| Patent application number | Description | Published |
| 20100213711 | ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION APPARATUS - A power generation apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a turbine rotor to generate mechanical energy from a flow of a fluid, an induction generator coupled to the turbine rotor to convert the mechanical energy into electrical energy, a fluid speed sensor to output a fluid speed signal indicative of a speed of the fluid flow, and a controller electrically coupled to the induction generator and to the fluid speed sensor. The controller includes at least one processor programmed to determine, based on the fluid speed signal, when the speed of the fluid flow exceeds a minimum speed sufficient for operation of the turbine rotor, initiate operation of the induction generator when the fluid flow speed exceeds the minimum speed by causing electrical power from a power source to be applied to a stator of the induction generator, and monitor a flow of electrical power between the stator of the induction generator and the power source to determine when the induction generator is supplying electrical power to the power source. | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100299270 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENERGY DEVICE ACTIVATION - A system for providing an energy device activation service is disclosed. The system includes one or more network-enabled energy devices and an energy management interface comprising at least one processor. The energy management interface is to establish a network connection with each one of the one or more energy devices via a first communication network, establish a network connection with an energy device activation service via a second communication network, query the one or more energy devices to receive at least one of an operational parameter and a capability from each one of the one or more energy devices, and transmit the at least one of an operational parameter and a capability to a first database of the energy device activation service. The energy management interface is also to determine if each one of the one or more energy devices is an approved energy device based on energy device information stored in a second database of the energy device activation service, determine if each one of the one or more energy devices is eligible for activation based on at least one business rule stored in a third database of the energy device activation service, retrieve a contract from a fourth database of the energy device activation service when at least one of the one or more energy devices is determined to be an approved energy device that is eligible for activation, and activate the at least one approved and eligible energy device to enable at least one of an energy generation feature and an energy consumption feature of the at least one approved and eligible energy device when an acceptance of the contract is received by the energy management interface. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100318237 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENERGY DEVICE MANAGEMENT - A system for managing energy device operation is disclosed. The system includes one or more network-enabled energy devices and an energy management system comprising at least one processor. The energy management system is to establish a network connection with each energy device via a first communication network, and to query each energy device to cause the energy management system to receive first information from each energy device via the first network. The first information includes, for each energy device, a first operating mode of the energy device. The first operating mode is a current operating mode of the energy device. The energy management system is to determine, for each energy device, a second operating mode based on at least one operational rule stored in a first database. For each energy device, when the second operating mode is different than the first operating mode, energy management system is to transmit an instruction to the energy device to change the first operating mode of the device to the second operating mode. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20110279689 | Integrated Display Camera Using Oscillating Display Elements - Embodiments of the present invention provide a system for capturing photographic images with a camera integrated in an electronic display. The system includes: a display screen; a set of display elements coupled to a front side of the display screen; a set of masking elements coupled behind the set of display elements; and an image-capturing mechanism coupled to a backside of the display screen. The display elements are configured to cycle between an active state, in which the display elements are illuminated to display a display image on the display screen, and an inactive state, in which the display elements are darkened and at least partially transparent. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110285861 | Integrated Display Camera Using A Pinhole Image Capturing Device - Embodiments of the present invention provide a system for capturing photographic images with a camera integrated in an electronic display. The system includes: a display screen; a set of display elements; and a pinhole-style image-capturing mechanism coupled to a backside of the display screen with the aperture of the image-capturing mechanism located between the two or more display elements. The image-capturing mechanism is configured to capture a photographic image of objects in front of the display screen through the display screen and the aperture of the image-capturing mechanism. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110285891 | Integrated Display Camera Using Masked Display Elements - Embodiments of the present invention provide a system for capturing photographic images with a camera integrated in an electronic display. The system includes: a display screen; a set of display elements coupled to a front side of the display screen; a set of masking elements coupled behind the set of display elements; and an image-capturing mechanism coupled to a backside of the display screen. The masking elements are configured to prevent the display elements from displaying behind the masking elements and wherein some portion of the display screen is at least partially transparent. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110298887 | Apparatus Using an Accelerometer to Capture Photographic Images - Methods and apparatuses for operating an electronic device based on an accelerometer to capture photographic images with a camera integrated into the display screen are described. | 12-08-2011 |
| 20110298919 | Apparatus Using an Accelerometer to Determine a Point of View for Capturing Photographic Images - Methods and apparatuses for operating an electronic device based on an accelerometer to capture photographic images with a camera integrated into the display screen are described. | 12-08-2011 |