Patents Represented by Attorney Robert F. O'Connell
  • Patent number: 5357129
    Abstract: There is provided a solid state imaging device having high-sensitivity, low-noise characteristics by reducing electrostatic capacity relating to interconnection. The solid state imaging device includes a photoelectric conversion section, a transfer section, a floating diffusion layer for receiving signal charges from the transfer section, and an output transistor having a gate electrode connected to the floating diffusion layer via an interconnection. A source and a drain of the output transistor are provided commonly within a flat p-type well of relatively thin concentration in which the photoelectric conversion section, the transfer section, and the floating diffusion layer are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1993
    Date of Patent: October 18, 1994
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shinya Kamimura
  • Patent number: 5355226
    Abstract: A magnetic recording-reproduction apparatus records and reproduces a wide-band video signal without a color burst signal. For this purpose, a two-step phase resetting operation is conducted on the FM carrier at the front porch and the horizontal sync pulse of the video signal so as to permit those phases to coincide with reference phases. A synchronizing panel clock generator generates the first reference signal with the first FM frequency corresponding to a peak level of the horizontal sync pulse and the second reference signal with the second FM frequency corresponding to a front porch level. In this case, the reference signals are phase-synchronous with each other at the leading edge of the horizontal sync pulse, and each of the FM frequencies is set to be an integer multiple of the horizontal scanning frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 1992
    Date of Patent: October 11, 1994
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroaki Nogami, Soichi Iwamura
  • Patent number: 5351353
    Abstract: A bridge or tunnel construction consisting of one or more arch units (10), each unit formed from a pair of reinforced concrete arch segments (11 and 12) interconnected to form the crown of the arch unit with the arch unit or units being overlaid with a compacted interacting soil layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 1992
    Date of Patent: October 4, 1994
    Assignee: CSR Humes Pty. Limited
    Inventor: Darryl F. Walters
  • Patent number: 5352966
    Abstract: A battery charging device uses a primary battery source which is preferably a rechargeable lead acid battery, connected to a secondary battery source, which is preferably a pair of parallel battery circuits each using series-connected non-rechargeable batteries in series with a diode, the primary and secondary battery sources providing a charging voltage output. A switch has a first position in which the charging voltage output can be supplied to an external battery which is to be charged and a second position in which a recharging voltage can be supplied from an external source to recharge the primary battery source, and a third, or off, position in which charging and recharging operations cannot occur.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 1992
    Date of Patent: October 4, 1994
    Assignee: Iron Chargers, Inc.
    Inventor: James W. Irons
  • Patent number: 5351829
    Abstract: A packaging component which, in one preferred embodiment is made of a first generally rectangular plastic element and a second generally oval plastic element, each of such elements being inflatable and deflatable. A plastic coupling element couples the first and second elements and a valve is used to permit air under pressure to be supplied to, or to be released from, the first and second elements so that they can be inflated and deflated. The elements are preferably made of laminates of a polyurethane plastic material. A plurality of the components when inflated can be manipulated into suitable cushion configurations which can be placed, for example, at each corner of a product which product can then be placed in a container so that the components provide a snug fit of the product therein and protect the product during shipment or other handling thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 1993
    Date of Patent: October 4, 1994
    Assignee: Air-Ride Packaging of America
    Inventor: Charles A. Batsford
  • Patent number: 5346061
    Abstract: A treatment delivery system which uses a flexible plastic outer container and a smaller, readily burstable, thin film plastic inner container fixedly positioned in the outer container. The inner container contains a treatment solution and a dry foam appliance is loosely placed within the inner container. When the inner container is burst by applying pressure to the outer container at a position which corresponds to the position of the inner container therein, the treatment solution comes into contact with the foam appliance so as to be absorbed by, and to wet the appliance. The wetted foam appliance can then be removed from the outer container for use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 1992
    Date of Patent: September 13, 1994
    Assignee: Avitar, Inc.
    Inventors: Martin H. Newman, Philip Sanfilippo
  • Patent number: 5345769
    Abstract: A system for providing a cold environment which has a number of cooling stages with variable displacement volumes into which input fluid from a compressor flows in an input channel to and from the displacement volumes and output fluid flows in an output channel to the compressor. Volume changers vary the volumes of the displacement volumes and input fluid flowing to a first set of displacement volumes is pre-cooled by regenerative heat exchange and counterflow heat exchange and input fluid flowing to the final displacement volume is pre-cooled primarily by counterflow heat exchange. The volume changer at at least one of the stages is thermally decoupled from the input and output channels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 1992
    Date of Patent: September 13, 1994
    Assignee: Boreas, Inc.
    Inventors: Anthony G. Liepert, James A. Crunkleton, Gregory R. Gallagher, Joseph L. Smith, Jr., Frederick J. Cogswell
  • Patent number: 5341379
    Abstract: A system for detection of errors in received data can also provide for the correction of errors so detected. The system has a FSK decoder section (10), an error detection module (24) and an error correction module (12). The received data, RXSIGIN, is bandlimited by bandpass filters (14), with the resultant waveforms provided to the error detection module (24) on lines (29). The FSK decoder section (10) also decode the digital data RXDATA within RXSIGIN, and provides RXDATA to both the error correction detection module (24) on line (21) and the error correction module (12) on line (33). Error detection takes place on a bit-by-bit basis by comparison of the resultant waveforms being compared against an ideal representation thereof, a quality factor is ascribed to each bit on the basis of the comparison, and a determination of which bits are suspected to be in error is made by comparison of the quality factor against a threshold value (30).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1992
    Date of Patent: August 23, 1994
    Assignee: Signalling Technology Pty Ltd.
    Inventor: George E. Crisp
  • Patent number: 5340656
    Abstract: A process for making a component by depositing a first layer of a powder material in a confined region and then depositing a binder material to selected regions of the layer of powder material to produce a layer of bonded powder material at the selected regions. Such steps are repeated a selected number of times to produce successive layers of selected regions of bonded powder material so as to form the desired component. The unbonded powder material is then removed. In some cases the component may be further processed as, for example, by heating it to further strengthen the bonding thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 1993
    Date of Patent: August 23, 1994
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Emanuel M. Sachs, John S. Haggerty, Michael J. Cima, Paul A. Williams
  • Patent number: 5339144
    Abstract: A recording paper separating device for use in a copying machine, the device including a transfer charger for transferring a toner image from a photosensitive member onto a recording paper by discharge effected by a charging wire accommodated in a shield casing, a bias-loaded recording paper discharger, a transfer-power source, and a control for keeping a current supplied from the power source to the charging wire constant except for the current flowing through the recording paper discharger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 1991
    Date of Patent: August 16, 1994
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yukio Nakai, Hiroshi Kida, Masashi Hirai, Masahiko Fujita, Takahiro Fukunaga
  • Patent number: 5334993
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device comprises a liquid crystal display panel, a light source for illuminating a back surface of the liquid crystal panel, a light guide for transmitting a light emitted by the light source to the back surface of the liquid crystal panel, a holding member for accommodating and fixing the light source at one end portion thereof and the light guide so that a surface of the light guide faces the back surface of the liquid crystal display panel, and a member for attaching the liquid crystal panel to the holding member so as not to disturb transmission of a heat emitting from the light source to the air through the holding member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 1992
    Date of Patent: August 2, 1994
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Okajima, Shinichi Uratani
  • Patent number: 5334356
    Abstract: A supermicrocellular foamed material and a method for producing such material, the material to be foamed such as a polymerplastic material, having a supercritical fluid, such as carbon dioxide in its supercritical state, introduced into the material to form a foamed fluid/material system having a plurality of cells distributed substantially throughout the material. Cell densities lying in a range from about 10.sup.9 to about 10.sup.15 per cubic centimeter of the material can be achieved with the average cell sizes being at least less than 2.0 microns and preferably in a range from about 0.1 micron to about 1.0 micron.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 1992
    Date of Patent: August 2, 1994
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Daniel F. Baldwin, Nam P. Suh, Chul B. Park, Sung W. Cha
  • Patent number: 5333037
    Abstract: An image-quality stabilizer for an electrophotographic apparatus forms a toner patch on a photoreceptor drum, detects the amount of toner attracted to the photoreceptor drum by an optical sensor, and controls each processing device so that the detected value is equal to a reference value which has been detected and stored when the number of image forming operations performed is low. After the control, the toner patch is transferred to a transfer sheet, and the amount of toner remaining on the photoreceptor drum is detected. The reference value is adjusted based on the detected value so as to compensate for a lowering of transfer efficiency. Or the lowering of transfer efficiency is compensated by controlling variables such as transfer output so that the detected value is equal to a reference residual value which has been detected and stored when the number of image forming operations performed is low. This arrangement restrains a lowering of image density due to a change in the transfer efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 1993
    Date of Patent: July 26, 1994
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Katsushi Inoue, Jitsuo Masuda, Teruhiko Noguchi, Itaru Kawabata
  • Patent number: 5333014
    Abstract: An assembler and splitter of a Weston PAL (W-PAL) video signal has filter functions F.sub.1, F.sub.2 at the assembler for the luminance and chrominance components and corresponding functions F.sub.3, F.sub.4 at the splitter. The transfer functions are defined as F.sub.1 =(L.sub.2 +L.sub.1)/2+(L.sub.2 -L.sub.1)z-.sup.1 /2, F.sub.2 =-(H.sub.1 -H.sub.2)/2+(H.sub.1 +H.sub.2)z.sup.-1 /2, F.sub.3 =(L2-L.sub.1)/2+(L.sub.2 +L.sub.1)z.sup.-1 /2, F.sub.4 =(H.sub.1 +H2)/2-(H.sub.1 -H.sub.2)z.sup.-1 /2 and wherein H.sub.1 (f)=L.sub.2 (2fsc-f) and H.sub.2 (f)=L.sub.1 (2fsc-f). Thus the filters are non-sharp cut and are compatible with normal PAL.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 1992
    Date of Patent: July 26, 1994
    Assignee: British Broadcasting Corporation
    Inventors: John O. Drewery, Nicholas D. Wells
  • Patent number: 5331612
    Abstract: A magneto-optical recording apparatus which records information through the processes of: first irradiating a light beam onto a magneto-optical recording medium having a recording film; and next applying an external magnetic field that is inverted in response to a recording signal onto the recording film while continuing the first process. In the above arrangement, the intensity of the light beam is dropped upon inversion of the external magnetic field so that information is not recorded. The intensity of the light beam is raised during non-inversion of the external magnetic field so that information is recorded. Further the magneto-optical recording apparatus is provided with a light intensity control device for varying the intensity of the light beam dependent of the lengths of recording bits so that the high-temperature area of the recording film is not widened.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 1992
    Date of Patent: July 19, 1994
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshiteru Murakami, Kenji Ohta, Akira Takahashi
  • Patent number: 5325199
    Abstract: To alleviate problems experienced with field rate unconversion, a high definition source is field rate upconverted prior to bandwidth compression. Bandwidth compression is performed by a number of different methods, at least one of which is applied to the upconverted source signal. The branch or method of bandwidth compression transmission is selected in accordance with a control signal responsive to picture content. Prior to transmission of the upconverted bandwidth compressed signal, the signal is collapsed to the transmission field rate and the samples rearranged into a quincunxial configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 1992
    Date of Patent: June 28, 1994
    Assignee: British Broadcasting Corporation
    Inventor: Ian Childs
  • Patent number: 5325208
    Abstract: An image formation device in which an image according to image data received from an image data output device is selectively written by light beam in an optical image memory and the image is printed out on a recording medium, includes a light source for emitting light beam, a scanning device for scanning a surface of the optical image memory with the light beam, a switch for turning on or off the light beam, a sensing device for sensing from the image data a beam irradiating period T per a single pixel corresponding to a density of the pixel, and a controller for controlling the switch so that the light beam intermittently performs T/n period irradiation n times during a scanning period per a single pixel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 1992
    Date of Patent: June 28, 1994
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yoshiharu Ueki
  • Patent number: 5323246
    Abstract: Disclosed a facsimile apparatus that combines copying with transmission. An external telephone is connected to it to be remotely controlled by a remote signal including at least one DTMF signal from the external telephone. And, there is provided means for comparing the tone duration of the tone-pair signal having DTMF frequencies sent by the external telephone with a predetermined detection time, and deciding whether or not said tone-pair signal is a valid DTMF signal used for remote signals based on the compared result. Further, there is provided means for estimating the tone duration of DTMF signals that is specific to the external telephone, and setting the optimum detection time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 1992
    Date of Patent: June 21, 1994
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Matahira Kotani, Motohiko Hayashi
  • Patent number: 5321536
    Abstract: A liquid crystal operation device including a pair of substrates opposed to each other; a liquid crystal layer interposed between the substrates; and a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of second electrodes which are at least partially opposed to each other with an insulating film interposed therebetween. The first electrodes are provided on one of the substrates. The liquid crystal operation device further includes a third electrode provided on a surface of the other substrate to be opposed to the second electrodes; and a photosensitive section bridging the second electrodes and a signal line provided in the vicinity of the second electrodes. The photosensitive section is formed of a photoconductive material. A first capacitance is generated between the first electrodes and the second electrodes, a second capacitance is generated between the second electrodes and the third electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 1992
    Date of Patent: June 14, 1994
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yutaka Ishii, Yoshitaka Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 5319396
    Abstract: An eye protective device having a frame member and a shield member attached to the frame member, the shield member having end portions which have tapered configurations. A pliant foam plastic member has a groove therein, the end portions of the groove having undercut tapered configurations which generally correspond to the tapered configurations of the end portions of the shield member. The tapered end portions of the groove engage the tapered end portions of the shield member so that the foam plastic member is held in place snugly against a wearer's face just above the eyes of the wearer during use so as to prevent perspiration or other debris from falling into the wearer's eyes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 1992
    Date of Patent: June 7, 1994
    Assignee: Avitar, Inc.
    Inventor: Edward J. Cesarczyk