Patents Examined by Philip Cotey
  • Patent number: 8974114
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods for verifying temperature measurements in an ultrasonic flow meter. In one embodiment, an ultrasonic flow metering system includes a passage for fluid flow, a temperature sensor, and an ultrasonic flow meter. The temperature sensor is disposed to measure temperature of fluid flowing in the passage. The ultrasonic flow meter includes a plurality of pairs of ultrasonic transducers and control electronics. Each pair of transducers is configured to form a chordal path across the passage between the transducers. The control electronics are coupled to the ultrasonic transducers. The control electronics are configured to measure speed of sound between each pair of transducers based on ultrasonic signals passing between the transducers of the pair. The control electronics are also configured to determine, based on the measured speeds of sound, whether a measured temperature value provided by the temperature sensor accurately represents temperature of the fluid flowing in the passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Daniel Measurement and Control, Inc.
    Inventors: Charles W. Derr, Henry C. Straub, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8966998
    Abstract: In order to improve a support unit for motor vehicles comprising a supporting structure mounted on a rear end portion of the motor vehicle a sensor unit is provided for detecting forces acting on the supporting structure and elastically deforming the same. The sensor unit is provided with a sensor base, comprising two fixation regions which are spaced apart and can be fixed to mounting regions of an elastically deformable supporting structure portion. A transformation region disposed between the fixation regions mechanically converts the movements of the mounting regions, and thus also of the fixation regions relative to one another. Movements are generated by the elastic deformation of the supporting structure portion, into a movement of measuring points of the transformation region relative to one another. The movement of the measuring points can be detected by the sensor unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Scambia Holdings Cyprus Limited
    Inventors: Wolfgang Gentner, Bert Wegner, Joerg Riehle
  • Patent number: 8943889
    Abstract: A MEMS/MOEMS sensor and method for using such sensor to detect a person's breath or other fluid for purposes of controlling a user interface of an electronic device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Inventor: Pierre Bonnat
  • Patent number: 8939038
    Abstract: Disclosed is a torque index sensor, the sensor including a housing, a stator mounted at a space inside the housing, a magnet arranged inside the stator to rotate with a rotation shaft, a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) fixedly mounted inside the housing and mounted with a first magnetic element outputting a magnetization signal in response to rotation of the magnet, at least one or more fixing bosses protrusively formed at the housing, and a collector having a plurality of through holes penetratively formed at a position corresponding to that of the fixing boss and concentrating a magnetic field for guiding a magnetic flux of the magnet, wherein the fixing boss is thermally fused after passing the through hole to tightly fix the collector at an inner surface of the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignee: LG Innotek Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Myungchul Woo
  • Patent number: 8931346
    Abstract: A measuring transducer having exactly four flow openings, and an outlet-side housing end formed by means of an outlet-side flow divider having exactly four flow openings. A tube arrangement has exactly four curved or bent measuring tubes connected to the flow dividers for guiding flowing medium along flow paths connected in parallel. Each of the four measuring tubes opens with an inlet-side measuring tube end into one of the flow openings of the inlet-side flow divider, and with an outlet-side measuring tube end into one of the flow openings of the outlet-side flow divider. A first coupling element for adjusting eigenfrequencies of natural oscillation modes of the tube arrangement. An electro-mechanical exciter mechanism of the measuring transducer serves for producing and/or maintaining mechanical oscillations of the four measuring tubes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Endress + Hauser Flowtec AG
    Inventors: Alfred Rieder, Christof Huber, Ennio Bitto, Christian Schutze, Marcel Braun
  • Patent number: 8931337
    Abstract: A fluid meter includes a totaliser having an electronic card that communicates with a remote meter reading system. The electronic card may be contained in a metal housing covered in a leakproof manner by an upper transparent panel. The totaliser may be covered by a cover which retains the upper transparent panel in a leakproof manner. The cover may be covered by a cap made from plastic material. The upper transparent panel may be made from glass and the upper transparent panel and the cover may each include an orifice to allow communication between the electronic card and antenna disposed between the cover and the cap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Itron France
    Inventors: Anthony Renoud, Sebastien Schwenter
  • Patent number: 8925395
    Abstract: A force measuring device for a bicycle includes a sleeve shell having a first shell-half outer wall and an inner tubular wall which are disposed between a bottom bracket shell and a spindle, a ring body disposed on the inner tubular wall and having a strain region which is configured to make a strain displacement corresponding to a treading force exerted on the spindle, a sensor holding unit defining a sensor activating zone and a hall sensing unit including a sensor which is disposed in the sensor activating zone, and a magnetic member which is displaceable with the straining movement to change a magnetic field generated thereby so as to give off a signal indicative of the magnitude of the treading force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Inventor: Ching-Feng Hsu
  • Patent number: 8915151
    Abstract: Disclosed is an active skin including: a tactile sensor substrate which includes a first film including a dielectric elastic material and formed with a plurality of sensing points, and a pair of first electrodes respectively formed on upper and lower sides of the sensing point; a tactile actuator substrate which includes a second film including a dielectric elastic material and formed with a plurality of actuating points, and a pair of second electrodes respectively formed on upper and lower sides of the actuating point; and an insulating layer which is interposed between the tactile sensor substrate and the tactile actuator substrate and couples the tactile sensor substrate and the tactile actuator substrate. With this, a tactile sensor and a tactile actuator are integrated, so that there is provided an interactive tactile interface to not only feel like a human's skin but also actively move like a muscle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignee: Sungkyunkwan University Foundation for Corporate Collaboration
    Inventors: Hyouk-Ryeol Choi, Hyung-Pil Moon, Ja-Choon Koo, Se-Gon Roh
  • Patent number: 8910527
    Abstract: Exemplary embodiments relate to a vortex flowmeter having a vortex body which projects into the flowing measurement medium in a measuring tube, a sensor for detecting the vortex frequency being connected downstream of said vortex body in the direction of flow and being provided with means for measuring the temperature of the measurement medium, and a downstream electronic evaluation unit determining the flow rate in a temperature-compensated manner, the sensor including a carrier body on which a plurality of piezoelectric elements, which are arranged at a distance from one another and are intended to measure the frequency, and a temperature-measuring element are placed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: ABB Technology AG
    Inventors: Carsten Habersetzer, Reinhard Steinberg
  • Patent number: 8899117
    Abstract: A food machine, in particular a machine for processing and producing sausage, with a step, and a corresponding method, wherein the food machine includes a safety device for detecting whether a person is standing on the step when the step is in a projecting step-on position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Albert Handtmann Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Bernd Maile
  • Patent number: 8893563
    Abstract: A differential capacitance torque sensor utilizes multiple voltage sources in order to compensate for inherent electrical asymmetries in the sensor. A first voltage source having a voltage V1 is electrically connected across a longitudinally-extending, conductive proof mass, a first upper capacitor C1 and the second lower capacitor C4. A second voltage source having a voltage V2 is connected in series with the first voltage source, a second upper capacitor C3 and a first lower capacitor C2, such that the voltage V2 is given by V 2 = ? ? + 1 ? V 1 , where ? is a parameter defined as ? = C 2 + C 3 C 1 + C 4 - 1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2014
    Assignee: King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
    Inventors: Samir Mekid, Igor Gilavdary
  • Patent number: 8881579
    Abstract: A method of determining viscosity of structurally viscous fluids or beverages containing small pieces, fibers, pulps, fruit cells, cereals, particles or the like, for processing in filling, fruit juice preparation, dairy or brewery process plants, includes providing a tube rheometer having an at least substantially horizontal, straight meter tube with an inner diameter over a length of the meter tube length. At least two different volume flows are generated, exclusively gravimetrically, in the tube rheometer. The at least two different volume flows are adjusted to be substantially constant so as to determine a flow index and a consistency factor of the at least two volume flows. Pressure losses of the at least two volume flows are measured. The viscosity is determined based on the flow index, the consistency factor and the pressure losses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: Krones AG
    Inventor: Joerg Zacharias
  • Patent number: 8869631
    Abstract: A hollow manufactured body has at least one wall of non-ferromagnetic material with an outer surface and an inner surface facing a cavity of the body. Two mutually magnetically attracted sliders are positioned on the inner and outer surfaces. The outer slider is moved manually across the outer surface to a predetermined point where the wall thickness is to be detected; the inner slider on the inner surface follows the movements of the outer slider due to the effect of the magnetic attraction. A transducer on the outer slider is used to measure the force required to move a magnet away from the outer surface of the wall. The value of the thickness of the wall at the predetermined point is then derived from the measured force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Alenia Aeronautica S.p.A.
    Inventors: Sabato Inserra Imparato, Felice Grosso, Vincenzo Pelusi, Marco Raffone, Alfonso Delli Carri, Carlo Arnone
  • Patent number: 8863586
    Abstract: A variable resistance flexure sensor, and a system and method of controlling an appliance using a variable resistance flexure sensor are provided. The sensor can include a substrate having a flexible portion and a non-flexible portion. A plurality of electrically resistive elements, such as a first resistive element and a second resistive element, can be disposed on the substrate where at least one resistive element is exclusively within the non-flexible portion of the substrate and at least one resistive element is within the flexible portion of the substrate. The resistive element within the non-flexible portion of the substrate can act as a reference resistance for the flexure sensor and can be used as, or as part of, a biasing network for the electrically resistive element within the flexible portion of the substrate. The flexure sensor can be used within an appliance to detect various conditions such as temperature, moisture, etc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: James Carter Bach
  • Patent number: 8857256
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for monitoring sanitary sewer systems designed to carry away wastewater through a system of buried pipes, often referred to as “sewer lines”, to a sewage treatment facility, the apparatus and method use a weir which facilitates the collection of flow rate data in the sewer lines which in turn facilitates the determination of infiltration and inflow (“I/I”) of rain water, or clear water, into the sewer system in a manner which further allows the identification of specific I/I locations so that repair and construction of sewer systems can be efficiently coordinated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Stantec Technology International, Inc.
    Inventor: John Michael Hamden Barton
  • Patent number: 8833138
    Abstract: In a method and apparatus for determining the level of dynamic force required to cause damage to an electronic device, the electronic device may be placed beneath a ram assembly of a dynamic impact testing device. Thereafter, the ram assembly may be used to impact the electronic device to determine a threshold level of dynamic force that will cause damage to the electronic device. The ram assembly may then be used to impact a load cell with the threshold level of dynamic force so that the load cell generates a data output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Jake Edward Klein, Ronald Robert Madsen
  • Patent number: 8826746
    Abstract: A flowmeter having an inlet through which the medium can flow into a measurement zone and having an outlet through which the medium can flow out, wherein a damping device is provided in front of the inlet, and has a first mass which can be flowed through having a first inlet and a first outlet for the medium, a second mass which can be flowed through having a second inlet and a second outlet for the medium as well as a flow connection which is capable of vibration and which connects the first outlet to the second inlet, wherein a minimal flow cross-section (d) of the flow connection is smaller than the inlet cross-section (E) at the first inlet or smaller than the outlet cross-section (A) at the second outlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Levitronix GmbH
    Inventors: Mario Haefliger, Natale Barletta
  • Patent number: 8813553
    Abstract: A device for a peel test. The device includes: a gripping member to grip an end of a test film to be peeled off a test object; a movable member linearly moving in a direction to or away from the gripping member; a holding member for the movable member capable of linearly moving in a direction along a peel surface of the test object while holding the test object; a moving mechanism configured to move the movable member linearly; a load measuring unit configured to measure a load applied to the gripping member; a first conversion mechanism to convert the linear motion of the movable member to rotational power, and output the rotational power; and a second conversion mechanism to convert the rotational power output from the first conversion mechanism to the linear motion of the holding member relative to the movable member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Kyowa Interface Science Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yoshinori Hoshino
  • Patent number: 8794052
    Abstract: In injecting a sample sucked into a sample loop in an autosampler from an injection needle into an analytical flow path via an injection port by a mobile phase, a sending flow rate of the mobile phase is reduced from a certain flow rate determined in an analysis condition to reduce pressure applied on a joint section between the needle and the injection port to thereby reduce the sample remaining in the injection port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Shimadzu Corporation
    Inventor: Yoshiaki Maeda
  • Patent number: 8739606
    Abstract: A gas tightness testing member disposed in an electronic device includes a first end, a second end, and a fluid channel penetrating from the first end to the second end. The second end of the gas tightness testing member is combined with the electronic device, and the first end is connected to a gas tightness testing device for performing a gas tightness test.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: Getac Technology Corporation
    Inventor: Kuang-Cheng Tai