Patents by Inventor Alan P. Rice

Alan P. Rice 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: 9930788
    Abstract: Coupling an electrical connector to a printed circuit board (PCB) involves disposing forms of conductive bonding agent on the PCB, pressing spring-loaded power pins of an electrical connector towards a surface of the PCB, heating the forms of conductive bonding agent, thereby at least partially melting the forms, pressing the spring-loaded power pins into the melted forms of conductive bonding agent, and holding the power pins in the forms until the forms have cooled enough to form a bond that holds the power pins, thereby forming an electrical connection between the one or more pins and the PCB. The spring-loaded power pins are configured to automatically lift away from the surface of the PCB when the bond is weakened.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Alan P. Rice, Andre Pratama, Jeffrey Alan Wilson, Firouz Felfeli
  • Publication number: 20160316571
    Abstract: Coupling an electrical connector to a printed circuit board (PCB) involves disposing forms of conductive bonding agent on the PCB, pressing spring-loaded power pins of an electrical connector towards a surface of the PCB, heating the forms of conductive bonding agent, thereby at least partially melting the forms, pressing the spring-loaded power pins into the melted forms of conductive bonding agent, and holding the power pins in the forms until the forms have cooled enough to form a bond that holds the power pins, thereby forming an electrical connection between the one or more pins and the PCB. The spring-loaded power pins are configured to automatically lift away from the surface of the PCB when the bond is weakened.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 5, 2016
    Publication date: October 27, 2016
    Inventors: ALAN P. RICE, ANDRE PRATAMA, JEFFREY ALAN WILSON, FIROUZ FELFELI
  • Patent number: 9407015
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for automatically disconnecting a power source in an electronic device. A data storage device is disclosed comprising a printed circuit board (PCB) and an electrical connector secured to the PCB, the electrical connector including a power pin having a power input contact portion configured to receive power from a communication interface connector, a substantially straight portion connected between the power input contact portion and a bend in the power pin, and an output arm connected between the bend at a first end and a power output contact portion at a second end, the power output contact portion being configured to be electrically coupled to the PCB via an electrical connection medium. The bend causes the output arm to lift away from the PCB when a bond between the power output contact portion and the electrical connection medium is broken.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Alan P. Rice, Andre Pratama, Jeffrey Alan Wilson, Firouz Felfeli
  • Patent number: 8947822
    Abstract: A disk drive is disclosed comprising a head actuated over a disk, wherein the head comprises a dynamic fly height (DFH) actuator. The disk drive further comprises an electrical heating element, and control circuitry operable to select an operating control signal applied to the DFH actuator by heating the electrical heating element for a first heating time, measuring a rate of temperature change of the electrical heating element, and selecting the operating control signal applied to the DFH actuator in response to the rate of temperature change.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Alan P. Rice, Timothy A. Ferris
  • Patent number: 7113365
    Abstract: A disk drive is disclosed comprising a disk, a head actuated over a surface of the disk, and a spindle motor for rotating the disk. The spindle motor comprises a ring-shaped stator having a plurality of stator teeth each wound with a winding. The spindle motor further comprises a hub having a plurality of magnets for interacting with the stator teeth to rotate the hub about the shaft when the windings are energized. A ring-shaped shield is disposed in a vertical gap between the windings and the hub to reduce a voltage coupled from the windings to the surface of the disk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2006
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert P. Ryan, Alan P. Rice, Jon E. Jacoby
  • Patent number: 6853731
    Abstract: The present invention may be regarded as a digital video recorder (DVR) comprising a storage device for storing an encrypted video program, a unique ID for interlocking the encrypted video program with the digital video recorder, and a cryptography facility. The cryptography facility comprises an encoder, responsive to the unique ID, for encrypting a plaintext video program into the encrypted video program stored on the storage device, and a decoder, responsive to the unique ID, for decrypting the encrypted video program stored on the storage device into the plaintext video program during playback.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2005
    Assignees: Keen Personal Technologies, Inc., Keen Personal Media, Inc.
    Inventors: William B. Boyle, Alan P. Rice
  • Patent number: 6851055
    Abstract: A digital video recorder (DVR) is disclosed for storing a plaintext video program as an encrypted video program. The DVR comprises a random access storage (RAS) device for storing the encrypted video program in encrypted segments. The DVR further comprises a cryptography facility comprising an encoder for encrypting plaintext segments of the plaintext video program into the encrypted segments stored on the RAS device, and a decoder for randomly and independently decrypting the encrypted segments of the encrypted video program into plaintext segments during playback.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2005
    Assignees: Keen Personal Technologies, Inc., Keen Personal Media, Inc.
    Inventors: William B. Boyle, Alan P. Rice
  • Patent number: 6851063
    Abstract: A digital video recorder (DVR) is disclosed comprising a unique ID, a hard disk drive (HDD) for storing a plurality of encrypted video programs and an encrypted file system, the encrypted file system comprising a plurality of encrypted file system entries for decrypting the plurality of video programs. The DVR further comprises host circuitry for interfacing with the HDD, the host circuitry comprising a cryptography facility for encrypting plaintext file system entries into the encrypted file system entries stored on the HDD, and for decrypting the encrypted file system entries read from the HDD into plaintext file system entries. The cryptography facility comprises a pseudo-random sequence generator, responsive to the unique ID, for generating a pseudo-random sequence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2005
    Assignees: Keen Personal Technologies, Inc., Keen Personal Media, Inc.
    Inventors: William B. Boyle, Alan P. Rice