Patents Examined by Phuong Nguyen
  • Patent number: 10064425
    Abstract: One aspect of the present invention pertains to a method of marinating food. Another aspect of the present invention pertains to an apparatus for marinating food.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Inventor: Louis Siegel
  • Patent number: 10058953
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a device for monitoring and for controlling a laser cutting process on a workpiece, and a method of using the same. The device includes an image capturing apparatus for capturing an image of a region of the workpiece to be monitored, in which the region of the workpiece to be monitored includes a region of interaction of a laser beam with the workpiece, and an evaluation apparatus for detecting material boundaries of the workpiece using the captured image. The evaluation apparatus is configured to determine at least one characteristic value of the laser cutting process based on a geometric relationship between at least two of the detected material boundaries, the region of interaction, or combinations thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2018
    Assignee: TRUMPF Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH + Co. KG
    Inventors: Tim Hesse, David Schindhelm
  • Patent number: 10053133
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a vehicle steering wheel cover assembly and, particularly, to a vehicle steering wheel cover assembly in which a first electric connecting part and a second electric connecting part are connected to each other by means of magnetic force in order to supply power to a heater installed in the steering wheel cover, to thereby keep the structure simple and also allow the manufacturing cost to be kept low.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2018
    Inventor: Ki Wan Park
  • Patent number: 10054316
    Abstract: A movable cooking appliance comprises a structure which is adapted to be placed on a kitchen worktop appliance or inside a cooking oven appliance and includes a heating element and releasable connector assembly for making electrical connection with power supply connectors. The heating element is an induction heating element and an electronic driving unit is mounted on the appliance. The releasable connector assembly comprising a plug connector having a plurality of terminals designed in order to provide a disconnection signal to the electronic unit before the power supply connectors are fully extracted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2018
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Diego Neftali Gutierrez, Gianpiero Santacatterina, Francesco Farachi
  • Patent number: 10039407
    Abstract: The coffee dispenser disclosed herein may serve a single serving of coffee. The coffee dispenser may have a mixing chamber that combines one or more liquid concentrates and heated water, and dispenses a single serving of coffee. The coffee dispenser may have a forth control to select the forth level of the serving of coffee dispensed. The liquid concentrate may be a coffee extract.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2018
    Inventor: Nicholas J. Singer
  • Patent number: 10016091
    Abstract: An apparatus and associated methodology that is configured in conjunction with a heat source to toast sliced-sandwich bread. The toaster grill has a cooking surface defining an arcuate protuberant rib sized to be pressed into the sliced portion of the bread to contact substantially the entire rib against the inside portion of the bread. The heat source toasts the inside of the sliced bread to mold a toasted arcuate impression inside the bread. An upstanding edge supports the cooking surface so that when the edge contacts the heat source the cooking surface is spaced away from the heat source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Inventor: Ronald L. Willis
  • Patent number: 10010209
    Abstract: An apparatus for preparing fruit includes a main housing with a cutting area containing a cutting assembly and a drive assembly, a removable cup assembly for inserting the fruit into the apparatus, and a removable drawer and tray for removing cut pieces of fruit from the apparatus after a cutting operation. The apparatus includes a rinsing assembly for cleaning the fruit and the cutting assembly, and a deflector configured to route cut pieces of fruit into the tray and waste material through a disposal outlet. The cutting assembly is configured to perform one or more cutting operations depending on the type of fruit detected in the cup assembly: wedging for apples, lemons, limes, and pears, and cutting/peeling for oranges and grapefruits. The apparatus quickly prepares various fruits for consumption without requiring an operator to touch the cut pieces of fruit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: Carrier Commerical Refrigeration, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Richard Tuchrelo, Jeffrey Quint Cahoon
  • Patent number: 10007651
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a document error handling method is disclosed. The document error handling method may include or comprise accessing an electronic document that includes or comprises a plurality of data fields, identifying a plurality of errors associated with the electronic document, and accessing a data field from among the plurality of data fields, wherein the data field corresponds to a selected error from among the plurality of errors. The document error handling method may also include or comprise editing the data field in response to an error editing input to thereby enable an elimination of the selected error.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Inventor: Jens Straten
  • Patent number: 10002122
    Abstract: Provided is a knowledge extracting apparatus for extracting knowledge information related to a knowledge-extraction target from an electronic document distributed continually in a state where the electronic document is not associated with the knowledge-information extraction target. A knowledge extracting apparatus according to one embodiment is a knowledge extracting apparatus including: an information receiving section for receiving an electronic document; a knowledge extracting section for extracting a concept from the electronic document based on a target word to extract knowledge information and a clue word to extract knowledge information and forming knowledge information in which the concept thus extracted and the target word are associated with each other; a storage section for storing the knowledge information thus extracted; and an information analysis section for, after the knowledge information is stored, analyzing the electronic document based on the knowledge information in the storage section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA SOLUTIONS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kyoko Makino, Shigeaki Sakurai, Shigeru Matsumoto, Shozo Isobe, Kazuyoshi Nishi, Yoshimi Saito, Hiroyuki Suzuki, Yoshinori Masaoka
  • Patent number: 9999939
    Abstract: A method of resistance spot welding a steel workpiece and an aluminum or aluminum alloy workpiece together includes several steps. In one step a workpiece stack-up is provided. The workpiece stack-up includes a steel workpiece and an aluminum or aluminum alloy workpiece. Another step involves providing a first welding electrode that confronts the aluminum workpiece, and providing a second welding electrode that confronts the steel workpiece. The first welding electrode has an electrode body and an insert that functions to limit or eliminate heat flux into the electrode body. Other steps of the method involve bringing the first and second welding electrodes into contact with opposite sides of the workpiece stack-up and resistance spot welding the stack-up.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Pei-Chung Wang, David R. Sigler, Blair E. Carlson
  • Patent number: 10001283
    Abstract: In a cooking device having a cooking chamber including a plurality of side walls, a bottom, and a fat drain to allow fat and other cooking residues to be discharged therethrough from the cooking chamber outward, the fat drain is arranged in a side wall of the cooking chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: RATIONAL AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventors: Gerhard Kramer, Hubert Brunner
  • Patent number: 10000026
    Abstract: A composite induction consolidation apparatus includes a base mandrel and a ferromagnetic base mandrel facesheet having a specific Curie temperature carried by the base mandrel. The base mandrel facesheet is adapted to support a composite part and allow ambient air pressure to compact the composite part against the base mandrel facesheet. At least one magnetic induction coil is provided in the base mandrel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Marc R. Matsen, Mark A Negley
  • Patent number: 9996566
    Abstract: A system implementable on a computing device having a processor and a memory, including a visual design system to generate a single visual data structure based on a hierarchy of components; a database to store at least one visual data structure and an associated signature where the signature represents at least a semantic composition of the at least one visual data structure; a signature comparer to match a signature of the single visual data structure to an associated signature of at least one visual data structure stored in the database and to present multiple versions of alternate visual data structures for the hierarchy of components for selection by a user; and where the alternate visual data structures are visually different and semantically similar to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: WIX.COM LTD.
    Inventors: Roni Ben-Aharon, Nadav Abrahami
  • Patent number: 9996441
    Abstract: A system and method allows users to provide portions of scripts or scripts for retrieval of information from one or more web sites of one or more businesses by demonstrating operation of the one or more web sites and identifying locations of one or more fields on each web page of the one or more web sites, and the system and method stores the scripts and uses the scripts to retrieve information from such web site or web sites for any number of users. Different portions of different scripts may be used as a single script to retrieve information from a single web site. Scripts or portions of scripts may be repaired using information from previously working scripts or portions, the web site when the script or portion worked, and the web site when the script or portion did not work.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: INTUIT INC.
    Inventors: Aaron Patzer, Jean Sini
  • Patent number: 9993888
    Abstract: A wire electrical discharge machine recognizes that the finished piece (core) has been separated from the piece of work as a result of electrical discharge machining, allows fluid to be jetted against the finished piece (core) from the lower nozzle so that the finished piece (core) floats upward, recognizes that the finished piece (core) has floated upward by a predetermined amount on the basis of the completion of the process program or the information gained from the sensor, and allows the core removal unit to catch the finished piece (core) for removal and collection after it has been recognized that the finished piece (core) has floated upward by the predetermined amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hirotsugu Kasai, Kaoru Hiraga
  • Patent number: 9996501
    Abstract: A content validation module receives an electronic media item in a first format. The content validation module may determine whether the electronic media item will contain errors when the electronic media item is converted to a second format. The content validation module may also obtain an error metric for the electronic media item and may refrain from converting the electronic media item to the second format if the error metric exceeds an error threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Laura Ann Nelson, Michael Patrick Bacus, Xuping Zhang
  • Patent number: 9986870
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device (100) for providing liquid for a beverage machine (110), comprising a water tank (10) having at least one water inlet (11) which can be connected in a controllable manner to a water connection in order to fill the water tank (10), a control device (30) for controlling the water inlet (11) that can be connected in a controllable manner, and at least one filling level sensor (41, 42) for generating a signal which indicates at least whether or not a first filling level of liquid inside the water tank (10) has been reached or exceeded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: JURA Elektroapparate AG
    Inventor: Shahryar Reyhanloo
  • Patent number: 9987705
    Abstract: Resistance spot welding of a steel workpiece to an aluminum or an aluminum alloy workpiece can be facilitated by replacing the refractory aluminum oxide-based layer(s) on at least the faying surface of the aluminum or aluminum alloy workpiece with a protective coating that is more conducive to the spot welding process. The protective coating may be a metallic coating or a metal oxide conversion coating. In a preferred embodiment, the protective coating is a coating of zinc, tin, or an oxide of titanium, zirconium, chromium, or silicon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: David R. Sigler, Blair E. Carlson, Mahmoud H. Abd Elhamid
  • Patent number: 9980604
    Abstract: A safety timer device, for a cooking appliance connected to an energy source, the cooking appliance having a heat generating component in communication with a heat controller. A timer communicates with the heat controller configured to count down a predetermined cooking time. An alarm unit, in communication with the timer, is configured to communicate an alarm signal for a predetermined alarm time after the cooking time expires.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: PIONEERING TECHNOLOGY CORP.
    Inventors: Tom Stilo, Wayne Zu
  • Patent number: 9980692
    Abstract: A system 100 for enabling interactive annotation of an image 102, comprising a user input 160 for receiving a placement command 162 from a user, the placement command being indicative of a first placement location of a marker 140 in the image 102, and a processor 180 arranged for (i) applying an image processing algorithm to a region 130 in the image, the region being based on the first placement location, and the image processing algorithm being responsive to image portions which visually correspond to the marker 140 for establishing a plurality of match degrees between, on the one hand, the marker, and, on the other hand, a plurality of image portions within the region, (ii) establishing a second placement location in dependence on the plurality of match degrees and the respective plurality of image portions for matching the marker 140 to the region in the image, and (iii) placing the marker 140 at the second placement location in the image 102.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
    Inventors: Thomas Buelow, Kirsten Regina Meetz, Martin Bergtholdt