Patents by Inventor Thomas Nichols

Thomas Nichols 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: 20250098567
    Abstract: A harvester implement includes a linkage system supporting a harvester head, and a float system having an internal fluid pressure that is controllable to achieve a ground contact force between the harvester head and the ground surface. A controller is operable to receive a user defined input commanding a desired ground contact force, and define an initial value of the internal fluid pressure to achieve the desired ground contact force. The controller may then automatically detect a change in an operating parameter of the harvester head during operation, and automatically re-define the initial value of the internal fluid pressure to provide an adjusted value of the internal fluid pressure to maintain the desired ground contact force based on the detected change in the operating parameter of the harvester head during operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2023
    Publication date: March 27, 2025
    Inventors: ETHAN C. CONRAD, THOMAS A. NICHOLS
  • Patent number: 12254989
    Abstract: A wearable treatment and analysis module is provided. The module is positioned on or near a body surface region of interest. The module provides remote access to sensor data, treatment administration, and/or other health care regimens via a network connection with a user device and/or management system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2025
    Assignee: PREH Holding, LLC
    Inventor: Thomas Nichols
  • Patent number: 12237149
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a system used in a semiconductor device manufacturing process. More specifically, embodiments provided herein generally include apparatus and methods for synchronizing and controlling the delivery of an RF bias signal and a pulsed voltage waveform to one or more electrodes within a plasma processing chamber. The apparatus and methods disclosed herein can be useful to at least minimize or eliminate a microloading effect created while processing small dimension features that have differing densities across various regions of a substrate. The plasma processing methods and apparatus described herein are configured to improve the control of various characteristics of the generated plasma and control an ion energy distribution (IED) of the plasma generated ions that interact with a surface of a substrate during plasma processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2025
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Deyang Li, Sunil Srinivasan, Yi-Chuan Chou, Shahid Rauf, Kuan-Ting Liu, Jason A. Kenney, Chung Liu, Olivier P. Joubert, Shreeram Jyoti Dash, Aaron Eppler, Michael Thomas Nichols
  • Publication number: 20250038888
    Abstract: An apparatus for marking errors in FlexO/ZR data includes circuitry configured to receive an Open Forward Error Correction (OFEC) block, decode a plurality of checksums in a payload area of the OFEC block, detect errors in the payload area based on the decoded plurality of checksums, and mark the detected errors in the payload area. The plurality of checksums are added during adaptation of the FlexO/ZR data to the OFEC block.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2024
    Publication date: January 30, 2025
    Applicant: Ciena Corporation
    Inventors: Sebastien Gareau, Jeffery Thomas Nichols
  • Patent number: 12167122
    Abstract: A personal care system having a treatment device for applying a treatment to the skin or hair of a user is provided. The treatment device has a camera for taking an image of the skin. The system may include or be in communication with an application programming interface (API) that can process the image. The system or an associated API can recommend the use of treatment regimens or topical products according to information determined from the digital image of the skin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2024
    Assignee: PREH Holding, LLC
    Inventor: Thomas Nichols
  • Publication number: 20240395413
    Abstract: A wearable treatment and analysis module is provided. The module is positioned on or near a body surface region of interest. The module provides remote access to sensor data, treatment administration, and/or other health care regimens via a network connection with a user device and/or management system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2023
    Publication date: November 28, 2024
    Inventor: Thomas Nichols
  • Patent number: 12149352
    Abstract: Systems and methods include receiving (51) blocks of data that has been Forward Error Correction (FEC) encoded via Open Forward Error Correction (OFEC) adaptation; decoding (52) the blocks of data; processing (53) checksum data that is included in padding data required in the OFEC adaptation, wherein the padding data is distributed across N rows of payload data; and determining (54) a location of any errors in the payload data based on the processed checksum data. The OFEC adaptation is for mapping the blocks of data into any of a FlexO structure, a ZR structure, and variants thereof, and the location of any errors can be used for error marking.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2024
    Assignee: Ciena Corporation
    Inventors: Sebastien Gareau, Jeffery Thomas Nichols
  • Publication number: 20240298086
    Abstract: A personal care system having a treatment device for applying a treatment to the skin or hair of a user is provided. The treatment device has a camera for taking an image of the skin. The system may include or be in communication with an application programming interface (API) that can process the image. The system or an associated API can recommend the use of treatment regimens or topical products according to information determined from the digital image of the skin.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 9, 2023
    Publication date: September 5, 2024
    Inventor: Thomas Nichols
  • Publication number: 20240162007
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a system used in a semiconductor device manufacturing process. More specifically, embodiments provided herein generally include apparatus and methods for synchronizing and controlling the delivery of an RF bias signal and a pulsed voltage waveform to one or more electrodes within a plasma processing chamber. The apparatus and methods disclosed herein can be useful to at least minimize or eliminate a microloading effect created while processing small dimension features that have differing densities across various regions of a substrate. The plasma processing methods and apparatus described herein are configured to improve the control of various characteristics of the generated plasma and control an ion energy distribution (IED) of the plasma generated ions that interact with a surface of a substrate during plasma processing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 10, 2022
    Publication date: May 16, 2024
    Inventors: Deyang LI, Sunil SRINIVASAN, Yi-Chuan CHOU, Shahid RAUF, Kuan-Ting LIU, Jason A. KENNEY, Chung LIU, Olivier P. JOUBERT, Shreeram Jyoti DASH, Aaron EPPLER, Michael Thomas NICHOLS
  • Patent number: 11925144
    Abstract: A harvesting apparatus includes a crop conditioning element coupled to a frame, and a hood moveable relative to the crop conditioning element. An actuating system moveably connects the hood to the frame. The actuating system includes a driven lever arm rotatably attached to the frame and including a first lever connection and a second lever connection positioned opposite each other across a lever rotation axis. A first pivot assembly is rotatably attached to the frame and includes a first pivot connection coupled to the first lever connection of the driven lever arm, and a second pivot connection coupled to a first lift connection of the hood. A second pivot assembly is rotatably attached to the frame and includes a third pivot connection coupled to the second lever connection of the driven lever arm, and a fourth pivot connection coupled to a second lift connection of the hood.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: DEERE & COMPANY
    Inventors: Zachary J. Lyle, Thomas A. Nichols
  • Publication number: 20240055244
    Abstract: Embodiments provided herein generally include apparatus, e.g., plasma processing systems, and methods for the plasma processing of a substrate in a processing chamber. Some embodiments are directed to a method for waveform generation, which generally includes delivering a first waveform with an associated setpoint from an energy source; detecting at least one characteristic of the first waveform; estimating a voltage decay during a portion of a pulse during the first waveform; calculating a compensation factor; and adjusting the at least one characteristic using the compensation factor to adjust a voltage decay.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2022
    Publication date: February 15, 2024
    Inventors: Shreeram Jyoti DASH, Michael Thomas NICHOLS
  • Publication number: 20240007225
    Abstract: Systems and methods include receiving (51) blocks of data that has been Forward Error Correction (FEC) encoded via Open Forward Error Correction (OFEC) adaptation; decoding (52) the blocks of data; processing (53) checksum data that is included in padding data required in the OFEC adaptation, wherein the padding data is distributed across N rows of payload data; and determining (54) a location of any errors in the payload data based on the processed checksum data. The OFEC adaptation is for mapping the blocks of data into any of a FlexO structure, a ZR structure, and variants thereof, and the location of any errors can be used for error marking.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2021
    Publication date: January 4, 2024
    Inventors: Sebastien Gareau, Jeffery Thomas Nichols
  • Patent number: 11854702
    Abstract: A wearable treatment and analysis module is provided. The module is positioned on or near a body surface region of interest. The module provides remote access to sensor data, treatment administration, and/or other health care regimens via a network connection with a user device and/or management system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: PREH HOLDING, LLC
    Inventor: Thomas Nichols
  • Patent number: 11785330
    Abstract: A personal care system having a treatment device for applying a treatment to the skin or hair of a user is provided. The treatment device has a camera for taking an image of the skin. The system may include or be in communication with an application programming interface (API) that can process the image. The system or an associated API can recommend the use of treatment regimens or topical products according to information determined from the digital image of the skin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: PREH HOLDING, LLC
    Inventor: Thomas Nichols
  • Publication number: 20230215583
    Abstract: A wearable treatment and analysis module is provided. The module is positioned on or near a body surface region of interest. The module provides remote access to sensor data, treatment administration, and/or other health care regimens via a network connection with a user device and/or management system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2023
    Publication date: July 6, 2023
    Inventor: Thomas Nichols
  • Publication number: 20230215582
    Abstract: A wearable treatment and analysis module is provided. The module is positioned on or near a body surface region of interest. The module provides remote access to sensor data, treatment administration, and/or other health care regimens via a network connection with a user device and/or management system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2023
    Publication date: July 6, 2023
    Inventor: Thomas Nichols
  • Patent number: 11552722
    Abstract: A coherent optical modem includes an optical interface; and circuitry connected to the optical interface and configured to detect a first timing reference point in a transmit Digital Signal Processor (DSP) frame in a transmit direction from a first node to a second node, and detect a second timing reference point in a receive DSP frame in a receive direction from the second node to the first node, wherein the first timing reference point and the second timing reference point are determined based on a pattern in any DSP frame field including i) padding area, ii) a reserved area, and iii) a DSP Multi-Frame Alignment Signal (MFAS) area. The pattern can be input in select DSP frames for a time period that is greater than a time period for each DSP frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: Ciena Corporation
    Inventors: Sebastien Gareau, Jeffery Thomas Nichols, Manoj Verghese, Andrew McCarthy
  • Publication number: 20220399123
    Abstract: A wearable treatment and analysis module is provided. The module is positioned on or near a body surface region of interest. The module provides remote access to sensor data, treatment administration, and/or other health care regimens via a network connection with a user device and/or management system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 14, 2022
    Publication date: December 15, 2022
    Inventor: Thomas Nichols
  • Publication number: 20220232776
    Abstract: A harvesting apparatus includes a crop conditioning element coupled to a frame, and a hood moveable relative to the crop conditioning element. An actuating system moveably connects the hood to the frame. The actuating system includes a driven lever arm rotatably attached to the frame and including a first lever connection and a second lever connection positioned opposite each other across a lever rotation axis. A first pivot assembly is rotatably attached to the frame and includes a first pivot connection coupled to the first lever connection of the driven lever arm, and a second pivot connection coupled to a first lift location of the hood. A second pivot assembly is rotatably attached to the frame and includes a third pivot connection coupled to the second lever connection of the driven lever arm, and a fourth pivot connection coupled to a second lift location of the hood.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2021
    Publication date: July 28, 2022
    Inventors: Zachary J. Lyle, Thomas A. Nichols
  • Patent number: D1000624
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Inventor: Thomas Nichols