104results about How to "Simple and inexpensive to implement" patented technology

A method and apparatus f or performing an assay process, featuring providing microbeads in a solution; placing the microbeads on an alignment substrate; reading codes of the microbeads and the position thereof on the alignment substrate; reading the fluorescence on each microbead and the position order thereof on the alignment substrate; and determining an assay result based on bead position order and bead code of the earlier reading steps, where the microbead is an encoded particle having a particle substrate; a portion of the substrate being made of a substantially single material and having at least one diffraction grating embedded therein, the grating having a resultant refractive index variation within the single material at a grating location; and the grating providing an optical output signal indicative of a code when illuminated by an incident light signal propagating from outside said substrate, the optical output signal being a result of passive, non-resonant scattering from said grating when illuminated by said incident light signal.

A method of characterizing the coagulation or sedimentation dynamics of a fluid such as whole blood, a blood fraction, or blood plasma, the method comprising: illuminating a sample of said fluid with a beam of coherent light; acquiring a time series of images of a speckle pattern generated by interaction between said sample and said spatially coherent light beam; and processing said time series of images; wherein said processing step includes calculating a function representative of the variation in said speckle pattern between two or more images of the series. The invention also provides a device for implementing such a method.

A fence surrounds a trampoline and extends above the rebounding surface, reducing the risk of injury. Shock absorption is aided in the preferred embodiment by a support system of independent poles, linked at their tops by a flexible strap or line. The trampoline may include a tubular frame supported by a plurality of legs with brackets securing the legs to the frame tube without welds. The trampoline may also include an electronic accessory that is activated or that produces an electrical signal as a result of jumping on the trampoline.

A fence surrounds a trampoline and extends above the rebounding surface, reducing the risk of injury. Shock absorption is aided in the preferred embodiment by a support system of independent poles, linked at their tops by a flexible strap or line. An impact anywhere on the fence causes the posts to flex inwardly, absorbing the force. Much of this impact injury is stored in system components and is subsequently returned, helping propel an errant jumper back onto to the rebounding surface. Numerous other embodiments and accessories are also detailed. Similar arrangements are suitable for use with above ground pools.

A battery-less tire parameter sensor system for monitoring a vehicle tire parameter such as pressure and temperature. A sensor assembly has a power system, a processor / transmitter, a sensor, and a power coil mounted on a substrate. This assembly is mounted on or in the side wall or tread wall of a tire. A magnet is mounted on the vehicle in proximity to the path of the power coil during tire rotation. The moving power coil passes through the magnetic field and generates operating voltage for the sensor assembly components. The power system includes a voltage multiplier, a voltage regulator, and a storage capacitor. Two or more sensor assemblies can be mounted on the same tire to monitor different parameters.

A method and apparatus for performing an assay process, featuring providing microbeads in a solution, each microbead having a particle substrate with a grating with a superposition of different predetermined regular periodic variations of the index of refraction disposed in the particle along a grating axis and indicative of a code; placing the microbeads on an alignment substrate; reading codes of the microbeads and the position thereof on the alignment substrate; reading the fluorescence on each microbead and the position order thereof on the alignment substrate; and determining an assay result based on bead position order and bead code of the earlier reading steps.

A test assembly for building a safety profile and a sensitivity profile of an explosive, by impacting the test assembly with a projectile. The safety profile of the explosive is built by determining a detonation threshold of the explosive in reaction to the projectile. The sensitivity profile is built by measuring a pressure difference between pressures acquired by the top sensor and the bottom sensor, resulting from a shock wave that travels through the explosive.

A tire parameter monitoring system has a plurality of sensor units for monitoring tire parameters, with each sensor unit mounted with a different vehicle tire. Each sensor unit has an RFID tag reader for interrogating an RFID tag securely mounted to the vehicle adjacent the corresponding tire and containing a unique identification code. Each sensor unit has a microcontroller for combining each RFID identification code with corresponding tire parameter signals, and a transmitter for transmitting the combined signals to a receiving location. Received tire parameter signals are correlated with the tire location using the RFID identification code, and driver advisory signals are presented to the driver by a display / alarm unit. Two alternative power supplies are provided. A first type uses a battery and a power management circuit for eliminating power drain when the RFID tag reader is energized. A second type uses inductive power to provide an inexhaustible power source.

A device for obtaining multicrystalline silicon, including: at least one crucible, removably housed in a cup-shaped graphite container; a fluid-tight casing, including a fixed bottom half-shell and a vertically mobile top half-shell; a top induction coil, set facing, with interposition of a graphite plate, the crucible, a lateral induction coil and a bottom induction coil vertically mobile for varying the distance from the bottom wall; and means for a.c. electrical supply of the induction coils separately from one another; at least the lateral induction coil includes a plurality of plane turns set on top of one another, and means for selectively short-circuiting, supplying or not supplying the turns, all together or separately one or more at a time and for varying the frequency of supply thereof all together or separately one or more at a time.

A test method for testing the thermal mechanical fatigue performance of a test material includes preparing a test specimen of the test material, wherein the test specimen has a base, and a rib extending outwardly from the base. The test specimen is thermally cycled through at least one test cycle. In each test cycle the rib is heated to a higher rib temperature and thereafter cooled to a lower rib temperature. The test specimen is evaluated for thermal mechanical fatigue damage.

A tyre building method comprising: feeding an elastomer strip in a feed direction towards a building drum by means of a first and a second feed conveyor arranged in succession; cyclically determining the transverse position of both sides of the elastomer strip in a centring direction perpendicular to the feed direction; calculating an average head out of centre on a head portion of the elastomer strip; and moving the second feed conveyor transversely in the centring direction by an amount equal to the average head out of centre, before winding the elastomer strip around the building drum.

A battery-less tire parameter sensor system for monitoring a vehicle tire parameter such as pressure and temperature. A sensor assembly has a power system, a processor / transmitter, a sensor, and a power coil mounted on a substrate. This assembly is mounted on or in the side wall or tread wall of a tire. A magnet is mounted on the vehicle in proximity to the path of the power coil during tire rotation. The moving power coil passes through the magnetic field and generates operating voltage for the sensor assembly components. The power system includes a voltage multiplier, a voltage regulator, and a storage capacitor. Two or more sensor assemblies can be mounted on the same tire to monitor different parameters.

A plant for blow-moulding plastic containers (2), particularly bottles, from respective parisons (3) is equipped with a plurality of moulding units (15), each having at least two respective cavities (19) for blow-moulding respective containers (2), and with a transfer device (39) for transferring the parisons (3) from a flexible feed conveyor (41) to the respective moulding cavities (19). The transfer device (39) is connected to the flexible feed conveyor (41) at a transfer station (40), where the spacing (P1) of the parisons (3) is equal to the distance (D2) between the longitudinal axes (19a) of the moulding cavities (19) of one moulding unit (15).

A process for manufacturing a micromechanical structure envisages: forming a buried cavity within a body of semiconductor material, separated from a top surface of the body by a first surface layer; and forming an access duct for fluid communication between the buried cavity and an external environment. The method envisages: forming an etching mask on the top surface at a first access area; forming a second surface layer on the top surface and on the etching mask; carrying out an etch such as to remove, in a position corresponding to the first access area, a portion of the second surface layer, and an underlying portion of the first surface layer not covered by the etching mask until the buried cavity is reached, thus forming both the first access duct and a filter element, set between the first access duct and the same buried cavity.

An automatic addressing technique for flexibility specifying the individual physical addresses of a plurality of devices coupled to an information bus. An anchor pattern is applied to an address bus of a plurality of address taps sufficient to uniquely specify the numbered J of devices to be attached thereto. Each device is connected to a tap on the address bus, each tap having the same number of bits. A plurality of address transform elements are serially connected to the bus, each transform element being located between adjacent tap positions. Each transform element converts the address pattern coupled to its input to another pattern capable of uniquely specifying the next address in the desired sequence. A wide variety of address sequences are available for selection, with each particular address sequence automatically determined by the related specific anchor pattern. The transform elements are passive elements, and no jumpers or settable switches are required to specify the physical addresses when configuring or reconfiguring the system.

A capacitor formed in an insulating porous material.

A tire parameter monitoring system has a plurality of sensor units each mounted with a different vehicle tire. Each sensor unit has a magnetic sensing element for converting magnetic field signals generated by a proximate set of magnets mounted to the vehicle at the tire locations. Each magnet set generates a unique magnetic field which identifies the magnet set location. Each sensor unit has a microcontroller for combining the converted magnetic field signals with fire parameter signals, and a transmitter for transmitting the combined signals to a receiving location. Received tire parameter signals are correlated with the tire location using the location signals, and driver advisory signals are presented to the driver.

A process for manufacturing a micromechanical structure envisages: forming a buried cavity within a body of semiconductor material, separated from a top surface of the body by a first surface layer; and forming an access duct for fluid communication between the buried cavity and an external environment. The method envisages: forming an etching mask on the top surface at a first access area; forming a second surface layer on the top surface and on the etching mask; carrying out an etch such as to remove, in a position corresponding to the first access area, a portion of the second surface layer, and an underlying portion of the first surface layer not covered by the etching mask until the buried cavity is reached, thus forming both the first access duct and a filter element, set between the first access duct and the same buried cavity.

A method for correcting the reduced mass flow rate of a compressor in an internal combustion engine turbocharged by means of a turbocharger provided with a turbine and with a compressor; the internal combustion engine comprising an intake manifold and an exhaust manifold, and being set up to allow the passage of air from the intake manifold to the exhaust manifold; the method comprising determining, in a design stage, a control law that provides an objective opening of a control actuator of the wastegate as a function of an actual supercharging pressure and of a reduced mass flow rate of the compressor; and correcting the reduced mass flow rate of the compressor as a function of the enthalpy of a gas mixture flowing through the turbine of the turbocharger.

A deinterleaver for a wireless communication device is provided that is simple and inexpensive to implement. In particular, a deinterleaver for deinterleaving a stream of data bits representing a plurality of symbols that have been interleaved using a multi-stage interleaving scheme is provided, the deinterleaver comprising preprocessing means for ordering the data bits in the stream into pairs, such that the data bits in the pair are consecutive data bits from a symbol; at least one memory for storing the paired bits, such that each pair of data bits is stored in a respective location in the memory; and a read and write address generator for the at least one memory, the generator being adapted to determine the addresses in the at least one memory that pairs of data bits are to be stored, and to determine the addresses in the at least one memory that pairs of data bits are to be read from.

A method and system is provided for achieving power shut down or disconnect at individual solar panel level for a DC solar power system. The system provides fail safe power disconnect for emergencies or electrical system maintenance. A high-frequency current source signal is transmitted over DC power lines to each junction box of a photovoltaic panel array. The high frequency signal is transmitted concurrently with the DC power, and is isolated from an inverter by an inductor. A communications receiver circuit controls the PV panel to short circuit the PV panel output terminals and disconnect the PV panel from the output terminals in response to the high-frequency signal.

Method and system for driver assistance in a vehicle; the current value of a driving variable correlated with the driving of the vehicle is determined; an optimal value of the driving variable in the future and after a given amount of time has elapsed since the current instant starting from the current state of the vehicle is determined and supposing an excellent action upon the driving controls of the vehicle; an expected value of the driving variable in the future and after the given amount of time has elapsed since the current instant starting from the current state of the vehicle is determined and supposing a constant action upon the driving controls of the vehicle; and the current value, the expected value and the optimal value of the driving variable are displayed together in an instrument of the instrument panel of the vehicle.

An apparatus and method are provided for facilitating the cooling of engine coolant flowing through a radiator operatively connected to the engine of an engine-driven, electrical generator set. The engine has a crankshaft rotatable about a first axis and a radiator having a first side directed towards the engine and a second side. The apparatus includes a fan positionable on the second side of the radiator that is rotatable about a second axis generally parallel to and vertically spaced from the first axis. The apparatus includes a thermally responsive clutch having a driven portion. The clutch is movable between a first disengaged position wherein the driven portion is isolated from the crankshaft and a second engaged position wherein the driven portion rotates in unison with the crankshaft in response to a predetermined temperature. A fan drive system interconnects the driven portion of the clutch and the fan for translating rotation of the driven portion to the fan.

Device for adjusting ornamental chains, which comprises a hollow containing body provided with at least one pair of diametrically opposite holes and an elastically yielding sleeve arranged inside the hollow containing body and provided with a through-hole arranged aligned with respect to this pair of opposite holes so as to define a channel for receiving the ornamental chain. The tubular sleeve is made of polyurethane reinforced with anti-bacterial additives and is kept compressed inside the hollow containing body.

The invention concerns a method of fabricating a metallic microstructure, characterized in that it includes the steps consisting in forming a photosensitive resin mould by a LIGA-UV type process, and in the uniform, galvanic deposition of a layer of a first metal and then a layer of a second metal form a block, which approximately reaches the top surface of the photosensitive resin.

Inverter-filter non-linearity blanking time and zero current clamping compensation is accomplished by comparing the average output current with the discontinuous current mode threshold values to determine when the average output current is entering a discontinuous current mode and introducing a compensation voltage to the inverter drive voltage in response to the average output current entering a discontinuous current mode to compensate for discontinuous current mode distortion of the inverter output voltage.

This invention relates to a power converter (1) comprising a converter input (3), a converter output, a power factor pre-regulation stage (5), an isolation stage (7) and a control unit (9). The power factor pre-regulation stage (5) further comprises a buck power factor correction (PFC) circuit (15) and a bulk capacitor (25) fed by the buck PFC circuit. The amount of line current provided to the bulk capacitor (25) by the buck PFC circuit (15) may be adjusted according to the converter requirements in order to keep the voltage across the bulk capacitor (25) sufficient to ensure uniform operation of the power converter. Monitoring of the voltage across the bulk capacitor (25) and monitoring of the isolation stage (7) output current is provided to determine when additional current is to be applied to the bulk capacitor (25) and to ensure the power converter (1) operates within pre-defined parameters.

A semi-automatic teeing device includes a cylindrical housing having a gas inlet port connectable to a gas pressure source; a removable cover for sealed engagement with the housing so as to define therewith a sealable container; a tee mounted within a central support portion of the cover; air-pressure-operated apparatus located within the container for moving the tee between an at-rest position, and a primed position in which the tee supports a practice golf ball at a useful height; and an air-pressure control, responsive to the presence of a practice golf ball on the tee, to substantially seal the container so as to activate the air-pressure-operated apparatus to move the tee from the at-rest position to the primed position and operative, upon removal of the ball from the tee, to release the air pressure within the container, thereby to permit the return of the tee to the at rest position.