Quality Control Patents (Class 700/109)
  • Patent number: 11226128
    Abstract: A condition identification module is configured to, based on output from the at least one of a microphone and a camera, indicate an occurrence of a user having a physical condition. A correlation module is configured to, based on the occurrence of the user having the physical condition and at least one of a temperature of air, a relative humidity of air, an amount of particulate of at least a predetermined size present in air, an amount of VOCs present in air, and an amount of carbon dioxide present in air, selectively identify the presence of a correlation between the occurrence of the user having the physical condition and the at least one of the temperature, the RH, the amount of particulate, the amount of VOCs, and the amount of carbon dioxide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: Emerson Climate Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Stuart K. Morgan, Hung M. Pham, Brian R. Butler
  • Patent number: 11183047
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention describe identifying and containing contaminants using, IoT devices. Embodiments describe, identifying objects and user activity in a designated area through a plurality of internet of things (IoT) devices and a plurality of IoT sensors, determining a contamination risk in the designated area, and generating an augmented reality contamination path for the contamination risk based on the identified objects and user activity in the designated area. Additionally, embodiments describe, displaying an augmented reality contamination path to a user on an augmented reality device, and activating an IoT containment device to contain the contamination risk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Mark Turano, Robert Huntington Grant, Sarbajit K. Rakshit, Zachary A. Silverstein
  • Patent number: 11170073
    Abstract: The invention relates to statistical processing of multi-dimensional samples according to a step-wise sequence of iterative tolerance limit definitions using rank statistics. The processing is performed in the context of defining tolerance limits for a population that are compared to multiple process limits or acceptance criteria, with the requirement that a specified fraction of the population be confirmed to fall within the stated acceptance criteria. The symmetry (or asymmetry) may be allocated and controlled by selecting the frequency of occurrence of a specific figure of merit, and its order or position, in the sequential embedding processing sequence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Company LLC
    Inventors: Michael A. Shockling, Brian P. Ising, Kevin J. Barber, Scott E. Sidener
  • Patent number: 11117303
    Abstract: Techniques are directed to melt spinning, drawing, crimping and winding multiple threads. The threads are spun from a plurality of spinnerets of a spinning device and are drawn as a thread group by a drawing device and are subsequently fed for crimping next to one another to a plurality of texturing units. In order to obtain identical treatment of all threads within the thread group, the threads are guided individually with a plurality of wraps next to one another on a godet unit and, after running off from the godet unit, are guided in a straight thread run parallel next to one another into the texturing units. To this end, adjacent texturing units of the crimping device form a treatment spacing between themselves which is such that, in the case of being guided individually with a plurality of wraps on the godet unit, the threads can be guided in parallel in a straight thread run.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Oerlikon Textile GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Mathias Stündl, Stefan Kalies, Marco Kaulitzki, Jan Westphal
  • Patent number: 11088039
    Abstract: Implementations described herein generally relate to improving silicon wafer manufacturing. In one implementation, a method includes receiving information describing a defect. The method further includes identifying a critical area of a silicon wafer and determining the probability of the defect occurring in the critical area. The method further includes determining, based on the probability, the likelihood of an open or a short occurring as a result of the defect occurring in the critical area. The method further includes providing, based on the likelihood, predictive information to a manufacturing system. In some embodiments, corrective action may be taken based on the predictive information in order to improve silicon wafer manufacturing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Raman K. Nurani, Anantha R. Sethuraman, Koushik Ragavan, Karanpreet Aujla
  • Patent number: 11054803
    Abstract: A production system, a drive and an operating method provide the functions of quality measurement and mechanism diagnosis. The production system has a hierarchical processing structure. The drive includes a real system driving module and a virtual system driving module. The real system driving module generates a mechanism real operation parameter information. In a system identification mode, the drive creates at least one virtual mechanism model. The drive generates a mechanism stimulation operation parameter information according to a processing strategy of a controller, the mechanism real operation parameter information and the at least one virtual mechanism model. The controller performs a quality measurement operation, performs a mechanism diagnosis operation and/or adjusts the processing strategy according to the mechanism real operation parameter information and the mechanism stimulation operation parameter information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2021
    Assignee: DELTA ELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventors: Ching-Hsiung Tsai, Yen-Ming Lu
  • Patent number: 11029673
    Abstract: Robust machine learning predictions. Temporal dependencies of process targets for different machine learning models can be captured and evaluated for the impact on process performance for target. The most robust of these different models is selected for deployment based on minimizing variance for the desired performance characteristic.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2021
    Assignee: PDF Solutions, Inc.
    Inventors: Tomonori Honda, Rohan D. Kekatpure, Jeffrey Drue David
  • Patent number: 11012461
    Abstract: The vulnerability of network devices may be predicted by performing a survival analysis on big data. A prediction algorithm may be built by considering historical data from heterogeneous data sources. The operating state of the network devices on a network may be predicted. The services potentially affected by a predicted outage may be determined and displayed. Alternatively or in addition, the number of clients potentially affected by a predicted outage may be determined and displayed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: ACCENTURE GLOBAL SOLUTIONS LIMITED
    Inventors: Sanjay Tiwari, Gaurav Khanduri, Chandrasekarapuram Venkatesh Gangadharan, Surya Kumar Venkata Gangadhara Idumudi, Nithyanandan Periasamy Dhanapal
  • Patent number: 11002633
    Abstract: A method is provided for testing a reliability of a plurality of driven components (22, 24, 30), such as those to be used as power train elements in one or more wind turbines. The method includes conducting physical success run testing on a test bench (42) of a first subset of test specimens (50) provided for the driven components (22, 24, 30), determining a minimum test duration needed for one of a second subset of test specimens (50) that will be required to confirm reliability of the driven components (22, 24, 30) at a predetermined target confidence level, and conducting physical success run testing of the second subset of the test specimens (50). The planning and evaluation of physical testing according to the methods described herein avoid excessive, unnecessary use of the test bench (42) and other resources. As such, results of desired confidence levels for operators of driven components (22, 24, 30) such as wind turbine operators can be reliably provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2021
    Assignee: Vestas Wind Systems A/S
    Inventor: Antonio Correia
  • Patent number: 10962965
    Abstract: To provide a trusted, secure, and immutable record of transactions within a process plant, techniques are described for utilizing a distributed ledger in process control systems. The distributed ledger may be maintained by nodes which receive transactions broadcasted from field devices, controllers, operator workstations, or other devices operating within the process plant. The transactions may include process plant data, such as process parameter data, product parameter data, configuration data, user interaction data, maintenance data, commissioning data, plant network data, and product tracking data. The distributed ledgers may also be utilized to execute smart contracts to allow machines such as field devices to transact by themselves without human intervention. In this manner, recorded process parameter values and product parameter values may be retrieved to verify the quality of products.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2021
    Assignee: FISHER-ROSEMOUNT SYSTEMS, INC.
    Inventor: James S. Cahill
  • Patent number: 10955829
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide a comprehensive system that integrates automatically gauging and correcting stations operating in a machine environment with a universal machine monitoring for detecting defective articles, quarantining the defective articles, ensuring the defective articles are safely quarantined, analyzing the machine and article related data for providing contextual information for the defective articles produced, predicting one or more necessary actions to be taken for minimizing defects in future and achieving near zero defect quality in machine production. The comprehensive system provides such contextual information about the defects/faults in the article or the machine operations in real time and locally and remotely to any human resource.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Inventor: Gaurav Sarup
  • Patent number: 10942963
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for generating a topic name for accounts grouped under a topic. The method includes obtaining account names associated with the accounts, generating a plurality of n-grams from the account names, and for each n-gram, obtaining a quality score based on relevance and meaningfulness of the n-gram. The relevance is determined using at least one relevance score that reflects how representative the n-gram is for the plurality of n-grams, and the meaningfulness is determined based on whether the n-gram exists in a knowledge base. The method further includes assigning one or more of the n-grams to the topic as the topic name, based on the quality score generated for each of the n-grams.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2021
    Assignee: Intuit Inc.
    Inventors: Bei Huang, Nhung Ho, Meng Chen
  • Patent number: 10936378
    Abstract: An information handling system operating an integration assistance robotic automation system may comprise a memory storing a log of machine-executable code instructions generated by a plurality of application programming interfaces (APIs) for a plurality of applications, based on user instructions previously received at the APIs to define an integration process between a first application executing code instructions in a first coding language and a second application executing code instructions in a second coding language, and a processor parsing the log to identify a first connector code set in the first language defining an action to be taken on a dataset managed by the first application, and a second connector code set in the second language defining an action to be taken on a dataset managed by the second application, and transmitting an executable run-time engine, the first and second connector code sets for execution at an execution location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2021
    Assignee: BOOMI, INC.
    Inventor: Thameem U. Khan
  • Patent number: 10921789
    Abstract: A machine learning device of a finish-machining amount prediction apparatus observes, as state variables expressing a current state of an environment, finish-machining amount data indicating finish-machining amounts of the respective parts of a component and accuracy data indicating the accuracy of the respective parts of a machine, to which the component is attached. Then, the machine learning device acquires determination data indicating propriety determination results of the accuracy of the respective parts of the machine, to which the component after being subjected to finish machining is attached. After that, the machine learning device learns the finish-machining amounts of the respective parts of the component in association with the accuracy data by using the state variables and the determination data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2021
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hiromitsu Kadokura
  • Patent number: 10921007
    Abstract: A testing platform tests an electrical and mechanical system such as an HVAC unit according to an algorithm that reduces the total testing time of the components of the system, while ensuring the safety of the system during system-wide testing. The platform uses constraints that are checked both before and during the testing to ensure that HVAC operating conditions are acceptable for starting and maintaining component tests. Preferably, the platform uses finite-state machines for each device to organize the component tests, allowing for monitoring of constraints and starting, pausing, and stopping component tests. Preferably, total test execution time is reduced by running component tests in parallel, running component tests based on loads of the components, or combinations of both.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2021
    Assignee: NEXTRACKER INC.
    Inventors: Bruce Christopher Wootton, Rory Joseph Timar, Colin Patrick Murphy, Francesco Borrelli, Allan Daly
  • Patent number: 10845791
    Abstract: A computer-facilitated method and a computerized system for providing optimization or improvement measures for one or more buildings are disclosed. Based on asset data regarding the building and on corresponding performance data, improvement measures related to a consumable resource in the one or more buildings are determined using a computer system configured for analyzing the asset data and the respective corresponding performance data based on internal and/or external key performance indicators and rules provided by a database.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: SIEMENS SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventors: Henrik Cohen, Robert Gaertner
  • Patent number: 10847263
    Abstract: A system and method tracks touches in a healthcare environment in order to analyze paths of transmission and contamination for the purpose of eliminating and containing transmission of colonizing, drug-resistant pathogens. Touches are identified and tracked with the use of recording devices. Each touch is logged and a touch graph is generated to identify transmission paths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Lorraine M. Herger, Neal M. Keller, James R. Kozloski, Matthew McCarthy, Clifford A. Pickover, Andrew P. Wyskida
  • Patent number: 10840157
    Abstract: A method for testing system-on-a-chip (SoC) for faults at subthreshold or substantially at threshold operating voltages includes the steps of testing the SoC for fault at a favorable operating voltage, the testing including measuring a metric characterizing the fault at the favorable operating voltage to obtain a first metric value; and retesting the SoC for the fault at a first operating voltage upon the first metric value at the favorable operating voltage being correlated, according to a metric correlation establishing a correlation relationship between the favorable operating voltage and the first operating voltage, to a second metric value at the first operating voltage within a predictive interval of the metric correlation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: University of Viriginia Patent Foundation
    Inventors: Christopher J. Lukas, Benton H. Calhoun, Farah B. Yahya
  • Patent number: 10788817
    Abstract: Provided is a manufacturing process analysis device (30), comprising: a computation unit (31) which computes, in a process in which a manufactured object is manufactured, invariant compliance strengths for each shift time for manufacturing condition values (360) and quality values (361) which are measured in time series; a shift time specification unit (32) which derives, as a specified shift time, a shift time for which the invariant compliance strengths satisfy a baseline; and an analysis unit (33) which analyzes the state of the manufacturing process on the basis of the quality value and the manufacturing condition value for the time which is earlier by the specified shift time than the time at which the quality value is measured.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takazumi Kawai, Katsuhiro Ochiai
  • Patent number: 10775777
    Abstract: A method for performing quality control on a diagnostic analyzer includes receiving control measurement values from each of a plurality of diagnostic analyzers. A quality control measurement value is received from a target diagnostic analyzer. The quality control measurement value is compared with statistical criteria associated with the plurality of quality control measurement values received from the plurality of diagnostic analyzers. A comparison result is communicated to a user interface associated with the target diagnostic analyzer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2020
    Assignee: SYSMEX CORPORATION
    Inventor: Scott Lesher
  • Patent number: 10758887
    Abstract: The present invention relates to calibration and normalization systems and methods for ensuring the quality of radiopharmaceuticals during the synthesis thereof, such as radiopharmaceuticals used in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: GE HEALTHCARE LIMITED
    Inventors: Torgrim Engell, Julian Grigg, Ingvil Gausemel, Knut Dyrstad, Jonathan R. Shales
  • Patent number: 10754319
    Abstract: Methods of controlling an across-wafer profile of a semiconductor process, as well as related systems and computer program products. A target profile of a semiconductor process over a radius of a wafer is fit to a polynomial. A plurality of gain matrices between a first plurality of process inputs and a plurality of polynomial coefficients of the polynomial are determined. An offset is estimated between the plurality of polynomial coefficients and an effect of the first plurality of process inputs. An objective function is defined as an integral of a squared deviation between an estimated profile and the target profile over the radius of the wafer. A second plurality of process inputs are mapped to the objective function by vector convolution using the plurality of gain matrices. The objective function is solved to optimize the second plurality of process inputs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC.
    Inventors: Richard Good, Dinesh Balasubra Manian, Houssam Lazkani
  • Patent number: 10754309
    Abstract: A system for auto defect screening using adaptive machine learning includes an adaptive model controller, a defect/nuisance library and a module for executing data modeling analytics. The adaptive model controller has a feed-forward path for receiving a plurality of defect candidates in wafer inspection, and a feedback path for receiving defects of interest already screened by one or more existing defect screening models after wafer inspection. The adaptive model controller selects data samples from the received data, interfaces with scanning electron microscope (SEM) review/inspection to acquire corresponding SEM results that validate if each data sample is a real defect or nuisance, and compiles model training and validation data. The module of executing data modeling analytics is adaptively controlled by the adaptive model controller to generate and validate one or more updated defect screening models using the model training and validation data according to a target specification.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Jason Zse-Cherng Lin, Shauh-Teh Juang
  • Patent number: 10732620
    Abstract: A system for inspecting a machine including a server with a data storage device accessible by client devices is disclosed. The system can include a mobile inspection tool operatively coupled to the server via a communication network. The mobile inspection tool is operable to receive a request to perform an inspection of a machine unit, provide a graphical user interface to guide a user in performing the inspection, receive an identification of the machine unit, and provide questions to the user, and receive answers from the user. The answers can be related to a defect in the machine unit. The mobile inspection tool can be further operable to acquire measurement input, such as a defect value measured by a digital measurement tool, and cause the server to store the answers and the measurement input in the data storage device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Christopher D. Higgins, Michael Tishenkel
  • Patent number: 10578327
    Abstract: A testing platform tests an electrical and mechanical system such as an HVAC unit according to an algorithm that reduces the total testing time of the components of the system, while ensuring the safety of the system during system-wide testing. The platform uses constraints that are checked both before and during the testing to ensure that HVAC operating conditions are acceptable for starting and maintaining component tests. Preferably, the platform uses finite-state machines for each device to organize the component tests, allowing for monitoring of constraints and starting, pausing, and stopping component tests. Preferably, total test execution time is reduced by running component tests in parallel, running component tests based on loads of the components, or combinations of both.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2020
    Assignee: NEXTRACKER
    Inventors: Bruce Christopher Wootton, Rory Joseph Timar, Colin Patrick Murphy, Francesco Borrelli, Allan Daly
  • Patent number: 10546077
    Abstract: An information processor performs simulation processing based on information on a workpiece and a machining program and specifies an air-cut path, which is a tool path in which the tool is not in contact with the workpiece, for each of blocks included in the machining program, based on the result of the simulation processing. Moreover, the apparatus calculates a time required for a movement in the air-cut path for each block and changes the display mode of the block on a screen based on the calculated time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: Fanuc Corporation
    Inventor: Yuusuke Kawashima
  • Patent number: 10473570
    Abstract: A method for controlling a repair of at least one non-autonomic extrinsic self-healing material in an object, the method including: triggering, by a server, at least one sensor element embedded in the at least one non-autonomic extrinsic self-healing material to initiate a testing procedure, receiving a result of the testing procedure, analyzing the result, determining capability information of the sensor element with an inquiry, receiving the capability information, determining a triggering instruction to the sensor element on the basis of the capability information, delivering the triggering instruction to utilize an applicable capability of the sensor element to the sensor element. A server implementing the method and a system are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: Telia Company AB
    Inventor: Timo Saija
  • Patent number: 10430719
    Abstract: Techniques for measuring and/or compensating for process variations in a semiconductor manufacturing processes. Machine learning algorithms are used on extensive sets of input data, including upstream data, to organize and pre-process the input data, and to correlate the input data to specific features of interest. The correlations can then be used to make process adjustments. The techniques may be applied to any feature or step of the semiconductor manufacturing process, such as overlay, critical dimension, and yield prediction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: STREAM MOSAIC, INC.
    Inventor: Jeffrey Drue David
  • Patent number: 10380275
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method for simulating behavior of a modeled object includes storing a tolerance attribute value in a memory area for a specified parameter of the modeled object, defining a set of rules representative of a plurality of assumptions of a model simulation, executing the model simulation based on the tolerance attribute, verifying an output of the model simulation with respect to a set of rules that are dependent on input and output values for which the tolerance attribute as verified, and validating the output behavior against requirements for every stage of the product lifecycle, from preliminary design to end of life.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2019
    Assignee: Dassault Systemes Simulia Corp.
    Inventor: Alexander Jacobus Maria Van der Velden
  • Patent number: 10365617
    Abstract: A system for auto defect screening using adaptive machine learning includes an adaptive model controller, a defect/nuisance library and a module for executing data modeling analytics. The adaptive model controller has a feed-forward path for receiving a plurality of defect candidates in wafer inspection, and a feedback path for receiving defects of interest already screened by one or more existing defect screening models after wafer inspection. The adaptive model controller selects data samples from the received data, interfaces with scanning electron microscope (SEM) review/inspection to acquire corresponding SEM results that validate if each data sample is a real defect or nuisance, and compiles model training and validation data. The module of executing data modeling analytics is adaptively controlled by the adaptive model controller to generate and validate one or more updated defect screening models using the model training and validation data according to a target specification.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: DMO Systems Limited
    Inventors: Jason Zse-Cherng Lin, Shauh-Teh Juang
  • Patent number: 10360548
    Abstract: In some embodiments, systems and methods are provided to monitor and adjust perpetual inventory (PI). Some embodiments comprise multiple point of sale (POS) systems; an inventory system and a perpetual inventory (PI) engine control circuit that receives inventory information and is configured identify the occurrence of a plurality of different events each associated with a different product at a shopping facility and corresponding to a potential inconsistency in a determined inventory count; and for each of the events: identify a first set of inventory evaluation rules; apply the first set of inventory evaluation rules to determine a type of inventory count error; determine an inventory adjustment action to be implemented based on the first product and the determined error type; and cause the inventory adjustment action to be implemented in substantially real-time to adjust the determined inventory count of the first product at the first shopping facility.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2019
    Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC
    Inventors: Cristy C. Brooks, Benjamin D. Enssle, David B. Brightwell, Daniel R. Shields, Greg A. Bryan, Matthew A. Jones
  • Patent number: 10317870
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for monitoring manufacturing of a product. An assembly task network for assembly tasks for assembling is searched by a computer system. The assembly task network defines dependencies between the assembly tasks. A probability of a group of downstream delays as a function of a state of assembly of components for the product being manufactured is calculated using a state of the assembly tasks, enabling modifying incomplete assembly tasks for the product that reduce the group of downstream delays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2019
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Gabriel August Burnett, Sean Francis Harrington, Shabnam Zangeneh-Khamooshi, Jonathan A. Fulton, Heather Noel Siflinger, Jack Zinn Byers, Bianca Lui-Sargent, Benjamin J. Brelje, Wallace C. O'Rear
  • Patent number: 10241505
    Abstract: A computer-facilitated method and a computerized system for providing optimization or improvement measures for one or more buildings are disclosed. Based on asset data regarding the building and on corresponding performance data, improvement measures related to a consumable resource in the one or more buildings are determined using a computer system configured for analyzing the asset data and the respective corresponding performance data based on internal and/or external key performance indicators and rules provided by a database.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: SIEMENS SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventors: Henrik Cohen, Robert Gaertner
  • Patent number: 10218637
    Abstract: The present invention is a system and method for forecasting and expanding software workload boundaries. The system includes a computer processor having a non-transitory memory containing program code for receiving a resource tree data set identifying a plurality of resources in a resource tree; receiving a sequence information set indicative of an order of resources for a request type; receiving a historical usage information set indicative of actual resource usage for the request type with respect resources in the resource tree; receiving a current throughput value for the request type; and determining, based at least in part upon the resource data tree set, the sequence information set and the current throughput values, a first additional potential throughput value corresponding to additional throughput with respect to the request type that can be performed by the resource tree in addition to its current throughput.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Samir A. Nasser
  • Patent number: 10108163
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a production management apparatus includes a flow obtaining module configured to obtain a plurality of processing flows to process a wafer from a flow storage module. The apparatus further includes a route creating module configured to select a plurality of steps from the plurality of processing flows, and configured to create a processing route to execute the plurality of steps selected from the plurality of processing flows. The apparatus further includes a flow creating module configured to select a plurality of steps from the processing route, and configured to create a new processing flow including the plurality of steps selected from the processing route.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: TOSHIBA MEMORY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kensuke Takahashi, Katsumi Yamada
  • Patent number: 10073445
    Abstract: A system and method of operating an assembly line for performing an assembly operation on an article. The method includes the steps of detecting an absence or presence of an abnormality in the article and classifying the abnormality as one of a plurality of types including a first type of abnormality and a second type of abnormality. Additionally, the method includes the step of determining that the article is eligible for the assembly operation if at least the abnormality is detected as present and the abnormality is the first type of abnormality. Moreover, the method includes the step of determining that the article is eligible for the assembly operation if at least the abnormality is detected as present, the abnormality is the second type of abnormality, and an override command is received. Furthermore, the method includes the step of providing an electronic output if the article is eligibility for assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: John M. Scelsi, Brian G. Jones
  • Patent number: 10067186
    Abstract: An method of generating a featured scan pattern for test includes: providing a plurality of predetermined test patterns to perform test on a plurality of devices under test (DUT) under a stress condition to generate a plurality of test responses of each DUT; grouping a plurality of specific test responses of each DUT from the test responses of each DUT to determine a feature value corresponding to a failure feature for each DUT; and generating at least one featured test pattern according to the feature value of each DUT.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: MEDIATEK INC.
    Inventors: Harry Hai Chen, Shih-Hua Kuo, Chih-Sheng Tung
  • Patent number: 10048670
    Abstract: An automation operating and management system consolidates and analyzes inputs from multiple machines within an automated enterprise to predict failures and provide instructions for counteractions to prevent failures during machine operation, and to identify opportunities for efficiency improvement, including actions for reduction in peak power consumption demand within a facility including multiple machines. A machine can include a machine controller and at least one base layer controller, where the base layer controller acts as a low level controller to directly control the motion of elements in communication with the base layer control, according to parameters set by the machine controller. The base layer controller collects timing data for the elements under its control, compares the timing data with the parameters and sets an alarm when the timing data is outside of tolerance limits defined by the parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: BEET, LLC
    Inventor: David Jingqiu Wang
  • Patent number: 10029228
    Abstract: The present invention relates to calibration and normalization systems and methods for ensuring the quality of radiopharmaceuticals during the synthesis thereof, such as radiopharmaceuticals used in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: GE Healthcare Limited
    Inventors: Torgrim Engell, Julian Grigg, Ingvil Gausemel, Knut Dyrstad, Jonathan R. Shales
  • Patent number: 10018987
    Abstract: A numerical controller drives motors for respective axes of a machine tool by using an NC program and table-format data that command positions of those axes with reference to a position of a reference axis. The numerical controller generates, based on a movement command commanded by the NC program, interpolation data for an axis to be controlled by the movement command, generates, based on the table-format data, interpolation data for an axis to be controlled by the table-format data, and further generates interpolation data obtained by selection from or superposition of these two pieces of interpolation data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: FANUC Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Kanemaru, Yasushi Takeuchi
  • Patent number: 10001774
    Abstract: There is provided a manufacturing supporting system for an electronic device including an inspection-data acquiring unit, a fluctuation-by-classification calculating unit, a data-by-factor acquiring unit, and a fluctuation-by-factor calculating unit is provided. The inspection-data acquiring unit acquires an inspection data of a target electronic device. The fluctuation-by-classification calculating unit is configured to calculate, on the basis of the inspection data, by classification including at least any one of positions among lots, among substrates, and in a substrate plane of the electronic device, fluctuation in dimensions of the target electronic device. The data-by-factor acquiring unit acquires an improvement history data of the target electronic device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Muneyoshi Yamada, Akira Soga
  • Patent number: 9995692
    Abstract: Systems and methods for controlling manufacturing processes for microelectronic components are provided. In an exemplary embodiment, a method includes determining a specification range for a desired parameter. The microelectronic component is processed in a manufacturing tool, and a trace data set is recorded during the processing. An estimated trace data parameter is determined with the trace data set, and a first measured value of the microelectronic component is measured in a measurement tool. An estimated desired parameter is determined using the first measured value and the estimated trace data parameter, and the manufacturing process is adjusted when the estimated desired parameter is outside of the specification range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES, INC.
    Inventors: Givantha Iddawela, Alok Vaid
  • Patent number: 9996074
    Abstract: The present invention is a system and predictive modeling method specially designed to improve process control and energy efficiency for a smelting process used to produce pure metal from an ore containing said metal. Data is collected from various sensor sources in the smeltering process to predict whether an increase or decrease is needed in controlling two variables comprising temperature and an additive that allows the reaction in the electrolytic process to proceed at a lower bath temperature. The invention provides a generalized framework to learn the complex heterogeneity embedded in the collected data, and employs a regularized non-negative matrix factorization problem, which simultaneously decomposes the instance-feature and instance-label matrices, while enforcing task relatedness, feature type consistency and label correlations on the collected data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yada Zhu, Jayant R. Kalagnanam
  • Patent number: 9989585
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided that may be implemented to produce customized integrated circuit (IC) device parts together from a common base IC device part that is customized with settings or code to build different unique IC device parts for different purposes that are processed and output together from the manufacturing process. Different individual devices of the common base part may be customized (e.g., programmed) with different settings and/or code to build respective uniquely configured parts for different purposes, e.g., such as according to different respective part orders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
    Inventor: Dan Littlejohn
  • Patent number: 9829415
    Abstract: In a metrology sampling method, various index values that can detect various status changes of a process tool (such as maintenance operation, parts changing, parameter adjustment, etc.), and/or information abnormalities of the process tool (such as abnormal process data, parameter drift/shift, abnormal metrology data, etc.) appear in a manufacturing process are applied to develop an intelligent sampling decision (ISD) scheme for reducing sampling rate while VM accuracy is still sustained. The indices includes a reliance Index (RI), a global similarity index (GSI), a process data quality index (DQIX) and a metrology data quality index (DQIy).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: NATIONAL CHENG KUNG UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Fan-Tien Cheng, Chun-Fang Chen, Hsuan-Heng Huang, Chu-Chieh Wu
  • Patent number: 9811362
    Abstract: A system and method for tracing individual transactions on method call granularity is disclosed. The system uses instrumentation based transaction tracing mechanisms to enhance thread call stack sampling mechanisms by a) only sampling threads executing monitored transactions while execution is ongoing b) tagging sampled call stacks with a transaction identifier for correlation of sampled call stacks with instrumentation bases tracing data. The combination of instrumentation based tracing with thread call stack sampling reduces sampling generated overhead by only sampling relevant thread, and reduces instrumentation generated overhead because it allows reducing instrumentation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: Dynatrace Software GmbH
    Inventors: Bernd Greifeneder, Christian Schwarzbauer, Stefan Chiettini, Jurgen Richtsfeld, Erich Georg Hochmuth
  • Patent number: 9791852
    Abstract: A method for controlling at least one operational parameter of a plant (1) having a combustion unit (3) can include estimating a status of at least one operational variable of the plant to identify an estimated value for the operational variable. For each operational variable, the estimated value for the operational variable can be compared with a measured value of the operational variable to determine an uncertainty value based on a difference in value between the measured value and the estimated value for the operational variable. A control signal can be generated based on a reference signal, the measured value, and the deviation value for sending to at least one element of the plant (1) for controlling a process of the plant (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2017
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC TECHNOLOGY GMBH
    Inventors: Xinsheng Lou, Chuan Wang, Carl H. Neuschaefer, Armand A. Levasseur
  • Patent number: 9792391
    Abstract: Various disclosed embodiments include a method for assigning a refined material definition to a designed part, the method performed by a data processing system and including accessing the designed part through the data processing system. The method also includes assigning one or more nominal material definitions (NMDs) of one or more materials to the designed part. The method further includes selecting one or more functional material definition variations (FMDVs) associated with the assigned NMD for the designed part in order to generate a refined material definition (RMD) for the designed part. The method includes generating the refined material definition (RMD) based on the NMD and the one or more FMDVs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2017
    Assignee: SIEMENS PRODUCT LIFECYLE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE INC.
    Inventors: Sivarama Nalluri, Raymond Kok, Sunil Viswanathan
  • Patent number: 9763836
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses for controlling the relative placement of advancing substrates and discrete components in diaper converting lines. The diapers may each include a chassis connected with front and back elastic belts. In controlling the relative placement of these elements during the assembly process, a controller may change the machine direction speed and/or position of certain elements and cross direction speed and/or position of other elements such as the advancing substrates and components in order to help achieve proper placement and orientation. During the assembly process, the registration features are detected, and a controller may change the machine direction speeds of the advancing elastic laminates and/or chassis and/or may change the cross directional and/or machine direction position of the advancing elastic laminates and/or chassis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
    Inventors: Paul Anthony Kawka, Uwe Schneider, Gary Dean LaVon
  • Patent number: 9704119
    Abstract: A system and/or a method based on a scalable requirement, compliance and resource management methodology for designing a product/service, optimizing relevant processes and enhancing real time and/or near real time collaboration between many users is disclosed. The requirement, compliance and resource management methodology is further integrated with a fuzzy/neuro-fuzzy logic algorithm module and/or statistical algorithm module and/or weighting logic algorithm module and enhanced with a graphical user interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2017
    Inventors: Rex Wiig, Angel Martinez