US09975454B2
The present invention generally relates to passenger seats. Some embodiments are related to a compact seat kinematic for moving a seat from a retracted position to an extended position. In some embodiments an intermediate component may be provided for coupling between a lower frame and an upper seat portion. The intermediate component (230) may translate in a forward direction relative to the lower frame and may translate the upper seat portion in the forward direction relative to the intermediate component. Other embodiments relate to a seat backrest recline system that may provide constant ratio of speed and force and may forgo the need for calibration.
US09975451B2
A powertrain system including an internal combustion engine, a transmission and an electric machine is described, and includes the electric machine rotatably coupled to a crankshaft of the internal combustion engine. The transmission is coupled to a driveline to transfer tractive torque and braking torque thereto. A method for controlling the electric machine includes determining a short-term axle torque capacity, a long-term axle torque capacity and a maximum regenerative braking stall torque capacity, and determining an operator request for braking. A preferred regenerative braking capacity is determined based upon the short-term axle torque capacity, the long-term regenerative braking capacity, the engine stall regenerative braking capacity and the operator request for braking. Torque output from the electric machine is controlled based upon the preferred regenerative braking capacity.
US09975449B2
A power convertor including an inverter driving a motor generator, a first DC/DC converter connected to a DC bus of the inverter, a second DC/DC converter varying voltage of the DC bus, and a control device controlling the inverter, the first DC/DC converter, and the second DC/DC converter. The power converter is a power conversion device setting voltage of the DC bus in a second control state higher than a voltage of the DC bus in a first control state by controlling the second DC/DC converter according to the control device. By setting the voltage of the DC bus of the inverter to a low voltage when it is not necessary, it is possible to reduce loss in the inverter and the step-down DC/DC converter, and to downsize the inverter and the step-down DC/DC converter.
US09975448B2
Electromechanical systems using magnetic fields to induce eddy currents and generate lift are described. Magnet configurations which can be employed in the systems are illustrated. The magnet configuration can be used to generate lift and/or thrust. Arrangements of hover engines, which can employ the magnet configurations, are described. Methods of controlling translating hover engines to operate at a zero drag condition are described.
US09975445B2
Forms of the disclosure relate to a vehicle, a vehicle control system, a display apparatus for vehicle, a terminal apparatus and a control method of the vehicle. The control method of a vehicle comprises receiving an input of a charge request period after the vehicle is electrically connected to an external power source, determining a power distribution rate of a rechargeable battery and at least one of peripheral device based on the charge request period, displaying the power distribution rate, receiving an input of an adjustment command related to the power distribution rate and distributing and supplying a power, which is supplied to the vehicle, to at least one of the rechargeable battery or the at least one peripheral device, according to a power distribution rate that is adjusted based on the adjustment command.
US09975427B2
A vehicle user interface system including an operation device, a display device, and a control device, is provided. The operation device is positioned at a position where a driver operates, and inputting multiple operations. The display device displays a display image with using a windshield. The control device controls the display device to display multiple icons, which are selectable by operating the operation device. In a case where a selected icon, which has been selected among the multiple icons displayed by the display device, is distinguishably displayed, the control device controls the display device to display an operation display image and the selected icon. The operation display image indicates one of the multiple operations to which a processing is assigned among the multiple operations.
US09975420B2
An adjustment device for adjusting an air inlet of a motor compartment of a motor vehicle between at least a first position in which the air inlet is substantially open and a second position in which the air inlet is substantially closed, comprising a drive unit for adjusting the air inlet between at least the first position and the second position, wherein the drive unit comprises a compound drive system.
US09975412B1
A moon roof system includes a moon roof, a roller shade and a multifunction drive system. That multifunction drive system includes a single drive motor including a drive shaft, a first drive link connected to a first accessory or moon roof, a second drive link connected to a second accessory or roller shade and a transmission for selectively connecting the drive shaft to the first drive link and the second drive link. A related method is also provided.
US09975408B2
The present disclosure describes various vehicle window assemblies including a photochromic window and a mounting assembly surrounding at least part of the window. The mounting assembly may be sized and configured for mounting to the cabin of a vehicle. The photochromic window may include a region configured to at least partially inhibit transmission of light in a visible, IR or UV frequency range upon exposure to a level of light.
US09975406B2
A smell generation time predicting device is used for a vehicle air conditioner which includes an evaporator installed in an internal path of an air conditioner case and configured to, when the air conditioner is turned on, cool air blown into a vehicle room. The device includes a first temperature detector, a second temperature detector, and a control unit. The first temperature detector and the second temperature detector are installed at a downstream side of the evaporator in a mutually spaced-apart relationship. The control unit is configured to, when the air conditioner is turned off, predict a smell generation time in the evaporator depending on a temperature difference between the air temperatures detected by the first temperature detector and the second temperature detector.
US09975404B2
A vehicle power adjusting device, applied in auxiliary dynamic loads on a vehicle comprises a control chip, a temperature sensor, a speed detecting wire, and a relay; when the power for starting the vehicle is insufficient, auxiliary dynamic load is closed to release power, such that the power for starting is sufficient, so as to decrease the accelerating time, reduce toxic emission and enable the auxiliary dynamic load by using the surplus power during the cruising vehicle and the wasted power during the decelerating vehicle, thereby achieving the purpose of reducing the energy consumption, having powerful starting, completing combustion, reducing exhaust gas, and also saving fuel, reducing carbon emission and protecting environment effects.
US09975403B2
A refrigeration system having a refrigeration unit (22) for providing temperature conditioned air to a temperature controlled space, an engine (26) and an electric generation device (24) driven by the engine, is provided with a battery system (28) for supplying electric power. A method of operating the transport refrigeration includes, during a high cooling demand mode, operating the engine (26) to drive the electric generation device (24) for supplying electric power and simultaneously employing the battery system (28) for supplying electric power to jointly power the plurality of power demand loads (50, 42, 46, 48) of the refrigerant unit.
US09975401B2
An apparatus for avoiding windowpane misting in a vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle, by activating an anti-misting mode on the basis of measured values of the air humidity and air temperature in the interior of the vehicle and the outside temperature in the environment of the vehicle, a dew or frost point being determined from the measured values. The determination of the dew or frost point is based on variables which are the measured values of the air humidity and the air temperature plus their respective tolerances.
US09975391B2
Arrangements (e.g., method, apparatus, computer-readable non-transitory media embodying a program) for compensating for understeer or oversteer behavior in a vehicle having a fully active suspension, including: determining whether an understeer or oversteer condition exists; determining a compensation torque needed to correct the understeer or oversteer condition; and generating the compensation torque by using the fully active suspension to shift tire loads between tires.
US09975390B2
A head bearing arrangement for connecting a spring strut to a vehicle body includes a head bearing housing and a spring plate on which a load-bearing spring of the spring strut is supported. The spring plate is arranged on the head bearing housing. The spring plate is arranged on the head bearing housing by way of a conical seat, wherein a toothing is inserted in the conical seat between the spring plate and the head bearing housing.
US09975388B2
An upper mount assembly for a shock absorber of an automotive vehicle. The upper mount assembly comprises a top plate and a bottom plate spaced from the top plate. The top and bottom plates are fixedly secured to the vehicle and operatively coupled to the shock absorber. An inner hub is seated between the top and bottom plate. A damper is supported by the inner hub between the top and bottom plate for cooperating with the shock absorber. The damper includes a plurality of spaced apart grooves formed therein for selectively varying the spring rate of the damper to absorb loads from the shock absorber.
US09975376B2
Systems and methods are disclosed for aircraft wheels and brakes systems for use in, for example, an aircraft. In this regard, a damper for an axle may comprise a cylindrical canister defining a cavity configured to be inserted into a bore of the axle, the cavity at least partially filled with a damping material. The damper may act as a particle damper or a tuned mass damper to mitigate harmonic vibration of the axle and therefore the wheel and brake system.
US09975373B2
The invention relates to an item comprising a mounting and at least one design element, such as a decorative element, embedded in the mounting, the mounting including at least one free surface portion, at least one first and one second body of material underlying the surface portion, a recess for the design element being made in the first and second bodies of the mounting and said design element being arranged in the recess, characterized in that the design element includes a first portion, which is visible from the free surface portion of the mounting, and a lateral extension relative to the first portion, said extension being covered by the first body of material so as to prevent any movement of the design element out of the recess.
US09975369B2
A power control device includes a heating section, an input section, and a control section. The heating section is configured to heat an object. The input section is configured to receive a power consumption value. The control section is configured to control the heating section so that a total power value obtained by adding a power consumption value of the heating section and the power consumption value received by the input section does not exceed a predetermined power value.
US09975368B2
Fanfold and/or perforated media comprising a substrate including one or more friable coatings and an overcoat covering at least a portion of the one or more friable coatings proximate to one or more associated fanfolds and/or perforations is provided, wherein the overcoat mitigates spallation of the one or more friable coatings. Methods and apparatus for making the same are also disclosed.
US09975360B2
An example disclosed printer configured to peel media from a backing includes a peeler assembly that is engageable between a peeling position, wherein the printer is configured to peel the media from the backing, and a non-peeling position, wherein the printer is not configured to peel the media from the backing; a sensor configured to send a signal corresponding to a position of the peeler assembly; and a printer controller configured to receive the position of the peeler assembly from the sensor and configured to adjust at least one print setting in response to receiving the signal corresponding to the position of the peeler assembly.
US09975359B2
A system for controlling an operation of feeding recording media from a plurality of physical medium containers of an output apparatus includes at least one memory to store output-related media/container information including logical information, property information of the recording media, and information of the plurality of physical medium containers by associating the logical information and the property information of the recording media, and associating the logical information and the information of the plurality of physical medium containers, and circuitry configured to generate an output instruction including logical information, extract the logical information from the output instruction, and identify one or more physical medium containers each containing a specific recording medium to be used in performing an image forming operation by referring the property information of the recording media and the information of the plurality of physical medium containers each associated with the extracted logical information in the memory.
US09975350B2
A light scanning apparatus, including: a light source; a rotary polygon mirror configured to deflect a light beam emitted from the light source; a plurality of optical members configured to guide the light beam, which is deflected by the rotary polygon mirror, to a photosensitive member; a drive motor configured to rotate the rotary polygon mirror; an optical box to which the light source is attached, the optical box containing the rotary polygon mirror, the drive motor, and the optical members; and a dynamic vibration absorber mounted inside the optical box and configured to be vibrated by vibrations of the optical box, wherein the plurality of optical members are supported on a bottom portion of the optical box, and the dynamic vibration absorber is disposed on the bottom portion of the optical box at a position between at least two adjacent optical members among the plurality of optical members.
US09975347B2
A liquid is reliably supplied to a liquid ejection head through a plurality of supply paths. The liquid is supplied to a plurality of areas of the liquid ejection head through the plurality of supply paths and a liquid ejection amount per unit time from the liquid ejection head is controlled so that a liquid flow amount of each of the areas becomes a predetermined flow amount or less.
US09975332B2
A drive circuit for driving a capacitive load includes a power supply unit that boosts a single voltage and includes multiple voltage boosting circuits which generate power supply voltages different from each other; a drive circuit that amplifies an original drive signal based on a power supply voltage which is generated by at least one of the multiple voltage boosting circuits and generates a drive signal; in which the power supply unit controls the voltage boosting circuit, which generates the power supply voltage that is not used for amplification, to stop voltage boosting.
US09975323B2
In one aspect, methods of printing a color 3D article are described herein. In some embodiments, a method described herein comprises receiving data representing a surface colorization of the article, and transforming the data representing the surface colorization of the article into voxel data of the article. The voxel data comprises (a) location values and at least one of (b) color values and (c) transparency values for a plurality of columns of voxels normal or substantially normal to a surface of the article. The method further comprises selectively depositing layers of one or more build materials onto a substrate to form the article in accordance with the voxel data. In addition, at least one column of the plurality of columns of voxels exhibits a surface color resulting from a combination of colors of a plurality of voxels of the column.
US09975320B2
Embodiments of the disclosure generally relate to heated substrate supports having a protective coating thereon. The protective coating is formed from pure yttria or alloys predominantly of yttria. The protective coating is diffusion bonded to the heater plate of the substrate support. Two distinct silicon containing layers are formed between the heater plate and the protective coating as the result of the diffusion bonding.
US09975319B2
A method of using an adhesive sheet material application squeegee and method of applying an adhesive sheet material are disclosed. The method includes securing a portion of adhesive sheet material to a surface and applying the adhesive sheet material to the surface with the adhesive sheet material application squeegee.
US09975317B2
Provided is a composite body in which a resin and a metal are contact-bonded with excellent adhesive force. Also provided is a composite body which is suppressed in decrease of bonding strength between a resin and a metal due to water absorption of the resin even if the composite body is left in rain or water, or is left in a high humidity environment or the like for a long period of time. The present invention relates to a composite body which is obtained by contact-bonding a thermoplastic resin (A) and a metal (B), and which is characterized in that the thermoplastic resin (A) is a polyamide elastomer (1A) or a thermoplastic resin composition (2A) that contains a water absorbent thermoplastic resin (2a) and a metal hydroxide (2b).
US09975315B2
A tapered interlayer comprising at least one resin layer and a having tapered zone with a wedge angle of at least 0.13 mrad. The first resin layer comprises a first poly(vinyl acetal) resin and at least one RI balancing agent. The refractive index of the first resin layer is at least 1.480.
US09975312B2
A molded article, comprises: an insert comprising metal, glass, and combinations comprising at least one of the foregoing; a composition injection molded in a first shot on at least a portion of the insert forming a part; and a thermoplastic material injection molded on at least a portion of the part in a second shot of a double shot process. The composition comprises: a) an aromatic polycarbonate (PC) and poly(1,4-cyclohexane dimethylene 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate) (PCCD), the weight ratio of PC to PCCD being in the range of 30 to 90 PC to 70 to 10 PCCD, b) glass fiber greater than or equal to 0.75 mm in length and the quantity of glass fiber from 1 to 50 wt. % of the composition, and c) the refractive index of the polycarbonate and PCCD closely matching the refractive index of the glass fiber and being in the range of from 1.540 to 1.570.
US09975311B2
A phenolic resin foam laminated sheet comprising a phenolic resin foam; and a face material for covering a surface of the phenolic resin foam, wherein the phenolic resin foam contains a hydrocarbon, a chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon or a combination thereof, a density of the phenolic resin foam is 10 kg/m3 or higher and 100 kg/m3 or lower, an average cell diameter of the phenolic resin foam is 5 μm or larger and 200 μm or smaller, a closed cell content of the phenolic resin foam is 85% or higher and 99% or lower, and an absolute value of a dimensional charge rate of the phenolic resin foam after 70° C. for 48 hours is 0.49% or lower.
US09975307B2
A piece of furniture such as a standing desk is constructed of intersecting folded prisms provided with a novel slot joint system which affords lateral and torsional stability, simplicity, and long life to such furniture.
US09975303B2
Apparatus for transforming plastic parisons into plastic containers includes a transforming station having a blow mold within which plastic parisons can be expanded by application of a gaseous medium. The blow mold has a base part arranged releasably on a support. The transforming station has at least one first connector for supplying a flowable temperature control medium to the transforming station, and this supply of the temperature control medium can be disconnected via the connector. The fastening mechanism has a release element which is movable in a predetermined straight direction. By displacement of this release element into a first predetermined position fastening of the base part on the support is releasable and by displacement of this release element into a second predetermined position the base part can be fastened on the support.
US09975296B2
An apparatus and method for making a three-dimensional object from a solidifiable paste is shown and described. The apparatus includes a pastes spreader, at least a portion of which extends into the solidifiable paste. The container holding the solidifiable paste and the spreader are movable relative to one another. In one system, the spreader vibrates as the container and the spreader move relative to one another. In another system, the spreader is part of a spreader assembly in which a first spreader and second spreader are angled with respect to one another, and the assembly is rotatable and lockable into multiple rotational positions. A paste dispenser is also described which is configured to dispense paste while moving along a travel axis. The apparatus and method allow three-dimensional objects to be progressively built upside down by ensuring that the previously solidified object section has a substantially homogeneous layer of solidifiable material available for forming a new layer of the solidified object prior to exposure to solidification energy.
US09975285B2
A device for manufacturing an interior material having a hollow, which forms an injection body below a cloth by inserting the cloth between an upper mold and a lower mold and closing a mold and thereafter, injecting a resin between the cloth and the lower mold, may include a filling area part in which the resin is fillable and a non-filling area part in which filling the resin is cut off, which are formed between the upper mold and the lower mold, the non-filling area part being positioned in the filling area part; and a reference gate for supplying the resin injected between the upper mold and the lower mold to the filling area part, which is formed in the non-filling area part.
US09975270B2
Method for manufacturing an aerogel-containing composite, said method comprising the steps of: providing fibers, at least some of which are first fibers, such as mineral fibers, polymer fibers, cellulose fibers, or other types of fibers, in an amount of from 3 to 80 wt % of the total weight of starting materials, providing an aerogel particulate material in an amount of from 10 to 75 wt % of the total weight of starting materials, providing a binder in an amount of from 1 to 30 wt % of the total weight of starting materials, suspending the fibers in a primary air flow and suspending the aerogel particulate material in the primary air flow, thereby mixing the suspended aerogel particulate material with the suspended fibers, mixing the binder with the fibers and/or aerogel particulate material before, during or after mixing of the fibers with the aerogel particulate material, collecting the mixture of fibers, aerogel particulate material and binder and pressing and curing the mixture to provide a consolidated composite with a density of from 120 kg/m3 to 800 kg/m3. With this method homogeneous composites can be produced.
US09975268B2
A portable cutting device having a cutting tool for cutting a material. The cutting device includes a motor driving the cutting tool and a shroud at least partially enclosing the cutting tool. The shroud defines a debris accumulation chamber for gathering debris created by the cutting tool cutting the material. An impeller is operatively coupled to the motor and driven by the motor to create suction pressure to draw the debris out of the debris accumulation chamber and into a collection bag.
US09975265B2
A method of manufacturing a chain (1), such as a cutting chain for a chain saw, includes providing or pre-assembling a plurality of chain sub-units (10). At least a sufficient property and/or a sufficient functionality of each chain sub-unit (10) are tested. A head-to-tail coupling is combined with the plurality of chain sub-units (10) provided with the sufficient property and/or sufficient functionality of the testing step to make a chain (1) of a predefined length.
US09975260B2
Apparatus and method for sharpening a cutting tool so as to have enhanced cutting performance. In some embodiments, a tool sharpener is provided having a rigid body with a slot extending therein. A knurl roller is disposed within an internal cavity within the rigid body and mounted for rotation about a selected axis adjacent the slot to facilitate a cold forging operation upon a cutting edge of a cutting tool via insertion of the cutting edge into the slot and retraction of the cutting tool across the knurl roller. An abrasive member is affixed to the rigid body to facilitate a sharpening operation upon the cutting edge by advancement of the cutting edge thereacross.
US09975254B2
A rigid magnetic tag line safety tool is an apparatus that allows a user to guide and connect to a steel plate as it is placed onto or removed from a trench. The rigid magnetic tag line safety tool includes a handle bar, an electrically insulative shaft, a universal joint, a stator, and a magnetized rotor. The handle bar allows a user to grip the apparatus. The handle bar is positioned perpendicular to the electrically insulative shaft and is mounted adjacent to the first shaft end. The electrically insulative shaft distances the user from the steel plate. The stator is pivotably mounted to the second shaft end by the universal joint such that the present invention is not hindered by the varied path of a steel plate being positioned onto or removed from a trench. The magnetized rotor is rotatably mounted to the stator and attaches to the steel plate.
US09975252B2
A gripper has a body with a jaw support portion and powering portion. A powering assembly is positioned in the powering portion. A stationary jaw is secured to the jaw support portion. A movable jaw is pivotally secured to the jaw support portion about a pivot pin. A rod from the powering assembly connects in a slot on the movable jaw. The pivot pin is positioned on an opposite side of an axis of the rod on the clevis portion away from the stationary jaw. The non-clamping end of the movable jaw is incapable of extending below an end plane of the body of the stationary jaw side of the gripper.
US09975245B1
Example methods and systems for planning a body position for a robotic device are described. An example method includes receiving a reference step path that defines predetermined step locations for end components of a robotic device. The method also includes receiving a set of constraints, receiving a predetermined height and pitch, and assigning a cost to each of a height of the body, a height acceleration of the body, and a pitch acceleration of the body. The method also includes determining a new height and a new pitch of the body that reduces the height acceleration and the pitch acceleration of the body when the end component moves along the reference step path. Further, the method includes instructing the robotic device to actuate the plurality of appendages to achieve the new height and the new pitch of the body when the end component moves along the reference step path.
US09975244B1
Methods, apparatus, systems, and computer readable media are provided for generating updated robot actuator trajectories in response to violation of torque constraints and/or other constraints in previously generated robot actuator trajectories. A real-time trajectory generator is used to generate trajectories for actuators of a robot based on a current motion state of the actuators, a target motion state of the actuators, and kinematic motion constraints of the actuators. The generated trajectory of each of the actuators is analyzed to determine whether a violation of at least one additional constraint occurs. In response to determining violation(s) of the additional constraint, one or more new kinematic motion constraints of the actuators are determined based on the violation(s). The real-time trajectory generator generates updated trajectories based on applying the new kinematic motion constraints in lieu of their counterparts used in generating the trajectories that included the violation(s) of the additional constraint.
US09975243B2
Robotic customer service agents may require verification of a human. The verification may be of the identity of the human and/or a capability of the human. If verified, the robot operates in a verified mode and otherwise operates in a non-verified mode. The robot performs a customer service task in one of the verified mode or the non-verified mode, which may alter, omit, or substitute actions as appropriate for the mode.
US09975229B2
The invention is directed to a nail driving device, comprising a driving ram having a drive unit and a feed mechanism for a nail strip that is transportable in a transporting direction, wherein a guide member and/or a transporting member of the feed mechanism acts in operation on the receiving ribbon. It is proposed that the guide member and/or transporting member is formed to operate on receiving ribbons of different widths.
US09975225B2
A locking mechanism for use with a tool has a tool having a first working end, an opposite second end, a central axis therebetween, and a least one axial recess formed on an outer surface of the tool. A cap is rotatably received on the tool opposite second end, the cap comprising at least one recess formed on an outer surface thereon. The cap is rotatable between a first position in which the cap at least one recess aligns with the tool at least one recess, and a second position in which the cap at least one recess is out of alignment with the tool at least one recess. The locking mechanism further comprises a detent operatively positioned between the tool and the cap. The detent may be a pin and a spring, where the spring biases the cap into the second position.
US09975224B2
An impact wrench includes a driving unit, a spindle configured to be rotated by the driving unit, an anvil arranged in front of the spindle in a direction of a rotational axis of the spindle, a primary hammer that is capable of rotating about the rotational axis of the spindle and moving in the direction of the rotational axis of the spindle, a secondary hammer having a cylindrical part in which the primary hammer is housed and that rotates synchronously with the primary hammer, the cylindrical part being configured to receive the spindle, and a rotary impact mechanism that impulsively engages the primary hammer with the anvil to rotate the anvil about the rotational axis of the spindle.
US09975217B2
A diffusion plate includes a plate member facing an opening end of a supply pipe with a thickness direction thereof substantially parallel with a supply direction of a supply fluid. The plate member is rotatable around a rotation axis substantially parallel with the thickness direction and has a diffusion hole, penetrating in the thickness direction at a position other than a rotation center of the plate member. The diffusion hole has a wall surface defined at a rear side in a rotation direction and has a first wall surface end defined in a facing surface facing the supply pipe, at a rearmost in the rotation direction and a second wall surface end defined in a non-facing surface at a rearmost in the rotation direction. The wall surface is inclined with the first wall surface end being at a front side of the second wall surface end in the rotation direction.
US09975210B1
A method for manufacturing a roof-bolt drill bit includes providing a bit body rotatable about a rotational axis in a rotational direction, the rotational axis extending between a forward end and a rearward end of the bit body, the bit body comprising a mounting region for mounting at least one cutting element to the bit body. The method includes forming at least one primary debris channel in the bit body, the at least one primary debris channel extending from adjacent the mounting region to a portion of the bit body located axially rearward from the mounting region, and forming at least one secondary debris channel in the bit body by machining a portion of the bit body along a substantially straight path to form an intersection with the primary debris channel.
US09975203B2
The invention relates to a tire made of rubbery material comprising a sidewall on which there is formed at least one pattern that contrasts with this sidewall. The pattern comprises a plurality of strands distributed through the pattern with a density of at least five strands per square millimeter (mm2), each strand having a mean cross section of between 0.003 mm2 and 0.06 mm2. The tire also comprises on the said sidewall at least two ribs that pass through the pattern and between which strands of the pattern are present, the said ribs being distant from one another by at most 10 mm, each rib having a height of at least 0.25 mm and a mean width of at least 0.20 mm, the said pattern following the relief formed by the ribs.
US09975201B2
The friction stir welding apparatus includes a pin (20) on which a soft nitrided layer (50) is formed. The soft nitrided layer (50) is formed of an iron lithium oxide layer (51) and a nitrided diffusion layer (52). The atom of the iron lithium oxide layer (51) penetrates into a space between atoms at the surface of the pin (20) to form the nitrided diffusion layer (52).
US09975199B2
The invention refers to a process for rapid manufacturing that uses a focused ultrasound beam according to the invention. The process is based on the local ultrasound welding of the material (2) grains that is under a powder form, welding that takes place solely in the focal spot of the focused ultrasound beam, the focal spot being scanned across the X-Y-Z directions within the powder (2) bed so as to 3D build the entire object (7) that is desired. The processes taking place in the focal spot region are local melting, local melting due to friction followed by filling of the gaps existing between grains, removal of the grain asperities, local inter-diffusion between neighboring grains as well as other phenomena that take place at the interfaces between materials when these are subjected to an ultrasound field.
US09975193B2
A rotary table apparatus includes a rotary table body, a table rotor supported on the rotary table body and configured to be rotatable, a driving unit for driving the table rotor, a seal mechanism including a sealer disposed between the rotary table body and the table rotor, and a first supply unit configured to supply clean fluid for use in machining to the seal mechanism.
US09975187B2
Ceramic end mill with cutting edge portion including gashes between cutting edges and adjacent in a rotation direction. Center cut edges are formed at end cutting edges close to and facing rotation axis O. Center grooves are formed on rear sides of center cut edges and end cutting edges in the rotation direction continuous with a radial direction. The center grooves are continuous with positions where end cutting edge second surfaces face or approach rotation axis O. End cutting edge second surfaces are laid between center cut edges and end cutting edges. Center grooves are formed between end cutting edge second surfaces and center cut edges positioned on a rear side of end cutting edge second surfaces in the rotation direction. The center grooves pass on rotation axis O. Center grooves double as rake faces of the respective center cut edges and are continuous with the gashes.
US09975175B2
A method of casting a truss structure having spaced face sheets connected by columnar structures, including forming a three-dimensional pattern (3D pattern) in the shape of the truss structure with the spaced face sheets and columnar structures, forming a mold core of the 3D pattern by surrounding the pattern with a liquid and letting the liquid harden about the 3D pattern, removing the 3D pattern from the mold core, filling the mold core with a liquid alloy to cast and directionally solidify the truss structure.
US09975174B2
Methods and apparatus for creating an overall assembly formed from a transparent member and a metal member are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a method includes positioning a transparent member in a mold configured for insertion molding, and providing a liquid metal into the mold. The method also includes hardening the liquid metal in the mold. Hardening the liquid metal includes binding the metal to the transparent member to create the integral assembly.
US09975167B2
A computer numerical control (cnc) bending machine used to bend and then cut a specific programmed profile from a long length of cable comprising: a base, a carriage, a bend head and a saw; the carriage includes a spindle to rotate the cable, the carriage is also able to transport the cable in a linear fashion; the bend head comprises a clamp and a wiper roller and a bend die; after a last bend is formed, the clamp and wiper roller are retracted away from the bend die; the carriage is then able to then transport the cable forward away from the saw, the spindle is then able to rotate the cable out of the plane of the bend, the carriage is then able to transport the cable back toward the saw; the saw is then able to sever the cable such that a last leg length adjacent to the last bend which is shorter than the fixed distance between the saw and the bend die.
US09975163B2
A method of making a shaft includes: forming a shaft portion by applying drawing to a first region, of a columnar material made of steel, extending from a predetermined position in an axial direction to an end on a first side in the axial direction, to form a shaft portion, and to form a tapered portion between the shaft portion and a second region, of the columnar material, extending from the predetermined position to an end of the columnar material on a second side in the axial direction, and having an outside diameter increased as the tapered portion extends from the shaft portion side toward the second region side; and forming a head portion by applying plastic forming to the second region and the tapered portion.
US09975158B2
There is provided a roll surface layer material including a roll surface layer with excellent fatigue resistance. The roll surface layer material has a composition including, on a mass % basis, C: 2.3% to 2.9%, Si: 0.2% to 0.8%, Mn: 0.2% to 1.0%, Cr: 5.0% to 7.5%, Mo: 4.4% to 6.5%, V: 5.3% to 7.0%, Nb: 0.6% to 1.5%, and Co: 0.1% to 4.0% so as to satisfy 14.0≤(Mo+1.7V)≤17.0 (where Mo represents a content (mass %) of Mo and V represents a content (mass %) of V) and further including Al: 0.001% to 0.03% and/or REM: 0.001% to 0.03%, wherein a carbide is contained at an area fraction of 13% to 40%. A composite roll obtained by integrally welding a shaft member to the roll surface layer member is treated as a centrifugal cast roll that includes a surface layer with excellent fatigue resistance.
US09975146B2
In some examples, a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) apparatus includes one or more CMUTs formed on a CMUT substrate to have an operational direction facing away from the CMUT substrate. A first layer of a first material is disposed over the one or more CMUTs for passing acoustic energy to or from the one or more CMUTs in the operational direction. The first layer may be a solid, liquid, gel, or colloid. Further, a second layer of a second material may be disposed over the first layer and may be a different material from the first material. In some cases, the second layer may be a solid with an inner surface having a curvature facing the first layer. Additionally, or alternatively, in some cases, the acoustic impedance of the first material and the second material may be between 1 and 2 MRayl.
US09975143B2
Chemical vapor deposition articles and processes include a chemical vapor deposition functionalization on a material, the material including an sp3 arrangement of carbon. The chemical vapor deposition functionalization is positioned to be contacted by a process fluid, a hydrocarbon, an analyte, exhaust, or a combination thereof. Additionally or alternatively, the chemical vapor deposition functionalization is not of a refrigerator shelf or a windshield.
US09975141B2
The invention is a roller liquid compound applicator configured to attach to the threaded neck of a liquid supply container for the purpose of applying a coating of a liquid compound to a target surface, and includes: a U-shaped roller support frame including a substantially cylindrical dispenser coupling cap and a drip guard attached to the dispenser coupling cap, the dispenser coupling cap having a threaded cavity configured for mating with the threaded neck of the liquid supply container; and a liquid compound roller sleeve secured to the roller support frame.
US09975136B2
An aerosol generator for generating an aerosol from a fluid, comprising: a vibratable membrane (22) having a first side (24) for being in contact with the fluid and an opposite second side (25), the membrane having a plurality of through holes (26) penetrating the membrane in an extension direction (E) from the first side to the second side, whereby the fluid passes the through holes from the first side to the second side when the membrane is vibrated for generating the aerosol at the second side, each through hole (26) having along its extension direction (E) a smallest diameter (Ds), a larger diameter (DL) that is larger than the smallest diameter and defined by that diameter that is closest to triple, preferably twice said smallest diameter, each through hole having a nozzle portion (32) defined by that continuous portion of the through hole in the extension direction comprising the smallest diameter of the through hole and bordered by the larger diameter of the through hole, characterized in that the ratio of the total length of each through hole (26) in the extension direction to the length of a respective one of said nozzle portions (32) in the extension direction is at least (4), preferably at least (4.5) and most preferred equal to or larger than (5).
US09975127B2
A centrifugal separator for separating a fluid mixture into components, including a non-rotating part, a rotor which is attached to a shaft which is rotatably supported in the non-rotating part around a rotational axis, which rotor forms within itself a separation space delimited by a rotor wall. The separator includes an inlet extending into the rotor for supply of a fluid mixture to be separated in the separation space, at least one sensor measuring unbalance conditions in the frame; a level determining arrangement including two or more space defining elements of arbitrary form arranged on the interior surface of, or close to, the rotor wall, where each space defining element defines a space which communicates with the separation space or another of the space defining elements through at least one inlet opening arranged at a certain radius from the rotational axis and not outside that radius and where that certain radii of the space defining elements are different. Methods for determining when a predetermined amount of heavy phase fluid (purification) or sludge (clarification) has been separated are also disclosed. The separator and methods make it possible to determine when the level of separated heavy phase fluid or sludge is high enough for emptying or discharge of the separator.
US09975124B2
Apparatus and methods are provided relating to evaporation of solvents from samples and to prolonging the time taken to carry out an evaporation procedure. A cap for engaging with an open end of a sample container comprises an engaging surface for engaging with the open end, and a body portion which extends over the open end. The body portion is preformed to define an opening which provides a fluid pathway between the open end of the container and the surroundings of the container, such that the cap impedes vapor flow from a sample in the container to the surroundings of the container. A holder for receiving a plurality of such caps is also provided and a method of evaporating a solvent from a sample in a sample container is described.
US09975120B2
A chip assembly for use in a microfluidic analysis system, such as a patch clamp apparatus, comprises a chip having an outer wall, a carrier structure comprising an aperture for receiving the chip, the aperture defining an inner wall, wherein the chip is arranged in the aperture with a liquid tight seal between the outer wall of the chip and the inner wall of the aperture. The chip may be sealed and bonded to the carrier structure by means of a bonding material, such as an UV curing adhesive. A through hole in the chip is aligned with the aperture in the carrier structure. A method for manufacturing the chip assembly is further disclosed.
US09975119B2
A fuel cell comprising: at least one microfluidic channel that allows the capillary flow and, preferably, also diffusion of at least one suitable fluid for generating electricity, at least one receiving absorbent region coupled to each microfluidic channel, at least one collecting absorbent region coupled to each microfluidic channel, a cathodic zone coupled to each microfluidic channel, and an anodic zone coupled to each microfluidic channel, where each receiving absorbent region and each collecting absorbent region are coupled to one of the microfluidic channels such that when a fluid suitable for generating electricity is deposited in the receiving absorbent region, it flows by capillary action through the microfluidic channel to reach the collecting absorbent region where it is absorbed. As well as an analysis device comprising one or more of these fuel cells.
US09975114B2
A metal organic framework comprising zinc (II) ions and second metal ions, such as iron (II) ions, cobalt (II) ions, and copper (II) ions as nodes or clusters and coordinated 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid struts or linkers between them forming a porous coordination network in the form of polyhedral crystals that are isostructural to HKUST-1. Transmetallation processes for producing the metal organic frameworks, as well as methods for applications of the metal organic frameworks as catalysts, specifically catalysts for the oxidation of cyclic hydrocarbons, such as toluene, cyclohexane, and methylcyclohexane.
US09975111B2
The present invention relates to a process for producing a composite material and also the composite material itself. The composite material contains a bismuth-molybdenum-nickel mixed oxide or a bismuth-molybdenum-cobalt mixed oxide and a specific SiO2 as pore former. The present invention also relates to the use of the composite material according to the invention for producing a washcoat suspension and also a process for producing a coated catalyst using the composite material according to the invention. Furthermore, the present invention also relates to a coated catalyst which has a catalytically active shell comprising the composite material according to the invention on a support body. The coated catalyst according to the invention is used for preparing [alpha],[beta]-unsaturated aldehydes from olefins.
US09975108B2
An adsorbent for adsorption heat pumps, containing: activated carbon; and organic molecules each containing at least one hydrophilic functional group, where the organic molecules are provided in pores of the activated carbon.
US09975102B2
A glass lined reaction tank for chemical and pharmaceutical industries and a manufacturing method thereof. One-step molding technical standards for manufacturing iron blanks of the glass lined reaction tanks are deeply developed, an overall structure of a flanged big flange of a tank body and a tank cover matching with the tank body are innovated, and nominal pressure of the big flange and the sealing performance of a tank mouth are perfectly improved. By using a new structurally-combined precise controlled internal heating type electric furnace and an intelligent temperature program control/adjustment/recording instrument, heating temperature of an overall glass lining layer on an inner wall of the tank body is more accurately controlled to be the same, and a synchronous, integral and controlled sintering core technique is realized.
US09975084B2
A process for separating components or a fluid mixture using membranes comprising a selective layer made from copolymers of an amorphous per fluorinated dioxolane and a fluorovinyl monomer. The resulting membranes have superior selectivity performance for certain fluid components of interest while maintaining fast permeance compared to membranes prepared using conventional perfluoropolymers, such as Teflon® AF, Hyflon® AD, and Cytop®.
US09975068B1
In a gravity filtration system, upper and lower fluid reservoirs may be mated together. Unfiltered fluid may be supplied to the upper reservoir. One or more filters provide fluid communication between the upper and lower fluid reservoirs. Unfiltered fluid passes through the filter into the lower filtered fluid reservoir. The weight of the fluid in the gravity filtration system may be monitored to maximize the fluid flow rate without loss of fluid by supporting the fluid reservoirs on a moveable platform interconnected to a stationary base by a force reactive linkage. Automatic fill components may be provided for automatically actuating a fluid supply valve connected to an unfiltered fluid source. As filtered fluid is withdrawn from the lower reservoir, actuation of the fluid supply valve to an open position permits unfiltered fluid to be supplied to the upper reservoir. Supply of unfiltered fluid to the upper reservoir is stopped upon actuation of the fluid supply valve to the closed position. Upon closure of the fluid supply valve, an equilibrium state in the filtration system will occur after sufficient time has elapsed for the upper fluid reservoir to drain and the filtered fluid level in the lower fluid reservoir no longer rises. Actuation of the fluid supply valve is a function of the weight of the fluid in the filtration system and/or vertical travel of the moveable platform. An indicator responsive to changes in the weight of the fluid in the filtration system may provide an indication of the equilibrium state of the filtered fluid in the lower fluid reservoir.
US09975063B2
A system and method for extracting oil from a fluid mixture includes a separation vessel having an internal chamber that extends to a chamber elevation, an inlet port, a water outlet port, and an oil outlet port. A liquid storage tank has an inlet port, an upper outlet port located at an upper outlet elevation, and a lower outlet port. A first conduit system interconnects the separation vessel's water outlet port and the tank's inlet port and has a top conduit segment at the upper outlet elevation. A second conduit system interconnects the first conduit system and the tank's inlet port. The second conduit system intersects the first conduit system below the upper outlet elevation and above the chamber elevation. A pump may be employed to transfer fluid from the upper outlet port back to the separation vessel.
US09975059B2
A self-contained, portable, waste water evaporating apparatus is shown. A solar-operated submersible pump pumps waste water from just under the surface of a waste water pit, through a pair of automatic backflushing filters and out misters located around the bank of the waste water pit. At a predetermined pressure across the automatic backflushing filters, the automatic backflushing filters are reverse cycled, one at a time, to backflushing particles back into the waste water pit. Periodically, the misters are purged and/or cleaned to remove particles therefrom. In response to sunlight, solar panels provide DC voltage directly to the submersible pump. If pressure from the submersible pump gets excessive, a pressure relief valve removes the excess pressure.
US09975057B2
A water-rocket water-transfer-station, referred to as the water station, is comprised of a specialized manifold combined with a plastic carbonated drink bottle, which functions as a water reservoir. The water reservoir is pressurized with air to make a water transfer station for water rockets. By using pressurized air, water can be transferred from the water station to a water rocket launch system, referred to as the launcher, and into an attached water rocket. A second unique feature of this system is the ability to return water from the water rocket back into the water station reservoir, as in the case of an over-fill, or in a launch abort. This unique water station can easily and quickly transfer water to a water rocket from a water reservoir, and in reverse from a rocket, without having to remove the rocket from the launcher. This saves time and minimizes water waste which is important when water has to be hand carried into a remote launch field.
US09975056B2
An electronic system for stabilizing steering of a model vehicle may provide a curvature steering control of an RC vehicle. The approximate curvature control of the RC vehicle determined using error integration to achieve full steering. Application of a leaky integrator may be used to minimize steering memory. The leak factor may be based off gain scheduling of the steering input.
US09975051B2
A centralized social network tool is configured to interface with and integrates into one or more videogames and/or videogame series. The social network tool may be integral to the theme of the games and be pervasive within game play. The social network may drive progression of the story and interaction between characters. According to another aspect of the invention, the members of the social network may include actual members (corresponding to real people) and virtual members (e.g., artificial intelligence controlled bot members). The virtual members may be part of the social network and may interact with real members within and outside of the game as part of the theme of the game.
US09975045B2
A system and method for executing an instance of an online game to facilitate participation of the user in the online game. The system and method include executing actions in the instance of the online game that are delayed from reception of corresponding action requests by wait times associated with the actions. The system and method include effectuating presentation of speed-up quest offers to the user for wait times that are open. The system and method include detecting successful performance of speed-up quests by the user in the online game and implementing speed-ups associated with the speed-up quest offers on open wait times in the online game in response to successful performance of offered speed-up quests by the user in the online game. The system and method include in response to detection of successful performance of the first quest in the online game during the first open wait time implementing a first speed-up by reducing the first open wait time.
US09975044B2
An aspect of some embodiments of the present invention relate to an application programming interface (API) software integrated with a software of an electronic game, the API software being configured being stored in non-volatile memory module of a computing device and for being run by a processor of the computing device, the API being configured for causing the computing device to connect to a server configured for hosting a competition and creating a completion on the server. The competition comprises at least one of: a gaming session between two players, a gaming session between more than two players, and a tournament.
US09975023B2
Disclosed is a towel rack for use during a tennis or other sports event. In one example, the towel rack includes a support for supporting a towel, and at least one display panel for displaying a message. In a disclosed method, a message is displayed during the sports event, and the towel is placed on the support such that the message is unobstructed by the towel.
US09975019B2
A golf club head including an elongate weight receptacle; a weight retainer located in the weight receptacle; wherein the weight receptacle includes a plurality of weight mounts; wherein the weight retainer is configured to slide along the weight receptacle between each of the plurality of weight mounts when the weight retainer is unlocked, and wherein the weight retainer is configured to reside in any of the plurality of weight mounts when the weight retainer is locked; wherein the weight retainer includes a rotating portion and a non-rotating portion, the rotating portion rotatably affixed to the non-rotating portion; wherein 90 degrees of rotation of the rotating portion in a first direction relative to the non-rotating portion locks the weight retainer, and wherein 90 degrees of rotation of the rotating portion in a second direction relative to the non-rotating portion unlocks the weight retainer.
US09975018B2
Iron-type golf club heads are disclosed having a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, a front portion, a rear portion, and a striking face. The iron-type golf club heads include a localized stiffened region that is located on the striking face of the club head such that the localized stiffened region alters the launch conditions of golf balls struck by the club head in a way that wholly or partially compensates for, overcomes, or prevents the occurrence of a rightward deviation. In particular, the localized stiffened region is located on the striking face such that a golf ball struck under typical conditions will not impart a right-tending sidespin to the golf ball.
US09975009B2
The present invention is directed to a racquet design with an inner and outer frame connected by an isolation system. Uniquely adapted to tennis racquets, the natural motion of the inner frame relative to the outer frame upon impact of the tennis ball on the inner frame will generate spin when the ball contacts the inner frame. The relationship between the inner frame, outer frame and isolation system can control the spin imparted to the ball for a given tennis swing. The tuning of the isolators relative to conventional racquet characteristics will increase the amount of ball spin caused by conventional racquets. The invention also increases the accuracy of the tennis ball's trajectory.
US09975000B1
A device for exercising the gluteal muscles. The device is simple, small, portable, and lightweight, comprised of a half roll with a handle in each end. The user, facing down on top of the device at the level of the hip bones, must keep the legs high in a cantilever position which will exercise the gluteal muscles. To keep the legs in cantilever, the hamstrings muscles, lower back muscles, arm muscles, and core muscles are also exercised; the latter muscles are especially exercised if the upper body does not rest on a surface and is used for balance.
US09974998B2
An exercise device includes a frame and a crank assembly. A pair of foot links each has a forward end, a rearward end, and a mid-portion. Each foot link has a crank attachment at the forward end that is connected the crank assembly. A foot receiving area is defined at the rearward end of each foot link. Each foot receiving area is longitudinally fixed with respect to the respective foot link and the mid portion of each foot link has a defined support location. The frame supports the support locations of the support links at a generally constant vertical height while allowing horizontal motion relative to the frame. The rearward length of the foot links is at least 1.5 times the forward length such that the foot receiving areas move in a path of travel having more vertical travel than horizontal travel.
US09974995B2
A replacement handle for rowing exercise machines. The rowing machine handle described herein is a simple tool which can be added to existing machines to give the user greater feedback and control over training and exercise sessions, on a variety of rowing exercise machines, than is currently available. It is easy to use, and with included applications for mobile devices will help the user to create more effective training sessions and training programs. Said rowing machine handle can be used effectively by a wide range of users. Current rowing machine handles do not provide electronic feedback about the rowing motion or exercise performance. The above replacement handle will provide direct and immediate feedback to the user about his exercise session, including information about his rowing motion (technique) and his exercise performance (physiology).
US09974986B2
An automated fire extinguishing assembly for fire protection while using cooking appliances includes a fire extinguisher and a stand. The fire extinguisher is automatic. The stand is configured to couple to the fire extinguisher. The stand is positioned to couple to the fire extinguisher such that the fire extinguisher is positionable above a cooking appliance, such as a crockpot. The fire extinguisher is configured to detect a fire, self-actuate and deliver a fire suppressing agent in the event of a fire.
US09974981B2
This device for controlling a radiation treatment device is provided with a gantry for supporting a radiation emitting device so as to enable rotation thereof about a first axis, and a ring for supporting the gantry so as to enable rotation thereof about a second axis intersecting with the first axis, the device for controlling a radiation treatment device being provided with a movement path information storage unit for storing movement path information set in the radiation emitting device, and a control unit for providing a limit to the rotation speed of the gantry and the rotation speed of the ring while maintaining the ratio of the rotation speed of the gantry and the rotation speed of the ring indicated by the movement path information, on the basis of the rotation angle of the gantry and the rotation angle of the ring.
US09974974B2
An irradiation device for insertion into an orifice of the body to provide photodynamic therapy comprises: a housing moulded from a resilient material and adapted to be fully inserted and secured in the orifice, the housing enclosing an LED lamp system 22 and a power source 41 for powering the LED lamp system 22; wherein the device is independently operational while located in the orifice; characterised in that: the housing comprises a first housing part 2 for holding the power source 41 and a second housing part 4 for holding the LED lamp system 22, the first and second housing parts 2, 4 being separable and being preferably formed separately from the LED lamp system 22; and in that the first housing part 2 consists of a chamber 6 for holding the power source 41 and an opening 26 into the chamber 6 is provided through a resilient opening part 8, wherein the chamber 6 is closed when the first housing part 2 is joined to the second housing part 4.
US09974964B2
The disclosure describes implantable medical systems that respond to occurrence of a lead-related condition by utilizing an elongated coil electrode in defining an alternative pacing therapy vector to maintain optimal drain of an IMD power supply. An exemplary system includes a medical electrical lead having an elongated electrode and an improved sensing and therapy delivery circuitry to provide the alternative pacing therapy vector responsive to the lead-related conditions. The system reconfigures the operation of the sensing and therapy delivery circuitry triggered by the switch to the alternative pacing therapy vector.
US09974963B2
Embodiments of the invention provide methods for detection and treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) and related conditions. One embodiment provides a method comprising measuring electrical activity of the heart using electrodes arranged on the heart surface to define an area for detecting aberrant electrical activity (AEA) and then using the measured electrical activity (MEA) to detect foci of AEA causing AF. A pacing signal may then be sent to the foci to prevent AF onset. Atrial wall motion characteristics (WMC) may be sensed using an accelerometer placed on the heart and used with MEA to detect AF. The WMC may be used to monitor effectiveness of the pacing signal in preventing AF and/or returning the heart to normal sinus rhythm (NSR). Also, upon AF detection, a cardioversion signal may be sent to the atria using the electrodes to depolorize an atrial area causing AF and return the heart to NSR.
US09974961B2
A method and neurostimulation system of providing therapy to a patient is provided. A plurality of electrodes are placed in contact with tissue of a patient, a conditioning pulse is conveyed from the plurality of electrodes in one of a monopolar manner and a multipolar manner, and a stimulation pulse is conveyed from the plurality of electrodes in a different one of the monopolar manner and the multipolar manner. As one example, the sub-threshold conditioning pulse may be a depolarizing pulse conveyed from the plurality of electrodes to render a first region of the tissue less excitable to stimulation, and the stimulation pulse may be conveyed from the plurality of electrodes to stimulate a second different region of the tissue.
US09974952B2
Sound processor housings, sound processors and systems including sound processors are disclosed. The housings include a main portion with a power supply receptacle, a seal and power supply receptacle cover. The seal may include a deflectable portion and define a material-free region into which the deflectable portion deflects in response to the application of radial force by the power supply receptacle cover.
US09974947B2
Methods of treating pain are disclosed, wherein a non-pulsed, low-frequency electrical current is applied to the nerve carrying the pain signals in order to suppress transmission of those signals. In desired embodiments, the current is applied in a direction transverse to the nerve axis. Such currents have been found not to induce motor-neuron recruitment, meaning these methods can treat pain without causing muscle spasm or other muscular responses. A cuff for applying such a current transverse to the nerve axis is also disclosed.
US09974945B2
According to an embodiment, an electrode array for a transmodiolar implant is disclosed. The implant includes a substrate, a conductive metal located at a plurality of discrete portions on the substrate; and a single layer of insulation material over the conductive metal and the substrate. The single layer of insulation material includes a plurality of apertures that expose the conductive metal, the exposed conductive metal forming a plurality of electrodes, the electrode array having a Young's modulus of at least 100 GPa.
US09974940B2
A medical connector includes a housing with a central axis, a hollow bore, and a narrowed passage. The connector further includes a rigid valve member configured to move along the axis of the connector as the connector moves between an open and closed configuration. The connector includes a resilient member coupled to the valve member and the housing.
US09974935B2
The present invention relates to a microneedle and a microneedle array. More specifically, it relates to a microneedle and a microneedle array capable of injecting a drug into the surface layer or horny layer of the skin easily, safely and efficiently.
US09974930B2
A guidewire (1) for re-canalizing a vascular occlusion comprises a core wire (5) which terminates at its distal end (4) in a terminal member (7) for opening the occlusion. A helical coil sleeve (10) extends around the core wire (5) from the terminal member (7) to a location (11) along the core wire (5). The terminal member (7) defines first and second planar surface portions (13, 14), which converge towards a distal transversely extending leading edge portion (8). In use, as the terminal member (7) is urged through the vascular occlusion, the first and second surface portions (13, 14) act on the occlusion to form an opening therethrough. A distal portion (28) of the core wire (5) is of spade-like configuration for facilitating bending thereof for directing the terminal member (7) out of a central major plane (35) defined by the distal portion (28) for facilitating aligning of the terminal member (7) with a branched vessel of the vascular system.
US09974916B2
A removable water trap device (110) removes moisture from a respiratory gas stream from a patient interface assembly (140), enabling monitoring of gas within the respiratory gas stream by an analysis bench (120). The device includes a housing (111), an upstream water trap connector (115), and a filter assembly (360). The housing includes a first portion (210) insertably attachable to a tether assembly receptacle (132) to connect the device to the analysis bench for delivering the gas stream via a tether line (136). The upstream water trap connector is attachable to a downstream patient interface connector (141, 143) in a sample flow line (145, 148) of the patent interface assembly for receiving the gas stream via the sample flow line. The filter assembly is insertably contained within the housing and configured to remove moisture from the gas stream, the filter assembly including a downstream water trap connector (116) attachable with the tether line within the tether assembly receptacle. The filter assembly is replaceable independently of replacement of the patient interface assembly.
US09974899B2
A method provided for determining a range for the amount of light-energy attenuating material that may be present in a suspension containing target cells (such as MNCs), light-energy attenuating matter (such as RBCs and plasma), and a light-energy activatable compound (such as psoralen) so that a desired therapeutic effect (such as the percentage of MNCs in which apoptosis occurs) is obtained when the suspension is subjected to a known amount of light energy. In a related aspect, a method is provided for preparing a suspension containing target cells, light-energy attenuating matter, and a light-energy activatable compound so that a desired therapeutic effect is obtained when the suspension is subjected to a known amount of light energy.
US09974893B2
The invention resides in the field of introducing fluid pumps into a lumen and relates to a system for introducing a pump into a lumen which comprises a first sheath and a pump to be introduced into the first sheath, or a system which has a pump with a distal pump unit and a shaft catheter which emerges proximally to the pump unit.According to the invention one or two sheaths are used, the distal pump unit being pulled firstly into the distal end of one sheath, in order to avoid damage to a shaft catheter. Subsequently, the sheath receiving the pump unit is transferred into a further sheath or a receiving lumen.
US09974892B2
An electrical arrangement with an implantable cable element may be provided which comprises a strain relief element which is arranged centrically in the cross section, as well as a group of conductors insulated to one another, said group being stranded around the strain relief element, and a common shielding element surrounding the electrical conductors, as well as a fluid-tight cable sheath. The implantable cable element may have a symmetrical construction.
US09974868B2
Disclosed are nanoparticles comprising octapod iron oxide having eight trigonal bipyramidal arms and a method of preparing the same. The nanoparticles are prepared by heating a mixture of a ferric carboxylate, a carboxylic acid, a chloride salt, water, and a non-polar solvent, to a temperature above about 300° C. Also disclosed is a method of magnetic resonance imaging a tissue in a mammal, comprising use of the aforesaid nanoparticles.
US09974866B2
The present invention provides polymer-polypeptide conjugates comprising a poly(2-oxazoline) amphiphilic block copolymer linked to a polypeptide and methods of use thereof.
US09974856B2
A biologically active food additive, comprising drone brood homogenate in the daily amount between 10 and 600 mg which can be combined on the weight percent basis with a calcium compound selected from calcium carbonate, calcium citrate, calcium gluconate, calcium aspartate, calcium phosphate and calcium citrate —16.67 to 93.75 wt. %; and drone brood —6.25 to 83.33 wt. %. Trials showed that administering the preparation contributes to the normalization of androgens in women resulting in the overall health improvement and disappearance or decrease of clinical signs of androgen deficiency.
US09974852B2
A pharmaceutical composition includes, as active substance a mutated non-primate lentiviral Env protein having decreased immunosuppressive properties, substantially no immunosuppressive properties or no immunosuppressive properties, or a variant of the mutated lentiviral Env protein, or a fragment of the above proteins, in association with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
US09974851B2
Immunogenic pharmaceutical compositions including a live, attenuated human rotavirus or an inactivated human rotavirus are provided which are useful for inducing an immunological response against the rotavirus in a subject. Methods of inducing an immunological response to a rotavirus in a subject are provided by administering an immunogenic pharmaceutical composition including a live, attenuated human rotavirus or an inactivated human rotavirus described herein.
US09974850B2
Immunogenic compositions comprising viral vectors and surfactants are provided. Methods for administration and preparation of such compositions are also provided.
US09974849B2
Peptides and compositions for a therapeutic vaccine to treat persons infected with human papilloma virus are presented. Methods of using the compositions and treating persons infected with human papilloma virus, including those at risk of cancer or already with cancer from human papilloma virus, are presented.
US09974846B2
The present invention relates to the field of the veterinary medicine of bovine animals. In particular the invention relates to a recombinant Trypanosoma theileri parasite, preferably comprising a heterologous nucleic acid sequence that is capable of encoding a protein for instance an antigen, a cytokine, a hormone, an antimicrobial protein, or an antibody. Also disclosed are uses of and methods for making and using the recombinant T. theileri parasite in medical or non-curative treatments; in particular as a sustained delivery vector for proteins to bovine animals, e.g. as a vaccine.
US09974839B2
Toroidal-spiral shaped particles, their method of manufacture, and uses thereof are disclosed. The toroidal-spiral particles can contain at least one active agent, such as a drug, and provide a controlled, sustained release of the active agent.
US09974832B2
The invention provides for the use of protein kinase activators or boosters of nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) or other neurotrophic factors to treat head trauma. Specifically, the present invention provides methods of treating head trauma comprising the steps of identifying a subject having suffered a head trauma and administering to said subject an amount of a pharmaceutical composition comprising a protein kinase C (PKC) activator or 4-methylcatechol acetic acid (MCBA) and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier effective to treat at least one symptom of head trauma.
US09974831B2
The present invention discloses methods of reducing injury resulting from cardiovascular disease, such as myocardial infarction, and/or promoting myocardial repair. The methods include administering an ephrin and pharmaceutical compositions including ephrins to a subject. Kits useful for accomplishing the same are also provided.
US09974819B2
Suggested are new extracts of microalgae selected from the group consisting of (i) Monodus sp. (ii) Thalassiosira sp. (iii) Chaetoceros sp. and/or (iv) Chlorococcum sp. obtainable by treating said microalgae with a solvent selected from the group consisting of C1-C4 aliphatic alcohols, ethyl acetate, water or their mixtures, removing the dissolved extracts from the residues and recovering the pure extracts from the solvent. The extracts show excellent properties particularly in modulating the metabolism of human skin and hair follicles.
US09974815B2
The invention provides compositions comprising bacterial strains for treating and preventing cancer.
US09974812B2
The present disclosure provides a method for treating or preventing a rheumatic disease, comprising administering a population of cells enriched for STRO-1+ cells and/or progeny thereof and/or soluble factors derived therefrom.
US09974809B2
The invention provides isolated stem cells of non-embryonic origin that can be maintained in culture in the undifferentiated state or differentiated to form cells of multiple tissue types. Also provided are methods of isolation and culture, as well as therapeutic uses for the isolated cells.
US09974804B1
A strontium-based composition for controlling progression of osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and tooth decay is presented. The composition may include a blend of ingredients including: at least 500 mg of strontium carbonate; citric acid; ascorbic acid; malic acid; folic acid; vitamin d3; magnesium citrate; natural sweetener; and flavoring. The all-natural strontium-based blend of ingredients is simply delivered to the oral cavity where an “in-vivo” chemical reaction takes place resulting in direct tooth and dentin exposure to facilitate direct dental anti-caries and anti-sensitivity strontium benefits. The blend of ingredients is then swallowed to establish intestinal transit and absorption to obtain the targeted benefits of systemic absorption to bone and joint areas.
US09974803B2
The invention relates to an injectable combination of two specific glycosaminoglycans, hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate, with cyclodextrins and the use of the combination for the treatment of diseases related to the skeletal systems, particularly in the intra-articular treatment, as well as in the intradermal treatment.
US09974802B2
Aspects of the invention provide compositions for use in the treatment galectin-dependent diseases. In particular, compositions comprising a selectively depolymerized, branched galactoarabino-rhamnogalacturonate whose backbone is predominantly comprised of 1,4-linked galacturonic acid (GalA) moieties, with a lesser backbone composition of alternating 1,4-linked GalA and 1,2-linked rhamnose (Rha), which in-turn is linked to any number of side chains, including predominantly 1,4-b-D-galactose (Gal) and 1,5-α-L-arabinose (Ara) residues.
US09974792B2
Disclosed are methods for treating a cancer in a subject (e.g., a human) in need thereof, comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of formula I: or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. The subject may be very high risk or high risk for the cancer. The subject who has the cancer may also be refractory to at least one chemotherapy treatment, or is in relapse after treatment with chemotherapy, or both. The cancer may be a hematologic malignancy, such as leukemia or lymphoma.
US09974780B2
Provided herein are solid forms comprising (a) 4-amino-2-(2,6-dioxopiperidine-3-yl)isoindoline-1,3-dione and (b) a coformer. Pharmaceutical compositions comprising the solid forms (e.g., cocrystals) and methods for treating, preventing and managing various disorders are also disclosed.
US09974774B2
The present invention describes methods and compositions for improving the therapeutic efficacy of therapeutic agents previously limited by suboptimal therapeutic performance by either improving efficacy as monotherapy or reducing side effects. Such methods and compositions are particularly applicable to bisantrene or derivatives, analogs, or prodrugs thereof.
US09974769B2
The invention relates to methods for treating pruritus with NK-1 receptor antagonists such as serlopitant. The invention further relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising NK-1 receptor antagonists such as serlopitant. In addition, the invention encompasses treatment of a pruritus-associated condition with serlopitant and an additional antipruritic agent, and the use of serlopitant as a sleep aid, optionally in combination with an additional sleep-aiding agent.
US09974768B2
A dysphagia improving composition characterized in that a substance having an inhibitory action on an angiotensin converting enzyme, which is a degrading enzyme of substance P, is administered locally in a dosage not influencing blood pressure, and a pharmaceutical for improving dysphagia containing the composition.
US09974753B2
The present invention relates to nanoparticles for encapsulating compounds, the preparation and uses thereof, said nanoparticles being based on a vegetable hydrophobic protein, particularly zein, and a water miscible non-volatile organic solvent, particularly propylene glycol. Said nanoparticles can encapsulate or incorporate a product of interest for use in the agricultural, cosmetic, food or pharmaceutical fields.
US09974747B2
This invention is directed to reduction of flake-like aggregation in nanoparticulate compositions. Also encompassed by the invention are compositions comprising a nanoparticulate active agent, at least one surface stabilizer and a flake-like aggregation reducing agent, such as a buffer and a sugar. The nanoparticulate active agent compositions comprise particles of the active agent having an effective average particle size of less than about 2000 nm.
US09974746B2
This invention is directed to reduction of flake-like aggregation in nanoparticulate compositions. Also encompassed by the invention are compositions comprising a nanoparticulate active agent, at least one surface stabilizer and a flake-like aggregation reducing agent, such as a buffer and a sugar. The nanoparticulate active agent compositions comprise particles of the active agent having an effective average particle size of less than about 2000 nm.
US09974739B2
Aspects described herein relate to food and beverage compositions infused with lipophilic active agents and methods of use for the treatment of a variety of disorders. More particularly, aspects described herein relate to food and beverage compositions infused with lipophilic active agents such as cannabinoids, nicotine, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs), and vitamins, that provide enhanced bioavailability of the lipophilic active agents in a subject, and that mask unpleasant tastes of lipophilic active agents.
US09974734B2
The present invention is directed to a cosmetic composition comprising (a) an emulsifier selected from: (i) glyceryloleate citrate combined with a native oil as a viscosity modifier; or (ii) organogel comprising Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Polyacrylic Acid, Xylityl Sesquicaprylate, Glyceryl Stearate, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Sodium Hydroxide and Tocopherol; (b) at most 3 (three) emollient agents; (c) 01 (one) humectant and (d) cosmetically acceptable adjuvants. Furthermore, the present invention is directed to the use of the cosmetic composition according to the present invention as a moisturizing agent to be used on keratinic tissue, particularly skin, and to a method of moisturizing keratinic tissue, particularly skin, comprising applying the cosmetic composition according to the present invention onto said keratinic tissue, particularly skin.
US09974727B2
Provided is a novel hair growth and hair restoration material having excellent efficacy in hair growth and hair restoration for both men and women, even when the components thereof are at ultra-dilute concentrations; the hair growth and hair restoration material being characterized in containing a sterol glucopyranoside, preferably a cholesteryl glucopyranoside, represented by general formula (I). (In the formula, Z represents a sterol residue from which the hydroxyl group attached to the 3-position of a cyclopentanohydrophenanthrene ring has been removed.)
US09974723B2
The present invention provides an oral care composition comprising, based on the total weight of the composition: (a) 15 to 24 weight % calcium carbonate; (b) 0.9 to 2.5 weight % cellulose ether thickening agent; (c) 7 to 10 weight % thickening silica; and (d) at least 40 weight % water.
US09974713B1
The disclosed pill bottle allows for timed dispensing of medicine, as programmed by a physician, pharmacist, or caregiver. The device has a slot for pill entry in any one of the walls, the slot being sealable and lockable. In an unlocked and open condition, the slot is a portal from the outside of the bottle into an inner cavity, the cavity being adapted for pill storage and extending between the slot/opening for pill entry and an exit tube. The exit tube is sized for single-file passage of a plurality of pills. A button or blocking device (defined as a mechanical and/or physical object which prevents movement of a pill out of the device) is movable only at pre-programmed intervals of time, allowing the exit of a pill or dosage of pills.
US09974711B2
Elements of the present invention relate to a portion control cup with multiple chambers for storing, mixing and dispensing substances. Some elements relate to a lower chamber with a removable seal and seal removal tab that can be removed through a slot in an upper chamber wall. Some elements relate to nesting characteristics of the portion control cup.
US09974708B1
A rollator is disclosed, including first and second upright members, each including handle portions, wheels, hinges disposed between the wheels and the handle portions, channels disposed along the upright members between the hinges and the wheels, and lateral hinges orthogonal to the hinges. First and second foldable support members having wheels are attached to the hinges. At least one lateral support member is disposed between and attached to the lateral hinges, and includes an intermediate hinge. Brake systems include brake lines communicating between brake controls and brakes. In a reversible storage configuration, the foldable support members are rotated to be at least partially disposed in the channels, and the lateral hinges and intermediate hinge rotate to collapse the lateral support member, bringing the upright members with the folded foldable support members adjacent to one another.
US09974707B1
A combination walker and cane includes a pair of inverted, U-shaped frame members, each having a horizontal handlebar with a front leg and a rear leg depending therefrom. One of the rear legs is detachable from the remainder of the corresponding frame member to form a walking cane, if desired. Accordingly, a user can operate the walker in a conventional fashion, or detach the rear leg to form a walking cane.
US09974704B2
Adjustable article of furniture comprising at least one adjustable element and furnished with an actuator system comprising at least one electrically driven linear actuator with an electrical motor and an electrical controller with an operation device, wherein the system in equipped with a battery pack for operating the system during mobile situations, where a mains supply is not readily available. The battery pack is equipped with a frontend, which allows for the battery pack to be retrofitted on existing actuator systems, without compromising the functionality of the actuator system in connection with charging of the battery. Moreover, the frontend is adapted to facilitate continued viewing of remaining power on the battery pack even though the technology of the battery pack is replaced, e.g. from lead battery to lithium ion battery.
US09974697B2
A simple disposable absorbent article including a chassis and an absorbent assembly. The chassis includes a water-impermeable sheet folded laterally inward at both of its side edges to form opposing side flaps. Each side flap is attached to the interior surface of the chassis adjacent to its end edges. Each side flap has a longitudinally extending elastic gathering member attached adjacent to its proximal edge. The absorbent assembly is smaller in width and in length than the chassis. The side edges and end edges of the absorbent assembly may be disposed proximally relative to the respective side edges and end edges of the chassis. The absorbent assembly includes an absorbent core that may contain superabsorbent particles, which may be contained inside pockets. The chassis may be extensible. The absorbent assembly may be in a cruciform pattern to the chassis to allow portions of the chassis to extend laterally.
US09974690B2
An apparatus for LASIK is equipped with the following: a first laser radiation source for generating first laser radiation pulses; first means for guiding and shaping the first laser radiation pulses; a second laser radiation source for generating second laser radiation pulses; second means for guiding and shaping the second laser radiation pulses; a controller with: a first treatment program for controlling the first means and the first laser radiation pulses for the purpose of producing an incision in the cornea, the first treatment program generating regular corneal surface structures; a second treatment program for controlling the second means and the second laser radiation pulses for the purpose of reshaping the cornea and changing its imaging properties; and a third treatment program which controls the second means and the second laser radiation pulses for the purpose of removing the aforementioned regular structures.
US09974684B2
Cosmetic method and apparatus are provided that can provide cooling and/or freezing of skin tissue proximal to the skin surface to generate an appearance of lightening or reduced pigmentation in the skin. The skin can be cooled to a temperature of less than about −5 degrees Celsius for a duration of about one minute or less, using a plurality of cooled contact surfaces, each having a width between about 2 mm and about 20 mm. A cooling arrangement can be provided to provide controlled heat removal from the skin tissue being treated. A sensor can optionally be provided to detect freezing of tissue proximal to the cooled surfaces.
US09974682B2
Disclosed is an anchoring element for engagement with a base plate for a collecting bag for human body wastes. Also disclosed is a kit for securing collecting bags for human body wastes to skin, comprising an anchoring element and an adhesive base plate and optionally a collecting bag for the human body wastes.
US09974674B2
A stent graft system for intraluminal deployment in an aorta and a branch vessel includes an aorta stent graft with a fenestration aligned with a branch vessel and a branch vessel prosthesis with a flaring portion at a proximal end and a tubular portion. When deployed, the flaring portion of the branch vessel prosthesis is retained within the aorta stent graft, and the tubular portion extends through the fenestration and into the branch vessel. The system includes at least one positional indicator, including a positional indicator associated with the branch vessel prosthesis for indicating the position of a point along the branch vessel prosthesis predetermined for optimal alignment with the fenestration during deployment.
US09974668B2
A prosthetic device includes first and second regions divided by a longitudinal line extending between the first and second ends of the device. The device has a continuously knit elasticized fabric layer including a first set of yarns located about a circumference of the device through the first and second regions. The fabric layer has different knit structures in the first and second regions to obtain different elasticity while sharing the first set of yarns so that the first region has a first elasticity, and the second region has a second elasticity greater than the elasticity of the first region. An elastomeric layer secures an interior surface of the fabric layer.
US09974660B2
Surgically installed prostheses replace either the caudal portion of a natural facet joint, the cephalad portion of a natural facet joint, or both. The prostheses are readily attached to the pedicles of a vertebral body and support at least one element that defines an artificial facet joint structure. The caudal facet joint structure is sized and located to articulate with the cephalad facet joint structure. Together, the prostheses form a total facet replacement system. The system is suitable for use in virtually all levels of the spine.
US09974647B2
Systems and methods for medical interventional procedures, including approaches to valve implantation. In one aspect, the methods and systems involve a modular approach to mitral valve therapy.
US09974645B2
A method of reducing the risk of macular degeneration is provided. The method includes inserting an intraocular collar stent into a portion of a mammalian eye, such that the stent is in contact with soft tissue of the anterior chamber. When inserted in the eye, the stent applies pressure to a surface centered on a transition zone, between an anterior limit of a trabecular meshwork and a posterior limit of a corneal endothelium of the eye, to a surface of the peripheral iris of the eye, and in circumferentially expanding direction to the irideocorneal angle. The pressure is applied continually. The method also includes creating an environment of a reduced negative pressure state within the retina as a result of the application of the pressure; and, while the reduced negative pressure state is present, permitting drusen precursors formed by extracellular material to flow through the eye for removal by vasculature of the eye.
US09974641B2
Prosthesis (1) comprising a patch (2) made of biocompatible material, said patch having a generally plane geometric shape that defines two opposite faces, a center, a length and a width of said patch, characterized in that said patch is provided, on one (2a) of its faces, with a single marking means (3) designed to indicate both the center (C) of the patch and also the longitudinal direction of said patch.
US09974639B2
In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a support portion disposable within a pelvic region and a strap extending from the support portion. The strap has a length and is configured to be disposed at least partially within a pelvic tissue. A sleeve is releasably disposed over at least a portion of the strap. The sleeve has a length that is longer than the length of the strap. In some embodiments, the length of the sleeve is at least twice as long as the length of the strap. In some embodiments, a suture couples the sleeve to the strap. The apparatus can also include a suture disposed at least partially within an interior of the sleeve and forming two strands of suture within the interior of the sleeve. The two strands are separated by a distance defined by a separator portion of the sleeve.
US09974632B2
Method for positioning artificial posterior teeth (1, 2, 3, 4, 19, 20, 21, 22) on an entirely edentulous or at least partially edentulous jaw model (5, 6), wherein several artificial posterior teeth (1, 2, 3, 4, 19, 20, 21, 22) are combined to form at least one tooth block (7), wherein the artificial posterior teeth (1, 2, 3, 4, 19, 20, 21, 22) in this tooth block (7) are arranged in a fixed geometric relationship to one another, and geometric parameters of the tooth block (7) are established on the tooth block (7), and geometric parameters of the jaw model (5, 6) are established on the jaw model (5, 6), and, in order to position the tooth block (7) on the jaw model (5, 6), the geometric parameters of the tooth block (7) are assigned to the geometric parameters of the jaw model (5, 6).
US09974627B2
A method for cutting with a tool comprises rotating the tool in a first direction. Then, at a predetermined moment, quit rotating the tool and allow the tool to coast in the first direction. While the tool coasts, a parameter is determined that represents drag experienced by the tool as the tool coasts. If the determined parameter does not exceed a predetermined limit then the tool is rotated in the first direction. If the determined parameter exceeds the predetermined limit, then the tool is rotated in another direction opposite the first direction. The predetermined moment when the tool begins to coast may be any desired moment, such as when the tool rotates through a specific distance or for a specific period of time.
US09974614B2
The application discloses an auxiliary device for a tank of an ultrasound apparatus which comprises a rack and at least one adapter for a medical instrument.Thereby, the adapter comprises a housing and at least one coupling element which is movable with respect to the housing by way of a drive and which can be coupled to the medical instrument, so that a movement of the coupling element effects an active movement of at least one region of the medical instrument.
US09974611B2
Disclosed is a surgical glove that alleviates the biasing force associated with bending or abducting the hand and fingers when wearing a surgical glove.
US09974610B2
A treatment tool for an endoscope includes a sheath which includes a proximal region, a distal region, an outer circumference surface, and an inner circumference surface; a slit portion which extends from the proximal region to the distal region in the longitudinal axis direction of the sheath and is formed to pierce through the sheath from the inner circumference surface to the outer circumference surface; an inlet portion which includes an opening that is formed at the outer circumference surface in the proximal region, the opening being formed to communicate with the slit portion, and being formed to pierce through the sheath from the inner circumference surface to the outer circumference surface in a same direction with that of the slit portion, and a locking portion which is connected to the sheath to be locked to the endoscope apparatus.
US09974603B2
A surgical instrument includes a housing, a rotating assembly including a rotation wheel coupled to the housing, a shaft engaged with the rotation wheel within the housing and extending distally from the housing, an end effector assembly disposed at a distal end of the shaft, a drive assembly slidably disposed within the shaft and operably coupled to the end effector assembly for manipulating the end effector assembly, a knife assembly slidably disposed within the shaft translatable relative to the end effector assembly between a retracted position and an extended position, an elongated insulative sheath slidably disposed about the shaft, and an energizable member slidably disposed within the shaft. The instrument is configured such that rotation of the rotation wheel relative to the housing similarly rotates the shaft, end effector assembly, drive assembly, knife assembly, elongated insulative sheath, and energizable member relative to the housing.
US09974594B2
A medical device for treating and analyzing tissue includes a plasma applicator having a housing. The housing includes a substantially tubular shape and defines a lumen therethrough. The lumen is in fluid communication with an ionizable media source configured to supply ionizable media thereto. The applicator also includes one or more electrodes coupled to the housing. The electrodes are adapted to couple to a power source configured to energize the electrodes to ignite the ionizable media to form a plasma plume for treating tissue. The device also includes an effluent-collection attachment coupled to the plasma applicator. The effluent-collection attachment is configured to collect a portion of a plasma effluent.
US09974591B2
A system for attaching a piece of osteosynthesis equipment against a bone tissue includes at least a screw, and a screwdriver having a handle extended by a rod with an adapter to engage the screw. A portion of the guide member of the screwdriver protrudes in front of the end-piece of the screwdriver and extends along or around a portion of the screw to guide the screw in axial translation. The guide member has a front end forming an abutment of the screwdriver against the surface of the piece of osteosynthesis equipment on completion of a predefined depth of screwing of the screw into the bone tissue. The guide member can be set at a chosen length of extension, corresponding to a predefined depth of insertion of the screw. After insertion, the screw can be severed, and optionally fused with the piece of equipment to reinforce the locking of same.
US09974582B1
Orthopedic surgical implant methods include placing an implant plate against a lateral greater trochanteric surface of a femur; installing at least one proximal compression fastener through the implant plate and through a greater trochanter and one of a fractured bone, a pretrochanteric neck fracture and a femoral neck fracture and into a femoral head of the femur, respectively; and installing at least one distal tension fastener through the implant plate and through a portion of a diaphysis of the femur and through the fractured femoral neck and into the femoral head of the femur, respectively, the at least one distal tension fastener intersecting the at least one proximal compression fastener in the femoral head. Orthopedic surgical implants are also disclosed.
US09974577B1
A spinal procedure includes attaching a first reduction instrument to a first guide assembly and a second guide assembly. The first reduction instrument includes a fixed attachment assembly and a translating attachment assembly that cooperatively interfaces the fixed attachment assembly. The first guide assembly is attached to a first pedicle and the second guide assembly is attached to a second pedicle. The first reduction instrument is moved to reduce an orientation of the spine, while imaging a reduction of the orientation of the spine. An angle and position of the first reduction instrument is locked upon achieving a desired reduction. The spine may then be fused.
US09974575B2
Expandable spinal fixation assemblies, systems, and methods thereof. An expandable spinal fixation system may include expandable barrel assembly including an upper barrel half and a lower barrel half and a fixed barrel assembly. The fixed barrel assembly is insertable between the upper barrel half and the lower barrel half such that the fixed barrel assembly is clamped between the upper barrel half and the lower barrel half. Each of the expandable barrel assembly and the fixed barrel assembly includes fixation plates adapted to secure spinous processes to the fixation system.
US09974572B2
A spinal fixation device is provided having first and second elongate members that are angularly adjustable relative to one another. Each elongate member can include a connecting feature formed on a terminal end thereof, and each connecting feature can be coupled to one another to allow angular movement of the first and second elongate members. The device can also include a locking mechanism that is adapted to couple to the connecting feature on each of the first and second elongate members to lock the elongate members in a fixed position relative to one another.
US09974569B2
A bone fastener comprises a first member including an inner surface defining an implant cavity. A part is disposed with the first member and is non-rotatable relative to the inner surface. A second member is disposed at an angle relative to the first member and configured to penetrate tissue. The part axially translates relative to the inner surface and engages the second member to selectively adjust the angle. Implants, systems, constructs, instruments and methods are disclosed.
US09974559B2
The present invention generally relates to a wire guide for use in procedures within a body vessel and to methods of using such devices. One embodiment of the wire guide includes a helically wound coil having its distal end closed with a cap and having a deflection wire housed within. The deflection wire simultaneously acts to deflect the distal end of the helically wound coil in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal movement axis of the wire guide while moving a first blade attaching to a distal portion of the deflection wire from a retracted position to an extended position.
US09974552B2
A tip element for a lithotripter is provided. The tip element includes a proximal end configured for attachment to a waveguide of the lithotripter and a distal end configured for placement against at least one urinary tract stone. The lithotripter transmits energy from the tip element to the at least one urinary tract stone to break up the at least one urinary tract stone into fragments. The tip element may further include a tip element passage that extends between the proximal end and the distal end. The tip element passage communicates with a lumen of the waveguide for at least one of suctioning and irrigating a urinary tract. The distal end has one or more sharp edges to maintain contact between the at least one urinary tract stone and the distal end during suctioning. The distal end may be configured to limit the size of fragments from the at least one urinary tract stone drawn into the tip element passage during suctioning.
US09974551B2
A surgical template system for use in working on a bone comprises: a tool guide block comprising at least one guide aperture for receiving and guiding a tool to work on a bone; locating means comprising a plurality of locating members, each member having a respective end surface for positioning against a surface of the bone; and attachment means for non-adjustably attaching the tool guide block to the locating means such that, when attached, the member end surfaces are secured in fixed position with, respect to each other, for engaging different respective portions of the surface of the bone, and the at least one guide aperture is secured in a fixed position with respect to the end surfaces. Corresponding methods of manufacturing a surgical template system, methods of manufacturing locating means for a surgical template system, methods of fitting a prosthesis to a bone, surgical methods, and surgical apparatus are described.
US09974550B2
A tibia cutting block for performing precise cuts into a tibia comprises an approximately cuboid body with a tibia attachment side and opposing thereto a front side. The body has a cutting guide slot extending from a top side into the body, a blade holding slot extending from a right side or a left side into the body, a first anchoring pin hole which is close to the intersection of a first plane defined by the blade holding slot and a second plane defined by the a cutting guide slot, a second anchoring pin hole distant from the first anchoring pin hole and a reference pin guide. All are penetrating the body from the front side to the tibia attachment side.
US09974545B2
Embodiments of the present invention relate to surgical clamping devices and applicators for use therewith. Embodiments of the surgical clamping device comprise a body and a pair of clamping members extending from the body. An electronic controller housed within the body is coupled to control movement of at least one of the clamping members to control a pressure exerted by the clamping members on a blood vessel clamped therebetween. At least one blood flow sensor is mounted to at least one of the clamping members to detect blood flow in the blood vessel. The clamping members are locked in place when blood flow has been occluded or constricted to the desired extent.
US09974543B2
An anastomotic connector includes a tubular shell and a porous biocompatible liner configured to connect two or more natural and/or artificial lumens, such as blood vessels and/or grafts. The tubular shell may be bioabsorbable, ultimately dissolving in the body, while the biocompatible liner can remain in the body and connected to the lumens.
US09974533B2
A method of forming an access opening through a psoas muscle to a patient's spine includes laterally inserting a stimulating dilator into the psoas muscle. The stimulating dilator has a stimulation channel formed in an outer surface thereof. An electrical pulse is transmitted via an EMG into the stimulating dilator to locate a position of a nerve in the patient's psoas muscle. The stimulating dilator is laterally inserted through the psoas muscle and toward the patient's spine in a way that avoids the nerve. A stimulating probe is inserted into the stimulation channel along the outer surface of the stimulating dilator while transmitting an electrical pulse via the EMG into the stimulating probe to verify the position of the nerve.
US09974526B2
A biopsy system includes an endoscope which includes an insertion portion having a channel, and a bendable portion provided in a distal end portion of the insertion portion; a needle tube which includes a distal end region, and a proximal end region having a higher bending rigidity than that of the distal end region; a sheath which can be inserted into the channel and inserted through by the needle tube; an attachment adapter which is provided on a proximal end side of the sheath and is capable of being mounted at the endoscope; and a connection member which connects the distal end region and the proximal end region, wherein the connection member can move within only a range of the insertion portion more proximal than a proximal end of the bendable portion and more distal than a proximal end of a follow-bending region.
US09974525B2
A system and method for enhanced navigation for use during a surgical procedure including planning a navigation path to a target using a first data set of computed tomography images previously acquired; navigating a marker placement device to the target using the navigation path; placing a plurality of markers in tissue proximate the target; acquiring a second data set of computed tomography images including the plurality of markers; planning a second navigation path to a second target using the second data set of computed tomography images; navigating a medical instrument to a second target; capturing fluoroscopic data of tissue proximate the target; and registering the fluoroscopic data to the second data set of computed tomography images based on marker position and orientation within the real-time fluoroscopic data and the second data set of computed tomography images.
US09974523B2
A biopsy device may be used to obtain and store multiple tissue samples. The device permits the tissue samples to be stored in a sequenced fashion within a generally transparent tissue storage chamber disposed at a proximal end of the biopsy device. The tissue samples can be stored on flexible tissue sample strips arranged around the circumference of a rotating vacuum manifold disposed within the chamber.
US09974520B2
An apparatus and method for automatically collecting urine samples from a patient are described. The apparatus includes a toilet bowel with a reservoir and a urine collection receptacle that is a flexible heat sealable plastic bag in an enclosure mounted exterior to the reservoir. The receptacle can be rotated into the toilet reservoir to collect urine and removed therefrom by rotating it back into the enclosure. The opening to the bag is then heat sealed to produce a urine sample packet. The receptacle may be automatically divided into a plurality of urine sample packets by heat sealing the bag at several locations along its length and then cutting the bag at the appropriate heat sealed locations. Each packet is then printed with patient indicia. The sample packets then pass through an opening in the enclosure for removal and subsequent analysis. An electrical activation interface is provided to control the process.
US09974512B2
A method for determining a patient radiation and diagnostic study score associated with past diagnostic radiologic tests. In light of the obvious benefits of diagnostic radiology, the risks inherent in its use are often overlooked. Ionizing radiation, which is a component of much, but not all, diagnostic radiology, carries with it a small risk of inducing cancer every time it is used. This additional risk, known as “Lifetime Attributable Risk,” is layered on top of an individual's lifetime base risk of invasive cancer. The present method for determining a patient radiation and diagnostic study score provides right time, right place, and right format radiology information to assist providers in their medical decision-making. With greater awareness of recent study history, and individually contextualized risk and benefit considerations, providers are more likely to decrease their overall usage of diagnostic radiology and better counsel their patients on future risk.
US09974510B2
An imaging condition setting unit sets imaging conditions for a pre-contrast enhancement scan, a monitoring scan, and a post-contrast enhancement scan. A ROI setting unit sets a region of interest for the monitoring scan in a reference image generated by a reference image scan executed before the pre-contrast enhancement scan, the monitoring scan, and the post-contrast enhancement scan. The scan control unit controls an X-ray generation unit and an X-ray detection unit to sequentially execute, based on the imaging conditions, the pre-contrast enhancement scan, the monitoring scan, and the post-contrast enhancement scan.
US09974504B2
An X-ray device includes a camera to image an object and output the image of the object, a display member using a touch screen to display the image of the object output from the camera, and an X-ray irradiation region of the object, an X-ray irradiation region controller to control a region of the object to which an X-ray is irradiated, and a control member to enable the irradiation region controller to control the region of the object to which an X-ray is irradiated according to the X-ray irradiation region, when the X-ray irradiation region is determined, based on the image of the object displayed in the display member.
US09974497B2
A brake apparatus provided on a body of a medical apparatus, the brake apparatus including: a rail unit; a lever unit configured to rotate with respect to a rotational shaft; an elastic member provided on the lever unit at a first end of the lever unit and configured to provide an elastic force to rotate the lever unit; a wedge provided on a second end opposite to the first end of the lever unit, configured to be inserted into the rail unit according to rotation of the lever unit and configured to apply braking pressure on the rail unit.
US09974488B2
Techniques develop models for classification for physical conditions of a subject based on monitored physiologic signal data. The models for classification are determined from data transformed and feature extracted using a Taut-string transformation and in some instances using a further Stockwell-transformation, applied in parallel or in series. Physical conditions, specifying the state of hemodynamic stability and reflective of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, are thus modeled using these techniques.
US09974487B2
A heart rate detection module including a PPG measuring device, a motion sensor and a processing unit is provided. The PPG measuring device is configured to detect a skin surface in a detection period to output a PPG signal. The motion sensor is configured to output an acceleration signal corresponding to the detection period. The processing unit is configured to respectively convert the PPG signal and the acceleration signal to first frequency domain information and second frequency domain information, determine a denoising parameter according to a maximum spectrum peak value of the second frequency domain information to denoise the first frequency domain information, and calculate a heart rate according to a maximum spectrum peak value of the denoised first frequency domain information.
US09974478B1
The present invention relates to systems and methods for helping subjects improve safety and efficiency of their movements; particularly subjects who have suffered an injury or suffer from a movement or other such disorder. More particularly, the present invention relates to such a system and method for monitoring a subject's movement to detect or predict unsafe, undesirable, or impaired movements, or symptoms of movement disorders, and also a system for providing possible treatment methods for such conditions. The present invention further relates to a method and system of providing cues or stimuli to the subject when such unsafe or undesirable movements, instabilities or symptoms are detected or predicted. Most particularly, the present invention relates to a subject-customized and adaptive movement recovery system, and method of providing therapy and training to improve functional motor recovery and safety of movement of a subject suffering from an injury or from movement disorder(s).
US09974471B1
A device and system for measuring and/or monitoring an analyte present on the skin is provided. The system includes a skin-mountable device that may be attached to an external skin surface and a reader device. The skin-mountable device includes a substrate, a plurality of micro-needles, and nanosensors. The micro-needles are attached to the substrate such that attachment of the substrate to an external skin surface causes to the micro-needles to penetrate into the epidermis, intradermis, or dermis. The nanosensors include a detectable label and are configured to interact with a target analyte present in the interstitial fluid in the epidermis, intradermis, or dermis. The reader device is configured to detect the analyte in interstitial fluid via interaction with the skin-mountable device.
US09974469B2
Systems and methods for a continuous monitoring of analyte values received from an analyte sensor system are provided. One method for a wireless data communication between an analyte sensor system and a mobile device involves storing identification information associated with a transceiver of the analyte sensor system, the identification information entered by a user of the mobile device via a custom application running on the mobile device; causing the custom application to enter a background mode; searching for advertisement signals; receiving an advertisement signal from the transceiver; authenticating the transceiver based on the identification information; prompting the user to bring the custom application to a foreground mode; causing the custom application to request a confirmation from the user that a data connection with the transceiver is desired; receiving the confirmation from the user; and completing the data connection with the transceiver.
US09974462B2
A system includes an input to receive at least one electrophysiological signal representing cardiac electrical activity measured from a body surface of a patient. The system also includes a signal processor to analyze the at least one electrophysiological signal and compute a score having a value to indicate a likelihood of arrhythmogenic activity, the score being computed as a function of at least two of cycle length, amplitude and polarity of the at least one signal.
US09974461B2
An ECG sensor chip used in a wearable appliance includes; a switch controlled by a switching signal, an amplifier that amplifies a difference between first and second ECG signals, and a location indicator that generates the switching signal. The switch passes either a first ECG signal or second ECG signal in response to the switching signal.
US09974447B2
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a blood pressure measuring apparatus including a pressure sensor unit configured to sense an atmospheric pressure, an applied pressure, and a blood pressure of a blood vessel delivered to a skin and output an electrical signal indicating a result of sensing the pressures, while in contact with the skin; a signal division unit configured to receive the electrical signal and divide the electrical signal into a divided electrical signal which includes a direct current (DC) signal and an alternating current (AC) signal; a signal processor unit configured to process the divided electrical signal; and a blood pressure calculation unit configured to calculate the applied pressure using the processed electrical signal and calculate a blood pressure average using the calculated applied pressure and a swing value of the electrical.
US09974443B2
Devices, systems, and methods for visually depicting a vessel and evaluating treatment options are disclosed. The methods can include obtaining pressure measurements from first and second instruments positioned within a vessel of a patient while the second instrument is moved longitudinally through the vessel from a first position to a second position and the first instrument remains stationary within the vessel; and outputting a visual representation of the pressure measurements obtained by the first and second instruments on a display, the output visual representation including a graphical display of a pressure ratio of the obtained pressure measurements and at least a portion of a pressure waveform of the obtained pressure measurements identifying a diagnostic period utilized in calculating the pressure ratio.
US09974438B2
In one implementation, an apparatus estimates body core temperature from an infrared measurement of an external source point using a cubic relationship between the body core temperature and the measurement of an external source point is described, estimates temperature from a digital infrared sensor and determines vital signs from a solid-state image transducer, or determines vital signs from a solid-state image transducer and estimates body core temperature from an infrared measurement of an external source point using a cubic relationship between the body core temperature and the measurement of an external source point; after which the estimated and/or determined information is transmitted to an external database.
US09974437B2
Examples of devices and method for quantifying opacities in ah eye are shown. Examples include analysis of still images or video images. In one example a cross section area of opacities within a visual axis are quantified. Opacities in the vitreous of an eye, such as “floaters” can vary in severity from little or no reduction in vision, to bothersome, to high reduction in visual function. It is desirable to be able to quantify a level of severity of visual obstruction within a patient's eye and proceed with a level of treatment to match the condition.
US09974425B2
A high-loop bracket has a handle portion that allows a user to manipulate a hose support portion that supports an electric dishwasher's discharge hose into a position that easily forms a high rise loop. The high rise loop is fixed against a sink base cabinet by securing an easy to reach mount portion of the high-loop bracket. Preferably, the high-loop bracket is formed from a single sheet of stainless steel that is bent to create the various portions of the bracket.
US09974420B2
A window wiper is substantially tee-shaped, having a wiper head and a wiper handle, the wiper head being bent with respect to the wiper handle and the wiper head and the wiper handle delimiting a bending angle. The wiper head and the wiper handle may be connected to each other by a flexible joint, the wiper head and the wiper handle being movable from an initial bending angle to a maximum final bending angle against the spring force of the flexible joint.
US09974411B2
A device (1) for orienting capsules (C) is described. The device comprises a container (9) for receiving randomly oriented capsules (C), which has bottom wall (11), provided with at least two apertures (17A, 17B). A rotor (13) is rotatingly arranged in the container and above the bottom wall (11). The rotor is provided with capsule receiving pockets (15). Under the apertures of the bottom wall (11), a capsule collector (19) is arranged, for receiving capsules discharged from the capsule receiving pockets (15) through either one or the other of the two apertures (17A, 17B). The capsule receiving pocket (15), the two apertures (17A, 17B) and the capsule collector (19) are shaped and arranged such that the capsules (C) randomly contained in the container (9) exit the capsule collector (19) with a pre-determined orientation.
US09974410B2
The present invention relates to a device for preparing a flavored beverage and comprising: a first part or inlet head (1) and a second part or outlet head (2), and a third cradle-shaped part (3) delimiting an insertion compartment for a pod able to synchronously pivot with a relative translation of both first and second parts from an initial insertion position in which the cradle is in a tilted position as far as a final extraction position in which the cradle is in a vertical position, and said pod being compressed between both front faces (1-2) and (2-1) facing each other of said first and respectively second parts in a said extraction position.
US09974405B1
The adjustable Christmas tree is an artificial Christmas tree that is adapted to fit in the corner of a room. The height of the adjustable Christmas tree can be changed to adapt to the height of the room. The adjustable Christmas tree comprises an angled base, a plurality of extension poles, a plurality of couplers, and a plurality of branches.
US09974391B2
A storage stool comprises a barrel-shaped wall and an end cap. Side plates and fold lines are longitudinally arranged on the barrel-shaped wall. The end cap is embedded into the top of the barrel-shaped wall. Longitudinal stiffening ribs for supporting the end cap are arranged on the side plates. A cloth cover sleeves the barrel-shaped wall. A supporting ring is mounted at the top of the barrel-shaped wall, while a bottom plate is mounted at the bottom of the barrel-shaped wall.
US09974389B2
The adjusting mechanism serves for the setting of a restoring force acting on the backrest of a chair. A back support and a seat support are fastened on a support. A setting mechanism configured in the manner of scissors is provided for the weight setting. Said setting mechanism has two scissor arms which are connected to one another via a scissor pin. One of said scissor arms is formed by a spring element and is fastened with its front-side spring end on said support. The back spring end is fastened on said scissor pin. Said first scissor arm is connected to said back support in the manner of a connecting rod. An active lever length is defined between said scissor pin and a support pin about which said back support is mounted pivotably. A compact construction mode is achieved by the configuration of said scissor arm as a spring element.
US09974385B2
A shoe carousel device that includes in one embodiment a base for stabilization and support, a support stem attached to the base and extending upwards therefrom at an approximate 90 degree angle, and a plurality of stackable shelves mounted on the support stem, including a discrete top shelf. The stackable shelves and top shelf are circular shaped with a raised outer tab and lighting disposed along their circumference and a relatively thin mesh surfacing. The top shelf includes a plurality of tilted slats which each can receive a pair of flat bottom shoes. In some embodiments, the tilted slats may extend upwards in order to increase the number of slats that can fit on the shelf. In some embodiments, the shoe carousel device also includes a foot pedal actuated motor operative to rotate the shoe carousel device.
US09974382B2
A cleaning brush assembly includes a housing, a cylindrical brush received in the housing, and a fixing member for fixing the cylindrical brush in the housing. By providing the above structure, the cleaning brush assembly can rapidly clean rusts on a battery cathode terminal, a battery anode terminal, or a bolt on a vehicle wheel disc while permitting easy replacement of the cylindrical brush.
US09974381B2
A device for cleaning debris from a target surface. The device has a sole plate with permanent cleaning material, such as bristles, and a removable/replaceable pad. The device also has a replaceable, on-board supply of cleaning solution. The pad/cleaning solution may be replaced when depleted and replaced with a new pad/cleaning solution or may simply be replaced with a new pad/cleaning solution when that pad/cleaning solution is more suitable for a particular cleaning task.
US09974368B1
The present disclosure is directed to a cane end having attachment means and force absorbing means. In some embodiments, the force absorbing means is a blade capable of deflecting, compressing, and/or flexing under load.
US09974350B2
One or more battery-operated fans are integrated into a hard hat and pull air through a filter to remove contaminants in the air. The filtered air passes through one or more channels in the hard hat and exits the hard hat through an air curtain exit located near the user's face. The exiting air leaves with sufficient velocity to form an air curtain. A user wearing goggles or other protective eyewear will have the filtered air current pass in front of the eyewear. Paint and other contaminant particles that are in the air will not be able to contact the outer surface of the eyewear, as the particles will not be able to pass through the curtain of filtered air.
US09974348B2
invention relates to clothing support devices, and more particularly, discreet belts that support clothing, such as trousers, skirts, or the like, around a waist of a user. Provided is a discreet belt that includes a belt body formed from a flexible, elongated elastic strap adapted to be used in at least one fastening element and at least one adjusting element. Various embodiments, variants and method aspect are also provided.
US09974346B2
A garment, especially a sports garment, having a section which at least partially covers the body of a wearer, wherein the section has at least one venting element for allowing an air flow to flow from the outside of the garment through the section into the inner of the garment for cooling a part of the body of the wearer. To improve the cooling during the movement of the wearer of the garment an actuating mechanism is arranged for opening and closing the venting element in dependence of the movement of a part of the body of the wearer during the use of the garment.
US09974345B2
A hip protector system includes an inflatable airbag, a proximity sensor to measure a distance to a point on the ground surface, a gyro to provide spatial orientation of the waist plane of the user, an accelerometer to determine the vertical acceleration of the waist plane of the user and a micro-controller unit. The micro-controller unit calculates a height based on proximity measurement and spatial orientation, computes values of downward velocity based on a change of the height in time and based on the vertical acceleration integrated over time and correlates the downward velocities to validate a true height in time to the ground surface. The airbag is inflated to protect the user responsive to the true height.
US09974334B2
The present disclosure relates to electronic smoking articles exhibiting improved moisture control of a reservoir contained therein. The reservoir can be formed of fibrous materials, such as cellulose acetate fiber, thermoplastic fiber, non-thermoplastic fiber, or a combination thereof. The disclosure further provides methods for forming electronic smoking articles and methods of packaging electronic smoking articles (including cartridges thereof) so as to improve moisture control of the reservoir.
US09974332B2
An electronic cigarette charging dock, an electronic cigarette case and a method for use thereof, the charging dock includes a positive electrode elastic pin and a negative electrode elastic pin which are cylindrical and used for being connected to a positive electrode and a negative electrode of the battery to form a charging circuit. The elastic pins are arranged around the base of the charging dock, while the elastic pins are being used, the inelastic parts of the elastic pins do not deform elastically to affect a normal use. A plurality of elastic pins are arranged parallel to each other and retract in the axial direction when in use, thus preventing short circuits.
US09974330B2
A package of smokeless tobacco includes a flavor patch located in the package to provide flavor to smokeless tobacco. Also disclosed is a method of packaging smokeless tobacco by combining a package with a flavor patch disposed inside the package, the flavor patch comprising a flavor and an adsorbent, so that the flavor patch resides in an interior of the package; and adding smokeless tobacco to the package with the flavor patch.
US09974328B2
A method of preparing a composite foodstuff is provided and comprises providing a core, providing a barrier composition and applying the barrier composition to at least a portion of the core and providing a fat based coating having a lower fat content than the core. The fat based coating is applied to the barrier coated cores. The hardness of the fat based coating does not decrease over a period of storage.
US09974315B2
The present invention is related to a microencapsulated bacterial consortium for gluten degradation, which comprises: a) three different strains of commercially available lactic-acid bacteria; b) encapsulating agents; c) prebiotics; and d) trehalose; in combination with a proteolytic enzyme of bacterial origin and a proteolytic enzyme of fungal origin. Preferably, the microencapsulated bacterial consortium comprises: a) Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014; b) Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis ATCC 27652; c) Lactobacillus brevis ATCC 14869; d) isolated protein from milk serum with 90% protein; e) maltodextrin with a dextrose equivalent of 10; f) arabic gum; g) maguey honey; and h) trehalose; in combination with a protease of bacterial origin and a protease of fungal origin. It also describes a process for obtaining the microencapsulated bacterial consortium, as well as the preparation of sourdoughs therefrom, and the use of said sourdoughs to obtain baking products.
US09974312B2
An oven comprising a housing, a cavity located within the housing, and a rotator having a first food loading section and a second food loading section is disclosed. The cavity includes a single opening for loading a food item into the cavity. If one of the first food loading section and the second food loading section is located outside of said cavity, then the other of the first food loading section and the second food loading section is located within said cavity. A first cook setting of the oven when the first food loading section is within the cavity and a second cook setting of the oven when the second food loading section is within the cavity are independently controllable. The first food loading section and the second food loading section may be separated by a divider, which prevents heat from escaping from the cavity through the opening.
US09974304B2
The invention relates to macrocyclic picolinamides of Formula I and their use as fungicides.
US09974302B2
The present invention provides novel insecticidal proteins active against a Coleopteran and/or Hemipteran species pest, which include, but are not limited to, TIC3131, TIC3400 and TIC3407 proteins. The present invention also provides a DNA construct comprising operably linked to a heterologous promoter a polynucleotide that encodes the novel insecticidal protein or an insecticidal fragment thereof. The present invention further provides transgenic plants/plant cells/plant parts expressing the insecticidal proteins, methods for detecting the presence of the polynucleotide or the protein in a biological sample, and methods of controlling a Coleopteran and/or Hemipteran species pest using the insecticidal proteins.
US09974301B2
This invention relates to a fungicidal composition for controlling phytopathogenic diseases, comprising a mixture of volatile compounds: 14-17% v/v ethanol, 28-33% v/v 3-methylbutanol, 18-21% v/v isobutyl acetate, 17-20% v/v isoamyl acetate, and 13-16% v/v alpha-bisabolol, relative to the total volume of the composition. The invention also relates to the use of the fungicidal composition in order to inhibit the growth of the pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea.
US09974298B2
The invention relates to a method for producing a bird protection device and to a bird protection device. According to the invention, a method for producing a bird protection device is proposed, wherein the bird protection device is made of an at least partially transparent material and contains an optical structure visible to a bird's eye. Here, the method comprises a radiation input, wherein the radiation input is implemented on and/or in the partially transparent material for forming the optical structure. The radiation input is preferably laser radiation. Suitable lasers for the radiation input are, for example, CO2 lasers with a wavelength of 1064 nm, picosecond lasers with a wavelength of 532 nm or nanosecond lasers with a wavelength of 532 nm. In one embodiment of the invention, the bird protection device furthermore comprises an element for increasing the contrast, wherein, for forming the optical structure, the radiation input is implemented on and/or in the element for increasing the contrast.
US09974297B2
The foot snare triggering device of the present invention is designed to be used with a foot snare, and comprises a trigger plate assembly, having a tension adjustment means which allows the trigger plate assembly to pivotally yield to vertical pressure. A trigger mechanism has a trigger end set within said plate assembly and is attached to an extension mechanism providing a tandem extension spring configuration attached to a pair of pulleys, and a snare attachment port located within the trigger mechanism for releasably securing a foot snare by moving longitudinally when the trigger mechanism is engaged by pressure to said plate assembly allowing a foot snare to be released from the snare attachment port after triggering said device. A pan, pivotally connected to the plate underside distal to the pan tension adjustment means, has a trigger mount to engagingly receive the trigger mechanism.
US09974294B2
A simple triggering tip-up device, for use with a conventional ice fishing rod and reel, includes a base, a rod holder, an indicator flag, and a trigger mechanism. The base provides a stable platform for the rod holder and indicator flag to be removably attached to one end and a U-shaped trigger mechanism is rotatably mounted at the other end. The trigger mechanism has a long leg on one end and a short leg on the opposite end. The long leg secures a fishing line being fed from a reel with an open bail while the short leg holds the indicator flag in the “set” position. The action of a fish pulling the line raises the legs of the trigger mechanism causing stored energy from the flag shaft to be released resulting in the release of both the indicator flag and the fishing line. Although the present invention primarily relates to ice fishing it would not be unreasonable to apply this invention to open water fishing. Conventional open water fishing rods could be used with this device when set on a dock, in a boat, or on the shore line.
US09974288B2
The present invention provides to a polyethylene glycol-modified feline-derived protein which is obtained by chemically modifying a feline-derived protein with polyethylene glycol. The feline-derived protein is produced by a method comprising any or a combination of extracting the protein from somatic cells of a transgenic bird and/or an egg laid thereby, purifying and activating the same. The transgenic bird has a foreign gene containing a sequence encoding a feline-derived protein.
US09974283B1
A security system configured to be attached about the neck of a dog, includes a collar having opposed ends, each end having a fastener such that the belt is configured to be selectively coupled about the dog's neck. A monitoring assembly is mounted to the collar, the monitoring assembly including a microphone and a processor in data communication with the microphone. A transmitter is operatively connected to the processor. A response assembly is displaced from the monitoring assembly that includes a speaker in data communication with the processor, the processor configured to selectively actuate the speaker when the processor determines that the microphone has detected a predetermined sound, such as the bark of an intruding dog. The displaced speaker may then emit the sound of a menacing guard dog until the sound of an intruding dog is no longer detected.
US09974278B2
A system that includes a laser, a memory, and a processor. The processor is configured to receive a teat position associated with an unknown teat, determine a first position distance between the teat position and a first teat, determine a second position distance between the teat position and a second teat, determine a third position distance between the teat position and a third teat, and determine a fourth position distance between the teat position and a fourth teat. The processor is further configured to compare the first position distance, the second position distance, the third position distance, and the fourth position distance to determine a smallest position distance from the unknown teat, identify a teat of the dairy livestock corresponding with the smallest position distance, associate a teat identifier for the unknown teat with the identified teat, and store the association in the memory.
US09974270B2
The invention provides seed and plants of the bean line designated SV9203GV. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of bean line SV9203GV, and to methods for producing a bean plant produced by crossing a plant of bean line SV9203GV with itself or with another bean plant, such as a plant of another line. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of a plant of bean line SV9203GV, including the pods and gametes of such plants.
US09974269B2
The invention relates to the soybean variety designated 01058766. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the soybean variety 01058766. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the soybean variety 01058766 and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing soybean plants by crossing the soybean variety 01058766 with itself or another soybean variety and plants produced by such methods.
US09974268B2
The invention relates to the soybean variety designated 01051074. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the soybean variety 01051074. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the soybean variety 01051074 and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing soybean plants by crossing the soybean variety 01051074 with itself or another soybean variety and plants produced by such methods.
US09974265B2
The invention relates to the soybean variety designated 01057517. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants and derivatives of the soybean variety 01057517. Also provided by the invention are tissue cultures of the soybean variety 01057517 and the plants regenerated therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing soybean plants by crossing the soybean variety 01057517 with itself or another soybean variety and plants produced by such methods.
US09974258B2
The invention provides seed and plants of pepper hybrid DR6138PB and the parent lines thereof. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of pepper hybrid DR6138PB and the parent lines thereof, and to methods for producing a pepper plant produced by crossing such plants with themselves or with another pepper plant, such as a plant of another genotype. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of such plants, including the fruit and gametes of such plants.
US09974255B2
The invention provides seed and plants of the bean line designated SV3902GA. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of bean line SV3902GA, and to methods for producing a bean plant produced by crossing a plant of bean line SV3902GA with itself or with another bean plant, such as a plant of another line. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of a plant of bean line SV3902GA, including the pods and gametes of such plants.
US09974252B2
There is provided a vertically stacked multi-layer storage system suitable for the provision of temperature and/or humidity controlled storage of materials. There is particularly provided a vertically stacked multi-layer system having suitable lighting for use with any tray, pot, aeroponic and hydroponic plant growing system and apparatus to combine growing in an integrated growth tray having a suitable lighting source located under the growth tray.
US09974241B2
A handheld blower includes a housing having an air inlet and a duct assembly mounted in front of the air inlet, the duct assembly including a duct connected with the housing, a motor and a fan mounted in the duct, a battery, and a blowpipe connected to the housing by the duct assembly, the blowpipe defining a central axis in the length direction, and a handle arranged above the housing and the battery. The handle includes a gripping portion arranged on opposite sides of a plane in which the gravity center of the blower is located, and the plane is parallel to a central axis of the blowpipe and substantially perpendicular to a working ground. The gravity center of the handheld blower is adjacent to the gripping portion which enhances the handling comfort and reduces operator fatigue during long times of operation.
US09974239B2
A belt, such as a round baler belt, includes a core region, and at least one peripheral region arranged transversely to a longitudinal direction of the belt, where the peripheral region has a protective element at least sectionally, and the belt is continuously closed in the longitudinal direction. In some cases, the protective element is arranged around the entire continuously closed circumference in the longitudinal direction. The protective element may be stretched more in the longitudinal direction than the core region. The protective element may be a metal element, and in some cases, is a steel wire. Further, the protective element may be configured in an interrupted manner in the longitudinal direction. In some cases, a plurality of protective elements are arranged in a manner overlapping one another sectionally in the longitudinal direction.
US09974238B2
A grain paddle for a clean grain elevator of a combine harvester. The paddle includes a substantially rigid body with a planar portion having ends disposed distal and proximal to an elevator chain of the combine harvester. Some paddle embodiments include an angled end adjacent the proximal end of the planar portion. Some paddle embodiments include an angled end adjacent to the distal end of the planar portion. Some paddle embodiments include sloped lateral edges.
US09974228B2
The present invention describes an air-powered device that propels seed from a storage container and distributes seeds from a horizontal tube into a series of vertical tubes, and shoots the seeds from those vertical tubes into the ground. The device can be carried by a human user or mounted on a cart having wheels or skis, and towed through a field while being used to plant seed. The different methods of carrying and operating the device enable farmers to utilize the device in different types of terrain and during different condition. The device can be manufactured from common, affordable materials, such as PVC, and offers rural farmers a portable solution for planting their crops that is efficient and low-cost.
US09974227B1
An improved fertilizer knife presents a leading edge, a first flexible fertilizer tube receiving portion and a second fertilizer tube receiving portion. The first and second flexible tube receiving portions are precision cast to frictionally receive the distal end of a flexible polymer fertilizer tube. The first and second flexible tube receiving portions are adapted so that the second flexible tube receiving portion can be mounted to the first flexible tube receiving portion. Both flexible tube receiving portions also each have at least one opening at their lower ends for allowing fertilizer to escape from a flexible fertilizer tube.
US09974226B2
A method begins by agriculture equipment collecting current on-site gathered agriculture data regarding an agriculture region and sending at least a representation of the current on-site gathered agriculture data to a host device. The method continues with the host device processing one or more of the at least a representation of the current on-site gathered agriculture data, current off-site gathered agriculture data, historical on-site gathered agriculture data, historical off-site gathered agriculture data, and historical analysis of agriculture predictions regarding the agriculture region to produce a current agriculture prediction for the agriculture region. The method continues with the host device generating an agriculture prescription regarding at least a portion of the agriculture region based on the current agriculture prediction and sending the agriculture prescription to one or more of the agriculture equipment.
US09980414B2
A power converter arrangement comprising: a housing having first and second chambers separated by a separating body; a power semiconductor module; and a device. The capacitor is electrically conductively connected to power semiconductor module by a connecting device. Power semiconductor module, the connecting device and connection elements of the capacitor are arranged in first chamber. The capacitor reaches through the separating body between the first and second chambers into second chamber for cooling of the capacitor. The separating body has a first cutout through which the capacitor reaches. A flat, elastic sealing body which runs peripherally around the first cutout and reaches into the region of the first cutout and surrounds the capacitor there in sealing fashion, is arranged on a surface of the separating body. A pressing body presses the sealing body against the separating body and terminates in sealing fashion there.
US09980413B2
A cooling system has a cabinet and a plurality of separate cooling stages including an upstream cooling stage and a downstream cooling stage. At least the upstream cooling state is a variable capacity cooling stage. Each cooling stage has a cooling circuit. Evaporators of the cooling circuits are arranged in the cabinet so that air passes over them in serial fashion. A controller when a Call for Cooling first reaches a point where cooling is needed, operating the upstream cooling circuit to provide cooling and not the downstream cooling circuit. When the Call for Cooling has increased to a second point, the controller additionally operates the downstream cooling circuit to provide cooling. The cooling capacity at which the upstream cooling circuit is being operated is less than its full capacity when the Call for Cooling reaches the second point.
US09980404B2
The invention relates to a method for creating a multi-component device, including the following steps, creating a module having a multilayer structure comprising electrical/electronic components arranged on at least one substrate in stacked layers, the components each having a main surface exposed to the outside, wherein the components are arranged such that the respective main surfaces thereof are oriented in mutually opposite directions. The invention also relates to the corresponding device.
US09980401B1
A locking apparatus for an enclosed electronic device locking or releasing a latching member includes a rotating assembly, a sliding member defining a notch, an elastic member, and an electromagnet. The rotating assembly comprises two brackets and a rotating member. The rotating member comprises an opening. Opposite sides of the opening define a pulling portion and a resisting portion. Opposite ends of the elastic member connect to the pulling portion and the sliding member. The latching member resists against the resisting portion to rotate the rotating member. The sliding member moves to the latching member by the elastic member to make the notch engage with the latching member. The notch is removed from the latching member by the electromagnet, the sliding member pulls the elastic member to rotate the rotating member. The resisting portion resists against the latching member to remove the latching member from the sliding member.
US09980398B2
A printed circuit board includes: a base substrate having a plurality of pad group areas arranged in a first direction on the base substrate, each of the pad group areas being divided into first, second, and third pad areas that are sequentially arranged in a second direction crossing the first direction; first and second row pads disposed within each of the pad group areas and arranged in a third direction crossing the first and second directions; first lines respectively connected to the first row pads; and lower dummy lines on a same layer as that of the first lines. Some of the first row pads are in the first pad area, rest of the first row pads and some of the second row pads are in the second pad area, and rest of the second row pads are in the third pad area.
US09980397B2
A display device includes a first display panel, a second display panel opposite the first display panel, a frame positioned between the first display panel and the second display panel, a first opening formed on the frame and positioned on a lower back side of the first display panel, a second opening formed on the frame and positioned on an upper back side of the second display panel, a first printed circuit board (PCB) electrically connected to the first display panel and positioned in the first opening, and a second PCB electrically connected to the second display panel and positioned in the second opening.
US09980395B2
A manufacturing method of laser diode unit of the present invention includes steps: placing a laser diode on top of a solder member formed on a mounting surface of a submount, applying a pressing load to the laser diode and pressing the laser diode against the solder member, next, melting the solder member by heating the solder member at a temperature higher than a melting point of the solder member while the pressing load is being applied, and thereafter, bonding the laser diode to the submount by cooling and solidifying the solder member, thereafter, removing the pressing load, and softening the solidified solder member by heating the solder member at a temperature lower than the melting point of the solder member after the pressing load has been removed, and thereafter cooling and re-solidifying the solder member.
US09980385B2
The invention relates to a method for embedding a discrete electronic device in a chip module. The chip module comprises a multilayer substrate which comprises a plurality of electrically conductive layers stacked above each other and an electrically non-conductive layer arranged between each pair of electrically conductive layers. The chip module is configured to receive one or more chips to be mounted onto a top surface thereof. Each electrically conductive layer comprises one or more electrically conductive structures. A recess is provided in a side surface of the chip module. The discrete electronic device is inserted into the recess. A first electrically conductive connection between a first electrical contact of the discrete electronic device and a first electrically conductive structure is established. Further, a second electrically conductive connection between a second electrical contact of the discrete electronic device and a second electrically conductive structure is established.
US09980369B2
A mounting board includes: a first electronic component that includes first solder balls, one of the first solder balls being surrounded by at least three of the first solder balls; a first capacitor that includes a first power supply terminal and a first ground terminal; a second electronic component that includes second solder balls, each of the second solder balls not being surrounded by at least three of the second solder balls; and a second capacitor that includes a second power supply terminal and a second ground terminal. A distance from the first ground terminal to the first electronic component is less than or equal to a distance from the first power supply terminal to the first electronic component. A distance from the second power supply terminal to the second electronic component is less than or equal to a distance from the second ground terminal to the second electronic component.
US09980365B1
An electronic device comprises a metal casing, a circuit board and a heating assembly. The metal casing has a storage space. The circuit board is located in the storage space. The heating assembly comprises a first heating part and a second heating part. The first heating part is in thermal contact with the circuit board, and the second heating part is in thermal contact with the metal casing.
US09980354B2
Disclosed are a lighting system and a method for registering a lighting device. The embodiments of the present invention comprise: a lighting device which is provided with a short-range communication module and comprises a plurality of light-emitting units; a lighting registration device which is provided with a short-range communication module and an IR communication module and registers the lighting device on the basis of the light-emitting patterns of the light-emitting units; and a lighting switch which is provided with a short-range communication module, binds with the lighting device by receiving, from the lighting registration device, an ID corresponding to the light-emitting patterns of the light-emitting units, and controls the operation of the lighting device. Further, when power is supplied to the lighting device, the lighting registration device recognizes the light-emitting patterns of the light-emitting units and registers the lighting device with an ID corresponding to the recognized light-emitting patterns.
US09980346B2
A lighting setting apparatus which is used to set lighting modes in a plurality of luminaires installed in a space includes: a storage which stores a lighting setting image indicating the entirety of an illumination area of the luminaires in the predetermined space and luminaire position information indicating the positions of the luminaires in the space; an input receiver which receives a user input regarding use of the lighting setting image; and a lighting setter which obtains the target pixel values of target pixels that are of the lighting setting image for which the input regarding the use has been received and that are located correspondingly to the positions of the luminaires indicated by the luminaire position information, determines, based on the obtained target pixel values, a lighting setting value for at least one of dimming or toning of the luminaires, and outputs the lighting setting value.
US09980343B1
A tunable white light box includes light sources and a controller for individually controlling each of the light sources. The light sources each generate a light having a peak wavelength that differs from the peak wavelength generated by another one of the light sources. The controller individually adjusts each of the light sources to generate a color temperature for a translucent media containing an image.
US09980340B2
A linear light-emitting diode (LED)-based solid-state lamp comprises an LED driving circuit, LED arrays, a rectifier configured to convert an input AC voltage into a DC voltage, and an electric arc detection and current control module. The electric arc detection and current control module comprises a first derivative circuit configured to detect voltage variations from the DC voltage provided by the rectifier. The DC voltage varies drastically when an electric arc occurs while maintaining intact when the input AC voltage is not affected by the electric arc. The first derivative circuit takes a first-derivative of the voltage variations, coupling to a comparator circuit to determine if the electric arc occurs. When the electric arc is detected, the electric arc detection and current control module shuts off a current return from the LED arrays to reach the rectifier, hence preventing the electric arc from occurring during relamping or operating.
US09980337B1
Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed for automated luminaire location identification and grouping using sectorized visual light communication (VLC)/dark light communication (DLC). The VLC/DLC is used to identify, locate, and group luminaires in an environment for automatic commissioning and updating of lighting systems.
US09980336B2
Alight receiving device is equipped with a first light receiving element which outputs a first output signal corresponding to an amount of received light, a temperature information acquisition unit which acquires temperature information of the first light receiving element, a generation unit which generates compensating information of the first output signal, based on first output signals and temperature information when power is supplied to the first light receiving element in a plurality of power supply conditions and stores the same in a storage unit, and a compensation unit which compensates the first output signal, based on the temperature information and the compensating information when the first output signal is output.Thus, even when temperature characteristics of an optical element are varied, the temperature characteristics are compensated highly accurately.
US09980331B2
An oscillation circuit for generating a clock signal of a switching power supply circuit is provided. The oscillation circuit includes a circuit configured to perform frequency spreading control of the clock signal in synchronization with an output operation control signal for periodically turning on/off an output operation of the switching power supply circuit.
US09980327B2
A lighting device that includes a lighting unit, index unit, drive unit, sensor, and control unit. The lighting unit includes a plurality of light sources, with each light source having different color spectra. The index unit is to calculate a color rendering index based on stored data on spectra of the light sources and individual first drive data for the light sources. The drive unit is to individually energize the light sources according to the first drive data. The sensor is to measure a spectral power distribution emitted by the lighting unit. The control unit is to receive the spectral power distribution, predetermined spectral power distribution, and color rendering index associated with weighted sensor values calculable from the individual first drive data, maximize the color rendering index, and stop maximization when an error between the predetermined spectral power distribution and the measured spectral power distribution falls below a limit value.
US09980315B2
A method deactivates secondary Component Carrier (CC) measurement in a communications apparatus providing wireless communications services via a first CC in a wireless network, wherein the communications apparatus includes a first signal processing component chain comprising a plurality of signal processing components and is configured for processing the RF signals for the first CC and a second signal processing component chain comprising a plurality of signal processing components. The method includes operations of determining a switch timing for turning on at least one of the signal processing components in the second signal processing component chain for performing a deactivated secondary CC measurement; performing the deactivated secondary CC measurement via the second signal processing component chain, wherein the secondary CC is not able to perform data transmission or reception during a deactivated state, and wherein the switch timing is determined according to a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle.
US09980311B2
A wireless communication terminal includes a base station communication part which communicates with a base station; an interterminal communication part which communicates with another wireless communication part; a communication failure detector which detects a communication failure with a first connected base station serving as a base station connected thereto; and a communication resume processor which carries out an interterminal communication with another wireless communication terminal so as to communicate with a second connected base station, connected to another wireless communication terminal, via another wireless communication terminal when a communication failure is detected with the first connected base station, thus carrying out a process of resuming a communication upon detecting the communication failure.
US09980309B2
Disclosed is a method by a base station in a wireless communication system. The method includes receiving cell measurement information related to the serving and neighboring cells from at least one terminal served by the base station, receiving status information including load information on serving cells of the small cell base station from the small cell base station, determining a secondary cell group (SCG) of the serving cells of the small cell base station that are capable of serving the terminal based on the cell measurement information and the status information and transmitting information on the SCG to the small cell base station.
US09980299B2
Technology for using an open mobile alliance (OMA) management object (MO) for congestion control in mobile networks is described. A novel type of OMA MO for application specific access control (ASAC) can include internet protocol (IP) flow descriptions that can be used to characterize applications with fine granularity. Priorities can be assigned to IP flows based on the IP flow descriptions. A user equipment (UE) can receive such an OMA MO and also receive application-barring information regarding a congestion level in a mobile network with which an application at the UE wishes to connect. The UE can have a connectivity manager (CM) that determines whether to allow the application to establish a connection with the mobile network based on the priority level of the application's associated IP flow and the application-barring information.
US09980296B2
A method and apparatus for communication in a network of WLAN overlapping basic service set (OBSS) are disclosed. A station or an access point may indicate its interference reporting and inter-BSS coordination capabilities in a message. At least one of quality of service (QoS) settings, transmission opportunity (TXOP), restricted access window (RAW) or beacon subinterval schedules, or traffic indication map (TIM) or uplink access window assignment may be coordinated. The station may receive a request for interference measurements on the basic service set (BSS) of the station or neighboring BSSs that the station can overhear. The station may transmit an interference measurement report to an access point. The coordination may be performed based on the interference measurement report. Furthermore, STAs may transmit channel or sector preferences to APs and receive channel or sector assignments.
US09980277B2
A system and method of minimizing interference and retries in an environment where two or more network protocols utilize the same frequency spectrum is disclosed. A lower-power network controller is co-located with a WIFI controller. The lower-power network controller parses incoming packets as they are received and generates a request signal once it is determined that the incoming packet is destined for this device. This maximizes the likelihood that no WIFI traffic will occur while the incoming packet is being received.
US09980274B2
In order to minimize reduction of the usage efficiency of radio resources even when a radio base station performs LBT in an LTE/LTE-A operating system, the present invention provides a user terminal capable of communicating with a radio base station of a given operator using an unlicensed band. The user terminal has: an obtaining section that obtains a PLMN-ID (Public Land Mobile Network Identifier) of a cell that is detected in a cell search; a detecting section that detects the cell of an other operator cell that is different from the given operator based on the PLMN-ID; and a transmission section that transmits an identifier to specify the cell of the other operator and the PLMN-ID of the other operator to the radio base station.
US09980272B2
Techniques described herein relate to the dynamic modification of the serving band used by small cells in a heterogeneous network (HetNet) environment. The serving band may be modified to mitigate interference with macrocell eMBMS services. In various implementations, and based on scheduled eMBMS services, a small cell may switch the frequency band of the small cell, suspend service, and/or reduce the transmit power of the small cell.
US09980271B2
Systems, devices, and methods associated with interference aware sounding reference signals are provided. A method for wireless communication includes receiving, at a wireless communication device in communication with a first base station, an interfering signal from a second base station (or other base stations); determining, at the wireless communication device, a spatial direction of the interfering signal; and transmitting, with the wireless communication device, a signal to the first base station based on the spatial direction of the interfering signal. Another method of wireless communication includes receiving, at a first base station, a signal from a wireless communication device, the signal based on a spatial direction of an interfering signal received by the wireless communication device from a second base station (or other base stations); transmitting, with the first base station, a downlink communication to the wireless communication device, the downlink communication beamformed in the spatial direction based on the signal received from the wireless communication device.
US09980270B2
A method for reducing interference at a first transmission point (TP) includes receiving a blanking bitmap from a second TP, the blanking bitmap includes an indicator of an interval of time when transmissions occurring on a transmission beam originating from the second TP are adjusted to reduce interference to the first TP, and scheduling communications for a user equipment (UE) served by the first TP in accordance with the blanking bitmap.
US09980266B2
A method for collaborative resource allocation includes defining a cluster of neighboring base stations (101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107) in a cellular network, the cluster including at least first and second base stations. A channel for information exchange is established between the first and second base stations. Messages are transmitted from the first base station to the second base station over the established channel to provide information to the second base station with respect to allocation of first time-frequency resources by the first base station. Second resources are allocated by the second base station responsively to the messages from the first base station.
US09980257B2
Various aspects described herein relate to communicating in a wireless network. A resource grant comprising an indicator of whether to transmit a demodulation reference signal (RS) for an uplink control channel or an uplink data channel can be received from a network entity. It can be determined whether to transmit the RS in at least one transmission time interval (TTI) based at least in part on the indicator.
US09980253B2
A wireless communication device includes: a memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, which, while performing first wireless communication with a base station using a wireless channel, performs, using the wireless channel without the base station, second wireless communication with a wireless communication device of a communication partner.
US09980250B2
A WiFi access point (AP) includes a receive radio frequency (RF) front end and a baseband processor that controls operation of the receive RF front end. The RF front end captures signals over a wide spectrum that includes a plurality of WiFi frequency bands (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) and channelizes one or more WiFi channels from the captured signals. The baseband processor combines a plurality of blocks of WiFi channels to create one or more aggregated WiFi channels. The receive RF front end may be integrated on a first integrated circuit and the baseband processor may be integrated on a second integrated circuit. The first and second integrated circuits may be integrated on a single package. The RF front end and the baseband processor may be integrated on a single integrated circuit. The WiFi access point comprises a routing module that is communicatively coupled to the baseband processor.
US09980248B2
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method for a device to access a network, an access point, a network access device, and a system. The method includes: generating, by an access point, a broadcast frame, where the broadcast frame includes feature information of a network access device; and the feature information is used for indicating a feature of the network access device; and broadcasting, by the access point, the broadcast frame, so that a specific network access device initiates a network access procedure to the access point; where the specific network access device is a network access device which receives the broadcast frame and has the feature indicated by the feature information. By adopting the present invention, contention collisions among network access devices can be reduced through a manner of accessing a network in batches.
US09980247B2
A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided. In a first configuration, the apparatus is an eNB. The eNB constructs an MCCH change notification, and sends the MCCH change notification with a carrier frequency index for a first frequency of a first cell on a second frequency of a second cell. In a second configuration, the apparatus is a UE. The UE receives a configuration with aggregated carriers including a primary carrier from a primary cell and one or more secondary carriers from one or more corresponding secondary cells, and receives an MCCH change notification with a carrier frequency index for a first frequency of a first cell on a second frequency of a second cell. The first cell and the second cell are each one of the primary cell and the secondary cells.
US09980236B2
A wireless device determines a calculated power for a plurality of signals comprising: a first sounding reference signal (SRS) configured for transmission in a subframe of a licensed assisted access (LAA) cell type and a second SRS configured for transmission in the subframe of a licensed cell type. The wireless device drops or scales at least one of the first SRS or the second SRS based on a transmit power priority. The transmit power priority considers whether the first SRS or the second SRS is configured for transmission on the licensed cell type or the unlicensed cell type.
US09980230B1
This disclosure relates to dynamic baseband management for a wireless device. The wireless device may be an accessory device. The accessory device may determine whether it has a short-range wireless communication link with a companion device. The accessory device may determine one or more proximity metrics relating to the companion device. The accessory device may further determine one or more metrics associated with user settings, user activity and/or application activity at the wireless device. The wireless device may select a (e.g., full, limited, or off) baseband operating mode based on any or all of these considerations.
US09980229B2
A method for operation of a battery consumption analysis server communicatively coupled to a plurality of mobile devices over radio channels to receive packages of data recorded at each mobile device containing application use, and battery charging and discharging events. By receiving independent sets of information from the mobile device wherein independent sets comprise at least one of wireless phone activities and battery use, combining this information in such a way that the battery consumption or over consumption of specific applications are identified, the apparatus and method configures a display to identify the correspondingly bad applications to a user.
US09980226B2
A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided that enable UEs to conserve power while involved in ProSe communication. The apparatus transmits discovery class information for ProSe communication to an A-UE and to an M-UE. The discovery class information may be transmitted from a PF in response to discovery requests. Discovery class rules may be sent from the PF as a part of service authorization. The discovery class information may be transmitted from a ProSe application server as application layer signaling. The A-UE and M-UE may use the discovery class information to select a pool of ProSe resources according to the discovery class information for transmission or monitoring of ProSe communication. The M-UE may use the information to reduce the number of resource pools of resources that are monitored for ProSe communication.
US09980225B2
Methods and apparatus for adaptively adjusting temporal parameters (e.g., neighbor cell search durations). In one embodiment, neighbor cell search durations during discontinuous reception are based on a physical channel metric indicating signal strength and quality (e.g. Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), Reference Signal Receive Quality (RSRQ), etc.) of a cell. In a second embodiment, neighbor cell search durations are based on a multitude of physical layer metrics from one or more cells. In one variant, the multitude of physical layer metrics may include signal strength and quality metrics from the serving base station as well as signal strength and quality indicators from neighbor cells derived from the cells respective synchronization sequences.
US09980216B2
The present disclosure relates a terminal device capable of enhancing cell throughput in consideration of an interference environment created in a heterogeneous network environment where cells of different sizes which use different frequency bands coexist, and a method of operating the same.
US09980205B2
An example device for processing a query for a physical asset includes a processor and a computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations. The operations may include receiving a query for a physical asset from a requesting device, determining a near field communication node that detects the physical asset, and providing to the requesting device an identification of a communication device that is associated with the near field communication node in response to the query.
US09980204B2
A plurality of cells comprise a PUCCH secondary cell with a secondary PUCCH. The wireless device receives, in subframe n, a media-access-control control element indicating activation of the PUCCH secondary cell. The wireless device starts transmission of channel state information (CSI) fields for the PUCCH secondary cell from subframe n+8+k. k is an integer depending, at least in part, on when the PUCCH secondary cell is successfully detected by the wireless device.
US09980202B2
An access admission control method and system for and SAE/LTE system is provided for determining whether to accept or reject an access of a User Equipment (UE) to a Home evolved Node B (HeNB) based on the subscriber information of the UE. In an access admission control method according to the present invention, a HeNB or HeNB Gateway (HGW) transmits, when an access request message is received from a UE, the access request message to a Mobility Management Entity (MME) together with a CSG ID of the HeNB, and the MME determines, whether to accept or reject the access of the UE to the HeNB based on whether the CSG ID is contained in a white list associated with the UE.
US09980197B2
A method of operating a baseband processing unit for a wake-up receiver. The method includes receiving a signal from a transmitting device that contains a pseudo-random code. The method further includes adding a local pseudo-random code associated with a first correlator of the processing unit with a local pseudo-random code associated with a second correlator of the processing unit to generate a summed local pseudo-random code, and correlating by the first correlator the received pseudo-random code with the summed local pseudo-random code. The method still further includes comparing an output of the first correlator with a predetermined threshold, and determining whether or not to generate a wake-up signal based on the comparison. A baseband processing unit for performing this methodology is also provided.
US09980194B2
A method and apparatus for bootstrapping secure connections between wireless devices and deployable wireless communications networks. Using the method, a wireless device establishes a connection to an auxiliary network, and then establishes a connection with a deployable subscription bootstrapping service. The deployable subscription bootstrapping service generates a temporary subscription profile, including a temporary shared symmetric key, for the wireless device, writes the temporary profile to a deployable home subscriber server, and communicates the temporary profile to the wireless device, which stores the temporary profile. The wireless device then terminates the connection to the auxiliary network, and initiates a connection with the deployable wireless communications network using the temporary subscription profile.
US09980193B2
A method in a wireless device is disclosed. The method comprises detecting that a load associated with a set of radio resources allocated for vehicle-to-other (V2x) communication exceeds a load threshold, the wireless device having a first transport format for V2x transmissions. The method further comprises upon detecting that the load associated with the set of radio resources allocated for V2x communication exceeds the load threshold, selecting a second transport format for use in a subsequent V2x transmission by the wireless device.
US09980191B2
Disclosed are an interference information processing method and device. The method comprises: a user terminal determining completion of reestablishment of an RRC connection; and the user terminal reporting interference indication information to a target cell. In the embodiment of the present invention, after a connection is established between the user terminal and a target cell except a source cell, the target cell may obtain interference indication information of the user terminal through the user terminal or the source cell, so as to avoid in-device interference of the user terminal according to the interference indication information of the user terminal.
US09980182B2
Embodiments herein relate e.g. to a method performed by a network node (15,13) for handling data of a wireless device (10) in a communication network (1). The network node (15,13) receives an indication from the wireless device (10), which indication indicates a presence of the wireless device at a second radio access network node (13) holding no context for the wireless device (10). The network node (15,13) identifies a first radio access network node (12) holding context for the wireless device (10) and any buffered data destined for the wireless device (10). The network node (15,13) retrieves from the identified first radio access network node (12), data buffered for the wireless device (10), and forwards the retrieved data to the wireless device (10).
US09980175B2
A method and apparatus for performing traffic steering from a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) access network to a wireless local area network (WLAN) in a wireless communication system is provided. A user equipment (UE) receives radio access network access network (RAN) assistance information for evaluating traffic steering from the 3GPP access network to the WLAN, and attempts to acquire attributes related to the RAN assistance information from a specific WLAN. If at least one of the attributes is not acquired from the specific WLAN, the UE evaluates traffic steering from the 3GPP access network to the WLAN excluding the specific WLAN. The RAN assistance information includes a WLAN signal power threshold and a WLAN load threshold.
US09980165B2
Systems herein allow a user to use their personal user device to perform functions in an enterprise environment in exchange for enrolling at a management server. The management server can provide a privacy component that allows the user to view a privacy profile summarizing data collection activities of the management server. The management server can dynamically build the privacy profile based on device profile and privacy settings stored on the management server. The privacy profile can be dynamically updated based on changes to privacy settings, and can also provide links for a user to see actual data that has been collected at the management server.
US09980161B2
A wireless security system is provided. The system includes a first wireless device, a second wireless device, an uninstalled wireless device, and an access controller. The first wireless device is disposed within a first security zone having first security provisions within a network configuration. The second wireless device is disposed within a second security zone having second security provisions within the network configuration. The second security provisions are greater than the first security provisions. The access controller communicates with the uninstalled wireless device, and determines a proximity of the uninstalled wireless device relative to the first and second wireless devices, and configures third security provisions for the uninstalled device corresponding to the proximity.
US09980158B2
An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for transmitting configuration information by a local administrator and the local administrator transmitting the configuration information, the method comprising the steps of: receiving an internet protocol pool (IP pool) allocated by an IP address management server of an external IP network; receiving an IP address allocation request from a new base station in the distribution network; and, in response to the received IP address allocation request, allocating the base station a certain IP address on the basis of the allocated IP pool. In addition, the embodiment of the present invention provides a base station for receiving configuration information from the local administrator and a self-configuration method for the base station.
US09980152B2
Various communication systems may benefit from communication between two different radio access technologies. For example, a long term evolution network may benefit from receiving resource availability information from a wireless local area network. A method includes receiving a request from a first RAT at a network node in a second RAT, and at least partially rejecting or at least partially accepting the request. The method also includes sending an indication of the at least partial rejection or at least partial acceptance to the first radio access technology, where the indication is used in determining whether to activate or continue radio access aggregation.
US09980149B2
Techniques for distributed selection of white space channels are described. According to one or more embodiments, techniques described herein enable fair allocation of available white spaces among entities seeking access to the white spaces, such as base stations and client devices in a particular geographical region. According to one or more embodiments, techniques for distributed selection of white space channels enable individual network components to detect white space network attributes and distribute white space channels based on the detected attributes. Alternatively or additionally, multiple base stations can collaborate to share information about white spaces in a particular region.
US09980147B2
A spectrum manager for allocating a shared frequency spectrum in a wireless communication system is disclosed. The wireless communication system comprises a plurality of base stations which are operated by at least two operators, said spectrum manager being configured to group the plurality of base stations into clusters based on spectrum demand related information; and determine a spectrum partition pattern for each cluster based on the spectrum demand related information and information of the grouped based station clusters, a spectrum partition pattern specifying the partition and allocation of frequency spectrum fragments to said at least two operators in a corresponding cluster, wherein a frequency spectrum fragment is allocated to only one of said at least two operators in each cluster, and forward information regarding the spectrum partition pattern to the plurality of base stations or to one or a plurality of network entities of the at least two operators.
US09980135B2
Implementations include systems and methods for managing security for a mobile communication device. In implementations, a processor of the mobile communication device may determine environment context information. The processor may receive safety information from one or more peer devices. The processor may determine an authentication requirement for the mobile communication device based on the received safety information and the determined environment context information. The processor may deny access to a function of the mobile communication device in response to determining that the determined authentication requirement is not satisfied.
US09980125B2
Provided is a method for saving a standard format page. The method includes generating a standard format page which includes a first filling entry, the first filling entry having a default filling value and being configured for being filled with a PLMN ID of a visited place; transmitting the standard format page to the first mobile terminal located at the visited place; receiving a first standard format page transmitted by the first mobile terminal, the first standard format page being a standard format page in which the first filling entry has been filled with the filling value; and identifying and saving the first standard format page. Further provided is a server for saving a standard format page.
US09980124B2
A method in a cellular communication network comprising the following steps: marking a SIM card as dormant when said SIM card has not been used for at least an observation duration, provisioning a release node by backing up managing parameters related to said dormant SIM card, in a database, de-provisioning relevant managing nodes by removing managing parameters related to said dormant SIM card, redirecting any attachment request emanating from said dormant SIM card to the release node.
US09980121B2
One embodiment for the present invention related to a method for performing discovery by a first device supporting Wi-Fi display (WFD), the method comprising: transmitting a discovery request frame containing one or more type length value (TLV) fields to an access point (AP); and receiving, through an AP, a discovery response frame which is transmitted from a second device having received the discovery request frame and which contains one or more TLV fields, wherein the one or more TLVs included in the discovery request frame contains information on the first device, and the one or more TLVs included in the discovery response frame contains, among information on the second device, information corresponding to the discovery request frame.
US09980117B2
Aspects disclosed herein relate to providing peer communications between NFC enabled devices using an active communication mode. In one example, a communications device is equipped to detect a remote NFC device field within an operating volume, establish a peer communication link with the remote NFC device using an active communication mode, determine that the peer communication link is to be deselected, and transmit a deselection request message to the remote NFC device indicating to the remote NFC device that it has been deselected while maintaining the peer communication link. In another example, a communications device is equipped to sense an operating volume, as part of an active communication mode collision avoidance procedure, determine that no field is sensed, initiate an unmodulated carrier as part of switching an operating field to an on state, and maintain the unmodulated carrier for a collision avoidance threshold duration of time.
US09980111B2
Provided are a mobile terminal device and a safety verification system by which information for verifying safety can be collected and presented, while prompting evacuation. The device is provided with: a current location acquisition unit for acquiring the current location when disaster occurrence information has been received; a route display controller for displaying a route leading from the acquired current location to a preregistered evacuation site; a start display controller for displaying a start input screen via which an input indicating that evacuation has started can be entered; and an evacuation start information transmission unit which, in the event that evacuation start information indicating that evacuation has started has been input from the start input screen through an operation by the user, transmits the evacuation start information to a preregistered destination.
US09980100B1
A venue system of a client device can submit a location request to a server, which returns multiple venues that are near the client device. The client device can use one or more machine learning schemes (e.g., convolutional neural networks) to determine that the client device is located in one of specific venues of the possible venues. The venue system can further select imagery for presentation based on the venue selection. The presentation may be published as ephemeral message on a network platform.
US09980088B2
A method on a first mobile node for facilitating exchange of pertinent data between mobile nodes over a wireless communications network can be provided. The method can include establishing, by the first mobile node, a wireless network connection with at least one other mobile node inside a predefined geospatial area, wherein the wireless network connection is established over the wireless communications network. The method can further include determining that a future position of the first mobile node is outside the predefined geospatial area and transmitting pertinent data residing on the first mobile node over the wireless communications network exclusively to the at least one other mobile node inside the predefined geospatial area, wherein the pertinent data is associated with the predefined geospatial area.
US09980081B2
A communication device including a communicator and a communication controller is provided. The communicator has at least two communication ranges including a short communication range and a long communication range longer than the short communication range. The communication controller permits the communicator to perform communication with a terminal present in the short communication range regardless of a priority level of the terminal. The communication controller permits the communicator to perform communication with a terminal present in the long communication range and out of the short communication range when a priority level of the terminal is higher than a predetermined priority level.
US09980080B2
A first resource for transmission of first information is configured, a second resource for transmission of second information is configured, a third resource for transmission of a first synchronization signal and transmission of third information for indicating a frame number is configured, a fourth resource for transmission of a second synchronization signal and transmission of fourth information for indicating a frame number is configured, and a transmit power for each of the transmission of the first synchronization signal, the transmission of the third information, the transmission of the second synchronization signal, and the transmission of the fourth information is given by using one third parameter that is configured in a higher layer and that is common to the transmission of the first synchronization signal, the transmission of the third information, the transmission of the second synchronization signal, and the transmission of the fourth information.
US09980074B2
In general, techniques are described for determining quantization step sizes for compression of spatial components of a sound field. A device comprising one or more processors may be configured to perform the techniques. In other words, the one or more processors may be configured to determine a quantization step size to be used when compressing a spatial component of a sound field, where the spatial component generated by performing a vector based synthesis with respect to a plurality of spherical harmonic coefficients.
US09980070B2
Test apparatus measuring relative frequency response of first and second microphones includes a rotatable carrier. First and second microphones are sealingly clamped against a mounting surface of the carrier aligned with first and second apertures therein, such apertures lying equidistant from, and on opposite sides of, the carrier's axis of rotation. The carrier initially positions the first microphone closest to an audible signal source, and the responses of the microphones to an audible excitation signal are measured. The carrier is rotated 180 degrees, and the measurements are repeated. Elongated strips of gasket material are used to align the microphones and to form a seal with the carrier. When microphones are mounted deep within an audio device, the audio device is sealingly clamped against a mounting plate, sequentially aligning the mounting plate aperture with first and second apertures of the audio device housing corresponding to first and second microphones disposed therein.
US09980067B2
A hearing device contains a hearing device housing, which is insertable into an auditory canal of a person wearing the hearing device and which has a through-opening leading to the interior of the hearing device housing. The hearing device has a wax guard which is inserted into the through-opening and serves to protect against dirt, and wax, entering the hearing device housing. The guard contains a filter housing, which carries a filter element. At least one aperture is formed in a peripheral wall of the filter housing, which peripheral wall, in the correct insertion state, faces toward a peripheral wall of the hearing device housing delimiting the through-opening, and, in order to carry way and/or take up dirt, the aperture communicates with at least one hollow space arranged in the hearing device housing.
US09980058B2
The disclosure relates to binaural hearing instruments and more particularly to reduction of processing time required in a binaural hearing aid system. According to the disclosure, there is provided a method comprising mono-directional transmission of data blocks comprising audio and/or information frames from one hearing instrument to the other hearing instrument or vice versa in a binaural hearing aid. According to the disclosure, the direction of transmission is determined by a quantity characterizing the presence of usable information content in the sound signal picked up by the hearing instruments of the binaural hearing aid. It is proposed to use one or more of local SNR, local voice activity detection indication, local level, local speech intelligibility estimate to determine the direction of transmission, although other quantities may be used.
US09980047B2
An apparatus comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: monitoring at least one indicator dependent on a transducer mechanical integration parameter; and determining a change in the at least one indicator.
US09980046B2
Microphone distortion reduction is presented herein. A system can comprise: a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: obtaining a pressure-in to voltage-out transfer function representing a distortion of an output of a microphone corresponding to a stimulus of a defined sound pressure level that has been applied to the microphone; inverting an equation representing the pressure-in to voltage-out transfer function to obtain an inverse transfer function; and applying the inverse transfer function to the output to obtain a linearized output representing the stimulus. In one example, the obtaining of the pressure-in to voltage-out transfer function comprises: creating an ideal sine wave stimulus comprising the amplitude and fundamental frequency of the time domain waveform; and generating the equation based on a defined relationship between the ideal sine wave stimulus and the time domain waveform.
US09980045B2
The application relates to a loudspeaker system including an input unit providing an electric input audio signal; an equalization unit for modifying said electric input audio signal in dependence on frequency and to provide an equalized electric audio signal according to a predefined equalization function, a loudspeaker unit for converting said equalized electric audio signal to an acoustic output sound signal, and a user interface for modifying a volume level of said output sound signal in a multitude (N) of steps V0, V1, . . . , VN. The application further relates to a method communication device comprising the loudspeaker system and to its use. The present application provides an improved loudspeaker system in which the equalization unit is configured to apply a specific equalization function EQ0, EQ1, . . . , EQN to the electric input audio signal in each of said multitude of steps V0, V1, . . . , VN of the volume level.
US09980043B2
A method comprising determining an audio noise spectrum that represents external audio noise, determining an audio reference spectrum that represents audio content to be perceived by a listener, and determining a compensation spectrum based on the audio noise spectrum and based on the audio reference spectrum.
US09980035B1
A head-mounted display assembly with a headphone retention mechanism. The head-mounted display assembly includes a display housing, a headphone assembly, a headphone storage region located on the body of the display housing, and a headphone retention mechanism at the headphone storage region. The headphone retention mechanism includes a magnetic element configured to produce a magnetic field that releasably retains the headphone assembly against the headphone storage region when a user positions the headphone assembly in the vicinity of the headphone storage region.
US09980034B2
Disclosed is a signal processor for headphone off-ear detection. The signal processor includes an audio output to transmit an audio signal toward a headphone speaker in a headphone cup. The signal processor also includes a feedback (FB) microphone input to receive a FB signal from a FB microphone in the headphone cup. The signal processor also includes an off-ear detection (OED) signal processor to determine an audio frequency response of the FB signal over an OED frame as a received frequency response. The OED processor also determines an audio frequency response of the audio signal times an off-ear transfer function between the headphone speaker and the FB microphone as an ideal off-ear response. A difference metric si generated comparing the received frequency response to the ideal off-ear frequency response. The difference metric is employed to detect when the headphone cup is disengaged from an ear.
US09980033B2
A system for voice dictation includes an earpiece, the earpiece may include an earpiece housing sized to fit into an external auditory canal of a user and block the external auditory canal, a first microphone operatively connected to the earpiece housing and positioned to be isolated from ambient sound when the earpiece housing is fitted into the external auditory canal, a second microphone operatively connected to earpiece housing and positioned to sound external from the user, and a processor disposed within the earpiece housing and operatively connected to the first microphone and the second microphone. The system may further include a software application executing on a computing device which provides for receiving the first voice audio stream into a first position of a record and receiving the second voice audio stream into a second position of the record.
US09980031B2
A modular ear phone assembly includes a pair of ear buds. Each of the ear buds may be positioned in ears thereby facilitating each of the ear buds to emit audible sound into the ears. A pair of cords is provided. Each of the cords is selectively electrically coupled to an associated one of the ear buds. A coupler is provided and each of the cords is selectively electrically coupled thereto. A conductor is provided and the conductor is selectively electrically coupled to the coupler. The conductor may be selectively electrically coupled to an audio source. Thus, the ear buds may emit audible sound received from the audio source.
US09980030B2
The present invention comprises a combination of a bracelet and a Bluetooth wireless headphone. The Bluetooth headphone is stored inside the bracelet, and the bracelet can be worn on the wrist of the user. The Bluetooth headphone has two small earbuds with high sound quality speakers inside.
US09980015B2
A broadcast signal reception method and a reception system are provided. The reception system includes a first processor, a second processor, and a storage medium. The first processor receives and processes a signaling table, the signaling table comprising first signaling information including access information of Non-Real-Time (NRT) service data and second signaling information including media object association information of the NRT service data. The second processor receives the NRT service data and processes a file including the received NRT service data based on the access information and the media object association information processed by the first processor. The storage medium stores the processed file of the NRT service data.
US09980012B2
Systems and methods are operable to distribute targeted assets to a plurality of media devices. An exemplary embodiment generates an asset file defined by an asset file time period, wherein target assets are selected for saving into the asset file when the intended initial presentation time of a target asset falls within the asset file time period of the asset file that is being generated. Then, the asset file is communicated to a plurality of media devices at a time in advance of the intended initial presentation times of a target asset of the asset file.
US09980010B2
The current invention relates to a computer-generated method for optimizing placement of advertising content across multiple different devices. The system can allocate advertising campaigns and plans to various inventory types based on the probability of accurate consumer matching. Consumer matching can be achieved by generation of look-alike models in a consumer's device graph to predict future consumption behavior. The system includes an interface through which an advertiser can access relevant information about inventory and success of a given placement.
US09980009B2
A digital video conversion device is communicatively coupled to a TV set and a TV signal source, respectively, so as to pass TV signals from the TV signal source to the TV set. Upon receipt of a TV channel identification request from a mobile terminal via a wireless communication channel, the digital video conversion device acquires an image from the TV signals currently broadcasted on the TV set and extracts a plurality of station logo characteristic sets from the image, each station logo characteristic set corresponding to one of a plurality of station logo templates. After calculating a similarity score between each station logo characteristic set and a corresponding station logo template, the digital video conversion device identifies one of the plurality of station logo templates as matching the image based on their similarity scores and returns TV channel information associated with the identified station logo template to the mobile terminal.
US09980004B1
According to an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, operations related to display level content blocking may include obtaining pixel data of a screen image intended for presentation on a display. The operations may further include, prior to presenting the screen image on the display: identifying particular content in the screen image based on the pixel data; identifying, in the pixel data, content-pixel data that is a portion of the pixel data that corresponds to the identified particular content; and modifying the content-pixel data to obscure presentation of the particular content. In addition, the operations may include causing presentation of the screen image on the display based on the modified content-pixel data such that presentation of the particular content is obscured in the presentation of the screen image.
US09979990B2
The various embodiments described herein include methods and systems for determining user engagement with media content. In one aspect, a method is performed at a computer system. The method includes: (1) receiving, from a first device, media content identification information for media content presented during a time period; (2) receiving device usage information from a second device in proximity to the first device, the second device associated with a user and the usage information corresponding to device usage of the user during the time period; (3) based on the usage information and the identification information, determining a level of engagement of the user with the presented media content; and (4) if the level of engagement meets one or more predefined criterion, recommending additional media content to the user based on the presented media content.
US09979989B2
There is disclosed a head-end system in which differently processed copies of content portions are reordered such that copies from different content portions are not interleaved in the final transport stream.
US09979986B2
A method and apparatus for encoding video by using deblocking filtering, and a method and apparatus for decoding video by using deblocking filtering are provided. The method of encoding video includes: splitting a picture into a maximum coding unit; determining coding units of coded depths and encoding modes for the coding units of the maximum coding unit by prediction encoding the coding units of the maximum coding unit based on at least one prediction unit and transforming the coding units based on at least one transformation unit, wherein the maximum coding unit is hierarchically split into the coding units as a depth deepens, and the coded depths are depths where the maximum coding unit is encoded in the coding units; and performing deblocking filtering on video data being inversely transformed into a spatial domain in the coding units, in consideration of the encoding modes.
US09979982B2
An encoded bit stream is processed by a lossless decoding unit, an inverse quantization unit, and an inverse orthogonal transform unit in this order, to obtain orthogonally transformed coefficient data and encoding parameter information. The inverse orthogonal transform unit performs an inverse orthogonal transform on the coefficient data by using bases that are set beforehand in accordance with the locations of transform blocks in a macroblock indicated by the encoding parameter information. In this manner, prediction error data is obtained. An intra prediction unit generates predicted image data. An addition unit adds the predicted image data to the prediction error data, to decode image data. By using bases that are set in accordance with the locations of transform blocks, an optimum inverse orthogonal transform can be performed, and encoding efficiency can be increased.
US09979977B2
A method and device of generating an image stream with verification data are provided. The method includes the following steps. First, determine at least one pixel in a first image according to a first encoding parameter. Then, generate a timing data sequence associated with information about the correlation between the verification data and time points according to a second encoding parameter and the verification data. Next, modify a pixel value of the at least one pixel in the first image to generate a second image according to the verification data corresponding to one of the time points in the timing data sequence. Lastly, generate the image stream including the second image.
US09979975B2
Bitstream restrictions or constraints on the partitioning of pictures across layers of video data are described. In some examples, the number of tiles per picture for each layer of a plurality of layers is constrained based on a maximum number of tiles per picture for the layer. In some examples, the number of tiles per picture for each layer of the plurality of layers is no greater than the maximum number of tiles per picture for the layer. In some examples, a sum of the numbers of tiles per picture for the plurality of layers is no greater than a sum of the maximum numbers of tiles per picture for the plurality of layers. In some examples, a second largest coding unit (LCU) or coding tree block (CTB) size for a second layer is constrained based on, e.g., to be equal to, a first LCU size for a first layer.
US09979972B2
Methods and apparatus are provided for rate control accuracy in video encoding and decoding. An apparatus includes a video encoder for encoding image data using rate control. The rate control involves estimating a quantization step size and adjusting a rounding offset. The rounding offset is capable of being non-constant during the encoding.
US09979971B2
An apparatus configured to code video information includes a memory unit and a processor in communication with the memory unit. The memory unit is configured to store video information associated with a first video layer having a first picture. The processor is configured to process picture order count (POC) derivation information associated with the first picture, and determine, based on the POC derivation information associated with the first picture, a POC value of at least one other picture in the first video layer that precedes the first picture in decoding order. The processor may encode or decode the video information.
US09979969B2
Method and system for adaptive image compression using block characteristics are provided. For adaptive image compression, blocks in an image are quantized and compressed using a quantization table that was used in quantization of the blocks. An image compression system checks a block-characteristics quantization table corresponding to a specific block in the image to be compressed in order to quantize the specific block, and performs calculation using a value of a first element of the quantization table corresponding to a specific element of the specific block and a value of a second element of the checked block-characteristics quantization table corresponding to the specific element in order to quantize the specific element.
US09979968B2
An encoding method comprises obtaining a target number of motion information predictors to be used for an image portion to encode and generating a set of motion information predictors using the obtained target number. The set is generated by: obtaining a first set of motion information predictors; if the first set includes duplicates then adding one or more non-duplicate motion information predictor(s).
US09979967B2
Disclosed is an adaptive transform method based on an in-screen prediction, and an apparatus using the method. A method for encoding an image can comprise a step of determining in-screen prediction mode groups, and a step of transforming by using a different transform method according to the in-screen prediction mode group. As a result, transforming can be performed by applying the different transform method according to the in-screen prediction mode group.
US09979966B2
A video-information encoding apparatus and decoding apparatus with a guarantee of a fixed processing time. By limiting the amount of data to be input into/output from a CABAC encoding unit and decoding unit on a unit-of-encoding basis, such as one picture, slice, macroblock or block, and by encoding uncompressed video data, it is possible to provide a video-information encoding apparatus and decoding apparatus with a guarantee of a fixed processing time. Thereby, an apparatus with a guarantee of the processing time can be mounted.
US09979962B2
An embodiment provides a method for compression of a real-time surveillance signal. This method includes receiving a signal from a monitoring device and analyzing the signal to be monitored to compute spectral content of the signal. This method also includes computing the information content of the signal and determining a count of a number of coefficients to be used to monitor the signal. This method includes deploying a strategy for computing a plurality of coefficients based on the spectral content of the signal and the count of the number of coefficients to be used for monitoring the signal. This method further includes monitoring the signal and resetting the system in the case of above-threshold changes in a selected portion of the plurality of coefficients.
US09979961B2
The invention relates to an image processing device and an image processing method capable of collectively encoding a color image and a depth image of different resolutions. The image processing device comprising an image frame converting unit that converts the resolution of the depth image to the same resolution as that of the color image. An additional information generating unit that generates additional information including information to specify the color image, or information to specify the depth image, image frame conversion information indicating an area of a black image included in the depth image, the resolution of which is converted, and resolution information to distinguish whether the resolutions of the color image and the depth image are different from each other. This technology may be applied to the image processing device of images of multiple viewpoints.
US09979960B2
Video frames of a higher-resolution chroma sampling format such as YUV 4:4:4 are packed into video frames of a lower-resolution chroma sampling format such as YUV 4:2:0 for purposes of video encoding. For example, sample values for a frame in YUV 4:4:4 format are packed into two frames in YUV 4:2:0 format. After decoding, the video frames of the lower-resolution chroma sampling format can be unpacked to reconstruct the video frames of the higher-resolution chroma sampling format. In this way, available encoders and decoders operating at the lower-resolution chroma sampling format can be used, while still retaining higher resolution chroma information. In example implementations, frames in YUV 4:4:4 format are packed into frames in YUV 4:2:0 format such that geometric correspondence is maintained between Y, U and V components for the frames in YUV 4:2:0 format.
US09979953B1
The depth of one or more objects within a scene may be determined utilizing system that includes a single light source, a reflector (e.g., an ellipsoidal reflector), a shutter mechanism associated with the light source, and a camera. More particularly, the light source may output light that is directed towards the scene (a first set of light beams) and towards the reflector (a second set of light beams) utilizing the shutter mechanism. The reflector may reflect the second set of light beams towards the scene. The camera may then capture a first image that corresponds to the first set of light beams and a second image that corresponds to the second set of light beams. The depth of a particular one of the objects within the scene may be determined based at least in part on the first image and the second image.
US09979949B2
An adapter for optically coupling a conventional 2D endoscope to a stereoscopic 3D camera so as to provide stereoscopic 3D visualization of an object imaged by the conventional 2D endoscope, the adapter comprising: a body; a mechanical mount disposed on the body for mechanically mounting the adapter to a conventional 2D endoscope; means for mounting the body to a stereoscopic 3D camera; and an optical pathway disposed within the body for receiving an image from the exit pupil of the conventional 2D endoscope and projecting the received image on an appropriate portion of the stereoscopic 3D camera, wherein the optical pathway is adjustable so as to accommodate a range of different conventional 2D endoscopes.
US09979943B2
In an image processing apparatus that can provide, to an image, an emphasis effect that serves as a focusing degree indicator, provision of an emphasis effect that is easily distinguished is realized. A signal generation circuit generates signals having values that correspond to the values of process target pixels of image signals. For example, based on the magnitude of a frequency component extracted from the image signals by an extraction circuit, a signal modification circuit applies signals to the process target pixels and outputs the process target pixels. The signal generation circuit generates signals so as to have values that decrease continuously or in a stepwise manner in accordance with increase in the values of the process target pixels.
US09979941B2
A lens unit of an imaging unit features longitudinal chromatic aberration. From an imaged scene, an imaging sensor unit captures non-color-corrected first images of different spectral content. An intensity processing unit computes broadband luminance sharpness information from the first images on the basis of information descriptive for imaging properties of the lens unit. A chrominance processing unit computes chrominance information on the basis of the first images. A synthesizing unit combines the computed chrominance and luminance information to provide an output image having, for example, extended depth-of-field. The imaging unit may be provided in a camera system, a digital microscope, as examples.
US09979938B1
An MRI-compatible video projector system with improved safety features, comprising a projector module, a liquid cooling system, comprising a coolant block of non-magnetic material disposed in or adjacent the housing of the projector and heat generating components, a coolant pump situated remotely from the projector, and coupled to the coolant block by coolant lines carrying liquid to and from the coolant block, and a projector power system situated remotely from the projector.
US09979933B1
This invention provides a modular vision system. In an embodiment, the modular vision system comprises at least three primary modules/components. A main module contains a vision sensor and processor. An optical module contains a lens, focusing and illumination assemblies. An interface module contains external connectors. This combination enables either a linear or angled arrangement. The main module includes with a mating surface on the side opposite the sensor that is angled with respect to the sensor plane. The interface module defines a mating surface with respect the surface containing the connectors for the cables. A connector removably interconnects the interface module and the main module. The connector assembly, and each individual contact, is constructed and arranged to enable interconnection of the main and interface modules in both the straight and right angle arrangements by rotating the modules about a 180-degree orientation. In each orientation, the connector delivers appropriate electrical contact.
US09979931B2
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including medium-encoded computer program products for transmitting digital media streams. In one aspect, a computer-implemented method includes identifying and transmitting a sequence of frames in a digital video transmission, the sequence of frames comprising an initial frame and subsequent frames corresponding to the initial frame, the subsequent frames comprising data that incrementally updates the initial frame, and initiating a new transmission of the sequence of frames to a new device after sending one of the subsequent frames in the digital transmission, the initiating comprising generating information to cause the new device to inhibit presenting the new transmission until after frames between and including the initial frame and the one of the subsequent frames have been received by the new device, and transmitting, to the new device, the information and the frames between and including the initial frame and the one of the subsequent frames.
US09979929B2
A network-based, e.g., cloud-based, and apparatus based in-call command control for dynamically performing user commands such as voice commands or gesture commands are provided. The result allows for hands free operation of a calling system including one where the user is located separate from a base station, and provides for recognizing both voice and gestural commands. Filtering of commands can be performed dynamically so that commands are not perceived by those participating in the call. Further, the user, who has given the command, can be notified regarding the performance of the requested command.
US09979926B1
A method, system, computer program product, and computer readable storage medium provide the ability to control media content playback and reduce the time to commence playback of streamed media content. A client application receives a playback request to initiate playback of the media content. The client application downloads, from a server, a segment of the media content. The client application slices the segment into multiple smaller segments. The client application provides a subset of the multiple smaller segments to a video player. The subset of multiple smaller segments enable the video player to commence playback of the media content.
US09979925B2
Methods and arrangements in a client node and a server node support a decision on decoding and playout of a certain content in the client node. The methods and arrangements relate to the determining, conveying and obtaining of information related to the characteristics (level) required for decoding and playing out the certain media content at a non-regular playout rate. The method and arrangement in the client node further relate to determining, based on the obtained information, which playout rate(s) is/are supported by the client node in regard of level. The methods and arrangements enable the client node to refrain from attempting to decode and play out of the content at a non-regular rate requiring a level which is not supported by the client node.
US09979916B2
An imaging apparatus includes: a first signal processing circuit arranged in a first direction to process a signal from a first group of pixels; a second signal processing circuit arranged in a second direction to process a signal from a second group of pixels; a first external connecting terminal arranged in the first direction to supply a first potential to the first signal processing circuit; a second external connecting terminal arranged in the second direction to supply the first potential to the second signal processing circuit; a third external connecting terminal arranged in the first direction to supply a second potential to the first group of pixels; and a fourth external connecting terminal arranged in the second direction to supply the second potential to the second group of pixels.
US09979904B2
The present invention relates to reading-out sensor array pixels. In particular, the present invention provides an approach according to which only a region of interest is may be read out from the sensor array, thus leading to substantial time savings. In order to achieve this, a circuitry for configuring a region of interest for the sensor array is provided as well as a reading-out circuitry for reading-out pixels belonging to the region of interest. In addition, the corresponding methods for programming the region of interest and for reading-out the region of interest are provided. The circuitry for programming and/or reading-out the region of interest includes per pixel provided storage elements for storing an indication of whether a pixel belongs to a region of interest (ROI). These are configured by the programming circuitry and using when reading-out the ROI for only reading out the pixels of the ROI.
US09979897B2
A method of detecting and correcting flicker. A video stream of a scene at various instances of time is captured by an image capture device. A local spatio-temporal feature extraction technique is applied, by a processor, to regions of the capture scene within each frame. Candidate flickering region detection is applied, by a classifier, to identify candidate regions. Corresponding candidate regions are tracked over time to detect illumination differences within each analyzed region. An illumination correction technique is applied to the candidate regions where flickering is detected. A flicker-free video is output on a display device.
US09979894B1
Implementations relate to modifying images with simulated light sources. In some implementations, a method includes receiving input indicating a location on a 2-D displayed image at which to position a light source element, and adjusting pixel values of the image to cause an illumination effect in the image based on the position of the light source element and based on a direction of illumination of the simulated light source with respect to one or more surfaces depicted in the image.
US09979886B2
Various embodiments comprise apparatuses and methods including an image sensor. In one example, the image sensor includes a read-out integrated circuit, a plurality of pixel electrodes, an optically sensitive layer, and a top electrical contact. In a first low-power mode, electrical current passing through the top electrical contact is configured to be sensed, and independent currents passing through the plurality of pixel electrodes are configured not to be sensed independently. In a second high-resolution mode, independent currents passing through the plurality of pixel electrodes are configured to be sensed independently. Additional methods and apparatuses are described.
US09979885B2
An electronic device comprises a display and a 360° variable planar panoramic video controller to present on the display a capture screen to guide the user to capture a near-seamless 360° panoramic video image. Simultaneously with the completion of the video capture, a 360° panoramic zoetropic video image is assembled from still images selected at intervals during the 360° continuous directional physical rotation of the electronic capture device.
US09979881B2
An imaging control apparatus includes a touch detection unit that detects a touch operation on a touch panel, a display control unit that performs control, in response to a touch position moving operation, to display a first mark at a position, on a display unit, moved by an amount corresponding to the moving operation, and a control unit that performs control, during recording of a captured moving image, not to perform specific processing relating to image capturing during at least a predetermined time period even if a touch-up operation, which is releasing the touch performed following the moving operation, and perform control, in a predetermined state other than during recording of a captured moving image, to perform within the predetermined time period the specific processing based on a position of the touch-up operation, in response to a touch-up operation performed following the moving operation.
US09979876B2
A phase difference pixel extraction unit reads phase difference pixel data obtained by performing a storing operation in the same storing time for each of the phase difference pixels in each frame of an imaging operation of an image pickup device. A phase difference pixel calculation unit adds the read frame-by-frame phase difference pixel data of the same coordinates in a current frame and a past frame. A determination unit determines whether to perform a focus detection operation based on the added phase difference pixel data. A ranging calculation processing unit applies the added phase difference pixel data when it is determined, and otherwise applies the phase difference pixel data in the current frame.
US09979866B2
A camera device (10) is provided and includes a drive unit (50) connected via a transmission mechanism to a carriage (11). The carriage (11) mechanically holds a camera (4) and can move the carriage (11) together with the camera (4) at least between a standby position (1) and a recording position (2) along a movement direction (7). The carriage (11) is movably arranged in a housing (20) by at least one guide (11.3, 11.4). A movable cover (12) can close an opening (23) in the housing (20) in a closed position when the camera (4) assumes its standby position (1). A switch element (16) can trigger a signal for a vehicle-specific function. In the closed position (17), a manual pressure (90) on the cover (12) causes movement of the carriage (11) with the camera (4), which can switch the camera from its standby position (1) into an auxiliary position (3).
US09979861B2
A photographing apparatus includes a first timing signal generator that generates a first timing signal, a second timing signal generator that generates a second timing signal, a phase difference control unit that controls so that a phase difference between the first timing signal and the second timing signal is a predetermined phase difference, a sensor that is driven based on the first timing signal, an image processing unit that generates an image to be displayed by a line unit based on an output of the sensor, a display unit that is driven based on the second timing signal and displays an image by a line unit after an image processing by the image processing unit, and an error information acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a presence or absence of an error in which a line image to be displayed is not generated in the image processing unit.
US09979844B2
According to one embodiment, a decoloring device includes a reading unit, a decoloring unit, and a control unit. The reading unit is configured to read control information from a first image formed in a predetermined area of a sheet. The decoloring unit is configured to decolor a portion or entirety of a second image, different from the first image, formed on the sheet using a decolorable recording material. The control unit is configured to control erasing of the data of the second image from a storage device, based on the control information, in a case where the decoloring unit decolors the second image.
US09979832B2
An architecture that can dynamically detect and/or automatically remedy service usage inequities in a communications network is provided. For example, based upon a comparison of incoming call detail records (CDRs) to various subscriber information entities (e.g., service plan, blacklisted devices for the service plan, historic or current billing cycle usage, etc.), the architecture can identify when a usage inequity occurs or is likely to occur, substantially in real time.
US09979828B1
Embodiments of the present invention include a Voice Virtual Private Network (Voice VPN) and methods for providing access to remote peer users across same. In one embodiment, voice and communication services of one or more corporate network are provided to remote user terminals across a Voice VPN Gateway. The level and type of access to voice and communication services provided can be determined statically, dynamically, or adaptively based on user data or user habits or history.
US09979823B2
A method for managing outbound communications for a contact center includes: detecting, by a processor associated with the contact center, a trigger for transmitting outbound messages to a customer of the contact center, determining, by the processor, a notification strategy for the customer in response to the detected trigger, identifying, by the processor, a contact group designated for the customer, initiating, by the processor, first and second conversations with respectively first and second contacts in the contact group for transmitting first and second outbound communications according to the notification strategy, monitoring, by the processor, progress of the first and second conversations, and modifying, by the processor, a state of the second conversation with the second contact based on the progress of the first conversation with the first contact.
US09979821B2
A system and method are presented for advanced campaign management in outbound dialing platforms. In a contact center environment, a dialing campaign may be configured such that the outbound dialing platform modifies its behavior automatically throughout the dialing campaign as conditions change. Dialing campaigns may be constructed from groups, which are organized into a campaign sequence. As the campaign sequence flows between groups, details of the campaign may be monitored and evaluated by the platform. Group transitions may be initiated based on activation triggers. In an embodiment, campaign sequences may also be automatically transitioned to new campaign sequences, paused, or reset based on activation triggers. A transition may also be initiated by manual override of the platform.
US09979820B2
A system and method for establishing a communication with a customer by an agent, via one or more communication modes includes an agent computer and a second computer. The agent computer receives an identify notification that enables the agent computer to identify a customer for the communication, and receives agent schedule information that enables identifying a schedule timeslot of the agent as predicted by the system for a communication session. The second computer provides the identify notification enabling the agent computer to identify the identified customer. The system predicts the schedule timeslot of the agent, by taking into account a number of agent based touches that may need to be executed.
US09979819B2
Telephone call routing in a hunt group is based upon monitoring computer activities of the members (devices, people) of the hunt group. For example, a hunt group's member activity score may be based upon how many incoming hunt group calls that member handles. This high activity score is then used to control that member's place in the call routing order.
US09979812B2
Methods, devices, and systems for personalizing interaction with a structure are described herein. One method includes determining a comfort preference associated with a user of a mobile device corresponding to a particular location with respect to a structure, storing the comfort preference in a memory, and modifying an operation of at least one device in the structure to provide the comfort preference responsive to a distance between the mobile device and the particular location being less than a particular threshold.
US09979809B2
Embodiments are disclosed herein that relate to the automatic tracking of objects. For example, one disclosed embodiment provides a method of operating a mobile computing device having an image sensor. The method includes acquiring image data, identifying an inanimate moveable object in the image data, determining whether the inanimate moveable object is a tracked object, if the inanimate moveable object is a tracked object, then storing information regarding a state of the inanimate moveable object, detecting a trigger to provide a notification of the state of the inanimate moveable object, and providing an output of the notification of the state of the inanimate moveable object.
US09979808B2
A mobile terminal and controlling method thereof is provided via which a user's state can be reflected in various activities performed in the mobile terminal by utilizing the set indicator information. The mobile terminal includes a controller to set an indicator indicating a user's environment and a display unit to display information on the set indicator in response to a control command of the controller.
US09979805B1
A multi-functional apparatus is provided with a casing including first openings, a second opening, a third opening, a fourth opening, a fifth opening, and first and second cavities; a PCB in the casing and including a plurality of USB ports in the first openings respectively, an on/off switch in the second opening, a power-on light in the third opening, a power connector in the fourth opening, and a USB receptacle in the fifth opening; first and second holders retractably disposed in the first and second cavities respectively, each of the first and second holders including a horizontal platform and a vertical door; a seat on the PCB and including exposed recesses; and hollow members each including two peripheral flanges on lower and upper ends respectively, and wells on the peripheral flanges respectively. The lower flange of each hollow member is releasably disposed in one of the recesses.
US09979791B2
A physical security system having multiple server nodes may be built as a distributed network. A first node of the system detects a trigger and a second node of the system detects an input signal that affects a condition to be satisfied prior to performing an action specified by the rule in response to the trigger. A condition evaluation node collects information permitting the condition to be evaluated, and when the condition is satisfied the system performs the action. The first, second, and condition evaluation nodes comprise part of a clustered system, and the condition evaluation node and the second node may be the same.
US09979782B2
An enumeration technique is provided that requires no pre-assignment of addresses to slave devices connected through P2P links to a host device. With regard to any P2P link between devices, one device has a master interface and the remaining device has a slave interface. To distinguish between the master and slave interfaces, a master/slave status bit may be used. Each P2P link has a link ID that may be concatenated with the status bit for a corresponding interface (slave or master) to form a node ID. The host device receives a unique concatenated address from each slave device that represents a concatenation of the node ID for the slave and the node ID for any intervening interfaces between the slave device and the host device. The host device then assigns a unique Cartesian address to each slave device.
US09979763B2
Systems, methods and apparatuses for binding two or more communication devices through their common association with one or more other devices. Information associated with a common device is stored at a first device. The information associated with the common device is also stored at a second device. A message is transmitted from the first device using the stored information as at least part of a broadcast address identifier. The message can then be accepted at the second device as a result of the information being known to the second device. A “binding by association” is thus effected by virtue of each of the first and second devices having been privy to the same information affiliated with the common device.
US09979759B2
A conference management system that is capable of managing one or more panels within a teleconference. The conference manager is capable of receiving commands for the purposes of configuring one or more panels and, during a teleconference, activating various panels at various times. In particular, the conference manager is configured to add participants in a teleconference to a panel. The conference manager is also configured to activate a panel, which has the effect of unmuting the audio and video media of the participants previously identified as members of the panel. The conference manager can be further configured to restore the conference to its previous mode, such as a lecture mode in which a lecturer participant is identified as a permanent speaker such that activating and deactivating a panel does not result in the lecturer being muted. Muting treatments other than activating a panel can also be applied to the teleconference.
US09979757B1
According to an example computer-implemented method, a first client on a proxy server joins a collaborative meeting on behalf of a user. The collaborative meeting is hosted on a first meeting platform, and the first client utilizes the first meeting platform. The first client receives media content from the collaborative meeting on behalf of the user. The proxy server transmits the received media content to a second client on a computing device of the remote user that utilizes a different, second meeting platform. A computing device and computer program product implementing similar features are also disclosed.
US09979754B2
An Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) process receives a first Internet Protocol (IP) address that is associated with a Media Access Control (MAC) address of a communication endpoint. A first Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) INVITE for an emergency call request is received from the communication endpoint. The ARP process receives a second IP address that is associated with the MAC address of the communication endpoint. A second SIP INVITE is received that is a request for an emergency call back. The second SIP INVITE is routed to the communication endpoint based on the second IP address associated with the MAC address of the communication endpoint to reestablish the emergency call with the communication endpoint.
US09979753B2
A system and method for adaptively securing a protected entity against cyber-threats. The method includes: activating a security application configured to handle a cyber-threat; receiving a plurality of feeds during a runtime of the security application; analyzing the plurality of received feeds to determine if the security application is required to be re-programmed to perform an optimized action to efficiently protect against the cyber-threat; and re-programming, during the runtime, the security application, when it is determined that the security application requires performance of the optimized action.
US09979738B2
Described is a system for detecting attacks on networks. A hierarchical representation of activity of a communication network is used to detect and predict sources of misinformation in the communication network. The hierarchical representation includes temporal patterns of communication between at least one pair of nodes, each temporal pattern representing a motif, having a size, in the hierarchical representation. Changes in motifs provide a signal for a misinformation attack.
US09979735B2
Methods, systems and devices for securely transferring digital data from a first repository to a second repository are disclosed. Per at least one embodiment, a second repository is identified with a human recognizable identifier and an internal identifier associated with such second repository is determined. When a data transfer is desired, a work order associating the data to be transferred and identifying the second repository based on each of the human identifier and the internal identifier is generated. Such work order is utilized by a data port device to open normally closed communications port to accomplish the transfer of the data to the second repository when the identity of such second repository is confirmed by the data port device. A data integrity check confirms that only the designated to be transferred data was actually transferred to the second repository designated in the work order.
US09979734B2
Briefly, embodiments disclosed herein relate to managing transactions in a distributed content transaction system.
US09979730B2
The disclosure relates to technology for provisioning out-of-network user equipment with a network relay in a communications network. The network relay device receives an authentication key request message from user equipment including a user equipment identity and an authentication server identity, and communicates the authentication key request message to an authentication server having the authentication server identity. The network relay device communicates a relay authentication key response received from the authentication server to the user equipment such that a secure communication is established between the user equipment and the network. A relay authentication key is generated during establishment of the secure communication between the user equipment and authentication server, and a session with the user equipment is authenticated using a session key generated by the user equipment based on the relay authentication key. The user equipment is the authenticated with the network relay device and provisioned.
US09979727B2
A technique for network authentication interoperability involves initiating an authentication procedure on a first network, authenticating on a second network, and allowing access at the first network. The technique can include filtering access to a network, thereby restricting access to users with acceptable credentials. Offering a service that incorporates these techniques can enable incorporation of the techniques into an existing system with minimal impact to network configuration.
US09979725B1
A system for two-way authentication using two-dimensional codes is provided. The system includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor is to generate a two-dimensional code to be used by a user of a mobile device for accessing a remote resource. The processor is to generate the code in response to a request from the remote resource for the code. The processor is further to receive an authentication request from the mobile device to authenticate the remote resource. The authentication request includes information obtained from the two-dimensional code, the information including an authentication request identifier. The processor is also to compare the authentication request identifier to an expected value to create an authentication indication and to transmit the authentication indication and an authentication credential to the mobile device to authenticate the user to the remote resource.
US09979724B2
A distributed system and method to improve collaborative service across multiple sensors on various devices. According to one embodiment, multiple devices may be used to train and then utilize a common algorithm for purposes including but not limited to recognizing a source to perform some action, control, command, calculation, storage, retrieval, encryption, decryption, alerting, alarming, notifying or as in some embodiments, to authenticate. In one embodiment of the invention, devices with one or more sensors such as but not limited to microphones, acoustic arrays or audio sensors may contribute to one or more models by sending samples, features, recognition scores, and/or risk scores to each other to improve collaborative training, signal quality, recognition, synchronization, inter-device proximity location and/or fusion of recognition scores and/or risk scores.
US09979719B2
A method comprising includes detecting, in response to a user access attempt on an electronic access device, a one-time passcode authentication event; receiving, at an electronic authenticating device, notification of the one-time passcode authentication event; retrieving, in response to the notification, a one-time passcode from the authenticating device; transmitting the one-time passcode from the authenticating device to a facilitator software instance operating on the access device; and enabling population, using the facilitator software instance, of a one-time passcode entry form with the one-time passcode.
US09979709B2
A method and system for securely enrolling personal identity credentials into personal identification devices. The system of the invention comprises the manufacturer of the device and an enrollment authority. The manufacturer is responsible for recording serial numbers or another unique identifier for each device that it produces, along with a self-generated public key for each device. The enrollment authority is recognized by the manufacturer or another suitable institution as capable of validating an individual before enrolling him into the device. The enrollment authority maintains and operates the appropriate equipment for enrollment, and provides its approval of the enrollment. The methods described herein discuss post-manufacturing, enrollment, backup, and recovery processes for the device.
US09979706B2
An encryption method for data includes acquiring data to be encrypted and user information set relevant to the encryption, sending a key acquisition instruction to a terminal corresponding to the user information, receiving a key returned from the terminal corresponding to the user information, encrypting the data to be encrypted by using the key, and transmitting encrypted data to the terminal corresponding to the user information.
US09979696B2
The invention relates to the field of a security framework for transmitting communication messages between a Substation LAN and packet-switched WAN, in particular, a network interface for transmitting protection data in a power network. The present invention provides a network interface for transmitting communication data including protection data of a power communication network, between a Substation Ethernet LAN and a packet-switched WAN usually in Layer 2. The network interface comprises: a firewall and a Layer 3 router being connected with each other and adapted to transmit the communication data excluding the protection data; and a Layer 2 bypass being in parallel with the firewall and the Layer 3 router, and adapted to transmit the protection data. According to a further aspect, the present invention also provides a method for transmitting such communication data.
US09979683B2
A system and method for creating an electronic icon containing information unique to a particular user including information allowing access with respect to a particular digital media file having the icon associated therewith over a communication network by a third party.
US09979676B2
A method for enabling communication between a network element (NE) operating at a bit rate R1 and a NE operating at a bit rate R2 is disclosed. A ratio of R2 to R1 is represented by a ratio M:N, where M and N are positive integers and M>N. Information is received that is associated with distribution of electrical lanes of at least one of a number of M×K NEs operating at bit rate R1. A distribution of the electrical lanes of the at least one M×K NE based on the received information is determined. The electrical lanes of the at least one M×K NE are interconnected with lane ports of at least one M:N electrical interface of N×K transceivers based on the determined distribution. An indication is transmitted identifying the distribution to the at least one M×K NE.
US09979674B1
A network request is received. A server is selected among a plurality of servers eligible to handle the network request, wherein selecting the server includes selecting a first server in an ordering of the plurality of servers that has not reached its load threshold. The selected server is enabled to handle the network request.
US09979668B2
A first packet-switched reservation request is received. Data associated with the first packet-switched reservation request is communicated through a first circuit-switched channel according to a best effort communication scheme. A second packet-switched reservation request is received. Data associated with the second packet-switched reservation request is communicated through a second circuit-switched channel according to a guaranteed throughput communication scheme.
US09979667B2
Systems and methods provide for traffic prioritization in a Wi-Fi router which may have separate private and public networks. A software prioritization engine component may inspect incoming data packets, may assign a priority value to each packet according to prioritization rules, and may distribute each packet into an output queue accordingly. A probing functionality may measure router uplink. A rate limiter may dynamically allocate bandwidth to output queues according to bandwidth allocation rules. The prioritization rules and bandwidth allocation rules may favor emergency data, voice call data, private Wi-Fi network data, and data relating to a particular cellular network.
US09979661B2
In a mobile communication environment, the data traffic is mapped to a number of bearers (52, 54). In a downlink direction, this is accomplished by filtering data packets on the basis of an identifier which is included into the data packets in response to packet inspection. In the uplink direction, a mirroring function is applied which detects incoming data packets, which are received on one of a plurality of bearers (52, 54) and have a first identifier, and outgoing data packets having a second identifier which is complementary to the first identifier. The outgoing data packets having the complementary second identifier are routed to the same bearer (52, 54) from which the incoming data packets are received.
US09979660B2
The method for an automatic selection of a quality of service queuing mechanism for upstream traffic on a high bandwidth access line comprises the steps of measuring the upstream rate (1) on the access line (10), and depending on that rate (20), keeping a software queuing mechanism enabled in case of an upstream rate below a defined threshold (S) (30), and disabling the software queuing mechanism in case of an upstream rate above the defined threshold (40).
US09979656B2
The subject matter herein includes methods, systems, and computer readable media for implementing load balancer traffic policies. An exemplary method may be performed at a session load balancer (SLB) and may include receiving, at the SLB, one or more policy attributes associated with each session controller (SC) in a cluster of SCs. The method may further include configuring, at the SLB, a load balancer traffic policy based on the one or more policy attributes received from each SC in the cluster of SCs, where the load balancer traffic policy includes a distribution rate associated with each SC in the cluster of SCs. The method may further include receiving, at the SLB, a registration request for establishing a session with a SC, determining a destination SC using the load balancer traffic policy, and forwarding the registration request to the destination SC.
US09979650B1
A device may receive a packet with a destination address, and may input, to a probabilistic filter, prefixes associated with the destination address. A prefix may include one or more most significant bits of the destination address. The device may identify candidate prefixes associated with a response from the probabilistic filter. The device may identify a longest candidate prefix of the candidate prefixes, and may perform a lookup to determine that a memory component includes a parent prefix that matches the longest candidate prefix. The parent prefix may be associated with a child prefixes that include the parent prefix and one or more additional bits. The device may identify a longest matching prefix, of the parent prefix and the child prefixes, that matches one or more most significant bits of the destination address and that corresponds to an output component. The device may output the packet via the output component.
US09979647B2
The present disclosure describes a distributed, advertisement-based, solution for scheduling virtual resources in cloud infrastructures such as the OpenStack. The scheduling algorithm distributes the scheduling requirements and host state feasibility checks to the individual hosts in the datacenter, which can periodically send a summarized advertisement to the scheduler controller listing the number of instances of different type(s) of virtual resources that a particular host can support. The scheduler controller, thus no longer has to compute and maintain individual host states, and the scheduling problem is reduced to selecting the feasible advertisements that satisfy a given request. The solution can be extended to a scenario of multiple scheduler controllers using the same distributed, advertisement-based, approach.
US09979638B2
The embodiments herein relate to software defined networking (SDN) and, more particularly, to a system and method to construct an engineering environment for API enablement in Software defined networking. The system enables the device use SDN functionality by designing an API model specific to that device. In order to design the device specific API model, an API enablement system initially leverages functionality/capabilities of the device. Further, by analyzing the leveraged device capabilities, the system designs the API model for the device. After implementing the API model on the device, the system performs a review function to ensure that the designed API model is in compliance with set rules and policies. The API model may be refined based on results of the review function.
US09979630B2
Technologies are described herein for routing a service request to an appropriate web service. A first service request is routed from a first web service to a second web service. Routing factors associated with the second web service are monitored. A determination is made as to whether the routing factors indicate that the second web service is no longer appropriate for handling service requests. If the routing factors indicate that the first web service is no longer appropriate for handling service requests, then a second service request is routed from the first web service to a third web service. The first web service, the second web service, and the third web service are included in a composite service.
US09979628B2
The invention is directed to providing cloud-based services using dynamic network virtualization. Embodiments of the invention provide a cloud-based service over a system that has a dynamic network virtualization architecture. The architecture includes a set of distributed forwarding elements with centralized control, and at least one virtual machine that is bound to one of the forwarding elements. These features enable the virtual machine to be migrated across a wide area network while maintaining its original IP address and service continuity.
US09979619B2
In one embodiment, a device in a network performs a first comparison between observed and expected packet error rates for a first path in the network. The device identifies one or more intersecting paths in the network that intersect the first path. The device performs one or more additional comparisons between observed and expected packet error rates for the intersecting paths that intersect the first path. The device identifies a particular node along the first path as a source of packet drops based on the first comparison between the observed and expected packet error rates for the first path and on the one or more additional comparisons between the observed and expected packet error rates for the intersecting paths that intersect the first path.
US09979588B1
A technology is described for prioritizing DNS name resolutions requests received from DNS resolvers. An example method may include receiving a DNS name resolution request addressed to a DNS name server from a DNS resolver. The DNS resolver associated with the DNS name resolution request may be identified as a known DNS resolver or an unknown DNS resolver, where a known DNS resolver may have DNS resolver characteristics that correspond to a valid DNS resolver. The DNS name resolution request may be prioritized according to the identity of the DNS resolver as a known DNS resolver or an unknown DNS resolver. The DNS name resolution request may then be provided to the DNS name server according to the priority assigned to the DNS name resolution request.
US09979582B1
A multi-zone analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is provided that includes a track-and-hold (T/H) stage having a bandwidth of L Hertz (Hz) to accept an analog input signal, a clock input to accept a clock signal with a clock frequency of P Hz, and N deinterleaved signal outputs with a combined bandwidth of M Hz. N×(P/2)=M, L>Q×M, and Q is an integer >1. The T/H stage is able to sample an analog input signal in the Qth Nyquist Zone, where Q is an integer. A quantizer stage has N interleaved signal inputs connected to corresponding T/H stage signal outputs, a clock input to accept the clock signal, and an output to supply a digital output signal having a bandwidth of M Hz. A packaging interface typically connects the T/H stage to the quantizer stage, and has a bandwidth less than the clock frequency.
US09979580B2
Coding techniques for a (e.g., OFDM) communication system capable of transmitting data on a number of “transmission channels” at different information bit rates based on the channels' achieved SNR. A base code is used in combination with common or variable puncturing to achieve different coding rates required by the transmission channels. The data (i.e., information bits) for a data transmission is encoded with the base code, and the coded bits for each channel (or group of channels with the similar transmission capabilities) are punctured to achieve the required coding rate. The coded bits may be interleaved (e.g., to combat fading and remove correlation between coded bits in each modulation symbol) prior to puncturing. The unpunctured coded bits are grouped into non-binary symbols and mapped to modulation symbols (e.g., using Gray mapping). The modulation symbol may be “pre-conditioned” and prior to transmission.
US09979575B2
A device implementing a distributed dynamic configuration of a scalable radio frequency communication system includes a primary radio frequency (RF) integrated circuit (RFIC) and at least one secondary RFIC. The primary RFIC includes at least one phase shifter, and the primary RFIC may be configured to apply a first phase shift to an RF signal using the at least one first phase shifter, and to transmit the RF signal to at least one secondary RFIC. The at least one secondary RFIC includes at least one second phase shifter, and the at least one secondary RFIC may be configured to apply a second phase shift to the RF signal using the at least one second phase shifter, and to transmit the RF signal via at least one antenna element. The first and second phase shifts may be received by the primary RFIC from a baseband processor.
US09979574B2
Methods and systems for digitization of broadband analog signals may comprise in a radio frequency (RF) transceiver comprising a diplexer, first and second automatic gain and slope control (ASCS) modules, a combiner, and an analog to digital converter (ADC): receiving an input RF signal comprising at least two signals, splitting the input RF signal in the frequency domain into first and second signals of different frequency utilizing the diplexer, configuring a frequency-dependent gain level for each of the first and second signals utilizing the first and second ASCS modules, combining output signals from the first and second ASCS modules utilizing the combiner, and converting the combined output signals to a digital signal utilizing the ADC. The frequency dependent gain levels of the first and second signals may be configured to enable the ADC to operate with an effective number of bits (ENOB) of approximately 10.
US09979572B2
A channel equalization and tracking apparatus and method and a receiver. The apparatus includes: a Fourier transforming unit configured to transform a received time-domain signal into a frequency-domain signal; a compensating and equalizing unit configured to perform phase compensation and frequency-domain equalization on the signal outputted by the Fourier transforming unit by using one time of multiplication according to time delay information and an equalizer coefficient; a deciding unit configured to decide the equalized signal; and a channel tracking unit configured to track a channel according to the signal outputted by the Fourier transforming unit and an error signal obtained by the deciding unit. With embodiments of the present disclosure, not only complexity and hardware demands of the whole system are lowered, but also performance of the system is not affected.
US09979565B2
A first communication device receives a plurality of training signal fields in a preamble of a data unit transmitted by a second communication device, the plurality of training signal fields in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols comprising data and pilot tones. The first communication device determines first channel estimate data corresponding to the data tones in the OFDM symbols, and uses pilot tones in the plurality of training signal fields to track at least one of i) a phase offset and ii) a frequency offset while receiving the plurality of training signal fields to improve the first channel estimate data. The first communication device generates feedback data that i) includes data corresponding to the first channel estimate data, and ii) excludes data corresponding to second channel estimate data for the pilot tones in the plurality of training signal fields, and transmits the feedback data to the second communication device.
US09979559B2
The disclosure relates to an application server which provides a user of a mobile device with a location based service controlling functionality of an environment external to the mobile device, where the control of the functionality is conditional on an estimated location of the mobile device as estimated by a positioning algorithm. A feedback module is configured to infer a quality of the estimation from the behavior of the user, based on a manner in which the user interacts or attempts to interact with the functionality of the location based service. The feedback module then sends feedback of the inferred quality to the positioning algorithm.
US09979558B2
Network and device configuration systems and methods are described. In an embodiment, a first user interface configured to receive from a user configuration information regarding a first network provided. Program code stored in computer accessible memory is configured to generate a barcode that includes information related to the first network configuration information, wherein the barcode can be scanned by a device having a barcode scanner and a network interface to configure the network interface to access the first network.
US09979556B2
Techniques for supporting multimedia broadcast/multicast services (MBMS) are described. In an aspect, resources used for MBMS services may be provided with a multi-tier structure. In the first tier, resources (e.g., subframes) used for a multicast control channel (MCCH) for MBMS services may be signaled in a system information block (SIB). In the second tier, resources (e.g., subframes) for channels carrying data for MBMS services may be signaled via the MCCH. In one design, a base station/cell may determine resources used to send a MCCH. The cell may generate a SIB comprising information indicative of the resources used to send the MCCH. The cell may send the SIB in a broadcast control channel (BCCH). The cell may send the MCCH on the resources indicated by the information sent in the SIB. The cell may send other channels carrying data for MBMS services based on information sent in the MCCH.
US09979554B2
Methods and systems for securely accessing a transportation vehicle are provided. As an example, one method includes obtaining user specific secret information from a key server with a user device, without providing the user access to the user specific secret information; securely storing the user specific secret information in a memory of the user device; generating a challenge message for the user device with an LRU, the challenge message generated by the LRU using the user specific secret information also stored at the LRU and optionally an identifier identifying the LRU; generating a response to the challenge message by the user device using any user specific secret information and the challenge message; providing the response to the LRU; and validating the response by the LRU using any user specific secret information and the challenge message for authorizing access to the LRU by the user device.
US09979551B2
In one embodiment, it is proposed a signing method delivering a partial signature associated with a message, said partial signature being used in a threshold signing method, the signing method being executed on an electronic device. Such signing method is remarkable in that it comprises signing a hash of said message with a one-time linearly homomorphic structure preserving signature method with a partial secret key, said partial secret key being obtained from an output of a secret sharing scheme, and said signing delivering said partial signature associated with said message.
US09979544B2
An example method to monitor usage of a device includes collecting first and second identifiers based on use of an application that does not employ cookies, the first identifier identifying at least one of the device or a user of the device to a first database proprietor, and the second identifier identifying the at least one of the device or the user of the device to a second database proprietor; sending the first identifier to a first server associated with the first database proprietor, sending the second identifier to a second server associated with the second database proprietor; and sending to a data collection server at least one of a media identifier indicative of media accessed via the application at the device or a search term used via the application at the device.
US09979530B2
A method for selecting a mode of service delivery to a mobile terminal using carrier aggregation across first and second base stations of a cellular network is provided. The selection being based on one or more of: a parameter of the service; and a parameter of the network architecture.
US09979522B2
Methods and apparatus are provided for multiplexing DRS within a transmission burst for opportunistic spectrum access. In one novel aspect, DRS is not transmitted in a fractional subframe within a TXOP. In one embodiment, if the starting fractional subframe, which contains initial signal, occurs in a configured DMTC, DRS is transmitted in the first subframe next to the starting fractional subframe. In another embodiment, if DMTC starts from a complete subframe within a TXOP, DRS is transmitted in the first candidate position within a DMTC. In another novel aspect, in the DRS subframe, PDSCH is allocated in the PRBs outside the central PRBs (six or twenty-five PRBs). In one embodiment, the reservation signal can be used to satisfy the requirement of occupied bandwidth and continuity transmission. In another embodiment, the free REs in central PRBs carry the system information when required on the unlicensed band.
US09979519B2
A system and method for data communication are presented. The method can include generating a set of precoding weights by autonomously selecting a precoding weight for each antenna at the first transceiver. The method can include transmitting a set of selected precoding weights in a request message. The method can include receiving an indication that the second transceiver unit will accept a transmission from the first transceiver unit. In response to the receiving, the method can include precoding data as precoded data using the set of precoding weights and transmitting the precoded data to the second transceiver unit using antennas of the one or more antennas corresponding to the set of precoding weights.
US09979512B2
A method of transmitting data, the method includes transmitting a frame containing at least one data packet; generating at least one detection packet for detecting a loss of a last data packet among the at least one data packet; and in response to the last data packet of the frame being transmitted, transmitting the at least one detection packet so that the detection packet is transmitted subsequent to the data packet. Whether or not the last data packet is lost is determined by using the detection packet.
US09979511B2
Systems and methods may integrate acknowledgments, such as application-level acknowledgments and medium access control layer acknowledgments. In an embodiment of a cross-layer acknowledgment method, a medium access control layer acknowledgment and application-layer acknowledgment may be integrated as a single medium access control layer acknowledgment. In an embodiment of a cross-application acknowledgment method, an application-layer acknowledgment for a first application and application-layer acknowledgment for a second application may be integrated into a single medium access control layer frame.
US09979509B2
A wireless communication device (UE) may reliably decode control information during wireless cellular communications. The UE may decode the Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH) for a given wireless network, and if the decode is unsuccessful, the UE may perform a blind decode of the PCFICH. The UE may decode, for the network, a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) for a current subframe using a specified control format indicator (CFI) value. If the decode of the PDCCH is successful, the UE may communicate over the NW, using the specified CFI value. If the decode for the current subframe is unsuccessful, the UE may decode the PDCCH for a different next subframe using a different CFI value until the PDCCH for the NW has been successfully decoded. The CFI value may be specified based at least on common signaling present in certain subframes received by the UE.
US09979499B2
Intensifying contextually relevant sound events for time-delayed broadcast uses multiple directional microphones that capture sound events from a specific location within regions of a stadium. The events are contextually relevant to the environment, such as a referee's whistle sound. A processor executes signal processing of the captured events on each channel to produce audio samples each having a signal profile. The profiles are automatically compared to reference feature templates stored in a database, correspond to pre-identified sound events of contextual relevance. The signal processing accentuates characteristic traits in the events, reflective of contextually relevant events that should be included in a final composite audio output for transmission. If the comparison of samples to the feature templates suggests a high probability of a correspondence, then buffered audio for that channel is introduced into a final audio mix.
US09979497B2
The present disclosure relates to an audio playing method and apparatus based on Bluetooth connection. The method includes: receiving a first Bluetooth connection request sent from a first audio source device by a first playing device; responding to the first Bluetooth connection request, establishing a first Bluetooth connection with the first audio source device and notifying other playing devices of a target playing group including the first playing device to close Bluetooth function by the first playing device, wherein the target playing group includes at least one playing device communicating via a private network established in advance; and receiving first audio data from the first audio source device based on the first Bluetooth connection and forwarding the first audio data to the other playing devices of the target playing group via the private network by the first playing device.
US09979488B2
A system for downhole fiber optic quadrature modulation. A system located at the surface generates a coherent laser light at a surface location, splits the coherent laser light at the surface location, and outputs the part of the signal to a modulation unit located at a downhole location. The modulation unit performs an optical phase modulation and an optical amplitude modulation on the downhole signal using downhole data before sending the signal back. The system receives, at the surface location, a phase and amplitude modulated downhole signal based on the downhole data from the modulation unit, mixes the phase and amplitude modulated downhole signal to the surface signal, and demodulates the resulting difference signal to extract the downhole data.
US09979486B2
Apparatus enabling modular implementation of active optical cable (AOC) with multiple integrated functions including: integration of different types of data on the AOC via media conversion; distribution of electrical power over the AOC; electrical multiplexing data channels for optical fibers; integration of voltage regulators enabling AOC operation at different supply voltages; integration of voltage regulators to provide stable, low noise power source; ruggedized, blind-mateable electrical connectors; integration of electronics and optoelectronics inside a connector backshell; implementation of health monitoring and test channel enabling monitoring, test, and control of both ends of the AOC and monitoring and control of upstream systems and components; and enabling a form, fit, function replacement of existing electrical cables to improve SWaP, electromagnetic interference resiliency, length-bandwidth product, electromagnetic pulse resistance, signal integrity, system reliability, testability and maintenance. AOCs are customized for different connectors, pin-outs, electrical data combinations, power distribution and power supplies with minimal redesign/requalification.
US09979484B2
A system and method for channelization of a wideband radio frequency signal into multiple narrowband channels includes obtaining, a dual-banded optical signal, where the dual-banded signal is a translated wideband radio frequency signal, and where the dual-banded signal includes a signal and an idler. The method also includes modifying, by the spectral phase mask, the spectral phases of at least one of the signal or the idler, where the modifying produces a spectral phase modulated output comprising at least one of a spectrally-modulated signal or a spectrally modulated idler. The method includes outputting, by the spectral phase mask, the spectral phase modulated output to an optical phase sensitive amplifier. The method includes receiving, by the optical phase sensitive amplifier, the spectral phase modulated output, and either amplifying or de-amplifying, by the optical phase sensitive amplifier, each component of the spectrally modulated output.
US09979481B2
A bidirectional data communications cable is disclosed. The cable includes first connector, second connector, and cable housing coupled to the first and second connectors. The first connector includes a controller configured to determine whether the first connector is connected to a data source or data sink. If connected to a data source, the controller configures a switch circuit to route a data signal from the data source to an optical modulator for modulating an optical signal for transmission from the first to the second connector via an optical fiber. If connected to a data sink, the controller configures the switch circuit to route a data signal from an optical demodulator to the data sink, the optical demodulator receiving an optical signal modulated with the data signal from the second connector via an optical fiber. The second connector is configured similar to the first connector. The cable housing encloses the optical fibers.
US09979477B2
A method for driving a light source includes the following steps: a. providing a code to be transmitted by the light source; b. converting the code into a sequence of different current levels, which current levels are maintained for a predetermined period of time; and c. providing the sequence of different current levels to the light source such that the light source emits light at different intensity levels, where driving the light source is carried out using a set-point update rate having a set-point update period, and where transitions between the different current levels take more than one set-point update period.
US09979459B2
A steerable antenna assembly (“SAA”) for receiving a plurality of incident radio frequency (“RF”) signals at a plurality of incident angles is disclosure. The SAA includes an approximately spherical dielectric lens (“SDL”), a waveguide aperture block (“WAB”), a switch aperture matrix (“SAM”), and a radial aperture combiner (“RAC”). The SDL receives and focuses the plurality of incident RF signals creating a plurality of focused RF signals at a plurality of focal points approximately along the back surface of the SDL. The WAB is positioned adjacent to the back surface of the SDL and receives the plurality of focused RF signals. The SAM electronically steers a beam of a radiation pattern produced by the SAA and switch between the pluralities of focused RF signals based on electronically steering the beam. The RAC produces a received RF signal from the plurality of focused RF signals.
US09979456B1
An enhanced resource indicator for channel state reporting for a wireless communication system is provided. In one example, a method comprises: obtaining, by a device comprising a processor, selected signal information and selected interference information from signal information and interference information, to transmit to a base station device of base station devices as part of a channel state information report sent to the base station device and responsive to resource signals received from the base station devices, wherein the selected signal information and the selected interference information are indicated in the channel state information report by a first index and a second index, respectively; and transmitting, by the device, the channel state information report to the base station device.
US09979454B2
The present invention is designed to feed back a plurality of pieces of CSI with respect to each transmission point, when CoMP transmission is applied in the framework of carrier aggregation. The radio communication method according to the present invention is a radio communication method in a radio communication system including a plurality of radio base station apparatuses and a user terminal that is configured to be able to perform coordinated multi-point transmission/reception with the plurality of radio base station apparatuses, and, in this radio communication method, when coordinated multi-point transmission is applied, the radio base station apparatus, transmits CSI set information on a set including at least one CSI through higher layer signaling, and also transmits CSI request information in DCI, and the user terminal feeds back CSI based on the CSI set information and the CSI request information.
US09979452B2
The present disclosure relates to the operation and configuration of a station and an access point in a wireless LAN (WLAN) system, and more particularly, to a method for efficiently performing multi-user transmission by a station or an access point in a WLAN system and a device for the same. In particular, the present disclosure proposes a method and device for operating a station or an access point supporting multi-user transmission in a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) scheme or a Multi-User Multi Input Multi Output (MU-MIMO) scheme.
US09979449B2
Systems and methods for detecting data in a received multiple-input-multiple-output signal are provided. N signals are received from N respective antennas, where the received signals are associated with (i) M sets of data values, (ii) a set of symbols, and (iii) a set of carrier frequencies. The N signals are formed into a received signal vector y, and one or more transformations are performed on the received signal vector y to obtain a transformed vector. A plurality of samples are formed from the transformed vector. For samples of the plurality of samples, a data detection technique of a plurality of data detection techniques is selected. The selecting is based on at least one of a spatial stream, a symbol, and a carrier frequency associated with the given sample. The selected data detection, technique is used to detect data of the given sample.
US09979446B2
Methods for WiFi beamforming, feedback, and sounding (WiBEAM) are described. Codebook based beamforming feedback signaling and sounding mechanisms for use in wireless communications are disclosed. The methods described herein improve the feedback efficiency by using Givens rotation based decompositions and quantizing the resulting angles of the Givens rotation based decompositions using a range from a subset of [0, 2π]. Feedback may also be divided into multiple components to improve feedback efficiency/accuracy. Time domain beamforming reports for taking advantage of channel reciprocity while still taking into account practical radio frequency (RF) channel impairments are also described. Beamforming feedback that prioritized the feedback bits in accordance with the significance of the bits is also disclosed. A preamble structure to enable the use of smoothing methods for improved channel estimation, codebook designs that may be used for codebook based beamforming feedback, and multi-resolution explicit feedback are disclosed as well.
US09979445B2
An apparatus, system, and method are provided for affording digital to analog converter (DAC) quantization noise that is independent of an input signal. In operation, an input signal for a DAC is received. Further, a particular signal is added to the input signal for the DAC, such that an output signal of the DAC includes quantization noise that is independent of the input signal (e.g. includes white noise, etc.), as a result of the particular signal being added to the input signal for the DAC.
US09979441B2
An electronic circuit carries out communication by inductive coupling between chips which are stacked and mounted. The electronic circuit relays an inter-chip communication signal by a repeater which receives a signal from a transmitter to recognize a transmission source and a receiving destination, and relays a received signal when the repeater itself exists between the transmission source and the receiving destination, and does not relay the received signal when the repeater itself does not exist between the transmission source and the receiving destination. Accordingly, data can be transferred at high speed up to a chip farther than the dimensions of a coil through communications by inductive coupling between the stacked and mounted chips.
US09979437B2
A power receiving apparatus includes: a communication circuit that receives a control signal from a power transmitting apparatus through a wired transmission line; a control circuit that determines a propagation time in which the control signal is propagated from the power transmitting apparatus to the power receiving apparatus through the wired transmission line; and a demodulation circuit that receives modulated power from the power transmitting apparatus through a wired transmission line, and demodulates, based on the determined propagation time, the modulated power in synchronization with a phase of the modulated power.
US09979430B2
A protective case for a mobile device is disclosed. The protective case includes a front cover, a back cover, and a relatively rigid shell. The front cover includes multiple fold lines that extend across the cover and allow adjacent regions of the cover to rotate or move relative to each other. The shell is configured to receive and retain the mobile device while providing user access to the mobile device. The shell has an outer surface configured to include a latch with an integrated hook. In operation, the latch hooks and retains one end section of the front cover to maintain the device in an angled use position when open. When in the fully closed position the latch fits within an aperture defined within a back end region of the front cover. Magnets incorporated into the front cover assist in maintaining the case in the fully closed position.
US09979422B1
An adaptive digital pre-distortion system includes a transmitting module and a receiving module. The transmitting module is configured to receive a first signal and includes a modulator, pre-distortion module, and transmitting circuit. The pre-distortion module is coupled to the modulator to perform a pre-distortion operation in accordance with the first modulation signal and generate a first pre-distortion signal. The transmitting circuit generates a first transmitted signal in accordance with the first pre-distortion signal. The receiving module is configured to receive the first transmitted signal and includes a receiving circuit, demodulator, and prediction module. The prediction module generates a pre-distortion parameter in accordance with a modulation vector error between the second demodulation signal and the first signal and transmits the pre-distortion parameter to the pre-distortion module, wherein the pre-distortion module adjusts the pre-distortion operation of the pre-distortion module in accordance with the pre-distortion parameter.
US09979407B1
An apparatus includes a current sensor configured to couple to a power source and to sense a present current draw on the power source by a powered device. A voltage converter is coupled to the current sensor. The voltage converter includes an output line configured to couple to the powered device to provide an output charge to the powered device. The voltage converter is configured to adjust the output charge in relation to the sensed present current draw on the power source.
US09979398B2
A buffer circuit includes a buffer group including an odd number of cascade buffers, where the buffers may be different from each other; a PMOS transistor and an NMOS transistor; where a source of the PMOS transistor is coupled to a power source, a drain thereof is connected to an output terminal of the buffer group, and a gate thereof is connected to an input terminal of the buffer group; a source of the NMOS transistor is coupled to ground, a drain thereof is connected to the output terminal of the buffer group, and a gate thereof is connected to the input terminal of the buffer group.
US09979392B2
A capacitive keyboard that can detect a key that has been depressed and the depressed amount thereof with high accuracy is provided. The capacitive keyboard includes a drive circuit 11 that alternatively switches the voltage of each of drive lines M from an L-level to an H-level, a sensing circuit 12 that is connected to each of sensing lines N and that selects one of the sensing lines N to detect the voltage generated in the selected sensing line, and a control circuit 15. The control circuit 15 includes a storage unit 44 including storage areas corresponding to keys, a storage control unit 42 that acquires the voltage generated in the sensing line and that stores the acquired voltage in a storage area corresponding to a key, and a correction unit 43 that corrects, if one of the keys is operated, the voltage generated as a result of an operation of the one of the keys by using voltages stored in storage areas corresponding to other keys. Thus, even if a plurality of keys are depressed at the same time, detection with high accuracy can be realized.
US09979389B2
Described herein are systems, methods and apparatuses that can detect the proximity of an object and differentiate between a human body and a non-human object. The detection and differentiation are facilitated by a first capacitive sensor of a first shape and a second capacitive sensor of a second shape. The detection and determination can be made based on a comparison between a first capacitance from the first sensor and a second capacitance from the second sensor.
US09979383B2
A delay compensated comparator circuit is disclosed. The circuit includes an amplifier circuit having a first input terminal coupled to receive a reference signal and having a second input terminal and a first output terminal. A capacitor is arranged to couple an input signal to the second input terminal. A resistor is coupled between the first output terminal and the second input terminal. A comparator circuit has a third input terminal coupled to receive the input signal, a fourth input terminal coupled to the first output terminal, and a second output terminal.
US09979379B2
A multiplexer includes a n number (n is an integer equal to three or more) of filters that are individually provided in the n number of paths commonly connected at a common junction point, and that have different pass bands from one another. In the multiplexer, (n−1) filters among the n number of filters except for the first filter have impedances of which imaginary components cancel each other at a pass band frequency of the first filter when viewed from the common junction point in a state of the n number of paths being not commonly connected.
US09979371B1
An elliptic combiner circuit filters a first and second signal in a first and second frequency band. A first resonator is coupled to a first input via a first capacitor and a second input via a second capacitor. A second resonator is coupled to a first and second signal path, coupled to the first and second input, via a third and a fourth capacitor. A first inductor is coupled between the first and third capacitors, and between the second and fourth capacitors. A third resonator is coupled to the first and second signal paths via a fifth, sixth, and seventh capacitors. A fourth resonator is coupled to the first signal path and a terminated port via an eighth, ninth and tenth capacitors. A second inductor is coupled between the fifth and eighth capacitors, and between the seventh and tenth capacitors. An output outputs the first and second signals.
US09979355B2
An embodiment of an amplifier system includes a modifiable signal adjustment device with an RF signal adjustment circuit coupled between first and second nodes. The RF signal adjustment circuit includes an adjustable phase shifter and an adjustable attenuator coupled in series with each other. The device also includes a memory and a controller circuit. The controller circuit retrieves a phase shift value and an attenuation value from the memory. The controller circuit then controls the adjustable phase shifter to apply a phase shift corresponding to the phase shift value to an input RF signal received at the first node, and controls the adjustable attenuator to apply an attenuation corresponding to the attenuation value to the input RF signal. Applying the phase shift and the attenuation results in an output RF signal at the second node.
US09979347B2
At least one of a message indicating a spec of a PV apparatus (130) and a message indicating a status of the PV apparatus (130) is standardized between an EMS (200) and the PV apparatus (130).
US09979342B2
A switch reluctance motor wide speed-regulation range cross-control method, the switch reluctance motor wide speed-regulation range control system consisting of a revolving speed regulator, a current chopper controller, an angle position controller, a chopper counter, a comparison selector and two resettable constant registers; the chopper counter counts the current chopping number of each electrical period, and according to the comparison result between a counting value of the chopper counter and a constant value set by the two constant registers, the comparison selector selects the current chopper controller or the angle position controller, such that when in the three phases of low revolving speed, medium revolving speed and high revolving speed or in the runtime of acceleration, deceleration and uniform velocity, the current chopper controller and the angle position controller can automatically switch, and seamlessly connect without being affected by load change, and switching from a turn-on angle to a turn-off angle will not cause fluctuation of torque or revolving speed of a switch reluctance motor, thus the switch reluctance motor system runs stably and has good value for engineering application.
US09979327B2
The system has a converter for converting an AC current into a DC current, an inverter for inverting the DC power supplied from the converter into an AC power, a servo control device for controlling a drive of a servo motor, and a resistance regenerating circuit for consuming a regenerative energy. The servo control device has a plurality of motor control portions for enabling a plurality of servo motors to be controlled and a plurality of control port portions corresponding to a plurality of motor control portions. At least one of the plurality of motor control portions is configured so that a power supply regenerating control function portion and a control function portion for the servo motor can be switched. The robot control system capable of suppressing the increase of the development cost and adding the power supply regenerating function can be provided.
US09979321B2
An inverter producing an alternating current from a direct current source has a primary stage coupled to the direct current source having a step-up transformer, a first switching circuit coupling the direct current to the transformer primary and a rectifier coupled to a secondary of the transformer for producing a DC voltage; a controller for the first switching circuit providing pulse drive signals to control switches of the first switching circuit to cause current to flow in the transformer primary and induce an alternating current in the transformer secondary; a secondary stage receiving the DC voltage having a second switching circuit and a controller for the second switching circuit for generating control signals to cause current through the second switching circuit to flow in alternate directions thorough the load. In one embodiment the alternating current period is divided into time slices and the switches of the first switching circuit are duty cycle modulated at different duty cycles in each time slice. A second embodiment switches series-connected primary windings of a multi-tap transformer.
US09979318B2
Embodiments herein disclose a hybrid multilevel inverter configured to obtain N-level output voltages based on operating one of FCs and a plurality of switches. In an embodiment, the multilevel inverter is a Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) Flying Capacitor (FC) based hybrid multilevel inverter. In an embodiment, the multilevel inverter is a stacked multi-cell NPC multilevel inverter.
US09979310B2
Disclosed is a resonant DC/DC converter, comprising a DC source unit, a power conversion unit, a control unit and an output rectification unit, wherein the power conversion unit comprises a resonance circuit and at least a phase-shift circuit, the phase-shift circuit comprises at least a pair of first switching elements S1, S2 and a phase-shift inductance La, one end of the phase-shift inductance is connected with the bridge node of the first switching element S1, S2, and the other end is coupled to the resonance circuit; the control unit drives each switching element of the power conversion unit, and the switching frequency and the phase shifting angle of the first switching element are calculated according to the feedback signals of the output rectification unit. Further, the resonant DC/DC converter is applicable to series connection solution, which can be extended to more than two circuits in parallel, to achieve intersection; and a phase-shift circuit is added in the resonant DC/DC converter and by adjusting the phase shift angle to drop the output voltage and achieve the adjustment of a wide range of output voltage of the resonant circuit.
US09979309B1
In one example, a circuit for controlling synchronous rectification includes a first current compensation module, a second current compensation module, and a control module. The first current compensation module is configured to provide a first current into parasitic capacitance at a drain pin when a drain of a synchronous rectifier draws current from the parasitic capacitance. The drain pin is coupled to the drain of the synchronous rectifier via a resistor. The first current compensation module is further configured to generate a triggering signal using the first current. The second current compensation module is configured to draw a second current from the parasitic capacitance when the drain of the synchronous rectifier provides current into the parasitic capacitance and generate an arming signal using the second current. The control module is configured to activate the synchronous rectifier using the triggering signal and the arming signal.
US09979308B1
An LLC converter has a primary side with power switch devices coupled to an LLC tank circuit at a common node, a secondary side with synchronous rectifier switch devices, and a transformer coupling the primary side to the secondary side. In a first mode of operation, the power switch devices and the synchronous rectifier switch devices are switched at a frequency calculated to regulate an output voltage of the LLC converter. In a second mode of operation during light-load conditions in which the output voltage is unregulated, the power switch devices are switched until the output voltage rises to a first level and then turned off until the output voltage falls to a second level below the first level. The synchronous rectifier switch devices are continuously switched in the second mode of operation, irrespective of the state of the output voltage.
US09979305B2
A flyback converter is provided with a controller that is configured to analyze the reflected feedback voltage waveforms to determine the presence of a ground connection fault for the auxiliary winding.
US09979303B2
A primary-side regulation (PSR) power supply device according to the invention includes: a power switch; an auxiliary wiring from which an auxiliary voltage that depends on an output voltage is generated during a turn-off period of the power switch and being provided in a primary side; a clamping circuit clamping a voltage corresponding to the auxiliary voltage to a predetermined voltage; a voltage follower decreasing the sense voltage according to a decrease of the auxiliary voltage; and a switch control circuit controlling a switching operation of the power switch by using the sense voltage.
US09979301B2
In one embodiment, a method of controlling a switching power supply, can include: (i) generating a driving current signal that follows a waveform of a sense voltage signal, where the sense voltage signal is related to a current through a collector of a transistor that is configured as a power switch of the switching power supply, where the collector is coupled to an inductive element of the switching power supply; (ii) providing the driving current signal to a base of the transistor, where the transistor is in a saturated conduction state when a pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal is active; and (iii) releasing charge accumulated on the base when the PWM signal is inactive to turn off the transistor.
US09979297B2
A burst oscillation circuit operates switches in a burst oscillation mode based on a feedback signal. A first burst operation cancellation threshold voltage comparator compares a first burst operation cancellation threshold voltage set higher than a voltage of the feedback signal that a load current reaches the standby threshold and a voltage of the feedback signal, and outputs a first output signal. A second burst operation cancellation threshold voltage comparator compares a second burst operation cancellation threshold voltage set lower than the voltage of the feedback signal that the load current reaches the standby threshold and higher than a voltage of the feedback signal during a non-oscillation period of the burst oscillation operation and the voltage of the feedback signal and outputs a second output signal. A standby cancellation circuit generates a standby cancel signal to cancel the standby state based on the first and second output signal.
US09979296B2
A controller for use in a power converter includes a comparator to compare a current sense signal with a current limit to generate a comparator output signal representative of whether a switch current has reached the current limit. A drive circuit controls switching of a power switch to regulate an output of the power converter in response to a feedback signal and the comparator output signal. The drive circuit turns off the power switch in response to the comparator output signal. A current limit generator generates an initial current limit in response to the feedback signal. The current limit is responsive to the initial current limit. A light load sense circuit outputs a light load signal in response to sensing a light load condition of the power converter. A modulation circuit outputs a modulation signal and modulates the initial current limit in response to the light load signal.
US09979287B2
A circuit includes a current sensor to sense a switching current flowing at input side of a switching DC-DC converter. An output capacitor filters an output voltage at an output side of the switching DC-DC converter. A feed-forward circuit passes a portion of the sensed switching current to a feedback path on the output side of the switching DC-DC converter simulating a changing effective series resistance (ESR) of the output capacitor to facilitate operating stability in the switching DC-DC converter.
US09979275B2
In one embodiment, an undervoltage protection circuit for a switching power supply can include: (i) an undervoltage detection circuit that determines whether an input voltage of the switching power supply is in an undervoltage state; (ii) a selection circuit configured to select a first or a second control signal to be provided as a main control signal to a control circuit; (iii) the control circuit being configured, in response to the main control signal being the first control signal, to control a switching operation of a power transistor in the switching power supply such that an output voltage of the switching power supply is maintained as substantially stable; and (iv) the control circuit being configured, in response to the main control signal being the second control signal, to control the switching operation of the power transistor to reduce an input power of the switching power supply.
US09979267B2
A double-stator rotating electric machine includes a rotor and a pair of outer and inner stators. The outer stator has a first multi-phase coil wound thereon so as to form magnetic poles upon energization of the first multi-phase coil. The inner stator has a second multi-phase coil wound thereon so as to form magnetic poles upon energization of the second multi-phase coil. The number of the magnetic poles formed by the outer stator is equal to the number of the magnetic poles formed by the inner stator. Each of the magnetic poles formed by the outer stator is located at the same circumferential position as and has an opposite polarity to a corresponding one of the magnetic poles formed by the inner stator. The rotor has yoke portions each of which radially extends so as to form a magnetic flux passage magnetically connecting the outer and inner stators.
US09979263B2
Provided is a vertical power tool superior in assembling performance. The vertical power tool is provided with a power cord, and has body housings 2, 3 that accommodate a motor having a vertically extending axis as a grip portion. A wiring base 30 to which a switch 34 that activates and deactivates the motor, the power cord 35 and a circuit board 36 are attached is attached to upper portions of the body housings 2, 3. A top cover is provided to cover the wiring base 30. A switch operation member is attached to the top cover to switch the switch 34 on and off.
US09979259B2
A levitator is disclosed. The levitator may include a repulsion wire coil having a vertical coil axis, a position control wire coil having a vertical coil axis, a rotation control wire coil having a horizontal coil axis, and a controller coupled to each of the repulsion wire coil, position wire coil, and rotation wire coil, where the controller is configured to independently control currents provided to each of the repulsion wire coil, position wire coil, and rotation wire coil to levitate an item.
US09979254B2
A coolable machine housing of an electric machine has a housing shell formed as an extruded section with integrated cooling ducts. The housing shell can be covered at the end faces by bearing end plates. The axially extending cooling ducts communicate with one another through connecting ducts. The cooling ducts in the extruded housing shell extend in pairs as cooling duct pairs between the shell end faces. The connecting ducts are boreholes that penetrate the outer wall by way of borehole openings that are closed by way of closing elements.
US09979253B2
In a drive apparatus, a motor unit is received in an inside of a tubular section of a motor case, and a bottom plate section is fixed to a gear box. A closure is fitted to an inner wall of the tubular section on an inner side of an opening edge part of the motor case. A control device cover is fixed to an end part of the motor case, which is opposite from the gear box, to cover a control device. An O-ring fluid-tightly seals between the motor case and the gear box, and a bonding agent fluid-tightly seals between the control device cover and the motor case.
US09979241B2
A method for sharing, at a first electronic device, wireless power with a second electronic device is provided. The method includes performing connection with the second electronic device; obtaining power-related information of the second electronic device; determining a power state of the second electronic device based on the power-related information of the second electronic device; determining an amount of electric power to be transmitted to the second electronic device based on the power state of the second electronic device; and transmitting the electric power of the determined amount to the second electronic device. Charging is enabled anytime, anywhere, as long as there is an electronic device to share electric power, thereby increasing user convenience.
US09979237B2
A wireless power transmission system is presented. The wireless power circuit includes an adaptive transmitter coupled to a transmit coil; a receive coil in interaction with the transmit coil, the receive coil being thin and having an inner diameter large enough to accommodate sensors of a wearable device; and a receive circuit receiving power from the receive coil.
US09979235B2
A power transmission device includes power transmission coils arranged in a line in a plane, a power transmission circuit connected to the power transmission coils and supplying AC power, and a control circuit controlling a connection state between the power transmission circuit and each power transmission coil. The length of each power transmission coil in the array direction is shorter than that of the power receiving coil in that direction, the length thereof in a direction perpendicular to the array direction in the plane is longer than that of the power receiving coil in that direction, and the control circuit selects adjacent power transmission coils whose number is fixed based on the relative position of the power receiving coil with respect to the power transmission coils and switches the above connection state such that the AC power is supplied to the selected power transmission coils.
US09979232B2
The invention relates to a wireless power device including a coil to wirelessly transmit or receive power. The coil has a meander pattern. And the quality factor can be increased by reducing the resistance component through the structure of the coil having the meander pattern. Also, the power transmission efficiency can be significantly improved by concentrating the intensity of the magnetic field on a predetermined part through the structure of the coil having the meander pattern.
US09979228B2
An energy management apparatus capable of taking an appropriate measure in the event of a power failure and a method of controlling the energy management system will be provided. A storage medium 25, a power input unit 122 for receiving power supply, a backup power source 123 for supplying power when power supply to the power input unit 122 from a grid power source 50 stops, and a control unit 124, when the power supply to the power input unit 122 from the grid power source 50 stops for a period equal to or longer than a predetermined period, for carrying out a suspension processing of the storage medium 25 are provided.
US09979224B2
An integrated circuit for wireless charging and a method for wireless charging by an integrated circuit are provided. The integrated circuit includes a first wireless communication unit configured to support a first wireless communication method; a first route selection unit configured to perform a selection from among a first power input from a battery and a second power input according to wireless charging to be allowed as input; a power block configured to receive the selected power from the first route selection unit, and provide the received power to the first wireless communication unit; and a controller configured to control an operation of the first route selection unit.
US09979213B2
An animated battery charging assembly provides a charging dock for dual purposes of charging a battery for an electrical device, and providing an entertaining indicator of a power level for the battery during the charging through the use of an animated model that articulates in correlation to the power level of battery. The charging dock charges a battery for an electrical device. The charging dock also supports an attached model that depicts a character, like a fictional or real character capable of animation, audio, and illumination. A fan cools the electrical device during charging, and enhances an animation effect of the animated model. An amount of energy remaining in the battery of the electrical device during charging is depicted as a power level. The model articulates limbs, garment, and accessories in correlation to power level. Software communicates the power level pertinent to the animated model for an appropriate articulation.
US09979210B2
Battery controller chooses as a standard storage battery Bs one of the storage batteries which has the lowest voltage in storage batteries B1 to Bn. Battery controller obtains as a standard voltage Vs a voltage of the standard storage battery Bs, and obtains as a standard SOHs an SOH of the standard storage battery Bs. Battery controller specifies from storage batteries B1 to Bn a storage battery to be discharged by equalizing unit 450 based on a magnitude relation between an SOHj of each of the storage batteries and the standard SOHs and based on a voltage difference between the terminal voltage of each of the storage batteries and the standard voltage Vs. Battery controller performs an equalizing process by causing equalizing unit to discharge the specified storage battery.
US09979197B2
Micro-grid energy management system includes distributed power generation and storage devices each configured to generate and store power in a distributed manner, monitor its own status, and transmit data on the monitored status through a different interface, a gateway device connected selectively with the distributed power generation and storage devices through different interfaces and configured to convert the status data received through the interfaces into open data having one predefined data frame format, transmit the converted open data over a network, and provide control signals of the distributed power generation and storage devices received over the network to the distributed power generation and storage devices; and an energy management server configured to perform energy management using the open data transmitted from the gateway device over the network and transmit control signals for controlling and managing the distributed power generation and storage devices to the gateway device over the network.
US09979194B2
A power compensation apparatus compensates for power of a power system to be allowed to transmit from at least one or more power sources to a load. The power compensation apparatus includes a first system connected to the power system to compensate for active power and reactive power of the power system, a second system connected to the first system to store power necessary for compensating for active power and reactive power, and a third system connected to the second system to generate the power to be stored in the second system.
US09979189B2
A control apparatus using variations in conduction angle as control command, wherein a conduction angle modulation module of a traditional leading edge cutoff dimmer is arranged in parallel with a resistance module, so as to enlarge the minimum conduction angle of the leading edge dimmer. The modulation range of the conduction angle of the conduction angle modulation module may be set to a smaller range, so that the modulation range of the resistance module will not be uncertain due to different setting values of the variable resistance, whereby the circuit at load end can be identified readily and function mode switching facilitated to achieve the effect of multiplexing control.
US09979181B2
Described is an apparatus which comprises a pass-gate; and a control unit to control gate terminal of the pass-gate according to first availability of first or second power supplies, the control unit including: a voltage detector to detect the second power supply; and a supply switching circuit to generate a local supply for controlling the gate terminal of the pass-gate according to an output of the voltage detector.
US09979179B1
A network of interconnected circuit protection devices in a datacenter that can communicate over a network. Each circuit protection device can have a management component such that each device could know the state of every other device or a centralized management component could know the state of all devices. The states of the protection devices could include, fault or non-fault (e.g., high-current, current-imbalance and high temperature). Using this information, the management component(s) can prevent a single-device failure from triggering circuit-protection devices in other sections of the data center to open. The breaker logic can operate such that if a single device short-circuited and all devices upstream in the power delivery system sensed the short-circuit, then the lowest-level device would open and if the fault was still detected upstream, then the next level device would open.
US09979172B2
Cover plates and cover plate assemblies are provided for electrical fixtures including a screwless cover plate and/or cover plate assembly for electrical devices that cover the fixtures but provide holes for plugs, light switches, audio, data, or video connectors, and that optionally do not show screw or attachment holes, and where the cover plate is part of a cover plate assembly that comprises one or more retention members selectively engage and substantially conform to the outer surface and edges of the electrical device, to releasably secure the cover plate to the electrical device with a backing plate therebetween.
US09979145B2
A cable includes: plural wires including plural pairs of differential signal wires, a detection signal wire, at least one auxiliary signal wire, a plurality of low speed signal wires, and two power wires arranged adjacent to the low speed signal wires; and a jacket enclosing the plurality of wires; wherein the differential signal wires, the detection signal wire, and the at least one auxiliary signal wire are arranged at an outer periphery of and enclosing the low speed signal wires and the two power wires, and every two adjacent differential signal wire pairs are separated by one of the detection signal wire and the at least one auxiliary signal wire.
US09979144B2
A connector-and-cable assembly, including an electronic connector, such as a HDMI connector, having an outlet section and a multiplicity of elastic conductive stripes. Each of the elastic conductive stripes is conductively connected, at a first end, to a respective preconfigured outlet pin of the electronic connector. The second end of each of the elastic conductive stripes is preconfigured to operatively attach to a respective sensor, such as a textile electrode of a smart garment. Typically, at least one of the elastic conductive stripes is a textile based conductive stripe.
US09979138B1
The disclosure relates to a USB function-type magnetic cable, comprising a USB cable main body and a USB moveable plug; an end B of the USB cable main body is in moveable connection with the USB moveable plug; an end A of the USB cable main body is in connection with a computer or charger, the end B of the USB cable main body is in connection with a mobile device through the USB moveable plug; the end B of the USB cable main body comprises a first PCB board, and the first PCB board is configured to output a control signal to cut off a power supply circuit when detecting a temperature abnormity of the USB moveable plug or a supply voltage abnormity.
US09979131B2
The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly and a method to assemble the same. The electrical connector assembly includes a plug connector that is configured to be mated with a corresponding counter-connector. The plug connector includes a connector housing having a guiding feature and a locking device being arranged movable relative to the connector housing. The locking device has a guiding member and a flexible arm. The flexible arm is configured to be flexed during mating the plug connector with the corresponding counter-connector such that the locking device can be moved into a locked position. The guiding feature and the guiding member are configured to guide the locking device from a first position to a locked position so that the flexible arm is reflexed when the locking device is in the locked position.
US09979129B2
Provided are a connector member and a connector that are easy to assemble and capable of adjusting of misalignment or inclination of a fitting axis. In the connector, a first connector member having a first housing is fitted with a second connector member having a second housing and a supporting member supporting the second housing. The first housing includes a guide pin, the second housing includes a guide-pin guiding part, and the guide-pin guiding part includes a guide hole. The second housing has a pair of shaft pins. The supporting member has a support claw for holding each of the shaft pins. When the guide pin is inserted into the guide hole, the guide pin presses the guide hole to cause the shaft pin to move with the shaft pins being held by the support claw, thereby the second housing being moved, enabling the fitting.
US09979117B2
A connector is fixed in an opening of a housing of an electronic device. The connector comprises a main body housed in the opening, a gasket and a securing member. The main body comprises a plug portion, and an engaging portion connecting the plug portion. Furthermore, an engaging groove located on the engaging portion adjacent to the plug portion. The gasket located between the between the plug portion and the housing. The engaging portion sequentially passes through the gasket and the opening to make a part of the engaging groove away from the plug portion is located a side of the housing. The securing member partly engaged in the engaging groove and sandwiched between the engaging portion and the housing to fix the main body to the housing.
US09979110B2
There are provided an electronic component metal material having low insertability/extractability, low whisker formability and high durability, and a method for manufacturing the electronic component metal material. The electronic component metal material 10 includes a base material 11, an A layer 14 constituting an outermost surface layer on the base material 11 and formed of Sn, In or an alloy thereof, and a B layer 13 constituting a middle layer provided between the base material 11 and the A layer 14 and formed of Ag, Au, Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh, Os, Ir or an alloy thereof, wherein the outermost surface layer (A layer) 14 has a thickness larger than 0.2 μm, and the middle layer (B layer) 13 has a thickness of 0.001 μm or larger.
US09979105B2
A power semiconductor device includes: an outer case; at least one press-fit terminal buried in a top surface of the outer case; and a plurality of supporting portions formed so as to protrude from the top surface of the outer case. A top end of the press-fit terminal protrudes more than top surfaces of the supporting portions from the top surface of the outer case.
US09979098B2
An electrical connector used to make electrical connection to a heating system or to an antenna system on a glazing comprises a substantially planar foot, suitable for soldering, an angled portion, permanently connected to the foot and substantially at right angles to the plane of the foot and a holding portion, connected to the angled portion and suitable for holding a cable, wherein the foot has a substantially circular or oval shape. A glazing comprising such an electrical connector further comprises a sheet of glazing material, an electrical conductor on a surface of the sheet of glazing material and a solder layer between the electrical conductor and the foot wherein the solder layer comprises lead-free solder. The angled portion may be a male portion of a button connector, also known as a snap connector. The holding portion may be a washer soldered or welded to the angled portion.
US09979092B2
The invention relates to an improved antenna arrangement which is characterized by the following features: a patch electrode (7) having a patch electrode surface (71) is provided above the dielectric (5) or on the upper face (5a) of the dielectric (5), said patch electrode (7) is fed via a feed line (11) that passes through the dielectric (5) and in doing so is led to a feed point (11a), which is galvanically or capacitively connected to the patch electrode (7). An electrically conductive top patch (23) having a top patch surface (23′) is provided at a distance (D) above the patch electrode (7), said patch electrode (7) and the top patch (23) are arranged perpendicularly to a central axis (Z) passing through the antenna arrangement, said antenna arrangement being formed as a left or right circular polarized antenna arrangement. The at least one electric connecting line (29) between the patch electrode (7) and the top patch (23) has at least line sections (29d) which are aligned transversely with respect to the central axis (Z).
US09979073B2
The present invention discloses a wireless device, which includes a substrate and an antenna. The antenna includes a printed antenna element and a 3-dimensional antenna element. The printed antenna element is printed on the substrate, while the 3-dimensional antenna element is disposed on the substrate and coupled to the printed antenna element. The printed antenna element and the 3-dimensional antenna element jointly have a physical length of a desired frequency.
US09979065B2
A filter includes a top panel, a bottom panel, two first side panels located between the top panel and the bottom panel, and at least one diaphragm that has a metal surface. The two first side panels, the top panel and the bottom panel form a rectangular waveguide. The at least one diaphragm is connected to both the top panel and the bottom panel and separates a cavity of the rectangular waveguide into several cavity chambers that extend along an input/output direction of the rectangular waveguide. At least one of the first side panels is an adjustable side panel whose position relative to the diaphragm is adjustable.
US09979057B2
A cylindrical lithium ion secondary battery, including a cylindrical can; an electrode assembly in the cylindrical can with an electrolyte solution; and a cap assembly sealing the cylindrical can, the cap assembly including a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) device connected to the electrode assembly, a cap-up connected to the PTC device, solder between the PTC device and the cap-up, and an exterior space without the solder on external circumferences of the PTC device and the cap-up.
US09979051B2
The present disclosure provides a method for preparing a lithium secondary battery by bringing a first cell using a first cathode active material of formula (I) Li(LixMy−y′M′y′)O2−zAz (I) wherein, x, y, y′, and z satisfy 0
US09979048B2
A polymer electrolyte for a lithium battery, wherein the polymer electrolyte includes a polymerization product of a lithium ion conductive compound including an ethylenically unsaturated bond, a lithium ion conductive unit, and an ion-exchangeable functional group; and a heteroatom-containing ionic liquid polymerizable with the lithium ion conductive compound.
US09979019B2
A composite positive electrode active material including: an overlithiated layered oxide (OLO) including vanadium (V) and magnesium (Mg), wherein the vanadium and magnesium have a molar ratio of about 1:2. Also a method of manufacturing the composite positive electrode active material, a positive electrode including the composite positive electrode, and a lithium battery including the positive electrode.
US09979018B2
Disclosed is an electrode active material including nanostructures including boron-doped alumina. An electrode including the nanostructures, an energy storage device including the electrode, and a method of preparing the electrode active material are also disclosed.
US09979015B2
The present teaching provides a nonaqueous electrolytic solution secondary battery in which both a satisfactory high-rate characteristic and a high cycle characteristic (prevention of decrease in capacity) are realized. The nonaqueous electrolytic solution secondary battery of the present teaching includes a positive electrode provided with a positive electrode active material layer, a negative electrode provided with a negative electrode active material layer, and a nonaqueous electrolytic solution. The negative electrode active material layer includes a negative electrode active material and carbon black. A coating film made of a lithium transition metal composite oxide having lithium ion conductivity is formed on at least part of a surface of the carbon black.
US09979009B2
A system and method for an energy storage device, such as a battery, having an electrode tab, an electrode, and a laser weld coupling the electrode tab to the electrode. The electronic storage device or battery may be installed in an electronic device. Fabrication of the energy storage device may involve placing an electrode tab adjacent a surface of a thin layer of the electrode, and laser welding the electrode tab to the thin layer.
US09979004B2
The clad material comprises outer layers each consisting of Ni or Ni alloy and a base layer consisting of Cu or Cu alloy, and is characterized in that peeling-off at a clad boundary is not recognized in cross section observation made after the clad material has been subjected to a 90° reverse bend test ten times, and the number of reverse bend cycles before rupture is 17 cycles or more. The clad material has with both of excellent corrosion resistance against electrolytic solution and high electric conductivity.
US09978999B2
A vehicle can be provided in which a rear surface of a center console (30) which accommodates an electric device (D) is formed by a detachable cover member (57), and a maintenance and inspection switch (61) for the electric device (D) is provided in a space defined between the electric device (D) accommodated in the center console (30) and the cover member (57), whereby an easy access to the maintenance and inspection switch (61) for the electric device (D) accommodated in the center console (30) can be gained.
US09978994B2
The present disclosure relates to an organic light emitting display panel and a display apparatus. The organic light emitting display panel includes: a first substrate provided with a plurality of pixels each comprising an organic light emitting diode; a second substrate having at least one auxiliary electrode electrically connected to a cathode of the organic light emitting diode, each auxiliary electrodes being located on a side of the second substrate facing the first substrate and corresponding to a gap between adjacent pixels on the first substrate; and an antireflection layer formed on the auxiliary electrode for absorbing light rays directed to the auxiliary electrode. In the present disclosure, by the auxiliary electrode formed on the second substrate and electrically connected to the cathode on the first substrate, the voltage drop of the cathode may be significantly reduced, and the uniformity of the display brightness is improved. Meanwhile, by the antireflection layer formed on the auxiliary electrode, light leakage phenomenon due to reflection of a metal auxiliary electrode may be prevented, thereby improving contrast ratio of the display.
US09978992B2
Provided are a scattering layer and a method for preparing the same, and an organic light-emitting diode display device prepared thereby. The scattering layer is formed by coating a block copolymer solution of a polybutadiene-polystyrene onto a substrate to form a film, and then subjecting the film to treatment of curing and annealing. The resulting scattering layer includes a nanoscale polystyrene microsphere structure obtained by self-assembling polystyrene and polybutadiene.
US09978991B2
An organic light-emitting display apparatus including a display unit on a substrate, an encapsulating substrate facing the substrate and the display unit, a filling member between the display unit and the encapsulating substrate, and light-scattering particles in the filling member wherein a difference between a refractive index of the filling member and a refractive index of the light-scattering particles is within a set range refractive index numbers.
US09978990B2
Disclosed herein are OLED devices comprising waveguides including at least one waveguide layer comprising at least one inorganic nanoparticle and at least one binder and having an RMS surface roughness of less than about 20 nm. Lighting and display devices comprising such OLED devices are further disclosed herein as well as methods for making the waveguides.
US09978984B2
The present disclosure provides a packing assembly for a display panel. The packing assembly includes an adhesive layer, a first surface of the adhesive layer bonded onto a substrate; a plurality of deformable structures, and a plurality of packing assembly segments. The plurality of packing assembly segments are connected by the plurality of deformable structures, the plurality of packing assembly segments and the plurality of deformable structures being bonded onto a second surface of the adhesive layer.
US09978983B2
The present specification provides an organic light emitting device.
US09978982B2
The present invention relates to an organic light-emitting display device and a method of fabricating the same. The device may include a base substrate, a thin-film transistor disposed on the base substrate, an organic light-emitting device including a first electrode connected to the thin-film transistor, an organic pattern disposed on the first electrode, and a second electrode disposed on the organic pattern. The device further includes an auxiliary electrode including a connection part and a non-connection part, the connection part being connected to the second electrode. The width of the connection part may be less than that of the non-connection part, when measured in the direction perpendicular to a current flow.