Patents by Inventor William A. Lawrence

William A. Lawrence 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: 10120955
    Abstract: A method is provided for representing and updating the state of a dialog involving a series of queries and commands to an artificial intelligence system. Each statement within the dialogue may be modeled as a relational tree spanning nodes corresponding to named entities within the statement. A data structure may be used to store each of these trees and to modify them as the dialog progresses. A subsequent statement in the dialog may be parsed and its contents used to update an ongoing search initiated within that dialog. Statements may be used for the update process despite being fragmentary or not corresponding to any predetermined grammar. An algorithm is disclosed for updating the trees within the data structure after a new statement is parsed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc.
    Inventors: Adwait Ratnaparkhi, Benjamin Birch Douglas, William Lawrence Jarrold, Deepak Ramachandran, Peter Zei-chan Yeh
  • Patent number: 10118287
    Abstract: A socket holder with a built in locking mechanism that is user controlled and activated by a push button which controls internal locking mechanisms which allow this socket holder to securely store and transport sockets mounted to it. This socket holder can hold multiples of the sockets to its main socket holder body, releasing them only when desired by the user with the push of the push button that controls the internal mechanisms which release the sockets from the socket holder body. This socket holder is designed to organize and securely lock the sockets onto its socket holder body in a way that is dependable and easy to use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Inventor: William Lawrence Billups, Jr.
  • Patent number: 10045632
    Abstract: A traveling wave air mattress apparatus includes an air mattress comprised of an array of laterally disposed, longitudinally spaced air bladder cells that are individually inflatable to quiescent pressure levels which provide comfortable support for a human body, and an air pressure-pulse generator controlled by a wave sequence generator for periodically introducing into sequences of the air bladder cells timed sequences of air pressure pulses which vary pressures in the cells from quiescent pressures, the air pressure variations resulting in leading and lagging soliton-like traveling waves of body support force variation which travel longitudinally over the surfaces of the pulsed air bladder cells, thus inhibiting formation of bedsores. The wave patterns may optionally simulate water waves and/or rocking motions of a boat to produce relaxing effects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Inventor: William Lawrence Chapin
  • Publication number: 20180184201
    Abstract: This application relates to methods and apparatus for loudspeaker protection. A loudspeaker protection system (100) receives a digital audio signal comprising a plurality of samples at an input node (IN). A delay block (15) delays the digital audio signal and a gain block (14) applies a controlled gain to the delayed digital audio signal. An excursion predictor (12) is configured to receive a version of the audio signal from the signal path upstream of the delay block and determine a predicted excursion for a loudspeaker based on the audio signal. A gain controller (23) controls a gain setting (g) of the gain block in response to the predicted excursion and a first loudspeaker impulse response model and a predetermined excursion limit. The gain controller (23) is configured to determine at least one gain setting {ga gi} to be applied to a set of samples {Va . . .
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 26, 2018
    Publication date: June 28, 2018
    Inventors: Jason William LAWRENCE, Roger David SERWY, Roberto NAPOLI
  • Publication number: 20180160821
    Abstract: A traveling wave air mattress apparatus includes an air mattress comprised of an array of laterally disposed, longitudinally spaced air bladder cells that are individually inflatable to quiescent pressure levels which provide comfortable support for a human body, and an air pressure-pulse generator controlled by a wave sequence generator for periodically introducing into sequences of the air bladder cells timed sequences of air pressure pulses which vary pressures in the cells from quiescent pressures, the air pressure variations resulting in leading and lagging soliton-like traveling waves of body support force variation which travel longitudinally over the surfaces of the pulsed air bladder cells, thus inhibiting formation of bedsores. The wave patterns may optionally simulate water waves and/or rocking motions of a boat to produce relaxing effects.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2018
    Publication date: June 14, 2018
    Inventor: William Lawrence Chapin
  • Patent number: 9988224
    Abstract: A removable media tray assembly for an image forming device according to one embodiment includes a media tray having a bottom surface and a front wall extending upward from the bottom surface. A bottom surface defines a media storage location for storing a stack of media sheets. The assembly includes a housing having an opening therein to receive the media tray. A magnet and a plate provide a latching force FL greater than a pick motor stall force keeping the media tray in a closed position during media picking. A handle assembly including a finger bar and a pivoting link is mounted to the front wall. With the media tray being held closed by the latching force, a user-supplied actuation force FA that is less than 22.2 N applied to the finger bar, pivots the link which acts as a force multiplier providing a release force exceeding the latching force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael William Lawrence, Dustin Daniel Fichter, Neal Douglas McFarland, Stacey Vaughan Mitchell, Angel Macuha Alagos, Douglas Andagan Baena, Jr., Pat Marlon Cartagena Limosnero
  • Publication number: 20180143621
    Abstract: Systems and processes herein may be configured to correlate manufacturing parameters and performance feedback parameters with individual absorbent articles manufactured by a converting apparatus. Embodiments of the systems herein may include inspection sensors configured to inspect substrates and/or component parts advancing along the converting line and communicate inspection parameters to a controller and historian. The systems may also include process sensors configured to monitor equipment on the converting line and communicate process parameters to the controller and historian. The systems herein may also be adapted to receive performance feedback parameters based on the packaged absorbent articles. The systems may correlate inspection parameters, process parameters, and/or performance feedback parameters with individual absorbent articles produced on the converting line. The controller may also be configured to perform various functions based on the performance feedback parameters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 17, 2018
    Publication date: May 24, 2018
    Inventors: Eric Christopher Berg, Louis J. Cedrone, Jeffrey Michael Kent, Helen Louise Von Den Steinen, William Lawrence Lightcap, Daniel Royce
  • Patent number: 9953087
    Abstract: A topic feed is generated for publication or distribution to a set of followers or recipients who have elected to receive the topic feed from the user or based on the subject matter content of a topic input in the topic feed. The topic feed is distributed and includes the topic input. Experts in subject matter can be identified based on the user's topic input and/or text in the topic feed that the followers interact with.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: Mircosoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Steven Ickman, Thomas Matthew Laird-McConnell, William Lawrence Portnoy, Christopher McConnell, Lili Cheng, David Arthur Raskino, Gregory Scott Melander
  • Patent number: 9942657
    Abstract: This application relates to methods and apparatus for loudspeaker protection. A loudspeaker protection system (100) receives a digital audio signal comprising a plurality of samples at an input node (IN). A delay block (15) delays the digital audio signal and a gain block (14) applies a controlled gain to the delayed digital audio signal. An excursion predictor (12) is configured to receive a version of the audio signal from the signal path upstream of the delay block and determine a predicted excursion for a loudspeaker based on the audio signal. A gain controller (23) controls a gain setting (g) of the gain block in response to the predicted excursion and a first loudspeaker impulse response model and a predetermined excursion limit. The gain controller (23) is configured to determine at least one gain setting {ga gi} to be applied to a set of samples {Va . . .
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: Cirrus Logic, Inc.
    Inventors: Jason William Lawrence, Roger David Serwy, Roberto Napoli
  • Patent number: 9910429
    Abstract: Systems and processes herein may be configured to correlate manufacturing parameters and performance feedback parameters with individual absorbent articles manufactured by a converting apparatus. Embodiments of the systems herein may include inspection sensors configured to inspect substrates and/or component parts advancing along the converting line and communicate inspection parameters to a controller and historian. The systems may also include process sensors configured to monitor equipment on the converting line and communicate process parameters to the controller and historian. The systems herein may also be adapted to receive performance feedback parameters based on the packaged absorbent articles. The systems may correlate inspection parameters, process parameters, and/or performance feedback parameters with individual absorbent articles produced on the converting line. The controller may also be configured to perform various functions based on the performance feedback parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2018
    Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
    Inventors: Eric Christopher Berg, Louis J. Cedrone, Jeffrey Michael Kent, Helen Louise Von Den Steinen, William Lawrence Lightcap, Daniel Royce
  • Patent number: 9888784
    Abstract: A traveling wave air mattress apparatus includes an air mattress comprised of a array of laterally disposed, longitudinally spaced air bladder cells that are individually inflatable to quiescent pressure levels which provide comfortable support for a human body, and an air pressure-pulse generator controlled by a wave sequence generator for periodically introducing into a sequence of the air bladder cells a time sequence of air pressure pulses which vary pressures in the cells from quiescent pressures, the air pressure variations resulting in a soliton-like traveling wave of body support force variation which travels longitudinally over the surfaces of the pulsed air bladder cells, thus inhibiting formation of bedsores. The wave pattern may optionally simulate water waves and/or rocking motions of a boat to produce relaxing effects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Inventor: William Lawrence Chapin
  • Publication number: 20180014121
    Abstract: This application describes methods and apparatus for loudspeaker protection. A loudspeaker protection system (100) is described having a first frequency band-splitter (102) for splitting an input audio signal (Vin) into a plurality of audio signals (v1, v2 . . . , vn) in different respective frequency bands (?1, ?2 . . . , ?n). A first gain block (103) is configured to apply a respective frequency band gain (g1, g2 . . . , g3) to each of the audio signals in the different respective frequency bands and a gain controller (107, 108, 109) is provided for controlling the respective band gains. A displacement modeller (104, 105) determines a plurality of displacement signals (x1, x2 . . . , xn) based on the input audio signal (Vin) and a displacement model (104a) where each displacement signal corresponds to a modelled cone displacement for the loudspeaker for one of said different respective frequency bands.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 1, 2016
    Publication date: January 11, 2018
    Applicant: Cirrus Logic International Semiconductor Ltd.
    Inventors: Jason William LAWRENCE, Roberto NAPOLI, Roger SERWY, Jie SU, Stefan WILLIAMS, Rong HU, Firas AZRAI
  • Publication number: 20180014120
    Abstract: This application describes methods and apparatus for loudspeaker protection. A loudspeaker protection system (1100) is described having a first frequency band-splitter (102) for splitting an input audio signal (Vin) into a plurality of audio signals (v1, v2 . . . ,vn) in different respective frequency bands (?1, ?2 . . . ??). A first gain block (103) is configured to apply a respective frequency band gain (gt1, gt2 . . . ,gt3) to each of the audio signals in the different respective frequency bands and a gain controller (109; 1101) is provided for controlling the respective band gains. A thermal controller (1101) determines, for each of a plurality of the different respective frequency bands, a power dissipation for the loudspeaker in that frequency band and also determines a respective thermal gain setting based on the determined power dissipation for that frequency band. The gain controller is configured to control the respective frequency band gains based on the thermal gain settings.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 1, 2016
    Publication date: January 11, 2018
    Applicant: Cirrus Logic International Semiconductor Ltd.
    Inventors: Jason William LAWRENCE, Roberto NAPOLI, Roger David SERWY, Jie SU, Stefan WILLIAMS, Rong HU, Firas AZRAI
  • Publication number: 20170337079
    Abstract: In order to complete user instructions beyond the scope of services that are provided on the user's own computing device, a framework an interaction framework for executing user instructions with online services is provided. The framework includes an instruction processing agent that interacts with a user agent on a computer user's computing device to execute instructions provided to the user agent. The instruction processing agent maintains a list of domain agents, each domain agent corresponding to a domain. Upon receiving a user instruction (from a user agent), the instruction processing agent identifies a suitable domain and corresponding domain agent for completing the user instruction and provides the instruction to the domain agent. The domain agent identifies an online service suitable for completing the user instruction and interfaces with the online service via a proxy for the online service to carry out the user instruction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2016
    Publication date: November 23, 2017
    Inventors: William Lawrence Portnoy, Andres Monroy-Hernandez
  • Patent number: 9802139
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for cleaning a fluid comprising a fluid supply port for receiving a contaminated fluid; a fluid return port for providing a cleaned fluid; an evaporator for evaporating liquid contaminants from the fluid; a fluid line connecting the evaporator between the fluid supply port and the fluid return port; a sensor connected to at least one of the fluid filter, the evaporator, and the fluid line; a controller connected to an output of the sensor, wherein the controller includes: a processor; and a memory device including computer readable instructions which, when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform the steps of: receiving data from the sensor; comparing the data from the sensor to reference data; sending a control signal to at least one of the fluid filter and the evaporator based on comparing the data from the sensor to the reference data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: OIL PURIFICATION SYSTEMS, INC.
    Inventors: William Lawrence Priest, Satish Kumar, Gregory Allen Slawson
  • Patent number: 9803865
    Abstract: A system includes a turbine combustor that includes a head end portion having a head end chamber, a combustion portion having a combustion chamber disposed downstream from the head end chamber, a cap disposed between the head end chamber and the combustion chamber, and a flow distributor configured to distribute an exhaust flow circumferentially around the head end chamber. The flow distributor includes at least one exhaust gas flow path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignees: General Electric Company, ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company
    Inventors: Carolyn Ashley Antoniono, William Lawrence Byrne, Elizabeth Angelyn Fadde
  • Patent number: 9794687
    Abstract: This application relates to methods and apparatus for thermal protection of a loudspeaker (102). A controller (106) is configured to generate a control signal (Gmod) for modulating the gain of a signal processing chain (101) that drives the loudspeaker. The controller is configured such that the control signal is generated as a function of each of: an indication of voice coil temperature of the loudspeaker (TVC); an indication of power dissipation in the voice coil of the loudspeaker (PVC); and an indication of a reservoir temperature (Tres) of a thermal reservoir for heat flow from the voice coil. The reservoir temperature may be an ambient temperature of the environment or a temperature of a component of the loudspeaker or apparatus that acts as a heat sink.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2017
    Assignee: Cirrus Logic, Inc.
    Inventors: Roberto Napoli, Jason William Lawrence
  • Publication number: 20170267470
    Abstract: A removable media tray assembly for an image forming device according to one embodiment includes a media tray having a bottom surface and a front wall extending upward from the bottom surface. A bottom surface defines a media storage location for storing a stack of media sheets. The assembly includes a housing having an opening therein to receive the media tray. A magnet and a plate provide a latching force FL greater than a pick motor stall force keeping the media tray in a closed position during media picking. A handle assembly including a finger bar and a pivoting link is mounted to the front wall. With the media tray being held closed by the latching force, a user-supplied actuation force FA that is less than 22.2 N applied to the finger bar, pivots the link which acts as a force multiplier providing a release force exceeding the latching force.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 30, 2017
    Publication date: September 21, 2017
    Inventors: MICHAEL WILLIAM LAWRENCE, DUSTIN DANIEL FICHTER, NEAL DOUGLAS MCFARLAND, STACEY VAUGHAN MITCHELL, ANGEL MACUHA ALAGOS, DOUGLAS ANDAGAN BAENA, JR., PAT MARLON CARTAGENA LIMOSNERO
  • Publication number: 20170247210
    Abstract: A removable media tray assembly for an image forming device according to one embodiment includes a media tray having a bottom surface and a front wall extending upward from the bottom surface. A bottom surface defines a media storage location for storing a stack of media sheets. The assembly includes a housing having an opening therein to receive the media tray. A magnet and a plate provide a latching force FL greater than a pick motor stall force keeping the media tray in a closed position during media picking. A handle assembly including a finger bar and a pivoting link is mounted to the front wall. With the media tray being held closed by the latching force, a user-supplied actuation force FA that is less than 22.2 N applied to the finger bar, pivots the link which acts as a force multiplier providing a release force exceeding the latching force.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2016
    Publication date: August 31, 2017
    Inventors: MICHAEL WILLIAM LAWRENCE, DUSTIN DANIEL FICHTER, NEAL DOUGLAS MCFARLAND, STACEY VAUGHAN MITCHELL, ANGEL MACUHA ALAGOS, DOUGLAS ANDAGAN BAENA, JR., PAT MARLON CARTAGENA LIMOSNERO
  • Patent number: 9745154
    Abstract: A removable media tray assembly for an image forming device according to one embodiment includes a media tray having a bottom surface and a front wall extending upward from the bottom surface. A bottom surface defines a media storage location for storing a stack of media sheets. The assembly includes a housing having an opening therein to receive the media tray. A magnet and a plate provide a latching force FL greater than a pick motor stall force keeping the media tray in a closed position during media picking. A handle assembly including a finger bar and a pivoting link is mounted to the front wall. With the media tray being held closed by the latching force, a user-supplied actuation force FA that is less than 22.2 N applied to the finger bar, pivots the link which acts as a force multiplier providing a release force exceeding the latching force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2017
    Assignee: Lexmark International Inc.
    Inventors: Michael William Lawrence, Dustin Daniel Fichter, Neal Douglas McFarland, Stacey Vaughan Mitchell, Angel Macuha Alagos, Douglas Andagan Baena, Jr., Pat Marlon Cartagena Limosnero