US07922833B2
A thermal energy machining (“TEM”) machine gas handling system in which the improvement is a fluid-controlled pressure regulation subsystem for controlling the dispensing of a TEM process gas via the regulation of the pressure of the TEM process gas. Such subsystems include a pressure regulator, a pressure transducer, and a digital controller working in combination to control the process gas outlet pressure of the pressure regulator. The pressure regulator's diaphragm that controls the valve that regulates the process gas outlet pressure is mechanically acted upon by the piston of a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder. Controlling the pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder regulates the output pressure of the process gas. The pressure transducer and the digital controller work in combination to adjust the feed pressure of the pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder, which in turn regulates the pressure of the process gas at the outlet of the pressure regulator.
US07922832B2
A permanent magnet material is prepared by machining an anisotropic sintered magnet body having the compositional formula: Rx(Fe1-yCoy)100-x-z-aBzMa wherein R is Sc, Y or a rare earth element, M is Al, Cu or the like, to a specific surface area of at least 6 mm−1, heat treating in a hydrogen gas-containing atmosphere at 600-1,100° C. for inducing disproportionation reaction on the R2Fe14B compound, and continuing heat treatment at a reduced hydrogen gas partial pressure and 600-1,100° C. for inducing recombination reaction to the R2Fe14B compound, thereby finely dividing the R2Fe14B compound phase to a crystal grain size ≦1 μm.
US07922825B2
An object of the present invention is to effectively remove extraneous matter adhering to turbine blades without disassembling equipment. A turbine in accordance with the present invention is provided with a pressure gage for detecting the pressure in a steam chamber between a stator blade and a moving blade. In a casing on the upstream side of the stator blade in a duct, a nozzle connected to a high-pressure water generator via a valve is installed. Similarly, in the stator blade, an introduction pipe which is connected to the high-pressure water generator via a valve is provided. The introduction pipe is connected with a nozzle in which many injection ports capable of causing water to flow onto both surfaces of the profile of the stator blade are formed. When extraneous matter adheres to the turbine blades, a control unit detects a rise in pressure via the pressure gage, whereby the control unit opens the valves to remove extraneous matter by means of high-pressure water.
US07922820B2
A heating crucible and a deposition apparatus are provided that have a uniform deposition rate and good reproducibility. The heating crucible of the deposition apparatus includes a titanium body with an internal cavity to contain a material to be deposited and an opening to emit the material to be deposited, a wire to heat the body, and an insulator to insulate the body from the wire.
US07922813B2
Epitaxially coated silicon wafers, are produced by epitaxially coating a multiplicity of wafers polished at least on their front sides, successively and individually in an epitaxy reactor, by placing a silicon wafer on a susceptor, pretreating under a hydrogen atmosphere followed by addition of an etching medium to the hydrogen atmosphere, coating epitaxially on the polished front side and removing the water from the epitaxy reactor. The susceptor is then heated, in each case, to a temperature of at least 1000° C. under a hydrogen atmosphere, and furthermore an etching treatment of the susceptor and a momentary coating of the susceptor with silicon are effected after a specific number of epitaxial coatings. Silicon wafers characterized by a parameter R30-1 mm of −10 nm to +10 nm, determined at a distance of 1 mm from the edge of the silicon wafer are produced.
US07922807B2
The present invention provides a method of producing a pigment dispersion, comprising the steps of: preparing a solution in which two or more color pigments and a dispersant are dissolved in a solvent containing an aprotic organic solvent in the presence of an alkali; preparing a medium that decreases a solubility of the two or more color pigments by being added to the solution; feeding the solution and the medium to respective microchannels; and depositing the two or more color pigments by merging the solution and the medium transported through the respective microchannels.
US07922805B2
The present invention relates to oxidized modified pigments and dispersions as well as methods of preparing them. Also disclosed are aqueous inkjet ink compositions comprising oxidized modified pigments.
US07922804B2
A method for preparing a sol-gel solution is provided. During a first stage mixture preparation process, a metal compound mixture is obtained by mixing compounds of Cu, In, Ga, and Se, a diluting dispersant is obtained by adding a diluent into a dispersant, a stabilizing adhesive is obtained by mixing a stabilizer, a leveling agent, and an adhesive together, an anti-freezing coagulant is obtained by mixing an anti-freezer with a retarding coagulant, and a metallic reducing agent is obtained by mixing a reducing agent, a metal complexing agent with a metal abstracting solvent. Then, the metal compound mixture, the diluting dispersant, the stabilizing adhesive, the anti-freezing coagulant, and the metallic reducing agent are mixed, heated and stirred, and then cooled down to obtain a sol-gel solution. The sol-gel solution can be provided for the ink coating technology for configuring the CIGS light absorbing layer of the CIGS solar cell.
US07922801B2
A carbon black aqueous dispersion which has excellent dispersibility in an aqueous medium and is suitable as an aqueous black ink, such as an inkjet printer ink and a method of producing the same. The carbon black aqueous dispersion includes an aqueous medium and a carbon black pigment dispersed in the aqueous medium, wherein some or all of the hydrogen atoms of the acidic groups produced by liquid-phase oxidation of the carbon black are replaced with a basic amino acid salt group by neutralization with a basic amino acid. The method of producing a carbon black aqueous dispersion includes subjecting carbon black to liquid-phase oxidation, removing reduced salts from the resulting slurry, neutralizing the slurry with a basic amino acid to replace some or all of the hydrogen atoms of the acidic groups with a basic amino acid salt group to form a basic amino acid salt compound, and purifying the resulting product.
US07922797B2
The present invention includes a canister including an adsorption chamber. An adsorption material and a heat storage material are disposed within the adsorption chamber. The heat storage material is molded from a mixture of a plurality of microcapsules and a binder. Each of the microcapsules contains therein a heat-change material. The heat storage material is prevented from moving relative to the chamber wall of the adsorption chamber in at least one of two directions perpendicular to each other.
US07922792B1
A neutralization/sequestration process is provided for concomitantly addressing capture and sequestration of both CO2 and SO2 from industrial gas byproduct streams. The invented process concomitantly treats and minimizes bauxite residues from aluminum production processes and brine wastewater from oil/gas production processes. The benefits of this integrated approach to coincidental treatment of multiple industrial waste byproduct streams include neutralization of caustic byproduct such as bauxite residue, thereby decreasing the risk associated with the long-term storage and potential environmental of storing caustic materials, decreasing or obviating the need for costly treatment of byproduct brines, thereby eliminating the need to purchase CaO or similar scrubber reagents typically required for SO2 treatment of such gasses, and directly using CO2 from flue gas to neutralize bauxite residue/brine mixtures, without the need for costly separation of CO2 from the industrial byproduct gas stream by processes such as liquid amine-based scrubbers.
US07922783B2
There are provided a polishing pad which exhibits excellent polishing stability and excellent slurry retainability during polishing and even after dressing, can prevent a reduction in polishing rate effectively and is also excellent in an ability to flatten an substrate to be polished, and a method for producing the polishing pad. The method comprises dispersing water-soluble particles such as β-cyclodextrin into a crosslinking agent such as a polypropylene glycol so as to obtain a dispersion, mixing the dispersion with a polyisocyanate such as 4,4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate and/or an isocyanate terminated urethane prepolymer, and reacting the mixed solution so as to obtain a polishing pad having the water-soluble particles dispersed in the matrix.
US07922779B1
The invention herein provides for an improved dye material composed of a concentrated dye element for mixture with an aqueous element prior to application.
US07922776B2
Embodiments of the invention provide a method for manufacturing woven or knit fabrics with improved shrink and crease resistance and good shape memory after repeated washing. The method comprises (a) contacting an enzyme treatment composition with a cellulosic material (e.g., cotton fabric), the enzyme composition comprising an enzyme; and (b) treating the cellulosic material with a polymeric resin composition. Embodiments of the invention also provide a fabric manufactured by sequentially treating the fabric with an enzyme composition and a resin treatment agent.
US07922775B2
An apparatus and method is provided for securing a prosthesis to the residuum of a limb of an amputee and for providing pressure therapy to the residuum so as to manage fluid within the residuum. The apparatus includes a socket shaped to receive a residuum of a limb of an amputee and configured to connect to a prosthetic limb. The socket forms a chamber between the socket and the residuum when the socket receives the residuum. The apparatus also includes a pressure control device operably connected to the chamber and capable of creating a positive pressure and a negative pressure within the chamber to provide pressure therapy to the residuum, as well as provide securement of the socket to the residuum. The apparatus may also include a liner surrounding at least a portion of the residuum. The control device adjusts pressure within the chamber based on manual and automatic inputs.
US07922774B2
A computerized prosthesis alignment system includes a transducer that can measure socket reactions in the anterior/posterior plane and the right/left planes, while canceling or reducing the transverse forces on the measurements of these socket reactions. In addition, the transducer is also capable of determining the axial load or weight experienced by the prosthesis. The computerized prosthesis alignment system is in communication with a host computer. The moment data from the transducer is interpreted by the user via a computer interface. The host computer includes memory for storing one or more applications. These applications receive data from the transducer, interpret the data with discrete algebraic or fuzzy logic algorithms, and display the output numerically and graphically. Applications may also interpret the data to provide analyses to the user for aligning the prosthesis.
US07922773B1
A method and apparatus for improving the control of prosthetic limb rotation in amputees in which a permanent magnet is implanted into the distal end of a residual bone and the bone rotation is sensed from movement of the magnetic field of the magnet and used to effect corresponding rotation of the prosthetic limb.
US07922768B2
A spinal disc annulus repair device for repair and reconstruction of the spinal disc wall (annulus) after surgical invasion or pathologic rupture, which may incorporate suture closure or other means of stent insertion and fixation, designed to reduce the failure rate of conventional surgical procedures on the spinal discs.
US07922767B2
An embodiment provides an implant prosthesis. In some cases, the prosthesis can take the form of an implant strip that may be implanted through the use of a surgical procedure that minimizes incision sizes and may be considered less invasive than typical spinal implant procedures. In one aspect, a method of implanting a prosthesis may include making an incision in a patient, inserting a tube into the incision and between two adjacent vertebrae, inserting an implant strip through the tube, ejecting the implant strip from the tube between the two adjacent vertebrae, coiling the implant strip between the two adjacent vertebrae, and resisting compressive and tensile forces by deflecting an intermediate portion of the implant strip.
US07922765B2
Various bone fixation/fusion devices are sized and configured to be placed across fracture fragments or between bones that are to be fused.
US07922759B1
According to one embodiment there is disclosed a device including a shield member including an ECM material and a retaining member conformable to maintain at least a portion of the shield member in a desired relationship with respect to an area of a blood vessel to be treated or repaired.
US07922757B2
A vascular system including a catheter having a first end portion, a second end portion and a plurality of lumens wherein the first end portion is dimensioned for insertion into a vascular graft and the second end portion is dimensioned for insertion into a vein of a patient to create a conduit from an artery to the vein.
US07922749B2
A device for reducing stabilization into a head of a medical implant is provided. The device includes a rotating member and a ram for reducing the stabilization member into a core of the implant head. The ram is threadably engaged with the rotating member and is moved by rotation of the rotating member.
US07922746B2
A spinal rod assembly may be formed by attaching an extension portion onto a spinal rod that extends along a longitudinal axis. The extension portion may include a rod coupler that attaches to the spinal rod with a first coupling that includes a first degree of rotational freedom and a first degree of translational freedom in positioning the rod coupler relative to the spinal rod along the longitudinal axis. The extension portion may further include an extender rod including an elongated rod body that may be secured to the rod coupler using a second coupling that includes at least a second degree of rotational freedom in positioning the extender rod relative to the rod coupler about an axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. The extension portion may be assembled in situ to a spinal rod that has been previously secured to vertebral bodies in a patient.
US07922744B2
A suture punch system that is capable of directly passing braided suture through tissue in a simple, one-step process. The system includes three principle components: a malleable needle capable of delivering the suture to the tissue, a handheld instrument for grasping tissue and controlling needle placement, and a force-supplying mechanism to supply the force required for needle placement. Needle deformation begins at the tip of the instrument, which beneficially includes a curved segment. As the distal tip of the needle pierces the tissue, it continues its radial path through the tissue. When the proximal end of the needle exits from the instrument, the needle may be radial in shape and traverses an essentially radial path through the tissue. Once the needle has passed entirely through the tissue, it may be retrieved using the jaws of the punch or another instrument.
US07922740B2
A catheter assembly comprises a catheter shaft, a balloon and a pair of collars engaged to the catheter shaft. Each collar has a body portion and at least one lip portion extending radially outward from the body portion. Each collar has a nonactivated state and an activated state, wherein in the nonactivated state the balloon is rotatable about the collars and each lip portion is constructed and arranged to abut a portion of the balloon to prevent the balloon from moving longitudinally relative thereto. In the activated state the body portion of each collar is sealingly engaged to at least a portion of the balloon.
US07922738B2
An apparatus for accessing the epidural space in a mammal has a cutting sheath with a distal end adapted to transition from a closed cutting configuration to an open configuration. A tissue engagement device is in a hollow portion of the sheath. The tissue engagement device has a blunt distal end and an engagement feature. A method of accessing an epidural space includes the step of forming an opening to a position at or near the ligamentum flavum using the cutting sheath. Another step of the method is positioning a tissue engagement device within the hollow portion of the cutting sheath. Another step of the method is transitioning the cutting sheath from the closed cutting configuration to the open configuration. Another step of the method is manipulating the tissue engagement device to controllably advance the tissue engagement device at least partially through the ligamentum flavum.
US07922725B2
In one embodiment, a spinal stabilization apparatus includes a vertebral anchor having a head portion and a bone attachment portion. An elongate, flexible guide is removably coupled to the head portion of the vertebral anchor and has a channel extending longitudinally thereof and communicating with a slot in the head portion of the anchor. An elongate cord may be received within the channel to facilitate inserting and securing a spacer between pairs of anchors installed into adjacent vertebrae of a person's spine.
US07922723B2
An improved rongeur for cutting bone or cartilage comprising two shaft members capable of reciprocating motion relative to each other wherein one shaft member terminates in a foot plate and the other shaft member comprises a combined cutting element and storage member is disclosed. The combined cutting element and storage member has a cutting edge at its distal end and a storage chamber proximate the cutting edge for collecting and storing cut pieces of bone or cartilage in an amount greater than the maximum bone or cartilage capable of being cut in a single full cut. The combined cutting element and storage member is truly disposable, rather than merely replaceable and requires the use of no tools or special assembly. The rongeur may be manually activated or activated by a solenoid and powered by a battery.
US07922722B2
An acetabular reamer (10′) for cutting a required cut shape is described. The reamer (10′) has a cutting shell (12′) having a series of doubly curved cutting teeth (16′) thereon of a quantity to substantially reduce a cutting pressure on each tooth as well as to reduce a size of a typical chip generated upon cutting. Substantially all of the teeth have a matched arc cutting edge (20′) of substantial length that has a cutting profile which substantially matches a profile of a shape to be cut. The apertures in which the cutting edges are formed have at least one straight edge (80) by which a punch, used in the process of forming the edge, may be oriented. Such a configuration reduces the number of teeth required to cut the shape.
US07922720B2
An orthopaedic cutting instrument and associated methods are presented.
US07922712B2
A catheter assembly allowing for non-contaminated insertion of the catheter into the urinary canal. The catheter assembly includes a urinary catheter, a catheter package and a sealing member. The urinary catheter defines a conduit and has a proximal end adapted for insertion into the urinary canal and an opposite distal end. The catheter package has a hose with a cavity for accommodation of the catheter, and a catheter outlet adapted to dismantle the proximal end of the catheter from the catheter package. The sealing member is adapted to provide a substantially liquid-tight seal between the catheter package and the urinary catheter while the catheter is being dismantled.
US07922706B2
The present invention relates to a standing gather structure having skin-contact planar portions formed into a planer shape, which brings the entire skin-contact planar portions into tight contact with the user's skin, and provides the cushioning properties to soften a contact to the user's skin. The standing gathers BS each include a first wall portion standing upright from the proximal end, a second inner wall portion branching from the upper end portion of the first wall portion, a second outer wall portion branching outward from the upper end portion of the first wall portion and being positioned relatively outside the second inner wall portion, a skin-contact planar portion supported by the distal end portion of the second inner wall portion and the distal end portion of the second outer wall portion, a plurality of elastic members disposed on the skin-contact planar portion longitudinally along the napkin and a hollow portion defined by the skin-contact planar portion, the second inner wall portion and the second outer wall portion and positioned on the back surface side of the skin-contact planar portion.
US07922699B2
An administration instrument for medical use performs injection of a drug solution with stability and with great reliability. The administration instrument includes a needle that does not wobble, thereby alleviating physical and mental pain of the administration patient. The structure includes an injection button that is pressed at an angle that is not parallel to the needle with respect to a direction in which the needle is inserted into the skin. Thus, it is possible to prevent the force of pressing the injection button from being transmitted in a direction of insertion of the needle so that the needle is inserted deeper into the skin than the initial insertion of the needle, thereby achieving administration under a stable state.
US07922697B2
A securement device for securing a catheter to a patient comprises a pad having adhesive on at least a portion of the bottom surface. A fixed plate and a rotatable adjustable plate are affixed to the pad. The adjustable plate is rotated with respect to the fixed plate to secure a catheter. Posts are on the fixed plate and the adjustable plate to secure a winged catheter. A bracket can be affixed to a fixed plate or an adjustable plate and a cooperating tab can be affixed to the other plate for securing a catheter there between. In a further modification, a base is secured to a pad and a pair of plates is pivotally mounted on the base for rotation with respect to one another. Complementary pawl and ratchet members enable limited rotation of plates with respect to one another and to fix plates in selected adjustment position.
US07922694B2
A drive device for a piston in a container containing a liquid comprises a first segment positioned between a second segment and an outlet of the container. The first and second segments each have a first shape in which the respective segment is clamped between lateral walls of the container and a second shape in which the respective segment is released from the lateral walls. A first actuator is configured to vary the first segment between its first and second shapes, and the first segment is in its first shape when the first actuator is inactive. A second actuator is configured to vary the second segment between its first and second shapes, and the second segment is in its second shape when the second actuator is inactive. A connecting segment connects the first segment to the second segment and has an actively variable connecting length.
US07922687B2
A catheter assembly for use in the extracorporeal treatment of bodily fluids. The assembly comprises a catheter body having a withdrawal port, an infusion port, and a plurality of lumens therein. One of the lumens comprises a withdrawal lumen for transport of fluids withdrawn from a body vessel through the withdrawal port to an extracorporeal treatment unit, such as a dialyzer. Another lumen comprises an infusion lumen for return of treated fluids from the extracorporeal treatment unit into the body vessel through the infusion port. A wire extends from yet another lumen to an attachment point on the catheter assembly. The wire is capable of bowing radially outwardly from the catheter body, in order to space the infusion and withdrawal ports from the vessel wall.
US07922684B2
The anti-obesity dual stent includes a tubular outer structure within which is located a coaxial tubular inner structure. The outer structure is sized to fit within a duodenum in substantially coaxial relation therewith. The outer and inner structures communicate with the pylorus and papilla of Vater to provide conduits for the chyme and digestive fluid. Alternatively, the anti-obesity dual stent may include a tubular papilla-supplied structure which has a lateral orientation relative to a tubular pylorus-supplied structure. The papilla-supplied and pylorus-supplied structures each are sized to fit longitudinally within the duodenum. The pylorus-supplied and papilla-supplied structures communicate with the pylorus and papilla of Vater to provide conduits for the chyme and digestive fluid.
US07922658B2
A blade for a surgical retractor. The blade includes a base portion and a distal portion. The base portion may be attached to a frame of a surgical retractor. The distal portion may be removably coupled to the base portion and may be unitarily constructed of a translucent material. A light source may be removably coupled to the distal portion. The distal portion may be disposable.
US07922652B2
An endoscope that is free from a dead area and capable of preventing the physician from overlooking any nidus is an endoscope for taking the inside of digestive organs, and the endoscope is provided with an omnidirectional camera (32), a light (34), a forceps (36) and a rinse water injection port (38) at the tip (24). The omnidirectional camera (32) is a device for taking the inside of digestive organs, and is able to take 360-degree images of its surroundings. A probe-type endoscope (20) is provided with a receiver (26) composed of orthogonal coils, and the receiver (26) is used for estimating the position and attitude of the probe-type endoscope (20). An image taken by the omnidirectional camera (32) is presented on a display unit (28) of an image processing device (22) connected to the probe-type endoscope (20). In the image processing device, a video mosaicking process is performed on a plurality of images obtained by the omnidirectional camera (32) to generate a panoramic image of the inside of a digestive organ.
US07922649B2
A surgically implantable device is a single unit comprised of a hydraulically activated extendable cavernosal component and a manually controlled fluid transfer system composed of a pump. Flow from the pump is directed by a one way valve interposed between a bypass from an included elastic reservoir, the pump and a second one way valve interposed between the pump and the cavernosal unit. A manually controlled release valve, interposed between the outlet of the cavernosal unit and the reservoir, permits de-activation of the cavernosal unit and returns fluid to the reservoir. These components are housed by a molded tailpiece which stabilizes the device against the symphysis pubis, positions the cavernosal implant properly within the shaft of the penis and presents the controls for easy access. An access port permits adjustment of the fluid volume. The unit has utility as a tissue expander and penile re-construction in event of congenital or traumatic deformity.
US07922613B2
A hollow yoke is inserted into a bore section of a frame. The yoke is connected to a slider via a slit in the frame. A timing belt is inserted into a belt hole of the yoke. Further, a pair of guide members are provided on both side surfaces of the yoke, which engage with guide grooves of the frame. The yoke is displaced along the guide grooves by the timing belt, under a driving action of a driving section. Accordingly, the slider is displaced in the axial direction along the frame.
US07922610B2
In a line pressure control device for a belt type continuously variable transmission according to this invention, when a line pressure is feedback-controlled to equal a target line pressure which is equal to or greater than the larger of oil pressures supplied to a primary pulley and a secondary pulley (S1), and it is determined that the target line pressure has fallen below a first low pressure, leading to a divergence between the target line pressure and the actual line pressure (S6), the target line pressure is restricted such that the target line pressure does not fall below a lower limit value (S7).
US07922605B2
Provided is a ball marker for golf, including: a round-shaped case having an opening; a disc spring fit to the round-shaped case; a thin film printed circuit board and a flexible printed circuit cable seated on a top surface of the disc spring, the thin film printed circuit board having a light-emitting diode flickering control chip, the flexible printed circuit cable being connected to the thin film printed circuit board and having a plurality of surface mounted device light emission diodes; a transparent rubber layer formed on the thin film printed circuit board and the flexible printed circuit cable; an electric cell received in a receiving portion of the disc spring exposed from a lower portion of the round-shaped case; a button switch and a button cover arranged on the electric cell; and a lower fixing portion fused and fixed with soft resin.
US07922593B2
A driveshaft with a hollow shaft, a pair of caps and a universal joint. The hollow shaft is rotatable about an axis and has an annular wall member that defines an outer surface, an inner surface and a pair of opposite ends. At least one of the outer surface and the inner surface includes a plurality of longitudinally extending splines. The caps are fixedly coupled to the opposite ends of the hollow shaft to at least substantially close the opposite ends of the hollow shaft. The universal joint is coupled to one of the caps. The splines extend the length of the hollow shaft.
US07922586B2
A system featuring a server communicating with the network with game hosting software programmed on the server, a terrain database and a time sequence GPS position linked message database each stored on the server and accessed by the game hosting software is disclosed. The terrain database stores a plurality of three dimensional renderings of golf courses created from digital aerial photographs of each golf course, wherein each photo includes elevational and slope data for each aerial photo. The time sequence GPS position linked message database contains a plurality of messages collected by a portable computing device and transmitted to the server by the device during an actually played round of golf. Each message is: transmitted by the device to the server; associated with an elapsed time from the beginning of the play of the round of golf, and linked to a GPS determined position from where the message was transmitted.
US07922580B2
A gaming machine is provided so as to comprise: a display device for displaying symbols variably and statically; a starting device for an operation to start a variable display of the symbols; a storage device for storing a plurality of predictive effect images corresponding to respective payout levels; and a processor being operable to: conduct an internal lottery to determine a combination of symbols to be displayed statically; select one of the predictive effect images corresponding to a predetermined winning combination when it is determined that the determined combination to be displayed statically matches the predetermined winning combination; and cause the selected one predictive effect image to be displayed as well as the variable display of symbols, wherein the plurality of predictive effect images indicate a degree of the payout levels such that a payout level to be awarded can be expected before an operation to stop the variable display.
US07922577B2
A printing and dispensing bonusing system for gaming devices has been developed. The system includes a gaming device with a main processor unit containing that generates event signals according to the gaming logic, a signal transmission device that detects the event signals, and a peripheral device processor that receives the event signals from the signal transmission device. The peripheral device processing unit is isolated from the main processor unit and cannot influence the generation of the event signals.
US07922576B2
The present system provides an incentive for players to place maximum wagers in an effort to gain access to secondary games, the entry of which is controlled by the player's own wager amount, wager type, or wager source. In employing such games, gaming machine establishments are able to maximize the level of play on each of their gaming machines and thereby reduce operation costs and increase the number of machines available for play.
US07922571B2
According to an embodiment, a player of a game (e.g., video poker) wagers on a game in which a first set of cards represents a bonus hand having a high value (e.g., royal, straight). The player is also dealt a second set of cards. In one embodiment, an indication of a first set of cards may be output by a first display device and an indication of a second set of cards may be output by a second display device.The player selects one or more cards from the second set of cards that are to be discarded, and the player is dealt a replacement card for each such discarded card.Each card in the first set which matches a replacement card is removed. The value of each hand of the modified first set of cards is then determined. A credit balance is adjusted based on the determined values of the modified first set of cards.
US07922570B2
A fantasy sports game for a plurality of participants representing sports teams each wishing to form a fantasy sports team made up of actual athletes, and each operating a participant terminal operable to act as a client on a network, the system comprising: a host controller, the host controller comprising a computer operable to act as a server on the network and to communicate with the participant terminals over the network; and data storage accessible to the host controller. A variance report calculates the total difference in price between all the sold players' prices and the values inputted by the participant team before the auction, and the variance report can also show the difference in price between all the sold players' prices and the values inputted by the participant team before the auction organized by position.
US07922569B2
A coin counter includes a base unit, an adjusting plate adjustably mounted on the base unit, and a coin outlet port mounted on the base unit. The adjusting plate has a first end provided with an adjusting slot and a second end provided with a micro-adjusting slot. The adjusting plate has a mediate portion provided with a guide slot located between the adjusting slot and the micro-adjusting slot. Thus, by provision of the micro-adjusting slot of the adjusting plate, the pitch angle of the adjusting plate can be slightly adjusted to slightly adjust and control the projecting distance of each of the coins so that each of the coins can be projected onto the coin outlet port exactly to facilitate collection of the coins.
US07922564B2
The invention concerns a sanding element with a succession of overlapping lamellas (3, 4) comprising sanding grains (9), characterized in that these lamellas (3, 4) are alternately formed of sanding lamellas (3) and compressible lamellas (4), whereby each sanding lamella (3) rests on a compressible lamella (4).
US07922562B2
A chemical-mechanical polishing machine and associated methods are disclosed. One embodiment of the machine includes a polishing pad, a wafer carrier corresponding to the polishing pad and configured to carry a semiconductor wafer, and a transfer station proximate to the polishing pad for holding the wafer during loading and/or unloading. At least one of the wafer carrier and the transfer station is configured to dissipate electrostatic charge from the wafer.
US07922561B2
A system for providing quantitative process control of a finesse polishing based upon feedback to the operator as to whether he/she is meeting the one or more predetermined key control characteristics (KCCs). One or more sensors provide data to a controller, wherein the controller provides the operator feedback regarding his/her operational compliance with respect to the KCCs, and disables operation in the event of operator noncompliance, with the intention to promote proper operator procedure and prevent operator error when polishing a flawed painted surface.
US07922554B2
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a light-emitting device. At least one of a light-emitting film forming step, a conductive film forming step and an insulating film forming step is carried out while holding a substrate in a manner that an angle subtended by a surface of the substrate and the direction of gravity is within a range of from 0 to 30°.
US07922547B2
The electrical connector includes an insulative housing (1) having a plurality of retention channels (13) extending to an exterior both in horizontal and vertical directions. Each contact (2) is laterally inserted into a corresponding channel (13) and has a free front header (214) with a horizontal retention piece (2141) and at least a side guiding section (2142). The side guiding section (2142) is configured to guide the free front header (214) into an interior of the channel (13) at a first initial insertion position, while the horizontal retention piece (2141) is pressed by a horizontal wall (146) of the channel (13) at a second full insertion position to hold the contact (2) in position. This configuration of the free front header (214) has the function of guiding the contact (2) into the channel (13) with no need of an installation tool.
US07922545B2
A press-fit terminal is adapted to be press-fitted in an through-hole of board for electrically conducting with the press-fit terminal. The press-fit terminal includes a terminal-base portion and a board inserting portion at least partially plated with tin. A thickness of the plated tin is from 0.1 to 0.8 μm.
US07922544B2
Disclosed is a pogo pin including: a hollow body having a spring structure by spirally cutting at least a portion of an outer surface thereof; and a conductive material filling at least an inside of the body. According to the present invention, when testing a semiconductor package, error rate in contact between the package, the pogo pin and a test board can be remarkably reduced, and simultaneously can enhance rigidity and electrical conductivity of the pogo pin. Further, simple componentry of the pogo pin can facilitate its fabrication, reduce fabrication costs, and even foresee fabrication of a micro-pogo pin.
US07922541B2
The disclosure herein describes embodiments of a cable connector that can be easily attached at a variety of points along the length of a cable as desired by a user for a particular application. The cable connector can easily be secured to the cable by snapping or otherwise securing the base and cover of the connector around the cable. The cable connector can include a device interface for coupling an electronic device to the cable connector. The cable connector can supply a power and control signal to the coupled device via terminals adapted to pierce the insulation on the cable and contact the conductors inside. The terminals of the cable connector can sever at least one of the conductors of the cable, disrupting the flow of current through the conductor. The device interface can bridge the severed ends of the conductor to enable unabated current flow when a device is not coupled thereto or redirect the current through an electronic device coupled to the interface. The cable connector enables easily connecting an electronic device in series between the severed ends of a conductor and providing current flow between the ends when the device is disconnect.
US07922538B2
A sound socket connector with built-in sound processing capability includes a base, a sound circuit board, a metallic casing and a rear cover. The base has a front surface and a rear surface. The front surface has a plurality of sound input ports. The rear surface has a plurality of outward-extending electric-conductive pins at positions corresponding to those of the sound input ports. One end of the sound circuit board has a plurality of perforations. The electric-conductive pins pass through the perforations to be electrically connected to the sound circuit board. The other end of the sound circuit board is electrically connected with electric-conductive terminals. The electric-conductive terminals are electrically connected to a mother board. A decoder, a sound processor and a wireless module are electrically connected between the perforations and the electric-conductive terminals.
US07922531B2
A connector shield case having a tubular shape and is attached to a housing having a plurality of terminals to thereby surround the terminals. The connector shield case is formed by bending a metal blank having a predetermined shape. The connector shield case comprises a ceiling plate portion, side wall portions extending downward from corresponding opposite side ends of the ceiling plate portion, mounting projecting-leg portions extending downward from each of the side wall portions, a bottom plate support portion connecting, at opposite ends, with the side wall portions and a bottom plate portion in parallel with the ceiling plate portion and connecting with the bottom plate support portion via a bend portion. With respect to the front-rear direction, the bottom plate portion overlaps in position with at least one of the mounting projecting-leg portions.
US07922529B1
The coaxial connector includes a plug and a receptacle. The plug contains a spring-loaded central contact and a fixed shield contact. The receptacle contains a fixed central contact and a spring-loaded shield contact. When the plug and the receptacle are joined, each of the spring-loaded contacts is compressed to positively engage the respective fixed contact to facilitate an electrical connection. Mating edges of the plug and receptacle are chamfered to facilitate concentric alignment and to reduce the required insertion force between the plug and receptacle. The contacts of both the plug and the receptacle are recessed below the mating surface to prevent a person or another conductive surface from making inadvertent contact with an electrically conductive member of the connector.
US07922522B2
The present invention is directed to an instrument having at least one terminal post having a longitudinal axis extending therefrom such that the longitudinal axis is at an oblique angle relative to a surface of the instrument. In one embodiment, each terminal post is mounted to a circuit board such that a first surface of each terminal post projects in a first direction. In this embodiment, a rear surface of each terminal post is beveled and coupled to a first surface of the circuit board. The beveled rear surface of the terminal posts defines the oblique angle at which the longitudinal axis of the each terminal post is relative to a surface of the instrument.
US07922516B2
A continuous flexible bus comprises, for example, a plurality of metal clad flexible conductors. A device, such as a switch for example, is connected to the continuous flexible bus. In order to connect the device to the continuous flexible bus, at least one piercing connector is used, for example. The at least one piercing connector is configured, for example, to pierce one of the plurality of flexible metal clad conductors. Once the one of the plurality of flexible metal clad conductors is pierced, the at least one piercing connector causes, for example, an electrical connection between an electrical conductor in the pierced one of the plurality of flexible metal clad conductors and the switch.
US07922508B2
An electrical distribution system for electrifying a plurality of wall panels includes a jumper assembly including a telescoping slider which includes a plurality of conductors housed therein which slide relative to one another, the jumper assembly being configured for connecting to a first electrical distribution device connected to a first wall panel of the plurality of wall panels and for connecting to a second electrical distribution device connected to a second wall panel of the plurality of wall panels.
US07922503B1
A lever-type connector includes a housing and a wire cover. Shafts are extended from the housing. A lever attached to the housing has a pair of parallel plates and a grip portion connecting the parallel plates. Each of the parallel plates is formed with a hole in which the shaft is inserted. A projection provided on the wire cover abuts one of the parallel plates in a state where the lever is attached to the housing so that the grip portion is disposed at a side of the lead-out port. A rotation preventing part is provided at one of the shafts and the hole of the one of the parallel plates and prevents a rotation of the lever in a state where the one of the parallel plates is deformed by the abutment of the projection.
US07922499B2
An electrical terminal (20) used with board-mounted connector (2) having a housing comprising (21): a fixing portion, a contacting portion (204) and a soldering portion (202). The fixing portion defines barbs formed along opposite edges thereof for securing the terminal within the housing, the contacting portion (204) extends from on side of the fixing portion and the soldering portion extends away from the other side of the fixing portion. The soldering portion (202) extends obliquely towards a circuit board on which the connector (2) is mounted, the soldering portion having a tip end with a reduced thickness thereof.
US07922497B2
An anisotropically conductive connector device and an inspection apparatus for circuit devices including the anisotropically conductive connector device. The anisotropically conductive connector device includes an elastic anisotropically conductive film, including plural conductive path-forming parts each extending in a thickness-wise direction of the film and arranged mutually insulated by an insulating part, a sheet-like connector including an insulating sheet, including a plurality of through-holes each extending in a thickness-wise direction, and plural electrode structures arranged in the respective through-holes in the insulating sheet to protrude from both surfaces of the insulating sheet. The electrode structures are positioned on respective conductive path-forming parts, the insulating sheet is integrally fixed to the insulating part, and the electrode structures include electrode parts that are movable in the thickness-wise direction of the sheet.
US07922496B2
A motherboard includes a motherboard substrate and an external interface module including a plurality of external interfaces. The external interface module is detachably and electrically connected to the motherboard substrate.
US07922495B2
A connector includes a first connection member and a second connection member that come in electrical contact with terminal units of a board module. The first and second connection members have connection bodies with connection terminal units formed thereon, and press members that at the time of setting the board module, cause the connection terminals of the connection bodies to deform toward the terminal units of the board module and come in contact with the terminal units when the press members comes in contact with the leading edge of the board module.
US07922494B2
An apparatus, system, and method for monitoring test question response time from a remote location are provided. More specifically, the present invention provides a mechanism by which tests may be proctored to users from a remote location as a test administration service and providing alert notifications to the users based on the amount of time that has elapsed during the test taking process as well as the amount of time remaining to take the test. With the present invention, test progress data is obtained from the user and forwarded to a proctor workstation. A proctor device may monitor the user's test progress to determine if expected progress on the test is being attained. The testing progress data may be recorded along with test input data from the user's client device for later use. Moreover, the administering of the test may be done by a third party as a test administration service to which a test developer may subscribe. Alternatively, the users of the test administration service may be billed for their individual use of the test administration service. Other features of the present invention will be described or will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.
US07922488B2
A method for isolating a work object to achieve a predetermined operational objective, the method including the steps of encapsulating at least a portion of the work object in a housing in a work position so as to establish a zone of isolation relative to the portion of the work object; releasibly interconnecting the housing and the portion of the work object so as selectively to maintain said zone of isolation for a period of time sufficient to achieve the predetermined operational objective; and occluding an area proximate to the housing to resist incursion into the area during the period of time. An apparatus for isolating a work object, the apparatus including a housing having an interior dimensioned to permit the housing to be disposed in a work position with the work object received in the interior of the housing; and means for retaining the housing in the work position.
US07922485B2
Disclosed is a vertical type heat processing apparatus and a vertical type heat processing method, which can prevent fall down of the boat on a boat carrier mechanism to be caused by an external force, such as an earthquake or the like, by employing a simple structure, while taking a form of the two-boat system. The vertical type heat processing apparatus 1 includes a heating furnace 5 having a furnace port 5a, a cover 17 adapted to close the furnace port 5a, a pair of substrate holding tools 4 each adapted to hold multiple substrates W in a multistage fashion and configured to be placed on the cover 17 via a heat insulating mount 19, and a lifting mechanism 18 adapted to raise and lower the cover 17 so as to carry in and carry out each substrate holding tool 4 relative to the heating furnace 5. When one substrate holding tool 4 is in the heating furnace 5, the other substrate holding tool 4 is placed on a substrate-holding-tool table 22 for loading the substrates W thereon. Each substrate holding tool 4 is carried between the-substrate-holding-tool table 22 and the heat insulating mount 19 due to the substrate-holding-tool carrier mechanism 23. To the substrate-holding-carrier mechanism 23, a fall-down prevention member 37 adapted to control each substrate holding tool 4 is provided.
US07922478B2
A control device using a follower member and a cam path to control an element of a container processor machine, the device comprising two cam paths defined by a single rigid assembly (5), means enabling relative movement between the follower member and the rigid assembly (5), between at least two positions, the follower member engaging a first cam path in a first position and engaging a second cam path in a second position. A blow-molding or stretch blow-molding machine including such a device, in particular for controlling the movement of the lengthening rod, or for controlling mold locking/unlocking, or for controlling mold opening/closing.
US07922471B2
An extrusion head is disposed over a substrate, and material is extruded through an oblique (e.g., semi-circular or tapered) outlet orifice of the extrusion head to form an associated extruded structure having an equilibrium shape that resists settling after being deposited on the substrate. The extrusion head includes fluidic channels having a flat surface formed by a flat first (e.g., metal) sheet, and an oblique (e.g., substantially semi-cylindrical) surface formed by elongated oblique trenches that are etched or otherwise formed in a second sheet. The fluidic channel communicates with the outlet orifice, which has a flat edge formed by the first sheet, and an oblique edge formed by an end of the oblique trench. The material is extruded through the outlet orifice such that its flat lower surface contacts the substrate, and its oblique upper surface faces away from the substrate. Two materials are co-extruded to form high aspect-ratio gridlines.
US07922452B2
A windmill converting wind forces into rotational energy that can be used to drive a generator or other apparatus requiring rotational energy to work. The windmill includes panels for capturing the wind arranged around a vertically rotating shaft. The panels are able to move from a vertical position when receiving the force of the wind to a horizontal position when rotated to the upwind side of the rotation, thus minimizing their aerodynamic resistance. The panels can also be moved toward or away from the vertical shaft and the area of the panels can be changed so as to maintain a constant speed of rotation of the vertical shaft.
US07922428B2
A twist drill partially coated with TiN to increase wear resistance whilst minimising the transfer of coating particles to a work piece. The drill is selectively coated on the rake face (42); the land (46) is not coated.
US07922427B2
A toolholder has a pocket adapted to receive a double-sided on-edge cutting insert, wherein the corners of each side of the insert are radially shifted with respect to one another and has mounting pads preferably mounted about the sides of the cutting insert. The relief area for the corners of the insert is selectively fabricated to maximize the length of the support pads within the pocket of the toolholder.
US07922426B2
Barriers for flood defense and other purposes are often constructed using sand bags. The strength of these barriers is limited and the invention seeks to address this problem. The invention provides a tie formed as a single injection molded item placed between layers of sandbags to help to hold them together. The tie has two rigid triangular end plates (4) and (5) linked by a flexible arm (11). The end plates are formed with protruding spikes (6) shaped with a barb so that they will easily penetrate the fabric of a sandbag but are difficult to pull out. In use, each tie is placed between layers of sandbags so that spikes of respective plates (4) and (5) become anchored to adjoining bags. The bags of the barrier are thus held together and any irregularities in it are accommodated by the flexibility of the arm (11). Slots (14) and lugs (15) allow a plurality of ties to be linked together as may be required when oversize sandbags are employed.
US07922425B2
An apparatus, system and method for recovery of artifacts and eradication of invasive species in aquatic environments. The structure may comprise an elongate flexible bladder blanket divider having first and second ends. The structure may have an open bore vertical support operably coupled to the first and second ends. Each end extends into the open bore vertical support and rests on at least one apron bladder of an apron bladder bundle. The at least one apron bladder is contained in the open bore vertical support and at least one apron bladder is between the end of the vertical support and the bottom of the body of water. A method of using the apparatus, comprising providing an apparatus having variable volume first and second compartments separated by a flexible bladder blanket divider; and introducing agents through openings in the bladder to control the growth of or kill the invasive organisms.
US07922415B2
A fastener (10) is adapted to releasably fix a first element (12) and a second element (14). The fastener (10) includes a channel (22) having a plurality of spaced lockers (28). The lockers (28) are movable into the channel (22). The fastener (10) also has a locking tongue (30), having a plurality of spaced blockers (32). The tongue (30) is movable within the channel (22) between a locked position in which the blockers (32) prevent movement of the lockers (28) into the channel (22) and an unlocked position in which the lockers (28) are not prevented from moving into the channel (22).
US07922411B2
An end plug mounting structure for writing instrument of the present invention can securely mount an end plug onto a barrel and remove it more easily. Even if assembling and removing is performed repeatedly, tightness for the end plug to be assembled on the barrel can be prevented from weakening. A locking hole is provided around cylindrical rear portion of the barrel, an inserting portion with circular cross section inserted into rear portion of the barrel from rear end of the barrel is provided on the end plug, a locking protrusion locked in a locking hole is provided at periphery of the inserting portion, a groove extending forward from rear end of the barrel and in which the locking protrusion moves is provided on inner surface of rear portion of the barrel, thereby the end plug is assembled on the barrel by means of locking the locking protrusion that moves forward in the groove in the locking hole. The locking hole is configured to be adjacent to the groove, so that the locking protrusion moving forward in the groove moves in circumferential direction so as to be locked in the locking hole. A protruding strip extending in lengthwise direction is configured on side bottom of the groove on the side of the locking hole, so that the locking protrusion can stride over the protruding strip to move along circumferential direction.
US07922406B2
In this image generating apparatus, a driving gear portion is so formed that the diameter of the outer peripheral surface of a first toothless portion is smaller than the tip diameter of a first toothed portion, and so arranged that the first toothless portion thereof slides on a second toothed portion of a driven gear portion of a print head rotating member in the vicinity of a position where a print head presses a platen roller with a pressing portion.
US07922405B2
A joint nozzle that delivers a developer, a rinsing liquid and nitrogen gas is disposed adjacent the spin center of a substrate in plan view. A controller operates electromagnetic switch valves to continue supply of the developer, while spinning the substrate, in a developing process, and to start supply of the rinsing liquid in a rinsing process, immediately after the supply of the developer ends, thereby achieving a shortened period of the developing process. A switching is made to a drying process by starting supply of the nitrogen gas immediately after completion of the rinsing process. Thus, even if the substrate has a large angle of contact, formation of droplets of the rinsing liquid is inhibited to prevent post-develop defects.
US07922396B2
A double row self-aligning roller bearing in which spherical rollers are arranged in double rows between an inner ring and an outer ring, characterized in that the curvature radius of the ridge line of the spherical roller in one row is R1, the curvature radius of the ridge line of the spherical roller positioned in the other row is R2, the curvature radius of the inner ring track surface being in contact with the spherical roller in one row is N1, and the curvature radius of the inner ring track surface being in contact with the spherical roller in the other row is N2, a relation such that N1/R1>N2/R2 is satisfied.
US07922389B2
A method for providing accurate temperature sensing of a substrate utilizing the PN junction of a transistor formed on the substrate is described.
US07922382B2
A method and apparatus for reconstituting consumable powder(s) with a liquid to provide a food liquid such as milk, cappuccino-type beverage, or soup with or without froth. The powder is introduced into a container and pre-wetted by an intersecting liquid spray. Further mixing occurs in the container. The container may have additional liquid streams feeding into the container for increased mixing. This food liquid can then be aspirated by the Venturi effect by steam generation to produce a frothed/aerated food liquid.
US07922378B2
A medical illumination unit (1) has an LED chip (15) and a rod-shaped body (5) with a proximal end (11) and a distal end (7). A distal hollow section (9) begins before the distal end (7) and reaches the distal end (7), and a supply lead section (12) begins at the proximal end (11) and reaches the distal hollow section (9). The LED chip (15) is in the distal hollow section of the rod-shaped body (5) and is supplied with energy through the supply lead (12). A luminescent converter is between the LED chip (15) and the distal end (7) of the rod-shaped or tubular body or at the distal end of the rod-shaped body (5), the converter properties of which are selected to convert light emitted by the LED chip (15) into light with a desired wavelength distribution.
US07922375B2
Light having entered a light transmitting member through a predetermined point on an optical axis undergoes internal reflection in a front surface perpendicular to the optical axis, then undergoes internal reflection again in a rear surface composed of a paraboloid of revolution having a focal point at a position of plane symmetry with the predetermined point, and then exits the front surface. A mirror-finished annular region around the optical axis in the front surface has an outer peripheral edge set to be near a position where the incident angle of the light emitted from the light emitting element is equal to a critical angle, and an inner peripheral edge near a position where the light having undergone internal reflection in the front surface enters a position immediately behind the outer peripheral edge in the rear surface.
US07922364B2
An LED lamp assembly with a substantial heat sink may be inexpensively constructed using sections of extruded metal as the heat sink. The extruded heat sink sections are trapped in latched sandwich structure assuring good thermal contact between the LED light sources and the extruded heat sink and a metal optic. The inexpensive structure may be rapidly assembled.
US07922358B2
An illumination device (1, 1A, 1B) is disclosed. The illumination device (1, 1A, 1B) contains an organic light-emitting component (2, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2C′) containing a functional layer sequence (23, 23A) for generating light, a light passage area (7, 7A, 7B), which is provided for coupling out light emitted by the organic light-emitting component (2, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2C′) from the illumination device (1, 1A, 1B) and for coupling ambient light into the illumination device (1, 1A, 1B) a retroreflector (5, 5A, 5B), which is provided for reflecting at least part of the ambient light coupled in through the light passage area (7, 7A, 7B) back to the light passage area (7, 7A, 7B). The organic light-emitting component (2, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2C′) is embodied such that it is at least partly light-transmissive. The functional layer sequence (23, 23A) of the organic light-emitting component (2, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2C′) is arranged between the light passage area (7, 7A, 7B) and the retroreflector (5, 5A, 5B). A luminaire (10) and a display device (100) are also disclosed.
US07922352B2
A device and method for emitting output light utilizes multiple light sources to produce original light having different peak wavelengths. A first light source of the device is configured to generate first light having a peak wavelength in the blue wavelength range, while a second light source of the device is configured to generate second light having a peak wavelength in the red wavelength range. Some of the original light emitted from at least the first light source is converted into light having a peak wavelength longer than the peak wavelength of the original light using a photoluminescent material to produce the output light.
US07922339B2
A compact rear projection display which can be used in mobile devices is provided. The compact rear projection display includes a main body unit which generates image signals, an image providing unit which forms and projects an image according to the image signals received from the main body unit, a transparent light guide plate, and a screen disposed at a surface of the transparent light guide plate. The transparent light guide plate guides the image incident from the image providing unit to be displayed on the screen.
US07922336B2
A light source device for a display device for projecting an image on a screen is provided, the light source device for display device including a light source unit operable to output light; an image outputting unit operable to output an image by giving an image signal to the light; and a control circuit operable to switch the image output from the image outputting unit between a normal image and a mirror reversed image formed by reversing the normal image right and left by controlling the image signal, such that outputting type is switched between a front projection in which the image is projected onto the screen from a front on the same side as the viewing side, and a rear projection in which the image is projected onto the screen from a rear plane on the opposite side to the viewing side.
US07922334B2
A projector having optical components, a power source unit, and a light source unit. The projector is capable of lowering its internal temperature utilizing: a first, second, and third fan (41, 42, 43) provided near the optical components for introducing external air from outside the projector to cool the optical components; and a fourth, fifth, and sixth exhaust fan (16, 17, 18). The fourth fan (16) blows the air that was taken in by the first, second, and third fan (41, 42, 43) and has cooled the optical components, onto the light source unit to further cool the light source unit. The fifth and sixth exhaust fans (17, 18) discharge the air that has cooled the light source unit and power supply unit out of the projector.
US07922330B2
An apparatus (10) for monitoring the position of an eye during a laser ablation treatment of the eye is provided. The apparatus includes optic means (110) for directing an incident light beam (102) along an optical path (104) onto the external surface of the eye (35) so as to illuminate a region of said surface that includes a segment of the limbus of the eye, and for directing back along said optical path (104), a return beam (122) comprising light of said incident beam scattered by said surface region; beam separation means (125) for separating the return beam (122) from the incident beam (102). The apparatus also includes at least one detector (120), having one or more detector segments (120a, 120b), for detecting said return beam (122), said detector segment(s) (120a, 120b) recording first and second values for light scattered respectively by the sclera and iris in said illuminated region. Movement of said limbal segment, and therefore of the eye (35), produces a change in at least one of said first and second values allowing such movement of the eye (35) to be monitored. A method corresponding to the apparatus is also disclosed.
US07922320B1
A frame seat unit of an eyegear includes a pair of frame seats and a bridge interconnecting the frame seats. Each of the frame seats defines an accommodation space that opens downwardly and has a frame strip that defines a top side of the accommodation space. The eyegear further includes a pair of lens units, each removably retained in the accommodation space of a respective one of the frame seats and including a lens frame and a lens. The lens frame has a ring portion for holding the lens therein. For each pair of the frame seat and the respective one of the lens units, one of the frame strip and the lens frame includes a releasably lockable tab, and an other one of the frame strip and the lens frame is formed with an engaging slot for engagement with the releasably lockable tab.
US07922317B2
Without newly providing a curling inhibition apparatus or a curling inhibitor and without placing excessive restrictions on a composition of an ink or a printing properties enhancing liquid, curling after printing is suppressed. In an ink jet printing apparatus which performs printing on a printing medium by ejecting from a printing head an ink and a reaction liquid which reacts with the ink, said apparatus comprising; means for on the basis of ink ejection data for ejecting the ink onto an one side of the printing medium, generating reaction liquid ejection data for ejecting the reaction liquid onto an other side of the printing medium.
US07922315B2
Disclosed are an inkjet ink and a method for printing on hydrophobic media such as offset coated media using the inkjet ink. Specifically disclosed is an inkjet containing a pigment, water and a surfactant which is characterized by also containing 40 to 75 weight % of a polar non-protic solvent with a molecular weight of 40 to 130 which has permeability to a hydrophobic surface such as the coating of an offset coated medium. Such an inkjet ink enables better printing on hydrophobic media such as offset coated media than the conventional inks.
US07922306B2
A print ink transport mechanism includes a first ink pipe for transporting a first colored ink, and a second ink pipe for transporting a second colored ink, a rotary module including a first protruding component with a first cavity disposed in a position corresponding to the first ink pipe, and a drive means connected to the rotary module for driving the rotary module. When the drive means drives the rotary module to rotate to a first position, the first protruding component presses the second ink pipe, and the first ink pipe passes through the cavity on the first protruding component, so that the second ink pipe is unable to transport the second colored ink and the first ink pipe is able to transport the first colored ink.
US07922290B2
A printhead assembly comprises an elongate support structure; a series of side wall sections extending a length of the support structure and defining a plurality of ink supply channels, edges of the walls delineating a gap; a plurality of carriers positioned end-to-end in the gap and supported at a bottom surface thereof by said edges of the walls; and a printhead integrated circuit mounted to each carrier. The bottom surface of each carriers defines a plurality of apertures each in fluid communication with a respective ink supply passage defined through the carrier and respective ink supply channels defined by the series of side wall sections.
US07922287B2
An image having high quality is output, in which density unevenness due to a deflection in an ejecting direction is reduced, in an inkjet printer for forming an image by ejecting small droplets at a high frequency and high density. Thereby, in a mask pattern employed for multi-pass printing, a print permission rate of an ejection port positioned at the end of a ejection port array is set higher than those of ejection ports positioned at the other parts of the ejection port array. Thus, even if extremely small droplets are ejected at a high frequency and high-density, the generated density unevenness is reduced, and an image excellent in uniformity and having high definition can be output at a high speed.
US07922281B2
A protection device for an ink cartridge storage unit having an ink inducing member is provided with a supporting beam, a funnel member having a narrow conical end and a wide conical end, the narrow conical end being connected to a distal end of the supporting beam, and an elastic cap arranged inside the funnel member. The elastic cap seals the ink inducing member in an engaged state. In the course of removing the protection device from the ink cartridge storage unit, the protection device can be lifted in the upper direction. The upper rim of the wide conical end makes contact with the rear surface of the ink cartridge storage unit in due course. As the protection device is lifted further, the part of the elastic cap is constricted, and the upper rim of the wide conical end functions as the fulcrum for the leverage.
US07922280B2
An imaging apparatus includes a frame and a maintenance sled movably coupled to the frame. The maintenance sled includes a carrier engagement member. A printhead carrier is coupled to the frame. A carrier motor is drivably coupled to the printhead carrier. A controller is coupled to the carrier motor. The controller controls the carrier motor to drive the printhead carrier at a first velocity and at a second velocity. The second velocity is lower than the first velocity. The printhead carrier is controlled to move at the first velocity toward the maintenance sled, wherein prior to the printhead carrier contacting the carrier engagement member of the maintenance sled, the printhead carrier is decelerated from the first velocity to the second velocity.
US07922279B2
A inkjet printhead maintenance facility that has an ink storage reservoir for holding ink ejected from the inkjet printhead during a maintenance operation and, an outlet coupling in fluid communication with the ink storage reservoir and configured for connection to a vacuum source to draw ink out of the ink storage reservoir.
US07922273B2
A card-type printing device includes a support structure defining an exposed body portion; an electrical connector located at a first end of the support structure, the electrical connector adapted for insertion into a corresponding electrical socket to send and receive data; a printhead assembly located at a second end of the support structure opposite the first end, the printhead assembly electrically coupled to the electrical connector; a printhead and a feed arrangement for feeding print media to the printhead, the printhead and the feed arrangement included in the printhead assembly; a print media cartridge releasably mounted in the exposed body portion of the support structure, between the electrical connector and the printhead assembly; and a cover engaging the support structure in a releasable manner to cover the printhead assembly. The feed assembly includes a row of ink storage channels provided within an outer ink reservoir, and a channeling structure provided below and in fluid communication with the row of ink storage channels.
US07922271B2
A user's operation burden can be reduced by giving the data recording command and the label printing command by the use of only an interface for writing data to a recording medium. A label printer includes an extraction portion extracting label information from a recording medium image file which stores data to be written to a recording surface of a recording medium and label information to be printed on a label surface of the recording medium. A label information printing portion prints the extracted label information on the label surface of the recording medium. A file writing portion writes the recording medium image file to the recording surface of the recording medium.
US07922270B2
A pull-in and damping device for a displaceable element has a displacement part (2), movable transversely to the displacement direction of the element, with a cam (14), which displacement part (2) is pullable, via spring means (13), from a moved-out position into a moved-in position, the cam (14) co-operating with curved pathways (6, 7), which have a minimum (24) and a maximum (25). The displacement part (2) is held in a clamped way via a clamping device (4) when, during displacement of the displaceable element from the end position into a moved-out position, the cam (14) of the displacement part (2) reaches the maximum (25) of the curved pathways (6, 7), and which clamping holding of the displacement part (2) is released when, during the pushing back of the displaceable element, the cam (14) of the displacement part (2) reaches the maximum (25) of the curved pathway (6, 7).
US07922264B2
The invention proposes equipping a hydraulic vehicle brake system with a pedal travel modulator that has an electromechanically driven piston-cylinder unit. The piston-cylinder unit upon brake actuation “furnishes” additional brake fluid and thereby boosts a pedal travel of the vehicle brake system.
US07922259B2
A vehicular wheel includes a wheel having a rim with first and second flanges respectively extending radially outward from first and second ends of the rim. The first flange includes inner and outer faces and an interconnecting face extending between the inner and outer faces. An annular groove extends from the outer face towards but spaced from the inner face and is in communication with a plurality of fixing holes formed in the interconnecting face. A protective ring includes an annular body covering an inner surface of the first end of the rim and the outer face of the first flange. An annular extension extends from an end of the annular body and is received in the annular groove. The annular extension includes a plurality of positioning holes aligned with the fixing holes, respectively. A fastener extends through each fixing hole and one of the positioning holes.
US07922252B2
A vehicle seat is disclosed with a seat bottom and a seat back. A guide is pivotally mounted to a frame of the seat back. A head restraint extends from the seat back and is mounted to the guide for translation along the guide at a first pivotal position of the guide and for being secured to the guide at a second pivotal position of the guide. A slider is disclosed for sliding upon the guide and for supporting the head restraint. A biasing member is disclosed for urging the head restraint to a retracted position. A release mechanism is provided for rotating the guide shaft and retracting the head restraint for manual adjustment or for tilt of the seat back.
US07922249B2
A workstation for a user comprising a basis, an shaft pivoted on the basis, a seat pivoted on the shaft, a back rest connected to the shaft, at least one shaft piston connecting the basis to the shaft and at least one seat piston connecting the shaft to the seat. The shaft and the seat are arranged to allow a user to sit at the workstation. The at least one shaft piston and at least one seat piston are arranged to allow changing the position of the shaft and of the seat. The orientation of the shaft and the orientation of the seat are adjustable by the user.
US07922247B2
An adjustable chair and a tilt assembly for use therewith typically provides side to side tilting of the chair seat and preferably provides forward and backward tilting of the seat separately or in combination with the side to side tilting. A hydraulic system is provided for controlling the tilting movement. Progressive hydraulic valves are used to control the resistance to the tilting movement whereby the chair is useful for exercise while the user is seated and the rate at which the tilting occurs may be controlled. The seat may be locked in any tilted position or the user may shift weight on the seat to provide a continuous shifting of the tilt angle and tilt direction of the seat.
US07922240B2
A slatted roof for a motor vehicle comprises a plurality of slats connected to one another in a material-bonded manner. The slats are guided laterally in guide rails by pegs and are moveable between a closed position, in which the slats block an opening in the roof, and an open position, in which the slats are pushed and folded together in one region of the roof. Each slat has two first opposed sides and two second opposed sides, and the slats are connected along the second opposed sides. Each first opposed side includes at least two pegs, wherein, for all slats except for an end slat, two of the pegs on each of the first opposed sides are of different dimensions, and wherein two opposed pegs on the first opposed sides of each slat are of identical dimensions.
US07922239B2
A motor vehicle body is proposed with a roof-carrying frame, upon which an adaptor carrier is placed and secured for holding roof windows, sliding roofs, roof opening systems and/or roof module variants, and an adapter carrier suitable for installation in a motor vehicle body according to the invention. A corresponding method of manufacturing is also proposed for a motor vehicle body with a roof-carrying frame.
US07922235B1
A drag reduction system generally comprises a pair of deflectors that conjunctively compensate for the angular designs typical of currently existing vehicles. In one embodiment, the pair of deflectors includes a first deflector positioned proximate the interface between the vertical grille and the hood, for example, near the upper end of the grille crown at the forward end of the hood and a second deflector positioned on the upper hood surface toward the rearward end of the hood, forwardly of the windshield. The first and second deflectors and function in concert, twice maneuvering an air stream to both avoid direct impact with the vehicle and to displace the stream laterally in such a manner that minimizes the amount of work energy expended in its redirection. In one example, the drag reduction system tailors the air stream around the hood and cab sections of the vehicle.
US07922225B2
Serving tongs that include handles are movable with respect to each other. The serving tongs include a cutting mechanism, a scooping mechanism, and a locking mechanism.
US07922223B2
A security lock having a housing and a cam. The housing includes an indent with a pair of guide portions. The cam is positioned within the indent and includes an axle port. A shaft of an axle is adapted to be inserted into the axle port so that the cam and the axle are rotatable together. The cam includes a sweep arm and a channel disposed on an upper surface of the sweep arm. The sweep arm has an outer wall that is either elongate-shaped or semicircular-shaped. The channel has a semi-circular-shaped inner wall and an elongate-shaped outer wall. Upon rotation of the axle, the cam rotates about the guide portions into a locked posture in the housing. The elongate-shaped outer wall of the channel allows the security lock to be self-locating when the housing and a keeper are misaligned when installed, respectively, on opposing window sashes.
US07922207B2
In order to provide more secure binding of physical media, activation and deactivation mechanisms for media binders are presented. As such, internal spine clamp deactivation mechanisms for deactivating a spine clamp in a media binder are presented, the mechanism including: a tension sheet configured to operate the spine clamp in response to opening the media binder in a range of approximately 270 to 360 degrees (°), normally, greater than approximately 270°; a tear line disposed along the tension sheet and oriented along the spine clamp wherein when the tension sheet is torn at the tear line, the spine clamp is deactivated. In some embodiments, the mechanism further includes a cosmetic sheet disposed between the tension sheet and a cover of the media binder for providing a cover for the spine clamp such that when the tension sheet is torn, the spine clamp remains covered.
US07922199B2
A control device for modifying the deployment characteristics of an inflatable cushion of an airbag module, the control device comprising: a releasable retention device, a first end of the releasable retention device being releasably secured to an inner surface of the inflatable cushion at a first location, the releasable retention device being configured to limit deployment of the inflatable cushion in a first direction when the releasable retention device is secured to the first location of the inflatable cushion; and a sensing device for releasing the releasable retention device from the first location, the sensing device being fixedly secured to the inner surface of the inflatable cushion at a second location remote from the first location and releasably secured to the releasable retention device, the sensing device being configured to release the releasable retention device from the first location when the second location of the inflatable cushion travels a predetermined distance during inflation.
US07922197B2
A vehicle airbag device includes: an airbag which is housed in a folded state when a gas generation portion is not activated, and which inflates and deploys by receiving gas when the gas generation portion is activated, and whose two side portions are provided with gas outlet vent holes; and a tether that includes pair of left and right side portions extending along internal side surfaces of the two side portions of the airbag, and an intermediate portion interconnecting occupant-side end portions of the pair of left and right side portions. The airbag devices closes the vent holes by moving the pair of left and right side portions relative to the internal side surfaces of the two side portions of the airbag when the pressing force on the intermediate portion of the tether is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.
US07922194B2
An air-bag cover arrangement is disclosed which comprises a moveable cover element (25) for covering an air-bag module (5), and design element (15) which is positioned adjacent the cover element. The design element has an overlapping part (16) which overlaps part of the cover element. The arrangement is characterised in that the cover element is moveable relative to the design element but is held by a stop element (18) in a rest position in which the cover element does not contact the overlapping part of the design element but rather a space from the design element.
US07922189B1
A vehicle grip assist handle is provided with a grip assist body and a first gap hider. The grip assist body includes a gripping portion and a first attachment portion. The first gap hider is attached to the first attachment portion of the grip assist body. The first gap hider is configured to at least partially cover a first assist grip opening in a vehicle interior trim panel when the first attachment portion of the grip assist body is positioned in the first assist grip opening.
US07922186B2
A coupler for removeably attaching a motorcycle foot platform to a motorcycle is provided. The coupler includes a mounting surface that is positionable directly adjacent to the motorcycle and a coupling surface located opposite the mounting surface. The coupling surface includes a first pin bore that is offset from a longitudinal axis of the coupler, and the first pin bore is sized to receive a motorcycle foot platform pin. The coupler also includes a mounting aperture extending through the coupler, the mounting aperture sized to receive a fastener that removeably couples the coupler to the motorcycle, and a foot platform aperture that extends through the coupler, the foot platform aperture located adjacent to the pin bore, and sized to receive a fastener that removeably couples the motorcycle foot platform to the coupler.
US07922183B2
A patient support apparatus includes a frame, a plurality of casters coupled to the frame and supporting the frame above a floor, a wheel, a push handle that is coupled to the frame and that is gripable to maneuver the patient support apparatus along the floor, and a brake handle coupled to the push handle and movable to move a brake to impede rotation of the wheel.
US07922182B2
A device for transporting a child in a child seat includes a main frame for supporting the child seat, a swivable push bar for pushing the main frame from different sides, and pivotable wheels or wheel sets for supporting the main frame whereby the wheels or wheel sets are provided with pivot locks and brakes. The push bar has a brake handle for activating the brakes and the device includes a mechanism for activating the pivot locks of the wheels or wheel sets under the push bar and for simultaneously coupling only the brakes on these wheels or wheel sets with the brake handle.
US07922181B2
A first rotor (24; 124) and a second rotor (25; 125) are arranged in a coaxial and mutually rotatable relationship and are provided with a first driven gear (41; 141) and a second driven gear (42; 142), respectively. A drive shaft (31; 131) is also provided with a first drive gear (43; 143) and a second drive gear (44; 144) which are commonly connected to an output shaft of an electric motor (32; 132), and mesh with the first and second driven gears, respectively, at slightly different gear ratios. The first and second rotors are connected via a thread feed mechanism (36; 136) that converts a relative rotation between the first and second rotors into an axial linear movement between the first and second rotors that is used for changing a distance between a vehicle body part and a corresponding end of a suspension spring in a vehicle height adjusting system (9; 109). Owing to a differential rotation of a high gear ratio between the first and second rotors, a significant torque amplification is possible with a compact arrangement. The use of spur gears instead of a worm gear mechanism minimizes torque loss.
US07922179B2
A cast-in-place gasket is provided for an associated pipe joint. The gasket is mounted to a first associated pipe and adapted to provide a seal between the first associated pipe and a second associated pipe. The gasket includes a gasket body formed into an annulus from a resilient material. A first sealing head and a second sealing head protrude from the body in an axially rearward and radially inward direction. The first sealing head is axially spaced from the second sealing head. Each of the first sealing head and the second sealing head include a sealing surface. A first mounting foot and a second mounting foot protrude from the body in a radially outward direction. The first mounting foot is axially spaced from the second mounting foot. An open annular cavity is defined in the body between the first sealing head and the second sealing head. A first lip protrudes from the body proximal to a base of the first sealing head and extends in an axially forward and radially inward direction. A second lip protrudes from the body proximal to the sealing surface of the second sealing head and extends in an axially rearward and radially inward direction. The first lip and the second lip cooperate to inhibit the flow of an associated casting material from contacting the sealing surfaces of the gasket during casting of the associated first pipe.
US07922177B2
Strips of two-ply instant lottery tickets are provided that have features which encourage multiple ticket purchases. Strips of purchased tickets can be opened in one motion, revealing the ticket results without needing to scratch off any material. Ruler markings along edges of the strips of tickets, and ticket indicia that spans multiple tickets further encourage multiple ticket purchases. Security panels flank one or more edges of the tickets which discourage tampering with unpurchased tickets.
US07922174B2
An apparatus comprises a vacuum belt having belt edges and a contact surface between the belt edges. The contact surface is adapted to contact sheets of print media and the sheets of print media have sheet edges and a central sheet region. The contact surface has a central belt region located where the central sheet region of the sheets of print media contacts the contact surface of the vacuum belt. The contact surface has border regions located where the sheet edges of the sheets of print media contact the contact surface of the vacuum belt. The central belt region is located between the border regions. The contact surface has vacuum holes, and the vacuum holes comprise an irregular pattern, such that a different density of holes is located within the border regions relative to the central belt region.
US07922173B2
An apparatus for handling documents of value comprises at least a first device, which has a transport path portion, along which a document of value is transported to and/or from the first device and/or into the first device, at least a second device, which has a transport path portion, along which a document of value is transported to and/or from the second device and/or into the second device, wherein the devices are arranged such that a document of value can be transported from the transport path portion of the first device into the one of the second device and/or from the transport path portion of the second device into the one of the first device, and at one coupling end of the respective transport path portion in a fixed position in relation to the respective transport path portion a pair of rolls mounted to be rotatable around a rotation axis, between the rolls of which a document of value is clamped when transported and the rolls of which in a section through the rotation axis have a comblike structure, the pairs of rolls being arranged and formed such that the rolls of a first of the pairs of rolls and the respective rolls of a second of the pairs of rolls in the coupling position intermesh in a combing fashion.
US07922171B2
A slide cassette is slidably provided in a main cassette of a sheet cassette. When a sheet with a size larger than that of a sheet which may be stored in the main cassette is stored, the slide cassette is sled and moved to extend the sheet cassette. There is provided a fixing portion which may fix the slide cassette and the main cassette in a state in which the sheet cassette is in a shortened or an extended state by sliding the slide cassette. The fixing portion releases the fixing by an operation in which the slide cassette is sled in a shortening direction or extending direction.
US07922170B2
A sheet type handling apparatus which handles various sheets includes an apparatus body having an introduction port for introducing the sheets; a first lid member rotatably attached to the apparatus body for supporting the sheets introduced into the introduction port; and a second lid member connected to the first lid member for covering the introduction port in association with an action to close the first lid member.
US07922167B2
A sheet conveying device, that can be included in an image forming apparatus, includes first and second conveying units configured to hold and convey a sheet, a first sheet conveying path between the first and second conveying units, and a registration unit to change a positional condition of the sheet conveyed by the second conveying unit. In at least one embodiment, the second conveying unit includes a moving and guiding unit and a rotary conveyance unit facing each other and forming a sheet holding section therebetween to hold and convey the sheet, and the moving and guiding unit and the rotary conveyance unit are disposed in the vicinity of the first conveying unit so that a distance between the second conveying unit and the registration unit is relatively increased.
US07922163B2
A pressing unit presses vicinity of a trailing edge of a stack of sheets stacked in a tray. An aligning unit aligns the stack of sheets stacked in the tray. A stapling unit binds the stack of sheets aligned by the aligning unit. A discharging unit discharges the stack of sheets bound by the stapling unit. A control unit controls the pressing unit to keep a constant distance from a surface of a top sheet of the stack of sheets when the discharging unit discharging the stack of sheets.
US07922156B2
A mount has an inner metal and an outer metal with an elastomeric bushing disposed between them. The elastomeric bushing includes a first pair of interconnected passages to control the damping rate during axial motion and a second, separate pair of interconnected passages to control the damping rate during motion orthogonal to the axial direction.
US07922154B2
A fuel supply assembly for a two-stroke crankcase scavenged combustion engine that is operated with layered scavenging is presented. The assembly includes a housing and a first and second parallel channels extending through the housing. The first channel is for a fuel/air mixture and the second channel is for auxiliary air. The assembly also includes a partition wall extending in a plane between the first and second channels and arranged upstream and downstream of at least one butterfly valve. The assembly also includes a protruding section which extends across the butterfly along the axis of rotation at least on the downstream side of the butterfly. The housing includes fuel-conveying idling ducts that open in the first channel in the region where the butterfly valve, sealing member on the partition wall, substantially contacting the protruding section at least on the downstream side of the butterfly.
US07922147B2
A flush valve diaphragm of a flush valve includes a body having a segmented insert within a flexible body portion and a central passageway. The body further includes a peripheral sealing portion with the flexible body portion within the peripheral sealing portion. The peripheral sealing portion can include an integral filter, an exit chamber and a bypass arrangement, such that water flowing through the filter flows through the bypass arrangement. The integral filter version will retard clogging of the bypass arrangement. The segmented insert includes a plurality of trapezoidal members with outward protrusions. The plurality of trapezoidal members are connected to each other on their outermost edge by a runner.
US07922141B1
The mouse pad apparatus removably attaches to a laptop computer via spaced apart flex clips affixed to one side of the platform border. The mouse pad platform is optionally transparent and textured and provides for use of a mouse with a laptop computer. The flex clips provide a positive, cushioned, frictional engagement of the apparatus with the edge of the computer. The slot within the platform provides for the pull out tray which can retain a writing surface, photo, or other material, visible through the transparent platform surface.
US07922139B2
A mount for attaching a projection device to an overhead structure includes a device interface operably attachable to the projection device and a device orientation adjustment structure operably coupled with the device interface. The device orientation adjustment structure has structure defining up to three independent axes for adjustment of projector pitch, roll, and yaw. A single selectively adjustable friction element may be provided to enable projector position to be fixed about for any one or all of the independent axes. A gear adjustment mechanism may be provided to enable fine adjustment of projector position. Moreover, any one or all of the independent axes may pass through the projector device, preferably proximate its center of gravity so that it is self balanced on the mount to ease adjustment.
US07922136B2
A connection device includes a fixing board connected to a rear end of a box, a main part and a clamping unit. A locking member extends through the front board and a spring contacts against between the locking member and a rear board. Two push rods extend from a lower end of a button and slidably connected with inclined surfaces of the locking member. A safety member is connected to a mediate portion of the button and includes a spring plate which contacts against the button. The clamping unit includes two collars which are securely engaged with the adjustment plate. A bridge member is connected between the two toothed members and supported on a lower side of a handlebar stem. The clamp pieces is located at an inner side of the toothed members and mounted on a handlebar.
US07922123B2
A releasable deployment line for a parachute system is provided. The releasable deployment line may include a first segment of material including an aircraft end configured to be operably connected to an aircraft, and a release end configured to be operably connected to a first section of a multi-ring release system. The replaceable deployment line may further include a second segment of material including a container end configured to be operably connected to a parachute container, and a ring end configured to be operably connected to a second section of the multi-ring release system and a third segment of material. The third segment of material may include a parachute end configured to be operably connected to a parachute within the parachute container, and a pin end configured to be operably connected to a retaining pin associated with the first section of the multi-ring release system.
US07922122B2
Systems and methods for distributing loads from fluid conduits, including aircraft fuel conduits. An aircraft configured in accordance with one embodiment of the invention includes a fuselage portion, a wing portion, and a fuel tank carried by least one of the fuselage portion and the wing portion. The aircraft also includes a spar carried by at least one of the fuselage portion and the wing portion. The spar includes a first spar rib and a second spar rib spaced apart from the first spar rib. The aircraft further includes a fluid conduit proximate to the spar and operably coupled to the fuel tank. A support member carrying the fluid conduit is operably coupled to the spar. The support member can be positioned to transfer at least approximately all of the axial loads from the fluid conduit to at least one of the first spar rib and the second spar rib.
US07922119B2
A stowage bin arrangement for fastening a stowage bin for an aircraft, includes a stowage bin unit with a first direction of extension. The stowage bin unit may be fastened to an aircraft structure and be designed such that the stowage bin unit is capable of being telescopically extended along the first direction of extension.
US07922118B2
A system for the provision of process air comprises a first cooling system (2) with a first heat exchanger, which is arranged in a channel (3) that serves as a cooling sink, and a cooling system (8), integrated in the first cooling system (2), wherein said cooling system (8) comprises a heat exchanger (9) which is integrated in the channel (3) either upstream or downstream of the first heat exchanger.
US07922115B2
The present invention is an unmanned air vehicle designed for reconnaissance, surveillance, data acquisition, and general research. The air vehicle is a monoplane that consists of several pieces that can easily be assembled using a minimal amount of tools. The air vehicle consists of a forward and aft fuselage section, two identical horizontal stabilizers, and four identical wing sections. The aircraft can fly with all four wing sections, or with just two wing sections (the short wing configuration). Each of the four wing sections of the air vehicle can be interchanged with any of the other wing sections for the purpose of minimizing assembly time and spare parts.
US07922106B2
A misting system has a reservoir located above the passenger compartment of a vehicle. The reservoir, which is capable of containing water and compressed gas, has a horizontally sloped bottom wall and a trough located at the bottom of the bottom wall. The trough has a trough wall that is vertically sloped so as to form a console that depends from the bottom of the reservoir. One or more misting nozzles are located in the trough wall and direct mist across the upper portions of the passenger compartment. By providing a trough, the possibility of water sloshing away from the misting nozzles and compressed gas leaking through the misting nozzles is reduced during vehicle movement. A valve is associated with each misting nozzle. The valve allows the regulation of the flow of mist from off, to partially open, to full open.
US07922102B2
The invention relates to a rail support point for a rail-guided vehicle for anchoring in a wooden tie, including a plate as a support for the rail, which plate is anchored on both sides of the rail by means of fastening bolts that pass through the plate, the plate having on its bottom side collars that surround the fastening bolts and that engage in correspondingly shaped depressions in the wooden tie, the plate being configured as a ribbed plate having raised ribs that are arranged lateral to the rail foot and that guide the latter and being made of plastic, and the collar being embodied as a slitted ring. Also disclosed is a rail fastening using the rail support.
US07922099B1
Systems and methods for associating content with an image bearing surface. In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, a method, operable at an electronic interactive device, comprises accessing a first image, e.g., identifying the content, on a surface, wherein the surface comprises an encoded pattern of location information on the surface for providing location information to the electronic interactive device. The method further comprises decoding the first image to associate the location information with second image information, e.g., of the content, of a second image on the surface.
US07922092B2
An integrated circuit, a non-contact IC card, a reader/writer, a wireless communications method, and a computer program are provided to improve communication. The integrated circuit configured to execute wireless communication by means of magnetic field. The integrated circuit has a resonance circuit having resonance frequencies of a plurality of levels, a confirmation block configured to confirm whether a predetermined condition is satisfied, and a switching block configured to change the resonance frequencies if the predetermined condition is found satisfied as a result of the confirmation.
US07922082B2
As described herein, a card services provider dynamically generates a card verification value (CVV) for a transaction card and sends the dynamically-generated CVV to a cardholder. The card services provider generates the dynamically-generated CVV such that the dynamically-generated CVV is substantially unpredictable based on other dynamically-generated CVVs for the transaction card. The dynamically-generated CVV is only valid for a limited period of time and/or for a limited number of economic transactions. The cardholder uses the dynamically-generated CVV as part of an economic transaction with a merchant. Because the dynamically-generated CVV is only valid for a limited number of economic transactions and/or for a limited period of time, it may be difficult for a thief to repeatedly use the transaction card to make economic transactions.
US07922081B2
A ticket system using an IC card includes a terminal, such as an entrance gate, and a server. A ticket incorporates an IC chip having read-only identification information and the server manages a table of the correspondence between identification information printed on the surface of the ticket and identification information the IC chip has and a table of the correspondence between new identification information and old identification information which are accompanied by a reissue. By distributing data of the correspondence tables to a terminal such as an entrance gate, a cheap ticket system capable of performing mechanical processing can be provided.
US07922080B1
An automated banking machine operates responsive to data read from data bearing records to cause financial transfers. The machine includes a card reader that operates to read card data from user cards. The card data corresponds to financial accounts. The automated banking machine includes a cash dispenser and the machine carries out transaction functions for consumers including dispensing cash. The automated banking machine may generate a password for the machine responsive to randomly generated data.
US07922067B2
A tailor weld blank assembly and method for making the blank assembly include providing a first metal sheet and a second metal sheet having at least one different characteristic from the first sheet. Complementary interlocking structures are provided on adjoining edges of the first and second sheets and the sheets are mechanically interlocked together by making a weld along the adjoining interlocked edges. Thereafter the permanently affixed together sheets are formed to make a formed sheet metal product. The provision of both a mechanical interlock and a weld provide a blank assembly that is strong for forming into a stamped product, and a metal product that is strong for its intended use.
US07922063B2
A surgical instrument including a handle assembly, a first endoscopic portion, a motor, and a first end effector is disclosed. The first endoscopic portion is selectively connectable to a distal portion of the handle assembly and defines a longitudinal axis. The first endoscopic portion includes a housing adjacent its proximal portion and includes an actuation member. The motor is disposed in mechanical cooperation with the housing of the first endoscopic portion and is operatively connected to the actuation member for moving the actuation member substantially along the longitudinal axis. The first end effector is selectively connectable to a distal portion of the first endoscopic portion and is configured to perform a first stapling function.
US07922062B2
Described herein are endoscopic staplers used to apply one or more fasteners to body tissue. In one embodiment, a fastener-applying device, which is preferably a stapler, is passed transorally into the stomach and used to plicate stomach tissue by engaging tissue from inside of the stomach and drawing it inwardly. In the disclosed embodiments, the tissue is drawn inwardly into a vacuum chamber, causing sections of serosal tissue on the exterior of the stomach to be positioned facing one another. The disclosed staplers allow the opposed sections of tissue to be moved into contact with one another, and preferably deliver staples for maintaining contact between the tissue sections at least until serosal bonds form between them. Each of these steps may be performed wholly from the inside of the stomach and thus can eliminate the need for any surgical or laparoscopic intervention. After one or more plications are formed, medical devices may optionally be coupled to the plication(s) for retention within the stomach.
US07922059B2
A hand-held drive-in power tool for driving-in fastening elements includes a drive-in ram (13) displaceably arranged in a guide (12), a drive (30) for driving the drive-in ram (13) and having at least one driving spring member (31) for displacing the drive-in ram (13) and formed of a fiber-reinforced plastic material, and a device (70) for preloading the driving spring member (31).
US07922057B2
Embodiments include a stapler with a built-in staple remover, the staple remover movable between a non-operational position where it is retracted in a stapler body of the stapler and locked by a locking device and an operational position where it is partly extended from the stapler body, the staple remover being acted upon by a first elastic unit which is tensioned when the staple remover is in the non-operational position and which pushes the staple remover to the operational position when the locking device is released in the non-operational position.
US07922026B2
The present invention discloses a container comprising a circular end wall, a peripheral body wall, and an annular rolled end seam. A channel is created in the rolled end seam and is in communication with the interior of the container. A one-way valve forms a seal between the rolled end seam and an outer surface of the body wall. The one-way valve allows gases from the interior of the container to escape from the container during packaging.
US07922004B2
A diesel filter includes a filter member and a water reservoir formed below the filter member. The filter member has a case, a cap for closing the opening of the case, an element, and an element-holding member for holding an upper part of the element, and is detachably housed in the case. The element-holding member has an opening that allows fuel to flow out, and the fuel introduced from a fuel inlet port to a portion above the element-holding member is then introduced to the water reservoir via a passage formed between the inner peripheral surface of the case and the outer peripheral surface of the element.
US07921997B2
A case apparatus attachable to a portable device enabling the storage and transport of a variety of articles. The apparatus is optimally configured with releasable components enabling interchange of various features including those which facilitate attachment to the device allowing a single case implementation to securely fit various device implementations. The apparatus includes a large utility panel which receives attachment of all other case components, smaller utility panels which receive attachment of various articles, compartment enclosures which cover the smaller utility panels while allowing easy access to their contents, a large presentation panel to cover and conceal the entire case assembly and contained contents but having openings to allow access to the compartment enclosures and either a strap and clasp retention assembly to bind the case around the device or a clip fastening assembly which attaches to corresponding fittings on an adapted device to fasten the case to the device.
US07921984B2
A conveying arrangement for conveying packages or groups of beverage bottles or containers, and a method of operation thereof. The abstract of the disclosure is submitted herewith as required by 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b). As stated in 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b): A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification must commence on a separate sheet, preferably following the claims, under the heading “Abstract of the Disclosure.” The purpose of the abstract is to enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. Therefore, any statements made relating to the abstract are not intended to limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any manner.
US07921973B2
An adaptive energy absorption system for a vehicle seat is disclosed, utilizing an adaptive energy absorber or variable profile energy absorber (VPEA) for mitigating occupant injury due to extreme vehicle movement (e.g., during a vehicle shock event), and/or for mitigating vibration experienced by an occupant of the vehicle seat during normal vehicle operating conditions. The adaptive energy absorption system achieves the aforementioned objectives for a wide range of occupant weights and load levels. Various configurations of dual-goal energy absorption apparatuses that enable both shock mitigation and vibration isolation are disclosed.
US07921972B2
The invention concerns a system, in particular suitable for high power engines, comprising at least a rotor and means comprising active sections fit for making the rotor(s) rotate by their synchronized deformation, characterized in that the rotor material comprises an Al, Fe alloy with at least one other element, the alloy comprising at least more or less 80% in weight of Al and at least between 0.1 and 15.0% in weight in Fe.
US07921971B2
An electromagnetically released spring-loaded brake for cooperation with a motor or similar, with the manual release of the brake being effected in a tangential direction by means of a manual release lever 9, and with actuation of the manual release lever 9 causing armature disc 3 to be urged towards coil carrier 1 via three or more transmission levers 10 mounting rolls 16 and camming surfaces 14 on armature disc 3. As a result, the width of the air gap between armature disc 3 and coil carrier 1 is reduced so that rotor 6 with its hub 4 will be free to rotate between friction linings 7 on armature disc 3 and flange plate 8. The object was to create a lockable manual release feature the actuation of which requires a low manual force on manual release lever 9, is very flat and compact in structure, has a relatively small diameter and is actuated in a tangentional direction (FIG. 1).
US07921969B2
A method for restricting the output of an electrical drive and for protection of an elevator are provided. The electrical drive includes a motor as well as a power supply appliance of the motor. In the method for restricting the output of an electrical drive the stator voltage vector is restricted to its limit value restricting only the component of the stator voltages in the direction of the q axis. In the protection of an elevator, the elevator includes a machinery brake, a safety brake of the elevator car, and also an electrical drive. The protection method includes determination of at least one limit value, restriction of the output of the electrical drive on the basis of at least one determined limit value, and restriction of the movement of the elevator car on the basis of at least on determined limit value.
US07921968B2
An elevator traffic control technique includes destination grouping that is selectively implemented during selected traffic condition. One example includes determining when up peak traffic conditions exist. If so, the passenger-to-car assignments are grouped based upon the passengers' desired destinations, which are determined before the passengers enter elevator cars, Arranging sectors responsive to current traffic conditions in one example is based upon elevator passenger traffic patterns over the most recent five minutes.
US07921962B2
In an appliance, such as a cyclonic vacuum cleaner, a motor is arranged to drive an impeller fan located in a motor and fan unit. The rotation of the impeller may cause nuisance tones to be generated. A silencing arrangement is provided to control such noise and includes a plurality of discrete passive silencers in the form of tube silencers arranged in a first set and a second set. The tube silencers have open end portions arranged to face the fan and the silencers of the first set are spaced from the silencers of the second set in both axial and radial directions. This combination gives the same effect as an array of closely spaced tube silencers—however, by spacing the silencers in two directions, fluid is allowed to flow freely.
US07921961B2
A chromate-free resin composite damping material is provided having a multilayer structure. The material can include an viscoelastic resin composition provided between two metal plates as an intermediate layer, where the viscoelastic resin composition can include a thermosetting resin further including an amorphous copolymerizable polyester resin and a curing agent. A surfaces of each metal plate contacting the resin composition can be provided with a chromate-free adhesion boundary film which includes between about 5 and 50 mass % of silica, between about 5 and 50 mass % of a polyester resin, between about 1 and 50 mass % of tannic acid, and between about 0 and 30 mass % of a silane coupling agent. Such damping material can provide excellent durable adhesion properties.
US07921960B2
The present invention is an acoustic cabinet for the storage of musical instruments. Acoustic cabinet can have a storage portion having a plurality of individual storage units contained therein. One or more grill doors can cover the open end of acoustic cabinet. The size, shape, and arrangement of grill bars of door can be configured to reduce the effect of resonance. Rear panel of acoustic cabinet can include one or more sound-absorbing panels that absorb sound as it passes through acoustic cabinet. A protective backing can also be disposed between sound-absorbing panels and individual storage spaces to protect the panels from damage when instruments and other objects are inserted into the storage spaces. A combination of a grill door and sound-absorbing panels can allow acoustic cabinet to have a net-absorptive effect on a rehearsal room. One or more acoustic cabinets can be strategically positioned throughout a rehearsal room for optimal acoustic performance.
US07921959B2
A stethoscope protective device is for easily and hygienically covering the head and at least a portion of the connector tube of a stethoscope. The device can be quickly applied to the stethoscope while eliminating or minimizing the need for contact by a patient of the head and connector tube during examination. In a single-handed operation, the stethoscope head and connector tube can be readily slipped into and secured within the protective device. The device is constructed at least in part of a material that is acoustically transmissive and provides a barrier for reducing the transmission of microorganisms.
US07921954B2
The present invention relates to a mobile vehicle or wheelchair having the ability to provide stabilized transport to at least one individual on a variety of surfaces, slopes and/or terrains. In one aspect, the invention provides adjustment features allowing the mobile vehicle or wheelchair to accommodate individuals of various sizes and shapes. For example, the invention comprises a seat and an adjustable footrest which can be lengthened or shortened to accommodate different size individuals, including children. In one embodiment the distance between the footrest and the seat can be increased or decreased to accommodate different leg lengths of different individuals. The mobile unit or wheelchair of the invention may travel across smooth and very rough surfaces, slopes of varying or different angles and various outdoor terrains (including grassy, rocky, sandy, muddy and/or hilly terrains). In one aspect of the invention, the height of any part of the unit or the overall height of the device may be adjusted preferably to raise or lower the center of gravity. For example, the height of the device may be lowered to provide more stable transportation. In another aspect, the device may be adjusted to increase or decrease the size of the footprint (or any part of the footprint) of the device. For example, the footprint of the device may be enlarged to provide more stable transportation. Preferably, both the height of the device (or any part of the device) and the size of the footprint (or any part of the footprint) may be adjusted preferably to provide more stability.
US07921953B2
A personal mobility device comprising an open frame having a front structure, a rear structure, and a side structure. The side structure has an upper rail and a lower rail coupleable to the front structure and the rear structure. In one embodiment, a main mobility wheel is coupled to the side structure, and a knee rest is rotatably coupled to the front structure. The knee rest is adjustable from a first substantially-vertical position coupled to the front structure to a second rearwardly and downwardly-angled position from the front structure.
US07921952B2
A parking assistance system includes front and rear auxiliary wheel assemblies mounted to a chassis of the vehicle and adjacent front and rear wheels of the vehicle. Each of the front and rear auxiliary wheel assemblies includes two auxiliary wheels and an auxiliary motor coupled to the auxiliary wheels for driving the auxiliary wheels to rotate in a forward or backward direction. A plurality of lift devices are mounted between the auxiliary wheels and the chassis and control upward and downward movement of the auxiliary wheels. At least one parking assistance controller is coupled to the auxiliary motors. A control unit is coupled to the at least one parking assistance controller and manually operable to control a rotating direction and speed of the auxiliary motors via the at least one parking assistance controller, controlling a moving distance and direction of the auxiliary wheels in the forward or backward direction.
US07921950B2
A drive train includes an internal combustion engine (“ICE”) coupled to a transmission having a power takeoff port. A transfer device couples an electric motor to the transmission via the port. The electric motor is enabled in a certain configuration to selectively power the drive train during at least certain intervals when the ICE is powered off.
US07921940B2
A swing-out apparatus for a drill rig, typically for drilling water wells. It includes a sled which is formed to be driven vertically on a drill mast of a vehicle carrying the sled, a casing hammer, and a hinge securing the casing hammer on the sled. To provide for displacement of the casing hammer relative to the sled, a drive is provided for swinging the casing hammer on the hinge from a deployed position to an inactive position. The drive comprises a motor connected for driving one relative to another.
US07921936B2
A method for controlling a drilling apparatus comprising the steps of applying a rotation force to a drilling part of the drilling apparatus, applying a feed force to the drilling part with the feed force comprising a predetermined modulating frequency signal and predetermined feed force, wherein optimum predetermined feed force is determined periodically from sensed data relating to at least one of the rotation force and feed force to optimise the penetration rate of the drilling apparatus.
US07921932B2
An agricultural implement arrangement is disclosed that may provide wheel assemblies that are stored in front of wing assemblies and row units mounted thereon. The arrangement may include actuators to extend the wheel assemblies in order to lift the row units off the ground to move to a transport position. When in a fully-folded position, the wing wheel assemblies may interleave. The arrangement may also shift the weight of the wing assemblies while in transport position to the hitch of the tractor and center the rearward weight over the central wheel assembly.
US07921928B2
A horizontal dry fire protection sprinkler includes a housing having a vertical segment and a horizontal segment extending generally perpendicular to the vertical segment. The vertical segment defines an inlet opening. A plug member is disposed in the inlet opening for sealingly closing the inlet opening. A sprinkler is attached to the horizontal segment and includes a base having a passage extending therethrough and defining an outlet opening. A cap is disposed in the outlet opening and a heat sensitive trigger engages the cap. A translation mechanism is disposed in the housing and engaging the cap and supporting the plug member in the inlet opening, wherein when the heat sensitive trigger releases support of the cap, the translation mechanism is allowed to move within said housing to allow the plug member to dislodge from the inlet opening.
US07921927B2
A fire suppression system includes a gaseous extinguishing agent and a liquid extinguishing agent. At least one emitter is in fluid communication with the liquid and gas. The emitter is used to establish a gas stream, atomize and entrain the liquid into the gas stream and discharge the resulting liquid-gas stream onto the fire. The emitter has a deflector surface with a closed end cavity.
US07921926B2
A jointed spearhead assembly can include a base portion that is adapted to be connected to a down-hole object and a spearhead portion having a first end and a second. The second end includes a follower tab with a non-convex first follower interface. The spearhead portion can be pivotally coupled to the base portion.
US07921925B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus and method for expanding a tubular. In one aspect, embodiments of the prevent invention provide an expander tool having at least two expansion members radially extendable from the expander tool into contact with a surrounding inside surface of the tubular, the at least two expansion members radially extendable at different times and axially spaced after radially extending. In another aspect, embodiments include a method for isolating a first portion of a wellbore from a second portion of a wellbore comprising locating an expandable tubular within the wellbore between the first and second portions, the expandable tubular having a weakened portion therein, isolating the first portion from the second portion of the wellbore, and expanding the expandable tubular proximate to the weakened portion to sever the expandable tubular.
US07921918B2
A rigless support for a downhole operation, such as cutting of an underwater casing in preparation for plug-and-abandonment. The unit has a movable base that can be positioned on a floating structure, such as a barge or a marine vessel and delivered to the site. A pair of piston rams support a swivel unit therebetween, with the swivel unit being driven by a hydraulic motor and driving a casing cutter.
US07921902B2
The invention relates to a frame part (10) for a tubular heat exchanger. The frame part (10) according to the invention is designed for being fastened (10) to a tubular body that is constituted of a number of parallel tubes through which a heat-exchange medium flows. The tubes run at both ends into a collecting tube which extends at an angle to the tubes. The tubular heat exchanger is provided with a frame part (10) on at least one of the sides of the tubular body that runs parallel to the tubes. Said frame part occludes the tubular heat exchanger from the exterior and can be at least indirectly linked with the collecting tubes. According to the invention, the frame part (10) has at least one predetermined breaking point (20). Said predetermined breaking point (20) is configured in such a mailer that, in the case of rupture, the frame part (10) is divided into two frame sections and that in the area of the predetermined breaking point (20) a frictional connection between the two otherwise separate frame sections is established.
US07921891B2
In a pneumatic tire for traveling on an off road, including a tread pattern in which a plurality of blocks are formed by at least three vertical grooves extending along a tire circumferential direction and a lateral groove intersecting the vertical grooves, each of the lateral groove arranged among the three vertical grooves and the vertical groove arranged in a middest portion has a groove wall surface forming a step portion, and a projecting stripe continuing approximately at an identical height is provided at a whole of each groove bottom thereof.
US07921887B2
A guide system for cutting return bends directly into the underlayment panels of a radiant floor heating system is provided that eliminates the need for the installation of separate return panels. The guide system includes a guide panel having a guide rail on its bottom surface and a pivoting guide on its top surface. The pivoting guide is pivotally movable through a 180-degree arc relative to the guide panel and is configured to receive a router with a plunge or dovetail bit installed therein. In this manner, the router is pivotably movable through a controlled 180-degree semi-circular arc from a point that is aligned with a groove in which the guide rail is installed to a groove in an adjacent underlayment panel allowing the user to pivot the router to cut a return bend into the underlayment in the desired location.
US07921875B2
In the fluid coupling for connecting the fluid passages of a plug (1) and a socket (2), a valve (33), a valve holder (31) and a spring (32) disposed in a compressed state between the valve (33) and the valve holder (31) are accommodated inside each of the plug (1) and the socket (2) to be connected to each other the plug (1) is inserted into the socket (2), the valve (33) of the plug (1) and the valve (33) of the socket (2) make contact with each other so that the valves (33) are retracted resisting an urging force of the spring (32). This fluid coupling further includes conical members (32, 51) which form a conical external shape along a line connecting the outside diameter portion of the valve (33) and the outside diameter portion of the valve holder (31) when the valve (33) of the plug (1) and the valve (33) of the socket (2) make contact with each other, so that the springs (32) are compressed between the valve (33) and the valve holder (31).
US07921867B2
An elbow fluid flow valve exhibiting reduced flow loss and including a body having a specified shape and size and defining a short radius associated with an elbow shaped fluid passageway characterized by a first fluid flow inlet and a second fluid flow outlet. A cover secures over the valve body, and such that a generally sleeve shaped annulus is defined therebetween. A light-weight and linearly translatable sleeve is mounted exteriorly of the valve body and within the intermediately defined annulus. The sleeve is operable to be displaced between a first location permitting fluid flow to the outlet and a second location interrupting fluid flow. A control element is operably connected to a pair of access ports, in turn communicated with one or a pair of interior regions in communication with locations of the displaceable sleeve and, upon experiencing at least one of a pressure and flow disparity between valve inlet and outlet, facilitates displacement of the sleeve to the second (flow interrupting) location.
US07921866B2
A first stage pressure regulator for a two-stage underwater breathing apparatus, comprises a second movable wall (16, 18) for separating a balance chamber (10) from an ambient exposed chamber (17) . The second movable wall is formed by a disk-shaped piston (16) which is slideably and non sealingly guided along the peripheral walls that delimit the balance chamber (10), and by an elastically deformable diaphragm (18), which overlies the side of the piston (16) facing forward the ambient exposed chamber (17) . The elastically deformable diaphragm (18) forms with said piston (16) a diaphragm type pressure relief valve (20, 318).
US07921859B2
The present invention provides an apparatus and a method for an ultraviolet cleaning tool. The cleaning tool includes ultraviolet source spaced apart from a surface having contaminant particles. The ultraviolet source can create ozone between the surface and the ultraviolet source which breaks the chemical bonds between particles and the surface. The apparatus includes a gas feed which introduces a gas to aid the chemical bond. Additionally, the gas feed can introduce a gas to remove the particles from the surface.
US07921856B2
A cigarette casing for independent making of a Russian cigarette by a smoker or for bulk production. The casing of the Russian cigarette has an empty mouthpiece and a connected empty envelope and at least a part of the cavity of which is intended for the allocation of the smoking material. It contains a separating partition selectively penetrable for the smoke, installed so that at least a part of the cavity of the mouthpiece could be detached from at least a part of the cavity of the envelope, and so that it is possible to overlap at least a part of a cross section of the cavity of the mouthpiece. Its design impedes minor changes in the composition of the smoke, the penetration of the particles of the smoking material located in the cavity of the envelope into the cavity of the mouthpiece while filling the casing with the smoking material and into the mouth of the smoker during smoking. The casing of the Russian cigarette has an empty mouthpiece and a connected empty envelope, and the length of the mouthpiece is not less than the length of the envelope. The envelope overlaps the mouthpiece with all its length. The mouthpiece and the envelope are installed so that it is possible to move them relative to each other along a common longitudinal axis. The mouthpiece impedes the deformation of the part of the cavity of the envelope intended for the allocation of the smoking material before the placing of this smoking material.
US07921855B2
A method for treating the lung during an acute episode of reversible chronic obstructive pulmonary disease such as an asthma attack. The method comprises transferring energy to an airway wall of an airway such that a diameter of the airway is increased. The energy may be transferred to the airway wall prior to, during or after an asthma attack. The energy may be transferred in an amount sufficient to temporarily or permanently increase the diameter of the airway. The method may be performed while the airway is open, closed or partially closed.
US07921852B2
The invention relates to a method for forming curved sections in a transparent material, especially in a cornea, by producing optical breaks at various points in the material by means of pulsed laser beams focused into the material. The laser beam is deviated in a two-dimensional manner from a deviation point in order to form the section by arranging the optical breaks in a sequence. The two-dimensional deviation occurs such that the areas of the optical opening along a curve, whereon the optical openings are arranged in a sequence, are arranged at a distance in relation to the deviation point according to an angle function which is not linear and which is adapted to the curvature of the section. The areas along the curve adjacent to optical openings inside a specific tolerance range are arranged at an even distance.
US07921846B1
A heat and moisture exchanger for both conducting a stream of air produced by a ventilator to a moisturizing medium and internally bypassing the moisturizing medium if aerosolized medication is introduced into the stream includes a housing having a ventilator-side port coupled to an outlet of a ventilator and a source of aerosolized medication. The housing has a patient-side port for coupling to a patient to provide ventilation including either air or air carrying aerosolized medication. A first path conducts air from the ventilator-side port through the moisturizing medium and the patient-side port, and a second path conducts air carrying aerosolized medication from the ventilator-side port directly to the patient-side port. A two-way valve mechanism in the housing selectively couples the ventilator-side port into fluid communication with one or the other of the first and second paths.
US07921832B2
A control system for a plant can include a feedback control input which can be calculated so that a controlled output of said plant coincides with a target value. A hold control input can be calculated according to an operating condition of said plant. A control input to said plant is set to the feedback control input when a control deviation between the controlled output and a target value is greater than a predetermined threshold value, and the control input is set to the hold control input when the control deviation is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold value. The feedback control input is made to gradually approach to or coincide with the hold control input when the control input is set to the hold control input.
US07921831B2
A hydrogen-oxygen fuel supplying system includes a water hydrolyzing apparatus, a heat dissipation apparatus connected to the water hydrolyzing apparatus, a filter connected to the water hydrolyzing apparatus, a supercharger connected to the filter, a hydrogen-oxygen container connected to the filter, and a pressure adjusting means connected to the hydrogen-oxygen container. The water hydrolyzing apparatus is used to hydrolyze water thereby producing a mixture gas of hydrogen, oxygen, and water vapor. The heat dissipation apparatus is used to dissipate heat generated in the water hydrolyzing apparatus. The filter is used to filter water vapor in the mixture gas. The supercharger is used to compress the hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen-oxygen container is used to store the hydrogen and oxygen. The pressure adjusting means is used to regulate an output of the hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen-oxygen fuel supplying system can reduce pollution of air and environment.
US07921823B2
The hydraulic play compensation device, having an outer cylinder part which is closed on one side by a base and in which a piston element which lies on its inside is guided so as to be longitudinally displaceable, with a guide gap, having an oil pressure space having an oil inlet which supplies the oil supply space, and having a connecting duct controlled by a nonreturn valve between the oil supply space and the oil pressure space. For optimized removal of air which is introduced via the oil inlet, it is proposed that a ventilation path which connects the oil supply space and the guide gap is formed in the piston element downstream of the oil inlet and upstream of the connecting duct.
US07921822B2
The switchable dual lifter has two hydraulic lash adjusters, one which is fixed within the common housing, and the other which is movable to allow for deactivation of one of the two valves acted on by the dual lifter. Using the dual lifter with a switchable hydraulic lash adjuster allows for closing of one of the adjacent valves while allowing the other of the adjacent valves to operate.
US07921820B2
A valve timing control apparatus includes a driving rotation member, a driven rotation member, an advance angle chamber displacing a rotation phase of the driven rotation member relative to the driving rotation member in an advance angle direction, a retard angle chamber displacing the relative rotation phase in a retard angle direction, a groove provided on at least one of an inner surface of the driving rotation member and an outer surface of the driven rotation member for supplying the hydraulic fluid to a sliding contact portion formed by the inner surface of the driving rotation member and the outer surface of the driven rotation member, an advance angle oil passage, a retard angle oil passage, and a groove oil passage for supplying the hydraulic fluid to the groove.
US07921817B2
An internal combustion engine is provided. Facing pistons eliminate a cylinder head, thereby reducing heat losses through a cylinder head. Facing pistons also halve the stroke that would be required for one piston to provide the same compression ratio, and the engine can thus be run at higher revolutions per minute and produce more power. An internal sleeve valve is provided for space and other considerations. A combustion chamber size-varying mechanism allows for adjustment of the minimum size of an internal volume to increase efficiency at partial-power operation. Variable intake valve operation is used to control engine power.
US07921811B2
Described is an electronic pet door for automatically granting a selected animal access to a through-way defined by the electronic pet door and denying a non-selected animal access to the through-way. The selected animal carries a transmitter. The electronic pet door includes a corresponding receiver and a frame that defines the through-way, which has a tapered contour. A flap, which has a tapered contour corresponding to the through-way, is disposed within the through-way and is capable of a locked position and an unlocked position. When in the locked position, the flap denies access to the through-way. When unlocked, the flap grants an animal access to the through-way. The flap is locked and unlocked by way of a locking mechanism that shifts the flap longitudinally between the less tapered and most tapered portions of the through-way. The locking mechanism shifts the flap in response to the receiver.
US07921809B2
A birdseed dispenser and birdfeeder incorporating the same are provided. The dispenser has a base assembly mounted to a first opening formed in the sidewall of the birdseed reservoir, including a front plate having a second opening formed therein, a flange extending around the second opening and projecting away from the front plate, and an end wall supported by the flange such that the flange and end wall together define a chamber. The dispenser also includes an apertured piece received in the chamber having a first seed aperture of a first configuration and a second seed aperture of a different configuration. The apertured piece is moveable between a first orientation, which places the first seed aperture in a seed accessible state permitting birds access to the seed, and a second orientation to place the second seed aperture in the seed accessible state.
US07921790B2
A tank (10) of a ship (1) is provided with an inflow port (6) and an outflow port (7) opening through a bottom of the ship (13). The inflow and outflow ports are spaced apart from each other in a headway direction of the hull. The ports are equipped with closure means (9), which closes the ports so as to ensure hull buoyancy by means of air in the tank. The ports allow seawater outside the ship to flow into the tank through the inflow port and the seawater in the tank to flow out of the ship through the outflow port, with use of headway motion of the ship. A partition (2) provides a weir extending in a widthwise direction of the hull in the tank, and divides a region in the tank into an inflow area (3) and an outflow area (4). The tank, partition, inflow port, outflow port and closure means constitute a ship buoyancy control system.
US07921786B2
The invention includes a grate system for a boiler. The grate system includes a grate unit and a side header guard. The grate unit supports fuel during combustion thereof, and has an upper surface, a lower surface, and upturned lateral edges. The side header guard is arranged along a side wall of the boiler and has upwardly and downwardly projecting fin portions. The upwardly projecting fin portion is adapted and configured to extend over and protect the boiler side wall from abrasion by fuel. The downwardly projecting fin portion is adapted and configured to extend over the upturned lateral edge of the grate unit, inhibiting passage of fuel therebetween.
US07921776B2
This invention relates to a detonating cord (10) having a core (12) of reactive material and a composite jacket around the core, and the method of its manufacture. The composite jacket includes an interior jacket (14) in contact with the core and a sacrificial jacket (20) disposed over the interior jacket. The sacrificial jacket prevents the cord from being cut off by the detonation of another detonating cord of like core load disposed adjacent thereto. The sacrificial jacket is separable from the interior jacket beneath it under the force of the adjacent detonating cord, thus absorbing energy and allowing the first detonating cord to remain intact. The detonating cord may have a core load of not more than 3.2 grams/meter (15 grains/ft) or, optionally, less than 1.25 g/m (6 grains/ft). The interior jacket may be free of metal jacket layers. Optionally, the outer cross-sectional diameter of the cord may be not more than about 3.8 mm (0.15 inch) so that it can be inserted into a standard detonator. The sacrificial jacket may be made from polyethylene and may have a thickness of about 0.25 mm (0.01 inch).
US07921772B2
A cover for an automatically re-inked stamp is design to be mounted detachably on an automatic re-inked stamp and provides a function of preventing the automatic re-inked stamp from inadvertent stamping. The cover has a base having an inner surface and a surrounding edge and two mounting tabs being oppositely mounted on and protruding perpendicularly from the inner surface of the base along the surrounding edge. Each mounting tab has a pulling recess being formed in an inward surface of the mounting tab adjacent to an inner end edge. The pulling recesses make the cover easier to be detached from the automatic re-inked stamp. That makes the automatically re-inked stamp more convenient to use.
US07921768B2
A stand-alone oven capable of being utilized in both the horizontal and vertical orientations/positions to, among other functions, provide for rotisserie cooking of foodstuffs. The oven includes a rotisserie attachment that is adjustable to rotate in the oven in the horizontal and vertical orientation. A control panel is coupled to the oven to control the operation of the oven and includes a screen that is rotatable to be viewable in the horizontal and vertical orientation of the oven.
US07921764B2
A rotation prioritizing valve serving as a flow rate control valve of a hydraulic pilot type is provided on the meter-in side of an arm cylinder. At the time of a combined operation of arm pulling and rotation, the rotation prioritizing valve is activated by rotation pilot pressure so that a meter-in flow rate of the arm cylinder is throttled to prioritize rotation movement. On the premise of the above, a switching valve is provided in a pilot line of the rotation prioritizing valve and switched so as to release a throttling effect of the rotation prioritizing valve when boom lowering movement is added to the combined operation of arm pulling and rotation so that a rotation prioritizing function is cancelled.
US07921761B1
A gimbaled weapon system (GWS) is disclosed having a sighting system, a control unit, a weapon cradle and an operator interface for the GWS located remotely from the weapon cradle and the sighting system. The weapon cradle is elevated using a first elevation drive. The weapon cradle is co-located with the sighting system as a unit in the GWS. The GWS includes a second elevation drive elevating the sighting system independently of the elevation of the weapon cradle by the first elevation drive. A network of multiple, mobile target sensors located remotely from the GWS provide coordinates or location of a target to the control unit of the GWS.
US07921760B2
A compact gas block with rail interface has a first longitudinal bore for receiving a firearm barrel, the barrel having a gas port, the gas block having a second longitudinal bore for receiving a gas tube or operating element. The block includes a vertical bore aligned with the barrel gas port and connecting the first and second block bores and permitting passage of cartridge gas from the barrel gas port to the gas tube. The improved gas block includes a military rail, forward of the gas tube, the forward location permitting rail and accessories to lie close to the barrel, enabling handguard installation and removal, improving handling, and reducing firearm bulk.
US07921759B2
Armor systems for protecting against various threats, including projectiles and explosive devices. An armor system includes one or more ballistic panels, one or more wire mesh layers and a backing on a side of the armor system facing away from potential threats that helps to absorb force impacting on the first ballistic panel. The first ballistic panel includes a core that provides strength and rigidity for the first ballistic panel and that distributes and dissipates force impacting on the first ballistic panel, a grinding layer comprising grinding media situated within and positioned on at least one side of the core facing towards potential threats, and a bonding layer that encapsulates the grinding layer. The one or more wire mesh layers contain the ballistic panel, increasing the durability and re-usability of the ballistic panel.
US07921756B2
The present invention relates to a film cutter assembly in which a blade housing slides along a pair of rails. The blade housing is formed of an upper portion for housing the blade. Either end of the upper portion has a rounded inclined shape from a bottom edge to form a sled shaped runner. The sled shaped runner extends beyond the blade such that the user is prevented from touching the blade. A lower portion of the blade housing slidables bilaterally in a cavity formed below the rails. A clearance is formed between the blade and the rails to allow the blade housing to easily slide over a film to be cut even if the film bunched or doubled over. The upper portion of the blade housing has a concave shape for allowing a user's fingers to easily grip the blade housing. Preferably, the rails are formed of a material which provides an attractive charge to attract the film to the rail and help hold the film flat before and after cutting. For example, the rails can be formed of flexible vinyl or acetal.
US07921753B2
A screw locking tool includes a main body composed of a shank to be combined with a hand tool and a sleeve. The shank has front end continually connected with the sleeve having its surface disposed with an annular recess with an O-shaped ring fitted therein and bored with insert holes communicating with an accommodating cavity of the sleeve for receiving positioning steel balls, with an elastic element fixed in the accommodating cavity. A screwing element secured with the accommodating cavity has a shank with a minor-diameter and a medium-diameter annular recess for receiving steel balls to prevent the screwing element from slipping off. A receiving groove at the front end of the screwing element is bored with insert holes respectively for fitting a positioning steel ball and has an annular recess fitted therein with an O-shaped ring for positioning the steel balls.
US07921748B2
An object of the present invention is to provide a pedal device which can alleviate fatigue of a driver's ankle due to a frequent acceleration by differently setting the amount of reaction force applied when the driver presses and releases a pedal, by adjusting pre-compression force against a return spring disposed at a hinged portion of a pedal arm and adjusting a friction force on a hinged portion of the pedal arm, and satisfying a user's preference by properly adjusting the reaction force. In order to accomplish the above-mentioned object, the invention provides a pedal device with a function of adjusting a pedal effort and hysteresis that includes: a housing fixed to a car body; an arm hinged to the housing; an elastic member disposed between the housing and the pivot end of the pedal arm, and providing a return force to the pedal arm; a pedal effort adjusting unit disposed in the housing and pressing an end of the elastic member to adjust a pre-compression force to the elastic member force; and a hysteresis adjusting unit movably disposed in the housing to press the hinged portion of the pedal arm and adjusting the amount of change in stroke-to-pedal effort while the pedal arm operates.
US07921746B2
An actuating device (1) for a technical system, especially for selecting gears of a shift-by-wire speed-change gear includes an actuating element (2) with at least two shift positions and a locking device (8). The locking device (8) has at least one actuator (7) driven with auxiliary energy and is used to reduce the shifting path of the actuating element (2) or to lock the actuating element (2). The actuator (7) has at least three different shifting states to make it possible to embody the necessary locking functions of the actuating lever with a reduced number of actuators and hence with a comparatively low design effort. Space, weight and costs can thus be saved.
US07921735B2
The measuring tube of the in-line measuring device is lined internally with a liner. The liner is made of a polyurethane produced using a catalyst that contains metal-organic compounds. The metals that are brought into the liner and remain there are chemically, especially atomically, bonded to carbon chains formed in the liner. The in-line measuring device is thus especially suited for measuring drinking water.
US07921734B2
A magnetic flowmeter is disclosed that includes a pair of electrodes coupled to a process fluid and a diagnostic circuit coupled to the pair of electrodes to monitor a common mode signal. The diagnostic circuit is adapted to detect a poor ground connection associated with at least one electrode of the pair of electrodes based on line noise associated with the common mode signal.
US07921729B2
A sensor assembly for sensing relative movement between adjacent panels includes a base and first and second arms pivotally mounted to the base. An electrical connecting element is attached to the first and second arms and holds the first and second arms in a first position to indicate a first condition. When the first and second arms have moved relative to each other by a predetermined amount, the electrical connecting element breaks to indicate a second condition.
US07921728B2
A flexible apparatus and method to enhance capacitive force sensing is disclosed. In one embodiment, a force measuring device includes a sensor capacitor having a fixed surface and a moveable surface substantially parallel to the fixed surface, at least one spring assembly (e.g., may deflect longitudinally and/or perpendicularly to a direction of the force) positioned between the fixed surface and the movable surface (e.g., the spring assembly may alter in height in response to a force applied perpendicular to the movable surface and to cause a change in the gap between the fixed surface and the movable surface), and a circuit to generate a measurement of the force based on an algorithm that considers a change in a capacitance of the sensor capacitor. A reference capacitor may adjust the measurement of the applied force based on one or more environmental conditions.
US07921726B2
A fluid detection device is herein disclosed as including a sensor mount, a flexible deflection sensor rigidly connected to the sensor mount and a stiffener. The stiffener is arranged together with the flexible deflection sensor such that the flexible deflection sensor is preconfigured to deform in a predetermined manner when the fluid detection device is exposed to a fluid. An amount of the deformation of the flexible deflection sensor determines a property of the fluid.A pressure sensing apparatus is herein disclosed as including a rigid perimeter, a flexible membrane forming a surface area bounded by the perimeter, and a sensing means in communication with the flexible membrane. The flexible membrane is configured to elastically deform when a pressure force is exerted on the surface area, and the sensing means is configured to measure an amount of deformation of the flexible membrane.
US07921708B2
The object of the invention is to provide an alternative method for durability testing of an engine block. The engine block comprises cylinder cavities, which cylinder cavities are separated from each other by intermediate walls, each intermediate wall comprising a bolt hole. The method comprises the step of: removing a test specimen from an area of the intermediate wall of the engine block, such that the test specimen comprises the bolt hole.
US07921702B2
The invention provides, particularly although not exclusively in the context of a fuel injection system of a compression-ignition internal combustion engine, a method for detecting anomalous behaviour of a dynamic system (40), the method including i) determining a system model including plurality of characteristic parameters to define the dynamic system (40), ii) calculating one or more metrics indicative of the current system performance based on the plurality of characteristic parameters, iii) comparing the one or more derived metrics with one or more predetermined metrics indicative of anomalous system behaviour and iv) identifying a predetermined system fault condition if one or more of the derived metrics corresponds to one or more of the predetermined metrics. The invention also provides an apparatus for implementing the aforesaid method.
US07921691B2
A method of determining properties of a formation fluid based on measurements of fluid sound speed, a measurement of fluid density, or both. The properties include compressibility, thermal conductivity, and gas oil ratio. The compressibility of a fluid is equal to the reciprocal of the product of the sound speed squared and fluid density. The density and the sound speed can be measured acoustically. The method further includes a manner of processing data including applying the Savitzky-Golay method and utilizing a variable thresholding technique.
US07921688B2
Roll forming a round tube to a square tube without applying excessive load to the raw tube scheduled portions to become corner portions and shoulder portions. This invention structures the curvature of the rotation axis direction of the forming roll surface in a way that in relation to other raw tube locations (straightening precedes for the raw tube locations adjacent to the corner portion scheduled locations of the square tube. It disposes stands of four-direction roll structure at the forming roll stand furthest upstream and furthest downstream sides and disposes stands of upper-lower and left-right two-direction roll structure between the upstream and downstream roll stands, and by adopting forming roll with a structure having a curvature for constricting the raw tube locations to become the shoulder portions adjacent to the corner portions of the square tube at a smaller curvature than that constricting the raw tube portions to become the side portion centers of the square tube cross section.
US07921686B2
A highly scalable application network appliance is described herein. According to one embodiment, a network element includes a switch fabric, a first service module coupled to the switch fabric, and a second service module coupled to the first service module over the switch fabric. In response to packets of a network transaction received from a client over a first network to access a server of a data center having multiple servers over a second network, the first service module is configured to perform a first portion of OSI (open system interconnection) compatible layers of network processes on the packets while the second service module is configured to perform a second portion of the OSI compatible layers of network processes on the packets. The first portion includes at least one OSI compatible layer that is not included in the second portion. Other methods and apparatuses are also described.
US07921685B2
A latch assembly for releasably securing a closure element with a striker element in a closed position. The latch assembly consists of first and second latch elements mounted to a housing for movement relative to each other and the housing, with the first latch element being movable relative to the housing between a latched position and a release position, and cooperating structure on the release lever for moving the second latch element relative to the housing and, in response thereto, causing the first latch element to move from its latched position to its release position. A guard plate is positioned between the housing and the first latch element to more securely retain the striker element and prevent tampering or theft.
US07921681B2
A washing-drying/drying machine includes a tub mounted in a cabinet; a drum rotatably disposed in the tub for receiving laundry; a cooling water supply unit for supplying cooling water to condense moisture in air discharged from the drum; and a condensing plate mounted between the drum and an inner wall of the tub for receiving the cooling water to condense the moisture in the air.
US07921678B2
A compressible resilient fabric can include a ground layer of knitted yarn, and a loop layer comprising a plurality of loops of yarn, each loop having a point knit into the ground layer. The fabric can be compressible from an non-compressed configuration, in which each loop has an apex extending substantially perpendicularly outward from the ground layer, into a compressed configuration, in which each loop is collapsed onto the ground layer. The fabric can further be resilient so as to substantially resume the non-compressed configuration when compression is relieved. The loop layer yarn can include a multifilament yarn having a high denier per filament ratio. The ground layer yarn can include a yarn shrinkable substantially more than the loop layer yarn. The loops can be densely knit so as to support the extension of the loops outward from the ground layer.
US07921674B2
There is provided a method of manufacturing an optical waveguide, the method including: allowing a beam to be incident in an optical waveguide direction of an optical waveguide material; generating an optical soliton in the optical waveguide material by adjusting intensity of the incident beam according to the optical waveguide material; allowing the incident beam to be re-incident at an intensity higher than an intensity of the incident beam after checking generation of the optical soliton in the optical waveguide material; and increasing a refractive index of an optical soliton-generating area of the optical waveguide material by the re-incident beam to thereby form an optical waveguide.
US07921669B2
A refrigeration delivery system for use with portable food storage systems having an L-shaped body with a hollow vertical tower portion and a hollow horizontal flat lower portion. The internal volume of the body is suitable for the storage of ice and a combination of ice and melt water. In one embodiment, a hand-powered pump and spout is provide through a top of the tower portion to pump chilled water for drinking or to remove it from the delivery system. A second embodiment incorporates a flexible straw arrangement through a top of the tower portion. A third embodiment incorporates both a hand-powered pump and spout as well as a flexible straw arrangement through a top of the tower portion.
US07921659B2
Self-contained refrigeration units include evaporator modules, condenser modules, compressor modules, control subassemblies, and all other refrigeration components in compact interconnected modular packages. The modules, which are assembled in rigid or flexible self-contained monoblock refrigeration units, are installable, removable and replaceable as complete self-contained refrigeration units without requiring transport downtime for servicing and repairing of the refrigeration units. Vehicles with refrigeration systems arrive at a distributor and have malfunctioning units removed and complete units replaced and installed and are back on the road within minutes. Dealers' inventories are small and non complex and dealers' workers need not be skilled transport refrigeration mechanics. Dealer trucks have light cranes to remove and replace complete self-contained refrigeration units on site.
US07921651B2
The present application provides a method of operating a dual gas fuel delivery system comprising selecting a manifold and fuel flow split; setting the stroke of a high-energy gas control valve based on the fuel split; measuring the primary manifold nozzle pressure ratio across a primary manifold nozzle outlet; comparing the primary manifold nozzle pressure ratio against a primary manifold specification limit; adjusting the stroke of a primary low energy gas control valve to maintain the pressure ratio across the primary manifold nozzle outlet within the primary manifold specification limit; measuring the secondary manifold nozzle pressure ratio across a secondary manifold nozzle outlet; comparing the secondary manifold nozzle pressure ratio against a secondary manifold specification limit; and adjusting the stroke of a secondary low energy gas control valve to maintain the pressure ratio across the secondary manifold nozzle outlet within the secondary manifold specification limit.
US07921649B2
A method for increasing and/or suppressing a natural frequency of a fuel injector feed strip while increasing in the axial direction the flexibility of the feed strip, without the use of additional structure or damping devices. More particularly, and by way of example, the present invention provides a fuel feed strip that is shaped in a shape corresponding to a first vibration mode (e.g., a bow shape) of a fuel feed strip of a desired shape (e.g., a straight fuel feed strip). By forming the fuel feed strip in a shape corresponding to a first vibration mode of the fuel feed strip of a desired shape, a vibration mode of the fuel feed strip is suppressed while the axial flexibility of the fuel feed strip is increased.
US07921647B2
An internal combustion engine exhaust gas system includes an EGR arrangement adapted to lead a first flow of exhaust gas, the EGR flow, from an outlet side of the engine to an inlet side of the engine, an exhaust gas conduit adapted to lead away a second flow of exhaust gas, the exhaust flow, from the outlet side of the engine, and an energy recovering unit, such as a turbo, associated with the exhaust gas conduit. The unit is adapted to recover exhaust gas energy from the exhaust flow. The system includes a heat exchanger adapted to allow heat exchange between at least a part of the EGR flow and at least a part of the exhaust flow, the heat exchanger being associated with the exhaust gas conduit at a position downstream the energy recovering unit.
US07921638B2
A bi-propellant rocket motor having controlled thermal management is disclosed. The rocket motor produces thrust using a solid or gel-phase primary propellant that can be either fuel- or oxidizer-rich, with a complementary self-pressurizing secondary propellant selected to balance the primary propellant in terms of the equivalence ratio. The motor houses multiple propellant grains arranged in such a configuration that each chamber containing a primary grain serves as both propellant storage and the main combustion chamber for that propellant grain as it burns with the secondary propellant. The secondary propellant is stored separately, and the flow routed past the primary propellant chamber to provide cooling for adjacent primary propellant chambers limiting the temperature rise in the motor structure.
US07921635B2
A tip turbine engine (40) provides a peripheral combustor (30) with a more efficient combustion path through the combustor and through the tip turbine blades (34). In the combustor, the core airflow is received generally axially from compressor chambers in hollow fan blades (28) and then turned radially outwardly into a combustion chamber (112), where it is then mixed with the fuel and ignited. The combustor has a combustion path extending axially from a forward end of its combustion chamber through a combustion chamber outlet (122) and through a turbine (32) mounted to the fan. Thus, when the core airflow begins to expand in a high-energy gas stream, it has a substantially axial path from the combustion chamber through the turbine.
US07921631B2
In at least one embodiment of the present invention, a method of recovering energy from a FCC unit having a reactor and a regenerator for overall CO2 reduction is provided. The method comprises cooling syngas to a predetermined low temperature to define cooled syngas. A turbo-expander including a first compressor is provided. The turbo-expander train is configured to combust and expand gas to drive the first compressor. The cooled syngas is compressed with the first compressor to define compressed syngas. A first stream of gas comprising CO2 and a second stream of gas comprising CO are separated from the compressed syngas. O2 and the first and second streams of gas are introduced to the turbo-expander train. The first stream of gas is expanded and the second stream of gas is combusted and expanded with the O2 to recover energy, driving the first compressor and producing the syngas.
US07921627B2
A harvesting machine includes a harvesting header with a header frame, a cutterbar assembly attached to the header frame along the length thereof and configured to cut a crop, and a draper assembly positioned behind the cutterbar assembly and operable to receive severed crop material from the cutterbar assembly. The draper assembly includes a center draper that delivers crop material to a feeder house of the harvesting machine and oppositely spaced side drapers that deliver crop material to the center draper. The harvesting header is operable to flex and thereby follow an uneven terrain.
US07921624B2
The present invention relates to a method of producing a transportable container for bulk goods. A bag is placed through a former opening of a slip frame former which surrounds a portion of the bag. The bag receives the bulk goods from a feed source. A stretch wrap is disposed radially about a bottom support and a portion of the slip frame former to initially form the transportable container. At least one of the slip frame former and the bottom support moves relative to other in response to the fill level of the bulk goods in the bag. During filling, the slip frame former is maintained at a position surrounding the fill level of the bulk goods in the bag. As the fill level increases in the bag, previously disposed portions of stretch wrap are disengaged from the slip frame former to squeeze the filled portions of the bag and lock together the bulk goods as additional portions of stretch wrap are disposed around the slip frame former.
US07921620B2
A method of affixing a frame around a wall penetration such as a window box before siding panels are affixed to the wall. The frame has front and back faces and inner and outer edges, a primary channel extending along the outer edge, and a flange extending along the outer edge, The steps include: placing the window frame around the window box; affixing the flange to the wall; placing a first panel against the wall and inserting a vertical edge of the first panel into a primary channel of the frame; affixing the first panel to the wall; inserting a vertical edge of a second panel into the primary channel and engaging a longitudinal edge of the second panel with a longitudinal edge of the first panel; affixing the second panel to the wall; and repeating steps until the all sides of the frame engage siding panels.
US07921617B2
A structural panel and method of making the same are disclosed wherein the structural panel has at least one frame member with receptor pockets extending therein. Ribs protruding from a lath are resiliently engaged within the receptor pockets thereby securing the lath against the frame member. A structural coating is secured to the lath thereby providing a labor-efficient, low-cost structural panel available for use for a number of different construction projects.
US07921616B2
A column support footing, and a method for utilizing the same, allows structural columns to be installed after a cement floor is poured rather than pouring the floor after the columns are set. The column support footing comprises an apparatus which is utilized for setting the column after the concrete floor has been poured. The apparatus comprises a column support sleeve which has an upwardly facing open end for receiving the bottom end of the column. Extending downwardly from the apparatus is an anchor member, which is set within a concrete footing member. The concrete floor may be poured after the first concrete footing member has set around a portion of the anchor member. The concrete floor provides lateral support to the column support sleeve. The column may then be placed and secured within the column support sleeve after the concrete floor has been installed for the structure.
US07921615B2
An improved panel is disclosed. The panel is of the type for use with a bracket and which, in use: forms a wall surface as part of an assembly for partitioning or dividing a space; defines a horizontal groove; and is adapted to releasably, securely, receive, via the horizontal groove, said bracket. The improvement comprises a metal sheet and a metal bolster. The metal sheet has a front and a rear face, the front face defining said wall surface in use and said sheet defining a horizontal slot in use. The metal bolster is secured to the rear face of said metal sheet to define, in combination with the metal sheet, said horizontal groove.
US07921610B2
An A-frame assembly for constructing a building comprises only five major components that are formed from square, galvanized steel hollow tubing. These components include corner braces, side braces, a top brace, beams, and straight tubing. The straight tubing interconnects the other components to form a triangular frame assembly. The corner braces are secured with concrete footings or a complete foundation. A number of the frame assemblies are arrayed to form the basis of a structure. The frame assemblies are spaced apart from each other, joined with additional square tubing, and include an attic space and service spaces between the corner braces. A roofing structure is secured to the joined frame assemblies to complete the structural phase of the assembly.
US07921604B2
An aluminum-foam structural housing unit that is storm-proof, self-contained, and built to withstand natural disaster conditions resulting from hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and fire, and then assist its inhabitants immediately thereafter when interruptions in public utility system service can be experienced. The combined use of aluminum alloy and foam as its building materials gives the unit its great strength, as well as the versatility needed to face natural disaster conditions while providing absolute resistance to heavy winds, flooding, earthquake and fire. Since the unit is buoyant, during flooding conditions it lifts from the ground and is guided by vertical poles to maintain a horizontal orientation. The unit also automatically disconnects from public utility systems as lifting occurs, and it then provides its inhabitants with self-contained sources of water, electrical energy, and sewage management. Thus, the unit is designed to adjust to the flow of nature, instead of working against it.
US07921598B2
A gel-coated seed is provided, which has sufficient strength for handling just after the production thereof and after the recovery following the storage under drying, and has a good property in terms of standing-up of seedling. The gel-coated seed includes: a seed of a plant; a coating gel-layer, which coats the seed, consisting of alginic acid-based aqueous gel gelled in the presence of a multivalent metal ion; and grains consisting of water-containing hydrophilic polymer, which is resistant to the multivalent metal ion, distributed in the coating gel-layer.
US07921590B2
A chamber reinforcement for composite firearm barrel and method for forming the same. In one embodiment, the barrel includes an inner tube defining a bore that provides a bullet path and an outer sleeve preferably made of a material lighter in weight than the tube. In some embodiments, the inner tube is made of a material that preferably has a greater density and strength than the outer sleeve. The reinforcement in one embodiment may be in the form of an end cap disposed on a portion of the sleeve. The reinforcement preferably is made of a material comparable to the inner tube in density and strength to reinforce the area where a chamber is formed for receiving a cartridge. In the preferred fabrication, the reinforcement, tube, and sleeve are forged together to provide a strong and unitary structure for withstanding combustion pressures and forces associated with discharging the firearm.
US07921580B2
A sole construction for supporting at least a portion of a human foot and for providing energy storage and return is provided. The sole construction includes a generally horizontal layer of stretchable material, at least one chamber positioned adjacent a first side of the layer, and at least one actuator positioned adjacent a second side of the layer vertically aligned with a corresponding chamber. Each actuator has a footprint size smaller than that of the corresponding chamber, and is sized and arranged to provide individual support to the bones of the human foot. The support structure when compressed causes the actuator to push against the layer and move the layer at least partially into the corresponding chamber. In one embodiment, the horizontal layer of stretchable material is at least partially enclosed by a wall the prevents horizontal displacement of the layer during compression.
US07921578B2
A nebulizer assembly for use in a fabrics revitalizing system having a fabric treatment chamber comprises a fluid reservoir configured to contain a fluid; an air flow channel in fluid communication with the fluid reservoir; a mist generator configured to generate a mist in the fluid reservoir; and a fan in fluid communication with the air flow channel to draw air through the air flow channel and transport the mist to the interior of the fabric treatment chamber. The nebulizer assembly can include a transitional assembly that communicates the nebulizer assembly with the fabric treatment chamber.
US07921576B2
A drying and freezing method without cooling medium comprises the steps of removing moisture, separating cold air from hot air and mixing the cold air with the hot air. Under the condition of no cooling medium, the above-mentioned steps separate the moisture from the compressed air, separate the cold air from the hot air and mix the cold air with the hot air. The system using the drying and freezing method without cooling medium comprises at least one air dryer having an air-moisture separation chamber for separating air from moisture and at least one separator having a separation chamber for separating cold air from hot air. The separator is connected to a pipeline to mix the cold air with the hot air.
US07921574B2
A tool for aiding marking or cutting is described. A V-shaped member having an edge formed at an exterior apex of the V for guiding a marker or cutting tool. The exterior surfaces of the V-shaped member may have a material applied having a higher coefficient of friction than that of the V-shaped member. The edge at the apex of the V may have two substantially planar surfaces, each of which forms a complimentary angle with the interior apex angle of the V, or a thin metal portion formed in the exterior apex of the V so that an edge thereof protrudes sloping towards a surface on which the tool is laid. A graduated scale may be applied to an exterior surface of the tool at a location near the apex.
US07921570B1
An eye alignment assembly for targeting systems. A sight point of an optical fiber is positioned within a housing behind an alignment indicia on a lens. An adjustment system permits the sight point of the optical fiber to be repositioned relative to the alignment indicia on the lens. The eye alignment assembly provides an indication of orientation of a user's eye in the pitch and yaw directions relative to the housing. The eye alignment assembly can be a discrete component or integrated into a targeting system, such as a bow sight.
US07921565B2
A working fluid injection apparatus has an upper chamber that stores a working fluid and a lower chamber that removably receives a bearing unit having a housing and a shaft that is inserted in the housing to form between the shaft and the housing a gap into which the working fluid is to be injected. A partition divides the upper chamber and the lower chamber into top and bottom parts, respectively. A first exhaust system brings the inside of the upper chamber to a decompressed state. A second exhaust system brings the inside of the lower chamber to a decompressed state. A valve unit opens and closes an internal cavity of the lower chamber relative to an external environment. A tapered hole is formed in the partition and communicates the upper and lower chambers to one another. A tapered shaft is inserted into the tapered hole from the upper chamber. A shaft drive unit moves the tapered shaft in the axial direction in the tapered hole.
US07921563B2
An example grille badge includes an outer member and an inner member configured to be snapped together. The inner member includes a living hinge to facilitate the connection to the outer member. The inner member is at least initially inserted into the outer member in a bent position, the inner member being bent or snapped into place via the living hinge provided thereto during manufacturing and/or assembly. In certain example embodiments, the outer element includes at least one slot for receiving at least one corresponding tab provided to the inner element. In certain example embodiments, the inner and outer members include corresponding snap features for securing the connection therebetween. An assembled grille badge may be connected, directly or indirectly, to a vehicle (e.g., to the vehicle, to a front-end assembly, to a grille, etc.), for example, using one or more snap features.
US07921546B2
A method for making a high current low profile inductor includes forming an inductor element comprising a coil having an open center and an outside surface, the coil also having first and second coil ends, making a dry mixture comprising a dry resin and an insulated dry powdered magnetic powder, and compressing the dry mixture around the outside surface of the coil and within the open center of the coil to create an inductor body without liquefying the dry mixture, whereby the inductor body engages the coil both within the coil open center and also the coil outside surface.
US07921545B2
Stator coils are retained by an inserting blade and a setting blade. The setting blade is rotated in this state. Then, after rotation, the stator coils are set on the inserting blade. At this time, the stator coils are arranged in the inserting blade in a state where the stator coils overlap one another to form a spiral shape. Thus, the stator coils are arranged uniformly.
US07921536B2
A method for assembling a pipe coupling and a method of joining pipe elements in end to end relation using the pre-assembled pipe coupling. The pipe coupling is formed of segments joined end to end by fasteners. Retention elements positioned on the fasteners hold the segments in spaced apart relation. The retention elements have a first surface that engages the fastener and a second surface that engages the segment to inhibit the motion of the segments relative to the fasteners. The method includes engaging the fasteners with the segments and engaging the retention elements with the fasteners and the segments to position and hold the segments in spaced apart relation. Pipe elements are inserted between the segments and force is applied to the segments which overcomes the resistance of the retention elements to move the segments into engagement with the pipe elements.
US07921526B2
A zip fastener (30) comprised of a long strip of two thermoplastic support tapes (35); two rows of coupling elements (40), each row being attached to its own support tape (35); and a slider body (45) comprising a puller (50) attached to the slider body (45). Portions of the two support tapes (35) are shaped to cause the two rows of coupling elements (40) to rest higher or lower than the shaped portions of the support tapes (35). At least one end portion of the zip fastener (30) is curved downward and in a closed position the curved portion (75) accommodates at least one slider body (45).
US07921525B1
An object securing apparatus utilizing a hook and loop material attached to one of two faces of a binder clip and projecting downward there from. The hook and loop material can be single or double sided. A magnetic material can be disposed upon the hook and loop material. The hook and loop material can be cut forming a clearance for rotation of a cantilevered handle of the binder clip. The hook and loop material secures the binder clip to a first object and a binder clip gripping section is used to grip a second object.
US07921524B2
The present invention describes a release mechanism (1) for releasing magnetically releasable anti-theft devices consisting of a multiplicity of permanent magnets in the form of a Halbach array, which are disposed on a plane. While the highly magnetised top side (10) of the release mechanism (1) is covered by the cover plate (6) on the release side, a base plate (5) used for mounting or support is located on the underside (11) of the release mechanism (1). The permanent magnets encompass a continuous, self-contained frame magnet (2), which is magnetised in an axial direction and has a first recess. Inserted in this first recess is a segmented magnet (3), wherein the individual segments are magnetised perpendicularly to the magnetization direction of the frame magnet (2) and a second recess is left open, in which an axially magnetised magnetic core (4) is inserted.
US07921519B2
In an apparatus for the fiber-sorting or fiber-selection of a fiber bundle comprising textile fibers, especially for combing, which is supplied by a supply device to a fiber-sorting device, especially a combing device, having clamping devices which clamp the fiber bundle at a distance from its free end, which is combed to remove non-clamped constituents, the clamping devices each comprise two clamping jaws. To increase productivity and to enable an improved combed sliver to be obtained, downstream of the supply device there are arranged at least two rotatably mounted rollers rotating rapidly without interruption, the clamping devices being spaced apart in the region of the periphery of the rollers, and the clamping jaws of the each clamping device are arranged to be movable in relation to one another and separately drivable.
US07921508B2
An upright vacuum cleaner (A) includes a housing (B) having a suction airstream inlet and a suction airstream outlet. A dirt container (50, 500) is selectively mounted to the housing for receiving and retaining dirt and dust separated from the suction airstream. The suction airstream inlet and the suction airstream outlet are in fluid communication with, respectively, an inlet and an outlet of the dirt container. The dirt container includes a first cyclonic air-flow chamber (66, 508) and a second cyclonic airflow chamber (68, 510), each cyclonic airflow chamber including a longitudinal axis. The second cyclonic airflow chamber is spaced from the first chamber, wherein the first and second chambers are each approximately vertically oriented and are arranged in a parallel relationship. An air manifold (52, 540, 540′) is disposed at a top portion of the dirt container. The air manifold includes an inlet section (54, 536, 565) through which dirty air passes and an outlet section (138, 560, 560′). The inlet section directs a flow of dirty air into two separate inlet conduits leading to a respective one of the first and second airflow chambers. The outlet section collects a flow of cleaned air from both of the chambers and merges the flow of cleaned air into a single outlet conduit (110, 570). An airstream suction source (E) is mounted to the housing and is in communication with the outlet conduit of the manifold.
US07921505B1
A collapsible broom and dustpan provide convenient, compact storage for use in RVs, mobile homes, efficiency apartments and the like with limited closet and storage space. The broom includes a standard telescoping handle which is affixed to a pivot joint on the broom head. The handle can be extended and rotated to a variety of selected angles. Tabs on the locking member within the pivot joint engage the handle girdle which surrounds the locking member. The locking member is spring loaded to maintain the handle at a desired position. The dustpan includes a handgrip which will accommodate the broom handle while the dustpan tray receives the broom head for compact storage. C-shaped clamps within the grip and a catch within the dustpan tray hold the broom within the dustpan until manually released therefrom.
US07921500B2
A surface treatment tool formed from a thin sheet of flexible material, typically a polymer, shaped to store and dispense fluid, scrub, abrade, scrape off and retain debris, including particulates from treated surfaces, and including an array of closely spaced hollow mushroom-shaped protrusions that store (after a bottom sheet which is not shown is added), and then release fluids during rubbing via perforated faces, and upstanding mushroom shapes carrying soft rubbing faces which have harder scraper edges constituting operable faces with gaps between faces leading into a sunken labyrinth into which loosened debris is scraped up and retained.
US07921482B2
An adjustable plumbing fitting has a piston rotatably and telescopically engaged in a housing, with one end of the housing adapted to be connected to a first plumbing part, and a cylindrical extension on the piston projecting from an opposite end of the housing and adapted to be connected to a second plumbing part. In one embodiment, two housings and associated pistons are integrally joined together to form a T-fitting for connecting the overflow and drain of a bathtub. In another embodiment, the housing is integrally formed with a J-shaped drain trap, and in another embodiment the housing and/or piston is integrally formed with a water closet flange.
US07921475B2
An impact attenuating chin protector comprises a hard outer shell with a narrowed central area to better dissipate impact forces and an inner foam member. The foam member includes a series of alternating foam columns and recesses with perforations at controlled locations to provide additional force dissipation, improved ventilation, and protection from the edges of the hard outer shell. The interior surface of the foam member is configured so that almost the entire interior surface contacts the wearer's chin except for the perforations. The columns and recesses are configured so that recesses are located around two pressure points on the chin. Since the columns absorb the impact of a collision, the two pressure points on the wearer's chin are not directly impacted. The outer shell does not completely cover the foam member leaving the upper and lower edges of the foam member to extend beyond the edges of the shell.
US07921470B2
A sleeve holder for maintaining a garment sleeve in a rolled or gathered condition on the wearer's forearm above the wrist, is disclosed. The sleeve holding device comprises an elongated body of a truncated cone shape having opposite ends. The narrower end includes an elastic core located within its interior defined by a cover. The elastic core has a relaxed length and a relatively longer stretched length in response to an applied tensile force. The opposite end of the sleeve holding device is wider in circumference than the elastic core, creating a pocket where the sleeve of the garment is held.
US07921467B2
A diving suit made of a rubber material comprising HNBR (hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber) is disclosed, as well as a process for the production of the diving suit and the use of HNBR in a rubber material of a diving suit for use in contaminated water.
US07926112B2
A system protects a computing device from potentially harmful code in a document by receiving a data structure representation of the document and adding dynamically one or more definitions of potentially harmful active content to an editable configuration file. Each definition identifies potentially harmful active content and specifies an action to be performed on that potentially harmful active content if that potentially harmful active content is found in the document. The editable configuration file is parsed to generate a data structure representation of the one or more definitions in the editable configuration file. The data structure representation of the document is compared with the data structure representation of the one or more definitions of potentially harmful active content to identify potentially harmful active content within the document. The document is modified to render harmless any identified potentially harmful active content before presenting the document to the computing device.
US07926111B2
A method/system for determining a group of related entities of interest in one or more processing systems. The method comprises identifying a starting entity from one or more entities in the one or more processing systems, then obtaining, based on an entity type of the starting entity, a first set of rules for determining at least one other related entity, and then determining, using the first set of rules, the at least one related entity.
US07926110B2
An anti-worm-measure parameter determining apparatus determines parameters for controlling timing for an anti-worm-measure means to start blocking of a communication by a worm in a network, for preventing a spread of the worm. An infectivity calculating unit calculates infectivity of the worm based on number of nodes connected to the network. A number-of-infected-nodes estimating unit calculates an expected value of number of infected nodes at a time when the worm transmits a predetermined number of packets, based on the infectivity calculated by the infectivity calculating unit.
US07926099B1
A computer-implemented device provides security events from publishers to subscribers. There is provided a message bus, configured to contain a plurality of security events. Also provided is a receiver unit, responsive to a plurality of publishers, to receive the plurality of security events from the publishers. There is also a queue unit, responsive to receipt of the security events, to queue the plurality of security events in the message bus. Also, there is a transport unit, responsive to the security events in the message bus, to transport the plurality of security events in the message bus to a plurality of subscribers.
US07926098B2
A method includes establishing a secure connection between a client device and a first security gateway, the first security gateway being associated with a service provider for providing a service to the client device, and handing off the secure connection from the first security gateway to a second security gateway. Handing off the secure connection includes sending from the first security gateway to the second security gateway security information used to encrypt and decrypt messages transmitted through the secure connection, and sending from the first security gateway to the client device an address of the second security gateway to enable the client device to initiate contact with the second security gateway.
US07926096B2
A system and a method for operating a device that is not capable of independently maintaining a local time clock to enforce a time-based transaction policy that requires a reliable time reference. The device establishes a secure communications channel to one or more network-attached time sources and inquires of each of the network-attached time-sources as to the current time using the secure communications channel. The device receives the current time from the network-attached time-sources and uses the received current times to estimate a current calendar time and to compute a reliability index associated with the estimated current calendar time. The device uses the estimated current calendar time and reliability index to enforce the time-based transaction policy.
US07926092B2
A method and system for enabling devices to join secure networks without requiring the devices to be aware of any particular security credential delivery mechanism or to implement multiple security credential delivery mechanisms.
US07926088B2
A computer system receives from a user computer, an authorization code and an access instruction for at least one data record with person-related contents. It executes the access instruction only if the authorization code matches a comparison criterion which it determines on the basis of a data record code assigned to the data record. The data record code is specific at least to the person whose personal data the data record contains.
US07926086B1
A access control mechanism is provided on a computing device to allow an application provider to set up a declarative security policy specific to an application module. When a runtime environment of the computing device receives a request from a second application instance in a second execution context to access a protected resource in a first application instance, the runtime environment invokes the access control mechanism to determine, based on a protection-domain-level domain security policy, whether the second application instance is allowed to access protected resources in the first execution context. If so, the runtime environment invokes the access control mechanism to determine, based on a declarative security policy for a first application module associated with the first application instance, whether the second application instance is allowed to access the protected resource. If so, the runtime environment allows the second application instance access to the protected resource requested.
US07926073B2
Methods and apparatus for indirect illumination in electronic media rating systems are disclosed. A disclosed example method to detect an audience member includes reflecting non-visible light off of a room surface to indirectly illuminate a first portion of the room, receiving reflections of the indirect illumination, processing the received reflections to determine whether an audience member is present in the illuminated portion of the room, and when the audience member is not detected, adjusting a source of the non-visible light to illuminate a second portion of the room.
US07926071B2
Interfaces are provided to notify of conditions pertaining to memory management. Thus, efforts to avoid time-outs during execution of code in a managed execution environment may be implemented.
US07926068B2
A printing interface provides facilities for handling print server properties, print queues, print commands, printing-related operations, and the like. These facilities allow developers to access and utilize various printing-related information and functions.
US07926061B2
A computing system that includes a number of processing elements, a memory and a multi-task controller. The memory is organized into a set of logical partitions. Task partitions describe a task and include task state information, task data registers and ASCII task instructions. The task state information includes a set of index registers that are accessible by the task instructions. The index registers typically have dedicated locations in the task partition and are referred to by lower case ASCII alphabetic characters. Index registers are used to refer to a task partition in some cases or to a location in the current task partition in other cases for purposes of branching. Index registers can be incremented or decremented and loaded with an immediate data value. In one embodiment, the data flow unit is used to interpret the branch code and fetch contents of a named index register used in the branch.
US07926057B2
A facility is presented for scheduling computer jobs of a computing environment having a plurality of computing nodes. The facility includes scheduling N sequential computer jobs of a job queue until achieving a top job party, wherein N≧2, and the number of jobs in the top job party is dynamically determined by monitoring backfill window coverage of the computing nodes by the N scheduled jobs and automatically closing membership in the top job party once (i) all computing nodes are covered by at least one backfill window, or (ii) a backfill end time of at least one computing node is greater than or equal to a maximum wallclock limit of a set of job classes having the N scheduled jobs. Responsive to determining the top job party, the facility then backfill schedules jobs of the job queue around the top job party for execution.
US07926052B2
Embodiments of a stacked file system and method are disclosed. One system embodiment includes a memory including a stack that includes a first module and a second module, the first module including executable code that has distinct functionality from executable code of the second module; and logic configured to create a stack template comprising information about the stack.
US07926049B1
A system and method for determining differences between configurations of a software program. A configuration differencing command generates a hash table of configuration keys and values for each of the configurations being compared. A key is selected from a first hash table and the command determines if an identical key exists in the second hash table. If the key exists in the second hash table, a comparison is made of the values associated with the keys and, if the values are not identical, the configuration differencing command displays the differences to an administrator.
US07926047B2
An embodiment relates generally to a method of optimization in a run-time execution environment. The method includes providing for a plurality of symbol tables, each symbol table associated with a respective object, the plurality of objects being linked to create a runtime version of a program. The method also includes searching through a selected symbol table of the plurality of symbol tables and determining a symbol type of an entry in the selected symbol table. The method further includes executing a callback function in response to the symbol type being an special symbol table entry and returning the address of an optimized function for the entry in the selected symbol table.
US07926038B2
A solution for facilitating the test of a command line interface (CLI) of a software product is proposed. A first phase of a process generates a scenarios matrix. Each command of the CLI is defined with its arguments and the corresponding properties; the test activity is defined by specifying a desired accuracy level of the test process. The scenarios matrix can then be generated automatically, by selecting (according to the desired accuracy level) predefined rules specifying happy paths and errors cases for each property. A second phase generates corresponding test cases. An expected result is associated with each test scenario in the respective matrix. This allows creating a test document for the manual execution of the test process and/or a bucket for its automatic execution by an automation tool.
US07926037B2
A program verification process begins by converting a language of the program from a first language into an intermediate language representation. The loops of the program are eliminated. The program is converted from the intermediate language representation into a passive form. Dominators for the passive form of the program are determined. A verification condition is generated from the passive form of the program. The verification condition is structured according to the computed dominators such that when a theorem prover identifies a potential error, portions of the passive form of the program irrelevant to the potential error are ignored.
US07926032B2
The present invention is directed to an improved mapping system and code generation system. Embodiments of the present invention separate the mapping of data elements into two metalevels. The first metalevel maps between types of elements (e.g., string, int, float, varchar, etc.). This first metalevel mapping is associated with an object that contains a method (i.e., a function) which performs the conversion between the type of the element from a first data structure to the type of element in a second data structure. The second metalevel describes the actual mapping between the data elements at issue. Accordingly, the second metalevel results in an instance of the first metalevel object. Source code or scripts generated in accordance with this separation provide numerous advantages including improved flexibility, reduced storage space usage and others. The two metalevel modeling of the invention can be embodied in source code (or script) generators to generate more efficient source code (or scripts).
US07926017B2
A layout method is provided, adaptable to place cell on a chip. Firstly, a chip area is assigned for a floor plan. A global reservation deployment process is then performed to define a plurality of room units to be uniformly distributed on the chip area. Cells are placed on the chip based on the floor plan. The chip area is categorized into at least a high frequency region and a low frequency region according to operation frequencies of the placed cells thereon. A frequency based reservation deployment process is then performed to move one or more room units distributed in the low frequency region toward the high frequency region. A local cell replacement process, a routing and timing analysis are performed. If hotspots are induced, room units around the hotspots are redistributed, and then the steps of local cell replacement, routing and timing analysis are repeated.
US07926015B2
In one general embodiment, a method is provided. In operation, a first phase noise in a first circuit located on an integrated circuit is determined. Additionally, a second phase noise in a second circuit coupled to the first circuit but which is not located in the integrated circuit is determined, the second circuit being programmable. Furthermore, the first phase noise is compared with the second phase noise. Also, the second circuit is conditionally modified to optimize the performance of the integrated circuit, based on a result of the comparison. Additional methods are also presented.
US07926012B1
A method is provided to improve the usability of Design-For-Testability Synthesis (DFTS) tools and to increase the design process productivity. The method comprises receiving a list of testability and design impact analysis functions, to be performed on the circuit, also referred to as a device under test (DUT). The impact analysis leads to the creation of logical transformations, which can be selected by a user with one or more available transformation methods from a list including, but not limited to, boundary scan test logic insertion, scan test logic insertion, memory BIST (built-in-self-test) logic insertion, and logic BIST logic insertion, and scan test data compression insertion logic insertion.
US07926011B1
A system and method of designing an integrated circuit capable of deriving timing constraints for individual block-level circuits of an integrated circuit that are derived from the chip-level timing constraints and analysis. The block-level timing constraints are in the form of one or more logical timing constraint points at the input and output ports of block-level circuits. Each logical timing constraint points specifies a clock source used to clock data through the port, a delay parameter specifying data propagation delay backward from an input port and forward from an output port, and any timing exception associated with the data path. Using the logical timing constraint point, the circuit design system performs independent timing analysis and optimization of each block-level circuit. The system then reassembles the block-level circuits into a modified chip-level circuit for which timing closure can be achieved.
US07926009B2
The present invention is generally related to integrated circuit devices, and more particularly, to methods, systems and design structures for the field of image processing, and more specifically to vector units for supporting image processing. A dual vector unit implementation is described wherein two vector units are configured receive data from a common register file. The vector units may independently and simultaneously process instructions. Furthermore, the vector units may be adapted to perform scalar operations thereby integrating the vector and scalar processing. The vector units may also be configured to share resources to perform an operation, for example, a cross product operation.
US07926006B2
A method of designing features on a semiconductor wafer. A design of active or functional features is provided for chiplets separated by kerf areas on the wafer. The method then includes determining pattern density of the chiplet features, and applying a pattern of spaced dummy features on chiplet area not covered by active or functional features, as well as in the kerf areas. The dummy features are uniformly expanded or reduced in size until a desired dummy feature pattern density is reached.
US07926001B2
Systems and methods of semiconductor device optimization include a system and method to determine a dataset for a layer of the semiconductor device, where the operation includes receiving a dataset defining a plurality of original patterns of sacrificial material in a layer of a semiconductor device, wherein the original patterns of sacrificial material are used to define placement of spacer material to define patterning of circuit elements for the semiconductor device; determining densities of the plurality of original patterns of sacrificial material in areas across a portion of the layer of the semiconductor device; and augmenting the dataset to include an additional pattern of sacrificial material in an area of the layer having a density lower than a threshold density.
US07925998B2
An input pin capacitance of a cell is obtained in advance in a function expression, and a delay is calculated in such manner that the input pin capacitance is calculated in functions of an input slew and a drive load capacitance in each instance. In a cell characterizing process, a total volume of a current running into an input terminal before a voltage value of the input terminal reaches a reference voltage is obtained so that a value approximate to a real input pin capacitance can be obtained.
US07925989B2
In a system and method for displaying hierarchically related data, a processor may display in a single display window of a display device respective representations of a plurality of hierarchically related data records in accordance with the hierarchical relationship, where each of at least two of the representations includes a respective table including a plurality of data columns, and where the display of some of the columns of the tables is in accordance with display settings set based on a determination that columns of different tables correspond to each other for alignment.
US07925986B2
Methods of and systems for entering ambiguous text input via a linear character selection display are provided. A system for entering an alphanumeric string includes presentation logic for displaying on a presentation device an alphabet arranged into a row of letters and indication logic for presenting visual cues grouping a series of letters of the row into a cluster. The system also includes navigation logic for receiving user actions to move the visual cues along the row of letters to change the letters grouped into the cluster. The visual cues move along the row of letters in variable offsets based on a rate of input of the user actions. The system further includes selection logic for receiving user actions to select the cluster of letters to cause at least one of the letters of the selected cluster to be displayed in a string field.
US07925985B2
The structure and status of a process are displayed jointly. Multiple visualization mechanisms are used to provide the visualization of business process data. Drill-down of the data provides interactivity for a user to access information. In one embodiment color coding is used to provide a color distribution to visually indicate information to a user regarding a process.
US07925979B2
A manufacturing/process control system information access provider architecture is disclosed. Manufacturing/process control system data provider flexibility is achieved through a user-configurable manufacturing/process control information portal server that comprises multiple selectable data provides (sources) and/or data types that a particular data provider accommodates. A user configures the portal server to deliver manufacturing/process control information associated with a controlled process environment, such as a food processing plant floor or an oil refinery reactor, to the user via a browser client over the Internet or a corporate intranet. Furthermore, an extensible architecture is provided that enables adding new components to the portal server. Such extensions include new data sources and new data types/handlers. The new architecture enables a user to select particular ones of the available data handlers and then their associated data sources thereby facilitating customizing the configuration of the portal server to the particular needs/interests of the user.
US07925978B1
Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for designating a memory region for receiving image frames from an image frame server, the image frames are from a first sequence of image frames. Each image frame in the first sequence of image frames is associated with a time position on a first timeline. A needed image frame is selected, the needed image frame associated with a second time position on a second timeline. The second time position is mapped on the second timeline to a first time position on the first timeline. The image frame server is requested to provide an image frame from the first sequence of image frames at the first time position on the first timeline.
US07925975B2
A user can access a searching component that allows the user to enter search terms to search for commands associated with a computer program. The most likely commands are provided to the user, and a command can be selected for execution.
US07925968B2
Navigation from content to a portal page is provided by identifying a name of a first object in content to be displayed in a computer system. A first portal page is configured to present information about the first object. Metadata of a kind that, when received by the portal, causes the first portal page to be displayed, is obtained. An input control associated with the name of the first object is created in the content, the metadata to be forwarded to the portal upon a user activating the input control. A GUI comprises a portal area for displaying a first portal page associated with a first object upon the portal receiving metadata for the first object, and a content presentation area including an input control that is associated with a name of the first object. Upon a user activating the input control the metadata is forwarded to the portal.
US07925962B2
A Digitally Video Broadcasting—Handheld (DVB-H) system for performing forward error correction includes: a tuner for receiving a data stream; a base-band receiver, coupled to the tuner, for extracting data bytes of a multi-protocol-encapsulation forward-error-correction (MPE-FEC) frame, and performing syndrome calculation on each extracted data byte to determine a corresponding partial syndrome; and an embedded memory, coupled to the base-band receiver, for accumulating each partial syndrome to determine a complete syndrome; wherein once all syndromes of the MPE-FEC frame are received, the base-band receiver determines corresponding error values and utilizes the error values to forward error correct the MPE-FEC frame.
US07925961B2
A transmitter generates error correction data according to an error correction scheme that logically arranges the communication data in a number of rows and a number of columns. The transmitter transmits the communication data and the error correction data. A receiver receives the communication data and the error correction data. The receiver processes the error correction data to correct errors in the communication data. The receiver generates information regarding the errors in the communication data. The transmitter processes the information to alter at the number of rows and/or the number of columns.
US07925949B2
Electronic apparatus, systems, and methods of operating and constructing the electronic apparatus and/or systems include an embedded processor disposed in a logic chip to direct, among other functions, self-testing of an electronic device structure in conjunction with a pattern buffer disposed in the logic chip, when the electronic device structure is coupled to the logic chip. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.
US07925939B2
A pre-code device includes firstly memory circuit, an address decoder, and an alternative logic circuit. The first memory circuit includes a number of memory blocks and at east a replacing block. The memory blocks are pointed by a number of respective physical addresses. The replacing block is pointed by a replacing address. The address decoder decodes an input address to provide a pre-code address. The alternative logic circuit looks up an address mapping table, which maps defect physical address among the physical addresses to the replacing address, to map the pre-code address to the replacing address when the pre-code address corresponds to the defect physical address. The alternative logic circuit correspondingly pre-codes the pre-code data to the replacing block.
US07925938B2
A structure and method for repairing SDRAM by generating a Slicing Table of Fault Distribution and using the size of SDRAM page as the partition basic block. The Slicing Table of Fault Distribution is generated at each booting or memory-testing, and the elemental range of the number of detected defects is formed. When the number of detected defects exceeds the elemental range, the limits of another partition block with a lower rate of defects are used to cure the defect. The repair bit is also encoded according to the Slicing Table of Fault Distribution, pointing to the remapping bit so that the access operation occurs at the remapping bit. As such, the cost of producing, testing and repairing SDRAM is greatly reduced.
US07925922B2
A failover method for a computer system having a clustering configuration, in which among a plurality of computers having the clustering configuration, any one of computers, when detecting a malfunction of a system including a certain computer, transmits a detection of the system malfunction to computers configuring the other systems, and the any one of computers, when detecting the malfunction of the system including the certain computer and receiving malfunction notifications of the system including the certain computer from the computers configuring the other systems, issues a reset request to the certain computer.
US07925921B2
A method for fault tolerance and fault recovery in multiprocessor systems that concurrently manage queues is disclosed. The illustrative embodiment comprises a plurality of servers, a queue of jobs to be assigned to the servers, and two queue managers—a primary unit and a secondary unit—such that the secondary fills in for the primary unit while the primary unit is down. The illustrative embodiment provides for smooth transitions from the normal state into the failure state and back into the normal state without losing jobs or violating the queue discipline of the system.
US07925920B2
Methods and systems for facilitating fault tolerance in a non-hot-standby configuration of a network routing system are provided. According to one embodiment, a failover method is provided. A fault manager executing on a control blade of multiple server blades of a network routing system actively monitors an active processing engine of multiple processing engines within the network routing system. Responsive to detecting a fault associated with the active processing engine, the active processing engine is dynamically replaced with a non-hot-standby processing engine of the multiple processing engines by (i) determining one or more software contexts that were associated with the active processing engine prior to detection of the fault, and (ii) creating one or more replacement software contexts within the non-hot-standby processing engine corresponding to the one or more software contexts.
US07925915B2
There is provided a system and method of disaster preparedness and restoration of service of damaged or destroyed telecommunication network elements. A computer-implemented method of disaster backup for network elements includes establishing connectivity to a plurality of network elements. A host computer may transmit one or more commands to the network elements for invoking a computer routine to create a plurality of computer readable service continuity data to a local memory of the network elements. An automated system of computer executable components for disaster recovery of network elements includes a computer executable controller component that is configured to select a plurality of network elements designated for disaster backup action. A computer executable engine component is configured to establish connectivity to the plurality of network elements and to transmit one or more commands to the network elements so as to replicate service continuity data for each of said network elements.
US07925909B1
In various aspects, a portable electronic device includes electrical components supported by a housing, the electrical components including a user interface coupled to a processor and a storage medium including an emergency power storage module coupled to the processor. The portable apparatus further includes one or more power storage devices configured to provide electrical energy to the electrical components, at least one power storage device operably controlled by the emergency power storage module to provide emergency electrical energy to the electronic components for an emergency communication.
US07925899B2
Assertions of sentinel nodes within a device may be used to calculate device power consumption at runtime. These power estimates may be used to estimate a device temperature or leakage power, and/or may be used to make device throttling decisions.
US07925898B2
Secure computation environments are protected from bogus or rogue load modules, executables and other data elements through use of digital signatures, seals and certificates issued by a verifying authority. A verifying authority—which may be a trusted independent third party—tests the load modules or other executables to verify that their corresponding specifications are accurate and complete, and then digitally signs the load module or other executable based on tamper resistance work factor classification. Secure computation environments with different tamper resistance work factors use different verification digital signature authentication techniques (e.g., different signature algorithms and/or signature verification keys)—allowing one tamper resistance work factor environment to protect itself against load modules from another, different tamper resistance work factor environment. Several dissimilar digital signature algorithms may be used to reduce vulnerability from algorithm compromise, and subsets of multiple digital signatures may be used to reduce the scope of any specific compromise.
US07925893B2
A copyright protection system is provided that keeps manufacturing costs down regardless of the total number of playback apparatuses belonging to the system. In this system, a device key generating unit of a key management apparatus performs a modular exponentiation operation on a random number with an inverse element of a product of predetermined prime numbers, so as to generate and distribute device keys to playback apparatuses in one-to-one correspondence. A key revocation data generating unit generates, as key revocation data, information identifying the prime numbers used by an unrevoked playback apparatus to generate a decryption key from its device key and distributes the key revocation data along with an encrypted content to each playback apparatus. Playback apparatuses each attempt to generate a description key based on the key revocation data, and only those playback apparatuses that have successfully generated a decryption key are able to decrypt the encrypted content.
US07925891B2
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for performing cryptographic operations on a plurality of message blocks within a processor to generate a message digest. In one embodiment, the apparatus has an x86-compatible microprocessor that includes translation logic and execution logic. The translation logic receives a single, atomic cryptographic instruction from a source therefrom, where the single, atomic cryptographic instruction prescribes generation of the message digest according to one of the cryptographic operations. The translation logic also translates the single, atomic cryptographic instruction into a sequence of micro instructions specifying sub-operations required to accomplish generation of the message digest according to the one of the cryptographic operations. The execution logic is operatively coupled to the translation logic. The execution logic receives the sequence of micro instructions, and performs the sub-operations to generate the message digest.
US07925890B2
A method is provided for re-initializing a cryptographic processing module (102) at a location designated as an unclassified environment. The method includes storing in a database (122) a module unique recovery vector (310, 510) assigned to a cryptographic processing module. The method also includes indexing the module unique recovery vector in the database using a unique module identifying code (for example, a serial number) assigned to the cryptographic processing module. The method further includes subsequently communicating the module unique recovery vector from the database, over a computer network (120), to a remote computing environment (400) that is unclassified. The module unique recovery vector is used to re-initialize the cryptographic processing module.
US07925885B2
Material code recording and reading method and devices designed for protection of products and control of their authenticity. The marking device 1 embeds a sign upon the product 4, the marked product 5 is passed to camera 2 which films the product material structure around the sign and transfers the image to the recording device 3, the latter records the database. The comparing alarm device 8 compares the icon from camera 7 with the icon from database 6 and alarms whether they are identical or not.
US07925884B2
A method of verifying a carved seal includes detecting a pressure on a carved seal stamp is detected through pins extending from a face of the carved stamp steal. It is determined if the pressure indicates that the seal is being pressed. A fingerprint of a user of the seal is read when it is determined that the seal is being pressed. An image of an object being stamped by the seal is photographed if the pressure indicates that the seal is being pressed. A time that the seal is being pressed is determined if the pressure indicates that the seal is being pressed. A location of the seal is determined if the pressure indicates that the seal is being pressed. An audio note is recorded if the pressure indicates that the seal is being pressed. The fingerprint, time, and location is associated with the photograph of the image of the object being stamped by the seal. The information is encoded into a face of the seal to indicate that the fingerprint was determined to belong to an authorized user.
US07925882B2
Data application method enabling evaluations to be properly received while content is being protected, enabling content users to use only what they want to use in the amount they want to use it, and enabling advertising providers in certainty to have users use ads. The method includes: a step of converting first data for permitting use based on predetermined conditions, into encrypted first data by means of a predetermined encryption key; a step of generating watermarked second data in which the encryption key is embedded, as an invisible electronic watermark, into second data for permitting use unconditionally; and a step of compositing and distributing the encrypted first data and the watermarked second data.
US07925874B1
Disclosed are systems, methods and computer program products for adaptive configuration of conflicting applications. An example method comprises collecting system configuration information from a computer system, including system hardware and software information. The method further comprises monitoring system resource utilization during execution of a first program and one or more second programs. The method further comprises determining one or more critical levels of system resource utilization by applying fuzzy logic rules to the collected system configuration information. When the monitored system resource utilization exceeds the determined critical level for a predetermined period of time, determining, based on the collected software information, if the first program conflicts with execution of one or more second programs. Determining whether conflicting second programs are harmful to the computer system and changing configuration settings of the first program to resolve conflicts with the conflicting second programs that are harmless.
US07925871B2
A data processing apparatus 2 is provided with one or more branch predictors 10 for generating branch predictions. A supervising predictor 12 is responsive to at least a stream of branch predictions to identify one or more cyclically recurring errors in the branch predictors and generate corrected behaviours for a prefetch unit 4.
US07925862B2
A coprocessor (14) may be used to perform one or more specialized operations that can be off-loaded from a primary or general purpose processor (12). It is important to allow efficient communication and interfacing between the processor (12) and the coprocessor (14). In one embodiment, a coprocessor (14) generates and provides instructions (200, 220) to an instruction pipe (20) in the processor (12). Because the coprocessor (14) generated instructions are part of the standard instruction set of the processor (12), cache (70) coherency is easy to maintain. Also, circuitry (102) in coprocessor (14) may perform an operation on data while circuitry (106) in coprocessor (14) is concurrently generating processor instructions (200, 220).
US07925857B2
In a method of generating a cache directory to include a plurality of associativity classes, each associativity class includes an address tag including a plurality of address bits. Each address tag is configured to store a unique address to a specific location in an memory space. An amount of memory that is in an actually configured portion of the memory space is determined. A minimum number of bits necessary to address each memory location in the actually configured portion of the memory space is determined. Each address tag is configured in each associativity class to include the minimum number of bits necessary to address each memory location in the actually configured portion of the memory space. The cache directory is configured to include a maximum number of associativity classes per line in the cache directory.
US07925853B2
An information handling system includes a processor with an array power management controller. The array power management controller gates off a memory array, such as a cache, to conserve power whenever a group of instructions in a branch instruction queue together as a group exhibits a confidence in the accuracy of branch predictions of branch instructions therein that is less than a first predetermined threshold confidence threshold. In one embodiment of the information handling system, the array power management controller speculatively inhibits the gating off of the memory array when confidence in the accuracy of a branch prediction for a particular currently issued branch instruction exhibits less than a second predetermined threshold confidence threshold. In this manner, the array power management controller again allows access to the memory array in the event a branch redirect is likely.
US07925851B2
A storage device is provided with a file I/O interface control device and a plurality of disk pools. The file I/O interface control device sets one of a plurality of storage hierarchies defining storage classes, respectively, for each of LUs within the disk pools, thereby forming a file system in each of the LUs. The file I/O interface control device migrates at least one of the files from one of the LUs to another one of the LUs of an optimal storage class, based on static properties and dynamic properties of each file.
US07925841B2
A method for allocating memory associated with a local shared memory segment to facilitate execution of a first process. The method includes automatically allocating memory associated with a first MRG to the local shared memory segment if the local shared memory segment is created by the first process. The first MRG is associated with a first local shared affiliation that involves the first process. The method also includes automatically allocating memory associated with a second MRG to the local shared memory segment if the local shared memory is created by a second process different from the first process. The second MRG is associated with a second local shared affiliation that involves a second process.
US07925837B2
A method, computer program product and computer system for maintaining write cache and parity update footprint coherency in a multiple storage adaptor configuration for storage adaptors in a storage subsystem, which includes providing atomic updating of the storage adaptors and the attached disk drives, enabling runtime addition and runtime subtraction of a storage adaptor in the multiple storage adaptor configuration, and maintaining write cache and parity update footprint coherency using atomic updating, runtime addition and runtime subtraction of a storage adaptor.
US07925830B2
A disk array includes a drive management unit, which is a program for identifying kinds of disk devices and managing different disk devices separately, and a drive management table for storing information to be utilized by the drive management unit. The disk array further includes a program for managing accumulated time of disk devices. The program includes a drive lifetime setting portion for setting lifetimes of drives, a drive start/stop portion for intentionally starting/stopping ATA disk devices, and an operation time measurement portion for measuring accumulated operation time. Since it is necessary to be conscious of difference in reliability and performance among disk devices when forming a RAID, a drive kind notification unit, which is a program for notifying of the kind of a disk device when forming the RAID, is provided.
US07925828B2
According to one embodiment, a disk has a set of tracks thereon. A controller performs refresh control for reading data by a head from a track on the disk to be refreshed and for writing the read data by the head to a spare track adjacent to the track from which the data has been read. The controller switches the track from which the data has been read to a new spare track after the writing.
US07925824B2
A memory system is provided that reduces latency by running a memory channel fully asynchronous from a memory device frequency. The memory system comprises a memory hub device integrated in a memory module. The memory hub device comprises a command queue that receives a memory access command from an external memory controller via a memory channel at a first operating frequency. The memory system also comprises a memory hub controller integrated in the memory hub device. The memory hub controller reads the memory access command from the command queue at a second operating frequency. By receiving the memory access command at the first operating frequency and reading the memory access command at the second operating frequency an asynchronous boundary is implemented. The first operating frequency is a maximum designed operating frequency of the memory channel and the first operating frequency is independent of the second operating frequency.
US07925823B2
A mechanism is provided to reuse functional data buffers. With Extreme Data Rate (XDR™) Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), test patterns are employed to dynamically calibrate data with the clock. To perform this task, data buffers are employed to store data and commands for the calibration patterns. However, there are different procedures and requirements for transmission and reception calibrations. Hence, to reduce the amount of hardware needed to perform transmission and reception calibrations, the data buffers employ additional front end circuitry to reuse the buffers for both tasks.
US07925822B2
An erase count of a flash memory block which is lost, e.g., due to power failure is updated or replaced by using known erase counts of other blocks of the flash memory. A flash management algorithm assigns a new erase count value instead of the lost one based on either a maximum value, an average value or a value combining the maximum value of the known erase counts and some tolerance value. The known values may be obtained from wear leveling data or from a stored erase history.
US07925816B2
Embodiments of the present invention provide a system that transfers data between the components in the computer system through a switch. In these embodiments, the switch includes multiple switch chips which are coupled together and are configured to collectively function as a switch. During operation, each switch chip, receives cells from the subset of the set of inputs and selectively transfers each of the cells to at least one output of the subset of the set of outputs coupled to the switch chip or of the subset of the set of outputs coupled to the other switch chips.
US07925814B2
A dynamically configurable logic gate includes an input summer for receiving a first input signal and a second input signal to generate a summed input signal. Further the dynamically configurable logic gate includes a nonlinear element that applies a nonlinear function to the summed input signal to produce a nonlinear output signal. The dynamically configurable logic gate output signal corresponds to one of a plurality of different logic gates responsive to adjusting the summed input signal and/or the nonlinear function. In another embodiment, the dynamically configurable logic gate includes feedback to one of the inputs. The dynamically configurable logic gate receives the two inputs and operates as one of a plurality of different logic gate types so as to produce an output signal that corresponds to a memory latch according to a selection of the control signal. An array structure of dynamically configurable logic elements is also disclosed.
US07925813B2
A portable computer adapted for electrical connection to a docking station having multiple power modes of operation is described. The portable computer has one or more CPU chips which have at least two power modes of operation, a low power mode and a high power mode. When the portable computer is operated as a stand-alone computer, it operates in the low power mode. When the portable computer is operated while electrically connected to the docking station, it operates in a high power mode. The docking station has greater cooling capacity than the portable computer alone to provide enhanced cooling of the high power mode of operation.
US07925809B2
Methods and systems for storage management in a data processing device. The data processing device may be connected to a host computer and it can be in one of two states: disk mode (e.g., docked) or device mode (e.g., undocked). According to an embodiment, a mass storage device associated with a data processing device is divided into two or more segments or virtual volumes, and at least one volume is managed by the device even in a disk mode. In some cases, this makes the device usable while in the docked state and hence it improves the user experience. In some embodiments, an extra software component other than the file system is employed on the device to manage the storage device. Certain volumes may be dynamically increased or decreased while the data processing device is in a disk mode.
US07925808B2
A memory system with serialized data transfer. The memory system includes within a memory controller and a plurality of memory devices. The memory controller receives a plurality of write data values from a host and outputs the write data values as respective serial streams of bits. Each of the memory devices receives at least one of the serial streams of bits from the memory controller and converts the serial stream of bits to a set of parallel bits for storage.
US07925807B2
Providing for arbitration and dynamic downloading of microcode at a controller associated with electrically erasable non-volatile memory is described herein. By way of example, a download agent can be provided to a module of such non-volatile memory. Characteristics of the memory module and/or specifications of a host application can be utilized to select one or more memory control modules from a group of such control modules. A selected control module(s) can be installed at the controller via the download agent to provide non-default management of raw memory. Further, arbitration of multiple control modules can be implemented to select among various mechanisms to control/manage raw memory. Arbitration can be based, for instance, on specifications of a host device application. Accordingly, great flexibility and control of raw non-volatile memory can be provided for a host device at an application level.
US07925806B2
An information transceiver including a storage unit storing usage information transferred from a provider device, an information transferring unit transferring the usage information to a user device when a usage start request is received in a state of being connected to the user device, an information monitoring unit performing processing for making the user device monitor a usage of the usage information and store usage record information after the usage information is transferred to the user device, an ending processing unit performs processing for making the user device read and transfer the usage record information after the user device deletes the usage information when a usage end request is received in the state of being connected to the user device, a location information monitoring unit obtaining present location information from an external location information service site for transmission when a communication request is received from the provider device.
US07925803B2
Full-duplex communication over a communication link between an initiator operating with an initiator clock and a target operating with a target clock involves, in communication from the initiator to the target: storing data from the initiator in a first FIFO memory with the initiator clock, reading data from the initiator stored in the first FIFO memory, wherein reading is with the target clock transmitting the data read from the first FIFO memory over a first mesochronous link, and storing the data transmitted over the first mesochronous link in a buffer whereby the data are made available to the target. Communication from the target to the initiator includes: transmitting data from the target over a second mesochronous link, and storing the data transmitted over the second mesochronous link in a second FIFO memory, wherein storing is with the target clock, whereby the data are made available to the initiator for reading from the second FIFO memory with the initiator clock signal.
US07925796B1
Methods, systems, and computer program products for performing an input/output (I/O) operation that includes a virtual drain. According to one aspect, the subject matter described herein includes a method for performing an input/output operation that includes a virtual drain. The method includes receiving a request to perform a consistent operation involving a storage entity, and in response to receiving the request: arresting write requests to the storage entity; performing a virtual drain, where performing a virtual drain includes identifying, and indicating as deferred, pending writes to the storage entity; performing the consistent operation; releasing write requests to the storage entity; and processing each deferred write using information that is associated with the write and that describes the context in which the write request was accepted.
US07925786B2
A system, a method and computer-readable media for hosting network-based services for a domain name. Authorization is obtained to host services for the domain name. This authorization may originate from an entity in control of the domain. The authorized network-based services are provided to users of the domain in interfaces that present advertising content to the users. Advertising revenue is generated in connection with this presentation of advertising content, and a portion of the advertising revenue is allocated for distribution to the entity in control of the domain.
US07925768B1
A method and network for adapting a network management protocol (e.g., TL-1) for various transmission protocol terminologies (e.g., SDH and SONET). A network element operates in one transmission protocol mode and sends network management messages to a network management device in a managing terminology based on another transmission protocol mode. The network management device then translates the network management messages to be presented in a user interface at the network management device to an operating terminology based on the operating transmission protocol mode used by the network element.
US07925758B1
A system and method for managing data transfers. A system comprises a plurality of nodes and a fabric including at least a first link interconnecting the plurality of nodes. The system allocates a first pipe having a unique first pipe identifier and a second pipe having a unique second pipe identifier within the first link. A first initiator node uses the first link and the first pipe identifier to communicate with a first target node. A second initiator node uses the first link and the second pipe identifier to communicate with a second target node. The system allows concurrent data exchanges via the first and second pipes. The first link comprises a Fibre Channel link. The first and second initiator nodes each comprise at least one SCSI initiator and the first and second target nodes each comprise one or more SCSI logical units coupled to a physical storage medium.
US07925749B1
A system and method for transparent data replication of one or more data containers over migrating virtual servers (vfilers) operating on physical storage systems is provided. A mirroring (or other replication) procedure associated with a vfiler generates an entry in a mirror table maintained by one or more appropriate mirroring applications executing on the physical storage systems. The mirror table identifies source and destination “owners” of a replicated data container by vfiler instead of only by physical storage system. Thus, when a vfiler is migrated from a source physical storage system (“source”) to a destination physical storage system (“destination”), the mirroring application may continue to perform mirroring operations on the data containers at a per vfiler level to thereby improve the utility of migration of the vfiler among the storage systems.
US07925748B2
A method for managing system resources in a network environment. The method begins by reading from a first log timestamp Ti for i=1, 2, . . . , I, where each Ti comprises a timestamp corresponding to a unique request to utilize system resources. After reading timestamps, calculating estimated response Ei for i=1, 2, . . . , I, according to a function. After calculating estimated responses, the method continues by calculating actual response Ri for i=1, 2, . . . , I, according to a function Ri=Ei−Ti. After calculating all actual responses; storing each actual response in a second log. The second log comprising both timestamp Ti and actual response Ri for i=1, 2, . . . , I.
US07925744B1
A derived state value is calculated based on a plurality of component state values. As any of the plurality of component state values changes, the derived state value is recalculated. When sending information about a MAC address or other data between two components, the derived state value is included in the information sent. An object receiving a MAC address or other data from another object checks the validity of the received derived state value to determine whether to accept the new data and flush old data, to accept the new data, or to ignore the new data.
US07925740B2
A system and method for detecting and recording events related to the quality of service experienced by a wireless device in a wireless network. In one example, these events may be detected and recorded by the wireless device, without support from the network. Performance monitoring tests may be initiated by the wireless device at the direction of a management server, independent of the network in which the device may be operating. The wireless device may store the results of these tests and report the results to the management server.
US07925737B2
The present invention comprises a method for automatically configuring network resources. The method includes receiving a request from a client for at least one of a plurality of network resources in a network and automatically configuring the at least one of the plurality of network resources and the network in response to the request. The method also includes automatically associating in a client cell the at least one of the plurality of network resources with the client, wherein the client can access the at least one of the plurality of network resources that have been associated with the client in the client cell. In a particular embodiment, the client cell may be a virtual local area network.
US07925736B2
The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for redirecting client messages between hosts within a messaging infrastructure. When a host receives a client message, it can refer to lock information in a shared database to determine if it is the correct host to receive the client message. The lock information includes a redirect endpoint. The redirect endpoint identifies an endpoint where client messages can be sent for delivery to the appropriate workflow instance. The redirect endpoint can be included in a redirect fault message, that is returd to a host when a host attempts to process a client message that is already locked to another workflow instance. Using the redirect endpoint, a host receiving a redirect fault message can use the redirect endpoint to send a client message to the correct host.
US07925735B2
The claimed subject matter provides late network binding functionality to network or web-based applications or services. An application gateway component exposes generic interfaces for different types of network applications allowing client application developers to utilize generic functionality. Client applications can invoke the generic interfaces, at which point the application gateway component can determine contextual information related to the end user. Using the contextual information, the application gateway component can perform late network binding to a network or web-based application or service by generating and transmitting a request thereto based at least in part on the generic interface invocation and user context. The contextual information can include explicit binding information or data that can be utilized to determine or infer binding preferences.
US07925726B2
Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a system for distributing data (e.g., content data) over a computer network and a method of arranging receiver nodes in a computer network such that the capacity of a server is effectively increased (e.g., the capacity of a server may be effectively multiplied many times over; the capacity of the server may be effectively increased exponentially).
US07925725B2
The present invention provides an apparatus, method, and program for automatically generating setting information for a different model on the basis of settings previously made. Additionally, the present invention is directed to automatically determining one piece of setting information to be set for a different model on the basis of settings previously made. The present invention is also directed to automatically generating, on the basis of settings previously made, setting information that is to be set for a different model and that meets the user's intention.
US07925723B1
A system and method for collaboratively providing configurations for a media environment are provided. In general, configuration events from a number of media environments are collected and provided to a Collaborative Configuration System (CCS) server. Based on the configuration events, the CCS server generates and provides recommended configurations to a media environment. The recommended configurations may be generated prior to or after receiving a request for recommended configurations from the media environment. In one embodiment, the recommended configurations are provided as a recommended configuration profile providing a set of configurations to be applied at the media environment. In another embodiment, the recommended configurations are provided as a CCS track associated with a particular media presentation. The CCS track includes configuration changes to be applied to the media environment for a number of time slices of the media presentation during playback of the media presentation.
US07925721B2
The present invention relates to modality conversion for supporting Quality of Service (QoS) according to media resources, which includes the steps of receiving a modality conversion descriptor in which the characteristics of the modality conversion of the multimedia contents are described, receiving the multimedia contents, and converting the modality of the multimedia contents into a modality determined according to a media resource and the modality conversion descriptor. According to the present invention, a systematic approach to a design for an overlap content value model is provided so that the conversion boundaries between modalities can be quantitatively calculated. As a result, the correlation between various modalities can be established in a single model, and modality conversion supporting the optimal QoS can be performed.
US07925717B2
Techniques are disclosed for controlling interaction between an enterprise application and a mobile client device in a communication system. Push content is generated in a wireless secure server or other type of server, responsive to information received in the wireless secure server from the enterprise application. The push content is deliverable from the wireless secure server to the mobile client device over a wireless network. The wireless secure server receives from the mobile client device, responsive to the push content, a request for additional information identifiable at least in part by the push content. The additional information is deliverable from the server to the mobile client device over the wireless network.
US07925715B2
Apparatus, methods, and programs for servicing persistent storage items on a wireless device. Embodiments include a wireless device having a computer platform with a module operable to retrieve and/or change persistent storage items on the wireless device based on a received configuration. The wireless device may further include an access module operable to either permit or deny access to persistent storage items based on information associated with the configuration. The embodiments may also include an apparatus operable to receive information relating to the activity performed with respect to the persistent storage items and to generate a corresponding report.
US07925711B1
There is a constant battle to break even between continuing improvements in DRAM capacities and the growing memory demands of large-memory high-performance applications. Performance of such applications degrades quickly once the system hits the physical memory limit and starts swapping to the local disk. We present the design, implementation and evaluation of Anemone—an Adaptive Network Memory Engine—that virtualizes the collective unused memory of multiple machines across a gigabit Ethernet LAN, without requiring any modifications to the either the large memory applications or the Linux kernel. We have implemented a working prototype of Anemone and evaluated it using real-world unmodified applications such as ray-tracing and large in-memory sorting. Our results with the Anemone prototype show that unmodified single-process applications execute 2 to 3 times faster and multiple concurrent processes execute 6 to 7.7 times faster, when compared to disk based paging. The Anemone prototype reduces page-fault latencies by a factor of 19.6—from an average of 9.8 ms with disk based paging to 500 μs with Anemone. Most importantly, Anemone provides a virtualized low-latency access to potentially “unlimited” network memory resources.
US07925710B2
Embodiments described herein provide for a message object that simultaneously exposes an XML view and Type view for a message infoset. In this embodiment, interaction with a message can occur using either an XML or Type application program interface (API), which are synced. More specifically, embodiments herein provide or expose a common set of headers (e.g., SOAP headers) as “typed” properties (e.g., CLR properties), which allow for getting and/or setting a value thereof. In other words, the Type API reads/writes values for typed properties without regard to how the message is encoded with XML. Moreover, the two APIs are synced such that a value can be set using one API and retrieved using the other. For example, an XML API may be used as a writing mechanism for interacting with a value, while the Type API can read that same value, and vise-versa.
US07925709B1
Distinctively treating digital communications sent by bulk message senders includes providing a set of bulk sender behavior policies and monitoring compliance by a bulk message sender with the set of policies. Based on compliance by the bulk message sender with the set of policies, digital communications sent by the bulk message sender are distinctively treated.
US07925685B2
A control system, a method of operating the same, and a method for setting up the same are disclosed for simplified driving of a function unit parametrized by a plurality of input variables. The control system includes a setting unit and a control unit, the setting unit being used to set a number of prescribed control parameters and to feed them to the control unit. A value tuple that is fed to the function unit for the parametrization thereof is determined by the control unit as a function of the controlled variables in accordance with a stored interpolation function based on interpolation points. To set up the control system, it is provided to select a number of value tuples of the input variables as interpolation points from a parameter space defined by the input variables, and to determine the interpolation function in such a way that it defines a continuous subspace of the parameter space which has a dimensionality corresponding to the number of controlled variables and contains every interpolation point.
US07925681B2
A file namespace hierarchy bypass and method to access files are provided. The bypass can be employed, for example, as a computer-readable medium with instructions for generating a unique identifier associated with a file and instructions for accessing the file based on the unique identifier and a specified search space. A computer-readable medium having instructions for obtaining the unique identifier and specified search space associated with the file and instructions for generating a path designation by combining the unique identifier and the specified search space used to access the file may also be employed. The method for bypassing the namespace hierarchy of the file, for example, may include passing the unique identifier and specified search space to a program and accessing the file based on a path designation generated by the program by combining the unique identifier and specified search space.
US07925673B2
Systems and methods for providing knowledge and online access to knowledge resources to users are disclosed. Features embodied in various embodiments include: 1) linking members of communities with mentors and subject matter experts that can help the member derive value from their online experience; 2) assessing and delivering online knowledge at a participant level; 3) pushing knowledge resources to participants based on the participant profile; 4) creating and updating an online personal growth plan; and 5) tracking value by participant or by community, as required by community leadership.
US07925672B2
Systems and articles of manufacture for managing metadata associated with a data abstraction model abstractly describing data in a database. One embodiment provides a technique for managing metadata describing objects of a data abstraction model with logical fields that define abstract views of physical data in a database. Managing metadata includes traversing a logical tree structure representing the data abstraction model. The logical tree structure has a plurality of nodes, each representing a logical field or a category of logical fields of the data abstraction model. Managing metadata also includes identifying metadata describing logical fields or categories represented by the plurality of nodes. The identified metadata is stored in a queryable database. A user is allowed to query the database to identify objects in the data abstraction model that may be used to construct an abstract query.
US07925670B2
A method and system for updating a database structure. The database structure includes a dynamically changing list of control documents. A control document specifies tasks to be performed on the database structure. An agent finds an approved control document on the list such as by looking into a view of control documents. Processing the approved control document includes causing an execution of at least one task on the approved control document. Execution of a such task includes updating of the database structure, and may be implemented by the agent that found the control document or by another agent called by the agent.
US07925669B2
The invention provides a method and software for use within audio and video authoring software applications wherein the relationships between the source media files are saved and used as part of a media manager. The software allows the artist to efficiently recall which files were used together, as well as how they were used together musically or visually.
US07925661B2
A method, system, apparatus, and computer program product are presented for a meta-archive information server that provides a set of operations or services for obtaining information from a meta-archive; these operations may include dynamic indexing, searching, comparing, or other operations. A meta-archive is a set of one or more archive files that are logically grouped in (or otherwise associated with) a container object, e.g., a file system folder, a directory, or another archive file. By allowing a user to derive sets of information from an entire meta-archive, a user can maintain more files within archives, thereby reducing file system disorganization. The meta-archive information server can be easily run over a specific meta-archive when necessary, thereby generating information dynamically, even if the archive files within a meta-archive change over time.
US07925655B1
An information retrieval system uses phrases to index, retrieve, organize and describe documents. Phrases are extracted from the document collection. Documents are the indexed according to their included phrases, using phrase posting lists. The phrase posting lists are stored in an cluster of index servers. The phrase posting lists can be tiered into groups, and sharded into partitions. Phrases in a query are identified based on possible phrasifications. A query schedule based on the phrases is created from the phrases, and then optimized to reduce query processing and communication costs. The execution of the query schedule is managed to further reduce or eliminate query processing operations at various ones of the index servers.
US07925653B2
A method and system for accessing a group of objects in an electronic document is disclosed herein. The method comprises: selecting at least one object from an electronic document and grouping a plurality of objects in the electronic document based on characteristics of the selected object. The method further comprises: accessing a group of objects upon focusing on at least one of the grouped objects.
US07925652B2
A computer-based method for character string matching of a candidate character string with a plurality of character string records stored in a database is provided. The method includes identifying a set of reference character strings in the database wherein the reference character strings are identified utilizing an optimization search for a set of dissimilar character strings and generating an n-gram representation for one of the reference character strings in the set of reference character strings. The method also includes generating an n-gram representation for the candidate character string determining a similarity between the n-gram representations, and indexing the candidate character string within the database based on the determined similarities between the n-gram representation of the candidate character string and the reference character strings in the identified set.
US07925651B2
A dependency structure is used to divide samples corresponding to items to be ranked into leaf nodes, based on the rank of the items. The dependency structure is trained by splitting or merging training data received at given nodes based on selected features and selected thresholds for those features. A metric is then calculated which is indicative of performance of the node, in splitting the data. The trained structure is then used during runtime to rank items.
US07925645B2
A classifier is used to predict relevant results with arbitrary filtering conditions specified by the user. The classifier model is stored as a database table and joined with a metadata properties table instead of calculating the query result probability using the full classifier model. A user-specified query based filter is applied to the joined tables to obtain the list of documents satisfying the filter. The probability is then computed using the sub-model.
US07925643B2
A statistical tree representing an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) Schema document (XSD) is generated. The statistical tree captures information defined by the XSD by representing elements, attributes, and enumerations of the XSD as branches, nodes, and leaves of the statistical tree. The statistical tree has bits corresponding to nodes of the statistical tree. An XML document defined by the XSD is adaptively encoded, or compressed, as a number of bits based on the statistical tree that has been generated. The number of bits encoding the XML document are decoded, or decompressed, to yield the XML document also based on the statistical tree that has been generated.
US07925641B2
A system, article and method of indexing web content is presented. An attribute is generated for a rendered web page rendered by a display component. The attribute includes a uniform resource locator to the rendered web page, and the rendered web page is associated with a complex resource structure that defines content of a design time version of the rendered web page. The attribute is added to the complex resource structure, and the uniform resource locator from the attribute is indexed in a search engine index.
US07925631B1
A process such as a snapshot creation application process freezes a file system upon initiating a process to create a snapshot of a file system or a part thereof. Upon freezing the file system, the snapshot application process causes a second process to make a change to the file system. If the change is successfully made before the snapshot creation application process tries to thaw the file system, the second process sends a signal back to the snapshot application. Upon receiving a signal from the second process, the snapshot creation application process outputs a warning to a user that the snapshot is inconsistent. The snapshot application also causes a third process to automatically thaw the file system, if a certain period of time has passed and the third process has not received a signal from the snapshot application process indicating the snapshot has been successfully created.
US07925620B1
A method, a system, and an apparatus for storing, retrieving, and sharing business or personal contact information on one or more servers on a computer network. A set of contact information (e.g., for a single individual) is given an identity, called contact entity, and it is managed through the system-wide unique identifier. Same contact entity is shared by one or more users with proper permission settings in the system. Contact entities can be searched and retrieved based on degrees of separations or other criteria. The social networking relationship may be established through use of certain electronic or physical tokens. In one embodiment, a business card is used to define a contact entity and/or it is used as (a medium for transmitting) a networking/connecting token.
US07925607B2
A system (1) has an analysis engine (2) for analyzing transaction data (20) received in real time at an interface (3). A context generation engine—(25) directly receives transaction data (20) from the interface (3) and also macro data (26). Queue listeners (52) pull data from a shared memory queue (50(a), 50(b)) and feed it to transaction processors (53), which call a dynamic procedure (43) of the context generation engine (25) in real time. The transaction processors (53) therefore feeds transaction data and context parameters to a rule processor (61), effectively customizing the rule processor in real time. Each rule processor (61) executes a decision tree to determine the rules to execute in real time.
US07925599B2
A method and system for graph mining direction-aware proximity measurements. A directed graph includes nodes and directed edges connecting the nodes. A direction-aware proximity measurement is calculated from a first node to a second node or from a first group of nodes to a second group of nodes. The direction-aware proximity measurement from a first node to second node is based on an escape probability from the first node to the second node. Disclosed herein are methods for efficiently calculating one or multiple direction-aware proximity measurements. The direction-aware proximity measurements can be used in performing various graph mining applications.
US07925598B2
A method and a processing device may be provided for performing efficient weighted consistent sampling. A group of sets having multiple elements with associated weights may be provided. A single hash function may be applied to each of the elements of the group of sets to produce consistent uniformly distributed non-negative random numbers. Transformed values corresponding to each of the elements may be produced by determining a wth root of a value based on applying the hash function to a respective element, where w may be based on a weight associated with the respective element. A minimum transformed value or a maximum transformed value may be determined for each of the sets. Sets having matching ones of the minimum transformed value or the maximum transformed value may be determined. The determined sets may be considered to be similar.
US07925597B2
In a power system stabilization system for stabilizing a small-scale electric power system to which electric power generated by a rotating power generator is supplied, an electric water heater receives electric power from the electric power system and heats water, a system frequency measuring device measures system frequency of the electric power system, and a hot water controller increases the power consumption of the electric water heater when the system frequency exceeds a reference frequency, and decreases the power consumption of the electric water heater when the system frequency is less than the reference frequency.
US07925593B2
A method that uses a computer network to provide a single point of access between a plurality of video & audio devices and a plurality of video & audio content provider systems. The present invention is a method for providing a searchable, aggregated directory view of available video & audio content from multiple content providers as well as additional services such as content renting. The present invention includes a method for identifying users as subscribers of content providers' memberships.
US07925588B2
A method of processing a check issued by a payor includes creating a check image at a payor location, obtaining positive pay data from the image at the payor location using OCR and transmitting the positive pay data to a payor bank of the payor. Alternatively, the positive pay data may be generated by the payor bank from the check image received from the payor. The positive pay data includes at least a name of a payee of the check and a payment dollar amount of the check, but may also include one or more of a date of the check, a serial number of the check, and an account number of the account on which the check is drawn. The positive pay data is stored by the payor bank and used to detect potential fraud when the check is later presented to the bank for payment.
US07925584B2
A system and method of managing a construction payment process involving a plurality of participants associated with the construction project and at least one document to be transferred between at least two participants of the plurality participants during the course of the construction project. One method can include assigning at least one enforcement action to the at least one document wherein the enforcement action is automatically effected if the document is not transferred between the at least two participants.
US07925581B2
The invention includes a system and process that employs contractual bargaining with agent-based computational methods for the dynamic allocation, optimization, and pricing of contingent rights and obligations between multiple counterparties with overlapping interests. The processes employ a dynamic and endogenous hierarchy or tiering of binding incentive compatible contingent strategies, which may include optimal liquidation policies for matched assets and liabilities based upon stochastic volume/price schedule related to statistically non-stationary supply/demand elasticities and order-flow, as well as variations in market microstructure. The invention includes a dynamic open system with distributed stochastic control of strategic interactions among dynamic optimizing agents across random states, wherein the actions of any one affects the joint costs and benefits for all the agents.
US07925573B2
A computer program product is provided for administering a single investment company. The computer program product has a computer-readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructions. The instructions perform a method wherein the single investment company issuing one or more classes of shares that are bought from and redeemed with the single investment company at a net asset value and issues one or more classes of shares that are listed for trading on a securities exchange and that are bought and sold at negotiated market prices. One or more computers maintain account data of the outstanding shares. An owner of any share of any share class has an undivided interest in the single investment company.
US07925563B2
The described embodiments of the invention include a method for maintaining accounting records for a portfolio of investments, comprising accounting records stored on a computer readable medium and providing a table for each event type affecting an investment for generating an account entry, each line of the table designating which accounting record receives the account entry and at least one key designating a data source for the account entry and an operation on the data source to determine the amount of the account entry. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, a data processing system for maintaining accounting records for a portfolio of securities comprises a plurality of accounting records stored on a computer readable medium, the accounting records including tax accounts, a plurality of defined security types and, for each security type, a plurality of tables for each transaction affecting a security for generating an account entry, each line of the table designating which accounting record receives the account entry and a key designating a data source for the account entry and an operation on the data source to determine the amount of the account entry.
US07925560B2
Methods for calculating a value of a derivative based on a multiplicative index, where the multiplicative index is a multiple of an underlying index. The methods may comprise the steps of providing a first value of the underlying index and estimating a ratio of the multiplicative index over the underlying index as a first function of the underlying index over a first range of values of the underlying index. The method may also comprise the steps of calculating at least one parameter of the first function by comparing the first function to historical values of the multiplicative index and the underlying index. In addition, the method may comprise the steps of calculating a first value for the ratio given the first value of the underlying index, and calculating the value of the derivative for the first value of the ratio.
US07925556B1
A system for streaming conversion of data from a first system to a second system. The system comprises an extractor component, a translator component, and a loader component. The extractor component is operable to extract a unit of data from the first system. The translator component is operable to convert the unit of data from a first data format compatible with the first system to a second data format compatible with the second system. The loader component is operable to load the unit of data converted to the second data format into the second system, the extractor, the translator, and loader components operable for conversion of the unit of data during normal operation of the first and second systems.
US07925553B2
A system for tax planning with legislation conformance options comprises one more processors coupled to a memory. The memory stores instructions executable by the processors to implement a tax planner configured to receive data exported from a tax return preparation tool. The tax planner receives input indicating whether a tax projection to be prepared using the data is to include an impact of specified tax legislation. If the input indicates that the tax projection is to include the impact of the specified legislation, the tax planner is configured to include the impact of the specified legislation in the tax projection without requiring data to be re-exported from the tax return preparation tool. If the input indicates that the tax projection is to exclude the impact of the specified legislation, the tax planner is configured to prepare the tax projection without including the impact of the specified legislation.
US07925551B2
Transaction processing is facilitated using an approach for automatically grouping transaction-based documents as a function of matching data in the documents. In one example embodiment of the present invention, data from selected attribute fields in transaction-based documents is parsed as the documents are received at a transaction processor. When data in selected attribute fields from two or more documents match, the transaction processor automatically groups the documents having matching data under a particular anchor identification code defined as a function of the match. Upon receipt of one or more other transaction-based documents, the transaction processor advances progress towards completion of the common transaction to which the documents apply. With this approach, predefined data (e.g., a purchase order number) need not necessarily be included with a particular transaction document in order to group the document with another document belonging to the same common transaction.
US07925546B2
Various computer-implemented services are disclosed for increasing the utility of electronic wish lists, and for assisting users in making gift purchases. One such service automatically notifies a user when an item being accessed in an electronic catalog is on, or is similar to an item on, an electronic wish list of an “affiliated” user. The affiliations may be created explicitly by the users (e.g., by completing an online form), and/or implicitly based on actions performed by the users (e.g., when one user purchases a gift for another user). Another service automatically reminds a first user who is affiliated with a second user when a known or inferred gift-giving event of the second user is approaching. The reminder may include a link to a wish list of the second user, and/or may include or provide a link for viewing personalized gift recommendations for the second user.
US07925541B2
Method and system for bartering between trade parties each having one or more items available for barter, via a communications network. Items available for trade are listed and the parties can browse and search the lists to locate items they want to acquire and items they have available to trade. Each party can make an offer to trade with another party subject to various conditions and requirements relating to, for example, a requirement to maintain an item offered for trade available for a certain period of time.
US07925533B2
In particular, systems and methods are provided for delivering a discount using a virtual currency. Inventive systems and methods offer a high perceived savings value to an end-user while maintaining the perception of product value. Further, systems and methods for providing a discount are described which impose little or no cost on the service or product provider. An embodiment of an inventive method includes presenting a display of a price paid by a consumer without access to the virtual currency along with a display of an amount payable by the end-user in actual currency in combination with an amount payable in virtual currency by an end-user of an inventive system. The end-user perceives a benefit to using the virtual currency since the price paid in actual currency is less than the displayed price to be paid by a consumer without access to the virtual currency.
US07925530B2
In response to a request from a terminal, a sales-force server creates a page for providing information regarding sales activities, and sends the created page to the terminal. An e-mail server sends an e-mail including a word(s) registered in a first word table to a new addressee. The sales-force server provides the terminal with data corresponding to a predetermined number of sales tools whose usage frequency is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. The sales-force server provides a staff terminal used by at least one sales staff with target information, based on calling history regarding telephone calls from at least one customer to a call center. The sales-force server provides the staff terminal with a correction message, upon detection of error information included in utterance of the sales staff which corresponds to voice data created by the staff terminal.
US07925508B1
In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a communication device that analyzes received utterances and detects when the speaker has a target physical condition.
US07925501B2
Speech is coded using an orthogonal search by calculating a search reference value. An adaptive codevector representing a pitch component is generated. A random codevector representing a random component is also generated. The orthogonal search further includes generating a synthetic speech signal by a synthesis filter being excited by the adaptive codevector and the random codevector. A distortion between the input speech signal and the synthetic speech signal is calculated. One random codevector that minimizes the distortion is selected.
US07925493B2
A method of machine translation, using a bilingual corpus containing translation pairs each consisting of a sentence of a first language and a sentence of a second language, for translating an input sentence of the first language to the second language, including the steps of: receiving the input sentence of the first language and extracting, from the bilingual corpus, a sentence of the second language forming a pair with a sentence of the first language with highest similarity to the input sentence; applying an arbitrary modification among a plurality of predetermined modifications to the extracted sentence of the second language, and computing likelihood of sentences resulting from the modification; selecting a prescribed number of sentences having high likelihood from among the sentences resulting from the modification; repeating, on each of the sentences selected in the step of selecting, the steps of extracting, computing and selecting, until the likelihood no longer improves; and outputting, as a translation of the input sentence, a sentence having the highest likelihood among the sentences of the second language left at the end of the step of repeating.
US07925492B2
A method for emulating human cognition in electronic form is disclosed. Information is received in the form of a textual or voice input in a natural language. This is parsed into pre-determined phrases based on a stored set of language rules for the natural language. Then, the parsed phrases are determined as to whether they define aspects of an environment and, if so, then creating weighting factors to the natural language that are adaptive, the created weighting factors operable to create a weighted decision based upon the natural language. Then it is determined if the parsed phrases constitute a query and, if so, then using the weighted factors to make a decision to the query.
US07925484B2
This invention is an algorithm for estimating the topology of a protein by determination of the free energy from a global entropy evaluation model combined with local correction methods.
US07925477B2
The present invention provides systems and methods for transfer of information between various modeling environments in a model of a system. In one embodiment, a system and method for transferring data between a discrete event model environment and an external model environment other than a discrete event environment is provided.
US07925470B2
A method and apparatus for detecting an abnormality in e.g. in operating characteristics or function of a machine, apparatus or system, the method including providing a data sample set comprising n values of a measured physical parameter associated with the apparatus or system generated by repeating a measurement of the physical parameter n times. An extremal measured parameter value is selected from amongst the data sample set, determining a probability of observing the selected parameter value (e.g. of observing a value not exceeding the selected parameter value) by applying the selected parameter value to an extreme value probability distribution function having a location parameter and a scale parameter. The value of the location parameter and the value of the scale parameter are each constructed using an integer value m (e.g. notionally representing the size of a sub-sample data set comprising m of said measured parameter values) in which m is less than n (i.e. m
US07925468B2
The present invention is directed to an apparatus and a method that characterizes the hiding of coating compositions, such as automotive OEM and refinishes paints. The method is directed to sequentially storing in a computing device hiding data obtained by measuring the color difference (ΔRGB) in reflections of light and dark portions of target areas of a monotonic coating resulting from a coating composition applied over hiding test panel and by measuring coating thicknesses of the monotonic coating that correspond to the target areas, classifying the type of the hiding data, selecting fitting equations applicable to the classified hiding data, fitting the selected equation to match the classified hiding data and locating a hiding thickness on the monotonic coating that corresponds to the threshold value of the color difference at that location to determine the hiding thickness of the coating composition.
US07925457B2
One embodiment provides a flow meter including an airfoil movably secured in the airflow path of a fan in an electronic system. The airfoil is configured to generate a lift component in response to the airflow. A sensor engages the airfoil and generates a signal in relation to the movement of the airfoil. Airflow parameters such as volumetric airflow rate and turbulence may be identified by an analysis of the movement of the airfoil.
US07925451B2
Techniques for displaying chromatographic data using a graphical user interface are provided. Chromatographic separation data that represent a series of measurements for multiple samples at a detection location over time can be displayed on a display device as a series of bands, the bands being arranged to resemble output from an electrophoresis gel. Additionally, the chromatographic separation data may be displayed in the form of measured intensity at the detection location versus time.
US07925444B2
The present invention provides systems and methods that utilize an information architecture for disambiguating scientific names and other classification labels and the entities to which those names are applied, as well as a means of accessing data on those entities in a networked environment using persistent, unique identifiers.
US07925442B2
In order to improve the tie between depositionally equivalent beds relative to two or more basins detected within a multi dimensional seismic volume of interest, pseudo logs based on the average of attributes derived from seismic impedance where the compaction trend is not present are created for each basin. The mean is taken over all available azimuths, following the structural variations of introduced micro layers. The correlation between the pseudo log relative to each basin enable a more reliable interpretation between the different basins from which sound exploration decision can be made. Such a process has been successfully applied to seismic data acquired in deep water environment.
US07925440B2
A system and method for accurate express tolling of highway vehicles. A multilane tolling system comprises a tolling (MVIC) unit that collects information from tolling subsystems arranged to take various vehicle measurements. Preferably, an intelligent vehicle identification subsystem sends vehicle information to the MVIC unit many times per second. Preferably, a vision tracking system (VTS) communicates with the MVIC unit and sends the latter information about the vehicle position using vision tracking sensors. Preferably, an RF subsystem conducts multiple reads of a transponder on a passing vehicle and forwards the read information to the MVIC unit. Preferably, a vehicle image capture unit (VICU) captures images of the passing vehicle when a camera in the VICU receives a trigger from the MVIC unit. Preferably, a driver alert module is used alert a driver passing through a tolling point as to account balance associated with a silent toll tag or pay by plate system.
US07925436B2
A method and device are disclosed for navigation. In at least one embodiment, the method includes determining a route of travel of a vehicle in which the navigation device is located, based upon at least a desired destination and a current location of the vehicle; storing map information including attribute information relating to network area coverage; and determining, based upon at least one of the map information and the attribute information and based upon the route of travel of the vehicle, when network area coverage will permit data information transfer along the route of travel. In at least one embodiment, the navigation device includes a processor to determine a route of travel of a vehicle in which the navigation device is located, based upon at least a desired destination and a current location of the vehicle; and a memory to store map information including attribute information relating to network area coverage, the processor being further useable to determine, based upon at least one of the map information and the attribute information and based upon the route of travel of the vehicle, when network area coverage will permit data information transfer along the route of travel.
US07925433B2
A vehicle tracking device (101), method and/or system are provided. The device (101) includes a location interface (117), for receiving a location signal indicating a current location when operably connected to a GPS antenna; a sensor interface (109), for receiving sensor signals from sensors in the vehicle indicating a sensed status of the vehicle, when electrically or electronically connected to the sensors; and a processor (105). The processor (105) is configured to facilitate receiving, from the location interface, indications of a current location; determining, responsive to the location signal, a determined current location of the vehicle (127); receiving, from the sensor interface, a sensed status of the vehicle (129); recording a pre-defined event condition, when the pre-defined event condition occurs (131) responsive to the sensed status, in a vehicle history; and recording the determined current location in the vehicle history (133).
US07925431B2
A system is provided for removing particulate matter from a diesel particulate filter. The system includes an engine controller coupled to the diesel engine, and to a locomotive controller. The locomotive controller includes an algorithm to create a trip plan to optimize the performance of the locomotive along a route in accordance with a power setting of the diesel engine at each location along the route. Each sensor is configured to output a first alert signal to the engine controller once the trapped particulate matter exceeds a predetermined threshold. Upon receiving the first alert signal, the engine controller communicates with the locomotive controller to determine a time region or distance region within the trip plan when the power setting exceeds a power threshold. The engine controller increases the temperature of the diesel exhaust gas entering the diesel particulate filter during the time region or distance region.
US07925428B2
A method and apparatus for a navigation system efficiently stores the data associated with a calculated route to the destination in a backup memory by incorporating a direction coding method. The method and apparatus can be advantageously implemented in such a situation where the operation of the navigation system is terminated during the route guidance operation before reaching the destination. Since each direction code requires a small amount of data bit, an overall amount of data for the calculated route can be dramatically reduced and can be stored in a small memory space. When the navigation system is restarted, the calculated route will be reproduced based on the direction codes retrieved from the backup memory, thereby enabling to continue the route guidance operation to guide the user the destination.
US07925426B2
Described herein are devices, systems, and methods for managing the power consumption of an automotive vehicle, and thereby for optimizing the power consumption of the vehicle. The devices and systems for managing the power consumption of the vehicle typically include power management logic that can calculate an applied power for the vehicle engine based on information provided from the external environment of the vehicle, the operational status of the vehicle, one or more command inputs from a driver, and one or more operational parameters of the vehicle.
US07925425B2
Navigation information distribution systems, methods, and programs transfer a piece of vehicle position information to an information distribution center every predetermined time period, the piece of vehicle information including a vehicle position and a time when the vehicle passes through the vehicle position. The systems, methods, and programs receive pieces of vehicle position information and traffic information including congestion information, store the received pieces of vehicle position information in order of arrival, and specify a congested road section on the basis of congestion information. The systems, methods, and programs assign a weight of a first travel distance within the congested road section, the weight of the first travel distance calculated on the basis of two of the received pieces of vehicle position information received from the navigation apparatus and congestion information about the congested section. The systems, methods, and programs calculate a first travel time corresponding to the first travel distance, calculate the congested section travel time necessary for passing through the congested section based on the calculated first travel time, and distribute the calculated congested section travel time to a navigation apparatus.
US07925423B2
A system and method for detecting traffic conditions. Communications are performed wirelessly with a traffic detector. A determination is made whether a vehicle is approaching a traffic condition within safe parameters. A driver is alerted of the traffic condition in response to determining the vehicle is not approaching the traffic condition within the safe parameters.
US07925422B2
A glow plug is provided in a combustion chamber of a diesel engine. An ECU diagnoses existence or nonexistence of a disconnection abnormality of the glow plug through a controller. When there is an abnormality in the glow plug, processing for cutting fuel supply of an abnormal cylinder, processing for increasing fuel injection quantity of a normal cylinder, processing for delaying injection timing of the abnormal cylinder, or processing for delaying valve timing of an intake valve of the abnormal cylinder is performed. Thus, suitable startability of the engine can be ensured even when the abnormality occurs in the glow plug.
US07925419B2
A fuel injection control system in which an appropriate command is obtained both before and after learning a correction amount. Command storage means 3 stores a command for pre-learning and a command for post-learning; the command for pre-learning is a command for a pre-learning time, which is a time before correction amount learning means 5 learns a correction amount, and a command for post-learning for a post-learning time, which is a time after the correction amount learning means 5 learns a correction amount; command injection amount determination means 4 refers to the command for pre-learning at the pre-learning time, and refers to the command for post-learning at the post-learning time.
US07925418B2
Various systems and methods are described for operating an engine in a vehicle in response to fuel having varying amounts of alcohol. One example method comprises delivering fuel to the engine, limiting engine speed during vehicle operation to a maximum permitted engine speed, the maximum permitted engine speed responsive to the amount of alcohol in the fuel.
US07925412B2
A system and method for providing stability control for a commercial vehicle. The system may include multiple selectable control tuning modes or sensitivities for defining when the system may intervene to provide corrective action to aid vehicle stability. The control tuning modes may be representative of different vehicle configurations/conditions and a source of input data indicative the present configuration/condition of the vehicle may be provided.
US07925381B2
Methods and apparatus that provide a hardware abstraction layer (HAL) for a robot are disclosed. A HAL can reside as a software layer or as a firmware layer residing between robot control software and underlying robot hardware and/or an operating system for the hardware. The HAL provides a relatively uniform abstract for aggregates of underlying hardware such that the underlying robotic hardware is transparent to perception and control software, i.e., robot control software. This advantageously permits robot control software to be written in a robot-independent manner. Developers of robot control software are then freed from tedious lower level tasks. Portability is another advantage. For example, the HAL efficiently permits robot control software developed for one robot to be ported to another. In one example, the HAL permits the same navigation algorithm to be ported from a wheeled robot and used on a humanoid legged robot.
US07925379B2
Systems for enclosing at least one target product in a covering material, include an elongate product chute having an outer surface and opposing receiving and discharge end portions with an interior cavity extending therethrough and an elongate breech loading chute alignably positioned generally above the product chute, the elongate loading chute configured to direct at least one target product into the product chute.
US07925370B2
A substrate processing system which is capable of preventing dust from becoming attached to substrates without increasing the degree of cleanliness of a clean room to a predetermined level, and also capable of increasing the substrate processing throughput without increasing the burden on workers. a plasma processing apparatus 2 that subjects semiconductor wafers W to plasma processing in a cleaned atmosphere. A SMIF 4 has a enclosure 23 that is connected to the plasma processing apparatus 2 and has a cleaned atmosphere therein, a pod stage 26 on which a pod 3 housing semiconductor wafers W is mounted, a pod mounting portion 24 that carries out removal of semiconductor wafers W from the pod 3 and housing of semiconductor wafers W into the pod 3, and a wafer cassette transfer arm 27 that transfers semiconductor wafers W between the pod stage 26 and the plasma processing apparatus 2 via the enclosure 23. A preliminary loader 5 having a stage-shaped unprocessed pod port 28 that stores a pod 3 housing semiconductor wafers W that have not been subjected to the plasma processing, a shelf-like processed pod port 29 that stores a sealed container housing semiconductor wafers W that have been subjected to the plasma processing, and a pod moving mechanism 30 that moves the pods 3 between the stage-shaped unprocessed pod port 28 and the pod stage 26, and between the pod stage 26 and the shelf-like processed pod port 29.
US07925366B2
Features described herein relate to optimizing a job plan procedure for selecting a plan for executing a manufacturing job. A planner can receive a model of a system that is to perform a job, and may select a precomputed plan that is sufficient to perform the job. The precomputed plan is identified during a first portion of a planning period, and the remainder of the planning period may be utilized to search for and identify a better plan for executing the job. If a better plan cannot be identified by the end of the planning period, then the selected precomputed plan can be executed.
US07925364B2
Provided is an audio reproduction device capable of immediately starting to reproduce audio data, particularly compressed audio data, from an arbitrary point in a forward or a backward direction at an arbitrary speed. In the case where data, to be reproduced, which is stored in a storage device is compressed data, the compressed data is temporarily stored in a RAM. Then, the stored compressed data is decoded by a decoder, thereby extracting a segment of PCM data. The segment of PCM data is supplied to a PCM data buffer formed in a RAM via a reproduction controlling microcomputer. Based on an operation of a rotational operation element, the PCM data stored in the PCM data buffer formed in the RAM is reproduced by a reproduction processing circuit, thereby reducing a rapid change in reproduction speed.
US07925362B2
An autotuning method using an integral of a relay feedback response is disclosed, which obtains an ultimate data and frequency model of a process with greatly removing effects of harmonics by using integral of a relay feedback signal. The autotuning method using an integral of a relay feedback response comprises the first step for integrating a process data; and the second step for removing effects of harmonics after the first step and computing an ultimate gain, a frequency model and a parametric process model.
US07925361B2
Circuits for detecting faults in variable resistive position feedback sensors common in the use of motion control systems, provide a filter coupled to an output signal of the variable resistive position sensor for processing the signal to detect noise indicative of intermittent faults. A memory stores occurrences of signals from the filter. The memory can activate an alarm which indicates that a failure is detected. The circuits are particularly applicable to medical imaging systems such as SPECT, PET or MRI systems which contain a multiplicity of moving components that require accurate motion control and positioning.
US07925358B2
A cardiac transvenous defibrillation lead has a continuous coil conductor within a layer of insulation. A portion of the coil conductor is exposed as a defibrillation electrode. In order to enhance fluoroscopic visualization of the exposed electrode during implant, the end of the exposed electrode is marked with a radiopaque element. The element may be in the form of an adhesive filled with radiopaque material that is used to backfill under the layer of insulation. Alternatively, a tube made of radiopaque material may be installed between the layer of insulation and the coil conductor.
US07925356B2
A far-field radio frequency (RF) telemetry system for communicating with an implantable medical device includes a diversity antenna system. Multi-frame messages each including multiple outgoing data frames are transmitted to the implantable medical device. In response, the implantable medical device transmits response data frames each following one or more of the outgoing data frames, according to a predetermined communication protocol. An antenna control circuit selects an antenna of the diversity antenna system for transmitting the outgoing data frames and/or receiving the response data frames based the quality of signal reception associated with the response data frames.
US07925350B1
Methods of detecting an error associated with an implantable device include powering up the implantable device with an external device, disabling a back-telemetry transmitter within the implanted device after the implanted device is powered up, detecting an error with the implanted device, generating a fault signal corresponding to the error with the implanted device, turning on the back-telemetry transmitter after the fault signal has been generated, and transmitting the fault signal to the external device with the back-telemetry transmitter.
US07925349B1
An implantable system acquires intracardiac impedance with an implantable lead system. In one implementation, the system generates frequency-rich, low energy, multi-phasic waveforms that provide a net-zero charge and a net-zero voltage. When applied to bodily tissues, current pulses or voltage pulses having the multi-phasic waveform provide increased specificity and sensitivity in probing tissue. The effects of the applied pulses are sensed as a corresponding waveform. The waveforms of the applied and sensed pulses can be integrated to obtain corresponding area values that represent the current and voltage across a spectrum of frequencies. These areas can be compared to obtain a reliable impedance value for the tissue. Frequency response, phase delay, and response to modulated pulse width can also be measured to determine a relative capacitance of the tissue, indicative of infarcted tissue, blood to tissue ratio, degree of edema, and other physiological parameters.
US07925342B2
Described herein are methods and devices that utilize electrical neural stimulation to treat heart failure by modulating a patient's autonomic balance in a manner that inhibits sympathetic activity and/or augments parasympathetic activity. In one embodiment, the duty cycle for delivering neural stimulation is adjusted in accordance with one or more measured physiological variables.
US07925332B2
A multi-layered structure in the form of a disposable patch is described for supporting a light source and useful in conjunction with procedures for the non-invasive visualization of veins, arteries or other subcutaneous structures of the body or for facilitating intravenous insertion or extraction of fluids, medication or the like, which in a representative embodiment includes a coupling layer for interfacing and optically coupling with the body surface and conforming to the surface topography of the body portion of interest, a ring for supporting a light source, and a reflective layer between the source and coupling layer for redirecting light reflected from the body surface back through the coupling layer.
US07925329B2
The inventive implantable Doppler tomography system allows, for the first time, the use of Doppler shift for purposes of tracking cardiac wall motion. The present inventive Doppler tomography system methods and devices provide a critical new tool in the physician's armamentarium which provides accurate, real time monitoring of the mechanical performance of the heart.
US07925327B2
The invention relates to the assistance of the navigation of a catheter (1) in a vessel (2). A sequence of cross-sectional images of the portion of the vessel that is of interest is first obtained with the help of an intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) probe (3) and stored as a roadmap of the vessel. A cross-sectional image (10) that is obtained at the current position of the IVUS probe (3) can then be sorted to the position on the roadmap that is the best fit. A model (3′) of the probe, and a model (11′) of the instrument (a stent (11), for example) coupled to the probe, can be shown on a display (6) at the corresponding position on the roadmap.
US07925304B1
An audio manipulation method is provided. A call associated with a mobile device is received. Whether an audio manipulation flag is set for the mobile device is determined. An audio signal from the mobile device is manipulated based on an audio manipulation selection in response to a determination that the audio manipulation flag is set for the mobile device. The manipulated audio signal is routed to a receiver communicating with the mobile device.
US07925301B2
A portable telephone set includes a case having first and second sides opposite to each other, a group of keys is located on the first side of the case, and a card loading mechanism. The case includes first and second portions located on the second side. The first portion can accommodate a battery pack, and the second portion is next to the first portion and accommodates the card loading mechanism. A card in which information is stored can be loaded to the card loading mechanism.
US07925290B2
A system and method for providing high performance dispatch services for a push-to-talk (PTT) communication over a wireless communication network. When a wireless device is powered up, it registers with a server and then transitions to a paging state instead of an idle state. When the wireless device is ready to transmit PTT communications, it sends a message to the server and transitions to a transmission state when a confirmation is received from the server. Once in the transmission state, the wireless device is ready to transmit the PTT communications to the server.
US07925281B2
Methods of evaluating access to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) from alternate access connections and for improving access to VPNs from alternate access connections such as ISPs. The methods include downloading a set of tests through a network backbone to simulate access to the VPN from the alternate access connection and comparing the results of the test to benchmarks for the test of access to the VPN from leased lines and modems. By obtaining comparisons of the tests and the benchmarks, it is possible to determine the throughput of data through the VPN and tell the customer how its access connections are affecting, among other things, the raw data throughput. This allows the customer and/or the network service provider to adjust the access connections to improve communications with the VPN.
US07925270B1
A wireless communication system has a plurality of base stations. The wireless communication system maintains a data structure that indicates wireless communication capacity for the base stations by time. The wireless communication system processes a user location and the data structure to select base stations having capacity during selected timeframes. A user communication interface has antennas that exchange wireless communications with the selected base stations. The user communication interface selects the antennas to use for the wireless communications with the selected base stations.
US07925265B2
A system and method for managing voice communication between devices located within a local network and other devices. The present invention permits the managing and selective routing of voice communications over VoIP systems, circuit-based cellular systems and public switched telephone network systems based upon predefined criteria such as Quality of Service (QoS) considerations, geographic considerations, cost considerations and other factors.
US07925256B2
A mobile device for roaming between wireless communications networks in different geographical regions is provided. The mobile device includes an interface configured to transmit and receive signals over a wireless channel according to a communication mode using one of a plurality of access technologies. The device also includes a store holding a preferred roaming list having a common block holding data common to the plurality of access technologies, and a set of access technology-specific blocks each holding channel acquisition data specific to one of the plurality of access technologies for setting up the communication mode.
US07925253B2
Systems, methods, apparatus, processors and computer-readable media include a radiated testing module that executes a predetermined radiated performance test on a wireless device. The test dictates various performance-related parameters to measure and log at each of a plurality of predetermined positions. Further, the wireless device receives synchronization information operable to enable synchronization between the logged measurements and each of the positions. The synchronized log allows the wireless device, or another apparatus, to determine a radiated performance characteristic based on a predetermined analysis protocol. Further, the described embodiments allow for the determination of several radiated performance characteristics in a single test, using a single, unaltered wireless device.
US07925247B2
A system and electronic device supporting wireless deployment of communication services to a plurality of electronic devices.
US07925243B2
An enhanced services platform said platform includes an interface for receiving a communication from a user requesting a desired data. A response module parses the communication and retries the desired data. The platform arranges the desired data into a response message that is sent to the user. A user identifier database module stores information about the users in a user profile that including at least a preferences field and a preference value field identifying relative values of user preferences stored in the preference field, wherein when a preference having a higher ranking in the preference value field is non available, a second preference having a lower ranking in the preference value field is utilized.
US07925239B2
A power line communication apparatus is provided with an auto gain detector that detects a gain fluctuation of an AGC (Auto Gain Control) circuit that automatically adjusts a gain of a received signal; a retry ratio calculator that calculates a ratio of retry based on output from an ARQ (Automatic Repeat request) unit that detects an error in the received data and issues a repeat request; and a transmission rate calculator that calculates a transmission rate based on output from a channel estimation unit that calculates a CNR so as to estimate a transmission status. A display displays a transmission status, including the detected AGC noise fluctuation, retry ratio, transmission rate and the like.
US07925236B2
A cross polarization interference canceling apparatus of the present invention includes: error detector 26 for extracting a difference between a demodulated signal that is the main polarization signal in which compensation for cross polarization interference has been made and the received signal which indicates an ideal state of the main polarization, and outputting an error signal that indicates the extracted difference; phase noise detector 27 for outputting a phase noise difference by comparing a cross polarization interference compensating signal that is the opposite polarization signal in which compensation for cross polarization interference has been made with the error signal; a control signal generator for generating a control signal corresponding to the phase noise difference; and phase rotator 18′ disposed prior to, or posterior to, a cross polarization interference canceller for generating the cross polarization interference compensating signal, for controlling the phase of the cross polarization interference compensating signal in such a direction as to suppress the phase noise difference, in response to the input of the control signal.
US07925235B2
A communication system includes: a transmitter including a transmission circuit unit generating an RF signal for transmitting data and an electrical-field coupling antenna transmitting the RF signal as an electrostatic field or an induction field; a receiver including an electrical-field coupling antenna and a reception circuit unit subjecting an RF signal received by the electrical-field coupling antenna to reception processing; and a surface-wave propagation device including a plurality of linear surface-wave transmission lines for propagating a surface wave radiated from the electrical-field coupling antenna of the transmitter.
US07925234B2
The present invention relates to a maximum ratio combining method of spatial-filtered received signals and an apparatus using the same. For this purpose the present invention provides a method for receiving signals by using a plurality of antennas that form a linear array antenna, multiplying a plurality of weight vectors by the received signals, summing the multiplication results for each weight vector, and combining the summing results by using maximum ratio combining. According to the present invention, signals are dividedly received by applying spatial filtering for a receiving direction of each signal and performance can be improved by combining the received signals by using maximum ratio combining. In addition, performance of an MRC-rake and a beam forming gain can be simultaneously acquired according to the present invention.
US07925226B2
A transmission circuit capable of transmitting a modulated wave signal using polar modulation in a broad band and with low power consumption is provided. The transmission circuit generates an amplitude signal and a phase signal based on data to be transmitted, and separates the amplitude signal into a low-frequency amplitude signal and a high-frequency amplitude signal. The transmission circuit amplitude-modulates the phase signal in a broad band using the high-frequency amplitude signal in a high-frequency voltage control section 104 and an amplitude modulation section 105 and amplitude-modulates the phase signal into low power consumption using the low-frequency amplitude signal in a low-frequency voltage control section 106 and amplitude modulation section 107.
US07925223B2
A coil pair having a transmission coil and a reception coil. The transmission coil is configured to transmit a transmission signal having a carrier. The reception coil is configured to receive from a source a reception signal having the carrier and data, and to significantly suppress the carrier while maintaining coupling with the source at any position along and any position proximate to the reception coil.
US07925214B2
Bluetooth standard provides the applications with different profiles which allow for example only a specific number of devices operable in one network using the same profile. Without changing the Bluetooth standards the described apparatus and method provide a solution to allow wireless devices to receive data addressed to other wireless devices. Therefore a wireless electronic apparatus for Bluetooth communication receives data specifically addressed to said wireless electronic apparatus and to a wireless electronic device for Bluetooth communication, said wireless electronic device being operable to receive data specifically addressed to said wireless electronic device, said wireless electronic apparatus being different from said wireless electronic device. This can be realised for example by a wrist display which can pickup the electromagnetic waves containing the audio signals sent to the headset. Afterwards the properties can be displayed on the wrist to inform the user about the status of the audio signals or the cell phone transmitting the audio signals.
US07925206B2
A new approach to adaptive wireless communications suitable for use in military environments and for other purposes is provided. One technique for reliably communicating between a first node and a second node includes the broad steps of establishing a wireless connection between the first node and the second node at a level of communication, monitoring a quality of the wireless connection, adjusting the level of communication if the quality of the wireless connection crosses a threshold, and repeating the monitoring and adjusting steps throughout the duration of the wireless communication cooperatively using the in-band or out-of-band signaling schemes and negotiating the appropriate level of communication link avoiding excessive link outages and signaling overheads. By communicating at a level appropriate for the quality of signals received and adjusting the level as the quality changes, the overall reliability of the wireless communication is improved.
US07925201B2
Sharing media content among families of broadcast stations includes receiving information relating to media content from families of broadcast stations, storing the information such that the information is accessible to at least two of the families of broadcast stations via a computer network, receiving a query for specific media content from a broadcast station, searching the stored information in accordance with the query to identify the specific media content; and enabling the broadcast station to access to the specific media content if the specific media content is identified among the stored information.
US07925196B2
During a first operation, at least one of a first pattern and a second pattern is formed on a first area of an image carrier, and at least the other pattern is formed on a second area of the image carrier. The first area corresponds to a half of the image carrier, while the second area corresponds to the remaining half of the image carrier. During a second operation, a second pattern is formed on an area of the image carrier where a first pattern is formed during the first operation, and a first pattern is formed on an area of the image carrier where a second pattern is formed during the first operation.
US07925186B2
A developing device includes (a) a developing member; (b) a developer container; (c) a partition member that partitions an interior of the developer container into a primary chamber and a secondary chamber; and (d) a developer-conveying unit that is disposed in the primary chamber, the developing device defining a collected-toner-receiving port through which a collected toner that is collected from a toner image carrier is received into the developer container; and a migration opening through which a developer held in the primary chamber is migratable to the secondary chamber, the developing device further including (e) a capturing unit that is disposed at the migration opening and captures a foreign material which migrates through the migration opening together with the developer; and (f) a foreign-material-removing unit that is disposed at the developer-conveying unit and moves the foreign material out of the developer container in accordance with the rotation of the developer-conveying.
US07925183B2
A developing unit is detachably mounted on a photosensitive unit to form a combined unit called a process unit. In use, the process unit is loaded into an electrophotographic image forming device. A rotational shaft of a photosensitive drum projects out from the photosensitive unit. When the process unit is loaded into the image forming device from a top open space, both ends of the rotational shaft are engaged with a pair of guides formed in side walls of the image forming device and guided down along the guides. The process unit is accommodated in an accommodating section when both ends of the rotational shaft have been brought into abutment with stops at the ends of the guides and a trailing end of the process unit is rotated downward about the rotational shaft.
US07925180B2
An image forming apparatus includes a main body, image formation units disposed in the main body, a moving member disposed in the main body, the moving member including a surface facing each image formation unit, a pair of first stoppers disposed in each image formation unit, and a pair of second stoppers disposed in the main body in correspondence with each image formation unit, each second stopper being configured to prevent the developer on the moving member from entering the image formation unit.
US07925148B2
This document relates to an apparatus and method for controlling a camera according to temperature. The apparatus according to an embodiment of this document may comprise a camera comprising lenses comprising a focus lens, an iris, a lens barrel, a motor drive for controlling positions of the lenses and the iris, and a CCD, a temperature sensor for measuring a temperature of the camera, memory for storing information about a relationship between temperatures and positions of the lenses, and a state of the camera, and a controller for controlling the camera to capture an image, measuring temperature variation between a current state and a previous state through the temperature sensor, calculating a position where the focus lens has been moved according to the temperature variation based on the relationship information of the temperatures and the positions of the lenses, and determining whether to compensate for the moved position.
US07925147B2
A mobile terminal including an LED camera flash includes a lens, which is for photographing an object, an image sensing unit, which generates a sensor result value by executing automatic exposure and automatic white balance, a flash module, which includes a flash driving unit that controls the LED camera flash, an actuator, which moves the lens and records a distance traveled by the lens, and a camera control module, which sets an exposure gain value by using the sensor result value, extracts a distance current value and a distance gain value by using position information of the lens that is determined by using the distance traveled by the lens, and controls the flash driving unit so as to adjust a brightness of the LED camera flash according to a gain correction value, which is set by using the exposure gain value, the distance current value and the distance gain value.
US07925139B2
A method and apparatus for processing descriptions of audiovisual content are described. According to one embodiment, a description of audiovisual content is created, and information pertaining to reuse of the description of audiovisual content is defined. Further, the description of audiovisual content and the reuse information are stored in a repository of descriptive data to enable subsequent reuse of this description.
US07925132B2
A core includes a center core region, a core layer that is formed around the center core region and that has a refractive index lower than that of the center core region, and at least one buffer core layer that is formed between the center core region and the core layer and that has a refractive index lower than that of the center core region and higher than that of the core layer. A cladding is formed around the core layer and that has a refractive index lower than that of the center core region and higher than that of the core layer. An effective core area at a wavelength of 1550 nm is equal to or smaller than 18 μm2.
US07925127B2
A suspension board with circuit includes a circuit board formed with an opening, and having a mounting portion defined by the opening for mounting thereon a slider on which a magnetic head is mounted, and an optical waveguide disposed on the circuit board so as to traverse the opening. The optical waveguide is slack in the opening.
US07925126B2
The present invention discloses a fiber sensing system with self-detection mechanism which utilizes a central office to control secondary ring architecture formed by fiber sensor, remote node and optical coupler primarily. The secondary ring architecture is connected serially to form a primary ring architecture. The central office has a tunable laser light source that can deliver the light source to the fiber sensor. Since the fiber sensor has reflective ability, all light source signal sent by the tunable laser light source will be detected and measured by the fiber sensor. Thus central office can detect all signals reflected by the fiber sensor and produce a spectrum for analyzing fault point locations. The present invention can greatly enhance survivability and sensing capacity of all fiber sensors, so that when a fault point caused by environmental change within the fiber, it will not effect the overall operation of the sensing mechanism. The application of fiber sensor can also reduce cost and complexity of the overall fiber network topology.
US07925125B2
A microfluidic detection device provides reduced dispersion of axial concentration gradients in a flowing sample. The microfluidic detection device includes a cell body and a flow path through the cell body. The flow path has an inlet segment, an outlet segment, and a central segment, which forms a detection cell. The central segment is located between and at an angle with both the inlet segment and the outlet segment. The central segment has a first junction with the inlet segment and a second junction with the outlet segment. The cell body contains two arms that can transmit light to and from the detection cell. At least a portion of a first arm is located in the first junction and at least a portion of a second arm is located in the second junction. The portions of the arms located in the junctions are situated so that fluid entering or exiting the central segment of the flow path flows around the outer surface of one of the portions. By ensuring that the flow velocity is high near the walls both at the beginning and at the end of the conduit, the configuration serves to counteract dispersion caused by the normal parabolic velocity profile of flow through a cylindrical conduit, where the fluid velocity is highest at the center. In addition, the configuration promotes efficient sweeping of the entire volume between the two arms. A method for manufacturing the microfluidic detection device is also provided.
US07925100B2
Architecture for encoding (or packaging) vector-object data using fixed boundary tiles. Tiling a large vector database provides the same advantages that tiling provides for a large raster image. Tiling the dataset means that the set of all possible browser requests is finite and predetermined. The tiles can be rasterized on a client once the tiles have been received from a server. Alternatively, the server can do the tiling and rasterizing, and then send the raster data to the client for presentation and user interaction. Tiles can be precomputed on the server, with selected tiles then transmitted to the client for rasterization. Moreover, tiles can be cached for improved performance, and prefetched based on user interactivity on the client. Summarization of the vector-object data can be accomplished at the server using a configurable plug-in interface.
US07925099B2
In various embodiments of the present invention, a context-based denoiser is applied to each noisy-image symbol embedded within a context to determine a replacement symbol for the noisy-signal symbol. The context-based denoiser includes a context-modeling component that efficiently generates context classes and symbol-prediction classes, assigns individual contexts to context classes and symbol-prediction classes, collects symbol-occurrence statistics related to the generated context classes and symbol-prediction classes, and, optionally, generates noisy-symbol predictions.
US07925091B2
A method for displaying an input string of character codes as a sequence of glyphs. In one implementation, an ordered list of instructions for transforming an input string of character codes may be generated using syntax-directed translation. The ordered list of instructions may be executed to generate a sequence of glyph indices. A sequence of glyphs corresponding to the sequence of glyph indices may be displayed.
US07925090B2
A method of determining a photo mask, includes specifying a mask pattern for a photo mask for a first exposure apparatus, specifying a plurality of exposure conditions allowed to be set for a second exposure apparatus, predicting a projection image of the mask pattern to be projected on a substrate by the second exposure apparatus, for each of the exposure conditions, predicting a processed pattern to be formed on a substrate surface on the basis of the projection image, for each of the exposure conditions, determining whether or not the processed pattern meets a predetermined condition for each of the exposure conditions, and determining that the photo mask is applicable to the second exposure apparatus if the processed pattern meets the predetermined condition for at least one of the exposure conditions.
US07925086B2
A method and a system for adaptively (dynamically) reducing quantization layer reduction for removing quantization artifacts in quantized video signals is provided. Adaptively reducing quantization layer reduction involves detecting if a selected pixel in a quantized image belongs to a ramp area in each of multiple pre-defined directions, dynamically selecting a quantization level for each of the pre-defined directions based on the corresponding detection results, and refining the pixel based on the selected quantization levels.
US07925082B2
An information processing apparatus includes: a color extraction unit that inputs an additional write document provided by writing additional write information to an original document in different colors and acquires color information on the additional write document; a color analysis unit that analyzes the correspondence between one of a color combination and color space generated by color mixture and the colors extracted based on the colors extracted; a joining and integrating unit that determines overlap between different colors on the additional write document based on the analysis result of the color analysis unit, and that joins the break of the additional write information corresponding to the correspondence portion between the overlap and the break of the additional write information; a determination unit that determines a specification area of the additional write document according to the additional write information joined; and an information analysis unit that reads information contained in the specification area analyzed.
US07925079B1
The present invention provides a method and system for pattern recognition and processing. Information representative of physical characteristics or representations of physical characteristics is transformed into a Fourier series in Fourier space within an input context of the physical characteristics that is encoded in time as delays corresponding to modulation of the Fourier series at corresponding frequencies. Associations are formed between Fourier series by filtering the Fourier series and by using a spectral similarity between the filtered Fourier series to determine the association based on Poissonian probability. The associated Fourier series are added to form strings of Fourier series. Each string is ordered by filtering it with multiple selected filters to form multiple time order formatted subset Fourier series, and by establishing the order through associations with one or more initially ordered strings to form an ordered string. Associations are formed between the ordered strings to form complex ordered strings that relate similar items of interest. The components of the invention are active based on probability using weighting factors based on activation rates.
US07925078B2
Methods and apparatus for generating composite images for displays are provided. For some embodiments, ray tracing algorithms may be utilized to efficiently generate a composite image corresponding to multiple views. Because ray tracing is done on a per pixel basis, it is possible to generate pixel values for only those pixels that will be allocated to a particular image view. By tracing rays from a viewpoint only through those pixels allocated to displaying images corresponding to that viewpoint, a composite image may be generated without discarding pixel data.
US07925077B2
A powerful, scaleable, and reconfigurable image processing system and method of processing data therein is described. This general purpose, reconfigurable engine with toroidal topology, distributed memory, and wide bandwidth I/O are capable of solving real applications at real-time speeds. The reconfigurable image processing system can be optimized to efficiently perform specialized computations, such as real-time video and audio processing. This reconfigurable image processing system provides high performance via high computational density, high memory bandwidth, and high I/O bandwidth. Generally, the reconfigurable image processing system and its control structure include a homogeneous array of 16 field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) and 16 static random access memories (SRAM) arranged in a partial torus configuration. The reconfigurable image processing system also includes a PCI bus interface chip, a clock control chip, and a datapath chip. It can be implemented in a single board. It receives data from its external environment, computes correspondence, and uses the results of the correspondence computations for various post-processing industrial applications. The reconfigurable image processing system determines correspondence by using non-parametric local transforms followed by correlation. These non-parametric local transforms include the census and rank transforms. Other embodiments involve a combination of correspondence, rectification, a left-right consistency check, and the application of an interest operator.
US07925076B2
An inspection apparatus performing template matching of a search image capable of outputting a correct matching position even if a pattern similar to a template exists in the search image is provided. The inspection apparatus includes a template cutout means for cutting out a template from a template selection image, a marginal similarity calculation means for calculating marginal similarity distribution information, which is a similarity distribution of the template selection image to the template, a search image similarity calculation part for calculating search image similarity distribution information, which is a similarity distribution of the search image to the template, a similarity distribution-to-similarity distribution similarity calculation means for calculating similarity distribution-to-similarity distribution similarity information between the marginal similarity distribution information and the search image similarity distribution information, and a matching position determination part for determining a matching position based on the similarity distribution-to-similarity distribution similarity.
US07925073B2
A system and method of inspecting electrical circuits with multiple optical inputs, including: obtaining first and second image data that are generally spatially coincidental but which each include some image data that is different, modifying one of the images by employing the other image so as to produce an enhanced representation of the electrical circuit, and inspecting the enhanced representation for defects.
US07925066B2
An error in the co-registration of a coordinate system used to represent a head of a subject in image data with a coordinate system used to represent the location of trackers affixed to the scalp surface of the head and a tracked device, such as a transcranial magnetic stimulation (“TMS”) induction coil device, is corrected using information representative of the actual distance between the tracked device and the scalp of the subject, such that representations of the tracked device and the subject's head are accurately shown on a display of a navigated brain stimulation (“NBS”) system tracking movement of the tracked device in relation to the subject's head. The correction of the error in the co-registration is performed without collecting additional tracking information from trackers on a tracked TMS coil device and the head, which avoids interrupting NBS using the TMS coil device.
US07925065B2
A method for determining a blob-like structure in a target image includes receiving an input target image is received, determining a mean curvature of the input target image, smoothing the mean curvature is smoothed using a scale that determines a size of the blobs to be found, finding a blob-like structure in the input target image as a portion of the input target image where a smoothed curvature is higher than a threshold value, and outputting a result including an indication of the blob-like structure.
US07925062B2
Signature data of a handwritten signature input to a signature authentication device is analyzed to determine whether to register the signature based on the characteristics of the stroke shape of the signature. If the signature registration is denied, a response message for making the signature registerable is displayed according to the way in which the signature is written. At least one of cumulative angle changes in the locus of the signature, fluctuation in the speed at which the signature was written, fluctuation in the size of the characters included in the signature, and fluctuation in the center positions of the characters included in the signature is used as the determination criterion.
US07925058B2
An iris recognition system includes an eye image input unit calculating the distance between an image obtaining apparatus and a user using a distance sensor. An eye image pretreatment unit calculates a fuzzy entropy for the multifocus eye image sequence input. A feature vector extraction unit multi-divides the multifocus iris image sequence extracted in the eye image pretreatment unit. A recognition unit discriminates the user's authenticity by measuring a dissimilarity between the feature vector extracted from the feature vector extraction unit and a feature vector already registered. A register unit registers the reduced wavelet feature vector extracted from the feature vector extraction unit and the dimension-reducing transform function P in a storage unit. A storage unit stores the dimension-reducing transform function P and the reduced wavelet feature vector.
US07925057B2
A system and method for automatically adjusting parameters of an imaging machine are disclosed. The system comprises at least one sensor device to capture sensed characteristic information of a next person to be medically imaged. The system also includes a computer to receive the sensed characteristic information from the at least one sensor device and to generate adjustment data based on the sensed characteristic information. The system further includes a medical imaging machine to receive the adjustment data from the computer and to adjust at least one parameter of the imaging machine in response to the adjustment data.
US07925052B2
A method for measuring wind velocity including using a Fourier Transform (FT) and a correlation between a wave vector number and temporal frequency of a wind to calculate wind velocity. Contour line deviations in a series of images of a far object are evaluated by performing a spatial discrete fourier transform (DFT) on deviations within each image, and subsequently a time discrete fourier transform (DFT) on the Fourier coefficients obtained by the spatial DFT, to get the frequency dependence of each Fourier coefficient.
US07925049B2
A method for estimating pose from a sequence of images, which includes the steps of detecting at least three feature points in both the left image and right image of a first pair of stereo images at a first point in time; matching the at least three feature points in the left image to the at least three feature points in the right image to obtain at least three two-dimensional feature correspondences; calculating the three-dimensional coordinates of the at least three two-dimensional feature correspondences to obtain at least three three-dimensional reference feature points; tracking the at least three feature points in one of the left image and right image of a second pair of stereo images at a second point in time different from the first point in time to obtain at least three two-dimensional reference feature points; and calculating a pose based on the at least three three-dimensional reference feature points and its corresponding two-dimensional reference feature points in the stereo images. The pose is found by minimizing projection residuals of a set of three-dimensional reference feature points in an image plane.
US07925030B2
A method and ASIC for canceling crosstalk between a first stereo channel and a second stereo channel, wherein a first signal is input to a first output amplifier for the first channel, and a second signal is input to a second output amplifier for the second channel, and an output load for each output amplifier is connected between each output amplifier and a reference amplifier. In one embodiment, the first and second signals are split prior to inputting the signals to the first and second output amplifiers, and a gain-adjusted portion of each signal is added to the other signal on the inputs of the output amplifiers. In another embodiment, the first and second input signals are again split into two paths each. While a first path of each signal is inputted to each signal's respective output amplifier, the second paths of the first and second signals are adding together. The resulting sum is adjusted by a gain function, biased by a suitable DC voltage, and input to the reference amplifier.
US07925021B2
A messaging system includes a first mailbox storage assigned to receive a message for the first processor and a first lock indicator having a first state to indicate that the first mailbox storage can receive a message and a second state to indicate that the first mailbox storage cannot receive a message. The system also includes a second mailbox storage assigned to receive a message for the second processor and a second lock indicator having a first state to indicate that the second mailbox storage can receive a message and a second state to indicate that the second mailbox storage cannot receive a message. The lock indicators are changed to their second state when a message is placed in their respective mailbox storage and are changes to their first state in response to its contents being read by the respective processor.
US07925012B2
A process for the secure distribution of compressed digital texts formed by blocks of binary data stemming from digital transformations applied to an original text, and including two stages: a preparatory stage including modifying at least one binary data in one of the blocks according to at least one substitution operation including extraction of the binary data in a block and its replacement by a decoy, and a transmission stage of a modified compressed digital text in conformity with the format of the original text, constituted of blocks modified during the course of the preparatory stage, and by a separate path of the modified compressed digital text, of digital complementary information permitting reconstitution of the original compressed digital text on the equipment of the addressee from the modified compressed digital text and from the complementary information.
US07925010B2
A method decrypts the encrypted messages sent by a transmission device to a first electronic device associated with a first trusted authority and to a second electronic device. In one embodiment, first and second tokens are generated and exchanged, respectively, by the first and second electronic devices, which then generate a joint decryption key in order to decrypt the encrypted message.
US07925007B2
An echo cancellation technique that can process multi-input microphone signals with only a small increase in the overall CPU consumption compared to implementing the algorithm for a single channel microphone signal. Furthermore, the invention provides an architecture that provides for echo cancellation for multiple applications in parallel with only a small increase in CPU consumption compared to a single instance of echo cancellation with a single microphone input and multi-output channel playback.
US07925005B2
A method of calibrating longitudinal balance for a subscriber line interface circuit includes providing a first and a second driver of a differential driver pair for driving a subscriber line. An output of each of the first and second drivers is coupled to a common output. The common output is coupled to an input of the first driver. The gain of at least one of the first and second drivers is adjusted until a calibration signal (V1) present at the input of the first driver is substantially the same as a calibration signal (V2) present at the input of the second driver.
US07925003B2
A call center management system employs out-of-band signaling, such as provided by ISDN telecommunications technology, to manage outbound calls from a call center. By communicating with a central office of the PSTN in this way, it is possible to exercise a great degree of control over outbound calls originating from the call center. This control may be used, for example, to insert a meaningful caller identification label into the outbound call, or to manage dead air time within limits established by law, custom, or convenience, and to provide detailed reporting of outbound call activity.
US07925002B2
Method and system for administering multiple target systems automatic contact distribution (ACD) systems, where corresponding object types in the various target systems may have different schema. A user of the administering system works in a single schema, and translators permit communication between the administering system and the various target systems.
US07925000B2
A telecommunications terminal is disclosed that is capable of displaying information about calls that are on hold or queued for delivery at a data-processing system, wherein the calls are to be delivered the terminal itself. The terminal displays characteristics of each call, such as: (i) the caller's name, (ii) the calling number, (iii) the subject of the call, (iv) the urgency of the call, (v) the holding time of the call, and (vi) a telecommunications address of a messaging resource (such as email) associated with the call. The user (e.g., an off-premises representative, etc.) of the telecommunications terminal in the illustrative embodiment, in contrast with some terminals in the prior art, has the ability to remotely reorder or otherwise dispose the calls based on one or more of the call characteristics.
US07924993B2
A charging method in One Number Links You (ONLY) service includes: delivering information of simultaneous ringing numbers bonded with an ONLY number to a Service Switching Point (SSP) by a Service Control Point (SCP) of an Intelligent Network when the SCP receives a request for calling the ONLY number; initiating a call to the simultaneous ringing numbers and detecting an off-hook-and-answering number among the simultaneous ringing numbers by the SSP; and calculating charges of the off-hook-and-answering number after the call is terminated. With the charging method provided, accurate charging between an ONLY number and its bonded simultaneous ringing numbers can be implemented.
US07924992B2
A method of ensuring call processing for an intelligent user, including: upon receiving a call, judging, by a first Service Switching Point (SSP), whether traffic between the first SSP and a Service Control Point (SCP) is abnormal; if the traffic is abnormal, turning off, by the first SSP, intelligent triggers located in itself and related to the call, and performing an ordinary call connection; otherwise, performing an intelligent call connection, and terminating the process. In the embodiments of the present invention, normal communications can be ensured between intelligent users, even if the traffic between the SSP and the SCP is abnormal. In addition, when the SSP detects that the traffic between the SSP and the SCP is abnormal, the SSP may firstly judge whether to continue the call connection, according to relations among intelligent user identities, reasons for abnormality and whether to perform call connection set in advance, instead of blindly performing call connections for all the intelligent users, thereby preventing excessive service load on the SSP.
US07924983B2
An electron emitter assembly for use in an x-ray emitting device or other electron emitter-containing device is disclosed. In one embodiment, an x-ray tube is disclosed, including a vacuum enclosure that houses both an anode having a target surface, and a cathode positioned with respect to the anode. The cathode includes an electron emitter assembly for emitting a beam of electrons during tube operation. The electron emitter assembly comprises a refractory metal foil with a plurality of shaped rung structures for emitting an electron beam that maximizes flux while simultaneously focusing the electron beam in two dimensions. Focusing occurs primarily through an electrical field shaped by the electron emitter assembly and through balancing current density, electrical resistance, and heat loss through thermal conduction to control the regions that emit electrons. Furthermore, the refractory metal foil can be configured with a modified work function for preferential electron emission.
US07924974B2
An X-ray machine for imaging a female breast has a support with an attached continuously rotatable gantry. An X-ray tube with an oppositely located X-ray detector is mounted on the gantry. A locating means for accommodating a breast is disposed coaxially with a rotation axis of the gantry. The gantry is adapted to be moved relative to the locating means by an advancing means. In order to achieve a high throughput of patients, a locating means having an opening for accommodating a breast is provided relative to both sides of the gantry. The X-ray machine may be incorporated between two separating walls which have cut-out portions for the locating means.
US07924971B2
For Respiration Correlated Cone Beam CT scanning, we have observed that improvements in the frame rate are in fact undesirable. We therefore propose a radiographic apparatus comprising a beam of radiation and a detector therefor, adapted to obtain a two dimensional image of the beam after passing through a cyclically varying object to be investigated, a processor adapted to review the images and select images at like points in the cycle, and a control means for the beam of radiation adapted to activate the beam periodically. The control means can activate the beam at a frequency of between 0.5 and 5 Hertz, more preferably between 1 and 3 Hertz, which corresponds (roughly) to a frequency that is between 6 and 10 times the frequency of the cyclical variation. It will assist if the selected point of the cycle is an extremity thereof, as the rate of change in these areas is at a minimum. Thus, slight mismatches between the two cycles will then have only a small effect. Typically, the object will be a patient and the cyclical variation will be the patient's breathing cycle.
US07924964B2
A receiver having a first clock signal is provided. The first frequency of the first clock signal is adjusted to be close to a second frequency of a second clock signal of a transmitter. The receiver includes a clock generator, a processor and a controller. The clock generator is for generating the first clock signal. The processor is for outputting a first control signal to control the clock generator to adjust the first frequency to be close to the second frequency when an absolute value of a current difference between the first and the second frequencies at a current time point is larger than a threshold. The controller is for outputting a second control signal to control the clock generator when the absolute value of the current difference is smaller than the threshold, so as to reduce the load of the processor.
US07924963B2
A circuit has a phase adjustment circuit to generate an adjusted clock signal by adjusting a first clock signal in accordance with a control signal. A multiplexer receives input data signals on a plurality of first data lines and outputs onto at least one second data line output data signals in accordance with a plurality of second clock signals. A timing measurement circuit determines at least one timing parameter of at least one output data signal on at least the one second data line and generates the control signal in accordance with a deviation of at least the one timing parameter from a desired value.
