Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090170639 | Sporting game of sokker golphTM - A sporting game in which a game ball that behaves differently from a conventional soccer ball is kicked from a starting point toward an end point for the purpose of getting the game ball in the end point in as few as strikes as possible and, if this is not accomplished in one kick, then the game ball is kicked one or more additional times until it is in the end point. However, unlike the direction of travel for a conventional ball, the game ball's direction of travel is to the right when a counterclockwise spin is applied at a point of contact with the player's foot, to the left when a clockwise spin is applied at the point of contact, and straight when a top spin is applied at the point of contact. | 07-02-2009 |
20090318054 | Inflatable ball with predictable movements - A ball having an inflatable ball shell within which is found an inflatable inner ball partially filled with an inner ball gas and partially filled with a liquid that is held in the center of the inflatable ball shell by an inflatable support when the inflatable inner ball, the inflatable ball shell and the inflatable support are inflated. The ball exhibits an eccentric and unpredictable motion unless a concomitant spin is appropriately applied to it and the motion of the ball is primarily determined by movement of the liquid within the inflatable inner ball. The inflatable support can be a donut-shaped chamber having an inner radius which is substantially the same as, and may be attached to, an outer radius of the inflatable inner ball. Alternatively, the inflatable support can be three or more elastic spherical shells attached to the inflatable inner ball. | 12-24-2009 |
20100258728 | Saturation Filtering NDIR Gas Sensing Methodology - NDIR gas sensing methodology is advanced which renders the output of an NDIR gas sensor, when implemented with this new methodology, to remain stable or drift-free over time. Furthermore, the output of such a sensor will also be independent of the temperature of an environ wherein the sensor is in physical contact. This method utilizes the same narrow band-pass spectral filter for the detection of the gas of interest for both the signal and the reference channels. By so doing, the two channels always receive radiation of the same spectral content from the infrared source of the sensor convoluted with that from any external elements exposed to the sensor. While the same sample chamber through which the gas of interest to be detected flows is shared by the two channels, the detector package for the reference channel is hermetically sealed with 100% of the gas to be detected instead of 100% N | 10-14-2010 |
20110042570 | Absorption Biased NDIR Gas Sensing Methodology - An NDIR gas sensor and methodology use an absorption bias between signal and reference outputs to determine sample concentration of a gas being measured. The absorption bias is created by using a signal channel in a sample chamber with a signal path length that is greater than a reference path length of a reference channel in the sample chamber while both the signal and reference detectors have an identical narrow band pass filter with the same Center Wavelength (“CWL”), Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM) and transmittance efficiency at the CWL. Performance is improved when the reference detector and the signal detector share a common thermal platform that can also be shared by the sample chamber and the infrared source. | 02-24-2011 |
20110185786 | OPTICAL SENSING IN AN ADVERSE ENVIRONMENT - A method includes flowing gases including combustion byproducts past an exposed face of an optical element in an engine fluid conduit, and depositing debris on the exposed face of the optical element. The debris may be soot, unburned hydrocarbons, sulfates, and/or a reductant precipitate. The method further includes passing electromagnetic (EM) radiation through the optical element and the flowing gases and interrogating the EM radiation after passing through the optical element and the flowing gases to determine an amount of debris accumulated on the exposed face of the optical element. The method further includes heating a resistive wire thermally coupled to the optical element sufficiently to remove accumulated debris from the exposed face in response to the amount of debris exceeding a threshold. | 08-04-2011 |
20110204236 | Super-Miniaturized NDIR Gas Sensor - Two detector elements are optically isolated by having them mounted (die-attached) on the same header so that the thermal tracking of the detectors respectively for the signal and reference channels is close to ideal. Furthermore, such an optical isolation technique or cross-interference suppression between the two detector elements mounted on the same header also allows the use of only one and the same narrow band pass interference filter covering both detectors. Thus the thermal tracking of the filters respectively for the signal and reference channels is also close to perfection as both channels share the same filter. | 08-25-2011 |
20110310391 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR DETECTING ENGINE FLUID CONSTITUENTS - A system for detecting engine fluid constituents includes an engine having a sample channel having a conduit for a working engine fluid. The system includes an electromagnetic (EM) source that emits EM radiation through a first metal tube, where the EM radiation is EM energy at a wavelength of interest. The system further includes an EM detector that receives a remainder radiation through a second metal tube, the remainder radiation including the remaining EM radiation after passing through the sample channel. The system includes a controller that determines a composition indicator signal representative of an amount of a constituent in the working engine fluid in response to a strength of the remainder radiation, and determines a concentration of a component of interest according to the composition indicator signal. | 12-22-2011 |
20120205443 | Electronic Card - An electronic card ha a power source, a user selection mechanism operable to allow a user to select a customization variable for a single transaction, a processor for generating a transaction specific data packet that includes a card number and a customized number and an electronic communication device operable to cause the data packet to be read by a read head of a magnetic strip reader. The electronic communication device is operable to dynamically convey the transaction specific data packet to a read head of a magnetic card reader so that the transaction specific data packet is read by the read head. The transaction specific data packet is dynamically generated for use by the card for the single transaction of the card and the customized number is determined based upon the customization variable selected by the user selection mechanism. | 08-16-2012 |
20120265689 | Methods for Customizing Secured Transactions that are Verified by a Money Source - Methods for providing secure transactions in which a customization parameter and an encrypted transaction validation code are received from a user to positively identify a transaction for a user who has a first entity identifier. The validation code and first entity identifier are used by a money source which electronically verifies that the transaction is valid by use of the first entity identifier and the validation code while the first transaction is customized through use of the customization parameter. | 10-18-2012 |
20120317037 | Methods for Providing Secure Transactions - Methods in which an encrypted transaction validation code is received which positively identifies a first transaction for a first entity, the first entity having a first entity identifier, and the first transaction is electronically verified as being valid by use of the first entity identifier and the validation code. The first entity identifier can be transferred as an account number and the validation code transferred to the money source in a non-account data field. A money source can validate the validation code by duplicating the encryption process used to create the validation code and by then comparing the result to the validation code received. The validation code can be, at least in part, encrypted, and a money source can validate the validation code by duplicating a validation code encryption process and by then comparing the result to the validation code received. | 12-13-2012 |
20120325184 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR DETECTING ENGINE FLUID CONSTITUENTS - A system for detecting engine fluid constituents includes an engine having a sample channel having a conduit for a working engine fluid. The system includes an electromagnetic (EM) source that emits EM radiation through a first metal tube, where the EM radiation is EM energy at a wavelength of interest. The system further includes an EM detector that receives a remainder radiation through a second metal tube, the remainder radiation including the remaining EM radiation after passing through the sample channel. The system includes a controller that determines a composition indicator signal representative of an amount of a constituent in the working engine fluid in response to a strength of the remainder radiation, and determines a concentration of a component of interest according to the composition indicator signal. | 12-27-2012 |
20130086977 | INTRINSICALLY SAFE NDIR GAS SENSOR IN A CAN - An NDIR gas sensor is housed within a mechanical housing made up of a header housing, a can mounted to the header housing, and a sample chamber mounted above the can. The can has a top surface with a pair of windows formed in it to allow radiation to enter and return from the sample chamber. An electronics module is mounted on a printed circuit board hermetically sealed within the can. A signal channel path length detected by the signal detector is greater than a reference channel path length detected by the reference detector and an absorption bias between the signal and reference outputs can be used to determine a gas concentration in the sample chamber. Both the signal detector and the reference detector have an identical narrow band pass filter with the same Center Wavelength (“CWL”), Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM) and transmittance efficiency at the CWL. | 04-11-2013 |
20140231527 | Electronic Card - An electronic card has a power source, a user selection mechanism operable to allow a user to select a customization variable for a single transaction, a processor for generating a transaction specific data packet that includes a card number and a customized number and an electronic communication device operable to cause the data packet to be read by a read head of a magnetic strip reader. The electronic communication device is operable to dynamically convey the transaction specific data packet to a read head of a magnetic card reader so that the transaction specific data packet is read by the read head. The transaction specific data packet is dynamically generated for use by the card for the single transaction of the card and the customized number is determined based upon the customization variable selected by the user selection mechanism. | 08-21-2014 |
20140266748 | Methane and Water Vapor Gas Sensors Integrated into a Personal Miner's Alarm - A miner's personal gas alarm can be mounted in a helmet powered by a rechargeable battery for a light or be self-contained. A visual indicator will generate an alarm when the concentration of gas detected by the gas sensor triggers an alarm condition. An audio alarm can also be generated by the alarm condition. The gas sensor is a non-dispersive infrared (“NDIR”) gas sensor. When the gas sensor detects methane, the alarm condition is triggered by either an abnormally high rate of increase of methane concentration level or by an elevated concentration of methane that is above approximately 500 ppm and substantially below a lower explosion limit of methane (e.g., approximately 10,000 ppm), and the gas sensor is recalibrated whenever the sample concentration of methane falls below an ambient threshold level of methane. | 09-18-2014 |
20150053861 | Interference-compensating NDIR Gas Sensor for Measuring Acetylene - A gas sample separated from transformer oil is circulated through an NDIR gas sensor system which obtains an acetylene concentration by calculating a detected acetylene concentration obtained by an absorption biased (“AB”) NDIR acetylene gas sensor, calculating a detected carbon dioxide concentration obtained by an AB NDIR carbon dioxide gas sensor, calculating a detected water vapor concentration obtained by an AB NDIR water vapor NDIR gas sensor and then determining the acetylene concentration from the detected acetylene concentration through use of the detected carbon dioxide and water vapor concentrations to compensate for their interference. | 02-26-2015 |