Patents Examined by Ryan Sherwin
  • Patent number: 9165456
    Abstract: Systems and methods for distributing a firmware upgrade within a mesh network are provided. In one implementation, a firmware upgrade distributing system comprises a utility provider, which is configured to provide utility services to a plurality of customers, a plurality of meters, and a plurality of nodes. Each meter is configured to measure utility usage data of a respective customer. The nodes are configured to transmit the utility usage data from the plurality of meters to the utility provider. When at least one of the meters is scheduled to receive a firmware upgrade, the utility provider is configured to forward the firmware upgrade to at least one of the plurality of nodes. The at least one node is configured to receive and store the firmware upgrade and, after storing the firmware upgrade, is further configured to forward the firmware upgrade to at least one of the plurality of meters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: Mueller International, LLC
    Inventors: Robert Henry Grady, Dale McLeod Magley, William Charles Shoesmith
  • Patent number: 9152840
    Abstract: Controlling the scaling of a user perceivable output quantity of an electronic device having a sensor for detecting characteristics of a user can be performed as a function of a rotational movement of characteristics of a user detected by the sensor. Alternatively, controlling can be performed as a function of time spent for the detection of the characteristics of a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
    Inventors: Seppo Puolitaival, Pauli Tikkanen
  • Patent number: 9154560
    Abstract: The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a system and method for determining annotations for a map. Location information for mobile devices and contextual information associated with users of mobile devices may be utilized to determine such annotations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Behrooz Khorashadi, Saumitra Mohan Das
  • Patent number: 9135482
    Abstract: A mobile dispensing cart having a plurality of locked drawers has medical articles stored therein for particular patients. The storage drawers have sizes wherein the resonant frequency of the sizes does not match the frequency of operation of the RFID system of the cart. Faraday cages and enclosures are used in the storage areas that provide robust RFID fields for exciting and reading RFID tags. An HCP for a particular patient obtains access to the drawers and opens a drawer. An RFID scanning system takes an inventory of the cart after the drawer is closed to determine if any medical article was taken, and if so which one. The identified taken article is compared to the data base of medical articles stored in the cart for the patient and if the taken article does not match the patient data base, an alarm is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: MEPS Real-Time, Inc.
    Inventors: Jimmy C. Caputo, Shariq Hussain, Jeffrey Shamblin
  • Patent number: 9121726
    Abstract: A system for the remediation of non-compliant inspection items located at remote locations by infield operator comprising: server computer readable instructions stored on the server computer readable medium that, when executed by the processor, provides for: transmitting the inspection protocol to the remote computing device, receiving an inspection result from the remote computing device representing a measurement taken for one of the inspection items inspected by the infield representative, retrieving the compliance information associated with the inspection item from the database, comparing the compliance information with the inspection result to determine whether the inspection result is in compliance or non-compliant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Artisan Solutions, LLC
    Inventor: David Comen
  • Patent number: 9104924
    Abstract: A device for monitoring conditions within an environment in which an item is disposed includes a environment monitoring tag operably disposed adjacent an article to sense environment surrounding said article and store environmental data sensed, wherein said tag is equipped with software and hardware to communicate said data using Near Field Communication and a hand held communication device equipped with software and hardware to communicate using Near Field Communication to receive environmental data sensed by said tag and analyze said data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: KLT TECHNOLOGY, INC.
    Inventors: T. Randall Lane, Dean Brotzel, R. William Graham
  • Patent number: 9088228
    Abstract: The signalling method is implemented in an electronic power system (6) of a multiple-phase alternator. The system (6) is of the type comprising a set of rectifiers (5) capable of rectifying the voltage of phases (Ph1, Ph2, Ph3, Ph4, Ph5, Ph6) produced by the alternator, and a control assembly (2, 3) capable of controlling an excitation current from the alternator, of monitoring the conformity of at least one current characteristic of at least one (Ph) of the voltage of phases (Ph1, Ph2, Ph3, Ph4, Ph5, Ph6) in relation to a nominal characteristic, and of signalling any non conformity. In accordance to the method of the invention, the non conformity of at least one current characteristic of at least one (Ph) of the voltage of phases (Ph1, Ph2, Ph3, Ph4, Ph5, Ph6) is simulated in case of impaired function of at least one of the rectifiers (5).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2015
    Assignee: Valeo Equipements Electriques Moteur
    Inventors: Raymond Rechdan, Christophe Louise
  • Patent number: 9081082
    Abstract: A system for wireless detector application in a medical system is provided. The system includes at least three host wire adapters configured to receive beacon messages broadcast periodically by a wireless detector, and obtain information about the wireless detector based on the received beacon messages. The system further includes a controller configured to receive information about the wireless detector from the at least three host wire adapters, and determine a position of the wireless detector based on the received information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC
    Inventors: Xinyu Zhang, Bin Ye
  • Patent number: 9058474
    Abstract: A biometric device, and a corresponding system and a method, is used to control human access to an arbitrary area. The device includes a biometric capture system that reads specified biometric information from an individual and that compares the biometric information to previously stored biometric information to determine a match between the read and stored biometric information; a position location system that records the geographic location of the device, and determines if the device is inside the United States or outside the United States; an encryption system that encrypts the geographic location and a device-unique identification; and a wireless system that sends the encrypted geographic location and the device-unique identification to a remote location, where if the geographic location is inside the United States, the device receives a test satisfactory signal, and where if the geographic location is outside the United States, the device receives an exit satisfactory signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Chuck H. Alvord, Marvin M. Matthews, Stephen C. Hick, Medge R. Canseco
  • Patent number: 9049277
    Abstract: Provided is an event notification device capable of notifying an event with excellent immediacy without giving a shock or a sense of discomfort to a user. The event notification device 10 of the present invention includes: a notification event detection unit 11 that detects an event to be notified to a user and outputs notification data a; a stimulus control unit 12 that outputs stimulus presentation data b for providing control for presenting a stimulus to the user until the stimulus control unit receives the notification data a, and outputs stimulus removal data c for providing control for removing the presented stimulus after the stimulus control unit receives the notification data a; a stimulus presentation unit 13 that presents the stimulus upon receipt of the stimulus presentation data b and removes the presented stimulus upon receipt of the stimulus removal data c; and a transmission unit 14 that transmits presentation and removal of the stimulus to the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Shin Norieda
  • Patent number: 9047501
    Abstract: It is presented a risk tag detector server for detecting risk tags, the risk tags being tags which are likely to be faulty. The risk tag detector server comprises: a tag manager interface configured to obtain a tag list comprising at least two tags to evaluate, and to obtain tag data coupled to each of the tags of the tag list; a tag selector configured to select a candidate tag to evaluate from the tag list; a tag event interface configured to obtain event data of tag usage for the candidate tag; and a fault detector configured to determine the candidate tag to be a risk tag when a first condition is satisfied, the first risk condition comprising a first criterion that the event data indicates an absence of candidate tag usage during a predetermined time period. A corresponding method and computer program are also presented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (PUBL)
    Inventor: Jakob Saros
  • Patent number: 9035781
    Abstract: A gas appliance monitoring apparatus for automatically detecting and alerting to a “gas-out” condition of a gas appliance during operation, and/or for alerting to the presence of prolonged “gas-on” conditions of an appliance. The apparatus utilizes a highly sensitive low loss and low flow gas flow indicator with multiple flow sensors to monitor the gas flow characteristics of the appliance during use. A gas flow analyzer and alarm timing mechanism analyzes the gas flow characteristics and sounds an alarm at the appliance or wirelessly at a remote location upon detection of either of the above conditions. A biasing attraction magnet is incorporated in the fluid flow indicator to offset either the force of gravity or a return spring in low flow/low pressure applications. The piston is sealed for use in high pressure/low flow applications, and provided with a vent hole for residual gas bleed-off upon a stoppage of gas flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: WATERSTRIKE INCORPORATED
    Inventor: David A. Struyk
  • Patent number: 9030319
    Abstract: A digital electronic system used for receiving an audio alarm from a smoke detector, a carbon monoxide detector and like detectors. The system amplifies and converts the alarm to a digital encoded radio frequency signal for shutting off power to a kitchen appliance. The system includes a microphone and an amplifier connected to a comparator circuit. This circuit provides for outputting a logic 0 or logic 1 and outputs a logic 1, in the form of the digital radio frequency signal, if an audio alarm is received. The comparator circuit is connected to a transmitter and encoder circuit, which receives the frequency signal and transmits it to a radio frequency receiver and decoder circuit. This circuit then decodes the signal and disconnects the power to the appliance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Inventor: Michael Leroy Haynes
  • Patent number: 9024761
    Abstract: A system and method for persistent ID flag for RFID applications includes a method for operating an RFID tag. The method includes measuring a voltage potential of a supply voltage for the RFID tag, and turning on a pass gate that couples a memory cell to a data line used for reading or writing data, if the voltage potential is greater than a first threshold. An accumulated charge on the memory cell is also measured, and both the voltage potential and the accumulated charge are used to generate a control signal to set a state of the pass gate. The pass gate is turned off if the control signal is a true value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Cheng-Hsien Hung, Yu-Ling Lin
  • Patent number: 9013309
    Abstract: A system and method tracks medical articles and containers by providing a robust electromagnetic (EM) field within an enclosure in which the articles and containers are stored. Respective data carriers, such as RFID tags, attached to each article or container respond to the electromagnetic field by transmitting unique identification data. A data base associates the data carrier identification data with data about the medical articles or containers including type of medicine, size of the dose, and expiration date. A processor notifies a pharmacy when a medical article is received and when removed. The processor also notifies the finance department regarding patient medical articles and administration to update the patient's Medication Administration Record. The processor also provides inventory level counts and expiration dates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: MEPS Real-Time, Inc.
    Inventors: Shariq Hussain, Jeffrey Shamblin, James P. Williams, Jr.
  • Patent number: 9013307
    Abstract: A self-contained RFID-enabling drawer module includes a probe antenna to introduce a robust EM field into a container within a Faraday cage to activate RFID tags within the container, regardless of the container's resonant frequency. A receiving antenna and reader read the data of the activated RFID tags, and a processor and communications module transmit the RFID tag data to a remote processor. The RFID-enabling module is self-contained in that it needs only power and a data connection with which to operate. Where an Ethernet is used, power is obtained by PoE. The RFID-enabling module may be used to retrofit existing medication drawers of a medication cabinet or may be used during the construction of a new cabinet. The RFID-enabling system includes auto tuning of the antenna to dynamically compensate for loading changes on the EM field. Assembly and testing costs are reduced and serviceability of the system is increased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: MEPS Real-Time, Inc.
    Inventors: Shariq Hussain, Paul M. Elizondo
  • Patent number: 9007216
    Abstract: A wearable therapeutic device is provided. The wearable therapeutic device includes a garment, and the garment includes an electrode and a conductive thread. A control unit is coupled to the conductive thread and identifies an electrical connection between a conductive surface of the electrode and the conductive thread, and an alarm module can provide information about the positioning of the electrode in the garment based on the electrical connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: Zoll Medical Corporation
    Inventors: Emil Oskin, Philip C. Skalos, Thomas E. Kaib
  • Patent number: 9007196
    Abstract: A system for controlling movement of a motor vehicle door includes at least one sensor that detects a distance from the vehicle to an object near the vehicle. The sensor is also configured to provide input to an automatic parallel parking system of the vehicle. The system may include at least one ultrasonic sensor on each side of the vehicle to detect the distances to objects on opposite sides of a vehicle. The system utilizes a plurality of detected distances and vehicle positions or velocities to determine a location of the detected object relative to the vehicle. The system selectively actuates the door brake to prevent the vehicle door from contacting the detected object as the door is opened.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Eric L. Reed, Brian Bennie
  • Patent number: 8994549
    Abstract: The invention provides a system and method for facilitating oilfield operations utilizing auditory data. In one embodiment, the present invention generates one or more auditory mapping structures whereby oilfield data may be mapped to sounds. The present invention provides at least one computer generated selection tool through which the user may select one or more portions of displayed oilfield data for auditory enhancement. Once the user has indicated an area of interest using the selection tool, the present invention may identify the oilfield data displayed within the outlined area of interest, identify auditory data associated with the displayed oilfield data utilizing one or more auditory mapping structures, and emit at least a portion of the identified auditory data to enhance the user's understanding of the displayed oilfield data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Carlos F. P. Rocha, Flavio Ivan Da Silva
  • Patent number: 8981924
    Abstract: In some embodiments, a personal possession management system using a short range Internet Protocol (IP) based Personal Area Network (PAN) comprises a master device MD to be worn or held by a user, and an IP based RFID electronic tag ET to be attached to or contained within a personal possession desired to be managed. The electronic tag ET has communicability with the master device. The master device MD is configured to allot an IP address to the electronic tag ET in a registration mode using IEEE 802.11 protocols and sends probes to the electronic tag ET. The electronic tag ET is configured to receive messages from the master device MD and respond accordingly. The master device MD alerts a user when the communicability between the master device MD and the electronic tag Er is disrupted in a monitoring mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignees: Toshiba America Research, Inc., Telcordia Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Raziq Yaqub, Tao Zhang