US09061832B2

Bandoliers of pouches or separate pouches are carried by suction cups on a transfer wheel and operated to hold and release pouches through solenoid valves, each coupled to a respective cup. The solenoid valves are operated by a controller to release pouches from the respective cups at precise angular positions of the wheel to control the configuration of the bandolier in a package or tray. Embodiments provide lateral shifting or rotation of pouches held by the cups. Fold-leading or fold-trailing bandolier configurations are produced. Solenoid valves are disposed proximate cups at the wheel periphery or elsewhere and operably coupled to the cups.
US09061831B1

Apparatus for aligning a conveyor belt by engaging the conveyor belt upon misalignment of the conveyor belt during conveying operations.
US09061810B2

A carrier for holding a plurality of containers. The carrier comprises a plurality of panels that extend at least partially around an interior of the carrier. The plurality of panels comprises at least one bottom panel, a front panel, a back panel, and at least two side panels. The interior of the carrier is divided into a front portion and a back portion. The carrier comprises a reinforced handle comprising a handle panel, a handle reinforcement panel at least partially overlapping the handle panel, and a handle reinforcement flap at least partially in face-to-face contact with the handle reinforcement panel.
US09061799B2

A box grip is provided that includes a grip shell with an interior. The box grip may include a grip ring with a first hand grip arranged in an interior. The grip ring includes a second hand grip and a third hand grip that extend from an upper edge portion of the interior of the grip shell into the interior. This offers the possibility that a user can grip behind the hand grip and also behind the hand grips because the corresponding sections of the grip ring extend into the interior, so that underneath the hand grips one obtains a free space into which a user can grip with his/her fingers.
US09061796B2

A container for condiments includes a container portion having generally planar bottom, a generally parallel flange, a discharge spout, and a sidewall extending between the bottom and the flange. A generally planar cover portion is secured to the flange by an adhesive such that there exists a non-bonded region between the cover and the flange. At least one section of the flange in the non-bonded region is bent downwardly away from the cover portion to form therebetween a finger-access gap. The sidewall includes a front portion disposed below the spout and extending downwardly with respect thereto. The sidewall front portion is configured to prevent the spout from becoming displaced upwardly in response to the sidewall front portion being contacted by the rear portion of another container in a package of the containers.
US09061795B2

A container having a curved bottom and base cup which allows the container to stand upright. The container and base cup are fitted together by a mechanical engagement having portions on the container and base cup. The mechanical engagement of the container is disposed within the bottom cone of the container. The mechanical engagement of the base cup is cantilevered from the bottom of the base cup. Such disposition reduces stress at the interface between the side wall of the container and edge of the base, providing for a smoother transition and better appearance. Also, this disposition provides resistance to separation of the container and base cup during drop impact. The bottom of the container may be curved and have a well therein for receiving the contents of the container and a dip tube.
US09061792B2

A blank of sheet material for forming a polygonal container is provided. The blank includes a bottom panel, two opposing side panels each extending from a side edge of the bottom panel, two opposing end panels each extending from an end edge of the bottom panel, and a reinforcing panel assembly extending from a first side edge of a first side panel of the two side panels. The reinforcing panel assembly includes a corner panel extending from the first side edge of the first side panel, a first reinforcing end panel extending from a side edge of the corner panel, a second reinforcing end panel extending from a side edge of the first reinforcing end panel, an inner reinforcing corner panel extending from a side edge of the second reinforcing end panel, and an inner side panel extending from a side edge of the inner reinforcing corner panel.
US09061790B2

A packing member for articles which can covey a particular individual message to a recipient of articles and allows the recipient to keep the particular individual message as a remembrance is provided.A message board MB straddles two outer flaps 1B, 1B which constitutes the top surface of a cardboard box 1. The message board MB is partitioned by a perforated line 1C, 1C so that the message board MB can be cut out from the two outer flaps 1B, 1B. A handwritten particular individual message addressed to a recipient from a sender of articles is copied to the message board MB. When the cardboard box 1 is delivered to a recipient, the hearty particular individual message from the sender is conveyed to the recipient. The recipient can keep the message board MB with the handwritten particular individual message as a remembrance by cutting out the message board MB along the perforated line 1C, 1C.
US09061789B2

Storage and shipping box comprising first closing flaps (1) of the exterior of the box, said first flaps (1) extending from a pair of opposing sides of the upper face of the box, being said first flaps susceptible to be sealed, stapled or glued in order to carry out one or several shipments and is characterized in that it also comprises second closing flaps (2) of the exterior of the box, said second flaps (2) extending from the other opposing sides of the upper face of the box, including said second flaps a closing element (3, 4) to open and close the box as many times as needed, said second closing flaps (2) being susceptible to be used for the storage of products or for preparing orders before or after carrying out a shipment.
US09061786B2

A container formed from a blank sheet of material. The container includes a plurality of panels that are coupled together along substantially parallel fold lines and that include a first major panel and a second major panel. The plurality of panels form a plurality of sides of the container and define a cavity with a bottom and a top. An outer bottom flap is coupled to the first major panel and has a plurality of edges, and an inner bottom flap is coupled to the second major panel. The container also includes a plurality of flanges where each flange is coupled to one edge of the outer bottom flap. When the container is assembled, the inner bottom flap is positioned adjacent to the cavity bottom and the outer bottom flap is positioned adjacent to the inner bottom flap in a face-to-face relationship forming a bottom of the container. Each flange is folded and coupled to an outer surface of one side of the container.
US09061779B2

A sealing head for a strapping machine welds steel strapping material to itself in an end-to-end weld. The sealing head includes a body, a drive, an end grip at the inlet to the body, a cutter, a grip clamp and a loop grip downstream of the end grip. The loop grip is carried on a carriage that is movable in a direction along the strap path. A leading end of strap is secured by the end grip and a loop portion of the strap is gripped by the loop grip and severed by the cutter to form a loop end. The loop end is secured by the grip clamp. The loop grip carriage moves the loop end toward the leading end as current is passed though the loop end and the leading end to weld the ends to one another in an end-to-end weld.
US09061777B2

A trolley for moving heavy objects such as wire coils from a machine to a container at a packaging table is provided. The trolley includes spring-loaded spaced arms movably mounted for vertical height adjustment so that the arms are just below the coil when it is on the machine and rotational movement to separate the spaced arms with the spaced arms retaining the heavy object during movement of the trolley apparatus, and locking arms engaging the spaced arms during movement of the trolley apparatus to prevent separation thereof. The spring-loaded arms permit the heavy object to be manually pushed downward therebetween, thereby forcing the arms apart enabling the object to fall from the trolley into a container on a packaging table. The table includes a platform for supporting the container, a motor for raising/lowering the platform, and a mechanism for retaining the container and aiding its alignment with the coil.
US09061774B2

An adapter circuit for connecting a switching circuit of an airport visual aid is equipped with an LED as a light source and a secondary-side coil (secondary side) of a supply transformer, wherein at least one switch element is provided for selectively making or breaking the connection and wherein at least one trigger circuit is provided for actuating the switch element when a specified voltage level is exceeded, wherein the switch element is provided between the trigger circuit and the secondary side of the supply transformer and/or the trigger circuit is connected to the switch contact and to the switching circuit of the LED airport visual aid.
US09061770B2

Systems and methods for verifying that the flight crew has not made an error in entering takeoff flight performance data into the flight management system (FMS) using the electronic flight bag (EFB). The EFB includes a user interface that receives basic flight plan information and a processor. The processor automatically receives calculated takeoff performance data based on a previously entered basic flight plan, automatically receives user-entered takeoff performance data from a flight management system (FMS) located on a host aircraft, automatically compares the calculated takeoff performance data to the received takeoff performance data, and generates an entry error indication, if the comparison indicates that at least a portion of the entered takeoff performance data does not match the calculated takeoff performance data. An output device outputs the generated entry error indication.
US09061767B2

The present invention refers to a device to reduce the vibrations that are produced in the chairs of helicopter pilots due to the movement of the blades of such aircraft. Such device is based on a low weight and cost pneumatic system, that counteracts the vibrations suffered by the pilot, as it neutralizes the movement of the chair's structure making the vibration to be absorbed by a pneumatic ball and is not transmitted to the pilots body. Additionally, the device counts with a support structure coupled to a security mechanism and anchorage, which rests over the pneumatic bellows and vertically displaces over the security mechanism guides damping and isolating the vibrations produced by the aircraft's rotors.
US09061762B2

A vertical takeoff and landing craft that utilizes lifting, propulsion and maneuvering (LPM) assemblies comprising a series of blade foils arranged along track elongated loop paths disposed at the sides of a fuselage. These LPM assemblies are provided with control mechanisms enabling lift, attitude changes, altitude changes and directional flight propulsion and control including those needed for hovering as well as vertical takeoff and landing. The LPM assemblies are configured to drive large volumes of air in a manner and scale favorably similar to conventional rotorcraft while in contrast, providing capability for faster flights by eliminating or minimizing speed limiting factors commonly associated with rotorcraft.
US09061759B2

The present disclosure relates to cam operated shock absorber damper systems for use with landing gear. The cam operated shock absorber damper systems may comprise a cylinder and a piston mounted to slide telescopically in the cylinder and a snubber ring comprising rebounding orifices and compression orifices.
US09061758B2

A noise reduced and performance improved rotor blade (1) for a helicopter. The blade has three aerodynamic sections (5, 6, 7) along the blade span between a leading edge (8) and a trailing edge (9). An inner rectangular or tapered section (5) next to a blade root for said blade's connection to a rotor hub rotating about a rotor axis of said helicopter. A middle section (6) is adjacent to the inner section (5) and opposed to the blade root. The middle section (6) is forward swept over a distance along the span of the blade (1). An outer section (7) lies between the middle section (6) and the blade tip (11). The outer section (7) is back swept along a further part of the span of the blade (1). The outer section (7) includes a parabolic shape towards the free end of the blade tip (11).
US09061755B2

An aircraft wing assembly, comprising a wing having a fixed leading edge, a slat mounted upon a slat deployment mechanism for moving the slat between a retracted position and an extended position with respect to the fixed leading edge, the fixed leading edge having an aperture to accommodate the slat deployment mechanism, and a closing plate mounted off the slat deployment mechanism for closing a gap between a lower trailing edge of the slat and a lower edge of the aperture when the slat is retracted. The closing plate can include a first portion and a second portion, and a hinge connecting the first and the second portions. The closing plate can include a plurality of integrally formed spacer elements for positioning the closing plate with respect to the slat deployment mechanism. Also, a method of removing an access panel in an aircraft wing assembly.
US09061747B2

Clean energy powered surfboard having various advantages that make for easy to learn, easy to use, safe, exciting, high performance, environmentally friendly surfing on any ocean wave in the world. The various embodiments include novel motor, turbine, or electric motor generator surfboards comprising hydrogen or electric-powered motors, which can be switch-activated and which drives jet pumps. Energy can be stored as compressed gas, including air and hydrogen. Energy can be stored in novel capacitors that are incorporated in the body of the surfboard. Energy can be generated by solar or water power while surfing or by passing waves, for example, while waiting for a big wave. An output jet provides thrust to catch a wave, to return to the wave breaks, or to avoid a hazard. A novel fin output jet increase stability and maximizes thrust. Self-contained, self-recharging embodiments are low cost, lightweight, safe, and good for the environment.
US09061746B2

The presently disclosed subject matter relates to a flotation device suited to teach beginner swimming techniques or provide enjoyment in an aquatic environment while providing flotation to at least a portion of the swimmer's body. The flotation device for aiding a swimmer in a body of water may comprise a body formed from an extruded foam and comprising a top surface, a bottom surface, a first side rail, a second side rail, a leading lateral surface, and a trailing lateral surface, and wherein the extruded foam is a flexible cellular foam. The presently disclosed subject matter also relates to methods of making the flotation device.
US09061742B2

An articulated tug barge hopper dredge including a tug, a barge, and a coupling system configured to interconnect the tug and the barge. The tug has a bow and the barge has a notch in a periphery of the barge. The notch is sized to receive the bow of the tug. The articulated tug barge hopper dredge further includes dredging machinery integrated with the barge and configured to excavate material dredged from the seabed. The dredging machinery includes trailing suction pipes.
US09061726B2

The teachings provided herein are generally directed to compact, carry-on vehicles configured to shield a user from the drive mechanism. The vehicles are generally foldable, carry-on vehicles having a chassis that converts to a protective carry-on case for the vehicle. The vehicles are foldable with a drive mechanism that is (i) compact, (ii) at least substantially enclosed, (iii) clean, and (iv) generally shielded from contact by the user in the collapsed configuration.
US09061722B2

An examples includes storing a cover for a motorcycle while providing back support for a rider. The example can include a backrest cushion housing to be mounted behind a motorcycle seat of the motorcycle, against a fixed backrest of the motorcycle, the backrest cushion housing sized to extend away from the motorcycle, above the motorcycle seat extending to at least a lumbar height of the rider, the backrest cushion housing defining an inner cavity and an opening. The example can include a cover stowable in the backrest cushion housing. The example can include a configuration wherein in a stowed mode of operation the backrest cushion housing defines a backrest cushion with padding including the cover.
US09061716B2

A motorized vehicle, including rigid core board panels joined together to form a support structure having an exterior surface and an interior surface opposite the exterior surface. The interior surface of the support structure faces an occupant compartment. Each of the panels includes a honeycomb core sandwiched between opposing fiberglass-reinforced sheets. The vehicle includes a layer of energy absorbing material mounted on the exterior surface of the support structure and wheels mounted on the support structure. At least one of the wheels is steerable from the occupant compartment. A motor is mounted on the support structure and operatively connected to at least one of the wheels.
US09061706B2

A tracked vehicle having a plurality of self contained tracked drive units, each unit including an electric motor to propel a track belt, and a plurality of road wheels and tensioning wheels. Each tracked drive unit is connected to the vehicle by affixing devices and by electrical, data, and fluid lines, and is separable from the vehicle by detachment of the affixing devices and disconnection of the electrical, data, and fluid lines. The tracked vehicle can locomote upon the tracked drive units remaining after the separation a tracked drive unit. A tracked vehicle with remote tracked drive jettisoning capability, wherein a tracked drive unit is affixed to the hull of the tracked vehicle by explosive bolts; the electrical, fluid, and data lines are severable by severing charges; and the tracked drive is jettisonable by remote commands to detonate the explosive bolts and sever the electrical, data, and fluid lines.
US09061687B2

A fully protective railroad freight car for carrying motor vehicles in a selected one of a bi-level or a tri-level configuration, with the lowest level including a depressed longitudinally central portion between body bolsters of the underbody, which may be a low-level flat car. A pair of vehicle-carrying decks are adjustable in height to provide for either one or two vehicle-carrying levels above the lowest level, while also providing at least a prescribed amount of vertical clearance above each vehicle-carrying deck. Ramps may be provided on the lowest level at an end of the car to provide a wheel-supporting surface having a prescribed minimum height. A roof structure is light in weight, and the car has an overall height not exceeding a prescribed limit for operation on most rail lines. The ends of the car are equipped with three-panel folding doors.
US09061681B2

The present invention relates to a control device that controls a vehicle drive device in which a rotary electric machine is provided in a power transfer path that connects between an internal combustion engine and wheels and in which a first friction engagement device is provided between the internal combustion engine and the rotary electric machine and a second friction engagement device is provided between the rotary electric machine and the wheels.
US09061672B2

There is provided a vehicle brake device that includes hydraulic brake means for generating a hydraulic brake force and regenerative brake means for generating a regenerative brake force and distributes the hydraulic brake force and the regenerative brake force for a driver-requested brake force. The hydraulic brake means includes a pressure reducing valve that reduces hydraulic pressure of wheel cylinders. The vehicle brake device includes hydraulic brake control means for maintaining the pressure reducing valve open while the driver-requested brake force is covered by only the regenerative brake force. The hydraulic brake control means does not open the pressure reducing valve when hydraulic pressure is present in the wheel cylinders.
US09061671B2

A driver braking demand indicator apparatus comprises a brake valve including (i) a brake valve member movable in response to a driver moving a brake applicator member, and (ii) a delivery pressure line to operate a vehicle service brake circuit. The apparatus also comprises a travel sensor arranged to (i) sense movement of the brake valve member, and (ii) provide a first signal indicative of the extent of travel of the brake valve member when movement of the brake valve member is sensed. The apparatus further comprises a delivery pressure line sensor arranged to (i) sense pressure in the delivery pressure line of the brake valve, and (ii) provide a second signal indicative of the pressure in the delivery pressure line. The apparatus also comprises a controller arranged to process the first and second signals to provide a driver braking demand signal for at least one external device.
US09061669B2

A mechanical pressurization device is connected to a common passage, and brake cylinders provided respectively for front left and right and rear left and right wheels are connected to the common passage respectively via pressure holding valves. Each of the pressure holding valves in the front is a normally open valve, and each of the pressure holding valves in the rear is a normally closed valve. In the event of an abnormality in which a hydraulic pressure in the common passage cannot be controlled using a hydraulic pressure produced by a power hydraulic pressure source, a hydraulic pressure in the mechanical pressurization device is supplied to the front brake cylinders provided respectively for the front left and right wheels.
US09061659B2

An adapter for a windshield wiper assembly includes a hooking portion adapted to receive a hook of a wiper aim, an attaching portion adapted to be connected to a wiper, and a connection portion attached to the hooking portion and the attaching portion at opposite ends. The hooking portion and the attaching portion are positioned in a side-by-side configuration and are parallel to each other.
US09061647B2

A trim assembly covering an airbag in a vehicle. The trim assembly includes a trim panel having an A-side surface and a C-side surface opposite of the A-side surface. Portions of the trim panel define an aperture through which a trim component is mounted, including a bezel and a backplate, with the bezel engaging the A-side surface of the trim panel, generally about the aperture. A backplate of the trim component includes a central portion and a flange extending from the central portion in surface-to-surface engagement with the C-side surface of the trim panel. The flange includes a plurality of projections formed on its surface so as to penetrate into the trim panel through the C-side surface. During activation of the airbag, the trim panel is displaced to permit deployment of the airbag, and the projections operate to retain the trim component in engagement with the trim panel.
US09061639B2

A device and a method for triggering passenger protection devices, an accident sensor system generating a first signal and the passenger protection devices being triggered as a function of a frequency of a second signal, which is derived from the first signal, the frequency being determined as a function of a first length of a first signal characteristic of the second signal and of a second length of a second signal characteristic of the added-up second signal.
US09061637B1

Provided is a hybrid crash box for a vehicle that includes a latticed box pipe connected with a bumper beam and a mount mounted on a bumper stay. The latticed box pipe may include a metallic hollow pipe and plastic lattices integrally formed in the hollow pipe by injection molding. A plurality of holes that contract against a shock may be formed at predetermined positions through the hollow pipe. Configuration of the holes, including shape, number and position, may be determined by the hollow pipe which depends on the type of the vehicle.
US09061635B2

A rear-viewing camera system for a vehicle is described. The rear-viewing system includes a first camera, a second camera, an electronic control unit, and a display. The electronic control unit receives a first image data set from the first camera and a second image data set from the second camera. The electronic control unit then produces a panoramic image based on the first image data set and the second image data set and displays the panoramic image on the display.
US09061633B2

A tonneau cover device includes a tonneau cover attached to a hatchback door. A movable guide is arranged on the tonneau cover and is guided by a fixed guide, which is arranged in a vehicle. The tonneau cover moves to an extension position when the hatchback door closes and a storage position when the hatchback door opens. A detector detects whether movement of the tonneau cover is obstructed due to contact with an object. A controller moves the tonneau cover to where the movable guide can come into contact with the fixed guide in a state in which the hatchback door is open when the detector detects that the movement of the tonneau cover to the storage position has been obstructed.
US09061631B2

A method for compensating for misalignment of a vehicle headlight generating different beam patterns includes generating a light marking on an object outside the vehicle. The light marking is generated in a region that is located in front of, next to or behind the vehicle between a visibility limit of a camera and a visibility limit of a driver. Images of the light marking and an image of a surrounding area are recorded with a camera. A target illumination related to an image of the surrounding area is determined by taking into consideration illumination rules, and a light-marking-related target illumination is determined by taking into consideration the determined target illumination related to the image of the surrounding area and the recorded image of the light marking. The beam pattern of the headlight is then adjusted by taking into consideration the light-marking-related target illumination.
US09061627B2

A tailgate sensor system for providing a warning signal to a driver of a pickup truck when the tailgate is not in a closed position. The tailgate sensor system includes a detector mounted on an exterior of a pickup truck, an activator mounted on and moveable with a tailgate of the pickup truck, and a signal generator in communication with the detector. The detector is positioned relative a range of motion of the activator such that a signal is generator by the detector and received by the signal generator when the tailgate is in at least a partially open position. Upon receipt of the signal, the signal generator generates a warning signal to the driver.
US09061622B2

A strap tensioning system is provided. The system includes a frame comprising a first side wall that retains a ledge. A core shaft retains a flexible shaft and is rotatable by a drive shaft as urged by a crank handle. The crank handle supports an arm that is pivotable with respect to the crank handle, between a stowed position where the arm is substantially parallel to the crank handle, and a locking position where the arm is substantially perpendicular to the crank handle. The crank handle and arm are configured such that the arm disposed within the ledge when the crank handle is in registry with the ledge and the arm is in the locked position, thereby preventing rotation of the crank handle with respect to the frame.
US09061621B2

A seat-cushion shell unit is configured to include a support panel provided to be movable up and down and tiltable to an arbitrary angle below a seat cushion shell, and a support pad provided between the seat cushion shell and the support panel. A front end part and a rear end part of a support panel are fixed to the seat frame, and the seat-cushion shell unit is attached to the seat frame.
US09061620B2

A vehicle seat includes a seat cushion, a seatback, an upholstery member that covers a surface of the seatback, and a striker. The striker is fitted to a frame body that forms the seatback, and is engaged with a lock mechanism arranged outside the seatback. The striker has an engagement portion that is locked by the lock mechanism, and a threaded shaft portion that has an external thread that is screwed to the frame body. The threaded shaft portion of the striker is fastened to the frame body through a through-hole formed in the upholstery member, with the frame body covered with the upholstery member of the seatback.
US09061608B2

A detent fitting for latching two vehicle parts is provided. The detent fitting comprising a first fitting part, a second fitting part rotatably arranged about an axis of rotation relative to the first fitting part, at least one locking bolt shiftably arranged on the first fitting part, which is formed and provided to be brought in engagement with a toothing of the second fitting part for latching the first fitting part and the second fitting part and to be brought out of engagement with the toothing of the second fitting part for releasing the latching, at least one guide element arranged on the first fitting part for guiding the at least one locking bolt, and at least one bearing element arranged on the first fitting part and different from the at least one guide element, which for supporting the first fitting part on the second fitting part slidingly cooperates with the second fitting part.
US09061599B2

A system for storing electrically a regenerative energy of a vehicle is provided. The system includes a first energy storage device, a second energy storage device, an energy regulating device coupled to the first and second energy storage devices, a source of regenerative power configured to capture a regenerative energy during a regenerative power event of the vehicle, and a control unit coupled to the energy regulating device. The control unit is configured to transfer electrical energy from the first energy storage device to the second energy storage device based on a prediction of the regenerative power event using the energy regulating device. The transfer of the electrical energy serves to reduce the electrical energy stored in the first energy storage device thereby enabling the first energy storage device to receive from the regenerative power device when the predicted regenerative power event occurs an amount of the electrical regenerative energy.
US09061590B2

A leading vehicle detecting apparatus judges whether or not a first vehicle is following a second vehicle. The apparatus includes a signal acquiring section, a storage section, and calculating section. The signal acquiring section acquires position signals outputted from a position detecting section that detects the position of the second vehicle, and detection signals outputted from a state detecting section that detects a state of a first vehicle cruising line. The storage section stores in advance a probability map showing the probability of the first vehicle following the second vehicle, based on a distance between an expected cruising line of the first vehicle and the position of the second vehicle. The calculating section calculates the expected cruising line based on the detection signals, and judges whether the first vehicle is following the second vehicle based on the expected cruising line, position signals, and probability map.
US09061589B2

A display controller includes a controller input connectable to receive first image data representing a non-safety relevant part of an image to be displayed on a display and to receive second image data representing a safety relevant part of the image. A merging unit is connected to the controller input, for composing the image from the first image data and second image data. A controller output is connectable to the display, for outputting display data representing the image. An image monitor is connected to the controller output, for comparing a part of the image corresponding to the safety relevant part with an reference for the part.
US09061584B2

A hanger assembly includes a first bracket having a first side surface, a second side surface, and a locating pin extending from the second side surface. The assembly includes a mounting bracket configured to nest with the first bracket, where the mounting bracket has a base portion, and an extension portion extending generally perpendicularly from the base portion. The extension portion has a first side surface, a second side surface, and a top surface. A mounting bolt extends from the second side surface of the mounting bracket, through the mounting bracket, and through the first bracket to the first side surface of the first bracket. The first surface and/or the top surface of the extension portion are configured to receive the locating pin.
US09061579B2

In a saddle riding type vehicle in which a connecting tube that connects between an air cleaner placed behind a rear cushion unit extending vertically behind an engine body and a throttle body placed in front of the rear cushion unit is placed to pass by a lateral side of the rear cushion unit, adhesion of an injected fuel to an inner wall surface of an air intake passage is suppressed while a fuel injection valve is placed behind the throttle body, whereby stabilization of an air-fuel ratio is achieved. An air cleaner includes a cleaner element, and a support case supporting the cleaner element while forming a purification chamber together with the cleaner element. Here, a rear end portion of a connecting tube is connected to the support case. A fuel injection valve, whose direction of injection is oriented to the inside of a throttle body, is attached to the support case.
US09061576B2

Embodiments of the invention describe vehicles including a wheel (e.g., a front wheel or wheels), a wheel hub, a motor included in the wheel hub to transmit power to the wheel, one or more rolling bearings to support the wheel hub and having one or more rolling elements to enable rolling of the wheel, and a steering axle placed within the wheel hub for steering the wheel. Embodiments also describe a wheel (e.g., a rear wheel or wheels), a wheel hub, a motor included in the wheel hub to transmit power to the wheel, and a swing arm assembly having a first and a second end, the first end rotatably coupled to a steering axle, the second end coupled to the motor. As described below, embodiments of the invention decrease volume necessary for a vehicle's drivetrain, while not adversely affecting the potential for vehicle interior volume and vehicle maneuverability.
US09061575B2

An improved, reusable, protective, reflective, weather resistant cover for a vehicle windshield-wiper-bay region and also for front-side windows and for the rear window region is disclosed. The cover is easy and fast to deploy, the operator is not required to reenter the vehicle for deployment and no cover element extends inside the vehicle. Permanent magnets and/or hook and loop strips are used to removably affix the cover. No permanently attached fastener elements are observable from within or without the closed vehicle. The cover effectively reflects the sun's rays reducing internal heating and material degradation and eases removal of frost, sleet or snow from covered regions.
US09061567B2

An air-conditioning control method for dividing an indoor space of a vehicle into a plurality of zones to perform individual air-conditioning for each zone, may include selecting boarding zones occupied by passengers from the plurality of zones, checking whether the number of the boarding zones occupied by the passengers may be one, correcting a detection temperature of an incar sensor into a temperature of the boarding zone using a mixing ratio of air for air-conditioning discharged from the corresponding boarding zone with air existing in the boarding zone when the number of the boarding zones occupied by the passengers may be one, and performing individual air-conditioning on the selected boarding zones by determining a target discharge temperature based on the corrected temperature of the boarding zone and using the determined target discharge temperature.
US09061561B2

A driving state estimator unit configured to detect a state quantity indicating vehicle body orientation, and a control unit configured to control vehicle body orientation using drive force from an engine when the absolute value of the amplitude of the detected state quantity is less than a second predetermined value, and using force generated by a second orientation control device instead of the drive force from the engine when the absolute value of the amplitude is equal to or greater than the second predetermined value.
US09061551B2

A pneumatic tire has a tread that is provided with a plurality of blocks comparted in a tire circumferential direction by a lateral groove. A sipe formed in each of the blocks has a narrow portion that is open in a tread surface, and a wide portion that is communicated with an inner side in a tire diametrical direction of the narrow portion and is widened than the narrow portion. The wide portion gradually increases a widening length in one side in a width direction and gradually decreases a widening length in other side in the width direction, from one end portion of the sipe toward other end portion, and accompanies an angle change at a time of appearing on the tread surface due to a progress of a wear.
US09061550B2

A pneumatic tire has a good balance between on-ice and on-snow performances. The tire includes a tread portion having longitudinal and lateral grooves defining block rows. Each block in the block rows includes sipes. A length of each block in the first and second block rows is not less than 1.5 times and not more than 2.5 times a length of each third block row block. A width of each second block row block is larger than a width of each first block row block. The lateral grooves defining the first and second block row blocks are offset in the tire circumferential direction by not less than 0.2 times and not more than 0.8 times the length of each first block row block. The lateral grooves defining the second and third block row blocks communicate with each other while inclining in the same direction.
US09061541B2

Self-retaining writing instruments include a bistable metal body that is selectively positionable and retainable in a coiled configuration and alternatively in an elongated configuration, and a writing element, such as a pencil, pen, marker, or stylus, disposed at a first end of the writing instrument. The coiled configuration may be suitable for coiling around an object and the elongated configuration may be suitable for use as a writing instrument. The bistable metal body may be configured to automatically assume the coiled configuration when flexed to a certain degree while in the elongated configuration.
US09061536B2

A topcoating (14) is disclosed for a face material (12) which exhibits desirable ink anchorage, anti-pinholing properties, moisture/water resistance, optical characteristics and/or anti-blocking properties. In one embodiment, the topcoating comprises a formulation of polyurethane and polyurethane acrylate. Suitably, the polyurethane is an aliphatic polyurethane and/or the polyurethane acrylate is an aliphatic polyurethane acrylate. In one suitable embodiment, either or both the polyurethane and polyurethane acrylate are water dispersible. In a further embodiment, suitably, the polyurethane is a polyether urethane. Suitably, the formulation may further include a crosslinker, e.g., a water soluble or water dispersible crosslinker.
US09061530B2

A printer apparatus includes a frame, a printer head, a platen roller that is supported by the frame, a biasing member that is provided between the frame and the printer head and configured to exert force toward the platen roller, and an opening/closing arm supported by the frame to rotate and move about an arm rotation shaft. A contact part between the opening/closing arm and a platen bearing of the platen roller is positioned opposite from a side in which the printer head is provided with respect to a line that connects a center of the arm rotation shaft and a center of the platen bearing.
US09061527B2

A direct thermal printer including a latch assembly, a media storage assembly, a media centering assembly, a print assembly, and a temperature sensing member. The latch assembly includes a single latch lever in mechanical communication with latch tabs disposed in the cover of the printer that are received by openings in the base of the printer to engage and disengage the cover from the base. The media storage assembly includes media guides with removable tabs having more than one available position to provide storage of different size media. The media centering assembly includes pulley assemblies that bias the media guides towards each other to secure media between the media guides. The print assembly includes a platen disposed in the base of the printer having cams on each end that are rotatable and positioned to adjust printing characteristic of a printhead disposed in the cover.
US09061520B2

A thermal head includes a substrate, a glass-made thermal storage layer disposed on one main surface of the substrate so as to extend to an edge of the substrate; electrodes disposed on or above the thermal storage layer apart from the edge of the substrate; heat-generating resistors disposed above the thermal storage layer apart from the edge of the substrate, the heat-generating resistors being connected to the electrodes; and a first covering layer disposed on or above the electrodes and the heat-generating resistors. The first covering layer extends from atop the electrodes and the heat-generating resistors toward atop the thermal storage layer on the edge of the substrate, and a protection film is disposed on or above the first covering layer disposed on or above the electrodes and the heat-generating resistors and an edge of the protection film is not disposed above the edge of the substrate.
US09061519B2

A printer apparatus includes a printing medium supply unit that supplies a printing medium. An ink ribbon supply unit supplies an ink ribbon. A platen roller conveys the printing medium. A thermal head is arranged at a position opposite to the platen roller with the printing medium and the ink ribbon therebetween. The thermal head carries out printing by transferring the ink of the ink ribbon to the printing medium. A head pressing mechanism changes a distance or a pressure force between the thermal head and the platen roller. After the printing is ended, a control section controls the head pressing mechanism to raise the thermal head, the printing medium conveyance unit to convey the printing medium to a cutting position, and the head pressing mechanism to lower the thermal head immediately after the printing medium is cut.
US09061516B2

A first ink air chamber is in communication with an air layer in a first ink tank for an ink of a first viscosity in communication with a first inkjet head. A second ink air chamber is in communication with an air layer in a second ink tank for an ink of a second viscosity in communication with a second inkjet head. A first on-off valve opens or closes communication between the first and second ink air chambers. A second on-off valve opens or closes communication between the second ink air chamber and the atmosphere. A pressure adjuster is configured to adjust a pressure in the second ink air chamber without intervention of the first ink air chamber. A controller is configured to drive the pressure adjuster to increase the pressure in the second ink air chamber with the first and second on-off valves being closed.
US09061514B2

A release agent application system includes an image receiving member, a release agent applicator roller, a release agent pad, a release agent reservoir, and an actuator. The actuator operates the release agent applicator roller to move it between a resting position, where the roller absorbs release agent from the pad, and an application position, where the roller engages a surface of the image receiving member and to transfer release agent to the image receiving member.
US09061512B2

A cover for a liquid container which exposes at least a portion of a detecting member, having a liquid supply portion to a liquid ejecting apparatus through communicating with the liquid containing unit, and a first surface provided with a first container side engagement portion arranged between the liquid supply portion and the detecting member. The cover includes a first cover side engagement portion engaging with the first container side engagement portion.
US09061492B2

An image recording apparatus that includes a recording head controller that transfers image data and a driving waveform to a recording head in conjunction with position information of the recording head. The recording head controller includes a driving waveform storage unit that stores multiple driving waveform data, a number of driven nozzles calculator that calculates the number of nozzles driven simultaneously from the image data, and a driving waveform selector that selects one driving waveform data from the multiple driving waveform data based on the calculated number of driven nozzles and a predetermined threshold value of the number of driven nozzles.
US09061487B2

A method for changing printing plates in rotary printing presses, including a plurality of printing units each having a plate cylinder and a dedicated drive for driving the plate cylinder independently of an associated blanket cylinder in a respective printing unit, includes moving the respective blanket cylinder at a somewhat higher circumferential speed than the associated plate cylinder while conveying one or more printing plates out of the printing unit, at least in one operating mode, during a plate changing operation. A printing press and a controller are also provided.
US09061480B2

In one embodiment, a laminate comprises: a plastic sheet, a second sheet, an adhesive disposed between and in physical contact with the plastic sheet and the second sheet, and an interlayer formed from a liquid filling having a viscosity that does not form bubbles visible to the unaided eye. The laminate has a storage modulus that varies by a factor less than or equal to about 200 at 1 Hz in the temperature range of −40° C. to 200° C. In another embodiment, a laminate comprises: a plastic sheet, a second sheet, an adhesive disposed between and in physical contact with the plastic sheet and the second sheet, and an elastomer interlayer formed from a liquid RTV filling. In one embodiment, a method for making a laminate comprises: adhering a glass sheet to a plastic sheet with an adhesive to form a gap therebetween, and introducing a liquid RTV filling to the gap.
US09061474B2

The present invention relates to a transparent polyimide film with improved tensile strength and a preparation method thereof, and more specifically to a colorless, transparent polyimide film having excellent optical properties and improved tear strength at the same time through the use of a monomer containing a functional group or an improver for improving tensile strength, and a preparation method thereof, wherein the functional group is selected from the group consisting of a hexafluoro group, a sulfone group, and an oxy group.
US09061470B2

A tire repair device for repairing a puncture in a vehicle tire includes an applicator including a stem portion and a tip portion for insertion into a puncture and through a wall of the tire, at least a part of the stem portion and the tip portion having a passage therethough, and a plug having a plug shaft made of a resilient material, a stopper portion provided at a first end of the plug shaft and a patch portion provided at a second end of the plug shaft opposite the first end, the patch portion having a closed position in which the patch portion is folded around the plug shaft and an open position in which the patch portion is extends outwardly from the plug shaft in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plug shaft. The plug shaft and the patch portion are guidable through the passage in the applicator.
US09061448B2

A method of producing a divided conduit comprising forming a strip-shaped substrate having a first longitudinal edge and a second longitudinal edge. The strip-shaped substrate is a strip-shaped textile or a strip-shaped film. Then extruding a molten thermoplastic into the form of a conduit and placing the one strip-shaped substrate within the extruded conduit during or directly after conduit formation. The first longitudinal edge and the second longitudinal edge of the strip-shaped substrate adhere to or embed into the inner surface of the conduit.
US09061446B2

A process for manufacturing products made of composite materials is disclosed which includes the steps: screwing at least one insert provided with a threaded hole on the outer thread of at least one pin partially inserted in a removable manner in a mold; arranging on the mold one or more fiber layers provided with at least one opening in which the insert is arranged; curing resin with the layers arranged on the mold, so as to obtain a product made of a composite material which incorporates the insert and the layers; rotating the pin in the insert for removing it from the mold. The present invention also relates to a mold, devices and a kit which can be employed for carrying out the process, as well as to products manufactured with this process and/or these means.
US09061442B2

An extruder has an intake barrel, a degassing drum connected to, downstream from, and coaxial with the intake barrel, and an output barrel connected to, downstream from, and coaxial with the intake barrel and degassing drum. A driven shaft extends through the drum and barrels and is rotated for forming a plastic melt and advancing the melt through the intake barrel, degassing drum, and output barrel. A plurality of degassing screws surround the driven shaft in the degassing drum. A screw guide rotationally fixed to the shaft has respective seats for the degassing screws. Respective drive gears rotationally fixed but removably mounted on the degassing screws are received in respective seats in a gear guide separate from the screw guide and rotationally fixed to the shaft. A ring gear is rotationally fixed but removably mounted in the degassing drum and meshes with the drive gears.
US09061439B2

A process for the recovery of silicon includes providing silicon-containing solids recovered from a silicon manufacturing process, said recovered silicon-containing solids being substantially free of semiconductor dopants; converting the recovered silicon-containing solids into gaseous silicon forms; subjecting to purification by minimal distillation; collecting the gaseous silicon forms as a condensed liquid of silicon-containing compounds; and utilizing the silicon-containing compounds for silicon deposition.
US09061432B2

The invention relates to a method for cutting a food strand into slices including the steps inserting the food strand in a conveying device, conveying the food strand into a transfer position in a feed device, transferring the food strand through the feed device into a feed position where the food strand is more inclined relative to horizontal than in the transfer position, gripping the food strand at a rear end, feeding the food strand towards a cutting device, cutting the food strand into slices through the cutting device, and fixating the food strand at least during transfer from the transfer position into the feed position at least at one of its free longitudinal sides through at least one fixation element providing a form locking and/or friction locking engagement with the food strand. The invention also relates to a device for performing the method.
US09061429B2

A pumpkin carving tool has a knife nested within the handle of a scoop. The knife and scoop together serve as the only tools necessary to carve a simple or complex pattern into a pumpkin. The handle extends under the bowl of the scoop and has a hollow interior. The knife has a handle and blade and the dimensions of the handle closely approximate the interior dimensions of the handle. In this way, the knife is securely retained within the handle until removed by the handle. By providing a knife nested within the scoop, a user has all utensils needed to carve a pumpkin or similar item in a convenient, compact configuration.
US09061428B2

A shaving apparatus has at least one cutting unit (3) having an outer shaving surface (7) for contacting the skin, interrupted by hair entry apertures (8), an internal cutter (5) which is drivable for movement along the hair entry apertures (8) for cutting off hairs projecting through the hair entry apertures (8). A suspension member (6) via which the external cutter is suspended relative to the holder (2) is tiltable relative to the holder (2) about a tilting axis (17) located more closely to a first peripheral portion (18) of the shaving surface (7) than to a second peripheral portion (19) of the shaving surface (7) opposite to said first peripheral portion (18) of said shaving surface (7).
US09061419B2

A processing tool, especially drilling tool, includes a processing element (5) acting on a workpiece (3) and a connection (9) for a handling device (10), especially a robot. The processing tool (1) has a feed device (8) connected to the connection (9) for feeding the processing element (5) by a motion of the handling device (10) connected to the connection (9). The handling device (1) moves and actuates the feed device (8) of the processing tool (1) for feeding the processing element (5).
US09061418B2

A control system (100) comprises a control apparatus (2) for controlling a driven body, and a pendant (1) having an emergency stop switch (11), wherein the control apparatus (2) includes an emergency stop circuit (21) which causes the operation of the driven body to stop when the emergency stop switch (11) is operated, a detach-ready setting switch (23) which switches detach-ready setting information to “detach mode” when connecting or disconnecting the pendant (1) to or from the control apparatus (2) and otherwise to “normal mode”, and a connection state monitoring unit (24) which sends information concerning the connection state of the pendant (1) to the emergency stop circuit (21), and wherein the control apparatus (2) disables the operation of the emergency stop circuit (21) when the detach-ready setting information is set to “detach mode” and when the pendant (1) is disconnected from the control apparatus (2).
US09061416B2

A sprinkler transferring apparatus is provided for a flexible sprinkler drop on an irrigation supply line. The sprinkler transferring apparatus includes a lifting tool and a sprinkler component support body. The lifting tool has an elongate body with a first contact portion and a handle spaced from the first contact portion. The sprinkler component support body has a second contact portion configured to mate with the first contact portion.
US09061413B2

A mechanic's creeper includes a front frame, a middle frame and a back frame. The front frame is configured to rotate with respect to the middle frame, and the middle frame is configured to rotate with respect to the back frame. A front pad mounted on the front frame has a top surface provided with a groove in which an LED strip light is received. The middle frame is pivotally connected to a bracket. The bracket is configured to rotate with respect to the middle frame between a position where it is parallel to the middle frame to a position where it is parallel to the back frame.
US09061400B1

A fixture in which an attractive magnetic force is utilized to join two parts of a container or housing together is discussed. The fixture comprises a fixture body portion, a fixture base portion and a removable fixture plate portion. At least one body magnet resides within the fixture body portion and at least one plate magnet resides within the removable fixture plate. The fixture body and plate magnets are positioned such that when they are brought together, an attractive magnetic force pulls the plate towards the fixture body. Therefore, when the respective housing portions are positioned within the fixture, the magnetic force compresses the housing portions together.
US09061398B2

A compound leverage hand tool includes a first section having a first handle end and an opposing first jaw portion with a first jaw end, a second section having a second handle end and a link end, and a second jaw portion having a second jaw end and a lever end, the second jaw portion pivotally coupled to the first jaw portion at a first pivot point intermediate the second jaw end and the lever end. The link end is pivotally coupled to the lever end at a second pivot point, and the link end is pivotally coupled to the first section proximate the first jaw portion at a sliding pivot point intermediate the first pivot point and the second pivot point.
US09061385B2

A clamp device has a gripping member which is expandable and contractible and is inserted into an aperture in a workpiece and grips the aperture, a clamp rod including a tapered shaft portion that fits into the gripping member, and a drive means for driving the clamp rod forwards and backwards. Provided is a support mechanism that supports the gripping member by fluid pressure when the gripping member is radially expanded, and a fluid pressure release means that releases the fluid pressure of the support mechanism after radial expansion of the gripping member when the clamp rod is driven by the drive means to perform clamping. The support mechanism has an annular pressure reception member that supports the gripping member, and a supporting fluid chamber that causes fluid pressure in the direction opposite to the clamping direction to be received on the annular pressure reception member.
US09061379B1

The improved installation tool for installing grommets in a hole in a panel having a countersink end includes an anvil having a convex surface for contacting the head of the grommet after the grommet is installed in the hole. A flaring die having a tapered tubular portion for inserting into the grommet is mounted on the open end there in and chamfered surface for deforming the end of the grommet so that it is deformed into the countersink. This is accomplished by a threaded rod that extends through a hole in the anvil, grommet and threadably engages internal threads in the die. Withdrawing of the rod causes the die to be moved against the grommet and flares the end of the grommet into the countersink and locks it in place.
US09061378B2

A lens array which facilitates the alignment of optical axes of light source elements with optical axes of lenses, a light source device that employs this lens array, a projector that employs this light source device and a light source device fabrication method are provided. A lens array 73 is an integrated assembly of a plurality of lens portions 73b which collect individually light from a plurality of light source elements and has cylindrical portions 73c for positioning the plurality of light source elements on a light entrance side of the individual lens portions 73b.
US09061366B2

A welding system, in certain embodiments, includes a torch having a neck with an arcuate portion, and a resilient jump liner disposed in the neck and extending through the arcuate portion. The resilient jump liner includes a pathway having a curvature configured to bend a welding wire passing through the pathway. The system also includes an annular support disposed about the resilient jump liner inside the neck, wherein the annular support is configured to at least substantially fix the curvature to force the welding wire to achieve a wire curvature. The system also includes a contact tip coupled to the neck, wherein the wire curvature is configured to bias the welding wire into substantially consistent contact with an interior pathway through the contact tip.
US09061363B2

The present method creates a relatively thin in situ brazing alloy layer upon first and second component edges which are brought together in order to create a component joint. This in situ brazing alloy layer is created by deposition of brazing elements, such as copper or nickel, from an electrical discharge cutting process electrode depletion utilized in order to cut the component edges, and then a subsequent brazing technique creates through interstitial migration between that brazing alloy layer and the underlying material substrate of the components a robust component joint wherein the in situ brazing alloy layer penetrates the respective component cut edge surface to only a limited depth such that the geometric effect is similarly limited, and the properties of the underlying component material structure are maintained.
US09061353B2

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a high purity copper (Cu) powder material useable in fabricating a sputtering target material for electronic industrial applications, for example a penetrator liner. The foregoing method has a configuration of using an apparatus composed of a raw material feeder, a plasma torch and a reactor to prepare a metal powder, and includes steps of passing a Cu powder having an average particle diameter of 30 to 450 μm through the thermal plasma torch at an introduction rate of 2 to 30 kg/hr, to thereby fabricate a Cu powder having an average particle diameter of 5 to 300 μm.
US09061348B2

A die casting device includes a die including a cavity; an injection sleeve including a feeding orifice; an injection tip provided at the distal end of a support shaft, and configured to be slidable in an axial direction within the injection sleeve by inserting the support shaft into the injection sleeve; a decompression device; a molten-metal holding furnace including a space to store molten metal; a pump pumping up the molten metal from the molten-metal holding furnace; and a feeding pipe including a first end connected to the pump and a second end. The feeding pipe is joined to the injection sleeve through a relay pipe including a vibration absorption portion, the molten metal is fed into the injection sleeve from the molten-metal holding furnace through the feeding pipe by the pump, and is pushed out of the injection sleeve by the injection tip, and the molten metal is injected into the cavity decompressed by the decompression device.
US09061342B2

Connectors for assembling HVAC ducting, and methods for forming the connectors are provided. The connectors include standing-seam connectors and flanged connectors. The flanged connectors can be formed directly on ducting (e.g., spiral ducting). The methods enable the fabrication of the connectors, with exemplary fabrication methods including spin forming and radial expansion.
US09061337B2

The present disclosure relates to a method for producing rectangular or square wall elements from flat sheet metal, including determining a length and width of a wall element, providing a flat sheet metal piece incising two longitudinal edge portions to form two incisions to form two tabs for each longitudinal edge portion separated by a respective incision from the remaining longitudinal edge portion, right-angled folding of a respective strip, formed by the incisions, right-angled folding of the tabs parallel to the longitudinal edge at the level of the base of the associated incision, right-angled folding of the longitudinal edge portions along the longitudinal edge, right-angled folding of the transverse edge portions parallel to the transverse edge to form a strip having a width corresponding to the transverse dimension of the tabs, and right-angled folding of the transverse edge portions along the transverse edge.
US09061336B2

One object of the present invention is to provide a wire drawing die excellent in strength and wear resistance. The wire drawing die has a core formed using highly hard diamond polycrystalline body made substantially only of diamond and produced by directly converting a raw material composition including a non-diamond type carbon material into diamond and sintering the diamond at an ultra high pressure and an ultra high temperature without adding a sintering aid or a catalyst, the polycrystalline body having a mixed construction including fine-grained diamond crystals with a maximum grain size of less than or equal to 100 nm and an average grain size of less than or equal to 50 nm and plate-like or particulate coarse-grained diamond crystals with a minimum grain size of greater than or equal to 50 nm and a maximum grain size of less than or equal to 10000 nm.
US09061335B2

A cooling apparatus for hot rolling is installed on a downstream side of a finishing mill of a continuous hot rolling mill, and cools a steel sheet rolled by the finishing mill while being conveyed. The cooling apparatus includes first pinch rolls which, during an interval when the steel sheet fed out from a final stand of the finishing mill moves from a position of the final stand to a position where a surface temperature of the steel sheet reaches 850° C. or less, pinch the steel sheet while applying tension of 3.9 MPa or greater.
US09061332B2

Provided is a treatment system whereby a wet organic waste can be effectively treated and CO2 produced in the course of the treatment can be immobilized to thereby contribute to the reduction of CO2. The treatment system is characterized by including microbiologically fermenting a wet organic waste in a fermentation device, combusting in a combustion furnace a fermented material obtained from the fermentation device and, at the same time, supplying to the combustion furnace a fermentation gas produced by the microbiological fermentation treatment in the fermentation device, and then recovering and immobilizing CO2 in a hot exhaust gas produced by the combustion treatment in the combustion furnace.
US09061322B2

A product discriminating device that includes a measuring section, a discriminating unit, a deemed standard deviation calculation unit, a re-discriminating unit, a rank estimated number calculation unit, and a standard deviation calculation unit. The standard deviation calculation unit changes variables of a probability distribution of a deemed standard deviation such that the number of products belonging to at least one of a predetermined plurality of ranks re-discriminated at least once and an estimated number of the products belonging to the rank in a rank estimated number calculation unit substantially match each other, and calculates the changed variables as a standard deviation of characteristic value variation of the products and a standard deviation of measurement value variation.
US09061319B2

Disclosed herein is an ultrasound probe including a plurality of piezoelectric elements forming a laminate, a plurality of internal electrodes formed at the lamination interface, an external electrode formed on the front or the rear surface of the laminate. The ultrasound probe includes a plurality of piezoelectric elements forming a laminate, a plurality of internal electrodes interposed among the piezoelectric elements, and an external electrode formed on the front or rear surface of the laminate, wherein the external electrode includes a first external electrode and a second external electrode disposed to have a space therebetween.
US09061315B1

A painting tool has a handle with a trough attached to the handle. The trough has walls and a base that defines an interior that holds paint. A sponge assembly with a sponge that paints a surface is attached to the painting tool by a rivet. The sponge is fixed to the sponge assembly by fastener that rotates around the rivet. A wheel rotates in the trough to collect and transfer the paint from the trough to the sponge assembly. A first side and a second side parallel to the first side are attached to the handle and the trough. An arm holding a swipe that cleans the surface is attached to the trough.
US09061311B2

In a coating apparatus and a method thereof according to the present invention, the coating-solution receiving region of a porous material 2 is smaller in bubble diameter than the contact region of a porous material 3 with a substrate 7. Thus, even if the substrate 7 is curved or wavy, a coating film 8 can be easily and evenly applied to the substrate 7.
US09061308B2

The repainting head is designed to be installed on a workbench of a repainting machine for repairing circular lids. It is characterized in that it comprises a repainting device (1) moveable by means of an elevation device (2), this repainting device (1) having a main rotary shaft (13) to which are attached one/two axial shafts (18) on which are mounted one/two painting arms (19) that are constrained to rotate with the main rotary shaft (13). Each repainting arm (19) is connected to the respective painting gun (20), the distance of which from the geometric center of the main rotary shaft (13) is variable, each arm (19) rotating about the axial shaft (18), the required position of each repainting arm (19) being set using anchoring means that prevent any relative movement between the main rotary shaft (13) and the axial shaft (18).
US09061290B1

A particle removal apparatus is provided for connection to an internal combustion engine air intake line or exhaust line to remove particles from flowing gas, including an electrically conductive first spiral plate which spirals around and longitudinally along and is secured to the exterior surface of the electrically conductive disposal tube having a particle admitting tube opening; and an electrically conductive second spiral plate which spirals within and longitudinally along and is secured to the interior surface of an electrically conductive outer mounting tube, the second spiral plate spiraling parallel to and spaced apart a selected distance from the first spiral plate; so that the particles become charged and collect on one of the plates and subsequently enter the disposal tube. The outer mounting tube preferably is a tubular side wall of a containment housing.
US09061288B2

A device for recycling molding sand, the device containing a base; a vibratory reclaimer; a pneumatic cascade classifier serially connected at its upper section to the vibratory reclaimer; and at least two generators of vibrations. The vibratory reclaimer contains: a vertical column, the vertical column being hollow and cylindrical in shape, having an axis of rotation, and a side wall with at least one pour-out hole, wherein the pour-out hole is connected with a transport trough, and the transport trough is rigidly mounted and rises in a spiral fashion along the side wall and at a top end passes through a channel extending to a feeding screw for feeding recycled molding the to the pneumatic cascade classifier.
US09061283B2

In one embodiment, the invention is to a sample metering device, comprising a sample holding chamber oriented between a sample entry port and a sample extraction unit, wherein a portion of said extraction unit defines a metered volume of a sample. A diluent may be transported over and/or through the extraction unit to form a diluted sample for sample analysis. In another embodiment, the invention is to an apparatus and method for rapid determination of analytes in liquid samples by various assays including immunoassays incorporating a sample dilution feature, capable of being used in the point-of-care diagnostic field is provided. The devices and methods of the invention preferably are well-suited for high range sample dilution.
US09061278B2

The invention relates to methods and devices for control of an integrated thin-film device with a plurality of microfluidic channels. In one embodiment, a microfluidic device is provided that includes a microfluidic chip having a plurality of microfluidic channels and a plurality of multiplexed resistive thermal detectors (RTDs). Each of the RTDs is associated with one of the microfluidic channels. The RTDs are connected to a power supply through individual electrodes and pairs of common electrodes. Adjacent RTDs may be driven with alternating polarities, and the current in the common electrodes may be minimized using a virtual ground circuit. The compact microfluidic device is capable of fast heating and highly precise thermal control. The compact microfluidic device is also capable using the RTDs to sense temperature without their heating capability.
US09061271B2

A ceramic body based on an aluminum titanate system has the following composition: i) approximately >95% by weight Al2O3.TiO2; ii) approximately 0.1-approximately 5.0% by weight SiO2; iii) approximately 0.1-approximately 5.0% by weight MgO; iv) approximately 0-approximately 2.0% by weight Fe2O3; v) approximately 0-approximately 1.0% by weight BeO, BaO or CaO; vi) approximately 0-approximately 1.0% by weight Li2O, Na2O or K2O; vii) approximately 0-approximately 2% by weight impurities. The ceramic body has a mass ratio TiO2:Al2O3 that is in a range between approximately 0.75 and approximately 0.95.
US09061264B2

A polycrystalline diamond cutting element for use in rock drilling or other operations that requires very high abrasion resistance with high transverse rupture strength at temperatures above 700 degrees centigrade. The cutting element includes a diamond layer that contains pre-sintered polycrystalline diamond agglomerate (PPDA) bonded to a supporting substrate. The PPDA can be made thermally stable and can be selected to produce a cutting element with any desired abrasion resistance characteristic without affecting internal stress.
US09061253B2

[Problem] Diamine and carboxylic dianhydride for polymerizing a hexafluoroisopropylidene group-containing polyimide are limited in chemical structure when developed into a polyimide membrane, so that it is difficult to design a chemical structure with consideration paid to the strength and separation performance of a gas separation membrane. A gas separation membrane easily soluble in an organic solvent, excellent in formability so as to be readily usable for a gas separation membrane, and excellent in gas separation performance is obtained.[Solution] A gas separation membrane, including: a polyimide that contains a repeating unit represented by general formula (1). [In the formula (1), R1 is a divalent organic group and R2 is a tetravalent organic group, R1 containing a 2-hydroxy-1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropyl group (—C(CF3)2OH)].
US09061250B2

Various methods of making a reinforced membrane, devices for making the membranes, and the resulting membranes are described. The methods typically provide a reinforcing structure that includes filaments extending around the circumference of the membrane but without the filaments being part of a braided or woven structure. Some of the reinforcing structures also include longitudinal filaments. The methods and devices can be used to make a supporting structure in line with membrane formation steps, and also allow for a reinforced membrane to be produced that has a ratio of inside-to-outside diameters of 0.5 or more.
US09061249B2

An aircraft fuel tank flammability reduction method includes feeding pressurized air into an air separation module containing a carbon membrane, the air feed exhibiting a normal pressure of no more than 55 psig and the carbon membrane containing at least 95 weight percent carbon. The method includes producing nitrogen-enriched air from the air separation module as a result of removing oxygen from the air feed. An aircraft fuel tank flammability reduction system includes a source for pressurized air, an air separation module configured to receive air feed from the pressurized air source, and a carbon membrane containing at least 95 weight percent carbon. The carbon membrane is configured to permeate oxygen from the air feed through the carbon membrane at a temperature of at least 120° C. (248° F.) and to produce nitrogen-enriched air from the air separation module as a result of removing oxygen from the air feed.
US09061247B2

A separation membrane module (1A) includes: a tubular pressure container (7); a plurality of separation membrane elements (2) inserted in the pressure container (7) and each having a first end member (3) and a second end member (4); and a sealing member (5A) mounted on one of or both the first end member (3) and the second end member (4) that are adjacent to each other. In a normal condition, the sealing member (5A) is located radially inward of a maximum diameter portion of the first end member (3) and/or the second end member (4) on which the sealing member (5A) is mounted. The sealing member (5A) is deformed due to contact between the adjacent separation membrane elements (2) or due to supply of a pressurized liquid into the pressure container (7), and comes into close contact with an inner circumferential face (7a) of the pressure container (7).
US09061242B2

Apparatus for treating a gas stream comprises a plurality of cylindrical proton conducting membranes. The gas stream is conveyed through the bore of each cylindrical membrane, and a hydrogen-containing gas is conveyed about the external surface of each cylindrical membrane. A catalyst provided on the inner side of each membrane catalyses a reaction between a halogen-containing component of the gas stream, such as CF4, adsorbed on the surface of the catalyst and protons conducted through the membrane.
US09061235B1

To obtain water on the Moon, ambient water is collected from space by depositing on the lunar surface a drying agent that is suitable for use in high vacuum to capture the impinging moisture. Advantageously, the inventive methods enable ambient water in space to be exploited as a renewable resource even on non-polar and sunlit surfaces of the Moon.
US09061231B2

A purification arrangement for a gas pipeline system includes a pressure vessel and at least first and second purification assemblies in the interior of the pressure vessel. A gas flow may be established through the pressure vessel, and the gas may pass through the first purification assembly and the second purification assembly to remove liquid and/or solid particulates from the gas. At least one of the first and second purification assemblies includes a separator assembly having one or more separators which removes particulates and a shell mounted to one or more of the separators to collect and contain the removed particulates.
US09061223B2

A multi-port valve device with a dual directional strainer is disclosed herein. The disclosed valve device generally comprises a body including a cylindrical wall, the body having a front face, a rear face, a top face, and a bottom face; a first arm including a cylindrical wall, wherein the first arm is attached to the rear face of the body and extends perpendicularly from the rear face of the body; a second arm including a substantially cylindrical wall, wherein the second arm is attached to the bottom face of the body and extends obliquely from the bottom face of the body; a fluid passageway extending through the cylindrical walls of the first arm and the body; and a strainer member at least partially disposed within the second arm, the strainer member being arranged and configured to strain fluids flowing through the fluid passageway from the first arm through the strainer member and into the body in a first direction and to strain fluids flowing from the first arm through the strainer member and into the body in a second direction, the second direction being opposite of the first direction. The disclosed valve device may be utilized to fluidly connect a tank to an injection pump and to a gauge.
US09061221B2

A process for recovering reusable materials, in particular phosphate, from sewage sludge products, namely sewage sludge, sewage sludge ash or sewage sludge slag, by extraction, in which a suspension of the sewage sludge product is produced in water, alcohol, water-alcohol mixture or an aqueous solution, gaseous carbon dioxide (CO2) or supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) is introduced as an extraction agent into the suspension of the sewage sludge product, undissolved solids are separated from the liquid suspension agent, carbon dioxide is removed from the suspension agent, and reusable materials dissolved in the suspension agent are precipitated and separated from the suspension agent.
US09061211B1

A gameplay notification system receives gameplay indications and notification configuration information from a gameplay system. The gameplay indications and configuration information are stored in a platform queue corresponding to a client device platform type. Further configuration information may be received from various gameplay devices of a user. The notification configuration information is analyzed by the gameplay notification system to schedule transmission of gameplay notifications to various client device platform types. The notifications are sent to the corresponding client devices according to frequency, day of the week, and notification states, among other configuration settings, that pertain to a user and the user's corresponding client devices.
US09061208B2

A video game system includes a plurality of servers and one or more client terminals. Each server provides game information to the client terminal. The client terminal carries out information communication with the server in accordance with a protocol; carries out the video game on a zone on the basis of the game information; and carries out, in response to a request to change zones, zone changing processing. In the zone changing processing, the client terminal updates a valid flag indicating that the protocol for a current zone is valid to a state indicating that the protocol is invalid; determines whether there is the session information for a new zone or not; and updates the valid flag indicating that the protocol for the new zone is invalid to a state indicating that the protocol is valid in a case where there is the session information.
US09061207B2

A computer-implemented system and method for streaming video from a server to a client are described. For example, a method according to one embodiment comprises: receiving at the server a request for video content from the client; in response to the request, determining the hardware/software configuration of the client; generating and/or selecting a temporary decoder based on the hardware/software configuration of the client; transmitting the temporary decoder to the client, the client installing the temporary decoder; encoding and streaming the requested video content from the server to the client, the video content being encoded based on the capabilities of the temporary decoder, the video content being decoded by the temporary decoder and rendered on the client; detecting that the client has ended the session with the server; and in response to detecting that the client has ended the session, temporarily disabling and/or removing the temporary decoder from the client.
US09061200B2

Embodiments may include multiple building elements that may include connector building elements and basic building elements for the construction of three-dimensional puzzles. Connector building elements may include a connector portion that may insert into a receiving portion of a basic building element. Connector building elements and basic building elements may rotate with respect to each other to a fixed point where respective faces of the connector building element and the basic building element are aligned; the alignment may be to pre-determined angles. Connector building elements and/or basic building elements may include blocking and/or locking structures that may resist and/or arrest the rotation of the elements with respect to each other and to aid in maintaining the alignment of the elements.
US09061199B2

A ball delivery device, system, and method housing a plurality of balls for a game session is presented. The ball delivery device includes a mixing chamber, at least one instruction to start the game session, an identifier, at least one arm, a ball holder, a reader and a tube. The mixing chamber receives the balls for the game session. After receiving an instruction to begin the game session, balls are singly drawn from the mixing chamber. The identifier disposed on each ball uniquely identifies each ball. The arm mixes the balls in the mixing chamber. The ball holder disposed on the arm holds a single ball that is randomly selected from the mixing chamber. The reader reads the identifier of the ball selected by the ball holder. The tube receives each selected ball and holds the selected balls after the identifier reads the ball and until completion of the game session.
US09061192B2

An electronic scoring system for use in a variety of martial arts (including traditional styles of martial arts, mixed martial arts, weapons based martial arts or the fighting arts generally). The scoring system allows an objective determination of the force, location and effectiveness of forces applied during competition, without the need for electric weaponry.
US09061189B2

A training device for rugby players, notably for a phase of the game known as the scrum, comprises: a simulation platform of the Stewart platform type, onto which a training yoke is mounted; an electronic device for closed-loop control of said simulation platform; a computer device for controlling the training device. The present invention is mainly applicable to the training, the development and the improvement of rugby players at a high level.
US09061187B2

A golf putter with repositionable shaft comprising a head, where the head is composed of a top surface, a striking face, a back face, a first end and a second end: three receiving holes along the top surface of the head, where the receiving holes include a threaded inner surface, and a bottom protrusion positioned horizontally within the receiving hole; a pair of plugs threaded into two of the receiving holes; a shaft fitted into one of the receiving holes, where the shaft repositions with the pair of plugs to fill each receiving hole; and a fitting at a bottom end of the shaft, where the fitting includes an insert with a bottom groove, where the bottom groove receives the bottom protrusion to lock the shaft into place within one of the receiving holes.
US09061185B2

A correlated set of golf club heads is provided. The set of golf clubs has a first club head that, when oriented in a reference position, includes: a first loft angle, a first heel portion, a first toe portion opposite the first heel portion, a first top portion, and a first sole portion that comprises a first sole rail having a first setback length. The set of golf clubs also has a second club head that, when oriented in the reference position, includes: a second loft angle greater than the first loft angle, a second heel portion, a second toe portion opposite the second heel portion, a second top portion, and a second sole portion that comprises a second sole rail having a second setback length that is different from the first setback length.
US09061183B2

A golf ball 2 includes a spherical core 4 and a cover 6 positioned outside the core 4. The core 4 is obtained by crosslinking a rubber composition including 2-naphthalenethiol. The difference between: a hardness H(5.0) at a point which is located at a distance of 5 mm from the central point of the core 4; and a hardness Ho at the central point is 6.0 or greater. The difference between: a hardness H(12.5) at a point which is located at a distance of 12.5 mm from the central point; and the hardness H(5.0) is 4.0 or less. The difference between a hardness Hs at the surface of the core 4 and the hardness H(12.5) is 10.0 or greater. The difference between the hardness Hs and the hardness Ho is 22.0 or greater. There is no zone in which a hardness decreases from the central point to the surface.
US09061180B2

Multi-piece golf balls containing a multi-layered core structure are provided. The core structure includes a small, heavy inner core (center) having a relatively high specific gravity, an intermediate core layer, and a surrounding outer core layer. The layers of the core structure may have different hardness gradients. The center of the core comprises a metal material such as copper, steel, brass, tungsten, titanium, aluminum, and alloys thereof. The intermediate core layer is preferably formed from a thermoset composition such as polybutadiene rubber, and the outer core layer is preferably formed from a thermoplastic composition such as an ethylene acid copolymer. The resulting ball has high resiliency and good spin control.
US09061178B1

A bowling ball wherein one or more sacrificial molds are encapsulated in said bowling ball and methods for manufacturing same.
US09061172B1

A step exercise apparatus having a rectangular step structure having a flat upper surface, a pair of end walls, a pair of side walls, a perimeter, and an inset ledge having an upward facing surface circumferentially disposed around the flat upper surface. A series of hooks each having an upward-facing hook opening is disposed around the perimeter adjacent the upward facing surface of the ledge. In addition, a series of hooks each having a downward-facing hook opening is disposed around the perimeter adjacent the bottom edge. The hooks having an upward-facing hook opening are interspersed with the said hooks having a downward-facing hook opening. An elastic member may be threaded through adjacent hooks with upper and lower hooks forming a serpentine path. Ends of the elastic member may be equipped with handles and may be directed upwardly from any of the lower hooks.
US09061170B2

An apparatus for the assisted performance of a fitness exercise, equipped with a fitness tool configured to interact with the user to enable the user to perform a movement along a preset path overcoming the force of a resistant load, comprises: sensing means set up to provide a signal representing the movement of the user; feedback means for transmitting a signal to the user during performance of the exercise; a processor connected to the sensing means and to the feedback means to provide the user with feedback in real time on the correctness of performance of the exercise, based on a comparison between the signal representing the movement of the user and a predetermined reference pattern representing an ideal pattern for the movement of the user corresponding to the exercise performed correctly.
US09061166B2

Disclosed are antiperspirant compositions comprising: a) from 10 to 35 wt. %, based on the total weight of the composition, of antiperspirant active; b) triethyl hexanoin, c) at least one additional non-volatile oil, and d) from 1.5 to 30 wt. %, based on the total weight of composition, of structurant, wherein: the ratio, by weight, of triethylhexanoin to additional non-volatile oil is from 5:1 to 1:2; in combination, triethylhexanoin and additional non-volatile oil provide from 35 to 65% of the total weight of the composition; the composition contains from 0 to 5 wt. % of volatile silicone oil; the composition is anhydrous; and the composition is in the form of a solid or soft solid. Also disclosed are methods of making such stick compositions, and methods of ameliorating perspiration by the topical application of such compositions to the skin.
US09061163B2

The disclosure describes circuits for providing therapy in an implantable medical device. The illustrative circuits include features that provide fault tolerance with graceful degradation as well as switching control methods that reduce component count and improves reliability.
US09061160B2

The disclosure describes a method and system that allows a user to configure electrical stimulation therapy by defining a three-dimensional (3D) stimulation field. After a stimulation lead is implanted in a patient, a clinician manipulates the 3D stimulation field in a 3D environment to encompass desired anatomical regions of the patient. In this manner, the clinician determines which anatomical regions to stimulate, and the system generates the necessary stimulation parameters. In some cases, a lead icon representing the implanted lead is displayed to show the clinician where the lead is relative to the 3D anatomical regions of the patient.
US09061148B2

Devices, systems and methods are provided for treating migraine headaches and other conditions by non-invasive electrical stimulation of nerves and other tissue. A hand-held device includes a housing with a controller having a signal generator, an electrode for delivering electrical signals, and a conductive surface configured as a return path for the electrical signals. In certain implementations, the electrode is repositionable with respect to the housing. The patient can self-apply the hand-held device by pressing it against areas in need of pain relief. The device may include a pressure-sensitive gating switch to control delivery of the stimulation therapy. In certain embodiments, the electrode is a rollerball electrode. The device may include a chamber for retaining and dispensing conductive gel to the therapy site. In certain approaches, the device includes an electrode support for coupling an electrical stimulation system to the head for hands-free electrical stimulation therapy.
US09061146B2

Systems that sense the volume, activity or other parameters of the urinary bladder are described. The systems include at least two electrodes that are implanted at respective locations proximate the wall of the bladder, and may be located substantially opposite each other with respect to a center of the bladder. At least one of the electrodes receives an electrical signal emitted by another of the electrodes. Systems according to the invention detect an impedance through the bladder based on the signal, e.g., based on one or both of the current or voltage of the signal. Based on the detected impedance, the systems sense one or more parameters of the bladder, such as volume, activity, or the like, which influence the impedance. The detected impedance, or bladder parameter information derived from the impedance, may be stored for short- or long-term monitoring, or used to control delivery of a therapy to a patient.
US09061141B2

A patient support device for a radiation therapy treatment system and a method of manufacturing the same. The device includes a support having an upper surface and a lower surface and a fixture hole configuration that receives a patient fixation device. The fixture hole configuration includes at least one recess and reinforcing material positioned inside at least a portion of the at least one recess. The device may also include a lower support having an upper surface that includes at least one channel. Flat flex cable used to operate the patient support device is positioned within the at least one channel.
US09061130B2

A collapsible valve for use in a needleless access connector to reduce the priming volume of the needleless access connector. A needleless access connector with a small priming volume. A method of connecting a first medical device to a second medical device with a needleless access connector with a small priming volume.
US09061128B2

A system for delivering light and/or ultrasound across a skin surface is provided. The system includes a device having a layered structure comprising one or both of a light source and an ultrasonic transducer. The light source comprises a flexible light emitter layer electrically coupled to a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer, wherein at least one of the first and second conductive layers is transparent. The ultrasonic transducer comprises a flexible ultrasound emitter layer electrically coupled to a third conductive layer and a fourth conductive layer. The system also includes one or more sensors in contact with the skin surface and a controller electrically coupled to the device and the sensor. The controller is operable to receive sensor data from the sensor and dynamically control the device in response to the received sensor data.
US09061125B2

A drug delivery system that can be deployed from a catheter and retained within the bladder for delivery of treatment drug solutions over a period of time. The delivery system includes an inflatable or expandable delivery element that can be collapsed within the catheter tip for navigation into the bladder before being inflated or expanded within the bladder. The inflated or expanded delivery element can engage the bladder walls or sized to be too large to be passed from the bladder such that the delivery element is retained within the bladder after inflation or expansion to administer a treatment drug solution over an extended period of time.
US09061112B2

The present invention provides a chamber having at least one operator hand access port; the port comprising a port aperture located within the chamber wall; and at least two flexible non-resilient lightweight sealing gas-tight flaps (SFs), disposed the same plane of the port aperture in an overlapping manner, entirely enclosing the port aperture; each of the SFs is defined by a port aperture edge and chamber edges; the chamber edges are anchored to the chamber wall along more than half of the perimeter of the flap, at a distance from the center of the port greater than the radius of the port and beyond its perimeter; the port aperture edge of each flap is stretched across an entire chord of the port aperture; stretched port apertures edges define an interior access zone, disposed the same plane of the port aperture, characterized solely by the port aperture edges.
US09061109B2

A portable vein viewer apparatus may be battery powered and hand-held to reveal patient vasculature information to aid in venipuncture processes. The apparatus comprises a first laser diode emitting infrared light, and a second laser diode emitting only visible wavelengths, wherein vasculature absorbs a portion of the infrared light causing reflection of a contrasted infrared image. A pair of silicon PIN photodiodes, responsive to the contrasted infrared image, causes transmission of a corresponding signal. The signal is processed through circuitry to amplify, sum, and filter the outputted signals, and with the use of an image processing algorithm, the contrasted image is projected onto the patient's skin surface using the second laser diode. Revealed information may comprise vein location, depth, diameter, and degree of certainty of vein locations. Projection of vein images may be a positive or a negative image. Venipuncture needles may be coated to provide visibility in projected images.
US09061103B2

An auto-injector for delivering a liquid medicament (M) is presented having an elongate housing having a loading bay configured to receive a packaged syringe, wherein the loading bay is configured to be laterally accessible for inserting or removing the packaged syringe, wherein a sliding door is slidably arranged over the housing in a manner to reveal the loading bay in a distal position and to cover the loading bay in a proximal position.
US09061093B2

Medical articles with porous polymeric structures and methods of forming thereof are disclosed. The porous structure can have pores sizes that are nanoporous or greater than nanoporous. The porous structure can be a coating or layer of a medical device such as a stent, stent graft, catheter, or lead for pacemakers or implantable cardioverter defibrillators. Additionally, the body of the medical device can be a porous polymeric structure. The porous structure can be made from bioabsorbable polymers. The porous structures can be formed by contacting a polymer with a supercritical fluid.
US09061084B2

A fine particle diffusion device includes: a first outlet (10a to 10c) through which a first air current is discharged to a space above a living space within a living room; a second outlet (10d) which is arranged below the first outlet (10a to 10c) and through which a second air current is discharged to a space below the first air current; and a fine particle generation device (17) which generates fine particles. Here, the fine particles generated by the fine particle generation device (17) are discharged into the living room, and the concentration of the fine particles discharged through the first outlet (10a to 10c) is lower than the concentration of the fine particles discharged through the second outlet (10d).
US09061083B2

The invention relates to an ultraviolet laser sterilization system, comprising an ultraviolet laser module and a scanning module. The ultraviolet laser module emits an ultraviolet laser light with a wavelength ranging from 200 nm to 280 nm. The scanning module includes a plurality of reflectors for receiving the ultraviolet laser light, and a controller for controlling rotation of the reflectors to adjust an angle of emergence of the ultraviolet laser light for sterilizing a target.
US09061070B2

The invention provides methods for treating stroke and compositions for use in the same. The methods employ a chimeric peptide of an active peptide and an internalization peptide. The internalization peptide is a tat variant that promotes uptake of itself and a linked active peptide into a cell without substantial binding to N-type calcium channels. Use of the tat variant allows treating of stroke free of certain side effects associated with binding to N-type calcium channels. Tat variant peptides can also be linked to other active agent for use in treating other diseases.
US09061069B2

The invention relates to the use of oligomers having constrained dipeptide or tripeptide motifs as agents for the vectorization of active ingredients.
US09061067B2

The invention relates to methods for increasing the plasma half-life of a molecule, such as human growth hormone, comprising covalently linking the molecule to a heterocyclic carboxylic acid bioisostere.
US09061065B2

Described herein are intracameral implants including at least one therapeutic agent for treatment of at least one ocular condition. The implants described herein are not anchored to the ocular tissue, but rather are held in place by currents and gravity present in the anterior chamber of an eye. The implants are preferably polymeric, biodegradable and provide sustained release of at least one therapeutic agent to both the trabecular meshwork and associated ocular tissue and the fluids within the anterior chamber of an eye.
US09061061B2

The present application relates to pharmaceutical compositions for reducing glucose excursions in a normal subject or a subject having an insulin-related disorder or dysglycemia. The pharmaceutical composition contains one or more active agent-containing layers, which each contain a dry blended mixture including a therapeutically effective amount of a polar ionizable insulin-sensitizing oral hypoglycemic agent or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and an amphipathic compound in monomelic form consisting of an amphipathic ionic compound in monomelic form. Each dry blended mixture contains a sufficient amount of the amphipathic ionic compound such that upon contact with an aqueous fluid, the amphipathic ionic compound forms a reverse micelle comprising the polar ionizable insulin-sensitizing oral hypoglycemic agent. The present invention also relates to a use of a modified release pharmaceutical composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of an insulin-sensitizing oral hypoglycemic agent for sensitizing pre-prandial (basal) insulin levels and/or reducing postprandial glucose excursions in a normal patient or a patient having an insulin-related disorder.
US09061058B2

The present invention relates generally to the field of molecular biology. More specifically, the present invention relates to expression systems for use in modulating the expression of protein coding target genes in vivo or in vitro. More specific, this invention relates to RNA polymerase III-based methods and systems for expression of therapeutic proteins in cells in vivo or in vitro.
US09061052B2

The invention relates to the use of an aqueous extract of tobacco leaves for the preparation of a medicament for the treatment of dependence, in particular tobacco dependence, and to a sterile injection solution and a kit which can be used for the treatment of dependence, in particular of tobacco.
US09061046B2

The present invention relates to the use of oligosaccharides derived from arabinoxylan for use in the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal infection. More particularly the invention provides a method for preventing or reducing the gastrointestinal infection of a animal or human being with bacteria associated with gastroenteritis through the supplementation of their diets with the said oligosaccharides.
US09061041B2

The present invention relates to 2′-Substituted Nucleoside Derivatives of Formula (I): and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, wherein A, B, X, R1, R2 and R3 are as defined herein. The present invention also relates to compositions comprising at least one 2′-Substituted Nucleoside Derivative, and methods of using the 2′-Substituted Nucleoside Derivatives for treating or preventing HCV infection in a patient.
US09061040B2

The present invention provides therapy and methods for the treatment and prevention of diseases of cell proliferation such as cancer, benign tumors, and viral diseases such as HIV-AIDS, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and cirrhosis. The methods of this invention consist of the administration to a patient of a combination of effective amounts of agents capable of eradicating the neoplastic cells, while sparing the non-neoplastic cells from cytotoxic side-effects. The agents co-administered in therapeutically effective amounts are: chemotherapeutic agents, apoptotic agents, anti-angiogenic agents, cell differentiation agents, immunomodulating agents, antioxidants, vitamins, microelements, enzymes and natural extracts.
US09061038B2

Methods are provided for using doxorubicin active agents in which reduced host toxicity is observed. Aspects of the methods including administering to a subject an effective amount of a doxorubicin active agent in conjunction with a doxorubicin toxicity-reducing adjuvant, e.g., a nitrone compound, or a nitrone compound in combination with a bisdioxopiperazine compound. Also provided are compositions for use in practicing the subject methods. The methods and compositions find use in a variety of different applications, including in the treatment of a variety of different disease conditions.
US09061036B2

A medicine for treating allergic cough comprises 5 to 25 parts by weight of Perilla Leaf, 5 to 25 parts by weight of Periostracum Cicada, and 5 to 25 parts by weight of lumbricus. The medicine is in the form of concentrated decoction, tablet, pill, granule or capsule. The medicine has effects of dispelling wind-cold, dispelling wind-heat, relieving cough and preventing asthma. The medicine provides excellent anti-allergic effect and can be used for treating allergic cough.
US09061029B2

The present invention relates to a regimen for the administration of a pyrimidylaminobenzamide of formula I wherein the radicals as defined herein, or of a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for the treatment of proliferative disorders, particularly solid and liquid tumors, and other pathological conditions mediated by the Bcr-Abl oncoprotein, the cell transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor c-Kit, DDR1 (discoidin domain receptor 1), DDR2 (discoidin domain receptor 2) or PDGF-R (platelet derived growth factor receptor) kinase activity, wherein the pyrimidylaminobenzamide of formula I and, optionally, pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, are dispersed in a fruit preparation.
US09061017B2

The present invention is directed to an adult retinal cell line isolated from extra-retinal ocular tissue, and methods of isolating adult retinal cells from extra-retinal ocular tissue. The present invention is further directed to adult retinal stem cells isolated from vestigial tissue dissected from the eye of a donor mammal suffering from persistent fetal vasculature. The present invention is further directed to a culture medium for growing or maintaining retinal stem cells, and methods of maintaining adult retinal cells in culture. The present invention is further directed to methods of treating a treating an eye with retinal dystrophy using retinal stem cells, and an eye with glaucomatous injury with retinal stem cells. The present invention is further directed to kits for harvesting extra-retinal ocular tissue comprising a sterile container and a harvesting solution, wherein the kit allows the survival of the tissue until later dissociation of cells from the tissue.
US09061016B2

A liquid composition that is an aqueous solution of a compound of formula (I), wherein the aqueous solution has a pH from about 3.0 to about 5.0. The liquid composition may be used in the treatment of a disorder selected from hyperproliferative diseases, autoimmune diseases and heart diseases.
US09061009B2

Methods of treating metabolic stress disorders are disclosed that include administering to a subject a therapeutically effective amount of a composition that specifically inhibits the expression or activity of a mixed lineage kinase (MLK). Also disclosed are methods of identifying candidate compounds for treatment of metabolic stress disorders and methods of diagnosing metabolic stress disorders.
US09061001B2

Methods and compositions for enhancing an immune response to a selected antigen are described. The methods are useful for the treatment and prevention of microbial infections, such as infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. The methods and compositions include host defense peptides, polyphosphazenes and immunostimulatory sequences to enhance the immune response to a coadministered antigen.
US09060997B2

This invention relates to compounds of the formula X) or Xl) (X) (XI) wherein: each —R1, —R2 and —R3 is independently -Q1, —OH or —H, where at least one of —R1, —R2 and —R3 is not —H or —OH; each —R4 and —R5 is independently -Q2 or —H; each -Q1 is independently selected from: —F, —Cl, —RA, —ORA, —SH, —SRA, where each —RA is independently selected from methyl and ethyl, which may substituted by one or more fluoro or chloro groups; and each -Q2 is selected from: —F, —Cl, —RB, —ORB, —SH, —SRB, where each —RB is independently selected from methyl and ethyl, which may substituted by one or more fluoro or chloro groups; which are useful in the treatment of melanoma.
US09060996B2

Compositions and methods for providing infant nutrition with partially hydrolysed proteins and non-digestible oligosaccharides for use in induction of oral tolerance against native dietary proteins.
US09060992B2

Intestinal absorption is enhanced in short bowel syndrome patients presenting with colon-in-continuity by treatment with a GLP-2 receptor agonist, such as teduglutide.
US09060989B2

A method for treating or relieving inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is provided, including administering an extract of Bupleurum as an active ingredient to a subject. The Bupleurum may be selected from the group consisting of Bupleurum krylovianum, Bupleurum chinense, Bupleurum commelynoideum, Bupleurum scorzonerifolium, Bupleurum triradiatum, Bupleurum falcatum, Bupleurum kaoi and a combination thereof.
US09060981B2

Disclosed is a novel NASH marker for use in a method for detecting NASH or evaluating the severity of NASH, which utilizes at least one factor selected from the group consisting of an IL-1 receptor antagonist, sCD40, HMGB1, sPLA2 group IIA and an sPLA2 activity as the marker. Also disclosed is a method for detecting NASH or evaluating the severity of NASH in a subject, which utilizes the marker.
US09060974B1

The present invention is within the field of oncolytic virotherapy. Oncolytic virotherapy is a strategy using viruses, naturally occurring or genetically modified, to selectively target and destroy tumor cells while leaving surrounding non-malignant cells unharmed Here, an engineered respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), with the NS1 gene deleted (NS1 gene-deficient RSV, ΔNS1 RSV), kills prostate cancer cells, but does not affect normal human cells.
US09060973B2

The present invention provides a recombinant viral surface antigenic protein with enhanced stability. The present invention also provides a vaccine composition against enveloped viruses.
US09060965B2

The invention provides a method for releasing capsular polysaccharide from S. aureus type 5 or type 8 cells, comprising the step of treating the cells with acid. The invention further provides a process for purifying capsular polysaccharide from S. aureus type 5 or type 8 cells comprising this method. Other processing steps may be included in the process, such as enzymatic treatment, e.g. to remove nucleic acid, protein and/or peptidoglycan contaminants; diafiltration, e.g. to remove low molecular weight contaminants; anion exchange chromatography, e.g. to remove residual protein; and concentration.
US09060964B2

Methods are disclosed herein for treating depression in the subject. A method includes the use of Botulinum toxin to cause paralysis of a facial muscle, such as the depressor anguli oris, procerus, frontalis, orbicularis oculi, or corrugator supercilii muscle to treat depression in the subject.
US09060962B2

Pharmaceutical compositions including D-tagatose along with a stilbene or stilbenoid component, or a salt or derivative thereof. Methods of prophylaxis and therapy by administering to a mammal a pharmaceutically effective amount of D-tagatose, optionally in combination with a stilbene or stilbenoid component, or a salt or derivative thereof to prevent or treat atherosclerosis, the metabolic syndrome, obesity, or diabetes.
US09060957B2

Fragrance leaches rapidly from capsules having shells made from cross linked gelatin into volatile silicone oils. Unfortunately such oils are much favored for anhydrous antiperspirant compositions. The rate and extent of leaching can be ameliorated greatly or nearly halted by employing as carrier oil, an ester oil or an ether oil, even in the presence of a significant fraction of volatile silicone oil. Consequently, the capability of antiperspirant compositions to generate detectable fragrance over an extended period after application to the skin is improved by employing ester or ether oil as all or part of the carrier liquid in which the antiperspirant is suspended.
US09060951B2

The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical calcium acetate formulation and a process for making the same. In particular, the present invention relates to a calcium acetate capsule formulation comprising granules comprising calcium acetate along with other formulation adjuvants contained within a pharmaceutically acceptable capsule.
US09060950B2

This invention provides capsules containing an emetic, which capsules can encapsulate a drug, wherein the amount of emetic and the amount of drug is such that the number of capsules needed to be ingested to cause emesis is fewer than the number of capsules needed to be ingested to cause overdose of the drug, so that if a person takes an overdose of the emetic encapsulated drug, he or she will vomit before the drug is absorbed by the body.
US09060945B2

The present invention relates to a novel composition comprising danielone and derivatives thereof as well as to the use of such compositions in skin lightening. More particularly, the present invention relates to danielone and derivatives thereof for use in topical compositions for smoothening skin color irregularities, for reducing melanin formation in the human skin, for lightening/brightening human skin and/or for treatment of pigmentation disorders which comprises topically administering an effective amount of danielone and derivatives thereof to the appropriate skin area of a person in need of such beautifying agent, or treatment.
US09060942B2

Provided is an oil-in-water emulsion sunscreen cosmetic composition that can provide high protection ability against UVA and excellent emulsion stability. The oil-in-water emulsion sunscreen cosmetic composition is characterized in that it contains (A) a hydrophobized zinc oxide having an absorbance of 0.3 or more at a wavelength of 370 nm, (B) a UVA absorber being solid at room temperature, (C) a UVB absorber, (D) a liquid-state higher fatty acid, (E) a nonionic surfactant, (F) a volatile oil, (G) a quaternary ammonium compound having a long-chain aliphatic group and (H) water. Particularly, it is preferable that the hydrophobized zinc oxide has an average particle size within a range of 35 to 100 nm; the hydrophobized zinc oxide is hydrophobidized by use of hydrogen dimethicone; the quaternary ammonium compound having a long-chain aliphatic group is distearyldimethylammonium chloride; and the UVB absorber is octylmethoxy cinnamate.
US09060928B2

A tacrolimus injection preparation comprising tacrolimus, polyoxyethylene castor oil (35), and non-aqueous solvent is disclosed. Preferably the weight ratio of polyoxyethylene castor oil (35) to tacrolimus in the injection preparation is 10-20:1. The injection preparation significantly decreased the clinical risk.
US09060927B2

Injectable insulin formulations with improved stability and rapid onset of action are described herein. The formulations may be for subcutaneous, intradermal or intramuscular administration. In the preferred embodiment, the formulations are administered via subcutaneous injection. The formulations contain insulin in combination with a chelator and dissolution agent, and optionally additional excipients. In the preferred embodiment, the formulation contains human insulin, a zinc chelator such as EDTA and a dissolution agent such as citric acid or sodium citrate. These formulations are rapidly absorbed into the blood stream when administered by subcutaneous injection. In the preferred embodiment, the insulin is provided as a clear liquid, neutral pH, in a multi-use sterile vial. In an alternative embodiment, the insulin is provided as a powder in a sterile vial. This is mixed with a diluent containing a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, such as water, a zinc chelator such as EDTA and a dissolution agent such as citric acid shortly before or at the time of administration. In another embodiment, the insulin is stored as a frozen mixture, ready for use upon thawing.
US09060913B2

A instrument holder is disclosed that is adapted to be attached to a side edge of a surgical table in an operating room and that includes a magnet by which metallic instruments are attachable to the holder for staging during performance of a medical procedure in the operating room. The magnet further may assist in retaining and/or stabilizing the holder in its attachment to the side edge of the table. The holder may include grooves for receiving certain types and/or sizes of instruments. During performance of a medical procedure the holder may be moved to a different side edge of the table. The holder preferably is contained within a plastic, transparent, pliable sleeve for maintaining sterility of the holder, whereby the holder is reusable in subsequent procedures.
US09060893B2

The invention relates to a delivery system for a medical device and a method for operating a delivery system for a medical device, in particular a stent having a proximal end and a distal end, an inner shaft enclosing an inner lumen and an outer shaft surrounding the inner shaft in at least some areas and enclosing an intermediate lumen. One or more openings are provided in the inner shaft establishing a fluid connection between the inner lumen and the intermediate lumen.
US09060886B2

A vascular remodeling device has a plurality of sections, sized for deployment in a blood vessel, that is radially expandable from a collapsed state to an expanded state. Each section has a plurality of interconnected struts that define a waist, a proximal face, and a distal face. Each face comprises (i) a plurality of distal strut portions extending proximally from a distal side of the face, (ii) a plurality of proximal strut portions extending distally from a proximal side of the face, and (iii) a plurality of sub-struts, wherein, from each proximal strut portion, two of the sub-struts each extend to a different one of the distal strut portions.
US09060880B2

In a sleep posture alerting method or an apparatus therefor, the sleep posture of a person is detected and the person is automatically alerted by an alerting device when the sleep posture is out of a predetermined body posture range. The detection of the sleep posture or at least the alerting of the person, when his/her body posture is out of the predefined body posture range, is deactivated during a sleep-in time period.
US09060858B2

Disclosed are devices and methods for treating regurgitation through a valve in the heart. The devices can include an expandable, fluid-tight bladder configured to be deployed between valve leaflets of the heart valve. The bladder can include an upper portion that extends into the atrium of the heart; a lower portion that extends into the ventricle of the heart; and a middle portion positionable within the line of valve leaflet coaptation that provides a sealing surface for one or more of the leaflets.
US09060857B2

A heart valve prosthesis is provided having a self-expanding multi-level frame that supports a valve body comprising a skirt and plurality of coapting leaflets. The frame transitions between a contracted delivery configuration that enables percutaneous transluminal delivery, and an expanded deployed configuration having an asymmetric hourglass shape. The valve body skirt and leaflets are constructed so that the center of coaptation may be selected to reduce horizontal forces applied to the commissures of the valve, and to efficiently distribute and transmit forces along the leaflets and to the frame. Alternatively, the valve body may be used as a surgically implantable replacement valve prosthesis.
US09060854B2

A knitted prosthetic device has at least two knitted sections, where each knitted section has at least one row of fiber. The knitted prosthetic device also has at least one intra-articular section disposed between the at least two knitted sections. In addition, the at least one intra-articular section has at least one single continuous fiber traversing the at least one intra-articular section and the at least two knitted sections, where the at least one single continuous fiber forms a plurality of traverses extending between the at least two knitted sections. In particular, embodiments may be used as ligament prostheses by anchoring each of the at least two knitted sections to a bone section of a patient. Such embodiments may be constructed from a strong polymer, preferably, but not limited to, silk, where the polymer provides ligament support but bioresorbs as load bearing responsibilities are transferred to tissue resulting from ingrowth.
US09060849B2

An implantable lumen filter (100) is described. The implantable lumen filter includes a proximal portion (103a) having a generally-tapered outer surface defined by a plurality of outer struts (106).The implantable lumen filter may also include a distal portion (103b) having a generally-tapered outer surface defined by a plurality of outer struts (106b) coupled together at the distal end (102b) of the distal portion. The implantable lumen filter may also include an apex (105) comprising the connection between the proximal and distal portions. The apex may define an outer dimension of the implantable lumen filter. The outer surface of the proximal portion is dimensioned to direct particulates towards the outer dimension.
US09060829B2

The present invention provides systems and methods of managing delivery of an orthodontic treatment plan using treatment guidelines, instructions and appointment planning tools customized to the individual patient being treated. A method includes, e.g., generating a treatment plan for a patient, generating a customized set of treatment guidelines, providing the set of customized treatment guidelines to the practitioner; and providing a set of orthodontic appliances to the practitioner.
US09060827B2

A tool for drilling bone tissue, which has the advantage of having a cutting tip with a flat effective shape that prevents perforation of the Schneider membrane or injury to the dental nerve when drilling close to them. The tool is disposed along an longitudinal axis and includes a non-cutting main body, a narrowed area for retaining bone and a cutting tip, which includes cutting blades, each one of which is provided with a front cutting edge substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and a substantially lateral cutting edge that forms an angle of between 0 and 10° with the longitudinal axis. Spaces for receiving bone are disposed between the cutting blades and are connected to the narrowed area.
US09060819B2

A bone fixation device (1) comprising: A) a first bone implant (2) with at least one through hole (11) having an upper opening (3) with the area A and a lower opening (4) in the case of a bone plate (10) as the first bone implant (2); or an outer opening with the area A and an inner opening in the case of a hollow intramedullary nail as the first bone implant (2); B) at least one second bone implant (5) with a head (6) and a shaft for insertion into one or more of said through holes (11); and C) at least one closing cover (7) for closing said upper opening (3) or outer opening of said through hole (11) for preventing bone and soft tissue ingrowth and/or bacterial invasion into said through hole (11) and into said second bone implant (5) wherein said closing cover (7) is D) removably attachable to said first bone implant (2); and E) dimensioned and shaped in such a way that upon attachment to said first bone implant (2) it is apt to cover at least the entire area A of said upper opening (3) or outer opening and of any of said second bone implants (5) if inserted into said through hole (11).
US09060813B1

Occipital-cervical stabilization using occipital condyle fixation with a polyaxial screw-rod construct.
US09060807B2

A lesion identification system for surgical operations has a light marker adapted for placement in the vicinity of a lesion inside an organ of an organism, and a location-identifying device detecting a light emitted from the light marker at an outside of the organ for identifying a location of the lesion. The marker includes a light emitter and an engagement member associated with the emitter to be engageable with a wall of the organ. The engagement member includes a clip. The light emitter emits light with a wavelength in a near-infrared range. The device includes an endoscope comprising an inserter section having an image pickup element picking up a reflected light, involving the light from the light marker, at an outside of the organ, and an image pickup unit allowing the reflected light, picked by the image pickup element, to be generated as an image for display on a monitor.
US09060799B2

A clamp is provided for attachment to the left atrial appendage (LAA). The clamp can be locked in a closed position so as to remain in place on the LAA. After being attached to the LAA, the clamp can be moved to a desired position such that the LAA can be retracted to a desired extent. The clamp can be held in any desired position, preferably by being connected to a thoracic retractor that is being used to retract the patient's sternum or ribs. A movable member is connected between the clamp and a stationary portion of the retractor. By locking the movable member in a fixed position relative to the stationary portion, the clamp can be maintained in a desired position and the LAA can be retracted as desired.
US09060795B2

The present invention relates to a surgical robot for performing surgery of the minimally invasive type, comprising an instrument manipulator having a manipulator front end which is provided with an instrument receiver for receiving therein one of a number of surgical instruments, and manipulating means for, at least in use, manipulating the manipulator front end with respect to a patient body. The manipulator front end further comprises a container having a number of container holders for receiving therein the number of surgical instruments, and switching means for switching the instrument present in the instrument receiver by an instrument present in a container holder. The invention further relates to an instrument manipulator, a combination of an operating table and a surgical robot, and a master-slave operating system.
US09060784B2

According to some embodiments, a method of treating a subject having diabetes or symptoms associated with diabetes is provided. The method includes delivering a neuromodulation catheter within a vessel (e.g., hepatic artery) having surrounding nerves that innervate the liver (e.g., sympathetic nerves of the hepatic plexus). The method may also include modulating (e.g., disrupting, ablating, stimulating) the nerves by mechanical compression, energy delivery, or fluid delivery.
US09060783B2

A surgical sagittal saw for use with a complementary blade assembly that includes a static bar. The saw includes a head over which the blade assembly bar is seated. A clamp rod is able to mounted to the head to move along the longitudinal axis of the rod. The rod has a head that, as result of the longitudinal movement of the rod is moved towards and away from the head. A blade assembly is disposed on the saw head adjacent the rod. The rod can be positioned in a run state so that the rod head abuts the bar of the blade assembly so as to hold the blade assembly to the saw head. Alternatively, the rod can be repositioned in a load state the rod head is spaced from the saw head. This allows the blade assembly to be removed and replaced. A control member mounted to the saw head controls the movement of the rod. When the rod is moved from the load state to the run state, a biasing member places a force on the rod to hold the rod in the run state.
US09060782B2

A tissue ablation system including numerous components and methods is described herein for encircling target tissue and generating tissue ablation volumes in various biological tissues. The biological tissue includes tissue of a variety of organs of the human body including the liver, spleen, kidney, lung, breast and other organs, but is not so limited. The tissue ablation device comprises an energy source and at least one trocar coupled to the energy source, the trocar having a body, a proximal end, and a distal end. The trocar carries an electrode array that comprises a plurality of electrodes, each electrode of the plurality of electrodes is configured to extend from the trocar when moved from a retracted state to a deployed state, and to have at least one radius of curvature in the deployed state so that the electrode array forms a series of shaped electrodes in the deployed state.
US09060775B2

A method for determining motional branch current in an ultrasonic transducer of an ultrasonic surgical device over multiple frequencies of a transducer drive signal. The method may comprise, at each of a plurality of frequencies of the transducer drive signal, oversampling a current and voltage of the transducer drive signal, receiving, by a processor, the current and voltage samples, and determining, by the processor, the motional branch current based on the current and voltage samples, a static capacitance of the ultrasonic transducer and the frequency of the transducer drive signal.
US09060768B2

The present disclosure relates to a needle for attaching a fixator to a soft tissue graft. The needle includes a pointed distal end and a proximal end, the proximal end including a suture coupler, the suture coupler including a hook and a pocket formed by the hook, wherein the needle is curved along an entire length of the needle. A fixator for use with the needle and method of fixating a soft tissue graft to a bone is also disclosed.
US09060767B2

In one embodiment, a hook fastener has a plurality of hooks and a loop fastener has a plurality of loops to secure tissues sections to one another. At least one of these fasteners has a porous surface to allow tissue ingrowth to secure the fastener to the tissue. In another embodiment, only a single fastener is used, with a section of tissue being treated to engage and mate with the fastener. The disclosed tissue fastening systems can be used for a number of applications. One such example includes fastening tissue sections by wrapping a tissue fastener around the tissue and securing the fastener on itself. A suture may also be secured with the tissue fastener.
US09060758B2

Described is a needle assembly storage device comprising a housing having an opening adapted to receive an injection device, an array of needle assembly storage compartments moveably disposed within the housing, and an actuator adapted to cause movement of the array, wherein actuation of the actuator aligns a given needle assembly compartment with the opening.
US09060754B2

Neuromodulation cryotherapeutic devices and associated systems and methods are disclosed herein. A cryotherapeutic device configured in accordance with a particular embodiment includes an elongated shaft and a cooling assembly at a distal portion of the shaft. The shaft can be configured to locate the distal portion intravascularly at a treatment site within or otherwise proximate a renal artery. The cryotherapeutic device can further include a supply lumen configured to carry liquid refrigerant toward the cooling assembly. The cooling assembly can include an applicator in fluid communication with the supply lumen and configured to deliver cryotherapeutic cooling to nerves proximate the target site when in a deployed state.
US09060740B2

The invention relates to a dental X-ray system for the creation of a radiograph (13), comprising an imaging unit (5) for surface detection. The imaging unit (5) has a light source (6), which produces a polychromatic beam of visible light (6′), a masking edge (7), which extends at least partially into the polychromatic beam of light (6′) between the light source (6) and the recording area (19) for the purpose of creating a shadow demarcation line (17) in said recording area (19), and an optical detector (8), wherein the light source (6), the masking edge (7) and the optical detector (8) are mounted directly on the supporting device (2) and/or on the X-ray source (3) and/or on the X-ray detector (4) and can be moved together therewith past the recording area (19) in circular motion.
US09060735B2

A sleep monitoring method and device classify segments of an acoustic physiological signal captured during sleep as snore and apnea segments. The method and device employ a phase-locked loop array to rapidly detect snore segments for widely variant snoring rhythms exhibited by different people or the same person over time. The phase-locked loop array integrates seamlessly with an apnea timer-thresholding mechanism that detects apnea segments.
US09060733B2

A method is disclosed for determining a motion field in an image space of a CT image data set for a partially and cyclically moving object, wherein a projection data set from a CT system covering a motion phase and a projection angle range is recorded, and an iterative determination of the motion field by minimizing a cost function from CT image data sets which are motion-compensated and reconstructed making use of motion fields and which have a first image resolution, with a first analytical reconstruction algorithm, the cost function being based on raw data or transformed into the image space. A method for generating a motion-compensated CT image data set for a partially and cyclically moving object is also disclosed, along with a computer system for image reconstruction and a CT system.
US09060714B2

Methods for classifying aggregated data in a distributed sensor system are provided and illustrated with a wearable motion sensor network. The classification is operated in a distributed fashion on individual sensor nodes and a base station computer. The method classifies actions using a set of training motion sequences as prior examples and may reject outlying actions that are not in the training categories. Acquired sensor data is processed at the node by taking projections of the data to reduce dimensionality, calculating sparse representations of features using training sequences; validating and classifying local measurements and then transmitting classified measurements to a network base station. The base station aggregates local sensor measurements and performs a global classification of the data by forming global features from the local measurements; calculating sparse representations of global features; validating and classifying valid global features; and labeling global features and their corresponding local features.
US09060712B2

Some embodiments of the present inventive concept provide optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems for integration with a microscope. The OCT system includes a sample arm coupled to the imaging path of a microscope. The sample arm includes an input beam zoom assembly including at least two movable lenses configured to provide shape control for an OCT signal beam; a scan assembly including at least one scanning mirror and configured for telecentric scanning of the OCT signal beam; and a beam expander configured to set the OCT signal beam diameter incident on the microscope objective. The shape control includes separable controls for numerical aperture and focal position of the imaged OCT beam.
US09060710B2

Improved systems and methods for ocular tomography are provided. These systems and methods can be used to improve the effectiveness of a wide variety of different ophthalmic diagnostic procedures, and various surgical and non-surgical treatments. One embodiment provides a system and method for determining ocular tomography data for the eye using a plenoptic detector. For example, an ocular tomography system can comprise a set of light sources configured to illuminate an eye, a plenoptic detector configured to receive images of the light sources reflected from surfaces of the eye and generate plenoptic image data representing the images, and a processing system coupled to the plenoptic detector. The processing system is configured to analyze the plenoptic image data to determine tomography data for the eye.
US09060709B2

An apparatus uses a steered ultrasound beam to assess microstructure of the cervix revealed by backscatter power variation at a range of angles and depth. Analysis of a distribution of power loss at different angles and depths referenced to the structure of the cervix may be used to characterize cervical tissue.
US09060705B2

An electrode assembly for electrical impedance tomography comprising a plurality of different electrode modules, each containing a support strap made of a flexible material that presents a reduced longitudinal deformability and carrying a predetermined number of electrodes, each support strap being dimensioned to be seated and retained onto a respective extension portion of a body segment of a patient. Each electrode module presents the number of electrodes and a distance “De” between each two consecutive electrodes predetermined as a function of a specific operational pattern to be obtained from each electrode module. The assembly can further comprise an electrical conducting cable having an end connected to a monitoring apparatus and a free end provided with a connector to be coupled to a respective electrode of an electrode module.
US09060700B2

The invention relates to a medical measuring device having an impedance measurement unit (100) for detecting an impedance measurement signal from the skin surface (200) of a patient to be examined via at least one measurement electrode pair (3). According to the invention, the distance between the electrodes of the measurement electrode pair (3) is from a few millimeters to several centimeters such that, during the measurement process, both electrodes of the measurement electrode pair (3) for locally detecting the impedance measurement signal contact the same region of the skin surface (200) of the patient at the same time.
US09060693B2

A visual function testing device includes: a visual target image presentation unit that presents a visual target image; a visual target image rendering unit that renders the visual target image to be presented on the visual target image presentation unit; a visual function test item selection unit that selects a visual function test item; a visual target image generation unit that generates a visual target image corresponding to the test item selected by the visual function test item selection unit; a viewpoint distance input unit that inputs a distance between the visual target image presentation unit and a viewpoint of an observer; and a visual angle input unit that inputs an angle to be made by the visual target image and the viewpoint of the observer. Based on the viewpoint distance and the visual angle, a display size and display position of a visual target image are calculated.
US09060690B2

An apparatus for obtaining an image of a tooth having at least one light source providing incident light having a first spectral range for obtaining a reflectance image from the tooth and a second spectral range for exciting a fluorescence image from the tooth. A polarizing beamsplitter in the path of the incident light from both sources directs light having a first polarization state toward the tooth and directs light from the tooth having a second polarization state along a return path toward a sensor, wherein the second polarization state is orthogonal to the first polarization state. A first lens in the return path directs image-bearing light from the tooth toward the sensor, and obtains image data from the portion of the light having the second polarization state. A long-pass filter in the return path attenuates light in the second spectral range.
US09060688B2

Systems, devices, methods, and software are described for biometric sensors that permit a reduction in the size of the sensing area without significant reduction in biometric functionality of the sensor. A skin site of an individual is illuminated, and light scattered from the skin site is received. An image of a locally consistent feature of the skin site is formed from the received light. The locally consistent feature is analyzed to perform a biometric function.
US09060685B2

Disclosed is a computer implemented method for fully automated tissue diagnosis that trains a region of interest (ROI) classifier in a supervised manner, wherein labels are given only at a tissue level, the training using a multiple-instance learning variant of backpropagation, and trains a tissue classifier that uses the output of the ROI classifier. For a given tissue, the method finds ROIs, extracts feature vectors in each ROI, applies the ROI classifier to each feature vector thereby obtaining a set of probabilities, provides the probabilities to the tissue classifier and outputs a final diagnosis for the whole tissue.
US09060680B2

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a bite block assembly adapted for capnography and oxygen delivery to a subject, the bite block assembly (50) including a first capnography passageway adapted for passage therethrough of exhaled breath from the subject to a capnograph and a second oxygen delivery passageway, separate from the first passageway, adapted for passage therethrough of oxygen from an oxygen source to the mouth of the subject.
US09060669B1

An ultrasonic imaging method includes activating a transmit aperture within a multi-element transducer array, transmitting one or more ultrasonic beams along scan direction(s) that span the region of interest, for each transmit event, receiving ultrasound echoes from each element of a receive aperture, grouping the receive channel echo data into two or more sets corresponding to different receive sub-apertures, combining each sub-aperture data set to generate partially focused echo-location data for one or more reconstruction lines, and storing all the sub-aperture echo data sets during a storage period in a format that can be retrieved for later analysis. A method includes, during a post-storage period, retrieving stored sub-aperture data, combining the sub-aperture data to form one or more selected reconstruction lines, processing echo data to extract motion information from one or more sample positions along the selected reconstruction lines, and displaying an image representative of the processed motion information.
US09060662B2

An upright type vacuum cleaner is disclosed. The upright type vacuum cleaner includes a main body provided so that a disposition angle of the main body with respect to a surface to be cleaned is variable, a suction nozzle coupled to the main body so that the suction nozzle moves along the surface to be cleaned, and a joint provided between the main body and the suction nozzle to connect the main body and the suction nozzle so that the main body and the suction nozzle are rotated about a plurality of axes.
US09060660B2

A vacuum cleaner comprising a dust-bag-housing 104 made of paper, preferably card board housing panels 104a.Thus, the vacuum cleaner is environmentally friendly, having recyclable parts in place of some typical plastic parts, and is also capable of muffling the noise of vacuum generation.
US09060656B2

A drain stopper assembly for selectively closing an outlet from a water basin includes a stopper that axially slidably interacts with a support post to move between raised and lowered positions. In a raised position, the stopper can be laterally displaced to facilitate periodic cleaning of debris trapped in the drain passage. Lateral displacement can be accomplished in a variety of ways including by way of groove and follower pin relationships, pivoting sections of the support post and/or post interface of the stopper, and by a flexible support post.
US09060646B2

A milk frothing device (1) delimiting an area (2) for mixing milk (35) from a milk reservoir (3) and gas (49), comprises a supply arrangement (4) of pressurized gas. The pressurized gas supply arrangement (4) has a propelling gas conduit (41) configured to deliver pressurized propelling gas (48) into the milk reservoir (3) to pressurize the reservoir and propel thereby pressurized milk (36) from the reservoir to the mixing area (2).
US09060642B1

A modular cooking and steaming system includes a generally rectangular open top container with a self-cooling hollow handle for measuring pasta located on the side of the container. The handle has an internal diameter adapted to receive a quantity of pasta for measuring a portion. The system has a graduated water level indicator located on a container front side. The system has a generally rectangular perforated strainer lid adapted to snuggly cover a container open top. For use, a volume of water is poured into the container. The volume of water is measured via the water level indicator. A volume of pasta is measured in the handle then placed in the container for cooking. Upon completion of cooking, the strainer lid is placed on the container for draining the volume of water via the perforated top surface.
US09060639B2

Cookware, such as a stock pot, fry pan, sauté pan, griddle, or grill, comprising a basic three-ply bonded composite includes two layers of an aluminum alloy, such as 3003 or the like, bonded on opposed sides to a core layer of higher purity aluminum, such as 1050, 1100, 1145, or the like, to define a three-ply composite cookware product. One or more additional layers of higher purity aluminum are bonded intermediate one or more additional layers of aluminum alloy to form five-ply, or seven-ply, or more, bonded composite cookware products. The exterior layers of aluminum alloy may also include a non-stick coating and/or an anodized coating.
US09060635B1

A necktie and handkerchief holding device is disclosed. The necktie and handkerchief holding device allows a user to store handkerchiefs and other accessories in vertically connected pouches. Horizontal bars located between the vertically connected pouches with spring clips on each end of the bars allow for storage of neckties. The top of the necktie and handkerchief holding device has a hanger to allow the necktie and handkerchief holding device to be hung from a hanger rod in a closet or wardrobe cabinet.
US09060634B1

A universal sleeve supporter for keeping a suit jacket sleeve from creasing or wrinkling while the jacket is mounted on a hanger. The supporter comprises a planar structure stamped out of a firm yet flexible material in a manner to include a hanger engaging opening therein for engaging the supporter about a hanger when not in use and a clip which is foldable to either side of the structure, being engaged to the supporter structure by a hinge stamped into the material thereof. The supporter has scored side edge sections along each side edge of a lower section thereof, the scored side edge sections including a plurality of score lines therein about which the side edge sections may be folded inwardly to accommodate a sleeve of lesser diameter than that of the lower section.
US09060629B2

The tea cup (1) of the invention is used with a pocket (2) that includes a sieve (3) for tea material. The tea cup (1) has a functional shape achieved with two bottom sides (6,7) enabling the tea cup (1) to be placed in two different positions. The pocket (2) is designed so that it forms a tea compartment (4), which is attached to the inner wall (5) of the cup (1). The tea compartment (4) is integrally or detachably inserted in the tea compartment (4) at the upper part of the cup (1) on the same side as one of the bottom sides (6). This arrangement enables the tea compartment (4) to be on vertically different levels with respect to a water surface (or a tea surface) (11) in the cup (1) when the tea cup (1) is tilted in said different positions constituting a tea-making position and a drinking position in order to make tea of sufficient strength. The placement of the tea compartment (4) thus enables a functionality with respect to these positions. In the tea-making position, tea material inserted in the tea compartment (4) is in contact with the water in the cup (1), whereas in the drinking position, the tea material is intended to be above the water (or tea) surface (11). In the method of the invention for manufacturing the tea cup the tea cup part and the tea department part separately, whereafter a tea sieve is fastened to the tea compartment, and the tea compartment with the metal sieve is manufactured as a part that can be placed to the inner wall of the tea cup.
US09060626B2

An anti-wrinkle pillow including a pillow casing, first recess and second recess. The pillow casing has a bottom and top and is filled with fill material. The first recess is formed by securing the bottom to the top and is disposed at a first location. The second recess is formed by securing the bottom to the top and disposed at a second location. The second location is predetermined distance from the first location, such that the first recess and the second recess define first and second raised portions delineated by a trough portion. The first and second raised portions are configured to contact first and second portions of a user's face. The trough portion and the second recess are configured to remain contactless with the one or more portions of the user's face to mitigate wrinkling of the one or more portions of the user's face along the predetermined distance.
US09060623B2

An automated system for generating large numbers of digitally-defined patterns suitable for printing on textiles wherein each pattern is individually different but shares one or more unifying design motifs with all other patterns. In the general case, each pattern is comprised of at least two components in the form of separately configurable pattern layers that are digitally superimposed to form a composite pattern that is unique but visually related to all other unique patterns that use pattern layers taken from the same pattern sources.
US09060607B1

A hanger bar for a recessed lighting fixture mounting is disclosed. The hanger bar includes a rail portion having a wall that is in a first plane. The hanger bar further includes a first end portion disposed at a first end of the rail portion and a second end portion disposed at a second end of the rail portion. Each of the first end portion and the second end portion includes a first tab extending from the rail portion in a second plane that is substantially perpendicular to the first plane. Each of the first end portion and the second end portion further includes a second tab extending from the rail portion and a notch that is substantially below the first tab. The second tab extends beyond the first tab, and the notch is partially bounded by an edge of the second tab.
US09060602B2

A furniture assembly includes at least four division plates, at least four squared beams, and at least one storage space. The division plate has a left lateral surface and a right lateral surface to respectively mount a front fastener and a rear fastener. Four division plates are adhered to the squared beam at four orthogonal directions. The front fastener and the rear fastener of the division plate are to penetrate respective anchorage holes at the squared beam. With end plugs to be inserted into the corresponding end opening of the squared beam, the end plug and the corresponding fasteners of the division plates can be buckled up firmly at the corresponding end of the squared beam.
US09060594B2

A device connectable to a power line conductor includes an electrically conductive insulated first winding of wire wound into at least two turns having a first end and a second end. The first end is configured to be attached to a first power line conductor. An electrically conductive insulated second winding of wire wound into at least one turn. The second winding of wire includes a first end connected to the second end of the first winding of wire and a second end is configured to be attached to a second power line conductor. An automatic switchable connecting device is configured to move between a first position with the first winding of wire in series with the first and the second power line conductors and a second position with the first and the second power line conductors and the first and second windings of wire in series.
US09060582B2

A hair styling system includes a driver module and a plurality of interchangeably receivable styling modules. The driver module includes a holder configured to interchangeably receive a plurality of styling modules, each configured to perform at least one styling operation, a driver gear positioned adjacent to the holder, and a power module comprising a motor configured to drive the driver gear in a first direction and a second direction. The plurality of interchangeably receivable styling modules each include a styling module gear configured to operatively engage the driver gear and be rotatable thereby to perform at least one styling operation distinguishable from a styling operation performed by at least one other styling module.
US09060568B2

An article of footwear includes an upper that at least in part defines an interior chamber for receiving a foot; an insertable interior midsole component received within the interior chamber; and an exterior sole structure engaged with the upper, wherein the exterior sole structure includes: (a) an exterior midsole component and (b) optionally an outsole component that extends under the forefoot region, wherein the insertable interior midsole component is formed from a foam material comprising a reaction product of about 10 to about 100 phr hydrogenated or non-hydrogenated acrylonitrile butadiene copolymer, 0 to about 40 phr modified hydrogenated acrylonitrile butadiene copolymer, and 0 to about 90 phr alpha olefin copolymer, and at least one additive in an amount suitable to form the foam material; wherein the density of the foam material is less than 0.25 g/cm3.
US09060564B2

An adjustable multiple bladder system for an article of footwear is disclosed. The bladder system includes an outer bladder that may be inflated using an external pump. A valve member is disposed within the outer bladder and divides the outer bladder into two distinct inflation chambers. The inflation chambers may be inflated separately.
US09060563B2

An arch support insole includes a basic body made from soft flexible material having a top surface, a palm support portion and an arch support portion, wherein the palm support portion has a rear part, a front part with a width gradually increased from said rear part, an arched lateral side conforming to an arch of human foot, a topmost planar surface and a curved side surface gradually descending from the topmost planar surface. The topmost planar area is spaced apart from the top surface of the basic body at 7 mm˜9 mm. The arch support portion surrounds the rear part and the curved side surface of the palm support portion, has an upwardly curved top surface with a topmost point which is spaced from the top surface of the basic body at 1 mm˜4 mm.
US09060555B1

A clothing pocket structure including a first sheet of fabric at least partially spaced apart from a second sheet of fabric, the first and second sheets of fabric together at least partially defining a semi-enclosed volume; and a retention device disposed between the first and second sheets of fabric, first and second side portions of the retention device being attached to one of the first and second sheets of fabric, a middle portion of the retention device being at least partially spaced apart from the one of the first and second sheets of fabric to which the retention device is attached so as to define a securement space between the retention device and the one of the first and second sheets of fabric, and the securement space being generally open at a top edge of the retention device so as to permit the passage of a device therein.
US09060554B2

A method, system, and apparatus for holding a connecting instrument comprises a first member including a first finger cup and a first needle nose tip formed on the forward end of the finger cup and a second member comprising a second finger cup and a second needle nose tip formed on the forward end of the second finger cup wherein the first needle nose tip and the second needle nose tip are configured to grip a connecting device as it is being driven into a target.
US09060552B2

A garment is constructed of a plurality of interchangeable panels. A mirror pair of side panels is selectively attached to a center panel by various attachment means, e.g., a zipper. Each panel includes two designed surfaces, an inner surface and an outer surface, where the inner surface and the outer surface are interchangeable. Accordingly, a complete garment can be configured having various color and design pattern fabric combinations in similar concepts and different designs or cuts.
US09060550B2

An article of clothing containing concealed pockets for storing and protecting smart phones, identification cards, credit cards, and other objects is provided. In some preferred embodiments, the article of clothing is sportswear or a sports bra.
US09060544B2

A system for molding three-dimensional products from a mass of one or more food starting materials which are suitable for consumption, in particular human consumption, has a production device having a frame, a mold member provided with at least one mold cavity, the frame supporting the mold member, mass feed means for feeding the mass to the one or more mold cavities of the mold member. The system also has at least one cleaning device for cleaning one or more parts of the production device which come into contact with the mass. The mold member is removable from the frame. The system has a storage device for storing a plurality of mold members, which may be provided with an identification, has recognition means for recognizing the identification of a mold member, and may have a memory for storing at least one history of a mold member.
US09060538B2

The present invention provides soy sauce that comprises significant amounts of peptides, and, in particular, hypotensive peptide Gly-Tyr and hypotensive peptide Ser-Tyr, exhibiting a high degree of angiotensin-I-converting enzyme-inhibitory activity and has hypotensive effects while containing no hypotensive agent. Target soy sauce is obtained by mixing soy sauce koji having protease activity of 20 to 300 U/g koji with an aqueous common salt solution and subjecting the mixture to heated digestion, followed by compression filtration. Target soy sauce with a good flavor is obtained by adding soy sauce lactic acid bacteria and soy sauce yeast cells to the moromi mash after heated digestion, and subjecting the resultant to fermentation and maturation, followed by compression filtration.
US09060533B2

Provided is a Wheat grain (Triticum aestivum) comprising an embryo, starch and one, two or three SBEIIa proteins, said embryo comprising two identical alleles of an SBEIIa-A gene, two identical alleles of an SBEIIa-B gene and two identical alleles of an SBEIIa-D gene, wherein the starch has an amylose content of at least 50% (w/w) as a proportion of the extractable starch of the grain, and wherein at least one of the SBEIIa proteins is produced in the developing wheat endosperm and has starch branching enzyme activity.
US09060531B2

A laminated baked snack bar includes a layer of low moisture filling laminated between two thin layers of dough. The dough layers of the snack bar have a crunchy, cracker-like texture while the filling layer remains soft. The total thickness of the baked snack bar is preferably less than 7 millimeters. The snack bar is prepared by calibrating dough sheets to a thickness of less than 1 millimeter each, followed by depositing a filling composition having a high heat resistant stability on one of the calibrated dough sheets and placing a second calibrated dough sheet on top of the filling to form a laminate. The laminate is then calibrated, cut into bars and baked, using a mild baking profile. The snack bar may have a design molded on the top surface and/or a topping composition, preferably including oats, deposited on the laminate.
US09060530B2

A transfer mechanism for transferring food product from a compartment of a food processing system includes a conduit having a first end portion configured to be in communication with the compartment and a second end portion, a fluid discharge positioned substantially within the conduit between the first end portion and the second end portion, and a pressurized fluid source in communication with the fluid discharge. The pressurized fluid source is operable to propel a fluid through the fluid discharge to move the food product from the first end portion of the conduit toward the second end portion.
US09060523B1

A thermal process used to modify the moisture content and appearance of food, primarily meat, poultry and fowl, so that the resulting product will meet the USDA label requirement as “Jerky”. The process takes place in one or more enclosed insulated chambers which have temperature and relative humidity controls and reversing horizontal air flow. The process preconditions the product and also controls the application of superheated steam to the product, thereby controlling the reduction of free and bound moisture (water activity) exiting from the product. In addition, enhanced heated vapors can be added to be absorbed into the product's surface pours, thereby changing the appearance and flavor of the product and improving the end products' yields. The completed process also has the advantages of meeting lethality treatment requirements while also reducing the thermal processing time and energy associated with existing Jerky manufacturing methods.
US09060522B2

Disclosed herein is a walnut supply apparatus including: a vibrator applying vibration to a walnut grain to move the walnut grain; a walnut discharging guide part formed at an upper portion of the vibrator to discharge the walnut grain from the vibrator; a feeder formed at one end of the walnut discharging guide part along a moving direction of the walnut grain to supply the walnut grain into a mold; a feeder driving part pivoting the feeder to drop the walnut grain disposed on the feeder into the mold; and a mold driving unit cyclically transferring the mold along a predetermined path. The walnut supply apparatus according to the present invention may accurately supply the walnut grain to the mold without using an additional sensor.
US09060520B2

The present invention comprises a device for storing and releasing one or more mixed active compositions, for intensively controlling the external parasites of domestic animals, insects and other undesirable living organisms, composed of a polymer matrix comprising an ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer blended with a polyether block amide, said polymer matrix being charged in an active composition/matrix ratio by weight of less than 0.66. A method for manufacturing such a device is also claimed.
US09060516B2

The present invention relates to a method for the control of aquatic weeds which comprises applying a herbicidally effective amount of at least one compound of formula (I) wherein X is halogen and R is halogen or C1-C6 alkyl, and/or one or more agriculturally acceptable salts thereof to act on submersed aquatic weeds and/or their aqueous habitat containing seeds or other propagating organs of said aquatic weeds.
US09060506B2

An interchangeable hunting scent cartridge system featuring a scent cartridge which has a scent body engaged thereon. The scent cartridge is engageable with any of a plurality of mounting components which may be adapted to engage a gun or a tree or other outdoor mounting positions where a scent is desirable. The scent cartridges may also be provided with solid covers allowing for storage when not in use and sale and provision of a plurality of differently scented cartridges each of which is engageable with any of the plurality of mounting components.
US09060504B2

A device for repelling animals using acoustic waves, comprising an acoustic wave generation unit (11); first and second frequency adjusting units (12, 13) to induce the generation of resonance of the pulse signal generated from the acoustic wave generation unit (11); an acoustic wave output unit (14) to output the acoustic wave; a resonance generation-type acoustic wave output unit (15) to output the acoustic wave; a resonance generation unit (16) which forms a space in which the acoustic wave outputted from the acoustic wave output unit (14) and the acoustic wave outputted from the resonance generation-type acoustic wave output unit (15) stay at the same time, and amplifies the volume and the frequencies by inducing resonance to be generated by mutual interference; and an acoustic wave diffusing unit (17) which diffuses the acoustic waves expanded by the resonance to a free space via an induction pathway.
US09060502B1

A strike indicator attachment tool includes a tool handle, an elongated tool rod extending from the tool handle and a line or leader engaging hook in the tool rod. A method of fabricating a strike indicator on a fishing line or leader includes providing a strike indicator attachment tool having a line or leader engaging hook, snagging the fishing line or leader in the line or leader engaging hook, forming a loop in the fishing line or leader by sliding a strike indicator securing sleeve over the fishing line or leader, extending a bundle of strike indicator threads through the loop and cinching the strike indicator threads by sliding the strike indicator securing sleeve from the fishing line or leader over the bundle of strike indicator threads.
US09060497B2

The invention relates to a method for brooding or growing poultry, wherein eggs of the first 3-5 layings of young animals, preferably hens younger than 29 weeks, usually starting from about 26 weeks, are collected and are hatched together, directly after hatching the hatched chicks are provided in crates with about 10-500 animals arranged in stacks in an incubator chamber, in which incubator chamber food and drinking are provided to each crate and the temperature, humidity, CO2 level and flow rate of air are controlled.
US09060496B2

A pet grooming tool is provided with a fur ejector portion that is at least partially movable relative to the teeth of the pet grooming tool and can be manually moved into engagement with fur that is wedged or lodged between the teeth. The engagement of the fur ejector portion with the fur forces the fur from the gaps between the teeth. Preferably, the fur ejector portion can be manually moved by the same hand a person uses to support and hold the grooming tool.
US09060483B1

A soybean cultivar designated 36074412 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of soybean cultivar 36074412, to the plants of soybean cultivar 36074412, to the plant parts of soybean cultivar 36074412, and to methods for producing progeny of soybean cultivar 36074412. The invention also relates to methods for producing a soybean plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic soybean plants and plant parts produced by those methods. The invention also relates to soybean cultivars or breeding cultivars, and plant parts derived from soybean cultivar 36074412. The invention also relates to methods for producing other soybean cultivars, lines, or plant parts derived from soybean cultivar 36074412, and to the soybean plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid soybean seeds, plants, and plant parts produced by crossing cultivar 36074412 with another soybean cultivar.
US09060478B2

A novel soybean variety, designated XB13B13 is provided. Also provided are the seeds of soybean variety XB13B13, cells from soybean variety XB13B13, plants of soybean XB13B13, and plant parts of soybean variety XB13B13. Methods provided include producing a soybean plant by crossing soybean variety XB13B13 with another soybean plant, methods for introgressing a transgenic trait, a mutant trait, and/or a native trait into soybean variety XB13B13, methods for producing other soybean varieties or plant parts derived from soybean variety XB13B13, and methods of characterizing soybean variety XB13B13. Soybean seed, cells, plants, germplasm, breeding lines, varieties, and plant parts produced by these methods and/or derived from soybean variety XB13B13 are further provided.
US09060477B2

The invention relates to methods and compositions for identifying and selecting maize plants with enhanced resistance to Fusarium ear mold. Maize plants generated by the methods of the invention are also a feature of the invention.
US09060470B1

An apparatus for the support of branches and fruit during growth of plants, bushes, and shrubs includes a first rod and a second rod that cooperate for form an upright rod assembly. The first rod includes a hollow elliptical or oval shaped center and the second rod includes an elliptical or oval shaped exterior When the second rod is disposed in the first rod and is rotated, a portion of the exterior of the second rod binds against a portion of the interior of the first rod to secure the first and second rods together. During use, a bottom of the first rod is secured to an upright post and a plant is secured to the upright rod assembly. Alternately, the bottom of the first rod is attached to a soil tip which is then inserted into soil. Various clips for attachment of horizontal members, cords, and wires are provided.
US09060467B2

An apparatus for hanging of decorative or utilitarian articles such as potted plants is provided. The apparatus has a c-channel track defining an inner channel and a rolling-bearing element sized to roll therealong. A hanger is attached to the rolling-bearing element for hanging decorative or utilitarian articles. The arrangement allows for articles to positioned anywhere along the track.
US09060463B2

A lawnmower with operation protection and a safety switch mechanism. The safety switch mechanism include: an inner pipe and a pipe sleeve slidably connected with and enclosing the inner pipe, a safety switch with a contact tab mounted inside the pipe sleeve, a trigger configured to trigger the safety switch by contacting the contact tab when the inner pipe slides, and an elastomer configured to drive the trigger to keep from contacting with the contact tab. All of the safety switch, the trigger and the elastomer are arranged on the same side of the inner pipe. The safety switch mechanism functions to disable the motor upon accidental proximity of the operator to the cutter body to thereby lower the possibility of an accident.
US09060462B2

Systems and methods are disclosed for the selection and removal of seeds from containers and placement of the seeds on a seed tape. The systems include a seed extraction assembly and a seed tape assembly. The seed extraction assembly is configured to extract individual seeds from a tray and place the seeds within an accumulator. The accumulator is disposed in the extraction assembly and is rotatable within the assembly. The seed tape assembly is configured to place the seed disposed in the accumulator onto the seed tape. The method includes the steps of using the seed extraction assembly to extract seeds from the tray and place them within the accumulator. The seed tape assembly is then used to place the seed disposed in the accumulator onto the seed tape.
US09066460B2

Cooled electronic assemblies and methods of fabrication are provided. In one embodiment, the assembly includes a coolant-cooled electronic module with one or more electronic component(s), and one or more coolant-carrying channel(s) integrated within the module, and configured to facilitate flow of coolant through the module for cooling the electronic component(s). In addition, the assembly includes a coolant manifold structure detachably coupled to the electronic module. The manifold structure facilitates flow of coolant to the coolant-carrying channel(s) of the electronic module, and the coolant manifold structure and electronic module include adjoining surfaces. One surface of the adjoining surfaces includes a plurality of coolant capillaries or passages. The coolant capillaries are sized to inhibit, for instance, via surface tension, leaking of coolant therefrom at the one surface with decoupling of the coolant manifold structure and electronic module along the adjoining surfaces.
US09066453B2

A power electronic system including a casing encapsulating a circuit board and multiple power electronic components mounted to a first broad face of the circuit board. The casing includes a case body, a first lid, and a second lid. The case body includes a cooling channel region including a cooling plate having a first and second broad face, cooling features extending from the cooling plate first broad face, and a cooling block extending from the cooling plate second broad face. The case body further includes a first access gap defined through the case body. The circuit board is mounted to the casing with the first broad face proximal the cooling plate second broad face. The power electronic system additionally includes a connector that extends from the case exterior to connect to the circuit board first broad face, wherein connector connection is facilitated by the first access gap.
US09066451B2

A heat exchanger system having a container having an inner chamber containing the media from which heat is to be pulled, and further having an outer surface to which is attached corrugated columns of thermally conducting material, cooling fluid conduits through the corrugated columns supplied with cooling water, at least the outer surface of the container and the corrugated columns is composed of metal and the outer surface of the container is separated from the inner surface by insulator material. It also contains a temperature monitor and controller for controlling the cooling system based upon the environment temperature to save energy.
US09066450B2

The invention provides a modular, configurable aisle isolation and containment system that may function as a hot aisle or as a cold aisle. The data center air routing system of the invention comprises one or more free-standing, essentially identical, modular system units. Each modular unit comprises two sidewalls, a ceiling, and a door or panel at either end to form an interior, enclosed aisle. Two or modular units may be coupled together end-to-end. Each modular unit further comprises one or more sidewall blanking panels that may be removed to create gaps of varying height and width to accommodate one or more IT racks. Each modular unit may also include one or more ceiling-mounted air ducts, baffles and fans to manage air flow.
US09066448B2

The embodiments of the present invention provide an insert box with front and rear insertion and a heat dissipation method of the insert box. The insert box includes a front board area, a backboard, and a rear board area. A first air flow passing from a first wind inlet at an upper end portion at a front side of the insert box passes through one of the front board area and the rear board area; and a second air flow passing from a second wind inlet at a lower end portion at the front side of the insert box passes through the other one of the front board area and the rear board area.
US09066441B2

The invention relates to a receiving device, in particular a cabinet or rack, having a receiving space (12) for receiving built-in components (14) provided with RFID transponders (34), and having a detection device for detecting built-in components (14) accommodated, which is or can be connected to an evaluation device, and has at least one RFID antenna (32) for communication with the RFID transponders (34) of the incorporated built-in components (14). According to the invention, the receiving device (10) has a plurality of RFID transponders (36) arranged distributed along the receiving space (12), the transponder action of said RFID transponders can be changed as a function of a presence or absence of a built-in component (14) in the vicinity of the respective device-specific RFID transponder (36).
US09066440B2

A side bracket for holding a housing in a rack is provided that includes a profile section with a vertical mounting plate that can be used to attach the profile section in a rack. The profile section includes a horizontal slide plate attached to the mounting plate, upon which slide plate a housing may be placed and moved in a sliding manner, and includes at least one retaining element with which a force acting in the horizontal direction from the profile section can be exerted on a side wall of the housing.
US09066438B2

A fixing mechanism includes a first platform, a first bent portion, a second platform and an engaging portion. The first platform is fixed on a casing of an electronic device. The first bent portion is connected to the first platform. An end of the second platform is connected to the first bent portion. The second platform pivots relative to the first platform via the first bent portion. The engaging portion is disposed on a side of the second platform. The engaging portion is for engaging with an interface card and the casing as the second platform pivots relative to the first platform, so as to fix the interface card on the casing.
US09066435B2

A wiring board includes a first insulation layer, a second insulation layer formed on the first insulation layer, a wiring structure interposed between the first insulation layer and the second insulation layer and including an insulation layer and conductive patterns formed on the insulation layer, second conductive patterns formed on the second insulation layer, and a via conductor formed through the second insulation layer and connected to one of the second conductive patterns on the second insulation layer.
US09066424B2

The presently claimed invention is to provide a package for compact RF signal system, and a method to form the package thereof in order to miniaturize the size of package, improve signal integrity, and reduce manufacturing cost. The package comprises a hybrid substrate with a sandwiched structure, in which the hybrid substrate comprises an upper layer and a lower layer with different dielectric properties being separated by an interposer for improving electrical isolation and mechanical stiffness. Metal layers are formed on the sidewalls of the opening to surround an active component, such that the metal sidewalls together with two ground plates in the upper and lower layers constitute a self-shielding enclosure inside the package to protect the active component.
US09066416B2

In a power supply enclosure and a method of manufacturing the same, the power supply enclosure is divided into an independent top cover, an independent bottom base, as well as two independent side panels. The top cover, the bottom base, and the side panels are formed by blanking. After extruded hole, punching or bending processes by using a change core method, the top cover and the bottom base were made, followed by assembling the two side panels on the two sides between the top cover and the bottom base to form the power supply enclosure group.
US09066406B1

An LED driver circuit is provided with protection against short circuits between output terminals. Two switches are coupled in series with the LED load. A first capacitor is coupled to gate terminals for the first and second switches and defines a first gate charge time. A first failure detection circuit includes a third switch coupled across the first capacitor, a second capacitor defining a second gate charge time for the third switch, the second gate charge time being less than the first, and a zener diode having a threshold voltage less than a maximum output voltage during normal operation. The failure detection circuit disables the third switch during normal operation, and during short conditions enables the third switch to short the gates of the first and second switches. A second failure detection circuit is identical to the first, and coupled in parallel to protect against circuit failure.
US09066401B1

A method, apparatus, and system for compensating for lamp lumen depreciation. The method includes operating the lamp under rated wattage for a period towards the first part of operating life of the lamp. Operating wattage is increased at one or more later times. Energy savings are realized. The increases also restore at least some light lost by lamp lumen depreciation. The apparatus uses a timer to track operating time of the lamp. A few wattage changes made at spaced apart times can be made in a number of ways, including changing capacitance to the lamp, or using different taps on the lamp ballast. In one aspect the invention pertains to solid state sources. The invention can pertain to a variety of applications including wide area lighting, indoor lighting, pathway lighting, parking lot lighting, street lighting, under-counter or -cabinet lighting, and others.
US09066400B2

A bi-level dimming control circuit is disclosed. The bi-level dimming control circuit is electrically coupled between two switches and a driver circuit that is compatible with 0 to 10 volt dimming signals. The bi-level dimming control circuit controls the output from the driver circuit based on the on and off positions of the switches. In repose to the on and off positions of the switches the driver circuit powers a light engine between a maximum light output mode, a zero light output mode and a reduced or dimmed light output mode. The bi-level control circuit is used to modulate LED light engines, fluorescent light engines and combinations thereof.
US09066399B2

There is provided an illumination driving apparatus for a light emitting diode, the apparatus including: a light emitting unit including M number of light emitting diodes (LEDs) connected in series and driven by an output voltage rectified in a rectifying unit; an LED switch unit including N number of LED switches connected in parallel with at least N number of the M LEDs, respectively, and connected in series; an LED switch control signal generating unit comparing the output voltage of the rectifying unit with each of the first to Nth preset reference voltages to generate N number of LED switch control signals controlling the LED switch unit; and an LED switch controlling unit transferring the N number of LED switch control signals to the LED switch unit.
US09066397B2

Current is provided to a segment of light emitting diodes in a plurality of segments of light emitting diodes. Embodiments generate a current and sequentially and separately switch the current to each segment of light emitting diodes in the plurality of segments of light emitting diodes for a corresponding period of time, where the corresponding period of time is based on an average current of the generated current.
US09066395B2

There are provided a power supply device switching power input to a primary side to supply the power to a predetermined load connected to a secondary side electrically insulated from the primary side and a control circuit thereof. The control circuit generates a predetermined PWM signal to apply the PWM signal to a dimming switch connected to an end of the load and controls a switching frequency of the primary side, based on a control voltage generated according to a feedback signal according to the power supplied to the load and the PWM signal, and the control voltage maintains a constant difference between a minimum voltage level and a maximum voltage level regardless of a duty of the PWM signal.
US09066383B2

A method of controlling illumination, including transmitting location information from a communication device to a computer; receiving illumination data with the communication device, where the illumination data is generated by the computer based at least in part on the location information; and transmitting an illumination signal from the communication device to a wearable accessory containing at least one light source, where the illumination signal is based at least in part on the received illumination data and is operable to actuate the at least one light source.
US09066379B2

A circuit arrangement for organic light-emitting diodes can be arranged in a two-dimensional matrix. It can in particular be used with microdisplays. It can allow a wide influencing of the brightness of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the organic light-emitting diodes. Every organic light-emitting diode can be controlled by means of a storage circuit, a sense amplifier and a driver circuit using the circuit arrangement. The driver circuit can be formed by at least three transistors connected in series and a further output transistor whose drain is connected to the anode of the respective organic light-emitting diode. In this respect, the transistor acting as the driver can have a constant electric operating voltage LVDD applied at its source and a further likewise constant electric operating voltage Vdrive is applied to its gate. The drain of the first transistor to the source of the following transistor connected to it in series and the two gates of the following transistors which form a switch and are connected in series are connected to the output of the sense amplifier and are acted on by its electric output voltage VSenseOut. The drains of the two transistors forming the switch are connected to the source of the output transistor whose gate is connected to ground potential or to which negative electric voltage is applied.
US09066373B2

A system and method of controlling an induction cooking appliance based on a feedback signal. A feedback signal sampling time interval may be triggered when a power control signal has a magnitude of zero. The feedback signal sample may be used to calculate a status factor and the appliance may be controlled based on the calculated status factor.
US09066361B2

The present invention relates to a method for communicating in a network comprising a primary station and at least one secondary station, said secondary station comprising a buffer containing data packets to be transmitted to the primary station, the method comprising the step of the secondary station transmitting an indication of the buffer status to the primary station, said indication comprising information about history of said buffer.
US09066359B2

The invention relates to apparatuses, a method, computer program and computer-readable medium for resource allocation (selection of channel and maximum allowed transmission power) in a coexisting secondary communications system, overlapping with a primary system. Allocation is performed based on an interference table indicating measured interference per cell of the primary system from other cells of the primary and secondary system.
US09066356B2

In a wireless communication system including a plurality of wireless stations provided in a structure having a radio wave shield arranged at a fixed position, at least one of two wireless stations using an identical wireless channel and two wireless stations using wireless channels adjacent to each other are allocated on both sides of the radio wave shield, respectively. In this case, the structure is an aircraft, and the two wireless stations are allocated on different aisles of the aircraft, respectively. In addition, the two wireless stations are allocated to be apart from each other in a longitudinal direction of the aircraft.
US09066353B2

A method and system for controlling discontinuous reception (DRX) in a mobile device in a wireless communications network uses autonomous DRX control after initial VoIP traffic setup. If the mobile device transmits a negative-acknowledgement signal (NACK) indicating unsuccessful receipt of a VoIP packet, then it autonomously turns on a predetermined delay time later to receive the retransmission of the VoIP packet. The predetermined delay time is related to the time for the base station to process the NACK and prepare the VoIP packet for retransmission. When the mobile device transmits or retransmits a VoIP packet, reception is deactivated, but is autonomously activated the predetermined delay time later to receive an acknowledgement signal (ACK) or NACK. VoIP packets may be transmitted from the mobile device the predetermined delay time before VoIP packets are transmitted from the base station.
US09066351B2

Systems and methods for data transmission include categorizing users into one of a plurality of profiles using a processor based on device and channel characteristics. Each of the plurality of profiles is mapped to one of a plurality of transmission schemes. Data is combined for a plurality of users categorized with different profiles for data transmission.
US09066346B2

This document discloses a solution where a network element of a cellular communication system detects appearance of a terminal device in the cellular communication system. In connection with registering the terminal device in the cellular communication system, the network element determines that a native frequency band of the terminal device is a sub-band of an operating frequency band of the cellular communication system and, then, allocates to the terminal device frequency resources from the native frequency band of the terminal device.
US09066343B2

A method for receiving a Relay Physical Downlink Control CHannel (R-PDCCH) by a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system. The method includes receiving a downlink subframe including one or more aggregated resource blocks including resource elements. The resource elements are mapped in increasing order of first a subcarrier index, and then a symbol index. The method further includes monitoring the R-PDCCH on the one or more aggregated resource blocks. The one or more aggregated resource blocks are numbered based on an aggregation level and a number of the one or more aggregated resource blocks corresponding to the aggregation level.
US09066342B2

The present invention relates to a wireless communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method in which a terminal transmits control information in a CA-based wireless communication system and to an apparatus for the method, the method comprising: a step of configuring a first cell and a second cell having different subframe configurations, the second cell has UL-DL configuration #0; a step of receiving a downlink control information (DCI) format including an N-bit field (N>1), for the second cell; and a step of transmitting a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) signal corresponding to the downlink DCI format through a subframe. The N-bit field indicates either an uplink (UL) index or a downlink assignment index (DAI). For PUSCH timing, in cases where a reference UL-DL configuration applied to the second cell is any one of UL-DL configurations #1 to #6, the N-bit field indicates the DAI.
US09066338B2

The present invention relates to a method for transmitting resource allocation information between a mobile communication device and a base station in a wireless mobile communication system that supports a plurality of communication modes. The method comprises the steps of: creating information relating to the number of resource units available for the mobile communication device operating in a second communication mode from all of the whole resource units which can be used by a first mobile communication device operating in a first communication mode and a second mobile communication device operating in the second communication mode; and broadcasting the information relating to the number of available resource units created in the previous step.
US09066337B2

A wireless subscriber communication unit is provided for operation in a cellular communication system having a plurality of shared uplink and downlink transmission resources, each divided into sets of mutually exclusive resources. The shared uplink transmission resources are defined in terms of codes and timeslots. The communication unit comprises a receiver, control, and transmitter unit. The receiver unit receives scheduling information including an assignment of a scheduled uplink transmission resource from the shared uplink transmission resources from a network infrastructure apparatus. The control unit derives an uplink resource identifier related to the scheduled uplink transmission resource from the received scheduling information. The transmitter unit transmits an uplink transmission, which includes the uplink resource identifier, using the scheduled uplink transmission resource. The control unit receives a downlink transmission associated with the uplink transmission on a downlink transmission resource determined from at least one of the received scheduled uplink resource or identifier.
US09066323B2

Example disclosed herein relate to an ad hoc network connection. A first mobile device initiates a request for an ad hoc wireless local area network (WLAN) connection with a second mobile device via a cellular network. Location information of the second mobile device is received and a distance of the second mobile device to the first mobile device is determined from the location information. If the distance is within a threshold, the first mobile device and the second mobile device exchange WLAN parameters and the ad hoc WLAN connection is established using the WLAN parameters.
US09066301B2

Embodiments include managing a reverse link transmission power level setpoint during periods of data inactivity on a reverse link traffic channel in a wireless communications system. At an access terminal, upon detecting reverse link data inactivity above a time threshold, a message is generated and transmitted on the reverse link traffic channel at a power level sufficient for the access network to measure transmission statistics to determine whether to adjust the current transmission power level setpoint of the access terminal. Alternatively, the access terminal notifies the access network of an upcoming reverse link data inactivity period, and then lowers its transmission power level setpoint to reduce power consumption during the reverse link data inactivity period. Then, upon detection of a potential reverse link data transmission, the access terminal may then send one or more messages to prompt the access network to modify the access terminal's transmission power level setpoint.
US09066290B2

Disclosed is the radio (wireless) communication system providing a radio communication service and the terminal, and more particularly, to a method for reconfiguring a timer of a mobile terminal in an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (E-UMTS) evolved from the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) or a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system.
US09066289B2

A system including multiple nodes performing radio communication, wherein each node stores routing information, uses it to determine a transmission path, and performs cut-through transmission by transmitting and receiving packets to and from a node on the determined path through transmission and reception radio waves given a directivity by controlling their phases. In the system, time synchronization and transmission and reception of packet communication records are performed during a certain time period by carrying out the cut-through transmission while controlling phases of the radio waves so that all of the nodes form one or more closed loops. The node transmits and receives packets in accordance with routing information and a time frame assigned to each of the nodes as a time when each node is allowed to transmit and receive a packet, updates the routing information, and shares it with each node.
US09066284B2

Call policy enforcement and routing is based on user location. A plurality of endpoints is provided for receiving and making calls. Each of the plurality of endpoints are assigned a default policy for controlling call authorization and providing call routing rules. A mapping of policies for a plurality of locations is stored. A location of a client associated with one of the plurality of endpoints is identified. A location-based policy is obtained from the stored mapping of policies of the plurality of locations based on the identified location of the client. The obtained location-based policy is applied instead of the default policy assigned to the client associated with one of the plurality of endpoints.
US09066283B2

Provided are a basic service set (BSS) load management procedure and a quiet interval setup procedure in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system. The WLAN system uses a bonding channel, and an access point (AP) of the WLAN system provides BSS load information regarding a channel having a bandwidth less than or equal to a bandwidth of the bonding channel (e.g., each of channels of 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 60 MHz, and 80 MHz) to STAs of the WLAN system. The BSS load information may be specified by an extended BSS load element. The AP transmits the extended BSS load element to the STAs by including the BSS load information to a beacon frame or a probe response frame.
US09066278B2

A communications apparatus is described which is capable of auto-tuning a cell admission threshold value used to control admission into a communications network. The apparatus obtains an outage rate for one or more current calls at a node in the network, and also a blocking rate of the rate at which admission requests at the node are blocked and uses these rates to adjust a load threshold to be used in admission control decisions. The apparatus then controls admission of calls at the node in dependence on an estimated current load and the load threshold.
US09066273B2

Cell selection procedures performed in a wireless network are disclosed that include determining a uplink/downlink (ULDL) preference of a User Equipment (UE) in communication with a first evolved Node B (eNB) having a first ULDL configuration and a second eNB having a second ULDL configuration. The UE compares the first and second ULDL configurations to the ULDL preference. The UE selects the first eNB based on the first ULDL configuration matching the ULDL preference. In alternative aspects, a first eNB having a first ULDL configuration and in communication with a UE receives the ULDL preference of the UE. The first eNB compares the first ULDL configuration and a second ULDL configuration of a second eNB in communication with the UE to the ULDL preference. The first eNB selects the second eNB based on the second ULDL configuration matching the ULDL preference.
US09066270B2

A system and method for determining a correspondence between an Abis signaling channel and an air channel frequency designator. A monitoring instrument may be connected to multiple E1 circuits, monitoring messages sent on Abis signaling channels. By repeatedly observing channel activation messages (135) preceding channel assignment messages (145) of interest, or channel assignment messages (145) following channel activation messages (135) of interest, the instrument may infer a correspondence between an Abis signaling channel and an air channel frequency designator.
US09066267B2

A wireless communication device and a method to establish a protected time for communication over a direct link between two stations of the same network. The method includes configuring at least one antenna for a direct link establishment, switching to a listening mode and waiting for a channel time allocation (CTA) for transmission. After receiving the CTA a source station sends a first frame to a destination station based on a channel time allocation value and receive a second frame from the destination station to complete an establishment the CTA.
US09066265B2

Logic such as hardware and/or code to narrow available sub-channels in frequency selective transmission communications in which a station selects a narrow band from a wider channel bandwidth. A frequency selective transmission scheme for communications devices may select a 1 or 2 MHz channel from a wider channel bandwidth (e.g., 4, 8, 16 MHz) that consists of a number of 1 or 2 MHz sub-channels and transmitting packets on the selected sub-channel. The access point may narrow the number of sub-channels available for selection by stations. Stations may narrow the number of sub-channels. Both the AP and the stations may operate to narrow the number of sub-channels. A medium access control sub-layer protocol common to the communications devices may facilitate a frequency selective transmission scheme.
US09066257B2

Some aspects of the present disclosure relate to a method for accurately detecting and measuring signals received from multiple cells surrounding a user equipment (UE) during a cell search. The method is performed by receiving a composite signal comprising an aggregate of transmissions (e.g., synchronization signals) from a plurality of base stations at a UE. A correlation-based metric describing a cell is generated by performing a cross-correlation of a transmission (e.g., synchronization signal, reference signal, etc.) from the cell with the received composite signal. The correlation-based metric of weaker cells may be modified to generate an equivalent ideal metric, also proportional to the search criteria, in which the impact of interfering signals is suppressed. By suppressing the impact of the interfering signals, the equivalent ideal metric can be used to identify a weaker target signal in light of the eclipsing, stronger signals.
US09066249B2

Methods and apparatus for interference coordination to improve transmission and reception performance within wireless networks. In one exemplary embodiment, a wireless transmitter transmits multiple transmissions over a determined time. The receiver receives the multiple transmissions and attempts to recover the transmitted signal. Because, the fading channel varies over time for each transmitter-receiver, by combining the received signals over multiple iterations, the signal of interest will be magnified, whereas interference effects will be suppressed.
US09066242B2

The embodiments herein relate to a method in a target node (501, 520) for handling capabilities of a wireless relay (510) in a communications network (500). The target node (501, 520) receives, from the wireless relay (510), information indicating a capability of the wireless relay (510). The information indicates whether the wireless relay (510) is fixed or movable. Based on the received information, the target node (501, 520) determines a procedure to be executed, which procedure is dependent on whether the wireless relay (510) is fixed or movable.
US09066240B2

A user equipment (UE) may detect a potential collision between a discontinuous reception (DRX) pattern of a first radio access technology (RAT) and a reception time of a message from a second RAT of a remote device. The reception time may be unknown. The UE may dynamically reconfigure the DRX pattern to reduce a likelihood of the potential collision. The UE may also configure transmission of a different message by the second RAT during a DRX off-period to reduce a likelihood of the potential collision.
US09066235B2

A moving state detecting section 202 determines a moving state of a share source terminal 100. A moving state detecting section 302 determines a moving state of a share destination terminal 110. An inter-terminal distance measuring section 304 detects the distance between the share source terminal 100 and the share destination terminal 110. A security process determining section 305 determines a terminal and a function on which to perform a security process, based on the moving state of each terminal and the distance between the terminals. A security process executing section 306 notifies the determined terminal to perform the security process on the determined function.
US09066227B2

A system and method are disclosed for providing wireless network access to a user of a remote device at a hotspot. In general, wireless communication is established by the system with the remote device to enable wireless transmission therefrom of social networking credentials associated with a social network profile maintained by a third party social network service provider. Using these credentials, the user is authenticated with the third party social network service provider, and, upon authentication, is provided wireless access to the network.
US09066221B2

A method and a user equipment (UE) are described for performing a proximity-based service (ProSe) in a cellular communication system. The UE is a public safety (PS) ProSe-enabled UE that is a member of a ProSe Group. At least one UE of the ProSe Group is not served by a cellular network, and an apparatus therefore. The PS ProSe-enabled UE checks whether it is in a location served by the cellular network, and transmits first information related to the ProSe Group to the cellular network if a condition is satisfied. The PS ProSe-enabled UE transmits a notice to a leader UE of the ProSe Group for informing that the PS ProSe-enabled UE is in a state that can be served by the cellular network when the PS ProSe-enabled UE is in the location served by the cellular network as a result of the check operation.
US09066220B2

Methods and systems for distributed infrastructure for streaming data via multiple access points. Aspects of one method may include apportioning multimedia information among a plurality of transmitting devices based on feedback channel information received from a destination receiving device by, for example, a transmission controller device. The transmitting devices may transmit the multimedia information to the destination receiving device. A transmitting device that may not be apportioned multimedia information may transmit a probing signal. The destination receiving device may generate feedback channel information for a transmitting device, for example, based on the multimedia information or the probing signal received from the respective transmitting device. The apportioning of the multimedia information may be dynamically adjusted based on updated feedback channel information received from the destination receiving device.
US09066216B2

Methods and apparatus for providing voicemail services to callers of wireless devices may include providing customized outgoing messages to callers based upon the caller's identification. A subscriber to the voicemail service may select one or more contacts associated with the subscriber to receive a customized outgoing message while the remaining callers receive a general outgoing message. The methods and apparatus may further include distributing voicemail messages from a subscriber's voicemail accounts to one or more social networking sites. The subscriber to the voicemail services may share one or more received voicemail messages via one or more social networking accounts associated with the subscriber.
US09066203B2

The disclosed embodiments include a method, apparatus, and computer program product for restricting communications at a network level. For example, one disclosed embodiment includes a system that includes at least one processor and at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor. The memory stores instructions that when executed by the at least one processor performs operations that includes receiving location coordinates such as, but not limited to, a building's coordinates, a name of a business, and a freeform shape that defines a boundary. The operations include restricting, at the network level, communications associated with a device determined to be within a boundary corresponding to the location coordinates.
US09066202B2

A method of determining a position of a target device includes: sending a first measurement signal from a first known-position device; receiving the first measurement signal at a second known-position device; receiving a first acknowledgement signal from the target device at the first known-position device and at the second known-position device; determining the position of the target device using first timing information associated with the first measurement signal and the first acknowledgement signal, a first position of the first known-position device, and a second position of the second known-position device.
US09066196B2

The present application provides a method and a device for saving network resources, wherein the method particularly includes: determining that a user equipment has the property of small data amount transfer; and during network attachment, allocating no user plane resources to the user equipment which has the property of small data amount transfer. The present application is used to save network resources in an LTE system during M2M communication.
US09066194B2

A method of detecting, controlling and managing transmission of a transmitting device within a facility is disclosed. The method involves transmitting information to the transmission device, detecting a response transmission from the transmission device by a least one transmission detection facility, extracting identification information associated with the transmission device in response to the transmitted information; and determining a location of the transmission device based on the response transmission received by the at least one received transmission detection facility, wherein the response transmissions are sorted by the identification information, determining an allowability of the located transmission device with the set area and interacting and manipulating transmission of the detected transmitting device.
US09066187B2

The invention relates to a transducer comprising a housing having a first and a second sound input, a first and a second vibration sensors configured to convert vibration to an output, and a diaphragm connected to both the first and second vibration sensor.
US09066179B2

Embodiments are provided for configurations of a loudspeaker and assembly of the loudspeaker. The loudspeaker configuration may include a circumferential spacer element having a first surface and a second surface. The first surface may be attached to an outer rim of a first suspension element. An inner rim of the first suspension element may be attached to an outer rim of a diaphragm. A central portion of the diaphragm may be coupled to a voice coil. The second surface may be attached to an outer rim of a second suspension element. An inner rim of the second suspension element may be coupled to a lower surface of the diaphragm. The circumferential spacer element has a structural shape configured to be coupled to a loudspeaker frame such that the voice coil may be suspended at least partially within a magnetic gap of a magnetic structure of the loudspeaker.
US09066172B2

Computing devices and microphone assemblies including acoustic waveguides are described. According to some examples, a computing device may include an enclosure, a microphone which may be spaced apart and angled relative to the interior surface of the enclosure to which the microphone may be coupled. The computing device may further include an acoustic waveguide disposed between the microphone and the interior surface of the enclosure, the acoustic waveguide having a passage for allowing acoustic energy to be transmitted from a microphone opening in the enclosure to the receiving element of the microphone (also referred to as sensing element, or microphone sensor).
US09066157B2

A dynamic watermark generation method and system in which the dynamic watermark may have a default length or a shorter length, and wherein the dynamic watermark is generated to have the determined length. The dynamic watermark is a locally-unique code that is used as an index to a database entry that identifies the subscriber that requested the media asset. In some instances, the entry may include a timestamp, a subscriber device identifier such as a MAC address or IP address, a subscriber identifier or ID number, and a media asset identifier such as a static ID. The static ID may include a code that indicates whether the dynamic watermark is of a default length or shorter. The length of the dynamic watermark may be partly based upon projected audience size for the requested media asset.
US09066144B2

A system and method for remote participation in live events are described. The system comprises one or more interactive environments, each hosting a live event and including means for continuously recording the interactive environment; a transmitter coupled to the one or more interactive environments, configured to receive from each interactive environment the respective recording and to transfer each recording to at least some of a plurality of remote viewers; a processing unit configured to receive feedback related to one of said live events from two or more of the remote viewers, wherein, based on the feedback, the processing unit is configured to determine an interactive environment hosting the related live event and to directly update the determined interactive environment based on the feedback.
US09066142B2

A method and system for providing content includes a network having a plurality of receiving units generating a plurality of recording or tuning requests for content and communicating the recording or tuning requests through the network. The system includes a first receiving unit of the plurality of receiving units that is selected by the network to receive content corresponding to the request and stream the content to the network. A second receiving unit receives the content from the network.
US09066141B2

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method includes generating a workload using at least one schema defined by combinations of ranges of each of at least two attributes. The computer-implemented method also includes receiving a request to provide content. The computer-implemented method further includes provisioning the content based upon the workload.
US09066138B1

Methods, systems, and apparatuses can replace content within a manifest driven streaming video program. A generic manifest file can be retrieved, original content within the streaming program can be identified for replacement, and a user specific manifest file can be generated that includes references to replacement content instead of the original content identified for replacement.
US09066136B2

Methods and apparatus to count audience members are disclosed. An example method includes determining a first viewing count of a number of times that a first person was historically logged in to a measurement apparatus during a day part; determining a second viewing count of a number of times that a second person was historically logged in to the measurement apparatus during the day part; determining, using a processor, a first probability that the first person is in a current audience based on the first viewing count and the second viewing count; and when the first probability satisfies a probability threshold, prompting the audience to enter user identification.
US09066120B2

A personalized television viewing system includes a head-end subsystem. The head-end subsystem includes a personality server configured to store a user preference regarding a television viewing format and a rendering server configured to provide digital media content in the television format of the user's preference. The viewing system further includes a client-end subsystem. The client-end subsystem includes a client server configured to electronically communicate with the head-end subsystem and provide the personality server with the user preference regarding the television viewing format.
US09066116B2

Some embodiments of the invention provide techniques for an advertisement mask and a target media content being jointly encoded, transformed, and progressively rendered for presentation to a user. Specifically, a request for the target media content by a user is received. The target media content and the advertisement mask are scaled and divided into equally sized blocks and, further, jointly encoded into a compressed media file. Transformation of the content of the compressed media file is followed by progressively loading and rendering the advertisement mask and a partially obscured view of the media content. As the target media content is transmitted and fully rendered, the advertisement mask gradually decreases in opacity until it is removed for presentation of the fully-rendered target media content.
US09066115B1

Methods, systems, and computer readable media can provide for structuring of dynamic advertisement breaks in video manifest files. This can be facilitated by accessing information associated with a recognized advertisement break in a video stream and inserting information into a generic manifest file to create a customized manifest file in order to drive downstream server or equipment decisions.
US09066108B2

Parametric Motion Vector Prediction (PMVP) methodologies and components and systems for performing those methodologies are provided to more effectively and efficiently encode video content that includes complex motion such as zoom or rotation. By substituting the PMVP for a collocated MVP used in HEVC in order to reduce the amount of bit rate increase required when including the PMVP analysis in the bit stream. Further, compression of the motion vectors is provided in a three stage approach based on transformation, quantization and difference coding.
US09066103B2

A video signal coding apparatus includes a coding unit which codes and re-codes a video signal and includes: a coding processing unit which codes, slice-by-slice, a current picture indicated by the video signal, to generate coded data; an integration unit which calculates a code-integrated value indicating a code amount of the coded data; a coding result determination unit which determines that re-coding of the current picture is necessary when determining that the code-integrated value is grater than a threshold; and a re-coding control unit which specifies a slice to be re-coded, based on coding information indicating a feature of the coded data, when it is determined that the re-coding is necessary, and the coding processing unit further re-codes the slice specified by the re-coding control unit.
US09066093B2

A display panel module includes: a pixel array section in which a sub-pixel formed by a self-luminous element of a current-driven type and a pixel circuit configured to drive and control the self-luminous element is arranged in a form of a matrix; a signal line driving section configured to drive a signal line; a writing control line driving section configured to control writing of a potential appearing in the signal line to the sub-pixel; and a power supply controlling section configured to control supply of driving power to the sub-pixel and stop of the supply of the driving power; wherein when either of a two-dimensional image and a three-dimensional image is displayed, the signal line driving section, the writing control line driving section, and the power supply controlling section operate in common driving timing set such that display periods of adjacent frames do not overlap each other.
US09066082B2

Embodiments of the invention relate to encoding multi-channel media content. In one embodiment, a set of multi-channel media content is received. The set of multi-channel media content includes a plurality of content frames. Each content frame includes a first channel content frame and second channel content frame. Each of the first channel content frames is grouped into a first group of content frames. Each of the second channel content frames is grouped into a second group of content frames. Each content frame in the first group of content frames is encoded. At least a first content frame in the first group of content frames includes at least one variation, where the variation is a different version of the first content frame. Each content frame in the second group of content frames is also encoded, where the second group of content frames is absent any content frames including a variation.
US09066074B2

A camera module testing device for detecting light leakage in relation to a camera module includes a base, a first fixing plate, a second fixing plate, a movable element, a stepping motor, a sliding table, a support mechanism, a board and a power supply module, and a processing unit. The movable element includes a first movable plate, a second movable plate, and a third movable plate. The support mechanism and the camera module are driven to rotate to various predetermined angles. The stepping motor drives movable element, the support mechanism and the camera module to swing a predetermined number times for each predetermined angle. The lens captures an image each time. The processing unit compares an image captured each time with a predetermined image and analyze if there is a problem of light leakage for the camera module.
US09066066B2

An interactive television system is provided in which a user can use an interactive television application to establish time-based settings. The user may set television program reminders, advance-order pay-per-view programs, schedule programs for recording, and establish parental controls to prevent television viewing during certain times on certain channels. The interactive television application may be used to support video recorder functions such as personal video recorder functions implemented locally on the user's set-top box or other equipment and network-based video recorder functions implemented using servers at cable television headends and other network locations. The interactive television application may also be used to deliver video-on-demand content. When the user requests that video be delivered, conflicts may arise between the requested video delivery and the previously-established time-based settings. The interactive television application may provide the user with on-screen options that allow the user to select how to resolve these conflicts.
US09066061B2

A plurality of I- or P-pictures for displaying video images with the same data as the last frame of the main data of the content are added as reproduction synchronization adjustment frames after the last frame of the main data; when reproduction leads a reference reproducing device, more synchronization adjustment frames are reproduced (ST11); when reproduction lags, fewer synchronization adjustment frames are reproduced (ST9). Reproduction can be synchronized among a plurality of reproducing devices (42) that read data from a storage medium and reproduce the data, or receive data by network delivery and reproduce the data, under conditions where system clock correction by use of PCR is impossible.
US09066049B2

Provided in some embodiments is a computer implemented method that includes providing script data including script words indicative of dialogue words to be spoken, providing recorded dialogue audio data corresponding to at least a portion of the dialogue words to be spoken, wherein the recorded dialogue audio data includes timecodes associated with recorded audio dialogue words, matching at least some of the script words to corresponding recorded audio dialogue words to determine alignment points, determining that a set of unmatched script words are accurate based on the matching of at least some of the script words matched to corresponding recorded audio dialogue words, generating time-aligned script data including the script words and their corresponding timecodes and the set of unmatched script words determined to be accurate based on the matching of at least some of the script words matched to corresponding recorded audio dialogue words.
US09066048B2

An electronic device with one or more processors, memory and a display receives a first request to display a first video stream and in response, displays the first video stream on the display in a first video tile and plays first audio content that corresponds to the first video stream. While displaying the first video stream, the device receives a second request to display a second video stream. In response to receiving the second request, the device slides the first video tile off of the display and slides a second video tile that corresponds to second video tile onto the display. The device also starts to play second audio content for the second video stream and increases an amplitude of the second audio content relative to an amplitude of the first audio content in accordance with an amount of the second video tile that is displayed on the display.
US09066040B2

An intelligent television can provide various interfaces for providing video-on-demand (VOD). The user interfaces include unique visual representations and organizations that allow the user to utilize the intelligent television more easily and more effectively. Particularly, the user interfaces pertain to the display of VOD content and better organizations thereof. Further, the user interfaces provide unique process of transitioning between the VOD content.
US09066025B2

Input image information is received. A processor device is used for determining enhancement information based on frequency characteristics and feature information of the input image information. The enhancement information is mixed with the input image information to generate an enhanced image.
US09066022B2

Image capture based on logarithmic conversion. At least some of the illustrative embodiments are methods including capturing an image by: reading a plurality of analog signals from an array of light sensitive elements; performing logarithmic analog-to-digital conversion on the plurality of analog signals which creates a corresponding plurality of digital values; and storing representations of the plurality of digital values to a storage medium.
US09066021B2

The invention relates generally to both a method and apparatus for the creation of full resolution color digital images of diagnostic cassettes or objects of interest using a gray-scale digital camera or sensor combined with time sequential illumination using additive primary colors followed by post exposure digital processing. Such procedures and equipment is of significant economic value when employed in situations such as diagnostic clinical analyzers where space is limited and image quality requirements are high.
US09066017B2

An image capture device may capture a series of images. The series of images may include a plurality of metering images interleaved with a plurality of preview images. The preview images may be captured using respective total exposure times (TETs) that are based on characteristics of at least one previously-captured metering image. A viewfinder of the image capture device may display a stream of display images. Each display image in the stream of display images may be derived from at least one of the preview images, and at least part of the capturing may occur contemporaneously with at least part of the displaying.
US09066016B2

An image recording apparatus includes an image capturing unit configured to capture an image of a subject, a recording unit configured to record one of still image data and video image data captured by the image capturing unit on a storage medium in the form of an image file, a generating unit configured to generate a management file used for managing the image file recorded on the storage medium, and a registering unit configured to register an identifier of the image file recorded on the storage medium in the management file on a capture date basis in the order of capture time.
US09066012B2

An image capturing device includes a first controller operable to control image capturing; an operation section including a switch; a detector operable to detect a change to an image capturing mode and to send a signal representing the change; a second controller operable to monitor and process the sent signal, the second controller having a power consumption less than that of the first controller; and a power supply operable to supply power to the first controller, the second controller, and a functional section of the device. When the second controller receives the signal sent from the detecting section in a power saving state in which power is supplied from the power supply to the second controller, the power saving state is changed to a power supplying state capable of image capturing by supplying power from the power supply to portions of the device including the first controller.
US09065999B2

An auto focus image system that includes a pixel array coupled to a focus signal generator. The pixel array captures an image that has a plurality of edges. The generator generates a focus signal that is a function of a plurality of edge-sharpness measures for the plurality of edges. The generator compares a sequence of gradients across the edge with one or more reference sequences of gradients and/or reference curves defined by data retrieved from a non-volatile memory. The generator may reject or de-emphasize the edge using result of the comparison. The edge sharpness measure is a quantity whose unit is a positive or negative, integer or non-integer power of a unit of length. It may be measured from the edge and/or a reference sequence/curve matched to the edge, or may be retrieved for the matched reference sequence/curve from a non-volatile memory.
US09065995B2

A television lens apparatus in which circuit boards can be easily mounted or dismounted and can be easily wired is provided. A lens barrel is contained in a housing. A housing opening is formed in the lens barrel to be opened and closed with a rotatable lid. A board holding device is fixed on a rear portion of the lens barrel. In the board holding device, four connectors are mounted on a wiring board and arranged in an axial direction of the lens barrel. Four circuit boards are inserted in the connectors through the housing opening in a direction perpendicular to the lens barrel.
US09065994B2

An image pickup apparatus, including: a filter including transmittance variable element and adjusting amount of incident light from lens; a photoelectric transducer; and guide optical system guiding the incident light from the filter to the photoelectric transducer. The guide optical system includes color separation optical system including, in order from object side, first prism having first dichroic film, second prism having second dichroic film, and third prism, to separate the incident light into red, green, and blue. The first or second dichroic film is blue reflection dichroic film. Rotational position of the transmittance variable element about optical axis is such a position that ratio of transmittance for blue to transmittance for green of marginal ray entering the blue reflection dichroic film at incident angle smaller than principal ray of axial ray to the blue reflection dichroic film is smaller than such ratio of the principal ray of axial ray.
US09065990B2

A microphone assembly includes a microphone unit and an attachment unit. The attachment unit includes a camera shoe attachment section to be attached to a camera shoe and a damper housing cylinder fixed to the camera shoe attachment section. A holder is fixed to a lower end of an inner cylinder of a protruding section protruding from the microphone unit. The lower end of the inner cylinder is pivotally supported by a second damper contained in the damper housing cylinder through the holder. The middle portion of the protruding section is supported by a first damper contained in the damper housing cylinder.
US09065985B2

A vehicle collects oblique imagery along an intercardinal nominal heading using rotated camera-groups with distortion correcting electronic image sensors that align projected pixel columns or rows with a pre-determined direction on the ground, thereby improving collection quality, efficiency, and/or cost. In a first aspect, the camera-groups are rotated diagonal to the nominal heading. In a second aspect, the distortion correcting electronic image sensors align projected pixel columns or rows with a pre-determined direction on the ground. In a third aspect, the distortion correcting electronic image sensors are rotated around the optical axis of the camera. In a fourth aspect, cameras collect images in strips and the strips from different cameras overlap, providing large-baseline, small-time difference stereopsis.
US09065979B2

A classification method and system for possible content alteration of a media work may include criteria regarding content that is feasible for alteration. Such criteria may be maintained in records that are accessible to an interested party. Some embodiments may include a record of primary authorization rights applicable to a possible content alteration. A further embodiment feature may include a record of secondary authorization rights applicable to substitute altered content incorporated in a derivative version. Various techniques may be used to incorporate substitute altered content in a derivative version of the media work in accordance with applicable substitution guidelines.
US09065978B2

A system and method are disclosed for acquiring services on a multiplicity of devices. A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a service management center (SMC) (100) that has a plurality of service centers (102-110) for supplying services to a corresponding plurality of devices (120-128), and a controller (112) for managing operations of the service centers. The controller is programmed to receive (202) from a select one of the devices an identification reference in response to a request for service by an end user, search (210) for one or more services associated with the identification reference, select (212) from the search results one or more services appropriate for the requesting device, and enable (220) the one or more services on the selected device.
US09065965B2

An apparatus, system and method are described which allows multimedia signals received from one or more content providers (e.g., cable television providers, Internet content providers, . . . etc) to be received, processed and retransmitted by an originating node to one or more receiving nodes over a local cable network (e.g., the coaxial cable network within a user's home). One impediment to communication between nodes within the local cable network is the fact that most cable splitters are designed to attenuate signals between the split legs of the splitter. Accordingly, in one embodiment of the invention, a reflector device coupled upstream of the root splitter in a local cable network (or in place of the root splitter) is configured to reflect signals transmitted from the originating node back up into the network to the receiving nodes. Signal attenuation is minimized because the signals propagate from the splitter inputs to the splitter legs (rather than between the splitter legs).
US09065963B2

An HDMI® source determines whether or not an HDMI® sink can receive a sub-signal based on VSDB of E-EDID. When the HDMI® sink can receive the sub-signal, the HDMI® source adds a sub-signal to pixel data of a main image composed of pixel data whose number of bits is smaller than that of transmission pixel data transmitted by a transmitter, thereby constructing transmission pixel data. This data is transmitted by the transmitter through TMDS channels #0 to #2. Furthermore, the HDMI® source transmits a general control packet containing sub-signal information indicating whether or not the sub-signal is contained in the transmission pixel data in the control period of a vertical blanking period. The present invention can be applied to, for example, HDMI®.
US09065961B2

A circuit board of an image sensor unit of this invention includes a substrate, a first circuit pattern portion formed on the substrate, and a second circuit pattern portion formed continuously from the first circuit pattern portion. A light source is connected to the second circuit pattern portion. The light source is arranged facing an incident surface by bending the second circuit pattern portion.
US09065958B2

An image processing device is configured to provide a service relating to at least one of (1) the image data generated by the function of the image processing device and (2) image data representing the image to be formed, in response to a request from the image processing device. The image processing device may include a parameter designating unit, a service request unit, and a function implementation unit that is adapted to implement the function of the image processing device based on the service providing parameter designated by the parameter designating unit. The service providing device is provided with a service provision executing unit that is adapted to execute a process to provide the service to the image processing device after receiving the request from the service request unit provided to the image processing device.
US09065949B2

A document reading device includes: a reading position at which information on a document is read; a light source that radiates light toward the document passing through the reading position; a light receiving section that receives reflected light generated from the light from the light source; and a background reflection section disposed to reflect the light from the light source so as to be received by the light receiving section through the reading position. When the document is not present, the background reflection section reflects an amount of light that is greater than an amount of document-reflected light reflected by the document which is white. The background reflection section is formed by processing a specular surface so as to reflect an amount of light that is less than an amount of specularly reflected light reflected by a specular surface.
US09065932B2

A device for providing notifications while mated with a carrying case is provided. The device comprises: an indicator; a first detector configured to detect when the device is mated with a carrying case, the carrying case having an open configuration and a closed configuration, wherein the indicator is hidden in the closed configuration and at least partially exposed in the open configuration; a second detector configured to detect when the carrying case is in the open configuration; and, a processor configured to place the indicator in a given notification mode when the first detector detects that the device is mated with the carrying case and the second detector detects that the carrying case is in the open configuration.
US09065925B2

Systems and methods for providing a method of recording, delivering, reviewing and responding to messages such that the context of responses to the messages are recorded in the form of a message index to enable linking of messages and responses in a meaningful fashion for review by a user. The flow of conversation on a topic initiated in an original message is preserved in one or more conversation threads. Also incorporated is a method to indicate the party (user or entity) responsible for posting a response in the form of a brief audible icon overlaid on the original message and heard upon review, the icon also to be used to indicate affiliation with third parties at the option of the user or as a means to subsidize the cost of providing the messaging service.
US09065917B1

Systems and methods to process communications received from a user are described herein. In one example, the system may include a communications handling module that receives communications from users and a routing decision engine that selects an agent to process the communication. In another example, the method may include, receiving a communication from a user, parsing their need from the communication, and processing the communication using the need and other needs. In a further example, the method may include anticipating a service or product that may be of interest to the user and servicing that during a single interaction with an agent, where the interaction was initiated by the user for another need.
US09065913B2

The present disclosure relates generally to interactive response systems, and more particularly to systems and methods for providing multi-modality interaction between communication devices. In one embodiment, a multi-modality interactive system is disclosed, comprising: a processor; and a memory storing processor-executable instructions comprising instructions to: obtain a request to initiate an interactive session with a communication device; obtain interactive session data for communication to the communication device; select a modality for the interactive session data, by analyzing one or more parameters associated with the interactive session data and the communication device; convert a format of the interactive session data according to the selected modality; and transmit the interactive session data in the converted format to the communication device.
US09065912B2

A system is disclosed. The system has a client device, an interactive response system, and an Internet Protocol (IP) network enabling IP communication between the client device and the interactive response system. The client device may be configured to place a call to the interactive response system via the IP network, to establish an IP telephonic communication session between the client device and the interactive response system, and to display textual content received from the interactive response system during the IP telephonic communication session. The interactive response system is configured to receive the call from the IP network, to establish the IP telephonic communication session between the client device and the interactive response system, to transmit textual content to the client device during the IP telephonic communication session.
US09065898B1

A communication network comprises a public safety answering point, a responder device, and a customer information system. The public safety answering point receives a call from a caller and signaling for the call. The signaling indicates a key associated with the call. The public safety answering point transfers dispatch information that identifies the key to the responder device. The responder device receives the dispatch information and generates and transmits a context request that indicates the key. The responder device receives a context response that includes a context information. The customer information system receives the context request, processes the context request to select the context information from a plurality of context information based on the key, and transfers the context response.
US09065894B2

The display of a mobile device is managed during a voice communication session using a proximity sensor and an accelerometer. In one example, the display of a mobile device is turned off during a phone call on the mobile device when a proximity sensor detects an object is proximate the device and an accelerometer determines the device is in a first orientation.
US09065891B2

A radio communication apparatus includes: a first casing; a second casing; a connection section that connects the first and second casings to each other to be movable; and an antenna device that operates at a predetermined communication frequency. In the radio communication apparatus, first and second states are switched between by relatively moving the first and second casings. The first state is a state in which the first and second casings are opened or closed with respect to one another, and a first conductor (122) installed from the connection section to the first casing and a second conductor (240) installed from the connection section to the second casing are separated and faced each other. In the first state, the first conductor (122) and the second conductor (240) are electrically connected to each other at the communication frequency. The second state is a state in which the first and second casings are closed or opened with respect to one another.
US09065890B2

A wrist-worn mobile telephone is comprised of a body with a microphone and a speaker attached to a wristband and adapted to be movable around and along the wrist. The wristband can be resiliently stretchable and multi-sectional. The wristband can be made with a groove, and a holding clip attached to the body can be inserted into the groove. Alternatively, the phone can be made with a through slot to let the wristband be fed through the slot. In this version, an inner side of the body contacting the wrist can be shaped concave, and the through slot can be longitudinally shaped to generally follow the shape of the inner side, which can be made coarse.
US09065875B2

A Push-to-talk over Cellular (PoC) communication session is established between an inviting PoC client and at least one invited PoC client using an IP Multimedia Subsystem network. Establishment involves using a pre-established session procedure to negotiate media parameters between the inviting PoC client and a participating PoC server for the inviting PoC client. At the inviting PoC client, a Talk Burst Control Protocol (TBCP) or Media Burst Control Protocol (MBCP) message is sent directly to its participating PoC server, the TBCP or MBCP message containing the PoC address of the at least one invited PoC client. At the participating PoC Server, in response to receipt of the TBCP or MBCP message, a SIP INVITE message is generated and sent towards a participating PoC server for the at least one invited PoC client.
US09065865B2

A method and system for HTTP request service identify a true URL content regardless of whether the target URL is redirected, and send the true URL content to a client. The requesting and sending of the redirected URL content is done internally in the HTTP server system and do not require the client to have the ability to receive and execute a URL redirection command. The server system receives a URL request from the client and generates within the server a response to the URL request. If the response does not contain any redirection information, the true URL content includes the target URL content; and if the response contains redirection information indicating a redirected URL, the true URL content includes a redirected URL content associated with the redirected URL. The client receives the true URL content in either case by submitting a request for the target URL once.
US09065854B2

The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for managing a guest virtual machine executing within a virtualized environment. A daemon is established on a guest virtual machine executing within a virtualized environment. The daemon is configured to communicate with a management service virtual machine executing within the virtualized environment. The daemon receives, from the management service virtual machine via an application layer protocol, a request identifying an action type of a plurality of predetermined action types. The daemon identifies the action type of the plurality of predetermined action types from the received request and performs an action corresponding to the identified action type. In some implementations, the application layer protocol is one of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS).
US09065851B2

Storing data is disclosed. A range or addresses is received and the range of addresses is stored in a bulk object. Retrieving data is disclosed. A request to access data associated with an address within a range of addresses is received. A response is derived based at least in part on a bulk object.
US09065848B2

A method and apparatus for identifying data patterns of a file are described herein. In one embodiment, an exemplary process includes, but is not limited to, receiving a data packet of a data stream containing a file segment of a file originated from an external host and destined to a protected host of a local area network (LAN), the file being transmitted via multiple file segments contained in multiple data packets of the data stream, and performing a data pattern analysis on the received data packet to determine whether the received data packet contains a predetermined data pattern, without waiting for a remainder of the data stream to arrive. Other methods and apparatuses are also described.
US09065844B1

A method and apparatus to help manage sequential processing of messages. When a layer of a protocol stack in a computing device encounters a need to transmit two or more messages in a particular sequence, the layer generates and pass to a next layer of the stack a composite message defining the two or more messages together, rather than sending the messages one by one to the next layer. With this process, the combination of the two or more messages may thus pass between and/or through layers of the stack, and a layer of the stack receiving the combination may then extract the messages individually from the combination and output the extracted messages in sequence as desired.
US09065842B2

Systems and methods for authenticating electronic messages using client-generated encryption keys provide for a sender transmitting an original message to a recipient device that includes a digital signature of the original message content and the key used to generate the digital signature. The sender may store an association between the digital signature, the key, and the recipient's address. The recipient may verify the integrity of the original message using the received digital signature and may further verify the authenticity of the message by transmitting a confirmation request message back to the sender that includes the original digital signature and a second digital signature of the confirmation request message using the received key. The sender may either confirm or deny that it sent the original message by determining whether a record exists that associates the digital signature and the key received from the recipient as well as the recipient's address.
US09065837B2

Method, system and network nodes for performing a SIP transaction, such as a SIP Invite transaction, in a Session Initiation Protocol based communications network from a first node to a third node via a second node. The second node acts as a proxy that receives a SIP message from the first node and, instead of forwarding the message to the third node, transmits a pivot request to the first node requesting the first node to forward the message directly to the third node. The first node forwards the message directly to the third node, and during the remainder of the SIP transaction further SIP messages are exchanged between the first and third node directly.
US09065835B2

A peer group can be established for sharing Web cache data among a set of computing devices through a peer-to-peer network. The Web cache data can be used by each of the computing devices to respond to requests issued over a client-server network from a Web browser running on that computing device. Web cache data can be exchanged among the peers of the peer group via the peer-to-peer network. A client request issued from a Web browser of one of the computing devices can be satisfied using Web cache data obtained from a different one of the computing devices in the peer group. The client request can be a request to one of the Web servers for Web content. The server associated with the request may never provide the Web content responsive to the client request, which is obtained instead from the different one of the computing devices.
US09065829B2

At least one embodiment of this disclosure includes a method of resource balancing execution of an application involving multiple devices. The method can include: identifying an application executing on an operating system of a first computing device; identifying a resource type to facilitate the executing of the application; identifying multiple computing devices each having at least an available resource instance of the identified resource type, wherein the multiple computing devices are reachable by a communication protocol of the first computing device; and selecting a target computing device to offer up a target resource instance of the resource type to the application based at least partly on a comparable limitation of each available resource instance of the multiple computing devices.
US09065826B2

Malware detection is often based on monitoring a local application binary and/or process, such as detecting patterns of malicious code, unusual local resource utilization, or suspicious application behavior. However, the volume of available software, variety of malware, and sophistication of evasion techniques may reduce the effectiveness of detection based on monitoring local resources. Presented herein are techniques for identifying malware based on the reputations of remote resources (e.g., web content, files, databases, IP addresses, services, and users) accessed by an application. Remote resource accesses may be reported to a reputation service, which may identify reputations of remote resources, and application reputations of applications that utilize such remote resources. These application reputations may be used to adjust the application policies of the applications executed by devices and servers. These techniques thereby achieve rapid detection and mitigation of newly identified malware through application telemetry in a predominantly automated manner.
US09065823B2

(EN)A system, method and computer-readable storage medium with instructions for operating a digital signature server and a portable security device to cooperate to provide digital signature services using a private key stored on the portable security device by delegating to a user's smart card the actual task of digitally signing documents. Other systems and methods are disclosed.
US09065819B1

Single sign on (SSO) functionality is provided across native and hybrid applications executing on a mobile communication device, such that both native and hybrid applications can access authenticated services offered through respective application servers without repeatedly providing authentication credentials. In operation, the mobile device obtains an SSO token from an SSO server providing the SSO functionality, and native applications executing on the mobile device retrieve the SSO token from memory for use in accessing authenticated services. In the case of hybrid applications, an alias is assigned to the mobile device in response to receiving a page request received from the hybrid application. The alias is associated with SSO token of the mobile device in the SSO server, and is used to provide the SSO token directly to the hybrid application from the SSO server such that the hybrid application can use the SSO token for authentication.
US09065812B2

Technology is described for protecting transactions. The technology may include a switching component that a user can employ to switch an associated mobile device into a secure mode so that a user can confirm the transaction. After initiating a transaction request, the user can confirm the transaction request by activating the switching component, which can cause the mobile device to switch into a secure mode. In the secure mode, the mobile device may prevent the mobile device from conducting various normal activities, such as executing applications, receiving input, providing output, and so forth. The switching component may disable other processing temporarily. Upon receiving the confirmation from the user, the switching component may send a confirmation communication to complete the transaction.
US09065803B2

The present disclosure relates to a privacy-based representation of a user identity within an online system. A method for representing a user identity within an online system is provided, comprising: requesting a user identity of a user of the online system by a viewer; retrieving a status of the viewer with regard to the user; based on the status of the viewer, determining a representation of the user identity; and providing the representation of the user identity to the viewer. Furthermore, an online system and a data structure representing a user identity of a user of an online system are defined.
US09065791B2

To generate dynamic relationship-based content personalized for members of a social networking system, at least one action of one or more members of the social networking system is associated with relationship data for the one or more members to produce consolidated data. One or more elements associated with the consolidated data is identified and used to aggregate the consolidated data. Further exemplary methods comprise weighting by affinity the aggregated consolidated data to generate dynamic relationship-based content personalized for the members of the web-based social network.
US09065786B2

In response to detecting an incoming message (such as an email message, a text message, or a voice message) sent by a sender to a recipient, a computer system determines whether a current context of the recipient satisfies a condition. If the current context of the recipient satisfies the condition, then the system selects a response message based on the current context and sends the response message to the sender. The system's decision about whether to respond automatically to subsequent messages sent to the recipient may vary as the recipient's context changes. Furthermore, the system may select and send different response messages based on changes in the recipient's context.
US09065783B2

The method may include collecting performance data relating to processing nodes of a computer system which provide services via one or more applications, analyzing the performance data to generate an operational profile characterizing resource usage of the processing nodes, receiving a set of attributes characterizing expected performance goals in which the services are expected to be provided, and generating at least one provisioning policy based on an analysis of the operational profile in conjunction with the set of attributes. The at least one provisioning policy may specify a condition for re-allocating resources associated with at least one processing node in a manner that satisfies the performance goals of the set of attributes. The method may further include re-allocating, during runtime, the resources associated with the at least one processing node when the condition of the at least one provisioning policy is determined as satisfied.
US09065780B2

A network device receives a packet that includes a plurality of header fields. The packet is parsed to sequentially obtain the plurality of header fields. One or more header fields not yet available at the network device are predicted based on one or more header fields that are available at the network device. A network processing decision is generated for the packet based on the predicted one or more header fields and the one or more header fields that are available at the network device.
US09065772B2

Embodiments of the present invention provide an approach for dynamically modifying Quality of Service (QoS) levels for resources (e.g., applications, processes, services, etc.) running in a networked computing environment. Specifically, embodiments of the present invention dynamically adjust transport level networking QoS parameters based on associated service level agreements (SLA) term. In a typical embodiment, a set of service level requirements associated with a resource running in the networked computing environment will first be identified (e.g., in a computer data structure). Then, the set of service level requirements will be mapped to a set of QoS parameters associated with a transport layer of the networked computing environment. A current performance of the resource within the transport layer will then be determined. Once the current performance has been determined, it will be further determined whether the current performance meets the set of service level requirements. Based on this determination/comparison, the set of QoS parameters can be adjusted accordingly.
US09065764B2

The present invention discloses a method for maintaining quality of service QoS, which includes: identifying a CLP and a service type of a newly received ATM cell, and obtaining a corresponding QoS label; when the QoS label corresponding to the newly received ATM cell is different from a QoS label corresponding to a buffered ATM cell, encapsulating the buffered ATM cell into a pseudo wire PW packet in a concatenation manner and sending the pseudo wire PW packet, where the QoS label corresponding to the buffered ATM cell is used as a QoS label of a PSN transport header of the PW packet, or is used as QoS labels of both the PSN transport header and a PW header of the PW packet, and buffering the newly received ATM cell. The present invention further provides a corresponding provider edge PE device and a corresponding ATM PWE3 system.
US09065756B2

Aspects of the disclosure pertain to a system and method for providing fast and efficient flushing of a forwarding database in a network processor. The present disclosure provides a deterministic mechanism to implement a flush operation for flushing the forwarding database. A dual FDB approach, a means for switching from one FDB to another in the event of a failure, and FDB flush operation as a background task are key features of this disclosure. The effective time for completing the flush operation is within a sub-50 millisecond time frame and is independent of the number of entries in the forwarding database. The flush operation may be performed using software.
US09065755B2

Disclosed are systems and methods for cut-through switching in port-speed-mismatched networks. Specifically, systems and methods are described in which data packets from an ingress device are paced, thereby matching the data rate of the ingress device with the data rate of the egress device.
US09065748B2

A method and system are provided for allowing time-alignment of teleprotection measurements of power signals. Teleprotection observations are communicated between teleprotection ends through a packet switched network. At each end of a teleprotection segment, a teleprotection device communicates with the network through a router providing CES and located at the edge of the network. Clocks within the two routers are synchronized using IEEE 1588v2 signals. Using this synchronization, accurate one-way latency of data through the network between the two routers in each direction can be determined. The router at the incoming end of the faster path delays playout of packets by the difference between the two one-way latencies, thereby ensuring time-alignment of observations as they are sent from the routers to the teleprotection devices.
US09065736B2

Aspects of a method and system for compensated time stamping for time-sensitive network communications are provided. In this regard, one or more timestamps generated in an OSI layer above the physical layer may be adjusted based on parameters associated with an amount of time in which data traverses a PHY of the network device. Communications of the network device may be managed based on the adjusted one or more timestamps. The parameters may comprise one or more of: average ingress PHY traversal time, average egress PHY traversal time, variance of ingress PHY traversal time, and variance of egress PHY traversal time. One or more network links coupled to the network device may be characterized based on the one or more adjusted timestamps. The parameters may be stored in one or more registers within a PHY of the network device.
US09065733B2

A system and method for registering a client device with a server device includes the server device having a display. The display displays a first identifier in response to entering a registration mode. A client device is in communication with the server device. The client device detects that the server device is in registration mode and communicates a second identifier to the client device. The server device compares the first identifier and the second identifier and, after comparing, registers the client device at the server device.
US09065732B2

A communication system configuration has an annular design and includes multiple participants which are serially interconnected, one participant being configured as a master and the remaining participants being configured as slaves. The master is configured for transmitting a data packet to one or a plurality of slaves, and each slave has a shift register. The communication system includes a participant which has an external interface and is adapted for receiving data via the external interface from outside of the communication system to implement a debugging or a programming of one or a plurality of participants of the communication system or for transmitting data to outside of the communication system.
US09065726B2

Methods and apparatus to utilize route parameter sets for exchanging routes in a communication network are disclosed. An example method to exchange routes in a communication network disclosed herein comprises receiving a route comprising a route identifier identifying the route and a plurality of route parameter values characterizing the route, and sending the route identifier and a pointer to forward the route to a recipient in the communication network, the pointer being associated with a route parameter set comprising the plurality of route parameter values.
US09065723B2

An unaddressed device installed inline in a path of an MPLS network can communicate a packet from within the MPLS network to an upstream device without knowledge of the necessary MPLS labeling by sending the packet intentionally in the wrong direction: downstream. To communicate to an upstream device, the unaddressed device sends a packet downstream into the MPLS network on the opposite side and through the opposite outgoing port from that which would be used for a packet sent to the same device in a non-MPLS network. This behavior forces the MPLS network, when it next inspects the packet, to re-label it with the correct labeling to route the packet on a path back upstream to the recipient device. In this manner, the MPLS architecture is used to redirect or loop back packets from an unaddressed inline device to the upstream device.
US09065720B2

A method includes: confirming a wireless communication link between a medical device and a mobile computing device hosting an application; requesting identifying data for the medical device via the wireless communication link; and receiving identifying data for the medical device via the wireless communication link in response to the request. The method further includes: presenting an option to register the medical device on a display of the mobile computing device; receiving an affirmative indication to register the medical device; requesting input of patient identifiable data for a user of the medical device in response to receiving the affirmative indication to register; receiving patient identifiable data for the user of the medical device in response to the request for input; forming registration data from the patient identifiable data and the identifying data; and registering the medical device with a manufacturer of the medical device using the registration data.
US09065712B2

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving data in a wireless communication system. According to one aspect of the present invention, a data receiving method is provided wherein a mobile station in a wireless communication system uses a frame including a first subframe in which a physical downlink shared channel (hereinafter, referred to as “PDSCH”) includes a first cyclic prefix (hereinafter, referred to as “CP”) and a second subframe in which the PDSCH includes a second CP, wherein the data receiving method comprises a step in which the mobile station receives information on the length of the first CP from a base station, receives data from the base station through the first subframe, and removes the CP of the data using the information on the length of the first CP. The first CP and the second CP have different lengths.
US09065704B1

Adapting digital content to be provided to a computing device may include a variety of elements. For example, when digital content is requested, a version of the digital content may be split into segments, which are adapted in parallel. The adapted segments may then be provided to the computing device in a recombined version of the digital content or as individual segments.
US09065698B2

A radio (102) in a sensor network and powered by electricity includes a data communicating unit (114) performing data communication; and a pulse interval demodulating unit (111) configured to (i) detect, from a signal (11c) with signals for corresponding frequency channels overlapped, a frequency channel indicated by a time interval between two pulses in a wake-up signal (1R) included in one of the frequency channels and (ii) cause the data communicating unit (114) to perform the data communication over the detected frequency channel.
US09065695B2

The present disclosure provides for a method and apparatus for efficient cross-correlation between a reference sequence and a received sequence in a wireless communication system. The reference sequence includes a concatenation of sign-adjusted sub-sequences, the sign adjustments determined by a first sign sequence of a set of sign sequences. For example, the reference sequence may be an alternating concatenation of sign-adjusted Golay complementary pair sub-sequences. The received sequence is shifted to provide a plurality of time shifted sequences that are then cross-correlated with the sub-sequences to form a set of partial cross-correlations. The partial cross-correlations are sign-adjusted using the first sign sequence and combined to produce the cross-correlation between the reference sequence and the received sequence. The cross-correlations so produced may be used for channel signature (e.g. PHY-type) identification and/or channel impulse response estimation.
US09065691B2

An embodiment of the invention provides a sliced transmitter front-end (TX FE). The sliced TX FE includes first TX FE slices and a second TX FE slice that are connected in parallel. As a whole the first TX FE slices contributes a high-gain section to a superimposed gain range of the sliced TX FE. The second TX FE slice has a gain range that constitutes a low-gain section of the superimposed gain range of the sliced TX FE. A minimum gain of the gain range of the second TX FE slice is smaller than a minimum gain of the high-gain section.
US09065685B2

In an example embodiment, an IP phone is connected to a network switch that has an established communications channel to a call control server. The network switch acts as a proxy for the phone exchanging registration information that in effect keeps the phone registered while the phone itself can go to sleep as defined by periods of the day, periods where the phone is unused, or presence, which can then wake-up quickly with assistance from the switch. If the switch is not able to act as proxy, the phone can switch from sleep mode to “wake” up mode at predetermined intervals, such as every 30 seconds, in order to respond to keep alive packets from the call control server.
US09065680B2

A virtual private network (VPN) service is provided through a shared network infrastructure comprising interconnected provider edge (PE) devices having customer edge (CE) interfaces. Some of the CE interfaces are allocated to a VPN supporting virtual LANs. A correspondence between a CE interface and a virtual LAN is learnt on the basis of tagged frames received at this CE interface and including an identifier of this virtual LAN. The learning process permits the detection of pairs of CE interfaces which correspond to a common virtual LAN. Upon such detection, a virtual circuit is established in the shared network infrastructure between the PE devices having these CE interfaces, and subsequently used for forwarding frames including the identifier of the common virtual VLAN.
US09065677B2

A hybrid device can apply forwarding tables associated with one or more other hybrid network devices of a hybrid communication network to control the entire transmission route of a frame scheduled for transmission. The hybrid device can use its forwarding table and a forwarding table of a destination hybrid device to determine a source network interface address, a destination network interface address, and a frame transmission route. The destination hybrid device can use forwarding tables associated with one or more hybrid network devices to determine whether to process or drop a received frame, whether the frame was previously received, and/or whether the frame was received on an incorrect network interface. The hybrid device can also use the forwarding tables to ensure that the frame comprises an appropriate link layer address and to select an appropriate transmission route based on analyzing link performance values associated with multiple transmission routes.
US09065673B2

Aspects of a method and system for a centralized vehicular electronics system utilizing Ethernet with audio video bridging are provided. In this regard, electronic devices in a vehicle may be communicatively coupled via one or more Ethernet links and information may be communicated between the electronic devices over the Ethernet link(s) utilizing audio video bridging. At least one of multimedia, control, diagnostic, and sensory information between the electronic devices. Accordingly, resources on the one or more Ethernet links may be reserved via AVB to give priority to one of multimedia, control, diagnostic, and sensory information. Information communicated between the devices may be secured utilizing MACsec and related protocols. The electronic devices may comprise two or more network ports and may be enabled to forward packets between the two or more ports. The Ethernet links may comprise optical and/or copper cabling.
US09065669B2

A method and apparatus for authorizing forwarding states in a Layer 2 device of a multicast system includes a forwarding table for use in forwarding communications to group members over interfaces of the Layer 2 device. According to one aspect of the invention, associated with the forwarding state is an authorization flag. The authorization flag signals whether or not the forwarding state is an authorized forwarding state over which multicast communications may be transferred. The Layer 2 device snoops authorization communications between a host and a layer 3 device, and updates the forwarding table authorization flags in response to these communications.
US09065665B1

A conference call system with a plurality of endpoints, a switch and a conference bridge is described. A first endpoint participating in a call authenticates a second endpoint for the call by transmitting to the switch a request to authenticate the second endpoint for the call. The second endpoint is authenticated without the user of second endpoint inputting the authentication data. Additionally, a voice call is upgraded to a collaboration call, i.e. a call with an associated visual presentation, through an upgrade request. The first endpoint transmits the upgrade request and consequently the collaboration bridge creates a visual presentation for the upgraded call. A link to the presentation is then transmitted to a call manager associated with the first endpoint.
US09065659B2

A communication device includes: a communication unit that is configured to execute communication of data according to one of a plurality of bandwidth guarantees with different communication charges per time unit; and a selection unit that is configured to select a first bandwidth guarantee with the lowest communication charges required for communication of specific data, among the plurality of bandwidth guarantees, using a data size of the specific data when the communication of the specific data is to be executed, wherein the communication of the specific data is executed according to the selected first bandwidth guarantee.
US09065657B2

In a particular embodiment, a method of producing a powered device detection signature includes rectifying a device detection input received from a powered network to produce a rectified detection input at a powered device. The method further includes applying the rectified detection input to a signature resistor and to a variable impedance circuit in parallel with the signature resistor to produce a device signature that is substantially constant over a power range associated with the device detection input.
US09065654B2

The present disclosure includes methods and devices for parallel encryption/decryption. In one or more embodiments, an encryption/decryption device includes an input logic circuit, an output logic circuit, and a number of encryption/decryption circuits arranged in parallel between the input logic circuit and the output logic circuit. For example, each encryption/decryption circuit can be capable of processing data at an encryption/decryption rate, and the number of encryption/decryption circuits can be equal to or greater than an interface throughput rate divided by the encryption/decryption rate.
US09065652B2

An apparatus and method for generating a Media Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Unit (MPDU) in a wireless communication system are provided. The method includes reconstructing at least one MAC Service Data Unit (MSDU) according to scheduling information of the MAC layer and generating at least one MAC Protocol Data Unit (MPDU) data portion, adding control information to each MPDU data portion and generating at least one MPDU payload, the control information comprising MSDU information constituting each MPDU data portion, adding a General MAC Header (GMH) to each MPDU payload and generating at least one MPDU, the GMH including length information on the MPDU and Connection IDentifier (CID) information, and transmitting the MPDU to a receive end.
US09065648B2

A method and apparatus for forwarding non-consecutive data blocks in enhanced uplink (EU) transmissions. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) and one or more Node-Bs include one or more automatic repeat request (ARQ)/hybrid-ARQ (H-ARQ) processes for supporting an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH). Data blocks transmitted by the WTRU are re-ordered in a re-ordering entity located in the Node-B(s) or a radio network controller (RNC). Once a missing data block is identified, a data forwarding timer in the Node-B(s) or RNC is initiated and subsequent WTRU transmissions are monitored to determine whether the missing data block has been discarded by the WTRU. Upon recognition of the discard of the missing data block, the non-consecutive data blocks are forwarded to higher layers.
US09065647B2

The present invention is directed to a wireless communication, more specifically to a method and apparatus of transmitting control information via a PUCCH in the wireless communication system, which comprises generating channel quality information and ACK/NACK information; and transmitting the channel quality information and the ACK/NACK information together via the PUCCH at a subframe, the subframe including a plurality of SC-FDMA symbols, wherein if SRS transmission is not configured at the subframe, all SC-FDMA symbols of the subframe are used for the transmission of the PUCCH, wherein if the SRS transmission is configured at the subframe, last SC-FDMA symbol of the subframe is not used for transmission of the PUCCH.
US09065646B2

In one exemplary embodiment, a method includes: transmitting a value from an access node towards an apparatus, where the value is indicative of a size of a first portion of an uplink resource block, where the uplink resource block is shared among a plurality of apparatus, where the first portion is specified for transmission of a first type of signaling to the access node, where a second portion of the uplink resource block is specified for transmission of a second type of signaling to the access node; and receiving at least one transmission using at least one of the first portion and the second portion.
US09065645B2

A method and apparatus for providing acknowledgment information for radio communication devices in a wireless communication system. A base station receives a plurality of units of data each respectively transmitted by one of a plurality of radio communication devices on one of a plurality of predetermined communication slot positions of a first channel. The base station, in response to receiving the data messages, sends a control message on a communication slot position of a second channel. The control message includes acknowledgment information having a plurality of positional acknowledgment indicators. Each radio communication device receives the control message and uses acknowledgment position mapping information to identify one or more positions within the plurality of positional acknowledgment indicators that contains an acknowledgment to the respective units of data it transmitted on the corresponding predetermined communication slot positions of the first channel.
US09065621B2

The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, particularly, a method in which a terminal transmits control information in a CA-based wireless communication system and an apparatus for the method, the method comprising: configuring a first cell and a second cell having different subframe configurations, wherein the second cell has any one of UL-DL configuration #0 to #6; receiving a DC) format including a DAI field, for the second cell; and transmitting HARQ-ACK information relating to the downlink DCI format. For HARQ-ACK timing, in cases where a reference UL-DL configuration applied to the second cell is any one of UL-DL configurations #1 to #6, the DAI field is used in a process of transmitting the HARQ-ACK information. For HARQ-ACK timing, in cases where a reference UL-DL configuration applied to the second cell is #0, the DAI field is not used in a process of transmitting the HARQ-ACK information.
US09065618B2

Provided are a radio communication mobile station apparatus, a radio communication base station apparatus and a radio communication method, which make it possible to correctly switch between transmission modes for a PUSCH and a PUCCH while impeding signaling overhead from increasing. A transmission mode setting unit (107) detects an instruction given by a base station, the instruction indicating a multiplexing method for a PUSCH and a PUCCH. A trigger information reporting determination unit (108) performs threshold discrimination where PHR_pucch, which is calculated by PHR_control calculation unit (106), is compared with a threshold value that depends on the multiplexing method indicated by the instruction given by the base station. Specifically, in a TDM transmission mode, trigger information is reported if PHR_pucch>X1[dBm] is satisfied. On the other hand, in an FDM transmission mode, the trigger information is reported if PHR_pucch
US09065610B2

Systems and methods for smoothing jitter generated by byte stuffing. A frequency synthesizer comprises a smoothing logic coupled with a PLL. The smoothing logic is configured to modify a phase error signal generated by a phase frequency detector into a distributed phase error signal that spread over multiple clock cycles. The distributed phase error signal is used to drive a DCO. The smoothing logic may comprise a ramping logic operable to generate a series of ramping values to substitute a phase difference in the phase error signal. The phase difference may correspond to a stuffing byte.
US09065608B2

A method and apparatus are provided to manage the assignment transmission resource of forward and reserve link that is assigned to transmitting entity for a period of time. An indication of a gap is provided whenever the transmitting entity is not transmitting actual data packets (e.g. whole or part of intended data or content), yet the transmitting entity is to maintain the assignment of the allocated resource. For example, an erasure signature packet comprising a first data pattern is transmitted on the assigned resource when there is no actual data to transmit on the assigned resource.
US09065607B2

A clock data recovery circuit includes: an oscillator that outputs a clock signal; a phase comparator that outputs a signal corresponding to a phase difference between an input reception data signal and the clock signal; a divider that outputs a feedback clock signal; a first variable delay circuit that outputs a delay data signal; a second variable delay circuit that outputs a delay feedback clock signal; a frequency phase comparator that outputs a signal corresponding to a frequency difference and a phase difference between the delay data signal and the delay feedback clock signal; a lock detector that outputs a determination signal indicating whether or not the frequency difference and the phase difference are within a predetermined range; and a multiplexer that receives the determination signal and select a signal of the phase comparator and a signal of the frequency phase comparator.
US09065604B2

The amount of control information is reduced for specifying the transmission method for simultaneously transmitting uplink data and reception quality information, and uplink data and ACK/NACK. Delay in changing the transmission method is reduced, and the mapping of uplink data and reception quality information and of uplink data and ACK/NACK is realized, in compliance with modulation scheme and coding rate of the uplink data specified by the base station apparatus. In a mobile communication system the base station apparatus allocates, to the mobile station apparatus, resources wherein the base station apparatus transmits, to the mobile station apparatus, control information for specifying a transmission format for the mobile station apparatus to transmit information using the uplink, while the mobile station apparatus simultaneously transmits, to the base station apparatus, uplink data and reception quality information based on the specified transmission format when the control information from the base station apparatus is received.
US09065598B2

In order to implement both a physical later pipe (PLP) structure and a plurality of receiver classes, a transmitting apparatus includes: a signaling information generation unit which generates signaling information including a transmission parameter for each of PLPs; a PLP processing group which performs processing based on the transmission parameter for each of the PLPs; and a transmitting unit which transmits data including the generated signaling information and PLP data for each of the PLPs. The PLP data is received by a receiving apparatus that is indicated by a flag of the PLP and is not received by another receiving apparatus, the receiving apparatuses being included in a plurality of receiving apparatuses classified under a plurality of states. The generated signaling information includes, as the transmission parameter for each of the PLPs, the flag of the PLP.
US09065595B2

An adaptive file delivery system and method transmits a data file, such as an audio-video file, over a network or collection of networks in segments, each segment transmitted during a different time period. Each time period has a transmission portion to transmit its associated file segment and a wait portion in which no further interaction with the network occurs regarding the transmitted segment. In some implementations, the duration of the transmission portion of each time period is sufficient to reach a steady-state throughput condition, which allows the traffic load status of the network or networks to be determined from rate measurements of file segment transmissions. A peak flow determination is made to assure that the delivery of file segments does not cause network congestion. The system has spurious peak rejection to avoid the false detection of network congestion.
US09065594B1

Bluetooth file transfers using FTP do not provide upper-layer reliability checking and rely on the Bluetooth device physical layer providing reliable data to upper layers of a Bluetooth stack. However, reliability checks implemented by the physical layer are typically not very robust and in some cases may fail to detect errors, thus may provide corrupted data to the upper layers for further processing and may result in data corruption/transfer failure. Non-FTP Bluetooth file transfers are typically more robust when it comes to reliability checking because of upper layer reliability checks. Functionality can be implemented to vary packet transmission parameters depending on a Bluetooth profile implemented on a communication link. A packet error rate of received packets can be compared against a different set of thresholds depending on whether the Bluetooth profile is an FTP profile. Appropriate values of packet transmission parameters can be selected based on the above comparison.
US09065589B2

The invention relates in general to a method, an apparatus and a unit for operating a Wavelength Division Multiplexing Access Network 25, and in particular to unbundling wavelengths in the network 25. Embodiments of the invention disclose monitoring a plurality of wavelengths of the Wavelength Division Multiplexing Access Network 25 to determine at least one available wavelength that is free for use. The transmitter then automatically transmits data to at least one user device 22 via at least one available wavelength.
US09065581B2

An OPU frame generating device includes a frequency setting unit that sets a frequency corresponding to a bit rate of data which can be stored in a payload area, a parameter calculating unit that calculates a parameter Cm indicating an integer part of the amount of data included in the payload area using the set frequency, a data inserting unit that outputs a timing signal determined by the parameter Cm and inserts data at a position determined by the parameter Cm in the payload area, a data generating unit that generates data in synchronization with the timing signal, and a frame generating unit that generates an OPU frame having the payload area into which the data is inserted.
US09065580B2

In an example embodiment, a method for synchronizing clocks between a plurality of clocked devices where one of the plurality of clocked devices is not directly synchronized with another of the plurality of clocked devices. Clock offset and a clock drift between a first clock associated with a first device and a second clock associated with a second is directly determined based on signals exchanged between the first and second devices. Clock offset and clock drift between the second clock and a third clock associated with a third device is directly determined based on signals exchanged between the second and third devices. A clock offset and clock drift between the first clock and third clock is determined based on a difference between the clock offset and drift between the first and second clocks and the clock offset and drift between the second and third clocks.
US09065578B2

A system and method for delivering content to at least one mobile communication device is disclosed. The system comprises software for detecting an audio watermark in a watermarked audio signal that has been broadcast by at least one local audio transmitter and if necessary triggering an event on the mobile communication device.
US09065574B2

A method and device for transmitting audio data and text data to an RDS capable radio receiver by a wireless device is disclosed. The device includes a receiver for scanning a frequency range to detect an available radio frequency based on predetermined criteria. The device also includes a transmitter for transmitting data on a detected frequency that comprises RDS message data. Other systems and methods are also disclosed.
US09065568B2

A number of fiber optic networks, nodes, and methods are disclosed. One fiber optic network embodiment includes a network module including a star coupler for receiving a signal from a number of nodes and outputting a combined signal, including the received signals, to the number of nodes, and the number of nodes optically connected to the network module, the number of nodes including a transmit module including a first adjustable optical amplifier and a number of optical emitters, a receive module including a second adjustable optical amplifier and a number of receivers, and a controller coupled to the transmit and receive modules for adjusting the first and second optical amplifiers in response to the combined signal.
US09065556B2

Methods, systems, and computer readable media for processing multiple control and user data flows at a port processor are disclosed. According to one method, the method occurs at a testing platform. The method includes concurrently receiving, via a communications interface of the testing platform, a first control plane flow and a second control plane flow. The method also includes concurrently processing the first control plane flow and the second control plane flow using a port processor of the testing platform.
US09065554B2

System and methods for analyzing a network are disclosed. One method can comprise determining a parameter for each of a plurality of devices, generating a signature for each of the plurality of devices based upon the determined parameters, comparing the signatures of two or more of the plurality of devices, and grouping the plurality of devices based upon the comparison of the signatures of the two or more of the plurality of devices.
US09065545B2

Systems and methods for handling of scheduling request collisions with an ACK/NACK repetition signal are provided. In some aspects, a scheduling request (SR) is triggered. The triggering results in a pending SR transmission. The UE determines that the pending scheduling request (SR) transmission would collide with a transmission of a repeated acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) signal. The repeated ACK/NACK signal is part of an ACK/NACK repetition sequence. The ACK/NACK repetition sequence includes an ACK/NACK signal and at least one repeated ACK/NACKm signal. Responsive to the determining, the UE refrains from transmitting the SR and incrementing an SR counter.
US09065542B2

A Radio Frequency (RF) front end system and method are disclosed. The RF front end system comprises an antenna, a matching network coupled to the antenna, a power amplifier (PA) coupled to the matching network via a port on a transmit path, a low noise amplifier (LNA) coupled to the matching network via the port on a receive path and at least one transmit/receive switch (T/R SW) coupled between the port and at least one of the PA and LNA.
US09065539B2

A circuit module includes: an RFIC that has a transceiver circuit for processing high-frequency signals related to mobile phone communication and a reception circuit for processing reception signals related to GPS, which is a satellite positioning system; GPS front end components; and mobile phone front end components. The mobile phone front end components are mounted on one main surface of a circuit substrate, and at least one of the GPS front end components (a second band-pass filter) is embedded in the circuit substrate.
US09065533B2

Measures for optimized signaling in relay-enhanced access networks exemplarily include receipt of at least one signaling message concerning at least one relay node of a relay-enhanced access network over at least one predetermined signaling interface, concentration of signaling concerning a respective relay node in terms of irrelevancy and/or redundancy from the at least one signaling message, and forwarding of the concentrated signaling in a signaling message over the at least one predetermined signaling interface towards the respective relay node. These measures may exemplarily be applied for optimizing X2 messaging in relay-enhanced LTE access networks.
US09065522B2

The present invention provides a radio frequency front-end module, and a radio access network device and a control method thereof. The radio frequency front-end module includes a phase-shifting and attenuating unit, a radio frequency unit, and an antenna, where the radio frequency unit is respectively connected to the phase-shifting and attenuating unit and the antenna; the phase-shifting and attenuating unit is configured to receive a control signal and a radio frequency signal sent by a radio access network device and perform phase-shifting processing, or attenuating processing, or phase-shifting and attenuating processing on the radio frequency signal according to the control signal. The technical solution according to the embodiments of the present invention can be used to implement an operation mode of an intelligent antenna having multiple antennas cooperating with each other.
US09065521B1

Under one aspect, a system includes circuitry that digitizes and Fourier transforms first and second beams and outputs first and second sets of spectral bins. Each bin may include a portion of a group of signals or interference. The circuitry compares the collective power levels of each set of spectral bins to a predetermined threshold, and excises at least one bin of that set that contains the interference if the collective power level of that set exceeds the predetermined threshold. The circuitry determines an angular location of the interference based on excised bins, combines remaining bins with weights selected to form a null in a pattern of the first and second beams that is aligned with the interference's angular location, and inversely Fourier transforms the combined remaining bins and outputs the group of signals less any interference that was excised or excluded by the null.
US09065519B2

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to a method of cancelling interference in a wireless system, wherein the interference introduced by an interfering signal causing reception of an interfered signal responsive to transmission of a desired signal, the method comprising acquiring the interfering signal from a transmitter during or before transmission thereof, generating an analog cancellation signal based on the acquired interfering signal, and injecting said analog cancellation signal into an interfered receiver receiving said interfered signal to reduce said interference therefrom.
US09065509B1

A communication unit includes a radio frequency, RF, transmitter having: a power amplifier, PA, module; and an envelope tracking system operably coupled to the PA module and having a supply modulator arranged to variably control a supply voltage for the PA module in response to a number of input samples of an envelope signal; wherein the envelope tracking system further includes at least one slew rate module arranged to re-distribute a maximum slew rate across the number of input samples in a provision of a variable power supply to the PA module.
US09065508B2

A method and apparatus for cancelling, from signals received by a radio device in a first frequency band, interference generated by the radio device in the first frequency band when the radio device transmits simultaneously radio signals on at least a second frequency band.
US09065501B2

The present invention relates to a method for enabling intercell interference coordination in a network node 112, 132, which is comprised in a wireless communications network 100. The network node 112, 132 comprises at least two antennas for multi-antenna transmission and/or reception. According to the method, the network node 112, 132 transmits an indication of an amount of spatially multiplexed streams for at least one block of radio resources to at least one receiving network node 122, which is also comprised in the wireless communications network 100. By indicating the amount of spatially multiplexed streams, it is made possible for the receiving network node 122 to take the intercell interference in the spatial domain into consideration, for instance in a scheduling and/or link adaptation decision.
US09065495B2

A two-way relay transmission apparatus applied to multi-input multi-output communication systems that combines signals received from the terminals and performs a modulo operation to the combined signal to concentrate the signal points towards the center of the constellation. And then, the modulo version of the combined signal is broadcasted. As a result, the peak and average relay transmission powers can be reduced.
US09065489B2

A control circuit for an inductive power outlet configured to transfer power to an inductive power receiver includes a resonant circuit having a characteristic resonant peak and connected to a primary coil configured to inductively couple with a secondary coil of the inductive power receiver, a frequency driver operable to provide a driving voltage oscillating at an operating frequency higher than the characteristic resonant peak of the resonant circuit across the primary coil, a magnitude detector operable to monitor primary coil voltage, and a data demodulator operable to detect modulated peaks in primary coil voltage indicating that a communications modulator of the inductive power receiver has transitioned from a first state to a second state. The communications modulation determines a characteristic frequency of the peaks and extracts modulated data sent in communication signals from the inductive power receiver.
US09065488B2

A method and apparatus for data communication in wireless power transmission are provided. A wireless power transmitter includes a resonance antenna configured to wirelessly transmit a power to a wireless power receiver, and receive a signal from the wireless power receiver, the signal including a sub-carrier. The wireless power transmitter further includes a controller configured to receive the signal from the resonance antenna, and receive data from the wireless power receiver based on the sub-carrier.
US09065473B1

Systems and techniques for decoding are described. A described technique includes receiving coded bit streams that are differently encoded versions of an original bit stream, the coded bit streams including coded bits that are based on the original bit stream, where the coded bit streams have different encoding rates; identifying, within the coded bit streams, repeated coded bits of a coded bit of the coded bits that has been repeated N times; combining the coded bit streams to produce a combined bit stream by at least combining the repeated coded bits into a combined coded bit; determining, without multiplying by a normalization factor that is based on N, a bit metric for the combined coded bit that is a function of N; and decoding the combined bit stream by at least using the bit metric.
US09065462B1

A digital-to-analog conversion circuit includes first current sources weighted depending on lower-order bits of digital input signals and supplied with a first bias voltage and second current sources weighted depending on higher-order bits of the digital input signals and supplied with a second bias voltage. A reference current source circuit generates the first and second bias voltages based on a first reference current. An output circuit combines currents from the first and second current sources in accordance with the digital input signals to generate an output current, the currents from the first and second current sources being set according to the first reference current. A correction circuit changes the first reference current into a second reference current smaller than the first reference current, and adjusts the first and second bias voltages based on currents from the first and second current sources changed according to the second reference current.
US09065458B2

A frequency synthesizer and oscillator are disclosed for reducing noise in processed signals. The synthesizer and oscillator comprise an array of frequency dividers adapted to receive an input signal, which is derived from a single signal source having a prescribed frequency. The synthesizer and oscillator further comprise at least one frequency multiplier coupled to at least one of the frequency dividers, such that in use, the dividers and the at least one multiplier are operable to generate a plurality of frequencies which are coherent with the prescribed frequency. A regulated power supply is also disclosed comprising a filter and first and second regulators, for reducing noise in the output voltage of the power supply.
US09065446B1

Approaches for generating delay values for instances of a circuit include inputting possible contexts of the circuit. Each context includes a respective delay value and a combination of possible types of a plurality of characteristics of the circuit, and each characteristic is of one type of a plurality of alternative types of the characteristic. A plurality of classification parameters is input and the classification parameters indicate selected ones of the characteristics. Groups of contexts are selected based on the plurality of classification parameters. Each group includes one or more of the contexts, and each context includes the plurality of characteristics. A combination of types of the selected characteristics in each context in a group is equal to the combination of types of the selected characteristics of each other context in the group. For each group, a mean and a standard deviation of the respective delay values are determined and output.
US09065445B2

A transistor driven load circuit includes a gate driver transistor includes an internal voltage clamp, a controller providing a gate control signal operable to control a state of said gate driver, a load connected to said gate driver, such that said gate driver allows power to flow through the load when the gate driver is in an on state and prevents power from flowing through the load when the gate driver is in an off state, a clamp assist circuit connected in electrical parallel to the load, wherein the clamp assist circuit is operable to dissipate energy flowing through the load during a high energy event in a recirculating device.
US09065439B2

A tuneable buffer circuit for use in a clock tree has multiple buffers in parallel, each buffer having a grounding function, and also a bypass switch in parallel with the buffers. The circuit has a normal mode of one buffer connected into circuit, a first low voltage mode of multiple buffers connected into circuit in parallel without grounding function, a second low voltage mode of the buffers connected into circuit in parallel with grounding function and a bypass mode.
US09065437B2

A circuit for driving a transistor includes a drive circuit, a first voltage boost circuit and a second voltage boost circuit. The drive circuit has a first specific node, a second specific node, and a third specific node coupled to a control node of the transistor. The drive circuit is arranged for coupling the first specific node to the third specific node according to at least a voltage of the first specific node and a voltage of the second specific node in order to charge the control node. The first voltage boost circuit is coupled between the first specific node and a connection node of the transistor, and is arranged for boosting the voltage of the first specific node. The second voltage boost circuit is coupled between the first specific node and the second specific node, and is arranged for boosting the voltage of the second specific node.
US09065426B2

In accordance with this invention the above and other problems are solved by a switching apparatus and method that uses a switching circuit having a pair of parallel solid-state diodes (e.g., PN or PIN diodes), one of which is connected to a transistor (e.g., power MOSFET or IGBT), to switch a capacitor (or reactance element) in or out of a variable capacitance element (or variable reactance element) of an impedance matching network. Charging a body capacitance of the transistor reverse biases one of the two diodes so as to isolate the transistor from the RF signal enabling a low-cost high capacitance transistor to be used. Multiple such switching circuits and capacitors (or reactance elements) are connected in parallel to provide variable impedance for the purpose of impedance matching.
US09065422B2

A frequency stabilization circuit includes a primary side circuit connected to a feeder circuit, and a secondary side circuit electromagnetically coupled to the primary side circuit. The primary side circuit is a series circuit including a first coiled conductor and a second coiled conductor, and the secondary side circuit is a series circuit including a third coiled conductor and a fourth coiled conductor. An antenna element is connected through a high pass filter to a first antenna connection portion set as a connection point of the first coiled conductor and the second coiled conductor. Additionally, the antenna element is connected through a low pass filter to a second antenna connection portion set as a connection point between the second coiled conductor and the fourth coiled conductor.
US09065418B2

An electrode material capable of making more satisfactory the dispersion at the time of production and the aging property of a resonator than Au and capable of reducing the price as compared to Au. An resonator electrode material including a ternary alloy composed of Au and two metals M1 and M2, and being used as an excitation electrode to excite oscillation in a piezoelectric element, wherein the two metals M1 and M2 are, respectively, (a) metal M1: a metal exhibiting a tendency to decrease the temporal frequency property (Δf1/f1) from the reference value f1, and (b) metal M2: a metal exhibiting a tendency to increase the temporal frequency property (Δf1/f1) from the reference value f1. The metal M1 is preferably at least any one of Ag, Al and Ni, and the metal M2 is preferably at least any one of Pd, Ru, Pt, Ir, Rh and Cu.
US09065404B2

To effectively control the amplitude vs. power supply voltage characteristics, for example, in an ET amplifier. An amplifying device for amplifying an input signal wherein: amplifier means (4) amplifies the input signal; amplification control means (5, 7) control the power supply voltage to the amplification means on the basis of the input signal; first detection means (14) detects the amplification factor between the input signal and a feedback signal obtained by means of a feedback of the signal that has been amplified by the amplification means; second detection means (14) detects the variance of the amplification factors for each value or range of the amplitude of the input signal; and amplification control update means (14) performs an update so as to increase the power supply voltage with respect to a value or range of amplitude that exhibits a variance in excess of a predetermined threshold value, or to reduce the power supply voltage with respect to a value or range of amplitude that exhibits a variance lower than the predetermined threshold value.
US09065400B2

A device comprises a first amplifier, a first resistive element that comprises a first resistor and a first dummy switch, a second amplifier, a second resistive element that comprises a second resistor and a second dummy switch, and a programmable resistive gain element operable to receive control input, wherein a resistance value of the programmable resistive gain element is based at least in part on the received control input, wherein a first end of the programmable resistive gain element is connected to both the first inverting input of the first amplifier and to a second end of the first dummy switch, and wherein a second end of the programmable resistive gain element is connected to both the second inverting input of the second amplifier and to a second end of the second dummy switch.
US09065386B2

In one embodiment, a power amplifier may include a bridge configuration having a first pair of gain transistors to receive a first portion of a differential signal and to amplify the first portion of the differential signal to an amplified first differential signal portion and a second pair of gain transistors to receive a second portion of the differential signal and to amplify the second portion of the differential signal to an amplified second differential signal portion. This second pair of gain transistors can be configured to be enabled in a first power mode and to be disabled in a second power mode.
US09065384B1

A system and method is disclosed for selecting between two electronic signals, one of high quality, such as music audio, and the other of low quality, such as telephone call audio, in a smart phone, tablet or other device. In one embodiment, when the low quality signal is to be used this is accomplished by disabling the amplifier output to disconnect the high quality audio signal from the output port, rather than by means of a switch between the amplifier and the output port as in the prior art. This eliminates degradation of the signal due to the switch when the high quality signal is to be used. The amplifier typically has an associated feedback resistor network, and this may also be disconnected by means of a switch when the low quality signal is to be used, thus preventing distortion of the low quality signal due to the feedback network being a parallel load to the output port.
US09065381B2

An electrically adjustable antenna control system includes a controller, an actuation mechanism controlled by the controller, and a feedback loop connected to both of the controller and actuation mechanism. Herein, the controller includes a control board and its imbedded program. The actuation mechanism includes a DC geared motor controlled by the control board and embedded program and an electrically adjustable antenna phase shifter driven by the geared motor. The feedback loop has a travel plate electrically coupled to both of the control board and DC geared motor and a counter device installed on the geared motor. The present invention also provides an electrically adjustable antenna control method realized by the above-mentioned electrically adjustable antenna control system.
US09065379B2

Provided are a low-cost control device and the like for a vehicle generator-motor for minimizing the number of current sensors and the like, and estimating an output torque and a current consumption during drive of the generator-motor. The output torque and the current consumption during the drive of the generator-motor are estimated based on a field current, an rpm, a DC voltage, and a phase of an AC voltage to be supplied of the generator-motor, without providing a current sensor for detecting an input current from a power supply to an inverter device of the generator-motor, and a current sensor for detecting an output current from the inverter device to an armature winding of a rotary electric machine.
US09065378B2

A motor control circuit calculates an α-axis current iα and a β-axis current iβ in a fixed coordinate system based on a W-phase (sensor phase) of an AC motor. The control circuit calculates the α-axis current iα from a current iw.sns sensed in the W-phase, and the β-axis current iβ from a differentiated value Δiα determined from the variation quantity of the α-axis current based on that the α-axis current iα and the β-axis current iβ are in a relation of a sine wave and a cosine wave. Subsequently, the control circuit calculates a current phase xθ=tan−1(iβ/iα) relative to the W-phase. Subsequently, the control circuit calculates an estimation factor according to the current phase xθ and determines an estimated current iu.est in the U-phase of the AC motor by multiplying the sensed current iw.sns by the calculated estimation factor.
US09065373B2

A rotating electrical machine control apparatus includes a plurality of rotating electrical machine controllers and a target voltage setting device. Each of the rotating electrical machine controllers includes a rotating electrical machine and a power supply controller configured to perform power supply control on the rotating electrical machine. The rotating electrical machine controllers have different imposed loads. The target voltage setting device is configured to set DC-side voltages of the rotating electrical machine controllers to a target voltage defined as a thermal equilibrium voltage which represents the DC-side voltages obtained when the rotating electrical machine controllers are in a thermal equilibrium condition.
US09065368B2

In order to cause the residual magnetic flux in an induction motor to decay in a short time without an excessive current flow, an induction motor control apparatus continues an operation in which an inverter apparatus is caused to output a zero voltage to the induction motor for a predetermined time before deactivating an operation of the inverter apparatus.
US09065360B2

A polymer actuator device system includes: a polymer actuator which includes an electrolyte layer, a first electrode layer and a second electrode layer provided to oppose each other with the electrolyte layer interposed therebetween in a thickness direction of the electrolyte layer, and deforms in response to a voltage between the first and second electrode layers; and a sealing member which coats an entirety of the polymer actuator to be enclosed therein. The sealing member has two layers of a resin layer and an inorganic layer, a thickness of the sealing member is 1 to 5 microns, and an outer side of the sealing member in the thickness direction has a wear preventing body.
US09065359B2

An unnecessary vibration detection apparatus of a vibration type actuator includes an AC voltage generation unit that generates a plurality of AC voltages having a driving frequency; a vibration detection unit that outputs a vibration detection signal of the vibration type actuator; and an unnecessary vibration detection unit that detects an unnecessary vibration component by generating a signal for cancelling the vibration component of the driving frequency in the vibration detection signal by controlling amplitudes of a plurality of AC signals which are used for generating the plurality of AC voltages.
US09065356B2

There is provided a technology for realizing a low-cost electric power converter operating at low noise under a high-temperature environment. The electric power converter is provided with an enclosure, a power module including a switching element, a driver circuit for generating a signal for driving the switching element, a control circuit board for generating an actuating signal to be sent out to the driver circuit, a base plate with the control circuit board mounted thereon, and a connection part for connecting between the enclosure and the control circuit board. The enclosure is provided with two openings adjacent to each other, and the base plate or the opening of the enclosure is provided with the connection part.
US09065352B2

An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure includes a medium voltage inverter control apparatus and a medium voltage inverter system using the same. The medium voltage inverter control apparatus determines input voltage information by receiving an input voltage of a medium voltage inverter, compares an output command of the medium voltage inverter with an output of a first PLL unit to output a difference therebetween, and synchronizes the output command of the medium voltage inverter using the difference.
US09065349B2

A control method for bidirectional DC-DC converter includes: operating a bidirectional DC-DC converter having a low voltage side including a plurality of low-voltage-side switches, a voltage clamping switch and a voltage clamping capacitor, and a high voltage side including a plurality of high-voltage-side switches in a boost mode; switching the voltage clamping switch with a predetermined duty cycle prior to switching on all of the low-voltage-side switches; adjusting the predetermined duty cycle of the voltage clamping switch to be smaller than a turn-off interval of the low-voltage-side switches to reduce the conduction loss of the low-voltage-side switches and the voltage clamping switch; alternatively, operating the DC-DC converter in a buck mode; and adjusting and extending the duty cycle of the low-voltage-side switches to overlap a turn-off time of the high-voltage-side switches to reduce the conduction loss of the low-voltage-side switches.
US09065344B2

A circuit for a switched mode power supply having a winding. The circuit comprising: an input configured to receive a winding voltage derived from the winding; a differentiation element configured to differentiate the winding voltage with respect to time in order to determine a derivative signal and compare the derivative signal with a threshold value; a steady state detector configured to set a zero derivative signal when the derivative signal has not exceeded the threshold value for a predetermined period of time, and a logic arrangement configured to identify an end of a demagnetization stroke of the switched mode power supply when the derivative signal crosses a final threshold value after the zero derivative signal has been set.
US09065336B2

A maximum power point tracking (MPPT) apparatus and a MPPT method are disclosed. A converter uses an inductor therein to perform power conversion operations according to a gating signal so as to convert an input electrical energy into an output electrical energy to a load. A controller monitors the voltage difference of the inductor and the element temperature, performs a lookup table operation or calculates the element characteristic according to the element temperature, and further uses the element characteristic and the voltage difference of the inductor for calculating a characteristic value and correspondingly adjusts the gating signal according to the characteristic value so as to track the power of the input electrical energy.
US09065332B2

A high voltage resonant step-up convertor converts a lower voltage signal to a higher voltage signal. The converter may be used, for example, to supply power via electromagnetic coupling to an implantable medical device. In some embodiments, a power converter comprises a driver circuit and a resonant circuit. The resonant circuit generates a high voltage output signal at a selected frequency. The driver circuit is controlled by a low voltage signal and periodically generates a higher frequency signal (e.g., approximately twice the selected frequency) to drive the resonant circuit. In some embodiments, the driver circuit comprises another resonant circuit and a switching circuit. The switching circuit periodically pumps current to the other resonant circuit and isolates the two resonant circuits. The other resonant circuit periodically pumps current to the output resonant circuit.
US09065331B2

The present invention pertains to an inductor current detection circuit in a switching mode power supply, and a light-emitting diode (LED) driver thereof. In one embodiment, an inductor current detection circuit configured in a switching mode power supply under discontinuous conduction mode, can include: (i) a voltage detection circuit configured to generate a sampling voltage based on a drain-source voltage of a power switch in the switching mode power supply; (ii) a voltage holding circuit configured to receive the sampling voltage, and to generate a holding voltage through a sampling and holding operation; and (iii) a comparison circuit configured to compare the sampling voltage against the holding voltage, and to generate a zero-crossing signal when the sampling voltage is less than the holding voltage, where the zero-crossing signal is configured to represent an inductor current ending time of the switching mode power supply.
US09065330B1

Aspects of the disclosure provide a method that including receiving a sensed signal corresponding to a current flowing through an energy transfer module in response to an on/off state of a forward-type triode for alternating current (TRIAC), determining the TRIAC on/off state based on the sensed signal, and controlling the energy transfer module based on the determined TRIAC on/off state.
US09065327B2

A dual voltage power conversion system with power factor correction (PFC) having a capabilities to adjust a PFC setpoint according to operating conditions. The input signaling levels, for example, may be monitored and used to control adjustments to the PFC setpoint in order to allow the PFC setpoint to dynamically change with any input variation. The PFC setpoint may be adjusted to a PFC setpoint resulting in maximum efficiency.
US09065323B2

A grid-tie inverter includes a power circuit and a control circuit coupled to the power circuit. The power circuit has an input terminal for coupling to a DC power source and an output terminal for coupling to an AC power grid. The control circuit is configured to perturb an AC output current of the power circuit a first time and detect a first change in an AC output voltage of the power circuit without shutting down the power circuit, perturb the AC output current of the power circuit a second time and detect a second change in the AC output voltage of the power circuit, and shut down the power circuit in response to detecting at least the first change in the AC output voltage and the second change in the AC output voltage. Example embodiments and related methods of controlling grid-tied inverters are also disclosed.
US09065317B2

A fixing structure for an electrical component includes a heat removing member for removing heat from the electrical component. The heat removing member has a receiving portion for receiving the electrical component. The fixing structure for an electrical component further includes a separation member that is coupled to the electrical component to separate the electrical component from the heat removing member. The separation member is coupled to the heat removing member. The fixing structure for an electrical component includes a soft material member that is accommodated in the receiving portion to contact the receiving portion and the electrical component. Heat of the electrical component is transmitted to the heat removing member via the soft material member.
US09065297B2

A method and an apparatus for charging a battery using a solar cell are provided. The method includes detecting an output state of the solar cell, searching a mapped charging current amount corresponding to the detected output state of the solar cell, setting a charging current amount of a charging unit for charging the battery based on the found charging current amount, and charging the battery with the set charging current amount. The method may maximize charging efficiency of a battery using the solar cell. Furthermore, the method may prevent output power consumption of a solar cell. Accordingly, the method may improve charging efficiency in comparison with a portable terminal of the related art in the same condition to shorten a charging time.
US09065295B2

Featured are methods for regulating the AC frequency of the electrical power to be supplied on an electrical distribution system or grid. Such a method includes electrically coupling an energy storage sub-system to the electrical distribution network, where the energy storage sub-system includes one or more flywheel energy storage systems. Also featured as devices, systems and apparatuses embodying such methodologies or for use in implementing such methodologies of the present invention.
US09065294B2

A control device includes a storage device storing reference power, basic device point information showing a control priority representing a degree for determining a control order of a plurality of devices, and room information showing a priority of each room in which the plurality of devices are disposed; an acquisition unit acquiring power usage of the plurality of devices; a changing unit changing the basic device point information based on the room information; a determination unit determining whether or not the acquired power usage has exceeded the reference power; and a transmitting unit transmitting, to a device of the plurality of devices that is relatively high in control priority after change, an instruction to reduce the power usage of this device, based on determination that the acquired power usage has exceeded the reference power.
US09065293B2

Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a battery heating circuit, comprising a switch unit 10 , a switching control module 100 , a one-way semiconductor component D10 , a damping component R, and a transformer T, wherein: the switching control module 100 is electrically connected with the switch unit 10; the battery, the damping component R, the first winding of the transformer T, and the switch unit 10 are connected in series with each other to constitute a battery discharging circuit; the battery, the damping component R, the second winding of the transformer T, and the one-way semiconductor component D10 are connected in series with each other to constitute a battery charging circuit. The transformer in certain embodiments of the present invention serves as an energy storage component, and has a current limiting function.
US09065291B2

Disclosed is a secondary battery management apparatus including a current control switch for opening and closing the flow of charge or discharge current of a secondary battery; a connector for selectively providing a power conducting state and a power cutoff state based on whether the apparatus is connected to a charge/discharge device; a communication terminal for providing a communication interface with the charge/discharge device; a power supply for receiving power from the secondary battery and supplying the received power to a component that requires electrical power; a power supply line including a power supply switch; a switch controller for detecting the reception of a communication request signal through the communication terminal during connection to the charge/discharge device through the connector and transmitting a turn-on signal to the power supply switch; and a controller connected to the power supply and initiating or terminating a management operation for the battery.
US09065290B2

A system and method of use of a three-phase inverter driver includes three single-phase inverters that are connected to the three-phase AC input of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) so that each of the single-phase inverters provide one of the three phases of the AC signal used by the EVSE. The single-phase inverters are rectified and either have variance in their output frequencies or have their phases staggered so that the maximum voltage provided to the EVSE remains at a consistently high level. In some cases, the three phases each cross polarity simultaneously, resulting in a drop in the maximum three-phase voltage, so low-capacity capacitors are used in conjunction with the inverters to bridge these gaps in voltage. These systems and methods use readily available, inexpensive components that have regulatory safety-approval and therefore may allow implementation on a vehicle or with a load leveling energy storage system.
US09065287B2

A handheld device includes a capacitive storage device and energy storage cells. The capacitive storage device can be rapidly charged. The energy from the capacitive storage device is used to recharge the energy storage cells over a longer period of time.
US09065285B2

One embodiment provides a computer system for preventing switching errors in a power system that includes a plurality of switching devices. The system includes a topology-extraction mechanism configured to extract topology information associated with the power system; a status database configured to store status information associated with the switching devices; a rule database configured to store user-definable operation rules associated with the switching devices; a receiving mechanism configured to receive a request for performing a switching operation on a device; a simulation mechanism configured to perform a simulation based on the extracted topology information, the status information, and a rule associated with the device; a determination mechanism configured to determine whether the switching operation is allowed based on an outcome of the simulation; and a display mechanism configured to display an output of the determination mechanism.
US09065282B2

A mobile charger includes a housing (1). A cell (2) is provided in the housing (1). A positive power distribution unit (4) and a negative power distribution unit (5) are provided at both ends of the housing (1) relative to the positive and the negative poles (21, 22) of the cell (2) respectively. A conducting piece set (3) is provided in the housing (1). The conducting piece set (3) is connected to the positive power distribution unit (4) and the negative power distribution unit (5). A charging unit (6) and a power supplying unit (7) are provided in the housing (1). The charging unit (6) and the power supplying unit (7) are electrically connected with the positive pole (21) of the cell (2) through the positive power distribution unit (4) and the conducting piece set (3) and electrically connected with the negative pole (22) of the cell (2) through the negative power distribution unit (5). Thus, the cell (2) is charged with direct current which is converted from alternating current through a AC charge by the charging unit (6), and then direct current is outputted from the cell (2) through the power supplying unit (7), so as to provide sufficient electric power to an electronic product which needs to use a DC power supply at any time and anywhere.
US09065281B2

Provided is a battery device for controlling charge/discharge of a secondary battery by a single bidirectionally conductive field effect transistor, a charge/discharge control circuit with which a leakage current of the bidirectionally conductive field effect transistor is reduced to perform stable operation. The charge/discharge control circuit includes: a switch circuit for controlling a gate of the bidirectionally conductive field effect transistor based on an output of a control circuit for controlling the charge/discharge of the secondary battery; and two MOS transistors for preventing back-flow of a charge current and a discharge current. The first MOS transistor has a drain and a back gate which are connected to each other, and a source connected to a drain of the bidirectionally conductive field effect transistor. The second MOS transistor has a drain and a back gate which are connected to each other, and a source connected to a source of the bidirectionally conductive field effect transistor.
US09065278B2

Systems and methods for estimating the relative capacity of individual battery subdivisions in a battery system are presented. In some embodiments, a system may include calculation system configured to analyze the electrical parameters to generate derivative values of the parameters over a period of time. The calculation system may further calculate summation values associated with individual battery subdivisions based upon the derivate values. A battery control system may utilize the summation values to generate one or more commands configured to control an aspect of an operation of the battery pack based on using the summation values. The summation values associated with battery subdivisions may be used to determine a relative capacity for storing electrical energy, according to some embodiments. The determination of relative capacity may be used by a control system to prevent over-discharge of a battery subdivision having the lowest energy storage capacity.
US09065276B2

Provided is an over-voltage protection device for a resonant wireless power transmission device. The over-voltage protection device includes an amplifier for amplifying a transmission signal, a resonance signal generator for generating a wireless resonance signal according to the transmission signal amplified by the amplifier, a voltage detector for sensing a voltage of the wireless resonance signal generated by the resonance signal generator, and a controller for monitoring the voltage detected by the voltage detector to determine whether the voltage repetitively increases and decreases with periodicity when the voltage is greater than a reference voltage and controlling the amplifier to decrease an output of the transmission device by a value according to a result of the determination.
US09065261B2

A connecting structure is applied for connecting an electric wire and a terminal. For coating a connecting portion of a conductor of the electric wire and the terminal, which form a wire harness, with a coating resin, a portion of an insulator, which is to be inserted into a terminal insertion hole of a connector housing, is subjected to a diameter reduction process such that an outer diameter of the coating resin coated on the insulator is smaller than the terminal insertion hole.
US09065260B2

A modular electric power distribution system transmits power between a power source and control modules for power consumers. The system includes a power distribution unit mounted on each module and bridge assemblies which connect adjacent distribution units.
US09065254B2

Embodiments of the invention describe an illuminator having a light source to originate an illumination beam, wherein the light source further comprises a set of vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs), including a first VCSEL having a first laser emission wavelength, and a second VCSEL having a second laser emission wavelength different than the first laser emission wavelength. Thus, by varying laser emission wavelengths of VCSELs in a VCSEL array, embodiments of the invention produce low-contrast speckle, and do not limit the imaging capabilities of the host illumination system. In some embodiments of the invention, vertical external cavity surface emitting lasers (VECSELs) are utilized to produce the above described varying laser emission wavelengths.
US09065252B2

A semiconductor laser element includes: a light emitting layer of a nitride semiconductor that is placed above a substrate of GaN and has a refractive index higher than the substrate, wherein the semiconductor laser element further includes the following layers between the substrate and the light emitting layer in an order from the substrate: a first nitride semiconductor layer of AlGaN; a second nitride semiconductor layer of AlGaN having an Al ratio higher than the first nitride semiconductor layer; a third nitride semiconductor layer of an InGaN; and a fourth nitride semiconductor layer of AlGaN having an Al ratio higher than the first nitride semiconductor layer and having a thickness greater than the second nitride semiconductor layer.
US09065249B2

A photonic-crystal surface-emitting laser (PCSEL) includes a gain medium electromagnetically coupled to a photonic crystal whose energy band structure exhibits a Dirac cone of linear dispersion at the center of the photonic crystal's Brillouin zone. This Dirac cone's vertex is called a Dirac point; because it is at the Brillouin zone center, it is called an accidental Dirac point. Tuning the photonic crystal's band structure (e.g., by changing the photonic crystal's dimensions or refractive index) to exhibit an accidental Dirac point increases the photonic crystal's mode spacing by orders of magnitudes and reduces or eliminates the photonic crystal's distributed in-plane feedback. Thus, the photonic crystal can act as a resonator that supports single-mode output from the PCSEL over a larger area than is possible with conventional PCSELs, which have quadratic band edge dispersion. Because output power generally scales with output area, this increase in output area results in higher possible output powers.
US09065247B2

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are drawn to a method and apparatus for the differentiation of power and channel count changes in optically amplified links. Additionally, configuration of a corresponding optical amplifier can be based on the determination of the power and channel count changes.
US09065246B2

Laser devices are presented in which a graphene saturable absorber and an optical amplifier are disposed in a resonant optical cavity with an optical or electrical pump providing energy to the optical amplifier.
US09065245B2

The invention relates to a double-sheath fiber having a core region (1) and a sheath region, the sheath region having an inner region (2) and an outer region (3), which comprises a refractive index that is lower with respect to that of the inner region (2) and the core region (1), wherein the outer region (3) surrounds the inner region (2). The invention proposes an internal structure (4) of the inner region (2) which effects a spatial overlap of modes of higher order with the core region (1), which is lower than the spatial overlap of a fundamental mode with the core region (1).
US09065236B2

A structure includes a channel waveguide and a pocket adjacent to an input facet of the channel waveguide. A laser having an output facet is positioned in the pocket. The structure includes a stop on either the laser or a wall of the pocket. The stop is positioned at an interface between the laser and the wall of the pocket such that the output facet of the laser and the input facet of the waveguide are separated by a gap.
US09065230B2

A cable connector with improved performance and ease of use. The connector has staggered ports to reduce crosstalk and to prevent incorrect insertion of a plug into a receptacle. The plug may be constructed with subassemblies, each of which has a lossy central portion. Conductive members embedded within an insulative housing of the subassemblies may be used to electrically connect ground conductors within the subassemblies. Further, the connector may have a quick connect locking screw that can be engaged by pressing on the screw, but requires rotation of the screw to remove. Additionally, a ferrule may be used in making a mechanical connection between a cable bundle and a plug and making an electrical connection between a braid of the cable bundle and a conductive shell of the plug. The ferrule may be in multiple pieces for easy attachment while precluding deformation of the cable, which disrupts electrical performance.
US09065229B2

A USB device has a substrate on which a plurality of USB 2.0 pads and a plurality of USB 3.0 pads are arranged on a fore side of the substrate, a male connector's fore-end part configured to surround the USB 2.0 pads and the USB 3.0 pads, a housing configured to be joined to a base end of the male connector's fore-end part in order to cover at least a rear side of the substrate, and a plurality of lead wires each configured to have one end fixed to an inner surface of the housing and the other end contacted to the USB 3.0 pad corresponding to the lead wire.
US09065217B2

An electrical connector including a housing, a plurality of contacts fastened in the housing for mating with a plug, a plurality of terminals for connecting an electrical device, and a magnetic module electrically connecting the contacts and the terminals to form a number of signal channels carrying differential signal pairs. The magnetic module has a printed circuit board (PCB) and a transformer mounted thereon. The transformer is connected in one of the signal channels and comprises an H-shaped magnetic core, a magnetic board a primary coil having a first magnetic wire and a second magnetic wire, and a secondary coil having a third magnetic wire and a fourth magnetic wire. The wires have specific parameters to suit specific needs.
US09065214B2

An electrical connector including a housing having a mating connector receiving passageway. A pair of first differential signal contacts have solder portions and first contact portions positioned in the mating connector receiving passageway. A first ground contact faces the pair of first differential signal contacts. The first ground contact has a solder portion and a pair of first grounding contact portions spaced apart from each other by a gap and positioned in the mating connector receiving passageway. The pair of first grounding contact portions face the first contact portions of the pair of first differential signal contacts.
US09065210B2

An efficient removal operation of a signal transmission medium is enabled with a simple configuration. A lock mechanism having a latch lock part, which retains an inserted state of the signal transmission medium by engagement with the signal transmission medium inserted in an insulating housing, is provided with an unlock maintaining part, which retains the latch lock part at a detachment position in conjunction with an unlock operation. It is configured so that, when the latch lock part of the lock mechanism is to be detached from the signal transmission medium by the unlock operation, an unlock maintaining part, which is moved in conjunction with the unlock operation, causes the latch lock part to be retained in a state in which it is detached from the signal transmission medium, and the signal transmission medium is maintained in a removable state thereafter even without continuing the unlock operation so that the unlock operation is completed at first for example only with one hand, and the signal transmission medium can be removed thereafter.
US09065205B2

A magnetic connector system having a durable and reliable construction and a reduced height while maintaining sufficient holding strength. A connector insert may utilize a crimping piece to crimp a braiding of a cable. The crimping piece may be fixed to an attraction plate and a board in the insert for mechanical reliability. Retention clips may be used to fix a shell to the attraction plate. A connector receptacle may employ a magnetically conductive label to improve holding strength.
US09065191B2

A one-piece metallic connector is configured to receive a fastener and has features that grip and electrically bond two conductors as they are clamped together when the fastener is tightened. The connector's generally U-shaped body has first and second legs, a bight portion joining the legs and an opening in each leg through which a single mounting fastener can extend. When installed with the outside of one leg abutting one conductor, another conductor is clamped between the legs. At least one outer projection (tooth) on the outer face of one leg engages the conductor to which the connector is mounted. At least one inner projection (tooth) on the same leg engages the conductor clamped between the legs. A recess on the inner face of the distal portion of the other leg is configured to cradle the clamped conductor.
US09065190B2

An object is to provide a crimp terminal which can increase contact pressure at both sides of a conductor press-clamping portion by reducing difficulty with which an original crimped shape is restored after a thermal shock test by realizing an increase in rigidity at root portions of conductor clamping pieces. In a crimp terminal (10) in which a conductor press-clamping portion (12) is provided rearwards of an electrical connecting portion (11) and a sheath clamping portion (13, 32) is provided rearwards of the conductor press-clamping portion (12), and the conductor press-clamping portion is formed into a configuration having a substantially U-shaped cross section by a bottom plate (31) and a pair of conductor clamping pieces (32) which extend upwards from left- and right-hand side edges of the bottom plate (31), reinforcement concave-convex portions (40) of a limited size are formed at respective root portions of the pair of conductor clamping pieces (32, 32) in which either an inner surface side or an outer surface side of the conductor clamping piece (32) is formed into a depressed portion (41) and the other is formed into a projection portion (42).