14th week of 2014 patent applcation highlights part 17 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20140091743 | CONTROL DEVICE FOR AC MOTOR - A control device for a three-phase AC motor includes: an inverter having switching elements; current sensors for sensing a current in the motor; and a control means having a feedback control operation part for operating a voltage command of each phase and switching the switching elements based on the voltage command. When a positive and negative offset abnormality occurs, the control means executes a positive and negative offset abnormality detection process that the control means compares a value, which is obtained by integrating a variation in a voltage command of each phase over a predetermined detection interval, with a predetermined abnormality threshold value, the voltage command being outputted by the feedback control operation part with respect to a variation in the current caused by the positive and negative offset abnormality. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091744 | CONTROL DEVICE FOR AC MOTOR - A control device for a three-phase alternate current motor includes: a control phase current acquisition means; a monitor phase current acquisition means; a rotation angle acquisition means; a two-phase control current value calculation means; a one-phase current estimated value estimation means; a voltage command value calculation means; an other phase current estimation means for calculating a monitor or a control phase current estimated value; an abnormality detection means for detecting an abnormality in a monitor phase or a control phase current sensor; a number-of-revolutions calculation means for the motor; a number-of-revolutions determination means for determining whether the number of revolutions is not larger than a predetermined determination value; and a switching means between a two-phase control mode when the number of revolutions is not larger than the determination value and a one-phase control mode when the number of revolutions is larger than the determination value. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091745 | ITEM OF FURNITURE HAVING AN ACTUATING SYSTEM FOR ADJUSTING A LEAST ONE MOVABLE ELEMENT - The item of furniture according to the invention has at least one movable element and an actuating system for adjusting the movable element, wherein the actuating system comprises at least one linear actuator, a power supply unit and a manual control device, wherein the power supply unit and the manual control device are electrically connected to the linear actuator and the linear actuator has a diagnostic system having at least one illuminated indicator for indicating the functioning of the three components. By means of the diagnostic system, the user himself, but at the latest the repair service, is able to determine in a simple manner which of the three components is faulty, so that specifically only the faulty component has to be replaced. In that manner, any repair costs can be reduced significantly. The replacement of one of the three components can also then be carried out without difficulty by the user or a repair service. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091746 | ELECTROMAGNETIC PUMP COMPENSATION POWER SUPPLY APPARATUS AND ELECTROMAGNETIC PUMP SYSTEM - Provided, in parallel to an electromagnetic pump in a power supply system, is an electromagnetic pump compensation power supply mechanism ( | 2014-04-03 |
20140091747 | Clean Charging of Electric Vehicles - The embodiments disclosed herein provide an option to drivers of electric vehicles to charge their electric vehicles using energy generated from renewable energy sources while still meeting charging requirements of the drivers. A system may schedule an electric vehicle for charging based on a historical clean energy profile. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091748 | BATTERY CONTROL SYSTEMS - Various embodiments herein provide methods and apparatus for conditioning a battery. The conditioning may be undertaken to restore charge capacity or power capability, especially when practiced on a battery having a lithium negative electrode and/or a positive electrode having a conversion material. In one embodiment, the conditioning method includes applying a substantially constant current or power until a conditioning voltage is reached, where the conditioning voltage is higher than the maximum voltage used during normal cycling. The method further includes continuing to charge the battery at the conditioning voltage until a maximum conditioning charge is reached. Next, the method includes discharging the battery to about the maximum charge voltage prior to using the battery in an end use. Also provided is a conditioning apparatus that is configured to perform the conditioning method. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091749 | Switch-Controlled Energy Cycling Apparatus - A switch-controlled energy cycling apparatus having two or more energy storage units; a control board that controls the status of each of the energy storage units and selectively cycles each between an inactive state, an active-discharging state, providing energy to a load outside of the apparatus, and an active-recharging state; and at least one sensor configured to monitor the apparatus and, at a first time period, sets the first energy storage unit to the active-discharging state and the second energy storage unit to the active-recharging state, where energy is also delivered to and recharges the second energy storage unit. At a second time period, the board automatically and in response to receiving a signal sent from the sensor indicating that one of the sensed values has reached a preprogrammed set point, cycles the charging state of the first and second energy storage units to different charging states according to a looping pattern. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091750 | POWER SUPPLY APPARATUS AND CHARGING APPARATUS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE - A power supply apparatus for an electric vehicle includes a main battery, a sub-battery of lower voltage, a first output circuit unit including a first output sub-unit and a second output sub-unit, a control circuit unit, and a second output circuit unit including a third output sub-unit. The first output sub-unit receives electrical power from an external power supply and outputs first electrical power for main battery charging. The second output sub-unit receives electrical power from the power supply and outputs second electrical power for sub-battery charging. The control circuit unit individually controls charging of the main battery and the sub-battery by the first electrical power and the second electrical power respectively. The third output sub-unit receives electrical power from the power supply, via a different pathway compared to the first and second output sub-units, and outputs third electrical power for driving the control circuit unit. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091751 | System And Method Of Using High Energy Battery Packs - Energy storage system having one or more battery packs and a system controller for controlling the battery packs. Each battery pack has rechargeable storage cells and a battery pack controller in communication with the system controller. Through the operation of the system controller, battery packs with different initial charge states can be operated in parallel during the charge or discharge process. Discharging multiple battery packs in parallel offers not only higher capacity and longer run time than is available from a single battery pack, but also offers higher peak currents than available from a single battery pack, important in motor control applications. Battery pack design including a battery pack connector with both power and control contacts supporting user replacement of the battery packs. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091752 | USB Charging System - A dual USB port charging system that can charge at 2.1 A and also at 1 A at the same time when the power supply is only capable of 10 W. A USB port is set as a 2.1 A port via resistor network. If nothing is connected to the other USB port, it charges at 2.1 A. If a device is connected to the other USB port, it automatically detects this condition and momentarily interrupts the 5V output while resetting the USB port to 1 A (the resistor network is changed to 1 A spec). Both devices will then charge at 1 A. If the second device is disconnected while the first device is still charging at 1 A, the charging system will interrupt the output momentarily and reset the network back to 2.1 A. The first device re-registers and is now able to charge at 2.1 A again. If the second USB device is connected first while the first USB port is unused it will also set both ports as 1 A. As the standard USB port is switched between 1 A and 2.1 A network, the current limit is also automatically switched from 1 A to 2.1 A. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091753 | GATEWAY APPARATUS, METHOD THEREOF AND CHARGE/DISCHARGE SYSTEM - A gateway apparatus includes a managing unit, an assigning unit, a receiving unit, a generating unit and a transmitting unit. The managing unit manages at least one storage battery group including a set of one or more storage battery systems selected from a plurality of storage battery systems. The assigning unit assigns a first storage battery group, which is one of the at least one storage battery group, to a first charge/discharge instruction apparatus. The receiving unit receives an instruction related to charge or discharge from the first charge/discharge instruction apparatus. The generating unit generates a first control order that is a control order for the storage battery systems belonging to the first storage battery group, based on the instruction. The transmitting unit transmits the first control order to the storage battery systems belonging to the first storage battery group. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091754 | HIGH-EFFICIENCY BATTERY CHARGER - A high efficiency battery charger. The high-efficiency battery charger can include a first transformer to produce a charging current, a second transformer to produce a maintenance current lower than the charging current, a power feed circuit having an input for connection to a power source, and control circuitry configured to detect a depleted battery to cause the power feed circuitry to feed power to the first transformer while disabling the second transformer, and to detect a charged battery to cause the power feed circuitry to feed power to the second transformer while disabling the first transformer. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091755 | Wireless Power Transfer Adaptation Triggers - Adaptive multi-pathway wireless charging is described. In one aspect, embodiments enable one or more wireless charging pathways to be established concurrently in a wireless charging environment. The wireless charging pathways use same or different frequencies, powers, wireless power transfer (WPT) standards, and WPT configurations. Embodiments for adaptively configuring wireless charging based on detected events or changes in WPT characteristics are also provided. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091756 | WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER - Methods and systems for wireless transmission of power to a battery-operated device include a power receiving apparatus featuring at least one receiving resonator and a housing dimensioned to engage with a battery compartment of a battery-operated device, and a power transmitting apparatus including: a first pair of spaced source resonators, where each source resonator in the first pair features a loop of conducting material surrounding a common first axis; a second pair of spaced source resonators, where each source resonator in the second pair features a loop of conducting material surrounding a common second axis different from the first axis; and a controller coupled to the first and second pairs of source resonators and configured to provide non-radiative wireless power transfer from the power transmitting apparatus to the power receiving apparatus by alternately activating the first and second pairs of source resonators. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091757 | Charging Device and Charging Method with Float-Mounted Charging Unit - A charging arrangement includes a vehicle having a charging module in the vehicle underbody, and a stationary charging station with a charging unit, for the inductive charging of a battery of the vehicle. The charging station is disposed close to the ground or in the ground. The charging unit is floatingly disposed in the charging station, within a predefined horizontal movement area. The charging module has at least one localization magnet and the charging unit has at least one positioning magnet. The charging unit is constructed as a primary coil, and the charging module is constructed as a secondary coil. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091758 | COMMUNICATION APPARATUS - This communication apparatus makes it possible to have a non-contact charging module and a sheet antenna coexist, even in the case where there the non-contact charging module and the sheet antenna in the communication apparatus. The apparatus is provided with: a housing; a secondary-side non-contact charging module, which is housed in the housing, receives power by means of electromagnetic induction, and has a first coil having a conducting wire wound thereon, and a first magnetic sheet facing the first coil; and an NFC antenna, which is housed in the housing, and has a second coil having a conducting wire wound thereon, and a second magnetic sheet facing the second coil. The secondary-side non-contact charging module and the NFC antenna are not laminated to each other. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091759 | CONNECTOR - A connector main body of a connector accommodates a contact unit, a power cut-off unit that has an electric conductor unit, and open and close a power feeding path between an electrically driven vehicle and an electric power apparatus by bringing into contact or opening electric conductor unit, and an abnormality detection unit that detects an abnormality that occurs on power feeding path, or receives an abnormality signal from outside, an abnormality transmission unit that, when abnormality detection unit detects abnormality or receives abnormality signal, mechanically opens electric conductor unit, and a handle that mechanically brings into contact or opens electric conductor unit in a state in which abnormality detection unit does not detect abnormality and does not receive abnormality signal. Abnormality detection unit detects at least one of a short-circuit current and an overload current that occur on power feeding path as abnormality. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091760 | ELECTRIC STORAGE DEVICE, AND VEHICLE MOUNTED ELECTRIC STORAGE SYSTEM - Provided is an electric storage device provided with: a positive electrode including a positive electrode substrate and a positive electrode mixture layer, the positive electrode mixture layer being formed on the positive electrode substrate and containing a positive electrode active material; a negative electrode including a negative electrode substrate and a negative electrode mixture layer, the negative electrode mixture layer being formed on the negative electrode substrate and containing a negative electrode active material; and a separator disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. In the electric storage device, the separator yields a triple value of standard deviation of local air resistance, as measured within a 5-mm diameter circle, of at least 20 seconds/10 cc but not more than 350 seconds/10 cc. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091761 | CHARGING CONNECTOR ACCOMMODATION APPARATUS FOR USE IN TRUCK-TYPE ELECTRIC VEHICLE - A charging connector accommodation apparatus for use in a truck-type or pickup-type electric vehicle includes a box body having an opening facing an outside of a vehicle body and an opening facing an inside of the vehicle body, and a lid member. The box body includes a frame body, and a center panel disposed inside the frame body. A bent edge folded toward the outside and joined to the frame body is provided at the center panel. A highly rigid frame section enhanced in rigidity by the bent edge is disposed is provided more outward to the outside than the center panel, and a hollow frame section having rigidity lower than that of the highly rigid frame section is disposed is provided more inward to the inside than the center panel of the box body. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091762 | LOAD SYSTEM - A load system includes a power supply input unit for load test of an external power supply, a charging circuit or a charger to which electric power from the power supply is supplied via the power supply input unit, a plurality of loads to which the electric power from the charging circuit or the charger is supplied, and a control circuit that switches selectively and connects the plurality of loads to the charging circuit or the charger. The plurality of loads is a plurality of storage batteries as a load resistance. The control circuit is configured to switch selectively and connect the plurality of storage batteries to the charging circuit or the charger such that the storage battery connected to the charging circuit or the charger among the plurality of storage batteries is charged by the charging circuit or the charger. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091763 | CHARGING DEVICE FOR A HIGH-VOLTAGE BATTERY OF A MOTOR VEHICLE, CHARGING ASSEMBLY AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A CHARGING ASSEMBLY - A charging device installed in a motor vehicle is connected via a connection device to an AC mains. The connection device includes a residual current circuit breaker incapable of detecting at least one residual current type, in particular a DC residual current. A communication signal is transmitted between a control unit on the side of the charging device and a control unit on the side of the connection device. A residual current detector in the charging device detects a residual current of the undetected residual current type and transmits a residual current signal indicating the residual current to the charging-device-side control unit, which then modifies and/or interrupts the communication signal based the residual current signal so as to cause the charging device to be disconnected from the AC mains. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091764 | VEHICLE - A vehicle is capable of charging a power storage device mounted thereon using electric power from two power paths of an external DC power supply and AC power supply. The vehicle includes a DC charger for converting electric power from the DC power supply into charging electric power for the power storage device, and an AC charger for converting electric power from the AC power supply into charging electric power for the power storage device. A vehicle ECU selects an electric power path to be used for charging based on the state of the power storage device and efficiency of the DC charger and the AC charger. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091765 | Traveler Charger Kit - A traveler charger kit includes a storage housing having an access opening, and a receiving cavity, a charger cover, a charging circuitry, a power input plug provided on the storage housing to electrically connect to the charging circuitry, and a charging terminal received in the receiving cavity and is electrically connected to the charging circuitry. The traveler charger kit is arranged to operate between a carrying mode and a charging mode, wherein in the charging mode, the charging terminal is extended to selectively and electrically connect to at least one electronic device for charging thereof, wherein in the carrying mode, the charging terminal is selectively disposed in the receiving cavity which is detachably covered by the charger cover so as to reduce the traveler charger kit into a compact size for convenient carrying. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091766 | POWER BRACELET - A device configured to be worn around the wrist of a user and operable to charge an electrical device is provided. The device includes a cover and a band. The band is adapted to be worn around a wrist of a user. The cover may be adapted to mount onto the band. The band having a storage space configured for holding electrical components operable to store and discharge electrical power from a battery. The device further includes an output operable to connect the battery to an electrical device so as to charge the electrical device. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091767 | POWER SOURCE APPARATUS FOR VEHICLE - A power source apparatus mounted to a vehicle is equipped with a lead-acid battery and a lithium battery. An open circuit voltage and an internal resistance of each of the batteries are determined to satisfy the following conditions (a1), (a2), and (a3): (a1) In the use range of SOC of the lead-acid battery and the use range of SOC of the lithium battery, there is an equal voltage point Vds at which the open circuit voltage V0 (Pb) of the lead-acid battery becomes equal to the open circuit voltage V0 (Li) of the lithium battery; (a2) The relationship of V0 (Li)>V0 (Pb) is satisfied in the upper limit side of the use range of SOC of the battery; and (a3) A terminal voltage Vc (Li) of the lithium battery is not more than a set voltage Vreg of a regulator when a maximum current flows in the lithium battery. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091768 | STORAGE DEVICE FOR STORING ELECTRICAL ENERGY AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A STORAGE DEVICE - The invention relates to a storage device ( | 2014-04-03 |
20140091769 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ALLOCATING IDENTIFIERS TO MULTI-SLAVE IN BATTERY PACK - Disclosed is a method and system for allocating identifiers to multi-slaves in a battery pack. The method for allocating identifiers, in which a master battery management system (BMS) allocates identifiers to N (N is an integer of 2 or above) number of slave BMSs through a communication network, includes (a) by each slave BMS, generating an initial identifier by combining digital voltage measurement values of battery cells included in a battery module managed by the slave BMS and transmitting the initial identifier to a master BMS; and (b) by the master BMS, allocating identifiers again according to the initial identifier received from each slave BMS and then transmitting the identifiers to slave BMSs. Therefore, it is possible to allocate identifiers without inputting an identifier to a multi-slave BMS in advance or using a separate hardware configuration. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091770 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ALLOCATING IDENTIFIER TO MULTI-BMS - Disclosed is a multi-BMS identifier allocation system. The multi-BMS identifier allocation system according to the present invention comprises a master BMS and N slave BMSs (N is an integer greater than or equal to 2) which are connected to a series communication network and a parallel communication network, wherein the master BMS comprises at least two first and second master communication channels which form a communication interface with the series communication network and selectively output a forward or backward enabling signal and allocates unique communication identifiers to the slave BMSs through the parallel communication network, and the first to Nth slave BMSs start enabling in response to the forward or backward enabling signal received through the series communication network, are allocated the identifiers from the master BMS through the parallel communication network, and output an enabling signal to an adjacent slave BMS along a transmission direction of the enabling signal. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091771 | LITHIUM-BASED BATTERY PACK FOR A HAND HELD POWER TOOL - A method for conducting an operation including a power tool battery pack. The battery pack can include a housing, a first cell supported by the housing and having a voltage, and a second cell supported by the housing and having a voltage. The battery pack also can be connectable to a power tool and be operable to supply power to operate the power tool. The method can include discharging one of the first cell and the second cell until the voltage of the one of the first cell and the second cell is substantially equal to the voltage of the other of the first cell and the second cell. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091772 | ADAPTIVE THERMAL MANAGEMENT OF AN ELECTRIC ENERGY STORAGE METHOD AND SYSTEM APPARATUS - A system, method, and computer-readable storage medium to dynamically manage heat in an electric energy storage system, such as a battery pack or ultra-capacitor pack system in an electric vehicle. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091773 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING A REGULATED BOOSTED VOLTAGE USING A CONTROLLED VARIABLE NUMBER OF CHARGE PUMP CIRCUITS - A system, method, and computer program product for generating a regulated boosted load voltage. A comparator may use reduced versions of a reference voltage, a supply voltage, and a fed-back output load voltage to determine whether the output load voltage requires adjustment. If so, a controller may responsively vary the number of voltage boosting charge pumps connected in parallel to the load to best match a target voltage. The target voltage may be the reference voltage plus the supply voltage. A counter may track the number of active charge pumps, and may increment or decrement the number more slowly than the charge pumps operate. Loop gain may be limited by an integrating filter to prevent oscillation. The embodiments are of particular utility for signal conversion circuitry as they eliminate difficulties arising from gate-source voltage inadequacies and differences in switch transistors. A wider range of reference voltages may be accommodated. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091774 | SPREAD-SPECTRUM SWITCHING REGULATOR FOR ELIMINATING MODULATION RIPPLE - A spread-spectrum switching regulator for eliminating modulation ripple includes high gain amplifier that is responsive to reference voltage and feedback voltage of feedback loop to generate differential voltage, the feedback voltage being one of output voltage of the spread-spectrum switching regulator and a fraction of the output voltage; compensation circuit, coupled to the high gain amplifier, that maintains stability of the feedback loop to generate error level voltage in response to differential voltage; ramp generator that generates ramp waveform with slope adaptable to switching frequency to maintain duty cycle at constant value; pulse width modulator, coupled to compensation circuit and ramp generator, that compares error level voltage and ramp waveform to generate pulsed waveform; driver circuit, coupled to pulse width modulator, that drives the pulsed waveform to alternately switch a pair of transistors; and LC network, coupled to the pair of transistors, to average pulsed waveform to the output voltage. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091775 | TWO-STAGE LOW-DROPOUT LINEAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Aspects of the present invention include a low-dropout (LDO) linear power supply system. The system includes a pass-element configured to generate an output voltage at an output based on an input voltage. The system also includes a compensation amplifier stage coupled to the output and configured to provide frequency compensation and provide a desired frequency response of the output voltage. The system further includes a gain amplifier stage interconnecting the compensation amplifier stage and the pass-element and configured to provide DC gain scaling to generate the output voltage substantially proportional to the input voltage within a given range of the input voltage. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091776 | VOLTAGE REGULATOR - Provided is a voltage regulator capable of suppressing an overshoot with low current consumption. A comparator of an overshoot detection circuit is activated only when a power supply fluctuation occurs, and the comparator outputs a signal for reducing an overshoot occurring in an output voltage. In a steady state, the comparator of the overshoot detection circuit is turned off to prevent the current from being consumed. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091777 | VOLTAGE REGULATOR - A voltage regulator permits reduced current consumption by promptly and timely stopping the operation of an inrush current protection circuit immediately after the voltage regulator is started up. The voltage regulator has an output voltage detection circuit, which issues a detection signal to actuate the inrush current protection circuit when a low voltage at an output terminal is detected at the time of starting up the voltage regulator. When it is detected that the voltage at the output terminal has reached a predetermined level, the operation of the inrush current protection circuit is stopped and a power path of the output voltage detection circuit is cut off. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091778 | CONSTANT TIME CONTROLLER AND CONTROLLING METHOD FOR A SWITCHING REGULATOR - In one embodiment, a controlling method for a switching regulator, can include: (i) detecting an output voltage and an inductor current of the switching regulator; (ii) determining if there is a transient change on a load of the switching regulator by using the output voltage and a first reference voltage; (iii) generating a control signal using the output voltage, the inductor current, and a second reference voltage; (iv) controlling a switch of the switching regulator to maintain the output voltage substantially constant when no transient change is determined on the load; and (v) deactivating the control signal to keep the inductor current changing along with a variation tendency of an output current of the switching regulator when a transient change is determined on the load. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091779 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE - A semiconductor device includes a reference voltage generation circuit to which a power source voltage is applied; an output terminal for outputting an output voltage; a determining circuit connected to the reference voltage generation circuit and the output terminal for generating the output voltage according to a determination target voltage; and a constant electric current source connected to the determining circuit and a ground potential for generating a constant electrical current. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091780 | REFERENCE VOLTAGE GENERATOR - A reference voltage generator including a reference voltage generating unit is provided. The reference voltage generating unit receives a first bias voltage current and a first mirror current and generates a reference voltage. The reference voltage generating unit includes a first metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor, a second MOS transistor, a first impedance providing element and a second impedance providing element. The first and the second MOS transistors operate in a sub-threshold region so as to generate a first gate-source voltage and a second gate-source voltage having a negative temperature coefficient. The first impedance providing element is configured to generate a first current having a positive temperature coefficient. The second impedance providing element is configured to generate a first voltage having a negative temperature coefficient at its first terminal. The reference voltage is equal to a sum of the second gate-source voltage and the first voltage. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091781 | SECURITY SYSTEM - Systems, apparatus, and methods disclosed herein feature a housing defining an interior cavity, a flexible cable including an electrically conductive body extending from a first end to a second end, at least a portion of the first and second ends of the cable configured to be held within the interior cavity, a locking assembly disposed in the interior cavity and configured to secure the cable to the housing, an electrical circuit disposed in the interior cavity, and a monitoring sub-system disposed within the interior cavity and configured to monitor an electrical state of the cable. The electrical circuit and the cable are arranged such that: a continuous electrical path is formed when the cable is secured to the housing by the locking assembly and at least a portion of each of the first and second ends of the cable are held within the interior cavity, and the electrical path is altered when the cable is detached from the housing, the cable is tampered with, or either of the first and second ends of the cable are entirely removed from the interior cavity. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091782 | GALVANICALLY ISOLATED VOLTAGE MEASUREMENT - In a voltage measurement apparatus high—i.e. un-attenuated—voltages are connected to an attenuator | 2014-04-03 |
20140091783 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING AC RIPPLE - A system capable of identifying various possible technical malfunctions with an uninterruptible power supply system by detecting AC ripple on a power bus of the UPS system. A battery monitor is positioned on the terminal posts of one or more batteries of the UPS system. The monitor, since it is connected with the power bus, is configured to measure and/or record AC ripple on the power bus. At the monitor or by way of communicating the AC ripple to a remote database and server, excessive ripple changes may generate an alert when such changes exceed a threshold or may be viewed through a graphical user interface. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091784 | Artificial Defect for Eddy Current Inspection - A flex circuit for creating artificial defects uses a thin conductive layer with rectangular slots therein representing defects. A thin insulating over-layer is used to protect the conductive layer as well as an eddy current probe. The flexible circuit is then temporarily attached to the surface of the part or material to be inspected. A feature of the described system is that it is directly scalable to an electric discharge machined (EDM) notch. In an embodiment, a thin conductive layer is used which is scalable to a thicker lower conductive layer like a conventional EDM notch. In this way, a thin conductive artificial defect can electromagnetically represent a thicker albeit less conductive EDM notch. The flexible circuit makes it easier to place multiple notches in complex part geometries, and allows for more accurate relative positioning between slots, e.g., for array and wide coverage probes. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091785 | TARGET CLEARANCE MEASUREMENT DEVICE - A target or rotor blade clearance measurement device is disclosed for indicating an interaction of a measurement probe with a target or rotor blade. In a preferred embodiment, the measurement device comprises a measurement probe containing a coil, a frequency source arranged to apply an input alternating signal to the measurement probe, and a frequency regulator arranged to regulate the input alternating signal at a frequency below the resonance frequency of the measurement probe. A detector is arranged to detect an output signal from the measurement probe at a frequency of the frequency source which varies in amplitude with an admittance and resonance frequency of the measurement probe. A circuit is arranged to scale the amplitude of the output signal detected by the detector according to the amplitude of the input signal provided by the frequency source. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091786 | METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AN INDUCTIVE PROXIMITY SWITCH - The invention relates to a method of manufacturing an inductive proximity switch, in which an enclosure is formed from a single piece of a non-ferromagnetic metal and electronic components are inserted into the enclosure, and to a corresponding proximity switch. The electronic components comprise a coil configured to be supplied with transmitting current pulses and a processing circuit configured to generate an output signal based on received voltages induced in the coil after the duration of the transmitting current pulses. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091787 | METHOD FOR DETECTING METAL FOREIGN OBJECT ON CONTACTLESS POWER SUPPLY DEVICE, CONTACTLESS POWER SUPPLY DEVICE, CONTACTLESS POWER RECEPTION DEVICE, AND CONTACTLESS POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM - With a metal foreign object detecting method, a metal detection circuit arranged in a contactless power supply device transmits an oscillation signal to a modulation circuit of an electric appliance. The modulation circuit generates a square wave pulse signal from the oscillation signal. The cycle of the oscillation signal received by the modulation circuit changes in accordance with whether or not a metal piece is present. The modulation circuit modulates the square wave pulse signal to generate a modulated wave signal and transmits the modulated wave signal to the metal detection circuit of the power supply device. The metal detection circuit demodulates the modulated wave signal and determines whether or not a metal piece is present based on the cycle of the demodulated signal corresponding to the square wave pulse signal. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091788 | CURRENT DETECTOR - A current detector includes a magnetic core that is molded by sintering powder made from a magnetic material, and a current detection busbar. The current detection busbar is a conductor including a penetrating portion that penetrates a hole portion of the magnetic core in a first direction in which a current flows, and terminal portions that are in connection with the penetrating portion on both sides in the first direction. The width of the terminal portions is larger than the maximum width of the hole portion, and the minimum width of the cross-sectional contour of the penetrating portion is larger than the thickness of the terminal portions. An insulating casing holds the magnetic core, the current detection busbar, and the Hall element, while keeping them from coming into contact with each other. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091789 | TUNNEL WATER INRUSH ADVANCE PREDICTION DEVICE USING NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE DIFFERENCE AND METHOD - An equipment and method for forecasting tunnel water inrush using a magnetic resonance differential, where a computer is connected to a transmitting bridge circuit through a high voltage power supply, to a control unit, a first and second signal modulating circuits and a multi-channel collecting circuit; the control unit is connected to a transmitting driver circuit, a first and second protection switches, and the transmitting bridge circuit through the transmitting driver circuit; two ends of a transceiving multi-turn coil are connected to the multi-channel collecting circuit through the first and second protection switches; two ends of a receiving multi-turn coil are connected to the multi-channel collecting circuit through the second protection switch and the second signal modulating circuit; one end of the transceiving multi-turn coil is connected to the transmitting bridge circuit, and the other end is connected to the transmitting bridge circuit through a resonant capacitor. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091790 | METHOD AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE SYSTEM FOR TIME-DEPENDENT INTENSITY CORRECTION OF DIFFUSION-WEIGHTED MR IMAGES - In a method and magnetic resonance (MR) apparatus for time-dependent intensity correction of diffusion-weighted MR images that are acquired with a sequence of different diffusion gradient fields, different diffusion gradient fields are associated with at least one group, with the association with groups being established so that the diffusion gradient fields that are associated with the same group satisfy an orthogonality criterion. For each group, an MR result image is created from the MR images associated with the group, such that the MR result image has a suppressed direction dependency of the diffusion weighting in comparison to the constituent MR images. An intensity correction can be made based on the multiple MR result images and used to correct the constituent MR images. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091791 | System and Method for Inductively Communicating Data - A system for inductively communicating signals in a magnetic resonance imaging system is presented. The system includes first array of primary coils configured to acquire data from a patient positioned on a patient cradle. Furthermore, the system includes a second array of secondary coils operatively coupled to the first array of primary coils. Moreover, the system includes a third array of tertiary coils disposed at a determined distance from the second array of secondary coils. In addition, the system includes a tuning unit operatively coupled to the third array of tertiary coils by a cable having a quarter-wave electrical wavelength and configured to control the first array of primary coils through impedance transformation, where the second array of secondary coils is configured to inductively communicate the acquired data to the third array of tertiary coils. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091792 | Method for hyperpolarization transfer in the liquid state - A method for producing a hyperpolarized sample for use in a magnetic resonance investigation has the following steps: a) providing a solid sample ( | 2014-04-03 |
20140091793 | METHOD FOR DIFFUSION MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING - A method for diffusion magnetic resonance imaging may be provided. The method may comprise steps of performing sampling on an object at N diffusion weighted directions to acquire undersampled but complementary k-space data, combining the complementary data from different directions to obtain a full sampled k-space data, performing initial reconstruction based on common information among images at the N diffusion weighted directions, and performing joint iterative regularized reconstruction to k-space data in all diffusion weighted directions based on the initial images to obtain the desired final images. Due to the utilization of common information at the N diffusion weighted directions, the acquisition efficiency may be enhanced and image resolution and SNR of acquired images may be improved accordingly. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091794 | MAGNETIC RESONANCE APPARATUS AND OPERATING METHOD - In a method to operate a magnetic resonance apparatus with a magnetic resonance sequence—in particular a PETRA sequence—in which k-space is radially scanned for an image acquisition in a first region of k-space that does not include the center of k-space, and in which an excitation pulse is radiated as the full strength of at least two phase coding gradients is reached, and in which k-space is scanned in a Cartesian manner—in particular by single point imaging—in a second region of k-space remaining without the first region, the gradient strength corresponding to a shortest total acquisition time is determined automatically from predetermined sequence parameters and/or sequence parameters defined by a user. The sequence parameters parameterize the magnetic resonance sequence and describe the number of acquisitions for the regions of k-space and the repetition time, and the gradient strength is indicated to a user as a recommendation and/or is set automatically in the implementation of the magnetic resonance sequence. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091795 | MAGNETIC RESONANCE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC CALCULATION OF A MAXIMUM PULSE-LENGTH OF AN EXCITATION PULSE - In a method and magnetic resonance apparatus for automatic calculation of a maximum pulse length of a non-selective excitation pulse for a magnetic resonance data acquisition pulse sequence in which gradients are switched during the radiation of at least one non-selective excitation pulse, a first parameter, which indicates the field of view (FOV) desired in the measurement for which the pulse length of the excitation pulse should be maximized, is loaded into a processor, and a second parameter, which indicates the maximum gradient strength (G | 2014-04-03 |
20140091796 | METHOD AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE APPARATUS TO GENERATE AN ARTIFACT-FREE MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGE DATA SET - In a method and magnetic resonance (MR) system for the creation of an artifact-free image data set of an imaging area located in a measurement volume of the MR system, measurement data are acquired from which an image data is to be reconstructed, with gradients for spatially coding of the measurement data are ramped continuously over time to a strength desired for the acquisition of the measurement data, without abrupt changes in the gradient strength. The actual gradients present in the measurement volume are measured by a field mapping device in the measurement volume of the MR system. The trajectories along which k-space is scanned during the acquisition of the measurement data are calculated on the basis of the measured actual gradients. An artifact-free image data set is reconstructed from the acquired measurement data under consideration of the calculated trajectories, and is displayed and/or stored. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091797 | METHOD AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE SYSTEM TO ACQUIRE MR DATA WITH DIFFUSION INFORMATION - In the acquisition of MR data with diffusion information nuclear spins in a volume segment are excited with radiation of a diffusion coding module and a subsequent diffusion decoding module, and at least one RF pulse is radiated after the excitation, and the MR data are read out. At least one of a time period that defines a time interval between a point in time at which the spin echo condition is satisfied, and the echo time, a first time interval that defines a minimum time interval between the end of the diffusion coding module and the start of the diffusion decoding module, and a second time interval that defines a minimum time interval between the end of the excitation module, and the start of the diffusion coding module, and a third time interval that defines a minimum time interval between the end of the diffusion coding module and the start of the readout of the MR data, is set. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091798 | Method and System for Rapid MRI Acquisition Using Tailored Signal Excitation Modules (RATE) - A system and method for rapid acquisition of MRI data at multiple points in time in an. MRI scan using tailored excitation modules, said method comprising the steps of: obtaining tailored signal excitation modules by using RF excitation pulses in combination with one or more magnetic field gradients; acquiring an aliased k-space dataset at a point in time using a pulse sequence that employs said obtained tailored signal excitation modules, which tag and overlap distinct k-space points; repeating steps (a) and (b) for acquiring aliased k-space datasets at multiple time points in a scan while tagging the overlapped, k-space points as a function of time to obtain an accelerated k-t dataset; undoing k-space aliasing m the acquired k-space datasets by Fourier transforming them along the time axis followed by a filtering process to separate the overlapped points; and performing a Fourier transformation along one or more axes, of the un-aliased k-space datasets to generate image frames for the different time points at which data was acquired. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091799 | TRAPPING MAGNETIZABLE PARTICULATES - Nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus for measuring properties of a fluid stream flowing within a pipeline has one or more magnet systems for applying magnetic field to the fluid stream and also has means for inducing and observing magnetic resonance within the fluid stream as it passes through a said magnetic field. The apparatus may also include a polarizing magnetic field upstream of the magnetic field in which resonance is observed. The fluid stream may be hydrocarbon from an underground reservoir. In order to guard against accumulation of magnetisable iron debris particles entrained in the fluid flow, the apparatus comprises one or more upstream traps having a magnetic field to attract and hold solid magnetizable material and an exit path for the removal of the solid magnetizable material so that it does not continue towards any polarizing field and the field where resonance is observed. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091800 | NMR SAMPLE CONTAINMENT - Nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer for examination of a sample under pressure has a coolant vessel containing a radio-frequency coil cooled by coolant in the vessel while located within the magnetic field of the spectrometer. A pressurizable sample holder comprises a nonmagnetic pressure retaining tube formed of electrically insulating matrix material containing electrically insulating reinforcing filaments. The spectrometer is configured to accommodate this sample holder with the axis of the pressure retaining tube transverse to the magnetic field, and the radiofrequency coil at the exterior of the pressure retaining tube. Cooling of the coil improves the signal to noise ratio and offsets the low coil filling factor which is a consequence of placing the coil outside a non-metallic pressure retaining tube. End pieces at each end of the tube are connected together and contain longitudinal pressure stress. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091801 | Decoupling of Split Ring Resonators in Magnetic Resonance Tomography - An arrangement includes a plurality of split ring resonators on a planar substrate. Each split ring resonator of the plurality of split ring resonators includes two mutually parallel ring structures of a metal conductor element spaced apart by the substrate. The two mutually parallel rings structures are respectively separated by at least one gap. At least two split ring resonators of the plurality of split ring resonators are positionable relative to one another such that the separated ring structures may be reciprocally guided through a gap of the respective other ring structures and interlock. Overlap regions may be produced by common ring structure inner surfaces. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091802 | INTERGRATED ELECTRON SPIN RESONANCE SPECTROMETER - An integrated electron spin resonance (ESR) circuit chip includes a chip substrate, a transmitter circuit, and a receiver circuit. The transmitter circuit and receiver circuit are disposed on the chip substrate. The transmitter circuit includes an oscillator circuit configured to generate an oscillating output signal and a power amplifier (PA) circuit configured to generate an amplified oscillating output signal based on the oscillating output signal. The receiver circuit receives an ESR signal from an ESR probe. The receiver circuit includes a receiver amplifier circuit configured to generate an amplified ESR signal based on the received ESR signal, a mixer circuit configured to receive the amplified ESR signal and to down-convert the amplified ESR signal to a baseband signal, and a baseband amplifier circuit configured to generate an amplified baseband signal based on the baseband signal. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091803 | SYSTEMS FOR AND METHODS OF MONITORING UNDERGROUND CO2 STORAGE - In accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, techniques for monitoring subterranean sequestered CO | 2014-04-03 |
20140091804 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETECTING LEAKAGE BRIGHT SPOT - A method for detecting a leakage bright spot includes: providing a driving circuit of data lines and a gate drive of a gate side and connecting a terminal area of the gate side by conductive adhesive; dividing the terminal area of the gate side into a first area and a second area, turning on switches of pixel electrodes, and transmitting a driving signal to the data side; and detecting the leakage bright spot by optionally driving conductive terminals on the first area or the second area of the gate side. The present disclosure further provides a device for detecting a leakage bright spot. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091805 | BATTERY MODULE AND INSULATION INSPECTING METHOD OF BATTERY MODULE - A battery module includes a metal casing and a battery cell accommodated in the casing. The casing is provided on its outer surface with an insulation layer and a conductive portion. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091806 | STATIC-ELECTRICITY-QUANTITY MEASURING APPARATUS AND STATIC-ELECTRICITY- QUANTITY MEASURING METHOD - A static-electricity-quantity measuring apparatus and a static-electricity-quantity measuring method are optimum for a manufacturing site under a difficult-to-measure situation and measure the quantity of static electricity of electronic parts, machine parts, etc. simply with high accuracy. A static-electricity-quantity measuring apparatus of the present invention has: a receiving unit which receives virtual electromagnetic waves generated by vibrations applied to a measured object; a measuring unit which measures at least one of the intensity, frequency, and phase of the virtual electromagnetic waves received by the receiving unit; and a calculating unit which calculates the quantity of static electricity of the measured object based on the measurement result of the measuring unit. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091807 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GROUND FAULT DETECTION IN A TRANSFORMER ISOLATED COMMUNICATION CHANNEL OF A NETWORK DEVICE - A system and method for non-intrusive fault detection of a ground fault in a communication channel is provided. A bias voltage may be established on a first portion of the communication channel and a second portion of the communication channel. A first voltage may be detected across a first resistor electrically connected to the first and second portions of the communication channel. Data indicative of whether the ground fault exists in the first or second portions of the communication channel may be provided based on the detecting. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091808 | CONTACT SEPARATION DETECTOR AND METHODS THEREFOR - A device, circuit, system, and method for contact separation detection is described. A contact separation detector includes a capacitive element configured to be coupled across a pair of electrical contacts and a current sensor coupled to the capacitive element, configured to measure a current through the capacitive element and output an indication of a separation state of the pair of electrical contacts based on the current as measured. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091809 | SECURITY SYSTEM FOR UNDERGROUND CONDUIT - In a method for detecting disruptions proximate to an underground conduit, at least one signal carrying cable is positioned along a length of the conduit and between the conduit and a ground surface. At least one cable engaging member is connected to spaced apart locations on the at least one signal carrying cable to extend laterally outward of the at least one signal carrying cable. Each of the at least one cable engaging members is configured to transmit a force to the at least one signal carrying cable when impacted by an external force. A monitoring signal is provided to the at least one signal carrying cable, and a reflected monitoring signal is received in response to the supplied monitoring signal. One or more properties of the reflected monitoring signal are compared to one or more corresponding properties of a predicted reflected monitoring signal. An alert is initiated when the one or more properties of the reflected monitoring signal differ from the one or more properties of the predicted reflected monitoring signal by a predetermined amount. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091810 | APPARATUS FOR TESTING ELECTRONIC DEVICES - An apparatus is described for burn-in and/or functional testing of microelectronic circuits of unsingulated wafers. A large number of power, ground, and signal connections can be made to a large number of contacts on a wafer. The apparatus has a cartridge that allows for fanning-in of electric paths. A distribution board has a plurality of interfaces that are strategically positioned to provide a dense configuration. The interfaces are connected through flexible attachments to an array of first connector modules. Each one of the first connector modules can be independently connected to a respective one of a plurality of second connector modules, thereby reducing stresses on a frame of the apparatus. Further features include for example a piston that allows for tight control of forces exerted by terminals onto contacts of a wafer. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091811 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING SENSORS - A method for multivariable measurements using a single-chip impedance analyzer includes providing a sensor, exposing the sensor to an environmental parameter, determining a complex impedance of the sensor over a measured spectral frequency range of the sensor, and monitoring at least three spectral parameters of the sensor. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091812 | METHOD OF INTEGRATED CIRCUIT SCAN CLOCK DOMAIN ALLOCATION AND MACHINE READABLE MEDIA THEREOF - A method for deciding a scan clock domain allocation of an integrated circuit includes: utilizing a circuit netlist file and a timing constraints file of the integrated circuit to find out the amount of crossing paths between any two function clock domains of a plurality of function clock domains, and generate a clock domain report file; and grouping the plurality of function clock domains and allocating the plurality of function clock domains after being grouped into a plurality of scan clock domains according to the clock domain report file. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091813 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS RELATED TO NEAR-FIELD ELECTROMAGNETIC SCANNERS - Disclosed are systems, devices and methods related to scanners that can be utilized for multiple electrical and/or magnetic field measurements at different locations of a radio-frequency (RF) module. In some embodiments, a scanning system can include a miniature probe such as a magnetic probe, a fixture system configured to hold a device under test (DUT) such as an RF module, an operating system configured to operate the DUT, and a measurement system configured to obtain field strength measurements through the miniature probe at different locations of the DUT. Such measurements can yield a near-field distribution over a plurality of selected areas of the DUT, with each of the selected areas being smaller than an overall lateral area of the DUT. In some implementations, such a scanning system can be utilized to facilitate applications such as electromagnetic (EM) shielding designs. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091814 | FET RF POWER DETECTOR - An FET RF signal detector circuit comprising two unbalanced differential transistor pair circuits is disclosed. A current mirror output circuit is included for generating an output current derived from currents flowing in the differential transistor pair circuits. The first unbalanced differential transistor pair circuit comprises two branches, each with a respective tail, and a first variable resistor between the branch tails. The first unbalanced differential transistor pair circuit connects to a first current source tail arrangement. The second unbalanced differential transistor pair circuit comprises two branches, each with a respective tail, and a second variable resistor between the branch tails. The second unbalanced differential transistor pair circuit connects to a second current source tail arrangement. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091815 | CAPACITIVE POSITION SENSOR SYSTEM - A capacitive position sensor system for determining the position of an object, in particular on a surface of a contactless smartcard, is provided. The object is positioned within a sensitive area of the capacitive position sensor system and changes the capacitance of capacitors being arranged underneath the object. The capacitive position sensor system comprises a set of sensing elements being arranged in the form of a column. Each sensing element includes a first capacitor having a first electrode and a second electrode and a second capacitor having a first electrode and a second electrode. A specific weighting factor is assigned to each capacitor. A control unit is adapted to determine the position of the object in one dimension by analyzing the results of a plurality of sensed voltage levels for the first capacitors and the second capacitors of a plurality of integration cycles. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091816 | Precision Target Methods & Apparatus - A method for determining and retrieving positional information includes forming a grid by locating a plurality of first conductive elements on a surface and a plurality of second conductive elements on the surface. A second grid is coupled to the surface and electrically isolated from the grid. The surface is penetrated with a projectile and a first location of a first penetration of the surface is electronically determined based on a first change in a first electrical measurement. A plurality of third and fourth electric& measurements are performed in a second plurality of locations of the second grid and the location impact is electronically determined. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091817 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE EQUIPPED WITH CAPACITIVE TYPE TOUCH PANEL - An electronic device includes a touch panel and a position detection circuit operable to output a position signal indicating a position at which the touch panel operated with an object. The detection circuit is operable perform a correction process to capacitance measurement values of electrodes of the touch panel to provide capacitance correction values. The detection circuit is operable to determine whether or not the electronic device is in a holding status in which the electronic device is held based on the capacitance measurement values or the capacitance correction values. The detection circuit is operable to perform a calibration process to correct the correction process if determining that the electronic device is in the holding status. The detection circuit is operable to output the position signal based on the capacitance measurement values or the capacitance correction values. This electronic device can avoid a false detection in approaching detection. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091818 | FINE PITCH INTERFACE FOR PROBE CARD - A probe card for testing integrated circuit devices. The probe card includes a first circuit having a plurality of traces disposed thereon. The probe card also includes a plurality of pins to couple to a device under test. An interface element interfaces a first set of pins of the plurality of pins with the plurality of traces on the first circuit. The interface element includes a conductive plane coupled to a second set of pins of the plurality of pins to provide power and ground to the device under test. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091819 | METHOD OF TESTING A SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURE - An integrated circuit (IC) comprises routing circuitry including a plurality of signal line segments in routing layers of the IC, and a plurality of micro-bump contacts coupled to the routing circuitry. The IC includes a plurality of test circuits coupled to respective subsets of the plurality of signal line segments. Each test circuit is configured to connect micro-bump contacts in the respective subset to form first and second sets of daisy chains. Each test circuit is configured to test the first and second sets of daisy chains for open circuits and test for short circuits between the first and second sets of daisy chains. Each test circuit is configured to determine the locations of detected open circuits and determine the locations of detected short circuits. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091820 | PROBE OUT-OF-POSITION SENSING FOR AUTOMATED TEST EQUIPMENT - Detecting misalignment of test probes with component carriers in an automated test system is taught. Automated test systems for testing electronic components can have electronic components held in component carriers in preparation for testing. Testing can include moving test probes through openings provided in the component carrier to contact the electronic components held therein. Aspects of disclosed implementations use force feedback from the test probes to determine if the test probes have successfully contacted the electronic component without, for example, contacting the component carrier. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091821 | COMPOSITE WIRE PROBES FOR TESTING INTEGRATED CIRCUITS - An electrical probe of an aspect includes a high yield strength wire core. The high yield strength wire core includes predominantly one or more materials selected from tungsten, tungsten-copper alloy, tungsten-nickel alloy, beryllium-copper alloy, molybdenum, stainless steel, and combinations thereof. The high mechanical strength wire core has a yield strength of at least 1 gigapascal (GPa) at temperature of 250° C. The electrical probe also includes a low electrical resistivity layer concentrically around the high yield strength wire core. The concentric layer includes predominantly one or more materials selected from silver, gold, copper, and combinations thereof. The low electrical resistivity layer has an electrical resistivity of no more than 2×10 | 2014-04-03 |
20140091822 | BLADE TYPE MICRO PROBE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME - A blade type micro probe and a method of manufacturing the same are disclosed. The method includes forming a plating seed layer on a substrate, a first blade structure on the plating seed layer and a second blade structure on the first blade structure, wherein the first blade structure includes a first second patterned photo resist layer and a metal layer filling up the voids in the first second patterned photo resist layer and the second blade structure includes a second patterned photo resist layer and an another metal layer filling up the voids in the second patterned photo resist layer, then removing the first and second patterned photo resist layers, and finally removing the plating seed layer and the substrate, thereby forming the blade type micro probe. The first patterned photo resist layer is different from the second patterned photo resist layer in shape. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091823 | ELECTRICAL CONTACT MEMBER - Provided is an electrical contact member which is capable of maintaining stable conductivity over a long period of time, while achieving low adhesion to a test subject, in particular, an electrical contact member which is capable of maintaining stable electrical contact over a long period of time by suppressing increase in the contact resistance, while achieving low adhesion to a test subject even after repeated contact at high temperatures around 85° C. or after being left in the atmosphere for a long period of time. The present invention relates to an electrical contact member, which repeatedly comes into contact with a test subject, and wherein the surface of the electrical contact member, said surface coming into contact with the test subject, is configured of a carbon coating film that contains Pd. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091824 | MECHANISM FOR FACILITATING A DYNAMIC ELECTRO-MECHANICAL INTERCONNECT HAVING A CAVITY FOR EMBEDDING ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS AND ISOLATING ELECTRICAL PATHS - A mechanism is described for facilitating a dynamic electro-mechanical interconnect capable of being employed in a test system according to one embodiment. A method of embodiments of the invention may include separating, via a cavity, a first conductor of an interconnect from a second conductor of the interconnect, and isolating, via the cavity serving as a buffer, a first electrical path provided through the first conductor from a second electrical path provided through the second conductor. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091825 | FINE PITCH INTERFACE FOR PROBE CARD - A probe card interface for interfacing a probe head with a first circuit. The probe card interface includes an impedance control element to interface a first set of pins of the probe head with the first circuit. The impedance control element is further configured to control the impedance of the first set of pins. The probe card interface includes a conductive plane to interface a second set of pins of the probe head with the first circuit. The conductive plane is further coupled to provide at least one of power or ground to the second set of pins. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091826 | FINE PITCH INTERFACE FOR PROBE CARD - A probe card interface for interfacing a probe head with a first circuit. The probe card interface includes an impedance control element to interface a first set of pins of the probe head with the first circuit. The impedance control element is further configured to control the impedance of the first set of pins. The probe card interface includes a printed circuit board (PCB) to interface a second set of pins of the probe head with the first circuit. The PCB is further coupled to provide at least one of power or ground to the second set of pins. For some embodiments, the PCB comprises a flexible polyimide substrate coupled between a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer. The first conductive layer is coupled to ground. The second conductive layer is coupled to a power source on the first circuit. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091827 | PROBE CARD FOR CIRCUIT-TESTING - A probe card for circuit-testing comprising a testing PCB, a probe head, and a silicon interposer substrate is provided. The probe head has a plurality of probes provided with a fine pitch arrangement and held inside. The silicon interposer substrate is used for conveying signals between said probes and said test PCB. The interconnection of said silicon interposer substrate is formed by utilizing the through-silicon via process. A plurality of upper terminals and a plurality of lower terminals are respectively array-arranged on the top surface and the bottom surface of said silicon interposer substrate. The pitch between the upper terminals is larger than the pitch between the lower terminals and the pitch between adjacent lower terminals is equal to the fine pitch of the arrangement of probes. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091828 | Sort Probe Gripper - A sort probe gripper includes a body, a jaw mount inserted into the body, a plurality of grippers mounted in the jaw mount and an actuator sleeve slidable along the body to engage the plurality of grippers. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091829 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE, APPARATUS OF ESTIMATING LIFETIME, METHOD OF ESTIMATING LIFETIME - According to one embodiment, a semiconductor device includes a circuit board, a plurality of semiconductor chips stacked above the circuit board, first and second bumps, third and fourth bumps, and first and second detection units. The first and second bumps are provided in either a gap between the circuit board and the semiconductor chip or a gap between the two semiconductor chips. The third and fourth bumps are provided in any of gaps other than the gap in which the first and second bumps are provided. The first detection unit is electrically connected to the first bump to detect damage of the first bump and to generate a first signal indicating the damage of the first bump. The second detection unit is electrically connected to the third bump to detect damage of the third bump and to generate a second signal indicating the damage of the third bump. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091830 | TEST APPARATUS - A judgment unit judges the pass/fail of DUTs. A power supply circuit has changeable characteristics, and supplies a power supply signal to the DUTs. A condition setting unit performs a pilot test before a main test for the DUTs, and acquires a test condition to be used in the main test. The condition setting unit executes: (a) measuring a first device characteristic value for each of multiple pilot samples sampled from among the DUTs while emulating a power supply characteristic close to what is used in a user environment in which the DUT is actually used; (b) measuring a predetermined second device characteristic value for each of the multiple pilot sample devices while emulating a power supply characteristic close to what is used in a tester environment in which the main test is performed; and (c) determining the test condition based on the first and second device characteristic values. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091831 | ENFORCING PERFORMANCE LONGEVITY ON SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES - Technologies for enforcing an expiration policy on an electronic engineering sample component includes a one-time programmable fuse to store a manufacture date of the electronic engineering sample component, another one-time programmable fuse to store an expiration date of the electronic engineering sample component, and a component life management engine to compare a current date of the electronic engineering sample component with the expiration date of the electronic engineering sample component. The component life management engine to disable or lock the electronic engineering sample component in response to determining that the current date of the electronic engineering sample component exceeds the expiration date of the electronic engineering sample component. In some embodiments, a computing device may enforce the expiration policy for the electronic engineering sample component. The computing device may also be communicatively coupled to a remote unlock server and may receive authorization to unlock a disabled engineering sample component. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091832 | INTEGRATED CIRCUITS HAVING ACCESSIBLE AND INACCESSIBLE PHYSICALLY UNCLONABLE FUNCTIONS - An integrated circuit substrate of an aspect includes a plurality of exposed electrical contacts. The integrated circuit substrate also includes an inaccessible set of Physically Unclonable Function (PUF) cells to generate an inaccessible set of PUF bits that are not accessible through the exposed electrical contacts. The integrated circuit substrate also includes an accessible set of PUF cells to generate an accessible set of PUF bits that are accessible through the exposed electrical contacts. Other apparatus, methods, and systems are also disclosed. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091833 | Driver Circuit for a Digital Signal Transmitting Bus - A driver circuit for a digital signal transmitting bus includes a main switch. The main switch is connected to the bus, is controllable by the digital signal to be transmitted, and has one on-switching state in which it has maximum electrical conductivity, one off-switching state in which it has minimum electrical conductivity and at least one intermediate switching state with an electrical conductivity between the minimum and maximum conductivity. The digital signal has a first logic state and a second logic state, the first logic state controls the main switch to be in the on-switching state and the second logic state controls the main switch to be in the off-switching state. The main switch is in the intermediate switching state during switching from the on-switching state to the off-switching state and/or vice versa. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091834 | 3D IC STRUCTURE AND METHOD - An apparatus comprises a first integrated circuit (IC) die, and a second IC die stacked on the first IC die. The first and second IC dies are operational independently of each other. Each respective one of the first and second IC dies has: at least one circuit for performing a function; an operation block coupled to selectively disconnect the circuit from power; and an output enable block coupled to selectively connect the circuit to at least one data bus. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091835 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR DIGITAL CONFIGURATION OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS - Apparatus and method for digital configuration of integrated circuits (ICs) are provided herein. In certain implementations, an IC includes an impedance sensing circuit and at least one pin used for digital configuration. The impedance sensing circuit can detect an impedance value of an external passive network electrically connected to the pin, and can digitally configure the IC based on the detected impedance. For example, an end-user can connect an external resistor of a particular resistance to the pin, and the impedance sensing circuit can sense or detect the external resistor's resistance and digitally configure the IC based on the detected resistance. Accordingly, an end-user can digitally configure the IC by connecting a passive external component corresponding to a desired digital configuration to the pin. In certain implementations, the IC includes multiple pins, and the digital configuration is based on the impedances detected on each of the pins. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091836 | MULTI-DIMENSIONAL DATA REGISTRATION INTEGRATED CIRCUIT FOR DRIVING ARRAY-ARRANGEMENT DEVICES - The multi-dimensional data registration integrated circuit for driving array-arrangement devices, comprising: a plurality of the i-th hierarchy sets, each of the i-th hierarchy sets is divided into a plurality of the (i+1)-th hierarchy sets; a i-th hierarchy address selection circuit, comprising a signal generation unit and a multiplexing unit, wherein the former generates an enable signal, the latter is connected to the signal generating unit and shifts the input data based on the enable signal and a second timing signal to further generate n bits of address signals, the i-th hierarchy address selection circuit is used to scan the plurality of the i-th hierarchy sets and select at least one of the i-th hierarchy sets to function; and a data supply circuit to follow a scan sequence of a j-th hierarchy address selection circuit and write a plurality of data into the selected j-th hierarchy sets. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091837 | START-UP CIRCUIT FOR AN OUTPUT DRIVER - One or more techniques and systems for starting an output driver and an associated start-up circuit are provided herein. In some embodiments, a voltage provider is configured to charge a charge store to a pre-turn-on voltage. In some embodiments, an output driver is configured to control a connection between the charge store and the output driver. For example, the connection enables the charge store to discharge a voltage to the output driver, thus starting the output driver. Accordingly, a response time associated with starting the output driver is mitigated at least because the charge store is charged to the pre-turn-on voltage and connected to the output driver such that a gate of the driver is biased in a sudden fashion. In this manner, the driver is turned on more quickly. Additionally, effects associated with process, voltage, and temperature variations are mitigated, for example. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091838 | DRIVER CIRCUIT WITH EMI IMMUNITY - A driver circuit suitable for outputting a signal onto an output line affected by conducted EMI, has a slope control circuit and an output circuit, (op-amp, Mo, M | 2014-04-03 |
20140091839 | Electronic Circuit with a Reverse Conducting Transistor Device - An electronic circuit includes a first transistor device with a control terminal and a load path. A drive circuit includes an input terminal and an output terminal. The output terminal is coupled to the control terminal of the first transistor device. The drive circuit is operable to drive the first transistor device dependent on an input signal received at the input terminal. A polarity detector is coupled in parallel with the load path of the first transistor device. The polarity detector includes a second transistor device and a current detector. The second transistor device includes a load path connected to the load path of the first transistor device. The current detector includes a sense path in series with the load path of the second transistor device and an output connected to the input terminal of the drive circuit. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091840 | High-Side Semiconductor-Switch Low-Power Driving Circuit and Method - A high-side semiconductor-switch driving method includes generating power for controlling a high side semiconductor switch. The high side semiconductor switch has a control terminal and the power allows a current to flow into the control terminal of the high side semiconductor switch to switch the high side semiconductor switch. The voltage at the control terminal of the high side semiconductor switch is quantified. The power dependent on the voltage at the control terminal of the high side semiconductor switch is controlled so that the current provided is increased when the voltage at the control terminal indicates that the current is not sufficient to switch the high side semiconductor switch. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091841 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR CLOCK CHARACTERIZATION - A system and method for efficiently performing timing characterization of high-speed clocks signals with low-speed input/output pins. An integrated circuit includes a clock generator that generates a high-speed clock signal. A clock characterizer circuit receives the high-speed clock signal. The clock characterizer generates a corresponding low-speed clock signal. The generated low-speed clock signal is output through a low-speed general-purpose input/output (GPIO) pin for measurement. The generated low-speed clock signal is sent to a sequential element for staging. The staging of the generated low-speed clock signal is done with sequential elements that use a reverse polarity of a clock signal than the polarity used by a previous stage. The high-speed clock signal is used for the staging. The output of each stage is sent to a low-speed GPIO pin for measurement. | 2014-04-03 |
20140091842 | Hybrid AFC using DCXO and RF PLL - A technique to provide hybrid compensation to correct for drifts in a reference frequency output from a digitally-controlled crystal oscillator (DCXO). A first compensation is provided to the DCXO to adjust for overlap or discontinuity of the reference frequency caused by switching capacitors in the capacitor array that controls drift of the reference frequency output. The second compensation is obtained at a phase-locked loop (PLL) that receives the reference frequency signal from the DCXO. The second compensation adjusts the PLL to adjust for variations of the reference frequency that remain after performing compensation in the DCXO. | 2014-04-03 |