Patents Examined by Trung Nguyen
  • Patent number: 10809240
    Abstract: Systems and methods for non-invasively determining a water content, a solute content, and a thickness of plant tissue are disclosed. A system includes a sensing device having a first piece and a second piece, where the first piece and the second piece are coupled together to form a clip. The system further includes a capacitive tissue sensor including a capacitor. The capacitor includes a plurality of coplanar conductive plates. The first piece and the second piece are biased in a closed position to provide a gripping force around the plant tissue such that at least a portion of the plant tissue contacts the plurality of coplanar conductive plates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2020
    Assignee: THE PENN STATE RESEARCH FOUNDATION
    Inventor: Sayed Amin Afzal
  • Patent number: 10808570
    Abstract: In combination a blade clearance sensor and a radial flow separation wall of a gas turbine engine is provided. The blade clearance sensor is embedded in the radial flow separation wall. The radial flow separation wall comprising: a splitter hoop located radially outward from blades in a first flow path of the gas turbine engine, the splitter hoop being about concentric to a blade path of the blades; and one or more guide vane bases attached to a guide vane located radially outward from the splitter hoop in a second flow path, each of the one or more guide vane bases being securely attached to a radially outward surface of the splitter hoop, wherein the blade clearance sensor is configured to detect a blade clearance between the blades and the splitter hoop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2020
    Assignee: RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Eli Cole Warren, Kevin A. Ford
  • Patent number: 10809308
    Abstract: A method includes selecting a test waveform to inject to a battery from a first DC converter, determining a first resulting ripple that will be generated in response to injecting the test waveform, determining at least one offset waveform to inject to at least one second DC power source from at least one second DC converter such that one or more second ripples will be provided that will cancel the first resulting ripple if the battery is charging, injecting the test waveform to the battery, injecting the at least one offset waveform to the at least one second DC power source, determining if the first resulting ripple has been cancelled, and determining if the battery is charging or discharging based on the step of determining if the first resulting ripple has been cancelled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2020
    Assignee: BLOOM ENERGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Arne Ballantine, Ranganathan Gurunathan, Anilkumar Vishnuvarjula, Chockkalingam Karuppaiah
  • Patent number: 10802172
    Abstract: A system for detecting a specific relative position between a reader and a receiver, including: an inductive contactless receiver including an antenna winding and a circuit for selectively modulating a load; an inductive contactless reader including: a transceiver antenna circuit having nonzero mutual inductance with the antenna winding for the position, a communication circuit connected to the transceiver antenna circuit, a receiver antenna circuit having mutual inductance with the antenna winding that exhibits a minimum for the position, and a processing circuit for: identifying presence of a receiver by detecting nonzero mutual inductance between the transceiver antenna circuit and an antenna winding, and detecting a mutual inductance minimum between the receiver antenna circuit and an antenna winding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES
    Inventors: Thierry Thomas, Jacques Reverdy
  • Patent number: 10802082
    Abstract: The methods and apparatus allow one user to test cable continuity using a wire-configurable directional connector. The methods and apparatus may transmit a first and second voltage pulse through a first and second wire of a cable under test, respectively, having a wire-configurable directional connector attached. Both voltage pulses travel through the wire-configurable directional connector. The first voltage pulse selectively leaves at least one of the second wire and a third wire of the cable under test and the second voltage pulse selectively leaves the third wire. The methods and apparatus may store a pre-determined pattern of a returning voltage pulse specific to the cable under test, and determine a state of the first, second, and third wires in response to receiving the first and second voltage pulses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventor: Brent E. Davis
  • Patent number: 10794966
    Abstract: A device includes a memory that stores a measurement-result of a first magnetization of a permanent-magnet corresponding to an external-magnetic field in an open-magnetic circuit; and a processor to divide the permanent-magnet into meshes, generate a function based on the measurement-result, the function indicating a second magnetization corresponding to the external-magnetic field in a closed-magnetic circuit, the function including a parameter having a value, calculate a diamagnetic-field corresponding to the external-magnetic field based on the second magnetization for each of the meshes, calculate a third magnetization of the permanent-magnet, calculate an average of the third magnetizations, calculate an error between the first magnetization and the calculated average, correct the value of the parameter, and repeat the calculation of the second magnetization, the diamagnetic-field, the third magnetizations, the average, and the error, and the correction of the value of the parameter until the error falls
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventors: Jun Fujisaki, Atsushi Furuya, Hideyuki Shitara
  • Patent number: 10796832
    Abstract: A method and a device determine a movement profile of a solenoid plunger in a solenoid for monitoring a plunger-type armature movement for changes. The solenoid is an electromagnet in which a magnetic field can be generated by an electrical coil and a measuring unit is connected to the electrical coil. The method includes measuring a current profile with respect to time when the solenoid is operated, examining a measured current profile with respect to time for a position of a first reversal point in respect of time after operation of the solenoid and a current intensity, and assigning the position of the first reversal point to a movement end of the plunger-type armature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Stefan Lecheler, Mario Schaefer
  • Patent number: 10788538
    Abstract: Apparatus, systems, and methods are provided for determining remaining lifetime of a battery, such as a battery used to power a pitch drive system in a wind turbine. In one example implementation, a method can include controlling a discharge of the battery through a load. The method can include obtaining data indicative of a discharge voltage and a discharge current of the battery during discharge through the load. The method can include obtaining data indicative of a temperature associated with the battery during discharge through the load. The method can include determining data indicative of remaining lifetime of the battery as a function of the discharge voltage, discharge current, and the temperature. The method can include performing at least one control action based at least in part on the data indicative of remaining lifetime of the battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Jeffrey Alan Melius, Darren John Danielsen, Parag Rameshchandra Dharmadhikari, Christopher Lee Tschappatt
  • Patent number: 10788513
    Abstract: A test device and a test method are provided. The test device can comprise a movable probe platform, a plurality of signal access points, and a plurality of test probes fixed on the movable probe platform. Each of the plurality of signal access points is correspondingly coupled to one test probe for accessing a corresponding test signal. The plurality of the test probes are configured to contact with test pads on a panel to be tested, and to transmit test signals accessed from the plurality of the signal access points to the test pads, so as to perform an electrical test to the panel to be tested.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignees: BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD., HEFEI BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Xun Pu, Hongmin Li
  • Patent number: 10782366
    Abstract: A magnetic field sensor includes a plurality of magnetic field sensing elements operable to generate magnetic field signals indicative of a magnetic field associated with an object, a plurality of channels coupled to receive the magnetic field signals and configured to generate a respective plurality of phase separated channel signals, and an output circuit coupled to receive the plurality of phase separated channel signals and configured to generate a sensor output signal including distinguishable pulses associated with the plurality of phase separated channel signals. The sensor output signal may include a first plurality of pulses associated with a first one of the phase separated channel signals and having a first characteristic and a second plurality of pulses associated with a second one of the phase separated channel signals and having a second characteristic different than the first characteristic, such as different signals levels and/or different pulse widths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2020
    Assignee: Allegro MicroSystems, LLC
    Inventor: Logan Stewart
  • Patent number: 10783815
    Abstract: A testing apparatus and a testing method for a display panel. The testing apparatus includes a microcontroller unit (MCU) module; an electrical monitoring module, a power supply module, and a field programmable gate array (FPGA) module that are connected to the MCU module; a user interface (UI) display module; an optical monitoring module connected to the UI display module; and a gate driver on array (GOA) signal processing module and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) module that are connected to the FPGA module. The power supply module, the GOA signal processing module, the DAC module, the electrical monitoring module, and the optical monitoring module are connected to a to-be-tested display panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2020
    Assignee: Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Meihong Wang, Peiqian Tong
  • Patent number: 10775448
    Abstract: Electric power system phase detection systems and methods. One or more line mounted intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) measure voltage at various points of a power system. The measured voltage is timestamped with a reference signal and compared with a timestamped voltage at a location where a phase on each conductor of the power system is known. Pattern matching using the measured voltage may be used to determine the phase at locations where the phase is unknown.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2020
    Assignee: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventor: Shankar V. Achanta
  • Patent number: 10760931
    Abstract: A technique for dynamically controlling performance parameters in a six degrees-of-freedom non-line-of-sight sensor subsystem is described. In certain embodiments, a magnetic field sensor is mounted on or proximate to an object to measure a parameter that varies with a position or orientation of the object, where the magnetic field sensor is part of a sensor calibration subsystem. The position or an orientation of the object is determined based on the parameter as indicated in an output of the magnetic field sensor. A receiver bandwidth and/or other operation parameter of the subsystem is dynamically adjusted during operation of the subsystem based on, for example, a transmitter-receiver distance or an operational state of the subsystem.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventor: Lev Cherkashin
  • Patent number: 10761119
    Abstract: Implementations of voltage sensing systems may include: a high side current mirror coupled to a reference current source coupled to at least one diode. The at least one diode may be coupled to a resistor and to a comparator. The resistor may be coupled to the ground. The comparator may be coupled with a reference voltage. The comparator may be configured to receive a comparison voltage from the diode and output whether the comparison voltage is higher or lower than the reference voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC
    Inventors: Catalin Ionut Petroianu, Alexandra-Oana Petroianu, Pavel Londak
  • Patent number: 10753978
    Abstract: A method for testing an all solid state battery with which the presence of short circuit or the presence of defect causing short circuit can be detected with high accuracy by a comparatively simple method in which a voltage is applied to a battery and the current value thereof is measured. The method comprising steps of: a resistance increasing step of increasing resistance of an all solid state battery to 3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Katsuhiko Nagaya, Masato Kamiya, Shinobu Okayama
  • Patent number: 10753771
    Abstract: A brushless resolver includes a rotor having a one-phase excitation coil and a stator having two-phase detection coils. The rotor is mounted to a shaft of a motor to detect a rotation angle of the motor. An induction coil is located around the shaft. The induction coil is connected to the excitation coil. Electromotive force induced in the induction coil by a change of magnetic flux of the motor, which passes through the shaft, is used as an excitation signal supplied to the excitation coil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tomoya Ando, Kenichi Nakazato, Manabu Yazaki
  • Patent number: 10742166
    Abstract: A method for the electrical characterization of a photovoltaic cell of a photovoltaic module, the method including steps of obtaining the irradiance received by the photovoltaic module, obtaining a temperature of each photovoltaic cell of a first submodule of the photovoltaic module, comparing the temperature obtained for each photovoltaic cell of the first submodule with a reference temperature, determining the state of each photovoltaic cell of the first submodule between a healthy state, in which its temperature is equal to the reference temperature, and a faulty state, in which its temperature is different from the reference temperature, estimating the I-V curve associated with a first photovoltaic cell of the first submodule, by searching in a database of I-V curves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2020
    Assignee: Commissariat a l'energie atomique et aux energies alternatives
    Inventors: Franck Al Shakarchi, Duy Long Ha
  • Patent number: 10739490
    Abstract: A subterranean characterization and fluid sampling device includes a tool body, a probing module, and a permanent magnet. The tool body includes a fluid testing module configured to retain a fluid sample and an internal radio frequency coil disposed within the tool body and drivable to generate RF magnetic field B2. The probing module is coupled to the tool body and configured to withdraw the fluid sample from a formation and deliver the fluid sample to the fluid testing module. The probing module comprises an external antenna drivable to generate RF magnetic field B1. The permanent magnet induces static magnetic field B0. The permanent magnet is coupled to the tool body and external to the probing module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2020
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Lilong Li, Songhua Chen, Arcady Reiderman
  • Patent number: 10742213
    Abstract: A low-power non-contact proximity sensor with improved sensitivity. In particular, the non-contact proximity sensor includes a capacitive sensor decoupled from a surrounding environment by a guard ring. Both the capacitive sensor and the guard ring are driven by a direct current (DC) power source, with the guard ring driven based on feedback from the voltage applied to the capacitive sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2020
    Assignee: Lumitex, Inc.
    Inventor: Emeric S. Bennett
  • Patent number: 10739368
    Abstract: Magnetic sensor modules, systems and methods are provided, configured to detect a rotation speed of an object. A magnetic sensor module includes a plurality of sensor elements configured to generate measurement values in response to sensing a magnetic field, the plurality of sensor elements being grouped into three pairs; and a sensor circuit configured to generate a first shifted differential measurement signal based on the measurement values received from a first shifted pair of sensor elements, a central differential measurement signal based on the measurement values received from a central pair of sensor elements, and a second shifted differential measurement signal based on the measurement values received from a second shifted pair of sensor elements, and generate an output signal based on detecting the first shifted differential measurement signal, the central differential measurement signal, and the second shifted differential measurement signal crossing at least one threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2020
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventor: Dirk Hammerschmidt