Patents by Inventor James Lau

James Lau 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: 20240410606
    Abstract: An occupancy fan controller method to detect a Heating, Ventilating Air Conditioning (HVAC) fan is operating based on a fan-on duration control selected by a user and after a fan-on delay selected by the user, overriding the fan-on duration control. The method comprises monitoring an occupancy sensor signal to determine an occupancy in a conditioned space served by an HVAC system and automatically overriding the fan-on duration control to save energy when the conditioned space is unoccupied. The overriding may comprise waiting until after a fan-off delay, operating the HVAC fan in auto mode based only on a thermostat call for cooling or a thermostat call for heating, controlling an economizer damper to reduce or increase outdoor airflow, and operating the HVAC fan for a variable fan-off delay after the thermostat call for cooling or heating based on the duration of the thermostat call for cooling or heating.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 19, 2024
    Publication date: December 12, 2024
    Inventors: Robert J. Mowris, James Lau
  • Patent number: 12066200
    Abstract: An occupancy fan control method to detect a Heating, Ventilating Air Conditioning (HVAC) fan is operating based on a fan-on duration control selected by a user and after a fan-on time delay selected by the user, providing at least one fan-on alarm message prior to overriding the fan-on duration control. The method further comprises monitoring an occupancy sensor signal to determine an occupancy in a conditioned space served by an HVAC system and after the fan-on time delay selected by the user, automatically overriding the fan-on duration control to save energy when the conditioned space is unoccupied. The overriding may comprise operating the HVAC fan based only on a thermostat call for cooling or heating, operating the HVAC fan for a non-zero time less time than the fan-on duration control, or operating the HVAC fan for a non-zero frequency less than the fan-on duration control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2024
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Inventors: Robert J. Mowris, James Lau
  • Patent number: 12038204
    Abstract: The ionizer feedback control converts high-voltage signals to feedback signals to monitor the corresponding high-voltage signals and compares the feedback signals to a first specification to determine whether the feedback signals are within the first specification. The ionizer varies a frequency and a duty cycle of a digital signal to control an excitation signal for a step-up transformer and modulates the frequency and the duty cycle of a step-up transformer output voltage to consistently maintain the feedback signals within the first specification and maintain the high-voltage signals within a second specification to generate consistent ion concentrations over a range of electrical signal inputs. The microprocessor calculates and reports high-voltage signals, and ion concentrations based on feedback signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2023
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2024
    Inventors: Robert J. Mowris, James Lau
  • Publication number: 20240159409
    Abstract: An occupancy fan control method to detect a Heating, Ventilating Air Conditioning (HVAC) fan is operating based on a fan-on duration control selected by a user and after a fan-on time delay selected by the user, providing at least one fan-on alarm message prior to overriding the fan-on duration control. The method further comprises monitoring an occupancy sensor signal to determine an occupancy in a conditioned space served by an HVAC system and after the fan-on time delay selected by the user, automatically overriding the fan-on duration control to save energy when the conditioned space is unoccupied. The overriding may comprise operating the HVAC fan based only on a thermostat call for cooling or heating, operating the HVAC fan for a non-zero time less time than the fan-on duration control, or operating the HVAC fan for a non-zero frequency less than the fan-on duration control.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2024
    Publication date: May 16, 2024
    Inventors: Robert J. Mowris, James Lau
  • Patent number: 11904021
    Abstract: The subject invention pertains to compositions and methods for making and use of metal-based coated nanoparticles. The metal-based, PEG-coated nanoparticles of the invention comprise folic acid molecules on their surface exercise dual functionality by specifically targeting renal tubule cells and treating renal fibrosis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
    Inventors: Chung Hang Jonathan Choi, Cecilia Ka Wing Chan, Yun Wong James Lau
  • Patent number: 11879651
    Abstract: A Heating, Ventilating Air Conditioning (HVAC) fan control method to detect an HVAC fan is controlled by at least one fan-on duration control selected by a user and provide at least one fan-on alarm message prior to overriding the at least one fan-on duration control. The method monitors an occupancy sensor signal to determine an occupancy in a conditioned space served by an HVAC system and automatically overrides the at least one fan-on duration control to save energy when the conditioned space is unoccupied. The overriding may comprise operating the HVAC fan based only on a thermostat call for cooling or a thermostat call for heating, operating the HVAC fan for less time than the at least one fan-on duration control selected by the user, and operating the HVAC fan for less frequency than the at least one fan-on duration control selected by the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Inventors: Robert J. Mowris, James Lau
  • Publication number: 20230160586
    Abstract: The ionizer feedback control converts high-voltage signals to feedback signals to monitor the corresponding high-voltage signals and compares the feedback signals to a first specification to determine whether the feedback signals are within the first specification. The ionizer varies a frequency and a duty cycle of a digital signal to control an excitation signal for a step-up transformer and modulates the frequency and the duty cycle of a step-up transformer output voltage to consistently maintain the feedback signals within the first specification and maintain the high-voltage signals within a second specification to generate consistent ion concentrations over a range of electrical signal inputs. The microprocessor calculates and reports high-voltage signals, and ion concentrations based on feedback signals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 23, 2023
    Publication date: May 25, 2023
    Inventors: Robert J. Mowris, John Walsh, James Lau
  • Publication number: 20230007808
    Abstract: An outdoor-mountable, telecommunications module, comprising: an environmentally hardened housing; telecommunications equipment encased within the housing and disposed for rotation about an axis within the housing; and a thermal load mitigation system employing (i) a heat spreader structure for thermal conduction of heat away from at least some heat-generating components of the telecommunications equipment, to a rotatable heat sink structure received within the housing, (ii) an arrangement for primarily thermal conduction of heat across a small air gap between the rotatable heatsink structure and a non-rotating heat sink structure collocated within the housing, and (iii) an arrangement for convective heat dissipation into the environment from a radiator structure disposed outside of the housing and which is in direct thermal conductive arrangement with the non-rotating heat sink structure disposed inside of the housing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2022
    Publication date: January 5, 2023
    Inventors: James Lau, Paul Mathieu
  • Publication number: 20220152220
    Abstract: The subject invention pertains to compositions and methods for making and use of metal-based coated nanoparticles. The metal-based, PEG-coated nanoparticles of the invention comprise folic acid molecules on their surface exercise dual functionality by specifically targeting renal tubule cells and treating renal fibrosis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2021
    Publication date: May 19, 2022
    Inventors: Chung Hang Jonathan Choi, Cecilia Ka Wing Chan, Yun Wong James Lau
  • Patent number: 10111722
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a task specific robot for the procedure of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). This robot has two arms with nine degrees of freedom (DOF), and the capability of tissue elevation and dissection. An optimal design of these robot arms requires the use of shape memory alloy (SMA) wire and steel wire actuators to develop an improved actuation mechanism, which enables force to be transmitted to the distal tip of the robot arms for an efficient tissue elevation and dissection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2018
    Assignee: THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
    Inventors: Chung Yan Carmen Poon, Wai Yan Philip Chiu, Yeung Yam, Yun Wong James Lau, Ka Chun Lau
  • Patent number: 9852118
    Abstract: Markup language inputs are received for generating a markup language description of an item to be rendered. The markup language inputs include in-line metadata describing a transformation to be performed on a data item before it is rendered. The markup language description, including the in-line metadata describing the transformation, is generated and presented for transformation and rendering.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Gareth A. Jones, James Lau, Srivatsa Srinivasan, Fnu Arun Sudhir
  • Patent number: 9410713
    Abstract: An integrated efficient fan controller circuit device for controlling a fan of a heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising an input-output port, a voltage regulator, a microprocessor, and a transistor wherein the transistor turns on the microprocessor that sends a trigger signal to the gate of a triac which controls the fan of an HVAC system to switch OFF the HVAC fan operation when the thermostat fan output is in float or unknown state. The proposed circuit avoids the floating state of the thermostat fan output and keeps the HVAC fan either in ON state or in OFF state. The transistor acts as a switch and the collector of the transistor is connected to the input terminal of microprocessor which controls the triac operation. The microprocessor measures the real time temperature of the system and controls the operation of the HVAC fan. The present invention handles the switching OFF of the HVAC fan operation when the thermostat fan is switched to OFF.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Inventor: James Lau
  • Publication number: 20160166343
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a task specific robot for the procedure of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). This robot has two arms with nine degrees of freedom (DOF), and the capability of tissue elevation and dissection. An optimal design of these robot arms requires the use of shape memory alloy (SMA) wire and steel wire actuators to develop an improved actuation mechanism, which enables force to be transmitted to the distal tip of the robot arms for an efficient tissue elevation and dissection.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2015
    Publication date: June 16, 2016
    Inventors: Chung Yan Carmen Poon, Wai Yan Philip Chiu, Yeung Yam, Yun Wong James Lau, Ka Chun Lau
  • Patent number: 9329847
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for implementing a programmable chip using a high-level language. Code sequences such as high-level language software critical loops are converted into read/transform/write (RXW) processes with buffer based flow control between the processes. Having separate read and write processes allows an arbitrary number of sequential reads/writes to occur in any order, subject to buffer size, allowing bursting/sequential transactions that are more efficient than random accesses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: ALTERA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jeffrey Orion Pritchard, Jarrod Colin James Blackburn, David James Lau, Philippe Molson, James L. Ball, Jesse Kempa
  • Publication number: 20150331838
    Abstract: Markup language inputs are received for generating a markup language description of an item to be rendered. The markup language inputs include in-line metadata describing a transformation to be performed on a data item before it is rendered. The markup language description, including the in-line metadata describing the transformation, is generated and presented for transformation and rendering.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 15, 2014
    Publication date: November 19, 2015
    Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Gareth A. Jones, James Lau, Srivatsa Srinivasan, Fnu Arun Sudhir
  • Publication number: 20150060038
    Abstract: An integrated efficient fan controller circuit device for controlling a fan of a heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising an input-output port, a voltage regulator, a microprocessor, and a transistor wherein the transistor turns on the microprocessor that sends a trigger signal to the gate of a triac which controls the fan of an HVAC system to switch OFF the HVAC fan operation when the thermostat fan output is in float or unknown state. The proposed circuit avoids the floating state of the thermostat fan output and keeps the HVAC fan either in ON state or in OFF state. The transistor acts as a switch and the collector of the transistor is connected to the input terminal of microprocessor which controls the triac operation. The microprocessor measures the real time temperature of the system and controls the operation of the HVAC fan. The present invention handles the switching OFF of the HVAC fan operation when the thermostat fan is switched to OFF.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2013
    Publication date: March 5, 2015
    Inventor: James Lau
  • Patent number: D722194
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Assignee: RAB Lighting Inc.
    Inventors: Vincenzo Guercio, James Lau
  • Patent number: D747525
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2016
    Assignee: RAB Lighting Inc.
    Inventors: Vincenzo Guercio, James Lau
  • Patent number: D807538
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: RAB Lighting Inc.
    Inventors: Vincenzo Guercio, Jiang Hu, James Lau
  • Patent number: D889723
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2020
    Assignee: CLEANLIFE ENERGY LLC
    Inventor: James Lau