Patents Examined by Anthony Whittington
  • Patent number: 9014839
    Abstract: A process and an apparatus for generating control data, wherein a first tooth flank geometry is determined which corresponds to a geometry of a first tooth flank of the herringbone gearing, a second tooth flank geometry is determined which corresponds to a geometry of a second tooth flank of the herringbone gearing, a transition section geometry is determined which corresponds to a geometry of a transition section between the first tooth flank and the second tooth flank, an overall tooth flank geometry is determined which comprises the first tooth flank geometry, the transition section geometry and the second tooth flank geometry, and the control data is generated based on the overall tooth flank geometry and machining paths are indicated, each extending transversely to the profile direction of the tooth flanks and along the first tooth flank geometry, the transition section geometry and the second tooth flank geometry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: Deckel Maho Pfronten GmbH
    Inventors: Josef Neumaier, Thomas Lochbihler, Uwe-Carsten Hansen
  • Patent number: 9008822
    Abstract: An online real-time cutter breakage monitoring method uses a plurality of signals generated in three consecutive time periods by a vibration acceleration during a cutting process conducted by a CNC machine tool, and compares a difference between a maximum value of signals in each time period and an average value of the signals and a difference between the average value of signals thereafter and an idling critical value to output a first cutter breakage signal and a second cutter breakage signal simultaneously and determine the occurrence of a cutter breakage and shut down the CNC machine tool immediately to improve the determination speed and accuracy, so as to avoid unnecessary shutdowns or hindering the manufacturing flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: Chung Yuan Christian University
    Inventors: Shih-Ming Wang, Chien-Da Ho
  • Patent number: 9008846
    Abstract: Property-management or lock-setting thermostats have maximum and minimum set points locked in to prevent abuse of management-provided heating and/or air conditioning. An ePROM or similar internal memory device stores heating and cooling limit parameters that are set in by a technician at the time of installation. A plug-in flash memory module contains an unlock code to match the unlock code stored in said ePROM, to unlock the thermostat and allow the settings to be adjusted; when said flash memory module is removed the thermostat reverts to its lock condition. The thermostat can also respond to unusual rates of change of temperature to block furnace or A/C operation temporarily.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: International Controls and Measurements Corporation
    Inventors: Weidong Pan, Michael P. Muench, Kevin P. Jobsky
  • Patent number: 9008816
    Abstract: A build up edge monitoring method is provided for performing online real-time detection and suppression of abnormal build up edges of cutters occurred in a CNC manufacturing process. Signal variation analysis and fast Fourier transform are used for analyzing signals and establishing an algorithm of diagnosing build up edges to improve the efficiency and reliability of the cutting abnormality diagnostics. A vibration acceleration signal is captured and filtered to a frequency exceeding 1.1 times of a blade passing frequency, and an occurrence of accumulated chips is determined according to a sudden increase of the vibration acceleration and whether the main vibration frequency of the current vibration signal determined by a fast Fourier transform analysis matches with the frequency of the build up edge characteristic, and a shutdown instruction is issued to a CNC controller to shut down a cutting machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: Chung Yuan Christian University
    Inventors: Shih-Ming Wang, Chien-Da Ho
  • Patent number: 9002503
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method of computing a correction value for the machine tool having two or more translational axes and one or more rotational axes for correcting error in a position and an orientation of the tool with respect to a workpiece due to the geometric error. The method includes a rotational axis correction value computing step (S3) for computing a correction value for the rotational axis by use of a geometric parameter representing the geometric error, and a translational axis correction value computing step (S4) for computing a correction value for the translational axis by use of a command value for each of the rotational axes, a command value for each of the translational axes, and the geometric parameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Okuma Corporation
    Inventor: Tetsuya Matsushita
  • Patent number: 9002493
    Abstract: A semiconductor processing apparatus includes a semiconductor processing station for a semiconductor wafer, and an endpoint detector associated with the semiconductor processing station. The endpoint detector includes a non-contact probe configured to probe the semiconductor wafer, an optical transmitter configured to transmit an optical signal to the non-contact probe, and an optical receiver configured to receive a reflected optical signal from the non-contact probe. The controller controls the semiconductor processing station based on the reflected optical signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventors: John H. Zhang, Cindy Goldberg
  • Patent number: 9002496
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a device adapted to make a solid object. The device has a surface rotatable around an axis of rotation, and an applicator adapted to apply over at least one portion of the surface a material used to make the solid object. The applicator and the surface are displaceable relative to each other in a direction transverse to the axis. Disclosed herein are also methods of determining instructions for the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Zydex Pty Ltd
    Inventor: Justin Elsey
  • Patent number: 9002499
    Abstract: Methods for determining a recovery state of a metal alloy are disclosed herein. In one example, a fluctuation in a crystallographic grain orientation of the metal alloy is determined by utilizing electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) data of the metal alloy. A processor of an electron backscatter diffraction machine utilizes a local orientation deviation quantifier to correlate the fluctuation in the crystallographic grain orientation of the metal alloy with a plastic strain recovery of the metal alloy. Other examples of the method are also disclosed herein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Rajesh Raghavan, Shashank Tiwari, Sushil Kumar Mishra
  • Patent number: 9002530
    Abstract: A power plant control system determines an augmented operating parameter set point responsive to a life cycle cost (LCC) objective function responsive to a LCC model. The augmented operating parameter value may be responsive to an initial set point determined by a controls model and a performance indicator determined by a performance model. The power plant may include a thermal generator, such as a gas turbine or other fuel-burning generator, and the operating parameter may include firing temperature, fuel flow rate, steam pressure/temperature/flow rate, and/or another suitable operating parameter. An offer curve is generated responsive to the augmented operating parameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Michael James O'Connor, Scott Francis Johnson, Mark Stewart Schroder
  • Patent number: 8996154
    Abstract: A robot system according to one aspect of an embodiment includes a robot and an instructing module. The robot holds one of a plurality of feed materials used for processing a workpiece. The instructing module gives instructions to the robot, when the feed materials are used for processing the single workpiece, for an operation in which the feed material held last in the previous round of processing a workpiece is used first in the subsequent round of processing a workpiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Yaskawa Denki
    Inventors: Takashi Shiino, Keigo Ishibashi
  • Patent number: 8972063
    Abstract: When, in an administering device, there has been an evaluation that a user is authorized to enter into any given controlled region, the occupant counts of a movement origin controlled region and of a movement destination controlled region are updated by an occupant count updating portion and stored in a storing portion, where the occupancy statuses specified by the individual occupant counts in the storing portion are reported to an air-conditioning controlling device. In the air-conditioning controlling device, electricity-saving control parameters corresponding to the applicable occupancy statuses are obtained from an electricity-saving control information storing portion by an air-conditioning controlling portion in response to occupancy statuses reported by the administering device, to cause air-conditioning equipment, corresponding to the applicable region, to perform electricity-saving operation based on the electricity-saving control parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Azbil Corporation
    Inventor: Hiroaki Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 8948900
    Abstract: A component mounting apparatus includes: an operational sequence supervision unit which is created in compiler language determining an operational sequence specifying a series of sequence operations of suctioning, recognizing and mounting a component; and a second memory unit which stores a custom program, created in interpreter language and specifying an operation different from the series of sequence operations, and custom program designation information that designates execution of the custom program. The operational sequence supervision unit controls a switching process for switching from the series of sequence operations to an interpreter language processing execution routine for executing the custom program, during, or before or after, the series of sequence operations in accordance with the custom program designation information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Assignee: Yamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yasushi Miyake
  • Patent number: 8930001
    Abstract: A method of model identification for a process with unknown initial conditions in an industrial plant, the method comprising collecting a set of manipulated variables and corresponding set of process variables from the process; obtaining a plurality of manipulated variables from the collected set of manipulated variables; for each of the plurality of manipulated variables, obtaining optimal model parameters of a model transfer function and computing a model fitting index for optimized simulated process variables generated by the model transfer function using the optimal model parameters; identifying a best model fitting index among the model fitting indices computed; selecting a manipulated variable associated with the best model fitting index as an initial steady state condition for the model transfer function; and selecting the optimal model parameters corresponding with the best model fitting index as the best model parameters of the model transfer function to tune the controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Yokogawa Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Shengjing Mu, Stephen Wei Hong Weng, Joseph Ching Hua Lee
  • Patent number: 8930009
    Abstract: A robot system includes transport means which transports an object, first detecting means which detects a three-dimensional shape of the object transported on a transport path by the transport means, a robot which performs a predetermined task on the object transported on the transport path by the transport means, means which generates an operation command to the robot, and means which corrects the operation command based on a detection result by the first detecting means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Yaskawa Denki
    Inventor: Tetsuya Miyoshi
  • Patent number: 8924032
    Abstract: An irrigation system includes at least one environmental sensor, such as a solar radiation sensor that is installed on an irrigation site, and a soil moisture sensor that is also installed on the irrigation site. Programming allows an estimated ET value to be calculated based at least in part on the output signal of the environmental sensor. A pre-programmed watering schedule is automatically modified based on the estimated ET value to thereby conserve water while maintaining the health of plants on the irrigation site. The system automatically inhibits irrigation when an output signal of the soil moisture sensor indicates an amount of moisture in the soil is above a predetermined threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2014
    Assignee: Hunter Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Peter J. Woytowitz, Jeffrey J. Kremicki, Christopher M. Shearin
  • Patent number: 8918225
    Abstract: A renewable energy resource management system manages a delivery of a power requirement from a multi-resource offshore renewable energy installation to an intelligent power distribution network. The installation includes multiple renewable energy resource components and is capable of variably and independently generating power from each to microgrids comprising the intelligent power distribution network so that the entire power requirement is satisfied from renewable energy resources. An electricity grid infrastructure is also disclosed in which power production is balanced with power consumption so that power storage requirements are minimized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Inventor: Spyros J. Lazaris
  • Patent number: 8914159
    Abstract: A method of controlling power to a plurality of devices on an energy network, wherein each device has an identifier which uniquely identifies the device on the network, the method comprising: forming a group of devices from said plurality of devices; and controlling the power of other devices in said group in accordance with the state of the power supplied to a first device in said group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Philip Marivoet, Yoeri Apts, Alfred Spiessens, Christopher Rutherford, Chris Minnoy, Hamish Guthrie
  • Patent number: 8914142
    Abstract: A method and a system for optimization of parameters for a recovery boiler in a pulp mill are disclosed. An exemplary method is based on use of a first principle mathematical model to estimate parameters that are otherwise not measurable, to accurately control the performance of the recovery boiler. In addition, a method is disclosed to use estimated parameters of a recovery boiler to control and stabilize the processes downstream of the recovery boiler. A system is also disclosed to carry out a method for control and optimization of performance and operational parameters of a recovery boiler.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: ABB Research Ltd
    Inventors: Tarun Prakash Mathur, Babji Buddhi Srinivasa
  • Patent number: 8903554
    Abstract: A forward-looking method and system is provided for determining an economically optimal energy dispatching schema to meet the combined demands of heating, cooling and electrical by an energy plant and a facilities plant. The optimal energy dispatching schema is determined for each of a plurality of incremental time segments defined in a forward-looking time period by optimizing these loads. The schema can be used for real time energy dispatching by the energy plant, in an existing energy plant optimization, and/or a new energy plant planning and design over the forward looking time period or any other forward-looking time period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
    Inventor: Joseph C Stagner
  • Patent number: 8903551
    Abstract: Data center environmental sensing is provided by a measurement system that detects environmental events from inputs received from a plurality of movable sensors. The sensors are moved in response to detection of an event to a region of the data center associated with the event, providing increased spatial resolution of the measurement in the region of the event. Events such as leakage between hot and cold aisles of a data center can be detected by the system, which may use one or more movable devices that can be moved around, between and over equipment, to carry multiple sensors toward the source of the event, providing both diagnostic and detailed environmental information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Wael El-Essawy, Heather L. Hanson, Thomas W. Keller, Jr., Juan C. Rubio