20th week of 2012 patent applcation highlights part 60 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20120123612 | APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CALCULATING A WHEEL SPEED BY USING A TIRE FORCE SENSOR AND CHASSIS CONTROL SYSTEM USING THE SAME - An apparatus for calculating a wheel speed is described herein which includes a tire force sensor, a time measurement unit, an angular velocity calculation unit and a wheel speed calculation unit. The tire force sensor outputs a signal in accordance with an amount of modification of a bearing. The time measurement unit measures a time interval between peak values of the signal output from the tire force sensor. The angular velocity calculation unit calculates an angular velocity by dividing an angle between balls positioned within the bearing by the time interval measured by the time measurement unit. The wheel speed calculation unit calculates the wheel speed by multiplying a distance from a center of the bearing to a center of the ball by the angular velocity calculated by the angular velocity calculation unit. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123613 | DRIVING SUPPORT DEVICE, DRIVING SUPPORT METHOD, AND PROGRAM - Disclosed are a driving support device, a driving support method, and a program, which are capable of relieving driver's concern by making it possible to easily identify the travelling position of a vehicle in a lane. Specifically disclosed is a driving support device ( | 2012-05-17 |
20120123614 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VIRTUALIZING INDUSTRIAL VEHICLES TO AUTOMATE TASK EXECUTION IN A PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT - A method and apparatus for virtualizing industrial vehicles to automate task execution in a physical environment is described. In one embodiment, the method includes determining input parameters for controlling vehicle hardware components, wherein the vehicle hardware components comprise actuators that are used to control hardware component operations, generating mappings between the input parameters and the hardware component operations, wherein each of the input parameters is applied to an actuator to perform an corresponding hardware component operation, correlating the mappings with vehicle commands to produce abstraction information and executing at least one task comprising various ones of the vehicle commands using the abstraction information. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123615 | METHOD AND A SYSTEM FOR ESTIMATING A TRAJECTORY OF A MOVING BODY - A hybrid simulation method uses a simulator tool feeding kinematics commands to a movement simulator on which a moving body is mounted and to a target representative of an objective to be reached by the moving body, and on detection of an event representative of overshooting or changing a first designated objective for this moving body, the method includes a positioning stage associated with a second designated objective for the moving body, including comparing positions executed by the movement simulator in response to transition kinematics commands with a first predetermined setpoint position and activating a first marker if a position substantially the same as the first setpoint position is detected; comparing positions executed by the target in response to transition kinematics commands with a second predetermined setpoint position and activating a second marker if a position substantially the same as the second setpoint position is detected; when the first and second markers are activated, a step of evaluating a difference between the current kinematics command supplied to the movement simulator and the target by the digital simulator tool; and, if this difference is below a particular threshold, a piloting stage including applying corrective terms linked to the setpoint positions to the kinematics commands coming from the simulator tool before they are fed to the movement simulator and to the target. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123616 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMPUTING AN EQUI-TIME POINT FOR AIRCRAFTS - A system and method for generating an equi-time point (ETP) for an emergency landing of an aircraft are disclosed. In one aspect, a method of a flight management system (FMS) of an aircraft for generating an ETP for an emergency landing of the aircraft includes receiving at least two reference points for landing the aircraft upon an occurrence of an emergency. The method also includes determining an equi-distance point (EDP) for the aircraft by locating a first point on the remaining flight path of the aircraft which is equidistant from the at least two reference points. The method further includes generating an ETP for the aircraft by locating a second point on the remaining flight path such that time difference between any two of expected flight times of the aircraft from the second point to the at least two reference points is less than a threshold value. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123617 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DATA COMMUNICATIONS - Systems and methods for controlling rail vehicle data communication are provided. In one embodiment, a multiple-unit rail vehicle system includes a first rail vehicle including a first wireless network device to detect a wireless network. The wireless network is provided by a wayside device. The rail vehicle further comprises a first communication management system to send, through the wireless network, a data communication to a second rail vehicle of the multiple-unit rail vehicle system. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123618 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING AN ESTIMATED DRIVING RANGE FOR A VEHICLE - A method for determining an estimated driving range for a vehicle that uses battery power for vehicle propulsion, where the estimate is in the form of a range of values as opposed to a single value. In one embodiment, the method adds a positive offset value to an initial estimate value to determine an upper limit, and subtracts a negative offset value from the initial estimate value to determine a lower limit. The positive and negative offset values may be determined separately and on a real-time basis so that the extent of the overall estimated driving range may be influenced by the volatility in power consumption and/or power creation. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123619 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROLONGING BATTERY LIFE OF PLUG-IN HYBRID VEHICLE - An apparatus for prolonging battery life of a plug-in hybrid vehicle includes an engine generator set, a motor, a storage battery, a first automatic switch apparatus, a second automatic switch apparatus and a system control unit. The motor, the engine generator set and the storage battery are electrically connected to one another. The first automatic switch apparatus is coupled between the motor and the storage battery, so as to conduct or cut off the electrical connection between the two. The second automatic switch apparatus is coupled between the engine generator set and the storage battery, so as to conduct or cut off the electrical connection between the two. The system control unit is electrically connected to the above components, and judges a residual electric quantity of the storage battery and an efficiency value of the engine generator set, so as to control the first or the second automatic switch apparatus. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123620 | PURGING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR IMPROVING COLD-STARTABILITY OF FUEL CELL - The present invention provides a purging device and method for improving cold start performance of a fuel cell by direct heating, in which a gas mixture of hydrogen and air is supplied to a cathode of a fuel cell stack after shutdown of a fuel cell system to generate heat by a reaction of hydrogen and air, and the generated heat is used to increase the temperature of the fuel cell stack and, at the same time, remove water from the fuel cell stack. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123621 | HYBRID VEHICLE - The present invention provide a hybrid vehicle comprising a first and a second transmission mechanisms, an electric motor connected to the first transmission mechanism, an internal combustion engine, a motor control unit and a transmission control unit. The transmission control unit changes, when the motor control unit executes a decelerating regeneration in response to a braking request of a driver, and when a braking request amount of the braking request is decreased by a predetermined amount while a predetermined shift range attained by the first transmission mechanism is selected, a shift range to a shift range on a lower-speed side than the predetermined shift range, which is attained by the first transmission mechanism, and to maintain the predetermined shift range when the braking request amount is not decreased. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123622 | CONTROL DEVICE FOR VEHICLE - A control device for a vehicle includes a motor configured to drive wheels, a high-voltage battery configured to supply electric power to the motor, and a battery charger configured to charge the high-voltage battery by using a power supply outside the vehicle. The control device further includes a failure detection unit configured to detect a specific failure, and a drive prohibition unit configured to prohibit driving of the vehicle. The drive prohibition unit prohibits the driving of the vehicle when the failure is detected by the failure detection unit in an initial check before start of driving of the vehicle and when the high-voltage battery is charged by using the power source outside the vehicle immediately before the initial check. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123623 | Electric vehicles with extended range. - The present invention discloses electric vehicles and methods to operate such vehicles, comprising an electric drive capable of moving the vehicles, together with a non-battery operative feature to enhance the performance of the vehicle, such as extending the range or increasing the power. The non-electrical enhanced feature is independent and not integrated with the electric drive, to enable the return of the vehicle design to pure electrical power with minimum modification. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123624 | Running Control Device for Electric Vehicle - A running control device for an electric vehicle includes: a first calculation unit that calculates a predetermined reference torque required for braking/driving the motor that provides a beneficial effect with regard to power consumption of the electric vehicle; a second calculation unit that calculates interval allocation between a first interval in which the electric vehicle is propelled by braking/driving the motor at the predetermined reference torque and a second interval in which the electric vehicle is coasted without the motor being braked or driven; a third calculation unit that calculates a control requested torque for braking/driving the motor intermittently, so as alternatingly to repeat running of the electric vehicle in the first intervals and coasting of the electric vehicle in the second intervals; and a running control unit that performs running control of the electric vehicle by braking/driving the motor intermittently according to the control requested torque. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123625 | POWER SOURCE SYSTEM FOR ELECTRIC POWERED VEHICLE AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR - At the time of external charging, an external charging relay is turned on, and a system main relay is turned off. Therefore, a main battery can be charged by electric power from an external power source, without applying an output voltage of the main battery to a PCU. At the time of external charging, basically, a power supply voltage for an auxiliary system (low voltage system) is generated by a sub DC/DC converter of a small capacity, while a main DC/DC converter of a large capacity used when vehicle is running is stopped. Only when the output of sub DC/DC converter is insufficient to cover the power consumption by the auxiliary system, an ECU operates the main DC/DC converter. Therefore, ECU and auxiliary load group can be operated reliably while efficiency of external charging is improved. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123626 | SECONDARY BATTERY TEMPERATURE-INCREASING CONTROL APPARATUS, VEHICLE INCLUDING THE SAME, AND SECONDARY BATTERY TEMPERATURE-INCREASING CONTROL METHOD - A first calculating section ( | 2012-05-17 |
20120123627 | METHOD FOR MANAGING HYBRID VEHICLE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM - The invention relates to a method for managing a hybrid vehicle air conditioning system that includes a compressor ( | 2012-05-17 |
20120123628 | MULTI-SENSOR AUTONOMOUS CONTROL OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES - Multi-sensor autonomous control of unmanned aerial vehicles systems and methods are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a variable autonomy control system for an unmanned aerial vehicle include a variable autonomy processing unit. The variable autonomy processing unit illustratively receives inputs from multiple sensors. It utilizes the inputs to generate commands to control the unmanned aerial vehicle at variable autonomy levels. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123629 | METHOD OF PROVIDING DIRECTIONS TO A VEHICLE SERVICE FACILITY - A method of providing directions to a vehicle service facility includes generating a vehicle service alert that includes vehicle operating data, sending the vehicle service alert to a vehicle telematics service subscriber, offering the vehicle telematics service subscriber a choice of one or more vehicle service facilities for responding to the vehicle service alert, and if the vehicle owner chooses a vehicle service facility, providing turn-by-turn directions to the chosen vehicle service facility. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123630 | DIESEL-EXHAUST-FLUID REFILL DETECTION - A method is provided for detecting a level of diesel-exhaust-fluid (DEF) in a reservoir that is operatively connected to a catalyst for a diesel engine. The method is employed in a vehicle in order to facilitate a refill of the reservoir. The method includes sensing a level of diesel fuel in a fuel tank via a sensor operatively connected to the tank. The method also includes determining whether the vehicle is on an incline using the sensed level of diesel fuel in the fuel tank. The method additionally includes determining the level of DEF in the reservoir if the vehicle is determined to be substantially not on an incline. A system is also provided for detecting a level of DEF in the reservoir. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123631 | METHOD FOR TRANSMISSION OF DATA CONCERNING TRANSPORT MEANS IN TRANSPORT MONITORING SYSTEMS - Provided is a method for transportation asset monitoring. In one example embodiment, the method comprises collecting data related to operation and location of a transportation asset, comparing the collected data with values of one or more predetermined parameter thresholds, and generating an alarm signal whenever the one or more predetermined parameter thresholds have been exceeded. The method may further comprise generating a report related to the transportation asset's operational characteristics and performance output. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123632 | Crash Verification And Notification Of Call Center Or Emergency Responders - A method is provided for an aftermarket device to provide telematics service for a vehicle. The method includes accessing sensor data internal to the device and on-board diagnostic data from the vehicle, determining if one or more combinations of the sensor data and the on-board diagnostic data indicate a crash of the vehicle, and wirelessly contacting a call center or an emergency responder when at least one combination of the sensor data and the on-board diagnostic data indicates a crash of the vehicle. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123633 | Cellular Communication Strategy - A mobile device stores charge status information of an electric vehicle. The charge status information is received by the mobile device from the electric vehicle via a short range wireless communication protocol in response to a triggering event at the vehicle indicating that the vehicle has been stopped. The mobile device at a later point receives a request from a user, the request involving a current state of charge of the electric vehicle. The mobile device attempts to communicate with electric vehicle to obtain information from the vehicle for responding to the request. If the mobile device is not able to communicate with the vehicle, the mobile device respond's to the user's request using the stored charge status information. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123634 | CONTROL APPARATUS - A control apparatus for vehicles including a first vehicle compatible with an airbag-linked emergency and a second vehicle incompatible with the airbag-linked emergency is provided. The control apparatus includes: a receiver section for receiving an airbag signal from an airbag apparatus; an abnormality determination section for determining that the airbag apparatus is abnormal when the receiver section does not receive the airbag signal from the airbag apparatus; and a control section for activating the abnormality determination section when the control apparatus is mounted to the first vehicle, and for deactivating the abnormality determination section when the control apparatus is mounted to the second vehicle. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123635 | POWERTRAIN THERMAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR A DRY-CLUTCH TRANSMISSION - The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for controlling a flow regulator, such as a diverter valve, that is configured to guide air through a transmission housing before entering an engine intake manifold. In certain arrangements, the flow regulator operates according to predetermined conditions, e.g., meeting an engine intake manifold air temperature threshold. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123636 | OPERATION INPUT DEVICE FOR VEHICLE - An operation input device for a vehicle includes: a first operation unit for executing an operation of an in-vehicle device on the vehicle; and a second operation unit for executing a negative operation of the in-vehicle device so that the operation of the in-vehicle device is cancelled. An operation direction of the second operation unit has a directional component. The directional component of the operation direction of the second operation unit is opposite to an extending direction of an arm of a user, who sits down on a predetermined seat. The user extends the arm along with the extending direction in order to touch the operation input device. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123637 | SPECTRUM MEASURING APPARATUS FOR MOVER - Disclosed is a mover spectrum measuring apparatus, which is able to discriminate an object being measured more reliably by relieving the influences of an environmental light on photographic data by a spectrum sensor mounted on a mover such as a vehicle. A spectrum sensor capable of measuring wavelength information and optical intensity information is mounted on a vehicle, so that an object being measured around the vehicle is discriminated on the basis of the spectrum data relating to the observation light detected by the spectrum sensor. The mover spectrum measuring apparatus comprises an illumination device for making variable the featuring quantity of at least either the wavelength range of the observation light or the optical intensity of each wavelength, and controls the featuring quantity varying mode by the illumination device through an illumination controller on the basis of the control value according to an environmental element. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123638 | SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING VEHICLE EQUIPMENT - A system for automatically controlling vehicle equipment includes a controller to generate control signals. The control signals are derived based on information obtained from the image sensor as well as other detected parameters pertaining to the detected light source(s), the vehicle having the inventive control system, and the ambient environment. The control circuit may simply turn certain vehicle equipment, for example exterior lights, on or off, or change the brightness, aim, focus, etc. to produce various beam patterns that maximize the illuminated area in front of the vehicle without causing excessive glare in the eyes of other drivers. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123639 | POWER-SAVING SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD FOR THE SAME - In a vehicle equipped with a plurality of electronic devices, a power-saving system ( | 2012-05-17 |
20120123640 | VEHICULAR CONTROL APPARATUS - A vehicular control apparatus ( | 2012-05-17 |
20120123641 | FOLLOWER VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FORWARD AND REVERSE CONVOY MOVEMENT - A vehicle control system for causing a follower vehicle to follow a leader may have a tether system mounted to the follower vehicle. The tether system may include a tether having an end adapted to be attached to the leader, a length sensor, and an angle sensor. A path tracking system operatively associated with the tether system determines a path traveled by the leader. A path control system operatively associated with the path tracking system and the follower vehicle causes the follower vehicle to follow the path traveled by the leader. A spacing control system operatively associated with the path tracking system and the follower vehicle causes the follower vehicle to maintain a predetermined spacing between the follower vehicle and the leader. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123642 | VEHICLE RUNNING CONTROL APPARATUS - A vehicle driving control apparatus is provided at least with: a rudder angle varying device capable of changing a relation between a steering angle, which is a rotation angle of a steering input shaft, and a rudder angle, which is a rotation angle of steered wheels; and a trajectory controlling device for controlling the rudder angle varying device such that a trajectory of a vehicle approaches a target driving route of the vehicle. The vehicle driving control apparatus is further provided with a changing device for changing responsiveness of control by the trajectory controlling device when there is a steering input given to the steering input shaft through a steering wheel by a driver of the vehicle. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123643 | DRIVING SUPPORT APPARATUS OF VEHICLE - A driving support apparatus of a vehicle supports driving of the vehicle, the vehicle includes a rudder angle varying device capable of changing a relative relation between a steering angle and a rudder angle. The driving support apparatus includes a following control device for controlling the rudder angle varying device such that the vehicle follows a target driving route; a steering angle specifying device for specifying the steering angle; and a judging device for judging whether or not overriding performed by a driver takes place on the basis of the specified steering angle and a reference steering angle which is the steering angle in making the vehicle follow the target driving route. The following control device stops the vehicle following for the target driving route if it is judged that the overriding takes place. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123644 | Driver Assistance System in a Motor Vehicle - A driver assistance system in a motor vehicle includes an electronically controllable braking system and a control unit assigned to this braking system and connected with an operating element also assigned to the braking system. The operating element, when correspondingly actuated, can initiate an automatic braking function in the form of a normal braking by use of the electronically controllable braking system independently of the actuation of the brake pedal. The control unit is operatively configured such that, when the operating element is continuously actuated beyond a predefined minimum duration, an emergency braking function can be initiated. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123645 | PASSENGER-SHIFT AIRBAG APPARATUS, SIDE AIRBAG SYSTEM HAVING THE SAME, AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING SIDE AIRBAG SYSTEM - A passenger-shift airbag apparatus may include an inflator installed at a predetermined position in a seat back of a vehicle; and a passenger-shift airbag cushion fluid-connected to the inflator directly or by a gas supply tube, the passenger-shift airbag cushion being located in the seat back adjacent to a lateral side of the seatback, so that when the passenger-shift airbag cushion is inflated by gas supplied from the inflator, the passenger-shift airbag cushion shifts the passenger towards an inside of the vehicle. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123646 | Monitoring System for Controlling Liftable and Steer Axles on Trucks or Tractor Trailers - This invention provides a monitoring system to control liftable or steer axles on a truck or tractor-trailer by monitoring one or more input data types selected from the group consisting of speed and direction data, load data, turn signal data, engine data and emergency signal data. After processing the input data, a control module may control the lift axle electrical valving to lift one or more liftable axles, and may also lock the steerable axle in a straight position at a predetermined forward speed or adjust the pressure on the air suspension of a steer axle to equalize axle bearing weight. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123647 | VEHICLE - A vehicle provides a greater maximum acceleration/deceleration, while maintaining a pleasant driving, when M is a total vehicle mass, L is a height of center of gravity of the whole vehicle, λ is a maximum displacement amount of a balancer, and m is a mass of the balancer, the balancer mass m or the maximum displacement amount λ, of the balancer is decided so as to satisfy the following expression: (m/M)(λ/L)=α. By using the expression 1, the balancer mass m and the maximum displacement amount A, of the balancer can be set to an optimal value against the total vehicle mass M. Thus it is possible to decide the balancer mass m and the maximum displacement amount λ for the maximum acceleration α of the vehicle. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123648 | METHOD FOR ADJUSTMENT OF HEADLAMPS FOR MOTOR VEHICLES - A method and system for adjustment of headlamps for motor vehicles, comprising a step for calculating a headlamp angle. The method furthermore comprises the steps of
| 2012-05-17 |
20120123649 | SENSOR DEVICE AND MODULAR UNIT THEREFOR - The invention relates to a modular unit ( | 2012-05-17 |
20120123650 | Agricultural harvesting machine - An agricultural harvesting machine comprising a chopping assembly for fragmenting crop, and a camera situated downstream of the chopping assembly in order to optically detect the fragmented crop and produce images of the fragmented crop, wherein the camera is connected to an image evaluation device which can be operated to detect edges in the generated images in order to deduce properties of the fragmented crop. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123651 | MODULE IN A VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM - A module for determining speed set-point values v | 2012-05-17 |
20120123652 | DRIVE SYSTEM HAVING GEAR AND GROUNDSPEED RECALL - A drive system for a mobile machine is disclosed. The drive system may have an engine, a mechanical step-change transmission operatively connected to and driven by the engine, and a controller in communication with the engine and the mechanical step-change transmission. The controller may be configured to receive a first operator input to store as a target a current groundspeed of the mobile machine and a current gear selection of the mechanical step-change transmission, and receive a second operator input to recall the target when at least one of the groundspeed of the mobile machine and the gear selection of the mechanical step-change transmission is different from the target. The controller may further be configured to adjust a speed of the engine and a gear selection of the mechanical step-change transmission to achieve the recalled target. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123653 | SHIFT-BY-WIRE SYSTEM - When a vehicle electric power source is turned on, and when a target mode position is other than a P-mode position and a D-mode position or the target mode position is unfixed, an SBW-ECU does not drive the actuator so that the current actual mode position is maintained. The SBW-ECU accepts only the driver's requirement for changing the mode position to the P-mode position or the D-mode position. When it is required to change the mode position to the P-mode position, a first position learning portion learns a first reference position. When it is required to change the mode position to the D-mode position, a second position learning portion learns a second reference position. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123654 | DOUBLE TRANSITION SHIFT CONTROL IN AN AUTOMATIC POWERSHIFTING TRANSMISSION - A system and method for controlling double transition shifts in an automatic transmission having multiple gear sections. During a double transition shift, the system performs simultaneous closed loop control of the primary oncoming clutch in the primary gear section and the secondary off-going clutch of the secondary gear section. Before the input shaft of the secondary gear section is fully pulled down or the secondary off-going clutch becomes overheated, the system switches closed loop control of the input shaft to the secondary on-coming clutch of the secondary gear section. The system utilizes model-based calculations to determine the initial clutch pressure settings when a clutch enters closed loop control. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123655 | VEHICLE OPERATION DEVICE - Disclosed is a vehicle operation device capable of reducing a sense of discomfort imposed on a driver when the driver carries out a driving operation and suppressing a vehicle behavior not intended by the driver. A vehicle operation ECU determines control amounts of a throttle actuator and a brake actuator in accordance with operation amounts of an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal. When a steering is being operated, a dead zone for a control amount according to an operation of a pedal is adjusted. For example, when the steering is turned to the left, the dead zone of the accelerator pedal disposed on the right side, that is, on a turning outer wheel side of the vehicle is increased. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123656 | Method and device of calculating aircraft braking friction and other relating landing performance parameters based on the data received from aircraft's on board flight data management system - This invention relates to a method and apparatus for the calculation of aircraft braking friction and other relating landing parameters, including but not limited to aircraft braking action, aircraft takeoff distance, aircraft landing distance, runway surface conditions and runway surface friction based on the data collected by and available in the aircraft Flight Data Recorder (FDR) or other flight data management system, for example, the Quick Access Recorder (QAR), to provide all involved personnel in the ground operations of an airport and airline operations, including but not limited to aircraft pilots, airline operation officers and airline managers as well as airport operators, managers and maintenance crews, with the most accurate and most recent information on the true aircraft landing performance parameters to help better and more accurate safety and economical decision making. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123657 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL SYSTEM - A subject vehicle runs under a fixed speed travel at a target speed by an auto-cruise system. When it is determined that the subject vehicle cannot arrive at a destination using a present residual fuel quantity, a navigation apparatus is caused to retrieve an eco-route. It is then determined whether the subject vehicle can arrive at the destination by running the eco-route at a fuel-efficient speed which can consume fuel efficiently using the present residual fuel quantity. When it is determined that the subject vehicle can arrive, the fuel-efficient speed is presented as a recommended speed. Thus, a driver of the subject vehicle is urged to designate the fuel-efficient speed as a new target speed for the auto-cruise control. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123658 | VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICE, VEHICLE CONTROL METHOD, AND VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM - A navigation system acquired information relating to a point, such as a sag where a decrease in vehicle speed is induced in front of a system-mounted vehicle. When the system-mounted vehicle has reached a predetermined distance from the sag concerning the information acquired by the navigation system or when a predetermined time has come before reaching the sag, an ECU and an ACC controls the traveling of the system-mounted vehicle such that the inter-vehicle distance from an ordinary vehicle behind the system-mounted vehicle increases. Therefore, even when a vehicle control device is not mounted in an ordinary vehicle behind the system-mounted vehicle, it becomes possible to prevent a decrease in the speed of the ordinary vehicle behind the system-mounted vehicle, thereby more effectively suppressing congestion. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123659 | VEHICLE CONTROLLER, CONTROL METHOD FOR VEHICLE AND CONTROL SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE - An ECU of a vehicle control device selects a system-mounted vehicle traveling ahead of a system-mounted vehicle as a cooperating vehicle and controls the inter-vehicle distance between the selected system-mounted vehicle and the system-mounted vehicle, or the like to control the traffic volume of a road in the vicinity of the system-mounted vehicles, such that traffic jams can be prevented effectively as compared with a case where the system-mounted vehicle performs travel control independently. Furthermore, the ECU determines whether or not to select the system-mounted vehicle as a cooperating vehicle based on the relative speed of the system-mounted vehicle and the system-mounted vehicle a regardless of whether or not the system-mounted vehicle that is selected as the cooperating vehicle is traveling in the same lane as the system-mounted vehicle, such that it is possible to select the cooperating system-mounted vehicle without being influenced by the accuracy of recognizing the lane in which the system-mounted vehicle travels. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123660 | VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICE, VEHICLE CONTROL METHOD, AND VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM - The amount of traffic on the road is greatly affected by both an inter-vehicle distance and a vehicle speed. When the amount of traffic increases and is more than a threshold value, an ECU and an ACC control the inter-vehicle distance and the vehicle speed such that the amount of traffic is a predetermined value equal to or more than the threshold value. In this way, it is possible to effectively suppress traffic congestion. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123661 | HYDRAULIC HYBRID VEHICLE METHOD OF SAFE OPERATION - A hydraulic hybrid vehicle includes elements such as a hydraulic pump driven by an internal combustion engine and arranged to draw in low pressure fluid and pump the fluid at high pressure to an accumulator. A hydraulic motor is powered by the pressurized fluid. Safety processes are provided for detecting and addressing a number of conditions that may arise in the operation of the hydraulic hybrid vehicle, including an initialization procedure for start-up of the vehicle, a shut-down procedure, and procedures for detecting and responding to failure of the pump or motor, internal and external fluid leaks, and non-responsive actuation and mode control systems. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123662 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENGINE EMISSION CONTROL - Methods and systems are provided for operating an engine having a plurality of notch settings. One example method comprises, during a first notch setting, adjusting engine injection timing in a first proportion to an increasing temperature, and during a second notch setting higher than the first notch setting, adjusting engine injection timing in a second proportion to the increasing temperature, the second proportion lower than the first proportion. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123663 | Turbosupercharged internal combustion engine control method - A method of controlling an internal combustion engine supercharged by a turbosupercharger having a turbine and a compressor; the control method including the steps of: determining, in a reduced mass flow/compression ratio graph, at least one limit operation curve of the compressor representing a limit of the operating range of the compressor; controlling the turbosupercharger to keep the actual reduced mass flow and actual compression ratio of the compressor within the limit defined by the limit operation curve of the compressor; determining an index as a function of the dynamics of the reduced mass flow of the compressor; and modifying the limit operation curve of the compressor as a function of the index. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123664 | ELECTRONIC DIGITAL GOVERNOR AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLY - An electronic digital governor assembly includes a case, a printed circuit board housed within said case, the printed circuit board having control circuitry configured for controlling at least one parameter of an energy production device, and a user interface including a digital display for displaying a value of the at least one parameter and at least one button for selectively adjusting the value. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123665 | IN-VEHICLE DISPLAY FOR IMPROVING FUEL ECONOMY - A visual feedback system for a vehicle including an engine, includes an operating control for varying the engine's speed. Connected to the engine, an engine acceleration reporter reports an amount of acceleration of the engine. A creation control being linked to both the engine acceleration reporter and the operating control enables the creation of images on a visual display according to a variation in the engine speed. Accordingly, the creation control creates a pendulum image within a sector of a circle, with the pendulum image swinging in response to the amount of acceleration being reported by the engine acceleration reporter. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123666 | METHOD FOR AVOIDING TURBOCHARGER DAMAGE - A method for operating an engine of a motor vehicle is provided. The method comprises operating at least one turbocharger, operating a start/stop automatic system which automatically switches off the internal combustion engine when a stop condition is met, and automatically starts the internal combustion engine when a starting condition is met, and when the stop condition is met, delaying the automatic switching off of the internal combustion engine by a predefinable delay time (Δt). In one example, automatic shut off of the engine may be delayed in order ensure adequate cooling of the turbocharger. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123667 | CROWD SOURCED TRAFFIC REPORTING - A traffic reporting service may allow for the generation of more reliable and accurate traffic reports, maps, and forecasts based on various data types and sources. Data sources include public sector sources, private entities, and end users providing crowd sourced data. Crowd sourced data is collected, verified, and used to generate a traffic report which is displayed to a user via a computing device. A user may use various information presented in the traffic report to make informed decisions when choosing travel routes and a departure time to reach a desired destination. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123668 | POSITION/TIME SYNCHRONIZATION OF UNMANNED AIR VEHICLES FOR AIR REFUELING OPERATIONS - A system and methods for coordinating positioning of vehicles in motion is disclosed. The method graphically presents displayed synchronization parameters on a display screen such that a user determines a planned position of a first vehicle on a planned path in order to arrive at a predetermined position at a correct time. The method further synchronizes the first vehicle with the planned position on the planned path using the displayed synchronization parameters and performs a rendezvous between the first vehicle and a second vehicle. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123669 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AVIATION NAVIGATION - A system operates to guide an aircraft to or along a route designed to maintain the aircraft within a safe glide distance of an acceptable emergency landing area. The system uses a database of emergency landing areas with glide characteristics of an aircraft to determine a route that minimizes travel time or other specified parameter, while keeping the aircraft within a safe glide distance of a landing area in the database meeting the landing requirements for the aircraft. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123670 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR UPDATING CHARGE STATION INFORMATION - A system for updating a charge station database including information about charge station location and/or characteristic by determining and verifying charge station location and characteristics after a vehicle connects to a charging station. The vehicle determines (probes) the charge station location based upon the location of the vehicle while connected to the charging station. This location information is transmitted by the vehicle to a central database. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123671 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETECTING POTENTIAL COLLISIONS BY AN AIRCRAFT - Systems and methods for detecting potential collisions by an aircraft are disclosed. A set of points may be detected by one or more sensors of the aircraft. The set of points may be transformed based on the speed of the aircraft relative to a speed threshold. A potential collision may be detected based on whether a transformed point is within a protective envelope relative to the aircraft. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123672 | TRAVEL GUIDANCE DEVICE, TRAVEL GUIDANCE METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM - Travel guidance devices, methods, and programs acquire map data including a road network, a position of a vehicle, and a planned travel route of the vehicle. Based on the acquired information, the devices, methods, and programs determine whether there is a planned entry branch that the vehicle is projected to enter located ahead of the vehicle. When the planned entry branch is ahead of the vehicle, the devices, methods, and programs determine whether there is a no-lane-change zone between the vehicle and the planned entry branch. When the no-lane-change zone is located between the vehicle and the planned entry branch, the devices, methods, and programs set guidance content related to a lane change of the vehicle based on a position of the no-lane-change zone. The devices, methods, and programs generate guidance using the set guidance content and communicate the generated guidance to a user of the travel guidance device. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123673 | GENERATING A MAP THAT INCLUDES LOCATION AND PRICE OF PRODUCTS IN A SHOPPING LIST - Described herein are technologies pertaining to presenting a map to a user that comprises graphical icons that are representative of retail stores. The user has provided a shopping list, wherein the shopping list includes a plurality of products that are desirably purchased by the user. Inventories of retail stores in a geographic region of interest to the user are searched, and a map is generated that includes graphical icons representative of the retail stores, data that indicates that product(s) in the shopping list are available at the retail stores, and price data that indicates prices of product(s) in the shopping list at the respective retail stores. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123674 | DISPLAYING PRODUCT RECOMMENDATIONS ON A MAP - Described herein are technologies pertaining to presenting a map to a user that comprises graphical icons that are representative of retail stores. The user has performed a search for a product, wherein the product has a parameter corresponding thereto, and the parameter has a constraint corresponding thereto. Inventories of multiple retail stores can be searched over by relaxing the constraint, thereby allowing a recommended product to be located. A graphical icon representative of a retail store that has the recommended product in stock is included in the map together with data indicative of the price of the recommended product at the retail store. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123675 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPERATING AND INTERACTING WITH A VIRTUAL MARKETPLACE - A method for operating a virtual marketplace is disclosed. The method includes generating an administration interface for a user configured to manage a product inventory, incentivizing user interactions with the virtual marketplace by granting user credits to a user based upon predetermined categories of user input into the virtual marketplace, maintaining the product inventory, identifying product information based upon user input including a physical location of the user, generating a user interface configured to receive user input and navigate among a plurality of informational modules in response to a user request, selectively sending the administration interface to a user in response to a request by the user, and sending the user interface to a user in response to a request by the user. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123676 | IN-VEHICLE NAVIGATION IN COLLABORATION WITH A SERVER - An in-vehicle navigation apparatus to support sharing of electric vehicle charging point information such that other electric vehicles can use a charging point where its own electric vehicle is charged. If the in-vehicle navigation apparatus determines that a current position is a charging point on the basis of charge information about an electric vehicle, the navigation apparatus determines whether the charging point has public availability by referring to facility information, such as facility positions in map data stored in a map data storage unit. The in-vehicle navigation apparatus may transmit charging points having public availability to a server apparatus and not transmit the charging points having no public availability to the server apparatus. Vehicles may download charging points uploaded by other vehicles. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123677 | MAP DISPLAY DEVICE - A map display device includes: current location calculating unit for calculating a current location; specific region dedicated database for storing map data permitted only inside a specific region; specific region permitted database for storing data for displaying the inside of the specific region outside the specific region; outside-specific-region database for storing map data of the outside of the specific region available both inside and outside the specific region; controller for generating display data for displaying a map of the outside of the specific region using map data from the outside-specific-region database, and generating display data for displaying an image of a permitted map attribute to the inside of the specific region using the data from the permitted database, when the current location is outside the specific region; and display unit for displaying an image of the map or the permitted map attribute based on the display data. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123678 | Point Of Interest Search Along A Route With Return - A routing module identifies POIs that can be reached from a route with a cost less than distance m. A routing engine performs a reverse exploration on nodes in the planned route to locate POIs from which the route can be reached with a cost of less than a second cost n. POIs identified as being reachable from the route with a cost of less than m, and from which the route is reachable with a cost less than n are then further filtered to identify a subset of the POIs for which the sum of the time or distance from the route to the POI and the time or distance from the POI back to the route is less than a threshold time or distance, t. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123679 | METHOD OF DETERMINING NAVIGATION PARAMETERS FOR A CARRIER AND HYBRIDIZATION DEVICE - Method of determining navigation parameters for a carrier by a hybridization device comprising a Kalman filter ( | 2012-05-17 |
20120123680 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ELECTRONIC MOVING MAP AND AERONAUTICAL CONTEXT DISPLAY - A system and method for controlling a display of geographical data on a primary display device to assist in navigating a mobile platform such as an aircraft, ship, train, land-based motor vehicle, etc. The system includes a graphical user interface module (GUI) for receiving a plurality of user inputs, and an image control module. The GUI generates a primary display of the complete route being traveled on the primary display device. If the entire route does not fit on the display device, then the image control module generates data that the GUI uses to generate a context display on the primary display device. The context display presents the entire route as a smaller image on the primary display device, simultaneously with the primary display. The user inputs for the GUI enable the user to zoom, pan and perform other image control operations on either the primary display or the context display. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123681 | METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR DIAGNOSIS OF STRESS AND DISEASE IN HIGHER PLANTS - The present invention relates to a method, apparatus and a system of fast diagnosis of stresses and diseases in higher plants. The proposed methodology is based on the hypothesis of that when a plant is in imbalance; there are changes in its metabolism that render an alteration of the chemical composition of its organs. This chemical alteration leads to a change in the physical properties, such as the fluorescence of the leaves. Due to the complexity of the material of the leaves, the present method proposes that the signal be treated with statistical methods and that the classification is made through softwares based on machine learning. As an example of the application of the invention, the results are shown for the Greening disease in citrus. Currently, Greening is the most severe citrus disease since there is no treatment available for it and due to its high dissemination rate and the fact that it affects all varieties of orange trees, being the diagnosis performed through visual inspection, which renders high subjectivity, high error percentage and the disease is only diagnosed after the expression of the symptoms (˜8 months). During the asymptomatic phase, the infected tree is a source of dissemination of the disease. The present invention can perform the asymptomatic diagnosis of Greening disease from the leaf with a percentage of correct diagnosis higher than 80%. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123682 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PRODUCING CLIMATE CRISIS INDEX - The present invention relates to a method for producing a climate crisis index. The present invention provides a method for producing a climate crisis index as a indicator indicating the level of a risk according to climate change, wherein an average of the sum of the following indexes is produced as a climate crisis index: a carbon dioxide(CO | 2012-05-17 |
20120123683 | CSEM SURVEY METHOD - There is disclosed a method of performing a controlled source electromagnetic survey, which includes in one embodiment deploying a receiver and an electric dipole source. The source defines a dipole axis. An electromagnetic field is transmitted from the electric dipole source. First and second horizontal components of an electromagnetic field response are detected using the receiver. A vertical component of the electromagnetic field response is then estimated using the detected first and second horizontal components of the electromagnetic field response. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123684 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING MICRO-SEISMIC EVENTS AND CHARACTERIZING PROPERTIES OF A MEDIUM WITH NON-LINEAR ACOUSTIC INTERACTIONS - A method and system includes generating a first coded acoustic signal including pulses each having a modulated signal at a central frequency; and a second coded acoustic signal each pulse of which includes a modulated signal a central frequency of which is a fraction d of the central frequency of the modulated signal for the corresponding pulse in the first plurality of pulses. A receiver detects a third signal generated by a non-linear mixing process in the mixing zone and the signal is processed to extract the third signal to obtain an emulated micro-seismic event signal occurring at the mixing zone; and to characterize properties of the medium or creating a 3D image of the properties of the medium, or both, based on the emulated micro-seismic event signal. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123685 | SECONDARY STRUCTURE DEFINING DATABASE AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING IDENTITY AND GEOGRAPHIC ORIGIN OF AN UNKNOWN BIOAGENT THEREBY - The present invention relates generally to the field of investigational bioinformatics and more particularly to secondary structure defining databases. The present invention further relates to methods for interrogating a database as a source of molecular masses of known bioagents for comparing against the molecular mass of an unknown or selected bioagent to determine either the identity of the selected bioagent, and/or to determine the origin of the selected bioagent. The identification of the bioagent is important for determining a proper course of treatment and/or irradication of the bioagent in such cases as biological warfare. Furthermore, the determination of the geographic origin of a selected bioagent will facilitate the identification of potential criminal identity. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123686 | HANDHELD DIAGNOSTIC TEST DEVICE AND METHOD FOR USE WITH AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND A TEST CARTRIDGE IN A RAPID DIAGNOSTIC TEST - A handheld diagnostic test device includes a port to removably receive a test cartridge, an element connected with an electronic device, and sensors for detection of test data from a biological or environment sample after reaction with reagents onboard the cartridge. The test device also includes memory storing algorithms for upload to the electronic device to enable a processor thereof: to await elapse of a pre-determined time following reaction of the sample with the reagents; to thereafter instruct the sensors to detect the test data; to generate presentation data based on the test data; and to present the presentation data from a presentation element of the electronic device to a user. A related method includes a connecting step, an up-loading step, a presentation step, a cartridge inserting step, a waiting step, a sensing step, and an electronic device processing step. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123687 | ANALYSIS OF DNA SAMPLES - The invention provides an improved method for obtaining information about DNA analysis of samples of uncertain origin by establishing the likelihood that they arose in certain manners compared with other possible manners. In this way all of the analysis information is taken into account and likelihood ratios are provided to express the results. The invention is particularly useful in analysing small DNA samples or DNA samples where the contribution from one or more sources is small. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123688 | RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY FOR BIOPROCESS OPERATIONS - A method of characterizing a multi-component mixture for use in a bioprocess operation that includes providing a multi-component mixture standard with pre-determined amounts of known components; performing a Raman Spectroscopy analysis on the multi-component mixture standard; providing a multi-component test mixture from the bioprocess operation; performing a Raman Spectroscopy analysis on the multi-component test mixture; and comparing the analysis of the multi-component mixture standard and the multi-component test mixture to characterize the multi-component test mixture. In one embodiment, the multi-component mixture standard and the multi-component test mixture both comprise one or more of, at least two, at least three of, or each of, a polysaccharide (e.g. sucrose or mannitol), an amino acid (e.g., L-arginine, L-histidine or L-ornithine), a surfactant (e.g. polysorbate 80) and a pH buffer (e.g., a citrate formulation). | 2012-05-17 |
20120123689 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DISCRIMINATING BANDS IN SCALOGRAMS - The present disclosure is directed towards embodiments of systems and methods for discriminating (e.g., masking out) scale bands that are determined to be not of interest from a scalogram derived from a continuous wavelet transform of a signal. Techniques for determining whether a scale band is not of interest include, for example, determining whether a scale band's amplitude is being modulated by one or more other bands in the scalogram. Another technique involves determining whether a scale band is located between two other bands and has energy less than that of its neighboring bands. Another technique involves determining whether a scale band is located at about half the scale of another, more dominant (i.e., higher energy) band. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123690 | REAL-TIME SELF-CALIBRATING SENSOR SYSTEM AND METHOD - A system and method for calibrating a sensor of a characteristic monitoring system in real time utilizes a self-calibration module for periodic determination of, and compensation for, the IR drop across unwanted resistances in a cell. A current-interrupt switch is used to open the self-calibration module circuit and either measure the IR drop using a high-frequency (MHz) ADC module, or estimate it through linear regression of acquired samples of the voltage across the sensor's working and reference electrodes (Vmeasured) over time. The IR drop is then subtracted from the closed-circuit value of Vmeasured to calculate the overpotential that exists in the cell (Vimportant). Vimportant may be further optimized by subtracting the value of the open-circuit voltage (Voc) across the sensor's working and reference electrodes. The values of Vmeasured and Vimportant are then controlled by respective first and second control units to compensate for the IR drop. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123691 | Method and Device for Early Signal Attenuation Detection Using Blood Glucose Measurements - Methods and devices to detect analyte in body fluid are provided. Embodiments include receiving one or more analyte sensor data, receiving a reference measurement value associated with an analyte level, determining a sensitivity parameter based on the received one or more analyte sensor data and the reference measurement value, performing a probability analysis based on prior analyte sensor data to determine presence of signal attenuation, and generating an output value based on the probability analysis. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123692 | Method And Apparatus For Providing Data Processing And Control In A Medical Communication System - Methods and apparatus for providing data processing and control for use in a medical communication system are provided. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123693 | Device and method for responding to influences of mind - Mental influence detectors and corresponding methods are useful for detecting an influence of mind and hidden or classically non-inferable information. An anomalous effect detector includes a source of non-deterministic random numbers, a converter to convert a property of numbers, a processor to accept converter output and to produce an output signal representative of an influence of mind. The processor output signal contains fewer numbers than the input. A quantum computer includes a physical source of entropy to generate output numbers; a source of test numbers; a measurement processor to accept output numbers and to measure a relationship between process numbers and at least one test number to produce an output representative of an influence of mind. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123694 | Method for Evaluating Renal Function - Plasma concentration of a compound of interest is measured in two or ideally 4 or more blood samples taken from a patient over a period of time following bolus injection. The measured values are input into a computer processor programmed to execute a computer program comprising an algorithm that uses the gamma variate (GV) function to model drug plasma concentration, then uses Tikhonov regularization to perform the fit, selecting a regularization constant so that the relative error in the plasma clearance is minimized. One or more output values representative of renal function are generated. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123695 | METHODS FOR ASSESSING RESPONSIVENESS OF B-CELL LYMPHOMA TO TREATMENT WITH ANTI-CD40 ANTIBODIES - The invention provides methods and kits useful for predicting or assessing responsiveness of a patient having B-cell lymphoma to treatment with anti-CD40 antibodies. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123696 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR STEAM QUALITY MONITORING - A method of determining a steam quality of a wet steam located in an interior of a steam turbine includes emitting from an optical probe a plurality of wavelengths through the wet steam, measuring with the optical probe a wet steam intensity corresponding to each of the plurality of wavelengths emitted through the wet steam, determining an intensity ratio vector by dividing the wet steam intensity by a corresponding dry steam intensity for each of the plurality of wavelengths, successively applying scaling factors to the intensity ratio vector to obtain a scaled intensity ratio vector, calculating a suitable value for each of the scaling factors to obtain a plurality of residuals, determining a minimum residual of the plurality of residuals, determining a droplet size distribution by calculating the droplet number density corresponding to the minimum residual, and determining the steam quality based on the droplet size distribution. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123697 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR IDENTIFYING A MATERIAL OF AN OBJECT - A device for identifying a material of an object including: a source of X photons, and a spectrometric detector, the source irradiating the object with an incident beam and the detector measuring a magnitude of a backscattered beam from the incident beam after scattering in a volume of the material and an energy of the X photons of the backscattered beam, the incident and backscattered beams forming a scattering angle. Further, a mechanism adjusts position between the source, the detector, and the object for volume to be at different depths with a constant angle, and a mechanism processes the two magnitudes in two positions and the energy in one position to calculate an attenuation coefficient for estimating the density of the material. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123698 | Customizable Contactor Prognostics System - A method and apparatus for identifying a health status of a contactor includes a processor coupled to a computer readable media. The processor is coupled to the contactor to instruct the contactor to open and close. A database stored in the computer readable media includes operation count variables for the contactor, closing time variables for the contactor, and health status rules for the contactor. The operation count variables and the closing time variables may be inputs to the health status rules to identify the health status of the contactor. A customization program may also be stored in the computer readable media. The customization program enables an operator to modify at least one of the operation count variables, the closing time variables, and the health status rules to affect the identified health status of the contactor. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123699 | FLAW-DETECTION APPARATUS AND FLAW-DETECTION METHOD - Noise included in detection signals is distinguished with a simple configuration. Provided is a flaw-detection apparatus ( | 2012-05-17 |
20120123700 | APPARATUS FOR MEASURING PEELING FORCE OF ADHESIVE - Apparatus for measuring peeling force of an adhesive capable of varying different peeling angles and peeling rates, the apparatus comprising a force transducer for measuring a peeling force of a tape sample; and a peeling angle (angle C) defined by the adjustment a first angle (angle A) and a second angle (angle B); wherein said first angle (angle A) is defined by an angle between a test sled and a slide with a movement device, and said second angle (angle B) is defined by an angle between a force-bearing direction of said force transducer and a horizontal parallel plane of said slide. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123701 | FORCE PLATFORM SYSTEM - A method of processing force signals from plural force platforms includes, in a computer, in an initialization process, receiving data distinguishing the plural platforms, monitoring force data signals from each of the plural platforms, and identifying each of the plural platforms to a force platform data process application by a sequence of received above-threshold force data signals. The method further includes, subsequent to the initialization process, processing subsequent force data signals according to the identification of each of the plural force platforms. The distinguishing data can include data retrieved from nonvolatile memory of each of the plural force platforms, such as a platform serial number, calibration data, and platform capacity. A force platform system includes one or more force platforms and force platform signal conditioning circuitry connected to the one or more force platforms. The signal conditioning circuitry may include a separate signal conditioner connected to each force platform. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123702 | System and Method for Simultaneously Determining Strain and Temperature Characteristics of an Object - A system for simultaneously determining strain and temperature characteristics of an object comprising: (i) at least one optical fiber having at least two Brillouin peaks; (ii) at least one connector securing the optical fiber to the object to be monitored; (iii) a laser positioned to provide laser light to said at least one optical fiber; (iv) a device measuring frequencies of said at least two Brillouin peaks, and determining frequency shifts of said at least two Brillouin peaks for said at least one optical fiber along the length of fiber; and (v) a system calculating strain and temperature characteristics along said fiber, based on the coefficients of strain and temperature as well as the measured Brillouin frequency shifts for said optical fiber along the length of said optical fiber. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123703 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE INJECTION LAW OF A FUEL INJECTOR USING A ROLLER-TEST BENCH - A method determines an injection law of a fuel injector to be tested in an injection system and includes steps of: completely interrupting feeding of fuel from a fuel pump to a common rail; avoiding opening of all injectors except for one to be tested; measuring initial pressure of the fuel inside the rail before starting the opening of the injector; opening the injector for consecutive openings with a same test-actuation time; measuring final pressure after ending the opening; determining a pressure drop in the rail during the opening (equal to a difference between the initial and final pressures); estimating, according to the pressure drop, a fuel quantity that is actually injected by the injector when the injector is opened for the time; and causing an internal-combustion engine using the system to rotate by an external actuator during the openings to allow execution of consecutive openings with the same time. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123704 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING BLOCKED PITOT-STATIC PORTS - An avionics system and process for detecting pneumatic blockages having an air pressure measurement system including a first sensor positioned in association with the air inlet of an air probe component. The air pressure measurement system having a second sensor positioned in association with the air inlet for detecting air pressure in which the second sensor has a frequency response higher than that of the first sensor. An air data computer is coupled to each of the first and second sensors being configured and operable to calculate a first aircraft movement measurement using detected air pressure from the first sensor and is further operative to determine if the first sensor is faulty or if the air inlet is blocked in dependence upon the frequency content and amplitude of the output from the second sensor. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123705 | Measuring system having a measuring transducer of vibration-type - A measuring system comprises: a measuring transducer; transmitter electronics; at least one measuring tube; and at least one oscillation exciter. The transmitter electronics delivers a driver signal for the at least one oscillation exciter, and for feeding electrical, excitation power into the at least one oscillation exciter. The driver signal, has a sinusoidal signal component which corresponds to an instantaneous eigenfrequency, and in which the at least one measuring tube can execute, or executes, eigenoscillations about a resting position. The eigenoscillations have an oscillation node and in the region of the wanted, oscillatory length exactly one oscillatory antinode. The driver signal has, a sinusoidal signal component with a signal frequency, which deviates from each instantaneous eigenfrequency of each natural mode of oscillation of the at least one measuring tube, in each case, by more than 1 Hz and/or by more than 1% of said eigenfrequency. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123706 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TANK LEVEL METERING - The present invention relates to determining the level of liquid in a tank. Electronic sensing devices are used to determine the liquid level in the tank. In some embodiments, a laser pulse is transmitted to a reflector floating on the surface of the liquid and the laser pulse is reflected back allowing for the determination of the depth of the liquid based on the return time of the laser pulse and the known distance to the bottom of the tank. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123707 | METHODS AND INSTRUMENTS FOR MEASUREMENT OF PAINT SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS - An instrument for measuring volume solids of a paint sample is described, the instrument comprising: sensor means arranged to emit and detect signals reflected from the surface of the paint sample on a substrate, for generating data sets consisting of data indicative of the position of the surface of the same paint sample when wet and when dry and the position of at least one reference surface, the sensor means being located so as to be distanced from the paint sample for the emission and detection of the signals; and processing means for processing the data sets generated by the sensor means to determine the volume solids of the paint sample. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123708 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TRANSIENT AND INTERMITTENT EARTH FAULT DETECTION AND DIRECTION DETERMINATION IN A THREE-PHASE MEDIAN VOLTAGE ELECTRIC POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM - A method and a system for transient and intermittent earth fault detection and direction determination in a three-phase median voltage electric power distribution system which comprises many lines. The system comprises: sampling means wherein the residual current and residual voltage on said lines are sampled, transient direction detection means based on instantaneous power, random intermittent detection means based on intermittent change of residual current amplitude, means of integrating transient direction and random intermittent detection, and alarm means indicating maintenance personnel to check the status of one line. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123709 | METHOD FOR DETECTION OF PLUG-IN ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING VIA INTERROGATION OF SMART METER DATA - A method and application that utilizes a signal processing algorithm is provided for detecting plug-in electric vehicle charging events through interrogation of smart meter data. The method is a form of non-invasive load monitoring that allows the utility to track plug-in electric vehicle charging events in real time or over extended periods. These parameters are suitably flexible so as to accommodate diverse electric vehicle technologies and a range of electric vehicle owners' charging habits. Application of the method facilitates the integration of electric vehicles into utilities' electrical grids, protection of the utilities' assets, geographic mapping of electric vehicle owners and charging events, managed charging through communication between the utility and the vehicle or owner, managed charging through the offer of time of use rates for electric vehicle owners, and an enabling technology to accompany other Smart Grid functions such as Vehicle-to-Grid distributed energy storage. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123710 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DETECTING THE ENERGY QUANTITY IN THE CHARGING STATION FOR AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE - The present invention relates to a method and a device for detecting electrical energy delivered to an electric vehicle. To this end, the following steps are provided: connecting the electric vehicle to a charging station for obtaining electrical energy provided on a charging cable, feeding the desired energy quantity into a battery of the electric vehicle during a desired charging period, detecting of at least one electrical value required for the calculation of the energy quantity by an energy quantity meter and output of the at least one electrical value, required by the energy quantity meter for the calculation of the energy quantity, to a monitoring device for the operational monitoring of the charging station. | 2012-05-17 |
20120123711 | System and Method for Measuring Power Usage - A system and method for monitoring energy usage through a power line network is disclosed. According to an embodiment, the present system for monitoring power usage comprises a power line having one or more phases and metering device. The metering device comprises an A/D converter configured to receive an electrical signal and convert the electrical signal to a digital signal, a processor configured to calculate power usage information using the digital signal, and a network interface module configured to transmit the power usage information to a server via the power line network. | 2012-05-17 |