Patents Examined by John Kuan
  • Patent number: 9236762
    Abstract: A system of monitoring and/or maintaining remotely located autonomously powered lights, security systems, parking meters, and the like is operable to receive data signals from a number of the devices, and provide a comparison with other similar devices in the same geographic region to detect a default condition of a particular device, and/or assess whether the defect is environmental or particular to the specific device itself. The system includes memory for storing operating parameters and data, and outputs modified control commands to the devices in response to sensed performance, past performance and/or self-learning algorithms. The system operates to provide for the monitoring and/or control of individual device operating parameters on an individual or regional basis, over preset periods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2016
    Assignee: CLEAR BLUE TECHNOLOGIES INC.
    Inventors: Tuerk John, Miriam Tuerk, Mark Windrim, Ahmad Yafaoui
  • Patent number: 9229026
    Abstract: An accelerometer system can include a sensor element comprising first and second proofmasses, the first proofmass accelerating in a first direction and the second proofmass accelerating in a second direction opposite the first direction in response to an external acceleration. A force rebalance controller applies control signals to at least one control element to provide a first force to accelerate the first proofmass toward a first null position and to at least one control element to provide a second force to accelerate the second proofmass toward a second null position. The force rebalance controller can also generate opposite polarity first and second output signals associated with respective displacements of the first and second proofmasses relative to the respective first and second null positions. An acceleration component calculates the external acceleration based on the first and second output signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2016
    Assignee: Northrop Grumman Guaidance and Electronics Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert E. Stewart, Daryl Sakaida, Michael D. Bulatowicz, Ming Li, John Thomson Douglass
  • Patent number: 9229132
    Abstract: A method, an apparatus and an article of manufacture for forecasting a meteorological parameter. The method includes analyzing geographically distributed sensor network data to assess spatial and temporal variation of a meteorological parameter in real-time, correlating at least two portions of data from the sensor network to identify a temporal and spatial evolution of the meteorological parameter, and forecasting the meteorological parameter based on the temporal and spatial evolution of the meteorological parameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Supratik Guha, Hendrik F. Hamann, Levente Klein
  • Patent number: 9205711
    Abstract: A method for localization the position of wheels of a vehicle includes: storing, for each wheel, an image of the intensity of the signal originating from an electronic module fitted to the wheel; controlling the emission by each electronic module of a sequence of n signals emitted with predetermined time intervals; computing for each sequence of n signals, the temporal variation of the correlation coefficients between each signal of the sequence and each of the stored images; computing the peak of correlation of the correlation coefficients of each of the n signals and the temporal position over a wheel revolution of each of the n peaks of correlation; and selecting, for each stored image, the wheel at the origin of the emission of sequences having the highest peaks of correlation associated with time intervals corresponding to the time intervals of emission of the n signals of the sequences.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2015
    Assignees: CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE FRANCE, CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBH
    Inventors: Sébastien Kessler, Mohamed Cheikh
  • Patent number: 9208529
    Abstract: An apparatus and an article of manufacture for determining consistent wind power output include obtaining forecasted wind power production, actual wind power production from a wind power producer, a variable price of power measurement, a power storage battery state and capacity measurement, and a penalty measurement for wind power change of rate, and analyzing the forecasted wind power production, the variable price of power measurement, the power storage battery state and capacity measurement, and the penalty measurement for wind power change of rate to determine a consistent rate at which wind power is to be exported from the wind power producer to a grid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2015
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Vijay Arya, Partha Dutta
  • Patent number: 9196011
    Abstract: A method for determining consistent wind power output includes obtaining forecasted wind power production, actual wind power production from a wind power producer, a variable price of power measurement, a power storage battery state and capacity measurement, and a penalty measurement for wind power change of rate, and analyzing the forecasted wind power production, the variable price of power measurement, the power storage battery state and capacity measurement, and the penalty measurement for wind power change of rate to determine a consistent rate at which wind power is to be exported from the wind power producer to a grid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Vijay Arya, Partha Dutta
  • Patent number: 9182316
    Abstract: A method of predicting a fault in a rolling bearing, the rolling bearing including inner and outer rings and rolling bodies evenly angularly distributed therebetween, the method comprising: processing (in the DSP system 8) a position signal (x(t)) indicative of a relative angular position of the inner ring with respect to the outer rings, and a vibration signal (y(t)) (by the accelerometer 7) indicative of speed-related vibrations in the rolling bearing, such that they correspond to either an angular displacement of the rolling bodies equal to an integer number of angular gaps between adjacent rolling bodies or an integer number of complete rotations of the inner ring with respect to the outer ring; space sampling (in the ND acquisition board 9) the processed vibration signal (y(t)) based on the processed position signal (x(t)); and predicting a fault in the rolling bearing based on the space-sampled vibration signal (y(t)).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: TETRA LAVAL HOLDINGS & FINANCE S.A.
    Inventors: Marco Cocconcelli, Luca Bassi, Davide Borghi, Riccardo Rubini, Cristian Secchi
  • Patent number: 9184025
    Abstract: A method for Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) sample creation. The use of a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)—Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM) detector in the dual-beam focused ion beam (FIB)/SEM allows a sample to be thinned using the FIB, while the STEM signal is used to monitor sample thickness. A preferred embodiment of the present invention can measure the thickness of or create TEM and STEM samples by using a precise endpoint detection method. Preferred embodiments also enable automatic endpointing during TEM lamella creation and provide users with direct feedback on sample thickness during manual thinning. Preferred embodiments of the present invention thus provide methods for endpointing sample thinning and methods to partially or fully automate endpointing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: FEI Company
    Inventors: Richard J. Young, Brennan Peterson, Rudolf Johannes Peter Gerardus Schampers, Michael Moriarty
  • Patent number: 9151772
    Abstract: To include a pulse counting unit, a pulse timing unit, an overflow detection unit that holds a detected matter in an overflow register, a capture unit that holds an output of the pulse counting unit in a pulse counting register and holds an output of the pulse timing unit in a pulse timing register, and a computation unit (frequency calculation unit) that reads the pulse counting register, the pulse timing register, and the overflow register to calculate a frequency computation value, and when the pulse timing unit has overflowed, the computation unit adds a predetermined constant acquired by a period of a capture clock a period of a timing clock to pulse timing data at the previous interrupt to obtain pulse timing data acquired by a period of time from the last pulse edge a period of the timing clock.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hiroshi Yoshikawa
  • Patent number: 9121550
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for estimating a parameter of a fluid flowing in a tubular is disclosed. A source of a primary magnetic field is coupled to the tubular and is configured to induce the primary magnetic field in the fluid to align nuclei of the fluid in the tubular along the primary magnetic field. A transmitter transmits an excitation signal into the fluid. A receiver detects a signal from the aligned nuclei responsive to the excitation signal. A processor estimates the parameter of the fluid from the detected signal. The source of the primary magnetic field is removable from the tubular. A coil may induce a secondary magnetic field to either enhance the strength of the primary magnetic field in the tubular or substantially cancel the primary magnetic field in the tubular, for example, to reduce particle build-up in the tubular.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Baker Hughes Incorporated
    Inventors: Joo Tim Ong, Terry R. Bussear, Carl M. Edwards, Graeme S. Young
  • Patent number: 9122273
    Abstract: The invention is related to a system and a method to determine whether a target equipment deviates from a normal state. If it is determined that the target equipment to be diagnosed deviates from the normal state, the degree of deviation of each parameter from the normal state as the reference is calculated as an abnormal contribution ratio. A failure cause is estimated from a similarity ratio between the calculated abnormal contribution ratio and the abnormal contribution ratio of each of the failure causes collected in the past and including failure phenomena and failure parts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: HITACHI, LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroki Uchiyama, Shinya Yuda, Hideaki Suzuki, Kozo Nakamura
  • Patent number: 9116511
    Abstract: The present invention makes it possible to measure a precision event time in such a way to make a reference data in accordance with a standard time reference frequency signal and to make a measurement data by using an apparatus with the same structure as a reference data with respect to a signal to be measured and to compare the measurement data with a reference data, whereby temperature effects can be minimized by making the time changes due to temperature changes occurring between two apparatuses happen equally, by providing the same structure and parts to a reference signal circuit apparatus for an event time measurement and a signal circuit apparatus to be measured, and the zero point adjustment is performed during the real time operation, so the system is not needed to stop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute
    Inventors: Seung-Cheol Bang, Hyung Chul Lim, Jong Uk Park
  • Patent number: 9103862
    Abstract: A method for generating and checking a spatio-temporal field distribution having predefined characteristics such as one or more directions of propagation, a high level of field intensity and a polarization in a reverberant chamber. To do this, two separate networks of transducers are provided so as to estimate a transfer function between these two networks and to determine excitation signals using the principle of temporal return. The excitation signals are used to generate the spatio-temporal field according to the predefined characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: SUPELEC
    Inventors: Andrea Cozza, Mouhamad Houman Moussa
  • Patent number: 9103684
    Abstract: A system for odometer calibration for a motor vehicle is provided. The system can include a first source of speed data that provides first speed data during operation of the motor vehicle, and a second source of speed data that provides second speed data during a portion of the operation. The system can also include a vehicle speed control module that computes overall average speed data based on the first speed data and a duration of operation. The system includes a speed control module that determines an average first speed for the portion of the operation in which the second source of speed data provides the second speed, and computes an average second speed. The system can include an odometer correction control module that computes corrected odometer data based on the overall average speed data and a ratio of the average second speed to the average first speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: Laird Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Timothy John Wheatley
  • Patent number: 9097689
    Abstract: An apparatus for generating throughput information of a sample analyzer is disclosed. Specifically, this apparatus generates throughput information of a sample analyzer capable of measuring a sample on a plurality of measurement items in which measurement time differs from each other. The apparatus receives an input of a plurality of measurement orders, wherein a measurement order includes a designation of at least one measurement item, generates the throughput information of the sample analyzer based on the received plurality of measurement orders; and outputs the generated throughput information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: SYSMEX CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takashi Yamato, Hisashi Nakatsuka, Hiroshi Kurono
  • Patent number: 9080683
    Abstract: A method for conducting a partial stroke test of an emergency shutdown valve includes receiving a request to initiate the partial stroke test from a user interface or another source, establishing a direct or an indirect wireless communication link with the emergency shutdown valve, and generating one or more commands of a digital industrial automation protocol to be transmitted to the emergency shutdown valve via the wireless communication link, so that a partial stroke test of the emergency shutdown valve is initiated in response to these commands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: FISHER CONTROLS INTERNATIONAL LLC
    Inventors: Perry K. Carter, Riyaz M. Ali
  • Patent number: 9047227
    Abstract: An operation circuit and an operation method thereof are revealed. The operation circuit includes an extreme value processing unit, a curve processing module, and a component unit. The extreme value processing unit receives and processes a plurality of input data to get maximum values and minimum values. The curve processing module constructs a first matrix and a second matrix according to the maximum and minimum values and then decomposes the first matrix and the second matrix into first submatrices and second submatrices respectively. According to these submatrices, the curve processing module gets at least one mean value function corresponding to the maximum and the minimum values. The computation of a single matrix is reduced by matrix decomposition and operations of the operation circuit. Compared with conventional Gauss matrix manipulations that run by computer systems, the present invention can be applied to simpler circuits by simplifying matrix operation processes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: Huafan University
    Inventors: Kang-Ying Chen, Yu-Ting Ou
  • Patent number: 9043164
    Abstract: A method is disclosed for generating a mass spectrum, e.g. for Fourier transform mass spectrometry, having improved resolving power. The method includes steps of acquiring a plurality of mass spectra from a mass spectrometer using image current detection determining the centroids of at least some of the peaks which have a sufficient signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio so that the variation of the centroid of each such peak from the plurality of mass spectra is significantly lower than the full-width at half-maximum, dM, of the peak in the m/z domain; and generating a histogram of the centroids determined from the plurality of acquired mass spectra thereby forming a composite mass spectrum. The resultant composite mass spectrum comprises peaks having full-width at half-maximum, dMC, significantly narrower than the peak width, dM, of the corresponding peaks in the plurality of acquired mass spectra.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: Thermo Fisher Scientific (Bremen) GmbH
    Inventor: Alexander Alekseevich Makarov
  • Patent number: 9031809
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing three-dimensional navigation for a node comprising an inertial measurement unit for providing gyroscope, acceleration and velocity information (collectively IMU information); a ranging unit for providing distance information relative to at least one reference node; at least one visual sensor for providing images of an environment surrounding the node; a preprocessor, coupled to the inertial measurement unit, the ranging unit and the plurality of visual sensors, for generating error states for the IMU information, the distance information and the images; and an error-state predictive filter, coupled to the preprocessor, for processing the error states to produce a three-dimensional pose of the node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: SRI International
    Inventors: Rakesh Kumar, Supun Samarasekera, Han-Pang Chiu, Zhiwei Zhu, Taragay Oskiper, Lu Wang, Raia Hadsell
  • Patent number: 9020774
    Abstract: An encoder system includes: a first single-rotation absolute encoder that outputs a first signal corresponding to an angular position of a first rotatable shaft; a power transmission device that transmits the power of the first shaft to a second rotatable shaft with a predetermined transmission ratio; a second single-rotation absolute encoder that outputs a second signal corresponding to an angular position of the second shaft; and a signal processing section that generates data related to the rotation count of the first shaft based on at least the first signal and the second signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: Nikon Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Kishida, Toru Morita, Yoshiji Takahashi, Kou Ohno, Takashi Nagase, Kenji Omata, Hirofumi Takeuchi