Patents Represented by Attorney Fletcher Yoder
  • Patent number: 7062008
    Abstract: A computed tomography (CT) system comprises an X-ray radiation source to project a plurality of X-ray beams through an object. A detector array comprises a plurality of detector assemblies. A gantry secured to the X-ray radiation source and the detector array rotates around a longitudinal axis. Further, each of the detector assembly comprises a detector subassembly adapted to detect the X-ray beams. These detector subassemblies are further adapted to convert the X-ray beams to a plurality of electrical signals. At least one circuit board assembly is coupled to the detector subassembly. The circuit board assembly typically comprises an integrated circuit array, such as, data acquisition chip array to acquire data corresponding to the electrical signals. The integrated circuit array further comprises a plurality of integrated circuit chips, for example, data acquisition chips mounted on at least one printed circuit board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2006
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ashutosh Joshi, William Edward Burdick, Jr., Sandeep Shrikant Tonapi, Joseph Lacey
  • Patent number: 7056451
    Abstract: A phosphor comprises a material having a formula of AB3O6:Ce,Mn, wherein A is at least a rare-earth metal other than cerium. The phosphor can be used in light sources and displays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2006
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Venkatesan Manivannan, Alok Mani Srivastava, Holly Ann Comanzo
  • Patent number: 7054405
    Abstract: A method for computing volumetric perfusion using a computed tomography imaging (CT) system is presented. The method includes irradiating a spatially dynamic object within a field of view of the computed tomography imaging system for requisite view angle positions of the gantry. Furthermore, the method includes operating the computed tomography imaging system in a continuous data acquisition mode to acquire projection data representative of the spatially dynamic object. In addition, the method includes processing the projection data to generate time-resolved projection data. Reconstructions are generated using the time-resolved projection data. Additionally, the method includes computing the volumetric perfusion in the spatially dynamic object using the reconstructed data. Computer-readable medium that afford functionality of the type defined by this method is also contemplated in conjunction with the present technique.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Peter Michael Edic, Melissa Liliane Vass, Anne Marie Conry
  • Patent number: 7052464
    Abstract: An integrated circuit is fabricated by micromachining a hexagonal array of cMUT elements on top of a substrate comprising a hexagonal array of CMOS cells. Each cMUT element overlies a respective CMOS cell in one-to-one correspondence. During layout of the mask for micromachining the cMUT layer, either the hexagonal pattern or the alignment key is rotated until an axis of symmetry of the hexagonal pattern is aligned with an axis of the alignment key. Later, when the mask is superimposed on the CMOS substrate, the alignment key on the mask is aligned with an alignment key on the substrate. This ensures that the cMUT elements formed by optical lithography will be matched to the CMOS cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Robert G. Wodnicki
  • Patent number: 7053329
    Abstract: A system and method for securing a welding electrode to a welding torch. The system includes a collet body having a first portion that compresses an end of a collet against a welding electrode as the collet is urged against the first portion. The collet body also includes an inner cylindrical portion that receives the compressed end of the collet and prevents the collet from expanding, thereby maintaining the collet compressed against the welding electrode. The method includes urging the collet against the first portion of the collet body to compress the end portion of the collet against the welding electrode. The method also includes urging the collet further into the collet body to dispose the end portion of the collet into the inner cylindrical portion of the collet body to prevent the end portion of the collet from expanding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: Illinois Tool Works Inc.
    Inventor: Gary R. Samler
  • Patent number: 7053806
    Abstract: A method for calibrating a segmented analog to digital signal conversion system is provided. The method includes segmenting a desired relationship between DAC output values and desired ADC input values into a plurality of segments. Each of the plurality of segments includes an offset value and a gain value. The method also includes computing the offset value and an offset coefficient for each of the plurality of segments, computing the gain value and an gain coefficient for each of the plurality of segments, and storing the offset value and the gain value for each of the plurality of segments in a memory unit for reference in converting an analog signal to a digital signal based upon the gain value and offset value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Naresh Kesavan Rao, Jianjun Guo
  • Patent number: 7053521
    Abstract: A method for bonding one surface to a gold surface comprises the following steps: (a) mixing a solution containing sulfur-containing alkoxysilane; (b) treating the gold surface with the solution; (c) adding sulfur-containing alkoxysilane to an adhesive material; (d) applying the adhesive material with additive on one of both surfaces; and (e) pressing the surfaces against each other while the adhesive material therebetween sets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Charles E. Baumgartner
  • Patent number: 7053740
    Abstract: A structure for superconducting magnets is provided. The structure includes a thermally conductive electrically resistive composite bobbin, a superconducting coil disposed around the thermally conductive electrically resistive composite bobbin for conducting current in a superconductive state. The structure also includes an electrically open cryogenic coil disposed on the thermally conductive composite electrically resistive bobbin, which can receive a flow of cryogenic fluid to maintain the superconducting coil in the superconductive state by transfer of heat from the superconducting coil to the electrically open cryogenic coil through the thermally conductive electrically resistive composite bobbin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Evangelos Trifon Laskaris, Xianrui Huang, Paul St. Mark Shadforth Thompson
  • Patent number: 7053509
    Abstract: A rotating machine comprising a superconductive coil and a temperature sensor operable to provide a signal representative of superconductive coil temperature. The rotating machine may comprise a control system communicatively coupled to the temperature sensor. The control system may be operable to reduce electric current in the superconductive coil when a signal representative of a defined superconducting coil temperature is received from the temperature sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: David Thomas Ryan, Evangelos Trifon Laskaris, Xianrui Huang
  • Patent number: 7054409
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing a configurable field of view in a non-invasive imaging system, such as a CT medical imaging system. A detector structure comprising two or more flat-panel X-ray detectors is provided such that the configurable field of view may encompass the full area of the two or more X-ray detectors or any suitable subset of the full area. The field of view may be configured based upon an acceptable field of view in conjunction with an acceptable scan speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: William Ross, Peter Michael Edic, Samit Basu, Nadeem Ishaque, Deborah Walter, John McLeod
  • Patent number: 7055012
    Abstract: A method of selecting CAS latencies in a system. Specifically, a system which includes a plurality of memory devices and a memory controller is provided. Because different memory devices may have different CAS latencies, a system CAS latency is selected wherein the system CAS latency is the fastest common CAS latency of each of the plurality of memory devices. After a read request is delivered to a memory device, the memory controller initiates a transmission flag to the memory device at a time equal to the system CAS latency, indicating that it is safe to transmit the requested data from the memory device to the memory controller. The transmission flags may be used in conjunction with mode registers such that one or both of the transmission flag and the data may be received by or delivered by a corresponding memory device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul A. LaBerge, Jeff W. Janzen
  • Patent number: 7054475
    Abstract: A method for volumetric reconstruction of a cyclically moving object using a computed tomography (CT) system includes scanning a cyclically moving object with a CT imaging system including at least one of an area detector and a linear detector to encompass the desired field of view and a rotating gantry to measure projection data during a plurality of cycles of the cyclically moving object. The method also includes dividing a period of the cyclically moving object into a discrete number of phases, identifying an initial set of projection data at a desired phase of a first cycle at a first angle, identifying at least one subsequent set of projection data at the same desired phase of a subsequent cycle at an angle that is different from the first angle, and combining the initial set of projection data with each subsequent set of identified projection data and using a reconstruction algorithm to generate a three-dimensional image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Peter Michael Edic, Maria Iatrou
  • Patent number: 7053381
    Abstract: The present invention provides an X-ray detector assembly and a fabrication method, where the X-ray detector assembly includes a scintillator material disposed on a detector matrix array disposed on a detector substrate; and an encapsulating coating disposed on the scintillator material. The encapsulating coating includes a combination of a mono-chloro-poly-para-xylylene layer and a poly-para-xylylene layer. In one embodiment, a poly-para-xylylene layer is disposed over the scintillator material and a mono-chloro-poly-para-xylylene layer is disposed over the poly-para-xylylene layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Jeffrey Jon Shaw, Ching-Yeu Wei, David Francis Fobare
  • Patent number: 7050984
    Abstract: A technique is provided for servicing a plurality of medical diagnostic systems remotely. The systems are coupled to an internal network of a medical institution or facility. A data communications control system serves to link the institution to a remote service provider via an external network. Service requests and data are generated at the systems or at the control system. The requests are then transmitted to the remote service provider via the control system, and responses to the requests are received by the control system for distribution to the diagnostic systems. The technique permits systems to be remotely serviced which may not be equipped for separate communication via external networks, reduces infrastructure and costs, and facilitates the coordination of service needs of the institution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2006
    Assignee: GE Medical Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel I. Kerpelman, Richard L. Frowein, Hubert Anthony Zettel, James F. Kohli, John Heinen
  • Patent number: 7050639
    Abstract: An image data compression and decompression technique applies one or more compression code tables to optimally compress an image data stream. The compression code tables are established in accordance with anticipated image characteristics, and to accommodate different levels of variation or entropy in the image data. The image data may be divided into blocks or subregions for analysis of which of the candidate compression code tables provides the optimal compression of each subregion. The appropriate code table is selected for each subregion. The evaluation of the compression performance based upon application of each compression code table may include analysis of prediction differences or errors between predicted values for pixels of an image and the actual values for the pixels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2006
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Robert D. Barnes, Robert C. Gemperline
  • Patent number: 7050950
    Abstract: System, method and computer product for incremental improvement of algorithm performance during algorithm development. In one aspect of this disclosure, there is a system, method and computer readable medium that stores instructions for instructing a computer system, to assess the performance of an algorithm during development. In this embodiment, a design of experiments component establishes an acceptable number of experiments for analyzing incremental improvements of the algorithm. An experiment performance component runs the established number of experiments for the algorithm. A simulation component simulates the behavior of the algorithm using results from the experiment performance component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2006
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Kai Frank Goebel
  • Patent number: 7049861
    Abstract: There is provided an input buffer circuit that, in one embodiment, includes an input buffer adapted to draw an operating current, a first buffer enabling circuitry operatively coupled to the input buffer and adapted to provide a first portion of the operating current to the input buffer, and second buffer enabling circuitry operatively coupled to the input buffer and adapted to provide a second portion of the operating current to the input buffer if the input buffer is expecting data, the second buffer enabling circuitry being adapted to be activated by a bias signal that is produced from an enable signal and a CLOCK signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2006
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Timothy B. Cowles
  • Patent number: 7050342
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for simultaneously accessing multiple array blocks in a static random access memory (SRAM) device. During testing of the SRAM device, each memory cell in each memory array block is accessed to ensure proper functionality. By providing logic gates on each SRAM device, the testing can be accelerated by writing to multiple array blocks at the same time, rather than in series.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2006
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Dean D. Gans, John R. Wilford
  • Patent number: 7049965
    Abstract: Surveillance systems and methods having both a radio frequency component and a video image are provided. The radio frequency component can determine the orientation and position of an RFID tag within a surveillance area. The orientation of the RFID tag is can be determined with respect to two or more orthogonal planes using inductance and a predetermined number of mutually orthogonal antenna loops.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2006
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Timothy Patrick Kelliher, Jens Rittscher, Peter Henry Tu, Kevin Chean, Harold Woodruff Tomlinson
  • Patent number: D521501
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2006
    Assignee: Thomson Licensing S.A.
    Inventors: John M. Miller, Vincent D. Champetier