Patents Examined by Georgia Y. Epps
  • Patent number: 11821786
    Abstract: A pyranometer is provided which can measure the precise amount of solar radiation/solar irradiance continuously and stably while suppressing the generation of dew or frost by a simple configuration even in changing external environment. A pyranometer includes: a housing having an opening, and having thermal conductivity; a dome provided at the opening, and having light transmittance; a sensor part provided in an internal space formed by the housing and the dome, and for measuring an intensity of a sunlight made incident through the dome; and a heat generating element provided heat conductably to a part of the housing, opposite to the opening across the internal space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: EKO INSTRUMENTS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Toshikazu Hasegawa, Satoshi Nishikawa, Masayuki Yamada
  • Patent number: 11817464
    Abstract: A photoelectric conversion apparatus includes a semiconductor substrate, a plurality of avalanche diodes formed within the semiconductor substrate, the plurality of avalanche diodes including a first avalanche diode and a second avalanche diode, and a trench structure formed between the first avalanche diode and the second avalanche diode in a plan view. Each of the avalanche diodes includes a first semiconductor region of a first conductivity type and a second semiconductor region of a second conductivity type. A contact plug for supplying a potential to the second semiconductor region of the first avalanche diode is formed, and the contact plug is provided at a position where the contact plug overlaps with the trench structure in a plan view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Junji Iwata
  • Patent number: 11817473
    Abstract: A solid-state imaging device includes: plural photodiodes formed in different depths in a unit pixel area of a substrate; and plural vertical transistors formed in the depth direction from one face side of the substrate so that gate portions for reading signal charges obtained by photoelectric conversion in the plural photodiodes are formed in depths corresponding to the respective photodiodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: SONY GROUP CORPORATION
    Inventors: Taiichiro Watanabe, Akihiro Yamada, Hideo Kido, Hiromasa Saito, Keiji Mabuchi, Yuko Ohgishi
  • Patent number: 11799416
    Abstract: A solar tracker assembly is provided which includes a support column, a torque tube or torsion beam connected to the support column, a mounting mechanism attached to the torque tube or torsion beam, a drive system connected to the torque tube or torsion beam, and a spring counter-balance assembly connected to the torque tube or torsion beam. An exemplary spring counter-balance assembly comprises a bearing housing and a bushing disposed within the bearing housing and configured to be slideably mounted onto the torque tube or torsion beam, and one or more compressible cords made of a flexible material. The compressible cords are located between the bushing and the bearing housing and provide damping during rotational movement of the solar tracker assembly. An exemplary spring counter-balance assembly is provided including at least one top bracket and at least one bottom bracket, at least one spring, a damper, and a bracket.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: ARRAY TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventor: Ronald P. Corio
  • Patent number: 11799260
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a diffractive grating configured to receive multiple output beams from an array of laser sources. The apparatus also includes one or more optical elements configured to receive, direct, and focus multiple zeroth-order light beams, where the zeroth-order light beams include portions of the output beams reflected off the diffractive grating. The apparatus further includes a detector configured to receive the zeroth-order light beams from at least one of the one or more optical elements and process the zeroth-order light beams to generate diagnostic information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: Raytheon Company
    Inventor: Leva E. Bukowski
  • Patent number: 11782139
    Abstract: A serpentine delay-line waveguide feeding an array of grating couplers can be fabricated in a silicon photonic chip, or tile, with the grating couplers emitting light at an angle that varies with wavelength and delay between the couplers imparted by the waveguide. The beam-steering tile can be used to transmit or receive light from a scene. The tile can be arrayed with one or more other tiles for bistatic radar-lidar operation. A tile in the array may transmit probe and frequency-shifted reference beams, while another tile may receive a return at a heterodyne frequency giving a range to the scene. The pitch of the serpentine delay line may be different for transmitting and receiving tiles to suppress returns from unwanted directions. Pairs of phase-cohered tiles may illuminate a spot in the scene with fringe patterns, producing oscillating returns that can be processed to form a high-resolution sub-image by Fourier synthesis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: The Regents of the University of Colorado, a Body Corporate
    Inventors: Kelvin Wagner, Daniel Feldkhun, Milos Popovic
  • Patent number: 11782199
    Abstract: An optical filter, a sensor device including the optical filter, and a method of fabricating the optical filter are provided. The optical filter includes one or more dielectric layers and one or more metal layers stacked in alternation. The metal layers are intrinsically protected by the dielectric layers. In particular, the metal layers have tapered edges that are protectively covered by one or more of the dielectric layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: VIAVI Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Georg J. Ockenfuss, Tim Gustafson, Jeffrey James Kuna, Markus Bilger, Richard A. Bradley, Jr.
  • Patent number: 11774692
    Abstract: An optical module includes a housing, and a main circuit board, an optical transmitting assembly, an optical receiving assembly, and an electrical connector that are disposed inside the housing. The optical transmitting assembly includes at least two sets of lasers, a transmitting-end optical assembly, and a transmitting-end optical fiber receptacle. The optical receiving assembly includes at least two sets of photoelectric detectors, a receiving-end optical assembly, and a receiving-end optical fiber receptacle. The electrical connector electrically connects the optical transmitting assembly and the optical receiving assembly to the main circuit board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: InnoLight Technology (Suzhou) Ltd.
    Inventors: Long Chen, Yuzhou Sun, Xiongfei Zhai, Donghan Wang, Zhenzhong Wang, Meng Fang, Chao Zhang, Xigui Fang, Xiangzhong Wang
  • Patent number: 11768104
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an optical sensor assembly. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an embodiment of the optical sensor assembly is provided. The optical sensor assembly includes a plurality of optical fibers, wherein one ends of the plurality of optical fibers are configured in a row, and the other ends of the plurality of optical fibers are stacked in at least two rows, such that a width of a first surface formed by the one ends of the plurality of optical fibers is greater than a width of a second surface formed by the other ends of the plurality of optical fibers, and the optical sensor assembly further includes a sensor connector optically coupled with the second surface. And the sensor connector can be separated from the first surface and configured inside the electronic device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2023
    Assignee: ARCSOFT CORPORATION LIMITED
    Inventor: Byung Il Min
  • Patent number: 11762182
    Abstract: A SPIM-microscope (Selective Plane Imaging Microscope) having a y-direction illumination light source and a z-direction detection light camera. An x-scanner generates a sequential light sheet by scanning the illumination light beam in the x-direction. The SPIM-microscope has an illumination optics having a zoom optics provided in a beam path of the illumination light beam, the zoom optics being adapted to change the focal length of the illumination light beam and adapted to detect a larger area of the object by sequentially detecting sequences of images along the y-direction that have an increased resolution along the z-direction. An image processing unit combines these sequences of images by image stitching into one large overall image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: LEICA MICROSYSTEMS CMS GMBH
    Inventors: Werner Knebel, Wolfgang Oestreicher
  • Patent number: 11747863
    Abstract: An example embodiment includes a playback device comprising a wireless communications interface including a wireless (e.g., a radio frequency (RF) antenna), a capacitive sensor comprising an electrode that is coupled to the RF antenna, one or more processors, and a data storage having stored therein instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the playback device to perform operations. The operations include operating the playback device in a first power state, detecting that an object is in proximity to the capacitive sensor, and in response to detecting the object, adjusting operation of the playback device from the first power state to a second power state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: Sonos, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Calatayud, Jonathon Reilly
  • Patent number: 11739986
    Abstract: A solar tracker system comprising a plurality of on sun trackers and a plurality of off sun tracker. Each tracker is selectively adjusted to achieve a desired power output of the solar power plant system in an example.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: NEXTRACKER LLC
    Inventors: Yu Dong Ma, Yang Liu, Francesco Borrelli, Allan Daly, Ricardo Delgado-Nanez, Alexander W. Au
  • Patent number: 11740123
    Abstract: An illumination device comprises one or more emitter modules having improved thermal and electrical characteristics. According to one embodiment, each emitter module comprises a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) configured for producing illumination for the illumination device, one or more photodetectors configured for detecting the illumination produced by the plurality of LEDs, a substrate upon which the plurality of LEDs and the one or more photodetectors are mounted, wherein the substrate is configured to provide a relatively high thermal impedance in the lateral direction, and a relatively low thermal impedance in the vertical direction, and a primary optics structure coupled to the substrate for encapsulating the plurality of LEDs and the one or more photodetectors within the primary optics structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Lutron Technology Company LLC
    Inventors: Kuo-Lih Chang, Mickey Malone, Horace C. Ho
  • Patent number: 11726386
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides for materials (e.g., films, mixtures, and colloidally suspended in solution) including two types of particles (e.g., nanoparticles) that exhibit harmonic surface plasmon resonances (SPR), where these are referred to as harmonically paired set of particles. The present disclosure provides for harmonically paired set of particles, where the particles are separated by a dielectric layer. The dielectric layer has a thickness such that direct electron transfer does not occur between the harmonically paired set of particles. The harmonically paired set of particles can be included in harmonically paired set of particle system or devices which can be a component in measurement systems or devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: Vanderbilt University
    Inventors: Janet E. Macdonald, Richard F. Haglund, Jr., Nathan James Spear, Kent A. Hallman, Summer L. Arrowood, Roderick B. Davidson, II, Emil A. Hernandez-Pagan
  • Patent number: 11713997
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to methods and devices for indoor-outdoor detection. One example computer-implemented method for indoor-outdoor detection by an electronic device includes receiving, from an ambient light sensor in the electronic device, light intensity data. The electronic device determines an indoor-outdoor feature indicator based on the light intensity data. The electronic device determines whether the electronic device is in an indoor environment or an outdoor environment based on the indoor-outdoor feature indicator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yurong Xu, Jun Yang
  • Patent number: 11704929
    Abstract: An optical structure is provided. The optical structure includes an optical element and a plurality of protrusions. The optical element has a planarized top surface. The plurality of protrusions are disposed on the planarized top surface, wherein each of the plurality of protrusions independently has a size in the subwavelength dimensions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: VISERA TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventors: Chin-Chuan Hsieh, Yueh-Ching Cheng, Shih-Yu Ho
  • Patent number: 11705466
    Abstract: An integrated circuit includes a comparator, a counter and a control circuit. The comparator is configured to generate a comparator output signal in response to a pixel output signal and a reference signal. The counter is coupled to the comparator, and configured to be enabled or disabled in response to the comparator output signal. The control circuit is coupled to the comparator, and configured to enable or disable the comparator by a first enable signal. The first enable signal is generated in response to at least the comparator output signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Kuo-Yu Chou, Shang-Fu Yeh
  • Patent number: 11703700
    Abstract: A laser irradiation apparatus includes a stage on which a substrate is provided, a laser irradiation unit which irradiates a laser to the substrate on the stage, an image acquiring unit which acquires an image of a predetermined region of the substrate, and a control unit electrically connected to the laser irradiation unit and the image acquiring unit, where the control unit calculates a brightness value corresponding to an average value of grayscale values of the image provided from the image acquiring unit, compares a calculated brightness value with a reference brightness value, and outputs data on performance of the laser based on a result of comparing the calculated brightness value with the reference brightness value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: SAMSUNG DISPLAY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Wook Yeon Jung
  • Patent number: 11703887
    Abstract: A system includes a tracker configured to collect solar irradiance and attached to a rotational mechanism for changing a plane of the tracker and a controller. The controller is programmed to store a plurality of positional and solar tracking information and detect a first amount of DHI and a first amount of DNI at a first specific point in time. If the first amount of SHI exceeds the first amount of DNI, the controller is programmed to calculate a first angle for the tracker to maximize an amount of irradiance received by the tracker. Otherwise, the controller is programmed to calculate the first angle for the tracker based on a position of the sun associated with the first specific point in time and the plurality of positional and solar tracking information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: FTC Solar, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew Joseph Morse, Nagendra Srinivas Cherukupalli, Tamilarasan Mouniandy
  • Patent number: 11690954
    Abstract: An optical sensor for a delivery device having a piston that displaces a substance, such as a fluid, from a reservoir. The optical sensor has a light source and a detector array for imaging encoding features disposed along a plunger rod coupled to the piston. By virtue of the pattern of encoding features, an absolute position of the plunger rod relative to a fiducial position may be determined uniquely. Thus, the volume of fluid remaining in the reservoir, the rate of fluid delivery, and proper loading of the reservoir may be accurately ascertained. Additionally, the encoding may serve to uniquely identify a version of the reservoir which may be supplied in various versions corresponding, for example, to differing concentrations of a therapeutic agent to be dispensed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2023
    Assignee: DEKA PRODUCTS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
    Inventors: Marc A. Mandro, Larry B. Gray