Patents by Inventor Paul Joseph Schaffert

Paul Joseph Schaffert 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: 11742692
    Abstract: Techniques for an electronic device to perform power-stealing techniques to harvest energy from a power-control circuit to power components of the electronic device. In some examples, the electronic device may be connected in the power-control circuit between a power supply and a relay that is selectively configured to activate a power load. According to the techniques described herein, the electronic device may include voltage-drop circuitry that is connected in the power-control circuit such that a voltage drop is produced across electrical components of the electronic device while the relay is in the activated, or triggered, state. In this way, the electronic device may perform power-stealing from the power-control circuit while the relay is maintained in the activated state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Samuel Forest Girvin, Paul Joseph Schaffert
  • Patent number: 9672812
    Abstract: A speech-based audio device may be configured to detect a user-uttered trigger expression and to respond by interpreting subsequent words or phrases as commands. In order to distinguish between utterance of the trigger expression by the user and generation of the trigger expression by the device itself, output signals used as speaker inputs are analyzed to detect whether the trigger expression has been generated by the speaker. If a detected trigger expression has been generated by the speaker, it is disqualified. Disqualified trigger expressions are not acted upon the by the audio device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Yuzo Watanabe, Paul Joseph Schaffert, Bjorn Hoffmeister, Stan Weidner Salvador