Patents by Inventor Thomas J. Lavan

Thomas J. Lavan 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: 5629605
    Abstract: A battery status indication circuit and a method of indicating battery status. The battery status indication circuit comprises: (1) an indicator having an inactive state and an active state and (2) an indicator modulation circuit adapted to receive a charge level signal indicating a charge level of a battery and transmit, in response thereto, a pulsewidth modulated indicator signal to the indicator, a duty cycle of the indicator signal being a function of the charge level, the indicator thereby toggling between the inactive and active states to provide an indication of the charge level. A single indicator having only two states can therefore be employed to indicate multiple grades of battery charge level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 1995
    Date of Patent: May 13, 1997
    Assignee: Dell USA, L.P.
    Inventors: Thomas J. Lavan, Jerry D. Gandre
  • Patent number: 5357624
    Abstract: A Single Inline Memory Module (SIMM) support system enables a computer system to recognize and address 1-Mbyte, 4-Mbyte and 16-Mbyte SIMMs installed in a receiving socket having only a number of pins sufficient to address the 1-Mbyte and 4-Mbyte SIMMs. The capacity of the SIMM is determined by a TYPE signal on a predetermined pin of the installed SIMM which is connected to a pull-up resistor of the SIMM support circuitry and generates a TYPE signal. If the TYPE signal is a logic low, the installed SIMM has a 1-Mbyte capacity. If the TYPE signal is a logic high, the installed SIMM has a 4-Mbyte or a 16-Mbyte capacity. In order to remain pin compatible with 1-Mbyte and 4-Mbyte SIMMs, a 16-Mbyte SIMM cannot have any additional pins to address the additional memory locations. Thus, the TYPE signal shares a pin with the most significant address bit required to address the 16-Mbyte SIMM.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 1994
    Date of Patent: October 18, 1994
    Assignee: AST Research, Inc.
    Inventor: Thomas J. Lavan