444results about How to "Need less" patented technology

Described herein are improved configurations for a wireless power transfer involving photovoltaic panels. Described are methods and designs that use electric energy from a photovoltaic module to energize at least one wireless energy source to produce an oscillating magnetic field for wireless energy transfer. The source may be configured and tuned to present an impedance to a photovoltaic module wherein said impedance enables substantial extraction of energy from said photovoltaic module.

A packaged product includes a product, a product packaging at least partially covering the product, a device resonator integrated with the product packaging for receiving wireless energy from a source resonator and an electrical component coupled to the device resonator to receive the wireless energy from the device resonator.

A customer driven process of diagnosing and repairing a vehicle. The process involves temporarily providing a customer with a diagnostic tool that can receive vehicle diagnostic signals from a vehicle on-board computer. The customer then uses the tool to upload diagnostic signals from the car, and returns the tool to the automotive parts / service facility. The vehicle diagnostic signals are communicated to a console, which then accesses a database(s). The database(s) includes information relating to the vehicle malfunction, the repairs needed, and the parts required to complete those repairs. The process also allows automatic scheduling of repairs and purchasing of parts from the automotive parts / service facility. Upon payment of any prescribed fees, the process outputs report information to the customer.

A large-scale, capacitor-based electrical energy storage and distribution system capable of effectuating load-leveling during periods of peak demand on a utility, and of effectuating a cost savings associated with the purchase of electrical energy. A capacitor or multitude of capacitors may be charged with electrical energy produced by the utility, such as during periods of low demand or low cost, and discharged during periods of high electrical energy consumption or high electrical energy cost. One or more capacitors may be located at a consumer's residence or business. Alternatively, a farm of capacitors may be provided at or near a utility, or at or near a location experiencing high demand. In another embodiment, one or more capacitors may be located in or on a vehicle, such as an automobile, a truck, or a train of a light rail system.

The invention relates to an island network with at least one energy generator, using regenerative energy sources, whereby the energy generator is preferably a wind energy plant with a first synchronous generator, a DC link, at least one first power rectifier and a power inverter, a second synchronous generator and an internal combustion engine which may be coupled with the second synchronous generator. A fully controllable wind energy unit (10) and an electromagnetic coupling (34) between the second synchronous generator (32) and the internal combustion engine (30) are provided in order to establish an island network in which the internal combustion engine can be switched off completely, so long as the wind energy unit is generating enough power for all connected users with an efficiency which is as high as possible.

Remote sensing in an environment having temperatures greater than 300° C., using an optical fiber having a core (10), a cladding (20), and a metallic protective coating (30) on the cladding to protect a surface of the cladding, the cladding having a diameter greater than 150 μm, and a thickness of at least 50 μm. The larger diameter cladding means stress from the metallic protective layer can be reduced, giving lower optical loss and better hydrogen protection. A metal conduit (330) encapsulates the sensing fiber, and a pump evacuates the conduit to reduce hydrogen seepage. Ceramic splice protectors are used. OTDR is used to determine differential loss at different locations along the fiber. A reflective element at the far-end of the fiber eases calibration.

Compositions and methods are provided for the sizing of paper, to enhance the quality of images printed thereon. The novel sizing compositions contain as a sizing agent a mixture of a polyacid and a polybase. When applied to a paper substrate, such as in an internal or external sizing process, the sizing compositions result in a sized paper substrate that provides high quality printed images when printed with an ink containing a reactive dye having ionizable and / or nucleophilic groups capable of reacting with the sizing agent. Images printed on a paper substrate coated with the sizing compositions of the invention are bleed-resistant, water-resistant (e.g., water-fast), and / or are characterized by an enhanced chroma and hue.

A method of automated deployment managed by a service provider, of a computer based business process, involves generating a model (730) of the business process including a design of computing infrastructure, and deploying the model on hardware (770) dedicated to the enterprise, with an interface for the service provider to enable ongoing management of the deployed process by the service provider. Having dedicated hardware means the location of the hardware can be arranged to suit the enterprise. This means limitations such as bandwidth or latency of WAN links, can be addressed by choosing the location of the dedicated hardware appropriately. Trust of security can also be increased compared to that of the shared data centres. The automated model driven deployment can help enable the service provider to provide such deployments on different types of hardware. The need for the enterprise to maintain specialist expertise in house is reduced.

A system for bidirectional communication of digital data between a central unit and a remote unit wherein the need for tracking loops in the central unit has been eliminated. The central unit transmitter generates a master carrier and a master clock signal which are used to transmit downstream data to the remote units. The remote units recover the master carrier and master clock and synchronize local oscillators in each remote unit to these master carrier and master clock signals to generate reference carrier and clock signals for use by the remote unit receiver. These reference carrier and clock signals are also used by the remote unit transmitters to transmit upstream data to the central unit. The central unit receiver detects the phase difference between the reference carrier and clock signals from the remote units periodically and adjusts the phase of the master carrier and master clock signals for use by the central unit receiver to receive the upstream data.

A method and algorithm for semi-active suspension damper control is described. The algorithm controls the damper setting to limit vehicle body movement in terms of body modal velocities of heave, roll and pitch. The main input, body movement, is measured with accelerometers. The control output comprises a request in percent of damper control range. Vehicle speed-dependent minimum and maximum limits are applied. The method includes monitoring vehicle speed and a modal sensing system. A common damping rate for the dampers is determined based upon parameters for speed, heave, pitch, and roll. Each damper is controlled based upon the common damping rate adjusted based upon a location of each of the controllable suspension dampers. The output comprises a single signal, translated to a front and rear setting. The purpose is to always have a balanced setting of the four dampers.

A method for screening patients for heart failure such as left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) comprises measuring a biomarker and taking an ECG measurement and combining both as factors to obtain a result indicative of the probability of the patient having heart failure. As a result the level of accuracy of the screening is significantly increased. Preferred biomarkers are natriuretic peptides (e.g. ANP, BNP).

A thermoplastic film or sheet having a thickness of about 1 mil (0.026 mm) to about 20 mils (0.51 mm) containing a surface embossed layer comprising a copolymer of alpha olefin(s) with alpha, beta ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid comonomer(s), ionomers derived therefrom and combinations thereof useful for making solar cell laminates, wherein the surface is embossed with a pattern which provides channels for de-airing, the channels having depth of about 20 microns or less, a width of about 30 microns to about 300 microns and spaced about 0.1 mm to about 1 mm apart, and use thereof in photovoltaic cells and the manufacture thereof.

An insole for placement in or on an article of footwear to support all or a portion of a wearer's foot, comprising: a base shell support layer having an upper surface, wherein the base layer includes a heel support portion, a plurality of substantially rigid particles disposed on the heel support portion, and an upper layer, the upper layer overlying and being secured to the base layer, the upper layer overlying the particles and maintaining them in an area between the upper layer and the base layer.

A respirator 10 that has a harness 14 and a mask body 12 that is joined to the harness 14. The mask body 12 includes a filtering structure 16 that may contain a plurality of layers of nonwoven fibrous material 58, 60, 62. The layers of nonwoven fibrous material 58, 60, 62 have a thickness A and are welded together by at least two parallel weld lines 34′, 34″ that are spaced at 0.5 to 6 times A. A mask body that uses parallel weld lines may exhibit better resistance to collapse and may be manufactured at faster speeds than similar structures which use single weld lines of comparable width.

In an apparatus for varying the rate at which the broadcast beacons are transmitted, there is at least one router (2). The router transmits beacons which contain various types of data, controls the rate at which the beacons are transmitted, and adaptively varies the rate at which the beacons are transmitted, in response to a variety of network conditions.

The invention provides novel railroad ties manufactured from novel composite materials that possess excellent physical and performance characteristics matching or exceeding existing concrete RRTs. The RRTs of the invention can be readily produced from widely available, low cost raw materials by a process suitable for large-scale production with improved energy consumption and more desirable carbon footprint and minimal environmental impact.

A beverage machine having a beverage brewing unit for receiving a single-serve capsule and including a capsule holding assembly for holding a capsule in a position during insertion by gravity of the capsule in the brewing unit; and a water injection assembly for at least partially enclosing the capsule and providing water in the capsule. The capsule holding part forms a front part of the unit and is mounted to the capsule injection assembly in a manner to be displaceable along a substantially horizontal path whereas the water injection assembly is located in a rear fixed part of the unit. The beverage machine has an outermost casing. One of these brewing unit assemblies can be moved or telescoped out or through this casing for inserting / removing the ingredient capsule and retracted into the outermost casing for bringing the brewing unit into its capsule extraction configuration.

A system for mounting a stent on a balloon catheter includes two positioning and alignment stations, which are used to prepare a stent and catheter for crimping using the same crimping head. The system is configured for automated assembly of the stent and catheter prior to crimping. A catheter and stent are placed on a computer-controlled carriage that delivers the stent and catheter to the crimper head. Before placing the stent and catheter into the crimper head, an automated alignment system locates the stent between balloon markers.

A system for bidirectional communication of digital data between a central unit and a remote unit wherein the need for tracking loops in the central unit has been eliminated. The central unit transmitter generates a master carrier and a master clock signal which are used to transmit downstream data to the remote units. The remote units recover the master carrier and master clock and synchronize local oscillators in each remote unit to these master carrier and master clock signals to generate reference carrier and clock signals for use by the remote unit receiver. These reference carrier and clock signals are also used by the remote unit transmitters to transmit upstream data to the central unit. The central unit receiver detects the phase difference between the reference carrier and clock signals from the remote units periodically and adjusts the phase of the master carrier and master clock signals for use by the central unit receiver to receive the upstream data.

A respirator 10 that comprises a mask body 32 and a nose foam 10. The mask body 32 is adapted to fit over the nose and mouth of a person and has an interior surface 34. The nose foam 10 has a rear side 24, a front side 26, a rear side 24, and is secured to the interior surface 34 of the mask body 32 at a mask contacting surface 12. The nose foam 10 also has a central portion 14 and first and second side-contacting portions 16 and 18 that are symmetrically located on opposing sides of the central portion. The nose foam further has a nose-contacting surface 20 that extends over the central portion 14 and the first and second side-containing portions 16, 18. The nose-contacting surface 20 is skewed at first and second angles α to a plane 22 that cuts through the nose foam orthogonally to its lengthwise dimension. A nose foam of this construction can provide a snug fit to a wearer's face in the nose region without having to use a nose clip.

A reconfigurable optical add drop module has a coarse demultiplexer, for outputting sub bands of wavelengths, a fine mux / demux, for adding and / or dropping wavelengths, a coarse multiplexer, for remultiplexing the sub bands, an optical switch in between the coarse demultiplexer and the fine mux / demux, to switch the sub bands for pass through, or for add / drop. Reconfiguration can be remote, automatic, with less interruption to traffic. By switching sub bands rather than individual wavelengths, the number of switches can be reduced, and consequently losses, and space requirements can be reduced. Also, upgrading from pass through to add drop, of one or more sub bands is easier. Hence initial capital cost of nodes and the cost of upgrading can be reduced, since there is less need to provide redundant add drop capacity initially. Mid stage access enables external components to be added to the optical path for the sub bands.

An email and message management system invention that rejects all emails and messages unless the messages pass acceptance filter criteria. Without any filtering this invention will refuse to accept all incoming email and messages, whereas current systems accept all email messages without filtering aids. The invention uses several acceptance filtering methods including: a list of acceptable origin message addresses, a list of acceptable origin domain addresses, an algorithm criterion that allows messages based on wildcard type comparisons, a rules method that provides a means to use logic directives, and a method that allows the use of Pass Key Codes to automatically accept messages and to enhance message security. The invention includes an administrative function to set up and maintain the acceptance criteria, provide notification to users of rejected emails, message traffic monitoring for system quality control, and control of a network of the inventions.

The present invention relates to a mobile radio system in which channel coding on the radio link is changed during an ongoing connection. The invention can be related in particular to the packet data services GPRS and EDGE. According to the invention, a change of radio channel is made from a frequency hopping channel to a non frequency hopping radio channel in connection with changing the channel coding during an ongoing radio connection, wherein channel coding of user data that has earlier been channel coded is terminated when transmitted by radio. Channel changes are effected within a cell.

A process for isomerization dewaxing of a hydrocarbon feed which includes contacting the hydrocarbon feed with a large pore size, small crystal size, crystalline molecular sieve and an intermediate pore size, small crystal size, crystalline molecular sieve to produce a dewaxed product with a reduced pour point and a reduced cloud point. In a preferred embodiment, the feed is contacted with the molecular sieves sequentially, first with the large pore sieve followed by the intermediate pore sieve.

The invention relates to compositions that prevent expansion of a fire, suppress existing fire, as well as methods of preparing and using such compositions. The composition is comprised of water, pseudo-plastic high yield suspending agent and starch. Compositions may contain additional functional agents, such as rheological, wetting, foaming, coloring, chelating, antimicrobial and stabilizing agents. In the description of the present invention, all composition modifications are referred to as compositions. The composition, an augmentation of water, exhibits the characteristics of a sag resistant aqueous gel in the tank, but has shear thinning capacity, allowing the composition to be pumped or sprayed as easily as water. At the point of impact, when the sprayed composition is again at rest, it instantly reverts to a sag resistant aqueous gel. The composition also forms an intumescent, surface char layer upon contacting a fire. Foaming of the augmented composition on impact can be incorporated, which is advantageous for fighting petroleum fires.

A system and method including cameras for monitoring objects such as documents, at multiple locations, and for recording the objects' movement through space and time. The objects are marked with unique identifiers, and the invention is adaptable for recording and recognizing the objects' development using character recognition. A center receives the information from the cameras, and that information is searchable. Advantageously, the unique identifiers are printed with ink that is invisible unless it fluoresces or phosphoresces, the digital cameras include an ultraviolet flash to cause the identifiers to fluoresce or phosphoresce at a certain wavelength, and the cameras are equipped with filters to filter out wavelengths other than the certain wavelength. Packages or pads of pre-marked blank paper are adaptable for use with the present invention.

This invention relates to a rim system for a display such as a TV or a computer display. Controllable light sources are used for emitting light beam of at least one wavelength into a light guide comprising an inner and an outer side and a front and a back side, the light guide being adapted for guiding incoming light emitted by the light sources. The light guide 5 comprises an out-coupling structure for interacting with the light guided within the light guide such that the light becomes extracted out of the front side of the light guide. The light sources are coupled to the light guide such that the emitted light beam reaching the inner and the outer sides from with hin the light guide becomes reflected under an oblique angle with the respect to the inner and the outer sides.

A vehicular safety apparatus of the present invention is one actuated according to a collision prediction level of a vehicle. The vehicular safety apparatus of the present invention is provided with a determining device for determining a collision prediction level on the basis of a relative position between a vehicle and an obstacle ahead of the vehicle; a storage for storing a amount of brake operation by a driver at a point where the collision prediction level exceeds a predetermined threshold, as a reference level; and an actuation controller for actuating the safety apparatus in accordance with an increase from the reference level. This prevents the actuation of the safety apparatus from being excessive in the case where an increase of the amount of brake operation is low. Furthermore, in the case of the increase being high, the actuation is controlled so as to fully bring out the performance of the safety apparatus. Therefore, the performance of the safety apparatus can be suitably demonstrated without causing the driver to feel odd.

An electronic device includes a data processing system and a set of pixels that each include one or more radiation-emitting electronic components, one or more radiation-sensing electronic components, or any combination thereof. The data processing system that is configured to access data regarding the set of pixels and determine at least one calibration value corresponding to the data. The number of the calibration value(s) is less than the number of the pixels within the set. The data processing system is further configured to compare the calibration value(s) to another value and change at least one adjustment factor if the calibration value(s) differs from the other value by more than a predetermined amount. The number of the adjustment factor(s) is less than the number of the pixels within the set. Data processing system readable media and methods for using the electronic device are also described.