Abstract: An embodiment of this disclosure provides an apparatus. The apparatus includes a memory element configured to store a plurality of products and services and a processor. The processor is configured to receive profile information for a user accessing a plurality of video content. The processor is also configured to receive video content information for each of the plurality of video content being accessed by the user in a smart viewer. The video content information identifies at least one category associated with each of the plurality of video content. The processor is also configured to identify one or more of the plurality of products or services based on the profile information and the at least one category of the video content information. The processor is also configured to send the one or more of the plurality of products or services to the smart viewer.

Abstract: A beverage can with an ingredient chamber for storing functional ingredients separately from a base beverage until the beverage can is opened by a consumer. The ingredient chamber may be disposed on a can end of the beverage can. The ingredient chamber may be broken open to release functional ingredients automatically when the beverage can is opened by the consumer. In some embodiments, the ingredient chamber includes a membrane that forms a sealed cavity. In some embodiments, the ingredient chamber includes a deformed cavity of the can end.

Abstract: A one way door animal excluder includes an elongated enclosure to support a door within. The door pivots between an open and a closed position wherein an animal can push the door open from only one side. A top plate is fitted atop the enclosure and crimped at flanges of the top plate, with at least one flange also crimped around a hinge wire of the door to form a pivotal attachment of the door to the enclosure. The top plate includes an opening with tabs extending therein to form a spring mandrel to support a torsion spring. The torsion spring biases the door to close. The spring includes a loosely wound coil that may be temporarily compressed to install upon the tabs. An upward extending hump of the top plate is positioned adjacent to the spring coil to protect the spring coil structure.

Abstract: A system for an icing resistant sensor port assembly includes shaped and patterned features for resisting the formation and propagation of ice around a sensor port, such as for a pressure sensor in an aircraft fuel tank. Water may be present in fuel tanks due to condensation and other factors. The water, being heavier than fuel, such as jet fuel, sinks to the bottom of the tank and may be present around the sensor port. If the water completely fills the pressure port, it may damage the sensor. In various embodiments, an inlet assembly having a cone-shaped countersink, sharp edges that reduce surface area, anti-wetting coatings, and slots to allow fluid flow within the inlet assembly, among other features, may be used to help resist ice formation and propagation around a sensor port.

Abstract: A proximity sensor assembly includes a multilayer printed wiring board proximity sensor, the proximity sensor being operable as either a variable-reluctance sensor or an eddy current loss sensor. The proximity sensor includes a plurality of layers configured to form at least one wound coil disposed about at least a portion of a core. The coils are electrically driven to generate an alternating magnetic field such that the inductance of the coils changes when a permeable or conductive object is moved in relation to the magnetic field. The change in inductance is recognized and used to detect the proximity and presence of an object relative to the sensor.

Abstract: A method of fabricating a multilayer wiring board proximity sensor includes forming a laminate, and fabricating a plurality of through-conductors through the layers of the laminate. The laminate has a plurality of layers including one or more core layers and a plurality of coil layers. Each core layer includes a core pattern formed of a permeable material, and each coil layer comprises at least one coil trace formed of a conducting material. Thus, the through-conductors may be fabricated through the layers of the laminate such that the coil traces are interconnected by the through-conductors to thereby form one or more coils disposed about at least a portion of the core patterns of the core layers.

Abstract: An inductive proximity sensor comprises: a housing including an opening on one side; an inductive core including two legs, each core leg including a foot portion; an inductive coil wound bobbin disposed about each leg of the core, each bobbin including an integral ledge cantilevered from an inside surface of the bobbin for forming a pocket under the integral ledge at a bottom of the bobbin for containing the foot portion of the corresponding core leg; a thruster element including a top surface and two legs, each thruster leg disposed into a respective bobbin resting on the integral ledge thereof, the core, wound bobbins and thruster element disposed in the housing; a spring element disposed on the top surface of the thruster element at the housing opening; and a housing cover disposed over the housing opening for compressing the spring element against the thruster element which renders the core and wound bobbins in a fixed relationship to each other in the housing.

Abstract: A system for inserting and extracting a plug-in module into and from an electronic equipment subrack is disclosed. In certain embodiments, the system includes an actuation device, an arm including a first guiding surface, and a second guiding surface on the module. At least a portion of the actuation device is located proximate a front edge of the module, while the arm is located proximate a rear edge of the module along which connectors are positioned. As the actuation device is moved in one direction, the arm is forced toward the module, causing the guiding surfaces to interact so that the arm engages a retaining component on the subrack. Opposite movement of the actuation device causes the arm to push away and disengage from the module. The actuation device in certain embodiments includes a lever and a drag link, or a push-pull rod coupled to a drag link.

Abstract: A lightweight row transfer protocol is described that can be easily handled by thin clients, such as JAVA™ applications using CORBA. The lightweight row transfer protocol serves to reduce bandwidth requirements by applying compression techniques to reduce the number of column lengths in a “result set” of rows that are transmitted from one computer to another.

Abstract: An approach is described for improved security during data replication, in which a refresh program runs in the security domain of a trusted user. The refresh program first checks to see if the requesting user actually owns the snapshot before reconciling differences in refreshing a snapshot. Untrusted users are granted only connect privileges and the ability to run a refresh program.

Abstract: An ultrasonic transducer is disclosed comprising a layer of piezoresonator material capable of transmitting from a top surface thereof an ultrasonic pulse into a tank of liquid and receiving at the top surface reflections of the transmitted pulse from the liquid; and a matching layer of pure crystalline Boron Nitride disposed on the top surface. The pure crystalline Boron Nitride layer is operative to match the acoustic impedances of the piezoresonator material and the tank liquid about the operational frequency passband of the ultrasonic pulse. The ultrasonic transducer may be disposed in an assembly for measuring a quantity of liquid in the tank.

Abstract: Replication for front office automation involves the use of snapshots that are instantiated on laptops, in which refreshing the snapshots is driven from a master site with a high-performance protocol. All of the necessary snapshot metadata for performing the snapshot refreshes is stored at the master site, so that the laptop only needs to send a single refresh request. In response to the refresh request, the master site reconciles the differences between the master tables and the laptop's snapshots and transmits the differences to the laptop, reducing the necessary network traffic for updating a snapshot to a single round trip.

Abstract: Replication for front office automation involves the use of snapshots that are instantiated on laptops, in which refreshing the snapshots is driven from a master site with a high-performance protocol. All of the necessary snapshot metadata for performing the snapshot refreshes is stored at the master site, so that the laptop only needs to send a single refresh request. In response to the refresh request, the master site reconciles the differences between the master tables and the laptop's snapshots and transmits the differences to the laptop, reducing the necessary network traffic for updating a snapshot to a single round trip.

Abstract: Apparatus for detecting relative displacement includes a first magnet for producing a first magnetic field along an axis; a second magnet for producing a second magnetic field along the axis; the first and second magnetic fields interacting to produce a position-dependent magnetic field along the axis; a sensor disposed for detecting the position-dependent magnetic field; and a movable element for causing relative displacement between the position-dependent magnetic field and the sensor. In a preferred embodiment, the sensor is a magneto-optic sensor.

Abstract: Apparatus for detecting ferromagnetic debris in a fluid medium in a container includes a plug attachable to the container and having an associated magnetic field preferably produced by a permanent magnet. The plug is at least partly exposed to the fluid to capture debris in the fluid. The apparatus further includes a portable sensor for optically sensing the captured debris, with the sensor having a probe that is connectable to the plug. A method for using such apparatus is provided, and in general a method of detecting ferromagnetic particles in a fluid medium in a container includes the steps of: a) magnetically capturing particles from the fluid using a plug with the container, and b) interrogating the plug with light for captured particles using a portable probe.

Abstract: A method for making conductive toner particles includes (A) heat treating in fluidized bed processing equipment a mixture of non-conductive toner particles containing a thermoplastic resin and a colorant, and an effective amount of conductive powder blended with and coated on surfaces of the non-conductive toner particles, wherein the heat treatment is carried out at a temperature at or above the glass transition temperature of the resin for a period of time at least sufficient to fuse the conductive powder onto the surfaces of the non-conductive toner particles, and then (B) cooling the heated conductive toner particles to a temperature below the glass transition temperature of the resin. The final toner particles have a conductivity of at least about 10.sup.-8 ohm.sup.-1 -cm.sup.-1 and preferably from about 10.sup.-4 to about 10.sup.-8 ohm.sup.-1 -cm.sup.-1.

Abstract: A system is disclosed that monitors the concentration of material in a fluid carrier which includes means for circulating the fluid carrier within a substantially closed loop system and means for measuring the concentration of material carried in the fluid. The measuring means includes means to detect rapid changes in transmissivity of the fluid carrier, which are indicative of the presence of entrained air bubbles in the fluid carrier, so that measurements of material concentrate under such conditions may be ignored or rejected. Further, to ensure that an accurate measurement of concentrated material depletion is being observed, more than one consecutive measurement is made and validated before concentrate is finally added to the fluid carrier in the system. In the preferred embodiment, the determination of whether air bubbles may be entrained in the fluid carrier is accomplished by determining a disparity between two consecutively measured samples to have been greater than a predetermined value.

Abstract: A multi-layered package for a magnetic domain device including self-contained in-plane switching magnetic field coils surrounding one or more magnetic domain device chips and a permanent magnet surrounding the switching magnetic field coils. The switching coils are formed by two printed circuit layers, each layer comprising an insulating substrate having striped conductive patterns orthogonally oriented relative to each other on the opposite surfaces of the insulating layer. The ends of the striped conductors on one printed circuit layer are connected to the ends of the corresponding striped pattern on the other printed circuit layer so as to form one of the switching coils. The ends of the other pair of striped conductive patterns are similarly connected to form the second switching coil. The magnetic domain device chips are placed inside the formed switching coils which, in turn, are surrounded by the permanent magnet.

Abstract: In apparatus for controlling the supply of power from an alternating current electrical supply of at least three phases to a resistive load, the load is so arranged that there exist current paths both between each phase connection of the load and two adjacent phase connections of the load and between each phase connection of the load and a common point which is directly connected to the neutral of the supply. The switching means for connecting each phase of the load to the corresponding phase of the supply is arranged to change from a non-conducting to a conducting state only when the voltage across such switching means is substantially zero, and to change from a conducting to a non-conducting state only when the current through each switching means is substantially zero.