Patents by Inventor Joseph D. Nix

Joseph D. Nix 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: 9279540
    Abstract: A storage system, including an outer casing having an evacuated inner volume; a vessel for storage located within the outer casing and having a plurality of protrusions distributed on an outer surface thereof; and a plurality of filamentary strands spanning the inner volume, wherein at least some of the plurality of protrusions are essentially tangentially contacted by a plurality of the filamentary strands to secure the vessel in six degrees of freedom relative to the outer casing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2016
    Assignee: BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Michael Wallace Verhulst, Joseph D. Nix, Christopher W. Smith
  • Publication number: 20150136788
    Abstract: A storage system, including an outer casing having an evacuated inner volume; a vessel for storage located within the outer casing and having a plurality of protrusions distributed on an outer surface thereof; and a plurality of filamentary strands spanning the inner volume, wherein at least some of the plurality of protrusions are essentially tangentially contacted by a plurality of the filamentary strands to secure the vessel in six degrees of freedom relative to the outer casing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2014
    Publication date: May 21, 2015
    Inventors: Michael Wallace VERHULST, Joseph D. NIX, Christopher W. SMITH
  • Patent number: 9001979
    Abstract: An electronic advertising system anonymously directs the attention of a user to content provided by an advertiser, in exchange for subsequently permitting the same user to access otherwise restricted desirable content of another part. Such desirable content may include online entertainment media, digital video content, social media, news media, and other privileged services or data. The user accumulates points, or virtual currency, in exchange for viewing the advertisements of vendor affiliates of the present system. The user may then spend previously accumulated points, or virtual currency, in order to access desirable content of redeemer affiliates of the present system. The present system further facilitates financial transactions between the system operator, vendor affiliates, and redeemer affiliates, relative to the movement of virtual currency amongst the various parties.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Inventors: Joseph D. Nix, Michael Wallace Verhulst, Donald Charles Ganiere, Matthew Wayne Cox, Christopher Warren Smith, Thomas Nathaniel Supple
  • Patent number: 8991150
    Abstract: A propulsion device including a chamber that stores a superfluid, a substrate coupled to a portion of the chamber, a plurality of orifices extending through the substrate, each of the plurality of orifices having a first end and a second end opposite the first end, the first end disposed in an interior of the chamber and the second end disposed outside the chamber; and a pressure source that generates a pressure differential between the first end of each of the plurality of orifices and the second end of each of the plurality of orifices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois University
    Inventors: Michael Wallace Verhulst, Joseph D. Nix, Christopher W. Smith
  • Patent number: 8991636
    Abstract: A storage system, including an outer casing having an evacuated inner volume; a vessel for storage located within the outer casing and having a plurality of protrusions distributed on an outer surface thereof; and a plurality of filamentary strands spanning the inner volume, wherein at least some of the plurality of protrusions are essentially tangentially contacted by a plurality of the filamentary strands to secure the vessel in six degrees of freedom relative to the outer casing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois University
    Inventors: Michael Wallace Verhulst, Joseph D. Nix, Christopher W. Smith
  • Publication number: 20140263355
    Abstract: A storage system, including an outer casing having an evacuated inner volume; a vessel for storage located within the outer casing and having a plurality of protrusions distributed on an outer surface thereof; and a plurality of filamentary strands spanning the inner volume, wherein at least some of the plurality of protrusions are essentially tangentially contacted by a plurality of the filamentary strands to secure the vessel in six degrees of freedom relative to the outer casing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Inventors: Michael Wallace VERHULST, Joseph D. NIX, Christopher W. SMITH
  • Publication number: 20140026535
    Abstract: A propulsion device including a chamber that stores a superfluid, a substrate coupled to a portion of the chamber, a plurality of orifices extending through the substrate, each of the plurality of orifices having a first end and a second end opposite the first end, the first end disposed in an interior of the chamber and the second end disposed outside the chamber; and a pressure source that generates a pressure differential between the first end of each of the plurality of orifices and the second end of each of the plurality of orifices.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 27, 2012
    Publication date: January 30, 2014
    Applicant: Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois University
    Inventors: Michael Wallace VERHULST, Joseph D. Nix, Christopher W. Smith
  • Publication number: 20120191518
    Abstract: An electronic advertising system anonymously directs the attention of a user to content provided by an advertiser, in exchange for subsequently permitting the same user to access otherwise restricted desirable content of another part. Such desirable content may include online entertainment media, digital video content, social media, news media, and other privileged services or data. The user accumulates points, or virtual currency, in exchange for viewing the advertisements of vendor affiliates of the present system. The user may then spend previously accumulated points, or virtual currency, in order to access desirable content of redeemer affiliates of the present system. The present system further facilitates financial transactions between the system operator, vendor affiliates, and redeemer affiliates, relative to the movement of virtual currency amongst the various parties.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2010
    Publication date: July 26, 2012
    Inventors: Joseph D. Nix, Michael Wallace Verhulst, Christopher Warren Smith, Thomas Nathaniel Supple, Donald Charles Ganiere, Matthew Wayne Cox