Patents Examined by Meenakshi Sahu
  • Patent number: 9837004
    Abstract: An apparatus for warning a slippery surface is provided that includes a light emitting device, a mounting unit and a light-refracting liquid or powder to be added to a cleaning solution or other fluid causing a slippery surface. The apparatus is used for the purpose of alerting people in the vicinity of a potential safety hazard of the existence of such safety hazard. The light emitted from the light emitting device is directed toward the slippery surface imbued with light-refracting liquid or powder for the purpose of showing persons the existence of a slippery surface or hazardous condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2017
    Inventor: Joseph Rayhanian
  • Patent number: 9835022
    Abstract: A distance of a water flow path and a velocity of the water flow is calculated using data obtained from both a pulsed neutron sensor and distributed acoustic sensors. The two distance and velocity values are compared to obtain a first calculated distance and velocity. The distance of the water flow path and the velocity of the water flow are calculated using the Doppler data obtained from distributed Doppler sensors. The distance and velocity values are compared with the first calculated distance and first calculated velocity to obtain a second calculated distance and velocity values. The distance of the water flow path and the velocity of the water flow are calculated using temperature data obtained from distributed temperature sensors. The distance and velocity values are compared with the second calculated distance and velocity to determine a distance of a cement interface, and a velocity of a water flow therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2017
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventor: Luis F. Quintero
  • Patent number: 9829444
    Abstract: A sensor cover (1) for an inspection assembly (3) is provided. The inspection assembly (3) is adapted to inspect the interior of a hollow member (5). The sensor cover (1) comprises a delimiting means (13.1, 13.2) configured to at least partially delimit a sensor cover volume (11.1, 11.2). The delimiting means (13.1, 13.2) comprises a flexible material and is configured to permit a modification of the sensor cover volume (11.1, 11.2) such that at least a portion of said delimiting means (13.1, 13.2) is closer to a portion of said hollow member wall (7) after said modification than before said modification to thereby enable said sensor signal to be transmitted from the hollow member wall (7) to the sensor (9). The present disclosure also relates to inspection assembly (3), a use of an inspection assembly (3), and a method (100) for inspecting the interior of a hollow member (5).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: VISION IO AS
    Inventors: Øyvind Hovland, André Hognestad, Bjarte Helle
  • Patent number: 9829428
    Abstract: Gas detector devices, systems, and methods using a Golay cell are described herein. One device includes a microphone having a front surface with a sound collecting aperture for receiving sound, a substrate, a gas cavity formed in the substrate such that the gas cavity is in gas communication with the sound collecting aperture and the front surface forms a side surface of the gas cavity, and a window abutting the substrate to form a side surface of the gas cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Wei Yang, Teresa M. Marta, Martin Willett, Rodney R. Watts
  • Patent number: 9824786
    Abstract: An energy sensor is provided including a collimator comprising a plurality of sensor apertures aligned in a plurality of directions configured to allow passage of an energetic particle or photon in a specific direction for respective apertures of the plurality of sensor apertures and at least one energy detector configured to measure the energetic particle or photon including a plurality of detector segments. Respective detector segments of the plurality of detector segments are aligned with the respective sensor apertures and a detector segment which measures the energetic particle or photon is indicative of a directionality of the energetic particle or photon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2017
    Assignee: The Johns Hopkins University
    Inventors: Thomas S. Sotirelis, G. Bruce Andrews
  • Patent number: 9817137
    Abstract: A thin, lightweight, and highly reliable energy ray detector that enables high-speed reading is provided. An energy ray detector (1) includes TFTs (20) that are arranged in a grid pattern and that each have an active layer formed of a semiconductor having an electrical property changing in accordance with the amount of applied energy ray radiation, and a property detection circuit unit (5) and a controller (60) that detect information regarding the energy ray radiation from changes in the electrical property of the TFTs (20).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Ryohichi Masuda, Mikio Katayama, Hidenori Kawanishi
  • Patent number: 9816866
    Abstract: The invention provides a method for a non-destructive, non-contacting and image forming examination of a sample by means of the heat flow thermography method where the examination consists of evaluating an existence and/or depth distance values of any heat flow velocity transitions below a surface of the sample, wherein the sample is excited by heat pulses of at least one excitation source, and a thermal flow originating therefrom is captured by at least one infrared sensor in an image sequence of thermal images, and wherein the thermal images obtained from the image sequence are evaluated by means of a signal and image processing and depicting a thermal flow with a resolution in time and in space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: FEI EFA, Inc.
    Inventors: Haymo Lang, Jochen Mielke
  • Patent number: 9812598
    Abstract: A Ge-on-Si photodetector constructed without doping or contacting Germanium by metal is described. Despite the simplified fabrication process, the device has responsivity of 1.24 A/W, corresponding to 99.2% quantum efficiency. Dark current is 40 nA at ?4 V reverse bias. 3-dB bandwidth is 30 GHz.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: Elenion Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Thomas Wetteland Baehr-Jones, Yi Zhang, Michael J. Hochberg, Ari Novack
  • Patent number: 9803464
    Abstract: A distance of a water flow path and a velocity of the water flow is calculated using pulsed neutron data and noise data. The two distance and velocity values are compared with each other to obtain a first calculated distance and a first calculated velocity. The distance of the water flow path and the velocity of the water flow are calculated using Doppler data. The distance and velocity values are compared with the first calculated distance and first calculated velocity to obtain a second calculated distance and velocity values. The distance of the water flow path and the velocity of the water flow are calculated using temperature data. The distance and velocity values are compared with the second calculated distance and velocity to determine a distance of a cement interface and a velocity of a water flow in the cement interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventor: Luis F. Quintero
  • Patent number: 9803170
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to an apparatus for monitoring a cell culture comprising a) one or more infrared sensors positioned adjacent to a cell culture, the one or more infrared sensors capable of recording an infrared heat signal from the cell culture; b) a power source in electrical communication with the one or more infrared sensors; c) a data storage and computation device configured to receive and analyze the infrared heat signal from the one or more infrared sensors; and d) a transmitter device in electrical communication with the storage and computation device; wherein the apparatus monitors the pattern of heat production in the cell culture. The present invention is also directed to methods for monitoring and analyzing the metabolic activity of cells using the above apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Amos Cahan, Theodore G. van Kessel
  • Patent number: 9797769
    Abstract: An infra-red detection device comprising an infra-red detection section; a plurality of optical elements arranged to direct infra-red radiation to the infrared detection section; and a masking section arranged to partially mask a first optical element of the plurality of optical elements, such that a first part of the first optical element is masked and a second part of the first optical element is not masked, such that the masking section is arranged to attenuate infra-red radiation directed via the first optical element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2017
    Assignee: Pyronix Limited
    Inventor: Juan Sebastian Herrera Stromberg
  • Patent number: 9799700
    Abstract: An infrared sensor according to an embodiment includes a housing, a detector, a lid, and a light shielding film. The detector is mounted on the bottom surface of the housing and includes a heat-sensitive pixel region and a reference pixel region. The lid seals the housing and includes a support member and a window member. The support member is bonded to the side surfaces of the housing and has an opening positioned above the heat-sensitive pixel region. The window member is bonded to a surface of the support member on a side of the detector so as to cover the opening. The light shielding film is formed on a surface of the window member on a side of the detector and arranged on an optical path of the infrared rays entering the reference pixel region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2017
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Koichi Ishii, Hideyuki Funaki
  • Patent number: 9784661
    Abstract: An imaging flow cytometry apparatus and method which allows registering multiple locations across a cell, and/or across multiple flow channels, in parallel using radio-frequency-tagged emission (FIRE) coupled with a parallel optical detection scheme toward increasing analysis throughput. An optical source is modulated by multiple RF frequencies to produce an optical interrogation beam having a spatially distributed beat frequency. This beam is directed to one or more focused streams of cells whose responsive fluorescence, in different frequencies, is registered in parallel by an optical detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: The Regents of the University of California
    Inventors: Bahram Jalali, Eric Diebold, Brandon Buckley
  • Patent number: 9784858
    Abstract: A neutron scintillator is formed of a resin-based composite. The resin-based composite includes a phosphor part (A) formed of a resin composition including inorganic phosphor particles containing at least one kind of neutron-capturing isotope that is selected from lithium 6 and boron 10 such as Eu:LiCaAlF6 and a resin, and at least one wavelength converting part (B) comprising a wavelength converting fiber or a wavelength converting sheet. In the neutron scintillator, it is preferred that the wavelength converting part (B) is enclosed in the phosphor part (A).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: Tokuyama Corporation
    Inventors: Kentaro Fukuda, Hiroaki Saito
  • Patent number: 9756263
    Abstract: In one embodiment, an infrared (IR) imaging system for determining a concentration of a target species in an object is disclosed. The imaging system can include an optical system including an optical focal plane array (FPA) unit. The optical system can have components defining at least two optical channels thereof, said at least two optical channels being spatially and spectrally different from one another. Each of the at least two optical channels can be positioned to transfer IR radiation incident on the optical system towards the optical FPA. The system can include a processing unit containing a processor that can be configured to acquire multispectral optical data representing said target species from the IR radiation received at the optical FPA. Said optical system and said processing unit can be contained together in a data acquisition and processing module configured to be worn or carried by a person.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2017
    Assignee: REBELLION PHOTONICS, INC.
    Inventors: Robert Timothy Kester, Nathan Adrian Hagen
  • Patent number: 9741220
    Abstract: A multi-spectral detection device is provided that includes a housing, a bezel spacer, a microphone, an end cap and electro-optical sensors mounted to the end cap. The housing has an inner chamber that holds sensor components. The bezel spacer has a first end and an opposed, second end. The first end of the bezel spacer extends from a first end of the housing. The bezel spacer has a central bezel passage leading to the inner chamber of the housing. The bezel spacer further has at least four side walls. Each side wall is positioned 90 degrees away from an adjacent side wall. A microphone is coupled to each side wall of the bezel spacer in such a manner that each microphone is faced 90 degrees with respect to an adjacent microphone to form a compact acoustic array. The end cap is coupled to the second end of the bezel spacer and the electro-optical sensors are mounted to the end cap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2017
    Assignee: Orbital ATK, Inc.
    Inventors: Raymond Mederos, Jonathan L. Carter, John R. Kenyon, Jay B. Cleckler, Mark E. Walker
  • Patent number: 9736398
    Abstract: Provided are methods of detecting X-rays, a photographing methods using the X-ray detecting method and/or an X-ray detector using the methods. For example, one method of detecting X-rays includes radiating a first X-ray, removing, by a first X-ray detection unit, a first electric charge generated by the radiated first X-ray, and outputting, by a second X-ray detection unit adjacent to the first X-ray detection unit, a voltage corresponding to the first X-ray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2017
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Young Kim, Yongchul Kim, Jaechul Park, Kangho Lee
  • Patent number: 9714867
    Abstract: There is provided a radiation detection means (10) which includes a carrier (12) with at least one pivotable portion (16), a receiving unit (18), a drive (24) and an evaluation and control unit. The receiving unit (18) is arranged on the pivotable portion (16) which together with the receiving unit (18) is pivotable about at least one axis relative to the carrier (12). The evaluation and control unit is connected with the drive (24) and the receiving unit (18) and the drive (24) is associated to the pivotable portion (16).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2017
    Assignee: TRW Automotive Electronics & Components GmbH
    Inventor: Ulrich Backes
  • Patent number: 9696434
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for testing scintillator arrays, e.g., crystal arrays for PET imaging. The apparatus includes, a two-sided tray arranged to hold scintillator arrays in either side and slide the arrays into a light-tight box having a radiation source beneath the arrays and photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) above the arrays. When arranged in the testing position with the arrays interposed between the radiation source and the PMTs, ambient light from outside the box is prevented from leaking into the box and high-voltage power is supplied to the PMTs. Otherwise, to prevent PMT damage, the high-voltage is off. The radiation source is an arrangement of sealed low-activity pieces of radioactive elements, thus minimizing requirements for radiation shielding and minimizing safety risks. The method calculates a flood map from scintillation data/counts and performs analysis according to predefined criteria, e.g., the peak-to-valley ratio, to flag arrays exhibiting inferior quality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2017
    Assignee: TOSHIBA MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kent C. Burr, Zhengyan Wang, Madhuri Kaul
  • Patent number: 9689720
    Abstract: A radiation detector head assembly is provided that includes a detector housing, a detector unit, and a fastener. The detector housing defines a cavity therein, and includes a shielding body disposed at least partially around the cavity. The detector unit is disposed within the cavity, and includes an absorption member and associated processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to generate electronic signals responsive to radiation received by the absorption member. The fastener extends through the detector housing, and is accepted by the detector unit to secure the detector unit to the detector housing. The shielding body of the detector housing is interposed between the fastener and the processing circuitry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Jean-Paul Bouhnik, Yaron Hefetz, Roee Khen, Raed Khamaisi, Israel Altman