Patents by Inventor Ian A. Thompson

Ian A. Thompson has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11941615
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for transmitting credentials to a transaction processing system, the credentials arranged in sets and a set including a unique identifier and verification data elements. Credentials are activated and are then available for use in at least one subsequent transaction. In the transaction, in response to receiving authorization from a user, the unique identifier and verification data elements from a set are transmitted to the transaction processing system for the user. The credentials are activated using an activation mode selected from at least a first activation mode and a second activation mode. In the first activation mode, additional user input for the verification data elements associated with the unique identifier is received from the user. In the second activation mode, the user is authenticated, and verification data elements are received via a data communications network are received from a trusted data processing system remote from the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: VISA EUROPE LIMITED
    Inventors: Paul Michael Carpenter, Jonathan Paul Sumpster, Andrew Paul Thompson, Christopher Ian Abrathat, Jonathan Rusca, Jean-Christophe Gilbert Lacour, Michael Ronald Philpotts
  • Patent number: 11929466
    Abstract: Provided herein are energy storage devices. In some cases, the energy storage devices are capable of being transported on a vehicle and storing a large amount of energy. An energy storage device is provided comprising at least one liquid metal electrode, an energy storage capacity of at least about 1 MWh and a response time less than or equal to about 100 milliseconds (ms).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: Ambri Inc.
    Inventors: David J. Bradwell, David A. H. McCleary, Gregory A. Thompson, Allan Blanchard, Jeffrey B. Miller, Ronald Teel, William B. Langhauser, Alexander W. Elliott, Donald R. Sadoway, Michael J. McNeley, Ian Redfern
  • Patent number: 11919625
    Abstract: An aircraft landing gear assembly is disclosed including a landing gear bracket, a fore lever receiving a fore aircraft wheel, an aft lever receiving a rear aircraft wheel, the fore and aft levers being independently moveable, wherein the bracket further comprises a fore lever stop to prevent downwards movement of the fore lever past a lowest rotational position with respect to the bracket at a first angle ?1 forward from the notional bracket axis, and a rear lever stop to prevent downwards movement of the rear lever past a lowest rotational position at a second angle ?2 behind from the notional bracket axis, wherein the first angle is greater than the second angle. An aircraft and a method of landing an aircraft are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED
    Inventor: Robert Ian Thompson
  • Publication number: 20230407615
    Abstract: A liquid dosing apparatus for dispensing a liquid from a container into a liquid stream of a shower, toilet, or tap includes an adapter, a dosing mechanism, a damping control system, and a dispensing outlet. The adapter is arranged to detachable receive the container. The dosing mechanism includes a dosing chamber and a movable member. The dosing mechanism is arranged to draw a set volume of the liquid into the dosing chamber on activation by moving the moveable member in a first direction. The damping control system is arranged to control a dispensing rate of the set volume of the liquid by controlling return speed of the moveable member. The damping control system is arranged to allow and control adjustment of the dispensing rate. The dispensing outlet is arranged to dispense the liquid into the water stream at the controlled dispensing rate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2023
    Publication date: December 21, 2023
    Inventor: Ian Thompson
  • Patent number: 11773577
    Abstract: A liquid dosing apparatus for dispensing a liquid from a container into a liquid stream of a shower, toilet, or tap includes an adapter, a dosing mechanism, a damping control system, and a dispensing outlet. The adapter is arranged to detachable receive the container. The dosing mechanism includes a dosing chamber and a movable member. The dosing mechanism is arranged to draw a set volume of the liquid into the dosing chamber on activation by moving the moveable member in a first direction. The damping control system is arranged to control a dispensing rate of the set volume of the liquid by controlling return speed of the moveable member. The damping control system is arranged to allow and control adjustment of the dispensing rate. The dispensing outlet is arranged to dispense the liquid into the water stream at the controlled dispensing rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: KOHLER MIRA LIMITED
    Inventor: Ian Thompson
  • Publication number: 20230260327
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method and a system for monitoring the mobility levels of individual farm animals and accordingly determining their corresponding mobility score. The mobility score may be indicative of the health and/or welfare status of the animals. The present invention processes a 2D video recording obtained from an imaging device to detect the movement of individual animals through a space. The video recording is segmented over a set of individual frames and in each frame the individual instances of the animal appearing in the vide frame are detected. The detected instances of each animal over a number of frames are grouped together. From each detected instance of an individual animal a set of reference points are extracted. The reference points are associated with location on the animal body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2021
    Publication date: August 17, 2023
    Inventors: Terry Canning, Adam Askew, Ryan McMillan, Ian Thompson
  • Patent number: 11548623
    Abstract: An aircraft landing gear is disclosed having a first oleo strut include a sleeve portion and a slider portion, the slider portion being slidable within a hydraulic fluid chamber of the sleeve portion, and a second, similar oleo strut. The landing gear also includes a hydraulic fluid balancer having a balance chamber separated into first and second end sections, wherein the hydraulic fluid chamber of the sleeve portion of the first oleo strut is fluidly connected to the first section of the balance chamber and the hydraulic fluid chamber of the sleeve portion of the second oleo strut is fluidly connected to the second section of the balance chamber of the hydraulic fluid balancer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED
    Inventor: Robert Ian Thompson
  • Publication number: 20220307005
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for the transformation of host cells of a biofilm with heterologous nucleic acid, wherein the host cells are within the extracellular matrix of the biofilm, the method comprising: adding the heterologous nucleic acid to the biofilm; and applying inertial cavitation to the biofilm in the presence of the heterologous nucleic acid to facilitate transformation of host cells within the biofilm with the heterologous nucleic acid. The invention further relates to associated methods, uses and kits for transformation of host cells of a biofilm.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2020
    Publication date: September 29, 2022
    Inventors: Ian THOMPSON, Wei HUANG, Chun Kiat NG, Ronald A. ROY, Jason RAYMOND
  • Publication number: 20220185461
    Abstract: An aircraft landing gear assembly is disclosed including a landing gear bracket, a fore lever receiving a fore aircraft wheel, an aft lever receiving a rear aircraft wheel, the fore and aft levers being independently moveable, wherein the bracket further comprises a fore lever stop to prevent downwards movement of the fore lever past a lowest rotational position with respect to the bracket at a first angle ?1 forward from the notional bracket axis, and a rear lever stop to prevent downwards movement of the rear lever past a lowest rotational position at a second angle ?2 behind from the notional bracket axis, wherein the first angle is greater than the second angle. An aircraft and a method of landing an aircraft are also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 17, 2021
    Publication date: June 16, 2022
    Inventor: Robert Ian THOMPSON
  • Publication number: 20220098844
    Abstract: A liquid dosing apparatus for dispensing a liquid from a container into a liquid stream of a shower, toilet, or tap includes an adapter, a dosing mechanism, a damping control system, and a dispensing outlet. The adapter is arranged to detachable receive the container. The dosing mechanism includes a dosing chamber and a movable member. The dosing mechanism is arranged to draw a set volume of the liquid into the dosing chamber on activation by moving the moveable member in a first direction. The damping control system is arranged to control a dispensing rate of the set volume of the liquid by controlling return speed of the moveable member. The damping control system is arranged to allow and control adjustment of the dispensing rate. The dispensing outlet is arranged to dispense the liquid into the water stream at the controlled dispensing rate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 14, 2021
    Publication date: March 31, 2022
    Applicant: Kohler Mira Limited
    Inventor: Ian Thompson
  • Patent number: 11235887
    Abstract: An aircraft landing gear assembly (112) including a shock absorber strut (114), a bogie (120), a link assembly (124), and a movement detector (132). The shock absorber strut includes an upper and a lower telescoping parts (118, 116), the upper part being connectable to the airframe of an aircraft and the lower part being connected to the bogie such that the bogie may adopt different pitch angles. The link assembly extends between the upper and lower telescoping parts, such that relative movement between the upper and lower telescoping parts causes relative movement between parts of the link assembly. The movement detector is arranged to detect movement of the link assembly relative to the bogie. The movement detector detects movement by sensing a change in linear displacement of, or angle between, one or more members.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Airbus Operations Limited
    Inventor: Robert Ian Thompson
  • Patent number: 11230833
    Abstract: A liquid dosing apparatus for dispensing a liquid from a container into a liquid stream of a shower, toilet, or tap includes a dosing mechanism that includes a dosing chamber and a moveable member. The dosing mechanism is arranged to draw a set volume of the liquid into the dosing chamber on activation by moving the moveable member in a first direction. The apparatus further includes a damping control system arranged to control a dispensing rate of the set volume of the liquid by controlling return speed of the moveable member, as well as a dispensing outlet arranged to dispense the liquid into the water stream at the controlled dispensing rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: KOHLER MIRA LIMITED
    Inventor: Ian Thompson
  • Patent number: 11111008
    Abstract: A spring assembly 100 for aircraft landing gear 10 including: an interface 110 via which the spring assembly 100 is attachable to a support 1a; a loading point 120 for receiving a load from one or more wheels 150 or skids in use, wherein the loading point 120 is movable relative to the interface 110; a spring system 130 that is configured to apply a resilient biasing force to the loading point 120 to oppose movement of the loading point 120 relative to the interface 110. The spring system 130 is configured so that, during application of an increasing load to the loading point 120 against the resilient biasing force of the spring system 130, a spring rate of the spring system 130 changes from a first spring rate k1 to a second spring rate k2, the second spring rate k2 being less than the first spring rate k1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: Airbus Operations Limited
    Inventor: Robert Ian Thompson
  • Publication number: 20210253228
    Abstract: A modular aircraft landing gear assembly is disclosed having a modular landing gear bracket, connectable to an aircraft via a hinge portion, a lever for carrying a wheel, and a linkage assembly for transmitting ground loads via a spring and/or a shock absorber. The bracket comprises structure which redundant when used on an aircraft of a first type but which is necessary for use of the same type of bracket on a different type of aircraft. The modular landing gear assembly may thus provide a design platform from which landing gear assemblies can be readily designed and manufactured for use on different types of aircraft with faster and/or easier redesign and/or recertification of the aircraft landing gear assembly for such subsequently designed types of aircraft.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 17, 2021
    Publication date: August 19, 2021
    Inventor: Robert Ian THOMPSON
  • Patent number: 11059572
    Abstract: An aircraft landing gear 2 is disclosed having a first arm 6a configured to have one or more wheels 8a mounted at one end, the first arm 6a being configured for mounting to a pivot 10a. The landing gear 2 includes a second arm 6b configured to have one or more wheels 8b mounted at one end, the second arm 6b being configured for mounting to a pivot 10b. The landing gear 2 further includes a first link 18a pivotally coupled to the first arm 6a, a second link 18b pivotally coupled to the second arm 6b; and a main link 20 pivotally coupled to each of the first and second links 18a, 18b and to a shock absorber 22 arranged to provide a biasing force via (i) the main linkage 20 and the first link 18a which opposes rotation of the first arm 6a about the pivot 10a and (ii) the main linkage 20 and the second link 18b which opposes rotation of the second arm 6b about the pivot 10b.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2021
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED
    Inventor: Robert Ian Thompson
  • Publication number: 20210206477
    Abstract: An aircraft landing gear is disclosed having a first oleo strut include a sleeve portion and a slider portion, the slider portion being slidable within a hydraulic fluid chamber of the sleeve portion, and a second, similar oleo strut. The landing gear also includes a hydraulic fluid balancer having a balance chamber separated into first and second end sections, wherein the hydraulic fluid chamber of the sleeve portion of the first oleo strut is fluidly connected to the first section of the balance chamber and the hydraulic fluid chamber of the sleeve portion of the second oleo strut is fluidly connected to the second section of the balance chamber of the hydraulic fluid balancer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2019
    Publication date: July 8, 2021
    Inventor: Robert Ian THOMPSON
  • Patent number: 11014654
    Abstract: A landing gear assembly (12) includes a primary load bearing strut including a shock absorber having a slider part (15) arranged to slide within a cylinder part (17). A link assembly (50) is attached between the slider part (15) and the cylinder part (17). A bogie (16) supporting wheels is mounted on the strut. The bogie may adopt different pitch angles. A pitch trimmer device (70) is attached to the bogie and to the link assembly, for example thus providing a relatively long moment arm (96) for control of the bogie pitch angle. The arrangement may be such that the pitch trimmer (70) is near mid-stroke as the aircraft achieves the full weight on wheels condition, whereas the pitch trimmer is at a fullest extent for flight case and for retraction. Onset of pitch trimmer closure/movement is used to detect the weight-on-wheels condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: Airbus Operations Limited
    Inventor: Robert Ian Thompson
  • Patent number: 10676173
    Abstract: An aircraft (102) having a wing assembly (101) including a fixed wing (105) with a wing tip device (103). The wing tip device (103) is moveable between: a flight configuration; and a ground configuration. The outer end of the fixed wing (105) terminates at an outer rib (115), and the inner end of the wing tip device (103) terminates at an inner rib (117). The outer and inner ribs (115, 117) are located on opposing sides of an interface between the fixed wing (105) and the wing tip device (103). The fixed wing-skin (119) terminates inwardly of the interface, but the outer rib (115) has a surface-forming portion (127) forming an extension of the fixed wing-skin towards the interface. The wing tip device-skin (121) terminates outwardly of the interface, but the inner rib has a surface-forming portion (129) forming an extension of the wing tip device-skin towards the interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED
    Inventors: Robert Ian Thompson, Sylvain Boye, Benjamin Bishop
  • Publication number: 20200131750
    Abstract: A liquid dosing apparatus for dispensing a liquid from a container into a liquid stream of a shower, toilet, or tap includes a dosing mechanism that includes a dosing chamber and a moveable member. The dosing mechanism is arranged to draw a set volume of the liquid into the dosing chamber on activation by moving the moveable member in a first direction. The apparatus further includes a damping control system arranged to control a dispensing rate of the set volume of the liquid by controlling return speed of the moveable member, as well as a dispensing outlet arranged to dispense the liquid into the water stream at the controlled dispensing rate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2019
    Publication date: April 30, 2020
    Inventor: Ian Thompson
  • Patent number: 10597140
    Abstract: A method of configuring a wing tip device (7) on an aircraft (1), including: undertaking ground-based operations at an airport with the wing tip device (7) in a ground configuration, in which the span of the aircraft is within an airport compatibility limit, moving the wing tip device (7) to a take-off configuration in which the wing tip device (7) is moved away from the ground configuration such that the span of the aircraft is increased and such that the wing tip device (7) has a first lift coefficient; taking-off with the wing tip device (7) in the take-off configuration; moving the wing tip device from the take-off configuration to a flight configuration, in which the wing tip device has a second lift coefficient, the second lift coefficient being lower than the first lift coefficient. The lift coefficient may be changed by adjusting the sweep of the wing tip device (7).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Airbus Operations Limited
    Inventors: Robert Ian Thompson, Geoffrey Richard Williams, Nicholas Livings, Kevin Nicholls