US07977349B2
The invention relates to substituted quinolones and to methods for their preparation as well as to their use for the production of medicaments for the treatment and/or prophylaxis of diseases, especially for use as antiviral agents, particularly against cytomegaloviruses.
US07977347B2
The present invention relates to quinazoline containing zinc-binding moiety based derivatives of formula I that have enhanced and unexpected properties as inhibitors of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase (EGFR-TK) and their use in the treatment of EGFR-TK related diseases and disorders such as cancer.
US07977339B2
Certain novel substituted imidazole 4-carboxamides are ligands of the human cholecystokinin receptor and, in particular, are selective ligands of the human cholecystokinin-1 receptor (CCK-1R). They are therefore useful for the treatment, control, or prevention of diseases and disorders responsive to the modulation of CCK-1R, such as obesity, and diabetes.
US07977324B2
The present invention provides a process for preparing a highly pure form of malathion having a reduced level of toxic impurities. In addition, the malathion prepared by the process of this invention is storage stable. The level of toxic impurities in the malathion, e.g., isomalathion, O,O,S-trimethyl phosphorodithioate (MeOOSPS), O,O,S-trimethyl phosphorothioate (MeOOSPO), O,S,S-trimethyl phosphorodithioate (MeOSSPO), malaoxon, isomalathion, diethyl fumarate, methyl malathion, dimethyl malathion, O,O-methyl,ethyl-S-(1,2-dicarboethoxy)ethyl-phosphorodithioate are lower than that of any other commercial preparation of malathion that may be used for pharmaceutical purposes.
US07977322B2
The present invention relates to modulators of ATP-Binding Cassette (“ABC”) transporters or fragments thereof, including Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (“CFTR”), compositions thereof, and methods therewith. The present invention also relates to methods of treating ABC transporter mediated diseases using such modulators.
US07977304B2
Compounds which are FK228 analogues of the general formula (I) or (I′), isosteres thereof and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof are found to inhibit HDAC wherein R1, R2, R3 and R4 are the same or different and represent an amino acid side chain moiety and each R6 is the same or different and represents hydrogen or C1-C4 alkyl.
US07977299B2
A treated oxidizing agent is provided according to the invention. The treated oxidizing agent includes an oxidizing agent that is solid at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, and a chemical barrier composition provided on the oxidizing agent. The chemical barrier composition includes a hydrocarbon component having about 10 to about 85 carbon atoms, and wherein the chemical barrier composition is provided as a liquid at 25° C. A solid detergent composition is provided including the treated oxidizing agent. Methods for manufacturing are provided.
US07977297B2
The present invention relates to a liquid acidic hard surface cleaning composition comprising an acid system, wherein the acid system comprises oxalic acid and a second acid selected from the group consisting of: maleic acid; lactic acid; glycolic acid; and sulphamic acid; and mixtures thereof.
US07977292B2
A cleaning composition of a semiconductor device for laminating an organosiloxane-based thin film and a photoresist layer in this order on a substrate having a low dielectric interlayer insulation film and a copper wiring or a copper alloy wiring, then applying selective exposure and development treatments to the subject photoresist layer to form a photoresist pattern, subsequently applying a dry etching treatment to the organosiloxane-based thin film and the low dielectric interlayer insulation film while using this resist pattern as a mask and then removing the organosiloxane-based thin film, a residue generated by the dry etching treatment, a modified photoresist having been modified by the dry etching treatment and an unmodified photoresist layer located in a lower layer than the modified photoresist, the cleaning composition containing from 15 to 20% by mass of hydrogen peroxide, from 0.0001 to 0.003% by mass of an amino polymethylene phosphonic acid, from 0.02 to 0.5% by mass of potassium hydroxide and water and having a pH of from 7.5 to 8.5, is provided. Also, a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device using the subject cleaning composition is provided.
US07977284B2
A method of making phenol and alkylphenol ethoxylates non-estrogenic by inserting 1 mole of propylene oxide onto the phenolic group before proceeding with the addition of ethylene oxide or mixtures of ethylene and propylene oxide. The final phenolic products can be further reacted to form sulfates, sulfonates, phosphate esters, condensed alkylphenol alkoxylates and other derivatives of alkylphenol or phenol. Non-estrogenic phenol and alkylphenol alkoxylates and their derivatives have been found to be excellent salt tolerant, high temperature stable surfactants for oil recovery from subterranean reservoirs. These products are also useful in forming emulsions of heavy crude for transportation through pipelines.
US07977283B2
The amount of crystallized salt in an oil and/or gas well may be minimized or reduced by use of a fructan, such as inulin, or a derivative as a salt block inhibitor. A preferred salt inhibitor is the salt of carboxyalkyl inulin such as a sodium salt of carboxymethyl inulin. The salt block inhibitor may be adsorbed onto a water-insoluble adsorbent.
US07977275B2
The invention proposes a particulate filter having a catalytic coating which contains two catalysts arranged one behind the other. The first catalyst is located in the gas inlet region of the filter and contains a palladium/platinum catalyst. The second catalyst is arranged downstream of the first catalyst and preferably contains platinum alone as catalytically active component. The combination of these two catalysts provides the coated filter with a good ageing stability and resistance to sulphur poisoning.
US07977274B2
The invention pertains to a catalyst useful for the epoxidation of an olefin. More particularly, the invention pertains to an improved catalyst useful for the epoxidation of ethylene to ethylene oxide. The catalyst has improved selectivity in the epoxidation process. The catalyst comprises a solid support having a surface, which has a first mode of pores which have a diameter ranging from about 0.01 μm to about 5 μm and having a differential pore volume peak in the range of from about 0.01 μm to about 5 μm. The surface then has a second mode of pores, different from the first mode of pores, which second mode of pores have a diameter ranging from about 1 μm to about 20 μm and have a differential pore volume peak in the range of from about 1 μm to about 20 μm. On the bimodal pore surface is a catalytically effective amount of silver or a silver-containing compound, a promoting amount of rhenium or a rhenium-containing compound, and a promoting amount of one or more alkali metals or alkali-metal-containing compounds.
US07977273B2
A catalyst for converting methanol to light olefins and the process for making and using the catalyst are disclosed and claimed. SAPO-34 is a specific catalyst that benefits from its preparation in accordance with this invention. A seed material is used in making the catalyst that has a higher content of the EL metal than is found in the principal part of the catalyst. The molecular sieve has predominantly a roughly rectangular parallelepiped morphology crystal structure with a lower fault density and a better selectivity for light olefins.
US07977260B2
The present invention provides a separator for an electric double layer capacitor comprising a porous sheet containing fibrillated heat-resistant fibers, polyester fibers having a fineness of 0.01 dtex to less than 0.10 dtex, and fibrillated cellulose, which is suitable for use as a separator for an electric double layer capacitor operating at high voltages of 3 V or more.
US07977258B2
Process and system for processing wafer-shaped objects, such as semiconductor wafers is disclosed. In accordance with the present disclosure, a multiple of two wafers are processed in a thermal processing chamber. The thermal processing chamber is in communication with at least one heating device for heating the wafers. The wafers are placed in the thermal processing chamber in a face-to-face configuration or in a back-to-back configuration.
US07977252B2
The method for forming wavelike coherent nanostructures by irradiating a surface of a material by a homogeneous flow of ions is disclosed. The rate of coherency is increased by applying preliminary preprocessing steps.
US07977248B2
In general, in one aspect, a method includes forming a hard mask on a semiconductor substrate. A first resist layer is patterned on the hard mask as a first plurality of lines separated by a first defined pitch. The hard mask is etched to a portion of formed thickness to create a first plurality of fins in alignment with the first plurality of lines and the first resist layer is removed. A second resist layer is patterned on the hard mask as a second plurality of lines separated by a second defined pitch. The second plurality of lines is patterned between the first plurality of lines. The hard mask is etched to the portion of the formed thickness to create a second plurality of fins in alignment with the second plurality of lines. The first plurality of hard mask fins and the second plurality of hard mask fins are interwoven and have same thickness.
US07977246B2
A thermal anneal process for preventing formation of certain BPSG surface defects following an etch or silicon clean step using a fluorine and hydrogen chemistry. The thermal anneal process is carried out while protecting the wafer from moisture, by heating the wafer to a sufficiently high temperature for a sufficient duration of time to thermally diffuse boron and/or phosphorus materials separated from silicon near the surface of the doped glass layer into the bulk of the layer. The thermal anneal process is completed by cooling the wafer to a sufficiently low temperature to fix the distribution of the boron and/or phosphorus materials in bulk of the doped glass layer.
US07977232B2
A semiconductor wafer may include, but is not limited to, the following elements. A semiconductor substrate has a device region and a dicing region. A stack of inter-layer insulators may extend over the device region and the dicing region. Multi-level interconnections may be disposed in the stack of inter-layer insulators. The multi-level interconnections may extend in the device region. An electrode layer may be disposed over the stack of inter-layer insulators. The electrode layer may extend in the device region. The electrode layer may cover the multi-level interconnections. A cracking stopper groove may be disposed in the dicing region. The cracking stopper groove may be positioned outside the device region.
US07977230B2
A repair fuse element and method of construction are disclosed that eliminate or substantially reduce the disadvantages and problems associated with prior fuse elements. In one embodiment, the fuse element is constructed with a rectangular-shaped contact. The contact is made long enough so that it makes contact at each end with a metal layer, but design rule spacing is still maintained between the connections with the metal layer. The overlapping areas between the rectangular contact and the metal layers are asymmetrical. Alternatively, these overlapping areas are smaller than the design rule overlap requirements. In a second embodiment, a fuse element is constructed with a plurality of rectangular-shaped contacts. As a result, a current value that is significantly lower than conventional fuse current values, can be used to melt such a contact or blow the fuse.
US07977227B2
A method of manufacturing a non-volatile semiconductor memory device includes forming a sub-gate without an additional mask. A low word-line resistance is formed by a metal silicide layer on a main gate of the memory device. In operation, application of a voltage to the sub-gate forms a transient state inversion layer that serves as a bit-line, so that no implantation is required to form the bit-line.
US07977224B2
A method of preventing the escape of nitrogen during the activation of ion implanted dopants in a Group III-nitride semiconductor compound without damaging the Group III-nitride semiconductor comprising: depositing a first layer of another Group III-nitride that acts as an adhesion layer; depositing a second layer of a Group III-nitride that acts as a mechanical supporting layer; said first and second layers forming an annealing cap to prevent the escape of the nitrogen component of the Group III-nitride semiconductor; annealing the Group III-nitride semiconductor at a temperature in the range of approximately 1100-1250° C.; and removing the first and second layers from the Group III-nitride semiconductor.
US07977221B2
A strained Si—SOI substrate, and a method for producing the same are provided, wherein the method includes the steps of growing a SiGe mixed crystal layer 14 on an SOI substrate 10 having an Si layer 13 and a buried oxide film 12; forming protective films 15, 16 on the surface of the SiGe mixed crystal layer 14; implanting light element ions into a vicinity of the interface between the Si layer 13 and the buried oxide film 12; performing a first heat treatment at a temperature in the range of 400 to 1000° C.; performing a second heat treatment at a temperature not lower than 1050° C. under an oxidizing atmosphere; performing a third heat treatment at a temperature not lower than 1050° C. under an inert atmosphere; removing the Si oxide film 18 formed on the surface; and forming a strained Si layer 19.
US07977218B2
Novel fabrication methods implement the use of dummy tiles to avoid the effects of in-line charging, ESD events, and such charge effects in the formation of a memory device region region. One method involves forming at least a portion of a memory core array upon a semiconductor substrate that involves forming STI structures in the substrate substantially surrounding a memory device region region within the array. An oxide layer is formed over the substrate in the memory device region region and over the STI's, wherein an inner section of the oxide layer formed over the memory device region region is thicker than an outer section of the oxide layer formed over the STI's. A first polysilicon layer is then formed over the inner and outer sections comprising one or more dummy tiles formed over one or more outer sections and electrically connected to at least one inner section.
US07977215B2
A method of dividing an optical device wafer includes: a laser beam processing step of performing laser beam processing to provide an optical device wafer with breakage starting points along streets on the face side of the optical device wafer; a protective plate bonding step of bonding the face side of the optical device wafer to a surface of a highly rigid protective plate with a bonding agent permitting peeling; a back side grinding step of grinding the back side of the optical device wafer so as to form the optical device wafer to a finished thickness of the optical devices; a wafer supporting step of adhering the back-side surface of the optical device wafer to a surface of a dicing tape, and peeling the protective plate adhered to the face side of the optical device wafer; and a wafer dividing step of exerting an external force on the optical device wafer so as to break up the optical device wafer along the streets along which the breakage starting points have been formed, thereby dividing the optical device wafer into the individual optical devices.
US07977193B1
A trench-gate metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor includes a field plate that extends into a drift region of the transistor. The field plate is configured to deplete the drift region when the transistor is in the OFF-state. The field plate is formed in a field plate trench. The field plate trench may be formed using a self-aligned etch process. The conductive material of the field plate and gate of the transistor may be deposited in the same deposition process step. The conductive material may be etched thereafter to form the field plate and the gate in the same etch process step.
US07977192B2
A fabrication method of a trenched metal-oxide-semiconductor device is provided. Firstly, an epitaxial layer is formed on a substrate. Then, a plurality of gate trenches is formed in the epitaxial layer. Afterward, a spacer is formed on the sidewall of the trench gates. The spacer is utilized as a mask to selectively implant oxygen ion into the bottom of the gate trenches so as to form a bottom oxide layer on the bottom of the gate trenches to reduce capacitance between gate and drain.
US07977184B2
A method for fabricating a metal/insulator/metal (MIM) structure capacitor includes forming a nitride film that is an insulating layer on a bottom electrode metal layer; forming titanium/titanium nitride (Ti/TiN) that is a top electrode metal layer on the nitride film; coating photo-resist on the top electrode metal layer and patterning a photo-resist layer; selectively etching the top metal electrode layer so that the nitride film remains using the patterned photo-resist layer as an etching mask and using the nitride film as an end point; and removing the remaining nitride film.
US07977181B2
Provided is a method that includes forming first and second gate structures in first and second regions, respectively, the first gate structure including a first hard mask layer having a first thickness and the second gate structure including a second hard mask layer having a second thickness less than the first thickness, removing the second hard mask layer from the second gate structure, forming an inter-layer dielectric (ILD) over the first and second gate structures, performing a first chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), remove the silicon layer from the second gate structure thereby forming a first trench, forming a first metal layer to fill the first trench, performing a second CMP, remove the remaining portion of the first hard mask layer and the silicon layer from the first gate structure thereby forming a second trench, forming a second metal layer to fill the second trench, and performing a third CMP.
US07977180B2
Methods for fabricating stressed MOS devices are provided. In one embodiment, the method comprises providing a silicon substrate having a P-well region and depositing a polycrystalline silicon gate electrode layer overlying the P-well region. P-type dopant ions are implanted into the polycrystalline silicon gate electrode layer to form a P-type implanted region and a first polycrystalline silicon gate electrode is formed overlying the P-well region. Recesses are etched into the P-well region using the first polycrystalline silicon gate electrode as an etch mask. The step of etching is performed by exposing the silicon substrate to tetramethylammonium hydroxide. A tensile stress-inducing material is formed within the recesses.
US07977179B2
By selectively modifying the spacer width, for instance, by reducing the spacer width on the basis of implantation masks, an individual adaptation of dopant profiles may be achieved without unduly contributing to the overall process complexity. For example, in sophisticated integrated circuits, the performance of transistors of the same or different conductivity type may be individually adjusted by providing different sidewall spacer widths on the basis of an appropriate masking regime.
US07977170B2
A method of manufacturing an electronic device (10) provides a substrate (20) that has a plastic material and has a metallic coating on one surface. A portion of the metallic coating is etched to form a patterned metallic coating. A particulate material (16) is embedded in at least one surface of the substrate. A layer of thin-film semiconductor material is deposited onto the substrate (20).
US07977167B2
A method of producing a field effect transistor arrangement. A substrate having a first crystal surface orientation is provided. A first layer is formed above a first portion of the substrate, the first layer having a second crystal surface orientation different from the first crystal surface orientation. A second layer is formed on at least a second portion of the substrate and adjacent to the first layer, the second layer having the first crystal surface orientation. A first buried oxide layer is formed between the substrate and the first layer. Micro-cavities are formed in the second layer and oxidizing the micro-cavities, thereby forming a second buried oxide layer between the substrate and the second layer. A first field effect transistor of a first conductivity type is formed in or on the first layer. A second field effect transistor of a second conductivity type is formed in or on the second layer.
US07977166B2
A semiconductor device and a fabrication method for the semiconductor device which can remove the sacrifice layer deposited on the semiconductor device surface in a short time and whose manufacturing yield can be improved are provided. The semiconductor device and the fabrication method for the semiconductor device includes a field effect transistor 4 including a gate electrode 1, a drain electrode 2, and a source electrode 3 formed on a semiconductor substrate; and a hollow protective film 5 for covering the gate electrode 1, the drain electrode 2, and the source electrode 3, and being provided on the semiconductor substrate 4A. The hollow protective film 5 includes a 1st cap layer 7; a second cap layer 10 placed on the first cap layer 7; a plurality of openings 12 formed on the position of the first cap layer 7 of the upper part of the drain electrode 2 and the source electrode 3; a sealed part 12A for sealing the openings 12 by the second cap layer 10, wherein oxygen plasma is supplied through the openings 12, and ashing removal of the sacrifice layer 6 is performed.
US07977165B2
Provided is a technology capable of improving a production yield of a semiconductor device having, for example, IGBG as a semiconductor element. After formation of an interconnect on the surface side of a semiconductor substrate, a supporting substrate covering the interconnect is bonded onto the interconnect. Then, a BG tape is overlapped and bonded onto the supporting substrate and the semiconductor substrate is ground from the backside. The BG tape is then peeled off and an impurity is introduced into the backside of the semiconductor substrate by ion implantation. Then, the supporting substrate is peeled off, followed by heat treatment of the semiconductor substrate.
US07977157B2
Some embodiments include methods of assembling integrated circuit packages in which at least two different conductive layers are formed over a bond pad region of a semiconductor die, and in which a conductive projection associated with an interposer is bonded through a gold ball to an outermost of the at least two conductive layers. The conductive layers may comprise one or more of silver, gold, copper, chromium, nickel, palladium, platinum, tantalum, titanium, vanadium and tungsten. In some embodiments, the bond pad region may comprise aluminum, an inner of the conductive layers may comprise nickel, an outer of the conductive layers may comprise gold, the conductive projection associated with the interposer may comprise gold; and the thermosonic bonding may comprise gold-to-gold bonding of the interposer projection to a gold ball, and gold-to-gold bonding of the outer conductive layer to the gold ball. Some embodiments include integrated circuit packages.
US07977142B2
A method of manufacturing an image sensor having a minimized spatial distance between microlenses to improve integration, and thus, enhance the ability of each microlens to condense light incident.
US07977137B1
A process for making a latching zip-mode actuated mono wafer MEMS switch especially suited to capacitance coupled signal switching of microwave radio frequency signals is disclosed. The single wafer fabrication process used for the switch employs sacrificial layers and liquid removal of these layers in order to also provide needed permanent physical protection for an ultra fragile switch moving arm member. Latched operation of the achieved MEMS switch without use of conventional holding electrodes or magnetic fields is also achieved. Fabrication of a single MEMS switch is disclosed however large or small arrays may be achieved. A liquid removal based fabrication process is disclosed.
US07977135B2
A method of making a micron gap thermal photovoltaic device includes forming at least one standoff on a photovoltaic substrate, depositing a sacrificial layer on the photovoltaic substrate and about the standoff, forming an emitter attached to the standoff and having a lower planar surface separated from the photovoltaic substrate by the sacrificial layer, and removing the sacrificial layer to form a sub-micron gap between the photovoltaic substrate and the lower planar surface of the emitter.
US07977131B2
The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a nano-array electrode with a controlled nano-structure by filling a compound having an electron-accepting structure or an electron donating structure into the fine pores of an anodic-oxide porous alumina film obtained by anodically oxidizing aluminum in electrolyte. The spaces defined between the nano-arrays formed of the compound by removing the alumina film are filled with a compound having an electron-donating structure if the nano-arrays have an electron-accepting structure and a compound having an electron-accepting structure if the nano-arrays have an electron-donating structure. A high-performance, high-efficiency photoelectric converting device comprising a nano-array electrode manufactured by the method is also disclosed.
US07977120B2
The invention provides compounds of formulas I, II, and III, methods of making them, and methods of their use. The compounds of the invention can be used as fluorescent sensors, for example, to detect an amine-containing analyte in a biological sample. The compounds can be selective for one type of amine over others and the amount of fluorescence can be correlated with the concentration of the amine in the sample.
US07977118B2
An isolated polypeptide, Z domain, derived from B domain of Staphylococcal protein A, comprising a pair of anti-parallel alpha helices that are capable of binding a target, is provided herein. Introduction of an un-natural amino acid in the polypeptide is provided here. Also provided are methods of using the two-helix binders.
US07977114B2
Embodiments of the invention feature methods and apparatus for the efficient utilization of detectors and other components. The apparatus comprises a pump for receiving and propelling one or more samples in a fluid path. The apparatus further comprises a valve element in fluid communication with the pump for receiving the samples from the pump and directing the sample along one fluid path selected from a group. The group comprises a delay path comprising a delay volume, and a chromatography assembly having at least one chromatography column. The apparatus further comprises a detector or grouping of detectors in fluid communication with the delay path and the chromatography assembly for detecting compounds of interest to allow a single detector or single grouping of detectors to receive samples from the two fluid paths.
US07977112B2
A method of measuring an analyte in a biological fluid comprises applying an excitation signal having a DC component and an AC component. The AC and DC responses are measured; a corrected DC response is determined using the AC response; and a concentration of the analyte is determined based upon the corrected DC response. Other methods and devices are disclosed.
US07977106B2
This invention is a disposable cartridge for use at the patient side to perform traditional coagulation assays on fresh whole blood or blood derivative samples. The cartridge, in use with an electronic analyzer allows a fluid sample to be metered and quantitatively mixed with reagents which activate the coagulation cascade. An artificial substrate for thrombin, the enzyme whose action results in clot formation is also provided. Clot formation is subsequently detected using a microfabricated sensor also housed within the cartridge which detects electrochemically the product of the thrombin reaction upon the synthetic substrate.
US07977086B2
A platform for a devise for wetting objects, especially for an incubation/hybridization chamber is defined by an object support. The platform is arranged at a distance to the object support. The platform comprises a base provided with a least one spacer and a frame carrying the base. The inventive platform is characterized in that the base is moveably mounted relative to the frame by a bearing device. In a first function position, the bearing device maintains the base such that the base projects from the frame and/or the bearing device. In a second functional position, the base projects in some areas beyond an imaginary plane in which the surface of the base is disposed.
US07977082B2
The invention is directed to novel enzymes that convert sucrose to isomaltulose. More particularly, the present invention discloses novel sucrose isomerases, polynucleotides encoding these sucrose isomerases, methods for isolating such polynucleotides and nucleic acid constructs that express these polynucleotides. Also disclosed are cells, including transformed bacterial or plant cells, and differentiated plants comprising cells, which contain these sucrose isomerase-encoding polynucleotides, as well as extracts thereof. Methods of producing isomaltulose are also disclosed which use the polypeptides, polynucleotides, cells, cell extracts and plants of the invention.
US07977074B2
The present invention relates methods for the biosynthesis of tetrodotoxin (TTX) involving the steps of obtaining a culture possessing one or more of a Vibrio species, such as through a seed culture, inoculating the culture and tissue extract from a textrodotoxin-bearing organism in a fermenter medium, and isolating and purifying tetrodotoxin from said fermenter, resulting in a yield of TTX of about 0.5 g TTX/L in about 3 to 5 days, such TTX being at least 90% pure.
US07977073B2
The present invention relates to an amide hydrolase which is with excellent thermostability and stereoselectively hydrolyzes an α-amino acid amide; a gene encoding the enzyme protein; a novel recombinant vector containing the gene; a transformant containing the recombinant vector; and a process for producing an L-α-amino acid using the transformant.
US07977068B2
The present invention generally relates to methods and compositions for expressing proteins or polypeptides in prokaryotic hosts using eukaryotic signal sequences.
US07977066B2
Described is a method for selectively isolating tryptophan containing peptides from an aqueous peptide mixture, including the steps of controlling the pH of the aqueous peptide mixture to 4.0-6.0, forming a precipitate of tryptophan containing peptides, and isolating the precipitated peptides.The aqueous peptide mixture is preferably obtained by enzymatic cleavage at acidic pH of a protein source. Further, peptides having a Trp content of 8-15 w/w % and the use thereof as a food additive and as an active ingredient in a medicament are described.
US07977039B2
In the present invention, in a rinse treatment method of cleaning a substrate after an exposed pattern thereon has been subjected to developing treatment, the following steps are performed such as supplying pure water onto the substrate to clean the substrate with the pure water; supplying a first rinse solution composed of a surfactant with a predetermined concentration onto the substrate to clean the substrate with the first rinse solution; and supplying a second rinse solution composed of a surfactant with a concentration lower than that of the first rinse solution onto the substrate to clean the substrate with the second rinse solution. According to the present invention, in the rinse treatment of the substrate after developing treatment, it is possible to dry the substrate without causing pattern collapse to restrain variation in pattern line width, and to reduce the remaining precipitation-based defects to increase the productivity.
US07977035B2
A method for manufacturing a fine pattern of a semiconductor device comprising: forming hard mask patterns having a thickness of t1 over an underlying layer; forming a light penetrable thin film having a thickness of t2 over the hard mask pattern; forming a light absorbable thin film over light penetrable thin film; performing an exposure process on the resulting structure without use of an exposure mask while controlling an amount of exposure energy such that an exposure light reaches a depth T measured from a top surface of the light penetrable thin film to a top surface of the underlying layer such that t2
US07977034B1
Apparatus and method for making circuitized substrates using a continuous roll format in which a layer of conductor is fed into the apparatus, layers of photo-imageable dielectric are applied to opposite sides of the conductor layer, thru-holes are formed through the composite, and then metal layers are added over the dielectric and then patterns (e.g., circuit) are formed therein. Several operations are performed in addition to these to form the final end product, a circuitized substrate (e.g., printed circuit board), all while the conductor layer of the product is retained in a solid format, up to the final separation from the continuous layer.
US07977029B2
A positive photosensitive composition comprising (A) an acid generator that generates an acid upon irradiation of an actinic ray or radiation, (B) a resin that has a monocyclic or polycyclic alicyclic hydrocarbon structure and is decomposed by the action of an acid to increase solubility in an alkali developing solution, and (C) a specific basic compound.
US07977028B2
The present invention provides a photosensitive resin composition comprising (a) an alkali-soluble resin, (b) a silicon compound having a secondary aromatic amino group and an alkoxy group, and (c) at least one selected from a photopolymerization initiator, a photo acid generator and a photo base generator. According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a photosensitive resin composition which remarkably enhances the adhesion property with a substrate after curing without deteriorating storage stability of a solution, and does not cause peeling of a fine pattern even upon development.
US07977021B2
An objective is to provide an electrophotographic photoreceptor having a protective layer in which no unevenness is generated in a coated layer even though a coating solution containing a large addition amount of metal oxide is coated, mechanical strength of a protective layer is high; productivity is high with long life of the coating solution because of no sedimentation of metal oxide, electrical resistivity and mechanical strength are satisfactory, and metal oxide generating no coated layer defect together with no light scattering caused by dispersion failure is dispersed, and also to provide an image forming method and an image forming apparatus employing the electrophotographic photoreceptor. Also disclosed is an electrophotographic photoreceptor possessing a conductive support, at least a photosensitive layer and a protective layer, wherein the protective layer comprises rutile type titanium dioxide and anatase type titanium dioxide.
US07977015B2
The present invention provides a polymerizable compound denoted by general formula (1). In general formula (1), A denotes an oxygen atom, sulfur atom, or NR, R denotes a hydrogen atom, alkyl group, aryl group, or heterocyclic group, X denotes a hydrogen atom, polymerizable group, optionally polymerizable group-substituted alkyl group or the like, B and C each independently denote a hydrogen atom, halogen atom, polymerizable group, optionally polymerizable group-substituted alkyl group or the like, wherein at least one from among B and C denotes a hydrogen atom and at least one from among X, Y, and Z comprises a polymerizable group, m denotes an integer ranging from 0 to 5, n denotes an integer ranging from 0 to 2, and Q denotes an elimination group.
US07977010B2
A polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell power plant is cooled evaporatively by a non-circulating pressurized water coolant system. The coolant system utilizes a hydrophobic porous plug for bleeding air from the coolant water while maintaining coolant back pressure in a coolant flow field of the system. Furthermore, there is a first method for identifying appropriate parameters of the hydrophobic porous plug for use with a known particular coolant system; and a second method for determining proper operating conditions for a fuel cell water coolant system which can operate with a hydrophobic porous plug closure having known physical parameters.
US07977009B2
A cell module for a fuel cell according to embodiments of the invention includes a hollow-core electrolyte membrane; two electrodes one of which is arranged on the inner face of the hollow-core electrolyte membrane and the other of which is arranged on the outer face of the hollow-core electrolyte membrane; and first collecting members that are connected to the respective two electrodes. At least one of the two electrodes includes nano-columnar bodies on which electrode catalysts are supported. The nano-columnar bodies are formed on at least one of the first collecting members corresponding to the at least one of the electrodes that includes the nano-columnar bodies. At least part of the nano-columnar bodies are oriented toward the hollow-core electrolyte membrane.
US07977000B2
Thermally primed fuel processing assemblies and hydrogen-producing fuel cell systems that include the same. The thermally primed fuel processing assemblies include at least one hydrogen-producing region housed within an internal compartment of a heated containment structure. In some embodiments, the heated containment structure is an oven. In some embodiments, the compartment also contains a purification region and/or heating assembly. In some embodiments, the containment structure is adapted to heat and maintain the internal compartment at or above a threshold temperature, which may correspond to a suitable hydrogen-producing temperature. In some embodiments, the containment structure is adapted to maintain this temperature during periods in which the fuel cell system is not producing power and/or not producing power to satisfy an applied load to the system. In some embodiments, the fuel cell system is adapted to provide backup power to a power source, which may be adapted to power the containment structure.
US07976996B2
The fuel cell system includes a fuel cell; a power conditioner that converts a cell power supplied from the fuel cell to a power corresponding to a load; a capacitor to which an excessive output power of the fuel cell is charged at the time of a low load operation and from which a power corresponding to the insufficient output power of the fuel cell is discharged at the time of a high load operation; a voltage detection means for detecting a voltage of the capacitor; and a control means that determines the low load operation or the high load operation, calculates an output power from the fuel cell to maintain the excessive power generated at the time of the low load operation within a space capacity of the capacitor, and controls the output power of the fuel cell not to exceed the calculated value.
US07976988B2
A non-aqueous electrolyte comprising (i) a non-aqueous solvent, especially mainly composed of a cyclic carbonate and a cyclic ester and optionally a linear carbonate, and (ii) an electrolyte salt, especially LiBF4, dissolved therein and (iii) a vinyl sulfone derivative having the formula (I): wherein R indicates a C1 to C12 alkyl group, C2 to C12 alkenyl group, or C3 to C6 cycloalkyl, and also a lithium secondary battery using the same are disclosed.
US07976984B2
A powdered graphite and a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery are provided. A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery is provided which has a highly efficient charge and discharge performance and superior cycle properties. Spheroidizing treatment is appropriately performed for natural graphite having a high capacity by grinding and/or applying impact to form a negative electrode active material, and a negative electrode active layer formed therefrom is provided on a metal electrode foil. Subsequently, the metal electrode foil is applied with a magnetic field so that the spheroidized natural graphite is oriented, followed by drying and compression molding, thereby forming a negative electrode. By the use of this negative electrode, a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery can be formed having superior battery properties such as the cycle properties and peeling strength.
US07976975B2
A battery device includes a photoelectric conversion device and a secondary battery. The photoelectric conversion device includes a first positive electrode, a first negative electrode, and a photoelectric conversion layer provided between the first positive electrode and the first negative electrode, the photoelectric conversion layer including an inorganic semiconductor and a pigment. The secondary battery includes a second positive electrode, a second negative electrode, and an electrolyte layer provided between the second positive electrode and the second negative electrode. Here, one of a first electrode pair and a second electrode pair is adhered directly, the first electrode pair including the first and the second positive electrodes, and the second electrode pair including the first and the second negative electrodes.
US07976971B2
A power generator having a fuel cell and a fuel container in an enclosure with a pneumatic slide valve interposed between the fuel cell and the fuel container. The fuel cell may provide water vapor which goes to react with the fuel of the container and result in a production of hydrogen for the fuel cell. The valve may be connected to a pressure sensitive membrane that is linked to the valve such that when the pressure within the enclosure increases, the membrane will begin to move and close the valve to cut off the supply of water vapor to the fuel to reduce hydrogen production and consequently the pressure. With a reduction or stoppage of hydrogen production, the pressure may decrease and the membrane may begin to open the valve to let in water vapor to the fuel to make more hydrogen.
US07976956B2
A through-hole type laminated circuit board is given with high reliability of electrical connection using copper foil and conductive paste containing low melting point metal without generating harmful void and crack at boundary between the copper foil and conductive paste metal. The laminated circuit board is made by laminating a multiple number of resin boards with roughening treated copper foils at least on their one surface sides with roughening projection deposition of less than 150 mg/dm2 to make surface roughness Rz of 0.3 to 10 μm and height of the projection to be 0.3 to 10 μm. Surface roughness of the original foil is 0.1 to 5 μm and the amount of copper metal atoms of roughening treated layer is set at 4 times or less than the amount of diffusible conductive paste metal atoms containing low melting point metal into the roughening treated layer on the foil surface.
US07976953B2
An aqueous composition with a sediment content ≦5%, comprising a polyurethane dispersion wherein the polyurethane has an acid value in the range of from 25 to 65 mgKOH/g and comprises (i) 36 to 60 wt % of at least one aromatic polyisocyanate and where the polyurethane is prepared in the presence of (a) ≦5 wt % of 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone by weight of the polyurethane, (b) 5 to 100 wt % of 1-ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone by weight of polyurethane and (c) water.
US07976946B2
The invention relates to a sound-absorbing fabric comprising a glass fabric which is made from glass yarns that are coated with a thermoplastic material, with an opening factor of between 0.5 and 6%.
US07976945B2
In a flame resistant fiber assembly obtainable by fiber forming a flame resistant polymer, a flame resistant fiber of a higher performance is obtained by improving fiber forming ability. A carbon fiber of a high performance is obtained by carbonizing the flame resistant fiber. At obtaining a flame resistant fiber by subjecting a solution containing a flame resistant polymer modified by an amine-based compound to a wet spinning or a semi-dry spinning in a coagulation bath in such a way that a degree of swelling of a coagulated yarn at the outlet of the coagulation bath is 100 to 1000 wt % and then, in a bath, subjecting to a drawing and/or water washing and to a drying under tension, the flame resistant fiber is produced by controlling temperature of the drawing bath/water washing bath, drying temperature or tension in such a way that the obtained fiber would not crystallize. A carbon fiber is produced by carbonizing the flame resistant fiber.
US07976944B2
A temperature-regulating fiber may include a spun phase change polymeric material that may include a plurality of phase change polymer blocks. The fiber may have a fixity ratio of at least 80% and a recovery ratio of at least 74%.
US07976933B2
A sports mat includes a first foam layer, a second foam layer laminated on the first foam layer and a patterned laminate bonded on the second foam layer. The first and second foam layers are both made of polyethylene foam containing material of elastic resin and have a density in the range of 2 to 8 pcf and a total thickness in the range of 2 to 8 mm. In addition, the first foam layer is embossed therebottom with a plurality of elongated ridges parallel to one another. The patterned laminate includes a first plastic film laminated to the second foam layer, a second plastic film laminated to the first plastic film, and a pattern placed in between the first and second plastic films and visible through the second plastic film. Additionally, the pattern laminate together with the second foam layer is embossed to define a plurality of concaves in an exterior surface thereof.
US07976931B2
The invention concerns multi-layer films for back-molding with a liquid plastic material in an inmold process for the production of a decorated injection molded article of high optical quality and utilitarian suitability, in particular having curved surfaces, wherein the multi-layer film has at least one replication lacquer layer which at least on one of its surfaces has a spatial structure producing a visually perceptible and/or technical effect, wherein a contrast layer which is preferably in the form of a reflection layer is arranged in adjoining relationship with at least one surface with a spatial structure at least in region-wise manner. The invention further concerns an injection molded article which is decorated with a multi-layer film and a process for the production of the article.
US07976930B2
A non-fibrous ultra high molecular weight polyethylene tape having a width of 1-inch or greater and a modulus of 1,400 grams per denier or greater. The non-fibrous UHMWPE tape is obtained by compression molding ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene powder at a temperature below its melting point and then drawing and stretching the entire resultant compression molded UHMWPE sheet, with no slitting or splitting of the sheet, at a draw ratio of at least 100:1. The UHMWPE tape can be produced in weights of 6,000 to 90,000 denier or greater. The UHMWPE tape of the present invention minimizes the effect of stress concentrators that are prevalent with fibers and thereby enables the tape to be drawn at much higher draw ratios than is possible with fibrous UHMWPE. When used in ballistics panels, the high modulus high molecular weight polyethylene tape of the present invention improves ballistic performance by providing enhanced dissipation of the impact energy of a projectile.
US07976926B2
Co-extrusion apparatus for manufacturing a laminated plastic film or sheet comprises a plug-type layer sequencer including a plurality of channels for conducting a plurality of polymer flows; a transitional aspect ratio block for inducing the plurality of polymer flows to converge; and a flow velocity profiler cartridge for combining the plurality of polymer flows to form the film. In accordance with one embodiment, the layer sequencer includes a tapered selector pin which minimizes mechanical damage when the selector pin is removed. In accordance with another embodiment, the flow velocity profiler cartridge includes inserts fitting within cavities for controlling the polymer flows which form the layers of the film or sheet manufactured by the apparatus. At least one such insert defines lanes within an associated cavity so as to promote the formation of lanes of differing polymer composition within at least one layer of the laminated sheet or film.
US07976924B2
An adaptable garment material and method of producing such a material. The material may have a substrate and a plurality of shape memory polymer elements integrated therewith, or may be a mat of interwoven shape memory polymer elements. The shape memory elements adapt in the presence of an actuation trigger and exhibit different properties upon actuation.
US07976921B2
A release agent composition includes a poly(meth)acrylate (A) containing a structural unit (1) represented by the following formula (1); in which R1 represents hydrogen or a methyl group and R2 represents a long-chain alkyl group having 12 to 28 carbon atoms, a liquid polymer (B) and a crosslinking agent (C), wherein at least one of the poly(meth)acrylate (A) and the liquid polymer (B) has a reactive functional group, and the crosslinking agent (C) is a compound having a functional group capable of reacting with the reactive functional group.
US07976917B2
Multi-chamber container (1) having its interior partitioned by weak seal portions (3) provided through detachable heat sealing so that multiple contents are accommodated separately from each other, wherein use is made of heat seal layers consisting of a composition comprising two types of propylene copolymers components (component A and component B) from propylene and ethylene and/or a C4-C8 α-olefin which have the following elution properties. Thus, a region wherein a change of seal strength by a change of heat seal temperature is small has a wide temperature range to thereby facilitate controlling of the seal strength at the weak seal portions. The proportion (mass %) of, to total solution, elution according to the TREF method (temperature: 0 to 140° C. and solvent: ODCB) is as follows. With respect to component A: 15 to 50 at 0° C., and 5 to less than 15 at 60 to 90° C. With respect to component B: 0 to 25 at 0° C., and 15 to 70 at 60 to 90° C.
US07976911B2
The invention provides a liquid crystal layer in which an additive containing an aliphatic organic compound including at least one carbon-carbon double bond is added to a cholesteric liquid crystal in an amount of approximately 3 wt % or more and approximately 10 wt % or less.
US07976909B2
Process for depositing, on a substrate, a coating based on titanium oxide, which is characterized in that the coating with photocatalytic properties is deposited by chemical vapor deposition, especially from a gas mixture comprising at least one organometallic precursor and/or a metal halide of said metal oxide, the deposition being enhanced by a plasma source.
US07976899B2
Embodiments of the invention include a selective deposition method that allows for coating of selective portions of an object, such as an electronic device, and inhibits coating of other selective portions of the object, such as the electric contacts. The selective deposition method includes providing a web to transport the object through a deposition chamber. The web may include and reference mechanisms to register the object relative to the web. The method further includes providing deposition material and a shadow mask that has open spaces in it to inhibit coating selective portions of the object. The deposition material serves as the coating material.
US07976897B2
One embodiment thermal chemical vapor deposition method includes exposing a substrate within a chamber to first and second deposition precursors effective to thermally chemical vapor deposit a material on the substrate, and exhausting unreacted first and second deposition precursors from the chamber through a vacuum pump via a first exhaust line comprising a filter. A reactive gas is flowed to the material on the substrate, with the reactive gas being reactive with the material. After flowing the reactive gas, an inert purge gas is flowed through the chamber and through the vacuum pump. The flowing of the inert purge gas to the vacuum pump is through a second exhaust line not comprising the filter. The exposing, the flowing of the reactive gas, and the flowing of the inert purge gas are repeated effective to deposit material of desired thickness on the substrate.
US07976891B1
The apparatus and method use an optical feedback system to align a transducer with a stent strut. Once alignment is achieved, the transducer causes a coating to be ejected onto the stent strut and the transducer is moved along the stent strut to coat the stent strut.
US07976886B2
Methods for preparing cheese blends of analog cheese and soft or firm/semi-hard, ripened or unripended, cheese are provided. The methods generally involve combining a slurry that contains the basic ingredients for an analog cheese and optionally one or more other ingredients with a mass of heated soft or firm/semi-hard cheese. Slurries that are used in the methods and cheeses produced by the methods are also provided.
US07976884B2
An edible pet chew that is made of rehydrated hide about an inner fill via a positioning shealth.
US07976876B2
The present invention relates to an anti-bacterial, anti-virus, and anti-fungus composition, its preparation and use. The composition of the present invention mainly includes the following three ingredients in an adequate ratio: (A) a metal compound having a catalytic function; (B) a mixture of a coenzyme having reducing ability and a quinone, and (C) an additive. The anti-bacterial, anti-virus, and anti-fungus composition of the present invention is capable of destroying viruses as well as killing bacterial and fungi. Therefore, the composition can be formulated as an aerosol and a film for applying to protection devices such as respirators, masks, gloves, filters, condoms, etc. The present composition can also be used in household, vehicle, hospital, school, restaurant, hotel, internet coffee shop for applying to filter of air-conditioner, tap, stool, interior of elevator and its keyboard. Additionally, the present composition can be applied to human being such as applying to hand, foot, genital organs, oral cavity, and the like in a lower dose to attain the effect of destroying of bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
US07976871B2
A novel modified release dosage form comprising of a high solubility active ingredient, which utilizes dual retard technique to effectively reduce the quantity of release controlling agents. Present invention can optionally comprise additionally another active ingredient as an immediate release form or modified release form. Present invention also relates to a process for preparing the said formulation.
US07976868B2
Disclosed are surprising discoveries concerning the role of anionic phospholipids and aminophospholipids in tumor vasculature and in viral entry and spread, and compositions and methods for utilizing these findings in the treatment of cancer and viral infections. Also disclosed are advantageous antibody, immunoconjugate and duramycin-based compositions and combinations that bind and inhibit anionic phospholipids and aminophospholipids, for use in the safe and effective treatment of cancer, viral infections and related diseases.
US07976863B2
Biomedical devices with antimicrobial coatings are provided. One or more surfaces of the device are coated with a cationic peptide, cationic proteins, or mixtures thereof to impart antimicrobial properties to the surface.
US07976861B2
A method for making an implantable bone material. The method includes providing a bone composition consisting essentially of demineralized human bone, and irradiating the composition at a temperature less than about 0° C.
US07976852B2
The invention relates to immunotherapeutic compounds and to methods for stimulating an immune response in a subject individual at risk for developing cancer, diagnosed with a cancer, in treatment for cancer, or in post-therapy recovery from cancer or the compounds of the invention can be administered as a prophylactic to a subject individual to prevent or delay the development of cancer.
US07976850B2
A vaccine composition for combating Pox viridae viral infections in living organisms such as mammals (including humans) comprises TAP-1 and/or TAP-2 to augment the antigen processing capability of infected cells and hence their immunogenicity. The composition may be used alone or, preferably, as an immunogenicity-enhancing adjuvant with a pox antigen-based vaccine, especially in the treatment or prophylaxis of viral infections such as smallpox.
US07976842B2
The present invention relates to the use of an anti-EpCAM antibody for the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. The present invention further relates to a method of treating metastatic breast cancer comprising administering said anti-EpCAM antibody.
US07976841B2
The invention relates to the monoclonal antibody A24 directed against the transferrin receptor. This antibody is in particular useful as an antiproliferative agent.
US07976833B2
An ophthalmic irrigating solution containing hyaluronidase and an antioxidant is provided. The solution prevents a post-operative intraocular pressure rise when used during an ophthalmic surgical procedure, and also protects corneal endothelial cells. A method for preventing post-operative intraocular pressure increases in an eye during ophthalmic surgery involves irrigating an anterior chamber of the eye with an ophthalmic solution containing hyaluronidase and an antioxidant. Kits containing hyaluronidase and base medium solutions are also provided. The kits are designed such that the hyaluronidase and base medium solution are combined and administered together to an eye of a patient during or following an ophthalmic surgical procedure, such as cataract surgery, intraocular lens surgery, corneal transplant surgery, or glaucoma surgery. Administration of the components of the kit prevents an increase in post-operative intraocular pressure and also protects corneal endothelial cells.
US07976829B2
A composition comprising a structuring agent for the composition comprising a partially hydrogenated soybean oil with a melting point of about 26 to about 38° C. in an amount of about 5% or less by weight: and at least one active chosen from antiperspirant actives and deodorant actives in an amount of about 0.5 to about 16% by weight of the composition on an active weight basis. The composition can be used as an antiperspirant and/or deodorant when applied to an axillary area of a person.
US07976824B2
The invention relates to a compound of formula (I): wherein P1, P2, P3, and P4 are each independently hydrogen or a protecting group; and n is an integer of from 2 to 20 and to the use of such compounds for the synthesis of 18F-FDG.
US07976821B2
An improved method and composition for producing aluminum hydroxide crystals from precipitation liquor, involves the addition of an emulsified crystal growth modifier comprising a C8-C10 fatty acid, precursors, salts or blends thereof. The emulsified crystal growth modifier also facilitates an upward shift in particle size distribution of aluminum hydroxide and an upward shift in oxalate ball size.
US07976812B2
A core-shell silica having a high sphericity and a narrow particle distribution and a method for easily producing the core-shell silica which includes dispersing substantially non-porous silica core particles having a sphericity of at least 0.8 and a coefficient of variation of at most 0.2 in a dispersion medium containing an alcohol and water in the presence of a surfactant to prepare a dispersion; adding a silica material to the dispersion and reacting the silica material under a condition of pH of from 8 to 13 to form a shell precursor containing silica and the surfactant on the surface of each silica core particle; and removing the surfactant from the shell precursor to form a porous shell.
US07976808B2
To provide an agent for removing a halogen series gas and a method for removing a halogen series gas which is excellent in a removing ability of removing the present halogen series gas in a low concentration area, which prevents an adsorbent from generating heat, and which is capable of reducing formation of a solid waste.A method for removing a halogen series gas, which comprises bringing a gas to be treated which contains at least one member selected from the halogen series gas group consisting of F2, Cl2, Br2, I2, and compounds which generate a hydrogen halide or hypohalogeneous acid upon hydrolysis, into contact with a granule comprising, based on the total mass of the granule, from 45 to 99.85 mass % of an alkali metal salt, from 0.1 to 40 mass % of a carbonaceous material, and from more than 0 mass % to 15 mass % of an alkaline earth metal salt, in the presence of water.
US07976802B2
A plant for treating pollutants contained in the exhaust gases of an internal-combustion engine includes an exhaust line (10) with an oxidation catalyst (12), a selective catalytic reduction catalyst (16) including a chemically active porous body and an injector (54) for injecting a reducing agent into the exhaust line. The selective catalytic reduction catalyst (16) includes at least one chemically inert passage (42) for the exhaust gases flowing therethrough and a shut-off (44) controlling access of the gases to the passage.
US07976797B2
In one aspect, the invention includes an apparatus for pyrolyzing a hydrocarbon feedstock in a regenerative pyrolysis reactor system, the apparatus comprising a regenerative pyrolysis reactor comprising a stabilized refractory grade zirconia in a reactive region of the reactor system. In another aspect, this invention includes a method for pyrolyzing a hydrocarbon feedstock using a reverse flow regenerative pyrolysis reactor comprising the steps of providing a reverse flow regenerative pyrolysis reactor including a stabilized refractory grade zirconia in a heated reaction zone of the reactor; and pyrolyzing a hydrocarbon feedstock within the reactive region.
US07976794B2
A positioning device is provided for positioning pipettes in medical-technical applications including at least one pipetting apparatus with at least one pipette as well as several drive units for positioning a pipette tip and for moving it over a working area and transversely to a working area, a sliding carriage that is moveable transversely to the working area supports the pipette, at least one pump drive with at least one pump and at least one pump chamber is provided for aspirating or dispensing a medium, such that by providing the at least one pump drive with pump and at least one pump chamber integrated in the sliding carriage that is moveable transversely to the working area, the design of the positioning device becomes compact and precise pipetting is achieved.
US07976783B2
A catalytic reactor containing a core structure near the reactor axis and a casing structure near the reactor wall, the two structures differing from each other to promote catalysis and heat transfer, respectively. The casing contains a multiplicity of first devices for directing fluid centrifugally to impinge a reactor wall and second devices for permitting fluid to flow away from a reactor wall as the fluid flows from the inlet to the outlet of the reactor.
US07976778B2
A measurement module for glucose testing includes a glucose testing measurement module housing, a test strip receptacle formed in the housing, and a connector portion formed in the housing and shaped to permit mechanical removable attachment of the housing to a hand-held computer. Electronics determine the amount of glucose present in a sample of body fluid, when the test strip is positioned in the receptacle and the body fluid is placed on a test strip, and communicate the glucose amount to the hand-held computer via the connector portion.
US07976762B2
A method is provided for microstructuring polymer-supported materials. Also provided are microstructured objects obtained with this method. The microstructured objects are suitable for use, among other things, as light polarizers, transflectors, microelectrode arrays, and liquid-crystal alignment layers.
US07976758B2
A metal shell includes a metal cover and several latching portions disposed on the metal cover. The latching portions are made of plastic material, and integrally formed on the metal cover by an insert molding process. A method for making the metal shell is also described.
US07976751B2
An expanded porous polytetrafluoroethylene film having residual strain of at most 11.0% as measured after a load required to indent a rod, which is in a columnar form that its outer diameter is at least 2 mm and at least 1.9 times as much as the thickness of the film, and has a smooth plane perpendicular to its axis at a free end surface thereof and a modulus of longitudinal elasticity of at least 1.0×104 kgf/mm2, up to 20% of the film thickness at a strain rate of 100%/min from the free end surface is applied repeatedly 20 times, and a production process of the porous film, in which a step of compressing an expanded porous polytetrafluoroethylene film having a high draw ratio is provided.
US07976747B2
A method for extending the useful life of an in-service electrical cable section having a stranded conductor surrounded by a conductor shield encased in a polymeric insulation jacket and having an interstitial void volume in the region of the conductor, the cable section having an average conductor temperature T. The method comprising (i) continuously introducing a non-condensing exclusion fluid into the interstitial volume, the exclusion fluid comprising at least one non-condensing exclusion component having a solubility in the insulation polymer at least 100 times the corresponding solubility of water, each solubility being determined at temperature T; and (ii) injecting a condensing dielectric enhancement fluid into the interstitial void volume, wherein the dielectric enhancement fluid has a virtual flow rate within the interstitial void volume of less than about 0.1 liter per hour.
US07976746B2
A system for establishing modular concrete truss stairway during construction of a multi-floor building having concrete decks provides two pre-cast concrete stringers of plural stairsteps and a cast-in-place intermediate landing therebetween forming a stair truss structurally attached to and communicating between two vertically spaced adjacent concrete decks. The intermediate concrete landing is carried between the adjacent vertically spaced decks by adjacent end portions of the stringers. Internal reinforcement in the concrete decks, in each stringer and in the intermediate landing is operatively interconnected to provide structural rigidity to the stair truss. Concurrent pouring of concrete for the upper deck, the intermediate landing and a blocked out area defined in a lower deck structurally attaches the stair truss therebetween providing an operative stairway upon hardening of the concrete.
US07976742B2
An optical thin film with high hardness is made by insert mold technology and manufacturing processes thereof. The optical thin film is applied on a surface of a plastic housing for increasing hardness of the plastic housing so as to prevent scratches. During manufacturing processes of the insert mold for producing a hard coating film, the step of hardening treatment is moved to the last step so as to avoid cracks on the optical thin film generated during the procedures. Thus, the yield rate is increased, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.
US07976739B2
A chromene compound represented by the following formula (1), wherein, “A” is an annulated ring, R1 and R2 are hydrogen atoms, hydroxyl groups or the like groups, R3, R4, R5 and R6 are substituents such as hydroxyl groups or the like groups, “a” and “b” are, respectively, integers of 0 to 4, and “c” and “d” are, respectively, integers of 0 to 5. The chromene compound is a photochromic compound developing a color of a neutral tint, and has a high color density per a unit amount.
US07976733B2
Low-cost copper nanoparticle inks that can be annealed onto paper substrate for RFID antenna applications, using substituted dithiocarbonates as stabilizers during copper nanoparticle ink production.
US07976732B2
An electroconductive composition including a mixture of a copper powder having an averaged particle size between 0.3 and 20 μm and a copper fine powder having an averaged particle size between 1 and 50 nm; a solvent comprising a multivalent alcohol, such as ethylene glycol or diethylene glycol, having two or more OH groups; and an additive comprising a compound such as malic acid or citric acid having two or more COOH groups and one or more OH groups where the number of COOH groups is equal to or greater than the number of OH groups.
US07976730B2
A polymer blend useful as an ion conductor in fuel cells includes a first polymer that includes a non-ionic segment and a second polymer that includes a sulfonic acid group.
US07976729B2
A composition for stabilizing organic polymers comprising a sterically hindered phenol produced by reacting p-cresol and dicyclopentadiene to produce a precursor and alkylating the precursor with isobutylene, and a tertiary amine oxide.
US07976728B2
It is intended to provide an aqueous solution of a thermoresponsive polymer and an aqueous dispersion of a thermoresponsive particle, which show an upper critical solution temperature (UCST) and are capable of maintaining a dissolved state and a dispersed state, respectively, even if they are stored for a long period of time at a temperature at which a ligand such as an antibody or an antigen is not inactivated. A UCST lowering agent is incorporated in a predetermined amount in an aqueous solution of a thermoresponsive polymer which shows a UCST in a state of containing water or an aqueous dispersion of a thermoresponsive particle containing the polymer, thereby lowering the UCST of the aqueous solution or aqueous dispersion to less than the storage temperature, and the resulting aqueous solution or aqueous dispersion is stored.
US07976710B2
A cross-linked polyvinyl sulfate, copolymer of polyvinyl sulfate and polyvinyl alcohol, or Nafion® membrane is used for recovering sulfuric acid from a feed mixture comprising predominantly acid and water under reverse osmosis conditions wherein sulfuric acid is enriched in the retentate stream and water is removed in the permeate stream.
US07976709B2
A system comprising a blood circuit including a membrane arranged in a blood filter (7) in which blood is in contact with a first side of said membrane; and a dialysis circuit in which a dialysis fluid is in contact with the other side of the membrane for exchange of substances and ions through the membrane as well as water. The dialysis fluid is circulated from a dialysis compartment and through a RO filter (9). The permeate fluid, i.e. water is returned to the dialysis compartment. The retentate fluid from the RO filter (9) passes through a separation filter (13). The retentate fluid is returned to the dialysis compartment and the permeate fluid is removed from the dialysis circuit as a waste fluid to a receptacle (19). The retentate fluid is concentrated in the RO filter in a ration of at least 3:1.
US07976702B2
Apparatuses and methods for filtering particulates and volatiles from fluid systems. The apparatuses and methods include particulate filter and evaporator sections. The apparatuses and methods may furthermore include a heater disposed at least in part in the evaporator section having a ridge on a surface of the heater. The apparatuses and methods may furthermore include an evaporation tube positioned around the heater having a conically shaped outer surface and a heater safety sensor. The apparatuses and methods may also include an air inlet and an air outlet in the evaporator section.
US07976698B2
Process for catalytic conversion in the presence of hydrogen with regeneration of the catalyst that comprises a stage for reduction of said catalyst by the hydrogen that is obtained from the catalytic conversion stage, whereby this hydrogen is purified in advance of impurities that it contains by running it over adsorbent masses, whereby said adsorbent masses are regenerated by an increase in temperature that is provided by the effluent from the reduction stage of the catalyst. Application to the processes for regenerative reforming or dehydrogenation of paraffins and naphthenes and most generally to any moving-bed process that operates in the presence of hydrogen.
US07976697B2
A NOx reduction composition and process of using the composition to reduce the content of NOx emissions and gas phase reduced nitrogen species released from the regeneration zone during fluid catalytic cracking of a hydrocarbon feedstock into lower molecular weight components is disclosed. The process comprises contacting a hydrocarbon feedstock during a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) process wherein a regeneration zone of an fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) is operated in a partial or incomplete combustion mode under FCC conditions, with a circulating inventory of an FCC cracking catalyst and a particulate NOx reduction composition. The NOx reduction composition has a mean particle size of greater than 45 μm and comprises (1) a zeolite component having (i) a pore size of form 2-7 A Angstroms and (ii) a SiO2 to Al2O3 molar ratio of less than 500, and (2) at least one noble metal selected from the group consisting of platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium, ruthenium, rhenium and mixtures thereof.
US07976692B2
The presently disclosed embodiments are directed to an improved metallization process for making fuser members which avoids the extra steps of metal seeding or special substrate treatment. In embodiments, a metallized substrate, formed via a polycatecholamine-assisted metallization process, is used for the complete fabrication of the fuser member.
US07976688B2
Method for manufacturing anodes used for the production of aluminium by fused bath electrolysis, said anodes comprising an anode stem made of a conducting metal and at least one block made of carbonaceous material called an anode block, said method including at least the following steps: a) obtain an anode stem; b) obtain a new anode block; c) fix one end of the anode stem onto the anode block, so as to give good mechanical attachment and good electrical connection between said stem and said anode block; said method being characterised in that before, during or after step c), but before placement of said anode in the electrolytic cell, a protective layer with a controlled thickness, typically between 5 and 25 cm composed of a material resistant to temperature and corrosion by the medium above the electrolytic bath is at least partially deposited on the upper surface of said anode block.
US07976676B2
This invention relates to an improved bleaching process for bleaching pulp comprising at least one bleaching stage which comprises treating a softwood pulp with a bleaching agent comprising ClO2 in the presence of a weak base such as, for example, Mg(OH)2 preferably at pH from about 3.5 to about 6.5. The invention is also relates a bleaching process for bleaching pulp having two or more bleaching stages, at least one of which and preferably two of which comprises treating a softwood pulp with a bleaching agent comprising ClO2 in the presence of a weak base such as, for example, Mg(OH)2 preferably at pH from about 3.5 to about 6.5.
US07976675B2
In a continuous digester system the digester system is greatly simplified by using a single vertical atmospheric vessel, replacing the conventional chip bin, steaming vessel, chip chute, high pressure pumping or sluice feeders, impregnation vessels and top separator. Chips are simply fed to the top of the atmospheric vessel, and a chip level is established in the vessel. Treatment liquids are added to the vessel such that a total liquid volume (Z1+Z2) with a liquid level (LIQ LEV) is established under the chip level (CH LEV). Impregnation stage and subsequent cooking stages are implemented in the atmospheric vessel at successively increasing temperature and depths into the total liquid volume, thus preventing boiling in the stages and preferably reducing steam blow trough of the chip surface in the top of the vessel.
US07976674B2
Plasma generating devices, systems and processes are provided in which hybrid capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) sources use a plurality of primary plasma generating cells embedded into large area electrode or elsewhere in communication with a plasma processing chamber. Plasma is generated and maintained by a shaped low-inductance element within each of a plurality of locally enhanced ICP micro-cells coupled to the chamber through a CCP electrode. The source is suitable for processing large diameter (300 mm and larger) semiconductor wafers and large area panels, including plasma screen displays.
US07976671B2
A plasma reactor for processing a workpiece such as a mask or wafer includes a vacuum chamber having a cylindrical side wall, a ceiling overlying the side wall and a ring supported on a top edge of the side wall and supporting the ceiling, the ring comprising an external surface and an interior surface. An RF plasma source power applicator and an RF source power generator coupled to the applicator furnish plasma source power. Plural passages extend in a radial direction through the ring from the external surface to the interior surface and are spaced apart along a circumference of the ring. A process gas supply furnishes process gas. An external gas flow conduit apparatus outside of the chamber extends around a circumference of the chamber and is coupled to the process gas supply. Plural external gas flow valves outside of the chamber are coupled to the external conduit at respective locations spaced apart along the conduit, each of the valves having: (a) a controlled gas output port coupled to a respective one of the plural passages at the external surface of the ring and (b) a valve control input. A gas valve configuration controller controls the valve control input of each of the valves.
US07976667B2
Method for bonding together up to three layers in a film, which may be made of layers of different materials. The method includes unwinding from pay-off units layers of the film and guiding them into a spreader/applicator units designed to apply an adhesive material to one side of the layers and feeding them to a bonding zone (1), bonding together the layers in the bonding zone, by winding them over a first bonding calender (18), along a contact arc on the surface of said calender. The method is characterized by determining the breadth of said contact arc by rotating a nip onto which the presser roller (19) is mounted, so as to vary the position of the point of contact between a presser roller (19) and the surface of said bonding calender (18). The bonded film is then taken up.
US07976663B2
Methods of manufacturing screen elements for use with vibratory separators are disclosed. The screen elements include a curved structural frame with perforations therein, the perforations designed to maximize both open area and process liquid throughput. At least one layer of screen cloth is attached to the curved structural frame by means of fluidized powdered epoxy resin.
US07976659B2
A process for assembling a composite piece for use in the interior of an automobile. An outward facing skin of the composite piece is connected to a substrate by a foaming material, and at least one switch item is integrated seamlessly into the composite piece. Part of the process includes wrapping a visible portion of each switch item with the outward facing skin. A spare piece is placed against the surface of the visible area of each item opposite the surface located on the visible surface of the composite piece. A foaming material is injected between the skin and the substrate, and then each spare piece is removed. A control component is placed at each cavity left where the removed spare pieces blocked expansion of the foaming material.
US07976657B2
A method for continuously manufacturing liquid-crystal display elements includes steps of; continuously feeding an optical film laminate, calculating a length measurement data based on the feed length of the optical film laminate, detecting a mark provided to the optical film laminate indicating defect information in a polarizing composite film being detected in a preliminary inspection, sequentially forming slit lines in a transverse direction with respect to the feed direction of the optical film laminate, determining the polarizing composite film sheet separated by the respective slit lines is a defective polarizing sheet or a normal polarizing sheet, peeling a sheet determined to be a normal polarizing sheet from the carrier film, and laminating the normal polarizing sheet to a respective one of liquid-crystal panel.
US07976652B2
A method for producing beryllium-copper containing at least Be and Cu, includes holding the beryllium-copper for a predetermined solid solution time in a solid solution temperature range in which the Be is dissolved into the Cu, cooling the beryllium-copper at a cooling speed at which the Be remains dissolved in the Cu, applying plastic strain to a cooled beryllium-copper over multiple times in a processing temperature range in which the Be is not precipitated, and holding the beryllium-copper for a predetermined age hardening time in a precipitation temperature range in which the Be is precipitated.
US07976647B2
The invention concerns a very high mechanical strength steel, whereof the chemical composition comprises in wt. %: 0.006%=C=0250%; 0.400%=Mn=0.950%; Si=0.300%; Cr=0.300%; 0.100%=Mo=0.500%; 0.020%=AI=0.100%; P=0.100%; B=0.010%; Ti=0.050%, the rest being iron and impurities resulting from preparation. The invention also concerns a method for making a sheet of said steel coated with zinc or zinc alloy.
US07976640B2
A method for the on-line cleaning of a heat exchanger used with petroleum process fluids which create coke deposits of asphaltenic origin on the exchanger tubes. The asphaltenes are removed by re-dissolution in a solvent oil of high solubility power for the asphaltenes. Certain asphaltenic crudes are useful as solvents in view of their chemical similarity to the asphaltene coke precursors; also useful are refined petroleum fractions such as gas oils which are also characterized by their solvency for asphaltenes. The solvent oil may be admitted to the heat exchanger following withdrawal of the process fluid and then allowed to soak and dissolve the asphaltene coke precursors after which the resulting solution may be withdrawn and the exchanger returned to use without being at any time disconnected from its associated process unit.
US07976629B2
Processes and machines for producing large area sheets or films of crystalline, polycrystalline, or amorphous material are set forth; the production of such sheets being valuable for the manufacturing of solar photovoltaic cells, flat panel displays and the like. The surface of rotating cylindrical workpiece (10) is implanted with ion beam (30), whereby a layer of weakened material is formed below the surface. Sheet (20) is detached and peeled off, producing arbitrarily large, monolithic sheets. The sheet may be supported on a temporary or permanent handle (50) such as a glass sheet or a polymer film. Pinch roller (60) may assist in the lamination of handle (50) to sheet (20) before or after the point of separation of sheet (20) from workpiece (10). The implantation, annealing and separation processes are adapted to encourage the material to separate along the implanted layer rather than a particular crystal plane.
US07976626B2
The problems to be solved by the invention are to provide a fiber reinforced cement composition for obtaining a fiber reinforced cement product which is inexpensive and economical, and to provide pushing forward disposal of defective products.Namely, the fiber reinforced cement composition comprises a hydraulic inorganic material, a siliceous material, a woody reinforcement, a finely dividing fiber reinforced cement product and/or a finely dividing intermediate of fiber reinforced cement product which is produced by said raw materials.
US07976625B2
A compound and method for treating fly ash includes an amphoteric, alkyl polyglycoside, ester, derivative of triglyceride, fatty alcohol, alkoxylated fatty alcohol, alkoxylated polyhydric alcohol, and mixtures thereof, wherein the treated fly ash is incorporated into a cement admixture, and is effective in blocking absorptive carbon. Also, a method is included that reduces the amount of Portland cement by substituting up to 40 by total weight of the cement in a mixture with an equal amount of fly ash treated with an an amphoteric, alkyl polyglycoside, ester, derivative of triglyceride, fatty alcohol, alkoxylated fatty alcohol, alkoxylated polyhdric alcohol, and mixtures thereof.
US07976613B2
A process for removing water from a natural gas in an underwater environment is described. The process comprises dehydrating a natural gas feed stream in an apparatus arranged to exchange heat with the underwater environment, preferably including the step of forming hydrates in a hydrate forming zone of a hydrate vessel. The step of forming hydrates in the hydrate zone may comprise the step of introducing the natural gas feed stream into the hydrate vessel through an expansion device with the expansion device is located at and defines a gas inlet to the hydrate vessel. Heat exchange with the hydrate vessel itself need not occur as in one embodiment, heat exchange with the underwater environment takes place through an arrangement of pipes upstream of the hydrate vessel.
US07976605B2
A honeycomb structural body including a ceramic block having a flat shape and comprising a plurality of honeycomb units, a sealing material layer bonding the honeycomb units and comprising a sealing material paste, and a peripheral sealing material layer formed on a peripheral portion of the ceramic block. The flat shape has a cross-section which is bisected by an axis, the sealing material layer forms an angle diagonal with respect to the axis of the flat shape, the sealing material layer has end portions abutting against the peripheral sealing layer at a diagonal angle, and each of the honeycomb units has through holes extending in a longitudinal direction of the ceramic block and a partition wall portion between the through holes.
US07976593B2
A gasifier and gasifier system based on the gasifier, which contains as a major component, a novel feed system for feeding organic materials into the burn pile of the gasifier. The gasifier feed system is a horizontal auger driven feed system that feeds directly through a ceramic elbow into the furnace without having to auger the feed through significant vertical elevations.
US07976563B2
The invention relates to a medical instrument having on its proximal end a shaft with a handle consisting of two gripping members and on its distal end a tool consisting of two jaw members and in which, to open and close the tool, at least one jaw member can rotate with respect to the other jaw member around a point of rotation by means of a push-pull rod and in which the push-pull rod is connected on the proximal side with a rotatable gripping member of the handle. To produce a medical instrument that can be used even in closely confined spaces and with sufficient transmission of force, it is proposed with the invention that the point of rotation should be configured as a variable, virtual point of rotation that is dependent on the position of the jaw members to one another.
US07976557B2
A method of preparing a cutting balloon comprises the steps of providing a balloon body having an exterior surface, an unexpanded state and an expanded state; and engaging at least one blade to the exterior surface when the balloon body is in the unexpanded state.
US07976549B2
A method, apparatus, and system are provided to place an insert in a space between boney structures. The insert may be rotatably coupled to the delivery instrument. The delivery instrument may comprise a body and an articulating member. The articulating member may slidably interact with the insert to rotate the insert about a pivot point. A first actuator is operatively coupled to the articulating member such that actuating the first actuator translates the articulating member relative to the body. An engagement member may be coupled to the body and adapted to releasably and rotatably secure the insert to the delivery instrument. The articulating member and the engagement member may be offset from each other in such a manner that when the articulating member engages the insert, the insert rotates relative to the delivery instrument. Alternatively, the insert may be coupled to the delivery instrument via rotatable attachment members.
US07976520B2
Eye wall anchored fixtures each including at least one elongated anchor member for driven lengthwise insertion into an eye's eye wall in a transverse direction to its thickness for supporting an intraocular device in the eye's vitreous cavity. Fixtures are preferably anchored in circumferential incisions in a human adult eye's pars plana preferably 3.5 mm posterior to its corneal limbus, and perpendicular to a circumferential incision. The fixtures are either generally L-shaped with a single elongated anchor member designed for withdrawal from an eye wall or self-anchoring thereinto, or generally T-shaped with a pair of oppositely directed self-anchoring elongated anchor members for sealing a throughgoing incision. Intraocular devices can be designed for intraocular drug delivery, for acquiring intraocular physiological measurements, and the like.
US07976519B2
A tissue closure treatment system and method are provided with an external patient interface. A first fluid transfer component (FTC1) can be placed directly on a suture line for transferring fluid exuded therethrough. An underdrape is placed over FTC1 and includes a slot exposing a portion of same. A second fluid transfer component (FTC2) is placed over the underdrape slot in communication with FTC1. Negative pressure is applied to FTC2 through a connecting fluid transfer component (FTC3). The tissue closure method includes a manual operating mode using a manual suction device with an automatic shut off for discontinuing suction when a predetermined volume of fluid has been drained. An automatic operating mode utilizes a microprocessor, which can be preprogrammed to respond to various patient and operating conditions. The method proceeds through several phases with different components in place and different patient interface functions occurring in each.
US07976518B2
A tubing assembly having a signal generator placement control device for use in conjunction with electronic catheter guidance systems. The control device facilitates control of the position the guidance systems' signal generator relative to the end of the tubing assembly. The tubing assembly includes a tubular insulator coupled to one end of the control device, and the tubing assembly includes a tubular connector attached to the other end of control device. Also, the tubing assembly includes a catheter attached to the tubular connector and an end member attached to the catheter.
US07976511B2
A hand-held aspiration apparatus includes a handle configured for suspending and using the syringe with a single hand. The handle includes pivotally connected first and second members. The members of the handle may be pivotally connected at intermediate positions along the lengths thereof. The first member is associated with, and may be pivotally connected to, a syringe barrel, while the second member is associated with, and may be pivotally connected to, a syringe plunger. The members are configured and associated with one another in such a way that movement of portions thereof toward each other moves the plunger proximally through the barrel, which may create a vacuum in the barrel that may facilitate aspiration, and that movement of portions of the members away from one another moves the plunger distally through the barrel. The aspiration apparatus may be configured for a single-use (i.e., it may be disposable). Applications of use and methods of using a hand-held syringe are also disclosed.
US07976510B2
Medical devices comprising a syringe barrel and a two-piece plunger rod are provided. According to one or more embodiments, the two-piece plunger rod includes a distal portion and proximal portion slidably mounted to the distal portion. The distal and proximal portions include a tab and plurality of grooves which engage to adjust the overall length of the plunger rod to a plurality of locked lengths. The locked lengths of the plunger rod permit varying amount of fluid to be expelled from the barrel.
US07976500B2
A wearable infusion device comprises a reservoir that holds a liquid medicament, an outlet port that delivers the liquid medicament to a patient, a pump that holds a volume of the liquid medicament received from the reservoir and displaces substantially all of the volume of the liquid medicament when actuated, and at least a first valve, a second valve, and a third valve. The valves establish fluid connection between the reservoir and the pump when in a first valve configuration and establish fluid connection between the pump and the outlet when in a second valve configuration. At least two of the valves isolate the outlet from the reservoir when the valves are in the first valve configuration.
US07976497B2
A method of fabrication of a medical balloon, and a balloon device useful for various medical balloon procedures, such as gastrointestinal, vascular, reproductive system, urinary system and pulmonary applications. At least two layers of a thermoplastic film are sealed at their peripheral edges and heat sealed at one or more locations inside an area enclosed by the sealed edges at predetermined locations, in one implementation of the balloon device. Such configuration enables the balloon to articulate to a desired shape upon inflation, with the desired shape being selected to accommodate a specific medical application.
US07976492B2
Systems and methods for integrating a continuous glucose sensor, including a receiver, a medicament delivery device, and optionally a single point glucose monitor are provided. Manual integrations provide for a physical association between the devices wherein a user (for example, patient or doctor) manually selects the amount, type, and/or time of delivery. Semi-automated integration of the devices includes integrations wherein an operable connection between the integrated components aids the user (for example, patient or doctor) in selecting, inputting, calculating, or validating the amount, type, or time of medicament delivery of glucose values, for example, by transmitting data to another component and thereby reducing the amount of user input required. Automated integration between the devices includes integrations wherein an operable connection between the integrated components provides for full control of the system without required user interaction.
US07976489B2
The invention includes a device for inserting a medicament within a body cavity of a mammal, the device including a cartridge for containing the medicament therein, the cartridge including a housing, a retractable chamber disposed within the housing and having a lumen, a substantially stationary member disposed within the lumen of the retractable chamber and having a uniform cross-section sized to provide a sliding fit within the lumen to provide for retraction of the retractable chamber about the substantially stationary member upon actuation of the device, and means for retracting the retractable chamber about the substantially stationary member while maintaining the substantially stationary member in a substantially stationary position upon actuation of the device; the device further including means for activating the means for retracting the retractable chamber.
US07976486B2
A circulation facilitating apparatus comprising a pneumatic assembly and first and second leg assemblies. The pneumatic assembly comprises a pump assembly, a control assembly, an air controller assembly and an energizing assembly. The control assembly controls the pump assembly. The control assembly includes a microprocessor and a system for programming the microprocessor. The programming system programs at least a cycle time and at least a hold time. The air controller assembly is coupled to the pump assembly. Each leg assembly includes a bladder, an air passage assembly and a housing. A treatment method is likewise disclosed.
US07976485B2
The present invention is to provide a massager moves on a pair of undulated tracks. The massager comprises a massaging core 1, and a base 2, which includes a tow unit 3, a shank 4, a pair of tracks 51 and a pair of undulated tracks 52. The tow unit 3 is slided along the tracks 51, the tow unit is connected to the massaging core 1 by a pivotal axle. And the massaging core 1 is further guided to move along the undulated tracks 52. Tow unit 3 meshed with the shank 4 can be driven by a driving unit and a transmission unit, thereby, the tow unit 3 can be glided along the shank 4 and the track 51. The massaging core 1 connected to a tow unit 3 can slide along a pair of undulated tracks similar to waist, back, and neck portions of human body.
US07976484B2
An auxiliary mat for a hyperthermo-therapeutic apparatus, a hyperthermo-therapeutic apparatus including the same, and a method of using the hyperthermo-therapeutic apparatus are provided. In a hyperthermo-therapeutic apparatus including a main mat and an auxiliary mat, a receiving groove is formed at a side of the main mat or the auxiliary mat, and an external hyperthermo-therapeutic unit is detachably mounted in the receiving groove. In a state where a user sits astraddle on the main mat or the auxiliary mat, the external hyperthermo-therapeutic unit is operated so that a hot compress effect or an effect generated by radiating far infrared rays can be simply obtained on a lower part of a user's body. Upon use of the hyperthermo-therapeutic apparatus, there are advantages in that the user does not need to take an uncomfortable posture for receiving a hot compress on the lower part of her/his body.
US07976475B2
A two part measuring device for a medical application, including a disposable first part for measuring the data of a patient, and a second part releasably secured to the first part for transmitting the data.
US07976468B2
A soft tissue diagnostic apparatus for diagnosis of stress and injury in anatomical soft tissue by detecting the response of the soft tissue to acoustic energy and a method of detecting soft tissue damage or stress and treating the tissue. An acoustic transmitter transmits excitation acoustic energy toward a target area of soft tissue of a subject. An acoustic receiver receives responsive acoustic energy generated by the soft tissue in response to the excitation acoustic energy transmitted by the acoustic transmitter and generates an output signal representative of the response of the soft tissue to the excitation acoustic energy. An analyzer receives the output signal of the acoustic receiver and provides an indication of at least one of stress and injury in the soft tissue based on the output signal. Areas of stress are inhibited to find the origin of soft tissue pain.
US07976461B2
A unit of equipment designed for use in endoscopic surgery includes radio frequency identification (RFID) circuitry and a network interface. The RFID circuitry can be used to store information of various types, such as component usage tracking information, user preferences, usage logs, error logs, device settings, etc. The network interface allows the unit to communicate over an external network with a remote server. Information, such as information stored in the RFID circuitry or in a separate memory, may be sent over the network to a desired destination, such as a server operated by the manufacturer of the equipment.
US07976459B2
A portable, low power, low cost, endoscope having a removable probe with a miniature digital CCD imager, single white LED illuminator and an imaging lens on the distal end and a miniature multi pin connector on the proximal end; both ends connected with a multi trace flexible circuit hidden inside of the protecting flexible sleeve; and a full color LCD monitor and associated image signal processing electronics and powered by the small battery cells.
US07976458B2
Devices and methods useful for delivering tools and/or materials to a surgical site are disclosed. In one embodiment, an accessory device for an endoscope is provided and can include an elongate sheath and an accessory channel. The elongate sheath can be adapted to receive an endoscope therein, and it can include a mating element extending longitudinally between proximal and distal ends thereof. The accessory channel can be adapted to receive a tool therethrough and it can also have a mating element extending between proximal and distal ends thereof and adapted to slidably mate to the mating element formed on the elongate sheath. In certain exemplary embodiments, a distal portion of the accessory channel can be adapted to derail from at least a distal portion of the elongate sheath while a proximal portion of the accessory channel remains mated to a proximal portion of the elongate sheath. In use, the elongate sheath and the accessory channel can each provide a pathway for delivering tools and/or materials to a surgical site. The distal ends of elongate sheath and the accessory channel can be detached and positioned independently of one another to afford improved positioning or placement of the tools and/or materials received therethrough.
US07976447B2
A conductive rubber roller having a rubber layer on a conductive core material. The rubber composition constituting the rubber layer contains a rubber component and a filler. The rubber component contains an epichlorohydrin rubber. The filler includes carbon black (A) having a nitrogen adsorption specific surface area (N2SA) of 20 m2/g to 40 m2/g and having a dibutyl phthalate (DBP) oil absorption of 80 ml/100 g to 100 ml/100 g and carbon black (B) having a nitrogen adsorption specific surface area (N2SA) of 15 m2/g or less and having a dibutyl phthalate (DBP) oil absorption of 40 ml/100 g or less. The carbon black (A) is in a content of 10 parts by mass to 30 parts by mass and the carbon black (B) is in a content of 20 parts by mass to 60 parts by mass or less, based on 100 parts by mass of the rubber component.
US07976446B2
An exercise apparatus containing a supporting stand and at least one force transmission element, which is associated with a handle element and a pressure exerting element, the apparatus being suitable to exert pressure onto the knee area of a human user and the apparatus allowing the movement of the pressure-exerting element from a first position, in which the pressure-exerting element is in an anterolateral position relative to the body of the user, to a second position of the pressure exerting element, in which the pressure-exerting element is in an posterolateral position, while the pressure-exerting element exerts pressure onto the knee area of the human user. In another aspect, the invention encompasses an exercise apparatus containing a supporting stand and at least one force transmission element, which is associated with a handle element and a pressure-exerting element, in which the force transmission element is movable about a first pivot, wherein the first pivot is positioned in a ventral position relative to the body of a human user.
US07976445B2
A portable door mounted exercise system that can be easily set up and taken down and which doesn't occupy any significant floor space. The system provides variable resistance for aerobic, cardiovascular and muscle building exercises. Variable resistance is provided through a set of elastic cords. A user can select to use any combination of the cords to provide a desired level of resistance for exercise and training. The cords can be attached to a handle, ankle strap, squat strap or neck strap depending on the type of exercise or training desired by the user. The cords can be attached to a pulley system and bracket which is slidably attached to a door mount to provide variable positioning for the pulley system. The system can also include a training computer to provide audio and video training information to the user.
US07976438B1
A grip assembly for a jump rope includes a grip body having a first end formed with an open casing and a second end formed with a receiving space, a counter mounted in the casing, a cover mounted on the casing and abutting the counter to locate the counter between the casing and the cover, a pivot head rotatably mounted on the casing and connected with the counter to drive the counter, and a weight member mounted in the receiving space of the grip body. Thus, the counter can count and indicate the jump number of the jump rope so that the user can know the jump number exactly. In addition, the weight member provides a damping force to the user' arms so as to exercise the user's arms.
US07976432B2
To alleviate a shift shock of an automatic transmission when a vehicle travels at a certain vehicle speed and a speed range is changed over to a drive range from a neutral range. When a neutral range is selected by a range selection lever, a neutral determination part outputs a determination signal Nt. When a vehicle speed V is equal to or more than a vehicle speed reference value Vref, a vehicle speed determination part outputs a signal VJ2. When the vehicle speed V is less than the vehicle speed reference value Vref, a signal VJ1 is outputted. The signal VJ1 is inputted to a shift map, and a hydraulic control unit determines a speed change stage base on the vehicle speed and a throttle opening degree. When a signal VJ2 is inputted to the hydraulic control unit, the shift stage is set at the neutral range.
US07976429B2
A continuously variable transmission for a motorcycle that provides appropriate engagement of a centrifugal clutch when a clutch shoe is worn. A control unit controls a change gear ratio to a TOP side to engage the centrifugal clutch when the centrifugal clutch is disengaged and an engine rotational speed is higher than a predetermined first rotational speed.
US07976425B2
An automatic transmission is provided having an input member, an output member, four planetary gear sets, a plurality of coupling members and a plurality of torque transmitting devices. Each of the planetary gear sets includes first, second and third members. The torque transmitting devices may be either clutches or brakes.
US07976424B2
An automatic transmission is provided having an input member, an output member, four planetary gear sets, a plurality of coupling members and a plurality of torque transmitting devices. Each of the planetary gear sets includes first, second and third members. The torque transmitting devices may be either clutches or brakes.
US07976415B2
A racket. In an illustrative embodiment, the racket includes plural handle portions, including a first handle portion and a second handle portion, which are equipped with a first gripping surface and a second gripping surface, respectively. A first mechanism couples the first handle portion and the second handle portion to the racket so that the first gripping surface is angled relative to a first plane coincident with a hitting surface of the racket. In a more specific embodiment, the first handle portion and the second handle portion are integrated with the racket. Alternatively, the first handle portion and the second handle portion are removably attached to the racket. The first and second handle portions form obtuse angles between the hitting surface and the handle portions.
US07976404B2
The present invention is directed to a golf club head with an improved striking surface. The grooves are machined into the strike surface with tight tolerances. The face may be selectively textured to enhance certain shots that the golfer may perform. This may include providing a plurality of distinct sets of texturing and surface roughening to accommodate a plurality of different shots. The grooves may contain a plurality of portions, including a radiused or angled portion, a portion having substantially parallel walls, a portion having a v-shape, and a curved portion. The grooves may also be characterized by various dimensions, including draft angle, inclusive side wall angle, width, depth, cross-sectional area, spacing, and pitch ratio.
US07976383B2
A gaming machine switchable between an insurance mode and a non-insurance mode and which activates insurance compensation irrespective of a result of a game when a predetermined condition is established and a playing method thereof are disclosed. In accordance therewith, when a bet value or a payout value to be paid out includes a value less than one credit, that value is accumulatively stored as a fractional value, and the mode is switched from an insurance mode to a non-insurance mode when the accumulatively added fractional values reach a predetermined value or the number of unit games in which the fractional value is accumulatively added reaches a predetermined number.
US07976381B2
A method, apparatus, and computer readable storage to drive an auxiliary game using resultant reel stops on a slot machine. Reel stops can have an action or property associated with them which affects the auxiliary game. When a player spins reels on the slot machine, the player can win a standard prize based on a resulting combination of symbols displayed on the slot machine and the player can also win an auxiliary prized based on the auxiliary game which can be controlled, in whole or in part, by where the reels stop.
US07976380B2
Advantage is taken of the fact that as a player tires, the high frequency components of the player's movement typically decreases in comparison with the low frequency components of the player's movement. By analyzing the frequency components of the player's motion, as obtained from signals generated by the motion input device, the system is able to determine changes in a player's response level and change the game accordingly. In one embodiment, wavelet analysis of an input device signal is used to control or adjust a program.
US07976379B2
A gaming system and method which provides for one or more gaming device triggered bonus games to be skipped or otherwise not provided to the players at the gaming devices which triggered such bonus games. The average expected payouts of skipped gaming device triggered bonus games are contributed to a bonus accumulation pool or fund. The accumulation pool is subsequently utilized to provide one or more gaming system triggered bonuses to one or more players at one or more of the gaming devices in the gaming system. A player's accumulated triggering symbols determine, at least in part, the player's probability of winning part of the bonus accumulation pool and/or the player's portion of the bonus accumulation pool.
US07976374B2
A system and method are provided for playing a game of chance. The game of chance may include, for example, a lottery-type game. A result of the game of chance is revealed to a player in another medium. In one example, the result is revealed during multiple game instances of one or more online games. In one example, the online game is a reveal element game.
US07976371B2
To provide a game device for producing, in a preferred mode with relatively simple processing, a picture in which a predetermined game event occurs as a result of involvement in multiple contacts. A contact determination unit (74) determines whether or not a predetermined contact condition is satisfied, based on the positions of the contact evaluation target object and the contacting candidate object. A contact evaluation point calculating unit (76) calculates, when it is determined that the predetermined contact condition is satisfied, a contact evaluation point of the contact evaluation target object, based on a state of at least one of the contact evaluation target object and the contacting candidate object in the virtual three dimensional space. A contact evaluation point cumulative value storage unit (78) stores the cumulative value of the contact evaluation point. A game event generation unit (injury event control unit (80)) generates a predetermined game event in association with the contact evaluation target object with a probability based on the cumulative value of the contact evaluation point of the contact evaluation target object.
US07976368B2
In a method for the processing of fish, poultry or other meat products being conveyed in a plurality along a processing line, components which are to be excluded from consumption are separated and edible products obtained as a result for consumption are checked with an automatic inspection device for residues left behind. Separation takes place in such a way that, in the case of a number of edible products, minimized residues of at least one kind are deliberately permitted and induced for further processing of the edible products, in particular to optimize the edible product recovery. The automatic inspection device is adjusted to detect the minimized tolerance residues, and inspected edible products with and without the tolerance residues are separated from each other. In an apparatus for carrying out the method, a separating device with at least one separating tool is designed in such a way that, in the case of a number of edible products, minimized tolerance residues of at least one kind are left behind for further processing of the edible products, and the inspection device is connected to a separator device which distinguishes edible products with and without residues according to the inspection results and discharges them separately from each other.
US07976367B2
A method for eviscerating intestine packs of slaughtered poultry using evisceration devices. Each devise includes an evisceration spoon, which is inserted into the body of the poultry to a fully advanced position, in which the spoon surrounds the intestine pack on the breast side thereof. The evisceration spoon is subsequently retracted, thereby pulling the intestine pack out of the body. A guide is inserted together with the spoon and is moved across the esophagus during the forward movement within the body. While the crop is being pulled loose, the guide forms a bend on the esophagus, so that the esophagus extends from the bend to the crop in a direction more aligned with the retraction direction than the portion of the esophagus extending from the bend to the spoon.
US07976364B2
The invention relates to a dust collection container for a hand-held power tool, especially an electric sander, having a dust extraction connection (12). Said dust collection container has an inlet connection (17) configured to be slid onto the dust extraction connection (12) and a seal (18) that is effective between the inlet connection (17) and the dust extraction connection (12), the peripheral surface (182) of said seal sealingly fitting against the inner wall (172) of the inlet connection (17). In order to facilitate an easy and jerk-free handling of the dust collection box during attachment to the hand-held power tool and during detachment of the hand-held power tool, the seal (18) has a sealing surface (181) which is oriented at a right angle to the connection axis and which is configured to sealingly fit against the free, annular face (121) of the dust extraction connection (12).
US07976355B2
A flexible toss toy is disclosed which includes a feature that makes it easier for a dog to pick up and retrieve the disc after being thrown. The disc is saucer-shaped and is made of a soft elastomeric material. The disc has an outer-diameter leading edge, an intermediate top deck surface, and a central portion. The intermediate top deck surface has a circumferential gripping projection. The circumferential gripping projection extends upward with respect to the intermediate top deck surface, and radially inward. The central portion has an elevated portion in a plane above the intermediate top deck surface. The circumferential gripping projection extends upwardly and radially inward to an extent that facilitates gripping by the teeth of a dog. Also, the circumferential gripping projection extends upwardly to an extent that is higher above the intermediate top deck surface than the elevated portion of the central portion.
US07976354B2
An operating handle of an outboard motor is provided with a rotatable grip and a low-speed mode switch unit. A controller performs control so that when the low-speed mode switch unit is “on,” the ratio at which the target speed varies with the manipulated variable of the grip is reduced in comparison with when the low-speed mode switch unit is “off.”
US07976350B2
An electrical connector includes an insulating housing, a plurality of electric terminals disposed in the insulating housing and an insulating cover assembly. An upper side and a lower side of the rear end of the insulating housing define a first locating cavity and a second locating cavity, respectively. The insulating cover assembly includes an upper cover and a lower cover mated with each other. The upper cover has a first locating portion protruded downward from a portion thereof. The lower cover has a second locating portion protruded upward from a portion thereof. When the insulating cover assembly is rightly assembled with the insulating housing, the locating portions are received in the corresponding locating cavities. When the insulating cover assembly is falsely assembled with the insulating housing, the locating portions are interfered with the insulating housing to prevent the false assembly of the insulating cover assembly and the insulating housing.
US07976349B2
Communications patching devices include first and second connectors mounted immediately adjacent to each other. The first connector includes a first output terminal and a second output terminal that are connected to respective first and second conductive paths, and the second connector includes a third output terminal and a fourth output terminal that are connected to respective third and fourth conductive paths. The first and second conductive paths form a first differential pair of conductive paths and the first and second output terminals form a first differential pair of output terminals. The third and fourth conductive paths form a second differential pair of conductive paths, and the third and fourth output terminals form a second differential pair of output terminals. The output terminals are arranged such that a first signal coupling level from the first output terminal to the third output terminal in response to a communication signal that is transmitted through the first differential pair of output terminals exceeds a second signal coupling level from the first output terminal to the fourth output terminal in response to the communication signal. A first capacitor is provided between the first conductive path and the fourth conductive path and a second capacitor is provided between at least one of the first conductive path and the third conductive path or between the second conductive path and the fourth conductive path.
US07976346B2
An interface comprising a docking site having a first electrical connector adapted to interconnect a bus, and having at least one first retainer portion; and an adapter comprising: at least one second retainer portion, wherein the at least one second retainer portion and the at least one first retainer portion are adapted to releasably engage; a second electrical connector, wherein the second electrical connector and the first electrical connector are adapted to engage and interconnect; at least one port adapted to accept at least one modular connector having at least one electrical contact; and at least one electrical interconnect adapted to interconnect the at least one electrical contact with the second electrical connector.
US07976345B2
An electrical connector assembly is disclosed which includes a housing; and a plurality of substantially identical contact assemblies each including a pair of electrical contacts with receptacle contact portions configured to be received by the housing. The plurality of contact assemblies are arranged in sequence in a linear array in the housing, and in alternating first and second orientations. The second orientation is a reverse orientation with respect to the first orientation. The substantially identical electrical contact assemblies each include a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact and a receptacle contact portion in electrical communication with the edge connector portion. The edge connector portions are substantially a mirror image while the receptacle contact portions are substantially slide-along images of each other. A method of manufacturing is also disclosed for the electrical contact assemblies.
US07976338B1
A junction box device comprising a junction box mountable on a wall or a ceiling; a duplex receptacle attached in the inner cavity of the junction box, the duplex receptacle comprises a first outlet and a second outlet, the first outlet and the second outlet can engage a first plug of a light fixture or a second plug of a ceiling fan, respectively, wherein the duplex receptacle is operatively connected to a power source; and a first adapter plate attachable to the junction box, the first adapter plate functions to secure a threaded tube support component that extends from the junction box and can secure the light fixture, wherein the threaded tube support component can be threaded through a tube aperture disposed in the first adapter plate.
US07976331B1
An electric power connector and power cable retainer arrangement includes an electric power connector for the connection of the electric plug or socket of an external power cable for power transmission, and a power cable retainer that has a holder base provided at the electric power connector and a clip extended from the holder base for securing the cable of the external power cable in place to prohibit disconnection of the electric plug or socket of the external power cable.
US07976326B2
An electrical connector assembly includes a pair of electrical connectors, each having a housing and a plurality of gender-neutral electrical contacts supported by the housing. The gender-neutral contacts of each connector are configured to mate with the gender-neutral contacts of the other connector, such that insertion forces associated with mating the contacts provide tactile feedback as the contacts are mated.
US07976312B2
A patient simulator for teaching patient care is provided. The simulator includes a patient body comprising one or more simulated body portions and a pair of bladders positioned within the patient body for simulating a patient's lungs. A compressor is positioned within the patient body in communication with the bladders for selectively providing an air supply to the bladders to simulate a respiratory pattern. A master module is also positioned within the patient body and configured for communication with an external control system. A respiratory module system is positioned within the patient body and spaced from the master module. The respiratory module system controls the respiratory pattern of the patient simulator by controlling the air supply to and from the bladders. The patient simulator is operable without physical connection to an external device.
US07976307B2
The invention relates to a light curing device (10) having a light source (14), which is mounted such that it is thermally conductively connected to a heat sink (12), with electrical components which are fitted to a printed circuit board. The components are at least partially arranged in the cooling air stream of the heat sink (12) and the cooling air stream is at least partially guided by the printed circuit board.
US07976296B2
A compressor may include a housing, orbiting and non-orbiting scroll members, a first porting, and a second porting. The first and second porting may each extend through the end plate of the non-orbiting scroll member and may each have an angular extent of at least twenty degrees. An ending point of the first porting may be rotationally spaced from a starting point of the first porting by the angular extent in a rotational direction of a drive shaft of the compressor. An ending point of the second porting may be rotationally spaced from a starting point of the second porting by the angular extent in a rotational direction opposite the rotational direction of the drive shaft. The ending point of the second porting may be rotationally spaced from the starting point of the first porting by less than one hundred and eighty degrees in the rotational direction of the drive shaft.
US07976289B2
A capacity variable type rotary compressor and a driving method thereof are provided. The compressor includes bypass holes that connect a compression chamber and a suction chamber of a cylinder divided from each other by a vane formed at a sub bearing, a sliding valve that opens and closes bypass holes installed at the sub bearing, and a pressure difference maintaining device that enables the sliding valve to perform a capacity exclusion driving, thereby lowering a cooling capability at the time of the capacity exclusion driving. By maintaining the capacity exclusion driving for a long time, an air conditioner is variously controlled and unnecessary power waste of the compressor and the air conditioner to which the compressor is applied is decreased. A back pressure of the sliding valve is fast and precisely switched by a pilot valve having a high reliability, so that the compressor is widely applied to an air conditioner thereby to enhance the efficiency thereof.
US07976288B2
A refrigerant gas compressor includes a cylinder block formed with plural cylinder bores, a first housing disposed at the one end of the cylinder block, a second housing disposed at the other end of the cylinder block, a drive shaft supported by the cylinder block and one of the housings, a crank chamber formed in one of the housings, a suction chamber and a discharge chamber formed in one of the housings, a valve plate assembly disposed between the cylinder block and at least one of the housings, a stepped portion formed adjacent to the valve plate assembly to receive a part of the valve plate assembly. A storage chamber is provided for reserving therein oil separated from refrigerant gas. An oil groove is formed by the stepped portion and the valve plate assembly and connecting the storage chamber with one of the crank chamber and the suction chamber.
US07976286B2
A method and device for the pumping of liquids utilizes the directional growth and elimination of gaseous vesicles or bubbles to provide the motive or pumping force. In one embodiment, the pumping device is a microfluidic pumping mechanism having a channel, a bubble generator for generating a plurality of bubbles within the channel, and a venting membrane disposed over a portion of the channel downstream of the bubble generator. A one-way valve or directional resistance feature is positioned upstream of the bubble generator to introduce directional transport of bubbles within the channel. The method and device may be integrated into micro fuel cells with organic liquid fuel such that liberated gaseous bubbles may be utilized to deliver fresh fuel or circulate reusable fuel without any power-consuming components.
US07976285B2
A method of charging a compressed air storage tank for a vehicle increases the pressure in the storage tank from a first pressure to a second pressure. The method includes determining the first pressure according to a first detected vehicle engine load, and starting the charge cycle when the pressure detected in the storage tank is at least as low as the first pressure. The method further includes determining the second pressure according to a second detected vehicle engine load, and stopping the charge cycle when the pressure detected in the storage tank is at least as high as the second pressure.
US07976274B2
A method facilitates the assembly of a gas turbine engine. The method of assembly comprises providing a turbine nozzle including an inner band, an outer band, at least one vane extending between the inner and outer bands, and at least one leading edge fillet extending between the at least one vane and at least one of the inner and outer bands, wherein a leading edge of the at least one vane is downstream from the leading edges of the inner and outer bands, and coupling the turbine nozzle within the gas turbine engine such that the leading edge fillet is configured to facilitate minimizing vortex formation along the vane leading edge adjacent at least one of the inner and outer bands.
US07976261B2
An apparatus for transferring and securing a substrate is shown. A pressure source is provided that is adapted to provide positive and negative pressure. A vacuum chuck is provided having a top side with a plurality of vacuum chuck portals formed therein. Each vacuum chuck portal is in fluid communication with the pressure source. The substrate is secured to the top side of the vacuum chuck when the pressure source provides negative pressure to the vacuum chuck portals. An intermediate member that selectively cooperates with the vacuum chuck to support and transfer the substrate between the vacuum chuck and the intermediate member is provided. The intermediate member has a plurality of receiving spaces and a plurality of transfer members. The receiving spaces and transfer members are adjacent to one another in an alternating pattern, and each transfer member has a top side with a plurality of transfer member portals formed therein. Each transfer member portal is in fluid communication with the pressure source. A carriage extending along at least a portion of the periphery of the vacuum chuck and along at least a portion of the periphery of the intermediate member is provided. The carriage engages at least a portion of the substrate when the pressure source provides positive pressure to the vacuum chuck portals and transfer member portals to transfer the substrate between the intermediate member and the vacuum chuck.
US07976260B2
A work handling apparatus includes a pair of traveling guides (20, 20′) provided so as to extend in a front-and-rear direction X at right and left sides, and a pair of direct-acting arms (30, 30′) provided so as to travel independently on the pair of traveling guides. The direct-acting arms are extendable from contracted positions, at which the arms oppose each other and avoid mutual interference in a right-and-left direction Y, to extended positions at which the arms overlap with each other. An operation spot (41) is arranged in an operation area (40) sandwiched between the pair of traveling guides for performing a predetermined operation to a work. Also, work tools (60, 60′) are attached to the pair of direct-acting arms (30, 30′), respectively, for transferring the work between a work storage area (50) and the operation spot (41) or performing an operation after transfer.
US07976240B2
A flood barrier comprises a plurality of panels attached together. A gasket runs continuously around the exterior periphery of each panel. When a panel is attached to an adjacent panel, the said gasket is compressed and the panels together form a watertight joint. Elongated members are attached to each panel to provide support. The bottom surface of the panel, together with the said gasket, is pressed against the ground from the weight of the floodwater and that of the panel itself. Sandbags and/or weights may be used to assist in pressing the said gasket against the ground as needed. This forms a watertight joint between the bottom surface of the panels and the ground. The attachment of a plurality of said panels together form a flood barrier. Most panels are flat panels and some are angled panels. The flat panels and angled panels can be assembled on site to surround a house or a building to form a barrier against flooding.
US07976235B2
A cleaning pad (28) is disclosed. The cleaning pad (28) includes a base sheet (202) bonded to a fiber mat (203) and exhibits improved debris retention without leaving a residue on a surface to be cleaned when a volatile additive is applied to the pad (28).
US07976234B2
A dispenser (10) for dispensing flowable materials has a container assembly (12) having a dividing wall (19). A first chamber (18) and a second chamber (20) are defined in the container assembly (12). The first chamber (18) is configured to contain a first flowable material (M1) (140) and the second chamber (20) is configured to contain a second flowable material (M2) (142). A membrane (34) is positioned in the container and cooperates with the dividing wall (19) to enclose the first and second chambers (18, 20). The membrane (34) has a first section (132) having a first weld seam (148) and a second section (134) having a second weld seam (150). The first section (132) is separated from the second section (134) by a non-rupturable member (33). Rupture of the membrane (34) allows the flowable materials into a third chamber (42) in which the flowable materials mix to form a mixture, and from which the mixture is dispensed.
US07976230B2
In one example, an actuator mechanism comprising: one or more coils for establishing a magnetic field; a rotating permanent magnet, which has at least one extreme position depending on the magnetic field; and driving members, which are coupled to the permanent magnet and by means of which the members coupled to the actuator mechanism are driven. In another example, an actuator mechanism comprising: one or more wires, which are manufactured of a shape memory alloy that shrinks when heated; and driving members, which are coupled to said wire and by means of which the members connected to the actuator mechanism are driven.
US07976224B2
The invention provides an eccentric thrust bearing assembly capable of bearing axial loads in opposite directions.A first aspect of the invention relates to a thrust bearing assembly a1 wherein a first radially outside member and a second radially inside member oppose each other at first positions a21 separately located and clamp therebetween a rolling element a8 disposed at each of the first positions a21, whereas a second radially outside member and a first radially inside member oppose each other at second positions a22 of a different phase from that of the first positions a21 and clamp therebetween a rolling element a8 disposed at each of the second positions a22. In this bearing assembly a1, respective certain portions of the rolling elements are present on the same plane.
US07976223B2
A bearing unit comprises a rolling element bearing with at least two rings which are each provided with at least one raceway and at least one set of rolling elements which are in contact with the raceways as well as at least one tubular sheet metal element connected to one of the rings. The sheet metal element at least partly has a mounting part with non-circular cross section, and the mounting part being mounted to a counter-part with a correspondingly non-circular cross-section of the ring or connected to the ring.
US07976220B2
A film bag formed by folding a film has a front surface, a back surface, a laid-in first side fold, and a laid-in second side fold. The bag is closed off by a longitudinal sealing seam and a head sealing seam. The head sealing seam has a step shape, with a first head sealing seam segment extending from the outside edge of the second side fold to the ends of the re-closure strip attached to the inside of the front and back surfaces, and a second head sealing seam segment that follows the first in step shape and connects a bag segment that projects upward, at the edges, forming a seal, and extends to the outside edge of the bag, along the first side fold. The projecting bag segment can be removed entirely or in part, along a separating line disposed above the re-closure strip.
US07976218B2
A modular x-ray source for an imaging system includes a structure forming a cavity and having a first wall and a second wall, at least one target positioned on the first wall within the cavity and configured to receive a first electron beam at a first spot position and a second electron beam at a second spot position, and a shielding material positioned on the second wall.
US07976204B2
An illumination system for increasing the brightness of a light source comprises an optical recycling device coupled to the light source, preferably light emitting diode (LED), for spatially and/or angularly recycling light. The optical recycling device spatially recycles a portion of rays of light emitted by the LED back to the light source using a reflector or mirror and/or angularly recycles high angle rays of light and transmits small angle rays of light, thereby increasing the brightness of the light source's output.
US07976201B2
A two-side illuminating lens body mainly projecting light from a light emitting device to two relative outer directions includes a base with a receiving slot having a downwards opening for receiving a lighting device. A concave arc for receiving the light emitting portion of the lighting device is formed above the receiving slot as a light incident side. On a top surface of the base, two symmetrical non-spherical protrusions are jointly arranged beside a center light axis. A concave curved surface is formed to a border of the two non-spherical protrusions. Two symmetrical awl laterals are formed on relative outer edges of the non-spherical protrusions. Through three different refracting types of the concave curved surface, non-spherical protrusions, and awl laterals, rays from the light emitting device will be gradually diffused away from the center light axis so that a double-side skew light distribution of illumination like a butterfly is projected.
US07976200B2
The invention relates to an optical projection device. Said optical projection device comprises a plurality of light-emitting diode chips and at least one optical element comprising a light input surface which is associated with at least one of the light-emitting diode chips. The light decoupling surface of the light-emitting diode chip, which is adapted to the refraction index, is optically connected to the light input surface of the associated optical element.
US07976199B2
An apparatus, method, and system for lighting target areas with bollard or pagoda style or type lights in a controlled and efficient manner. The apparatus includes a housing with a light source, optic system, and a control circuit. The light source and optic system are configured to produce a highly controlled output beam pattern and shield from normal viewing angles direct sight of the source. This enables control of glare and spill light which can improve effectiveness, efficiency, and energy usage.
US07976188B2
A LED illumination device includes a base plate, a plurality of LEDs, a driving circuit and a control circuit. The plurality of LEDs, the driving circuit and the control circuit are arranged on a surface of the base plate and electrically connected to each other. The control circuit is configured for controlling the driving circuit to output a driving power. The plurality of LEDs emit light based upon the driving power. Thus the base plate, the LEDs, the driving circuit and the control circuit are integrated in a same device for simplifying the whole structure thereof to be easily assembled.
US07976186B2
A light emitting die package includes a substrate, a reflector plate, and a lens. The substrate has traces for connecting an external electrical power source to a light emitting diode (LED) at a mounting pad. The reflector plate is coupled to the substrate and substantially surrounds the mounting pad, and includes a reflective surface to direct light from the LED in a desired direction. The lens is free to move relative to the reflector plate and is capable of being raised or lowered by the encapsulant that wets and adheres to it and is placed at an optimal distance from the LED chip(s). Heat generated by the LED during operation is drawn away from the LED by both the substrate (acting as a bottom heat sink) and the reflector plate (acting as a top heat sink).
US07976179B2
A solar-lamp assembly includes a main frame, a secondary frame mounted atop the main frame and having solar wafers and a photoelectric-transducing-and-controlling element; a housing attached below the main frame for accommodating therein a battery; a post connected below the housing; at least one electrically interconnected lamp element connected below the main frame by a respective lamp shade and including therein at least one lighting device, wherein the battery, the lamp element, and the photoelectric-transducing-and-controlling element are electrically connected; a flexible board provided between the lamp element and the main frame, wherein the flexible board allows a plurality of the lamp elements to project light in different directions; and at least an arm-shaped lamp supporter connected with one lateral of the housing and having at least one lamp element affixed thereto through another flexible board.
US07976161B2
A method to assess objectively visual characteristics of one eye (10) of a patient (1) comprising the steps of: a) positioning the patient's (1) head in a reading position, b) determining the visual characteristics by using a device (3) arranged to assess objectively visual characteristics of the eye (10), the device being arranged to emit a light beam (81, 82). Relates also to a system for assessing objectively visual characteristics of one eye (10) of a patient (1) comprising:—a head support arranged to position the patient's (1) head in a reading position, a device (3) arranged to assess objectively visual characteristics of the eye (10), the device (3) being arranged to emit a light beam (81, 82).
US07976157B2
Computer eyewear for reducing the effects of Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). In one embodiment, the eyewear comprises a frame and two lenses. In some embodiments, the frame and lenses have a wrap-around design to reduce air flow in the vicinity of the eyes. The lenses can have optical power in the range of approximately +0.5 to +2.5 diopters for reducing accommodation demands on a user's eyes when using a computer. The lenses can also include prismatic power for reducing convergence demand on a user's eyes when sitting at a computer. The lenses can also include a partially transmissive mirror coating, tinting, and anti-reflective coatings. In one embodiment, a partially transmissive mirror coating or tinting spectrally filters light to remove spectral peaks in fluorescent or incandescent lighting.
US07976150B2
An inkjet recording apparatus, including a recording head having a nozzle array to eject photo-curable ink onto a recording medium, and a radiating device which is placed next to the recording head, and which radiates an ink-curing light onto the photo-curable ink ejected on the recording medium, wherein the radiating device includes a plurality of light source units which radiate photo-curable ink, and a plurality of flow channels which are mounted to intersect with the nozzle array, and in which cooling water is made to flow to cool the plurality of the light source units.
US07976144B2
A solid ink delivery system provides solid ink sticks to a melting device in a printer. The delivery system includes a guide for guiding the stick in a prescribed path. The guide defines an inlet for receiving the stick. The inlet provides unobstructed passage of the stick through the inlet. The guide also defines a channel having a first end and a second end. The first end extends from the inlet. The channel provides unobstructed passage of the stick through the channel. The channel is adapted to contain a plurality of sticks in the channel. The guide further defines an outlet extending from the second end of the channel. The outlet provides unobstructed passage of the stick through the channel. The outlet is positioned below the inlet whereby only gravity is used to advance the sticks from the inlet to the outlet.
US07976141B2
Provided is an ink supply assembly for an inkjet printhead arrangement. The assembly includes an elongate extrusion defining a number of distribution channels for distributing ink to a printhead via an end cap operatively fitted to the extrusion. The end cap includes an upper plate and a lower plate hingedly linked by means of a spine. The end cap also includes a plurality of plugs defined on the spine to plug said distribution channels when the cap is fitted to the extrusion. The printhead assembly includes ink reservoirs and an air pump linked to the channels via delivery hoses and apertures defined in the upper plate.
US07976140B2
A liquid droplet ejecting apparatus is provided. The liquid droplet ejecting apparatus includes: a liquid storage container for storing a liquid therein; a carriage configured to reciprocate; an ejecting head mounted on the carriage and configured to eject liquid droplets; a liquid tank which is mounted on the carriage and is connected to the ejecting head and which is connected to the liquid storage container via a flexible tube; an air supply and discharge unit configured to supply air to the liquid tank and discharge air from the liquid tank; and a pressure controller controls the air supply and discharge unit so as to reduce a pressure fluctuation in the internal pressure of the liquid tank generated due to an inertial force applied to a liquid in the tube when the carriage changes a moving direction thereof.
US07976137B2
A print cartridge is provided having an elongate body defining a number of printing fluid reservoirs along the elongate length with end reservoirs being larger than reservoirs interposed between the end reservoirs, a lid covering the body to seal the reservoirs, and a printhead on the body in fluid communication with the reservoirs.
US07976133B2
A liquid-jetting apparatus comprises a nozzle plate formed with nozzles, a pressure chamber plate for forming pressure chambers, and a piezoelectric actuator arranged therebetween. A surface of the nozzle plate, which is opposed to the pressure chamber plate, has an insulating property. Wiring sections, which are formed on the surface having the insulating property, are connected to individual electrodes formed on the piezoelectric actuator. Accordingly, the liquid-jetting apparatus and a method for producing the same are provided, in which any wiring member such as FPC is dispensed with to decrease the number of parts, and the production steps are simplified.
US07976125B2
An inkjet printhead that has a nozzle layer defining an array of nozzle apertures, each nozzle aperture having an associated heater element positioned for heating the ejectable liquid above its boiling point to form a vapor bubble to eject a drop of the ejectable liquid through the nozzle aperture. The nozzle aperture is less than 5 microns thick in the drop ejection direction.
US07976119B2
A printing apparatus includes a recording head that prints an image and an ink cartridge that stores ink to the recording head. The ink cartridge includes an ink pack and an ink-end sensor that detects an ink-end point based on the pressure of ink supplied from the ink pack. The ink pressure corresponding to the ink-end point detected by the ink-end sensor is set to a first pressure that is the minimum pressure near an outlet of the ink cartridge at which the recording head can print an image of predetermined quality. A determining unit permits starting of a printing or cleaning operation in response to a command issued before the ink-end sensor detects the ink-end point and prohibits starting of a printing or cleaning operation in response to a command issued after the ink-end sensor has detected the ink-end point.
US07976113B2
Provided is a home bar for a refrigerator that has an improved structure for easy door opening and closing. The home bar includes a home bar frame, a home bar door, a fixing unit, and an elastic member. The home bar frame includes an opening. The home bar door is configured to close the opening. The fixing unit is disposed on the home bar frame and configured to latch the home bar door. The elastic member is disposed at a side of the fixing unit and configured to apply an elastic force for opening the home bar door. Although the home bar does not have an expensive latch structure, the home bar door can be easily opened, closed, and latched. The opening is large such that foods can be easily accessed through the opening. An additional insulating layer can be provided in the home bar door for improving insulating efficiency.
US07976105B2
A mechanism raises and lowers a tailgate provided on a dump box of a dump truck, trailer, or similar vehicle. The dump box has an open end and is supported on the frame for movement between a lowered position for storing and transporting items and a raised position for dumping the items out of the dump box. A tailgate is supported on the bump box for movement between a closed position, wherein the tailgate closes the open rear end of the dump box, and an opened position, wherein the tailgate is spaced away from the open end of the dump box. A double cylinder assembly extends between the dump box and the tailgate for selectively moving the tailgate between the closed and opened positions.
US07976091B2
In a rear vehicle body structure, a spare tire is received in a spare tire pan in a rear end up slanted orientation, the front end of the spare tire is prevented from forward movement by a spare tire pan cross member, and a rear bottom of the spare tire pan is reinforced. At the time of a rear end crash, the spare tire is tilted substantially to an upright orientation around the front end, and the spare tire pan is deformed in such that the rear bottom folded upon a front bottom wall in the shape of letter Z as seen from side so that the spare tire pan provides a long deformation stroke, and is utilized for absorbing the impact energy of the rear end crash. Preferably, the rear bottom comprises an elevated horizontal part and a stepped portion defining a front edge of the elevated horizontal part.
US07976088B1
A roll holder comprising a body having a first end and a second end. A handle is coupled to the body of the roll holder by an attachment. A pair of closing straps is attached to the body. A business card holder, coupled to the body, has a clear viewing window therein.
US07976087B2
The invention concerns a linear pneumatic gripper that has a gripper body comprising a base element (11), in which a chamber (18) has been provided for a piston (12) and which supports two drive levers (13) oscillating on relative fulcrums or pins (24) and connected to the piston, and a guide head (14) associated with the base element and having a guide groove for two jaws connected to the drive levers. The guide head is fixed to the base element of the gripper body by the oscillation fulcrums or pins (24) of the drive levers.
US07976085B1
A lift member safety latch combination is disclosed. The lift member safety latch combination has a lift member that supports a drive mechanism and an actuator that is positioned adjacent to the drive mechanism. The lift member safety latch combination also has a confinement member that is in sliding communication with the lift member. The confinement member's position is responsive to the drive mechanism and has a state that is responsive to the actuator.
US07976074B2
Sealing systems for high pressure applications that provide electrical isolation between joined elements as well as enhanced resistance to leakage of media during a fire. High pressure sealing is accomplished using a metallic core to which an electrically isolating material is bonded on either or both sides. Sealing is achieved through a dielectric sealing element, such as a spring-loaded polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) ring. Flanges of the joint may be bolted together with the seal interposed therebetween, and the flanges bolted together. In the event of a fire, heat may be generated that is at a high enough temperature to burn away the isolating material and PTFE ring. Systems of various embodiments provide a metal core backup seal and a compression limiter, which, respectively, prevent the media from leaking from the joint and maintain bolt load at the flanges.
US07976072B2
A connector for a high amperage, AC or DC connection comprises a plug and a receptacle configured to a securely mate and lock with each other. Connector receptacles comprise a locking mechanism having a bottom latch bracket having two slots, a top latch bracket having arcuate grooves and being pivotally coupled to the bottom latch bracket, and a latching rod configured to engage a plug and having guide pins extending through the slots and arcuate grooves. When the top latch bracket is in an unlocked position, the distance between the guide pins is at a maximum. Upon turning the top latch bracket, the guide pins move cooperatively within the arcuate grooves and the distance between the guide pins is minimized and the latching rod securely engages the plug.
US07976063B2
Provided are an airbag and an airbag device whose size of a package when the airbag is folded can be reduced while demonstrating effects of an inner chamber. An airbag device in the present invention includes a gas generator configured to generate gas under predetermined conditions, an airbag connected to the gas generator to be inflated and deployed, and a retainer configured to accommodate the airbag. The airbag includes an inner panel arranged in the interior thereof and a connection panel having a surface area smaller than the inner panel, and the inner panel includes a center seamed portion connected to an inner surface of the airbag with respect to the direction of thickness and a plurality of outer peripheral seamed portions connected to the connection panel which is arranged on the inner surface of the airbag apart from the portion where the center seamed portion is connected. The outline of the inner panel 4 between the outer peripheral seamed portions when the inner panel is deployed in a plane is formed into a shape following a straight line connecting the outer peripheral seamed portions.
US07976062B2
An airbag module comprising an airbag and a tubular gas generator that can be fastened to a module housing is provided. Said gas generator having gas outlet openings along the periphery thereof. The tubular gas generator can be fastened to the module housing using two clamp rings which can move along the tubular gas generator and along sections of the module housing. The module housing comprises an opening at the base thereof for introducing the tubular gas generator. A support for the tubular gas generator is disposed at the module housing below said opening, wherein the support has a smaller length than the tubular gas generator.
US07976058B2
The occupant protection system includes a catching body that is housed in a housing located between a near-by seat and a distant seat for upward deployment and a support body that supports the catching body. The catching body covers the impact side of a distant-side occupant to catch the occupant moving toward the impacted lateral and includes a distal end acting as a free end swingable in a left and right direction. The support body is located on a side of the near-by seat close to the impacted lateral for deployment to support the catching body when the catching body swings toward the impacted lateral after receiving the distant-side occupant.
US07976052B1
A lock assembly for selectively latching the pivoting tongue of a steerable trailed vehicle includes an actuator assembly on the vehicle connected by a cable to latch bolt for spring biasing in discrete positions into aligned apertures for enabling and preventing tongue pivoting. The tongue is provided with a winch assembly having a cable attached to the trailed vehicle and operable for raising and lowering the tongue. The tongue includes a hitch assembly having an extendable and pivotable lunette for connection with a proximately located towing vehicle.
US07976042B2
A step assembly includes an upper housing adapted to be fixedly secured to the motor vehicle. A step is movable relative to the upper housing between a stowed position and a deployed position. A single arm is pivotal with respect to the upper housing and pivotal with respect to the step in order to form a three-bar linkage for moving the step between the stowed and deployed positions.
US07976039B2
An upper support apparatus for use in a suspension system of a vehicle is disclosed, wherein the apparatus includes an upper support plate defining at least one aperture, the upper support plate coupled to a body of the vehicle. The upper support apparatus further includes a resilient member coupled to an underside of the upper support plate, wherein at least one portion of the resilient member is adapted to protrude through the at least one aperture and wherein the at least one portion of the resilient member prevents direct contact between the upper support plate and the body of the vehicle.
US07976030B2
The invention relates to a device for adjusting the height of the body of a motor vehicle having a bearing spring which is connected between the wheel guiding element of the wheel suspension and the body and which is supported on a spring disk which is vertically adjustable by way of an actuating device, and having an overload spring which limits a defined spring path in the deflection direction. According to the invention, the overload spring is assigned an actuating device with which the overload spring is vertically adjustable, preferably following the vertical adjustment of the spring disk.
US07976024B1
A cube comprising a first set (18) of three identical, contiguous faces and a second set (19) of three identical, contiguous faces. The first set (18) has third order rotational symmetry about a common corner (20) and comprises a first face (22). The first face (22) comprises a male connector fin (36A), a female connector slot (38A), a first band (28A), and a second band (30A). The male connector fin (36A) and female connector slot (38A) lie parallel to, adjacent to, and on opposite sides of a diagonal (34) emanating from the common corner (20). The first band (28A) parallels the diagonal (34) and connects the midpoints of two edges of the first face (22). The second band (30A) mirrors the first band across the diagonal (34). The first set (18) and the second set (19) are enantiomers. Accordingly, a plurality of these cubes can be snapped together, face-to-face, to manifest a variety of tessellating band patterns.
US07976018B2
A discharged sheet monitoring mechanism for a printer includes: a paper receiving tray configured to receive and stack discharged printed sheets thereon; a stack amount detector configured to detect a stack amount of discharged sheets stacked on the paper receiving tray; a remaining amount calculator configured to calculate a remaining amount based on the stack amount detected by the stack amount detector, the remaining amount being a difference in amount between the stack amount and a maximum stacking amount of the paper receiving tray; a sheet type acquisition unit configured to acquire a type of a sheet to be printed; a dischargeable sheet amount calculator configured to calculate a dischargeable number of sheets further stackable on the paper receiving tray until the paper receiving tray is full therewith based on the remaining amount calculated by the remaining amount calculator and the sheet type acquired by the sheet type acquisition unit; and a notification unit configured to notify the dischargeable number of sheets calculated by the dischargeable sheet amount calculator.
US07976009B2
The invention relates to a method of controlling sheets in a digital printing machine, wherein the arrival of at least one sheet in a transport path is detected at least once at at least one marked location of said transport path to improve the control of the sheets themselves during the printing operation. This is achieved in that at least one signal having a countable pulse is generated, in that a freely selectable but then fixed start of these pulses is assigned to the position of at least one frame (occupiable field) of frames—into which the minimum of one transport path segment is divided—relative to said marked location, and in that the minimum of one sheet is controlled with the use of this pulse at at least one other marked location of the transport path.
US07976008B2
A sheet feeder includes a feed tray receiving sheets, a catch tray receiving the sheets ejected thereon, a feeding mechanism conveying the sheets from the feed tray to the catch tray, an ejection mode switching mechanism switching an ejection mode between a first mode in which the sheets are sequentially ejected on a stack of sheets already ejected and a second mode in which the sheets are sequentially ejected and inserted under a stack of sheets already ejected, an ejection detecting sensor detecting a sheet ejected on the catch tray, and a controller configured to, in response to an instruction to start feeding the sheets, forbid driving of the feeding mechanism when determining that the ejection mode is set to the second mode and determining with the ejection detecting sensor that a sheet is on the catch tray.
US07976005B2
The provides a two money kinds recycle box provided with a plurality of paper money accumulating portions and storing and feeding the paper money at one position, thereby simplifying a carrier path structure of a whole of a paper money inputting and outputting machine provided with the two money kinds recycle box, and corresponding to a lot of money kinds with a compact structure. The two money kinds recycle box is provided with an output and input port outputting and inputting the paper money with respect to an external portion, a plurality of paper money accumulating portions storing the paper money, a pickup roller provided at one position of each of the paper money accumulating portions and carrying out an accumulating motion of the paper sheets onto the paper money accumulating portions and a feeding motion of the paper sheets from the accumulating portions, and a two-way carrier path carrying the paper sheets in a two-way direction between the one output and input port and a plurality of pickup rollers.
US07976001B2
A sheet stack cutter cuts sheet stacks by means of a moving cutter edge and a stationary cutter edge disposed upward and downward along a predetermined cutting-plane line. The sheet stack cutter includes a sheet loading table for supporting the sheet stack, a press device for pressing and holding the sheet stack on the sheet loading table, a moving cutter edge disposed in up and down cutting directions for cutting the sheet stack on the sheet loading table along the cutting-plane line, a stationary cutter edge disposed to the side of the sheet loading table for pressing the moving cutter edge to cut the sheet stack, and an apparatus frame furnished with the press device and the moving cutter edge. A drive device moves the moving cutter edge in up and down cutting directions.
US07975998B2
A pallet changer and a system and a method for using the same attach, secure and/or connect a part and/or pallet assembly to a receiver assembly for machining the part. A groove and/or a pull post of the pallet assembly is insertable between a first wedge arm and a second wedge arm in an interior of the receiver assembly. Springs within the interior of the receiver assembly exert forces against the first wedge arm and the second wedge arm to maintain the first wedge arm and/or the second wedge arm in a first position within the interior of the receiver assembly. A key and/or a cam moves and/or rotates to move the first wedge arm and/or the second wedge arm from the first position to a second position. A first tapering on the pallet assembly engages and/or corresponds to a second tapering on the first wedge arm and/or the second wedge arm to secure and/or to attach the pallet assembly to the receiver assembly in the second position. A first plate attached to the interior of the receiver assembly prevents the cam from rotating the first wedge arm within the interior of the receiver assembly. A second plate connected to a passage of the receiver assembly prevents the key from being removed from the receiver assembly with the first wedge arm and/or the second wedge arm in the first position.
US07975996B2
Provided is a scan stage for a semiconductor wafer pollutant measurement apparatus, which includes: a stage main body which comprises: a circular fixed housing; an adsorption plate which is rotatably installed in the inside of the fixed housing, at the center of which an adsorption path is formed, at the bottom of which a vacuum port is connected, and which is rotated by an external rotating force; and a step motor which is placed at the bottom of the fixed housing and connected with the adsorption plate; a base plate that is supported by pillars to form a lower space between the fixed housing of the stage main body and the base plate; a cylinder at the bottom of which a cylinder load is connected so that the base plate moves up and down; and support jigs that hold up a wafer in the outer side of the stage main body, in which three support jigs are disposed in proximity with the outer circumference of the stage main body.
US07975993B2
A vaporizer is provided with a vaporizing chamber heated by heaters; a primary filter positioned in a bottom end portion of the vaporizing chamber and heated by the heater; a liquid material supply portion for dropping down a flow-controlled liquid material from upper portion of the vaporizing chamber toward the primary filter; a carrier gas guiding passage for guiding a carrier gas into the underside of the primary filter; and a material delivering passage for discharging a mixed gas including the carrier gas and a vaporized liquid material from the top of the vaporizing chamber. The liquid material dropped down onto the primary filter is partially vaporized, while the rest thereof is atomized by being subjected to bubbling effect provided by the carrier gas flowing from underneath.
US07975990B1
Various methods and apparatus are disclosed that relate to one or more aspects of an abatement system that removes heat and/or one or more byproducts of combustion from a gas flow. In various aspects a misting array assembly is provided that includes at least one nozzle tubing having at least one nozzle coupled thereto.
US07975988B2
A device for carbonating a liquid (L) in a container (10) with a pressurized gas (G) comprises a receiving flask (20) for the container (10) and a filling head (30) which has means (31) for adding gas into said liquid in the container (10). The receiving flask (20) and the filling head (30) are movable in relation to each other between an insertion position (I) and a carbonating position (C). In the insertion position (I) the filling head (30) is spaced from the receiving flask (20). In the carbonating position, the receiving flask (20) and the filling head (30) are in contact with each other such as to form a substantially closed cavity (19). An interlocking connection directly connects the receiving flask (20) to the filling head (30).
US07975984B1
Hermetic gate valves and globe valves having a bonnet assembly that does not require stem packing and includes a harmonic drive and locking mechanism. The bonnet assembly includes a main body which is sealingly engaged on the valve body and includes an elongate tubular portion that completely encloses the valve stem and has a sidewall with an internally threaded portion formed of a material so as to be relatively flexible radially inward toward the valve stem, and is surrounded by an outer sleeve having a sidewall formed of a material so as to be relatively rigid radially and defining an annulus therebetween. A roller assembly rotatably disposed in the annulus includes pairs of diametrically opposed rollers including a pair of wave generator rollers positioned to rotatably engage the exterior of the tubular portion and press it radially inward to assume an elliptical configuration such that the threads of the tubular portion are engaged with the exterior threads of the valve stem at two diametrically opposed locations, with intermediate diametrically opposed locations of non-engagement. A removable handwheel keyed to the roller assembly rotates the rollers such that the engaged threads at two diametrically opposed circumferentially spaced locations, with intermediate diametrically opposed locations of non-engagement causes relative motion axially to convert the rotary motion to linear motion thereby driving the valve stem and the valve element at the bottom end thereof longitudinally between the open and closed positions.
US07975966B2
Aircraft air scoop icing protection systems and methods include an air duct having air inlet and outlet openings and a fairing which covers the air duct and defines an interior fairing space in which at least a forward portion of the air duct is positioned. The fairing has a forward end which surrounds the air inlet of the air duct. At least one tube is provided having an inlet end in communication with a heated air chamber associated with an airframe structure of the aircraft, and an outlet end in communication with the interior fairing space. Heated air in the heated chamber is directed through the tube to the interior fairing space so as to provide icing protection to the air duct. The air scoop icing protection systems may advantageously be employed so as to provide icing protection to air scoops associated with an aircraft engine nacelle using the residual heat from the nacelle's inlet lip primary bleed air system.
US07975964B2
An airplane wing has a lower wing cover, an upper wing cover and a wing spar. A first end portion of the wing spar is welded to the lower wing cover and/or a second end portion of the wing spar is welded to the upper wing cover.
US07975951B2
Systems and methods for managing one or more yarn sources are disclosed. Namely, several embodiments of containers are disclosed, in which the container can be custom-configured to dispense yarn from one or more yarn sources with reduced tangling or knotting.
US07975950B2
An apparatus and method are provided for destroying memory devices like hard drives by compression and positive predetermined bending of the memory media inside the memory device. The apparatus includes a pair of opposed compression plates with one being movable toward the other by a linear motion force applying drive. An automatic stripper is provided to strip any memory device retained on one of the compression plates.
US07975942B2
An air knife module assembly and a replaceable wear plate member are provided for a cyclonic comminuting and dehydrating machine. The air knife and wear plate can be formed in a modular configuration with the wear plate being mountable into an opening formed in the side wall of the cylindrical chamber of the cyclonic comminuter. The air knife module can be formed separately of the wear plate member and mounted into an opening formed in the wear plate module. The wear plate module can be secured to the side wall of the cylindrical chamber by removable fasteners while the air knife module can be secured by clamping members mounted on the wear plate module. Sensors in the air discharge detecting hazardous material above a predetermined threshold are operable to affect a de-naturing of the ground material discharge for removal thereof from the discharged stream of material.
US07975941B2
A shredder having a safety feature(s) that reduces potential safety hazards by detecting the temperature of a shredder motor and issuing a warning as an predetermined overheat temperature approaches.
US07975940B2
A system for reducing the particle size of a pozzolan includes a thermal fracture system and a defracturing apparatus. The system is highly efficient at drying and heating a natural pozzolan having a natural distribution of particle sizes. The system can create a reduced-size pozzolanic material with a desired particle size and particle morphology. The system for reducing the particle size of a pozzolan includes a thermal fracture system for heating and thermally fracturing the pozzolan and a defracturing apparatus that agitates the thermally fractured pozzolan to break the thermally fractured pozzolan apart.
US07975939B2
An apparatus for application of a liquid or liquid-solid solution to soil includes an articulating tractor, a frame, a pivot point, a boom and a drag hose. The articulating tractor has a front portion and a rear portion connected to an articulation point. The rear portion has a rear wheel axle. The frame is adapted to mount on the rear portion of the articulating tractor. The frame has a front frame end located between the rear wheel axle and the articulation point. The pivot point is on the front frame end and positioned about 12 inches or more from the rear wheel axle. The boom pivotally attaches to the pivot point. The drag hose has a distal end in fluid communication with a source of liquid or solid-liquid solution and a proximal end coupled to the boom.
US07975938B2
Disclosed is a coating system for the selective application of coatings to substrates to apply a uniform coating to selected areas of the substrate without the need for masking. The system comprises a first coating applicator for coating large areas of the substrate, a second coating applicator for coating small areas of the substrate, a motion and positioning system for both coating applicators and a system controller. Also disclosed is an ultrasonic spray coating system comprising an ultrasonic transducer with spray forming head, integrated fluid delivery device with air and liquid supply passage ways, support brackets and an ultrasonic power generator.
US07975937B2
A liquid management system comprising a first chamber that has a first boundary wall, and a second chamber that has a second boundary wall. The second chamber has a base surrounded by the second boundary wall and the second boundary wall is within the first boundary wall. The second boundary wall height is lower than the first boundary wall height. The liquid management system also comprises a liquid level control module for controlling i) a first level of the liquid within the first chamber, and ii) a second level of the liquid within the second chamber. The liquid level control module is operable to lower the second level of the liquid in the second chamber below the second wall height while concurrently maintaining the surface level of the liquid in the first chamber higher than the second wall height such that the liquid within the first chamber flows over the second boundary wall from the first chamber into the second chamber to form a void in the liquid, the void has liquid sides inside the second boundary wall.
US07975934B2
A rail support assembly includes a rail tie, a rail with a rail base, a pair of support shoulders embedded in the rail tie and located on either side of the rail base, rail clips seated in the support shoulders and having a toe section lying on the rail base, rail insulators having an upper portion lying between the clip toes and the rail base, abutting the rail base, and a lower portion wedged between the rail base and the support shoulders, wherein each support shoulder includes: a rail face; a clip gateway through the rail face; a rail clip ramp from the rear of the shoulder to the clip gateway; and a retention ledge formed on the rail face on each side of the clip gateway. When assembled, each retention ledge is disposed above one of the rail insulators to prevent vertical movement of the respective rail insulators.
US07975906B2
There is described a process for numbering substrates having security prints printed thereon, each of the substrates comprising a plurality of security prints which are arranged in k columns and n rows on the substrate, wherein product k*n is an integer multiple of ten or of twenty-five. The process comprises the step of numbering successive runs of 10N substrates each, by providing each of the security prints with a serial number Serial#, the serial number Serial# being calculated with the formula: Serial#=Start#+α*[(r−1)*k*n*10N+((i−1)*n+(j−1))*10N+MOD(s−1; 10N)], where Start# is a starting number from which numbering starts, α is equal to −1 or +1 depending on whether numbering is carried out downwards or, respectively upwards, r identifies the run of 10N successive substrates, i and j respectively identify the column and the row on the substrate where the security print to be numbered is located, s is a number which identifies the substrate onto which the security print to be numbered is located and MOD(x; y) designates the so-called modulus function which returns the integer remainder of the division of y by x. Digits N+2 and N+1 of the serial number Serial# are produced by sequential actuation of a double numbering wheel (13, 14) bearing a predetermined sequence of digit pairs for digits N+2 and N+1. Also described are numbering boxes to carry out the numbering process.
US07975897B2
A friction welding machine (1) has two headstocks (5, 6), two spindles (8, 9) with a spindle drive (12, 13) and a workpiece holder (22). The first headstock (5) is arranged stationarily at the frame (2). The second headstock (6) is mounted axially movably at the frame (2) and is connected to a feed drive (25). The spindles (8, 9) have different sizes, the second spindle (9) and its spindle drive (13) being designed to be smaller and weaker.
US07975893B2
A tool with a driver, a motor, a structure to which the motor is coupled and a return cord assembly. The driver that is translatable along an axis between an extended position and a retracted position. The motor is configured to translate the driver from the returned position to the extended position. The return cord assembly is coupled to the driver and the structure and includes a spring and an elastomeric return cord that are employed to return the driver from the extended position to the retracted position.
US07975892B2
A magazine front end retaining structure for hammer tacker includes a case body head cap connected to a front end of a case body of a tacker case of the hammer tacker; a retaining push member pivotally mounted to a front opening of the case body head cap; an outer staple channel head cap connected to a front end of an outer staple channel of a magazine, which and a magazine cover are coaxially pivotally connected at respective rear end to a rear end of the case body, and a catch section located at a front end of the outer staple channel head cap for the retaining push member to hook thereto, so that a front end of the magazine is held to the tacker case. To release the front end of the magazine from the tacker case for loading staples, simply pushes the retaining push member with one hand.
US07975888B2
A bicycle carrier configured to be mounted to a rear of a vehicle is disclosed. The bicycle carrier includes a first support frame structure having a base portion disposed between a pair of support arms configured to carry one or more bicycles, the base portion being configured to contact an upper region of the rear of the vehicle, where the base portion is wider than the distance between the support arms; a second support frame structure having a base portion configured to contact a lower region of the rear of the vehicle; and at least one hub assembly operatively connecting the first and second support frame structures and permitting selective pivoting of one support frame structure relative to the other frame structure.
US07975887B1
A bottle-carrying apparatus includes a curvilinear anchor band which has spaced opposed ends facing each other. The anchor band includes a fastener which is threadably mated to the opposed ends such that the anchor band is adjustably adapted about the top collar of the existing beverage bottle. The apparatus provides for a mechanism for rotating opposed ends of the cord along mutually exclusive first and second curvilinear travel paths. The apparatus further includes a continuous and unitary flexible cord which is juxtaposed adjacent to the existing beverage bottle and the anchor band respectively. The opposed ends of the cord are directly connected to a plurality of clasps that are. Such clasps are removably interfitted into brackets and arranged in such a manner that the clasps and the brackets rotate in sync along the first and second curvilinear paths respectively.
US07975886B2
The sock donning system enables persons of limited mobility to don socks, stockings, and similar footwear without need for excessive bending at the waist and/or knee. The system includes a pair of identical grasping poles or extensions with remotely operable clasps at their distal ends. Triggers are located adjacent the handles to allow the user to operate the clasps. Socks or stockings are provided with two opposed loops extending from their upper edges or apertures formed near the upper edges. The user secures the clasp of each extension to one of the loops or apertures of a single lo stocking, and uses the two extensions simultaneously to pull the sock over the foot, ankle, and lower leg as applicable. The triggers are operated to open the clasps and release them from the sock, once the sock has been donned. The system may also be of assistance in removing socks.
US07975884B2
The present invention provides a can lid having an air passage that focalizes air flow to the pour spout opening during pouring in a manner that provides a laminar flow without substantial surging. More particularly, the present invention provides a container including a can lid, a severable pour spout in the can lid, and at least one air passage integrated into the can lid extending from the severable pour spout by a dimension to provide a focused air flow to an interior of the container to a spout opening when severed.
US07975883B2
A liquid container lid for use on a container is disclosed having a pouring spout disposed on an upper surface of the lid, a vent hole disposed on the upper surface of the lid and rear of the pouring spout, a pair of U-shaped lugs disposed on the upper surface of the lid and rear of the vent hole, a seal plate having a trunnion on a lower surface thereof, and a post extending downwardly from the lower surface and opposing the trunnion, a gasket removably disposed over the post on the seal plate, the trunnion of the seal plate pivotally engaging the pair of U-shaped lugs, allowing the seal plate to pivot in a cantilevered motion from a first raised position to a second lowered position wherein the gasket is inserted in the pouring spout and seals the pouring spout.
US07975881B1
A refrigerated beverage dispenser. A beverage container is carried in a covered refrigerated housing that includes a heat exchanger for maintaining beverage at a predetermined temperature. A dispensing tube provides a conduit for the beverage. To dispense the liquid, a pressure differential is produced whereby the pressure on the liquid in the container is greater than the pressure at a dispensing port.
US07975875B2
An entirely mechanical gas bottle dispensing machine that allows to either only dispense by gravity a filled bottle upon insertion of a first token or dispense a filled bottle with return of an empty bottle upon insertion of a second token.
US07975871B2
A container has a base panel, at least one side panel extending upwardly from the base panel, and at least one end panel extending upwardly from the base panel. At least one corner is formed at a junction between the side panel and end panel. A flange extends laterally outward from the upper edges of at least one of the side panel, end panel, and corner. An injection-molded structure extends along at least a portion of the flange, the injection-molded structure includes a base portion adjacent the upper edges of the side wall and the end wall, a distal portion extending laterally outward from the base portion, and an indentation in the distal portion extending along at least a portion of the flange of the container. An apparatus for forming the container and a method of manufacturing are also disclosed.
US07975868B1
A beverage container having at least two separate and distinct compartments separated by a vertical partition allows for the container to retain separate liquids within an inner liner provided within an outer contoured shell with an air space between the inner liner and outer container providing insulation of the inner liner, the container further providing a fitted lid having a sealing gasket on the underside of the lid to maintain segregation of the liquids in the distinct compartments when consuming the beverage through the fitted lid, with the fitted lid further having an opening containing a locking closure over each distinct compartment to select which of the contained beverage would be consumed at one time.
US07975867B1
A dish caddy includes a base frame formed of multiple, tiered circular racks with vertical support rods attached to the periphery thereof. Each rack includes a wedge-shaped notch formed on its periphery. Superimposed on an upper end of the base frame is a dome-shaped cover having a handle attached thereto. To transport multiple plates to a table, a waiter places each plate on one of the tiered racks and grasps the handle with either hand. The frame is then transported to the table where the waiter can easily remove and serve each plate.
US07975864B2
A closure (10) that is suitable for attachment to a container (20) having an end portion defining an opening of the container. The closure (10) comprises a top portion (11) and a skirt portion (12) depending from the top portion. The closure (10) also has a sealing rib (14) having a first sealing portion (15) which is contiguous with the top portion (11). The first portion (15) has an inner surface made up of at least a first substantially cylindrical surface portion (17) lying radially inwardly of the first surface portion (17). The rib (14) further includes a second sealing portion (16) that is separated from the top portion (11) by the first portion (15) and which, prior to attachment of the closure to the container, extends inwardly to a free edge. The closure (10) further has a continuous nub member (28) extending downwardly and outwardly from the underside of the top portion (11) and positioned radially inwardly of the first sealing portion (15). On relative attachment of the closure to the container end portion, the nub member (28) seals with an inner surface of the container end portion and the sealing rib (14) seals with at least an outer surface of the container end portion.
US07975855B2
A tool storage device includes comprises a hollow upright pivot shaft end capped at the top and bottom ends. Fastening and coupling structures are attached to the end caps. These have apertures, which are used to fasten the tool storage device to an upright surface, such as a wall.
US07975850B2
A separation apparatus (A) separates particulates such as sand from a slurry of water/sand/manure. Particularly, passage (20) receives the slurry and injectors (40) assist the slurry over ramp (42) and aid in separating the sand and organic material from the slurry. The sand proceeds through a discharge (44) and preferably a counter flow of sanitizer from sterilizing passage (60) proceeds through the sand. Cleaned and sanitized sand is temporarily stored in a collector (62).
US07975849B2
Disclosed herein is a packaging case of a wiper blade used to wipe a windscreen of automobiles. The wiper blade includes a wiper strip to wipe a windshield of an automobile. The packaging case includes a body having an accommodation space to accommodate the wiper blade and an opening to open the accommodation space, a cover connected pivotally to a first side of the body via a first connecting part to cover the opening, and a locking section connected pivotally to a second side of the body, opposed to the first side, via a second connecting part to be engaged with the body with one end of the cover interposed between the locking section and the body. The packaging case can protect the wiper blade from external force and prevent damage of the wiper blade during delivery and distribution, and can ensure simple, compact and tight packaging of the wiper blade.
US07975843B2
A package of sheet media includes a stack of individual sheets of media and a packaging wrap extending at least partially around the stack. An outer wrap at least partially covering the stack and the packaging wrap can optionally be used. A method of loading the package of sheet media on a printing system is also provided.
US07975842B2
The invention relates to a packaging system for medical consumables, in particular test elements. The packaging system comprises an outer packaging, which accommodates a first desiccant supply, and a magazine with an unused test element supply. In the closed state of the outer packaging, the first desiccant supply of the outer packaging acts on the interior of the magazine via a connection that permits water vapor diffusion. In exemplary embodiments, the magazine includes a second desiccant supply. The communication of water vapor between the magazine and outer package reduces the load on the desiccant supply in the magazine.
US07975834B2
A device for transferring sausage-shaped products, carried out of a clipping machine and provided with loop-shaped suspension elements, to a product receiving element, said device containing: a guide bar along which the suspension elements can be guided in the direction of transport by means of conveyor elements, and a front and a rear bearing assembly for the guide bar, the bearing assemblies having a right-hand and a left-hand bearing unit that are each disposed in pairs laterally from the guide bar. It is further provided that the front and rear bearing assemblies form drivable positive guidance mechanisms for the suspension elements.
US07975830B2
A device for measuring the properties of moving objects includes a station (5) for measuring predetermined properties of an object (100) and a first conveyor (2) for transferring the object (100) towards the measuring station (5). The device (1) includes accelerator means (6) for accelerating the object (100), acting on the object and positioned upstream of the measuring station (5) and slowing means (7) for slowing or stopping the object (100), acting on the object and positioned at the measuring station (5). A method for measuring the properties of moving objects includes the steps of: transporting an object (100) along a first conveyor (2) having a predetermined feed speed (T1); accelerating the object (100) relative to the first conveyor (2) feed speed (T1) then slowing the object (100) relative to the first conveyor (2) feed speed (T1) at least at a station (5) for measuring predetermined properties of the object (100).
US07975829B2
An improved conveyor assembly includes a conveyor belt for conveying a product to one or more product operations is disclosed. Such conveyor assembly includes a pair of spaced apart side frames that support the conveyor belt and between which the conveyor belt rotates. The side frames are formed from an upstanding member and a inwardly extending horizontal member. Both the frame upstanding member and the frame horizontal member carry a series of elongated slots. One or more L-shaped brackets are formed from a generally upstanding member and an inwardly extending member. Both the bracket upstanding member and the bracket horizontal member carry a series of elongated slots. The bracket horizontal member slots are configured to overlay the frame elongate horizontal member slots, and the bracket upstanding member slots are configured to overlay the frame upstanding member slots for attaching components to the frames.
US07975818B2
A rotational coupling device for use as a clutch and/or brake is provided having improved magnetic efficiency and structural integrity. An electrical conduction assembly is disposed within a field shell between radially spaced inner and outer poles of the field shell. The assembly includes a conductor disposed within a shell having a radially extending flange that is disposed proximate the outer pole of the field shell and that is affixed to the field shell at a plurality of points.
US07975815B2
A two-piece brake shoe is disclosed wherein each piece of the brake shoe has a free end and an end portion opposite the free end that is designed to be inter-fitting with an end portion of the other piece of the brake shoe. Each piece of the brake shoe has a brake lining on its outer surface. The two pieces of the brake shoe can be assembled together to form a C-shaped brake shoe having a gap between the free ends of the two pieces of the brake shoe. An actuator enlarges the gap between the free ends of the two pieces of the brake shoe to apply a brake in which the two-piece brake shoe is installed.
US07975814B2
A steering damper system and method of regulating the fluid pressure of such a system are provided. The system can comprise a piston rod, a cylinder, a passage, and a damper portion. The damper portion can comprise a damper cavity, an outer piston, an inner piston, and a biasing component. The damper cavity can be in fluid communication with the passage. The outer piston can be slidably disposed in the damper cavity and define a chamber and a duct that is in fluid communication with the chamber and the passage. The inner piston can be slidably disposed in the chamber of the outer piston. The biasing component can exert an axial biasing force against the inner piston for regulating the pressure of fluid disposed in the system passing intermediate the passage, the damper cavity, and the chamber of the outer piston.
US07975809B2
The invention relates to a method and an arrangement for preventing disturbing noise caused by the counterweight of an elevator. At first temporary tightening means (8), e.g. slings provided with tightening elements (9), are fitted and tightened around the counterweight (1). After this the actual tightening means (10), e.g. steel belts, are fitted and tightened around the counterweight (1), after which the slings are removed.
US07975808B2
One version of this disclosure includes a system for assigning an elevator car to respond to a call signal wherein a controller is responsible for determining which elevator car will respond to a call signal. This version includes the controller receiving a hall call signal, receiving information regarding the elevator system, determining whether the call assignment can be made in view of a first rule associated with a banned call assignment, and eliminating the rule against banned call assignments when necessary to avoid saturation of the elevator system.
US07975807B2
A portable elevator climbing system removably attachable to a cantilevered overhang on an adjacent structure, whereby an elevator car travels up and down a plurality of roller chains. The roller chains are engaged with sprockets and guide rollers attached to an axle driven by a motor. The orientation and alignment of the sprockets, guide rollers and roller chains provide for a stable elevator car and for a system free of backlash in both directions. The elevator climbing system includes a dampening assembly to control the rate of decent in the event of transmission, motor or other failure. The elevator climbing system may be controlled so that the start and stop of the motor is coordinated with the release and application of a braking assembly. The efficiency of the elevator climbing system may be varied by adjusting the offset between the sprockets and the guide rollers.
US07975804B2
A lubricating structure for a transmission includes an axial hole formed penetrating through a gear shaft in an axial direction thereof and having a first opening at one axial end of the gear shaft for supplying therein a lubricant and a second opening at the other axial end thereof, a first oil hole provided on the gear shaft in a radial direction thereof to establish communication between the axial hole and an outside of the gear shaft, and a tapered groove provided on an inner wall of the axial hole in the axial direction thereof, wherein the lubricant is supplied to a portion needing lubrication via the axial hole or via the axial hole and the first oil hole, and the tapered groove is deeper at the second opening side than the first opening side.
US07975803B2
The invention relates to dismantlable scaffolding comprising accessible platforms on a plurality of levels and a multitude of vertical supports carrying said platforms. Said vertical supports preferably consist of several sections which can be fixed one on top of the other, are arranged at a distance from each other, and are preferably connected by means of platform bars at predetermined vertical distances. Said supports carry perforated anchor plates at predetermined vertical distances. Connecting railing elements can be applied to adjacent vertical supports. In order to apply at least one railing element above a platform, at least the highest railing elements of a level can be applied to the associated perforated anchor plate by means of a railing adapter element. When applied to the perforated anchor plate, said adapter carries a railing holding element above the anchor plate. The distance between the anchor plate and the railing holding element is smaller than the distance between two vertically adjacent anchor plates.
US07975800B2
A steering device for vehicles having a pair of wheels which can be steered freely as a function of the current driving state of the vehicle or whose steered position can be locked by an electronically actuable locking device, having an electronic control device and having sensors which are connected to the electronic control device and have the purpose of monitoring current driving state values, with the electronic control device actuating the locking device when a minimum velocity of the vehicle is exceeded, in such a way that the steered position of the pair of wheels is locked, characterized in that driving state values which characterize critical driving situations are additionally stored in the electronic control device, in which the steered position of the pair of wheels is locked in critical driving situations, and in which, after a critical driving situation, the locking device does not release the pair of wheels again until predefined critical driving state values are undershot at least for a predefined period of time.
US07975799B2
An apparatus and method for storing and supplying a fluid for use by a motorcycle engine includes a fluid tank assembly that can be mounted so that at least a portion of it is integral with a motorcycle frame. The assembly includes a center block that is mounted within a cavity in the motorcycle frame and two fluid reservoir housings, each mounted on opposite sides of the frame exterior and adjacent to the center block. The center block includes a hole of sufficient diameter that reservoir chambers, defined by the two reservoir housings, are in a free-flowing, fluid communication with one another via the center block hole. Moreover, the center block is a structural element thereby providing strength to the motorcycle frame.
US07975795B2
An arrangement structure for a radiator reservoir tank for a motorcycle that makes it possible to appropriately dispose a reservoir tank of a radiator in the vicinity of an engine. A main frame is provided that extends to the rear side from a head pipe disposed at the front of a main body. An engine is disposed under the main frame, the engine includes a cylinder extending upward from a crankcase with an intake port open at the rear side of the cylinder. A throttle body is connected to the intake port with a reservoir tank of a radiator being disposed in a space S above the crankcase, behind the cylinder, and under the throttle body.
US07975790B2
A wheel driving apparatus for a moving apparatus is provided. The wheel driving apparatus includes a wheel, a driving motor to generate a driving power to rotate the wheel, a gear box to transmit the rotational force of the driving motor to the wheel, and a guide shaft movable vertically with respect to the base member, wherein the wheel, the driving motor, the gear box, and the guide shaft are connected integrally with each other to move vertically with respect to the base member in unison.
US07975783B2
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a drilling tool includes a tubular body defining a longitudinal axial cavity extending therethrough and defining at least one cutter element recess. The drilling tool also includes a cutter element at least partially disposed within the at least one cutter element recess and includes at least first and second cutting arms at least substantially disposed within the cutter element recess in a retracted position. The first and second cutting arms are operable to move from the retracted position to an extended position in which the first and second cutting arms extend at least partially beyond a periphery of the tubular body. The first and second cutting arms and the tubular body enclose a space when the first and second cutting arms are in the extended position.
US07975777B2
A device for impacting a fastener in one embodiment includes a drive channel, a cylinder opening at an end portion to the drive channel, a microcellular polyurethane elastomer (MPE) bumper fixedly positioned at the end portion of the cylinder, the MPE bumper including a drive bore extending therethrough and aligned with the drive channel, and an outer wall defining a plurality of grooves extending radially about the MPE bumper, and a drive mechanism including a drive blade aligned with the drive bore.
US07975776B2
Provided is a hitch for towing a trailer behind a vehicle licensed to navigate public roadways. The hitch includes a base member to be coupled adjacent to a tail section of the vehicle, and a first support member portion coupled transversely to the elongated shank and extending outwardly in a direction generally away from the base member. A first arm is telescopically adjustable relative to the support member and supports a first connector provided adjacent to a distal end thereof. The first gimbal connector is cooperable with a first trailer connector to establish a linkage with first trailer connector. A second support member portion is coupled to the base member and extends outwardly in a direction generally away from the base member. A second connector is supported adjacent to a distal end of the second support member and is also cooperable with a second trailer connector to establish a linkage with the second trailer connector.
US07975774B2
A guided fire-retardant-containing bomb comprises a container with retractable wings, tail and elevators having the form factor of a conventional release vehicle, where the control surfaces are coupled via a controller to a GPS with inertial guidance control and an ability to receive external instructions, and a charge core to disintegrate and disperse the fire retardant or water.
US07975773B2
A high expansion foam fire-extinguishing system including: an emission nozzle (9) to which a foam solution (Wg) prepared by mixing water (W) with a foam concentrate (16) containing a surface active agent (18) is sent under pressure; a flow passage (2); and a foam screen (7) upon which the foam solution discharged from the emission nozzle impinges. The foam concentrate used is one of one in which a mixing ratio of the foam concentrate with respect to the foam solution is an adjusted mixing ratio higher than a standard mixing ratio and one in which a content rate of the surface active agent with respect to the foam concentrate is a design content rate that is higher than a standard content rate, and in which a mixing ratio of the surface active agent is a concentration for design foam expansion ratio.
US07975768B2
An offshore riser system has riser joints, each having a pin and a box. The pin has an external grooved profile that is engaged by a locking element carried by the box of another riser joint. An actuating ring engages with the locking element to move it into the locked position. A retractable spider supports the string of riser while the new joint is being made up. A makeup tool on the riser deploying floor moves the ring relative to the locking element, causing the locking element to move to the locked position.
US07975766B2
A method of top-filling a drill pipe string comprises injecting fluid into the upper end of the string. Apparatus for use in top-filling a drill pipe string comprises an injector adapted to co-operate with the upper end of a drill pipe string, whereby fluid may be pumped through the injector and into the string.
US07975736B2
A joint between wood pieces, such as between timber, laminated timber, LVL, plywood etc., includes one or more bars forming a diagonal of a truss. A side of another bar forms a truss chord. The bars are connected to each other by a finger joint. The truss chord is asymmetrically.
US07975735B2
A tree processing vehicle comprising a prime mover and a pair of tracks for propelling the tree processing vehicle, the prime mover being in a driving relationship with the tracks. The tree processing vehicle also comprises an operator cabin comprising a front side, a rear side, and a pair of lateral sides between the front side and the rear side. A first one of the lateral sides defines an access opening allowing an operator to enter or exit the operator cabin. The operator cabin also comprises a door for closing the access opening and a set of controls for allowing the operator to control the tree processing vehicle. The tree processing vehicle also comprises a pair of arms pivotally movable across a range of angular positions. The range of angular positions includes a first angular position in which a first one of the arms extends across at least part of the access opening and a second angular position in which the first one of the arms clears the access opening thereby allowing the door to be opened or closed.
US07975731B2
A method and an apparatus for filling tires with high purity nitrogen involves evacuating and then filling tires with nitrogen. An automated apparatus has a mode of operation which can be selected from among a four tire service, a spare tire service and a top off service, with or without vacuuming during evacuation. With the four tire service, four tires connected to the apparatus are evacuated and then filled to set front and rear tire pressures. With the spare tire service a single tire connected to the apparatus is evacuated then nitrogen filled to a set tire pressure. A five tire service for evacuating and filling two front and two rear tires and a spare tire is also disclosed. The top off service of a tire connected to the apparatus involves sensing the tire pressure and then evacuating or nitrogen filling to obtain a set tire pressure. Evacuation of a tire is automatically stopped when a set minimum pressure level or a set maximum time limit for evacuation is reached. The apparatus permits accurate filling of tires with high purity nitrogen in an efficient manner without requiring the operator to attend the apparatus during the process after initial setup.
US07975726B2
A liner tube is provided for repairing either a single pipe line or a main pipe line having a lateral pipe line connected thereto. The liner tube assembly includes a liner tube impregnated with a liquid material capable of curing and hardening. The liner tube includes a gasket or band positioned about the juncture of the pipe lines. The gasket or bands form a tight seal between the liner tube and the pipe line.
US07975724B2
A hose bend bleeder is combined with first and second hoses, with the hose bend bleeder being located at the bottom of a bend in a flow path established by the hoses. The hose bend bleeder has a bleed screw and a downwardly facing exit passageway.
US07975718B2
The present invention generally provides methods and apparatus for monitoring performance of an injection valve. In one embodiment, a control signal relates to an actuator movement is monitored and correlated to performance of the injection valve.
US07975717B2
A valve pin insert has a body for insertion into a valve plate and a stud integrally formed with the body and extending from one end of the body above the valve plate. The body has a lower shank at an end of the body that is opposite from the end at which the stud is positioned, and an upper shank at the end of the body adjacent to the end of the body at which the stud is positioned. The lower shank is of a lesser diameter than the upper shank and an undercut shoulder between the shanks forms a recess opening in the direction toward the lower shank and forms a tooth which shears material of the valve plate as the pin is inserted into a hole in the valve plate.
US07975715B2
A valve for use in a pneumatic system of a truck-trailer having a source of air under pressure, a reservoir, at least one spring brake unit and a brake service line is provided. The valve includes a housing, a pressure protection valve portion, a spring brake actuation valve portion and an anti-compounding valve portion. The housing has a supply passage in communication with the source of air under pressure. The pressure protection valve portion is disposed within a first chamber of the housing. The first chamber has an inlet in communication with the supply passage and an outlet in communication with the reservoir. The pressure protection valve portion is configured to selectively block the flow of pressurized air from the supply passage to the reservoir through the first chamber. The spring brake actuation valve portion is disposed within a second chamber of the housing.
US07975708B2
A proximity head including a head surface. The head surface including a first flat region and a plurality of first conduits. Each one of the plurality of first conduits being defined by corresponding one of a plurality of first discrete holes. The plurality of first discrete holes residing in the head surface and extending through the first flat region. The head surface also including a second flat region and a plurality of second conduits. The plurality of second conduits being defined by a corresponding plurality of second discrete holes that reside in the head surface and extend through the second flat region. The head surface also including a third flat region disposed between and adjacent to the first flat region and the second flat region and a plurality of third conduits. The plurality of third conduits being defined by a corresponding plurality of third discrete holes that reside in the head surface and extend through the third flat region. The third conduits being formed at a first angle relative to the third flat region. The first angle being between 30 and 60 degrees. A system and method for processing a substrate with a proximity head is also described.
US07975705B2
A cosmetic container in accordance with the present invention has a base, a slide cover, a drawer and a transmission device. The base has a chamber, an opening and a mirror. The chamber is defined in the base. The opening is formed in the base and communicates with the chamber. The mirror is mounted on an upper part of the front. The slide cover is slidably mounted on the front of the base. The drawer is slidably mounted in the chamber of the base and selectively extends out of the chamber through the opening of the base. The transmission device is mounted inside the chamber, connects to the slide cover and the drawer and selectively ejects the drawer out of the base when driven by the slide cover. With the transmission, operating the cosmetic container is simple and convenient.
US07975700B2
Methods and devices are disclosed for manipulating the tongue. An implant is positioned within at least a portion of the tongue and may be secured to other surrounding structures such as the mandible and/or hyoid bone. In general, the implant is manipulated to displace at least a portion of the posterior tongue in an anterior or lateral direction, or to alter the tissue tension or compliance of the tongue. Methods and devices are also disclosed for manipulating other soft tissue structures, including the soft palate and pharyngeal airway.
US07975689B2
An apparatus for maintaining a surgical airway and method for the same includes an elongated body insertable orally into a patient. The elongated body defines leading and trailing ends. An opening is defined through the leading and trailing ends, such that surgical equipment may be insertable through the opening of the elongated body. A securing member is connected to the trailing end. The securing member holds the elongated body in a position such that an airway remains open to treat the patient, while supporting oxygen flow to the patient.
US07975658B2
An air port or smelt spout cleaning tip presents a wider cleaning area configuration on an insertion phase, and on retraction, the tip collapses to provide a smaller size to prevent against hanging up on adjacent structures.
US07975656B2
Protective suit for a dog allows a dog to work in a cleanroom or other controlled environment. Suit 10 includes particle-blocking coverall 20 and hood 50. Hood 50 includes transparent face shield 52 to cover dog's eyes and snout. Face shield 52 is open at the end to allow air and odors to reach dog's nose unimpeded. Face shield 52 extends slightly beyond dog's nostrils to prevent dog from contacting hazardous chemicals or pathogens. Coverall 20 includes fitted sleeves 22 with integral boots 24; also a tail pouch 30 to keep tail separate and visible.
US07975653B2
The bird waste catcher for a cage door is a device that is adapted for mounting on the door of a standard wire mesh birdcage. A pair of brackets attaches to the cage door with nuts and bolts and supports a detachable receptacle. The receptacle is mounted on the door of the birdcage for catching excrement and other debris created by a pet bird perched on top of the birdcage door.
US07975648B2
An animal feeder includes a hopper above a shelf onto which feed can fall to be taken by the animal or dropped into a trough below the shelf. The height of the shelf is adjustable in a course movement to move the shelf from a low height for smaller animals to a raised height for the animal after they have grown. The shelf is also adjustable in fine movement to change the width of the opening through which the feed passes to control feed rate. The shelf is carried on straps which extend along the end walls of the hopper and are movable by an adjustment linkage defined by a plate carried on the end wall and a manually adjustable lever mounted for pivotal movement on the plate. The lever has two pivot positions on the plate providing the two course adjustments and two graduated scales for the fine adjustment each cooperating with a respective pivot position.
US07975646B2
Device for depositing a coating on an internal surface of a container, of the type in which the deposition is carried out by means of a low-pressure plasma created inside the container by excitation of a precursor gas by microwave-type electromagnetic waves. An injection tube is provided that dips into the container to a length of between one quarter and one half of the total height of the container in question, between the top and the bottom of the container said length of the injection tube constituting a longitudinal antenna capable of picking up a UHF electromagnetic wave generated by said generator and of propagating the HT ignition signal, a UHF short-circuit in the form of a plate being provided on the injection tube in such a way that the face of said plate on the cavity side defines a point of zero amplitude of the electromagnetic wave propagating along said injection tube, the length between said short-circuit and the free end of said injection tube corresponding to an odd number of quarter-wavelengths so as to obtain a maximum amplitude, that is to say an antinode, at the free end of the injection tube.
US07975642B2
An automatic seasoning device that includes a hopper, a seasoning dispenser positioned to receive seasoning from the hopper; and a moveable transition tray positioned to receive seasoning from the seasoning dispensing drum.
US07975634B1
Leggings with knee pads and patches protect babies when they crawl or fall on hard or abrasive surfaces.
US07975633B2
A seaming machine for seaming segments of sheet material to one another to form larger sheets includes a frame defining a sheet-receiving area and a pair of spaced seaming devices on opposed sides of the sheet-receiving area for respectively seaming opposed edges of the segments of sheet material to one another. The frame typically defines a table-receiving space for a table to support the sheet segments. The machine provides for the seaming of multiple sheet segments while the sheet segments remain atop the table or another work surface. Relative back and forth movement between the frame and work surface facilitate the process.
US07975630B2
A method for controlling a seeding apparatus including sensing a ground force acting on a furrow opener of the seeding apparatus and providing a ground force sensor signal in dependence upon the ground force acting on the furrow opener. The method further includes providing an actuator to apply a bias force to a packer wheel of the seeding apparatus. The method also includes providing a control device operative to receive the ground force sensor signal and an input from an operator and to adjust the bias force that the actuator applies to the packer wheel in dependence on at least one of the ground force sensor signal and the input from the operator.
US07975626B1
A computer table includes a rear frame, two side frames pivotally mounted on two opposite ends of the rear frame respectively, a support board detachably mounted on the rear frame and the two side frames to support a computer, a drawer board detachably mounted between the two side frames, and a carrier detachably mounted on one of the two side frames to support a host frame of the computer. Thus, the computer table can be folded to have a smaller volume to decrease the cost of packaging, storage and transportation of the computer table.
US07975623B1
A serving tray that enhances tray-stabilizing features useful to a server's abilities to load, carry, and unload a serving tray depending upon the specifics of the serving situation. The serving tray is stackable, assists drying, bacterial-growth minimizing, and jack-stand nesting. The serving tray provides for easy gripping and added stability by either right or left-handed users.
US07975621B2
An apparatus for fighting fires comprises a rail carriage, a base mounted upon the rail carriage and an enclosure mounted upon the base. The enclosure includes a top wall having an aperture defined therein. At least one vertically extendible lift is mounted within the enclosure and carries a liquid discharging device. A pressurizer and connecting conduits deliver liquid from a liquid source to the liquid discharging device.
US07975619B2
Lateral pressure which develops in the front wheelset when traveling along a curved track is decreased while suppressing an increase in costs as much as possible. A two-axle truck for a railway car has a front wheelset having wheels with a first tread gradient and a rear wheelset having wheels with a second tread gradient which is different from the first tread gradient. The tread gradient of the wheels of the rear wheelset is larger than the tread gradient of the wheels of the front wheelset.
US07975614B2
A high velocity acoustic signal producing underwater shotgun system for dispersing a plurality of relatively small supercavitating projectiles over a wide spatial field at long range using the dynamics of cavity collapse for better target localization in underwater mine clearance. A typical supercavitating projectile design is enhanced to produce a two-staged projectile in order to accomplish this innovation. The first stage of the two stage design allows for the long range firing underwater typical of a supercavitating projectile while the second stage permits the coverage of a wide area with a plurality of small supercavitating projectiles just as the first stage projectile reaches its fixed range. A distinctive feature of the radiated noise from a supercavitating projectile contacting a solid object is used in conjunction with the two stage projectile design to provide a system for underwater mine clearance verification. The distinctive noise signal may also be used in conjunction with an underwater targeting system to help identify, localize and track targets as well.
US07975607B2
An improved mechanism for controlling the pressure applied by the side walls of a square bale chamber comprising two independently positionable opposing pairs of bale tension rails, each pair perpendicularly arranged with respect to each other, whereby a uniform pressure may be exerted on all four sides of the bale in the bale chamber thereby resulting in improved consistency in bale length, density, shape, and appearance.
US07975600B2
The invention relates to an axial piston machine, in addition to a swash-plate for said machine and a method for producing a swash-plate. The swash-plate (24) is configured as a disc and has a central bore (32), which is encompassed by a collar (39), extending in an axial direction from a first surface (34, 34′) of the swash-plate (24). In addition, the swash-plate (24) has several sliding block receiving openings (36), each of the latter (36) being encompassed by a guide collar (38), which extends in an axial direction from a second surface of the swash-plate (24), in the opposite direction to the collar (39) of the central bore (32).
US07975596B2
An improvement to a firearm of the character having an upper receiver, an operating rod operably associated with the upper receiver for movement between a first position and a second position, and a lower receiver connected to the upper receiver. The improvement concerns a novel bolt and barrel lock and release mechanism carried by the upper receiver and a novel trigger mechanism carried by the lower receiver.
US07975590B2
A pellet for a sporting rifle or a sporting gun includes a body and a tip that are joined together. A lower portion of the body includes a first internal cavity, and a head of the body includes a second internal cavity. The tip includes an upper part ending in at least one vertex and a lower part, the upper and lower parts being joined at their bases. The lower part of the tip is received in the second internal cavity. A portion of the head may be crimped around the tip to hold the tip inside the second internal cavity of the body. An outer hoop may be formed on the tip, and the portion of the head that is crimped may be crimped above the hoop to securely hold the tip in the body.
US07975585B1
A table saw guard has opposed rubber fingers extending from opposite supports. The fingers meet near slots in a saw table along a saw slot and provide visual and tactile warning of approaching the saw blade. The fingers bend as a board is pushed into contact with a saw. Friction between the bent fingers and the board resist unwanted bounce-back of the board while being sawed.
US07975581B2
The apparatus for cutting glass panes from a continuously produced glass sheet includes a conveying apparatus for the glass sheet and for crosscut pieces; a crosscutting device for cutting the crosscut pieces from the glass sheet; a glass pane cutting device for cutting glass panes from the crosscut pieces; a glass fault detecting device; a border trimming station for cutting away borders; an edge control device and a cutting optimization device. The cutting optimization device determines one or more optimized cutting patterns so that cutting lines are placed in each crosscut piece close to regions to be discarded containing glass faults so that widths of the regions are minimized while providing a maximum number of usable glass panes. A method of cutting off glass panes so that the discarded glass sheet regions are minimized is also disclosed.
US07975574B2
A ratchet wrench includes a head and a handle interconnected to the head. The head includes a first compartment rotatably receiving a drive member. Two pawls are slideably received in a compartment of the head. A switch is slideably received in a third compartment of the head between first, second, and third operative positions to change the driving direction of the ratchet wrench. An actuator is slideably received in the second compartment and includes two guiding portions selectively engaged with one of the pawls when the switch is in one of the first and second operative positions. The pawls are disengaged from the guiding portions and engaged with the drive member when the switch is in the third operative positions, allowing the handle and the drive member to rotate in either of two directions driving a fastener, and not allowing free rotation of the handle relative to the drive member in either of the two directions without driving the fastener.
US07975560B2
A magnetic shield may be mounted to a water meter housing to protect the magnetic operation of the water meter from a tamper magnet, including both smaller, flexible tamper magnets and larger, strong tamper magnets. The shield may include a contoured portion and a barrier portion. The barrier portion may provide a physical and spatial barrier between a larger tamper magnet and an internal magnetic sensor of the water meter. The contoured portion may conform to the housing of the water meter and may prevent smaller tamper magnets from being maneuvered close to the housing of the water meter. The shield may be made of a ferrous material suitable for attenuating a magnetic field. The shield may receive a looped sensor transmission cable within a U-shaped opening enabling the shield to be installed and/or removed from the water meter without the sensor transmission cable being detached from the water meter.
US07975559B2
A damping device for a fluid flow meter is provided. The fluid flow meter is mountable on the exterior of a pipe to meter fluid flow traveling within the pipe. The flow meter has at least one ultrasonic sensor operable to transmit ultrasonic signals through a wall in a direction substantially normal to the pipe wall and into a fluid flow disposed within the pipe. The transmitted signals create secondary ultrasonic signals circumferentially traveling within the pipe wall at one or more frequencies. The damping device includes a tuned body attachable to the pipe wall at one or more contact points. The body has one or more resonant structural modes, each with a natural frequency, which natural frequencies are closely matched to the one or more frequencies of the secondary signals. The body is operable to dissipate energy upon excitation by the secondary signals.
US07975556B2
The present invention is directed to a sensor-enabled geosynthetic material for use in geosynthetic structures, a method of making the sensor-enabled geosynthetic material, and a method of measuring geometric strains of a geosynthetic product made from the sensor-enabled geosynthetic material. The sensor-enabled geosynthetic material includes a polymeric material and an electrically conductive filler. The polymeric material and an electrically conductive filler are combined to provide a sensor-enabled geosynthetic material. The sensor-enabled geosynthetic material having a predetermined concentration of the electrically conductive filler so as to provide the sensor-enabled geosynthetic material with an electrical conductivity and a strain sensitivity within the percolation region or slightly above it.
US07975552B2
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a pressure transducer assembly for measuring pressures in high temperature environments that employs an elongated tube which is terminated at one end by an acoustic micro-filter. The micro-filter has a plurality of apertures extending from one end to the other end, each aperture is of a small diameter as compared to the diameter of the transducer and the damper operates to absorb acoustic waves impinging on it with limited or no reflection. To improve the absorption of acoustic waves, the elongated tube may be tapered and/or mounted to a support block and further convoluted to reduce the overall size and mass of the device. A pressure transducer with a diaphragm flush may be mounted to the elongated tube and extend through to the inner wall of the tube. Hot gases propagate through the elongated tube and their corresponding pressures are measured by the transducer. The acoustic filter operates to absorb acoustic waves resultant from the hot gases, therefore enabling the pressure transducer to be mainly responsive to high frequency waves associated with the gas turbine operation.
US07975544B2
A gravity gradiometer is disclosed which has a sensor in the form of bars (41 and 42) which are supported on a mounting (5) which has a first mount section (10) and a second mount section (20). A first flexure web (33) pivotally couples the first and second mount sections about a first axis. The second mount has a first part (25), a second part (26) and a third part (27). The parts (25 and 26) are connected by a second flexure web (37) and the parts (26 and 27) are connected by a third flexure web (35). The bars (41 and 42) are located in housings (45 and 47) and form a monolithic structure with the housings (45 and 47) respectively. The housings (45 and 47) are connected to opposite sides of the second mount section 20. The bars (41 and 42) are connected to their respective housings by flexure webs (59). Transducers (71) are located in proximity to the bars for detecting movement of the bars to in turn enable the gravitational gradient tensor to be measured. The sensor masses not only serve to provide measurements of the gravity gradient tensor but also provide signals indicative of angular movement of the mounting and therefore form one of a plurality of angular accelerometers for detecting angular movement so that control signals can be generated to stabilize the mounting (5).
US07975536B2
A method for detecting an engine block heater includes block heater detection logic and a data table containing calibration thresholds. The method determines a time-series of delta (Δ) engine coolant temperatures (ECT), which represent the respective differences between a start-up ECT and a plurality of operating ECT values measured thereafter. The method integrates the time-series to obtain a Δ ECT integral. The method also maintains an integrated engine speed parameter accumulated over the course of the detection period. Throughout the detection period, the method retrieves a threshold value from the table based on the integrated engine speed (Y-axis) versus an elapsed time (X-axis) since the detection period began. When the calculated Δ ECT integral value exceeds the retrieved threshold, the method determines that the block heater was operated, which can thereafter be used to suppress sensor rationality testing or reporting of results thereof.
US07975534B2
A crankshaft reversal detection system includes a sensor module and a control module that communicates with the sensor module. The sensor module detects position of a belt tensioner that communicates with a crankshaft driven accessory drive belt. The control module determines a rotational direction of the crankshaft pulley based on the position of the belt tensioner.
US07975533B2
In a monitoring system and method for monitoring pressure in a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine, a sensor is operable to sense movement of a valve while the valve is in its closed position. The sensor generates data indicative of the sensed movement of the valve. A control system is in communication with the sensor to receive the data indicative of the sensed movement of the valve in the closed position thereof. The control system is operable to determine the pressure in the combustion chamber based at least in part on the sensed movement of the valve. In other aspects, operation of the engine is adjusted based at least in part on the determined pressure in the combustion chamber.
US07975529B2
A method of discovering leakage in a heat exchanger, wherein the method is carried into effect on an intact heat exchanger which, together with surrounding conduits, is filled with water. The heat exchanger preferably has requisite pressure indicators mounted between each section, as well as requisite shut-off valves. The method comprises applying in each section of the heat exchanger an excess pressure on one side which is enclosed there, while the other side is at normal pressure. The pressure is enclosed during a period of time and is monitored during this period of time.
US07975527B2
Indicator devices and systems are provided. Indicator devices include a sleeve, a dome-like transparent member, a connector body, and an indicator. In alternate embodiments, indicator devices include a sleeve and an indicator retained in the sleeve by a retaining ring and a latch held in place by a spring. Indicator systems include an indicator device coupled to an enclosure containing critical equipment.
US07975521B2
A bending tool that may be used for bending elongated works and in which the works are not likely to be damaged is provided. An angle formed by a blade parting line L1 or L2 and an outside edge (e.g., 55 degrees) of each die (having an angle of a blade edge of, e.g., 90 degrees) is made larger than an angle formed by the blade parting line L1 or L2 and an inside edge (e.g., 35 degrees). The blade parting line L1 or L2 of one of the dies is located at a predetermined position further toward the blade parting line L2 or L1 of the other of the dies with respect to the center of the space between the blade parting line L2 or L1 and the inner end edge of the bending block.
US07975518B2
A re-keyable cylinder lock includes a plug inserted into a lock housing and having a plurality of radial holes connected to a key hole. The lock housing has a first engaging element provided in an inner surface thereof. A limit unit has a second engaging element and is inserted into one of the radial holes located at a predetermined depth of the key hole. The first engaging element engages the second engaging element to limit the plug from rotating when a replacement key which is inserted into the key hole for re-keying does not reach a predetermined depth of the key hole. Incomplete re-keying can therefore be prevented.
US07975512B2
A knitting machine needle having at least at one point S2, S3, S4 or S5 of its hook, a cross-section that is asymmetrical with respect to a longitudinal center plane M. Preferably, this cross-section is an oval cross-section and, more preferably, an elliptical cross-section. Using this measure, the robbing-back effect can be affected in a targeted manner during the knitting operation.
US07975509B2
A glass bending line for quickly shaping a complex bent glass sheet is provided that includes moving a ring-type female mold, which has a heated glass sheet placed on it, and a full face heated male mold, toward one another. Upon making shaping contact between the glass sheet and the male mold, a vacuum is applied through holes extending through the male mold, for a time sufficient to form the glass sheet to a desired shape. When the glass sheet has been shaped, the vacuum is terminated and pressurized air is connected to the holes to release the bent glass sheet from the male mold. The bent glass sheet is then quickly transported to a quenching station or an annealing station on a continuous conveying device. Hence, the complex bent glass sheet is achieved without the use of a shuttle ring.
US07975497B2
In a refrigeration unit including a variable performance compressor driven by an inverter motor, a sensor is configured to detect a physical amount corresponding to a refrigerant pressure on the high-pressure side of a refrigerant circuit. A measured value of the physical amount is compared with a first reference value corresponding to a first predetermined pressure of the refrigerant and a second reference value corresponding to a second predetermined pressure lower than the first predetermined pressure. A protective operation can start if the comparison result indicates that an actual refrigerant pressure is higher than the first predetermined pressure. The performance of the compressor can be gradually lowered if the comparison result indicates that an actual refrigerant pressure is between the first predetermined pressure and the second predetermined pressure.
US07975495B2
A refrigerant system adjusts, in a coordinated prioritized manner, the variable capacities of a compressor, evaporator fan and a condenser fan to minimize the system's overall power consumption while maintaining a comfort zone within a target comfort range. The target comfort range is defined by desired temperature and humidity limits. When the comfort zone is within the target comfort range, the system periodically attempts to reduce the compressor capacity. If the attempt succeeds, the evaporator fan capacity is then minimized. The condenser fan capacity can also be minimized provided the refrigerant system can maintain at least a minimum saturated suction temperature of the refrigerant flowing from the condenser to the compressor.
US07975491B2
A heat exchange system selectably controls the temperature of a fluid being delivered to a patient's body by a pump device. The heat exchange system includes a thermal element and a heat exchanger that is removably coupled under pressure to the thermal element. The heat exchanger includes a first half made from thermally conductive material that correspondingly mates with the thermal element, a second half made from thermally conductive material opposite the first half, and an internal heat exchange zone existing between the first half and the second half, wherein fluid flows therethrough. The thermal element of the heat exchange system may controllably and safely warm and/or cool the fluid prior to delivery.
US07975484B1
A method and apparatus reliable, accurate and continuous measurement of air inleakage into the condenser of a steam-electric power plant with convenient monitoring by power plant personnel.
US07975481B2
The invention relates to a steam cycle apparatus, comprising a reservoir for a liquid operating medium; an evaporator in which the operating medium is evaporator by supply of heat, with the vaporous operating medium being supplied to an expander for expansion and for performing mechanical work and subsequently being liquefied in a condenser which is in connection with a reservoir; an operating medium pump for supplying operating medium from the reservoir to a feed line to the evaporator; a feedback control unit (7) for the operating medium flow; characterized in that the operating medium pump comprises a bypass line which produces a connection between the input side of the operating medium pump and the output side of the operating medium pump, with a controlled overflow valve being arranged in the bypass line whose control element is triggered by the feedback control unit for the operating medium flow for regulating the pressure and/or volume flow of the operating medium in the feed line to the evaporator.
US07975479B2
A heat exchanger for a fluid handling system is disclosed. The heat exchanger may have an inlet configured to receive a fluid at a first temperature, and an outlet configured to discharge the fluid at a second temperature lower than the first. The heat exchanger may also have at least one fluid passageway disposed to conduct the fluid from the inlet to the outlet. The at least one fluid passageway may have a first section fabricated from a first material, and a second section fabricated from a dissimilar second material. At least one of the first and second materials may include a thermally conductive polymer.
US07975472B2
The present invention relates to an exhaust system (1) for an internal combustion engine (3) having at least one exhaust gas line (2) that carries exhaust gas and having an injection device (4) for spraying a liquid into the exhaust gas line (2). Downstream from the injection device (4) a vaporizer device (7) which has at least one tubular sheet metal body (8) downstream from the injection device (4), said sheet metal body extending in the longitudinal direction of the exhaust gas line (2) and causing an improved vaporization of the liquid sprayed into the exhaust gas line. In addition, at least one clamp device (12) which is designed like a spring is provided, securing the vaporizer device (7) in the exhaust gas line (2) and/or bracing it elastically against the exhaust gas line.
US07975470B2
In relation to an exhaust gas purification system that mixes a liquid reducing agent with air and injection-supplies this mixture into an exhaust gas flowing on an upstream side of a reduction catalyst (20) to thereby effect reduction purification of NOx in exhaust gas, a technical attention is directed to the relation of respective elements of; the travel distance, the fuel consumption, the air consumption, or the running time and the like, and the liquid reducing agent consumption, to constitute a configuration such that a continual monitor as to whether the injection condition of liquid reducing agent is normal or abnormal is executed by judging whether or not the amount of liquid reducing agent consumed for a predetermined travel distance, a predetermined fuel consumption, a predetermined air consumption, or a predetermined running time, is within a predetermined range.
US07975466B1
An exhaust nozzle (10) for a gas turbine engine is described for vectoring a flow of exhaust gases issuing therefrom at an angle to a centre line (8) of the engine. The exhaust nozzle (10) comprises a plurality of radially outer flaps (25) and radially inner flaps (26) which are circumferentially disposed around the engine. The radially outer flaps (25) and radially inner flaps (26) alternately overlap each other to define a path through which the exhaust gases flow. The radially outer flaps (25) can be moved asymmetrically about the engine centre line (8). The radially inner flaps (26) are maintained in sealing contact with the outer flaps (25) by the flow of exhaust gases passing therethrough. The radially inner flaps (26) are divided into a number of triangular sections (29) which renders the flaps (26) torsionally flexible so that they can twist along their lengths to maintain sealing contact with adjacent radially outer flaps (25) when the outer flaps (25) are moved asymmetrically.
US07975465B2
A system for generating accessory power from a gas turbine engine is provided by the present invention. The system includes an electronic control device for monitoring at least one parameter which provides information about an incipient change in power demand, a control valve operated by the control device for supplying bleed air from the engine during a transient state in response to the at least one monitored parameter, and a pneumatically operated device for receiving the bleed air and for generating power to operate equipment onboard an aircraft. The pneumatically operated device may be an air turbine or a pneumatically integrated generator.
US07975458B1
A crop harvesting header for use with a work vehicle includes a shaft extending substantially transverse to a direction of travel of the header, the shaft rotates about its axis in response to a portion of a member contacting a first arm when the header is in the first operating mode. The shaft does not rotate about the shaft axis when the header is in a second operating mode. A second arm rotates about the shaft in response to ground undulations when the header is in the second operating mode. A sensor, operatively connected to the second arm and to a controller, senses when the second arm is located at a predetermined position when the header is in the second operating mode. The sensor communicates with the controller to effect movement of the header with respect to the ground when the header is in the second operating mode.
US07975454B2
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.
US07975453B2
A stopper and container body are molded in the same molding machine. An assembly device, such as a pick and place robot, transfers the stopper from one mold cavity into the opening in the container body located within another mold cavity, or vice versa, to assemble the stopper and container body. Then, the assembled container body and stopper are removed from the molding machine and transported to a needle filling and laser resealing station for filling and laser resealing. A laminar flow source directs a substantially laminar flow of air or sterile gas over the mold surfaces, stoppers and container bodies, and assembly device, to prevent contamination during assembly.
US07975447B1
A decorative trim assembly is provided for decorating a building exterior. The assembly includes a plurality of trim modules that may be assembled together to form various trim subassemblies. Each trim module includes a decorative portion and at least one rail portion coupled to the decorative portion. The rail portions have end portions and define channels having heights and widths that permit other rail portions to be inserted and retained therein. Some of the rail portions may be cut to facilitate joining with other rail portions, and screw blocks, angle adapters, and end caps are provided to further facilitate the assembly of various trim modules to one another and to the building's exterior. Additionally, customizable trim modules permit the insertion and removal of various emblems, characters, symbols, or the like from the trim modules.
US07975442B1
Control of migration of cold manifestation, from exterior, in multiple glazed window or door systems
Apparatus to protect glazed window or door panels against cold manifestation effective migration via glazing panel edge defined gaps, there being spaced apart outer, intermediate and inner glazing panels, the apparatus comprising holder structure projecting longitudinally endwise radially inwardly in said gaps, the holder structure being laterally sidewardly elongated, first synthetic resinous material retained by the holder structure to face laterally in a gap toward opposed intermediate panel edges, the material adjustably located at a position relative to the opposed intermediate panel edges characterized in that cold manifestation migrating through the gap via said material is confined to migrate in the spacing between the outer and intermediate panels, at opposite sides of the gap.
US07975439B1
A storage building for the storage of corrosive materials. The storage building comprises a floor, a plurality of columns extending from the floor, a plurality of crossbeams with each beam connecting at least two of the columns, a plurality of substantially vertically oriented supports extending from the crossbeams, a plurality of rafters attached to the supports and at least one roof panel spanning between two of the rafters.
US07975424B1
One embodiment of a castable fish catching net device operable by one person for capturing aquatic animals from any body of water without the need for the operator to enter the water. Includes a purse type seine supported by a generally triangular frame which is heavier than the surrounding water thus providing a sinking force. A handle is attached to the apex of the triangular frame extending in towards the center of the frame. A casting and retrieval cord is attachable to the most center end of the handle. Buoyant means is provided to orient the fish catching net device in a substantially vertical attitude relative to the surface of the body of water as it descends into the water. The purse shaped net has membranes that generate a buoyant-force as the fish catching net device is dragged through the water thus providing the operator with the ability to control the depth of deployment by varying the speed of forward travel through the water.
US07975414B2
This relates to a label to be attached to a surface, the label comprising a transponder. The label comprises a non-adherent flap which contains the transponder. This also relates to a web comprising a backing web and labels, and to a system comprising a surface and a label.
US07975407B2
Non-highway vehicle plowing systems are described. The plowing system includes a mount assembly having a lower mount bracket, a plow mount bracket, an upper mount bracket, and an actuator bracket. The lower mount bracket is attached to the non-highway vehicle and the plow mount bracket is pivotably connected to the lower mounting bracket. The upper mount bracket is also secured to the non-highway vehicle and is constructed to engage the actuator bracket at a plurality of positions thereby allowing the plow mount assembly to be operable with a plurality of non-highway vehicles. The systems provide advantages in that the systems are not vehicle specific and are adaptable to different vehicle structures.
US07975401B2
A clothes dryer has a degree of dryness control system that is responsive to moisture level of clothing articles tumbling in a drum and a target moisture value to control the drying cycle of the clothes dryer. The clothes dryer has a load size parameter producing module and an air flow detection parameter module. These modules generate one of two parameter conditions used by the processor to modify or select an appropriate moisture target value. The load size producing parameter module generates one of a small load input parameter and a large load input parameter. The air flow detection module produces one of a first and second air flow parameter to be utilized by the degree of dryness processor. As a result, the processor selects one of four target moisture values from these conditions.
US07975398B2
This invention discloses systems and methods for conversion of high moisture waste materials to dry or low moisture products for recycle or reuse. The equipment systems comprise a gas turbine generator unit (preferred heat source), a dryer vessel and a processing unit, wherein the connection between the gas turbine and the dryer vessel directs substantially all the gas turbine exhaust into the dryer vessel and substantially precludes the introduction of air into the dryer vessel and wherein the processing unit forms the dried material from the dryer vessel into granules, pellets or other desired form for the final product. Optionally, the systems and methods further provide for processing ventilation air from manufacturing facilities to reduce emissions therefrom.
US07975386B1
An infant feeding system includes a spoon assembly with a scoop and a mount attached to and extending away from the mount. The mount has a distal end with respect to the scoop. An aperture extends into the distal end and into the scoop so that fluid flowing into the aperture is captured by the scoop. A tube has a nozzle thereon extendable in and fluidly couplable with the aperture. The tube has food therein so that food from the tube is ejected onto the scoop when the tube is squeezed.
US07975377B2
A wafer scale heat slug system is presented providing dicing an integrated circuit from a semiconductor wafer, forming a heat slug blank equivalent in size to the semiconductor wafer, dicing the heat slug blank to produce a heat slug equivalent in size to the integrated circuit, attaching the integrated circuit to a substrate, attaching the heat slug to the integrated circuit and encapsulating the integrated circuit.
US07975376B2
The invention aims to provide substrate treatment equipment that can automatically collect a substrate in a normal condition without needing manual operation. The equipment includes a substrate holder 26 for holding substrates 12 in a multistage manner and a substrate transfer unit 34 for transferring the substrates 12 into the substrate holder 26, wherein a substrate holding condition of the substrate holder 26 is sensed by a sensing section 60. The sensing section 60 has photo-sensors 64a, 64b, and sensing waveforms sensed by the photo-sensors 64a, 64b are compared with a normal waveform. A control section 66 is provided, which controls a substrate transfer unit 34 such that substrates 12 other than at least a substrate 12 that was determined to be abnormal are transferred by the unit.
US07975374B2
The press is used for assembling a section of a railing system. It comprises at least one set of tab-bending punch heads designed to bend end tabs provided on pickets. The tabs are inserted through a corresponding opening made in a rail of the section of the railing system before activating the press. Using this press, a plurality of pickets can be simultaneously connected to the rails.
US07975373B2
A device and method for the molding of plugs as part of a pipe connection wherein the pipe connection is constructed as a sealing plug-in connection with a connecting piece and a plug that can be locked with the connecting piece. A molding slot is placed in the material of the plug with an expanding tool acting in a radial direction and a sensor subject to the radial deformation is arranged in the expanding jaw. The sensor records the radial deformation work of the expanding jaw and regulates the expanding drive.
US07975371B2
The present invention carries out the vacuum deposition by setting a deposition angle between a single mask set including a shadow mask having a plurality of slits and a deposition source to form a lower terminal layer, a dielectric layer, an inner electrode layer, and an upper terminal layer at once under a vacuum state generated once, or adjusts slit patterns by relatively moving upper and lower mask sets that respectively include shadow masks having a plurality of slits and face each other to form a lower terminal layer, a dielectric layer, an inner electrode layer, and an upper terminal layer at once under a vacuum state generated once.
US07975367B2
A method of manufacturing a magnetic head that includes a reproducing head, a recording head, and an isolation film for magnetically isolating the reproducing head and the recording head from each other. The method includes the steps of: forming the reproducing head; forming the recording head; and forming the isolation film. The isolation film is formed by stacking a plurality of insulating films formed by chemical vapor deposition.
US07975365B2
A stepping motor includes a bracket, a housing having a first end coupled to the bracket and a second end having a reduced width compared with the first end, a stator disposed in the housing to form electric field, a first supporting unit formed on a first end of the bracket, a magnet fixed corresponding to the stator to provide the electric field, a second supporting unit supported on the second end of the housing, a rotor supported by the first and second supporting units, and a stopper fitted on an opened end of the second end of the housing to support the second supporting unit.
US07975360B2
A vehicle seat assembly is provided with a seat frame adapted to be mounted within a vehicle. The seat frame has a tubular upper cross member. A bracket member is mounted to the tubular upper cross member of the seat frame. The bracket member has a pair of fulcrum bushings integrally formed therein. The bracket member is attached to onto the tubular upper cross member by an interference fit. At least one support rod is sized to be received within each of the pair of fulcrum bushings. At least one head restraint post is sized to be received within the at least one support rod. An active head restraint is mounted to the at least one head restraint post.
US07975356B2
A machine for processing optical work pieces having a work piece spindle for the work piece driving rotationally about a work piece rotation axis. At least one processing unit has a tool that can machine the work piece and an adjusting mechanism causes a relative movement between the work piece spindle and tool to selectively enable loading, unloading and processing of the work piece. The adjusting mechanism has a linear drive unit and a swivel drive unit that are stacked on each other to rotate the swivel drive unit and the work piece spindle about a swivel axis that is perpendicular to the work piece rotation axis, and has the linear drive unit move the work piece spindle along a linear axis that can be perpendicular to one of the swivel axis and the work piece rotation axis and parallel to or aligned with the other axis.
US07975352B2
The Access Door Lever is a device which provides an easier way to open a door with a traditional doorknob. In one embodiment, the invention will fit over a traditional doorknob, snap in place with finger-like extensions, which will grip the doorknob. The extension is coated with a material which will provide a secure grip between the doorknob and extension. The design and location of the extension(s) allow for a snug fit with the doorknob. A handle which is connected to the extension(s) allow the invention to function as a lever on the doorknob.
US07975350B2
A monitor hinge device includes engagement projections 42, and engaging holes 43a, 43b, 44a, and 44b for enabling a monitor 3 to be opened and closed about a first rotation central axis X and for enabling the above-mentioned monitor 3 which has been rotated about the above-mentioned first rotation central axis X in an opening direction to be rotated about a second rotation central axis Y perpendicular to the above-mentioned first rotation central axis X, and for positioning the above-mentioned monitor 3 at a position at which the above-mentioned monitor 3 is rotated by a predetermined amount with respect to the above-mentioned first rotation central axis X and for positioning the above-mentioned monitor 3 which has been rotated about the above-mentioned second rotation central axis Y at a position at which the above-mentioned monitor 3 is rotated by a predetermined amount with respect to the above-mentioned first rotation central axis X.
US07975345B2
Interdental brush with an elongate brush body (12) which comprises an elastically compressible coupling member (19) for snapping-in in a receiving opening (18) of a brush handle (13); wherein the coupling member (19) comprises at least two expanding arms (27, 28) which are elastically movable towards each other; the coupling member (19), on its outer side, comprises a snap-in depression (26) in the region of the expanding arms (27, 28) for a positive-locking fit in the receiving opening (18) of the brush handle (13), the depression being delimited by shoulders (29) extending at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the brush body.
US07975342B2
A pig towing device is adapted for movement through a conduit having bends and open T intersections. The pig has a front leading cup and a rear trailing cup adapted to seal with the conduit for propelling the device through the conduit. The leading and trailing cups are spaced apart a predetermined distance to maintain the seal with the conduit as the pig towing device negotiates past the open T intersections. The pig towing device has a flexible body interconnecting the front leading cup and the rear trailing cup. The flexible body is urged normally into a straight position extending along a central axis thereof to maintain the front leading cup and the rear trailing cup spaced apart by the predetermined distance. The flexible body has predetermined limited flexibility permitting it to bend relative to the central axis as the pig towing device negotiates through the bends in the conduit.
US07975332B2
A bed includes an articulating deck affixed to a frame. The bed has at least a head end section and a foot end section. The head end section is pivotable relative to the frame. The bed also includes a head end barrier element 5′ laterally alongside the head end section and co-pivotable therewith. The bed also includes an auxiliary barrier element 5 longitudinally adjacent the head end barrier element. The auxiliary barrier element is nonrotational relative to the frame during movement of one or more of the head end and foot end sections.
US07975324B2
A dual flush volume pressurized flush device. A pressurized tank includes a tray for controllably retaining water during a flush event. The tray retains a certain volume of water when a reduced flush is activated, such that the entire volume of the tank is not flushed. In a full flush event, the activation causes substantially the entire volume of the tank to be flushed, including the volume of water inside the tray. A controllable water retention tray valve is positioned in the tray and provides a controllable release for the water in the tray.
US07975318B2
A head strap for helmets, particularly welders' helmets, is configured in three parts and can therefore be provided with a separate forehead band. The head strap offers the possibility of connecting the helmet with the head strap in resilient or fixed manner, and, in this connection, of displacing the helmet relative to the head strap and/or rotating it between defined positions. Additional convenient adjustment possibilities for the back-of-the-head band and the head band are also implemented.
US07979912B1
The present invention provides a method and system for verifying network credentials. To accomplish the invention, a network intermediary, located in a communication path between a client device and a content server, receives from the client device a request for content directed to the content server, wherein the request includes a device identifier and a password. The network intermediary responsively looks up a user identifier associated with the device identifier, modifies the request to include the user identifier, and then sends the modified request along to the content server. The content server receives the request and determines whether a combination of the device identifier and the user identifier exists within a dataset of known combinations. If it exists, the content server may validate the request by reference to the password. If not, the content server adds the combination to the dataset and requests a new password from the user.
US07979910B2
A data reproducing apparatus includes a receiver receiving the content and outputting the received content to an image display apparatus prepared in advance, and a transmitter transmitting the content to the receiver when authentication of the receiver is successful. Before transmitting the content, the transmitter transmits a request to start authentication to the receiver and executes an authentication process after a predetermined time. When the receiver cannot be authenticated, the transmission of the request to start authentication and the execution of the authentication process are repeated. Here, the predetermined time is variably set according to the number of times the request to start authentication is transmitted and the authentication is executed.
US07979907B2
A system and methods for detecting malicious executable attachments at an email processing application of a computer system using data mining techniques. The email processing application may be located at the server or at the client or host. The executable attachments are filtered from said email, and byte sequence features are extracted from the executable attachment. The executable attachments are classified by comparing the byte sequence feature of the executable attachment to a classification rule set derived from byte sequence features of a data set of known executables having a predetermined class in a set of classes, e.g., malicious or benign. The system is also able to classify executable attachments as borderline when the difference between the probability that the executable is malicious and the probability that the executable is benign are within a predetermined threshold. The system can notify the user when the number of borderline attachments exceeds the threshold in order to refine the classification rule set.
US07979904B2
A method, system and program product for maximizing virus check coverage, while minimizing redundancy in virus checking. The method includes evaluating, using an audit checking tool, whether or not a file in a working directory to be virus checked is a compressed file and, if the file is evaluated as being a compressed file, decompressing the compressed file evaluated using a decompression tool. Further, the method includes iterating the evaluating and decompressing steps to decompress any other files contained therein using the decompression tool and deleting a respective compressed file that is fully decompressed by the decompression tool without any errors from the working directory, while saving a respective compressed file that is not fully decompressed by the decompression tool. Furthermore, the method includes virus checking the working directory, such that, the virus checking does not virus check the respective compressed file that is deleted from the working directory.
US07979900B2
A method and system for logging into and providing access to multiple computer systems via the Internet or other communications network using a single authenticating process (e.g. username and password).
US07979896B2
A web service includes a protected resource. A requester requests access to the protected resource by sending a request to the web service. The web service prevents access to the web service until the request has been authorized by an authorizer. After the request has been authorized by the authorizer, the web service allows the requester to access the protected resource.
US07979889B2
A system provides security to a computerized device by detecting a sequence of related processing operations within the computerized device and recording the sequence of related processing operations in a security history. The system identifies a security violation when a processing operation performed in the computerized device produces an undesired processing outcome that violates a security policy and subsequently detecting attempted performance of at least one processing operation that attempts to produce the undesired processing outcome that violates the security policy and in response, denies operation of the processing operation(s) within the computerized device to avoid violation of the security policy.
US07979885B2
A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided for delivering television programming to a subscriber. In one aspect the method includes receiving one or more channels of program content, and encoding each channel a plurality of times, each time at a different rate producing multiple rate encoded signals for each channel. The method can further include transmitting the multiple rate encoded signals to a central office over a network, determining an available bandwidth of a downstream link to a subscriber and a current bit rate available for transmission to the subscriber. The method can further include selecting a best available bit rate from the multiple rate encoded signals for a requested channel and transmitting the selected rate encoded signal to the subscriber.
US07979874B2
A spindle motor and a mounting device for mounting a disk in a spindle motor are provided. The mounting device allows for a reduced number of parts, a reduction in product cost, a disk to be smoothly slid and securely mounted to a turntable, and prevents deforming of a disk during mounting. A center guide member is formed of a plastic material, into which the rotating shaft is inserted at an upper end of the turntable, so that it is capable of rising and descending thereon. The center guide member supports the disk. A back yoke is fixed at an upper side of the center guide member on the rotating shaft, to prevent disengaging of the center guide member from the rotating shaft. An outer portion of the center guide member gradually widens toward a lower end thereof, so that the disk can be inserted more securely.
US07979871B2
A disk apparatus for preventing a disk from being dropped while being inserted or removed therein, including a housing on which an opening through which a disk is inserted into and extracted from is formed; a carrying unit for performing carrying-in and carrying-out of the disk into the housing; first and second motors for driving the carrying means, and for rotating the disk; an optical unit for reading and recording information to/from the disk; and a control unit for controlling the entire apparatus; the carrying unit including a pair of arms disposed in a substantially symmetrical relationship with respect to the carrying direction of the disk in the proximity of the ends of the opening such that the arms pivot around end portions thereof adjacent to the opening in synchronism with each other in directions toward and away from each other.
US07979863B2
Methods and apparatuses for dynamic CPU resource management are provided. CPU related information is collected for one or more virtual machines. CPU shares and affinity of a virtual machine are dynamically changed, as needed, based on the CPU usage information for the virtual machine and based on a specified priority of the virtual machine.
US07979861B2
A multi-processor system with a plurality of unit processors includes: a request accepting section for accepting a first request and a second request, wherein the first request is a request to execute a program that can be executed in any of said unit processors and the second request is a request to execute a program that can be executed only in a specified unit processor among said unit processors; and a unit processor allocating section for allocating the first request and the second request accepted by said request accepting section to said unit processors according to priority of the first request and the second request.
US07979859B2
The present invention provides a method, system, and computer program product for managing automated resource provisioning management systems. In an embodiment, the method begins by receiving a plurality of provisioning operations from a resource provisioning management system. Each of these provisioning operations is linked to a specific job. A determination is then made as to which jobs are to be managed. The jobs are then grouped together and job dependencies are identified. The jobs are then scheduled for execution. At the appropriate time, the jobs are invoked. The jobs are audited as they are being performed.
US07979849B2
Automatic model-based testing is disclosed, including receiving a set of objects associated with a computer program application under test; automatically classifying the objects as state objects representing states of the application, or transition objects representing transitions in the application from one state to another state, or static information objects; linking the state objects with the transition objects to result in creating a model in memory of all states and transitions provided by the application; associating, in the model, one or more tests with one or more of the state objects; creating and storing, based on the states and transitions, a finite state machine that represents execution behavior of the application according to the model; and testing the application by (a) automatically navigating the finite state machine and (b) providing state and transition data from the finite state machine to a graphical user interface functional test application that executes the one or more tests upon reaching the states represented by the state objects.
US07979842B2
The present invention relates to a system and methodology providing an Application Programming Interface (API) and framework that supports a meta-object model for application design and operating system interactions. The API includes an input component that receives data and/or instructions. The input component processes a meta-data model that interrelates data via a class hierarchy, wherein the class hierarchy includes relationship descriptions between class objects, attributes, rules, and/or behavioral descriptions. Another aspect includes a data management system that includes a component to receive an item having meta-data annotations. An analysis component determines at runtime a structure for the item via deployment of the meta-data annotations. The system can also include a framework component that defines meta-data class derivations, meta-data classes, meta-data integrity rules, and/or meta-data class behavior.
US07979839B2
A method is described which permits a computer programmer to write a program with the assistance of the computer itself. The computer will provide instant feedback, following the procedures herein described, to the result of performing each instruction. Therefore, the programmer may instantaneously observe the working of the program as the computer will perform it. Thus any difference in the result produced by the computer from what the programmer expects to happen may be recognized and, if appropriate, corrected. In a higher order implementation of this method the computer will display icons to link the in-process programming to a working routine resident on a remote computer. Thus, the tools and benefits of so-called Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) can be made available to the programmer. Employing the method of this invention, the computer becomes an integral part of the creative process of writing a program.
US07979834B1
A computer-implemented method of predicting timing characteristics within a semiconductor device can include determining configuration information for the semiconductor device and determining a measure of timing degradation for data signals of the semiconductor device according to the configuration information. The measure of timing degradation for the data signals can be output.
US07979830B2
A method of designing a layout of a semiconductor integrated circuit having a hard macro includes acquiring a condition for permitting wirings with respect to a given region within the hard macro, and searching a passing wiring that passes through the given region among the wirings that are arranged on the semiconductor integrated circuit. The method further includes allowing a normal passing wiring that satisfies the condition to pass through the hard macro, and wiring a defaulting passing wiring that does not satisfy the condition so as to bypass the hard macro among the searched passing wirings.
US07979828B2
Various methods for determining a layout of an integrated circuit are described. For example, a method is described comprising determining a layout of an integrated circuit comprising a plurality of functional cells, wherein a maximum extent of each of the cells in a first direction is identical and wherein an outer boundary of a first cell of the plurality of cells forms a first polygon with at least five corner points; and storing data representing the layout on a computer-readable medium. Integrated circuits in accordance with the layout are also described.
US07979821B2
A method of verifying a semiconductor integrated circuit is provided. A controlling cell and a controlled cell controlled by a control signal output from the controlling cell are placed in an IO region of the semiconductor integrated circuit. The method includes: (A) providing a library that includes requirement information specifying the controlling cell required by the controlled cell; (B) obtaining a region information indicating a region within the IO region in which a signal interconnection through which the control signal is transmitted is provided; and (C) verifying whether or not the specified controlling cell is placed within the region, in a case where the controlled cell is placed within the region.
US07979817B2
A memory cell information producing unit obtains physical terminal coordinates, physical terminal names and logical terminal names of a memory cell and layout data, and operates based on them to specify parasitic elements parasitic on interconnections of the memory cell, and to produce memory cell information including the physical terminal names and representing physical properties and a connection relationship of inner elements of the memory cell and the parasitic elements. Memory cell array information producing unit obtains connection information determining the connection relationship of physical terminals of the memory cell, assigns node names to the physical terminals of the memory cell based on the connection information, and produces memory cell array information representing the node names of all the memory cells. A memory cell array net list producing unit produces a net list of the memory cell array formed of the memory cell information and the memory cell array information.
US07979815B2
A method and computer program product for modeling a semiconductor transistor device structure having an active device area, a gate structure, and including a conductive line feature connected to the gate structure and disposed above the active device area, the conductive line feature including a conductive landing pad feature disposed near an edge of the active device area in a circuit to be modeled. The method includes determining a distance between an edge defined by the landing pad feature to an edge of the active device area, and, from modeling a lithographic rounding effect of the landing pad feature, determining changes in width of the active device area as a function of the distance between an edge defined by the landing pad feature to an edge of the active device area. From these data, an effective change in active device area width (deltaW adder) is related to the determined distance.
US07979806B2
A method and user interface permits the display of objects in a portion of a display. The objects may initial be a first size, then shrink to a smaller size after a period of time. The objects may stack on top of each other. In addition, the objects may disappear all together after a further amount of time.
US07979802B1
Providing supplemental information for an individual referenced in an electronic message typically includes receiving an electronic message, examining the electronic message, detecting an identifier for a referenced individual contained in the electronic message, and making supplemental information for the referenced individual available to a recipient of the electronic message. The supplemental information may include information that is in addition to information contained in the electronic message. The supplemental information may include at least one of an e-mail address, a screen name, a telephone number, a facsimile number, and a mailing address, each of which is associated with the referenced individual.
US07979797B2
Directional haptic feedback for a haptic feedback interface device. A haptic feedback interface device, in communication with a host computer, includes a housing physically contacted by a user operating the interface device, and a plurality of actuators producing inertial forces when the actuators are driven by control signals. Each of the actuators includes a rotatable eccentric mass positioned offset on a rotating shaft of the actuator, where the actuators are rotated simultaneously such that centrifugal forces from the rotation of masses combine to output the inertial forces substantially only along a single axis having a desired direction approximately in a plane of rotation of the masses.
US07979789B2
A method of replacing a delegate component associated with a delegate modular software component (“associate delegate component”) at software execution time, the method comprising obtaining a delegate modular software component identifier; selecting one of a plurality of candidate modular software components having a higher priority level than other of the plurality of candidate modular software components, wherein the one of the plurality of candidate modular software components has the same identifier as the delegate modular software component identifier; and replacing the associate delegate component with the one of the plurality of candidate modular software components during the execution of software including the delegate modular software component.
US07979780B2
An error correction encoding apparatus wherein the apparatus structure is simple; an iterative decoding is used to achieve a decoding with a close-to-optimum precision; and a simple mathematical expression is used to perform an evaluation of the characteristic of an error floor area without using any computer experiments. In a polynomial multiplying block 1, (n−1)-th-order polynomial multiplying units (12-1 to 12-(m−1)) further divide an information bit string, which has been blocked for an error correction encoding, into (m−1) blocks having a length n and a single block having a length (n−r) (where m and n represent integers equal to or greater than two and where r represents an integer between 1 and n inclusive); receive blocks, which have the length n, of divided information bit strings; and output a series having the same length. An r-th-order polynomial dividing unit 2 receives an addition of the outputs from the respective (n−1)-th-order polynomial multiplying units (12-1 to 12-(m−1)) and also receives a block having the length (n−r), and outputs a redundant bit series having a length r.
US07979777B2
A decoder is configured to include an acquisition-unit configured to acquire first respective likelihoods of data-bits and second respective likelihoods of parity-bits. The data-bits and the parity-bits are included in code data obtained by LDPC-encoding the data-bits with a low density parity check matrix. The decoder also includes a detecting-unit configured to detect reliabilities of the first respective likelihoods and the second respective likelihoods. The decoder also includes a forming-unit configured to form an update schedule representing an order of updating the first and second respective likelihoods in order of increasing reliability, in accordance with the reliabilities. The decoder also includes an updating-unit configured to update the first and second respective likelihoods in the order represented by the update schedule, with the low density parity check matrix. The decoder also includes a discriminating-unit configured to execute hard decision of the likelihoods updated by the updating-unit. The decoder also includes a checking-unit configured to execute parity check of a discrimination result of the discriminating-unit, to obtain the code data.
US07979770B2
The present invention relates to a method for transmitting data packets from a mobile terminal to a base station using a hybrid automatic repeat request protocol and soft combining of received data. Further, the present invention provides a base station and a mobile terminal both adapted to perform the respective method steps. Moreover, a communication system is provided which comprises at least one base station and at least one mobile terminal. The present invention also provides a computer-readable medium for storing instructions that, when executed on a processor, cause the processor to transmit data packets from a mobile terminal to a base station using a hybrid automatic repeat request protocol and soft combining of received data. In order to restrict the interference caused by retransmissions, the present invention suggests controlling the amount of information in the retransmissions and thus the transmission power required for their transmission by TFCS restriction.
US07979769B2
A mobile terminal and a method of performing a random access procedure by the terminal is achieved by transmitting a random access preamble to a base station, receiving a random access response from the base station, and performing an uplink transmission using an uplink grant from the base station. The uplink transmission is performed by using a maximum number of HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest) transmissions parameter, which is included in a System Information Block (SIB) received from the base station.
US07979762B2
In an integrated circuit board, a plurality of integrated circuits to be checked are connected together in a star shape. Operation clock data for JTAG of each integrated circuit and check data for checking each integrated circuit are stored. When an integrated circuit to be checked is specified, operation clock data for JTAG and check data for the specified integrated circuit are determined. With an operation clock for JTAG according to the determined operation clock data for JTAG, the determined check data is input to the specified integrated circuit. Based on the check data and output data output from the integrated circuit to which this check data is input, the integrated circuit board determines a malfunction in the integrated circuit, and then stores the determination result in a storage device.
US07979757B2
A plurality of stacked memory device die and a logic circuit are connected to each other through a plurality of conductors. The stacked memory device die are arranged in a plurality of vaults. The logic circuit die serves as a memory interface device to a memory access device, such as a processor. The logic circuit die includes a plurality of link interfaces and downstream targets for transmitting received data to the vaults. The logic circuit die includes a packet builder and broadcaster configured to receive command, address and data signals over separate interfaces from a conventional tester, format the signals into a packet and broadcast the signals to a plurality of vaults.
US07979754B2
A method of testing a proximity communication system for voltage margin by impressing a voltage upon the data link between the transmitter on one chip and the receiver on the other chip coupled to the transmitter through a capacitively coupling circuit formed by juxtaposed capacitor pads on the respective two chips. The impressed voltage is varied and the output of the receiver is monitored to determine an operational voltage margin. The floating inputs on the receiver may be continuously biased by connecting them to variable biasing supply voltages through high impedances. When the floating inputs are periodically refreshed to a refresh voltage during a quiescent data period, the refresh voltage is varied between successive refresh cycles. The variable test voltage may be applied to transmitter output when it is in a high-impedance state, and the output of the receiver is measured.
US07979750B2
A method, apparatus, and computer program product are disclosed in a data processing system for synchronizing the triggering of multiple hardware trace facilities using an existing bus. The multiple hardware trace facilities include a first hardware trace facility and a second hardware trace facility. The data processing system includes a first processor that includes the first hardware trace facility and first processing units that are coupled together utilizing the system bus, and a second processor that includes the second hardware trace facility and second processing units that are coupled together utilizing the system bus. Information is transmitted among the first and second processing units utilizing the system bus when the processors are in a normal, non-tracing mode, where the information is formatted according to a standard system bus protocol. Trigger events are transmitted to the hardware trace facilities utilizing the same standard system bus, where the trigger events are also formatted according to the standard system bus protocol.
US07979740B2
A gaming machine includes a processor adapted to execute a program of a game; a biometric reader configured to capture first biometric data from the player, and a trusted cache. The trusted cache includes a nonvolatile memory that is configured to store the first biometric data; a context data save engine configured to save the context of the program to the nonvolatile memory and to associate the stored first biometric data with the saved context of the program upon the processor receiving a request from the player to suspend game play, and a context data recovery engine configured to recover the saved context from the nonvolatile memory and to cause continued execution of the program from the recovered saved context upon the biometric reader capturing second biometric data from the player that matches the stored first biometric data and receiving a request from the player to resume game play.
US07979727B2
An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for a power supply that is efficient in both high and low power conditions. An integrated power supply regulates current on a regulated bus to maintain a regulated bus voltage under varying load conditions. The integrated power supply includes a first power supply rated to provide full load power to the load and second power supply rated to provide power at levels below a minimum power threshold. The second power supply includes switching elements that have lower switching losses than switching elements of the first power supply. A sensing module measures power. A switching module starts up the second power supply and shuts down the first power supply if the measured power falls below the minimum power threshold, and starts up the first power supply and shuts down the second power supply if the measured power rises above the minimum power threshold.
US07979726B2
An information processing apparatus having a plurality of power modes having different power consumptions, includes: a storing part storing therein predetermined information; and a control part using the predetermined information from another server apparatus in which the predetermined information has been copied and stored, upon receiving a request for the predetermined information when the power mode of the storing part is a power saving mode.
US07979721B2
A pay-per-use computer, or other electronic device that uses local security, may use a security module or other circuit for monitoring and enforcement of a usage policy. To help prevent physical attacks on the security module, or the circuit board near the security module, a second circuit may be mounted over the security module to help prevent access to the security module. Both circuits may be mounted on a interposer and the interposer mounted to the circuit board, creating a stack including the first circuit, the interposer, the security module, and a main PC board. When the PC board includes dense signal traces under the security module a three dimensional envelope is created around the security module. When the first circuit is a high value circuit, such as a Northbridge, the risk/reward of attacking the security module is increased substantially and may deter all but the most determined hackers.
US07979718B2
An operator recognition device is provided that eliminates the registration of data such as HMM data having a characteristic amount for which error in recognition occurs easily when recognizing an operator, and thus reduces the possibility of errors in recognition, and has stable recognition performance. When registering HMM data that is used when performing recognition processing, a speaker recognition device 100 eliminates the registration of HMM data of a password having a characteristic amount of the spoken voice component that is similar to a characteristic amount that is indicated by HMM data that is already registered, and does not allow the registration of HMM data for which it is estimated that error in recognition will occur easily during the recognition process.
US07979712B2
A method, apparatus and system to ensure the security in the information exchange and to provide list matching with higher efficiency and practicality. In a particular embodiment, each of lists to be subject to list matching is represented as a polynomial having roots equivalent to the items of the list. Then, polynomials generated for the lists to be subject to list matching are added according to a distributed secret computation. A list containing an item equivalent to a root of a polynomial resulting from the addition is created and output as the list of a common item.
US07979711B2
The present invention relates to a method for proving the correctness of a query result produced by a data publisher while preserving the privacy of the query result. The method comprises delivering a public key of a public key/private key pair from a data owner to a client and delivering data and cryptographic metadata to at least one data publisher, wherein the metadata is associated both with the data and the public key of the public key/private key pair. The method further comprises receiving a query from the client, returning a query result and a verification object from the data publisher to the client in response to the query, and verifying the correctness of the query result, wherein the correctness of the query result is verified utilizing the verification object and the public key.
US07979709B2
An information processing apparatus is provided. The information processing apparatus includes content verification means for executing a verification processing of a recording content recorded on an information recording medium, and content play means for executing a content play processing on a condition that validity of the recording content is checked on the basis of the verification processing. The content verification means acquires from the information recording medium a content hash table having registered therein hash values generated on the basis of legal recording content data and executes a processing for verifying a presence or absence of an illegal recording content whose hash value is not registered in the content hash table.
US07979707B2
Techniques for secure generation of a seed for use in performing one or more cryptographic operations, utilizing a seed generation protocol carried out by a seed generation client (110c) and a seed generation server (110s). The seed generation server (110s) provides a first string to the seed generation client (110c). The seed generation client (110c) generates a second string, encrypts the second string utilizing a key (216), and sends the encrypted second string to the seed generation server (110s). The seed generation client (110c) generates the seed as a function of at least the first string and the second string. The seed generation server (110s) decrypts the encrypted second string (222) and independently generates the seed as a function of at least the first string and the second string.
US07979697B2
A system and method of encrypting digital content in a digital container and securely locking the encrypted content to a particular user and/or computer or other computing device is provided. The system uses a token-based authentication and authorization procedure and involves the use of an authentication/authorization server. This system provides a high level of encryption security equivalent to that provided by public key/asymmetric cryptography without the complexity and expense of the associated PKI infrastructure. The system enjoys the simplicity and ease of use of single key/symmetric cryptography without the risk inherent in passing unsecured hidden keys. The secured digital container when locked to a user or user's device may not open or permit access to the contents if the digital container is transferred to another user's device. The digital container provides a secure technique of distributing electronic content such as videos, text, data, photos, financial data, sales solicitations, or the like.
US07979694B2
A method for authenticating communication traffic includes intercepting a request directed over a network from a source address to open a connection to a target computer in accordance with a handshake procedure specified by a predetermined communication protocol. A reply to the request that deviates from the specified handshake procedure is sent to the source address. A response from the source address to the reply is analyzed in order to make an assessment of legitimacy of the source address. Upon determining, based on the assessment, that the source address is legitimate, the target computer is permitted to complete the handshake procedure so as to open the connection with the source address.
US07979693B2
A relay apparatus comprises a frame relay processing unit for relaying a frame, a plurality of ports for sending and receiving the frame to and from the outside, and a cryptographic processing module corresponding to each of the ports. Each cryptographic processing module is connected to the corresponding port and to the frame relay processing unit by means of general-purpose interfaces such as MII. The cryptographic processing module performs the encryption process and decryption process so that the frame relay processing unit can concentrate on the relay process and the relay speed is not subject to degradation. Also, the cryptographic processing module can generate a different cryptographic key for each frame without requiring dynamic exchange of key information.
US07979690B1
Method for booting from a backup, including loading an initialization application that identifies a storage with a backup; activating a handler of a BIOS interrupt module, for intercepting boot loader requests to the storage, and for redirecting them to the backup; creating a bitmap of the blocks in the backup and of a writable storage device to which new data will be written; initiating the BIOS to load and execute boot blocks from the backup; transferring control to a routine defined by a boot record in the boot blocks; activating an I/O filter for intercepting requests to the writable storage device; for write requests, the filter writes a corresponding block to the writable data storage, and marks this block in the bitmap; for read requests, the filter checks the bitmap if this data block was unchanged, and redirects the read request to the backup, otherwise, the filter redirects the read request to the writeable storage device.
US07979689B2
A remote inspection apparatus has an active display unit receiving image data in digital form and graphically rendering the image data on an active display. A communication medium connects devices to the active display unit, such as an imager head capturing the image data. A computer readable medium records one or more instances of software for operating the one or more devices. A computer processor located in the active display unit that operates a boot loader program to detects and sequentially interrogate the devices by different protocols in order to determine appropriate software to load and operate the devices.
US07979683B1
Graphics processing elements are capable of processing multiple contexts simultaneously, reducing the need to perform time consuming context switches compared with processing a single context at a time. Processing elements of a graphics processing pipeline may be configured to support all of the multiple contexts or only a portion of the multiple contexts. Each processing element may be allocated to process a particular context or a portion of the multiple contexts in order to simultaneously process more than one context. The allocation of processing elements to the multiple contexts may be determined dynamically in order to improve graphics processing throughput.
US07979666B2
A system and method for context-independent coding using frequency-based mapping schemes, sequence-based mapping schemes, memory trace-based mapping schemes, and/or transition statistics-based mapping schemes in order to reduce off-chip interconnect power consumption. State-of-the-art context-dependent, double-ended codes for processor-SDRAM off-chip interfaces require the transmitter and receiver (memory controller and SDRAM) to collaborate using the current and previously transmitted values to encode and decode data. In contrast, the memory controller can use a context-independent code to encode data stored in SDRAM and subsequently decode that data when it is retrieved, allowing the use of commodity memories. A single-ended, context-independent code is realized by assigning limited-weight codes using a frequency-based mapping technique. Experimental results show that such a code can reduce the power consumption of an uncoded off-chip interconnect by an average of 30% with less than a 0.1% degradation in performance.
US07979660B2
Methods, apparatus, and products are disclosed for paging memory contents between a plurality of compute nodes in a parallel computer that includes: identifying, by a master node, a memory allocation request for an application executing on the master node, the memory allocation request requesting additional computer memory for use by the application during execution; requesting, by the master node from a slave node, an available memory notification specifying to the master node the computer memory available for allocation on the slave node; allocating, by the master node, at least a portion of the computer memory available for allocation on the slave node in dependence upon the memory allocation request and the available memory notification; and transferring, by the master node, contents of a portion of the computer memory on the master node to the allocated portion of the computer memory on the slave node.
US07979658B2
Systems and/or methods that facilitate controlling access to memory regions in a memory component(s) are presented. A memory component can comprise an access management component that can facilitate controlling access to memory regions that can be respectively associated with authentication credentials. The access control component can facilitate access of a memory region when received authentication information matches authentication information contained in a security record associated with the memory region. The access management component can facilitate a wipe erase of a memory region(s) to facilitate secure removal of information from the memory region when predetermined criteria is satisfied. The access management component can facilitate locking a memory region when a maximum number of attempts to access a memory region are unsuccessful to facilitate security of the memory regions and/or data associated therewith, where a locked memory region remains locked until a reset is performed.
US07979652B1
A data replication system is implemented to replicate data among a plurality of replication nodes. Each node may be configured with durable storage (e.g., disk sub-system). The data replication system may receive write requests from one or more clients and send a replicate data write to the durable storage of each node. Once the data has been written to durable storage on a set of nodes, (regardless of whether the replicate data write has been completed to durable storage in each of the nodes not included in the set) the data replication system may send a write completion acknowledgement to the respective client for each write request. In some instances, the nodes within the set are configured to write data synchronously and the nodes not in the set are configured to write asynchronously. Performing both synchronous writes and asynchronous writes results in high performance and data durability.
US07979651B1
A method, system, and computer readable medium for asynchronously processing write operation on a volume having copy-on-write snapshots. In one embodiment, the method comprises the steps of: updating a normal mirror with write data associated with a write operation for the volume; asynchronously copying the write data from an asynchronous mirror to at least one copy-on-write snapshot; and, once the at least one copy-on-write snapshot is updated, updating the asynchronous mirror with the write data from the normal mirror.
US07979641B2
The embodiments of the invention provide a method, apparatus, etc. for a cache arrangement for improving RAID I/O operations. More specifically, a method begins by partitioning a data object into a plurality of data blocks and creating one or more parity data blocks from the data object. Next, the data blocks and the parity data blocks are stored within storage nodes. Following this, the method caches data blocks within a partitioned cache, wherein the partitioned cache includes a plurality of cache partitions. The cache partitions are located within the storage nodes, wherein each cache partition is smaller than the data object. Moreover, the caching within the partitioned cache only caches data blocks in parity storage nodes, wherein the parity storage nodes comprise a parity storage field. Thus, caching within the partitioned cache avoids caching data blocks within storage nodes lacking the parity storage field.
US07979627B2
A storage device includes: a binary flash memory that has a first storage area and a capacity of storing two values per cell; a multivalued flash memory that has a second storage area and a capacity of storing at least three values per cell; and a controller configured to arrange the first storage area ahead of the second storage area, logically combine the first storage area with the second storage area to form a single combined storage area, and perform data reading and data writing from and into the combined storage area. Data management information is stored in a head of the combined storage area according to a predetermined file system. The storage device of this arrangement has the advantages of both an SLC flash memory and an MLC flash memory.
US07979625B2
Systems and methods of addressing two or more banks of memory utilizing a single-bank serial peripheral interface and an at least three-byte address protocol are provided. In one embodiment, a serial peripheral interface comprises a serial processing component configured to address one of the memory banks using the three-byte addressing scheme, and to write data to or read data from the addressed bank, and a bank register pointer component coupled to the serial processing component, the pointer component comprising two or more bank register pointers associated with respective memory banks, and configured to select one of the memory banks based on the two or more bank register pointers, wherein the bank register pointer component selects one of the two or more memory banks, and the serial processing component writes data to or reads data from the selected bank of memory according to the three-byte addressing scheme.
US07979621B2
A transparent PCI-based multi-host switch. A switch is configured with multiple north facing ports to couple the switch to multiple hosts. The multi-host switch can be included in a variety of switch configurations, including configurations having one multi-host switch, configurations having multiple multi-host switches, and configurations including one or more multi-host switches and one or more single host switches. The switch is designed to include controls to accurately route a packet through the switch.
US07979620B2
A technique for monitoring computers connected to a hardware switch. The switch is used to selectively connect a single set of peripheral units to the central unit of a selected one of the computers. In the proposed solution, status information of each non-selected computer is transmitted from the corresponding central unit to the switch. For this purpose, it is preferably exploited a corresponding bi-directional input port—such as of the USE type. The switch routes the status information of the different non-selected computers to the central unit of the selected computer. The central unit of the selected computer aggregates the status information with its output information, and then transmits this aggregated information to the switch for its display on a monitor. For example, the output information is shown in a main area of the screen, while the status information is shown in a reserved strip on top of it.
US07979614B1
A disk controller for coupling a disk drive to a host includes an interface controller and a buffer memory. The interface controller is configured to interface the disk drive to the host using a NAND flash memory interface having a 14-line bus. The interface controller includes a flash controller configured to emulate data transfer protocols of the disk drive, including interpreting flash commands received from the host via the 14-line bus of the NAND flash memory interface, and generating control signals to control the disk drive. The control signals are generated based on the interpreted flash commands. The buffer memory is configured to store data received from the host and the disk drive.
US07979606B2
A method for storing data is disclosed. The method is used for storing data into a program memory used for storing program codes. The program memory is divided into a first buffer storage area and a second buffer storage area. By alternate accessing of the first buffer storage area and the second buffer storage area, instantly accessible data can be stored in the program memory, such that the conventional data memory can be replaced by the program memory of the present invention and the cost of the product can be reduced.
US07979592B1
A computer system includes a shared I/O device including functions providing access to device local memory space, and a plurality of roots coupled to the shared I/O device via a switch fabric. A first root assigns a first address in a first root memory space to a first function. A second root assigns a second address in a second root memory space to a second function. The switch fabric maps the first root memory space to a first portion of device local memory space and the second root memory space to a second portion of device local memory space. Subsequently, the switch receives a data transaction request from the first root targeted to the first address, translates the first address to a corresponding location in the first portion of the device local memory space based on the mapping, and routes the data transaction request to the I/O device.
US07979588B1
A data storage system having protocol controller for converting packets between PCIE format used by a storage processor and Rapid IO format used by a packet switching network. The controller includes a PCIE end point for transferring atomic operation (DSA) requests, a data pipe section having a plurality of data pipes for passing user data; and a message engine section for passing messages among the plurality of storage processors. An acceleration path controller passes a DSA buffer in the absence of congestion on the network. Packets fed to the PCIE end point include an address portion having code indicating an atomic operation. An encoder converts the code from a PCIE format into the same atomic operation in SRIO format. Each one of a plurality of CPUs is adapted to perform a second DSA request during execution of a first DSA request.
US07979581B2
An image processing apparatus to be coupled to a DNS server through a network includes a name registration requesting unit configured to transmit a registration request to the DNS server to request registration of a correspondence between a host name and address information of the image processing apparatus, and an alias registration requesting unit configured to transmit a registration request to the DNS server to request registration of a correspondence between a uniquely defined alias and the address information of the image processing apparatus.
US07979576B2
A method for interconnecting a user's location to a destination location on a network. The unique information is received at the user's location, which unique information has no associated routing information embedded therein. Network routing information is associated with the received unique information in response to receipt thereof. The user's location is then interconnected to the destination location across the network in accordance with the routing associated therewith in the step of associating.
US07979574B2
A system and method for routing communications among real and virtual communication devices are disclosed. The system includes one or more processors configured to generate a virtual world. The one or more processors may be configured to generate a virtual communication device and implement a configurable router adapted to facilitate routing of a communication among one or more real communication devices and the virtual communication device. A user of the virtual world may be associated with a virtual communication device and one or more real communication devices. A routing preference for reception of communications targeted to the user is implemented among the virtual communication device and the one or more real communication devices.
US07979573B2
Smart routing between peers in a point-to-point link based system begins when a device of a plurality of devices in a point-to-point link interconnected system receives a packet from an upstream link or a downstream link. The processing continues when the device interprets the packet to determine a destination of the packet. If the device is the destination of the packet, the device accepts the packet. If, however, the device is not the destination of the packet, the device forwards the packet on another upstream link or another downstream link without alteration of at least one of: source information of the packet and destination information of the packet.
US07979569B2
In a system and method for processing messages, from one or more applications, in a gateway, an application payload is obtained from an application. A raw message is created from the obtained application payload, the raw message including a raw message header and a payload, the raw message header including a message type block, the payload including content of the application payload. A gateway message is created from the raw message in accordance with the message type provided in the message type block, the gateway message including a gateway message header and the payload, the gateway message header including a unique message identifier block, a target block identifying where the gateway message is going, and a history block providing a log of what has happened to the gateway message. Each block includes one or more values.
US07979559B2
A service platform in a communications network connects callers to a service resource platform when implementing services requiring specialized resources. A number of different services use a common service resource platform. The service platform is programmed with respective maximum values for the number of calls originating from each service that may be connected to the service resource platform at one time and allows the call to be connected to the service resource platform only when the count value for the respective service is less than the maximum count value. The service resource platform may have a single network address and a common range of ports that are freely allocated to calls generated by the different services running on the service platform.
US07979557B2
Mechanisms are provided to accelerate Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) setup messages. A client transmits an RTSP request to a server. The server responds to the request and preemptively responds with acknowledgements for messages not yet received. For example, a server responds to an RTSP describe message with an RTSP describe acknowledgement, an RTSP setup acknowledgement, and an RTSP play response before setup and play messages are received by the server or even transmitted by the client. The client processes the anticipatory responses and transmits setup and play responses when the anticipatory responses are processed.
US07979555B2
A system and method for capture and resumption of network application sessions in a network system. A transaction may be detected between a client and server that includes application session state information. The session state information may relate to a session between the client and the server. The Application session state information may be recorded in response to the detection of the transaction, and the application session state information may not be deleted according to session information expiration policies (e.g., of the client). User input may be received which requests to review the captured network application session. Correspondingly, a network request comprising captured credentials of the captured session may be generated and forwarded to the server. The network request may be usable to enable resumption of the captured network application session.
US07979554B2
An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for enabling a conversational transaction in a service oriented architecture. The apparatus, system and method include receiving at an IMS Connect a first conversational transaction (“CT”) request comprising a conversation option flag from a Java client over a TCP/IP connection to a first socket of the IMS Connect and transmitting the first CT request to an IMS. The apparatus, system, and method include receiving from the IMS a first response to the first CT request and a conversational transaction identifier (“CTID”), and returning the first response along with the CTID to the Java client in response to the conversation option flag being set. The first response and CTID are transmitted using TCP/IP. The response is a portion of the conversational transaction and the CTID is configured to identify to the IMS subsequent CT requests from the Java client as part of the CT.
US07979547B2
The invention provides a method of splitting bandwidth among a plurality of network transactions. First, a communication requesting a priority for a network transaction is displayed. Second, an input indicating the priority of the bandwidth is received.
US07979546B2
Database management systems, methods, and program products that exploit time dependent sequential database management system processes to ensure presentation of the same data or view to one or a plurality of users through sequencing asynchronous database management operations such as recovery and replication. Sequencing is accomplished through the use of entries in sequential logs, including transaction logs, recovery logs, and other data recovery tools and applications. Uses include managing data migration and data replication.
US07979541B2
A mechanism and model are provided for representing and managing composite resource models. When a resource monitor is deployed for a resource, the resource monitor scans for information that indicates that the resource under monitoring is part of a cluster, grid, or other composite configuration. The resource monitor then determines whether monitoring information for the resource should be reported differently because of the composite configuration. If monitoring information for the resource is to be reported differently, the resource monitor alters the reporting format to reflect the composite resource model. The resource manager may then receive the monitoring information and apply this information to individual resources and aggregates the monitoring information for composite resources.
US07979537B2
A system and method for scalable status change detection in a network of nodes includes embedding node coordinate positions into a virtual map environment. A cluster of nodes are represented with a representative node to form a hierarchy of nodes and clusters where changes in a status of the representative node imply a status change in the nodes of the cluster. By selectively monitoring the representative nodes for the changes in status, the representative nodes create a capability for scalable monitoring of the network.
US07979528B2
A tunneling system and method is described for traversing firewalls, NATs, and proxies. Upon a request from a device on the secure private network or on a public network such as the Internet, a connection to a designated or permitted device of the secure private network by way of the public network can be established, allowing selected devices of the private network to access devices on the public network. A bi-directional channel can be established where information such as rich multimedia and real-time voice and video can be accessed or communicated.
US07979525B2
A computer implemented method, an apparatus, and a computer usable program product are provided for configuring and modeling server connection and deployment information in an enterprise tooling environment. A software model is provided that comprises a connections object, which includes a plurality of connection objects and deploy spec objects. Each of the connection objects is specific to a backend server type. A deploy controller is provided at run time to examine the connections object for a connection object. A backend resource manager is loaded for a specific application server. If a connection object is present, the backend resource manager loads a connection interpreter, which transforms development time connection information in the connection object to the run time connection information in corresponding deploy spec object and connection factory spec object. The backend resource manager then writes the deployment information to the configurations files of the application server.
US07979514B2
A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a system having a controller to compile a list of potential target users for a provisioning of an internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) application existing on a source subscriber user device, filter the list of potential target users based on target subscriber subscription information, target subscriber device capability, and target subscriber identity module (SIM) capability to form a target list, and provision devices on the target list with the application after filtering. Other embodiments are disclosed.
US07979513B2
Method and system for determining a management complexity factor for an environment, such as an information technology (IT) environment, is disclosed. A management complexity factor represents the needless complexity, inefficiencies and waste in an environment. An IT environment includes different platforms, systems, and components that have an effect on changes and upgrades within the environment. The impact of the changes or upgrades is reduced if the environment has increased coordination, few single points of failure, high information availability, a high level of automation and the like. The management complexity factor is determined by evaluating several metrics according to objective criteria and weighing the metrics according to their importance. Using the management complexity factor, strategies and targets are identified to lower the complexity and inefficiencies within the environment.
US07979510B2
Embodiments relate to a method, system, and storage medium for providing automated execution of pre-defined events over a network. The method includes receiving a profile for a requestor of an event to be executed. The profile includes one or more of a personal identifier, a communications address of the requester, and an event recipient identifier for identifying an individual or entity that is the object of the event. The method further includes receiving events defined for execution at a future time, which includes receiving a unique command for identifying the predefined event, and receiving an identifier for a target entity to which a request for event execution will be sent. The method also includes receiving a request to execute at least one of the events and executing the at least one of the events on behalf of the requestor.
US07979508B1
In a client-server environment, a method and system are disclosed for granting transparency to the compulsory gateway of an IP network versus client applications run by the end-users connected on the IP network. When client applications have to access, on request of the end-users, server applications beyond the compulsory gateway this latter acts on behalf of them to access the requested remote resources eventually, relaying data between client and server applications. This is achieved without requiring any personalization on client end thus, guarantees that since gateway is becoming transparent to client applications all improvements and modifications brought to the IP network actually fully benefit to all end-users.
US07979498B2
The present invention provides a method and devices for unified messaging. One method provides for receiving a message having a first identifier associated with a user, translating the first identifier associated with the user to a second identifier comprising a zip code and a street address, the second identifier being associated with a network address, and sending the message to the user at the network address. A line interface device of the present invention is associated with an address that comprises a zip code.
US07979491B2
Input data is divided into multiple segments that are processed by processing elements of a computer. The processing of the segments produces a plurality of tentative sets of chunks. The plurality of tentative sets of chunks are stitched together to produce an output set of chunks.
US07979486B2
Methods and apparatus to determine a remainder value are disclosed. A disclosed example method involves, during a compilation phase, causing a processor to multiply a dividend value by a first value to generate a second value associated with a product. The first value is associated with a scaled approximate reciprocal of a divisor value, and the scaled approximate reciprocal of the divisor value is determined using a compound exponent value. During a runtime phase, the processor is caused to multiply a third value from the second value. The third value is generated using at least a subset bitfield of the second value. During the runtime phase, the processor is caused to determine a remainder value based on the third value. The processor is caused to store the remainder value in a memory.
US07979479B2
A method, system, and computer program product for transaction-controlled graph processing and management are provided. The method includes notifying an external component of a database management system (DBMS) controlled transaction including multiple operations, and acquiring a DBMS transaction identifier associated with the transaction at the external component. The method further includes storing the DBMS transaction identifier as an external component transaction identifier, and receiving notification at the external component of events associated with the operations. The method additionally includes monitoring the events for an end-of-transaction operation, and passing notification of the end-of-transaction operation to an external routine.
US07979472B2
Conditionally branching a validation allows branch-specific child validations to execute based on the values of data in a specific record. This allows for example a conditional branch to call another validation to validate records having particular category field values, family values and/or audience level/name/values. Embodiments comprise an interface that assists users through the use of automatic tokenizing and/or pick lists of field names and fields values, including a measurement builder for entering legal tokenized measurement values with applicable units of measure. Embodiments of the invention allow knowledgeable users to rapidly create expressions to ensure that the legal syntax and semantics of an expression are not violated while providing the user with pick lists and measurement values within legal ranges and with applicable units of measure. Validations rules are generated and performed on desired records in a computer system database without requiring programs, scripts or queries to be written.
US07979466B2
Systems and methods of the present invention allow a file owner to upload and store a file to a File Storage Area. Through a series of communications, a file owner may provide an intended file recipient access to the file without a request by a file requester. The file owner may grant permissions to access the file and notify the intended file recipient of the results.
US07979465B2
A data protection method for accepting an access request for a file stored in a file system of a storage device and referring or updating to the file based on the access request, including the steps of: determining whether a current time is within a preset monitoring period; obtaining a snapshot of the file system when the time reaches the monitoring period; and updating the file system with the snapshot when the time reaches end of the monitoring period.
US07979464B2
A method and software to implement a method comprising receiving digital content such as multimedia content, and either ascertaining whether at least a part of the digital content has previously been associated with one or more matched referenced works or searching a store of fingerprint data of referenced works for a match. The searching includes determining a fingerprint of at least part of the digital content, e.g., multimedia content; and searching the store of fingerprint data of referenced works for a match. In the case that is has been ascertained that the work has previously been associated, or the searching has produced a match to one or more matched referenced works, associating association data to the one or more matched referenced works. Ownership data to the matched referenced works is included in the association such that use of the digital content can take into account such ownership rights. The associating of the association data is carried out in a secure manner.
US07979451B2
A data manipulation method and system. The method includes receiving and storing by a computing system, configuration data and a first list comprising first group of data objects. The computing system generates a second list associated with the first list. The second list comprises a second group of data objects associated with the first group of data objects. The computing system compares the first group to the second group to determine if any attribute values associated with the first group are equal to any associated attribute values associated with the second group. The computing system generates a third list based on the comparing and the configuration data. The third list comprises a third group of data objects associated with the first group and of data objects. The computing system stores the third list.
US07979448B2
Access to data in a file created by a mail and calendaring client application is provided to other applications without the need for use of the mail and calendaring client. A request is received from the other application for a document in the file. The document is retrieved in XML form. Sections are expanded by creating URLs and inserting these into the retrieved document. Content of sections is then retrieved in HTML form from the file and inserted into the document at the location of the corresponding URLs. Data for attachments, image tags and other links is obtained and inserted into the document. An object is created containing the entire expanded document and sent to the requesting application.
US07979447B2
The present embodiments provide methods, apparatuses, and systems for use in identifying one or more sources of content by receiving a request to supply a listing of registered content providers; identifying a first registered content identifier (ID); evaluating a first metadata directly associated with the first registered content ID, and identifying multiple registered content providers; identifying, for each identified content providers, a cost to access the first content, and a link to access the corresponding content provider; generating a listing of content providers comprising a list of each of the identified content providers and their corresponding costs and links; and communicating over the distributed network the listing of content providers.
US07979427B2
A method and a system for maintaining the freshness of a search engine server's database. A popularity parameter is defined, and a popularity value is assigned to each link in the search engine's database. The most popular links are selected for updating the contents stored, or associated with, the site to which the links refer. In one embodiment, popularity is based at least in part on the search results generated by the search engine in response to user queries.
US07979426B2
Data relating to usage patterns of the user are stored. The data includes a context portion having information as to the context in which items were used and an interest rating portion indicative of an interest of the user in one or more objects of interest. The data is clustered into clusters of data points. For each of the clusters, a centroid is determined. The centroid includes a context portion and an interest rating portion. A current context of the user is received. Clusters are selected by comparing a data point representing the current context with the context portion of one or more centroids. Based on the selected clusters, an interest rating is computed. The computed interest rating indicates an interest of the user in one of the one or more objects of interest, given the current context.
US07979424B2
A graphical query interface provides visual feedback to a user during the construction of a query. In a first embodiment, the visual feedback helps the user determine the quality of the query as the query is being built. The relationship of columns in the database is graphically displayed to a user. When the user selects a column in the database, a filtered display mechanism displays only those columns or records that satisfy the portion of the query already constructed. In a second embodiment, the visual feedback eliminates some possible selections in the query tree due to previously-made selections that eliminate the eliminated selections as possibilities. In the second embodiment, the visual feedback mechanism may function according to data values in columns, and may also function according to known relationships between columns themselves.
US07979423B2
Provided are techniques for processing a query. A query is received, wherein the query is formed by one or more paths, and wherein each path includes one or more steps. A hierarchical document including one or more document nodes is received. While processing the query and traversing the hierarchical document, one or more extraction entries are constructed, wherein each extraction entry includes a step instance match candidate identifying a document node and a step instance ancestor path for the document node, and one or more tuples are constructed using the one or more extraction entries by associating the step instance match candidate from one of the one or more extraction entries with the step instance match candidate from at least one of the one or more other extraction entries.
US07979409B2
A method, an apparatus, a system, and a computer program product are presented for determining whether a file system, which contains a file system resource that is to be the target of a file system operation, is currently mounted by a data processing system. A first kernel-level process obtains unique identifying information for a file system that contains the target file system resource, and a second kernel-level process manages a data structure having an entry for each file system that the kernel of the data processing system recognizes as being currently mounted. The data structure is searched by the first kernel-level process for an entry having information that matches the unique identifying information such that the first kernel-level process determines that the file system is mounted in response to finding an entry having information that matches the unique identifying information.
US07979397B2
A method for keeping track, in an electronic data processing system, of when references made to an element that is stored in memory have all been removed, the method being designed to deal with failures in a manner that does not falsely conclude there are no references.
US07979395B1
A storage system, such as a file server, creates persistent consistency point images (PCPI) or “snapshots” that are point-in-time representations of the storage system. The storage system uses persistent consistency point images to backup or mirror data. Using data already found in the data block maps associated with these PCPI, the amount of space used by a set of these consistency points can be determined.
US07979394B2
A technique for managing storage of a data object in a storage device involves receiving the data object (A) to store in the storage device, where the data object has an indicator bit pattern (P). Successive compression data transformations are applied to data object A to obtain respective corresponding compressed data objects, and one of these compressed data objects is selected, such that the selected compressed data object (C) has the shortest length with respect to the remaining compressed data objects. Compression information (I) is then associated with the compression data transformation used to generate data object C, and a threshold value T is calculated at least partly from the length of compression information I. If length (C)+T≧length (A), then the indicator bit pattern of data object A is reset and the data object A is written to the storage device. If length (C)+T
US07979393B2
Systems and methods that supply changes on-the-fly and without breaking execution of codes for schema changes in a peer-to-peer environment. The modification component supplies changes to peers or nodes in a topology by initially identifying dependencies (e.g., multiple level) that can be affected by the schema change, followed by performing the schema change to the codes or stored procedures. Accordingly, dependencies in an entire system can be refreshed, wherein multiple levels of dependencies can exist.
US07979387B2
The present invention provides systems and methods to realize the potential benefit of portable storage devices by taking advantage of standard PCs including an optical disk drive capable of reading an optical disk, such as a CD or a DVD, cost effective optical disks, and the Internet.In a preferred embodiment, an individual patient provides personal data to a healthcare service center. The healthcare service center then creates a portable optical disk for the patient to carry, if he/she so desires. The personal data that is written onto the portable optical disk is stored on a database management server database and is readable and updateable by the individual patient using his/her PC with an optical disk drive and connected to the Internet. The individual patient can choose to update his/her personal data on the portable optical disk and can receive a new portable optical disk that includes the update. The new portable optical disk containing the latest update is created and delivered to the patient by the database management server.
US07979384B2
A method for processing queries is provided. A database server receives and executes a query to generate a relation. The query comprises first one or more clauses and a model clause. The model clause comprises a rule that has a left-side expression and a right-side expression. In one embodiment, the right-side expression of the rule includes a window function, which specifies one or more partition columns. In an embodiment, the left-side expression comprises a for-loop predicate. The for-loop predicate is unfolded after the database server compiles the query. In one embodiment, the left-side expression of the rule comprises one or more existential predicates, where each existential predicate evaluates to a Boolean value.
US07979383B2
A method and database for generating a report of findings of at least one abnormality evident in a medical image, the medical image including at least a portion of at least one structure of the body, the method includes retrieving a figure of the at least one structure. The retrieved figure is amended to reflect an abnormality. The abnormality is sized with respect to the figure of the at least one structure. The abnormality is placed at a location on the figure of the at least one structure according to an orientation of that abnormality in the medical image to generate an amended figure representative of the medical image for inclusion in the report.
US07979379B2
Monitoring a service oriented architecture (SOA) comprising a plurality of components. The method may include providing at least one monitoring unit for at least one of the plurality of components. The method may further include providing data concerning an operation of the at least one component as input data to the at least one monitoring unit. Finally, the method may include applying fuzzy logic in the monitoring unit to analyze the input data for generating at least one output value. The at least one output value may then be provided.
US07979374B2
The product demonstration system of the present invention is used to familiarize a person with a product. The product demonstration system includes an audio/visual component that is capable of delivering a recording, an adjustable support that is capable of supporting the person, and a control. The control is operably connected to the adjustable support and the audio/visual component to move the adjustable support and deliver the recording in a coordinated manner to highlight the product.
US07979373B2
A system for analyzing the risks of adverse effect resulting from the use of a drug comprises a selector for identifying at least one drug, a profiler for selecting from multiple profiles related to the safety of the drug, using at least one filter; at least one data mining engine; and an output device for displaying the analytic results from the data mining engine. Preferably, the at least one data mining engine is selected from (1) a proportional analysis engine to assess deviations in a set of reactions to the drug; (2) a comparator to measure the reactions to the drug against a user-defined backdrop, and (3) a correlator to look for correlated signal characteristics in drug/reaction/demographic information; and an output device whereby a user can receive analytic.
US07979372B2
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for simultaneously processing different sources of test data into informational data and then processing different categories of informational data into knowledge-based data. The knowledge-based data can then be communicated between nodes in a system of multiple computers according to rules for a type of complex, hierarchical computer system modeled on a human brain.
