Patents by Inventor Thomas Fink

Thomas Fink 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: 20240355598
    Abstract: A method for machine learning a detection of at least one irregularity in a plasma system, particularly an RF powered plasma processing system, including providing at least one input signal each related to an analog signal of a power delivery system for the plasma system and/or to another characteristic of the power delivery system and/or of the plasma system. The at least one input signal having at least one irregularity feature indicative of the irregularity in the plasma system, performing a machine learning procedure wherein the at least one input signal having the at least one irregularity feature is processed by a programmable circuit to train the detection of the irregularity in the plasma system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 4, 2022
    Publication date: October 24, 2024
    Inventors: Thomas Fink, André Grede, Daniel Gruner, Anton Labanc, Roland Schlierf, Nikolai Schwerg, Manuel vor dem Brocke
  • Publication number: 20240296270
    Abstract: A method for improving digital signal processing in a radio-frequency system, in particular a radio-frequency power delivery system, including providing at least one input signal, preferably related to a radio-frequency signal of the radio-frequency system, performing a processing procedure wherein the at least one input signal is repeatedly processed by a programmable circuit using at least one configurable parameter of the processing, wherein a configuration of the at least one parameter is varied for each processing of the at least one input signal to obtain respective processing results, determining at least one parameter result for an optimization of the configuration based on the processing results, and providing the at least one determined parameter result for the improved digital signal processing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 24, 2022
    Publication date: September 5, 2024
    Inventors: Nikolai Schwerg, Roland Schlierf, André Grede, Daniel Gruner, Anton Labanc, Thomas Fink, Manuel vor dem Brocke
  • Patent number: 11901160
    Abstract: A radio-frequency (RF) power variable capacitor capable of operating at, at least, 50 watts in the MHz range. The capacitor has a composite HDK-NDK ceramic dielectric. The HDK (high dielectric constant) component comprises an active matrix of barium strontium titanate, for example. Acoustic resonances are reduced or eliminated by the addition of a metal or metalloid oxide such as magnesium borate (NDK—low dielectric constant), which acts as an acoustic resonance reduction agent (ARRA) in the RF power domain. The acoustic resonances which previously occurred under bias voltage 500 V or 1100 V in prior art RF power variable capacitors are eliminated by the addition of the ARRA.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: Comet AG
    Inventors: Thomas Fink, Kevin Häuser, Holger Maune, Daniel Kienemund, Joachim Binder, Rolf Jakoby, Nicole Bohn
  • Patent number: 11496059
    Abstract: A variable voltage generator circuit is described for generating, from a substantially constant supply voltage VS, a variable high-voltage control voltage VC for a variable power capacitor (1) having a variable-permittivity dielectric. The control voltage generator circuit comprises a top-up circuit (10) for maintaining the voltage VCin on an input capacitor (12) at least at supply voltage VS, and a bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit (20) having a variable voltage conversion factor G controlled by control input signal (27). The bidirectional DC-DC converter (20) is arranged to convert voltage, at the voltage conversion factor G, between the input capacitor voltage VCin and the output voltage VC. When VC<G×VCin, the DC-DC converter circuit (20) uses charge stored in the input capacitor (12) to charge the capacitive load (1). When VC>G×VCin, the DC-DC converter circuit (20) uses charge stored in the load capacitance (1) to charge the input capacitor (12).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: COMET AG
    Inventors: Thomas Fink, Ralf Negele
  • Patent number: 11400476
    Abstract: The invention relates to a carrying device (2) for receiving pipeline elements (4) in a surface coating installation, having a main body (6), an attachment section (28) which is formed on the main body (6) and which serves for the attachment of the carrying device (2) to a ceiling-mounted conveying mechanism, and multiple cantilevers (8) extending laterally from the main body (6). Each cantilever (8) has arranged thereon a receptacle (10) with support feet (12, 12?) arranged in pairwise fashion and spaced apart from one another, wherein the support feet (12, 12?) are configured to come into contact with in each case one outer wall section of a pipeline element (14) in order to hold the pipeline element (14) between the support feet (12, 12?).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: Minimax Viking Research & Development GmbH
    Inventor: Thomas Fink
  • Publication number: 20220189739
    Abstract: A radio-frequency (RF) power variable capacitor capable of operating at, at least, 50 watts in the MHz range. The capacitor has a composite HDK-NDK ceramic dielectric. The HDK (high dielectric constant) component comprises an active matrix of barium strontium titanate, for example. Acoustic resonances are reduced or eliminated by the addition of a metal or metalloid oxide such as magnesium borate (NDK—low dielectric constant), which acts as an acoustic resonance reduction agent (ARRA) in the RF power domain. The acoustic resonances which previously occurred under bias voltage 500 V or 1100 V in prior art RF power variable capacitors are eliminated by the addition of the ARRA.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2020
    Publication date: June 16, 2022
    Inventors: Thomas Fink, Kevin Häuser, Holger Maune, Daniel Kienemund, Joachim Binder, Rolf Jakoby, Nicole Bohn
  • Patent number: 11222013
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus are disclosed for building a library of custom named entities for a database environment and using the library for processing natural language search queries. At configuration time, custom named entities are extracted or derived from a search model or the database environment. Records for the custom entities with associated database unique identifiers and tags are stored in a library. Custom entities can be based on labels of database objects, variants thereof, or domain values. At search time, a natural language query is tokenized and matched with custom entities from the library, and with other predefined named entities, to obtained structured search descriptors. For more efficient search, compound entities can be identified in the search string, comprising a custom entity and a value, or a custom entity and another token sequence. Variations and examples are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: SAP SE
    Inventors: Erika Fonseca de Lima, Juergen Hofmann, Thomas Finke
  • Publication number: 20210324976
    Abstract: A feedthrough includes: a main body having at least one passage opening that extends through the main body; at least one first functional element which is disposed within the at least one passage opening and is connected to the main body in a fluid-tight manner; and an insulation material that surrounds at least some regions of the at least one first functional element and establishes the fluid-tight connection to the main body. Within the at least one first functional element, there is a pressure-guiding channel by which pressure components that have arisen as a result of pressure are guided from within the at least one first functional element outward to the surrounding insulation material such that a pressure resistance of the fluid-tight connection of the at least one first functional element to the main body is elevated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 21, 2021
    Publication date: October 21, 2021
    Applicant: Schott AG
    Inventors: Oliver Wolfgang Fritz, Thomas Fink
  • Publication number: 20210213477
    Abstract: The invention relates to a carrying device (2) for receiving pipeline elements (4) in a surface coating installation, having a main body (6), an attachment section (28) which is formed on the main body (6) and which serves for the attachment of the carrying device (2) to a ceiling-mounted conveying mechanism, and multiple cantilevers (8) extending laterally from the main body (6). Each cantilever (8) has arranged thereon a receptacle (10) with support feet (12, 12?) arranged in pairwise fashion and spaced apart from one another, wherein the support feet (12, 12?) are configured to come into contact with in each case one outer wall section of a pipeline element (14) in order to hold the pipeline element (14) between the support feet (12, 12?).
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2019
    Publication date: July 15, 2021
    Inventor: Thomas FINK
  • Publication number: 20210149901
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus are disclosed for building a library of custom named entities for a database environment and using the library for processing natural language search queries. At configuration time, custom named entities are extracted or derived from a search model or the database environment. Records for the custom entities with associated database unique identifiers and tags are stored in a library. Custom entities can be based on labels of database objects, variants thereof, or domain values. At search time, a natural language query is tokenized and matched with custom entities from the library, and with other predefined named entities, to obtained structured search descriptors. For more efficient search, compound entities can be identified in the search string, comprising a custom entity and a value, or a custom entity and another token sequence. Variations and examples are disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2019
    Publication date: May 20, 2021
    Applicant: SAP SE
    Inventors: Erika Fonseca de Lima, Juergen Hofmann, Thomas Finke
  • Patent number: 11011350
    Abstract: A power capacitor (7) is described for use in an RF power delivery system. The power capacitor comprises at least two RF electrodes (18, 19) separated by a capacitor dielectric (17) comprising a solid paraelectric dielectric material whose relative permittivity is controllable by varying a DC bias voltage applied across the dielectric (17) at DC bias electrodes (10, 26, 28). Composite capacitor configurations, an RF power system and a method of controlling the power capacitor are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Inventors: Mike Abrecht, Thomas Fink, Walter Bigler
  • Patent number: 10795012
    Abstract: An embodiment method includes identifying a set of targets within a field of view of a millimeter-wave radar sensor based on radar data received by the millimeter-wave radar sensor; capturing radar data corresponding to the set of targets across a macro-Doppler frame; performing macro-Doppler processing on the macro-Doppler frame and determining whether a macro-Doppler signal is present in the macro-Doppler frame based on the macro-Doppler processing; capturing radar data corresponding to the set of targets across a micro-Doppler frame, wherein the micro-Doppler frame has a duration equal to a first plurality of macro-Doppler frames; performing micro-Doppler processing on the micro-Doppler frame and determining whether a micro-Doppler signal is present in the micro-Doppler frame based on the micro-Doppler processing; and activating at least one range bin of a plurality of range bins in response to a determination that at least one of the macro-Doppler signal or the micro-Doppler signal is present.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG
    Inventors: Avik Santra, Ashutosh Baheti, Thomas Finke, Reinhard-Wolfgang Jungmaier, Saverio Trotta, Raghavendran Vagarappan Ulaganathan
  • Patent number: 10761187
    Abstract: A device includes: a millimeter-wave radar sensor circuit configured to generate N virtual channels of sensed data, where N is an integer number greater than one; and a processor configured to: generate a 2D radar image of a surface in a field of view of the millimeter-wave radar sensor circuit based on sensed data from the N virtual channels of sensed data, where the 2D radar image includes azimuth and range information, generate a multi-dimensional data structure based on the 2D radar image using a transform function, compare the multi-dimensional data structure with a reference multi-dimensional data structure, and determine whether liquid is present in the field of view of the millimeter-wave radar sensor circuit based on comparing the multi-dimensional data structure with the reference multi-dimensional data structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG
    Inventors: Avik Santra, Ashutosh Baheti, Andreas Dorfner, Youn Joo Kim, Raghavendran Vagarappan Ulaganathan, Thomas Finke
  • Patent number: 10726978
    Abstract: A feed-through for high external pressure applications and methods of producing are provided. The feed-through includes a base body, a through-hole extending through the base body, and a functional element. The functional element is arranged inside the through-hole. The functional element is connected to the base body in fluid-tight manner with a pressure compensator and an insulating material that at least partially surrounds the functional element and establishes the fluid-tight connection. The pressure compensator increases pressure resistance of the fluid-tight connection of the functional element to the base body against pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: SCHOTT AG
    Inventors: Jürgen Suttner, Thomas Fink
  • Patent number: 10718860
    Abstract: A method for determining the range of an object includes transmitting successive radar chirps, adding a frequency offset to the successive radar chirps, the frequency offset being a fraction of a range frequency bin, receiving return signals, constructing frequency transforms from each of the return signals, adding each of the frequency transforms together to create a composite frequency transform, and interpolating the range of the object from a frequency peak detected in the composite frequency transform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2020
    Assignee: INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG
    Inventors: Avik Santra, Thomas Finke, Johann Peter Forstner
  • Patent number: 10618669
    Abstract: A method for determining actual aircraft ground speed may comprise receiving a reference ground speed value; receiving a wheel speed value of a nose wheel of an aircraft; comparing the wheel speed value of the nose wheel and the reference ground speed value; and/or determining the actual aircraft ground speed based on the reference ground speed value and the wheel speed value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Assignee: GOODRICH CORPORATION
    Inventor: Thomas Fink
  • Publication number: 20200007047
    Abstract: A variable voltage generator circuit is described for generating, from a substantially constant supply voltage VS, a variable high-voltage control voltage VC for a variable power capacitor (1) having a variable-permittivity dielectric. The control voltage generator circuit comprises a top-up circuit (10) for maintaining the voltage VCin on an input capacitor (12) at least at supply voltage VS, and a bidirectional DC-DC converter circuit (20) having a variable voltage conversion factor G controlled by control input signal (27). The bidirectional DC-DC converter (20) is arranged to convert voltage, at the voltage conversion factor G, between the input capacitor voltage VCin and the output voltage VC. When VC<G×VCin, the DC-DC converter circuit (20) uses charge stored in the input capacitor (12) to charge the capacitive load (1). When VC>G×VCin, the DC-DC converter circuit (20) uses charge stored in the load capacitance (1) to charge the input capacitor (12).
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 29, 2017
    Publication date: January 2, 2020
    Applicant: COMET AG
    Inventors: Thomas Fink, Ralf Negele
  • Publication number: 20190329785
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a powertrain and a controller. The powertrain includes a powerplant. The controller is programmed to, responsive to a tip-in resulting in a powertrain torque direction reversal and upon obtaining a base value of a desired powertrain lash angle, adjust a powerplant torque schedule. The controller is then subsequently programmed to adjust the desired powertrain lash angle from the base to an adjusted value based on an observed powertrain lash angle that corresponds to a maximum powertrain acceleration during the tip-in.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2018
    Publication date: October 31, 2019
    Inventors: Mary Catherine FARMER, Dennis Craig REED, Peter Douglas KUECHLER, Terry Gene FELDPAUSCH, Mitchell Thomas FINK
  • Patent number: 10457588
    Abstract: A lead-through or connecting element is provided that includes an assembly having a carrier body of a high-temperature alloy, a functional element, and an at least partially crystallized glass. The crystallized glass is between a portion of the functional element and a portion of the carrier body. The carrier body subjects the crystallized glass to a compressive stress of greater than or equal to zero, at a temperature from at least 20° C. to more than 450° C. Also provided are a method for producing a lead-through or connecting element, the use of such a lead-through or connecting element, and to a measuring device including such a lead-through or connecting element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: SCHOTT AG
    Inventors: Oliver Fritz, Georg Meier, Thomas Fink
  • Patent number: 10457291
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a powertrain and a controller. The powertrain includes a powerplant. The controller is programmed to, responsive to a tip-in resulting in a powertrain torque direction reversal and upon obtaining a base value of a desired powertrain lash angle, adjust a powerplant torque schedule. The controller is then subsequently programmed to adjust the desired powertrain lash angle from the base to an adjusted value based on an observed powertrain lash angle that corresponds to a maximum powertrain acceleration during the tip-in.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Mary Catherine Farmer, Dennis Craig Reed, Peter Douglas Kuechler, Terry Gene Feldpausch, Mitchell Thomas Fink