879results about How to "Reduce expenditure" patented technology

A method and program product for conducting business transactions and avoiding inadvertent overdrafts. First, the value of an intended purchase is estimated and an electronic receipt is generated for the estimate. An account identified for payment (e.g., a checking account or a credit card account) is analyzed for sufficient funds and, alerts may be provided whenever the analysis indicates that the account has insufficient funds. As a result of the alert, the purchase may be halted or another form of payment may be selected. Also, total in-store purchases may be estimated and other accounts may be analyzed to determine if, in addition to being overdrawn for the selected account, the transaction is over budget.

A method of and a device for the endoscopic fluorescence diagnosis of tissue, wherein the tissue is exposed to stimulating light via an endoscope for stimulation of fluorescence, which stimulating light is suitable, on account of its spectral distribution, to stimulate at least two different fluorescence modes in the tissue without filter switching in the stimulation beam path, and wherein the fluorescence light of the different fluorescence modes can be selectively observed.

The invention relates to a process for the production of a molded porous ceramic article containing β-SiC, which process comprises the following steps: the preparation of a molded article containing silicon and carbon and the subsequent pyrolysis and siliconization of the article containing silicon and carbon to form SiC. The invention further relates to a molded porous ceramic article containing SiC which has been produced from a molded article containing silicon and carbon.

Systems and methods are disclosed for extracting freshwater from atmospheric humidity in extremely hot and humid climates and supplying freshwater to a small group of people, a building, a farm, or forestation area. The freshwater is treated to provide drinking water by disinfecting to eliminate microorganisms and filtration to remove suspended particulates from air, erosion or corrosion products, and disinfected waste. Compact units provide drinking water for individuals, passengers in cars, vans, trucks, or recreational boats, or crewmembers on a seagoing cargo ship whether from atmospheric humidity or from moisture-laden gases. Furthermore, systems are disclosed for the ample supply of freshwater with minimal treatment for small- to large-sized buildings in a manner that alleviates the heat load on buildings. Collection of freshwater from hot humid ambient air is also provided for other uses, such as irrigation and farm animal drinking. Various methods are used for condensation of water vapor suspended in the air as alternative to conventional refrigeration cycles using CFC refrigerants. Devices are disclosed using naturally occurring brackish cold water, circulation of cooling water cooled by thermoelectric cooling or thermoacoustic refrigeration as well as evaporative cooling and transpiration cooling. Water produced by the systems may flow under gravitational forces entirely or with the assistance of boasting pumps.

Presteralized manifolds are provided which are designed for sterile packaging and single-use approaches. Disposable tubing and flexible-wall containers are assembled via aseptic connectors. These manifolds interact with valves and pumping equipment which can be operated by a controller which provides automated and accurate delivery of biotechnology fluid. The manifold also being used in conjunction with one or more conductivity sensors used to measure the conductivity of the biotechnology fluid. Such sensors interact with the controller or are connected to a separate user interface. The combination of disposable tubing, flexible-wall containers, aseptic connectors, manifold, controller, and conductivity sensors provides an aseptic environment while avoiding or reducing cleaning and quality assurance procedures.

Presteralized manifolds are provided which are designed for sterile packaging and single-use approaches. Disposable tubing and flexible-wall containers are assembled via aseptic connectors. These manifolds interact with at least one remotely controlled pinch valve which engages only the outside surface of the manifold tubing. Such manifold and pinch valve systems can be used in conjunction with a peristaltic type of pump, which, together with the remotely operated pinch valve, can be operated by a controller which provides automated and accurate delivery of biotechnology fluid in an aseptic environment while avoiding or reducing cleaning and quality assurance procedures.

The present invention includes providing a leadframe including a metal layer formed on an upper surface of the leadframe and a plurality of units in an array arrangement, in which each unit includes a die pad, a plurality of leads, and a plurality of outer dambars, adhering a die to the die pad, forming a plurality of conductive wires to electrically connect bond pads of the die with bond regions of the leads, forming an encapsulation covering the leadframe, forming a patterned photoresist layer on a lower surface of the leadframe to expose a plurality of interval regions and the outer dambars, performing an etching process to expose the metal layer located in the interval regions and the outer dambars, cutting off the metal layer located in the interval regions by a half cutting process, and performing a singulation process to singulate the units.

A control system for the drive of a power take-off mechanism on an agricultural tractor that records machine-specific values of the implement attached to the tractor. The drive train between the tractor engine and the power take-off includes a CVT transmission. The control device is connected with a processor via a signal lead for receiving its output signals. The control device is connected for the formation of output signals via input leads with switches, controls, sensors, and actuators for the tractor to read the machine specific parameters of the attached implement.

A vegetation pod for creating a green roof is disclosed. The vegetation pod includes vegetation that absorbs and stores water. The roots of the vegetation grow in a growing media that rests atop a layer of filter fabric. The filter fabric is disposed within a tray that is easily handled by an installer. The tray includes a fastening mechanism that couples multiple trays together. An additional layer of absorbent material may be provided between the filter fabric and the tray. A second, preferably larger tray may be provided for accommodating a series of smaller trays. An additional layer of filter fabric may be provided between the trays.

Featured is a mobile computer system that includes a computer, a computer embodying wireless technology, and a power supply that is operably coupled to the computer so the computing device or computer is operated and functional remote from fixed power sources. The power supply is configured so as to have a capacity sufficient for powering the computer and any peripherals or other components operably coupled thereto. The mobile system also includes a moving device that is configured and arranged so as to removable support the power supply and the computer as well as any peripherals and so the moving device along with the attached power supply and computer can be selectively moved between different locations such as by wheels.

An operations, management, capacity, and services (OMCS) tool and method are presented for analyzing business parameters for a plurality of network architectures; and comparing the business parameters for said network architectures for determining cost savings of one network architecture versus another and for determining a business solution that articulates the network architecture for reducing total expenditure. The business parameters comprise capital expenditure (CAPEX), operational expenditure (OPEX), total expenditure, revenue, capacity, return on investment (ROI), and other business and financial statistics. The OMCS tool and method determine the business solution for an owned, a leased, or partially owned and leased telecommunications network. The business solution further comprises network architecture having network elements (NEs), customer premise equipment (CPE), and links from the same or different equipment suppliers; and having network, service, and customer management processes from the same or different management processes suppliers.

A meshed networking of access points in a utility network provides a more efficient and cost effective arrangement for communicating data between meters and the utility by linking the access points of multiple subnetworks for purposes of communicating with the utility. As a result, each individual subnetwork is not required to directly communicate with the utility. For those access points that are relieved of the need to directly communicate with the utility, the communication mechanism, e.g., cellular modem, can be eliminated, or deactivated, to thereby reduce capital expenditures and / or operational costs. Additionally, links to a WAN can be selectively activated or disabled to provision bandwidth, for example, on demand, to react to changing conditions in the subnetworks.

A shaping shoulder has a shoulder part and a prism part, joined at a shaping edge, for producing a web, shaped longitudinally in the web transport direction and having an open or closed cross-section and at least one area inside the web in which the cross-section is curved outwardly. The shoulder part has a web inlet and extends from the web inlet to the shaping edge. The prism part has an exit for the shaped web and extends from the shaping edge to the exit. The shaping edge is slanted relative to a cross-sectional prism plane. The prism cross-section is curved partially inwardly and outwardly not only in the vicinity of a web edge. The curvature of areas of the shaping edge belonging to outwardly curved areas of the prism part extend counter to the exit and the corresponding shoulder part areas are curved away from the exit.

A floating structure has an annular support as an underwater support with a buoyant body. A tower penetrates the annular support centrally and is connected to the annular support at a location underneath the annular support by slantedly outwardly ascending tension spokes and at a location above the annular support by slantedly outwardly descending tension spokes. Anchors on the ocean floor are connected by tension elements with the annular support. The structure is built by the steps of supporting by auxiliary devices the annular support on a floor of a basin that can be flooded; positioning the tower at the center of the annular support in vertical position; attaching the tension spokes at the annular support and at the tower; flooding the basin; towing the structure to its desired final position; and lowering and anchoring the structure in a submerged floating position.

An aroma-tight or moisture-tight pack for cigarettes (10) having an inner pack (12), produced from cardboard or a comparable packaging material, made tight as a result of corresponding treatment, and an outer pack (13) in the form of a hinge-lid box, however without a collar. A cigarette group (11) is positioned directly, that is without an inner envelope, in the inner pack (12). The inner pack is provided in an upper region, namely in the region of a cover (15) of the outer pack (13), with a particular opening aid. A closure tab (39) of the inner pack (12) is covered over its entire surface area by an actuating tab (42) which is realized as tape and is produced from a separate blank.

A process of determining target parameters of an object within a field of detection of an automotive radar system, the process comprising the steps of: (a) establishing a target range from a sequence of ranges; (b) dwelling on the target range for an initial dwell time to obtain sensor data; (c) determining if the sensor data corresponds to the presence of an object or to the absence of an object at the target range based on probability density distributions of an object being present and being absent at the target range, and if such the determination cannot be made, then repeating steps (b)-(c) until the determination can be made; (d) if the sensor data is determined to correspond to the presence of an object in step (c), then dwelling at the target range for an extended dwell time to obtain additional sensor data for determining the target parameters of the object before proceeding to step (e); and (e) establishing the next of the sequence of ranges as the target range before reiterating steps (b)-(e).

The present invention provides herein a two-step process for preparing pharmaceutically pure quetiapine and salts thereof by obtaining the starting material 11-chloro-dibenzo-thiazepine followed by reacting the 11-chloro-dibenzo-thiazepine with 1-(2-hydroxyethoxy)ethylpiperazine, or its salt, in the presence of an inorganic or organic base in an organic solvent or in a two-phase solvent system. The present invention provides also a novel, one-pot reaction process for preparing pharmaceutically pure quetiapine and salts thereof. The two processes provided herein can be easily, conveniently and inexpensively scaled-up.

In a method and apparatus for fully automatic detection of anomalies in vessel structures, a 3D volume data set of an imaging 3D measurement of the vessel structure is obtained and, for an evaluation device, the vessel structure is detected in the 3D volume data set and subsequently is skeletonized in order to obtain a three-dimensional course of skeletonization paths. Characteristic quantities of the vessel structure are automatically determined along the skeletonization paths as features that are significant for an anomaly to be detected, in order obtain one or more feature series. The determined feature series are classified by non-linear imaging and comparison with reference feature series that have been determined for different classes of known vessel structures that contain different anomalies and known vessel structures without anomalies. Anomalies corresponding to the classification thus are identified.

The present invention relates to a metal-sealing material-feedthrough for igniters of airbags or belt tensioning devices, especially glass-metal-feedthrough, including at least one metal pin which is located in a feedthrough opening in the base body in a sealing material, wherein the base body has a front side and a back side. Structure is provided between the front and the back side in order to avoid a relative movement of sealing material in the direction toward the back relative to the inside circumference of the feedthrough opening. At least the feedthrough opening is punched out of the base body. The base body is configured so that the ratio of thickness (D) of the base body to the maximum dimension of the feedthrough opening vertical to the axis direction of the feedthrough opening is in the range of between and including 0.9 to 1.6.

In a particle multibeam lithography apparatus an illumination system (242) having a particle source (203) produces an illuminating beam (205) of electrically charged particles, and a multibeam optical system (208) positioned after the illumination system (242) and comprising at least one aperture plate having an array of a plurality of apertures to form a plurality of sub-beams focuses the sub-beams onto the surface of a substrate (220), wherein for each sub-beam (207) a deflection unit (210) is positioned within the multibeam optical system and adapted to correct individual imaging aberrations of the respective sub-beam with respect to the desired target position and / or position the sub-beam during a writing process an the substrate surface. Preferably, for each sub-beam the respective aperture of the first aperture plate defines the size and shape of the sub-beam cross-section and the multibeam optical system produces a demagnified image of the aperture on the substrate surface, with a demagnification of at least 20:1.

The present invention relates to a floor structure for a motor vehicle with accommodating means for at least two energy storage modules, wherein the accommodating means comprise at least two longitudinal members and at least two cross members. In addition the present invention relates to the use of such a floor structure in a vehicle with an electric and / or internal combustion engine. The technical problem of providing a floor structure that in the event of accidents, in particular side impacts, improves the protection of the batteries in floor structures of vehicles without adversely affecting the weight or the costs, is solved in that the accommodating means have at least one deformation zone with defined deformation behaviour between the energy storage modules.

A granular solid with monodisperse particle size distribution is disclosed, which may be obtained by melting an essentially anhydrous composition, which is solid at room temperature and made from at least one cosmetic ingredient. A flow of the melt is dispersed into droplets by means of a casting plate and vibration and said droplets contacted with a cooling medium, which causes the solidification thereof.

A device for locking a closure (2) with a housing includes at least one swiveling lever (8), a drive (19) for pivoting the at least one swiveling lever 98) about an axis of rotation and having teeth (20) which interact with teeth (10) provided on the marginal area of the swiveling lever extending around the axis of rotation, at least one catch hook (12) supported on the swiveling lever (8) and having a cam segment (14) concentric to the pivot axis (11) of the at least one catch hook and into which a guide element (9) provided on the swiveling lever (8) engages, and a spring (17) for biasing the at least one catch hook in a closing direction.

The present invention relates to a hot water unit for a hot beverage maker, in particular a coffee machine provided with a milk foamer, said hot water unit comprising a boiler for providing brewing water and an evaporator for providing steam. The boiler includes a boiler supply, a boiler heating means and a brewing water outlet. The evaporator includes an evaporator supply, an evaporator heating means and a steam outlet. According to the present invention, the boiler and the evaporator are arranged in series, the evaporator supply being implemented as a brewing water supply and connected to the brewing water outlet of the boiler. In addition, the present invention relates to the use of such a hot water unit for connection to a milk roamer and to a hot beverage maker comprising a milk foamer and such a hot water unit.

The invention describes a fireproof glove (1) with a layered structure comprising at least one liquid-tight functional layer (18) and a heat-resistant and / or fire-retarding layer (20) with low thermal conductivity. Furthermore, the invention describes a glove (1) comprising a material precut (3) with one or more reinforced areas (24). Moreover, the invention describes a glove (1) with a shaft (15) extending over a wrist area (16) and conically widening in the direction of the open face end area (10) of the shaft, whereby provision is made in the area of the shaft (15) for a first and one other adjusting device (39, 42). Furthermore, the invention describes a glove (1) that is formed by at least one material layer (17) consisting of an inelastic and non-expanding material, and comprising a tubular and cylindrical shaft (15). In its face end area (10) with a slip-in opening (11), said shaft has a circumference on the external surface (23) in the range of from 20 cm to 40 cm.

A method and system for predisposition modification are presented in which a set of attributes for selective modification of the attribute profile of an individual are determined to enable the individual to modify their predisposition for acquiring an attribute of interest. The attribute of interest can be input in the form of a query attribute along with a minimum strength of association value which serves as a threshold to ensure that the results will provide at least a minimum degree of statistical certainty that the individual will acquire the attribute of interest upon modifying their attribute profile.