488results about How to "Spend less" patented technology

The present invention provides provides a system, method and apparatus for electronically searching for an item by receiving a search request comprising a requested category and one or more requested attributes of the item and storing the search request in a search index based on the requested category and the requested attribute(s). The search index includes one or more categories and each category is defined by a taxonomy of attributes. The search index is then searched for any previously stored search requests that match the requested category and the requested attribute(s), a result of the search is determined and a search response that includes the result of the search is sent.

An inventory management system utilizes unattended facilities remote from a central warehouse for service parts logistics. Items are placed in inventory in secure enclosures at the unattended facilities by the inventory management service. The unattended facilities may be located near one or more customers to reduce a service technician's travel time and customers' inventory costs. A service technician utilizes a passcode to retrieve needed items. The service technician may order items that are not kept in the inventory of the unattended facility in which case the items may be delivered to the unattended facility and the service technician may receive a notification related to all the items that comprise an order that the order is ready for pick up at an unattended facility. Unused, used or damaged parts may be returned by a technician to a remote secure enclosure where such returned parts may be retrieved and disposed of, repaired or placed back into inventory if not damaged or after repair, and the processing of such returned parts begins by information entered into a data entry device at the remote secure enclosure location. Return items that are not damaged may be included in the inventory of an unattended facility.

A stereo camera system in a motor vehicle, in particular for classifying objects and determining distance. In order to ensure secure installation and precise positioning of the camera system, in particular fixing of its lateral position, the camera system is provided with at least two camera modules, and a mount, in which camera modules are installed at a specified lateral distance apart, the mount being cemented to the inside of the windshield.

PCT No. PCT / EP98 / 01655 Sec. 371 Date May 13, 1999 Sec. 102(e) Date May 13, 1999 PCT Filed Mar. 21, 1998 PCT Pub. No. WO98 / 45138 PCT Pub. Date Oct. 15, 1998A lumbar support for seat backs, in particular of motor vehicle seats, has a forward-bowed support plate (1) that is adjustable in its curvature. The support plate (1is mounted at one horizontal end region (1a) on laterally spaced guide elements that are parallel to one another and fixed with respect to the seat back so that it is vertically movable. The vertical guide elements consist of ribs (2) of a guide plate (3) that is fixed with respect to the seat back. The guide plate (3) has openings (4), which possess vertical guide edges (4a) that are parallel to one another. Through the guide edges (4a) pass, from the front, end-mounted brackets (1b) of the support plate (1). The brackets (1b) have necks (1c) corresponding to the spacing of the guide edges (4a), and widen again on the back of the guide plate (3).

The object of the present invention is to provide a toner which has sufficiently high chargeability and less toner spent to a carrier or the like even when several tens of thousands of image sheets are output, is capable of keeping high-charge property and flowability without causing substantial background smear or toner fogging, excels in low-temperature fixing property and hot-offset property, and has a wide range of fixing temperature as well as to provide a developer, an image forming apparatus, a process cartridge, and an image forming method using the toner for developing electrostatic images. The toner of the present invention comprises a colorant, and a resin, and a fluoride compound, in which the fluoride compound exists on the surfaces of toner particles, and the atomic number ratio (F / C) of fluoride atoms to carbon atoms existing on the surfaces of the toner particles is 0.010 to 0.054.

A business method utilizing a system comprising one or more distributed computers, application software, off-the-shelf peripheral components including a data entry (KDE) device without a keyboard or a mouse, business processes, human and KDE device readable data, related information on removable data storage media or available from external databases, and existing communications systems for speeding and improving: 1) personal or business automation, efficiency and productivity, goal attainment; 2) improving, speeding and automating the person-computer interface; 3) selection, acquisition, and tracking usage of items acquired from an existing supply chain; 4) marketing items and retaining customers buying the products, controlling their usage, and disseminating information about the products.

A method for producing a plurality of semiconductor chips, particularly radiation-emitting semiconductor chips, each having at least one epitaxially produced functional semiconductor layer stack, comprising the following method steps:preparing a growth substrate wafer (1) substantially comprised of semiconductor material from a semiconductor material system that is with respect to lattice parameters the same as or similar to that on which a semiconductor layer sequence for the functional semiconductor layer stack is based,forming in the growth substrate wafer (1) a separation zone (4) disposed parallel to a main face (100) of the growth substrate wafer (1),joining the growth substrate wafer (1) to an auxiliary carrier wafer (2),detaching along the separation zone (4) a portion (11) of the growth substrate wafer (1) that faces away from the auxiliary carrier wafer (2) as viewed from the separation zone (4),forming on the portion (12) of the growth substrate wafer remaining on the auxiliary carrier wafer (2) a growth surface for subsequent epitaxial growth of a semiconductor layer sequence,epitaxially growing the semiconductor layer sequence (5) on the growth surface,applying a chip substrate wafer to the semiconductor layer sequence,detaching the auxiliary carrier wafer (2), andsingulating the composite composed of the semiconductor layer sequence and the chip substrate wafer (7) into mutually separate semiconductor chips.

The invention relates to a process for producing metal foam and to a metal body produced using this process.The object is achieved by a process for producing metal foam by adding a blowing agent to a metal melt, wherein the metal melt is introduced into the die cavity of a metal die-casting machine and is foamed using a blowing agent which releases gases and is solid at room temperature.

An elevator car position measuring system includes a strip having a code mark pattern mounted near the elevator car and parallel to a travel direction, a code reading device mounted on the elevator car for contactless scanning of the code mark pattern and an evaluating unit connected to the code reading device for evaluating the scanned code mark pattern. A code word is formed by “n” successive code marks of the code mark pattern, a plurality of different ones of the code words are unambiguously arranged in an n-digit pseudo random sequence, the code words form a single-track of the code mark pattern and each of the code words represents an absolute car position. A floor sensor mounted on the elevator car detects position markings at floor levels along the travel direction and is connected to the evaluating units for evaluating the detected position markings against said scanned code words.

The invention relates to a process for producing metal foam and to a metal body produced using this process. The object is achieved by a process for producing metal foam by adding a blowing agent to a metal melt, wherein the metal melt is introduced into the die cavity of a metal die-casting machine and is foamed using a blowing agent which releases gases and is solid at room temperature.

The invention relates to a method for tuning an adjustable oscillator, in which oscillator at least one resonance circuit is used. The frequency of the oscillator is adjusted by changing the resonance frequency of the at least one resonance circuit by means of a control signal for which a minimum value and a maximum value are selected. In the method at least one target value is selected for the control signal, the frequency of the adjustable oscillator is adjusted to substantially correspond to the target value and the value of the control signal and the target value are compared. When the value of the control signal is substantially different from the target value, a tuning signal is produced to change the resonance frequency of the at least one resonance circuit.

The invention relates to a manipulation device for loading and unloading a shelf, in particular for a processing center, having at least one lift truck including a telescopic extension, the telescopic extension having at least one first telescoping part and at least one second telescoping part, and the first telescoping part being connected to the lift truck and the second telescoping part being connected to the first telescoping part so it is displaceable in an essentially horizontal displacement direction. To reduce the manufacturing expenditure, it is provided that the lift truck has at least one first linear roller bearing unit and at least one support roll, spaced apart from the first linear roller bearing unit in the displacement direction, in the area of sides parallel to the displacement direction, and each first telescoping part has at least one first profiled rail situated parallel to the displacement direction, each first linear roller bearing unit being guided in a first profiled rail, and the first telescoping parts being supported by the support rolls of the lift truck.

Disclosed is a magnetic drive for an electrical switch, including a linear armature (26) displaceable between two ends positions, a shunt body (27) mounted at a distance from said armature and means (24, 25, 30, 31) for generating a magnetic field. The magnetic field exerts a force on the armature (26) retaining the latter in the end positions. By joining the shunt body (27) with the armature (26), the course of the flow lines of the magnetic field are changed in such a way that the retaining force exerted on the armature (26) is reduced and the latter is displaced to the other end position, optionally by a force exerted externally on the armature (26), and retained in the position by the magnetic field. Disconnection is effected by the shunt body (27), were after being joined with the shunt body (27) the armature (26) is moved from the end position opposite the shunt body (27) to the end position facing the shunt body (26). Fixing means (37-40, 42-45) are especially provided which hold the shunt body (27) in the end position opposite said shunt body and which joins the shunt body with the armature (26) when the electric switch (1) is disconnected requiring little energy / force expenditure.

A method for operating a sensor element having two contact terminal pairs, comprises steps of providing a first measurement value by applying a first controlled variable having a first polarity between the first terminal pair, and coupling the second terminal pair with output terminals; providing a second measurement value by applying a second controlled variable, having an opposed polarity, between the first terminal pair, and coupling the second terminal pair to the output terminals; providing a third measurement value by applying the first variable between the second terminal pair, and coupling the first terminal pair with the output terminals, providing a fourth measurement value by applying the second variable between the second terminal pair, and coupling the first terminal pair with the output terminals; and determining a sensor signal on the basis of a difference between the first and second values and a difference between the third and fourth values.

A method and a device for measuring humidity may be suitable for determining the relative humidity in the high-humidity range. The device includes a sensor device, as well as sequential electronics post-connected to the same. The sensor device includes a capacitive humidity-sensor element, a temperature-sensor element, and a heating element, the humidity-sensor element being heated in at least one part of the humidity-measuring range. The ambient temperature is further ascertained by the sequential electronics, from the heating power required in the heating mode, as well as from the measured, local sensor device temperature, in order to further determine the relative humidity.

An inverter (1) for a grounded direct voltage source, in particular for a photovoltaic generator (2), a battery or a fuel cell, for converting the direct voltage into an alternative voltage with a DC-DC converter (3) and a pulse inverter that is supplied by said DC-DC converter (3), said DC-DC converter (3) being configured to be an oscillating circuit inverter and comprising a series resonant oscillating circuit, said DC-DC converter (3), which is configured to be an oscillating circuit inverter, being configured to be a series-compensated oscillating circuit inverter with a choke (L1) and a series-mounted capacitor array consisting of two or several oscillating circuit capacitors, a rectifier bridge branch including 2 diodes (D3, D4; D5, D6, . . . ), being connected to each of the partial oscillating circuit capacitors, said rectifier bridge branch being connected with its positive or its negative pole to output side intermediate circuit capacitors which are preferably connected in series so that said DC-DC converter (3) delivers at least two bipolar output voltages and is combined with the pulse inverter (4) with a divided voltage intermediate circuit that is supplied from the oscillating circuit inverter.

The invention relates to a position-finding method for d4eterming the location of a mobile object. The features, for example received field strengths, of a plurality of base stations are measured, and the object position is located from these features, using a reference map. During an initialization process, a reference map is created which comprises a multiplicity of positions and the associated feature-dependent values. During use of the method, a plurality of position-finding processes are carried out, by means of each of which a measured feature-dependent value and from this, a located position of the object, are determined using the predetermined reference map. The predetermined reference map is in each case updated for at least some of the positions found, during which updates, the feature-dependent values are each corrected by a correction term at the support points of the reference map in a predetermined area surrounding an object position.

A solar power plant with a plurality of photovoltaic modules for generating a power to be fed in a multi-phase grid, several photovoltaic strings, which are allocated to different phases, being connected to a primary side of a mains transformer and at least one inverter for converting the direct voltage generated by the photovoltaic modules into an alternating mains voltage conforming to the grid being provided and said mains transformer being provided with a neutral conductor and with a grounded terminal, is intended to be improved in such a manner that the life of the photovoltaic modules, in particular in case of thin-film modules, is increased, allowing for high conversion efficiency of the inverters at low wiring costs. This is achieved in that an additional direct voltage source is inserted between the neutral conductor and ground in such a manner that the potential of the photovoltaic strings is displaced and that a bias voltage is set, which is different from zero volt.

A hand-guided grinding device (1) carries out a planar grinding motion and is mounted on a motor-driven grinding disk (2). The grinding disk (2) is mounted on a shaft, extending outwardly from a central housing (4) of the device, located axially above the grinding disk (2) and serving to accommodate a transmission unit and a motor. The grinding device (1) has a main handle (6) and an additional handle (8) for the two-handed operation of the device (1), and the handles (6, 8) project essentially laterally from the central housing (4) of the device at two mutually opposite sides of the central housing (4) of the device. The central housing (4) of the device has a housing section (9), which axially adjoins the grinding disk (2), and projects laterally outwardly from the central housing (4) of the device at least in certain regions and is equipped with a gripping surface (10) for one-handed operation.

The invention relates to a method for the packet-oriented transmission of data in telecommunications networks between a communications terminal and a data computer in which the data is transmitted via an intermediately connected protocol-converting intermediate node which converts messages in a connectionless transmission protocol into messages in a connection-oriented transmission protocol, and vice versa. In the method, a program module is transferred to the communications terminal which permits the communications terminal to transmit and receive messages by the connectionless transmission protocol. Furthermore, the invention relates to a network node and a telecommunications network.

A drive apparatus includes an electric motor (9), a control device (2) having a microprocessor (3) and a motor control module (5), which interacts with a power module (7) for the purpose of adjusting desired electrical parameters for the electric motor (9), a connecting line (8), which connects an output of the control device (2) to the electric motor (9), and a self-diagnostics device having a structure-borne noise sensor (6), which is connected to the electric motor, and an assessment module (4) for the signals from said structure-borne noise sensor (6). The invention assessment module is integrated in the control device, to be precise such that the microprocessor (3) of the control device (2) assesses the signals from the structure-borne noise sensor (6). The computational power of the microprocessor used in the operation of the power module (7) is used for directly assessing and interpreting the structure-borne noise signal.

A sensor system and an evaluation method for monitoring surroundings on a mechanical component, having at least one capacitive sensor element that is attachable on the surface of machines or machine parts, in which at least one sensor element is made up of a layered structure of flexible, electrically conductive and electrically insulating layers, electrically conductive surfaces of one layer being positioned with lateral spacing above insulating layers lying between them in such a way that electrical field lines form between the conductive surfaces, which change measurably upon approach to and / or contact with a body or object.

The invention pertains to an image processing device, in particular a device for stereoscopic image processing, and to a coherence detector used thereon. The image processing device can process stereoscopic images in real time and can be implemented with simple means and low expense. Two alternative embodiments of the coherence detector are disclosed. The image signals can be processed at the speed that they are supplied by image receivers, and thus image data processing is possible to attain depth information with little expense and in real time.

Scalable compact static mixer comprising a rotationally symmetrical cascaded mixing structure.

A wind energy installation includes a tower provided with rotor blades that are adjusted using a servomotor connected to a pitch circuit and an emergency circuit. During normal operation the rotor blades are actuated by the pitch circuit and during emergency operation are actuated by the emergency circuit. The emergency circuit has an electric energy store, a switching device, connection lines to the servomotor and a protection device which includes comprises a power flow detector module (60) designed for determining whether electric power flows into or from the servomotor and a discharge module designed to limit the voltage and / or current in the emergency circuit in the case of a power flow from the servomotor.

A household appliance, particularly a dishwasher or washing machine, having a height-adjusting device for an appliance pedestal. The height-adjusting device may include at least one drive gear engaged with a transmission drive converting the rotary motion of the drive gear into a lift motion of the appliance pedestal. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the drive gear includes a torque-limiting element operable to enable a deflecting motion of the drive gear from an operating position when a limit torque is exceeded, and which releases the engagement between the drive gear and the transmission drive.