Patents by Inventor Richard Gene Washington

Richard Gene Washington 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).

  • Publication number: 20090126100
    Abstract: In some embodiments, a bathtub heating system may detect a temperature of bathtub fluid (e.g., water, mud, etc.) in a bathtub and may apply heat to the bathtub fluid to maintain a substantially constant temperature (or to provide a user indicated and/or predetermined temperature/time profile). In some embodiments, the bathtub heating system may not use a temperature sensor. For example, the bathtub heating system may use a fluid level sensor to detect when the bathtub fluid in the bathtub is at a sufficient height to operate and may apply a predetermined amount of power to the heating elements to approximately maintain the temperature of the bathtub fluid in the bathtub.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 18, 2008
    Publication date: May 21, 2009
    Inventors: Michael Lee Kenoyer, Richard Gene Washington, Rhetta Suzanne Horn Verret
  • Patent number: 6389171
    Abstract: A system for decoding variable length coded DVC data and methods of operating the same result in a variable length decoder engine that receives video frames having a plurality of digital interchange format (DIF) sequences and provides contiguous decoded run-length amp pairs. The variable length decode engine comprises a concatenation engine configured to contiguously format a plurality of DIF blocks of a DIF sequence to provide contiguous DCT blocks. The concatenation engine has a controller that utilizes several passes capable of running simultaneously to return the DIF blocks coded according to IEC standards to their original variable length sequences. A run-length amp pair generator coupled to the concatenation engine configured to decode the contiguous DCT blocks to provide the run-length amp pairs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2002
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventor: Richard Gene Washington