Patents Examined by Curtis Kuntz
  • Patent number: 5365575
    Abstract: A telephonic-interface lottery system D interfaces with a multiplicity of individual terminals T1-Tn of a telephone network facility C to enable lottery players to call and play for at least one additional chance to possibly win by dialing a pay-to-dial telephone number indicated on a "scratch-off" or online game lottery ticket for use in the system. At the terminals, callers are prompted by voice-generated instructions to provide digital data, such as their telephone number, age, social security number, and/or drivers license number. In addition, the sequence number of the caller as well as the date and time of the call is recorded for positive association with a caller and is stored for processing. The caller's identification data is confirmed using various techniques and callers may be ranked and accounted for on the basis of entitlement and sequence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 15, 1994
    Assignee: First Data Resources Inc.
    Inventor: Ronald A. Katz
  • Patent number: 5365545
    Abstract: A converter (200) includes a transmit circuit that converts modem transmit samples at 9,600 samples/second into samples that may be transmitted by a T1 channel bank at 8,000 samples/second. The converter also includes a receive circuit that converts T1 channel bank receive samples at 8,000 samples/second into samples that may be received by a modem at 9,600 samples/second.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 15, 1994
    Assignee: Universal Data Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Steven R. Blackwell, Michael D. Fanning
  • Patent number: 5365573
    Abstract: In a cordless telephone system, a radio communication unit is detachably connected to a base unit of the cordless telephone system. While the radio communication unit is electrically and physically separated from the telephone base unit, and brought out from a home or a firm, a radio communication is established between the radio communication unit and a telephone mobile unit, but also between the telephone mobile unit and a telephone subscriber via the base unit. Thus, an outdoor type telephone mobile unit is available in the cordless telephone system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 1993
    Date of Patent: November 15, 1994
    Assignee: Casio Computer Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Naruhiko Sakamoto, Shinjiro Ishida
  • Patent number: 5363427
    Abstract: In a communication system that provides access to telephone resources of different types, a resource allocator of the communication system may more efficiently allocate the telephone resources in the following manner. Once a communication unit of a first communication group transmits a request for allocation of a telephone resource, the resource allocator determines what communication group the requesting communication unit is affiliated with. Subsequently, the resource allocator determines whether the requesting communication unit has primary access to either a first or second set of telephone resources. When a telephone resource is available and the requesting communication unit has primary access to that telephone resource, the resource allocator allocates the telephone resource to the requesting communication unit based upon a preestablished allocation procedure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 8, 1994
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventors: Terry G. Ekstrom, Patricia A. Ekstrom, John J. Coombes
  • Patent number: 5363426
    Abstract: A method of determining when a communication device (11) is out-of-range of an incoming call from a central station (25), disallows communication between them for the out-of-range condition. In the central station (25), a page signal is transmitted (20) representing a call to the communication device (11). The central station (25) is capable of receiving (12) signals transmitted by the communication device (11). Recognizing (40) a lack of response by the communication device to the page signal from the central station, the central station withholds the transmission of a call set-up grant signal. Meanwhile, in the communication device, signals transmitted by the central station are received (50). The communication device transmits a page-response signal (555) representing the reception of the page signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 1994
    Date of Patent: November 8, 1994
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventor: Scott O. Nyhart
  • Patent number: 5363430
    Abstract: A cordless telephone having a handset unit, which is powered by a battery, and a base unit for communicating with a desired party. A telephone conversation with the desired party may be interrupted by activating a hold mode. The hold mode is released by executing predetermined commands, for example, a talk request command. The hold mode is also released after a predetermined period has passed, whereupon the handset unit is placed in a relatively low power standby mode thus reducing the power consumption of the battery of the handset unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 1993
    Date of Patent: November 8, 1994
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Masato Yamagata, Yoshikazu Tanaka, Keizo Tsukada
  • Patent number: 5363429
    Abstract: Information on the telephone number of a terminal which made an interrupting call during telephonic communication is detected, displayed on a display and stored in memory. After completion of the telephone communication, the information on the telephone number stored in the memory is retrieved. By depressing "SND" key when the retrieved telephone number is being displayed, a call is automatically placed on the basis of the telephone number. Even if an interrupting call is received, the interrupter is recognized without stoppage of the ongoing telephonic communication and the interrupter can be accessed later with a simple operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 8, 1994
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventor: Akiko Fujisawa
  • Patent number: 5363428
    Abstract: In a microcellular cordless telephone network, radio speech channels are divided into several channel groups such that no intermodulation products occur among the channels of each group. In each microcell is located a base unit to which one of the channel groups is dynamically assigned. To achieve the channel assignment, each base unit generates priority values of the channel groups as representations of usage of the channel groups, consistently updates them through a statistical process and assigns one of the channel groups having a maximum priority value to the base unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 8, 1994
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventor: Noriaki Nagashima
  • Patent number: 5363452
    Abstract: A microphone for use in a harsh environment of intense vibration and sound pressure. A microphone transducer and an acceleration transducer are located adjacent each other inside of a housing. The microphone transducer substantially blocks much of the acoustic signal from reaching the acceleration transducer. Accordingly, the acceleration transducer provides a signal substantially related only to the movement of the microphone, while the microphone transducer provides a signal related to both the movement of the microphone and the acoustic signal applied to it. The acceleration signal may then be removed from the microphone signal, providing a electrical signal substantially representative only of the acoustic signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 8, 1994
    Assignee: Shure Brothers, Inc.
    Inventor: C. Roger Anderson
  • Patent number: 5361400
    Abstract: In a receiver an apparatus and method substantially reduces time dispersion and multipath distortion in a received signal. An equalizer (109), including taps having gain coefficients, produces an equalized signal (110) responsive to the received signal (107) and an adaptive process signal (137), wherein the gain coefficients are adjusted responsive to the adaptive process signal (137). A first mixer (111) mixes the equalized signal (110) and a reference carrier signal (115) to produce a recovered modulated signal (119). A detector (112) detects an estimate signal (129) responsive to the recovered modulated signal (119). An error signal generator (139) generates an error signal (141) responsive to a difference between the recovered modulated signal (119) and the estimate signal (129). A second mixer (147) mixes the error signal (141) and the reference carrier signal (115) to produce the adaptive process signal (137).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 1993
    Date of Patent: November 1, 1994
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventors: Henry L. Kazecki, Steven H. Goode, Donald W. Dennis
  • Patent number: 5361296
    Abstract: A modem which connects to a data terminal is connected to a telephone line capable of supporting multiple directory numbers with each number having a distinctive ring signal. The modem has a ring detector which indicates the presence of a ring signal associated with an incoming call from a remote device. The modem also includes a datapump unit capable of processing analog signals associated with a telephone line and digital data associated with the data terminal. A modem controller determines ring type from the ring signal of the incoming telephone call and alters the processing of the incoming telephone call based on the ring type. To that end, the controller may alter the processing of the incoming telephone call by configuring the datapump unit and/or configuring a controller compression/error-correction module based on the ring type before the incoming telephone call is answered. Further, the controller may direct the routing of the incoming telephone call via the data terminal based on the ring type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 1, 1994
    Assignee: Zoom Telephonics, Inc.
    Inventors: Jason A. Reyes, Frank B. Manning, Terence J. Manning, Eric L. McDonald, Michael T. Gilbride
  • Patent number: 5361405
    Abstract: A broadband radio receiver monitors transmissions over a broadband of frequencies, and especially over the aircraft band, between aircraft and control towers or between the cockpit and ground stations at an airport. The radio utilizes an earphone having a lead which provides an antenna. The lead is AC coupled to an amplifier having band-pass filters connected to the input and to output thereof to provide selectivity while passing the entire band. An AM detector is connected to the output filter and produces an audio signal which is coupled, via an RF blocking inductor, to the earphone by way of the earphone lead. A miniaturized self-contained radio is therefore provided which does not utilize a local oscillator or other radiating signal generator and may be used on board or nearby aircraft without violating regulations for the use of electronic equipment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 1, 1994
    Assignee: Ramsey Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: John G. Ramsey
  • Patent number: 5361294
    Abstract: A method and apparatus eliminates an audible noise burst after reestablishment of an external timing signal in a radio base station (102). After a loss of the external timing signal, the base station (102) temporarily operates from an internal timing signal generator (226) to provide digital communications over a radio link (106) with a portable communication unit (120). After reestablishment of the external timing signal, the base station (102) detects (304) the presence of the signal, waits (306) for the signal to stabilize, and controls (312) the portable communication unit (120) to disable audio while switching (316) back to the external timing signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 1, 1994
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventors: Craig A. Lee, Thomas A. Oberle
  • Patent number: 5361380
    Abstract: A woofer module is provided for use in a television set, which comprises a hollow enclosure and a woofer accommodated within the enclosure for reproducing a sound of low audible frequency band. The enclosure has a first sound wave passageway extending from a front side of the woofer toward a first open end and a second sound wave passageway extending from rear side of the woofer toward a second open end. The second passageway is divided into an upstream region, a middle expansion region and a downstream region. The upstream region is contiguous to the rear side of the woofer and has a cross-sectional area smaller than that of the expansion region so that an equivalent air mass can be applied to the woofer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 1, 1994
    Assignee: Daewoo Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shi-Ryoung You, Byoung-Chul Ann, Nak-Seong Jeong, Kyoung-Chul Oh, Jeong-Geun Lee
  • Patent number: 5361306
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods for enhancing an electronic audio signal by adding enhancing harmonics to the electronic audio signal. The present invention includes a field inducing coil through which input electronic audio signals are to be transmitted to set up an electromagnetic field. The field inducing coil is weakly coupled to an electromagnetic field receptor such that when an input electronic audio signal is transmitted through the inducing coil only a small portion of the electromagnetic field cuts or passes through the field receptor in order to produce an induced electronic audio signal having a greater harmonic content than the input electronic audio signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 1993
    Date of Patent: November 1, 1994
    Assignee: True Dimensional Sound, Inc.
    Inventor: Arturo J. Garcia
  • Patent number: 5361064
    Abstract: A vehicle detector includes an inductive sensor which is driven by an oscillator to produce an oscillator signal having a frequency which is a function of inductance of the inductive sensor. Presence of a vehicle is detected when measured frequency of the oscillator signal changes by more than a threshold value. The effects of magnetic flux produced by adjacent power lines are compensated by measuring the frequency of the oscillator signal during a plurality of sample periods and characterizing the fluctuation of the measured frequency as a function of phase of a power main signal. During a normal measurement period, the frequency of the oscillator signal is measured, and the phase of the power main signal during the measurement period is determined. An output signal is produced based upon the measured frequency, the phase, and the known fluctuation of measured frequency as a function of phase of the power main signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 1, 1994
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Steven M. Hamer, Earl B. Hoekman
  • Patent number: 5361402
    Abstract: A test device (101) for use in a trunked radio system (102) employs a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) detector (120) to analyze transmission parameters. The test device (101 ) includes a transceiver (118) for transmitting and receiving radio signals, and a channel controller (116). The test device further includes memory (117) for storing (403) data, and test control means (116) for causing the transceiver to receive (303, 406) outbound signals on active communication channels. The test device (101) then processes (303-305, 402-404) the power levels for the outbound signals, and either re-transmits (305, 307) the results, or stores (407) them in memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 1, 1994
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventors: Gary W. Grube, Carl B. Olson, Paul J. Cizek
  • Patent number: 5359647
    Abstract: A headset telephone having an in-use indicator for notifying passers-by when the wearer of the headset is carrying on a telephone conversation. In one embodiment of the invention, an in-use indicator comprising a light-emitting diode is disposed on the end of the headset's voice boom, and is illuminated in response to activation of the headset. In another embodiment of the invention, activation of the headset causes a transmitter to transmit a signal to a remote in-use indicator not physically connected to the remainder of the telephone system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 1993
    Date of Patent: October 25, 1994
    Assignee: Plantronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul L. Regen, Anna Marie G. Puentes, Richard Hensolt
  • Patent number: 5359648
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for escaping from transparent mode in which the Data Communication Equipment will escape from transparent mode (into command mode) if a user programmed escape character string is received in coincidence with the toggling of a control signal such as Request To Send (RTS). Advantageously, this escape method can be used in conjunction with time/data escape methods that are based soley on activity on the received data line. When the two methods are used together, a supervisor program or control device can force an escape notwithstanding the user programmed time constraint parameters in the DCC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 1992
    Date of Patent: October 25, 1994
    Assignee: Rolm Company
    Inventors: Tave P. Dunn, Elie A. Jreij, Richard M. Ludwin, William E. Levene
  • Patent number: 5359645
    Abstract: In an audio-digital telephone interface system, selective operation prompts a caller with oral instructions to provide: digital control signals, digital data signals (numeric) or audio signals. Inbound and outbound operations are involved and inbound callers are qualified as by automatic number identification (ANI) signals and consumable key operation. A data cell is loaded in accordance with an operating program and the resulting data packet is flagged depending on the presence of audio signals. Data packets are returned to storage, as for subsequent addressing to call up, as to process ore,cue a caller. The illustrative format receives and organizes order data for goods or services or to isolate a subset or a sub-subset of callers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 1993
    Date of Patent: October 25, 1994
    Assignee: First Data Corporation Inc.
    Inventor: Ronald A. Katz