Patents by Inventor A Francis

A Francis has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10216742
    Abstract: A system and method for converting data sets. The method includes providing a data provider device (DPD) and a controller communicably coupled to one another. The controller or an interface device between the controller and the DPD includes a processor that is connected to a memory device which stores a data converter program. The memory device stores an earlier in time descriptive data set having an earlier data set format and a different later in time descriptive data set having a later data set format. The data converter program determines if a format associated with a received DPD data set is the later data set format. In response to determining that a data set format associated with the received DPD data set is the later data set format, the received DPD data set is converted into a converted data set that has the earlier data set format.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Jethro Francis Steinman, Michael Baker, Gregory R. Leib, Christopher Pulini
  • Patent number: 10215611
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for determining a level of a fluid within a vessel are disclosed. The apparatus includes: a source unit for emitting a beam of radiation into the interior of the vessel, the source unit including a source of radiation and a collimator for collimating radiation emitted by the source to provide the beam, wherein the source unit is adjustable to vary an angle of the beam with respect to horizontal; at least one detector for detecting radiation emitted by the source and having passed through at least a portion of the interior of the vessel; and a processor for: recording data corresponding to an amount of radiation detected at the at least one detector as a function of angle of the beam; and determining the level of the fluid, based on a variation of the data with the angle of the beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: Johnson Matthey Public Limited Company
    Inventors: Owen John Lloyd Jones, Francis O'Doherty, Tor Magnus Saevareide
  • Patent number: 10214301
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for manufacturing a product. The method comprises creating a product plan comprising time units during which manufacturing of the product occurs, wherein the time units are grouped into phases of the manufacturing. Further, the product plan also includes entities performing work on systems for the product and work items performed by the entities during the manufacturing days. The manufacturing of the product is controlled using the product plan.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Bruce Alan Dike, Robert William Dost, Brian Harry Cartwright, Joseph A. Gagnier, William A. Rauch, Amanda Frances Chastain, James Francis Callow, III
  • Patent number: 10214794
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a component for a gas turbine engine. The method may include the steps of: providing a forged preform of the component that is made from a stainless steel alloy; identifying two non-overlapping portions of the component that together form a whole of the component: a target portion and a remainder portion; and treating the component with a regionally selective tempering process in which a treated region receives a tempering process while an untreated region is excluded from receiving the tempering process. The target portion may be the treated region while the remainder portion is the untreated region. The tempering process of the regionally selective tempering process may be configured to appreciably increase a hardness of the target portion of the component relative to a hardness of the remainder portion of the component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Theodore Francis Majka
  • Patent number: 10218671
    Abstract: Presented herein are systems and methods of dynamically allocating and leasing MAC addresses in a wireless network that ensures a unique MAC address is assigned to a computing device. The exemplified systems and methods ensure that the dynamically assigned MAC address is unique for a given network and that the MAC address is assigned to a give client wireless device prior to the client being granted access to the network and prior to a communication session being established.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Tak Ming Francis Pang
  • Patent number: 10213775
    Abstract: A NOx absorber catalyst for treating an exhaust gas from a lean burn engine. The NOx absorber catalyst comprises a molecular sieve catalyst comprising a noble metal and a molecular sieve, wherein the molecular sieve contains the noble metal; an oxygen storage material for protecting the molecular sieve catalyst; and a substrate having an inlet end and an outlet end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: Johnson Matthey Public Limited Company
    Inventors: Andrew Francis Chiffey, Jack Corps, Laura Mitchell-Downie, Francois Moreau, Matthew O'Brien
  • Patent number: 10213172
    Abstract: An imaging method includes executing a low-dose preparatory scan to an object by applying tube voltages and tube currents in an x-ray source, and generating a first image of the object corresponding to the low-dose preparatory scan. The method further includes generating image quality estimates and dose estimates view by view at least based on the first image. The method includes optimizing the tube voltages and the tube currents to generate optimal profiles for the tube voltage and the tube current. At least one of the optimal profiles for the tube voltage and the tube current is generated based on the image quality estimates and the dose estimates. The method includes executing an acquisition scan by applying the tube voltages and the tube currents based on the optimal profiles and generating a second image of the object corresponding to the acquisition scan. An imaging system is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Yannan Jin, Bruno Kristiaan Bernard De Man, Peter Michael Edic, Paul Francis Fitzgerald, Xue Rui, Yangyang Yao, Zhye Yin, Uwe Wiedmann
  • Patent number: 10215560
    Abstract: A method for shape classification of an object is provided. Shape categories are provided which specify a plane and points therein relative to the object, and also specify at least one limit coordinate for each such point, the limit coordinate defining a boundary in a direction normal to the plane for the shape of the object considered in order for the object to be classified into a respective shape category. The shape categories can be provided by a user, making the method very flexible. The shape categories can in particular be derived from a set of samples of objects representing a shape category to be defined. For classification, the position of a surface of the object is measured at each of the points defined in the shape category, and the result is compared with the corresponding limit coordinate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: KLA Tencor Corporation
    Inventors: Laurent Hermans, Eric Delfosse, Frans Nijs, Francis Thissen, Johan De Greeve
  • Patent number: 10217085
    Abstract: An approach is provided for recognizing one or more people from media content and determining if the one or more people are associated with a social networking service. A request is received from a user equipment specifying a media content. Electronically processing of the media content to recognize one or more people is initiated. It is determined whether the one or more people are associated with a member account of a social networking service. A prompting of the user is initiated with an option based on the determination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY
    Inventors: Brenda Castro, James Francis Reilly, Matti Johannes Sillanpää, Toni Peter Strandell, Jyri Kullervo Virtanen, Mikko Antero Nurmi
  • Patent number: 10217111
    Abstract: A method has acts for receiving a transaction request in a contact center at a server having a processor, retrieving from data accompanying the transaction request identifying information regarding an originating node for the transaction request and identity of a sender of the transaction request, comparing the identifying information with stored data associating identifying information with specific aircraft providing on-board Internet service, discovering an association indicating the sender of the request is currently transacting as a passenger on a specific aircraft, retrieving further information regarding the passenger if available, retrieving information about the specific aircraft, including at least current flight status, routing the transaction request to an available contact center agent, connecting the passenger in a communication session with the agent, and displaying the information regarding the passenger, if any, and the information regarding the specific aircraft for use by the agent during t
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Inventor: Ethan Francis
  • Patent number: 10216484
    Abstract: A system on chip (SoC) may include a nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM). A random number may be created by applying operating power to the ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) device and reading a sequence of virgin memory locations within the FRAM device to produce the random number sequence. The sequence of virgin memory locations had previously never been written. The random number may be produced during an initial boot of the SoC, for example. Alternatively, the random number may be saved by a test station during testing of the FRAM device after fabrication of the FRAM device. A memory test of the FRAM may then be performed, after which the random number may be stored in a defined location in the FRAM.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Eric Thierry Peeters, William Francis Kraus, Manuel Gilberto Aguilar, John Anthony Rodriguez
  • Patent number: 10218465
    Abstract: A system and method includes employing a cyclical redundancy check (CRC) code to information being transmitted on the channel, the CRC code including appending a single CRC code bit to the information, the single CRC code bit having a value of 0. The method further includes adding an error correcting code with a value of 0 to the information and to a plurality of error correcting code parity bits provided by the error correcting code. The method further includes transmitting, by the communication device, the information on the channel without the single CRC code bit, the additional information bit, and the error correcting code parity bits for being decoded and set by a receiver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: Nextivity, Inc.
    Inventors: Francis Swarts, Andrew Christopher Du Preez
  • Publication number: 20190054572
    Abstract: Systems and methods for machining openings of a component are provided. In one exemplary aspect, a laser system includes features for machining an opening into a component, such as a cooling hole for a CMC component of a gas turbine engine. The component can be oriented in a first position and lasered while oriented in the first position to form a portion of the opening. The component is then oriented to a second position and lasered while oriented in the second position to form another portion of the opening. The component is alternated between the first and second positions until the predetermined geometry of the opening is formed. The component is oriented in the first and second positions such that the laser beam can machine the component without clipping areas that are not desired to be machined.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2017
    Publication date: February 21, 2019
    Inventors: Alan Joseph Parvis, Timothy Francis Andrews, Mark Samuel Bailey
  • Publication number: 20190058419
    Abstract: The invention provides a power generation device comprising at least two generating arrangements, each adapted to generate a voltage output through the relative motion of two differently charged generating elements, the generating elements having some separation distance (which may be zero or non-zero). The arrangements are co-operatively configured in such a way that the separation distances between their respective elements are reciprocally related: an increase in one leads to a related decrease in the other. By combining these two signal outputs, a single voltage, current or power output may be provided in a self-regulating manner by the device whose amplitude is substantially independent of any changes or variations in the separation distance between elements of either of the two arrangements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 5, 2016
    Publication date: February 21, 2019
    Applicant: KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V.
    Inventors: LUTZ CHRISTIAN GERHARDT, ALAN JAMES DAVIE, MARK THOMAS JOHNSON, HANS KROES, NEIL FRANCIS JOYE
  • Publication number: 20190053764
    Abstract: A headset includes a housing defining an audio cavity, a speaker located within the audio cavity, and first and second sensor modules within the housing in spaced-apart, angled relationship to each other. The housing includes an aperture through which sound from the speaker can pass, and the first and second sensor modules are on opposing sides of a direction from the speaker to the aperture. The first sensor module is configured to direct electromagnetic radiation at a first target region of an ear of a person wearing the headset and to detect a first energy response signal therefrom that is associated with one or more physiological metrics of the subject, and the second sensor module is configured to direct electromagnetic radiation at a second target region of the ear and to detect a second energy response signal therefrom that is associated with the one or more physiological metrics.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2018
    Publication date: February 21, 2019
    Inventors: Steven Francis LeBoeuf, Jesse Berkley Tucker, Michael Edward Aumer, Eric Douglas Romesburg, Joseph Norman Morris
  • Publication number: 20190054168
    Abstract: Immunogenic influenza hemagglutinin-derived peptide compositions described herein induce a specific therapeutic antibody response against influenza virus. The immunogenic peptide compositions comprise a segment from the fusion initiation region (FIR) domain of an influenza hemagglutinin protein bound to an immunogenic carrier protein, such as an influenza hemagglutinin (HA) protein (i.e., full length HA), and the like. The immunogenic peptide compositions described herein can be utilized to treat or prevent influenza infection and to prepare influenza-specific therapeutic antibodies that interfere with influenza virus-host cell membrane fusion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2018
    Publication date: February 21, 2019
    Applicants: THE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND, AUTOIMMUNE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Robert Francis GARRY, Russell B. WILSON
  • Publication number: 20190056863
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to systems, methods, and computer readable media for implementing an efficient and flexible system for entry of input commands using finger-specific touch gestures. For example, in response to detecting calibration gestures, systems described herein can determine input zones for detecting zone-specific touch gestures that are mapped to corresponding zone-specific input commands. The systems disclosed herein can further adapt to the size, orientation, and shifting position of a user's hands by periodically recalibrating the input zones based on detected movement of detected touch gestures with respect to the input zones. Thus, the systems described herein implement a self-calibrating gesture-driven input system having increased flexibility and efficiency over conventional touch-based input systems.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2018
    Publication date: February 21, 2019
    Inventor: Francis Russel Jones
  • Publication number: 20190054899
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for authorizing a user to access an access-controlled environment. The system includes a system server platform that communicates with mobile devices (e.g., smartphones) and on-board vehicle computing devices accessed by users. The embodiments enable a series of operations whereby a user accessing a vehicle is prompted to biometrically authenticate using the user's smartphone or on-board vehicle computer. In addition, the system can further authorize the user and electronically facilitate access to the vehicle as well as perform other authorized operations relating to the use of the vehicle. In addition the vehicle access system integrates with various computing devices and computer-based services accessible to the user. The systems and methods also facilitate active monitoring of the vehicle occupants and environmental conditions using optical sensors and the like so as to enhance security, convenience and safety of the occupants during use of the vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2018
    Publication date: February 21, 2019
    Inventors: Hector Hoyos, Jason Braverman, Geoffrey Xiao, Jonathan Francis Mather, Scott Streit
  • Publication number: 20190055886
    Abstract: A lubrication system is disclosed. The lubrication system may be used in conjunction with a gas turbine engine for generating power or lift. The lubrication system utilized a flow scheduling valve which reduces lubricant flow to at least one component based on an engine load. The lubrication system may further include a main pump which may be regulated by an engine speed. Thus, a lubrication system which provides a lubricant to engine components based on the load and speed of the engine is possible. The system may improve efficiency of the engine by reducing the power previously spent in churning excess lubricant by at least one engine component as well as reducing the energy used by a lubricant cooler in cooling the excess lubricant. The lubricant cooler size may also be minimized to reduce weight and air drag due to the reduced lubricant flow.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2018
    Publication date: February 21, 2019
    Inventors: Francis Parnin, Paul H. Dolman, David M. Daley, Denman H. James, Richard W. Clark
  • Publication number: 20190057929
    Abstract: Modules, devices and methods of manufacturing a dual-sided module are disclosed. A dual-sided module includes a packaging substrate having an upper side, a lower side, and a ground plane, a radio-frequency circuit assembly implemented on both of the upper and lower sides of the packaging substrate and an upper overmold implemented on the upper side of the packaging substrate defining one or more openings dimensioned to expose contact pads on the upper side. The module further includes a conductive layer configured to provide shielding for a region on the upper side of the packaging substrate, a lower overmold implemented on the lower side of the packaging substrate to cover a lower portion of the radio-frequency circuit assembly, the lower overmold defining a plurality of openings, and a contact feature implemented within each of the openings of the lower overmold to be in contact with the packaging substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 14, 2018
    Publication date: February 21, 2019
    Inventors: Howard E. CHEN, Robert Francis DARVEAUX, Hoang Mong NGUYEN, Anthony James LOBIANCO