conductive surfaces that are exposed to ions. For example, ions are generated in an ion source chamber, and the interior surfaces of the walls are coated with low resistivity silicon carbide. Since silicon carbide is hard and resistant to sputtering, this may reduce the amount of contaminant ions that are introduced into the ion beam that is extracted from the ion source chamber. In some embodiments, the extraction electrodes are also coated with silicon carbide to reduce the contaminant ions introduced by these components.
US09793082B2

A method of manufacturing a flat panel display is disclosed. In one aspect, the method includes forming a plurality of display elements over a first substrate and forming over the first substrate or a second substrate a plurality of sealing units respectively surrounding the display elements. The method further c includes arranging the first and second substrates to face each other and emitting a laser beam to the sealing units so as to bond the first and second substrates. The emitting includes (a) emitting a first laser beam, from a first laser source, clockwise or counterclockwise along perimeters of the sealing units and (b) substantially simultaneously emitting a second laser beam, from a second laser source, to facing sides of adjacent ones of the sealing units.
US09793081B2

A changeable mechanism includes a contact support, a connecting rod, a connecting shaft, a cantilever, and a changeable component. The contact support has a moving contact therein, and rotates about a shaft. The connecting rod bottom end is connected to the contact support, the connecting rod top end is connected to a cantilever through a connecting shaft. The changeable component is connected to and drives the cantilever through a main shaft, and drives the contact support to rotate through the connecting shaft and connecting rod. Rotation of the contact support makes the moving contact and static contact separate or in contact to realize opening or closing a circuit breaker. The changeable mechanism may switch between a manual operation mechanism and an electrical operation mechanism of a MCB. The changeable component does not dispose the electrical operation mechanism outside the MCB, so that height and volume of the MCB is reduced.
US09793079B2

An electromagnetic relay includes a fixed contact, a movable contact corresponding to the fixed contact, a movable element that retains the movable contact and moves in a contacting direction and a separating direction relative to the fixed contact, an axial core coupled to the movable element, a movable core coupled to the axial core to move in the contacting direction and the separating direction relative to a movement of the axial core, a driving part that drives the movable core in the contacting direction, an urging part that exerts force to the axial core in the separating direction, and a constraining part that constrains the relative movement of the axial core in the separating direction.
US09793072B2

Provided are a switch module and a push switch that have a soft sensation when pressed. A push switch and a switch module have a substrate, a first fixed contact point disposed on the substrate surface, a second fixed contact point disposed around the first fixed contact point on the substrate surface, a convex dome-shaped upper spring disposed on the substrate surface so that an end part is in contact with the second fixed contact point, the upper spring being pressed so as to invert the dome shape and to establish conduction between the first fixed contact point and the second fixed contact point, and a lower spring disposed below the upper spring, the lower spring adjusting the operation load applied to the upper spring during inversion of the dome shape.
US09793062B2

An electric storage device includes an electrolyte and an electric storage unit including a positive electrode including a positive-electrode collector electrode and a positive-electrode active-material layer disposed on the positive-electrode collector electrode; a negative electrode including a negative-electrode collector electrode and a negative-electrode active-material layer disposed on the negative-electrode collector electrode and facing the positive-electrode active-material layer; a first insulating layer bonded to the positive electrode and the negative electrode to isolate the positive electrode and the negative electrode from each other; and a region that is sealed with the first insulating layer in plan view and that holds the electrolyte between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, wherein an air permeability P of the first insulating layer satisfies the formula 1250 s/100 cc
US09793058B2

A capacitor, and method for making the capacitor, is provided with improved charging characteristics. The capacitor has an anode, a cathode comprising a conductive polymer layer and a work function modifier layer adjacent the conductive polymer layer and a dielectric layer between the anode and the cathode.
US09793053B2

There is provided a multilayered ceramic capacitor, including: a ceramic body; an active layer including a plurality of first and second internal electrodes; an upper cover layer; a lower cover layer formed below the active layer, the lower cover layer being thicker than the upper cover layer; first and second external electrodes; at least one pair of first and second internal electrodes repeatedly formed inside the lower cover layer, wherein, when A is defined as ½ of an overall thickness of the ceramic body, B is defined as a thickness of the lower cover layer, C is defined as ½ of an overall thickness of the active layer, and D is defined as a thickness of the upper cover layer, a ratio of deviation between a center of the active layer and a center of the ceramic body, (B+C)/A, satisfies 1.063≦(B+C)/A≦1.745.
US09793050B2

A capacitor including: a capacitor case having a bottom portion and an opening; a capacitor element accommodated in the capacitor case and including a first electrode E1 and a second electrode E2; a first fixed terminal T1 connected to the first electrode E1; a second fixed terminal T2 connected to the second electrode E2; a movable terminal partly accommodated in the capacitor case and including a free end; and a fixing portion that fixes a first portion of the movable terminal, wherein the first fixed terminal T1 and the second fixed terminal T2 each have an extending portion extending toward an outside of the capacitor case, the free end is led to the outside of the capacitor case, and the fixing portion fixes the first portion such that the free end extends in the extending direction of the extending portions.
US09793049B2

A protected capacitor system/method implementing enhanced transient over-voltage suppression is disclosed. The system/method incorporates one or more surge suppression devices (SSDs) proximally located and in parallel with a capacitor structure to produce an overall protected capacitor structure having enhanced reliability and simultaneous ability to resist transient overvoltage conditions. The SSDs are formed from series combinations of transient voltage surge suppressors (TVSs) (metal oxide varistor (MOV), diode for alternating current (DIAC), and/or silicon diode for alternating current (SIDAC)) and corresponding shunt diode rectifiers (SDRs) and placed in parallel across a capacitor structure to locally suppress voltage transients across the capacitor structure in excess of the voltage rating of the capacitor structure. The parallel shunting TVS/SDR pairs may be integrated into a printed circuit board (PCB) assembly that is externally attached to the capacitor structure or encapsulated in an enclosure incorporating the capacitor structure.
US09793043B2

Provided are a coil component capable of preventing internal residence of air bubbles after encapsulated with a resin and an electronic circuit incorporating such coil component. The coil component (10) includes: a columnar core having a flange portion (210) which is formed to have a diameter larger than that of a shaft portion having a coil wound therearound; and an annular core having an opening (110) through which the columnar core is inserted, the perimeter of the inner flange face of the flange portion (210) being configured by externally disposed regions (211,212,213,214) which are positioned outside the inner face of the opening (110) in the radial direction, and internally disposed regions (215,216,217,218) which are positioned inside the inner face of the opening (110) in the radial direction.
US09793041B2

A reactor 1 according to the present invention includes a coil 2 and a magnetic core 3 where the coil 2 is disposed. In the reactor 1, a core part 4A (4B) including a stacked columnar body having a plurality of core pieces 31m and a plurality of gap members 31g stacked and coating resin 5A (5B) in which a peripheral surface coating portion 51oA (51oB) for coating an outer peripheral surface of the stacked columnar body to integrally hold the core piece 31m and the gap member 31g and an end surface coating portion 51eA for coating one end surface of the stacked columnar body are molded integrally is used for a part of the magnetic core 3, that is, an inner core 31. A manufacturing error of the core piece 31m or the gap member 31g is absorbed by the end surface coating portion 51eA. Consequently, the core part 4A (4B) can be molded with high accuracy and an outer core 32 can be assembled properly. Thus, the reactor 1 has high assembling workability.
US09793022B1

A method of follow-up decontamination operation for the polluted storage canister of a high activity nuclear waste storage facility, using needle and steel brushes driven by pneumatic tools for abrading the bottom and the inner wall of the storage canister to remove contaminants, a multi-level filter system for air filtration and removing pollutants in the storage canister, and a cover to be used in association with the pneumatic tools and the multi-level filtration system suitable to cap the storage canister, thus effectively block the exposure of contaminant of the storage canister to the external environment, achieving effective decontamination of the radioactive waste and reducing spreading to the environment.
US09793015B2

A containment vessel for containing a reactor pressure vessel, a reactor core, and a steam generator of a pressurized water reactor includes a main body equipped with a polar crane, a diaphragm set above the polar crane that partitions the main body, before and after a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA), into an upper vessel including a dome part having an open space and a lower vessel isolated from the upper vessel, a pressure suppression chamber including a suppression pool that stores water and a gas phase in communication with the open space, a LOCA vent pipe connecting the suppression pool to the lower vessel, and a vacuum breaker that equalizes pressure by allowing gas flow from the upper to the lower vessel when a pressure difference between the upper and lower vessels exceeds a preset value. The lower vessel contains all equipment and piping constituting a reactor pressure boundary.
US09793011B2

Provided is a structure including a first member (2); a second member (3) disposed opposite to the first member (2); and a glass layer (4) disposed between the first member (2) and the second member (3) so as to bond the first member (2) and the second member (3). A glass transition point of the glass layer (4) is lower than a temperature of the glass layer (4) under operation. In the glass layer (4), at least either of ceramic and metallic particles 4b, 4c is dispersed. In a temperature region lower than the glass transition point of the glass layer (4), a thermal expansion coefficient thereof falls in between thermal expansion coefficients of the first member (2) and the second member (3). This allows thermal strain caused within the structure (1) to be reduced when the structure (1) is operated at a higher temperature than a room temperature.
US09793005B2

The present disclosure discloses a shift register unit, a gate drive circuit, and a display device. The shift register unit includes first to twelfth switch elements, a first capacitor, and a second capacitor. The first switch element switches on in response to an input signal, the second switch element switches on in response to a first clock signal, the third, the ninth and the twelfth switch elements switch on in response to a signal of the second node, the fourth switch element switches on in response to a signal of the first node, and the fifth, the seventh and the eleventh switch elements switch on in response to a second clock signal.
US09792998B1

Systems and methods for detecting program disturb and for programming/reading based on the detected program disturb are disclosed. Program disturb comprises unintentionally programming an unselected section of memory during the program operation of the selected section of memory. To reduce the effect of program disturb, the section of memory is analyzed in a predetermined state (such as the erase state) for program disturb. In response to identifying signs of program disturb, the voltages used to program the section of memory (such as the program verify levels for programming data into the cells of the section of memory) may be adjusted. Likewise, when reading data from the section of memory, the read voltages may be adjusted based on the adjusted voltages used for programming. In this way, using the adjusted programming and reading voltages, the effect of program disturb may be reduced.
US09792986B2

The present disclosure relates to phase change memory current. An apparatus includes a memory controller including a word line (WL) control module and a bit line (BL) control module, the memory controller is to initiate selection of a memory cell. The apparatus further includes a mitigation module to configure a first line selection logic to reduce a transient energy dissipation of the memory cell, the transient energy related to selecting the memory cell.
US09792985B2

A resistive floating electrode device (RFED) provides a logic cell or non-volatile storage or dynamic or static random access memory on an extremely compact matrix with individual cells scalable to the minimum available lithographic feature size regime by providing atomic switches connected in anti-parallel relationship, preferably with a common inert electrode. Programming is facilitated by limiting current to a compliance current level in order to maintain an OB state from which the cell can be written to either the 0 or 1 state. A perfecting feature of the invention provides for selective operation of a cell as a diode or in a volatile or non-volatile storage mode within the same memory array. A series connection of three or more RFEDs in accordance with the invention having different ON state currents, OFF state currents and reset currents can be used as adaptive, neural or chaotic logic cells.
US09792976B2

Provided is a memory device including a delay circuit having gate insulation films with thicknesses different from each other. The memory device includes a delay circuit configured to input an input signal and output an output signal, and circuit blocks configured to control an operation of reading or writing memory cell data in response to the input signal or the output signal. One of transistors constituting a circuit block has a gate insulation film having such a thickness that an effect of negative biased temperature instability (NBTI) or positive biased temperature instability (PBTI) on the transistors is minimized. The delay circuit may be affected little by a shift in a threshold voltage that may be caused by NTBI or PBTI, and thus, achieve target delay time.
US09792975B1

An access method for a DRAM is provided. A plurality of portions of a row address of a bank corresponding to a activate command is provided. A plurality of sub-commands of the activate command are provided via a command bus, and a plurality of portions of address information regarding the portions of the row address are provided via an address bus. Each portion of the address information includes an individual portion of the row address of the bank. Each first sub-command corresponds to an individual address information. A specific sub-command of the activate command is provided via the command bus, and address information regarding a specific portion of the row address is provided. An access command corresponding to the bank is provided via the command bus after the sub-commands are provided.
US09792974B2

A memory system including a plurality of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices and a DRAM controller is provided. The plurality of DRAM devices includes one or more DRAM groups. Each of the one or more DRAM groups includes at least two DRAM devices. The DRAM controller outputs a clock enable signal, and controls a selection signal used to select a target DRAM device that operates in a normal mode in response to the clock enable signal. At least one target DRAM device is selected from the one or more DRAM groups. One or more stand-by DRAM devices other than the at least one target DRAM device operates in a self-refresh mode.
US09792970B2

A semiconductor system includes a first semiconductor device configured to output command addresses; and a second semiconductor device configured to generate a first control signal including a pulse controlled in its pulse width in synchronization with a toggling time of a bank active signal for selecting a bank to be activated in an active operation in response to the command addresses, a second control signal enabled in response to the bank active signal, and an internal voltage in response to the first and second control signals.
US09792966B2

A semiconductor memory device may include a memory cell array including a plurality of memory cells, and a plurality of page buffers respectively coupled to a plurality of bit lines of the memory cell array, the page buffers being supplied with internal voltages to precharge the plurality of bit lines or to sense an amount of current flowing through the plurality of bit lines, during a sensing operation, wherein each of the page buffers converts the internal voltages into supply voltages having constant potential levels.
US09792964B1

Apparatuses for providing external terminals of a semiconductor device are described. An example apparatus includes an input pad, an input buffer including a first input node and a second input node, a switch that couples the first input node and the second input node in an active state and further decouples the first input node and the second input node in an inactive state, a control circuit that provides a signal causing the switch to be in the active state or an inactive state. The first input node of the input buffer is coupled to the input pad by a conductive wiring.
US09792957B2

Methods and systems for dynamic bookmarking in branched video are described. An application provides a video tree having a plurality of video segments, with each video segment including a predefined portion of one or more paths in the video tree, and each path being associated with a different video presentation. One of the paths in the video tree is traversed based on one or more decisions made by a user during playback of the video presentation associated with the path being traversed. A selection of a particular location in the path being traversed is received by the application, which stores a bookmark of the location for subsequent retrieval. The bookmark identifies a sequence of video segments in the video tree having been traversed to reach the location. The structure of the video tree is modified, and the bookmark is automatically updated, if necessary. At a later time, the application receives a selection of the stored bookmark and seeks to the bookmarked location. The application further restores the decisions made by the user during the previous playback of the presentation.
US09792946B2

A patterned magnetic recording medium for use in heat assisted magnetic recording comprises an electrically conductive heat sink layer and a plurality of discrete magnetic recording elements positioned adjacent to a first surface of the heat sink layer. Disc drives that include the patterned medium and a method of magnetic recording using the patterned media are also included.
US09792943B2

An optical encoder disk comprising an opaque disk, an outer track adjacent a peripheral edge of the disk, an inner index track defined by a first pattern of radial light-blocking elements subtending an arc within an annular band interposed between the outbound track and an axis of the disk, and an opaque support pattern of non-radial elements located within the annular band outside of the arc in which the index track is located formed of substantially non-radial elements. The inner index track further includes pattern apertures formed through the disk between the light-blocking elements so that light emitted on one face of the disk passes through the pattern apertures and falls upon photodetectors located adjacent an opposite face of the disk.
US09792926B2

Techniques are described herein that use sensors (e.g., microphones) for noise reduction in a mobile communication device. For example, one technique enables a first sensor that is initially configured to be a speech sensor to be used as a noise reference sensor. This technique also enables a second sensor that is initially configured to be a noise reference sensor to be used as a speech sensor. Another technique enables a primary sensor and/or a secondary sensor in a handset of a mobile communication device to be used as a speech sensor while a sensor in a headset of the mobile communication device is used as a noise reference sensor, or vice versa. In yet another technique, a secondary sensor in a mobile communication device is configured to be a directional sensor.
US09792924B2

When compressing an HOA data frame representation, a gain control (15, 151) is applied for each channel signal before it is perceptually encoded (16). The gain values are transferred in a differential manner as side information. However, for starting decoding of such streamed compressed HOA data frame representation absolute gain values are required, which should be coded with a minimum number of bits. For determining such lowest integer number {β e) of bits the HOA data frame representation (C(k)) is rendered in spatial domain to virtual loudspeaker signals lying on a unit sphere, followed by normalisation of the HOA data frame representation (C(k)). Then the lowest integer number of bits is set to (AA).
US09792908B1

In an aspect of the present disclosure, a method for analyzing the speech delivery of a user is disclosed including presenting to the user a plurality of speech delivery analysis criteria, receiving from the user a selection of at least one of the speech delivery analysis criterion, receiving, from at least one sensing device, speech data captured by the at least one sensing device during the delivery of a speech by the user, transmitting the speech data and the selected at least one speech delivery analysis criterion to an analysis engine for analysis based on the selected at least one speech delivery analysis criteria, receiving, from the analysis engine an analysis report for the speech data, the analysis report comprising an analysis of the speech data performed by the analysis engine based on the selected at least one criterion, and presenting to the user the analysis report.
US09792900B1

Various implementations disclosed herein include an expert-assisted phoneme recognition neural network system configured to recognize phonemes within continuous large vocabulary speech sequences without using language specific models (“left-context”), look-ahead (“right-context”) information, or multi-pass sequence processing, and while operating within the resource constraints of low-power and real-time devices. To these ends, in various implementations, an expert-assisted phoneme recognition neural network system as described herein utilizes a-priori phonetic knowledge. Phonetics is concerned with the configuration of the human vocal tract while speaking and acoustic consequences on vocalizations. While similar sounding phonemes are difficult to detect and are frequently misidentified by previously known neural networks, phonetic knowledge gives insight into what aspects of sound acoustics contain the strongest contrast between similar sounding phonemes. Utilizing features that emphasize the respective second formants allows for more robust sound discrimination between these problematic phonemes.
US09792898B2

Various implementations disclosed herein include a training module configured to concurrently segment a plurality of vocalization instances of a voiced sound pattern (VSP) as vocalized by a particular speaker, who is identifiable by a corresponding set of vocal characteristics. Aspects of various implementations are used to determine a concurrent segmentation of multiple similar instances of a VSP using a modified hierarchical agglomerative clustering (HAC) process adapted to jointly and simultaneously segment multiple similar instances of the VSP. Information produced from multiple instances of a VSP vocalized by a particular speaker characterize how the particular speaker vocalizes the VSP and how those vocalizations may vary between instances. In turn, in some implementations, the information produced using the modified HAC process is sufficient to determine more a reliable detection (and/or matching) threshold metric(s) for detecting and matching the VSP as vocalized by the particular speaker.
US09792894B2

According to an embodiment, a speech synthesis dictionary creating device includes a first speech input unit, a second speech input unit, a determining unit, and a creating unit. The first speech input unit receives input of first speech data. The second speech input unit receives input of second speech data which is considered to be appropriate speech data. The determining unit determines whether or not a speaker of the first speech data is the same as a speaker of the second speech data. When the determining unit determines that the speaker of the first speech data is the same as the speaker of the second speech data, the creating unit creates a speech synthesis dictionary using the first speech data and using a text corresponding to the first speech data.
US09792884B2

According to one embodiment, an image processing apparatus includes an encoding unit that compresses an input image for each pixel block having a size smaller than a line to generate a plurality of compressed blocks, and store the compressed blocks in a frame buffer, a reading unit that identifies an object block to be expanded among the compressed blocks, and reads the object block from the frame buffer, a decoding unit that expands the object block to generate an expanded block, and an information acquiring unit that acquires, based on the expanded block, position information used by the reading unit to identify the block to be expanded, or decode information used by the decoding unit to expand another compressed block.
US09792883B2

A method and apparatus for compositing images in a portable terminal are provided. The method includes acquiring a plurality of images, displaying a plurality of candidate composition regions in each of the plurality of images, selecting a composition region of each of the plurality of images based on a user input, and compositing the plurality of images by using the composition regions of the plurality of images.
US09792879B2

A display system that includes a display panel and a display device is provided. The display panel has display pixels each of the display pixels including two sub display pixels. The driving device includes a mode detection unit, a 1-D sub-pixel rendering unit and a 2-D sub-pixel rendering unit. The mode detection unit determines whether a predetermined condition of the first frame is met. The 1-D sub-pixel rendering unit generates first display pixel values when the predetermined condition is not met. The 2-D sub-pixel rendering unit generates second display pixel values when the predetermined condition is met. Either the first display pixel values or the second display pixel values are generated to be outputted to the display panel and are displayed by the display pixels.
US09792878B2

An electronic device and method for adapting content based on an ambient environment in the electronic device are provided. The device includes a display interface functionally connecting a content processing module to a display; and the content processing module, wherein the content processing module is configured to receive, from at least one external device external of the electronic device or the at least one external device, ambient color information corresponding for the electronic device or the at least one external device, modify color information for at least a part of first content to be output through the display based on the received ambient color information, and output, based on the modified color information, second content having the modified color information, through the display.
US09792874B2

An array substrate, an electrochromic display and a method for driving the array substrate are disclosed. A display region of the array substrate (30) comprises a plurality of sets of data lines (33) and a plurality of scan lines (36), the plurality of sets of data lines (33) and the plurality of scan lines (36) intersecting each other to divide the display region into a plurality of pixel regions, a pixel electrode (32) is disposed in each of the pixel regions and electrically connected to the data lines (33); the pixel electrode (32) comprises a central pixel electrode (32a) and a peripheral pixel electrode (32b) adjacent to and electrically isolated from the central pixel electrode (32a). When the pixel region is driven, the peripheral pixel electrode (32b) and the central pixel electrode (32a) are at opposite polarities, thereby making the electrochromic material flowing from the central pixel region (32a) corresponding to the central pixel electrode (32a) to the peripheral pixel electrode (32b) and having been changed in color to fade in color. Cross-talk between adjacent pixel regions in the electrochromic display panel can be effectively controlled, and the display effect of the electrochromic display can be improved.
US09792871B2

A GOA circuit includes GOA circuit units. When scan signal outputted by a previous stage GOA circuit unit and a next stage GOA circuit unit are at a low level, a fifth transistor controlled by the scan signal of previous stage GOA circuit unit and a sixth transistor controlled by the scan signal of a next stage GOA circuit unit turn on, so that the current stage GOA circuit unit starts to operate, and voltage of a control node becomes the same as the first constant voltage. When a third clock signal is triggered, the scan signal of the previous stage GOA circuit unit is charged from the low level, which was maintained previously, to the first constant voltage. Therefore, scan signal of GOA circuit unit will not affect the normal stage transmission of other GOA circuit units, and mitigate the problem of outputting redundant scan signal pulse.
US09792863B2

According to one embodiment, a display element includes a plurality of scanning lines and a plurality of signal lines orthogonal to the plurality of scanning lines. A pixel of the display element includes sub-pixels of a plurality of colors to be respectively formed in the regions surrounded by the scanning lines and the signal lines. The size of a sub-pixel of a predetermined color among the plurality of colors is larger than the sizes of the sub-pixels of the other colors. Switching elements of the display element are connected to the scanning lines and the signal lines and drive the sub-pixels, respectively, and are formed into different shapes corresponding to the sub-pixels with different sizes.
US09792856B2

An organic light emitting display device includes a display area and a non-display area. The display area includes display pixels at crossing areas of data lines, scan lines, and emission control lines. The non-display area includes auxiliary pixels at crossing positions of auxiliary data lines, scan lines, and emission control lines. The display device also includes a scan driver to supply scan signals to the scan lines, a first data driver to supply data voltages to the data lines, a second data driver to supply an auxiliary data voltage to the auxiliary data line, and a demultiplexer between the data lines and the first data driver.
US09792854B2

A display device includes a display area that includes sub-pixels arranged in a matrix having rows and columns, pixels formed of the combination of two sub-pixels, from which light of different wavelength regions is emitted, image signal lines arranged by two columns, scanning signal lines arranged by one in each row, pixel transistors disposed in the respective sub-pixels in which one image signal line is connected to a source of each pixel transistor, and the one scanning signal line is connected to a gate of the pixel transistor, light emitting elements that each emit light on the basis of a potential of a drain of the pixel transistor, and a drive circuit that applies a conduction potential for rendering the pixel transistors conductive to two scanning signal lines corresponding to two adjacent rows at the same time.
US09792828B2

A resource allocation can be utilized to control resources to determine trustworthy item scores for a respondent's response to an assessment item. Embodiments may utilize one or more resources to extract the student response to an item, one or more resources to establish an item score for that item based on the extracted response, and one or more resources to evaluate the extracted or score and further utilize such resources until a trustworthy item score is established. Confidence indicators may be used for both digital representations of student responses and the scores derived from such digital representations of student responses.
US09792822B2

A convoy travel control apparatus includes: a communication portion; a travel control portion; and a joining control portion, wherein when an own vehicle is travelling in convoy while being incorporated in a group of convoy vehicles travelling in convoy, if the communication portion has received, from an independent vehicle not incorporated in the group of convoy vehicles travelling in convoy, request information to incorporate the independent vehicle into the group of convoy vehicles, then the joining control portion determines a positional relationship between a position of the group of convoy vehicles and a position of the independent vehicle, and wherein if the independent vehicle is travelling along a side of the group of convoy vehicles, then in order to incorporate the independent vehicle into the group of convoy vehicles, the joining control portion exercises control on the group of convoy vehicles via the communication portion.
US09792814B2

Aspects of the present disclosure include a navigation system and computer-implemented methods for detecting traffic disruption events based on an analysis of input component data obtained from navigation-enabled devices of vehicles near a particular location. Traffic disruption events are events such as accidents, construction road closures, police and speed traps, or road hazards that cause a decrease in the flow of traffic along a particular route and thus, added time delays for occupants of vehicles traveling along those routes. The navigation system scores the input component data associated with each vehicle and aggregates the scored input component data to obtain a frustration score associated with the vehicle. The navigation system may detect traffic disruption events based on a number of vehicles near a particular area having associated frustration scores above a certain threshold.
US09792813B2

A method for managing data regarding one or more flows of physical entities in a geographic area during at least one predetermined time period. For each physical entity, the data includes a plurality of positioning data representing detected positions of the element in the geographic area and corresponding time data identifying instants at which each position is detected. The method subdivides the geographic area into at least two zones, subdivides the at least one time period into one or more time slots, and identifies a number of physical entities that flowed from a first zone of the at least two zones to a second zone of the at least two zones during each time slot.
US09792809B2

In a bio-threat alert infrastructure system and method, an analyzing processor applies statistical algorithms to the collected quantitative data to precisely estimate event data, including time and position data, associated the development of a bio-threat. An encoding processor encodes the event data into a bio-threat alert signal. A transmitting element transmits the signal for reception by a bio-threat alert device. In the bio-threat alert device, and an associated method, a receiving element receives the signal. A decoding processor decodes the signal into the event data. A presentation element presents the event data to a user of the device.
US09792807B2

Systems and methods for emergency event reporting and emergency notification are provided herein. An example method includes monitoring a location of one or more devices of a plurality of devices, selecting an environmental safety condition for the one or more devices using the location, and selecting a device behavior for the one or more devices, the device behavior including a physical response produced by the one or more devices that is based on the environmental safety condition and the location.
US09792797B2

An emergency communication system that is capable of broadcasting a live message to a specific zone of a protected structure, recording the live transmission, and repeating the recorded message to the same protected zone. In certain embodiments configured to protect multiple zones, the system further permits broadcast of a second live message to another zone of the structure, recording the second live broadcast, and repeating the second recorded message in the same zone to which the message was broadcast live. The system includes hardware such as a processing element and speaker assemblies and a computer program for instructing the processing element to carry out the transmission, recording, and re-broadcasting of messages through the speaker assemblies.
US09792796B1

Where a safety requirement mandates contact with a grippable structural element such as a handle, a handrail, a handlebar or a steering wheel, compliance with the requirement may be determined using one or more manually activated RFID tags provided in designated locations on the grippable structural element. A level of compliance with the requirement during a given activity may be determined based at least in part on the number of RFID signals received from the manually activated RFID tags, which may be compared to a number of workers engaged in the given activity. Based on the level of compliance, relevant feedback in the form of electronic messages, signals or sounds may be identified and provided to one or more of the workers.
US09792791B2

A security device for an item of merchandise is provided. The security device includes a non-programmable locking mechanism comprising a mechanical lock and a programmable locking mechanism comprising a monitoring circuit operatively coupled to an alarm. The security device is configured to secure an item of merchandise from theft or removal when the mechanical lock is locked and to be separated from the item of merchandise when the mechanical lock is unlocked. The alarm is configured to provide an alarm signal if the security device is separated from the item of merchandise while the monitoring circuit is armed.
US09792786B1

A searchable binder which is operationally compatible with a binder management system having a cabinet with shelves or a file cabinet with file drawers for removable storage of searchable binders. Each binder has a body with front and rear covers and a spine. Inside the body is a binder mechanism for removably retaining sheet media. Each binder has a pair of binder contact mechanisms mounted to the spine at opposite ends, a binder identification circuit electrically coupled to the binder contact mechanisms, and a visible indicator. Each binder contact mechanism has a base element and a sliding element. The sliding element can be manually set to a retracted position in which the sliding element is extended a first distance and an extended position in which the sliding element is extended a second greater distance. In the retracted position, the sliding elements can make contact with conductive elements of a binder cabinet when a binder is placed on a shelf. In the extended position the sliding elements can make contact with conductive support rails of a file cabinet when a binder is placed in a file drawer. When a binder identification signal from a host computer is supplied to the conductive elements or the conductive rails. It is transferred by the binder contact mechanisms to the binder identification circuit. If the signal matches an address code stored in the binder identification circuit, the LED is activated to aid the user in finding the binder.
US09792783B1

Methods and systems for processing secure information are disclosed. One method includes receiving secure data from a user via an input device. The method also includes routing the secure data to a secure processor using a hardware multiplexer. The method also includes processing the secure data using the secure processor. The method also includes receiving non-secure data from the user via the input device. The method also includes routing the non-secure data to a second processor using the hardware multiplexer. The method also includes processing the non-secure data using the second processor. The method also includes altering a routing state of the hardware multiplexer using the secure processor. The routing state of the hardware multiplexer is only controlled by the secure processor.
US09792776B2

The present invention includes an apparatus and method for a bonus game, and particularly a free spin bonus with an incrementing multiplier. The bonus game includes a plurality of reels having a plurality of symbols and multipliers. The gaming device provides a number of free spins to the player at the beginning of the bonus game. The multiplier preferably starts at “1×” and increases by one after each free spin. Initially, the player spins the reels attempting to obtain a winning symbol combination on the reels. If the player obtains a winning combination, the gaming device provides an award. The award is multiplied by the multiplier and the player receives the multiplied award for that free spin. The player continues to spin the reels until there are no free spins remaining in the bonus game.
US09792771B2

A system or method for providing a bingo game in which a pattern of player indicia on a player card is matched to house indicia selected during the game. The system or method includes providing a first player card of a plurality of player cards that each include a plurality of player indicia and a pattern that includes at least a portion of the player indicia, using a device to randomly select a plurality of house indicia, determining whether a triggering criterion is met during the bingo game, and awarding a prize for each player card that achieves a partial pattern match with the selected house indicia upon the determination that the triggering criterion has been met. The partial pattern match is achieved by matching the selected house indicia with a predetermined number of player indicia, but not all of the player indicia, within the pattern.
US09792768B2

A method for providing a jackpot controlled by a computer implemented jackpot controller. The method includes (a) on commencement of the jackpot, the jackpot controller setting a start-up jackpot prize value, the start-up prize value being the sum of a base amount and a predefined average increment amount for the jackpot, (b) incrementing the jackpot prize value by the jackpot controller using contributions from at least one participating gaming device until a jackpot trigger is determined; and (c) in response to the jackpot controller determining the jackpot trigger, awarding the jackpot prize and re-setting the jackpot prize value to the base amount.
US09792762B2

Method and apparatus are described for conducting a secondary game at a gaming device. In various embodiments, a player may acquire equity in the secondary game in such forms as a location of a game character, a number of symbols aggregated, a degree of completion of a puzzle, or a defensive provision. Certain symbols or outcomes in a primary game, however, may cause the player to lose equity in the secondary game.
US09792757B2

An electronic gaming machine for stereoscopic display of game components is provided. The machine includes at least one processor, memory storing processor-executable instructions in communication with the at least one processor, a stereoscopic display. Executing the instructions by the at least one processor causes the processor to: identify, for display, at least one game component in accordance with a set of game rules for a given game; select a three-dimensional intensity level for displaying the at least one game component; render left and right eye images based on the selected three-dimensional intensity level; and provide the rendered left and right eye images to the stereoscopic display, for presentation to the left and right eyes, respectively, of a player.
US09792756B2

A medicine feeding apparatus includes a cylindrical body 8, a first rotating body 9, and a second rotating body 10. The first rotating body 9 is disposed on the inner side of the cylindrical body 8, and together with the cylindrical body 8, constitutes a medicine storage section 42 capable of storing medicine. The first rotating body 9 can reciprocate in the axial direction of the cylindrical body 8, and can rotate about a first rotary axis. The second rotating body 10 is disposed on the outer circumference of an opening of the cylindrical body 8, and can rotate about a second rotary axis. This configuration has a function of smoothly performing automatic dispensing depending on the remaining amount of stored medicine while storing a large amount of medicine.
US09792750B2

There is described a method for checking a value document of a specified type for the suspected presence of a forgery, in particular of a pieced-together forgery, wherein at least one ultrasonic property of the value document is captured in a spatially resolved manner so as to form location-dependent measuring data, wherein while employing the location-dependent measuring data it is checked whether there are present in a specified checking region of the value document two areal regions whose ultrasonic properties deviate from each other according to a specified difference criterion, and wherein there is formed an authenticity signal which represents the result of the check. Further, a corresponding checking device is described.
US09792748B2

Disclosed herein are an apparatus, method and system for storing perishable items that degrade in the presence of oxygen and/or humidity and that are frequently accessed by a consumer. The apparatus comprises an openable vessel, which becomes airtight when closed, and an UV light source and fan within the airtight enclosure, which converts ambient oxygen trapped within the airtight enclosure into ozone by circulating the enclosed volume of air around the UV light source after the vessel is opened and then closed. The apparatus is network connected to allow for remote control and monitoring and sends alerts to web applications or mobile applications when monitored parameters substantially vary from their settings.
US09792736B1

Described herein are devices, systems, and methods for managing the power consumption of an automotive vehicle, and thereby for optimizing the power consumption of the vehicle. The devices and systems for managing the power consumption of the vehicle typically include power management logic that can calculate an applied power for the vehicle engine based on information provided from the external environment of the vehicle, the operational status of the vehicle, one or more command inputs from a driver, and one or more operational parameters of the vehicle.
US09792733B2

The AUGMENTED REALITY VIRTUAL CONTENT PLATFORM APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS (“ARV”) provides a photo driven ad-platform that transforms digital media placements into immersive and immediately shareable brand-consumer engagements via GPS-linked virtual photo components instantiated on a user mobile device. Within embodiments, users may create and share photographs augmented with brands or other images and accompanying messages on various social networks using their Smartphones or tablets to earn rewards. In one implementation, merchants and/or advertisers may populate the mobile augmented reality space as fans and consumers may share their photos on social networks and spread the word virally.
US09792728B2

Disclosed are a method and apparatus for processing a 3D model. To preserve fine structures while de-noising a 3D mesh model, the local structural information around a vertex is captured when designing a de-noising filter. In particular, for a current vertex to be processed, a path, for example, a geodesic path, is determined between the current vertex and each neighboring vertex. For each mesh edge along the path, local variations are calculated for the two end vertices of the mesh edge using a covariance matrix, and a geometric variation for the mesh edge is calculated as the difference between the two local variations. Then structural information for the region between the current vertex and a neighboring vertex is calculated as a function of the geometric variations for mesh edges along the path, for example, as the maximum geometric variation along the path. The present principles can also be adjusted to be used in de-noising 3D point-based models.
US09792719B2

A method and an apparatus for removing outliers from a main view of a scene during 3D reconstruction of a scene from multiple views of the scene. A 3D projection unit projects a 3D point of a pixel of the main view into neighboring views. A comparator then compares the distance of each of the projected 3D points in the neighboring views to the 3D point of the main view with a defined distance threshold. Based on the comparison a flagging unit assigns flags to the pixel in the main view. Finally, depending on values of the flags a rejecting unit rejects the pixel in the main view as an outlier.
US09792713B1

A photograph display apparatus and associated method of display that includes a substrate having a mounting surface and a rib structure mounted on the mounting surface of the substrate. The rib structure is constructed and arranged to form a series of juxtaposition ribs formed in a parallel array including successive rib peaks. A composite photograph that includes alternating photograph segments of respective first and second photograph is formed in a folded array that includes fold lines that correspond to a demarcation line between respective photograph segments. The folded composite photograph is constructed and arranged for mating support to the rib structure.
US09792709B1

Multiple images may be combined to obtain a composite image. Individual images may be obtained with different camera sensors and/or at different time instances. In order to obtain the composite image source images may be aligned in order to produce a seamless stitch. Source images may be characterized by a region of overlap. A disparity measure may be determined for pixels along a border region between the source images. A warp transformation may be determined using an optimizing process configured to determine displacement of pixels of the border region based on the disparity. Pixel displacement at a given location may be constrained to direction configured tangential to an epipolar line corresponding to the location. The warp transformation may be propagated to pixels of the image. Spatial and/or temporal smoothing may be applied. In order to obtain optimized solution, the warp transformation may be determined at multiple spatial scales.
US09792674B2

One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for performing perspective correction on one or more test images. The technique includes analyzing a first test image to detect a set of outer points and calculating a geometric plane equation based on the set of outer points. The technique further includes projecting a first set of points associated with a first curved screen model based on the geometric plane equation to generate a second set of points. The technique further includes comparing the second set of points to a set of inner points included in the first test image to determine at least one error value, and determining a screen curvature value based on the at least one error value.
US09792673B2

A mechanism is described for facilitating management of image noise in digital images using a smart noise management filter according to one embodiment. A method of embodiments, as described herein, includes detecting a digital image of an object, where detecting further includes detecting a pattern signal associated with the digital image. The method may further include measuring a spread function relating to at least one of the digital image and an imaging system of a computing device, where measuring further includes determining deconvolution of the spread function, and where measuring further includes computing a pre-shaping filter based on the deconvolution of the spread function. The method may further include executing the pre-shaping filter to apply the pattern signal to the deconvolution of the spread function to obtain a pre-shaped projection pattern of the digital image.
US09792666B2

An image processing device adapted to perform image processing on image information input, and then output the image information includes a first image processing section adapted to perform image processing on the image information, and include a first storage section to store the image information, and a second image processing section adapted to perform image processing on the image information from the first image processing section, and include a second storage section to store the image information. The first image processing section performs a process of reducing an image size of the image information stored in the first storage section and raising a refresh rate, and the second image processing section performs a process of enlarging an image size of the image information stored in the second storage section.
US09792663B2

A facility for specifying a set of graphics commands for performance on behalf of an application is provided. The facility provides a first, command signature data structure specifying a list of resources capable of affecting the outcome of graphics commands among the set. The facility further provides a second, application-defined command buffer data structure that, for each of the graphics commands among a set, represents the graphics command by including a value for each of the resources of the list.
US09792661B2

The disclosure describes methods and apparatus of providing steganographic indicia or digital watermarking in image or video data. One implementation provides a method of embedding a digital watermark in image data captured by an imager, with watermark embedding occurring on-chip with the imager. Another implementation provides a method of managing images. Each of the images comprises plural-bit data steganographically embedded therein in the form of a digital watermark, with the plural-bit data corresponding to a geo-location. Yet another implementation provides a method of identifying locations on a map, with the map being for display via a computer display. Still another implementation provides a method of introducing a watermark message to a watermark embedder located on-chip with an image array. Other implementations and embodiments are provided as well.
US09792652B2

A system and method are disclosed. A GUI is provided that includes at least one interactive location of a trading screen. The location corresponds to a tradeable object. A graphical object is populated with data relating to a current market condition, and the object is populated on the basis of a respective location in the trading screen. The GUI object is presented in the graphical user interface, at the respective location in the trading screen such that the GUI object presents a portion of the populated data centered around the respective location. A tactile input action associated with the object is received in the GUI, and the trade instruction is caused to be constructed that is associated with the GUI object and the received single-click action. Further, the trade instruction is transmitted to at least one computing device that is configured to execute the trade instruction.
US09792641B1

This disclosure relates to systems and methods for managing product list subscriptions. In one embodiment, a method may be provided. The method may include determining, by a server comprising one or more processors, user profile information for a user, the user profile information indicating a book list to which the user is subscribed. The method may also include accessing the book list, wherein the book list comprises one or more book identifiers, a creator identifier for a creator of the book list, and a genre identifier. Furthermore, the method may include generating a recommendation for the user to purchase a book that that is classified by the genre identifier. Additionally, the method may include transmitting, to the user, the recommendation to purchase the book.
US09792626B2

In particular embodiments, a client computing device identifies an available timeslot for displaying content on a screen. The client computing device notifies one or more applications of the available timeslot and receives from each of one or more applications a bid to fill the available timeslot with content associated with the application. Each bid indicates the application, indicates a format of the content associated with the application, and provides at least a portion of the content associated with the application. The client computing device selects one of the bids and displays in the available timeslot on the screen the content associated with the selected bid with the format indicated by the selected bid.
US09792625B2

An ad publisher provides an online system with user identifying information of users who interacted with an advertisement presented by the ad publisher and indications of interactions with the advertisement. A landing page is associated with the advertisement, and the advertiser provides the online system with user identifiers of users who interacted with the advertisement and requested the landing page. The online system determines whether the ad publisher fraudulently identifies interactions with the advertisement by comparing the user identifying information received from the ad publisher with the user identifiers received from the advertiser.
US09792623B2

Embodiments of the present invention provide an AD processing method and apparatus. The method includes: acquiring, by a terminal, system information and/or current access network information of the terminal; sending, by the terminal to a plugin server, an AD plugin request message that includes the system information and/or the current access network information of the terminal, so that the plugin server acquires, according to the system information and/or the current access network information, AD plugin information that matches the terminal; and receiving, by the terminal, the AD plugin information that is sent by the plugin server and matches the terminal, and choosing to download an AD plugin according to the AD plugin information. In the embodiments, it is implemented that traffic and time are saved for a user, and expenses may further be reduced for the user.
US09792622B2

A power transmitting device includes a processor circuit. The processor circuit receives messages, such as advertising messages and/or scan response messages, from power receiving devices. The messages include device specific data that pertains to the corresponding power receiving devices that transmitted the messages. The device specific data includes, for example, data pertaining to the hardware, firmware, charging state, and/or device state of the corresponding power receiving device. The processor circuit selects one of the power receiving devices based in part on the device specific data contained in the messages. The processor circuit initiates a wireless power transfer connection to the selected one of the power receiving devices.
US09792617B2

Embodiments introduced describe single-action surveys, wherein a survey requires a single action only, such as a click on a computer mouse, a tap or stroke on a touch screen. Each single action means submission of one survey answer and a survey session may end after a single action is performed. In addition, a survey may contain a single question only and a single question may concern user satisfaction or contain a few words or even one word.
US09792615B2

Some embodiments may provide a method and a system for receiving, from a first user, a first evaluation indication with respect to a first publication, and in response to receiving the first evaluation indication, automatically initiating a secondary evaluation process comprising automatically selecting a set of publications including at least a second publication; presenting a first user interface affordance to elicit a selection indication indicating a publication from among the set of publications, receiving a selection indication indicating the second publication, and in response to receiving the selection indication, presenting a second user interface affordance to elicit a second evaluation indication with respect to the second publication.
US09792609B2

Systems and methods disclosed herein related to a fraud detection system that receives data from multiple sources and normalizes the data to create transaction data using overlapping data from the multiple sources. Fraud analysis is performed using a probabilistic approach to alert generation, wherein alerts are only sent to customers when the probability of fraud exceeds a threshold. As a result, false positives are avoided.
US09792605B2

A method includes receiving a first account indicator, where the first account indicator identifies a first financial account. The method further includes receiving a second account indicator, which identifies a second financial account. Still further, the method includes receiving a split signal, which indicates how future transactions are to be divided between the first financial account and the second financial account. The split signal may have been generated in response to interaction by an account holder with a slide-bar display element of a user interaction screen display.
US09792598B2

Systems and methods for providing trust provisioning are disclosed. A utilization request requesting to utilize data stored by a secure element associated with the device may be processed by a software application. In response to processing the utilization request, a registration request message for registering the software application may be communicated to a management server. A validation code may be received from the management server in reply to the registration request message. The received validation code may be verified to match a second validation code. Subsequent to successful verification, a passcode and an identifier of the secure element may be communicated to the management server. In response to communicating the passcode and the secure element identifier, an acknowledgement may be received from the management server specifying whether registration of the software application was successful.
US09792595B2

Techniques for transferring secured data from a vending device to a portable data storage device are described herein. The vending device receives a request from a user of the portable data storage device for digital contents to be stored on the portable data storage device and requests for a payment for the requested digital contents to be paid by the user. The vending device locates a first portable storage identification (PSID) parameter unique to the portable data storage device, and then generates a rights object including a second PSID parameter that is equal to the first PSID parameter to prevent the digital contents from being accessed at a data storage medium other than the portable data storage device. It is to be appreciated some or all of the above processing can be completed by a back-end device separate from the vending device.
US09792585B2

A computer-implemented method may include determining whether a computing device accessing an online application marketplace is associated with a particular business entity registered with the online application marketplace. The method may further include identifying applications that were selected by a representative of the particular business entity to be identified to users whose devices are determined to be associated with the particular business entity. The method may still further include providing data for displaying the applications and a control for downloading executable code for at least one of the applications, receiving an indication that the control has been selected by the user to download the executable code for the applications, and providing the executable code for the at least one of the applications.
US09792583B2

Systems and techniques are disclosed that provide a comprehensive and integrated professional education and training platform, especially in the areas of tax, financial auditing and reporting, and planning and risk assessment. The systems and techniques allow an administrator to identify a subset of learning courses from a set of available learning courses for association with an educational product, and to assign individuals to each of the subset of learning courses.
US09792581B1

Techniques for improving efficiency of an inventory system are described. In an example, based on instructions of a computing management module of an inventory system, a trigger associated with reading a marker may be triggered. The marker may be attached with an item available from an inventory space and may encode information about the item. The marker may be configured to present, in response to receiving a non-visible light wavelength, a visible indication of an attachment location of the marker. Further, based on the instructions and at least in part on the trigger, a light source may emit the non-visible light wavelength. The emission of the non-visible light wavelength may cause the marker to respond with the visible indication of the attachment location. The visible indication may facilitate a read of the marker by a reader of the inventory system to trigger an inventory action.
US09792579B2

Systems, methods and computer-readable media are disclosed for capturing purchase information regarding purchased items of a consumer. Upon receiving an image of a receipt (a receipt image) regarding a list of purchased items, receipt text is generated. The receipt text is processed to identify the purchased items in the receipt image. Accordingly, an iteration is begun to iterate through the item blocks of the receipt text. An item block corresponds to a discrete item in the receipt text. The processing comprises extracting textual elements from the item block and matching the textual elements to a known product. Upon matching the textual elements to a known product, the consumer inventory associated with the consumer is updated with regard to the purchase of the known product.
US09792578B2

Disclosed are methods for managing inventory in e-commerce. A method may be provided that may include segmenting a quantity of a specific product in inventory into a plurality of inventory leases having a smaller quantity of the specific product. A lease management server may distribute at least one inventory lease. At least one of the specific products may be selected by the inventory management server for reservation. A rate of selection of the specific products from each of the respective inventory leases may be determined. The determined rate of selection may be analyzed to determine when the quantity in the respective inventory lease will reach a minimum quantity in the respective inventory lease. An indication of when a request for a new inventory lease is to be sent to the lease manager server may be provided.
US09792576B1

Controlling drones and vehicles in package delivery, in one aspect, may include routing a delivery vehicle loaded with packages to a dropoff location based on executing on a hardware processor a spatial clustering of package destinations. A set of drones may be dispatched. A drone-to-package assignment is determined for the drones and the packages in the delivery vehicle. The drone is controlled to travel from the vehicle's dropoff location to transport the assigned package to a destination point and return to the dropoff location to meet the vehicle. The delivery vehicle may be alerted to speed up or slow down to meet the drone at the return location, for example, without the delivery vehicle having to stop and wait at the dropoff location while the drone is making its delivery.
US09792552B2

At least one aspect of the invention is directed to a power monitoring system including a generator coupled to a fuel tank, a plurality of monitors, and a processor configured to monitor one or more loads drawing power from the generator; monitor one or more parameters that affect the amount of power drawn by the one or more loads; monitor a fuel consumption rate of the generator; generate one or more load profiles for each of the one or more loads; receive a set of the one or more loads for which a predicted time is to be generated; receive values for the one or more parameters; generate a predicted load profile for the set of the one or more loads and the values of the one or more parameters; receive information indicating an amount of remaining fuel; and calculate a predicted available run time.
US09792549B2

According to an aspect, a pair of related entities that includes a first entity and a second entity is received. Distributional relations are detected between the first entity and the second entity. The detecting includes identifying two sets of entities in a corpus, the first set including the first entity and at least one other entity that is semantically similar to the first entity, and the second set including the second entity and at least one other entity that is semantically similar to the second entity. Semantic relations are detected between entities in the first set and entities in the second set. A relation classifier is trained using the pair of related entities and detected semantic relations. The relation classifier model is applied to a new pair of entities to determine a likelihood of a semantic relation between the entities in the new pair of entities.
US09792535B2

A computer-implemented method of grouping faces in large user account for creating an image product includes adding the face images obtained from an image album in a user's account into a first chunk; if the chunk size of the first chuck is smaller than a maximum chuck value, keeping the face images from the image album into the first chunk; otherwise, automatically separating the face images from the image album into a first portion and one or more second portions; keeping the first portion in the first chunk; automatically moving the second portions to subsequent chunks; automatically grouping face images in the first chunk to form face groups; assigning the face groups to known face models associated with the user account; and creating a design for an image-based product based on the face images in the first chunk associated with the face models.
US09792530B1

A knowledge base (KB) is generated and used to classify images. The knowledge base includes a number subcategories of a specified category. Instead of obtaining images just based on a category name, structured and unstructured data sources are used to identify subcategories of the category. Subcategories that are determined to not be relevant to the category may be removed. The remaining data may be used to generate the KB. After identifying the relevant subcategories, representative images are obtained from one or more image sources based on the subcategories identified by the KB. The obtained images and the KB are then used to train an image classifier, such as a neural network or some other machine learning mechanism. After training, the neural network might, for example, classify an object within an image of a car, as a car, but also as a particular brand and model type.
US09792527B2

In response to an identification of an input slide, aspects generate text content confidence scores that represent amounts of similarity of slide text content of the input slide to compared text content of a slides that are included within slide presentation files of a repository. Graphic element content confidence scores are generated that represent amounts of similarity of graphic content of the input slide to compared graphic element content of the respective ones of the repository slides. Similarity confidence scores are generated for respective ones of the repository slides as functions of weighted averages of the generated text content confidence scores and graphic element content confidence scores, wherein the graphic element content confidence scores are weighted differently from the text content confidence scores. The repository slides may be ranked for similarity to the input slide as a function of the generated similarity confidence scores.
US09792526B2

The specification and drawings present a new method, apparatus and software related product (e.g., a computer readable memory or a storage device) for automatic timely finding of deficiencies in objects such as automobiles, railcar, airplane tractor trailer, intermodal containers and the like, by automatically monitoring the object's appearance changes while they are moving in a course of normal operation using their camera pictures/images, e.g., during passing through a check point.
US09792524B1

Disclosed are various embodiments for improving optical character recognition approaches through the use of gap shifting. A text detection process is performed upon an image to detect a first region of text. A second region that is in line with the first region is shifted to reduce a gap between the first region and the second region, thereby creating a modified image. The text detection process is performed upon the modified image in order to detect text within the second region.
US09792522B2

Techniques for weather information extraction using image data are described herein. In accordance with the present disclosure, economical weather data collection devices may be installed in any places on the earth, and form a dense network of weather data collection devices. Preferably, these weather data collection devices include image capture components that may capture series of sequential images over time (i.e., image streams) from any particular locations. The disclosed techniques include extracting a sky portion from a series of time-sequenced images. The extracted sky portion may be used for determining cloud coverage, a sun track, and so on, thereby enabling to provide accurate weather forecast as well as other weather data mining abilities.
US09792518B2

In one embodiment, L dimensional images are trained, mapped, and aligned to an M dimensional topology to obtain azimuthal angles. The aligned L dimensional images are then trained and mapped to an N dimensional topology to obtain 2N vertex classifications. The azimuthal angles and the 2N vertex classifications are used to map L dimensional images into 0 dimensional images.
US09792516B2

A prelam layer for use in forming a laminated card includes a flexible circuit substrate; a fingerprint sensor disposed on the flexible circuit substrate, the fingerprint sensor having upper and bottom surfaces, the bottom surface of the fingerprint sensor being disposed on the substrate, an active layer of the fingerprint sensor disposed towards the upper surface of the fingerprint sensor; a first integrated circuit chip disposed on the substrate and having at least one lead electrically connected to the flexible circuit substrate; and an adapter flexible circuit electrically bonded to the active layer of the fingerprint sensor. The integrated circuit chip is adapted to communicate with the fingerprint sensor through the adapter flexible circuit.
US09792515B2

An apparatus and a method recognizes stamped characters, detects stamped depths of characters using the same, and/or accurately recognizes characters even when an image distortion occurs at stamped portion due to different stamped depths of characters.
US09792513B2

A method quickly recognizes a person by identification codes derivable from biometric data and includes registering a user, and recognizing a registered user, out of multiple registered users, through a recognition event. Each registration event includes acquiring biometric data of the user; then, encoding the biometric data into a respective registration identification code associated with the user; and registering the user and the associated registration identification code. Each recognition event includes acquiring the biometric data; then, encoding the biometric data into a respective recognition identification. Based on said registered registration identification codes, a comparison set of comparison identification codes is prepared. The recognition identification code is compared with each comparison identification code; and for each comparison, a respective matching level is estimated. The user is recognized or refused recognition based on the estimated matching levels. Each comparison includes a processing operation carried out by applying a trained algorithm.
US09792512B2

A device to extract a biometric feature vector includes a memory and a circuitry. The circuitry is configured to obtain a biometric image, to generate a plurality of small region images from the biometric image so that variability of biometric information amounts among the plurality of small region images is equal to or less than a predetermined value, to extract biometric local feature amounts from the small region images and to generate a biometric feature vector by combining the biometric local feature amounts in accordance with a predetermined rule, the biometric feature vector indicating a feature for identifying the biometric image.
US09792508B2

An apparatus for recognizing lane partition lines on opposite sides of a traveling lane in a processing area of a forward image captured by a camera mounted in a vehicle. In the apparatus, a lane change determiner is configured to determine whether or not there is a lane change made by the vehicle. A processing area changer is configured to, while it is determined by the lane change determiner that there is a lane change, change the processing area from a predefined processing area to a processing area that can accommodate the lane change.
US09792504B2

A modularized monitoring apparatus pivotally connected to a supporter includes a photographic module, a lighting module, a communication control module, a power supply module, and a detection module. The photographic module includes a first joint interface. The lighting module includes a second joint interface selectively connected to the first joint interface. The communication control module, the power supply module, and the detection module can be selectively connected to one another, and each includes a third joint interface and a fourth joint interface disposed corresponding thereto. The third joint interface is selectively connected to the first joint interface or the fourth joint interface, and the fourth joint interface is selectively connected to the second joint interface or the third joint interface. The multifunctional modularized monitoring apparatus can rotate and be operated by a smart phone.
US09792488B2

An information processing apparatus that obtains content data and first position information corresponding to the content data; obtains second position information corresponding to a second person having a predetermined relationship with a first person associated with creating the content data; and associates identification corresponding to the second person with the content data based on a predetermined relationship between the first position information and the second position information.
US09792485B2

Systems and methods for aligning images are disclosed. A method includes: receiving a first skeletonized biometric image; generating a first coarse representation of the first skeletonized biometric image; identifying a set of candidate transformations that align the first skeletonized biometric image to a second skeletonized biometric image based on comparing transformed versions of the first coarse representation to a second coarse representation of the second skeletonized biometric image; selecting a first candidate transformation as the candidate transformation that minimizes a difference metric between a transformed version of the first skeletonized biometric image and the second skeletonized biometric image; and determining whether the first skeletonized biometric image transformed by the first candidate transformation matches the second skeletonized biometric image, wherein the first skeletonized biometric image transformed by the first candidate transformation matches the second skeletonized biometric image if the difference metric satisfies a threshold.
US09792484B2

A sensor acquires the same type of biometric information from plural fingers in association with an ID. A processor generates feature data used for verification from the biometric information, and generates characteristic data used for calculation of similarity between the plural fingers from the biometric information. Next, the processor compares the characteristic data and calculates the similarity between the plural fingers. The processor determines whether the feature data is registrable based on the similarity, and a memory stores the feature data in association with the ID when the feature data is registrable.
US09792478B2

A trigger assembly including a cylindrical pivot shaft having a pivot-shaft longitudinal axis; a trigger key having a front face, a back face opposite the front face, an actuator extending from the back face, and a trigger-key longitudinal axis, wherein the a first end on the of the trigger key has a plurality of through holes arranged to receive the cylindrical pivot shaft; a trigger-key support having an aperture for the actuator to pass through, the trigger-key support further having a plurality of pivot-shaft supports, wherein each pivot-shaft support includes a concave surface configured to receive the cylindrical pivot shaft; and a trigger bezel having a plurality of substantially flat surfaces positioned to constrain the pivot shaft in opposition to the plurality of pivot-shaft supports, wherein the substantially flat surfaces are located at different positions along the pivot-shaft longitudinal axis than are the pivot-shaft supports.
US09792476B2

A system and method for tracking medical articles located in a container includes a hybrid isolated magnetic dipole (“IMD”) probe that provides an activating EM energy RF field having a magnetic near field at least as great as the electric near field, both of which cover the entire interior of the container. The probe comprises a main element having capacitive coupling across at least one slot and spacing above a ground plane to thereby form an isolated electric field and an equally strong or stronger magnetic field that fills the interior of the container to activate RFID tags therein. A dual system is provided for larger containers. A dynamic impedance tuning system controls the probe impedance for increased efficiency in transferring power to the interior of the container. Beam steering is provided with the IMD probe.
US09792472B1

An RFID tag may execute instructions from an authenticated RFID reader. A tag determines a handle and a first parameter, both of which may be random numbers, and sends the handle to a reader. Upon receiving a challenge from the reader, the tag determines and sends a cryptographic response to the challenge based on an algorithm, a tag key, the first parameter, and the challenge. Upon receiving a message with a second parameter and a tag instruction, the tag executes the tag instruction upon verifying that the second parameter derives from the first parameter and the tag handle.
US09792466B2

A system and method of validating electronic encoded information from magnetic stripe card data transmitted as electronic stripe data includes a lump transmission stream. The lump transmission stream is read by at least two track channel readers each of which recognizes and reads only data corresponding to data to be read from a respective magnetic stripe represented in the lump transmission stream, which has data read from two tracks of magnetic card stripes. One track channel reader reads the first portion of the lump stream and discards the second portion of the stream, the second track channel reader reads the second portion of the stream and discards the first portion of the stream.
US09792465B2

An automatic identification system for communicating identifying information by coupling signals through the human body is provided. The system includes a battery powered identification device that transmits an identifying signal via a modulated carrier. The identification device is coupled to the body of the user via a coupling plate. The signal from the identification device is received by a reading device that is also coupled to the body of the user via a coupling plate. The reading device may display and/or enunciates the identifying information to the user. The coupling technique, carrier frequency, and construction of the devices are such that the identification information is not inadvertently radiated or coupled to unintentional users or receivers.
US09792454B2

A database security system protects a data table at both the column level and the individual data record level. Access to data records within the data table is governed by categories assigned to data records, by user roles assigned to users, and by a set of security access tables. A first access table maps data record identifiers to data record categories, data record protection schemes, and corresponding scheme keys. A second access table maps user roles to data record categories. A third access table maps column identifiers to column protection schemes and corresponding scheme keys. A fourth access table maps user roles to column identifiers. If a user requests access to a data record, the security access tables are queried using the data record identifier, the associated column identifier, and the user roles associated with the user to determine if the user can access the requested data record.
US09792451B2

Systems, methods, and devices configured to build and utilize an intelligent cipher transfer object are provided. The intelligent cipher transfer object includes a set of participants protected by cloaking patterns. A portable dynamic rule set, which includes executable code for managing access to the protected set of participants, is included within the intelligent cipher transfer object. For a given user, the intelligent cipher transfer object may provide access to some of the participants while preventing access to other participants, based on the portable dynamic rule set therein.
US09792438B2

In an embodiment, a system includes a processor having at least one core and a security engine, the security engine having a focus change logic to inform a trusted application to be executed in a trusted execution environment of a request for a focus change during execution of the trusted application, enable the focus change to occur during execution of the trusted application when allowed by the trusted application, and otherwise to prevent the focus change. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
US09792435B2

A security monitoring system for a Controller Area Network (CAN) comprises an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) operatively connected to the CAN bus. The ECU is programmed to classify a message read from the CAN bus as either normal or anomalous using an SVM-based classifier with a Radial Basis Function (RBF) kernel. The classifying includes computing a hyperplane curvature parameter γ of the RBF kernel as γ=ƒ(D) where ƒ( ) denotes a function and D denotes CAN bus message density as a function of time. In some such embodiments γ=ƒ(Var(D)) where Var(D) denotes the variance of the CAN bus message density as a function of time. The security monitoring system may be installed in a vehicle (e.g. automobile, truck, watercraft, aircraft) including a vehicle CAN bus, with the ECU operatively connected to the vehicle CAN bus to read messages communicated on the CAN bus. By not relying on any proprietary knowledge of arbitration IDs from manufacturers through their dbc files, this anomaly detector truly functions as a zero knowledge detector.
US09792434B1

Systems and methods are provided for improved security services. In one aspect, a method is provided for controlling an autonomous data machine situated near a monitored environment. The method comprises: obtaining security data from a plurality of data sources; analyzing the security data to generate an analysis result; determining, based on the analysis result, an action to be performed by the autonomous data machine; and transmitting a command to the autonomous data machine causing it to perform the action.
US09792433B2

The present invention discloses a method and device for detecting malicious code in an intelligent terminal. The method comprises: acquiring a virtual machine executable file of an application from an application layer of an intelligent terminal operating system; decompiling the virtual machine executable file to obtain a decompiled function information structure; parsing the decompiled function information structure to extract a function calling sequence in the decompiled function information structure; matching the function calling sequence using a preset malicious code feature library; if matching succeeds, determining that the virtual machine executable file of the application contains malicious code. By applying the solution of the present invention, through a virtual machine executable file of the application, it may be analyzed and determined whether the application comprises malicious code, such that a tampered application program or a malicious software may be detected and removed, thereby protecting security of the intelligent terminal.
US09792426B1

In one embodiment, a method is performed on a shared-resources system. The method includes creating an anonymous target. The method further includes assigning shared resources to the anonymous target. In addition, the method includes receiving a request for anonymous access from an anonymous user of a client system. The method also includes, responsive to the request, performing the following: generating anonymous-user credentials for the anonymous user; determining the shared resources assigned to the anonymous target; based, at least in part, on the determining, communicating a list of authorized resources to the client system; receiving a request from the client system to access a target resource from the list of authorized resources; and causing an anonymous-user account to be created on the target resource using the anonymous-user credentials.
US09792424B1

A service receives a request from a user of a group of users to perform one or more operations requiring group authentication in order for the operations to be performed. In response, the service provides a first user of the group with a musical seed and an ordering of the group of users. Each user of the group applies a transformation algorithm to the seed to create an authentication claim. The service receives this claim and determines, based at least in part on the ordering of the group of users, an ordered set of transformations, which are used to create a reference audio signal. If the received claim matches the reference audio signal, the service enables performance of the requested one or more operations.
US09792420B2

A biometric authentication device includes: a storage unit to store a first enrolled template and first information including a parameter representing an input environment of the first enrolled template; a receiving unit to receive biometric information from the terminal device, a second enrolled template stored in the terminal device, and second information including a parameter representing an input environment of the second enrolled template; an authentication unit to perform authentication by matching the received biometric information and the first enrolled template; a selecting unit to select the first enrolled template or the second enrolled template, based on the first and second information, when the biometric information is accepted; and an updating unit to update the first enrolled template stored in the storage unit to the second enrolled template when the second enrolled template is selected.
US09792418B2

An embodiment of the invention provides a method for a secure connected digital media platform where a request is received to create a secure partition for accessing a content provider in a digital media device. A security code is received from the content provider. A hypervisor is invoked at the digital media device, where at least part of the hypervisor is comprised of a hardware circuit. The hypervisor compares the received security code with a key value that is burned into a memory unit at the hardware circuit to determine if the security code is from an authorized content provider. If the content provider is determined to be authorized, a secure partition is created at the digital media device. The creation of the secure partition includes creating a memory partition that corresponds to the secure partition in a non-volatile memory at the digital media device.
US09792397B1

The embodiments herein discloses a system and method for designing SoC using AI and Reinforcement Learning (RL) techniques. Reinforcement Learning is done either hierarchically in several steps or in a single-step comprising environment, tasks, agents and experiments, to have access to SoC (System on a Chip) related information. The AI agent is configured to learn from the interaction and plan the implementation of a SoC circuit design. Q values generated for each domain and sub domain are stored in a hierarchical SMDP structure in a form of SMDP Q table in a big data database. An optimal chip architecture corresponding to a maximum Q value of a top level in the SMDP Q table is acquired and stored in a database for learning and inference. Desired SoC configuration is optimized and generated based on the optimal chip architecture and the generated chip specific graph library.
US09792382B2

Methods and structures are disclosed that allow a user navigation action (e.g., clicking a link in a web browser) to be intercepted for a determination of whether to provide the user an alternate page instead of a requested target page. A user may be redirected to an alternate page based on various criteria, including data related to content of the target page, whether the target page is unavailable, etc. In some embodiments, alternate page determination is performed by a computer system of a website different from a website of the target page. Thus, presenting an alternate page to a user may be based on a target page featuring an out-of-stock product, or one that is currently unavailable with certain features. The alternate page may include more useful content, and may include a current link to purchase the product, a link to purchase a similar product, or other features.
US09792378B2

Computerized systems and methods are provided for identifying a character string for a point of interest. In accordance with some embodiments, point of interest information, including a universal resource locator (URL) is received, and a document associated with the URL is retrieved. The document is parsed to identify a set of character strings. A subset of character strings from the set is isolated. A character string is identified from the subset of character strings and associated with the POI information to thereby enable improved processing of queries and POI information retrieval.
US09792375B2

Systems and methods of providing composite search results are disclosed. A system may receive input via a user interface of a device accessing a first website, and determine item listing information of an item listed for sale on a second website based on the received input, with the second website being different from the first website. The system may cause the item listing information to be displayed on the first website on the device via the user interface, and enable the device to interact with the second website, via the user interface, regarding the item listed for sale by interacting with the item listing information being displayed on the first website.
US09792374B2

Embodiments of the present application disclose a method for providing a terminal identifier to a terminal. During operation, a security server receives a registration information set from the terminal, in which the registration information set includes multiple pieces of equipment information from the terminal. The security server then generates a terminal identifier based on the multiple pieces of equipment information in the registration information set. The security server then returns the terminal identifier to the terminal.
US09792365B2

A system and method for tracking and gathering data respective of multivariate testing on a plurality of webpages are provided. The method includes crawling through a plurality of servers hosting the plurality of webpages; for each uniform resource locator (URL) of a webpage of the plurality of webpages encountered during the crawling: sending a request to download the webpage identified by the URL; downloading at least one page view of the webpage; analyzing the at least one downloaded page view to identify data related to at least a multivariate test; and saving data identifying the at least a multivariate test performed in the plurality of webpages in a data store.
US09792358B2

A method includes determining a plurality of social objects, each social object having a link to a link object on a network. The method further includes applying a filter to the determined social objects in order to determine a plurality of filtered social objects, retrieving a copy of each of the link objects linked to by the plurality of filtered social objects, and generating, using the retrieved copies of the link objects linked to by the plurality of filtered social objects, a matrix comprising a plurality of vectors. The method further includes generating a singular value representation of the matrix by performing Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) on the matrix and storing the singular value representation of the matrix in one or more memory units.
US09792354B2

A model for displaying multiple user interface elements such that each control includes a container that includes standard functionality across at least a majority of the user interface elements. For instance, such standard functionality might include a part status indication, a title, a content status indication, a command invocation function, a part resizing function, and so forth. The model may also provide for standardization of resizing of user interface elements. For a given user interface element, there would be a predetermined number of possible size and shapes, each corresponding to a different projection of data. For instance, all of the user interface elements on a screen may fall within the predetermined number of possible size and shapes, thereby allowing more functional layout of the user interface on the display.
US09792340B2

Each of a plurality of data items has an associated update time. Identifying updated data items comprises identifying those data items that have an update time later than a last synchronization time. The data items are updated such that each data item is associated with one of a plurality of update tokens. Each update token is associated with updates performed up to a respective bound period from a time at which the update token is superseded by a successive update token. The update tokens are allocated successively in a monotonic sequence. Data indicating a last synchronization time is received. An update token is identified that is associated with one or more updates performed relative to a point in time related to the last synchronization time by the bound period. Data items having an update time after the last synchronization time are identified on the basis of the identified update token.
US09792335B2

In analyzing learning content, a social learning system receives from at least one client system in the social learning system a creation of at least one informal course by a learning content creator. Each informal course comprises learning content and metadata describing the learning content and the learning content creator. The social learning system further receives social data from a plurality of client systems in the social learning system for the at least one informal course. When the social learning system receives a query from a learning content administrator system in the social learning system including query parameters, the social learning system searches at least one of the metadata and the social data for one or more informal courses matching the query parameters and returns a list of one or more informal courses matching the query parameters as a query result.
US09792332B2

A computer-implemented matching service matches users to other users, and/or to user communities, based at least in part on a computer analysis of event data reflective of user behaviors. The event data may, for example, evidence user affinities for particular items represented in an electronic catalog, such as book titles, music titles, movie titles, and/or other types of items that tend to reflect the traits of users. Event data reflective of other types of user actions, such as item-detail-page viewing events, browse node visits, search query submissions, and/or web browsing patterns may additionally or alternatively be considered. By taking such event data into consideration, the matching service reduces the burden on users to explicitly supply personal profile information, and reduces poor results caused by exaggerations and other inaccuracies in such profile information.
US09792331B2

The disclosure includes a system and method for providing recommendation items to users. The system includes a processor and a memory storing instructions that when executed cause the system to: receive identification input data associated with a user; identify the user using the identification input data; receive sensor data; determine a current situation associated with the user from one or more predefined situations described by predefined situation data and associated parameters; receive data describing a set of candidate items; generate a set of efficacy scores for the set of candidate items; eliminate one or more candidate items from the set of candidate items to obtain one or more remaining candidate items; rank the one or more remaining candidate items based on one or more associated efficacy scores; and provide one or more recommendation items to the user from the one or more ranked remaining candidate items.
US09792330B1

Provided is a process, including: obtaining reviews of a reviewed category of businesses in a reviewed geographic area by reviewers; determining that reviews from more than a threshold number of reviewers have been obtained and, in response, identifying at least some of the reviewers as being experts in the reviewed category of businesses in the reviewed geographic area; receiving a query from a user; identifying a geographic area and a category of businesses for the query; ranking, with a processor, local search results responsive to the query based on the reviews of the experts in the reviewed geographic area and reviewed business category; and sending ranked search results to the user.
US09792328B2

A system and method for processing a database query is described. In response to detection that a database query involves a star or snowflake join operation, a join operator in a preliminary query plan can be split into a build operator and a probe operator. The probe operator can be placed in a final query plan in the same place as the join operator in the preliminary query plan, while the build operator can be placed beneath the probe operator in the final query plan, between an exchange operator and the exchange operator's child from the preliminary query plan.
US09792327B2

A query is executed in a massively parallel processing data storage system comprising a master node communicating with a cluster of multiple segments that access data in distributed storage by producing a self-described query plan at the master node that incorporates changeable metadata and information needed to execute the self-described query plan on the segments, and that incorporates references to obtain static metadata and information for functions and operators of the query plan from metadata stores on the segments. The distributed storage may be the Hadoop distributed file system, and the query plan may be a full function SQL query plan.
US09792321B2

Various arrangements for performing an online migration between server systems is presented. A transfer, from a source server system to a target server system, of a database, may be initiated. During the transfer, the database of the source server system may remain online. A timing indication of when transfer of the database was initiated may be recorded. While transferring the database, modifications to the records of the database may be received. The plurality of modifications may be stored, and, for each modification of the plurality of modifications, a timing indication of when the modification was received may be stored. After completing the transfer of the database to the target server system, the plurality of modifications to the database stored by the target server system may be applied while the source server system is online.
US09792312B2

Tables in a database can include an internal RowID column. For each new row or new version of a row in the table, a new RowID can be assigned and stored in the RowID column. RowID values can be stored using either or both of range compression and block compression, or other compression approaches. In response to receipt of a query of the database table, at least one of a forward look up and a reverse lookup of a DocID value associated with a specific RowID value can be performed.
US09792309B2

Techniques for cloning, writing to, and reading from file system metadata. Cloning involves identifying a first set of pointers included in a first root node in a file system metadata tree structure that stores file system metadata in leaf nodes of the tree structure, creating a first copy of the first root node that includes the first set of pointers, creating a second copy of the first root node that includes the first set of pointers, associating the first copy with a first view, and associating the second copy with a second view. Reading generally involves traversing the tree structure towards a target leaf node that contains data to be read. Writing generally involves traversing the tree structure in the same manner, but also creating copies of any nodes to be modified if those nodes are deemed to have a different treeID than a particular root node.
US09792307B2

A searchable staging data store is provided, which stores new and updated records during a period of entry of those records to an enterprise-accessible data store and update of a search index with information from those records. The searchable data store provides rapid access to the data during that period of entry. Embodiments provide for searching a search index for records responsive to a search query, searching the searchable staging data store for records responsive to the search query, receiving search results from both the search of the search index and the searchable staging data store, and displaying those results.
US09792302B2

A pathological image and a primary diagnosis result are obtained from a first terminal via a network, the first terminal being of a first user, the primary diagnosis result being a diagnosis result about the pathological image by the first user. The obtained pathological image and the primary diagnosis result are provided to at least one second terminal via the network, the one second terminal being of at least one second user. A browsing history and an opinion of the second user are obtained from the second terminal via the network, the browsing history at least including information on a displayed area in the pathological image, the opinion of the second user being about the primary diagnosis result based on observation of the pathological image by the second user. The obtained browsing history is estimated, and a reliability score of the obtained opinion is generated.
US09792301B2

A privacy-preserving multi-query parking management system and method. An image of a vehicle with respect to a specific part (e.g., license plate) can be captured when the vehicle enters via an entry point. An image signature can be computed by embedding the image into a descriptor space and the image signature can be stored in a database together with relevant metadata. An image of a vehicle with respect to the specific part can be captured when the vehicle exits via at least one exit point and an image signature can be computed. An entry-exit association with respect to the vehicle can be performed by searching for a most similar image signature in the database. Additionally, given a textual query (e.g., a license plate number), a signature can be computed by embedding the text into the same descriptor space.
US09792296B2

A computer system with read/write access to storage devices creates a snapshot of a data volume at a point in time while continuing to accept access requests to the mirrored data volume by copying before making changes to the base data volume. Multiple snapshots may be made of the same data volume at different points in time. Only data that is not stored in a previous snapshot volume or in the base data volume are stored in the most recent snapshot volume.
US09792293B2

A tool for providing access control for an application. The tool registers, by one or more computer processors, an application. The tool determines, by one or more computer processors, a social platform receives an access request. The tool determines, by one or more computer processors, an access determination for the access request. The tool sends, by one or more computer processors, the access determination for the access request.
US09792290B2

Object store management operations within compute-centric object stores are provided herein. An exemplary method may include transforming an object storage dump into an object store table by a table generator container, wherein the object storage dump includes at least objects within an object store that are marked for deletion, transmitting records for objects from the object store table to reducer containers, such that each reducer container receives object records for at least one object, the object records comprising all object records for the at least one object, generating a set of cleanup tasks by the reducer containers, and executing the cleanup tasks by a cleanup agents.
US09792289B2

A system and method for file clustering, multi-drive forensic analysis and protection of sensitive data. Multiple memory devices can store files. A module can extract characteristics from the stored files, identify similarities between the files based on the extracted characteristics and generate file clusters based on the identified similarities. A visual representation of the file clusters, which can be generated to show the identified similarities among the files, can be displayed by a user interface module.
US09792280B2

Mechanisms are provided for performing context based synonym filtering for natural language processing. Content is parsed into one or more conceptual units, wherein each conceptual unit comprises a portion of text of the content that is associated with a single concept. For each conceptual unit, a term in the conceptual unit is identified that has a synonym to be utilized during natural language processing of the content. A first measure of relatedness of the term to at least one other term in the conceptual unit is determined. A second measure of relatedness of the synonym of the term to the at least one other term in the conceptual unit is determined. A determination whether or not to utilize the synonym when performing natural language processing on the conceptual unit is made based on the first and second measures of relatedness and natural language processing on the content is performed accordingly.
US09792277B2

A computerized method for determining an impact of a document on the specific concept of interest. The method can be configured to identify a cluster of clauses or sentences from a plurality of semantically similar clauses of the document and determine one or more representative concepts for the cluster of the document. An impact of each clause of the cluster is determined using one or more semantic parameters and impact analysis rules. The impact of the each sentence of the cluster is then determined using the impact of the respective clauses and subsequently, the impact of the cluster is determined using the impact of the respective sentences. Based on the impact of the cluster, an impact of the document on the one or more representative concepts is determined.
US09792275B2

Aspects of the present invention provide a more universal, easy, natural, and vendor-agnostic interface to configure, manage, and/or monitor devices in networks. In embodiments, a user-friendly natural language interface, such as a chat or messaging interface, may be used to “live chat” with one or more devices. In embodiments, a natural language input from a user intended for a target device is received and converted into one or more properly formed commands that are target-specific for the target device and may be executed by the target device. In embodiments, results from the execution of the one or more commands may be appropriately formatted for presentation to the user.
US09792269B2

The present invention relates to systems and methods for registry driven transformation of a document exchanged between businesses or applications. More particularly, it relates to systems and protocols for using one or more commonly accessible registries to transform electronic commerce documents among dissimilar interfaces, preferably XML documents. Particular aspects of the present invention are described in the claims, specification and drawings.
US09792267B2

Aspects of the present disclosure simplify identification of potential non-visibility of user interface (UI) components when a responsive web page is rendered by disparate devices. In one embodiment, a browser is instructed to display the web page in a viewport of a desired size. Upon the browser rendering the web page in the viewport, a data structure (e.g., DOM) generated by the browser is examined to determine whether each of the components of the responsive web page is visible or non-visible within the viewport, and a corresponding visibility report is generated. The steps of instructing and examining may be performed iteratively for a number of viewports of corresponding sizes. The visibility report is then generated as a two-dimensional matrix indicating whether each component (along a first dimension) is visible or non-visible when the web page is rendered in a corresponding viewport (along a second dimension).
US09792261B2

A medical image display apparatus determines a priority order of each of medical image data based on a display direction of a body model and an imaging direction of the medical image data. The medical image display apparatus displays each of the medical image data on the body model according to the priority order of the medical image data.
US09792260B2

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems and method for viewing electronic documents. Briefly described, one embodiment of the system, among others, includes an electronic viewer application to display contents of an electronic document; and a visual indicator logic configured to display at least one visual indicator on the electronic display, each visual indicator indicating a portion of the contents that are to be subsequently displayed on the electronic display in response to a navigation command. Other systems and methods are also provided.
US09792258B2

Provided are methods, computer readable medium, apparatus, and program code for determining well characteristics and pore architecture for a hydrocarbon well utilizing data available from conventional/standard electronic well logs. An example of a method can include determining the value of well constants from well log data to include calculating water saturation, free water level location, wettability, and pore throat heterogeneity, and calculating pore architecture at log resolution responsive thereto. This can be accomplished, for example, by accessing well log data from a conventional well log, determining a linear regression line responsive to parameters calculated from the well log data, the linear regression line having a slope and an intercept, and determining a value of each of a plurality of well constants responsive to a value of the slope and of the intercept of the linear regression line.
US09792253B2

A sensor device has a difference calculation unit that calculates the difference between a predetermined threshold and a current measured value measured by a sensor unit that measures a measurement subject, a change amount recording unit that records the maximum amount of change of the measured value with respect to elapsed time on the basis of a plurality of measured value history records obtained by measuring the measurement subject, and a minimum time calculation unit that calculates the minimum arrival time that is the minimum time for the measurement subject to arrive at the predetermined threshold from the current measured value on the basis of the calculated difference and the recorded maximum amount of change.
US09792249B2

A system and method for provisioning of modular compute resources within a system design are provided. In one embodiment, a node card or a system board may be used.
US09792248B2

An “RDMA-Based RPC Request System” combines the concepts of RPC and RDMA in a way that can be implemented on commodity networking communications hardware, e.g., RDMA-enabled network interface controllers (NICs) in an Ethernet-based network. In various implementations, the RDMA-Based RPC Request System enables fast lock-free and thread-safe execution of RPC requests between different computers in a network via RDMA-based messages. In other words, the RDMA-Based RPC Request System combines RDMA messaging and RPC requests to enable fast RPC requests via a sequence of RDMA messages transmitted over Ethernet using commodity NICs between networked computers in a data center or other network environment. This RDMA message process is both lock-free and thread-safe. Advantageously, being both lock-free and thread-safe improves overall performance of memory access and RPC requests between networked computers by reducing overall system latency for transmission and execution of RPC requests over commodity networking hardware.
US09792244B2

A multiple processor architecture with flexible external input/output interface is provided. In one embodiment, an open flexible processor architecture avionics device comprises: a multiple processor architecture having a primary processor, a secondary processor, a random access memory (RAM) coupled to at least the secondary processor, and a shared memory coupled to the primary and secondary processor; and a flexible input/output (I/O) interface coupled to the multiple processor architecture, wherein the flexible I/O interface provides I/O access to the primary processor using a fixed I/O protocol, and provides I/O access to the secondary processor using at least one re-configurable I/O protocol; wherein the primary processor is dedicated to executing embedded software for implementing a primary base functionality, the primary processor has read and write access to the shared memory, and the primary processor is not reprogrammable; and wherein the secondary processor has read-only access to the shared memory and is programmable.
US09792232B2

A method of handling interrupts in a data processing system includes maintaining a first interrupt destination buffer (IDB) for a first interrupt handler routine (IHR) and a second IDB for a second IHR. Whether a received interrupt is associated with the first IHR or the second IHR is determined. In response to the received interrupt being associated with the first IHR, event information associated with the received interrupt is stored in the first IDB. In response to the received interrupt being associated with the second IHR, the event information associated with the received interrupt in stored in the second IDB.
US09792227B2

Inventive aspects include a heterogeneous unified memory section, which includes an extended unified memory space across a plurality of physical heterogeneous memory modules. A cold page reclamation logic section can receive and prioritize cold pages from a system memory. The cold pages can include a first subset of memory pages having a first type of memory data and a second subset of memory pages having a second type of memory data. For example, the cold pages can include anon-type memory pages and file-type memory pages. A dynamic tuning logic section can manage space allocation within the extended unified memory space. An intelligent page sort logic section can distribute the cold pages among different pools of physical heterogeneous memory modules based on varying characteristics of the pools, and based on the assigned priorities.
US09792224B2

A processor or system may include a memory controller to store, in a pre-allocated portion of bit-addressable, random access persistent memory (PM), a relationship between a group of addresses being stored in the PM according to a set of instructions when executed. The memory controller is further to retrieve the relationship when accessing an address from the groups of addresses.
US09792220B2

One embodiment of the present invention includes a microcontroller coupled to a memory management unit (MMU). The MMU is coupled to a page table included in a physical memory, and the microcontroller is configured to perform one or more virtual memory operations associated with the physical memory and the page table. In operation, the microcontroller receives a page fault generated by the MMU in response to an invalid memory access via a virtual memory address. To remedy such a page fault, the microcontroller performs actions to map the virtual memory address to an appropriate location in the physical memory. By contrast, in prior-art systems, a fault handler would typically remedy the page fault. Advantageously, because the microcontroller executes these tasks locally with respect to the MMU and the physical memory, latency associated with remedying page faults may be decreased. Consequently, overall system performance may be increased.
US09792207B2

A mobile device (100) includes a processing device (140), a random access memory, RAM, (150) and an embedded mass storage device (160). A first interface (IF1) is provided between the processing device (140) and the RAM (150). The first interface (IF1) supports access of the processing device (140) to the RAM (150). The mass storage device (160) includes a controller (170) and a non-volatile flash memory (180). A second interface (IF2) is provided between the controller (170) and the flash memory (180). The second interface (IF2) supports access of the controller (170) to the flash memory (180). A third interface (IF3) is provided between the controller (170) and the processing device (140). The third interface (IF3) supports access of the controller (170) to the RAM (150).
US09792196B1

A method is described that includes receiving an application and generating a representation of the application that describes specific states of the application and specific state transitions of the application. The method further includes identifying a region of interest of the application based on rules and observations of the application's execution. The method further includes determining specific stimuli that will cause one or more state transitions within the application to reach the region of interest. The method further includes enabling one or more monitors within the application's run time environment and applying the stimuli. The method further includes generating monitoring information from the one or more monitors. The method further includes applying rules to the monitoring information to determine a next set of stimuli to be applied to the application in pursuit of determining whether the region of interest corresponds to improperly behaving code.
US09792195B2

A method and system for server-side capturing, logging, and replaying terminal data of a terminal is described.
US09792194B2

System and computer program product to perform an operation comprising generating, based on a first output generated by a first execution instance of a command, a first output file specifying a value of at least one performance metric, wherein the first output file is formatted according to a predefined format, comparing the value of the at least one performance metric in the first output file to a value of the performance metric in a second output file, the second output file having been generated based on a second output generated by a second execution instance of the command, and outputting for display an indication of a result of the comparison of the value of the at least one performance metric of the first output file to the value of the at least one performance metric of the second output file.
US09792193B2

A method and a system for processing a data conflict are provided that relate to the field of signal interface technologies of an integrated circuit, where the method includes sending a power management bus (PMBus) command to a slave device by using a PMBus, so as to perform power management; when the PMBus command fails to be sent, determining whether the number of times that the PMBus command fails to be sent is greater than or equal to a preset value, where the preset value is configured in advance during system initialization; starting timing if the number of times that the PMBus command fails to be sent is less than the preset value; and resending the PMBus command when timing duration reaches resending time. The present invention is applicable to a scenario in which multiple master devices (Masters) send the PMBus command by using the PMBus.
US09792191B2

A method of operating an emulated electrically erasable (EEE) memory system includes entering a quick write mode for a predetermined amount of time, upon detection of imminent power loss of the EEE memory system. A first write request is received immediately subsequent to entering the quick write mode, where the first write request includes a first address of an emulated memory of the EEE memory system and associated first data to be written at the first address. A first new record is created in non-volatile memory of the EEE memory system during the quick write mode, where the first new record includes the first address, the associated first data, and a blank record status identifier. The first new record is updated to have a quick record status ID, in response to a determination that record data of the first new record passes verification.
US09792185B2

Creating a data backup of data on a first computer system to restore to a second computer system, each of the first and second computer system including one or more nodes, each node configured to manage a subset of the data. Receiving, by the first computer system, identification of data to back up and node configuration information for the second computer system. Creating, by the first computer system, a backup of the data from the one or more nodes of the first computer system, configured in accordance with the node configuration information of the second computer system, such that the backed up data is directly manageable by the one or more nodes of the second computer system.
US09792181B2

Systems, methods, and computer program products for providing operating system (O/S) redundancy in a computing system are provided. One system includes a host computing device, a plurality of memory devices, and a sub-loader coupled between the host computing device and the plurality of memory devices. Each memory device stores a respective O/S and the sub-loader is configured such that the plurality of memory devices appear transparent to the host computing device. One method includes designating, a first logical unit device as a primary logical unit device and subsequently determining that the first logical unit device is unresponsive. The designation is removed from the first logical unit device and a second logical unit device is designated as a new primary logical unit device. One computer program product includes instructions for performing the above method.
US09792175B2

When the number of bad columns in a memory or plane is less than a threshold number then a first Error Correction Code (ECC) scheme encodes user data in first pages of a first size. If the number of bad columns is greater than the threshold number then a second ECC scheme encodes the user data in second pages of a second size that is smaller than the first size.
US09792173B2

Disclosed is an interface control circuit including an error detection unit, an error correction unit, and an adjustment control unit. The error detection unit is configured to detect whether an error occurs in error correction coded data transmitted via an interface. The error correction unit is configured to execute error correction processing of correcting the error when the error occurs. The adjustment control unit is configured to start adjustment processing of adjusting a transmission characteristic of the interface when the error occurs.
US09792172B2

According to one embodiment, a memory system includes a nonvolatile memory and a controller. The controller manages a plurality of namespaces for storing a plurality of kinds of data having different update frequencies. The controller encodes write data by using first coding for reducing wear of a memory cell to generate first encoded data, and generates second encoded data to be written to the nonvolatile memory by adding an error correction code to the first encoded data. The controller changes the ratio between the first encoded data and the error correction code based on the namespace to which the write data is to be written.
US09792162B2

Network system being configured to execute I/O commands and application commands in parallel and comprising a network and at least one network node, wherein the at least one network node is connected to the network via a network adapter and is configured to run several processes and/or threads in parallel, wherein the at least one network node comprises or is configured to establish a common communication channel (C-channel) to be used by the several processes and/or threads for data communication with the network via the network adapter, wherein the C-channel comprises or is established to comprise a work queue (WQ) for execution of I/O commands and a completion queue (CQ) for indication of a status of I/O commands, and wherein the at least one network node, especially its comprised or to be established C-channel, is configured for an exclusive access of precisely one single process or thread out of the several processes and/or threads to the CQ of the C-channel at a particular time.
US09792158B2

Embodiments of the inventive subject matter include receiving, in a distributed computing environment, a plurality of files for execution. Embodiments further include identifying, by parsing the plurality of files, code segments contained in each of the plurality of files. Embodiments further include determining, based on a comparison of the code segments and definitions contained in a distributed computing basic function library, a first group of the code segments that include configuration tasks and a second group of the code segments that include computational tasks. Embodiments further include combining the first group of the code segments to form a super configuration task. Embodiments further include creating an executable code, wherein the executable code comprises the super configuration task and the second group of code segments. Embodiments further include allocating the executable code to one or more nodes. Embodiments further include executing the executable code on the one or more nodes.
US09792157B2

In a logically partitioned host computer system comprising host processors (host CPUs) partitioned into a plurality of guest processors (guest CPUs) of a guest configuration, a perform topology function instruction is executed by a guest processor specifying a topology change of the guest configuration. The topology change preferably changes the polarization of guest CPUs, the polarization being related to the amount of a host CPU resource provided to a guest CPU.
US09792155B2

The invention provides a system and method for managing clusters of parallel processors for use by groups and individuals requiring supercomputer level computational power. A Beowulf cluster provides supercomputer level processing power. Unlike a traditional Beowulf cluster; however, cluster size in not singular or static. As jobs are received from users/customers, a Resource Management System (RMS) dynamically configures and reconfigures the available nodes in the system into clusters of the appropriate sizes to process the jobs. Depending on the overall size of the system, many users may have simultaneous access to supercomputer level computational processing. Users are preferably billed based on the time for completion with faster times demanding higher fees.
US09792145B1

Methods, systems, and computer readable and executable medium embodiments for managing virtual machine pool demand are described herein. One method for managing virtual machine pool demand includes determining a demand for a number of virtual machines in a pool using data received, identifying the demand for the number of virtual machines in the pool is outside a threshold number, and sending a request for an additional virtual machine to a user to manage demand of the pool.
US09792142B2

A device includes a storage which has stored therein setting information that specifies, for each virtual machine to be created, the number of arithmetic processing unit cores that have to be allocated to a virtual machine, and group information that represents a plurality of virtual machines operating in cooperation as a group, from among the virtual machines represented by the setting information, and a virtual machine monitor, when a first virtual machine has been created, from among the virtual machines represented by the setting information, which refers to the setting information and the group information so as to allocate as many arithmetic processing unit cores as the setting information specifies to the first virtual machine, according to a rule that takes account of a decrease in operation performance of all the operable virtual machines that is associated with a failure occurring in any of the arithmetic processing units.
US09792140B2

Software asset management (SAM) for virtual environments performing the following operations: (i) collecting a set of virtual machine (VM) descriptor(s) sets, where each VM descriptor(s) set corresponds to one of the following: a VM appliance or a sealed VM image; (ii) for each VM descriptor(s) set of the set of VM descriptor(s) set(s), determining whether there is a match to an entry in a VM descriptor set/software application mapping data set; and (iii) for each VM descriptor(s) set of the set of VM descriptor(s) set(s), on condition that there is a match, determining an identity of a set of software application(s) in the VM appliance or sealed VM image corresponding to the VM descriptor(s) set based on the respectively matching entry in the VM descriptor/software mapping data set.
US09792138B2

A virtualization manager receives a request to migrate a virtual machine from a source hypervisor to a destination hypervisor supporting virtual function capability. Responsive to determining that an availability status indicates that a virtual function is available for use on the destination hypervisor by the virtual machine, the virtualization manager migrates the virtual machine from the source hypervisor to the destination hypervisor. Responsive to determining that the virtual machine has been migrated to the destination hypervisor successfully, the virtualization manager connects the identified virtual function to the virtual machine.
US09792135B2

Technologies are generally described for systems, devices and methods effective to schedule access to a core. In some examples, a first differential voltage frequency scaling (DVFS) value of a first virtual machine may be received by a virtual machine manager. A second DVFS value of a second virtual machine may be received by the virtual machine manager. A third DVFS value of a third virtual machine may be received by the virtual machine manager. The third DVFS value may be substantially the same as the first DVFS value and different from the second DVFS value. A dispatch cycle may be generated to execute the first, second and third virtual machines on the core. After execution of the first virtual machine, the dispatch cycle may require execution of the third virtual machine before execution of the second virtual machine.
US09792132B2

In a virtual machine that uses a just-in-time complier (JITC) as a software execution environment, an idle time of a core to which the JITC is allocated is utilized to generate machine code in advance, thereby reducing a load on an interpreter. Accordingly, code execution performance of the interpreter is improved, and the utilization of a multi-core system that executes applications is increased.
US09792125B2

A TRANSACTION BEGIN instruction begins execution of a transaction and includes a general register save mask having bits, that when set, indicate registers to be saved in the event the transaction is aborted. At the beginning of the transaction, contents of the registers are saved in memory not accessible to the program, and if the transaction is aborted, the saved contents are copied to the registers.
US09792117B2

A method and apparatus for efficiently processing data in various formats in a single instruction multiple data (“SIMD”) architecture is presented. Specifically, a method to unpack a fixed-width bit values in a bit stream to a fixed width byte stream in a SIMD architecture is presented. A method to unpack variable-length byte packed values in a byte stream in a SIMD architecture is presented. A method to decompress a run length encoded compressed bit-vector in a SIMD architecture is presented. A method to return the offset of each bit set to one in a bit-vector in a SIMD architecture is presented. A method to fetch bits from a bit-vector at specified offsets relative to a base in a SIMD architecture is presented. A method to compare values stored in two SIMD registers is presented.
US09792116B2

A computer processor that implements pre-translation of virtual addresses with target registers is disclosed. The computer processor may include a register file comprising one or more registers. The computer processor may include processing logic. The processing logic may receive a value to store in a register of one or more registers. The processing logic may store the value in the register. The processing logic may designate the received value as a virtual instruction address, the virtual instruction address having a corresponding virtual base page number. The processing logic may translate the virtual base page number to a corresponding real base page number and zero or more real page numbers corresponding to zero or more virtual page numbers adjacent to the virtual base page number. The processing logic may further store in the register of the one or more registers the real base page number and the zero or more real page numbers.
US09792115B2

A processing core is described having execution unit logic circuitry having a first register to store a first vector input operand, a second register to a store a second vector input operand and a third register to store a packed data structure containing scalar input operands a, b, c. The execution unit logic circuitry further include a multiplier to perform the operation (a*(first vector input operand))+(b*(second vector operand))+c.
US09792109B2

A novel method for updating a bundle of files from an update package that minimize the free space requirement on disk is provided. The method segments the update of the entire package and performs the update in multiple passes. The method divide the archive payload of the entire update package into pieces and expand one piece of the archive in each pass. At the end of each pass, some embodiments remove from the disk the archive piece expanded in that pass in order to free additional space for the next pass.
US09792108B2

Methods, systems, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for providing a scheme for managing Last-Modified information for resource requests are described herein. In some embodiments, a computing device may determine whether to round up or down an update time of a resource respectively based on whether a request from a client device for the resource is received within a window. In some embodiments, a computing device may receive, from a client device, a first validation request for a resource and a second validation request for the resource. In response to determining that the first validation request was received within a window, the computing device may round down an update time of the resource. In response to determining that the second validation request was received outside of the window, the computing device may determine whether to round up the update time of the resource.
US09792105B2

Provided are a booting method of updating software components installed in a system and recovering from an error that occurs in an update, a method and system for automatically updating the software and recovering from the error, and a computer readable recording medium storing the method. The master boot record and the backup boot record are used to stably update a kernel and effectively recover from an update error. The component configuration database is used to update a plurality of software components including a kernel in a transaction, and perfectly recover from an update error.
US09792102B2

Systems and techniques for identifying potential problems associated with deploying a software package in a computing system are described. The software package may include multiple components that are installed in various locations in the computing system. Multiple agents that perform mock activities emulating the activities of the multiple components may be deployed in the computing system. Activity data may be gathered when the multiple agents are performing the mock activities and used to identify potential problems.
US09792095B2

A computing device receives a query about at least one concept and at least one document associated with the at least one concept. The computing device accesses a plurality of models created based on information in a labeled database. The computing device decodes information in the at least one document using the plurality of models. Responsive to the decoding, the computing device generate a program with steps associated with the at least one concept.
US09792094B2

The described technology is directed towards a factory identification system, in which a factory object is provided with a factory identifier (ID) that specifies information regarding a desired object that is more specific than specifying an interface. Additional construction parameters such as an object ID may be provided to further describe the desired object. Also described are object caching and reuse, and tagging the object with information that may be preserved and later used to recreate an object.
US09792093B2

Subsections of locale objects are dynamically built from locale source files when requested at run-time without building all subsections of the locale object. When a subsection of a locale object is dynamically built, the subsection is stored in global memory so it may be read by multiple applications. Dynamically building subsections of locale objects when requested allows software to operate with a relatively small number of locale objects.
US09792092B2

A method of unifying information and tool from a plurality of information sources includes the following steps. Firstly, an access scheme is provided to retrieve attributes and an associated link from an original information and/or attributes and an associated link from an original tool. Then, the original information is modeled into a unified information unit with a first unified data model by re-organizing the attributes and the associated link of the original information, and/or the original tool is modeled into a unified tool with a second unified data model by re-organizing the attributes and the associated link of the original tool. A format of the original information is modeled by the first unified data model and/or a format of the original tool is modeled by the second unified data model.
US09792090B2

A system for managing products comprising a plurality of components is provided. In one embodiment, the system further comprises a plurality of parameters governing the interaction among said components and an interface for receiving user input concerning said components; wherein said components and parameters are objects defined and stored externally; said parameters are defined based on possible user input concerning one or more of said components: and one or more of said components and parameters are loaded into the system, revised or removed without rewriting existing software.
US09792086B2

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for generating a speech recognition model for a media content retrieval system. The method causes a computing device to retrieve information describing media available in a media content retrieval system, construct a graph that models how the media are interconnected based on the retrieved information, rank the information describing the media based on the graph, and generate a speech recognition model based on the ranked information. The information can be a list of actors, directors, composers, titles, and/or locations. The graph that models how the media are interconnected can further model pieces of common information between two or more media. The method can further cause the computing device to weight the graph based on the retrieved information, wherein the weighted graph is further normalized to yield a normalized weighted graph to help with speech query searching of media content using speech recognition. The graph can further model relative popularity information in the list. The method can rank information based on a PageRank algorithm.
US09792085B2

A method for grouping playing devices and terminal apparatus includes acquiring a user setting assigned to a plurality of play time periods of N playing devices in a wireless music system and determining a current time. It is determined which the play time periods of the N playing devices include a first target play time period encompassing the current time. The playing devices of the N playing devices are grouped corresponding to the first target play time period into a first play group.
US09792084B2

A machine is configured to identify a media file that, when played to a user, is likely to modify an emotional or physical state of the user to or towards a target emotional or physical state. The machine accesses play counts that quantify playbacks of media files for the user. The playbacks may be locally performed or detected by the machine from ambient sound. The machine accesses arousal scores of the media files and determines a distribution of the play counts over the arousal scores. The machine uses one or more relative maxima in the distribution in selecting a target arousal score for the user based on contextual data that describes an activity of the user. The machine selects one or more media files based on the target arousal score. The machine may then cause the selected media file to be played to the user.
US09792083B2

This is directed to controlling the output of audio based on the mode of an electronic device. In particular, this is directed to an electronic device having a sound mode, silent mode, and mute mode controlling the output of audio along different audio output routes. In the sound mode, all audio can be output, while only registered or authorized audio can be output in the silent mode. In the mute mode, no audio can be output. The sound and silent modes can be enabled using an interface of the device (e.g., a switch having two possible states), while the mute mode can be enabled using an accessory coupled to the device. To disengage the mute mode, a user can provide a corresponding instruction using the accessory, or providing an instruction on the device related to volume control. For example, a user can change the device volume using an on-device interface, or toggle a sound/silent switch to a sound mode.
US09792079B2

Systems and methods are provided for generating workflows for printing systems. The system includes a memory that stores requirements for sequencing each of multiple activities available at a print shop into workflows. The system also includes a Graphical User Interface (GUI) able to graphically present a workflow. The workflow includes an ordered subset of the activities to perform for processing a print job. The GUI is further able to graphically present the available activities, and to enable a user to drag the available activities onto the workflow to alter the workflow. The system also includes a processing system able to detect an activity being dragged by a user, to determine locations in the workflow where requirements for the activity are met, and to operate the GUI to highlight the determined locations.
US09792078B2

An image forming apparatus includes multiple network interfaces to be connected to different networks, a management-information storage, a management-information generating unit, and a transmitting unit. The management-information storage stores management information. In accordance with a management information transmission request received via one of the network interfaces, the management-information generating unit extracts information which is to be transmitted through the network interface through which the request has been received, from the management information, and generates transmission management information to be transmitted. The transmitting unit transmits the transmission management information generated by the management-information generating unit, from the network interface through which the request has been received.
US09792071B2

A memory system or flash card includes a mechanism for memory cell measurement and analysis that independently measures/predicts memory wear/endurance, data retention (DR), read disturb, and/or remaining margin. These effects can be independently quantified by analyzing the state distributions of the individual voltage levels of the cells. In particular, a histogram of cell voltage distributions of the memory cells can be analyzed to identify signatures for certain effects (e.g. wear, DR, read disturb, margin, etc.). Those measurements are used for block cycling, data loss prediction, or adjustments to memory parameters. Pre-emptive action at the appropriate time based on the measurements leads to improved memory management and data management. That action includes calculating the remaining useful life of data stored in memory, cycling blocks, predicting data loss, trade-off or dynamic adjustments of memory parameters.
US09792070B2

A memory having a plurality of storage blocks, and a memory control unit, are included, and each of the storage blocks is partitioned into a management data area and an actual data area. The management data area stores therein writing-in-progress management data indicating that writing of actual data has started, validity management data indicating that the writing of the actual data has been completed, and pre-erasure management data indicating that stored actual data have been brought into an erasable state. The memory control unit determines, based on a storage state of the management data, the storage block storing therein the latest data.
US09792068B2

According to one embodiment, when a first command and first data are received from a host, and in a case where the number of free blocks is less than a first threshold, a controller executes a first processing. The first processing includes reading valid data included in one first block that includes the valid data and invalid data and writing the read valid data and at least a part of write data specified by the write command into the free block.
US09792066B2

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for handling failure of a command to add a record to a log. The log has records at log addresses. Each record in the log includes a key and value and the log addresses map to physical addresses in the storage. A first command for a key and value pair for a record at a specified log address in the log to add to a selected log address in the log is sent. A second command for the key and value pair for the record at the specified log address with a resend parameter set is sent in response to not receiving the selected log address. In response to receiving the second command with the resend parameter set, the log is scanned to determine a log address having the key and value pair. The determined log address is returned.
US09792061B2

For efficient cache management of multi-target peer-to-peer remote copy (PPRC) modified sectors bitmap in a computing storage environment a multiplicity of PPRC modified sectors bitmaps are dynamically managed by placing the multiplicity of PPRC modified sectors bitmaps into slots of bind segments. One of the multiplicity of PPRC modified sectors bitmaps is set in one of the plurality of slots. Techniques are used depending on whether it is determined that one of the bind segments in the list of bind segments does not contain the free one of the multiplicity of slots.
US09792049B2

Disclosed herein are system, method, and computer program product embodiments for accessing data of a memory. A method embodiment operates by receiving one or more requests for data stored across at least a first memory area and a second memory area of a memory. The method continues with performing, by at least one processor, a wrapped read of data within a first memory area of the memory. The method then performs, by the at least one processor, a continuous read of data within a second memory area of the memory, the second memory area being adjacent to the first memory area. The continuous read starts at a first boundary of the second memory area, and is performed automatically after the wrapped read of data within the first memory area.
US09792048B2

Systems and methods are disclosed for identifying disk drives and processing data access requests. A disk drive may be identified as an Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) drive, a Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVME) drive, and/or an ATA packet interface (ATAPI) drive. Data access requests for the disk drive may be translated to NVME commands, AHCI commands, or ATAPI commands, based on whether the drive is identified as a NVME drive, an AHCI drive, and/or an ATAPI drive.
US09792043B2

Methods and systems for a networked storage environment are provided. One method includes scanning a first data structure by a processor executing instructions out of a memory for a storage operating system to determine whether any data chunk of a first object stored at a first storage tier is referenced by the storage operating; when the storage operating system references a certain number of data chunks, the processor using an object staging data structure to identify a second object that is in the process of being built with space for transferring the certain number of data chunks from the first object to the second object; and updating information regarding the second object at a transfer log with location information of the certain number of data chunks at the first storage tier.
US09792028B2

A method of controlling a display device can include establishing communication between an external device and the display device to receive screen information displayed on the external device; displaying the screen information displayed in the external device in a first region of a screen of the display device; and when content information in the first region of the screen is moved to a second region of the screen, storing in a storage space corresponding to a format of the content information, the content information, without displaying the content information in the second region.
US09792024B2

Systems and methods for managing and processing building plan documents including plan sheets. A toolbox of building project-related annotation tools comprising geometrical shapes and corresponding metadata indicating a criticality of a building project related defect is provided. An interface enables a selection of one or more video frames from a video file. A video frame editing area enables a user to drag and drop a shape over a portion of a frame displayed in the editing area to highlight a building defect. An interface enables the user to define a relationship between a video file and a building-related task. A user annotation, comprising a geometrical shape and corresponding metadata indicating a criticality of a building project related defect, of a video frame is received. An association of the video file with a first building project-related task is generated. A search interface enables the user to search for annotated video files associated with building projects.
US09792018B2

In some embodiments, a device displays functionality information in response to receiving an indication of a first input for which a contact meets functionality display criteria. In some embodiments, a device generates a user interface that includes a navigation bar including images from different positions in a respective content item, and a representation of an adjacent content item. In some embodiments, a device moves a selection-indicator in a user interface by a predefined amount in response to receiving an indication of a first input that meets unitary movement criteria. In some embodiments, a device interprets movement of a contact of an input based at least in part on a grip of a user. In some embodiments, a device displays a plurality of character selection options when a text entry field is not tolerant of character ambiguity and a first input corresponds to a plurality of candidate characters.
US09792013B2

Systems and processes for scanning a user interface are disclosed. One process can include scanning multiple elements within a user interface by highlighting the elements. The process can further include receiving a selection while one of the elements is highlighted and performing an action on the element that was highlighted when the selection was received. The action can include scanning the contents of the selected element or performing an action associated with the selected element. The process can be used to navigate an array of application icons, a menu of options, a standard desktop or laptop operating system interface, or the like. The process can also be used to perform gestures on a touch-sensitive device or mouse and track pad gestures (e.g., flick, tap, or freehand gestures).
US09792008B2

A method for displaying analytics data includes collecting, at an analytics database, analytics data comprising trackable events associated with operation of an application on a number of computing devices. The analytics data is received by a computing device. The analytics data is displayed on the first computing device during runtime of the application by superimposing upon a user interface of the application an analytics overlay including a graphical representation of the analytics data.
US09792005B2

Modular auxiliary processor circuitry, capable of performing telematics services, including wireless communications, diagnostic assessment and reporting, location based services, and internetworking, couples with a vehicle head unit through an auxiliary processing module interface. When so coupled, the auxiliary processing module circuitry can perform tasks, services, functions, and aspect that a lower-capability processor of the head unit cannot perform as quickly or as efficiently, if at all. When the auxiliary processor module is coupled and active, its display output can couple to a display device either permanently fixed in the vehicle, or portable and mobile with respect to the vehicle, through conductors or a wireless link. When the auxiliary processor circuitry's output couples to the display device, software running on the head unit, or the auxiliary processor module, may decouple the head unit from the display device unless a user interface requests its services, such as tuning an AM/FM radio circuit.
US09792003B1

Systems and methods are provided for generating user format preference data and using that data to select and/or deliver a specific format of a work. For example, a dynamic format delivery service can dynamically collect data representing a user's preferences respecting specific contexts and formats, and can store this data in association with the user. The dynamic format delivery service can then make use of that data to dynamically select a format for a requested work in order to provide the user with a format tailored to that specific user's consumption habits. Moreover, data representing preferences of a population of users, context attributes, or device-specific format preferences may further contribute to selecting a work format.
US09791993B2

In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for creating a re-usable component for use in association with a multi-tenant on-demand database service. These mechanisms and methods for creating a re-usable component for use in association with a multi-tenant on-demand database service can allow the re-usable component to be utilized by multiple tenants of the multi-tenant on-demand database service.
US09791992B2

In one embodiment, a device includes a display stack including a number of layers. The layers include a cover layer and one or more other layers. The device also includes a touch sensor disposed on a surface of a particular layer of the plurality of layers of the display stack. The touch sensor includes a number of first electrodes oriented along a first direction. Each of the first electrodes includes a plurality of first conductive regions. The touch sensor also includes a number of second electrodes oriented along a second direction that is substantially perpendicular to the first direction. Each of the second electrodes includes a second conductive region. The second conductive region of each of the second electrodes being interdigitated with a respective adjacent first conductive region of multiple first electrodes of the plurality of first electrodes.
US09791990B2

Embodiments of the disclosure generally provide an integrated control system having an integrated controller that is configured to provide both display updating signals to a display device and a capacitive sensing signal to a sensor electrode that is disposed within the integrated input device. The internal and/or external signal routing configurations described herein can be adapted to reduce signal routing complexity typically found in conventional devices and reduce the effect of electrical interference created by the capacitive coupling formed between the display routing, capacitive sensing routing and/or other components within the integrated control system. Embodiments can also be used to reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI) on the display and touch sensing signals received, transmitted and processed within the integrated control system.
US09791980B2

In one embodiment, a touch position-sensing panel comprising a sensing area comprising a substrate, a plurality of first electrodes in a first layer, the plurality of first electrodes comprising conductive mesh and arranged in a first direction, the first layer having a first plurality of gaps formed therein, a plurality of second electrodes in a second layer, the plurality of second electrodes comprising conductive mesh and arranged in a second direction generally perpendicular to the first direction, the second layer having a second plurality of gaps formed therein, and a plurality of capacitive nodes formed by the capacitive coupling of the plurality of first electrodes in the first layer and the plurality of second electrodes in a second layer, the plurality of capacity nodes comprising at least one center node, at least one edge node, and at least one corner node, the at least one center node, at least one edge node, and at least one corner node comprising approximately equal areas.
US09791976B2

An optical touch-sensitive device detects touch events caused by instruments (e.g., pens, styluses) and distinguishes these events from touch events caused by fingers. In some embodiments, different instruments can also be distinguished. The optical touch-sensitive device includes multiple emitters and detectors. Each emitter produces optical beams which are received by the detectors. The optical beams preferably are multiplexed in a manner so that many optical beams can be received by a detector simultaneously. Touch events disturb the optical beams, for example due to frustrated total internal reflection. Information indicating which optical beams have been disturbed is analyzed to detect one or more touch events. The analysis also distinguishes instrument touch events from finger touch events.
US09791972B2

According to one embodiment, a sensor-equipped display device includes a display panel, first driver, and second driver. The display panel includes a common electrode, a pixel electrode, a detection electrode, a connection line and lead line. The first driver supplies a common driving signal to the common electrode during a display drive time and supplies a sensor driving signal to the common electrode during a sensing drive time. The second driver detects a sensor output value during the sensing drive time. The lead line and the common electrode are apart from each other with a certain gap at least during the sensing drive time.
US09791971B2

A method for operating computing devices (CDs) to display an electronic document (ED), including: obtaining, by a first CD having a first touchscreen, a first plurality of screen coordinates associated with a first portion of a first gesture performed by a user; obtaining, by the first CD and from a second CD having a second touchscreen, a second plurality of screen coordinates associated with a second portion of the first gesture performed by the user; determining, by the first CD and based on the first plurality of screen coordinates and the second plurality of screen coordinates, an alignment of the first touchscreen and the second touchscreen; and displaying, by the first CD and based on the alignment, a first segment of the ED on the first touchscreen, where the second CD displays a second segment of the ED on the second touchscreen while the first segment is displayed.
US09791965B2

The present disclosure provides an in-cell touch panel, its driving method and a display device. The in-cell touch panel includes a resetting signal line, display control modules and touch control modules. Each touch driving sub-electrode is connected to the corresponding display control module and the corresponding touch control module. The display control module is connected to gate lines crossing each touch driving sub-electrode and configured to, when driving the gate lines crossing each touch driving sub-electrode, control the touch driving sub-electrode to be connected to a common electrode line. The touch control module is connected to the resetting signal line and configured to, after all the gate lines crossing each touch driving sub-electrode have been driven, control the touch driving sub-electrode to be connected to the touch driving signal line through a resetting signal from the resetting signal line.
US09791962B2

An application program switching method and apparatus, and a touchscreen electronic device are provided that can rapidly implement switching between different application programs. The method includes identifying, by a touchscreen driver of the touchscreen electronic device, at least one user gesture when an interface of a first application program is displayed on a touchscreen of the touchscreen electronic device; matching the at least one user gesture with a preset symbol stored in the touchscreen electronic device; and if a first preset symbol matching the at least one user gesture exists, triggering a second application program corresponding to the first preset symbol to execute an action bound to the first preset symbol. The embodiments of the present invention are applicable to, in an interface of any application program, implementation of automatic switching to another application program when a touchscreen electronic device is used.
US09791956B2

For interpreting a click action, an apparatus includes a touch panel, a processor, and a memory that stores code, executable by the processor, including code that: determines a number of touch points for a click action of the touch panel, determines a touch force for each touch point of the click action, identifies a number of click points for the click action based on the touch force of each touch point, and outputs a click event based on the number of click points. The apparatus may also include code that determines a click location associated with the click action, in response to the number of click points being one, and compares the click location to a first area, wherein outputting a click event includes outputting a primary click event, in response to the click location being within the first area.
US09791947B2

Disclosed is an operation display device, including: a display unit; a touch panel to simultaneously detect touch operations carried out with fingers to a display surface of the display unit; a finger shape detecting unit to detect a shape of a contact part of the finger, which contacts to the display surface in each of the touch operations; and a control unit to control display contents of the display unit, wherein when the touch operations are simultaneously detected by the touch panel, the control unit judges whether the touch operations are an operation carried out by one operator or are operations carried out by a plurality of operators in accordance with the shape of the contact part of the finger relating to each touch operation, and changes the display contents of the display unit in accordance with a result of judging the touch operations.
US09791945B2

An optical mouse is provided with a conversion unit, a control unit, an optical sensing unit, a light emitting unit, and a switch unit. The conversion unit is electrically connected to a working voltage source, the control unit, and the optical sensing unit. The conversion unit is configured to convert voltage to supply power to the control unit, the optical sensing unit, and the light emitting unit. The control unit is electrically connected to the optical sensing unit. The switch unit is electrically connected to the light unit. When the switch unit is in a turn-off state, the light emitting unit stops emitting light toward a trace surface. The optical sensing unit senses a darkness and transfers darkness data to the control unit. The control unit performs a configured function based on the darkness data.
US09791944B2

A secure peripheral switching system comprises a secure peripheral switch remotely coupled to a secure remote controller-indicator, wherein the secure peripheral switch is capable of interfacing with at least two coupled host computers while ensuring data isolation among said at least two coupled host computers, said secure peripheral switch comprising a first interface circuitry to securely link the secure peripheral switch with said secure remote controller-indicator; and a secure remote controller-indicator. The secure remote controller-indicator comprises a second interface circuitry to securely link said secure remote controller-indicator with said secure peripheral switch; a control function capable of enabling a remote user control of said coupled secure peripheral switch; an indication function capable of providing a remote user indications of coupled secure peripheral switch; and an anti-tampering circuitry to detect physical tampering event and report such event to said secure peripheral switch.
US09791943B2

An apparatus may include a first panel having a first user interface that includes a keyboard. The apparatus may also include a second panel coupled via a hinge to the first panel in a clamshell structure. The second panel may include a first display side to present information in a first display mode when the apparatus is arranged in an open position, and a second display side to present information in a second display mode when the apparatus is arranged in a closed position. Other embodiments are disclosed and claimed.
US09791932B2

An embodiment of the invention provides a gesture recognition system (GRS) that displays a graphical user interface in which symbols are grouped into “pods” on a display screen, and a user enters a desired symbol into a computer by selecting a pod containing the desired symbol, and then selecting the symbol from a display of the symbols in the selected pod using hand motions without having to contact the display screen or use a manual controller.
US09791927B2

Methods and systems to facilitate eye tracking control calibration are provided. One or more objects are displayed on a display of a device, where the one or more objects are associated with a function unrelated to a calculation of one or more calibration parameters. The one or more calibration parameters relate to a calibration of a calculation of gaze information of a user of the device, where the gaze information indicates where the user is looking. While the one or more objects are displayed, eye movement information associated with the user is determined, which indicates eye movement of one or more eye features associated with at least one eye of the user. The eye movement information is associated with a first object location of the one or more objects. The one or more calibration parameters are calculated based on the first object location being associated with the eye movement information.
US09791924B2

A head-mount display (HMD) and variations thereof are described. An HMD may include a mobile device having a display unit, a camera, a light source and a processing unit that controls operations of the display unit, camera and light source. The processing unit receives data associated with one or more optical images captured by the camera, and renders a visual image displayable by the display unit. The HMD may also include an eyewear piece having a holder, one or more lenses and a reflective unit. The holder is wearable by a user and holds the mobile device in front of eyes of the user. The user can view the display unit through the one or more lenses. The reflective unit reflects an image of at least an eye of the user. The camera is oriented to capture the reflected image of the eye through the reflective unit.
US09791923B2

The invention is directed to systems, methods and computer program products for configuring a user interface of a portable mobile communication device. An exemplary method includes determining, by at least one of the portable mobile communication device or an electronic device in communication with the portable mobile communication device, a direction associated with a user's gaze. Additionally, the method includes at least one of: in response to determining the direction associated with the user's gaze is at least partially towards a display associated with the electronic device, configuring the portable mobile communication display to function as a touch pad that enables interaction with a user interface displayed on the electronic device; or in response to determining the direction associated with the user's gaze is at least partially towards a display associated with the portable mobile communication device, configuring the portable mobile communication device display to display a user interface.
US09791920B2

An apparatus and a method for controlling an electronic device using head tracking technology are provided. The method includes detecting face motion from an image captured through a camera of the electronic device and executing a control service corresponding to the detected face motion information.
US09791919B2

An electronic device determines information about a target and provides the information to another electronic device that has an obstructed view of the target. The other electronic device displays an image of the target with an orientation and a location of the target.
US09791916B2

A control circuit is provided. The control circuit includes a load switch, and a controller configured to transfer a turn-on signal which is increased step by step to the load switch, and perform a soft start operation which turns on the load switch. In response to the load switch being turned on, the control circuit restricts an inrush current flowing in the load switch.
US09791899B2

An apparatus and method to permit reconfiguration of a memory topology. A printed circuit board (PCB) has a central processing unit (CPU) connector coupled a pair of dual inline memory module (DIMM) connectors coupled thereto. The PCB defines an electrical access channel coupling the pair of DIMM connectors into a T topology having a first branch and a second branch. The second branch of the T topology is electrically discontinuous with the rest of the T topology proximate to a T junction. A bridge may be provided to span the discontinuity.
US09791884B2

In a rotating operation body, a cam part has first cam faces for click feeling generation and second cam faces for return of the rotating operation body. The second cam faces are respectively formed continuously with the first cam faces, and an angle between each of the second cam faces and a direction in which elastic forces of engagement parts are generated is smaller than an angle of each of the first cam faces. That is, each of the second cam faces has a steeper slope than each of the first cam faces.
US09791877B2

An electrical appliance having at least one electrical load, and a digital control system managing flows of electric current of supply of the at least one electrical load, wherein the digital control system of the electrical appliance transmits information to an external control device, wherein said information comprises first information regarding authorization or non-authorization for an interruption of the supply of electric voltage to the electrical appliance by the external control device, the digital control system of the electrical appliance generating the first information of its own operating state.
US09791870B2

The present disclosure provides methods and systems for mitigating finished product temperature transients caused by changes in product flow, raw product temperature, or other disturbances in an aseptic sterilization process. The methods and systems include applying an energy balance feedforward control scheme to the aseptic sterilization process to compensate for raw product temperature changes and changes in product flow. The methods and systems prevent damage to a finished product from occurring based on adverse transient temperature responses of heaters and coolers in an aseptic sterilization process.
US09791869B2

A control unit is added to the environmental tester including a thermostat-humidistat container, an air conditioner, a first temperature and humidity sensor for measuring temperature and humidity in the thermostat-humidistat container, a controller for receiving a first signal from the first temperature and humidity sensor to control the air conditioner. The control unit includes a second temperature and humidity sensor configured to measure the temperature and humidity distribution in the thermostat-humidistat container, and an additional unit configured to receive the first signal and set values for the temperature and the humidity from the controller, and receive a second signal from the second temperature and humidity sensor, compute a correction value from the received first signal, second signal, and set values, and send the correction value to the controller.
US09791867B2

A flow control device equipped with flow monitor includes a build-down type flow monitor unit provided on an upstream side, a flow control unit provided on a downstream side of the build-down type flow monitor unit, a signal transmission circuit connecting the build-down type flow monitor unit and the flow control unit and transmitting a monitored flow rate of the build-down type flow monitor unit to the flow control unit, and a set flow rate value adjustment mechanism being provided in the flow control unit and adjusting a set flow rate of the flow control unit based on the monitored flow rate from the build-down type flow monitor unit.
US09791863B2

A computer-implemented method and control system for gathering material is described. One or more vehicles may include an intake mechanism for material and a location-tracking system. A current orientation of the intake mechanism is identified based upon location information from the tracking system. A current orientation of the material is determined based upon historical location information for the material. A target orientation of the intake mechanisms is determined based upon the current orientation of the material. Movement of the intake mechanism is thus directed toward the determined target orientation.
US09791861B2

A method and/or computer program product autonomously drives a self-driving vehicle (SDV) to a service facility. One or more processors receive sensor readings from an SDV equipment maintenance sensor on the SDV. The SDV equipment maintenance sensor detects a state of equipment on the SDV indicative of a need for maintenance service for the SDV. The processor(s) identify a service facility capable of providing the maintenance service, and determine an amount of time required for the SDV to travel to and from a current location of the SDV to the service facility and to receive the maintenance service. The processor(s) identify a time window in which a user of the SDV will not need the SDV, and then direct the SDV to autonomously drive to the service facility during the time window in which the user of the SDV will not need the SDV.
US09791855B2

A semiconductor process management system is provided. The semiconductor process management system includes a communicator that receives a process recipe from one or more process apparatuses and receives a measured value for each sampling point from one or more measuring apparatus, and a first determination unit that establishes a mutual influence model between the process recipe and the measured value for each sampling point based on the process recipe and the measured value for each sampling point.
US09791854B2

A device for computing correction for control parameter in a manufacturing process executed on a manufacturing apparatus includes circuitry which acquires an index representing fluctuation in a manufacturing apparatus, acquires an apparatus model and a process model, acquires an output from a sensor in the manufacturing apparatus, transforms the output into first fluctuation for a process element, transforms the index into second fluctuation for the process element based on the apparatus model, computes fluctuation for performance indicator from the first and second fluctuation based on the process model, computes correction for the performance indicator from control range for the performance indicator and the fluctuation for the performance indicator, and converts the correction for the performance indicator into correction for each process element based on the process model such that correction for control parameter in process executed on the manufacturing apparatus is computed from the correction converted for each process element.
US09791852B2

A method for controlling at least one operational parameter of a plant (1) having a combustion unit (3) can include estimating a status of at least one operational variable of the plant to identify an estimated value for the operational variable. For each operational variable, the estimated value for the operational variable can be compared with a measured value of the operational variable to determine an uncertainty value based on a difference in value between the measured value and the estimated value for the operational variable. A control signal can be generated based on a reference signal, the measured value, and the deviation value for sending to at least one element of the plant (1) for controlling a process of the plant (1).
US09791848B2

A display apparatus has a display 40, a model data storage unit 37 storing therein three-dimensional model data of a movable structure and a structure having a possibility of interfere with the movable structure, a model generation unit 33 generating a three-dimensional model in which three-dimensional models of the structures are arranged in a three-dimensional space, an interference-caution-portion specifying unit 34 specifying a portion of the movable structure having a possibility of contact with an interfering structure as an interference caution portion when an interfering structure exists and specifying a leading portion of the movable structure in a moving direction as an interference caution portion when an interfering structure does not exist, and an image display unit 35 generating an image with the interference caution portion highlighted based on the three-dimensional model generated by the model generation unit 33 and displaying the image on the display 40.
US09791842B2

A power control system includes at least one energy storage device each having a heat storage medium, a heater configured to heat the heat storage medium, a temperature sensor, a maximum temperature operating parameter of the device, a user-adjustable target temperature setting, which indicates a desired temperature of the heat storage medium and is less than the maximum temperature, and a controller that controls electrical energy consumption of each of the at least one energy storage device to heat the heat storage medium to a temperature that exceeds the target temperature setting and is below the maximum temperature.
US09791837B2

Systems and methods of monitoring, analyzing, optimizing and controlling data centers and data center operations are disclosed. The system includes data collection and storage hardware and software for harvesting operational data from data center assets and operations. Intelligent analysis and optimization software enables identification of optimization and/or control actions. Control software and hardware enables enacting a change in the operational state of data centers.
US09791836B2

A television system includes a housing including a television screen, a glare detector arranged in the housing and configured and disposed to detect an origination point of a glare on one of a television screen and a viewer, and a glare remediation system operatively coupled to the glare detector and one or more window covering devices. The glare remediation system is configured and disposed to close the one of the one or more window covering devices at the origination point upon detecting the glare at the one of the television screen and the viewer.
US09791828B2

An image forming apparatus includes a latent image bearer, a charger, a blower, a first detector, and a second detector. The charger charges a surface of the latent image bearer. The blower sends air to around the charger. The first detector detects a temperature of the air to be sent to around the charger. The second detector detects a temperature around the charger. The blower performs an operation based on a detection result of the first detector and a detection result of the second detector.
US09791825B2

A cartridge mountable to a printer, said printer including a coupling guide contactable to a coupling of the cartridge to guide the coupling member. A case of the cartridge is provided with a hole for exposing a free end portion of the coupling to an outside of the cartridge, and a retracted portion provided in downstream of the hole with respect to the mounting direction of the cartridge. When the cartridge is mounted to a main assembly of the printer, the coupling guide enters the retracted portion from which the coupling member has retracted.
US09791822B2

An image forming apparatus and a lock mechanism including a toggle mechanism capable of eliminating the problem of abnormal noise before and after a lock member passes a neutral point are provided. A lock mechanism includes a toggle spring that rotationally biases a toggle lever toward a standby position when the lever is between a standby position and a neutral point, and implements switching in a direction of the rotational biasing toward a locking position after the lever passes the neutral point. A projection and a locked portion of an engagement member are sandwiched by a toggle base and the toggle lever to maintain a contact state before and after the toggle lever passes the neutral point.
US09791819B2

An end member is disposed at an end portion of a columnar rotating body mounted on an image forming apparatus body. The end member includes a tubular bearing member and a shaft member held by the bearing member. The shaft member includes a shaft-like rotating shaft which is disposed coaxially to the bearing member, and which rotates around a shaft line with respect to the bearing member to move in a direction of the shaft line, and a tip end member which is disposed coaxially to the rotating shaft, and at which a rotating force receiving member having a tip end provided with an engaging member which engages with a driving shaft of the image forming apparatus body is disposed. A rotating force around the shaft line is transmitted to the rotating force receiving member, the rotating shaft, and the bearing member in order.
US09791813B2

A fixing device includes a fixing belt formed into a loop rotatable in a predetermined direction of rotation and a pressure roller disposed opposite the fixing belt. The pressure roller includes a shaft fixedly positioned and a deformable elastic layer. A fixing pad is disposed inside the loop formed by the fixing belt and separably pressed against the pressure roller via the fixing belt to form a fixing nip between the fixing belt and the pressure roller, through which a recording medium bearing a toner image is conveyed. A biasing member biases the fixing pad and the fixing belt against the pressure roller. A stopper restricts motion of the fixing pad biased by the biasing member. The stopper contacts the fixing pad while the recording medium bearing the toner image is conveyed through the fixing nip.
US09791807B2

An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, a transfer body, a pair of transport members, and first and second guide members. The first and second guide members each have an upstream portion with respect to the transport direction that is cantilevered between the contact area of the transfer body and the image carrier, and the transport members. The first guide member guides the non-transfer surface of plain paper such that the plain paper contacts the image carrier upstream of the contact area with respect to the transport direction, and guides the non-transfer surface of heavy paper while being pressed by the non-transfer surface and elastically deformed to the transfer body side. The second guide member guides the transfer surface of plain paper while being elastically deformed to the image carrier side, and guides the transfer surface of heavy paper while being elastically returned to the transfer body side.
US09791804B2

The image forming apparatus includes a drum cartridge having a photosensitive drum and a drum drive input member; a developing cartridge configured to be movably mounted to the drum cartridge, the developing cartridge comprising a developing roller disposed so as to face the photosensitive drum and a developing drive input member; a drum drive transmission member configured to engage with the drum drive input member and configured to transmit drum driving force to the drum drive input member while permitting a positional gap of the drum drive input member within a predetermined range; and a developing drive transmission member configured to engage with the developing drive input member and configured to transmit developing driving force to the developing drive input member while permitting a positional gap of the developing drive input member within a predetermined range.
US09791785B2

Methods are disclosed for assigning a pupil facet of a pupil facet mirror of an illumination optical unit of a projection exposure apparatus to a field facet of a field facet mirror of the illumination optical unit for the definition of an illumination channel for a partial beam of illumination light.
US09791784B2

An assembly for a projection exposure apparatus for EUV projection lithography has an illumination optical unit for guiding illumination light to an illumination field, in which a lithography mask can be arranged. The illumination optical unit comprises a first facet mirror, which comprises a plurality of mirror arrays with respectively a plurality of individual mirrors. The individual mirrors provide individual mirror illumination channels for guiding illumination light partial beams to the illumination field. The mirror arrays of the first facet mirror are arranged in an array superstructure. Gaps extend along at least one main direction (HRα) between neighboring ones of the mirror arrays. Furthermore, the illumination optical unit comprises a second facet mirror, which comprises a plurality of facets, which respectively contribute to imaging a group of the individual mirrors of the field facet mirror into the illumination field via a group mirror illumination channel.
US09791778B2

There are provided a liquid processing method, a liquid processing apparatus and a recording medium for liquid processing which can enhance the uniformity of the coating state of a processing liquid on a substrate. A coating unit includes a rotary holder for rotating a wafer, a nozzle for supplying a processing liquid onto a surface of the wafer, and a controller for controlling the position of the nozzle with respect to the wafer. A liquid processing method includes: starting the supply of the processing liquid to the surface of the wafer at an eccentric position at a distance from the center of rotation of the wafer, and moving the position on the wafer to which the processing liquid is supplied toward the center of rotation of the wafer while rotating the wafer at a first rotational speed; and, after the processing liquid supply position has reached the center of rotation of the wafer, rotating the wafer at a second rotational speed which is higher than the first rotational speed, thereby allowing the processing liquid to spread toward the periphery of the wafer.
US09791774B2

The present disclosure relates to a method for forming a nanostencil mask. The method involves irradiating a substrate to increase resistivity of a plurality of first portions of the substrate relative to one or more second portions of the substrate surrounding the plurality of first portions. The method also involves passing a current through the substrate, the current preferentially passing through and weakening the one or more second portions of the substrate. This preference is a result of the higher resistivity in the one or more first portions of the substrate causing the current to pass through the relatively lower resistivity second portion(s). The method also involves subjecting the substrate to a material removal process, the material removal process preferentially removing the weakened one or more second portions of the substrate and thereby forming a nanostencil mask comprising the plurality of first portions of the substrate.
US09791753B2

The invention provides a circuit substrate structure and a method for manufacturing thereof. The circuit substrate structure includes a substrate, a pixel array layer, a display unit, a peripheral circuit layer, at least one integrated circuit chip, a flexible printed circuit board, at least one flattening material layer and a passivation layer. In the circuit substrate structure, the flattening material layer is positioned on the peripheral circuit layer, and possesses at least one opening corresponded to and around the integrated circuit chip. By positioning the flattening material layer, the circuit substrate structure possesses a flat surface, and prevents producing air bubbles, so as to enhance the reliability of the display device.
US09791746B2

The present invention provides a liquid crystal display panel. The liquid crystal display panel includes a TFT substrate and a CF substrate that are respectively provided with first and second alignment films that allow for vertical light alignment, so that after irradiation of ultraviolet light, the first alignment film and the second alignment film have alignment directions that are substantially parallel but opposite to each other and the liquid crystal molecules are set at a tilt angle for being nearly vertically aligned. In a dark state where no electricity is applied, the liquid crystal molecules are arranged to be nearly perpendicular to surfaces of the TFT substrate and the CF substrate with no phase difference so that light leakage is extremely low and the dark state brightness is small thereby achieving a relatively high contrast; and after the application of a displaying electric field, the liquid crystal molecules are cause to rotate on a plane substantially parallel to the surfaces of the TFT substrate and the CF substrate so as to provide characteristics of a wide view angle and high transmittance offered by an IPS mode and an FFS mode.
US09791743B2

A liquid-crystal photo-alignment layer that is composed of polymer stabilized azo dyes is provided, where a polymer network is introduced in the photo-alignment layer for stabilization. The photo-alignment layer is realized based on a two-step irradiation to first achieve molecule alignment to form the photo-alignment layer and then stabilize this layer. To realize the photo-alignment layer, a pre-determined surface of the substrate is first coated with a film of mixture. The mixture comprises an azo dye and a monomer preferably mixed in an optimal concentration of 0.67 wt/wt. The azo dye and the monomer have light-absorption peaks at different wavelengths such that photo-alignment of the azo-dye molecules and stabilization of the photo-alignment layer by polymerization of the monomer are achievable by two separate exposures of light to the film.
US09791732B2

A touching display panel and a display device using the same are provided. The touching display panel includes a liquid crystal layer, a first substrate having a hard surface structure, a second substrate, a touch sensor layer, a thin-film transistor layer, and a color filter layer. The first and second substrates are respectively disposed at two sides of the liquid crystal layer. The touch sensor layer is disposed between the first substrate and the liquid crystal layer, and is formed on the first substrate. The thin-film transistor layer and the color filter layer are both disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate. At least one of the thin-film transistor layer and the color filter layer is formed on the first substrate.
US09791731B2

A conductive coating composition includes 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of a conductive polymer, 5 to 30 parts by weight of polysilazane, and 30 to 60 parts by weight of a solvent.
US09791729B2

A liquid crystal display unit includes a liquid crystal display element for modulating light; and a holder part which has a holding portion, at least one connecting portion, an attenuation portion, and a plurality of through-holes. The holding portion holds the liquid crystal display element. The connecting portion is formed integrally with the holding portion, and may be connected to a fixing member for fixing a position of the liquid crystal display element. The attenuation portion is formed in the area from the connecting portion to the holding portion, and attenuates a force transmitting from the connecting portion to the holding portion. The through-holes are formed in the at least one connecting portion. The through-holes include at least one cut-out-through-hole having its part opened. The through-holes allow insertion of connecting members for connection to the fixing member.
US09791728B2

A fixture for preventing deformation of a glass panel of a display module, for receiving and fixing a light guide plate and a glass panel. It comprises an array cell and a color filter cell. The array cell is provided with a metal routing layer. The color filter cell is provided with a color resist layer. The fixture consists and a lower fixing end, with upper ends, the array cell and the color filter cell received in the upper fixing end, while lower ends thereof received in the lower fixing end, so the color resist layer in the color filter cell and the metal routing layer in the array cell are aligned in parallel. By a gap between the glass panel and the inner side face and bottom surface, the glass panel fine tunes properly for quick recovery by virtue of its gravity when deformation occurs.
US09791725B2

A method and a system for repairing a defective pixel, and a display panel are provided, the method including: positioning a center of the defective pixel to obtain a center coordinate of the defective pixel; and repairing the defective pixel according to the center coordinate. By the method, the conventional manual alignment operation is replaced with the automatic positioning of the center coordinate, which not only accelerates repairing of the defective pixel, but also improves repairing efficiency, enhances overall efficiency and productivity of the device, and meanwhile, can solve the problem of unsuccessful repairing due to error in manual operation; and the accuracy of the repairing can be improved by automatically positioning the center.
US09791704B2

A passive heat pipe structure used in a wearable device includes a multilayer stack of graphite sheets, each sheet having a plane high thermal conductivity oriented along a first axis and a plane of lower thermal conductivity along a second axis different from the first axis. The stack has a three-dimensional shape including a length and a width where the length is longer than the width and the first axis aligns parallel to said length, the multilayer stack having a height less than the width. A plurality of bonding layers interspersed between each sheet of the multilayer stack, each bonding layer thermally coupling each sheet to a respective adjacent sheet. The bonding layers may comprise metal layers or adhesive layers.
US09791703B1

An input-coupler of an optical waveguide couples light corresponding to the image and having a corresponding FOV into the optical waveguide, and the input-coupler splits the FOV of the image coupled into the optical waveguide into first and second portions by diffracting a portion of the light corresponding to the image in a first direction toward a first intermediate-component, and diffracting a portion of the light corresponding to the image in a second direction toward a second intermediate-component. An output-coupler of the waveguide combines the light corresponding to the first and second portions of the FOV, and couples the light corresponding to the combined first and second portions of the FOV out of the optical waveguide so that the light corresponding to the image and the combined first and second portions of the FOV is output from the optical waveguide. The intermediate-components and the output-coupler also provide for pupil expansion.
US09791699B2

An optical positioning aiming system including an optical positioning subsystem (subsystem). The subsystem is configured to determine relative positions of a weapon and a head mounted display. The subsystem includes a processing unit, infrared (IR) emitters mounted to a weapon, IR emitters mounted to the head mounted display, IR cameras mounted to the weapon, and IR cameras mounted to the head mounted display. The IR cameras mounted to the weapon are configured to determine a relative position of the IR emitters mounted on the head mounted display and to communicate the relative position of the IR emitters mounted on the head mounted display to the processing unit. The IR cameras mounted to the head mounted display are configured to determine a relative position of the IR emitters mounted to the weapon and communicate the relative position of the IR emitters mounted to the weapon to the processing unit.
US09791692B2

An electrooptical device includes a substrate, a mirror that is made up of a plurality of films which are arranged so as to be separated from the substrate on one plane of the substrate, and a supporting portion that is arranged between the substrate and the mirror, and has a portion which is connected to a portion of the mirror so as to support the mirror, in which the mirror includes a third mirror film which is a reflective metal film that is arranged on a side of the mirror which is opposite to the substrate, a second mirror film which is a high melting point metal film that is arranged between the reflective metal film and the substrate, and a first mirror film which is an antioxidative film that is arranged between the high melting point metal film and the substrate.
US09791691B2

A mirror array having a total surface extending perpendicularly to a surface normal, comprises a multiplicity of mirror elements each having a reflection surface and at least one degree of freedom of displacement, wherein the totality of the mirror elements form a parqueting of a total reflection surface of the mirror array, and wherein the mirror array is embodied modularly as a tile element in such a way that the parqueting of the total reflection surface can be extended by a tiling of a plurality of such mirror arrays.
US09791688B2

In an endoscope (1), two optical paths (3, 4) for stereoscopic vision are formed, wherein each optical path (3, 4) is lead from the inside to an interface (16, 19) with an optically more dense material (14) in relation to the surroundings (13) at a point of incidence (22, 25), wherein each optical path (3, 4) can be opened and interrupted by modifying the reflection behavior at the respective point of incidence (22, 25).
US09791685B2

A microscope has a light source for generating a light beam having a wavelength, λ, and beam-forming optics configured for receiving the light beam and generating a Bessel-like beam that is directed into a sample. The beam-forming optics include an excitation objective having an axis oriented in a first direction. Imaging optics are configured for receiving light from a position within the sample that is illuminated by the Bessel-like beam and for imaging the received light on a detector. The imaging optics include a detection objective having an axis oriented in a second direction that is non-parallel to the first direction. A detector is configured for detecting signal light received by the imaging optics, and an aperture mask is positioned.
US09791684B2

The invention relates to an optical coherence microscopy system for fast, phase resolved imaging by means of optical coherence microscopy with decoupled illumination and detection apertures, producing a dark-field effect with an enhanced optical contrast. The setup uses a light source with an appropriate temporal coherence, an interferometer and an array detector combined with a spectrometer. The dark-field effect is produced by optical filter means in the illumination and detection paths, positioned in conjugated planes of the sample microscope objective. These optical means comprise for example refractive or diffractive elements, amplitude or phase masks, or programmable spatial light modulators. The object is scanned via a scanning unit allowing a point scan of the object.
US09791677B2

This disclosure is directed to an inner focus macrolens. The inner focus macrolens can include sequentially from an object side, a first lens unit, an aperture stop, a second lens unit having a positive refractive power, a third lens unit having a negative refractive power and a fourth lens unit having a positive refractive power, wherein the first lens unit comprises a negative lens as the closest powered lens to the object side and a positive lens, the second lens unit comprises an object side negative lens as the closest powered lens to the object side and a positive lens, the third lens unit comprises a negative lens, and the fourth lens unit comprises a positive lens.
US09791663B2

A magnetically drivable micromirror having an outer frame, a coil former, and torsion springs, situated in a first plane, the torsion springs having an axis of rotation, and the coil former being connected to the outer frame by the torsion springs so as to be capable of rotational motion about the axis of rotation, having a mirror element that is situated in a second plane parallel to the first plane, the mirror element being connected to the coil former by an intermediate layer. A 2D scanner having a first magnetically drivable micromirror and a second drivable mirror, and to a method for producing a micromirror are also described.
US09791658B2

An optical module (10) having at least one beam-forming element (14) and having at least two retainer brackets (20) for fastening the optical module (10) to a carrier (30) are provided. In this connection the retainer brackets (20) have a first support element (22a) at a first spacing with respect to the lens (14) and a second support element (22b) at a second spacing different from the first spacing with respect to the beam-forming element (14) in order to selectively fasten the optical module (10) to the carrier (30) at the first spacing or at the second spacing.
US09791652B2

An optical communication cable subassembly includes a cable core having optical fibers each comprising a core surrounded by a cladding, buffer tubes surrounding subsets of the optical fibers, and a binder film surrounding the buffer tubes. Armor surrounds the cable core, the binder film is bonded to an interior of the armor, and water-absorbing powder particles are provided on an interior surface of the binder film.
US09791651B1

New optical ground wire (OPGW) cable structures are proposed. These OPGW cables are designed to reduce or minimize the net magnetic field B∥NET parallel to the direction {circumflex over (z)} of light propagation resulting from a lightning strike on the cable. A reduction in the net magnetic field B∥NET parallel to the direction {circumflex over (z)} of light propagation yields a reduction in the amount and speed of state of polarization (SOP) rotation resulting from a lightning strike on the cable due to the Faraday effect. OPGW cables constructed according to these new OPGW cable structures fulfill their dual function to shield the high-voltage conductors from lightning strikes and to support coherent optical communications.
US09791649B2

A mounting frame system is disclosed that facilitates the mounting of optical connector modules to printed circuit boards. The mounting frame system can include a mounting frame that is configured to attach to a printed circuit board, and is adapted to attach to a connector module. Thus, the mounting frame system can further allow releasable mounting of optical connector modules to the printed circuit board, such that the mounting is achieved in a safe and reliable manner.
US09791644B2

Systems, methods, and apparatus for a data bus-in-a-box (BiB) are disclosed. The system involves an electrical box, and at least one optical connector located on the box. The system further involves at least one mother board housed inside of the box, and comprising a transmit side comprising at least one transmit optical media converter (OMC) tile, and a receive side comprising at least one receive OMC tile. Also, the system involves first receive optical fibers that are each connected from at least one receive OMC tile to a receive coupler; and a second receive optical fiber connected from the receive coupler to one of the optical connectors. Further, the system involves first transmit optical fibers that are each connected from at least one transmit OMC tile to a transmit coupler; and a second transmit optical fiber connected from the transmit coupler to at least one of the optical connectors.
US09791635B2

An optical fiber connector for terminating a fiber cable comprising a plurality of optical fibers, comprises an outer connector housing, a ferrule essentially free of adhesive, a backbone, and a collar body disposed between the ferrule and backbone. The collar body includes a remote gripping region to remotely grip the plurality of optical fibers outside of the ferrule. In some aspects, the collar body includes a fiber comb portion that separates potentially tangled fibers, arranges the plurality of fibers in a uniform pitch, and provides for straightforward feeding of the fiber array into ferrule bores during a fiber cable insertion process. In some aspects, the connector includes a resilient element disposed between the backbone and a rear portion of the collar body, and an intermediate spring element disposed between a front portion of the collar body and a rear portion of the ferrule.
US09791627B1

A tunable optical filter integrates the functions of wavelength tuning and power isolation of back reflection. The optical signal enters a Faraday rotator twice, and isolation is provided by two birefringent crystals, having their optical axes oriented at 45 degrees with respect to each other. The two birefringent crystals are on the same side of the Faraday rotator. The integration of an optical tunable filter and an isolator function into a single packaged component helps to reduce the size and complexity of optical amplifier systems, such as EDFAs and PDFAs, operating in the 1550 nm and 1310 nm transmission bands, respectively.
US09791613B2

A display device includes a first light source module, a display panel and a transparent filling. The first light source module includes at least one first light source and a first light guide plate (LGP). The first LGP includes a first light-incident surface and a first light-emitting surface. The first light-emitting surface connects the first light-incident surface. The display panel is disposed adjacent to the first LGP. The transparent filling connects the display panel and the first light-emitting surface. The refractive index of the transparent filling is smaller than that of the first LGP and smaller than or equal to that of a surface material of the display panel. The first light source emits a first light beam into the first LGP through the first light-incident surface, and the first light beam is emitted from the first light-emitting surface and transmitted to the display panel through the transparent filling.
US09791594B2

The invention relates to a light grid having divergent light beams so that cross-beams can also be evaluated beside parallel beams, wherein not only a light beam interruption, but also the intensity of the light incidence on a light reception unit is evaluated. To provide an improved light grid with which in particular smaller objects can be detected and possibly also located, it is proposed that the light transmission units have a transmission optics in whose focus an extended light source is arranged. Furthermore, each beam contains an effective beam, with an effective beam being defined in that a part shading of this effective beam effects a measurable intensity change in the associated light receiver corresponding to the shading. Finally, the effective beams define at least one detection zone in the monitored plane, with an illumination by at least one effective beam being present in the total detection zone.
US09791593B2

The general field of the invention is that of matter-wave gravimeters. The gravimeter according to the invention comprises at least: means for generating, for capturing and for cooling a cloud of ultra-cold atoms; means of transferring the atoms into a superposition, with equal weights, of a first internal electronic state called state |1>) and of a second internal electronic state called state |2> comprising the application of at least a first microwave field and of a radiofrequency field; means for separating the atoms into two wave packets for a given period of time under the effect of at least a second microwave field, the said separation leading to a phase-shift associated with the local gravitational field; calibration means allowing a “magic” magnetostatic field to be determined for which the difference in energy between the first internal electronic state and the second internal electronic state is independent, to a first order, of the fluctuations of the magnetostatic field.
US09791588B2

Methods, systems, devices and products for evaluating an earth formation. Methods include estimating at least one property of the earth formation using at least one polarization parameter estimated using a real part and an imaginary part of a permittivity of the earth formation at a plurality of frequencies, where the real parts and the imaginary parts are based on measurements obtained using an electromagnetic tool in a borehole penetrating the earth formation.
US09791576B2

The present invention provides a scintillator panel which is provided with a narrow barrier rib with high accuracy in a large area, has a high light emission luminance, and provides sharp images. The present invention provides a scintillator panel including: a plate-like substrate; a grid-like barrier rib provided on the substrate; and a scintillator layer containing a phosphor filled in cells divided by the barrier rib, wherein the barrier rib is mainly composed of a low-melting-point glass, and the substrate is formed of a material which is mainly composed of a ceramic selected from the group consisting of alumina, aluminum nitride, mullite and steatite.
US09791566B2

A device for the optical measurement of a distance from a reflecting or scattering target object is disclosed. The device has a distance measurement device and an adjusting device arranged outside of the distance measurement device having a second transmission optical unit adjustable between a first and second position for forming the laser light into a beam, where in the first position, the second transmission optical unit is arranged in the laser beam, and in the second position, it is arranged outside of the laser beam.
US09791561B2

A receiver, an operating method of the receiver, and a beamforming radar system including the receiver are provided. A beamforming receiver may include a demodulation circuit configured to receive a signal reflected from an object via an antenna, to demodulate the received signal, and to generate a demodulated signal, and a time delay circuit configured to generate a digital signal by processing the demodulated signal based on reference clock signals, wherein the digital signal including static delay information associated with a static motion of the object, and dynamic delay information associated with a dynamic motion of the object.
US09791557B1

Methods, systems, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for outputting light are presented. A method includes outputting, via a propagation wave source and toward a field of view (FOV), at least one propagated wave at a first power, receiving, via a sensor, a reflection of the at least one propagated wave at the first power reflected off one or more objects within the FOV, classifying, via a processor, one or more areas within the FOV into safe areas and unsafe areas based at least in part on the received reflection of the propagated wave at the first power, wherein the safe areas are deemed to be safe to receive at least one propagated wave at a second power, and outputting, via the propagation wave source and toward the safe area, the at least one propagated wave at the second power. The first power may be a lower power than the second power.
US09791539B2

A system and method for keeping restricted objects within a confined area that forms part of an institutional site. The confined area having lockable exits, a safe area where the restricted objects are designated to stay, a buffer area adjacent to the first area, and a lock area situated between the buffer area and the lockable exits. The system detects whether the restricted object is in the buffer area or in the lock area and checks whether the restricted object is authorized to leave the safe area. Upon recognizing that the restricted object is in the buffer area and is not authorized to leave the safe area, the system sends a message to a tag of a staff member, instructing to move the restricted object back to the safe area; upon recognizing that the restricted object is in the lock area and is not authorized to leave the safe area, the system sends a locking signal to lockable exits.
US09791538B2

The disclosure generally relates to a method, apparatus and system to deploy aquatic sensors to obtain oceanographic data. In an exemplary embodiment, a free-floating or untethered sensor receives signals from different transmitters. The signals may be configured to travel through air and/or water. The sensor records each signals' time of arrival and determines its location in relationship to known transmitters based on the signal travel time. The position of each sensor may be determined by triangulation to several devices whose positions are known. The distances from the sensor in question to each device is measured by means of time-of-flight measurements for a wireless signal from the sensor to each known-position device. Other methods such as trilateration or dead-reckoning may also be used. The sensor may additionally collect and record oceanographic or other environmental data.
US09791536B1

A mutually calibrated magnetic imaging array system is described. The system includes a non-target magnetic source rigidly attached to a magnetometer, and an attached control unit to measure and adjust several parameters of a magnetic imaging array. A non-target magnetic field source is used to generate a well-defined and distinguishable spatial magnetic field distribution. The source is rigidly attached directly to a magnetometer, while the relative positions of the magnetometers are unknown. The magnetic imaging array is used to measure the strength of the non-target source magnetic fields and the information is used to calibrate several parameters of the array, such as, but not limited to, effective magnetometer positions and orientations with respect to each other and cross-talk between the magnetometers. The system, and method described herein eliminates the need for a separate calibration phantom.
US09791535B2

Phase variations of the transverse magnetization in magnetic resonance induced by superimposed physical phenomenae or by intrinsic deviations of the main magnetic B0 field are separated from Feature Space set by demodulation and deconvolution, either by electrical circuits or by equivalent computational methods, permitting mapping and measurement of these induced phase variations independent of Feature Space.
US09791533B2

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to an embodiment includes an execution unit and a generation unit. The execution unit executes first data collection after a predetermined inversion time elapses from a time when a labeling pulse is applied to a fluid flowing into an imaging region of a subject and a second data collection without application of the labeling pulse. The generation unit generates a differential image by using the first data and the second data. Here, the generation unit generates the differential image by a different differential method according to a relationship between the inversion time and a longitudinal relaxation time of the fluid.
US09791531B2

A method for establishing a magnetic resonance system actuation sequence is described. A first number of field distribution maps are acquired for slices of the measurement region, and a radiofrequency pulse train is established on the basis thereof for the magnetic resonance system actuation sequence. This acquisition of the first number of field distribution maps may be brought about on the basis of an acquisition scheme. A reduced number of field distribution representation maps are established on the basis of the acquired field distribution maps, which field distribution representation maps represent the first number of acquired field distribution maps in accordance with a predetermined optimization criterion, and the radiofrequency pulse train is established on the basis of the field distribution representation maps.
US09791528B2

A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method includes defining a plurality of sub-volumes so that each of the sub-volumes includes a plurality of sequential slices of a plurality of slices that make up a volume of a subject, wherein the sub-volumes are divided into a plurality of groups so that any neighboring sub-volumes belong to different groups; applying radio-frequency (RF) pulses including a plurality of frequency components and a selection gradient to the subject to simultaneously excite a plurality of sub-volumes in each of the groups; performing three-dimensional (3D) encoding on each of the excited sub-volumes so that only some slices of the plurality of slices in each of the excited sub-volumes are encoded in a slice direction; acquiring magnetic resonance signals from the encoded sub-volumes; and reconstructing the acquired magnetic resonance signals into image data corresponding to each of the plurality of slices in each of the encoded sub-volumes.
US09791515B2

The invention relates to a DC electrical power supply source including a protective housing and electrical energy storage devices disposed in the protective housing. The storage devices are connected electrically in series by way of interconnection elements. There is an acoustic sensor configured to measure ultrasounds and a filling medium disposed in the housing. The filling medium exhibits a homogeneous acoustic impedance and forms a continuous acoustic link between the interconnection elements and the acoustic sensor.
US09791511B2

According to some aspects, a system and method for processing messages in a plurality of successive cycles is provided. One such system may include a plurality of first circuits, each first circuit configured to output a message, the plurality of first circuits configured to operate synchronously, a first plurality of buffers, each buffer associated with a respective first circuit and configured to store a message output by the respective first circuit, a communication path configured to receive the plurality of messages from the buffers and to perform aggregation of the messages, thereby generating an aggregated indication, and one or more second circuits. The one or more second circuits are configured to operate synchronously and to receive the aggregated indication, wherein buffers of the first plurality of buffers are configured to store messages from respective first circuits for different times.
US09791510B2

A circuit includes a plurality of scan chains arranged in a ring network topology. Each scan chain includes a plurality of scan blocks, each of the plurality of scan blocks including a storage element and a switching device. Each switching device includes a first input configured to receive an output of a storage element in a different scan chain from the scan chain in which the switching device is disposed, and a second input configured to receive one of a function logic signal or a test scan signal. The switching device configured to selectively couple the first input or the second input to an input of the storage element.
US09791497B2

An approach for determining leakage current and threshold voltage for ensemble semiconductor devices, implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium having program instructions, are operable to: receive a number m of individual devices within an ensemble device; identify a sub-threshold slope; determine an uplift factor; separate random variation in logarithm of a leakage current into a correlated random component and an uncorrelated random component; determine a first standard deviation of correlated random component for the ensemble device; determine a second standard deviation of the uncorrelated random component for the ensemble device; generate a statistical model for electrical features of the ensemble device, based on the number m of individual devices, the sub-threshold slope, the uplift factor, the first and second standard deviation, and statistical random variables; and determine the electrical features of the ensemble device based on the statistical model.
US09791496B2

A system and method for detecting and localizing excess voltage drop in single or multiple phases of three-phase AC circuits is disclosed. An electrical distribution circuit is provided that includes an input connectable to an AC source, an output connectable to terminals of an electrical machine, the output configured to provide three-phase voltages and currents to the electrical machine, and a diagnostic system configured to detect an excess voltage drop (EVD) in the electrical distribution circuit. The diagnostic system includes a processor that is programmed to receive measurements of the three-phase voltages and currents provided to the electrical machine, compute a negative sequence voltage from the three-phase voltages and currents, determine a localization reference phase angle for each phase based in part on the three-phase voltages and currents, and calculate an EVD in the electrical distribution circuit based on the negative sequence voltage and the localization reference phase angles.
US09791493B2

Fault detection techniques for control of sensor systems. A sensor control integrated circuit (“IC”) may include a fault detection system for coupling to the sensor supply lines. The system may detect faults for each of the sensor supply lines. The fault detection system may level shift sensor supply line signals from a first voltage domain to a second voltage domain appropriate for the fault detection system of the controller IC. The fault detection system may level shift source potential voltages from the first voltage domain to the second voltage domain to detect predetermined fault types. The fault detection system may compare the second domain voltages from the sensor supply lines to voltages representing predetermined fault types and may generate fault status indicators based on the comparison.
US09791481B2

Measurement system and procedure suitable for measuring a voltage differential, the system comprising a measurement unit (1) having a first ground (10) as voltage reference and comprising a microcontroller (7) with an analog-digital converter (5), a sensor (2) having a second ground (20) as voltage reference, said second ground (20) being able to exhibit a potential difference with respect to the first ground (10), said measurement unit (1) having a first input (11) connected directly to the signal output (21) of the sensor (2), and a second input (12) connected directly to said second ground (20), the first and second inputs (11, 12) being linked to digital inputs (61, 62) of the microcontroller (7) through circuits for conditioning (31, 32, 41, 42) and analog-digital conversion (51, 52).
US09791476B2

A device for the differential acquisition of current includes an acquisition circuit including a charge amplifier connected, at the input, to terminals for connection to a signal emitting component, and at the output, to an integrator. A unit for injecting a charge signal is mounted between the terminals and the charge amplifier and is connected to a control unit connected to an output of the acquisition circuit. The control unit is so arranged as to control the injection of a charge signal, to detect a resultant signal at the output of the acquisition circuit and to compare the resultant signal with the injected signal. A method includes controlling such a device.
US09791472B2

In an acceleration sensor, a semiconductor layer is provided with a rod-shaped weight portion that passes through a center of a frame portion, extends in a second direction, and is connected to the frame portion through a first beam portion. A first-direction movable electrode and a second-direction movable electrode are provided on the weight portion. According to the above configuration, because a mass of the first- and second-direction movable electrodes can be applied to the vicinity of a center of the frame portion, and a rotational moment can be reduced. Thus, detection accuracy can be restrained from being reduced.
US09791455B2

The invention provides methods, cells and constructs for optical measurement of membrane potential. These methods can be used in cells that are not accessible to presently available methods using electrodes. The methods can be directed to, for example, high-throughput drug screening assays to determine agents that can affect membrane potential of a target cell.
US09791451B2

The present invention describes the use of a fluorescent NIR dye for various applications by simply changing the solvent conditions. Molecule of formula 1 in the monomeric state (30% ACN/25 mM phosphate buffer) can be used for the sensitive detection of thiols and monitoring minor fluctuations in the thiol concentration inside live cells. Molecule 1 in the self-assembled state (25 mM phosphate buffer) can be used for labeling of serum albumin protein either covalently or noncovalently at specific pH. The probe 1 specifically bind with the serum albumin proteins noncovalently at lower pH gives a “turn-on” NIR emission whereas it binds covalently at higher pH gives a “turn-on” green fluorescence. Since the probe detects serum albumin proteins selectively in presence of other thiol containing small molecules, the probe can be used as an excellent sensor for serum albumin proteins. The dye-protein complex of various ratios can be used as sensors to detect the pH variations in a broad window from 4.6-11.6 with high sensitivity. Due to the high biocompatibility and water solubility the dye protein complex is useful for ratiometric detection of minor pH variations inside cellular environment.
US09791447B2

Provided herein are methods of detecting binding of an SENP1 polypeptide to a compound and methods for screening for inhibitors of SENP1. Further provided are aqueous compositions comprising SENP1 polypeptides and NMR apparatuses comprising the compositions for NMR analysis.
US09791445B2

The present invention describes subunit vaccines containing Gn and Gc glycoproteins of the Rift Valley Fever Virus, including nucleic acids encoding such glycoproteins, host cells, vectors, and immunoreagents generated with the glycoproteins, methods of vaccination, methods of diagnosis, and kits.
US09791437B2

The invention provides compositions, systems and methods for detecting multiple analytes from a sample.
US09791434B2

Paper microfluidic devices for the detection of bodily fluids are provided. Such devices can be used, for example, for detection of bodily fluids from or at crime scenes, including blood, saliva, semen, urine, feces, vaginal fluids, and perspiration. Detection can be performed using colorimetric reagents that react when placed in contact with the fluid of interest. A single device can be used to test for multiple bodily fluids at the same time.
US09791430B2

A method for determining the total organic carbon in a sample which includes mixing the sample with a reagent containing at least one acid effective for reacting with inorganic carbon-containing materials in the sample, and at least one oxidizing agent effective for oxidizing organic carbon-containing materials in the sample in the presence of ultraviolet radiation, and detecting the carbon dioxide generated, is described. The at least one acid may include phosphoric acid, while the oxidizing agent may include sodium persulfate. In accordance with an embodiment of the inventive concept, the sample is first injected into a reaction chamber, which is continuously flushed with carbon dioxide free gas with no UV light present, and CO2 generated from any inorganic carbon in the sample as carbonates is flowed through the detector, and may be recorded. Subsequent to this step, the UV light is passed through the reaction chamber and CO2 generated from the reaction of the at least one oxidizing agent with the organic material in the solution in the presence of ultraviolet radiation, is flowed through the detector, which may be a non-dispersive infrared detector, after the reaction chamber is sparged using a carbon dioxide free gas, and recorded.
US09791428B2

The invention relates to a sensor assembly to detect and quantify organic and/or inorganic mercury compounds, including elemental mercury that may be present in gases or liquids, such as natural gas, air, condensates, crude oil, refined petroleum gas or liquids, and water including connate water, condensed water and water containing hydrate inhibitor(s). The sensor assembly includes a housing having a flow channel defined by an inlet, a sensor array, and an outlet. The sensor array is based on the differential sorption properties measured using a surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor array, a chemiresistor array, or a combination of the two.
US09791426B2

A sensor apparatus for analyzing a gas in a process chamber, having a housing, a gas sensor for analyzing at least a part of the gas, the gas sensor being arranged at a determined position in the housing, a gas feed for connecting the housing to the process chamber to feed the part of the gas from the process chamber into the housing and to the determined position, and a gas discharge for discharging the gas from the housing, wherein the gas feed and the gas discharge are configured as tubes lying inside one another, characterized by a closure cap at the combustion chamber-side end of the tubes lying inside one another, the closure cap including an even number of at least four openings with the same area, which are connected alternately as a gas inlet and a gas outlet to the tubes lying inside one another is provided.
US09791425B2

A filed portable analyzer capable of performing both the sampling and analytical procedures required by U.S. EPA Method 25 utilizing a small volume injection of sample onto a cryotrap cooled by a Stirling linear drive charged with helium to replace the field sampling condensate trap. The cryotrap is followed by the specified sorbent column/traps to ensure precise compatibility with prior reported compliance test results. The analytical system utilizes an oxidation catalyst and reduction catalyst to remove the potential for differing response factors on the FID from different compounds.
US09791424B2

A scan of a separating sample is received by a mass spectrometer at each interval of a plurality of intervals. The spectrometer performs at each interval one or more mass spectrometry scans. The scans have one or more sequential mass window widths in order to span an entire mass range at each interval and produce a collection of spectra for the entire mass range for the plurality of intervals. One or more peaks at one or more different intervals in the collection of spectra are identified for a fragment ion. A mass spectrum of the entire mass range is retrieved for each interval of each peak. Values for one or more ion characteristics of a mass-to-charge ratio peak in the mass spectrum corresponding to each peak are compared to one or more known values for the fragment ion. Each peak is scored based on the comparison.
US09791416B2

Various systems and method for acoustic monitoring of smelting furnaces and similar devices are disclosed. Acoustic sensors (and optionally other sensors) are mounted to the furnace. Acoustic emission events generated in the furnace are analyzed to identify conditions that exceed one or more thresholds. The location of acoustic emissions may be identified and reported. Output signals may be generated in response to acoustic emissions. The location of acoustic emissions may be used to identify the location of potential failures in the furnace.
US09791414B2

The present invention relates to a method for identifying material types of spatial objects characterized in that the method comprising obtaining an acoustic signal from each identified object by deforming the objects mechanically, recording said acoustic signal and comparing it to an acoustic model being obtained on the basis of analysis of reference objects of multiple material types. The present invention also relates to a device for identifying material types of spatial objects, comprising a deformation chamber (K), a mechanical deformation system (F), at least one electro-acoustic transducer (1), an acoustic signal recording assembly (2) and a data processing unit (3) with installed acoustic model being obtained on the basis of analysis of reference objects of multiple material types.
US09791412B2

A sensing device is provided that has satisfactory sensing accuracy when a crystal unit where an excitation electrode is formed on both upper and lower surfaces of a piezoelectric piece is used to sense a sensing object. Adsorption regions are arranged in two places so as to intersect a direction of flow of a fluid, thus each of the adsorption regions senses the sensing object and reference regions are individually provided in these adsorption regions. A difference Δf1 between the oscillation frequencies of the regions and a difference Δf2 between the oscillation frequencies of the regions are added, and based on the result of the addition, whether the sensing object is present or not and its concentration are detected.
US09791406B2

The present disclosure provides a bio-field effect transistor (BioFET) and a method of fabricating a BioFET device. The method includes forming a BioFET using one or more process steps compatible with or typical to a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process. The BioFET device may include a substrate; a gate structure disposed on a first surface of the substrate and an interface layer formed on the second surface of the substrate. The interface layer may allow for a receptor to be placed on the interface layer to detect the presence of a biomolecule or bio-entity.
US09791395B2

The present disclosure provides a method for detecting thermal sealing defects of a container during its transportation along a process line. The method is particularly suitable for containers caped with a cap liner and sealed with an inner seal. The method makes use of a high frequency heat (e.g. by a high frequency heat induction unit) to cause eddy current in the inner seal after which there is sensing by an IR imager of radiation emitted from the conductive innerseal to generate sensed IR image data indicative of the sensed radiation. The sensing is characterized by at least one of (i) a time window of a sensing session of between 50 msec to 300 msec during which said container is being transported through the FOV; and (ii) a sensing range of a wavelength spectrum region from 2 μm to 6 μm. The IR data is then processed so as to generate output data indicative of the presence or absence of at least one defect in the sealing of the container by said innerseal.
US09791387B2

An inspection system includes an irradiation source, an image detector, and a placement device. The placement device comprises a carrier and a rotation mechanism. With respect to connections, the placement device is configured to be disposed between the irradiation source and the image detector, and the rotation mechanism is configured to be connected to the carrier. With respect to operations, the irradiation source and the image detector are driven to be moved along a predetermined path, the carrier is configured to carry at least one object, and the rotation mechanism is configured to rotate the carrier.
US09791381B2

An inspection system for a vehicle includes a vision inspection device including a plurality of vision camera and a plurality of laser device which move along exterior and sides of a door, which will be inspected, and inspect segmented sections respectively, a hanger device clamping the hemmed door on a hanger frame, and a jig device which clamps the hanger frame of the hanger device, and moves the door toward the vision inspection device for the vision inspection device to inspect the door fixed to the hanger device.
US09791377B2

An optochemical sensor comprises a measuring element excitable by the light of an excitation light source and in contact with a medium to be measured, and a measuring arrangement including at least one excitation light source and a detector as well as a hood separating the measuring arrangement from the measuring element, wherein the excitation light source and the detector are fixed to a base plate arranged in parallel with the measuring element, the hood, the excitation light source and the detector are separated from one another by at least a portion of the material thickness of the hood, and light from the excitation light source through an optical waveguide impinges on the measuring element at such an angle that fluorescence light emitted by the measuring element impinges perpendicularly on the detector.
US09791370B2

Apparatuses and systems for a die-integrated aspheric mirror are described herein. One apparatus includes an ion trap die including a number of ion locations and an aspheric mirror integrated with the ion trap die.
US09791369B2

A visualization kit includes (i) a cyanoacrylate and (ii) a fluorescent agent containing at least one tetrazine of formula 1: wherein X and Y represent independently a nonionic, electron-withdrawing group selected from halogens, azide, cyano and O-A-R, in which A represents a single bond or a C1-C4 alkyldiyl and R is alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, cycloalkyl or epoxyalkyl, or an aziridine group, which is optionally substituted by alkyl or aryl. A method of cofugation and a method of visualizing traces on a substrate utilizing these components are also presented.
US09791356B2

A joint analyzing method includes: performing a data measurement; performing a detailed analysis; performing a simplified analysis; performing a first repetition analysis in which the detailed analysis is repeated while modifying a first analysis model in which geometry of a joint surrounding region is modeled and an analysis technique in the detailed analysis, until a data measurement result and a detailed analysis result are brought into agreement; and performing a second repetition analysis in which the simplified analysis that takes into consideration an initial internal load of at least one junction in a load non-applied state obtained in the first repetition analysis is repeated while modifying a second analysis model rougher in element division of the geometry than the first analysis model and an analysis technique in the simplified analysis, until the data measurement result and a simplified analysis result are brought into agreement.
US09791353B2

A concentrator that is operable to concentrate particles of target material from a high flow rate sampled airflow into a low flow rate secondary airflow. The concentrator may have an array of radially arranged blades. Each blade may have a sampled airflow inlet that uses centrifugal force to concentrate the particles into a central portion of the sampled airflow passing through it. Downstream, the blade may also have primary airflow outlets and knife-edged secondary airflow inlets that divide the sampled airflow into a pair of lateral, high flow rate primary airflows from which the particles have been depleted, and a central, low flow rate secondary airflow which carries the concentrated particles.
US09791349B2

An end play measurement apparatus is provided that measures end play of a tapered roller bearing of a gear unit. The gear unit supports a large-gear shaft, with which a gear is fitted, via the tapered roller bearing. The end play measurement apparatus includes a power generation unit, which is fixed to the large-gear shaft and generates power to move the gear unit backward and forward in the axial direction, a position change unit, which is interposed between the power generation unit and the gear unit and changes the axial position of the gear unit by using the power of the power generation unit, and a booster mechanism, which has a free end that receives the power of the power generation unit to boost the power.
US09791332B2

A force transducer for measuring compression and/or tension forces includes a rod-shaped deformation body and at least four strain transducers applied on the deformation body and configured for measuring longitudinal and transverse strains thereof. Front and rear elongate recesses are provided on the front and rear sides of the deformation body in the area of an intersection between a central longitudinal axis and a central transverse axis of the deformation body. Left and right upper indentations and left and right lower indentations are provided on the deformation body respectively at the four quadrants bounded by the axes. A ratio of a cross-section on a center plane extending orthogonally to the central longitudinal axis and including the central transverse axis, to a sum of first and second partial regions of the cross-section, is from 1.56 to 2.15.
US09791330B2

A system for measuring change in length and/or deformation force on a sample in a longitudinal direction. The system is useful in thermomechanical analysis and/or dynamic-mechanical analysis, and comprises a pushrod extending in the longitudinal direction which exerts force on the sample, and a device measuring movement of the pushrod resulting from the change in length or deformation of the sample in the longitudinal direction. The measuring device includes: a pushrod base mounted on a stationary base with a guide so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction; a controllable drive for moving the pushrod; a detector measuring the force exerted by the pushrod on the sample; and a path sensor for measuring the movement of the pushrod.
US09791325B2

A temperature measurement system includes a temperature probe including a temperature sensor. The system also includes a reader, and a controller in communication with the temperature sensor and the reader. The system further includes a container housing a plurality of probe covers associated with the temperature probe. The container includes an information feature providing information related to the plurality of probe covers. The reader is configured to read the information and direct a signal to the controller indicative of the information.
US09791321B2

A multi-pixel terahertz transceiver is constructed using a stack of semiconductor layers that communicate using vias defined within the semiconductor layers. By using a stack of semiconductor layers, the various electrical functions of each layer can be tested easily without having to assemble the entire transceiver. In addition, the design allows the production of a transceiver having pixels set 10 mm apart.
US09791318B2

The invention relates to a method of displaying an image of an effect coating having texture and color properties on an electronic display device, using measured color data and measured texture data as input to generate the image, wherein the textured image is displayed with visual color properties which are maintained on a prescribed level independent of possible variations in texture properties.
US09791317B2

Exemplary apparatus for method for forming at least one spectral encoding endoscopy configuration. For example, it is possible to modify a spacer configuration and an lens optics configuration to have respective predetermined lengths, and also to modify a dispersive optics configuration to have a further predetermined length. Further, the modified spacer and modified lens optics configurations can be attached to one another to form a combined spacer-lens optics configuration. The modified dispersive optics configuration can be attached to a substrate to form to form a grating substrate configuration. Additionally, the combined spacer-lens optics configuration can be connected to an optical fiber, and the modified attached dispersed optics configuration can be connected to the modified attached lens optics configuration to form the spectral encoding endoscopy configuration(s) which can extends along a particular axis. The dispersive optics configuration can be modified to be at a predetermined angle with respect to the particular axis.
US09791316B2

Systems and methods are provided for calibrating spectral measurements taken of one or more targets from an aerial vehicle. Multiple photo sensors may be configured to obtain spectral measurements of one or more ambient light sources. The obtained spectral measurements of the one or more ambient light sources may be used to calibrate the obtained spectral measurements of the target.
US09791310B2

A vibration-sensing field unit includes a base with at least one accelerometer, and a body mounted to the base. The base is composed essentially of a first material, while the body is composed essentially of a second material that is more flexible than the first material to reduce a vibration at the accelerometer caused by a mass supported by the body. In another embodiment, a vibration-sensing field unit includes at least one accelerometer and at least one ultrasonic transducer.
US09791306B2

In order to provide a method of manufacturing a thermal type flowmeter that is capable of reducing deformation of a semiconductor chip, which is caused by molding, a method of manufacturing a thermal type flowmeter is provided that includes a circuit package of a resin-molded semiconductor chip. The method includes resin-molding the semiconductor chip in a state in which a mold is pressed against a heat transfer surface that is provided on a surface of the semiconductor chip and a pressed surface that is set on the surface of the semiconductor chip at a position separate from the heat transfer surface.
US09791302B2

An optical fiber sensor for locating an excitation in proximity to an optical fiber assembly comprises: a laser assembly configured to emit N laser beams indexed i with N>1, of respective emission wavelength λi, an optical fiber assembly comprising N successive sections indexed i, an optical system configured to: inject the laser beams, receive N signal beams indexed i respectively of wavelengths λi, generate N reference beams indexed i respectively of wavelengths λi, produce N interference areas indexed i, a holographic detector comprising: a liquid crystal light valve that at least partially covers the interference areas, and is configured to produce N holograms indexed i from, respectively, N interference areas, at least one optical detector configured to detect N output optical signals indexed I, a processing unit adapted to identify the section of the fiber assembly situated in proximity to the excitation to be located.
US09791298B2

A rotation angle detector has a rotation angle sensor and a microcomputer, where the sensor detects a change of a magnetic field of a magnet that rotates with a shaft. The microcomputer has a first corrector for correcting a pre-correction mechanical angle, based on a first correction value that corrects an error due to an assembly process for assembling the magnet and the sensor, and a second corrector for correcting the pre-correction mechanical angle based on a second correction value that corrects an error due to a spill magnetic flux that is generated by a supply of an electric current to a winding wire. In such configuration, the rotation angle detector may correct the error due to the spill magnetic flux, thereby enabling an accurate detection of a mechanical angle.
US09791293B2

A car navigation system is disclosed. The disclosed car navigation system performs a route search, map storage, and the like by using a mobile device and displays a performance result by transmitting the performance result to a display device equipped in a vehicle.
US09791291B1

A method of generating map content includes receiving a service request including at least a start location from a computing device of a user, and selecting a service provider to provide the service request. The method further includes transmitting a confirmation to the computing device indicating that the selected service provider is traveling to the start location, and enabling map content to be displayed on a user interface of a service application on the computing device, the map content indicating at least the start location, and a dynamic location of the selected service provider while the selected service provider is traveling to the start location. The method also includes enabling dynamic zooming of the map content on the user interface based on the dynamic location of the selected service provider and at least one of the start location or a current location of the user.
US09791287B2

Drive assist systems, methods, and programs display, on a display, an image in which a destination location icon that indicates a destination location is superimposed on a scene in front of a mobile body. The systems, methods, and programs acquire a length of a frontage of the destination location along a road on which the mobile body is present and specify a display position of the destination location icon on the basis of an estimated position of the mobile body such that the display position of the destination location icon is a position within the frontage. The systems, methods, and programs display on the display, an image in which the destination location icon is superimposed on the display position of the destination location icon in the scene in front of the mobile body.
US09791286B2

A navigation system is configured to generate a sequence of driving instructions for directing a driver of a vehicle from a current location to a final destination. The navigation system is configured to capture sensor data that reflects the field of view of the driver and to identify objects in that field of view. The navigation system then customizes the driving instructions to reference specific objects, thereby generating context-specific driving instructions. The navigation system is also configured to identify particular objects upon which the driver is focused, and to generate context-specific driving instructions relative to such objects of focus. The navigation system may also provide correction information to the driver upon determining that the driver has incorrectly focused on a different object than an object referenced in a context-specific driving instruction.
US09791277B2

An apparatus and method for measuring a velocity of a moving object in a navigation system are provided, which can increase an accuracy of velocity measurement and position estimation of the moving object are provided. The apparatus includes a sensor part including an acceleration sensor for measuring acceleration of the moving object and outputting a corresponding acceleration measurement value, and includes an altimeter for measuring an altitude of the moving object and outputting a corresponding altitude measurement value; and a calculation part for calculating the velocity of the moving object by using the acceleration measurement value output from the acceleration sensor and the altitude measurement value output from the altimeter.
US09791272B2

Some embodiments of the invention may relate to an optical surveying device having a base for setting up the surveying device and a targeting unit, which is rotatable in relation to the base about two axes, and which defines a target axis or targeting a target object to be surveyed. In some embodiments, the targeting unit has a first beam path for emitting optical radiation in the direction of the target object to be surveyed and a second beam path for receiving a component of the optical radiation, which is reflected from the target object, by way of an optoelectronic receiving element. In some embodiments, at least one of the beam paths, has an optical element, which is implemented having an optically transparent, deformable volume body, and which has at least one interface toward a medium having an optical index of refraction deviating from the volume body.
US09791270B2

A method to determine a type of blood circuit attached to an extracorporeal blood treatment console including: pumping a liquid through a blood passage of the blood circuit, sensing a first pressure in: the blood passage while the passage is closed and pumping stopped, pumping an additional amount of the liquid into the blood passage while the blood passage is and remains closed and thereafter sensing a second pressure, and determine a dimensional characteristic of a fluid passage in the blood passage based on the additional amount of the liquid and the second pressure.
US09791268B2

A device for measuring the characteristic angles and dimensions of wheels, steering system and chassis of vehicles in general, comprising a plurality of three-dimensional optical readers which are functionally connected to a computer and can be arranged peripherally to a vehicle whose dimensions and characteristic angles of wheels, steering system and chassis are to be measured in such a manner that each one frames at least one wheel of the vehicle for the three-dimensional acquisition of an image of the wheel, each three-dimensional optical reader being provided with at least one fixed target for the setting and calibration of the measurement device, at least one camera of each three-dimensional optical reader being arranged in such a manner as to frame clearly and directly at least one fixed target of another three-dimensional optical reader for the setting and calibration of the measurement device by three-dimensional acquisitions of the fixed targets.
US09791264B2

A method to estimate a set of camera locations, in clockwise or counter-clockwise order, according to the videos captured by these cameras is described herein. In some embodiments, the cameras are assumed to be fixed, with no or very mild tilting angles and no rolling angles (the horizon is horizontal in each camera image). The difference of orientation (rolling angle) between each neighboring (closest) camera pair is able to be up to 45 degrees. Each camera is assumed to have overlapped views with at least one other camera. Each camera has one right neighboring camera and one left neighboring camera, except the first and the last cameras which have only one neighboring camera at one side. The locations of the cameras then are able to be expressed as a unique list counter-clockwise. The input videos are assumed to be synchronized in time.
US09791263B2

A measuring device for reflection measurements of test objects includes a transmitter for emitting radiation, a first collimation element for aligning the emitted radiation, a first focusing element for focusing emitted radiation in relation to the test object, and a receiver for detecting radiation reflected by the test object. There is a second collimation element for aligning the reflected radiation, and a second focusing element for focusing the reflected radiation in relation to the receiver. At least two of the first and second collimation elements and first and second focusing elements are separate from each other. Thus, a simple and flexible design of the measuring device is achieved, which can be adapted to the test object.
US09791259B2

Distance to a target is sensed using a common path interferometer, wherein a first fraction of light from a light source is collected after reflection by a partially reflective element together with reflection from a target of a second fraction of light from the light source that has been transmitted by the partially reflective element. The collected light is split in two parts, both containing a part of the first fraction and part of the reflection from the target. The parts are fed through a first and second optical branch path to an input side of a three-way optical coupler respectively. Light from at three terminals on a second side of the N way coupler is fed to respective light intensity detectors. Information representing an excess distance traveled by the first fraction from detection signals determined by the least three light intensity detectors.
US09791253B2

Technical solutions are engineered for remote firing devices to include pieces of hardware to implement a history log, security fence, seismic detection, countdown timers, and sequential firing.
US09791252B2

A power supply for providing electrical energy to a self-destruct fuze for submunitions contained in a projectile. The power supply including: a movable mass; at least one elastic element attached to the mass at one end for storing mechanical energy upon a firing acceleration of the projectile; at least one piezoelectric element attached to another end of the at least one elastic element for converting the stored mechanical energy to electrical energy upon the firing acceleration to vibrate the mass and at least one elastic element to apply a cyclic force to the at least one piezoelectric element; and a self destruct fuze for detonation of the self destruct fuze upon receiving the electrical energy.
US09791232B1

A trigger reset that is disposed in a firearm handle including an electric motor, a battery, a gear box and cam lobe mounted on a shaft of the motor. A reset bar assembly is secured to the cam lobe. As shaft turns, cam lobe moves to provide a reciprocating motion to reset bar assembly. The reset bar assembly may be biased in lateral directions via a spring or the like. Rearward movement of the firearm trigger causes movement of the reset bar assembly in a rearward longitudinal direction. When the trigger reset is actuated, the motor rotates the cam lobe moving the reset bar assembly in a forward position thereby urging the trigger to a reset position prior to actuating the next firing sequence. The reset trigger system further includes a switch defining a face portion that is positioned on the exterior surface of the grip and immediately below the trigger for easy accessibility when holding or firing the firearm.
US09791225B2

The charging handle assembly uses a magnetic latching mechanism to replace the spring loaded latch mechanism common on conventional M16/AR-15 style weapons. The magnetic latching mechanism consists of magnetically attracting plugs mounted to or within the upper receiver and the charging handle. The magnetic attraction between the adjacent plugs provides the locking force to secure the charging handle in the closed position while still allowing the user to manually pull the handle to the open position when necessary.
US09791221B1

An appliance includes a compact condenser assembly formed with at least two separately and independently produced wire on tube condensers. Each of the at least two wire on tube condensers has a condenser inlet and a condenser outlet. The at least two wire on tube condensers are at least substantially locked and positioned in a matingly engaged configuration forming a compact condenser assembly. The at least two wire on tube condensers are configured to be operationally connected in at least one of a parallel configuration, a series configuration, a selectable configuration, and a bypass configuration.
US09791219B2

A method for fabricating a straight fin heat sink (50) of the type having a base (52) and a plurality of fins (54) extending from the base is disclosed. Each fm (54) of the plurality of fins of the heat sink is spaced from one another a predetermined distance and lies along a plane generally parallel to planes of the other fins of the plurality of fins. The method includes: providing a die (20) configured to produce a heat sink (30) having a base (32) and a plurality of fins (34) attached to be base in a radial fashion about the base from at least one side of the base; extruding a blank of material through the die (20) to produce the heat sink (30); and compressing the plurality of fins (34) with a compression tool (40) so that the plurality of fins (54) extend from the base along planes generally parallel to each other.
US09791213B2

A heat exchanger carries out heat exchange between a refrigerant that undergoes a phase change during heat exchange and another heating medium. The heat exchanger includes headers having the refrigerant flowing through interiors, a plurality of multi-hole first flat tubes, and a plurality of second flat tubes. The first flat tubes extend in a direction intersecting a lengthwise direction of the headers. The first flat tubes have a plurality of refrigerant flow channels with the refrigerant flowing through the refrigerant flow channels. The second flat tubes are stacked alternately with respect to the first flat tubes, with the other heating medium flowing through the second flat tubes. The headers are arranged to extend along a horizontal direction.
US09791212B2

The present invention refers to an improved burning system for industrial furnace burners (16), more specifically for tunnel type furnaces for firing ceramic materials, to improve the thermal efficiency and reduce the consumption by these furnaces in the process of firing load (10) such as floor tiles, tiles, sanitary material, refractories, porcelain, insulators, grindstone, tableware ceramic, red ceramic and ceramic in general, by a using flame rotation system, providing a radiant flame surface by dividing the flame into smaller intermittent flames.
US09791209B2

A process of liquefying a natural gas stream in a liquefied natural gas facility is provided. The process includes cooling the natural gas stream in a first refrigeration cycle to produce a cooled natural gas stream. The process also includes cooling the cooled natural gas stream in a first chiller of a second refrigeration cycle, the cooled natural gas stream exiting the first chiller at a first pressure. The process further includes cooling the cooled natural gas stream in a first core of a second chiller of the second refrigeration cycle. The process yet further includes cooling a refrigerant of a refrigerant recycle stream separate from the cooled natural gas stream in a second core of the second chiller of the second refrigeration cycle, wherein the refrigerant recycle stream enters the second chiller at a second pressure that is lower than the first pressure of the cooled natural gas stream.
US09791205B2

An insulated cabinet structure includes an inner liner having a plurality of walls defining a refrigerator compartment, and an external wrapper having a plurality of walls defining a refrigerator compartment receiving area. An insulation gap is formed between the walls of the inner liner and the walls of the external wrapper. A first insulation material is positioned on a wall of the external wrapper and extends outwardly into the insulation gap to partially fill the insulation gap. The first insulation material includes a renewable resource component having a particle size in a range from about 10 microns to about 25 microns. A second insulation material is disposed in the insulation gap, such that the first insulation material and the second insulation material together substantially fill the insulation gap.
US09791204B2

A refrigerator door and a manufacturing method of the same are disclosed. The refrigerator door includes a front panel that includes a first through hole and an input unit, a door liner, an upper cap decoration unit configured to seal an upper side of a first space defined between the front panel and the door liner, a frame attached to an inside of the front panel and defining a second space, a display assembly provided between the frame and the front panel and configured to emit light through the first through hole, and a touch sensor assembly provided between the frame and the front panel, the touch sensor assembly being fixed to a rear of the front panel at a position that corresponds to a location of the input unit. The upper cap decoration unit includes a communication hole for communicating with the second space and includes a cap cover.
US09791200B2

A portable cooler includes a cooler body formed of an insulating shell defining an interior storage section, an insulated cooler lid coupled to the cooler body, and a storage structure formed within the insulated cooler lid for storing one or more plates. The plates can be stored in a recessed portion of the insulated lid, which may include a groove or removable lip to retain the plates. A utensil storage structure is provided to store one or more utensils. Sharp utensils may include safety mechanisms to inhibit unwanted removal.
US09791193B2

An air conditioner may include a plurality of indoor units and a plurality of outdoor units connected to the plurality of indoor units. Each of the plurality of outdoor units may include a plurality of outdoor heat exchangers. Each of the outdoor heat exchangers may include a plurality of heat exchanger parts. When a defrosting operation condition is satisfied during a heating operation, indicating that a defrosting operation should be performed the plurality of heat exchanger parts of the plurality of outdoor heat exchangers may successively perform the defrosting operation.
US09791192B2

A device for charging a primary fluid system, such as an air-conditioning or cooling system, closed and at a first pressure (P1), with a secondary fluid, comprises a dispensing cylinder of the secondary fluid, said cylinder containing the secondary fluid and a propellant fluid having a second pressure (P2) greater than said first pressure. Said cylinder further comprising a filler valve operable to allow/block the exit at least of the secondary fluid from the cylinder. A connection hood is partially superposed over the dispensing cylinder, fitted with connections means suitable for fluidically connecting said filler valve directly to said primary fluid system or to a connection pipe to said system.
US09791191B2

A temperature control apparatus (70) includes a heat exchanger (71) configured to exchange heat with the surroundings using a phase change of a refrigerant, a rotary pump (73) configured to receive the refrigerant from the heat exchanger (71) and fuse the refrigerant with oil contained inside the rotary pump, and an oil water separator (74) configured to receive the refrigerant fused with the oil from the rotary pump (73) and separate the refrigerant from the oil. The temperature control apparatus further includes a refrigeration cycle that implements a cooling function by circulating the refrigerant separated from the oil back to the heat exchanger (71).
US09791188B2

A refrigeration system has: (a) a fluid tight circulation loop including a compressor, a condenser and an evaporator, the evaporator having at least three evaporator zones, each evaporator zone having an inlet port, the circulation loop being further configured to measure the condition of the refrigerant with a refrigerant condition sensor disposed within the evaporator upstream of the evaporator outlet port; and control the flow of refrigerant to the evaporator based upon the measured condition of the refrigerant within the evaporator, and (b) a controller for controlling the flow rate of refrigerant to the evaporator based upon the measured condition of the refrigerant within the evaporator upstream of the evaporator outlet port.
US09791187B2

A solar-thermal refrigerant compression system employing refrigerants, such as R410a and R500, and a method of employing the system in refrigeration and air-conditioning units. The system includes a refrigerant storage tank, an evaporator, a mixing chamber, a condenser and an isochoric thermal compressor comprising a condensate heat exchanger and a heating coil connected to a solar collector field.
US09791185B2

The disclosure is directed to an energy efficient thermal protection assembly. The thermal protection assembly can comprise three or more thermoelectric unit layers capable of active use of the Peltier effect; and at least one capacitance spacer block suitable for storing heat and providing a delayed thermal reaction time of the assembly. The capacitance spacer block is thermally connected between the thermoelectric unit layers. The present disclosure further relates to a thermoelectric transport and storage devices for transporting or storing temperature sensitive goods, for example, vaccines, chemicals, biologicals, and other temperature sensitive goods. The transport or storage device can be configured and provide on-board energy storage for sustaining, for multiple days, at a constant-temperature, with an acceptable temperature variation band.
US09791184B2

A portable medical refrigerator is provided that includes a cooling chamber having a housing, insulation and a cavity, where the insulation dissipates heat from the cooling chamber and insulates the cooling chamber, where the insulation includes a material and thickness disposed to hold the cooling chamber at a desired temperature, where the thickness of the insulation is according to an amount of heat entering the cooling chamber from the ambient surroundings, a thermoelectric cooling (TEC) device having a heat sink fan, and a planar heat pipe, where a first end of the planar heat pipe is connected to the cooling chamber and a second end of the planar heat pipe is connected to the TEC, where the TEC is disposed away from the cooling chamber, where the first end of the planar heat pipe is disposed to draw heat from the insulation to enable attainment of the desired temperature.
US09791183B2

The first and second media are coupled via evanescent waves generated by surface phonon polaritons thermally excited on surfaces of the first and second media. First and second media made of the same material are disposed with a gap formed between for cutting off thermal conduction and the heat transfer between them is performed via the thermally excited evanescent waves. A third medium is provided on a surface of the first medium on a side toward the second medium. Heat flux flows from the second medium to the first medium in a first state wherein the second medium has a first temperature TH and the first medium has a second temperature TL lower than the TH differ in intensity from heat flux which flows from the first to the second medium in a second state wherein the first medium has the TH and the second medium has the TL.
US09791177B2

A cryogenic refrigerator includes a compressor for installation on a stationary component, an expander for installation on a rotating component, and a rotary joint fluidly coupling the compressor with the expander. The rotary joint includes: a rotor fixed to the rotating component and coaxial with its rotational axis; a stator disposed adjacent to the rotor to form a clearance between the rotor and the stator, and fixed to the stationary component; a first high-pressure flowpath and a second high-pressure flowpath, extending between the rotor and stator through the clearance, and a working-gas sealing area dividing the clearance into a first high-pressure section communicating with the first high-pressure flowpath, and into a second high-pressure section communicating with the second high-pressure flowpath.
US09791176B2

A refrigeration apparatus uses R32 as a refrigerant, and includes a compressor, a condenser, an expansion mechanism, an evaporator and an accumulator. The accumulator is disposed in the suction flow path supplying refrigerant to the compressor. The accumulator has a casing that forms an inside space to separate the refrigerant into gas refrigerant and liquid refrigerant and accumulating surplus refrigerant, an inlet pipe feeding the refrigerant that has evaporated in the evaporator into the inside space, and an outlet pipe channeling the separated gas refrigerant to the compressor. A distal end opening in the inlet pipe of the accumulator is located in a height position separated by a dimension from a bottom of the inside space. The dimension is 0 to 0.3 times a height dimension of the inside space.
US09791173B2

A heating device is provided. A temperature sensing unit is configured to sense an ambient temperature and accordingly output a temperature sensing voltage. A driving unit is coupled to a heating transistor unit and the temperature sensing unit, and configured to drive the heating transistor unit for performing heating based on the temperature sensing voltage. An activating unit is coupled to the temperature sensing unit, configured to output an activating signal based on the temperature sensing voltage when a temperature of the printed circuit board has risen up to a preset temperature. The heating device as provided can assure that the activating signal can be normally outputted by the heating device under an ambient at an extremely low temperature.
US09791171B2

A water heater includes a water tank having an inlet and an outlet, and a flue extending through the tank. A nozzle is positioned near a first end of the flue, arranged so as to emit a fuel stream into the flue, and a flame holder is located within the flue in a position to receive the fuel stream and to hold a flame entirely within the flue. A controller variably controls a flow of fuel to the nozzle according to a temperature of water in the tank.
US09791169B2

The invention is directed to a liquid heater for rapidly heating a liquid without overheating the liquid. The liquid heater comprises a liquid flow channel having a passage through which liquid flows, a heating part disposed outside the liquid flow channel, a heat reflecting part facing a heat radiating side of the heating part, and a cooling part through which a cooling medium flows adjacent a reverse side of a reflecting surface of the heat reflecting part for cooling the heat reflecting part. Radiant heat not absorbed in the liquid is reflected by the heat reflecting part. The heat reflecting part reflects radiant heat cooled by the cooling part so that the body of the liquid heater and peripheral members are maintained at a temperature not higher than a predetermined temperature to prevent overheating the liquid.
US09791166B2

An air handler that provides for noise reduction without reducing the pressure of air supplied to a space below minimum levels. The air handler includes a plenum, which forms a passageway for air through the air handler; the plenum having a return side and a supply side, a fan positioned in the plenum to move air through the plenum, the fan having a suction side and a pressure side, and a conditioning apparatus in the plenum for conditioning air passing through the plenum. The air handler further includes a sound-attenuating panel, which has a first side and an opposed second side and is positioned in the plenum so that the panel extends at least partially across the plenum. The panel is configured and positioned to interact with the flow of air in the plenum to attenuate sound. The fan provides a pressure boost to air flowing through the plenum to counteract a pressure drop resulting from interaction between the air and the panel in the plenum and the conditioning apparatus.
US09791160B2

A floor-positioned air-conditioning apparatus including a housing including a fan and a heat exchanger; a forward blowing control member rotatably arranged at a forward air outlet formed in a housing front surface at a position near a housing top surface; and an upward blowing control member rotatably arranged at an upward air outlet formed near the housing front surface are included. The forward blowing control member closes the forward air outlet and the upward blowing control member closes the upward air outlet during operation stop. The forward blowing control member closes the forward air outlet and the upward blowing control member is rotated and opens the upward air outlet during cooling operation. The upward blowing control member closes the upward air outlet and the forward blowing control member is rotated and opens the forward air outlet during heating operation.
US09791158B2

An electric dust collecting device and an air conditioner having the same are disclosed. The electric dust collecting device includes a first filter unit including a plurality of discharge electrode plates which are spaced apart from each other and have spaces defined therebetween, a high voltage generator electrically connected to all of the plurality of discharge electrode plates, and a second filter unit disposed downstream of the first filter unit in an air flow direction and connected to a ground to cause corona discharge between the discharge electrode plates and the second filter unit, whereby particles electrically charged by corona discharge are collected at the second filter unit. The first filter unit has a simplified structure, and cleaning effect is improved.
US09791156B2

An elongated burner assembly includes a first sidewall that defines a first plurality of ports and a second sidewall that defines a second plurality of ports. Ports of the first plurality of ports are angled towards a first end portion of the elongated burner, and ports of the second plurality of ports are angled towards a second end portion of the elongated burner. A related range appliance is also provided.
US09791154B2

A power generation system includes: a combustor operative to combust a fuel; a power generator operative to utilize energy obtained from the combustor when generating electric power; a fuel supplier operative to supply the fuel to the combustor; an air supplier operative to supply combustion air to the combustor; a discharged gas passage through which a discharged gas from the combustor flows; a CO detector operative to detect CO in the discharged gas; a temperature detector operative to detect a temperature of the discharged gas; and control circuitry operative to, when the discharged gas is flowing through the discharged gas passage, perform at least one of an operation of detecting a structural abnormality of the discharged gas passage based on a difference between detected temperatures of the temperature detector relative to a difference between heated amounts of the discharged gas heated by a heater and an operation of detecting the structural abnormality of the discharged gas passage based on the difference between the detected temperatures of the temperature detector relative to a difference between outputs of at least one of the fuel supplier and the air supplier.
US09791146B2

A novel processed vapor make-up water subsystem that uses a make-up water boiler to boil and purify make-up water and its method of use are described. Upon vaporization, dissolved solids remain in the liquid water in the bottom of the make-up boiler and the solids free steam is introduced into the main boiler loop through a deaerator. Periodically, the water in the bottom of the make-up boiler is blown down when the amount of dissolved solids in the water reach a predetermined level.
US09791143B2

A doubly-sealed waterproof floodlight includes a heat dissipating portion, a lighting portion coupled to the bottom end of the heat dissipating portion, and a cover filled and coated with a sealing material, doubly-sealed, and integrally coupled to the heat dissipating portion. The heat dissipating portion includes a sealing portion formed on a side end of the heat dissipation portion, coated with the sealing material, and coupled to the cover. The cover includes a coupling portion formed on the top end of a side surface thereof. The coupling portion includes a sealing groove into which sealing material is filled for adhering and coupling the heat dissipating portion, a protruding support potion extending from the sealing groove, and a bottom surface portion which is flatly formed at a position lower than the protruding support portion, and in which the sealing material coated on the sealing portion is filled.
US09791142B2

A lamp, which has a light source having several light-emitting elements, in particular in the form of LEDs. The lamp has first passage openings on a first side next to the light source and second passage openings on a second side next to the light source. The passage openings are designed for an air flow for cooling the light source. The lamp also has a first air-conducting surface on the first side next to the first passage openings and below the light source and a second air-conducting surface on the second side next to the second passage openings and below the light source, wherein the two air-conducting surfaces are designed in such a way that the two air-conducting surfaces form an air incidence region that expands away from the light source.
US09791141B2

The present application relates to a light emitting diode module comprising: a light source device (11), a cover (10) for said light source device (11), the cover (10) being arranged to connect to an optical device (21); wherein said cover (10) comprises a heat conducting part (24, 34) which has an at least one order of magnitude higher thermal conductivity than the remaining part of the cover (10) and which is arranged to thermally connect said light source device (11) with said optical device (21). The present application further relates to a corresponding cover for a light source device (11) in a light emitting diode module (1).
US09791138B1

A wireless headlight assembly for attachment to an eyewear frame is disclosed. The wireless headlight assembly comprises a battery pod containing a battery connected to a lower housing element, which controls the application of power from the battery to an attached headlight assembly containing a headlight.
US09791134B2

The embodiment of present invention discloses a press fixture, including: a carrier board; a power unit and a pressing unit attached on the carrier board and arranged at a certain distance with each other; a retractable unit and a pushing block, one end of the retractable unit being fixedly connected to the power unit and the other end of the retractable unit being fixedly connected to the pushing block. The power unit drives the retractable unit to retract, so that the retractable unit brings the pushing block to move between the power unit and the pressing unit, for pressing the first piece to be pressed and the second piece to be pressed located between the pushing block and the pressing unit. The press fixture according to the embodiment of present invention reduces the work force and the work intensity of the operators.
US09791128B2

The present disclosure describes light delivery and distribution components of a ducted lighting system having a cross-section that includes at least one curved portion and a light source. The delivery and distribution system (that is, light duct and light duct extractor) can function effectively with any light source that is capable of delivering light which is substantially collimated about the longitudinal axis of the light duct, and which is also preferably substantially uniform over the inlet of the light duct.
US09791126B2

A lighting device including: a source emitting a light cone; an electronic control circuit; a wall defining an enclosure including a first area through which the light cone passes, and a second area complementary to the first area; and a diffuser directing part of the light by backscattering towards the second area. The diffuser includes a first part oriented perpendicular to the axis of revolution of the light cone and forming a first divergent lens, and a second part forming a second divergent lens having a shape of a flared truncated cone with its axis of revolution parallel to the axis of revolution of the light cone, in which a larger diameter end is closest to the light source and a smaller diameter end is adjacent to the first part and surrounds the first part.
US09791125B2

Various embodiments may relate to a lens for an illumination device. The lens includes a bottom wall, a top wall, and a circumferential wall. The circumferential wall connects the bottom wall and the top wall. A plurality of regions of the bottom wall respectively arch towards the top wall to define at least one first accommodation cavity having an inner wall as a first incident surface, and at least one second accommodation cavity having an inner wall as a second incident surface. The first and second incident surfaces are designed as different curved surfaces for receiving first incident light and second incident light, respectively. Various embodiments further relate to an illumination device including the lens.
US09791119B2

Disclosed is a light emitting module including a light emitting device package having a circuit board having a cavity, an insulation substrate arranged in the cavity, with a conductive pattern formed thereon, and at least one light emitting device disposed on the insulation substrate, with being electrically connected with the conductive pattern; and a glass cover located on the light emitting device package, with lateral surfaces, a top surface and an open bottom surface, wherein the light emitting device package and the circuit board are electrically connected with each other.
US09791117B2

A processing unit in a dual-mode lighting fixture receives, via a light pipe of the lighting fixture, a test command signal from a remote control and initiates, based on the test command signal, testing for emergency condition lighting of the lighting fixture. The processing unit receives, via the light pipe, a control command signal from the remote control and controls, based on the control command signal, normal condition lighting of the lighting fixture. The processing unit also monitors feedback loops from a battery, a charger, or a set of LED lamps in the lighting fixture and presents, via the light pipe, a status color indication based on the monitored feedback.
US09791106B2

A pretreatment system and method for a floating liquid natural gas (“FLNG”) facility are presented. The inlet natural gas stream flows through a membrane system to remove carbon dioxide and a heat exchanger, producing first and second cooled CO2-depleted non-permeate streams. The first cooled CO2-depleted non-permeate stream is routed to additional pretreatment equipment, while the second cooled CO2-depleted non-permeate stream is routed directly to a LNG train. Alternatively, the inlet natural gas stream may flow through a membrane system to produce a single cooled CO2-depleted non-permeate stream that is routed to the LNG train after sweetening and dehydration. Because the pretreatment system delivers the incoming gas stream to the LNG train at a lower temperature than conventional systems, less energy is needed to convert the gas stream to LNG. In addition, the pretreatment system has a smaller footprint than conventional pretreatment systems.
US09791098B2

A holding clip apparatus is provided for attaching a mobile electronic device to a tray table of a commercial vehicle, such as a train or airliner. A tray table attachment section of the holding clip apparatus includes an upper support member and a lower support member each extending outwardly in a horizontal direction from a rear support wall. A mobile device holding section of the holding clip apparatus includes a front support wall and a rear support wall extending upwardly from a base portion having a bottom surface. Attachment portions may be provided connecting the tray table attachment section and the mobile device holding section. A mobile device angle adjustment section may be provided that allows the mobile device holding section to rotate to adjust the viewing angle of a mobile device held thereto.
US09791095B2

Disclosed is a supporting stand for a display device, which includes: a base; a frame body connected to the base for holding the display device and rotatable with respect to the base; an electrical function unit disposed within the base; and an electrical connection unit extending through the interior of the frame body to provide an electrical connection between the display device and the electrical function unit. The electrical connection unit includes a main cable that has a reserve section with a cable length larger than the corresponding minimal pathway distance. Accordingly, when the frame body rotates, the main cable can adjust itself to the rotation of the frame body by cable twisting at the reserve section.
US09791089B2

An assembly and method of sealing a junction of a pipe and a second structure are provided. The assembly includes a pipe liner having a tubular portion and a brim portion, and a mechanical anchor adapted to secure the brim portion of the pipe liner to the second structure. The assembly may further include a compression gasket for placement between the pipe liner and the pipe or second structure. The compression gasket may comprise a hydrophilic material, a hydrophobic material, or a compressible material. The methods of using the assembly include, but are not limited to, the use of a cured-in-place pipe liner.
US09791087B2

A coupling including female and male couplers configured to be connected together. The female coupler includes a valve body and a detent carrier surrounding the valve body and having a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings extending through a wall of the detent carrier for receiving detents to connect the female coupler to the male coupler. When the female and male couplers are connected together, the detent carrier is axially movable relative to the valve body by externally applied loads acting on the male and female couplers to cause the male and female couplers to separate. A pressure-balancing chamber is provided to prevent premature separation of the couplers. Once separated, the detent carrier axially moves back and the female and male couplers may be reconnected.
US09791075B2

A method providing a first tubular workpiece having a first weld surface at an end thereof, and a second tubular workpiece having a second weld surface at an end thereof; aligning the workpieces on a common axis with the weld surfaces facing each other, rotating one workpiece about the axis relative to the other workpiece, and engaging the first and second weld surfaces such that the rotation raises the temperature at the weld surfaces to create a weld interface; and ceasing the rotation and allowing the weld interface to cool to weld the workpieces together at the interface. The first weld surface is an apex region of an annular projection at the end of the first workpiece, on a longitudinal section through the aligned workpieces the annular projection having a profile in which radially inner and outer side surfaces of the annular projection taper towards the apex region.
US09791071B2

A boom assembly for a lift device includes a plurality of telescoping boom sections. The plurality of telescoping boom sections include a base boom section, a mid boom section, and a fly boom section. The plurality of telescoping boom sections define an inner volume. The boom assembly also includes a push tube coupled to the base boom section and a support member positioned within the inner volume. The support member includes sidewalls having an inner surface and an outer surface. The boom assembly also includes a power track positioned within the inner volume that includes a plurality of movable links, a first supported portion that interfaces with at least one of the inner surface of the support member and a surface of the push tube, and a second supported portion that interfaces with the outer surface of the support member.
US09791069B2

A pipe replacement system and cable guide frame are shown. Configurations are shown that include plurality of guide pulleys attached to the cable guide frame to define a curved path between a pipe to be replaced and a cable pulling system. Configurations are shown where a pipe breaking tool is pulled over the plurality of guide pulleys for ease of removal after a replacement operation. Configurations are also shown that include a stationary splitter adjacent to the cable pulling system to prevent jamming of the cable pulling system.
US09791064B2

A quantity control valve comprises a valve needle configured to move in an axial direction, a damping chamber having a wall, and a valve element delimiting the damping chamber. The valve needle is configured to move the valve element in an opening direction. A gap is defined between the wall of the damping chamber and the valve element. The gap has at least one recess and connects the damping chamber to a flow duct.
US09791063B2

A shut-off valve that has a closure orifice, a closure member to open and close a gas passage through the shut-off valve, an electromagnetic actuator including a movable assembly attached to the closure member, the closure member, and an electromagnetic filed generator magnetically associated with the movable assembly. The shut-off valve also includes a manual actuator for acting on the movable assembly, the manual actuator comprising an open position in which it is decoupled from the movable assembly, the electromagnetic actuator thus being able to act on the closure member to cause its closure.
US09791061B2

A valve, in particular for hydraulic circuits, includes a valve body (4) designed as a cartridge that can be fixed in a housing (6) having fluid connections (8) by a securing device (20, 26, 28). The securing device has at least one blocking element (20) in the form of a separate component between the valve body (4) and the housing (6). The blocking element has blocking surfaces that can be moved relative to the longitudinal axis (18) of the valve body (4) between an assembly position allowing the valve body (4) to be inserted into the housing (6) and a blocking position in which the blocking surfaces secure the valve body in an assembly position, preferably with zero backlash by bearing against retaining surfaces (26, 28) of the housing (6) and the valve body (4).
US09791058B2

In one featured embodiment, a closure sleeve for a valve comprises a sleeve body surrounding a center axis and defined by an overall length extending from an upstream end to a downstream end. The sleeve body has an internal cavity that is enclosed at the downstream end and is open at the upstream end. The internal cavity is defined in part by a piston contact surface that is defined by an inner diameter. The piston contact surface is configured to slide against a piston to be received within the internal cavity, and a ratio of the inner diameter to the overall length is between 1.0 and 1.5.
US09791054B2

A valve assembly includes a valve body with a central passage, an upstream end for receiving a fluid, and a downstream end for discharging the fluid. A segment ball valve rotates between a valve open position to allow the fluid to flow through the central passage, and a valve closed position to prevent the fluid from flowing through the central passage. A check valve located within the central passage downstream from the segment ball valve is biased to prevent the fluid from traveling upstream through the central passage, and to allow the fluid to travel downstream past the check valve. A locking mechanism secures the check valve in a locked position to prevent the fluid from flowing past the check valve. A sealable cavity is located between the segment ball valve and the check valve, to contain a neutral media to achieve a double block and bleed feature.
US09791051B2

The invention provides a gate valve (1) for control of petroleum production or water injection, distinctive in that at least one surface subject to sliding in operation of the valve comprises a top layer coating of diamond like carbon (DLC). The DLC contains hydrogen, preferably more than 16 atom-% and more preferred more than 17 atom-%. It is further directed to a method of commissioning or operating a gate valve according to the invention, and use of a diamond like carbon (DLC) top layer coating on at least one surface subject to sliding in operation of the gate valve. Valve parts have a tendency of sticking, adhering or cold welding together, which result in high friction. The aim of the invention is to reduce or eliminate friction problems occurring with time or operation cycles, when using a full scale gate valve.
US09791050B2

The invention is directed to a valve for a compressed gas cylinder, comprising: a valve body with an inlet, an outlet and a passage connecting the inlet with the outlet; a shut-off device of the passage with an actuating pin extending in the passage; a check-valve between the shut-off device and the inlet, the check valve comprising a seat and a movable closing member initially held at a position distant from the seat by contact with a guiding surface and movable past the position by the pin so as to cooperate with the seat and prevent a refilling flow of gas from the outlet to the inlet. The guiding surface is on a tubular portion fixed to the valve body and comprising at least one radial aperture so as to allow the refilling flow of gas to by-pass the closing member when in the distant position.
US09791049B2

An improved toilet flapper valve is used to cover and seal a main flush valve orifice, which flapper valve comprises a pair of rotatable legs and leg clips having two-way adjustment capabilities and which serve to function as mounting arms. The two-way adjustment of the rotatable leg clips allows for use of the same flapper valve with a variety of makes and models of flush valves, and flush valves having pegs that may be spaced apart so as to adjust for pegs that may have different diameters or that may be separated from one another by different distances depending on the flush valve used in the toilet. The flapper valve of the present invention also includes a variably-adjustable air outlet capability.
US09791045B2

An oil ring to be attached to a ring groove of a piston for an engine is provided. The oil ring includes two annular ring bodies having a common axis and arranged in tandem, and an expander for biasing the ring bodies radially outward. A sliding surface is formed at an outer circumference of each ring body to bulge radially outward and slides on a cylinder inner circumferential surface. The sliding surface of one of the ring bodies has a tip portion and first and second curved surfaces. In cross sections of the first and second curved surfaces, the first and second curved surfaces are connected while tangent lines to the cross sections at the tip portion align with each other, and when positional change rates are compared between points on the first and second curved surfaces, a change rate of the first curved surface is lower.
US09791044B2

A locking apparatus for a hydromechanical spring energy store drive for actuating a medium-voltage or high-voltage circuit breaker is disclosed, the spring energy store drive includes a working piston, which is guided in an axial cutout in a pressure housing or working cylinder, and a spring energy store arrangement. The locking apparatus includes a first pressure region and a second pressure region, which are under elevated pressure when the circuit breaker is closed, and a third pressure region, which is unpressurized. The latching bolt can be arranged perpendicular to the working piston, via a latching apparatus, which can be arranged on a side of the latching bolt, which is to point towards the working piston and via the spring energy store arrangement, which is to be pushed away from the working piston.
US09791038B2

A method of controlling a transmission for a vehicle may include performing deceleration intention determination, by a controller, of determining an intention of a driver for deceleration based on whether a brake pedal signal is received by the controller, upon determining that the driver intends to decelerate, performing downshift determination, by the controller, of determining an intention of the driver to use engine braking based on whether manual downshift of a shifter is performed by the driver, upon determining that the driver intends to use the engine braking, performing continuous shifting determination, by the controller, of determining whether the driver intends to implement maximum engine braking through continuous shifting, and upon determining that the driver has the intention to implement the maximum engine braking, performing continuous shifting, by the controller, of implementing maximum engine braking by shifting to a lowest gear implementable under a current driving condition.
US09791020B2

V-ribbed belts with spaced rib flank reinforcement and methods of making the same are disclosed. The V-ribbed belt comprises a compression section having at least one laterally spaced, longitudinally extending V-rib having first and second longitudinally extending flanks. The V-rib includes an elastomeric material having a dry coefficient of friction encapsulating a plurality of reinforcing bodies having a dry coefficient of friction that is less than that of the elastomeric material. The plurality of reinforcing bodies are arranged generally laterally within the V-rib such that at least a portion of the reinforcing bodies forms part of one or more of the first and second longitudinally extending flanks.
US09791017B2

A device for connecting the elastic elements and dissipaters of variable type of a mechanical suspension interposed between two vibrating or tilting mechanical systems, the source body and the receiving body, respectively, in order to reduce the forces acting on the receiving body, and/or the displacement thereof, and/or the speed thereof, or combinations of the previous physical magnitudes and/or of any other ones, which are produced on the receiving body due to the motion or forces to which the source is subjected. The device consists of elastic elements, such as metal components or compressed gases, energy dissipating elements, either by means of friction between fluid and solid, and between solid and solid, or by means of suitable electromagnetic couplings the damping ability of which can be automatically varied by a suitable control system according to the operating conditions of the suspension; elements forming the kinematic connection structure between the elastic elements, damping elements, source and receiving bodies, such connections being solid or fluid or electromagnetic connections.
US09791016B2

[Object] To provide a durable liquid-sealed mount that allows a relative displacement between a stud and a housing, i.e., large strokes, has good cushioning properties, has good damping properties by inhibiting cavitation from generating even if high frequency vibration is introduced, and can still absorb small amplitude and high frequency vibration.[Solving Means] A liquid-sealed mount 1 is attached between a first member and a second member for controlling vibration introduced to the first member or the second member and includes a cup-shaped housing 10, a stud 20, a cap member 30, a diaphragm 40, highly viscous liquid 50, air, a movable damping plate 70, and a support member 80. The support member 80 is positioned between a lower end of the stud 20 or the movable damping plate 70 and the diaphragm 40 and transmits a load in a compression direction applied to the stud 20 to the diaphragm 40.
US09791015B2

A device recovers energy in working machines with at least one power drive actuated to move a load mass back and forth and with an energy storage system (16) absorbing the energy released in the movement of the load mass in one direction and making it available for a subsequent movement in the other direction. The energy storage system includes an accumulator cylinder (16) mechanically coupled to the load mass and storing pneumatic pressure energy for movement in one direction. For movement in the other direction, the accumulator cylinder acts as an auxiliary working cylinder supporting the power drive and converting the stored pressure energy into driving force.
US09791013B2

In a default-to-park system for a transmission, a lever member has a cylindrical hub configured to rotate about a spindle. The lever member has a transverse plate including a lever arm connected to a park release actuator and to a link to a park pawl of the transmission. Under normal operation, a transmission controller shifts the actuator to turn the lever arm and release the park pawl so the transmission can rotate. In an absence of a signal from the controller to the actuator, a bias spring restores the lever arm so that the transmission is locked. The bias spring comprises torsion coils disposed over the hub, a fixed end, and a drive end. The drive end has a heel segment bearing against a transverse surface of the transverse plate facing the torsion coils and a loading hook wrapped around an edge of the transverse plate.
US09791004B2

A disc brake includes a pair of end-side connector parts that connect a pair of cylinder parts across over a disc rotor, and an intermediate connector part that is installed between the end-side connector parts and that connects the pair of cylinder parts across over the disc rotor and brake pads. The brake pads are provided with protrusion segments that are formed at positions that are outer end sides in a rotor radial direction and that protrude in directions separated from middle portions of the brake pads in a rotor rotational direction, and the end-side connector parts are provided with pad engaging faces on which inner regions in the rotor radial direction of the protrusion segments are oppositely disposed and which are formed of the same member as a caliper main body.
US09790997B2

An assembly for preventing abuse of a pump mounted to a driver equipment is provided. The driver equipment and the pump have a mutually intermeshed driver gear and a driven gear respectively. The assembly includes a coupler splined to a shaft of the pump and configured to transmit torque from the driven gear to the shaft. The assembly also includes fasteners that are configured to releasably fasten the coupler to an end face of the driven gear. The fasteners are configured to shear, and disconnect the coupler from the driven gear when a torque on the driven gear exceeds an operational torque of the pump.
US09790988B1

Self-adjusting bushing bearings having a springy element. The self-adjusting bushing bearing has a bearing subassembly that is configured to be received in a housing and also has a plurality of bearing segments that together are configured to receive a shaft therein. A springy element biases the plurality of bearing segments radially inwardly towards the shaft. The springy element is mated with at least one bearing segment in the plurality of bearing segments.
US09790976B2

An embodiment provides a fastener including a locking member and a pin member which are connected. The locking member has a pair of leg portions that are inserted into the mount hole and a flange portion that is brought into abutment with a portion of the mount-base member that lies on a circumference of the mount hole. The pin member has a head portion that is connected to the flange portion and an extending portion that extends from a rear side of the head portion. When the head portion of the pin member is forced into the locking member, a connection between the flange portion and the head portion is released, and the extending portion travels between the pair of leg portions to expand open the pair of leg portions or to restrict the pair of leg portions from moving towards each other.
US09790971B2

The invention relates to a pump control method for the control of the operation of a pump system with at least two pump assemblies (2) which are arranged parallel or in series to one another. The method includes determining a specific total power ES of the complete pump system which defines a total power in relation to a hydraulic total load of the complete pump system, determining a specific individual power EP,n of each pump assembly (2) which defines an individual power in relation to the individual hydraulic load of the respective pump assembly (2), computing an individual load factor Egain,n for each pump assembly (2) according to the equation E gain , n = E S E P , n and adapting the individual hydraulic load (Qn; Hn) of the pump assemblies (2) in dependence on a desired hydraulic load (QD; HD) as well as on the individual load factor Egain,n of the respective pump assembly (2).
US09790965B2

A hydraulic system for a construction machine having a protection device is disclosed, which can limit a flow rate of hydraulic fluid that is discharged from a hydraulic pump in accordance with a hydraulic fluid temperature and notify an operator of information on the hydraulic fluid temperature. The hydraulic system for a construction machine includes a hydraulic actuator operated by hydraulic fluid that is supplied from a hydraulic pump; a control valve installed in a flow path between the hydraulic pump and the hydraulic actuator to control a flow rate of the hydraulic fluid that is supplied from the hydraulic pump to the hydraulic actuator; an oil cooler installed in a return flow path from the control valve to an hydraulic fluid tank to cool the hydraulic fluid; a hydraulic fluid temperature sensor detecting in real time a hydraulic fluid temperature of the hydraulic fluid tank; a hydraulic pump regulator controlling a discharge flow rate of the hydraulic pump through adjustment of an inclination angle of a swash plate of the hydraulic pump; and a controller comparing the hydraulic fluid temperature detected by the hydraulic fluid temperature sensor with a predetermined hydraulic fluid temperature, and outputting a control signal to the hydraulic pump regulator so as to limit the discharge flow rate of the hydraulic pump to or below a predetermined flow rate if the detected hydraulic fluid temperature is equal to or lower than a predetermined lower limit value, or equal to or higher than a predetermined upper limit value.
US09790961B2

A blower and a method for decreasing eddy noise are provided. The blower includes a fan frame, a fan wheel, at least one induction element and a coil. The fan frame has in inlet and an outlet. The fan wheel is disposed in the fan frame and has a wheel hub and a plurality of fan blades connected to periphery of the wheel hub. The induction elements are fixed to the corresponding fan blades, the coil is disposed on the fan frame for driving the at least one induction element, such that the fan blade corresponding to the induction element swing back and forth to generate a vibration sound, and the vibration sound is counteracted with eddy noise generated when the fan wheel rotates. Moreover, the method for decreasing eddy noise is also provided.
US09790957B2

An object is to provide an air intake duct structure for a centrifugal fluid machine, capable of swirling the fluid introduced into the impeller in the reverse direction to increase the pressure ratio when the flow rate is high and swirling the fluid in the forward direction to avoid a surging when the flow rate is low, as well as securing a wide operating range, without using mechanical means. The centrifugal fluid machine 1 includes an impeller 12 mounted to a rotation shaft and a housing 4 for housing the impeller 12. The air intake duct structure 10 is for directing a fluid “f” to a rotational center 12a of the impeller 12 housed in the housing 4 via an intake duct portion 4a of the housing 4 protruding in an axial direction of the rotation shaft, the fluid “f” flowing in a substantially orthogonal direction to a rotational axis line 3. The air intake duct structure 10 comprises an inflow part 14 extending in the substantially orthogonal direction to the rotation axis line 3 and a transition part 16 connecting the inflow part 14 and the intake duct portion 14a of the housing 4. There is a virtual plane 20 orthogonal to the rotational axis line 3 and passing through a flow path cross-section of the inflow part 14, where an intersection 22 of the virtual plane 20 and the rotational axis line 3 is positioned within the transition part 16.
US09790956B2

There is provided a turbocharger bearing housing having no necessity to use a core and capable of achieving cost reduction. A bearing housing of a turbocharger contains a shaft connecting a turbine and a compressor and turnably supports the shaft. The bearing housing of the turbocharger is divided into a turbine-side housing disposed at a turbine side and a compressor-side housing disposed at a compressor side. The turbine-side housing and the compressor-side housing is subjected to machining to thereby form a cooling water passage for supplying cooling water and a lubricating oil passage for supplying lubricating oil.
US09790952B2

A seal monitoring and control system for a gas lubricated non-contacting seal includes various sensors providing signals to a programmable logic control system. The control system is disposed to determine a presence of an anomalous operating condition of the seal, for example, based on phase, relative position of rotor to stator or other signals in combination provided by the various sensors to provide an output signal, which in one embodiment performs at least one mitigating process to correct the anomalous operating condition by adjusting at least one operating parameter of the seal.
US09790948B2

A ceiling fan with an oscillating mechanism includes a clutch member for adjusting the angle of oscillation according to a user's need. When the motor is actuated, the rotating torque induced by the motor and the transmission mechanism is less than the rotational resistance of the clutch member such that the motor may drive the fan to oscillate. Further, when the user applies an external rotational force greater than the rotational resistance of the clutch member, the user can swing the fan to any angle as desired without rotating or shifting other members except the fan and the fan suspension tube. In this manner, undesired damage of the mechanism or motor due to inappropriately applied external force can be avoided efficiently.
US09790947B2

A fan assembly has a support structure and a motor fixed to the support structure. The motor has a stator, an outer rotor and a controller. Components of the controller are in a thermal exchange relationship with a plate-like heat sink at one end of the stator. A fan, fixed to the rotor, has a hollow hub from which blades extend. Air flows through inlet openings in a front wall of the hub. The heat sink has a slit with an outer side, axially offset from the inner side. A portion of the heat sink forms a wing deflecting part of the air flow coming from the inlet openings through the slit to pass over the surface of the heat sink.
US09790946B2

An exhaust pump includes: a cylindrical rotating member; an outer cylindrical fixed member; an inner cylindrical fixed member a helical inner thread groove exhaust passage provided between the cylindrical rotating member and the inner cylindrical fixed member; connecting opening portions that are opened in the cylindrical rotating member and that lead a part of gas existing in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the cylindrical rotating member towards the inner thread groove exhaust passage. A gap between an upstream end of the connecting opening portions and lowermost stage rotor blades provided at the outer periphery of the cylindrical rotating member which is located upstream of the connecting opening portions has a dimension equal to or greater than a dimension that enables insertion, into the gap, of a tool for opening the connecting opening portions.
US09790941B2

A compressor is provided and may include a shell, a hub, an insert, and at least one collar. The hub may be disposed within the shell and define an axis of rotation. The hub may include an axially extending aperture. The insert may be disposed within the aperture. The at least one collar may be disposed about the hub.
US09790939B2

A pump apparatus (1) comprises a pump head (2) and a container (20) for a liquid to be dispensed. The pump head (2) has a flexible dispensing tube (4) in fluid connection with the inside of the container (20). The fluid connection between the dispensing tube (4) and the inside of the container (20) is provided by a supply tube (28) which co-operates with the dispensing tube (4) to provide a non-return valve function. An end (48) of the supply tube (28) is disposed within an end of the dispensing tube (4) and the non-return valve function is provided by a hole (46) through a side wall of the supply tube (28) in a region where the dispensing tube (4) overlaps the supply tube, whereby the dispensing tube (4) provides a seal over the hole (46) to prevent ingress of fluid when the internal pressure is lower than the external pressure. Another aspect of the invention provides a container (20) for use in the pump apparatus.
US09790932B2

An actuated rotary valves for reciprocating compressors used in oil and gas industry, the valve including a stator with a stator opening, a rotor with a rotor opening, and an actuation mechanism. The actuation mechanism is configured to receive a rotation motion and to actuate the rotor to perform first an axial translation moving away from the stator and then a rotation. The actuation mechanism includes an outer shaft configured to receive the rotation motion, and an inner shaft inside the outer shaft and configured to rotate the rotor. The outer shaft is configured to rotate a predetermined angular displacement while pushing the rotor away from the stator before engaging the inner shaft to rotate together with the rotor.
US09790921B2

A method for adjusting a power parameter of a wind turbine is disclosed. The method includes determining a load parameter indicative of a mechanical load of the wind turbine; estimating a turbulence of a wind speed based on the determined load parameter; and adjusting the power parameter relating to a power of the wind turbine based on the estimated turbulence. A system for adjusting a power parameter of a wind turbine is also described.
US09790913B2

A wave energy converter (WEC) buoy includes at least one pitch-driven WEC (“PDWEC”) device. Each PDWEC device includes two reaction masses which are placed at diametrically opposite ends of a container designed to float along the surface of a body of water and to move in response to the pitching motion of the waves. The reaction masses are interconnected so that when one reaction mass moves up, the diametrically opposed reaction mass moves down, and vice-versa. The movement of the reaction masses drives power take off (PTO) devices to produce useful energy. The reaction masses may be interconnected by any suitable linking system. One or more PDWEC device may be combined with a heave responsive device to produce a WEC buoy which can produce a power output in response to pitch or heave motion.
US09790908B2

A common rail fuel injection device includes first and second flow rate regulating valves for regulating a delivery volume of a pressurized fuel feed pump that feeds pressurized fuel to a common rail, a pressure reducing valve for reducing a common rail pressure, and a control device. The control device for the common rail fuel injection device includes a first drive controlling unit that controls a first electromagnetic driving unit for the second flow rate regulating valve and a second electromagnetic driving unit for the pressure reducing valve, and a second drive controlling unit that controls a third electromagnetic driving unit for the first flow rate regulating valve. The first drive controlling unit prohibits a drive instruction from being sent to the second flow rate regulating valve when the first drive controlling unit sends a drive instruction to the pressure reducing valve.
US09790907B2

The invention relates to an injection device for an internal combustion engine, comprising a needle and an armature, which is operatively connected to the needle in such a way that a movement of the needle can be produced by movement of the armature, the armature having at least one passage bore, through which fuel can be conducted to a needle tip, characterized in that a longitudinal axis of the needle and a longitudinal axis of the passage bore are oriented askew in relation to each other.
US09790906B2

A fuel injector has a seat and at least one seat passage. The seat includes an outer tip surface through which the seat passage extends. Fin structure is provided in the outer tip surface and is constructed and arranged to increase a surface area of the outer tip surface as compared to a surface area of the outer tip surface absent the fin structure. The outer tip surface, including the fin structure, is constructed and arranged to be heated by combustion gases so that the outer tip surface reaches a temperature greater than a temperature that the outer tip surface would reach absent the fin structure, so as to cause evaporation of fuel that contacts the outer tip surface.
US09790900B2

An air cleaner structure for blocking an inflow of debris to prevent the debris from inflowing into an engine intake passage of an air cleaner housing when replacing a filter includes a rotator fixing the filter and a filter cover to the air cleaner housing and generating a rotating force to open and close the engine intake passage. An engine intake passage door opens and closes the engine intake passage by the rotating force of the rotator. A connector has one end connected to the rotator and another end connected to the engine intake passage door to deliver the rotating force to the engine intake passage door.
US09790899B2

An exhaust gas cooler and method of cooling are provided. The exhaust gas cooler includes an inlet and outlet manifold and respectively including inlet and outlet openings and respectively positioned at a first and second end of the cooler. The exhaust gas cooler includes a plurality of conduits coupled to the inlet and outlet manifold and also includes at least one side wall coupled to the inlet and outlet manifold around the plurality of conduits, such that the plurality of conduits are disposed in a region between the at least one side wall and the inlet and outlet manifold. The at least one sidewall includes a first coolant inlet opening and a first coolant outlet opening each adjacent a first end of the exhaust gas cooler, a second coolant inlet opening, and a second coolant outlet opening. The exhaust gas cooler includes a bypass conduit positioned outside of the region.
US09790887B2

A protection device for preventing automobile engines from abnormal starts comprises automobile batteries (10), a start motor (20) and a control circuit (30) disposed therebetween. The control circuit (30) comprises a main control unit MCU1, a start switch (31), a start relay (321) and a power supply relay (322), the coil of the start relay (321) being connected to the automobile batteries (10) through the normally closed contact of the power supply relay (322). The start relay in the present invention is connected to the batteries rather than directly but through the normally closed contact of the power supply relay. In addition to being controlled by the main control unit, the start relay is also controlled by the power supply relay, thereby providing additional insurance and more effective protection so as to avoid the damage of the start motor due to erroneous actions.
US09790882B2

An individual cylinder air-fuel ratio estimation of estimating an air-fuel ratio of an individual cylinder is performed on a sensed value of an air-fuel ratio sensor set in an exhaust gas collection part of an engine, and an individual cylinder air-fuel ratio control of controlling the air-fuel ratio of the individual cylinder is performed in such a way that a variation in the air-fuel ratio between the cylinders becomes small on the basis of an estimated air-fuel ratio of the individual cylinder. Further, it is determined whether or not a misfire of the engine is caused and when it is determined that the misfire of the engine is caused, the individual cylinder air-fuel ratio estimation and the individual cylinder air-fuel ratio control are stopped and an individual cylinder correction value by the individual cylinder air-fuel ratio control is reset. In this way, it is possible to avoid the individual cylinder air-fuel ratio control from being performed continuously as usual in a state where the air-fuel ratio of the individual cylinder cannot be controlled correctly due to the effect of the misfire.
US09790879B2

A start control device of a vehicular direct injection engine provided in a vehicle is configured to execute an ignition start to raise rotation of the direct injection engine at a start of the direct injection engine by fuel injection and multiple sparking performed for a predetermined cylinder in an expansion stroke out of multiple cylinders of the direct injection engine, the start control device of a vehicular direct injection engine reduces the number of times of sparking for the predetermined cylinder at the time of an ignition start of the direct injection engine as compared to an ignition start performed before the current ignition start based on ignition timing of the ignition start performed before the current ignition start.
US09790876B2

For exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) fueling control, at least one donor cylinder of a plurality of cylinders in an engine provides exhaust gas to an air intake for the plurality of cylinders. A fuel variable restriction initially provides fuel concurrent with an intake stroke for the at least one donor cylinder in response to a transition from withholding the fuel to the plurality of cylinders.
US09790875B2

An evaporative fuel processing apparatus executes a purge process when a predetermined purge condition is satisfied. A precondition, which is satisfied immediately before the satisfaction of the purge condition, is set. An operation of a purge pump is started at the time of satisfying the precondition. Thereafter, when the purge condition is satisfied, the purge valve is opened to execute the purge process. In this way, the time required for the purge pump to reach a rated rotational speed upon satisfaction of the purge condition can be shortened. Thus, the operating time period of the purge pump can be shortened, and the response delay of the purge can be avoided. That is, it is possible to limit shortage of the purge amount caused by the response delay.
US09790870B2

A method and device for processing a signal (CRK) provided by a bidirectional sensor, the method includes the following steps: generation of a first signal (CRK_CNT) utilizing all the slots of the signal provided by the sensor, generation of a second signal (CRK_FW) utilizing the slots corresponding to a first direction of transit, generation of a third signal (CRK_BW) utilizing the slots corresponding to a second direction of transit, connection of the first signal to the input of the first electronic component, connection of the second and third signals to a second component, detection by the second component of edges of the signals received, change of the value of the predefined threshold (THMI) in the first component upon each detection of an edge.
US09790864B2

A real-time gas turbine management system includes a controller system coupled to a gas turbine engine. The controller system is configured to control demand on a first and second component of a gas turbine engine. The controller system is configured to identify a set point reference of the first component, identify a set point reference of the second component, and identify a data set indicative of a level of deterioration of the gas turbine engine. The controller system is also configured to change the set point reference of the first component to extend a lifespan of the gas turbine engine and/or change the set point reference of the second component to extend the lifespan of the gas turbine engine.
US09790858B2

An intake-air cooling device is disposed on a rear-stage side of a pre-filter disposed on an intake-air inlet side of an intake-air duct for guiding intake air taken in from an intake-air inlet to a compressor, for cooling the intake air by spraying water to the intake air. The intake-air cooling device includes a plurality of nozzles configured to spray the water to the intake air, a plurality of water conduit pipes including the plurality of nozzles arranged in an axial direction of the plurality of water conduit pipes, and a plurality of supply pumps configured to supply the water to a corresponding one of the plurality of water conduit pipes. Each of the plurality of water conduit pipes is an endless member which has a different perimeter.
US09790841B2

An exhaust heat recovery system may include a coolant circulation circuit arranged to connect an engine, an exhaust heat exchanger, a radiator, a water-cooled intercooler, and a sub-radiator, and controls each valve arranged on a passage which connects the engine, the exhaust heat exchanger, the radiator, the water-cooled intercooler, and the sub-radiator to the coolant circulation circuit according to the coolant temperature so as to control temperatures of coolant and intake air, thereby enabling the engine to be rapidly warmed up.
US09790840B2

A fluid flow control device controls flow of coolant in a motor vehicle motor cooling system. The flow control device includes first and second coolant inlets and first and second coolant outlets. The flow control device is operable selectively to direct coolant flowing into the device to flow out from the flow device through one or both of the first and second outlets in dependence on a temperature of fluid flowing through the device.
US09790838B2

An engine cooling system for cooling a cylinder head and a cylinder block separately may include a cylinder block having cylinders arranged from a front side to a rear side of an engine with a block water jacket formed therein around the cylinders, a cylinder head fastened to a top side of the cylinder block with a head water jacket formed therein from the front side to the rear side of the engine, a water pump mounted to a front side of the cylinder block for pumping coolant to a front of the block water jacket, and a coolant control valve arranged in a rear side of the cylinder block and the cylinder head to have a first end connected to a rear end of the block water jacket and a second end connected to a rear end of the head water jacket for having the coolant supplied thereto.
US09790824B2

A system for actuating one or more engine valves comprises a lost motion assembly including locking elements to selectively lock and unlock a locking mechanism disposed within a valve train such that motions may be likewise selectively applied to, or prevented from being applied to, one or more engine valves. In an embodiment, the locking elements comprise wedges having at least one wedge inclined surface defined according to a cone frustum and configured to engage an outer recess formed in a housing, the outer recess comprising an outer recess inclined surface also defined according to the cone frustum. The device may comprise a locking mechanism disposed within a housing bore in the housing and a snubber also disposed in the housing bore. Furthermore, the outer recess may be configured to permit movement of the locking element along a longitudinal axis of the housing bore.
US09790812B2

A turbocharger is provided with an improved bearing which is formed as a floating ring bearing or a semi-floating ring bearing having a conical or hemispherical shape which supports both journal and thrust loads. The floating ring bearing may have conical floating ring bearings (70), (100), (180) that define inner and outer conical bearing surfaces (71), (108), (185) and (72), (109), (186) which cooperate on the inside with corresponding conical journals (75/76), (111/112), (187/188) that rotate with the shaft (53), and cooperate on the outside with a stationary bearing housing (52) to form inner and outer fluid films. Alternatively, the floating ring bearing may have a pair of hemispherical floating ring bearings (85), (140), (210) that have hemispherical inner and outer bearing surfaces (86), (144), (211) and (87), (145), (212) which form inner and outer fluid films. A semi-floating ring bearing may also be provided with these structures.
US09790809B2

A stator assembly for a gas turbine engine according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, at least one stator vane including a platform, a seal member connected to the platform, and a damper between the platform and the seal member. The damper includes a plurality of first fingers and a plurality of second fingers, which are provided in an alternating arrangement.
US09790806B2

One exemplary aspect of this disclosure relates to an assembly for a gas turbine engine having an engine axis. The assembly includes a case including an integrally formed projection configured to extend transverse to the engine axis. The assembly further includes an engine component including a flange configured for contact with the projection to limit motion of the component along the engine axis.
US09790799B2

A gas turbine airfoil is provided that is superior in the cooling performance of an end wall and in the thermal efficiency of a gas turbine. A gas turbine airfoil includes an airfoil portion having a cooling passage therein; and an end wall portion located at an inner band end portion of the airfoil portion in the turbine-radial direction. Cooling holes are disposed in the leading edge side hook portion of the end wall portion. The plurality of cooling holes are arranged at different distance of intervals in the circumferential direction of the gas turbine. Cooling air that has flowed in the cooling passage is configured to flow from the cooling holes toward the leading edge of the end wall portion.
US09790797B2

A gas turbine engine includes a spool, a turbine coupled to drive the spool, a propulsor coupled to be driven at a at a design speed by the turbine through the spool, and a gear assembly coupled between the propulsor and the spool. Rotation of the turbine drives the propulsor at a different speed than the spool. The propulsor includes a hub and a row of propulsor blades that extend from the hub. Each of the propulsor blades includes an airfoil body. The leading edge of the airfoil body has a swept profile such that, at the design speed, a component of a relative velocity vector of a working gas that is normal to the leading edge is subsonic along the entire radial span.
US09790795B2

A wind turbine blade includes a blade body whose chord length increases from a blade tip toward a blade root. The blade body includes a blade tip region located near the blade tip and whose chord length increases gradually toward the blade root, the blade tip region having a substantially constant first design lift coefficient, a maximum-chord-length position located near the blade root and having a maximum chord length, the maximum-chord-length position having a second design lift coefficient higher than the first design lift coefficient, and a transition region located between the blade tip region and the maximum-chord-length position. The transition region has a design lift coefficient increasing gradually from the first design lift coefficient to the second design lift coefficient in a direction from the blade tip toward the blade root.
US09790790B2

The present invention relates to a chisel device for a ground milling machine, comprising a chisel holder having a mounting orifice and a milling chisel, wherein the milling chisel has a basic body of, in particular, a uniform material and has a shaft and a tool region, said shaft being held, under working conditions, in the mounting orifice while the tool region (P) protrudes, under working conditions, from the chisel holder, wherein said milling chisel has a wear protection cap consisting of carbide and having a tip and a protective jacket, wherein the wear protection cap is positioned on the tool region (P) in such a manner that it covers at least 70% of the external surface of the tool region (P). The present invention also relates to a milling chisel for such a chisel device.
US09790788B2

A method of predicting a property of an earth formation includes: injecting a fluid into at least one pre-existing feature of the formation at a plurality of constant pressures or flow rates; measuring a response from the at least one pre-existing feature at each of the plurality of constant pressures or flow rates; and estimating at least one property of the at least one pre-existing feature based on the response. An apparatus for predicting a property of an earth formation is also disclosed.
US09790786B2

A network management system for a wireless communications network adaptively selects wireless modems to use in communicating messages between a control system and downhole equipment. The wireless modems are selected based on a monitored signal to noise ratio. The network management system may be centralized within the network or within a surface control system or can be decentralized so that a plurality of the wireless modems can adaptively determine routing in the network. The network management systems can be used in conjunction with a backbone network architecture to achieve further efficiencies in network throughput.
US09790783B2

The invention relates to a device for determining the depth and orientation of a feature in a wellbore, and to a corresponding method. It also relates to a downhole apparatus for performing an operation in a well comprising a device for determining the depth and orientation of a feature in a wellbore and a device for performing the operation. In an embodiment, a downhole device (42) for determining the depth and orientation of a feature (24, 26, 28) in a wellbore (12) containing a ferrous tubing (14) is disclosed, the device comprising: at least one magnetic field sensor (44) for monitoring the inherent magnetic field of the ferrous tubing so that the presence of the feature can be detected; and at least one orientation sensor (48) for determining the orientation of the device within the wellbore. An output from the at least one magnetic field sensor is correlated with an output from the at least one orientation sensor so that the orientation of the feature detected by the at least one magnetic field sensor within the wellbore can be determined.
US09790781B2

A method and system for determining information about a wellbore with coiled tubing. A downhole device may be positioned within coiled tubing and run down the wellbore to determine diagnostic information about a location with the wellbore. The downhole device may store diagnostic information in a storage device that may be analyzed when the device is returned to the surface. A downhole device may be connected to the end of a string of coiled tubing that includes a diagnostic device and memory sealed in a chamber. A flow path past the chamber is in communication with the coiled tubing string permitting the flow of fluid past the chamber. A downhole device including a diagnostic device may be connected to a recess in an exterior of a coiled tubing string.
US09790779B2

An oil and gas well gas separator that operates in conjunction with an isolation means and a tail pipe to reduce the pressure gradient of the well fluids flowing up the tailpipe, to thereby reduce the well's producing bottom hole pressure.
US09790774B2

Methods for creating or enhancing a fracture in a subterranean formation include introducing a pad fluid into a formation at a rate and pressure sufficient to create or enhance at least one fracture therein. The pad fluid can include a pad base fluid, micro-proppant particulates, a gas-generating chemical, and an activator, and wherein either the gas-generating chemical or the activator or both are encapsulated. The methods can include placing the micro-proppant particulates, etc. into the fracture; releasing the activator from its encapsulation; reacting the gas-generating chemical and the activator in the fracture so as to generate gas and heat, thereby creating or enhancing at least one microfracture therein; introducing a fracturing fluid into the formation, wherein the fracturing fluid comprises a fracturing base fluid and macro-proppant particulates and placing the macroproppant particulates into the fracture so as to form a proppant pack therein.
US09790772B2

An improved bypass valve assembly for a plunger lift apparatus comprises a bypass valve cage having improved flow characteristics and a simplified clutch assembly having enhanced durability and low cost.
US09790769B2

A method for selecting at least one drill bit that includes characterizing an application; checking for at least one drill bit with an equivalent characterization in a data store; when the at least one drill bit with the equivalent characterization exists, selecting the at least one drill bit with the equivalent characterization; and when the at least one drill bit with the equivalent characterization does not exist, recommending at least one drill bit, making an analysis request, analyzing the at least one recommended drill bit based on the analysis request, generating analysis results, and selecting at least one drill bit based on the analysis results is disclosed.
US09790762B2

Corrodible wellbore plugs, systems and methods are disclosed herein. The methods include flowing a corrodible wellbore plug that is at least partially formed from a corrodible metal to a downhole location within a wellbore conduit and retaining the corrodible wellbore plug at the downhole location by operatively engaging an engagement structure with a wellbore tubular that defines the wellbore conduit. The methods include pressurizing a portion of the wellbore conduit uphole from the corrodible wellbore plug and flowing a corrosive reservoir fluid from the subterranean formation into contact with the corrodible metal to release the corrodible wellbore plug from the downhole location. The methods also may include removing the wellbore plug without utilizing a drill-out process. The systems include a corrodible wellbore plug that includes a plug body and a retention mechanism, which includes a slip ring formed from the corrodible metal and that includes the engagement structure.
US09790758B2

Apparatus useful for providing a liquid-tight seal around cellar formed around a hydrocarbon exploration or production well includes a reusable load-supporting surface having at least two mats surrounding and spaced-away from the borehole opening. At least one spanner is configured to extend between the cellar wall and mats. At least one elongated spanner support is used to mechanically couple one or more spanners to the cellar wall. At least one elongated lip support is used to mechanically couple one or more spanners to the mats.
US09790754B2

A method of plugging a flow passage in a well can include conveying a plug into an isolation tool in the well, and then contracting a plug seat of the isolation tool. An isolation tool for plugging a flow passage in a subterranean well can include a piston, and a longitudinally displaceable plug seat. The plug seat longitudinally displaces in response to displacement of the piston. Another method of plugging a flow passage can include conveying a plug into an isolation tool in the well, and then longitudinally displacing a plug seat of the isolation tool, thereby radially contracting the plug seat.
US09790751B2

An apparatus includes a carriage movable along a drilling tower, a linking member pivotally coupled to the carriage, at least one actuator extending between the carriage and the linking member to pivot the linking member between first and second pivot positions, and a top drive pivotally coupled to the linking member. According to another aspect, an apparatus includes a drilling tower, a carriage movably coupled to the drilling tower, a linking member pivotally coupled to the carriage to permit the linking member to pivot between first and second pivot positions, and a top drive extending longitudinally in a parallel relation to the drilling tower, the top drive being pivotally coupled to the linking member to permit the top drive to continue to extend longitudinally in a parallel relation to the drilling tower when the linking member pivots between the first and second pivot positions.
US09790750B1

A handling tool is disclosed that includes a body having a high-stress location, a pocket formed in the high stress location, and a sensor adhered to a surface of the pocket and oriented along an axis of the body. The high stress location may be in a hinged plate of the body, a door latch of the body, and/or adjacent an ear of the body.
US09790746B2

Polycrystalline compacts include a polycrystalline material comprising a plurality of inter-bonded grains of hard material, and a metallic material disposed in interstitial spaces between the inter-bonded grains of hard material. At least a portion of the metallic material comprises a metal alloy that includes two or more elements. A first element of the two or more elements comprises at least one of cobalt, iron, and nickel. A second element of the two or more elements comprises at least one of dysprosium, yttrium, terbium, gadolinium, germanium, samarium, neodymium, and praseodymium. The metal alloys may comprise eutectic or near-eutectic compositions, and may have relatively low melting points. Cutting elements and earth-boring tools include such polycrystalline compacts. Methods include the formation of such polycrystalline compacts, cutting elements, and earth-boring tools.
US09790734B1

A reinforcing structure for a door includes a first region constructed from a first grade of corrugated paperboard and second and third regions constructed from a second grade of corrugated paperboard. The first region may be expandable and the second and third regions may be non-expandable. A method for installing the reinforcing structure in a door having a frame and two opposed skins with recessed areas includes installing the reinforcing structure on the surfaces of the recessed areas between the skins.
US09790731B1

Fenestration units with spacer blocks and methods of manufacturing the same are described herein. The fenestration units may include shim wedges that cooperate with the spacer blocks to raise the fenestration unit within a rough opening.
US09790729B2

A system for monitoring a vehicle used in providing a service is disclosed. The system detects when the service is complete, and upon detecting that the service is complete, the system determines, from one or more sensors of the vehicle, that an object which should have been removed from the vehicle after completion of the transport service, remains in the vehicle. The system then automatically initiates performance of a remedial action.
US09790728B2

A single-rail window regulator for moving a side window of a vehicle in an upward direction and in a downward direction includes a guide rail defining and a carrier plate having a central guide structure for movably engaging the guide rail, a first lateral extension extending to a first lateral side of the guide rail, and a second lateral extension extending to a second lateral side of the guide rail body opposite the first lateral side. The carrier plate has a first cable attachment pocket on the first lateral extension and a second cable attachment pocket on the second lateral extension. Accordingly, the two attachment pockets are arranged on opposite lateral sides. As one cable end pulls the carrier plate upward and the other cable end pulls the carrier plate downward, the arrangement causes torques in the same rotational direction, even when reversing the direction of movement.
US09790716B2

A sliding door lock system has a centrally-disposed operator. The operator has a casing with a trigger retractably extended from the casing. An operator mechanism disposed in the casing is operatively engaged with the trigger. A lock remotely disposed from the operator has a housing. A pair of opposed locking hooks extend from the housing and a spring biases each hook into an unlocked position. A block pivotably connected to the housing is configured to engage the hooks when the hooks are in a locked position. An elongate member operably connects the operator mechanism to the block.
US09790714B1

A security cover assembly for limiting access to a utility shut off valve through an open topped curb box, including a security screw extending through a hole in a cover member, the cover member configured to cover the open top of the curb box to enabling moving of the clamping plate up and down in the curb box by rotation of the security screw in respective opposite directions. A cutout into the clamping plate perimeter allows the clamping plate to be lowered to a level in the curb box beneath a flange projecting radially inwardly from an outer wall of the curb box. In the lowered position, the clamping plate may be rotated with the cover assembly to position a portion of the clamping plate beneath an underside of the flange. The clamping plate is thereafter elevated to be engaged with the underside of the flange upon rotation of the security screw in a direction raising the clamping plate. Rotation of the cover assembly back in the opposite direction to align the cutout in the clamping plate with the flange can be done once the clamping plate is lowered out of engagement with the underside of the flange by rotation of the security screw in an opposite direction, allowing the cover assembly to be lifted out of the curb box and thereby permitting access to the shut off valve.
US09790704B2

A fiber-reinforced composite structure, such as a cross arm for use in the power industry, having a rectangular outer cross-sectional shape and an inner hollow core having a curvilinear cross-sectional shape.
US09790695B1

A control system for controlling operation of an implement based, at least, on a pre-determined implement control plan, includes a relative positioning system, a controller, and one or more actuators. The relative positioning system is configured for determining positioning of the and utilize input from perception sensors to determine relative positioning signals. The controller is configured to determine a resume position for a next operation of the implement based on the predetermined implement control plan and at least one of the relative positioning signals and an end position of a previous operation of the implement. The controller may further be configured to determine implement control signals based on, at least, the resume position. The one or more actuators are each operatively associated with one or both of the implement and machine and configured to receive the implement control signals and position the implement based on the implement control signals.
US09790688B2

An apparatus, system and method for detecting defects in building structures is provided. The apparatus includes a detector operable to determine an indication of the defect; and a transmitter operable to wirelessly transmit the indication from the apparatus to a central controller. The system includes the detection unit; a locator operable to determine the location of the detection unit; and a memory for storing the indication and the location in association with each other. The memory may be part of a central controller in wireless communication with the detection unit. The apparatus or central controller may include a processor operable to determine from a plurality of measurements performed by the detection unit a resultant measurement vector indicating a direction from the detection unit toward the defect. The detection unit may be operable to autonomously change its location. A display showing resultant measurement vectors at various locations can be produced.
US09790683B1

A tensioned panel extended insulation system includes a support structure, a panel support structure and a pair of insulation panels. A telescoping tube extended insulation system includes a support structure and a ceiling sheet material. A rafter clip may be attached to a rafter for attachment of an end of the support structure. A cable arched telescoping tube extended insulation system includes an arched support structure, an adjustable spacer, a cable and the ceiling sheet material. A bar joist extended insulation system includes a support structure, an insulation support structure and an ceiling sheet material. A bar joist extended insulation system may be arched. A system for installing ceiling sheet material in buildings preferably includes either two roller supports or two sheave supports, a middle section, a first end section and a second end section. A rotary strut could also be used to replace an existing strut.
US09790676B2

A delayed shutoff device comprises a conduit configured to allow a fluid to flow through, wherein the conduit includes a conduit start and a conduit end. The device further comprises a plug configured to be placed inside the conduit at the conduit start; move inside the conduit from the conduit start toward the conduit end when the fluid flows through the conduit; and reduce the fluid flow upon reaching the conduit end. The device is configured to allow a pass-through quantity of the fluid to pass through the conduit while the plug moves from the conduit start to the conduit end. The conduit end may form a seat, the plug being configured to stop moving upon reaching the seat. The plug may be configured to fit the seat imperfectly, to allow a seepage of the fluid after reaching the seat.
US09790674B1

A work table is converted to a portable sink by joining the work table to a faucet spigot for connection to a water source. A removable water plate has a rear wall that extends upwardly from the upper surface of the water plate. The water plate further defines an opening that directs liquid(s) (e.g., water) to a drain. The rear wall of the water plate is removably insertable into a space or gap in a back wall of the table or work surface to mount the water plate between the faucet spigot and the work surface. A cassette defining an internal compartment that leads to a drain may be mounted to a back surface of the back wall of the work table. When a cassette is so mounted, the rear wall of the water plate then may be held inside the cassette, slidably engaged between a rod support inside the cassette and an internal wall of the cassette.
US09790655B1

The present disclosure discloses a system and a method for injecting a composition into soil. The composition is passed under pressure into a filler tube housed within an expandable element situated in a first hole. When the composition is pumped, therein the filler tube is raised and, the expandable element expands when the composition fills the expandable element, thereby solidifying the adjacent soil. Further, due to expansion, the structure above the ground is lifted. The rate of pumping the composition into the filler tube is determined by pressure of the composition, the type of soil, or by the chemical reaction detected by a first sensor and/or a second sensor present in a second or third hole. The material injected into the ground improves the soils beneath a structure, such as a house to create a resistance once the material permeates the soil and expands.
US09790647B2

A method and system for providing an artificial turf edge. In one embodiment, the system includes: a main body portion having a bottom surface, an interior side surface, an exterior side surface and a top surface; an anchoring portion extending downwardly from the bottom surface, wherein the anchoring portion is configured to be driven downwardly into a ground surface to anchor the main body portion to the ground surface; and a plurality of artificial turf blades extending outwardly from the exterior side surface.
US09790646B2

An underlayment layer is configured to support an artificial turf assembly. The underlayment layer comprises a core with a top side and a bottom side. The top side has a plurality of spaced apart, upwardly oriented projections that define channels suitable for fluid flow along the top side of the core when the underlayment layer is positioned beneath an overlying artificial turf assembly.
US09790645B2

A paving system for paving or flooring includes a top layer of a plurality of paving elements, and an underlayment support layer of a polymeric material configured into panels. The panels are suitable to support the paving elements, the panels having a generally planar support surface.
Patent Agency Ranking