Patents by Inventor Thomas A. Hardy

Thomas A. Hardy 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: 11960036
    Abstract: A processing system for processing signals from a plurality of transducers of an ultrasonic sensor in order to determine characteristic information relating to an object detected by the ultrasonic sensor is provided. The system comprises a coupling device for transforming the signals received from the transducers into pulses, and a pulse processing unit for determining the characteristic information based on the pulses delivered by the coupling device. The coupling device comprises: a thresholding unit for applying, for each signal received from a transducer, thresholding to a signal derived from the signal received from the transducer and extracting directional information contained in the phase of the derived signal; a transformation unit for transforming the derived signal into pulses containing the phase of the signal, using the information extracted by the thresholding unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES
    Inventors: Emmanuel Hardy, Bruno Fain, Thomas Mesquida, François Rummens, Elisa Vianello
  • Patent number: 11615378
    Abstract: There is provided a method of representing new email messages on a communication device having a display. This method comprises setting a new message flag when an email message is received by the device; and displaying a new message indicator on the display when the new message flag is set. The new message indicator can be displayed on a home screen on the display. The new message flag can be unset when a messages screen is selected on the device. A computer readable memory having recorded thereon instructions to carry out this method is also provided, as well as a device comprising such memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Michael Thomas Hardy, Ronald Scotte Zinn, Gerhard Dietrich Klassen
  • Publication number: 20220113995
    Abstract: An example device includes a display to output a common graphical user interface (GUI) of a common application to manage communications applications. The communications applications include a first communications application that includes a first GUI. The device further includes a processor coupled to the display. The processor is to monitor an audio session state of the first communications application. The processor is further to deactivate the first GUI and activate the common GUI in response to detection of an expired state as the audio session state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2019
    Publication date: April 14, 2022
    Applicant: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Andre da Fonte Lopes da Silva, Walter Flores Pereira, Carol Tatsuko Ozaki, Richard Edward Hodges, Thomas Hardy Simes
  • Patent number: 11023678
    Abstract: A user interface and method for composing a message to be sent over a wireless network environment using a handheld device is disclosed. According to the method, upon receipt of a user request to compose a message, a screen is displayed with a recipient field for a recipient address, an associated label to indicate that the recipient field is for a recipient address, and a message body field for holding message content. The method further includes, upon each keystroke entry of text to the recipient field, looking up entries from an address book which match the text, and displaying a selection menu representing addresses from at least a portion of the entries as well as cached entries previously looked up from a global address book.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Theodore Van Belle, Scotte Zinn, Andrew Douglas Bocking, Michael Thomas Hardy
  • Publication number: 20200073930
    Abstract: A user interface and method for composing a message to be sent over a wireless network environment using a handheld device is disclosed. According to the method, upon receipt of a user request to compose a message, a screen is displayed with a recipient field for a recipient address, an associated label to indicate that the recipient field is for a recipient address, and a message body field for holding message content. The method further includes, upon each keystroke entry of text to the recipient field, looking up entries from an address book which match the text, and displaying a selection menu representing addresses from at least a portion of the entries as well as cached entries previously looked up from a global address book.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 7, 2019
    Publication date: March 5, 2020
    Inventors: Theodore VAN BELLE, Scotte ZINN, Andrew Douglas BOCKING, Michael Thomas HARDY
  • Patent number: 10474754
    Abstract: A user interface and method for composing a message to be sent over a wireless network environment using a handheld device is disclosed. According to the method, upon receipt of a user request to compose a message, a screen is displayed with a recipient field for a recipient address, an associated label to indicate that the recipient field is for a recipient address, and a message body field for holding message content. The method further includes, upon each keystroke entry of text to the recipient field, looking up entries from an address book which match the text, and displaying a selection menu representing addresses from at least a portion of the entries as well as cached entries previously looked up from a global address book.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Theodore Van Belle, Scotte Zinn, Andrew Douglas Bocking, Michael Thomas Hardy
  • Patent number: 10475617
    Abstract: A folded-waveguide slow-wave structure equipped with an internal load, includes a central plate comprising a rectilinear beam tunnel of same direction as the longitudinal axis of the central plate, and a serpentine-shaped folded slit having its folds in the direction of the width of the waveguide; a lower plate and an upper plate closing the waveguide, the plates being placed on and under the central plate, respectively; at least one groove of cross section that may be variable, produced along the longitudinal axis of the waveguide, in at least one face internal to the waveguide of the lower plate, the upper plate or the central plate, and at least partially comprising a lossy material; in order to form a closed slow-wave structure through which propagates a hybrid slow wave the amplitude of which is attenuated by at least 20 dB between the start and the end of the portion of the one or more grooves containing a lossy material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: THALES
    Inventors: Alain Durand, Thomas Hardy
  • Publication number: 20190164714
    Abstract: A folded-waveguide slow-wave structure equipped with an internal load, includes a central plate comprising a rectilinear beam tunnel of same direction as the longitudinal axis of the central plate, and a serpentine-shaped folded slit having its folds in the direction of the width of the waveguide; a lower plate and an upper plate closing the waveguide, the plates being placed on and under the central plate, respectively; at least one groove of cross section that may be variable, produced along the longitudinal axis of the waveguide, in at least one face internal to the waveguide of the lower plate, the upper plate or the central plate, and at least partially comprising a lossy material; in order to form a closed slow-wave structure through which propagates a hybrid slow wave the amplitude of which is attenuated by at least 20 dB between the start and the end of the portion of the one or more grooves containing a lossy material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2018
    Publication date: May 30, 2019
    Inventors: Alain DURAND, Thomas HARDY
  • Publication number: 20180144306
    Abstract: There is provided a method of representing new email messages on a communication device having a display. This method comprises setting a new message flag when an email message is received by the device; and displaying a new message indicator on the display when the new message flag is set. The new message indicator can be displayed on a home screen on the display. The new message flag can be unset when a messages screen is selected on the device. A computer readable memory having recorded thereon instructions to carry out this method is also provided, as well as a device comprising such memory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2018
    Publication date: May 24, 2018
    Applicant: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Michael Thomas HARDY, Ronald Scotte ZINN, Gerhard Dietrich KLASSEN
  • Publication number: 20180129644
    Abstract: A user interface and method for composing a message to be sent over a wireless network environment using a handheld device is disclosed. According to the method, upon receipt of a user request to compose a message, a screen is displayed with a recipient field for a recipient address, an associated label to indicate that the recipient field is for a recipient address, and a message body field for holding message content. The method further includes, upon each keystroke entry of text to the recipient field, looking up entries from an address book which match the text, and displaying a selection menu representing addresses from at least a portion of the entries as well as cached entries previously looked up from a global address book.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2018
    Publication date: May 10, 2018
    Inventors: Theodore VAN BELLE, Ronald Scotte ZINN, Andrew Douglas BOCKING, Michael Thomas HARDY
  • Patent number: 9892381
    Abstract: There is provided a method of representing new email messages on a communication device having a display. This method comprises setting a new message flag when an email message is received by the device; and displaying a new message indicator on the display when the new message flag is set. The new message indicator can be displayed on a home screen on the display. The new message flag can be unset when a messages screen is selected on the device. A computer readable memory having recorded thereon instructions to carry out this method is also provided, as well as a device comprising such memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Michael Thomas Hardy, R. Scotte Zinn, Gerhard Klassen
  • Patent number: 9805341
    Abstract: Embodiments of a system, method, and user interface for searching for messages with attachments on mobile devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, a messaging application is programmed such that, in operation, a user is presented with a search screen in which the user may define search parameters for a search. A search parameter associated with an option to search for messages of a specified type is provided, and more specifically, an option to search for messages (e.g. electronic mail messages) having one or more attachments is made available to the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
    Inventors: Michael Thomas Hardy, Andrew Douglas Bocking
  • Patent number: 9721234
    Abstract: An event providing apparatus includes a storage device in communicating with a date/time detector module. The detector module detects a condition that at least a portion of information stored on the storage device could be mapped to an event, identifies date and time entries in the information, and generates a hyperlink to open an application for creating an event for each entry, the date and time being provided to the application to generate the event directly from the information. The apparatus also includes a display for displaying the time and date in the form of the hyperlink; and a prompter module communicating with the detector module for automatically providing a prompt related to the event in response to selection of the hyperlink. In response to user interaction with the user prompt, the application is started and the event based on the hyperlinked date and time is created.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: David Noel Vanden Heuvel, Darrell Reginald May, Michael Thomas Hardy, Lap Luu
  • Patent number: 9594916
    Abstract: A method and devices for providing secure data backup from a mobile communication device to an external computing device is described. In one embodiment, there is provided a method of backing up data from a mobile communication device, the method comprising: receiving from an enterprise server an information technology (IT) policy message which includes an encryption key; storing the encryption key in a protected memory of the mobile communication device; receiving a request to backup data stored on the mobile communication device; encrypting the data using the encryption key stored in the protected memory; and transferring the encrypted data from the mobile communication device to an electronic device for storage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Michael Kenneth Brown, Andrew Douglas Bocking, Scott William Totzke, David Francis Tapuska, Ronald Scotte Zinn, Maxime Matton, Michael Thomas Hardy, George Dos Santos, Christopher James Runstedler
  • Patent number: 9471199
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for modifying notification settings on a mobile electronic device is provided, the mobile electronic device comprising a processing unit, a display, a memory, an input device, and at least one notification device. It is determined that the at least one notification device has been activated using a given notification setting. A menu list is responsively changed to include a notification setting change option, the menu list associated with the input device and stored in the memory, such that when the input device is activated, the display is controlled by the processing unit to provide a representation of the menu list such that the notification setting option can be selected and the given notification setting changed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2016
    Assignee: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
    Inventors: Raymond Paul Vander Veen, David Paul Yach, Michael Thomas Hardy
  • Patent number: 9380167
    Abstract: A data transmission cap represents a maximum amount of data that can be transmitted to and/or from a communication device during a subscriber billing cycle without incurring a penalty under a subscriber rate plan. To limit data transmission to and/or from the communication device as the data transmission cap is approached, a graphical user interface (GUI) is displayed. The GUI includes one or more GUI controls for selecting a data transmission limiting tactic from a plurality of distinct data transmission limiting tactics and for specifying a data transmission threshold at which the selected tactic is to take effect, the threshold being below the operative cap. Upon user interaction with the GUI control(s), user input indicating the selected data transmission tactic and specified data transmission threshold is received.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Christopher James Runstedler, Michael Thomas Hardy, Rohit Rocky Jain, Aaron David Scriver
  • Publication number: 20160148169
    Abstract: An event providing apparatus includes a storage device in communicating with a date/time detector module. The detector module detects a condition that at least a portion of information stored on the storage device could be mapped to an event, identifies date and time entries in the information, and generates a hyperlink to open an application for creating an event for each entry, the date and time being provided to the application to generate the event directly from the information. The apparatus also includes a display for displaying the time and date in the form of the hyperlink; and a prompter module communicating with the detector module for automatically providing a prompt related to the event in response to selection of the hyperlink. In response to user interaction with the user prompt, the application is started and the event based on the hyperlinked date and time is created.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2016
    Publication date: May 26, 2016
    Inventors: David Noel VANDEN HEUVEL, Darrell Reginald MAY, Michael Thomas HARDY, Lap LUU
  • Patent number: 9344394
    Abstract: To perform thread-based message prioritization, metadata may be extracted from a received electronic message. Based on the extracted message metadata and accumulated metadata extracted from previously received messages, a message thread to which the received electronic message belongs may be identified. Based on a set of thread priority assessment criteria, a priority level for the message thread may be determined. At least part of the message thread may be processed according to the priority level. The processing may be altering a notification behavior of an electronic messaging client for electronic messages of the message thread. Thread priority assessment may be based on user-configurable criteria that may be set via a graphical user interface. Message thread identification may also be based on user-configurable criteria that may be set via a graphical user interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Michael Thomas Hardy, Piotr Konrad Tysowski, Atif Khan
  • Patent number: 9344388
    Abstract: This relates to a method for operating a mobile station. The method includes grouping two or more member addresses into a group. The group is presented as a group data in a transient data list. A selection of an option to open a messaging session with the group is selected. A messaging session is opened, with the member addresses of the selected group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Michael Thomas Hardy, Craig A. Dunk, Gerhard Dietrich Klassen
  • Patent number: D776521
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2017
    Assignee: PCDB, LLC
    Inventors: Carl Thomas Hardy, Thomas Wright Thayer