Patents Represented by Attorney Bell, Boyd and Lloyd LLP
  • Patent number: 7482101
    Abstract: A battery is provided. The battery provides improved battery characteristics such as cycle characteristics. A battery includes a cathode; an anode; and an electrolytic solution, wherein the anode contains a carbon material, the electrolytic solution contains propylene carbonate and 4-fluoroethylene carbonate, and the content of 4-fluoroethylene carbonate is from about 0.0027 g to about 0.056 g per about 1 g of the carbon material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Karin Tsuda, Gentaro Kano
  • Patent number: 7481708
    Abstract: A gaming device including a re-initiation mode wherein the probability of extending the bonus game is increased by fixing the reel or reels displaying a locking symbol on the reel. In the re-initiation mode embodiment, the gaming device re-activates some or all of the reels except the reel displaying the locking symbol for a predetermined number of additional free spins or until the reactivated reels display or indicate a terminating symbol on the reels. The gaming device provides any outcomes associated with indicated symbols or combination of symbols. In one embodiment, if a terminating symbol is displayed on designated reels during one of the additional free spins, the gaming device re-initiates the bonus game.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventors: Anthony J. Baerlocher, Karen Michelle Cregan, Michael MacVittie, Ryan W. Cuddy
  • Patent number: 7481709
    Abstract: A method for evaluating a player's award in a game wherein one symbol of the gaming device changes into another. In one embodiment, all awards for predetermined symbols and combinations thereof, including winning combinations produced by a wild symbol are provided to the player. In a second step, the game awards all awards for predetermined symbols and combinations thereof produced after the wild symbol has changed one or more non-wild symbols to a wild symbol. This step includes awarding the player for combinations previously awarded in the first step, which may or may not have been the result of the wild symbol.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventors: William J. Bussick, Paulina Glavich, Anthony J. Baerlocher
  • Patent number: 7483094
    Abstract: An optical sheet has a large number of cylindrical lens elements provided successively on one of principal faces thereof. The cylindrical lens elements have a hyperboloidal face or a paraboloidal face and have a finite focal distance on the emission side of illumination light. Where a Z axis is taken in parallel to a normal line direction to the optical sheet and an X axis is taken in a direction of the row of the cylindrical lens elements, a cross sectional shape of the cylindrical lens elements satisfies Z=X2/(R+?{square root over ( )}(R2?(1+K)X2)) (where R is the radius of curvature of a distal end vertex, and K is a conic constant).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Mitsuo Arima, Jun Shimizu, Hirokazu Odagiri, Eiji Ohta, Kei Obata
  • Patent number: 7483960
    Abstract: In a service providing system that provides optimum services for a request from each terminal, a terminal transmits its own device ID, corresponding to IP address, to a server. The server receives the device ID, searches for a specification of the terminal in a specification information table of the server, and then provides a service meeting the specification of the terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Hiroshi Kyusojin
  • Patent number: 7481358
    Abstract: In a communication method for enabling communication between a card and a management server that manages the card and for writing information transmitted from the management server to the card, a server state flag and a card state flag are created to indicate the processing state of the management server and the processing state of the card, respectively. The server state flag and the card state flag are occasionally updated during communication between the card and the management server. On the basis of the card state flag, it is determined whether or not the writing by the management server to the card is completed normally. When the writing is not completed normally, the card is rewritten the next time communication is established between the card and the management server, the rewriting being defined in accordance with the card state flag and the server state flag.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Honjo, Takeshi Ootsuka
  • Patent number: 7482095
    Abstract: An anode, and a battery using the anode is provided. The anode has a structure in which an anode current collector, an anode active material layer and a protective layer are laminated in this order. The anode active material layer includes Sn, and is alloyed with the anode current collector in at least a portion of an interface with the anode current collector. The protective layer include an element constituting a simple substance with a higher melting point than Sn such as C, Si or W, and not forming a compound with Sn. Thereby, even if the anode wound into a roll is subjected to heat treatment, fusion bonding between adjacent anodes can be prevented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Tomoo Takada, Kenichi Kawase, Isamu Konishiikee, Yukiko Iijima, Yukio Miyaki
  • Patent number: 7483116
    Abstract: The liquid crystal light control element includes the first to third transparent substrates which are placed on top of the other. The second transparent substrate has the projecting part which extends in the surface direction of the second transparent substrate from the first and third transparent substrates. The projecting part has the first surface facing the first transparent electrode and the second surface facing the fourth transparent electrode. The first surface has the first to fourth terminals formed thereon which are electrically connected to the first to fourth transparent electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Toru Udaka
  • Patent number: 7482643
    Abstract: A semiconductor device is provided. In one example, a semiconductor device has a D-HBT structure which include a base layer formed from InGaAs and an emitter layer and a collector layer both formed from InGaP in such a way as to hold said base layer between them, wherein said InGaAs has a composition such that the content of In is smaller than 53% and said InGaP has a composition such that the content of In is just enough to make the lattice constant of said emitter layer and collector layer equal to the lattice constant of said base layer. This semiconductor device realizes a large current gain while keeping the high-speed operation owing to the base layer of InGaAs having good carrier mobility. In addition, it can be formed on a large wafer as the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Ken Sawada
  • Patent number: 7483224
    Abstract: A lens film with small warpage even when a transparent base is thin is provided. Pole prisms made of a hardening resin are arranged along the extending direction on a transparent base made of a flexible material. The transparent base has a depression according to a valley between the pole prisms adjacent to each other. The pole prism has a sloping face extending to an inner wall of the depression. The transparent base is in contact with the valley. A layer not functioning as a prism, that is, a so-called skirt layer does not exist between the transparent base and the pole prisms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Kiyohiro Kimura, Jun Sasaki, Makoto Aoki, Yasuyuki Kudo, Mariko Fukuda, Yu Andrew Chakchung
  • Patent number: 7481710
    Abstract: A gaming device that provides a second or replicating display that is an enlarged, preferably simulated replica of the actual display of the reels, paylines and indicia of the paystops of the gaming device. The second or replicating display can exactly recreate the actual rotation or random generation of the reels, represent the random generation of the reels, and do so by providing a slight delay. The present invention also contains a method by which the replicating display presents each of a plurality of award generating or winning paylines individually and sequentially for a predetermined amount of time before culminating in a display of the accumulated winning paylines. The method enables the player to easily see the source of an award, which would otherwise be difficult to discern from a multitude of paylines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventor: Joseph E. Kaminkow
  • Patent number: 7481705
    Abstract: A game and particularly an electronic game that simulates trading securities on an exchange. The game is preferably played as a video gaming machine for gambling purposes. A computing device is provided having, among other things, a video screen display on which a line chart is displayed. The computing device also includes a selection device, which provides a means by which the player interacts with the computing device to “buy” or “sell”. The line chart includes a vertical axis that corresponds to the value or price of one or more securities, and a horizontal axis that corresponds to time. A segmented line is plotted on the line chart during a round of play. A random number generator randomly determines the vertical axis value for each point plotted along the segmented line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventors: Eugene Jarvis, Andrew Eloff
  • Patent number: 7479998
    Abstract: The present invention related to an image pickup apparatus which can produce a color and sensitivity mosaic image which can be converted into a color image signal having a wide dynamic range by performing a predetermined image process. Light receiving elements of a CCD image sensor are arranged in a lattice arrangements where attention is paid to the color Green irrespective of the sensitivities. Where attention is paid to the color Red irrespective of the sensitivities, the light receiving elements are arranged on every other line. Also where attention is paid to the color Blue irrespective of the sensitivities, the light receiving elements are arranged on every other line similarly. Consequently, where attention is paid only to the colors of the pixels, the pattern P2 has a Bayer arrangement. A mosaic arrangement of a color is realized by disposing an on-chip color filter on an upper face of the light receiving elements of the CCD image sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2009
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Tomoo Mitsunaga, Seiji Kobayashi, Hiroaki Ono
  • Patent number: 7479866
    Abstract: An automotive blade-type fuse and method of manufacturing same are provided. The fuse includes a pair of metallic terminals separated by and in electrical communication with a fuse element. An insulative housing is provided that covers at least a portion of an inner edge of each of the terminals and exposes the outer edges of the terminals and at least a portion of the upper edges of the terminals. The terminals can define grooves that interface with projections extending inwardly from the housing to hold the terminals firmly within the housing. Also, the upper edges of the terminals are bent inward to crimp the housing between an intermediate portion of the terminals and the bent upper end edges.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2009
    Assignee: Littelfuse, Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy R. Goldsberry, Edwin Jay Harris
  • Patent number: D585036
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2009
    Assignee: Mattel, Inc.
    Inventor: Andrew J. Riggs
  • Patent number: D585389
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: Littelfuse, Inc.
    Inventors: Kerri Michelle Hood, Julio Cesar Urrea, Edwin J. Harris, IV, Ronald Michael Rygiel
  • Patent number: D585390
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: Littelfuse, Inc.
    Inventors: Kerri Michelle Hood, Julio Cesar Urrea, Edwin J. Harris, IV, Ronald Michael Rygiel
  • Patent number: D585391
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: Littlefuse Inc.
    Inventors: Kerri Michelle Hood, Julio Cesar Urrea, Edwin J. Harris, IV, Ronald Michael Rygiel
  • Patent number: D585392
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: Littelfuse, Inc.
    Inventors: Kerri Michelle Hood, Julio Cesar Urrea, Edwin J. Harris, IV, Ronald Michael Rygiel
  • Patent number: D585465
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: Societe des Produits Nestle S.A.
    Inventor: Frank Rousselin