Patents by Inventor Jacob Y. Wong

Jacob Y. Wong 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: 7693798
    Abstract: A method for implementing an anonymous payment card transaction, in either a face-to-face transaction or a MOTO transaction, in which the user is allowed to select an option for anonymous delivery of goods. The option is conveyed to a money source by means of a customization parameter. The customization parameter is used to customize generation of a user one-time payment card number, to customize a user identifier or as a customization variable that is included in a user transaction data packet which includes the user one-time payment card number and the user identifier. A delivery agent can be used to deliver the purchased goods to a delivery location that is not known by the merchant by use of a tracking identifier provided by the money source to the merchant and the delivery agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2010
    Inventors: Roy L. Anderson, Joan M. Ziegler, Jacob Y. Wong
  • Publication number: 20090318054
    Abstract: A ball having an inflatable ball shell within which is found an inflatable inner ball partially filled with an inner ball gas and partially filled with a liquid that is held in the center of the inflatable ball shell by an inflatable support when the inflatable inner ball, the inflatable ball shell and the inflatable support are inflated. The ball exhibits an eccentric and unpredictable motion unless a concomitant spin is appropriately applied to it and the motion of the ball is primarily determined by movement of the liquid within the inflatable inner ball. The inflatable support can be a donut-shaped chamber having an inner radius which is substantially the same as, and may be attached to, an outer radius of the inflatable inner ball. Alternatively, the inflatable support can be three or more elastic spherical shells attached to the inflatable inner ball.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2008
    Publication date: December 24, 2009
    Inventors: Jacob Y. Wong, Chi Wai Tse
  • Publication number: 20090170639
    Abstract: A sporting game in which a game ball that behaves differently from a conventional soccer ball is kicked from a starting point toward an end point for the purpose of getting the game ball in the end point in as few as strikes as possible and, if this is not accomplished in one kick, then the game ball is kicked one or more additional times until it is in the end point. However, unlike the direction of travel for a conventional ball, the game ball's direction of travel is to the right when a counterclockwise spin is applied at a point of contact with the player's foot, to the left when a clockwise spin is applied at the point of contact, and straight when a top spin is applied at the point of contact.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2008
    Publication date: July 2, 2009
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong
  • Patent number: 7520830
    Abstract: A ball with a hollow inner core filled approximately 50% or less by volume with a fluid (which can include metallic spheres), a ball shell and struts (six or more) attached to the core and connected to an inner surface of the ball in such a way so as to maintain the core at the center of the ball. A swirling motion of the fluid within the hollow inner core determines the motion of the ball and a direction of travel away from a point of contact at which a force is applied to the ball to cause it to move or change direction. The direction of travel of the ball will be to the right when a counterclockwise spin is applied to the ball at the point of contact, the direction of travel of the ball will be to the left when it a clockwise spin is applied to the ball at the point of contact, and the direction of travel of the ball will be straight when a top spin is applied to ball at the point of contact. The weight ratio of the fluid to the ball without the fluid is approximately 1:1 or greater.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2009
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong
  • Publication number: 20080258390
    Abstract: A method of playing a poker game in which an initial hand of cards is dealt to players who are then granted a chance to place a wager or draw at least one additional card and then a final poker hand is ultimately determined for each player. Any final poker hand with more than one wild card is declared a losing hand while the winning hand is any remaining hand having the highest ranking. The poker game can be a draw poker game, a stud poker game or a community card poker game and a non-winning hand may have to pay a losing calling penalty in some circumstances based upon the ranking of the winning hand.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2008
    Publication date: October 23, 2008
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong
  • Patent number: 7434807
    Abstract: A game uses a deck of cards having three sets of cards with designations 1 through 9, five cards with a Feng Shui designation, four cards with a Green Dragon designation, four cards with an East Wind designation, four cards with a South Wind designation, four cards with a West Wind designation and four cards with a North Wind designation. A player and a dealer hand, each with two cards, is generated and then it is determined whether either or both hands will receive one more card (the player hand can get hit if its cards have a ranking below a first number while the dealer hand can get hit if its cards have a ranking below a second, higher number) and then the hand with the highest ranking of cards is declared the winner. The rankings are based upon pairs of cards according to a preselected order. Players can be allowed to bet on the player's hand or the dealer's hand although a rake is taken from winnings bet on the dealer's hand and bonus bets can be paid when the winning hand is a certain ranking.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2008
    Assignee: Gamelot, Inc.
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong
  • Patent number: 7422214
    Abstract: A method for playing language puzzle games involving a unit of meaning in the Chinese language made up of a string of characters in which each character in the string is decomposed into radicals having from one to four strokes and all of the radicals are combined, and randomly mixed, to become a group of radicals. A player is given a category clue for the unit of meaning, the combined group of radicals and a number of characters in the string of characters, and then the player is allowed to attempt to guess the unit of meaning based upon a preselected method of revealing information relating to the combined group of radicals to the player.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2008
    Assignee: Gamelot, Inc.
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong
  • Publication number: 20080191419
    Abstract: A method of playing a community card poker game in which two down cards are dealt to each player from a deck having suited cards, non-suited cards and a wild cards, followed by a betting round, then three community cards are dealt face up followed by a betting round, then a fourth community card is dealt face up followed by a betting round and a final card is then dealt followed by a final betting round, a winning hand is then declared and wagers are settled. The winning hand can only contain one wild card and if a player cannot make a hand with only one wild card (because the player has too many wild cards), the player's hand is declared a losing hand. A betting variation is that a losing calling party pays a penalty in some circumstances based upon the ranking of the winning hand.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 29, 2008
    Publication date: August 14, 2008
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong
  • Patent number: 7360763
    Abstract: Games (such as any poker game, whether it be draw poker, stud poker or a community card poker and, more particularly, a Texas hold 'em game or a variant in which players are either initially dealt four cards or the seventh card is dealt face down to individual players) normally played with a traditional deck of cards in accordance with a preselected set of rules for the game are played with a Chinese poker deck of 52 cards and the following additional rules: any player with the right to use a first wild card may designate the first card to be any card contained in the Chinese poker deck but no player may use more than one wild card and any player who can not make a hand because the player has more than one wild card looses the hand to any player who can make a hand. The Chinese poker deck has three different sets of nine cards in three suits (e.g.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2008
    Assignee: Gamelot, Inc.
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong
  • Patent number: 7358489
    Abstract: The concentration of a gas species is detected by using a single beam NDIR gas sensor in which an infrared source element is driven at two different temperatures, a feed back loop senses an operation voltage of the source, a differential gain amplifier creates a high cycle amplified output during a high cycle and a low cycle amplified output during a low cycle while a controller synchronizes the source driver so that a signal processor can determine the gas concentration through use of the high cycle amplified output and the low cycle amplified output. The infrared source can be a non-genuine blackbody source such as an incandescent miniature light bulb when the sample chamber is a thermally insulated aluminum tube that is maintained at a preselected temperature greater than ambient so that the glass envelope of the bulb is maintained at an equilibrium temperature (such as approximately 30 degrees Celsius plus or minus two degrees Celsius) during its low cycle operation state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2008
    Assignee: Airware, Inc.
    Inventors: Jacob Y. Wong, Chi Wai Tse
  • Patent number: 7335885
    Abstract: A fire detector and method for generating an alarm signal in response to a fire uses an NDIR sensor to generate a detector signal based upon one or more absorption bands selected from the 15.1? absorption band of CO2, the 6.27? absorption band of H2O and the 4.67? absorption band for CO and generates an alarm signal when a signal processor receives the detector signal and a preselected criterion is met that is indicative of the onset of a fire based upon an analysis of the detector signal using a detection algorithm that relies upon a trending pattern of the detector signal such as recognizing a substantial drop in the detector signal strength. The fire detector has a waveguide sample chamber (which can be of a re-entrant design) with at least one opening covered by a thin filtering membrane and a heat exchanger thermally connected to the sample chamber with at least one opening covered by another thin filtering membrane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2008
    Assignee: Airwave, Inc.
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong
  • Publication number: 20080035848
    Abstract: A compact and long path-length sample cell that is a hollow waveguide with a plurality of bends that are collectively greater than 180 degrees in three dimensions, a focusing device for quasi-focusing radiation into a beam with an angle of incidence between greater than approximately 0° and approximately 10° relative to a longitudinal axis of a first linear segment of the waveguide proximate a source of infrared radiation and a second focusing device for focusing infrared radiation after it has traveled through substantially all of the waveguide as it approaches a detector chamber. The sample cell can be used with two or more detectors to detect the concentrations of one or more gasses, to levels less than 100 ppm, after correction for water vapor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2005
    Publication date: February 14, 2008
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong
  • Patent number: 7329870
    Abstract: Concentrations of N gas species can be detected from a single beam NDIR gas sensor having a differential infrared source and an (N+1)-passband filter (having a neutral passband and N absorption passbands for N gases) mounted at a single infrared detector by driving the infrared source with N input power levels to render the source into emitting at N distinct temperatures whose radiation outputs are characterized by N corresponding Planck curves which are dependent only upon the respective source temperatures and which link a Spectral Radiant Emittance MsubLamba with wavelength, measuring N detector outputs at the single infrared detector and detecting the concentrations of N different gas species, each of the N gas species having its own unique infrared absorption passband, by (a) setting up N causality relationship equations linking outputs of the detector respectively for N different source temperatures and a set of relevant parameters of the sensor components, (b) determining the values of all of the param
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2008
    Assignee: Airware, Inc.
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong
  • Patent number: 7284382
    Abstract: A fresh air controller interfaces directly with the electromechanical circuit of an air-conditioner to control its operating settings based upon detected Carbon Dioxide (CO2) level in Parts-Per-Million (PPM) using a “Capno-Switch” which is in essence a specially designed single-beam NDIR CO2 sensor enhanced with features and specifications to render it rugged, compact and very low-cost; unlike conventional single-beam NDIR CO2 sensors, the “Capno-Switch” is capable of providing long-term stability and accuracy in CO2 measurements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2007
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong
  • Patent number: 7259374
    Abstract: A method for detecting the concentration of one or more gas species by using infrared radiation emitted from one or more sources into a sample cell which is a hollow waveguide with multiple bends collectively greater than 180 degrees in three dimensions, the infrared radiation being quasi-focused into a beam with an angle of incidence between greater than approximately 0° and approximately 10° relative to a longitudinal axis of a first linear segment of the sample cell proximate the source, then detecting two or more signals in which one of the signals is used to compensate for water vapor. The methods can detect gas concentrations down to 1 ppm or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2007
    Assignee: Airware, Inc.
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong
  • Patent number: 7239625
    Abstract: A method for reducing the cost of demand control ventilation applications deploys wireless CO2 sensors inclusive of relative humidity and temperature throughout an indoor space without the need for wiring while utilizing the license-free 902-908 MHz ISM band by use of a Sequential Transmission Asynchronous Reception System (“STARS”) that is software controlled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2007
    Inventors: Chi Wai Tse, Jacob Y. Wong
  • Patent number: 7214939
    Abstract: A fire detector and method for generating an alarm signal in response to a fire uses an NDIR CO2 sensor to generate a detector signal based upon a 15? absorption band of CO2 and generates an alarm signal when a signal processor receives the detector signal and a preselected criterion is met that is indicative of the onset of a fire based upon an analysis of the detector signal using a detection algorithm that relies upon a trending pattern of the detector signal such as recognizing a substantial drop in the detector signal strength. The NDIR CO2 sensor can also generate a reference detector signal based upon a 9.0? neutral band with a FWHM=0.5? while the signal processor utilizes a detection algorithm that is based upon a synchronized output signal representative of CO2 concentration to generate an alarm signal when a preselected criterion indicative of the onset of a fire is met.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2007
    Assignee: Airware, Inc.
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong
  • Patent number: 7186979
    Abstract: A fire detector with a passive CO2 sensor generates a detector signal based upon a 15? absorption band of CO2 and a signal processor generates an alarm signal when a preselected criterion is met. The passive CO2 sensor has a passive infrared source with a source temperature, a waveguide sample chamber with a gas medium temperature (which is less than the source temperature), a heat exchanger (that reduces the temperature of CO2 gas as it passes into the waveguide sample chamber and may be thermally coupled to the sample chamber) and an infrared detector assembly with a detector temperature (which is less than the source temperature). An exterior surface of the passive infrared source has a high emissivity while the detector assembly and the sample chamber (which can be thermally coupled to each other but not the passive infrared source) have a low emissivity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2007
    Assignee: Airware, Inc.
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong
  • Patent number: 7176460
    Abstract: A fire detector and method for detecting fires uses a passive NDIR sensor that generates a detector signal based upon either a 15? absorption band of CO2 or a 6.27? absorption band of H2O and a signal processor which receives the detector signal and generates an alarm signal when a preselected criterion is met. The NDIR sensor relies upon a passive infrared source (such as a very thin film of black plastic material) with a high emissivity (e.g., approximately 1.0), a sample chamber with a low emissivity (e.g., approximately 0.03) thermally decoupled from the passive infrared source and an infrared detector located in a detector assembly thermally coupled to the sample chamber while a heat exchanger is thermally coupled to the sample chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2007
    Assignee: Airware, Inc.
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong
  • Patent number: 7136514
    Abstract: A method for authenticating an individual by use of fingerprint data that involves two different broad steps. The first step is to obtain a biometrics fingerprint signature template (“BFST”) for an individual in an enrollment process by selecting a plurality of bands for the BFST and obtaining a plurality of tracks corresponding to each of the plurality of bands by use of an enrollment frame of a selected finger of the individual, wherein the plurality of bands are spatially referenced to the enrollment frame and can be spatially referenced to a reference barrier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2006
    Inventor: Jacob Y. Wong