Patents by Inventor Alexandru Balan

Alexandru Balan 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: 11821338
    Abstract: The present invention relates generally to propulsion systems and, more specifically, to propulsion systems configured to vector and provide directional thrust such as those that may be used in aircraft or watercraft. Such propulsion systems may be used in connection with unmanned aerial vehicles, other aircraft, or various watercraft including submersibles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Inventor: Alexandru Balan
  • Patent number: 11780560
    Abstract: This present disclosure relates generally to propulsion systems and, more particularly, to adaptive ducted fan propulsion systems for use with aircraft such as unmanned aerial vehicles. Embodiments of ADF systems in accordance with the present disclosure feature automatic, fast operation, increase the intake section of the air mass fed to a propeller, and can increase thrust by 35%-40% as compared to existing ducted fans.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Inventor: Alexandru Balan
  • Publication number: 20220221029
    Abstract: The present invention relates generally to propulsion systems and, more specifically, to propulsion systems configured to vector and provide directional thrust such as those that may be used in aircraft or watercraft. Such propulsion systems may be used in connection with unmanned aerial vehicles, other aircraft, or various watercraft including submersibles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 11, 2020
    Publication date: July 14, 2022
    Inventor: Alexandru Balan
  • Publication number: 20220219806
    Abstract: This present disclosure relates generally to propulsion systems and, more particularly, to adaptive ducted fan propulsion systems for use with aircraft such as unmanned aerial vehicles. Embodiments of ADF systems in accordance with the present disclosure feature automatic, fast operation, increase the intake section of the air mass fed to a propeller, and can increase thrust by 35%-40% as compared to existing ducted fans.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 11, 2020
    Publication date: July 14, 2022
    Inventor: Alexandru Balan
  • Patent number: 10710726
    Abstract: This invention relates to any field where crafts (such as avionics) where inhabitants of volumes like passage compartments can be found where the area is subject to extreme conditions such as explosion, fire or other traumatic activity linked with a crash, and more specifically a pressurized dual-compartment canister or anti-trauma apparatus for the storage, mixing, and blast-release of a neutralizing chemical compound within the environment of the volume in a craft placed adjacent to the volume for the blast release of a quickly expanding and quickly retracting product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2020
    Assignee: ALEXANDRU BALAN
    Inventor: Alexandru Balan
  • Patent number: 10618488
    Abstract: A delivery device for an automobile trauma-reducing safety system includes a base component on which a membrane is supported deflated in an initial state prior to an automobile collision and is inflated in an activated state in response to a triggering event. A spray valve is movably coupled to the base component and is concentrically-aligned with the membrane. The spray valve includes exhaust nozzles, is in a retracted position in the initial state, and is movable towards an extended position in the activated state. A containing area stores a chemical liquid in the initial state and is formed between the spray valve and the deflated membrane. The chemical liquid is forced by the inflated membrane in the activated state to move the spray valve from the retracted position towards the extended position, the chemical liquid being expelled through the exhaust nozzles for reducing trauma to an automobile occupant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Inventor: Alexandru Balan
  • Publication number: 20200070183
    Abstract: A delivery device for an automobile trauma-reducing safety system includes a base component on which a membrane is supported deflated in an initial state prior to an automobile collision and is inflated in an activated state in response to a triggering event. A spray valve is movably coupled to the base component and is concentrically-aligned with the membrane. The spray valve includes exhaust nozzles, is in a retracted position in the initial state, and is movable towards an extended position in the activated state. A containing area stores a chemical liquid in the initial state and is formed between the spray valve and the deflated membrane. The chemical liquid is forced by the inflated membrane in the activated state to move the spray valve from the retracted position towards the extended position, the chemical liquid being expelled through the exhaust nozzles for reducing trauma to an automobile occupant.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2018
    Publication date: March 5, 2020
    Inventor: Alexandru Balan
  • Publication number: 20200039351
    Abstract: A safety system for an automobile includes a safety device with containing areas in which two premixed liquids are stored during an initial state and which are in fluid communication with a fuel tank. Two valves are mounted internally in the safety device and are closed in the initial state to separate the premixed liquids. The valves are spaced apart at an initial distance, in the initial state, that is greater than a triggered distance, in a triggered state. A cylindrical ring is mounted in the safety device near the valves and has evacuation holes around its periphery that are adjacent to a respective pair of flow-mix channels. The flow-mix channels form a flow-path between the containing areas and a respective evacuation hole via which, in the triggered state, the premixed liquids are combined into a mixed liquid that is subsequently expelled for neutralizing fuel flammability in the fuel tank.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 3, 2018
    Publication date: February 6, 2020
    Inventor: Alexandru Balan
  • Patent number: 10549635
    Abstract: A safety system for an automobile includes a safety device with containing areas in which two premixed liquids are stored during an initial state and which are in fluid communication with a fuel tank. Two valves are mounted internally in the safety device and are closed in the initial state to separate the premixed liquids. The valves are spaced apart at an initial distance, in the initial state, that is greater than a triggered distance, in a triggered state. A cylindrical ring is mounted in the safety device near the valves and has evacuation holes around its periphery that are adjacent to a respective pair of flow-mix channels. The flow-mix channels form a flow-path between the containing areas and a respective evacuation hole via which, in the triggered state, the premixed liquids are combined into a mixed liquid that is subsequently expelled for neutralizing fuel flammability in the fuel tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Inventor: Alexandru Balan
  • Publication number: 20190315478
    Abstract: This invention relates to any field where crafts (such as avionics) where inhabitants of volumes like passage compartments can be found where the area is subject to extreme conditions such as explosion, fire or other traumatic activity linked with a crash, and more specifically a process and method for the protection of inhabitants or passengers in the volume in the craft using a system for the protection of the inhabitants or passengers in the volume using both an anti-trauma apparatus for blast release of a first chemical within the volume for shock protection and for an anti-explosion apparatus for the blast-release of a neutralizing chemical compound within the fuel tank reservoir in a craft to neutralize the inflammability and explosion capacity of the fuel in the tank to avoid detonations and damage to an adjacent volume.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 16, 2018
    Publication date: October 17, 2019
    Inventor: Alexandru Balan
  • Publication number: 20190315469
    Abstract: This invention relates to any field where crafts (such as avionics) where inhabitants of volumes like passage compartments can be found where the area is subject to extreme conditions such as explosion, fire or other traumatic activity linked with a crash, and more specifically a pressurized dual-compartment canister or anti-trauma apparatus for the storage, mixing, and blast-release of a neutralizing chemical compound within the environment of the volume in a craft placed adjacent to the volume for the blast release of a quickly expanding and quickly retracting product.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 16, 2018
    Publication date: October 17, 2019
    Inventor: Alexandru Balan
  • Patent number: 9851787
    Abstract: A system and related methods for a resource management in a head-mounted display device are provided. In one example, the head-mounted display device includes a plurality of sensors and a display system for presenting holographic objects. A resource management program is configured to operate a selected sensor in a default power mode to achieve a selected fidelity. The program receives user-related information from one or more of the sensors, and determines whether target information is detected. Where target information is detected, the program adjusts the selected sensor to operate in a reduced power mode that uses less power than the default power mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Stephen Latta, Jedd Anthony Perry, Rod G. Fleck, Jack Clevenger, Frederik Schaffalitzky, Drew Steedly, Daniel McCulloch, Ian McIntyre, Alexandru Balan, Ben Sugden, Ryan Hastings, Brian Mount
  • Patent number: 9529513
    Abstract: Two-handed interactions with a natural user interface are disclosed. For example, one embodiment provides a method comprising detecting via image data received by the computing device a context-setting input performed by a first hand of a user, and sending to a display a user interface positioned based on a virtual interaction coordinate system, the virtual coordinate system being positioned based upon a position of the first hand of the user. The method further includes detecting via image data received by the computing device an action input performed by a second hand of the user, the action input performed while the first hand of the user is performing the context-setting input, and sending to the display a response based on the context-setting input and an interaction between the action input and the virtual interaction coordinate system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Alexandru Balan, Mark J. Finocchio, Kyungsuk David Lee
  • Patent number: 9378590
    Abstract: An augmented reality submission includes a hologram to virtually augment a world space object and a compensation offer for presenting the hologram to a viewer of the world space object. The augmented reality submission is selected as a winning submission if the submission satisfies a selection criteria.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Kyungsuk David Lee, Alexandru Balan, Mark J. Finocchio
  • Patent number: 9344707
    Abstract: A depth sensor obtains images of articulated portions of a user's body such as the hand. A predefined model of the articulated body portions is provided. Representative attract points of the model are matched to centroids of the depth sensor data, and a rigid transform of the model is performed, in an initial, relatively coarse matching process. This matching process is then refined in a non-rigid transform of the model, using attract point-to-centroid matching. In a further refinement, an iterative process rasterizes the model to provide depth pixels of the model, and compares the depth pixels of the model to the depth pixels of the depth sensor. The refinement is guided by whether the depth pixels of the model are overlapping or non-overlapping with the depth pixels of the depth sensor. Collision, distance and angle constraints are also imposed on the model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Kyungsuk David Lee, Alexandru Balan
  • Publication number: 20160132786
    Abstract: Various embodiments relating to partitioning a data set for training machine-learning classifiers based on an output of a globally trained machine-learning classifier are disclosed. In one embodiment, a first machine-learning classifier may be trained on a set of training data to produce a corresponding set of output data. The set of training data may be partitioned into a plurality of subsets based on the set of output data. Each subset may correspond to a different class. A second machine-learning classifier may be trained on the set of training data using a plurality of classes corresponding to the plurality of subsets to produce, for each data object of the set of training data, a probability distribution having for each class a probability that the data object is a member of the class.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 12, 2014
    Publication date: May 12, 2016
    Inventors: Alexandru Balan, Bradford Jason Snow, Christopher Douglas Edmonds, Henry Nelson Jerez, Kyungsuk David Lee, Mark J. Finocchio, Miguel Susffalich, Cem Keskin
  • Patent number: 9304594
    Abstract: Methods for recognizing gestures within a near-field environment are described. In some embodiments, a mobile device, such as a head-mounted display device (HMD), may capture a first image of an environment while illuminating the environment using an IR light source with a first range (e.g., due to the exponential decay of light intensity) and capture a second image of the environment without illumination. The mobile device may generate a difference image based on the first image and the second image in order to eliminate background noise due to other sources of IR light within the environment (e.g., due to sunlight or artificial light sources). In some cases, object and gesture recognition techniques may be applied to the difference image in order to detect the performance of hand and/or finger gestures by an end user of the mobile device within a near-field environment of the mobile device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2016
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Mark Finocchio, Alexandru Balan, Nathan Ackerman, Jeffrey Margolis
  • Patent number: 9171380
    Abstract: Embodiments related to detecting object information from image data collected by an image sensor are disclosed. In one example embodiment, the object information is detected by receiving a frame of image data from the image sensor and detecting a change in a threshold condition related to an object within the frame. The embodiment further comprises adjusting a setting that changes a power consumption of the image sensor in response to detecting the threshold condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2015
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Kyungsuk David Lee, Mark Finocchio, Richard Moore, Alexandru Balan, Rod G. Fleck
  • Patent number: 9070194
    Abstract: A planar surface within a physical environment is detected enabling presentation of a graphical user interface overlaying the planar surface. Detection of planar surfaces may be performed, in one example, by obtaining a collection of three-dimensional surface points of a physical environment imaged via an optical sensor subsystem. A plurality of polygon sets of points are sampled within the collection. Each polygon set of points includes three or more localized points of the collection that defines a polygon. Each polygon is classified into one or more groups of polygons having a shared planar characteristic with each other polygon of that group. One or more planar surfaces within the collection are identified such that each planar surface is at least partially defined by a group of polygons containing at least a threshold number of polygons.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Kyungsuk David Lee, Alexandru Balan, Jeffrey N. Margolis
  • Publication number: 20150040040
    Abstract: Two-handed interactions with a natural user interface are disclosed. For example, one embodiment provides a method comprising detecting via image data received by the computing device a context-setting input performed by a first hand of a user. and sending to a display a user interface positioned based on a virtual interaction coordinate system, the virtual coordinate system being positioned based upon a position of the first hand of the user. The method further includes detecting via image data received by the computing device an action input performed by a second hand of the user, the action input performed while the first hand of the user is performing the context-setting input, and sending to the display a response based on the context-setting input and an interaction between the action input and the virtual interaction coordinate system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 5, 2013
    Publication date: February 5, 2015
    Inventors: Alexandru Balan, Mark J. Finocchio, Kyungsuk David Lee