Patents by Inventor Alan Walls

Alan Walls 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: 5724528
    Abstract: A peripheral controller interconnect/industry standard architecture (PCI/ISA)bridge is coupled between the PCI and ISA buses in a computer system. A PCI master in the system asserts address and address parity information on the PCI bus to initiate a master-slave transaction over the PCI bus. The bridge includes logic for comparing the address and the address parity information and generating an address parity error signal when there is an address parity error. The bridge also includes a PCI slave that receives the address parity error signal and generates a target-abort signal in response if the PCI slave has already claimed the address by asserting a device select signal. The bridge also includes logic that prevents the target-abort signal from propagating to the PCI bus whenever this logic receives both the address parity error signal and the device select signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 3, 1998
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corp.
    Inventors: Amy Kulik, William Alan Wall, Daniel R. Cronin, III
  • Patent number: 5678064
    Abstract: A method and arrangement is provided to support both fast Programmed Input/Output (PIO) and third party Direct Memory Access (DMA) data transfers between a system memory and Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) drives. A DMA controller attached to an ISA bus supplies address, read and write signals in third party DMA data transfers. An IDE controller provides control signals to support the DMA data transfers. The IDE controller additionally provides address and control signals to support the PIO data transfers at local bus speeds. A local bus-ISA bridge is incorporated to support the system memory that resides on the local bus. An arbitration circuit arbitrates access to the ISA bus, and allows the IDE controller to seize the ISA bus for fast PIO data transfer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 1994
    Date of Patent: October 14, 1997
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Amy L. Kulik, Patrick Maurice Bland, Dennis Moeller, William Alan Wall, Sagi Katz, Suksoon Yong
  • Patent number: 5664124
    Abstract: A computer system having an ISA bus and a PCI bus is provided with a PCI to ISA bridge having certain imbedded functions performed by PCI slaves on the bridge. In order to implement the bridge in slow CMOS technology, the PCI control signals are latched on the bridge. Since the PCI slaves on the bridge cannot respond with control signals on the PCI bus fast enough to satisfy the PCI bus protocol due to this latching, a logic device is provided on the bridge. The logic device monitors the unlatched master-slave control signals carried on the PCI bus, and in appropriate situations, drives the control signals on the PCI bus (within the time specified by the PCI bus protocol) that the PCI slaves would normally drive but are unable to within the time necessary to meet the PCI bus protocol.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 1994
    Date of Patent: September 2, 1997
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Sagi Katz, William Alan Wall, Amy Kulik, Daniel R. Cronin, III
  • Patent number: 5285699
    Abstract: The maximum safe operating speed or flywheels and shafts made of low tensile strength material is often determined by the speed at which radial tensile stress exceeds a radial tensile stress limit for the material. Circumferentially wound fiber composite material, for example, has a relatively low tensile strength along the radial direction perpendicular to the fibers. To increase the maximum safe operating speed, it is therefore desirable to form a fiber composite flywheel or shaft with radial compressive prestress. Such a prestressed flywheel or shaft has an outer annulus and an inner cylinder disposed in the outer annulus, and an annular layer of solidified bonding agent within an annular region between the outer annulus and the inner cylinder, wherein the outer annulus and the inner cylinder include substantial radial prestress induced by the bonding agent. The rim portion of a flywheel, for example, is formed from an outer ring (the annulus) and an inner ring (the cylinder, which is hollow in this case).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 1992
    Date of Patent: February 15, 1994
    Assignee: Board of Regents, University of Texas System
    Inventors: W. Alan Walls, Elvin Estes, Steve M. Manifold, Michael L. Spann, John H. Gully
  • Patent number: 5273502
    Abstract: A therapeutic unloading apparatus and method for exercising specific amounts of body weight in an upright position without overloading healing tissue. A support frame is provided to which is attached an automatic winch. The winch is attached to a spring, the spring is attached to a harness cable and thence to a harness. A user is tightly secured within the harness and a load cell is utilized to determine how much weight to unload from the patient/user. After the predetermined amount of weight has been unloaded it is set. Because the load cell is connected to the winch, a constant unloaded value is maintained throughout the range of normal to aggressive exercising for the injured patient. The normal exercising motions of a quick to fast walk, to run, to jog results in multiple vertical oscillations. By means of the spring dampener and the automatic outlay and intake of cable by means of the winch, a constant load is maintained on the user and hence the injury.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 1993
    Date of Patent: December 28, 1993
    Assignee: Soma, Inc.
    Inventors: Douglas Kelsey, Alan Walls
  • Patent number: 5210452
    Abstract: A high-energy output, air-core pulsed alternator utilizes stacked armature coils mounted on the outer periphery of an armature rotor. The stacked coils are symmetrically arranged with respect to one another so as to balance axial or longitudinal forces exerted upon the rotor for high energy pulsed output. The alternator may also include any load device which requires high energy output such as, but not limited to, an electromagnetic railgun.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 1991
    Date of Patent: May 11, 1993
    Assignee: Board of Regents, The University of Texas System
    Inventors: Siddharth B. Pratap, Mike L. Spann, W. Alan Walls
  • Patent number: 5066162
    Abstract: An attachment device (10) for connecting a mop head to a pole comprising a collar (11) and a boss (12) extending upwardly from the collar. A plurality of slots (14) extend vertically through the boss wall, the slots (14) being bridged by bridging nuts (15). This arrangement allows the diameter of the channel (13) defined by the boss (12) to be resiliently increased in order to accomodate poles of differing diameters within the channel (13).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 19, 1991
    Assignee: Harold Watson Limited
    Inventors: Alan Wall, Peter Grayson, Michael Egerton
  • Patent number: 4996016
    Abstract: The maximum safe operating speed of flywheels and shafts made of low tensile strength material is often determined by the speed at which radial tensile stress exceeds a radial tensile stress limit for the material. Circumferentially wound fiber composite material, for example, has a relatively low tensile strength along the radial direction perpendicular to the fibers. To increase the maximum safe operating speed, it is therefore desirable to form a fiber composite flywheel or shaft with radial compressive prestress. Such a prestressed flywheel or shaft is made by placing a cylinder within a fiber composite annulus, injecting a bonding agent under pressure into the interface between the annulus and the cylinder, and maintaining the bonding agent under pressure while the bonding agent solidifies. Preferably, the cylinder and annulus are aligned in a concentric relationship during solidification by a chamber into which the cylinder and annulus are placed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 1988
    Date of Patent: February 26, 1991
    Assignee: Board of Regents University of Texas System
    Inventors: W. Alan Walls, Elvin Estes, Steve M. Manifold, Michael L. Spann, John H. Gully