Patents by Inventor J. Wills

J. Wills 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).

  • Publication number: 20240016256
    Abstract: A running shoe comprises an upper and a midsole attached to the upper, the midsole having a front portion corresponding to a forefoot and a rear portion corresponding to a heel. The front portion of the midsole may have one or more notches which may increase the flexibility of the midsole. One or more flex grooves may extend through the midsole to similarly increase the flexibility of the midsole. A flex groove may be associated with a notch via a notch and a flex groove being associated with a channel. The flex groove may have void regions in which the flex groove extends entirely through the midsole to define a void therein. The void regions may increase the movability of forefoot pods defined by the relationship of flex grooves and how they may intersect each other and extend through each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2023
    Publication date: January 18, 2024
    Inventor: Richard J. Wills, III
  • Publication number: 20230304305
    Abstract: Trim system devices and methods for building surfaces, such as exterior surfaces with building panels. In embodiments, a top trim panel is snap fit onto a base trim panel after the building panel has been installed. The trim system readily assembles and overhangs relatively rigid building panels without tools or precision cuts. In some embodiments, the trim system may be mounted at a building corner.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2023
    Publication date: September 28, 2023
    Inventors: Matthew J. Will, Lawrence Preston Karstetter, JR.
  • Publication number: 20230210214
    Abstract: A running shoe comprises an upper and a midsole attached to the upper, the midsole having a front portion corresponding to a forefoot and a rear portion corresponding to a heel. The front portion of the midsole may define a toe spring of at least 40 mm and a plurality of flex grooves, the plurality of flex grooves including one or more horizontal flex grooves and one or more longitudinal flex grooves, the horizontal flex groove(s) extending in a lateral to medial direction of the running shoe and allowing the front portion of the midsole to lie flat in response to application of less than 15 pounds of force against the toe spring, the longitudinal flex groove(s) extending in a front to back direction of the running shoe. The rear portion of the midsole may have a flat bottom that is narrower than the upper.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 27, 2022
    Publication date: July 6, 2023
    Inventor: Richard J. Wills, III
  • Patent number: 11651233
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a method for generating a plurality of candidate visualizations. The method may include receiving a scenario description. The method may also include collecting a plurality of expert data using a training system based on the received scenario description. The method may further include generating at least one predictive model based on the collected plurality of expert data in order to execute the at least one generated predictive model during an application of a plurality of genetic algorithms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: T. Alan Keahey, Daniel J. Rope, Graham J. Wills
  • Patent number: 11486417
    Abstract: An actuator assembly comprises a housing having a piston at least partially disposed therein. The actuator assembly includes at least one biasing mechanism disposed within the housing to selectively position the piston between a first position, a second position, and a third position located between the first and second positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: Dana Heavy Vehicle Systems Group, LLC
    Inventors: Michael Z. Creech, Timothy J. Wills
  • Patent number: 11411773
    Abstract: Methods, computer-readable media and devices are disclosed for storing content from an endpoint device in a network cache. For example, a processor receives a security policy for the endpoint device defining a type of content for storing in the network cache, and determines that traffic from the endpoint device includes content of the content type for storing in the network cache. When it is determined that the traffic includes the content of the content type for storing in the network cache, the processor instantiates the network cache, stores the content in the network cache, and sends a notification to a designated device. The notification includes at least one parameter associated with the content. The processor further receives a decision from the designated device and performs a task regarding the content in response to the decision.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignees: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., AT&T Mobility II LLC
    Inventors: Erie Lai Har Lau, Sangar Dowlatkhah, Thomas J. Will
  • Publication number: 20220128068
    Abstract: An actuator assembly comprises a housing having a piston at least partially disposed therein. The actuator assembly includes at least one biasing mechanism disposed within the housing to selectively position the piston between a first position, a second position, and a third position located between the first and second positions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 16, 2019
    Publication date: April 28, 2022
    Inventors: Michael Z. CREECH, Timothy J. WILLS
  • Publication number: 20210391701
    Abstract: A device, such as a link box, with health monitoring has a housing defining an interior space, at least one surge arrester positioned in the interior space, at least one contactless temperature sensor positioned to contactlessly measure a temperature of the at least one surge arrester and generate temperature data therefrom, and at least one controller connected to the at least one contactless temperature sensor and configured to receive the temperature data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2021
    Publication date: December 16, 2021
    Inventors: Robert F. Smith, Charles J. Wills, Duncan C. Breese, Jake Gelhard, Kathryn Klement, Stephen Burks
  • Patent number: 11183828
    Abstract: A device, such as a link box, with health monitoring has a housing defining an interior space, at least one surge arrester positioned in the interior space, at least one contactless temperature sensor positioned to contactlessly measure a temperature of the at least one surge arrester and generate temperature data therefrom, and at least one controller connected to the at least one contactless temperature sensor and configured to receive the temperature data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: hvGrid-tech Inc.
    Inventors: Robert F. Smith, Charles J. Wills, Duncan C. Breese, Jake Gelhard, Kathryn Klement, Stephen Burks
  • Patent number: 11150291
    Abstract: The functional reliability of a cable shield system for a high voltage cable circuit is determined by electrically isolating a segment of the conductive shield from ground along the circuit length and supplying a test voltage of gradually increasing amplitude to the isolated shield segment. Current flows in the shield segment and a connected shield voltage limiter (SVL) in response to the supplied test voltage. The current through the SVL is monitored; and the operational integrity of the shield system is determined as a function of the voltage across and the monitored current through the SVL. Current flow is monitored by sensing the heat dissipated by the SVL included in the link box to which the shield segment is connected. Information representing the voltage across and monitored current through the SVL are transmitted to a remote location whereat the operational integrity of the SVL is determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: Underground Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert F. Smith, Charles J. Wills, Duncan C. Breese, Paul A. Alex
  • Patent number: 11110524
    Abstract: A rotary cutting tool includes a replaceable cutting insert, a pocket portion for holding the cutting insert, and a chip flute portion having a plurality of helical flutes. An internal coolant passage is formed in the chip flute portion and has both a twisted geometry and a “see-through” central portion. The internal coolant passage is polygonal in cross-sectional shape having a number of cusps equal to the number of flutes. The internal coolant passage greatly increases coolant flow area, while maintaining the stiffness and rigidity of the cutting tool. A method includes forming the internal coolant passage using additive manufacturing such that the internal coolant passage has a “see-through” central portion and a twisted geometry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: KENNAMETAL INC.
    Inventors: Xiangdong D. Fang, Ruy Frota De Souza Filho, David J. Wills, Joe G. Slusarcyk, Manuel Wacinski
  • Patent number: 11068647
    Abstract: System, method, and computer program product for measuring transitions between visualizations, the method comprising identifying data fields represented in a first visualization and one or more presentation characteristics for the data fields represented in the first visualization, identifying data fields represented in a second visualization and one or more presentation characteristics for the data fields represented in the second visualization, determining a plurality of transition scores, wherein each transition score represents a difference or similarity between the first and second visualizations, relative to either the identified data fields or the presentation characteristics, and generating a composite measure of transition between the first and second visualizations from the plurality of transition scores.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2021
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas A. Keahey, Daniel J. Rope, Graham J. Wills
  • Publication number: 20210157819
    Abstract: A set of transition characteristics can be identified. The set of transition characteristics can include continuities and discontinuities between data fields and data visualization channels among a plurality of data visualizations. A transition tuple for each of a plurality of pairs of the data visualizations can be determined and mapped to a matrix. The matrix can be transposed to generate vectors, each vector representing a type of transition characteristic, at least one of the vectors comprising a plurality of elements equaling a total number of the determined transition tuples. The distribution of the data fields and the data visualization channels across the data visualizations can be determined by performing statistical analysis on each of the vectors. A collection of the data visualizations can be determined based on the statistical analysis performed on each of the vectors, the collection of the data visualizations can include a subset of the data visualizations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 3, 2021
    Publication date: May 27, 2021
    Inventors: T. Alan Keahey, Daniel J. Rope, Graham J. Wills
  • Patent number: 10956677
    Abstract: Performing an operation comprising analyzing an electronic text corpus by a natural language processing (NLP) algorithm executing on a processor to determine a set of target terms specified in the electronic text corpus, analyzing the electronic text corpus by the NLP algorithm to determine a weight for each pair of terms in the set of target terms, and storing an indication of each pair of terms and the respective weight in a lookup table in a computer memory for runtime analysis of an input text data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Daniel V Walker, Graham J Wills
  • Patent number: 10949444
    Abstract: A set of transition characteristics can be identified. The set of transition characteristics can include continuities and discontinuities between data fields and data visualization channels among a plurality of data visualizations. The set of transition characteristics can be identified by analyzing the plurality of data visualizations and identifying similarities and differences among the data fields and the data visualization channels. A distribution of the data fields and the data visualization channels across the plurality of data visualizations can be determined. A collection of the data visualizations can be determined based on the distribution of the data fields and the data visualization channels across the plurality of data visualizations. The collection of the data visualizations can include at least a subset of the plurality of data visualizations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2021
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: T. Alan Keahey, Daniel J. Rope, Graham J. Wills
  • Patent number: 10943071
    Abstract: Performing an operation comprising analyzing an electronic text corpus by a natural language processing (NLP) algorithm executing on a processor to determine a set of target terms specified in the electronic text corpus, analyzing the electronic text corpus by the NLP algorithm to determine a weight for each pair of terms in the set of target terms, and storing an indication of each pair of terms and the respective weight in a lookup table in a computer memory for runtime analysis of an input text data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2021
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Daniel V Walker, Graham J Wills
  • Publication number: 20200336335
    Abstract: Methods, computer-readable media and devices are disclosed for storing content from an endpoint device in a network cache. For example, a processor receives a security policy for the endpoint device defining a type of content for storing in the network cache, and determines that traffic from the endpoint device includes content of the content type for storing in the network cache. When it is determined that the traffic includes the content of the content type for storing in the network cache, the processor instantiates the network cache, stores the content in the network cache, and sends a notification to a designated device. The notification includes at least one parameter associated with the content. The processor further receives a decision from the designated device and performs a task regarding the content in response to the decision.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2020
    Publication date: October 22, 2020
    Inventors: Erie Lai Har Lau, Sangar Dowlatkhah, Thomas J. Will
  • Patent number: 10776569
    Abstract: A data portion of a data set utilized in a computerized visualization is analyzed to identify one or more areas of interest each including data values representing distinguishable features relative to the data set. An explanation for the data values of each of the one or more areas of interest is determined. Each explanation is based on other data portions of the data set contributing to the distinguishable features. At least one display layer including labels describing the one or more areas of interest is generated. The labels include the explanation for each of the one or more areas of interest. The at least one display layer is disposed over the computerized visualization to produce an annotated visualization with the labels positioned proximate the one or more areas of interest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2020
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Marc S. Altshuller, Daniel J. Rope, Jing-Yun Shyr, Devendra G. Tasgaonkar, Graham J. Wills
  • Publication number: 20200282475
    Abstract: A rotary cutting tool includes a replaceable cutting insert, a pocket portion for holding the cutting insert, and a chip flute portion having a plurality of helical flutes. An internal coolant passage is formed in the chip flute portion and has both a twisted geometry and a “see-through” central portion. The internal coolant passage is polygonal in cross-sectional shape having a number of cusps equal to the number of flutes. The internal coolant passage greatly increases coolant flow area, while maintaining the stiffness and rigidity of the cutting tool. A method includes forming the internal coolant passage using additive manufacturing such that the internal coolant passage has a “see-through” central portion and a twisted geometry.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2019
    Publication date: September 10, 2020
    Applicant: Kennametal Inc.
    Inventors: Xiangdong D. Fang, Ruy Frota de Souza Filho, David J. Wills, Joe G. Slusarcyk, Manuel Wacinski
  • Patent number: 10769161
    Abstract: Techniques are described for genomically defining digital genes encoding data visualization elements and potential incremental changes to the elements as the basis for a genetic selection process for automated generating of data visualizations. In one aspect, a method includes receiving set of input data. The method further includes generating digital genes that genomically define data visualization elements based on the input data, and that define potential incremental changes to the data visualization elements. The method further includes executing a genetic selection process with respect to one or more fitness functions on populations of candidate data visualizations that are based on the genomically defined data visualization elements. The method further includes outputting final data visualization output generated by the genetic selection process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Daniel J. Rope, Graham J. Wills