Patents Examined by Jack Keith
  • Patent number: 7894963
    Abstract: A machine is provided. The machine includes an engine, an engine speed sensor, a transmission, a transmission status sensor, a pump, and a controller. The engine speed sensor is configured to sense the speed of the engine. The transmission is coupled to the engine. The transmission status sensor is configured to sense the status of the transmission. The pump is coupled to the engine and has a first torque mode and a second torque mode. The controller is in communication with the engine speed sensor and the transmission status sensor and is operable to automatically switch the pump from the first torque mode to the second torque mode based on the engine speed and the transmission status.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2011
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Anil Shenoy, John R. Connolly
  • Patent number: 7894969
    Abstract: A control apparatus includes a torque-boost control portion that boosts torque output from the engine, and corrects the operation amount of an adjustment mechanism that adjusts the amount of air taken into the engine to increase the amount of air during a torque phase when the automatic transmission upshifts; and an inertia-phase determination portion that determines whether an inertia phase has started. The torque-boost control portion includes a torque-boost end control portion that executes a torque-boost end control that gradually decreases a correction amount, by which the operation amount is corrected, to zero when the inertia-phase determination portion determines that the inertia phase has started.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2011
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tomohiro Asami, Toshio Sugimura, Takaaki Tokura, Nobufusa Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 7894970
    Abstract: Traction control for a motorcycle including a driving wheel speed sensor and a driven wheel speed sensor. An ECU controls an engine on the basis of a corrected slip signal obtained by subtracting a low frequency component of a pre-correction slip signal from the pre-correction slip signal. The pre-correction slip signal is obtained by subtracting a speed of a front wheel detected by the driven wheel speed sensor from a speed of a rear wheel detected by the driving wheel speed sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2011
    Assignee: Yamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hirokazu Fujita, Tomohiro Kinoshita
  • Patent number: 7890227
    Abstract: A vehicle-mounted electronic control apparatus can perform a variety of abnormality detections while reducing the control load of a microprocessor in the abnormality detection of a volatile backup memory that is backed up by an on-board battery. The apparatus includes a control CPU which is fed with power from a main power supply circuit upon closure of a power switch, a nonvolatile control memory and a backup memory. Even if the power switch is opened, the backup memory, being a partial area of a RAM memory, is fed with power through an auxiliary power supply circuit connected directly to the battery. When the battery is replaced with a new one and connected again, a power supply interruption monitoring memory is reset. At the start of operation of the control CPU, the backup memory is initialized based on reset information, and the power supply interruption monitoring memory is rewritten into a set state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masahiko Sayama, Shozo Kanzaki, Kohji Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 7889599
    Abstract: Method of determining the velocity V and anellipticity ? parameters for processing seismic traces in a common midpoint (CMP) gather comprising:—a preliminary step to define a plurality of nodes (dtn, ?o), for each node (dtn, ?o) defined in the preliminary step, the following steps:—for static NMO correction of traces in the CMP gather as a function of the values of the said parameters dtn and ?o at the node considered, and calculation of the semblance function associated with the said NMO correction for the node considered; and—for each picked time to, a step including determination of the maximum semblance node (dtn (to), ?o (to)),—and a final step to convert the dtn (to) and ?o (to) parameters, so as to obtain the velocity to) and anellipticity ? (to) laws.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Cggveritas Services SA
    Inventor: Risto Siliqi
  • Patent number: 7890262
    Abstract: A method of providing position estimation with a navigation device comprises periodically recording magnetic field strength of an area substantially surrounding a navigation device as a user of the navigation device traverses a select pathway. The method combines the recorded magnetic field strength with measurements from at least a dead reckoning portion of the navigation device to provide position estimates along the select pathway. The method further corrects each of the position estimates from a starting position on the select pathway, where each of the corrected position estimates have an error value below one or more previous position estimates and any intervening positions between each of the one or more previous position estimates and the starting position, with the error value corresponding to an error threshold based on the previous position estimates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Tom Judd, Bruce Graham, Toan Vu
  • Patent number: 7890255
    Abstract: A map information processing apparatus includes a map information storage unit (15) for storing map information, a map update information storage unit (8) for storing one or more pieces of map update information (30 to 32) used for updating yet-to-be-updated map information, a map update information selection unit (19) for selecting one or more pieces of map update information required to update the map information stored in the map information storage unit (15) from the one or more pieces of map update information stored in the map update information storage unit, and a map information updating unit (20) for updating the map information stored in the map information storage unit (15) by applying the one or more pieces of map update information selected by the map update information selection unit to the map information one by one in order of updating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tomoya Ikeuchi, Masaharu Umezu, Makoto Mikuriya, Mitsuo Shimotani
  • Patent number: 7889598
    Abstract: Method of processing seismic data representative of at least one wavefield, characterized in that local harmonic components of the wavefield are determined at a given point P of the subsurface by implementing a recurrent processing according to which a harmonic of rank n+1, n being a positive integer, is determined as a function of one or more harmonics of rank n or lower to which is applied at least one filtering which depends on at least one local parameter at the point P, this local parameter being chosen from among the components of the wavevector, the frequency of the wavefield, the local velocity, the local anisotropy parameters or any combination of these various parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: CGGVeritas Services SA
    Inventor: Robert Soubaras
  • Patent number: 7889597
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method of processing seismic data acquired by means of a sensor having at least three geophone components, characterized in that estimators are determined which are combinations of these components making it possible to isolate the various data depending on whether they correspond to propagation with reflection or with conversion. The estimators find application in particular for determining a sensor reconstruction according to which the operators to be applied to the various components of the sensor are determined in such a way as to minimize the deviation between reference data and data obtained by applying the estimators to the sensor reconstruction, the operators thus determined being applied to the data acquired.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: CGGVeritas Services SA
    Inventor: Bruno Gratacos
  • Patent number: 7889829
    Abstract: An integral multilevel debris-catching system for a nuclear reactor fuel assembly having a lower protective grid incorporating laterally offset debris-catching arches at several elevations, extended solid fuel rod bottom end plugs and a bottom debris-filtering nozzle. Dimples and opposing opposite springs and the debris-trapping arches, which are spaced from the end plugs, are all located at elevations below the fuel cladding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Company LLC
    Inventors: Yu Chung Lee, James Alan Sparrow
  • Patent number: 7890246
    Abstract: Systems and methods of interpolating traffic information data may accumulate, for each link, a link travel time and a congestion degree at a plurality of trip times. The systems and methods may determine, for each link, whether at least one of the link travel time and the congestion degree properly exists at each of the plurality of trip times, and may interpolate, for each non-existent at least one of the link travel time and the congestion degree, an acceptable value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Aisin AW Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hiroki Ishikawa
  • Patent number: 7885143
    Abstract: Various technologies for a seismic acquisition system, which may include an acquisition central system configured to determine a desired start time for a sweep cycle in one or more vibrators and a recorder source system controller in communication with the acquisition central system. The recorder source system controller may be configured to receive the desired start time from the acquisition central system. The seismic acquisition system may further include one or more vibrator units in communication with the recorder source system controller. Each vibrator unit may be configured to start a sweep cycle in a vibrator at the desired start time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2011
    Assignee: WesternGeco L.L.C.
    Inventor: Martin Laycock
  • Patent number: 7881160
    Abstract: An arrangement for conducting a seismic survey and methods for operating a vibrator array in a seismic survey. A signal source coupled to an array of vibrators drives the vibrators with a set of signals to generate seismic signals into a survey area. Each of the signals of the set has an autocorrelation function and a cross correlation function with the other signals of the set that decays faster with time than reflections of the seismic signals from the survey area. One such set of signals includes a linear FM sweep phase-modulated by a maximal-length sequence code shifted a different number of chips for each signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: ION Geophysical Corporation
    Inventor: Robert E. Rouquette
  • Patent number: 7881849
    Abstract: In an electric parking brake system, the moving force-based target tension is set based on the inclination angle of a vehicle and the shift position, and the slack compensation amount is determined based on the inclination angle of the vehicle and the shift position. The control target tension is set to a smaller value from among the slack-based target tension, which is the sum of the moving force-based target tension and the slack compensation amount, and the maximum value of the output power that can be produced by an electric motor. The electric motor is controlled such that the tension of the cable matches the control target tension (the slack-based target tension, in most cases).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Takahiro Shiraki
  • Patent number: 7881868
    Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates warning of collision between a primary principal and one or more non-primary principals. The system includes a triggering mechanism and a preliminary assessment mechanism. During operation, the triggering mechanism determines whether a trigger condition is met based on the state of the primary principal. When the trigger condition is met, the preliminary assessment mechanism generates one or more collision scenarios associated with the trigger condition, assesses a preliminary probability of collision in a collision scenario, and, based on the preliminary probability of collision in the collision scenario, activates a specialized assessment mechanism to assess a refined probability of collision in the collision scenario.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated
    Inventors: Daniel H. Greene, Juan Liu, James E. Reich
  • Patent number: 7881153
    Abstract: A paravane for a seismic acquisition system includes a float, a frame suspended from the float, deflectors affixed to the frame, and means for coupling a tow rope to a lead-in functionally extending between a forward end and an aft end of the frame. The paravane includes means for selectively changing an effective position along the lead-in of the means for coupling the tow cable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: PGS Geophysical AS
    Inventors: Jan Erik Stokkeland, Ole-Fredrik Semb
  • Patent number: 7881152
    Abstract: A seismic survey system includes a winch having a winch cable coupleable to a source array towable between two deflected lead-ins, a positioning system for determining a current position of the source array and a controller for adjusting the winch to modify the current position of the source array to a desired crossline position. The winches may be attached to the deflected lead-ins or mounted on a tow vessel. The winches exert lateral forces on the source array, derived from the deflected lead-ins, to control the inline position of the source array. A method includes positioning a seismic source array in tow behind a vessel comprises determining a current position of the source array and adjusting a lateral force applied to the source array to move the source array to a desired crossline position. Optionally, by adjusting the gun cable winch, the inline position may be controlled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: WesternGeco L.L.C.
    Inventors: Eskild Storteig, Martin Howlid, Rohit Singh
  • Patent number: 7872944
    Abstract: A microseismic method of monitoring fracturing operation or other passive seismic events in hydrocarbon wells is described using the steps of obtaining multi-component s-wave signals of the event; and using a linear derivative of S-wave arrival times of the signals in a first direction, an S-wave velocity and an s-wave polarization to determine at least two components of the S-wave slowness vector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2011
    Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Leo Eisner, Tomas Fischer
  • Patent number: 7873470
    Abstract: A map moving apparatus capable of performing desired map movement by a simple input operation without requiring a continuous operation by a user in moving a map screen display region is disclosed. An operated direction, an operated position, an operated speed and the like are detected from an input operation that a user performs on the map screen display region, and a map screen display region input shape recognizing section recognizes an input shape. A polygon shape identifying section extracts data having substantially the same shape as the recognized input shape from polygon data in map display data by using a matching method. When data having substantially the same shape exists, a type of the polygon is identified. In a movement mode selecting section, the movement of a screen map reverses direction when it reaches an end portion in the case where the polygon type is a linear shape, and the movement circulates to continue movement of the map screen where the type is a ring shape with no end portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2011
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Akihisa Baba, Mitsuru Kawahata
  • Patent number: 7869947
    Abstract: A navigation system and method having a function of alerting the driver to potential wrong way driving comprises means 102 for determining a position of a vehicle 300, means 107 for calculating a driving route of the vehicle 300, means 108 for determining a driving manoeuvre in accordance with the predetermined driving route 305, means 104, 105, 110, 111 for outputting indications relating to the determined driving manoeuvre to a driver of the vehicle 300, and means 109 for alerting the driver to potential wrong way driving including means 201 for detecting a potential wrong way driving situation and means 202, 104, 105, 110, 111 for outputting an indication relating to the potential wrong way driving situation to the driver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2011
    Assignee: Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Harmut Schirmer, Karl-Friedrich Rauterberg