Patents by Inventor William Beckman

William Beckman 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: 20250342821
    Abstract: Systems and processes for generating audio books from text are provided. An example process includes, at an electronic device having one or more processors and memory: receiving a text including at least a first subset and a second subset, wherein at least a portion of the first subset overlaps with at least a portion of the second subset; determining, based on the text, a prosody for a speech output, wherein the prosody is representative of a genre; determining a semantic meaning of the text; and generating, based on the prosody and the semantic meaning, the speech output of the text.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 11, 2025
    Publication date: November 6, 2025
    Inventors: Ramya RASIPURAM, William BECKMAN, Ladan GOLIPOUR, Amirreza SHIRANI, David A. WINARSKY, Cheng-Chieh YEH
  • Patent number: 12380876
    Abstract: Systems and processes for generating audio books from text are provided. An example process includes, at an electronic device having one or more processors and memory: receiving a text including at least a first subset and a second subset, wherein at least a portion of the first subset overlaps with at least a portion of the second subset; determining, based on the text, a prosody for a speech output, wherein the prosody is representative of a genre; determining a semantic meaning of the text; and generating, based on the prosody and the semantic meaning, the speech output of the text.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2025
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Ramya Rasipuram, William Beckman, Ladan Golipour, David A. Winarsky, Cheng-Chieh Yeh, Weicheng Zhang
  • Publication number: 20230134970
    Abstract: Systems and processes for generating audio books from text are provided. An example process includes, at an electronic device having one or more processors and memory: receiving a text including at least a first subset and a second subset, wherein at least a portion of the first subset overlaps with at least a portion of the second subset; determining, based on the text, a prosody for a speech output, wherein the prosody is representative of a genre; determining a semantic meaning of the text; and generating, based on the prosody and the semantic meaning, the speech output of the text.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2022
    Publication date: May 4, 2023
    Inventors: Ramya RASIPURAM, William BECKMAN, Ladan GOLIPOUR, David A. WINARSKY, Cheng-Chieh YEH, Weicheng ZHANG
  • Patent number: 8622494
    Abstract: A shelf assembly for use in a refrigerator includes a glass panel having a central region and a perimeter region, with the perimeter region having an upwardly turned spill prevention lip. The upwardly turned spill prevention lip is upwardly turned relative to the central region via a glass forming process. The upwardly turned spill prevention lip includes upwardly turned lip portions at the front, rear, left and right sides of the glass panel. The central region of the glass panel includes a storage portion. The upwardly turned spill prevention lip circumscribes the periphery of the central region to limit spillage of liquid over the sides of the glass panel. The shelf assembly may include a pair of support rails bonded at lower surfaces of the left and right sides of the glass panel and having attachment elements configured to mount the shelf assembly at the refrigerator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2014
    Assignees: Donnelly Corporation, Clarion Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Alan D. Picken, William Beckman, David E. Nestell, R. Scott Repp, Kevin J. Schroeder
  • Publication number: 20130002117
    Abstract: A shelf assembly for use in a refrigerator includes a glass panel having a central region and a perimeter region, with the perimeter region having an upwardly turned spill prevention lip. The upwardly turned spill prevention lip is upwardly turned relative to the central region via a glass forming process. The upwardly turned spill prevention lip includes upwardly turned lip portions at the front, rear, left and right sides of the glass panel. The central region of the glass panel includes a storage portion. The upwardly turned spill prevention lip circumscribes the periphery of the central region to limit spillage of liquid over the sides of the glass panel. The shelf assembly may include a pair of support rails bonded at lower surfaces of the left and right sides of the glass panel and having attachment elements configured to mount the shelf assembly at the refrigerator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2012
    Publication date: January 3, 2013
    Applicants: CLARION TECHNOLOGIES, INC., DONNELLY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Alan D. Picken, William Beckman, David E. Nestell, R. Scott Repp, Kevin J. Schroeder
  • Patent number: 8262177
    Abstract: A shelf assembly for use in a refrigerator includes a shelf panel and a pair of opposite support rails. The shelf panel has upwardly angled perimeter regions and may comprise a strengthened glass material, such as a transparent strengthened glass material, such as tempered glass. Each of the support rails includes a base portion and an angled portion that extends at an angle from the base portion. The angled portions of the support rails are bonded along the lower surface of the upwardly angled side perimeter regions of the shelf panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignees: Donnelly Corporation, Clarion Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Alan D. Picken, William Beckman, David E. Nestell, R. Scott Repp, Kevin J. Schroeder
  • Publication number: 20090051257
    Abstract: A shelf assembly for use in a refrigerator includes a shelf panel and a pair of opposite support rails. The shelf panel has upwardly angled perimeter regions and may comprise a strengthened glass material, such as a transparent strengthened glass material, such as tempered glass. Each of the support rails includes a base portion and an angled portion that extends at an angle from the base portion. The angled portions of the support rails are bonded along the lower surface of the upwardly angled side perimeter regions of the shelf panel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 13, 2005
    Publication date: February 26, 2009
    Applicants: DONNELLY CORPORATION, CLARION TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Alan D. Picken, William Beckman, David E. Nestell, R. Scott Repp, Kevin J. Schroeder
  • Publication number: 20050017143
    Abstract: A shelf assembly includes a plastic body and a frame, which includes a pair of spaced apart side frame members. In addition, the frame is adapted for mounting the shelf assembly to a mounting surface. The plastic body forms a shelf element, which extends between the side frame members. Furthermore, the plastic body has portions that encapsulate at least portions of the side frame members wherein the portions of the side frame members are enclosed in the plastic body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 14, 2004
    Publication date: January 27, 2005
    Inventors: Bob Bronsink, Alan Picken, William Beckman, Jay Frankhouse