Patents Examined by Renee I Wilson
  • Patent number: 10184806
    Abstract: A rotation angle detection device includes resolvers 2a and 2b for detecting the rotation angle of a rotating body, and a signal processing circuit 10 for processing the output signals of the resolvers. The signal processing circuit 10 includes a detection signal processing section 30 for obtaining, from the output signals of the resolvers, electrical angle signals A1 and A2 corresponding to the electrical angles of the resolvers, and an abnormality detection section 50 capable of detecting an abnormality of the input signal from at least one of the resolvers. The abnormality detection section 50 performs comparison determination processing for comparing the electrical angle signal A1 and the electrical angle signal A2 obtained from the resolvers at the same time, and comparison determination processing for comparing the electrical angle signals A1 and the electrical angle signals A2 in a continuous time series at time points.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: MINEBEA CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Takahiko Komatsu
  • Patent number: 10059853
    Abstract: Inkjet printing is carried out on a substrate having a topmost layer comprising aqueous soluble multivalent metal cations and a hydrophilic polymeric binder. An aqueous inkjet ink composition is drawn from a main fluid supply as a continuous stream that is broken into both printing drops and non-printing drops, forming a white printed image on the substrate with the printing drops. The non-printing drops are collected and returned to the main fluid supply. The aqueous inkjet ink composition comprises particles of titanium dioxide in an amount of at least 4 to 15 weight %. The particles of titanium dioxide have a 95th percentile particle size of less than 200 nm, a 50th percentile particle size of less than 130 nm, and are dispersed using a dispersing polymer comprising acidic groups. The weight ratio of the particles of titanium dioxide to the dispersing polymer is 19:1 to 2:1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2018
    Assignee: EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY
    Inventors: Charles Leo Bauer, Tamara K. Jones
  • Patent number: 10048319
    Abstract: A method for estimating a state of charge of a battery including plural cells connected in series, including: determination, at a given time, of a minimum cell voltage and of a maximum cell voltage from among the cell voltages, and calculation of a physical quantity analytically depending on the minimum and maximum cell voltages according to an equation including weighting elements ensuring the weight associated with the maximum cell voltage increases when the state of charge of the associated cell increases, and the weight associated with the minimum cell voltage increases when the state of charge of the associated cell decreases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: RENAULT s.a.s.
    Inventors: Ana-Lucia Driemeyer-Franco, Laurent Gagneur, Marc Lucea
  • Patent number: 10017656
    Abstract: An image recording method including the steps of applying an ink containing a pigment to a recording medium and applying a treatment liquid containing an organic acid to the recording medium so as to overlap at least a part of a region to which the ink is applied. The treatment liquid contains at least one organic compound having an anionic group, and an amino group or quaternary ammonium in its molecular structure and having surface-activating capability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshitaka Torisaka, Takashi Imai
  • Patent number: 9994723
    Abstract: An aqueous dispersion contains pigment colorant particles (of various types of materials) at 5 weight % and up to and including 80 weight %; a dispersing polymer that is prepared from the Diels Alder adduct of 3-maleimidopropionic acid and furfuryl (meth)acrylate; and an aqueous medium. The weight ratio of the pigment colorant particles to the dispersing polymer is from 19:1 to and including 2:1. This aqueous dispersion can be incorporated into an aqueous inkjet ink composition that can be used in various inkjet printing methods to provide opaque images particularly when titanium dioxide particles are used as the pigment colorant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY
    Inventors: Charles Leo Bauer, Tamara K. Jones, Grace Ann Bennett
  • Patent number: 9989425
    Abstract: A distributed temperature sensor, a method of determining temperature, and a processing system to compute temperature are described. The sensor includes an optical fiber disposed in an area where temperature is to be measured, a primary light source to inject light into the optical fiber, and a secondary light source to inject light into the optical fiber. The sensor additionally includes a photodetector to detect backscatter light energy from the optical fiber the backscatter light energy including Stokes Raman scatter or anti-Stokes Raman scatter and primary Rayleigh scatter resulting from the primary light source and secondary Rayleigh scatter resulting from the secondary light source, and a processor to determine temperature based on a ratio of the Stokes Raman scatter or the anti-Stokes Raman scatter and a combination of the primary Rayleigh scatter and the secondary Rayleigh scatter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: BAKER HUGHES, A GE COMPANY, LLC
    Inventors: Ian Mitchell, William Johnston, Ashwin Chandran
  • Patent number: 9983067
    Abstract: Provided is an overheat detection circuit configured to accurately detect a temperature of a semiconductor device even at high temperature and thus avoid outputting an erroneous detection result. The overheat detection circuit includes: a PN junction element, being a temperature sensitive element; a constant current circuit configured to supply the PN junction element with a bias current; a comparator configured to compare a voltage generated at the PN junction element and a reference voltage; a second PN junction element configured to cause a leakage current to flow through a reference voltage circuit at high temperature; and a third PN junction element configured to bypass a leakage current of the constant current circuit at the high temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: ABLIC INC.
    Inventors: Masakazu Sugiura, Tsutomu Tomioka, Hideyuki Sawai, Atsushi Igarashi, Nao Otsuka, Daisuke Okano
  • Patent number: 9958424
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a method of identifying an airborne molecular contamination (AMC) leaking source in a fab. The method includes distributing a sensor in the fab, executing a forward computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of an air flow in the fab, setting an inversed modeling of the forward CFD simulation of the air flow in the fab, building up a database of a spatial response probability distribution matrix of the sensor using an AMC measurement data in the fab, and identifying the AMC leaking source using the database of the spatial response probability distribution matrix of the sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2018
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Tzu-Sou Chuang, Jeng-Jyi Hwang, Cheng-Lung Chou, Chi-Ming Yang, Chin-Hsiang Lin
  • Patent number: 9958374
    Abstract: In a method for determining charge and/or size of an object (15) suspended in a fluid, the object (15) is introduced, together with the fluid, into an electrostatic trap (1) defining an electrostatic confining potential. The thermal motion of the object (15) in the fluid is observed under influence of the confining potential, and charge and/or size are determined from the observed thermal motion. In particular, the viscous drag on the object yields a measure of its size, while the stiffness of its confinement can be compared with a potential model to reveal the total charge it carries. Also disclosed are an apparatus and software for carrying out the method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2018
    Assignee: UNIVERSITAT ZURICH
    Inventor: Madhavi Krishnan
  • Patent number: 9952345
    Abstract: An electrical resistivity imaging survey performs an investigation of a targeted subsurface site using a system of underground electrode arrays. The arrays are installed at depth within probe channels formed by a direct push drilling process that employs a non-rotational boring action. Each array includes a set of current electrodes to inject current into the subsurface, and a set of potential electrodes to detect a potential difference relating to an electrical field generated by the current. A meter generates a resistivity measurement using the voltage and current values to define a resistivity data point. The collection of data points developed by operation of the array system forms a model representative of the spatial distribution of the subsurface resistivity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Inventor: David Bruce Harro
  • Patent number: 9915568
    Abstract: A circuit device including: a detection circuit (10) that performs A/D conversion of a first detection voltage (VD1) that is detected by using a thermopile (2), and outputs a first detection value (DT1) that is a digital value, and performs A/D conversion of a second detection voltage (VD2) that is detected by using a thermistor (4), and outputs a second detection value (DT2) that is a digital value; and a control unit (50) that obtains a self-temperature by using the second detection value (DT2), obtains a second electromotive voltage that corresponds to the self-temperature by using the self-temperature, obtains a first electromotive voltage that corresponds to an object's temperature by using the first detection value (DT1) and the second electromotive voltage, and obtains the object's temperature by using the first electromotive voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kota Onishi, Tsutae Hinata, Yukinari Shibata, Chihiro Fukumoto, Naoki Nishigaki, Koji Kawaguchi
  • Patent number: 9915571
    Abstract: The present invention relates to the field of radio frequency identification, in particular to a temperature measurement and calibration circuit and a passive radio frequency identification tag. Meanwhile, the present invention further relates to a method for performing temperature measurement by using the tag. The temperature measurement and calibration circuit of the tag generates an upper reference voltage value limit and a lower reference voltage value limit, which do not change with temperature, then calibrates the upper reference voltage value limit and the lower reference voltage value limit to a uniform upper voltage value limit and a uniform lower voltage value limit, and eliminates the problem of different reference voltages of tags due to the power supply voltage fluctuation and process deviation. Meanwhile, a temperature measurement voltage generator circuit of the tag generates a calibration voltage value under a uniform calibration temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Inventors: Patrick Bian Wu, Xingyi Wang, Lingli Zhou, Fuqiang Han, Shehu Qi, Yuanming Luo
  • Patent number: 9896588
    Abstract: The object is to provide an ink advantageous in that an ink film thereby formed excels in strength and adhesiveness to print media. To achieve the object, an ink according to the present invention includes: a disperse solvent; first binder resin particles (1) containing a coloring agent (3) and emulsified or suspended in the disperse solvent; and second binder resin particles (2) emulsified or suspended in the disperse solvent, wherein the second binder resin particles (2) have an average particle size smaller than an average particle size of the first binder resin particles (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2018
    Assignee: MIMAKI ENGINEERING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masaru Ohnishi
  • Patent number: 9891344
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for estimating a set of variables associated with sites of an area, the method comprising the following steps: a) a set of observation data is supplied, b) a variable associated with a site of a first sub-area is estimated by krigeing, using the precision matrix of the first sub-area, c) a second adjacent sub-area is determined, d) a variable associated with a site of the second sub-area is estimated by krigeing, on the basis of the first sub-space, the second sub-space, and the precision matrix determined for the first sub-space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: TOTAL SA
    Inventors: Denis Allard, Alexandre Walgenwitz, Pierre Biver
  • Patent number: 9891701
    Abstract: A location of a sensor is determined by: (1) receiving time series data including components in a plurality of dimensions, wherein the time series data correspond to measurements of the sensor that is applied to a subject; (2) determining a plurality of subsequences associated with the time series data, wherein each of the plurality of subsequences represents a characteristic pattern projected along one of the plurality of dimensions; (3) identifying a correlated subset of the plurality of subsequences as at least one instance of an activity of the subject; and (4) based on features of the correlated subset, determining the location of the sensor as applied to the subject.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
    Inventors: Majid Sarrafzadeh, Ani Nahapetian, Alireza Vahdatpour, Mahsan Rofouei
  • Patent number: 9885574
    Abstract: A method that performs a series of interactive operations to calibrate a compass in a mobile device. The method requires a user to move the device to a variety of different orientations. In order to ensure that the device moves to a sufficient number and variety of orientations, the method instructs the user to rotate the device in a series of interactive operations. The interactive operations provide feedback to inform the user how well the user is performing the interactive operations. In some embodiments, the feedback is tactile (e.g., a vibration). In some embodiments the feedback is audible (e.g., a beep or buzz). In some embodiments, the feedback is visual (e.g., an image or images on a video display of the device). The feedback in some embodiments is continuous (e.g., a changing visual display) and in some embodiments is discrete (e.g., the device beeps after taking a good reading).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Christopher D. Moore, Sarah G. Barbour, Joshua C. Weinberg, Alessandro F. Sabatelli, Brian Schmitt
  • Patent number: 9884499
    Abstract: A tape cartridge is detachably installed on a cartridge installation portion of a tape printing apparatus having a platen supporting shaft and a printing head. A base end of the platen supporting shaft is fixed to the cartridge installation portion at one end of the platen supporting shaft. The tape cartridge includes the platen roller, the upper bearing portion, the lower bearing portion, and the fitting portion. The platen roller includes an upper and lower engagement portion. The upper bearing portion rotatable supports the upper engagement portion and restricts movement of the upper engagement portion. The lower bearing portion rotatable supports the lower engagement portion and restricts movement of the lower engagement portion. The fitting portion in which a tip end of the platen supporting shaft passing through the platen roller fits when the tape cartridge is installed on the cartridge installation portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Hideki Sakano
  • Patent number: 9868290
    Abstract: With a conventional liquid container, it is difficult to reduce the possibility of soiling with liquid caused by liquid leakage. Provided is a liquid container including a liquid containing portion containing liquid, a liquid inlet portion receiving injection of the liquid into the liquid containing portion, an open air port that communicates with the liquid containing portion and is introducing the atmospheric air into the liquid containing portion, and a liquid absorbent material that is arranged at least in a portion of the periphery of the open air port and that is absorbing the liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2018
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takanori Matsuda, Shoma Kudo, Hidenao Suzuki, Naomi Kimura, Munehide Kanaya
  • Patent number: 9863984
    Abstract: The subject matter described herein is directed to a power monitoring system for managing power in a data center. In one embodiment, the power monitoring system includes: at least one processor, a memory coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the memory includes, a computation module configured to compute at least one of peak power consumption and current power consumption of each power distribution point of a power distribution unit and an analysis module configured to identify the power distribution points which are overloaded or are underutilized based on a policy data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: Tata Consultancy Services Limited
    Inventors: Anand Sivasubramaniam, Arunchandar Vasan, Rajesh Jayaprakash, Perumal Rajaram, Rajesh Subbiah, Praveen Orvakanti, Sivabalan Thirunavukkarasu
  • Patent number: 9846976
    Abstract: Methods for assessing the useful life that may remain for a portion of a wind turbine support structure. The methods may include identifying an overall expected useful life for the portion of the support structure and estimating an expended life from the extent of loading that has occurred to the portion of the support structure during the operative life of a wind turbine. The useful life remaining for the portion may be determined by subtracting the expended life from the overall expected useful life.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: VESTAS WIND SYSTEMS A/S
    Inventor: Marcel Van Duijvendijk