Patents by Inventor Benjamin Lai

Benjamin Lai 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: 11198276
    Abstract: A method of forming a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) component having an engineered surface includes applying a surface slurry comprising first particulate solids in a liquid carrier to an outer surface of a ceramic fiber preform. The surface slurry is dried to remove the liquid carrier, and thus a surface slurry layer comprising the first particulate solids is formed on the outer surface. The surface slurry layer is polished to a predetermined thickness and/or surface finish. After polishing, a ceramic tape comprising second particulate solids is applied to the surface slurry layer, and pressure is applied to attach the ceramic tape to the surface slurry layer and to induce consolidation of the ceramic tape and the surface slurry layer. Thus, a multilayer surface region comprising the surface slurry layer and a ceramic tape layer is formed on the ceramic fiber preform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignees: ROLLS-ROYCE CORPORATION, ROLLS-ROYCE HIGH TEMPERATURE COMPOSITES INC.
    Inventors: Sungbo Shim, Benjamin Lai
  • Patent number: 10542839
    Abstract: A coffee making appliance includes a housing having a base for supporting a container configured to receive brewed coffee and a reservoir for receiving water to be heated. A hopper is configured to receive a quantity of whole coffee beans and is positioned adjacent a grinder that is itself configured to transform the whole coffee beans into ground coffee. A passageway is formed in the housing for channeling the ground coffee from the grinder to a brewing chamber. A pump configured to supply the water from said reservoir to said brewing chamber via a brew path and the brew path then directs said heated water over the passageway, thereby cleaning the passageway of particulates of the ground coffee.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: CONAIR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Anthony Kit Lun Leung, Kam Fai Fung, Benjamin Lai
  • Patent number: 10392474
    Abstract: The invention relates to a linear polyglycerol compound, comprising a backbone of linearly linked glycerol residues. This compound is characterized in that it carries a plurality of substituents in the nature of covalently bound sulfates, wherein a degree of substitution of the backbone is preferably between 30 and 100%. A method of manufacturing the compound as well as uses of this compound and similar compounds are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignees: FREIE UNIVERSITAET BERLIN, THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
    Inventors: Donald Brooks, Jayachandran Kizhakkedathu, Rajesh Shenoi, Marie Weinhart, Benjamin Lai, Rainer Haag, Dominic Groeger
  • Publication number: 20190256427
    Abstract: A method of forming a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) component having an engineered surface includes applying a surface slurry comprising first particulate solids in a liquid carrier to an outer surface of a ceramic fiber preform. The surface slurry is dried to remove the liquid carrier, and thus a surface slurry layer comprising the first particulate solids is formed on the outer surface. The surface slurry layer is polished to a predetermined thickness and/or surface finish. After polishing, a ceramic tape comprising second particulate solids is applied to the surface slurry layer, and pressure is applied to attach the ceramic tape to the surface slurry layer and to induce consolidation of the ceramic tape and the surface slurry layer. Thus, a multilayer surface region comprising the surface slurry layer and a ceramic tape layer is formed on the ceramic fiber preform.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 15, 2019
    Publication date: August 22, 2019
    Applicants: Rolls-Royce High Temperature Composites Inc., Rolls-Royce Corporation
    Inventors: Sungbo Shim, Benjamin Lai
  • Patent number: 10193841
    Abstract: Techniques for onboarding users to various product features are described. According to various embodiments, information identifying a set of candidate onboarding content items associated with an email type of an email to be transmitted to a particular member of an online social network service is accessed. Thereafter, a first subset of the candidate onboarding content items is removed from the set, responsive to determining that the particular member has already been onboarded to products associated with the candidate onboarding content items in the first subset. Further, a second subset of the candidate onboarding content items is removed from the set, responsive to determining that the particular member has previously viewed and not interacted with the candidate onboarding content items in the second subset. A specific onboarding content item is then dynamically selected from the remaining set of candidate onboarding content items.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Lawrence Yuan, Vidya Chandrasekaran, Wynn Chen, Stephen Philip Hiller, Benjamin Lai, Bruno Pereira Medeiros, John Reilly
  • Publication number: 20180325303
    Abstract: A coffee making appliance includes a housing having a base for supporting a container configured to receive brewed coffee and a reservoir for receiving water to be heated. A hopper is configured to receive a quantity of whole coffee beans and is positioned adjacent a grinder that is itself configured to transform the whole coffee beans into ground coffee. A passageway is formed in the housing for channeling the ground coffee from the grinder to a brewing chamber. A pump configured to supply the water from said reservoir to said brewing chamber via a brew path and the brew path then directs said heated water over the passageway, thereby cleaning the passageway of particulates of the ground coffee.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 15, 2018
    Publication date: November 15, 2018
    Inventors: ANTHONY KIT LUN LEUNG, KAM FAI FUNG, BENJAMIN LAI
  • Patent number: 10110543
    Abstract: Techniques for onboarding users to online product features are described. According to various embodiments, email content data describing an email type of an email to be transmitted to a particular member is accessed. Information identifying a plurality of candidate onboarding content items associated with the email type is also accessed. Feature data including member onboarding content item interaction data describing the particular member's interactions with various onboarding content items is also accessed. Thereafter, for the particular member and the email type, a relevance score is generated for each of the candidate onboarding content items, based on the email content data and the member onboarding content item interaction data. Each of the relevance scores may indicate a likelihood that the particular member selects the corresponding candidate onboarding content item.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Utku Irmak, Sean Seol Woong Choi, Lawrence Yuan, Benjamin Lai, Wynn Chen
  • Patent number: 10004354
    Abstract: A coffee making appliance includes a housing having a base for supporting a container configured to receive brewed coffee, a reservoir for receiving water to be heated, a hopper configured to receive a quantity of whole coffee beans, the hopper having an outlet, a vertically-oriented burr grinder positioned adjacent to the outlet of said hopper, the grinder being configured to transform the whole coffee beans into coffee grounds, a filter removably received by the housing for receiving the coffee grounds from the grinder, a pump configured to supply water from the reservoir to the filter, and a driving mechanism configured to rotate the filter while the water is supplied to the filter to cause the water to pass radially through the coffee grounds to produce the brewed coffee.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignee: Conair Corporation
    Inventors: Anthony Kit Lun Leung, Kam Fai Fung, Benjamin Lai
  • Publication number: 20180009943
    Abstract: The invention relates to a linear polyglycerol compound, comprising a backbone of linearly linked glycerol residues. This compound is characterized in that it carries a plurality of substituents in the nature of covalently bound sulfates, wherein a degree of substitution of the backbone is preferably between 30 and 100%. A method of manufacturing the compound as well as uses of this compound and similar compounds are also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 20, 2016
    Publication date: January 11, 2018
    Applicants: FREIE UNIVERSITAET BERLIN, THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
    Inventors: Donald BROOKS, Jayachandran KIZHAKKEDATHU, Rajesh SHENOI, Marie WEINHART, Benjamin LAI, Rainer HAAG, Dominic GROEGER
  • Publication number: 20170188747
    Abstract: A coffee making appliance includes a housing having a base for supporting a container configured to receive brewed coffee, a reservoir for receiving water to be heated, a hopper configured to receive a quantity of whole coffee beans, the hopper having an outlet, a vertically-oriented burr grinder positioned adjacent to the outlet of said hopper, the grinder being configured to transform the whole coffee beans into coffee grounds, a filter removably received by the housing for receiving the coffee grounds from the grinder, a pump configured to supply water from the reservoir to the filter, and a driving mechanism configured to rotate the filter while the water is supplied to the filter to cause the water to pass radially through the coffee grounds to produce the brewed coffee.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 30, 2015
    Publication date: July 6, 2017
    Applicant: Conair Corporation
    Inventors: Anthony Kit Lun Leung, Kam Fai Fung, Benjamin Lai
  • Publication number: 20160127297
    Abstract: Techniques for onboarding users to online product features are described. According to various embodiments, email content data describing an email type of an email to be transmitted to a particular member is accessed. Information identifying a plurality of candidate onboarding content items associated with the email type is also accessed. Feature data including member onboarding content item interaction data describing the particular member's interactions with various onboarding content items is also accessed. Thereafter, for the particular member and the email type, a relevance score is generated for each of the candidate onboarding content items, based on the email content data and the member onboarding content item interaction data. Each of the relevance scores may indicate a likelihood that the particular member selects the corresponding candidate onboarding content item.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2015
    Publication date: May 5, 2016
    Inventors: Utku Irmak, Sean Seol Woong Choi, Lawrence Yuan, Benjamin Lai, Wynn Chen
  • Publication number: 20160036750
    Abstract: Techniques for onboarding users to various product features are described. According to various embodiments, information identifying a set of candidate onboarding content items associated with an email type of an email to be transmitted to a particular member of an online social network service is accessed. Thereafter, a first subset of the candidate onboarding content items is removed from the set, responsive to determining that the particular member has already been onboarded to products associated with the candidate onboarding content items in the first subset. Further, a second subset of the candidate onboarding content items is removed from the set, responsive to determining that the particular member has previously viewed and not interacted with the candidate onboard* content items in the second subset. A specific onboarding content item is then dynamically selected from the remaining set of candidate onboarding content items.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2015
    Publication date: February 4, 2016
    Inventors: Lawrence Yuan, Vidya Chandrasekaran, Wynn Chen, Stephen Philip Hiller, Benjamin Lai, Bruno Pereira Medeiros, John Reilly
  • Publication number: 20150024476
    Abstract: Apparatus and Methods are provided for a microfabricated fluorescence activated cell sorter based on a switch for rapid, active control of cell routing through a microfluidic channel network. This sorter enables low-stress, highly efficient sorting of populations of small numbers of cells (i.e., 1000-100,000 cells). The invention includes packaging of the microfluidic channel network in a self-contained plastic cartridge that enables microfluidic channel network to macro-scale instrument interconnect, in a sterile, disposable format. Optical and/or fluidic switching forces are used alone or in combination to effect switching.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2014
    Publication date: January 22, 2015
    Inventors: William F. Butler, Haichuan Zhang, Philippe Marchand, Keunho Ahn, Yi Zhang, John Francis, Benjamin Lai, Eugene Tu
  • Publication number: 20140371083
    Abstract: Systems, apparatus and methods are provided for biochemical analysis of a sample (e.g., a cell or nucleic acids). Samples are analyzed for molecular information and remain accessible for subsequent analysis or testing. The systems, apparatus and methods and systems provided are useful for performing quantitative and highly parallel biochemical reactions on biological samples in a high-throughput manner.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2012
    Publication date: December 18, 2014
    Applicant: CELULA, INC.
    Inventors: Keunho Ahn, Benjamin Lai, Andree J. Pyfer, Yi Zhang, Haichuan Zhang
  • Patent number: 8691164
    Abstract: Apparatus and Methods are provided for a microfabricated fluorescence activated cell sorter based on a switch for rapid, active control of cell routing through a microfluidic channel network. This sorter enables low-stress, highly efficient sorting of populations of small numbers of cells (i.e., 1000-100,000 cells). The invention includes packaging of the microfluidic channel network in a self-contained plastic cartridge that enables microfluidic channel network to macro-scale instrument interconnect, in a sterile, disposable format. Optical and/or fluidic switching forces are used alone or in combination to effect switching.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: Celula, Inc.
    Inventors: William Frank Butler, Haichuan Zhang, Philippe Marchand, Keunho Ahn, Yi Zhang, John Francis, Benjamin Lai, Eugene Tu
  • Publication number: 20080261295
    Abstract: Apparatus and Methods are provided for a microfabricated fluorescence activated cell sorter based on a switch for rapid, active control of cell routing through a microfluidic channel network. This sorter enables low-stress, highly efficient sorting of populations of small numbers of cells (i.e., 1000-100,000 cells). The invention includes packaging of the microfluidic channel network in a self-contained plastic cartridge that enables microfluidic channel network to macro-scale instrument interconnect, in a sterile, disposable format. Optical and/or fluidic switching forces are used alone or in combination to effect switching.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2007
    Publication date: October 23, 2008
    Inventors: William Frank Butler, Haichuan Zhang, Philippe Marchand, Keunho Ahn, Yi Zhang, John Francis, Benjamin Lai, Eugene Tu
  • Publication number: 20070134692
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method of assigning transcripts to probe sets is described that comprises retrieving one or more data sets from one or more sources; generating one or more clusters using transcript data from the data sets; aligning one or more probe sequences to a representative sequence from one or more of the clusters; aligning the representative sequence to a genome sequence, wherein the genome sequence is annotated with probe location information; mapping the aligned probe sequences to the genome sequence using the alignment of the representative sequence and genome sequence; and computing a score using a number associated with the aligned probe sequences and a number associated with the probe location formation associated with a region of the genome sequence that corresponds to the aligned representative sequence.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2006
    Publication date: June 14, 2007
    Applicant: Affymetrix, INC.
    Inventors: Venu Valmeekam, Stephen Trutane, Adam Tracy, Ronald Shigeta, Benjamin Lai
  • Patent number: D442204
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2001
    Assignee: Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tai Wen Chou, Yu Chu Tang, Benjamin Lai