Patents by Inventor Michael Minor

Michael Minor 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: 20230406378
    Abstract: The invention provides railroad path optimization method. The method determines whether at least one switch machine from a plurality of switch machines is occupied in the at least one route and detects at least one unavailable route if the at least one switch machine is occupied. Further, the method identifies at least one desired route and at least one available route associated with an origin point and at least one desired route and at least one available route associated with a destination point to identify at least one available route for the destination point. Based on the identified available route, the method predicts the at least one optimal route and ranks the at least one predicted optimal route to enable selection of a final optimal route for travel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2023
    Publication date: December 21, 2023
    Applicant: Advanced Rail Systems, LLC
    Inventors: John Michael Minor, Gustavo Vargas
  • Publication number: 20230264724
    Abstract: The invention provides a track sensor system for a railroad. The track sensor system includes a track sensor device has, in its interior, a first actuator coupled to a first inductor via a first actuator shaft, and a second actuator coupled to a second inductor via a second actuator shaft. A power system provides power distribution to the actuators and inductors. An input/output communications and railroad computing device provide independent or additional functionality to the track sensor system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2023
    Publication date: August 24, 2023
    Applicant: Advanced Rail Systems, LLC
    Inventors: John Michael Minor, Gustavo Vargas
  • Patent number: 11568168
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to tools and methods for creating synthetic images with photo-realistic images. The disclosed face generation technology focuses on photo-realistic results by leveraging analysis of a pool of pre-selected images based on a user selection and preferences. The tools and methods as described herein include limiting the pool of pre-selected images by one or more criteria, including, for example, but not limited to gender, age, skin color, expression, etc. The pre-selection of a more curated pool of images allows a user to include a desired set of criteria and specifications that the user would want in a generated synthetic image or images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Shutterstock, Inc.
    Inventors: Rashi Khurana, Katy McLoughlin, Bryan Michael Minor
  • Publication number: 20220290322
    Abstract: A method of removing an aluminide diffusion coating from a gas turbine engine component having a nickel alloy base material may comprise: disposing the gas turbine engine component in a solution, the solution including an acid between 5% and 15% vol./vol. and water between 85% and 95% vol./vol.; placing the gas turbine engine component in electrical contact with a graphite plate; and removing the aluminide diffusion coating from the gas turbine engine component in response to placing the gas turbine engine component in electrical contact with the graphite plate and disposing the gas turbine engine component in the solution.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2021
    Publication date: September 15, 2022
    Applicant: Raytheon Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Michael Minor, Eric Stratton
  • Publication number: 20220180016
    Abstract: The disclosure includes a system and method for determining a three-dimensional (3D) structure from an image including receiving, using one or more processors, a digital surface model (DSM) image; receiving, using the one or more processors, a non-DSM image; outlining, using the one or more processors, a structure in the non-DSM image; and determining, using the one or more processors, a set of features based on the DSM image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2021
    Publication date: June 9, 2022
    Inventors: Penn T. Jenks, Masoumeh Rezaei Abkenar, Bryan Michael Minor, Michael Ulin
  • Patent number: 11073975
    Abstract: Various aspects of the subject technology relate to systems, methods, and machine-readable media for generating a user-created synthetic image. A method includes receiving input from a user onto a search field, the input relating to a desired image of the user, the search field including a user interface for specifying components of the desired image for display to the user. The method also includes identifying the components of the desired image in stock images, the stock images stored in a database. The method also includes generating the components of the desired image based on the stock images, the components located in user-specified locations of the search field. The method also includes generating the user-created synthetic image comprising the components located in user-specified locations in response to the input from the user relating to the desired image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2021
    Assignee: Shutterstock, Inc.
    Inventors: Derek Mueller, Bryan Michael Minor
  • Patent number: 11030726
    Abstract: A method including selecting, in a server, a first image portion from an image is provided. The method also includes identifying one or more known similar images associated with the first image portion, and determining a first score for enhancing the first image portion based on the known similar image(s). The method includes increasing a pixel resolution in the first image portion according to the scale to form an enhanced image portion. The method also includes identifying a synthetic value for the enhanced image portion and storing the enhanced image portion in a database when the synthetic value is below a tolerance value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2021
    Assignee: Shutterstock, Inc.
    Inventor: Bryan Michael Minor
  • Patent number: 10957017
    Abstract: A method including receiving a first image file in a network server is provided. The method also includes selecting multiple criteria in a test ensemble for the first image file and evaluating a synthetic value for the first image file according to the test ensemble. The method includes storing the first image file and the synthetic value for the first image file in a database, and providing for display the first image file and the synthetic value for the first image file in response to a search query from a user. A system and a non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions to perform the above method are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: Shutterstock, Inc.
    Inventor: Bryan Michael Minor
  • Publication number: 20200320341
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to tools and methods for creating synthetic images with photo-realistic images. The disclosed face generation technology focuses on photo-realistic results by leveraging analysis of a pool of pre-selected images based on a user selection and preferences. The tools and methods as described herein include limiting the pool of pre-selected images by one or more criteria, including, for example, but not limited to gender, age, skin color, expression, etc. The pre-selection of a more curated pool of images allows a user to include a desired set of criteria and specifications that the user would want in a generated synthetic image or images.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2019
    Publication date: October 8, 2020
    Inventors: Rashi Khurana, Katy McLoughlin, Bryan Michael Minor
  • Publication number: 20150161662
    Abstract: In the present approach, a master computing system directs slave computing systems in the purchasing of advertising within one or more online advertising channels by building a set of models for predicting the outcome of advertising purchases based on data received from the advertising channels, evaluating those models to determine which one(s) to use, allocating an advertiser's budget across the slave systems and channels for a given time period, and adjusting those allocations during the time period based on performance results received from the slave systems. In turn, the slave systems attempt to purchase advertisements within their channels based on their allocation and adjustments and report performance results back to the master system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 10, 2013
    Publication date: June 11, 2015
    Applicant: Acquisio
    Inventors: Bryan Michael Minor, Tamas Frajka
  • Patent number: 8840366
    Abstract: A preform, for repairing an abradable seal component of a gas turbine engine, includes a multilayer stack that has a first layer and a second layer. The first layer is operative to bond the multilayer stack to a structural substrate of an abradable seal. The first layer includes structural material that corresponds to a material of the structural substrate and braze material that is compatible with the structural material. The second layer includes an abradable material. The multilayer stack is operative to bond to the structural substrate of the abradable seal component during a brazing process such that the second layer forms a replacement abradable layer of the abradable seal component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Michael Minor, Jacob A. Hall
  • Patent number: 8808852
    Abstract: A process for controlling fatigue debit when coating an article includes the steps of: cleaning at least one surface of an article including a structural material; depositing a bond coat material upon at least one cleaned surface of the article to form a bond coat layer substantially free of the structural material; depositing an oxidation resistant material in the presence of an activator upon the bond coat layer at a temperature range from about 1,775° F. (968° C.) to about 1,825° F. (996° C.) to form an additive layer substantially free of the structural material; and wherein the bond coat layer and the additive layer together form a thin film, oxidation resistant coating having a thickness of at least about 0.5 mils.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: Michael Minor
  • Patent number: 8771398
    Abstract: An alloy composition includes a blend of a first alloy and a second, different alloy. The blend has a combined composition including about 17.2 wt %-24.25 wt % of chromium, about 6 wt %-10.51 wt % of aluminum, about 3 wt %-23 wt % of cobalt, about 1.5 wt %-3.6 wt % of silicon, about 0.1 wt %-0.175 wt % of boron, up to about 0.163 wt % of hafnium, about 0.075 wt %-0.7 wt % of yttrium, and a balance of nickel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: Michael Minor
  • Patent number: 8699794
    Abstract: Using methods, computer-readable storage media, and apparatuses for computer-implemented processing, a passage of text may be variably rendered. For each glyph in the passage of text, a glyph representation is varied according to a geometric transformation that was determined from statistical measurements of at least one geometric property from an ensemble of representations of the current glyph. Each varied glyph representation is included in renderable output data, such that when the passage of text is rendered to an output device, a given rendered representation of a given glyph subtly differs from other rendered representations of the given glyph.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2014
    Assignee: Gracious Eloise, Inc.
    Inventors: Eloise Bune D'Agostino, Michael Bennett D'Agostino, Bryan Michael Minor, Tamas Frajka, Michel Francois Pettigrew
  • Publication number: 20130272483
    Abstract: A pedestal plug is sized to fit into a cladding of a nuclear fuel rod. A lower end plug is sized and shaped to plug the lower end of the nuclear fuel rod. One of the pedestal plug and the lower end plug includes a protrusion and the other of the pedestal plug and the lower end plug includes a hollow region into which the protrusion fits. In one embodiment the pedestal plug is a hollow cylindrical pedestal plug and the protrusion is disposed on the lower end plug. The protrusion disposed on the lower end plug suitably press fits into the hollow cylindrical pedestal plug. In a method of assembling a fuel rod of a nuclear reactor, the pedestal plug and the lower end plug are press fit together, and after the press fitting the lower end plug is welded to a cladding of the fuel rod with the pedestal plug disposed inside the cladding.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2012
    Publication date: October 17, 2013
    Applicant: BABCOCK & WILCOX MPOWER, INC.
    Inventors: William E. Russell, Earl B. Barger, Roger D. Ridgeway, Jeffrey W. Austin, D. MIchael Minor, Jeffrey T. Lee
  • Publication number: 20130251263
    Abstract: Using methods, computer-readable storage media, and apparatuses for computer-implemented processing, a passage of text may be variably rendered. For each glyph in the passage of text, a glyph representation is varied according to a geometric transformation that was determined from statistical measurements of at least one geometric property from an ensemble of representations of the current glyph. Each varied glyph representation is included in renderable output data, such that when the passage of text is rendered to an output device, a given rendered representation of a given glyph subtly differs from other rendered representations of the given glyph.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 7, 2013
    Publication date: September 26, 2013
    Applicant: GRACIOUS ELOISE, INC.
    Inventors: Eloise Bune D'AGOSTINO, Michael Bennett D'AGOSTINO, Bryan Michael MINOR, Tamas FRAJKA, Michel Francois PETTIGREW
  • Patent number: 8453325
    Abstract: A method of repairing an abradable, nickel single crystal material having an abraded surface area by applying a diffusion layer to the abraded surface area comprising a nickel-based alloy having a quantity of an additional element selected from silicon and boron; and also applying an abradable layer to the material comprising a cobalt-based alloy to restore the abraded surface area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2013
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Michael Minor, Scott Hlavaty
  • Patent number: 8366386
    Abstract: A method of processing turbine airfoils includes depositing a protective coating on first and second turbine airfoils, and bonding the first and second turbine airfoils together after the deposition such that there is an open throat between the first and second turbine airfoil and at least portions of surfaces in the open throat are coated with the protective coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Daniel E. Quinn, David J. Hiskes, Carl W. Mercier, Michael Minor, Paul M. Pellet, Michael L. Miller
  • Patent number: 8365405
    Abstract: Methods for repairing abradable seals of gas turbine engines include providing an abradable seal component of a gas turbine engine, the seal component having a structural substrate; providing a first preform to restore the structural substrate; and providing a second preform to form an abradable layer of the component. Preforms include a multilayer stack having a first layer and a second layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: United Technologies Corp.
    Inventors: Michael Minor, Jacob A. Hall
  • Patent number: 8354176
    Abstract: A metallic coating for protecting a substrate from high temperature oxidation and hot corrosion environments comprising about 2.5 to about 13.5 wt. % cobalt, about 12 to about 27 wt. % chromium, about 5 to about 7 wt. % aluminum, about 0.0 to about 1.0 wt. % yttrium, about 0.0 to about 1.0 wt. % hafnium, about 1.0 to about 3.0 wt. % silicon, about 0.0 to about 4.5 wt. % tantalum, about 0.0 to about 6.5 wt. % tungsten, about 0.0 to about 2.0 wt. % rhenium, about 0.0 to about 1.0 wt. % molybdenum and the balance nickel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Michael Minor, Paul M. Pellet, Michael L. Miller, Brian S. Tryon