Patents Examined by Tejal Gami
  • Patent number: 8401692
    Abstract: A system and method for improving a tool tip path of a machine, such as a waterjet cutting machine, by testing and compensating for tool misalignment. The system and method using a sensor positioned to sense a portion of the machine, such as a cutting head assembly, during a sequence of movements thereof and configured to output information indicative of various positions and orientations of a tool of the machine so as to generate an improved tool tip path based on transformation parameters derived from such information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: Flow International Corporation
    Inventors: Michael Knaupp, Andreas Meyer
  • Patent number: 8392032
    Abstract: A method is provided to heat a target device of a computer system by a heater equipped therein. The target device is heated to reach a target temperature through multiple temperature intervals. The method senses the current device temperature of the target device to compare with the preset interval temperature of the temperature interval and obtain a phase difference for adjusting a heating power. When heating the target device by the heating power, the current preset interval temperature of the current temperature interval is increased progressively by a preset temperature rising value to obtain the next preset interval temperature of the next temperature interval. Repeat the foregoing steps in every temperature interval until the preset interval temperature or the device temperature reaching the target temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2013
    Assignee: Getac Technology Corporation
    Inventor: Shih-Hao Yu
  • Patent number: 8386082
    Abstract: A cell phone location-based system is described that determines the occupancy of a home and controls home energy consumption such that energy is saved when the home is unoccupied. Occupancy is determined according to cell phone locations, occupant behavior patterns, or burglar alarm status. When an occupant is determined to be returning to their unoccupied home, the heating or cooling apparatus is activated to return the temperature in the home to a comfortable level by the time the occupant arrives.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2013
    Assignee: Alertme.com Ltd.
    Inventor: James Ian Oswald
  • Patent number: 8369976
    Abstract: A method for increasing overall yield in semiconductor manufacturing including routing wafers or wafer lots from tool to tool in a manner which at least partially neutralizes or compensates for processing variations. A system for increasing overall yield in semiconductor manufacturing includes a module for recording processing data from plural first and second types of tools and a module for routing wafers or wafer lots from tools of the first type of tools to tools of the second type of tools so as to at least partially neutralizes or compensate for processing variation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Keith Kwong Hon Wong, Xu Ouyang, Yunsheng Song
  • Patent number: 8359110
    Abstract: Diagnostic systems and methods are presented for determining the current condition of a production plant and the resources thereof, in which successively more complex diagnostic abstractions are used to determine the plant condition, with a more complex abstraction being selected when the most recently selected diagnostic abstraction is logically inconsistent with the current fault status indications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2013
    Inventors: Lukas D. Kuhn, Johan de Kleer
  • Patent number: 8355821
    Abstract: A motor control host includes a plurality of ports, a memory, and a processing device. The memory is operable to store an enable mask defining an enablement state for each of the ports. The processing device is operable to send a first message over those selected ports having an affirmative enablement state to maintain a communication link over the selected ports and inhibit the first message for those ports having a negative enablement state. A method for configuring a motor control system including a motor control host having a plurality of ports includes storing an enable mask defining an enablement state for each of the ports. A first message is sent over those selected ports having an affirmative enablement state to maintain a communication link over the selected ports. The first message is inhibited for those ports having a negative enablement state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: James S. Rustad, Scott D. Braun, Neil W. Knutsen, Gregory W. Mears, John H. Stuedemann, James B. Vitrano
  • Patent number: 8355808
    Abstract: It is possible to compose a chart by filtering measurement information using a product wafer number in a server device including: an instruction receiving unit for storing therein plural measurement information, which is time sequential information measured in a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses and has a product wafer number and time information, and for receiving an output instruction of a chart containing the product wafer number; a fault detection unit for, when the instruction receiving unit receives the output instruction, reading a multiplicity of measurement information satisfying a product wafer number condition contained in the output instruction, and determining whether the read multiplicity of measurement information satisfies the condition information; an output information composing unit for composing the output information according to a determination result of the fault detection unit; and an output unit for outputting the output information composed by the output information composing un
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Takumi Inokawa, Noriaki Koyama
  • Patent number: 8355804
    Abstract: Systems and methods are presented that enable a higher-level software application to query and control a sensor through a generic interface. In one embodiment, a system includes a controller, and interface, and a set of sensor driver modules. The interface receives a command from the controller and sends it to the driver modules. The interface includes a client, a server, and a network. The server includes two interfaces: a client interface to communicate with the client and a driver interface to communicate with the driver modules. The server also includes two buffers: a command queue and a reply queue. The command queue stores commands received from the controller (via the client). The reply queue stores replies received from the driver modules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hector H. Gonzalez-Banos, Joel A. Wormer, Li Guan
  • Patent number: 8355235
    Abstract: A plurality of reference signals output from a controller which computes an operation amount of an electric actuator is subjected to the logical operation, and the power supply to a drive circuit for the electric actuator is shut off based on an output by the logical operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kenichi Machida, Satoru Watanabe
  • Patent number: 8355812
    Abstract: A shaping machine system is presented. The shaping machine system includes a shaping device including at least one jig mount body for mounting a jig for supporting a workpiece, a shaping tool support body for supporting a shaping tool for shaping the workpiece, a first drive device for rotating the shaping tool, and a second drive device for driving at least one of the shaping tool support body, the jig mount body, or to change a posture of the shaping tool relative to the workpiece. The shaping machine system also includes a computer including an input unit for receiving a jig selection, a shaping tool selection, a shape data reading unit for reading shape data representing a shape of the workpiece after shaping, a shaping data producing unit for producing shaping data for controlling the first and the second drive devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Roland DG Corporation
    Inventors: Akihiro Suyama, Ryo Sato, Yoshimitsu Asahina, Makoto Yoshida
  • Patent number: 8355828
    Abstract: A power model that relates the settings of resource actuators to power consumption levels of the resource actuators and a condition model that relates the settings of the resource actuators to an environmental condition at the location of the at least one entity and a power consumption level of the at least one entity are developed. A constraint optimization problem having an objective function and at least one constraint is formulated, where the objective function computes at least a proportional quantity of a total power consumption level of the resource actuators and the at least one constraint comprises a setpoint environmental condition at a location of the at least entity. A solution to the constraint optimization problem is determined, where the solution provides optimal values for the resource actuator settings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Niraj Tolia, Zhikui Wang, Manish Marwah, Cullen E. Bash, Parthasarathy Ranganathan, Xiaoyun Zhu
  • Patent number: 8355810
    Abstract: A method and system for estimating context offsets for run-to-run control in a semiconductor fabrication facility is described. In one embodiment, contexts associated with a process are identified. The process has one or more threads, and each thread involves one or more contexts. A set of input-output equations describing the process is defined. Each input-output equation corresponds to a thread and includes a thread offset expressed as a summation of individual context offsets. A state-space model is created that describes an evolution of the process using the set of input-output equations. The state-space model allows to estimate individual context offsets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventor: Jianping Zou
  • Patent number: 8352058
    Abstract: An OA device for preloading content on memory cards is disclosed. A handler control module of a control unit performs a preloading process which comprises a preload check, preloading content based on digital content stored in buffers, and a preloaded content comparison, wherein memory cards at the initial column of a tray are checked, preloaded, and compared with the preloaded digital content using probes of a probe module. When the preloading content for the memory cards at the initial column of the tray is complete, the tray module or the probe module is moved by a stepper module by a predetermined distance, or the moving arm moves the probe module with a predetermined distance, to enable the memory cards at the next column of the tray to be checked, preloaded, and compared with the preloaded digital content using the probes while a sorting module picks up failed memory cards from the previous column based on records and instructions from the handler control module of the control unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Condel International Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Chi-Yang Chou, Pei-Yen Chou, Yeu-Chung Lin
  • Patent number: 8352094
    Abstract: Embodiments of a system, a method, and a computer-program product (e.g., software) for aggregating an energy service from a group of loads with time-varying operating cycles are described. This aggregation may be performed by an aggregator, which provides the energy service to a power-system operator. In particular, for a desired demand response, a demand-response mechanism may modify a demand response of a given load by mapping an initial operating cycle of the load before a demand-response event to a final operating cycle. In addition, the demand-response mechanism may transition the given load to a new operating cycle associated with the demand-response event using a temporal set-point trajectory. This aggregation technique may ensure that a distribution of phases of the group of loads is, on average, uncorrelated with each other, either by preserving or modifying the distribution of phases prior to the demand-response event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated
    Inventors: Jay T. Johnson, Daniel H. Greene, Haitham Ali Salem Hindi
  • Patent number: 8352066
    Abstract: A machine tool with a main positioning device for positioning a main support element in a translational linear direction within a main region of displacement is provided. A main machining device and an accessory machining device are arranged on the main support element. The machining devices have pivoting devices for pivoting the machining heads in a rotatory basic pivoting direction. Every accessory pivoting device is connected to the main support element via a respective supplementary accessory positioning device for positioning the respective accessory machining head in the translational linear direction relative to the main support element within a respective supplementary accessory region of displacement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Eberhard Zentgraf
  • Patent number: 8352051
    Abstract: An output module for an Industrial Process Control System that drives a load in a failsafe manner. The output module drives a load in response to a driving signal and includes a controller that generates a command signal and a drive enable signal in response to said driving signal. A keep alive circuit generates an active keep alive signal unless the drive enable signal is inactive. The output module includes a driver circuit that generates a drive signal in accordance with the command signal when the keep alive signal is active such that the load can be driven with a channel failsafe switch in response to the drive signal. The output module can be integrated into any of a number of industrial process control systems to enhance the operability of such systems.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Limited
    Inventor: Thomas Bruce Meagher
  • Patent number: 8352050
    Abstract: The invention is a system for monitoring the status of a field device having data including a data acquisition module, a first and a second diagnosis engine, and a client having a user input element for receiving user input status.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Yokogawa Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Hafeezur Rahman, Rajesh Kumar Jain
  • Patent number: 8348676
    Abstract: A method includes opening an access member of a sensing assembly to access programming features of the sensing assembly. Operating instructions for the sensing assembly are selected, and then a teaching actuator is actuated. The method further includes indicating the teaching actuator has been actuated, such as by visually indicating with an LED, and ceasing the indication. The method further includes implementing the operating instructions if the teaching actuator is released within a predetermined time period from cessation of the indication.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Rudolf Engl, Helmut Pall, Reinhard Schwarz
  • Patent number: 8344665
    Abstract: A controller for controlling a plurality of devices configured for wireless communications in a facility includes a data communications interface communicating with at least one of the devices. The controller further includes a control module configured to provide a control signal to the data communications interface for communicating to a transceiver associated with the device and for turning off the device according to an algorithm wherein the control signal is provided based on a time of day and/or a sensed condition relating to use of the facility. The transceiver reports device data to the control module to quantify a reduction in power obtained by controlling the devices according to the algorithm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2013
    Assignee: Orion Energy Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Neal R. Verfuerth, Michael J. Potts, Jun Wang, Anthony J. Bartol
  • Patent number: 8346512
    Abstract: Systems and methods for reducing the probability of a collision between a first object, whose trajectory is substantially controlled by an operator input command, and a second object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2013
    Assignee: CMTE Development Limited
    Inventor: Ross McAree