Patents Examined by P. Austin Bradley
  • Patent number: 7429188
    Abstract: A cable connector assembly (100) includes an insulative housing (2) defining a number of receiving passages (23, 24), a number of contacts (3) respectively received in the receiving passages and including at least one detect contact (33), a circuit board (4) assembled to the insulative housing and including an LED (42) connecting with the at least one detect contact, a cable (6) electrically connecting with the circuit board, a rear cover (7) assembled to the housing, and status indicator means (82) molded with the rear cover and overlapping the LED to spread the light emitted by the LED outwardly for normal status indication.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2008
    Assignee: Hon Hai Precision Ind. Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Jerry Wu
  • Patent number: 7426157
    Abstract: An interval timer combining the features of a practice timer, means of measuring date and metronome into a single device for the purpose of measuring, recording, and displaying practice records over a period of weeks or months. During the measuring of practice time, the device may complement the passage of time by the use of lights, sounds, or vibrations. It features a display screen that can indicate total time practiced, current chronological time and date, and a record of practice accomplished over a period of chronological time. The device may also accommodate interchangeable face plates of electronic icons for user personalization of the device. An enhanced version may include means for displaying assignment and practice information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2008
    Inventors: Nathan James Arnold, Greg J. Owoc, William Palmer Lovegrove
  • Patent number: 7420881
    Abstract: The device includes data entry means (10), control means (14) connected to means (12) for displaying said data. The invention is characterised in that it further includes a processing unit (16) inserted between the data entry means (10) and the control means (14). The processing unit (16) includes a memory (11) for storing reference times and particularly the Time Out, a counter (18) storing the time TC that elapses from the start of a manipulation and the time TM the elapses between two manipulations, and a comparator (21) including a first comparison unit (23), which acts on the one hand on an ON/OFF switch (24) to interrupt, via control means (14) the energy supply when TC>TO and which, on the other hand, enables TO to be altered at the end of a series of manipulations as a function of certain reference times of the memory and the speed at which the manipulations have been carried out.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2008
    Assignee: ASULAB S.A.
    Inventors: Erik Jan Frenkel, Jean-Charles Guanter
  • Patent number: 7410289
    Abstract: A watchwinder adapted for home use or in a retail store environment includes a horizontal dovetail groove or channel on the top, bottom and side surfaces of the watchwinder housing which cooperates with a removable interlocking bar or rail of mating dovetail shape to selectively and detachably interconnect adjacent watchwinders arranged in a vertical or side-by-side relation. The grooves preferably extend across the horizontal dimension of the watchwinder to a point short of the front of the housing for concealment purposes, and are made relatively wide in relation to the dimensions of the housing to improve rigidity of an interlocked grouping of watchwinders and to simplify assembly. Preferably, the channels are of equal size and shape and spaced equidistantly apart. An array of interlocked watchwinders can be built up to varying size and shape, and one or more of the watchwinders can be selectively removed from anywhere within the array without disturbing the others.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2008
    Assignee: Wolf Designs, Inc.
    Inventor: Paul D. Hill
  • Patent number: 7408846
    Abstract: The ornamental article is a bangle or ring which can house a watch or item of jewelry. The article has two or more planar portions fixed at a 90° angle and a display area that spans the surface of at least two of the planar portions to form a continuous angled display area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2008
    Inventor: Fredi Brodmann
  • Patent number: 7387434
    Abstract: There is provided portable apparatus capable of maintaining a function of preventing accidental operation of a push button when the apparatus is carried on the wearer's body. The apparatus includes a watch enclosure body (apparatus enclosure body), a pipe, a push button, a biasing member, a locking member, and a whirl-stop. The pipe is fixed to the enclosure body by inserting it into a through hole in the enclosure body. A retainer tube of the pipe has a female thread formed thereon and is disposed outside the enclosure body. The push button has a shaft passed through the pipe, a detent for preventing the push button from being pulled out of the pipe, and a manipulator head disposed outside the enclosure body. The biasing member biases the push button outward with respect to the enclosure body. The locking member has an inner wall with a male thread and a stopper projection that comes into contact with and moves away from the head, and an outer wall that fits on the tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2008
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Haruki Hiranuma, Kinshuroh Itoh
  • Patent number: 7388814
    Abstract: The present invention provides a time indicator and method of use for determining and visually displaying the passage of a predetermined period of time. The time indicator of the present invention comprises a top portion and a bottom portion. The top portion is a multi-layer segment comprising a dye support layer coated with a masking layer, which containing a viewing window therethrough, and a non-curing ink or dye permeable polymer layer containing a migrating agent. The bottom portion is a multi-layer segment comprising a base support layer and a migrating ink or dye printed on the top surface of the base segment. The time indicator apparatus further comprises a removable impervious film or middle layer, which can be removed allowing the top and bottom portions to come into contact with one another, thereby activating the time indicator. The time indicator of the present invention allows one to follow the uniform directional visual dye migration through the viewing window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2008
    Inventors: John Teffenhart, Benny S. Yam, Raymond S. Brown, James Mullowney
  • Patent number: 7385876
    Abstract: A radio-controlled timepiece includes a regional-information storage unit that stores information on a target time region, a receiving circuit that receives a standard frequency that contains UTC time information, and that outputs a received signal, a regional-time calculating unit that calculates a current time of the target time region based on the information on the target time region and the received signal, a display unit that displays the current time calculated, a display-time correcting unit that corrects the current time to be displayed in DST or in standard time in timing determined based on the current time when information on a DST switching day is included in the received signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2008
    Assignee: Citizen Holdings Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takashi Ihara, Akinari Takada, Masaaki Namekawa, Masami Fukuda, Minoru Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 7382693
    Abstract: The invention relates to an instantaneous mechanism for controlling the date indicator (24) of a timepiece movement. It comprises: a 24-hour wheel (10) pierced with a first cutout (12b), a date driving wheel (16) mounted to rotate freely on the 24-hour wheel (10), coaxial therewith and having a pin (18) which fits into the cutout and a tooth (20) which collaborates with the indicator (24) to cause it to move on step by step each day at around midnight, and a spring balance (26, 32) collaborating with the pin (18). These components are shaped, sized and arranged in such a way that, at around midnight, the balance (26) escapes from the pin (18) and returns abruptly to its rest position, throwing forward the pin (18) and the driving wheel (16) whose tooth (20) strikes the date indicator (24) to cause it to move on by one step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2008
    Assignee: Zenith International S.A.
    Inventor: Jean-Pierre Charpier
  • Patent number: 7379395
    Abstract: A time measurement system that uses two signals generated by direct digital synthesis. The generated signals have the same frequency but different phase. One signal is used to identify the start of the measurement interval and the other signal is used to identify a measurement window in which a signal indicating the end of the measured interval might be detected. The time measurement system is used as part of a time domain reflectometry (TDR) system. An incident pulse is synchronized to the first signal and launched down on a line. In the measurement window, the signal on the line is compared to a threshold value to determine whether the pulse has been reflected and traveled back to the source. By iteratively repeating the measurement with a different measurement window, the time of arrival of the reflected pulse can be determined. This time domain reflectometry approach is incorporated into automatic test equipment for testing semiconductor devices and is used to calibrate the test equipment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2008
    Assignee: Teradyne, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Bruce Gage, Jacob Alvin Salmi
  • Patent number: 7379304
    Abstract: An insert panel assembly for the IDU cards at the hub of a point-to-multipoint millimeter wave wireless communication system. Generic cards with terminations for the selective connection of remote transceivers are provided with an apertured faceplate over which an insert panel may be placed to selectively block access to the card terminations. In one embodiment, the insert carries adaptors and another embodiment the connector on the conductor from the transceiver is configured to attach to the faceplate. In both embodiments the weight of the connector and conductor is supported by the chassis and not by the card. The connector is angled downwardly to avoid stress on the conductor and reduce the likelihood of kinking.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2008
    Assignee: Harris Corporation
    Inventor: Thomas Edward Udd
  • Patent number: 7376053
    Abstract: The present invention proposes improving the yield of a microgenerator (1) used for operating a timepiece. Such a microgenerator operates on the basis of the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction, it is thus desirable to limit as far as possible the presence of magnetic masses in proximity to said generator. Research undertaken has shown that the electrically conductive paths (9), and even their single protective layer, arranged in proximity to the microgenerator brake it, when they are formed of a magnetic material, and in particular a ferromagnetic material. Thus, the selection of exclusively non-magnetic materials is proposed for manufacturing the conductive paths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2008
    Assignee: Eta SA Fabriques d'Ebauches
    Inventors: Frédéric Leuba, Denis Burdet
  • Patent number: 7369463
    Abstract: A timer for assisting in the control of various medical regimen is described. The timer is particularly adapted for use in avoiding or assuring conception by providing a graphic representation on the timer to alert a user as to when a medically correct step needs to be taken. The timer is provided with an alarm that alerts one as to when a transition from one particular part of, for example, a contraceptive regimen to another part of the regimen is about to occur and illustrates the transition on the graphic representation. A status of the regimen is also presented to a user. One graphic representation involves an hour-glass filled with granules corresponding in number to the amount of time left before a transition in the medical regimen is to occur.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2008
    Assignee: N.V. Organon
    Inventors: Marlies Van Dullemen, Jan Willem Bouwknegt
  • Patent number: 7366059
    Abstract: The invention relates to a display device for a wristwatch comprising a luminescent surface for illuminating the background of a display element consisting of one or more alphanumeric characters. The display device comprises a window in an opaque watch face in which these characters can be displayed. The luminescent surface covers at least one partial area of a supporting surface situated behind said window. The alphanumeric characters of the display element have an opaque material and are located between the watch face and the luminescent surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2008
    Assignee: Eterna AG Uhrenfabrik
    Inventor: Ernst Seyr
  • Patent number: 7364352
    Abstract: A mechanism having at least a function of measuring an arbitrary elapsed time is provided, which disables the function from being reset after the function is started, and enables the function to be reset after the function is stopped. The function is continuously held in an electrical ON state after being started, except when being normally stopped. This provides a time measurement device and method in which an electrical operating state and a mechanical operating state can coincide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2008
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hidehiro Akahane, Kenichi Okuhara, Akihiko Maruyama, Nobuhiro Koike
  • Patent number: 7362659
    Abstract: A method and system for accurate timing in a low current system useful in fuzing applications generates a first count of oscillations of an oscillator of unknown frequency during a first period of unknown duration. A second count of oscillations of the oscillator is generated during a second period of a known duration. The duration of the first period is calculated based on the first count and the second count. A solid-state, thin-film battery is able to be used by virtue of low-current characteristics of the system, enabling extended shelf life for fuzing systems.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2008
    Assignee: Action Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Jonathan Siebott, Richard Frantz
  • Patent number: 7362662
    Abstract: A timepiece includes a display face having a color time field with a first axis representing a first unit of time and a second axis representing a second unit of time, wherein a colored section fills the color time field as time elapses and wherein a current color displayed in the colored section is one color in a set of different colors that correspond to a predetermined measurement of time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2008
    Inventor: Timothy R. Lang
  • Patent number: 7362663
    Abstract: The invention provides an electronic printed chromatic elapsed time indicator device comprising a switch, a power source and a power driven elapsed time display for indicating the elapse of a limited predetermined segment of time upon activation of the switch and irrespective of the actual time of activation thereof, wherein the components are functionally interconnected and are printed on at least one substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2008
    Assignee: Timestrip UK Limited
    Inventor: Michael Kagan
  • Patent number: 7357568
    Abstract: A running reserve indicator is provided for a mechanical clockwork provided with a main barrel for driving a gear-train and at least a second barrel for driving a gear-train allocated to an auxiliary function which is performed during a determined period. With the indicator, the running reserve displayed with the aid of a hand and a dial is always equal to the running reserve of the barrel having the smallest reserve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2008
    Assignee: Eterna SA
    Inventors: Paul Gerber, Willy Meier
  • Patent number: 7357569
    Abstract: A crown lock structure for a timepiece has a crown having an inner surface provided with a threaded section and a connecting assembly for removably connecting the crown to a case of the timepiece. The connecting assembly comprises a tubular member for integral connection to the timepiece case and a tubular insert removably connected to the tubular member. The tubular member has a first tubular portion for insertion into a through-hole of the timepiece case and a second tubular portion integral with the first tubular portion and removably connected to the tubular insert so as to prevent relative rotation between the tubular member and the tubular insert. The tubular insert has a threaded section for threaded engagement with the threaded section of the crown to removably connect the crown to the timepiece case.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2008
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventor: Hisamitsu Yoshikawa