43results about How to "Without effort" patented technology

A method for authorising return of a purchase by a customer to a merchant by an interaction of a customer chip card upon which a customer transaction history is stored and a merchant POS terminal upon which predetermined data is stored, the method comprising the steps of, (a) reading at least part of the customer transaction history from the customer chip card, (b) comparing the part of the customer transaction history read from the customer chip card with the predetermined data, and (c) issuing to the merchant a message from the POS terminal based upon the outcome of the comparison.

The seat belt extender is a length of material having limited flexibility, with a male seat belt latch tongue extending from one end and a female seat belt latch receptacle extending from the opposite end. The seat belt extender is installed in an existing, conventional three point seat belt system in a vehicle by inserting the tongue into the receptacle of the short anchor strap generally located at the inboard side of the seat, near the center of the vehicle. The semi-rigid nature of the present extender causes it to remain generally upright when secured to the anchor strap, thus enabling a person having limited upper body mobility to easily access the receptacle end of the extender with the tongue of the existing belt and shoulder strap assembly. The present extender also serves to position the shoulder strap more toward the center of the upper body of an occupant.

An apparatus state detector and its associates are provided to save time and effort for learning combinations of operation states of all apparatuses at home and commit fewer estimation errors even when an unknown apparatus starts operating. The apparatus state detector includes measuring means 110 that measures a physical quantity of an environment in which an apparatus is placed, feature-quantity calculation means 120 that calculates a feature quantity of the measured value measured by the measuring means 110, storage means 140 that stores in advance the feature quantity of each apparatus and an apparatus state associated with the feature quantity in a reference-apparatus entry dictionary 200, and apparatus-state detection means 130 that searches the reference-apparatus entry dictionary 200 for a feature quantity by using a feature quantity calculated by the feature-quantity calculation means 120 as a search key and detects an apparatus state based on the apparatus state associated with the retrieved feature quantity.

The present invention includes: a rolled filter stretched between first and second winding shafts and, unused part of the filter being wound around the second winding shaft; a brush provided between the first and the second winding shafts so as to come into contact with a surface of the filter; a feeding mechanism for driving the first and the second winding shafts to take up or rewind the filter; and a feeding control unit for controlling the feeding mechanism. When activating a renewing operation for feeding unused part of the filter from the second winding shaft, the feeding control unit controls the feeding mechanism such that once the filter is taken up by the first winding shaft by an take-up amount La, the filter is rewound by the second winding shaft by a rewind amount Lb, and La and Lb satisfy a relationship La≧Lb. Without increasing the amount of the filter or the size of the device itself, the present invention can deliver adequate performance even in a dusty environment by a small number of filter renewing operations.

A drawing apparatus includes a drawing head, a movement mechanism, and a control unit. The drawing head holds at least one modification member having a first tip at its one end and operates in such a way as to allow the first tip of the modification member to touch ink which is undried or uncured and applied to a drawing target. The movement mechanism moves the drawing head. The control unit controls the drawing head and the movement mechanism. The control unit controls a modification operation in which the movement mechanism moves the modification member through the drawing head while the first tip is touching the ink on the drawing target so that a part of a pattern formed with the ink on the drawing target is modified.

The invention relates to a battery management system for a battery having a plurality of battery cells connected in series, comprising a battery control unit, a plurality of low-voltage measuring devices, by means of which the voltage of one or more battery cells can be measured, and comprising one or more high-voltage measuring devices for a voltage across a plurality or all the battery cells, and/or at least one current measuring device, by means of which a current from or through the battery can be measured, and/or at least one a measuring module comprising a high-voltage measuring device, and a current measuring device, characterized by a signal transmission device, by way of which signals from low-voltage measuring devices and from at least one of the high-voltage measuring devices and/or the current measuring device and/or the measuring module can be transmitted to the battery control unit.

A—lid (20) for a container (21) comprises: a central surface (27) having a substantially circular shape, on which a line of weakening (30) is made, which defines a closing element (39) which can be opened by pulling, made in the central surface (27); and a drive tab (22), having at least a first end (25) to act as a fulcrum outside the line of weakening (30) connected to the closing element (39) with a rivet (23) and able to be driven so as to remove upward, the closing element (39) from the remaining part of the central surface (27), detaching it along the line of weakening (30). The line of weakening (30) is interrupted at one end of the closing element (39) opposite to the drive tab (22), so that the closing element (39) has a connection flap (34) solid with the remaining part of the central surface (27). In the case of aluminium, the rivet is located at 1.5-3.5 mm from the front part of the closing element (39). In the case of ferrous allogs, this distance is 4.0-6.0 mm.

A solid drumstick tapers towards its balance point to redistribute weight at its shoulder and butt sections. A diameter of the shoulder and the butt portions increases or decreases in a consistent manner so as to not change the drumstick's balance point, but in a manner that still provides a means to move the mass outwards. A flared butt portion is less likely to cause slippage.

A seal and corresponding method of manufacture of stacks enabled by the physical properties of the seal are provided. In the instance of a fuel cell or other electrochemical stack, the seal provides low-cost manufacturing and reliable/durable operation in high temperature (e.g., 120° C. to 250° C.) and acidic environments. The seal provides an elastomeric material characteristic providing resiliency and flexibility, and a protective characteristic that protects the seal from the high temperature acidic environment, such as found in high temperature PEM fuel cells. The seal is affixed to a plate of a fuel cell stack assembly prior to assembly of the stack, such that there is no requirement to apply an adhesive seal, gasket, free flow to solid sealing material, or the like, to each plate during assembly of the fuel cell stack, or during a disassembly and re-assembly process.

An auction system for use in auctions is provided. In the auction system, a recording medium is attached to an auction item. An auction participant reads information about the auction item out of the recording medium using a mobile data device. In order to place a bid on the auction item, the auction participant writes a bid price to the recording medium using the mobile data device.

A combination patient-transfer and intraoperative heater device has a top and bottom chamber separated by a barrier. The patient rests on the top chamber, which has a plurality of apertures for discharge of temperature-controlled filtered heated or cooled air at a regulated pressure for patient comfort and mitigation of infection. Heated or cooled filtered air is delivered to the area surrounding the patient, maintaining body temperature during anaesthesia. The bottom chamber has a plurality of apertures. When air pressure is low or off, the bottom chamber is flat and un-inflated. When air pressure is increased, air enters the bottom chamber and the apertures emit air, creating an air cushion facilitating lateral movement of the lifter device. The device performs two functions that now require separate devices and air blowers, it saves space and reduces both costs and complexity in the operating room while mitigating risk of infection.

A ribbon-decoration forming tool for binding a decorative ribbon strip, which defines a plurality of loops, to form a ribbon-decoration, said ribbon-decoration forming tool including: a first flat plate provided with an engagement member, the engagement member having an enlarged portion at the outer end thereof; a second flat plate having a holding portion for holding the engagement member which allows said enlarged portion to protrude outside therefrom; a connecting member connecting said first flat plate and said second flat plate; and a binding portion for binding a ribbon strip to form a ribbon-decoration, wherein the binding portion is defined by the first and second flat plates associated with each other in the relationship such that the enlarged portion protrudes outside from the holding portion, said connecting member and said engagement member.

A measuring arrangement for measuring one or more pressures and/or temperatures in an injection-molding system includes a base plate and at least one mould insert with at least part of a cavity. The base plate and the mould insert rest against one another in a releasable manner on at least one common separating surface. The mould insert includes at least one sensor for detecting pressures and/or temperatures as well as a transmitter module on the separating surface, which transmitter module is electrically connected to the sensor. The base plate includes a receiving module on the separating surface opposite the transmitter module, wherein measurement data can be transmitted from the transmitter module to the receiving module. The transmitter module and the receiving module on the separating surface are essentially planar and can be separated without force

A dog collar comprises a flexible non-metallic cord component having first and second ends and comprising an inner cord surrounded at least in part by an outer cord sheath. A fastening mechanism is provided and has a band defining a space at the first end of the cord component and a fastening bar at the second end of the cord component. The fastening bar has an aperture therein for receiving the first or second end of the flexible non-metallic cord, and the aperture is of sufficient size and dimension to permit easy pivotable or rotational movement of the first or second end therein. The fastening bar and band are dimensioned such that the fastening bar is able to pass through the space in one orientation and not able to pass through the space when in other orientations.

A communication control apparatus that enables a personal computer usually connected to a LAN when in use to be connected temporarily to the same LAN from a different location and via a different communication device, while ensuring security without time and effort spent on configuration. A communication control apparatus connected to a LAN including a server, personal computers and communication devices (e.g., routers) that relay data between the server and the personal computers is provided with: a storage device that stores a scheduled time at which a personal computer is connected for use at another location in the same LAN, information of a communication device for the other location and configuration information of the communication device for enabling communication with the personal computer; and a timer indicating a time. The communication control apparatus compares the scheduled time and the time indicated by the timer, and performs configuration of the communication device to which the personal computer is scheduled to be connected based on the information of the communication device and the configuration information that are stored in the storage device, before the scheduled time.

A novel integrated pipe handling system and method is provided wherein one or more pipe tubs having lift arms can be loaded with pipe and transported to a drill site where it may be deployed next to a pipe handling trailer. The pipe tubs and pipe handling trailer are arranged such that when the lift arms are raised, pipes may roll from a tub to the trailer, where a pipe is transferred to an angularly adjustable trough on the trailer. An inclinable transfer rack may be positioned adjacent the pipe handling trailer either with or without a tub located adjacent the inclinable transfer rack on the opposite side. The trough may be raised to a preselected position and the pipe moved along the trough by a skate such that the pipe is available to be transferred from the pipe handling trailer to a drilling rig. The process may be reversed to remove pipe from the drilling rig. A control system, which may be operated in a manual or automated mode, is used to operate the integrated system using information about each pipe joint recorded during the loading process. The length of each pipe transferred to the pipe handling trailer may be measured and tally information including the number and total length of pipe transferred may be displayed to an operator and downloaded to a memory.