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| 20120291183 | HELMET WITH NECK ROLL - A helmet includes an outer shell, a liner and a neck roll. The neck roll is configured to absorb impact between the helmet and a wearer's head/neck when the wearer's head is forced rearward. The neck roll can be positioned adjacent a lower rim of the liner and can include one or more deformable impact absorption compartments to absorb the impact between the helmet and the wearer's head/neck. The impact absorption compartments can be formed by a base, two generally upwardly extending walls and one or more generally upwardly extending support members extending between the upwardly extending walls. The impact absorption characteristics of the compartments can be varied to provide a desired level of impact absorption. | 11-22-2012 |
| 20130130847 | CLIMATE VARIABLE LACROSSE HEADS AND RELATED METHODS OF USE - A first lacrosse head constructed from a first material having first properties or a second lacrosse head constructed from a second material having second properties is selectively used in lacrosse activities, based on environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity and/or solar activity, to provide generally consistent head performance as perceived by a lacrosse player across a range of environmental conditions. The first and second heads can be identical in structure, but constructed from different materials. For example, the first head can include a polyamide, optionally, Nylon 6,6 polyamide, and the second head can include a high performance polyamide resin, optionally a polypthalamide. An environmental indicator that provides visual and/or audible output with regard to environmental conditions can be included with at least one of the first head, the second head and a shaft to which the heads can be joined. Related methods of use are also provided. | 05-23-2013 |
| 20130252768 | CLIMATE VARIABLE LACROSSE HEADS AND RELATED METHODS OF USE - A first lacrosse head constructed from a first material having first properties or a second lacrosse head constructed from a second material having second properties is selectively used in lacrosse activities, based on environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity and/or solar activity, to provide generally consistent head performance as perceived by a lacrosse player across a range of environmental conditions. The first and second heads can be identical in structure, but constructed from different materials. For example, the first head can include a polyamide, optionally, Nylon 6,6 polyamide, and the second head can include a high performance polyamide resin, optionally a polypthalamide. An environmental indicator that provides visual and/or audible output with regard to environmental conditions can be included with at least one of the first head, the second head and a shaft to which the heads can be joined. Related methods of use are also provided. | 09-26-2013 |
| 20140106910 | LACROSSE HEAD POCKET AND RELATED METHOD OF MANUFACTURE - A lacrosse head pocket and a related method of manufacture are provided. The pocket can be a molded pocket including individual molded strings, combined strings, shooting strings and support rails extending around a perimeter of the pocket. Certain pocket elements can include transition parts to smoothly transition components having different cross sections. The pocket can include a pre-formed ball channel and hole units having broadsides for connection to a head or other component. The pocket can be attached to a pocket frame, and optionally constructed from a mesh or other synthetic material that is tensioned with the pocket frame. A mold and related molding method are also provided. | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140106911 | LACROSSE HEAD POCKET AND RELATED METHOD OF MANUFACTURE - A lacrosse head pocket and a related method of manufacture are provided. The pocket can be a molded pocket including individual molded strings, combined strings, shooting strings and support rails extending around a perimeter of the pocket. Certain pocket elements can include transition parts to smoothly transition components having different cross sections. The pocket can include a pre-formed ball channel and hole units having broadsides for connection to a head or other component. The pocket can be attached to a pocket frame, and optionally constructed from a mesh or other synthetic material that is tensioned with the pocket frame. A mold and related molding method are also provided. | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140201880 | PROTECTIVE GLOVE HAVING AN ARCHED PANEL - A protective sports glove including a vent opening and an arched panel extending upward and over the vent opening. The glove can include a breathable material that extends across the vent opening to provide improved air flow to and from the interior of the glove. The arched panel can arch above the vent opening, and optional breathable material, so as to form a void under the panel, thereby providing impact protection to the wearer's hand while still enabling air to circulate through the vent opening to the wearer's hand. The arched panel can be configured to flex or bend when the hand is brought back toward the wearer's wrist or forearm, yet provide resistance to that backward movement to eliminate and/or reduce the overextension of the hand and wrist. | 07-24-2014 |
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| 20090075339 | AUTOPHILIC ANTIBODIES - Autophilic antibodies including an immunoglobulin component and an autophilic peptide fused thereto are provided according to embodiments of the present invention. Particular autophilic antibodies described herein include a chimeric gamma immunoglobulin heavy chain and autophilic peptide expressed as a fusion protein. Preferably the autophilic peptide is expressed at the C-terminus of the immunoglobulin component. Expression vectors according to embodiments of the present invention for use in generating autophilic antibodies are provided which include a first nucleic acid sequence encoding an autophilic peptide, operably linked to a transcription promoter. In particular embodiments, a second nucleic acid sequence encoding a chimeric heavy chain of an immunoglobulin operably linked to the transcription promoter and connected to the first nucleic acid sequence such that expression of the first and second nucleic acid sequences produces a fusion protein of the chimeric heavy chain and the autophilic peptide. | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090208418 | SUPERANTIBODY SYNTHESIS AND USE IN DETECTION, PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF DISEASE - Superantibodies having enhanced autophilic, catalytic, and/or membrane-penetrating properties are prepared by affinity-based conjugation of a photoactivatable organic molecule to a target immunoglobulin. The photoactivatable organic molecule bears a chromophoric aromatic hydrocarbon moiety, which has affinity for the immunoglobulin. Upon photolysis, the organic molecule is covalently linked to the immunoglobulin. A preferred organic molecule is a peptide and a preferred aromatic hydrocarbon moiety is a tryptophan residue. The photoactivatable organic molecule need not bear a purine, pyrimidine or azido group to effect binding to the immunoglobulin and/or photoactivation. The superantibodies can enhance the potency and expand the targeting range of target antibodies. Autophilic superantibodies can promote apoptosis of target cells and/or enhance therapeutic efficacies in the treatment of patients with diseases or disorders responsive to antibody therapy. Exemplary of such diseases are atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Membrane-penetrating superantibodies can prevent apoptosis by binding to intracellular anti-caspase signal proteins. Compositions containing the superantibodies, as well as methods of making and using them, are disclosed. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090274710 | TRANS-MEMBRANE-ANTIBODY INDUCED INHIBITION OF APOPTOSIS - Cell suicide (apoptosis) is associated with pathogenesis, for example, it is the major cause for the loss of neurons in Alzheimer's disease. Caspase-3 is critically involved in the pathway of apoptosis. Superantibody (SAT)-trans-membrane technology has been used to produce antibodies against the caspase enzyme in an effort to inhibit apoptosis in living cells. The advantage of using trans-membrane antibodies as apoptosis inhibitors is their specific target recognition in the cell and their lower toxicity compared to conventional apoptosis inhibitors. It is shown that a MTS-transport-peptide modified monoclonal anti-caspase-3 antibody reduces actinomycin D-induced apoptosis and cleavage of spectrin in living cells. These results indicate that antibodies conjugated to a membrane transporter peptide have a therapeutic potential to inhibit apoptosis in a variety of diseases. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20090317379 | AUTOPHILIC ANTIBODIES AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME - Antibodies having noncovalent, autophilic properties are disclosed. The autophilic antibodies are derived from antibodies conjugated with an autophilic peptide. Such autophilic antibodies can promote apoptosis of target cells and enhance therapeutic efficacies in the treatment of patients with diseases or disorders responsive to antibody therapy. Compositions containing the antibodies, and methods of making and using the antibodies are also disclosed. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20100017898 | THERAPEUTIC APPLICATIONS OF NONCOVALENT DIMERIZING ANTIBODIES - Compositions and methods for providing antibodies having noncovalent, self-binding properties are disclosed. Such autophilic antibodies can bind cellular receptors to promote apoptosis of target cells and enhance therapeutic efficacies in the treatment of patients with debilitating or life-threatening diseases. Representative diseases targeted by the autophilic antibodies are lymphomas, breast cancers, colon cancers, and melanomas. Autoimmune disorders, Alzheimer's disease, and other neuro-degenerative conditions, as well as graft or transplant rejection, are among other treatable conditions. | 01-21-2010 |
| 20120064593 | SUPERANTIBODY SYNTHESIS AND USE IN DETECTION, PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF DISEASE - Superantibodies having enhanced autophilic, catalytic, and/or membrane-penetrating properties are prepared by affinity-based conjugation of a photoactivatable organic molecule to a target immunoglobulin. The photoactivatable organic molecule bears a chromophoric aromatic hydrocarbon moiety, which has affinity for the immunoglobulin. Upon photolysis, the organic molecule is covalently linked to the immunoglobulin. A preferred organic molecule is a peptide and a preferred aromatic hydrocarbon moiety is a tryptophan residue. The photoactivatable organic molecule need not bear a purine, pyrimidine or azido group to effect binding to the immunoglobulin and/or photoactivation. Autophilic superantibodies can promote apoptosis of target cells and/or enhance therapeutic efficacies in the treatment of patients with diseases or disorders responsive to antibody therapy. Exemplary of such diseases are atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Membrane-penetrating superantibodies can prevent apoptosis by binding to intracellular anti-caspase signal proteins. Compositions containing the superantibodies, as well as methods of making and using them, are disclosed. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120135012 | TRANS-MEMBRANE-ANTIBODY INDUCED INHIBITION OF APOPTOSIS - Cell suicide (apoptosis) is associated with pathogenesis, for example, it is the major cause for the loss of neurons in Alzheimer's disease. Caspase-3 is critically involved in the pathway of apoptosis. Superantibody (SAT)-trans-membrane technology has been used to produce antibodies against the caspase enzyme in an effort to inhibit apoptosis in living cells. The advantage of using trans-membrane antibodies as apoptosis inhibitors is their specific target recognition in the cell and their lower toxicity compared to conventional apoptosis inhibitors. It is shown that a MTS-transport-peptide modified monoclonal anti-caspase-3 antibody reduces actinomycin D-induced apoptosis and cleavage of spectrin in living cells. These results indicate that antibodies conjugated to a membrane transporter peptide have a therapeutic potential to inhibit apoptosis in a variety of diseases. | 05-31-2012 |
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| 20080317940 | Method for Producing Corrugated Cardboard - A method of applying adhesive to flutes of a corrugated sheet includes the steps of applying a layer of adhesive on an outer surface of an applicator roll, rotating the applicator roll, and rotating a web positioning roll adjacent the applicator roll. The web positioning roll and the applicator roll each have rotational axes and define a gap between respective outer surfaces thereof. The corrugated sheet is moved along a path adjacent the outer surface of the applicator roll to apply adhesive to the flutes from the layer of adhesive. A control system is utilized to automatically maintain the rotational axes substantially parallel to one another. In other examples, the control system can automatically maintain a desired width of the gap, maintain a desired pressure to be applied to the flute crests, and/or automatically determine flute height. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20100181015 | METHOD FOR MOISTURE AND TEMPERATURE CONTROL IN CORRUGATING OPERATION - A method of producing a corrugated product comprises the steps of providing at least one medium conditioning apparatus upstream of at least one of a corrugating labyrinth, single-facer, and/or double-backer. The moisture content in at least one of a web of medium material, first face-sheet, and/or second face-sheet is adjusted to be in the range of 6-9 wt. % moisture by applying a substantially continuous thin film of liquid thereto using the at least one medium conditioning apparatus. In one example, at least one heating arrangement is arranged downstream from the at least one medium conditioning apparatus to heat at least one of the web of medium material, first-face sheet, and/or second face-sheet. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100331160 | APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING CORRUGATED BOARD - An apparatus is provided for producing longitudinally corrugated product. The apparatus includes a guide roll for guiding a web of medium material, wherein at least a portion of the guide roll is adapted to be arranged at an angle relative to another portion of the guide roll. The apparatus further includes a plurality of flute forming bars oriented generally along a longitudinal axis of the web to define a first corrugating labyrinth effective to longitudinally corrugate the web to an intermediate geometry. The apparatus further includes a pair of corrugating rollers that cooperate to define, at a nip therebetween, a second corrugating labyrinth effective to longitudinally corrugate the web to a substantially final geometry. The apparatus further includes a web travel pathway for the web that follows a path around a portion of the guide roll, through the first corrugating labyrinth, and through the second corrugating labyrinth. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20110011522 | Method and apparatus for producing a corrugated product - A method and apparatus are useful to produce a corrugated product. They can be used to produce a corrugated product at low temperature, such as room temperature. A zero-contact roll is used to support a web of medium material on a cushion of air at a location prior to the web entering the corrugating labyrinth. The web is free to move toward or away from the surface of the zero-contact roll, on the cushion of air, in response to small oscillatory changes in downstream tension demand based on the fluting frequency in the corrugating labyrinth. A mechanism is also provided to precisely control the mean tension in the web prior to entering the corrugating labyrinth at a low value. Thus, mean web tension is precisely controlled and is low, tension oscillations can be damped, and low temperature corrugating can be achieved without significant fracturing in the corrugated web. A single-facer useful to apply a high-solids content adhesive, also desirable for low-temperature corrugating, is also provided. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20140116605 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FLUTING A WEB IN THE MACHINE DIRECTION - A forming device for gathering the width of a traveling web is disclosed. The forming device includes opposing arrays of flute-forming bars that can be interlaced to define therebetween a longitudinal flute-forming labyrinth effective to reduce the width of a web traveling therethrough by a preselected take-up ratio. The flute-forming bars are curved beginning at an entry end of the forming device such that they converge in a lateral direction as they proceed in the machine direction. In this manner, individual elements of the web traveling between the respective arrays in the machine direction follow contour lines along the curved bars or between adjacent ones of the curved bars so that no such element crosses any flute-forming bar in the cross-machine direction as the web travels and is fluted. A corrugating die for introducing a near-net shape to the intermediate-fluted web is also disclosed, as are a corrugating line incorporating these operations and methods for its operation. | 05-01-2014 |
| 20140141113 | APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING CORRUGATED BOARD - An apparatus is provided for producing longitudinally corrugated product. The apparatus includes a guide roll for guiding a web of medium material, wherein at least a portion of the guide roll is adapted to be arranged at an angle relative to another portion of the guide roll. The apparatus further includes a plurality of flute forming bars oriented generally along a longitudinal axis of the web to define a first corrugating labyrinth effective to longitudinally corrugate the web to an intermediate geometry. The apparatus further includes a pair of corrugating rollers that cooperate to define, at a nip therebetween, a second corrugating labyrinth effective to longitudinally corrugate the web to a substantially final geometry. The apparatus further includes a web travel pathway for the web that follows a path around a portion of the guide roll, through the first corrugating labyrinth, and through the second corrugating labyrinth. | 05-22-2014 |
| 20140239548 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FLUTING A WEB IN THE MACHINE DIRECTION - A forming device for gathering the width of a traveling web is disclosed. The forming device includes opposing arrays of flute-forming bars that can be interlaced to define therebetween a longitudinal flute-forming labyrinth effective to reduce the width of a web traveling therethrough by a preselected take-up ratio. The flute-forming bars are curved beginning at an entry end of the forming device such that they converge in a lateral direction as they proceed in the machine direction. In this manner, individual elements of the web traveling between the respective arrays in the machine direction follow contour lines along the curved bars or between adjacent ones of the curved bars so that no such element crosses any flute-forming bar in the cross-machine direction as the web travels and is fluted. A corrugating die for introducing a near-net shape to the intermediate-fluted web is also disclosed, as are a corrugating line incorporating these operations and methods for its operation. | 08-28-2014 |
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| 20140060045 | TURBO COMPOUNDING HYBRID GENERATOR POWERTRAIN - A turbo compounding internal combustion engine system includes an internal combustion engine and one or more valves for controlling a flow of an exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine. The system also includes a controller configured to monitor an operation mode of the internal combustion engine and responsively control the one or more valves and a turbine configured to selectively receive the exhaust gas from the internal combustion engine and to convert exhaust energy into a mechanical power. The system further includes a clutched gear drive selectively coupled to the turbine and the internal combustion engine, wherein the clutched gear drive is configured to provide the mechanical power generated by the turbine to the internal combustion engine. | 03-06-2014 |
| 20140251286 | EMISSION SYSTEM AND METHOD OF SELECTIVELY DIRECTING EXHAUST GAS AND AIR WITHIN AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE - A powertrain includes a combustion chamber, an intake assembly, an exhaust manifold, and a pump. The combustion chamber is configured for combusting an air and fuel mixture. The intake assembly is configured to supply air to the combustion chamber. The exhaust manifold is configured to draw exhaust gas from the combustion chamber. The pump is operatively disposed between the intake assembly and the exhaust manifold such that the pump is in fluid communication with each of intake assembly and the exhaust manifold. The pump is configured to operate in a first mode to draw exhaust gas from the exhaust manifold and supply the exhaust gas to the intake manifold at a positive EGR flow rate such that exhaust gas is supplied to the combustion chamber. | 09-11-2014 |
| 20140251291 | POSITIVE CRANKCASE VENTILATION SYSTEM FOR A TWO-CYLINDER ENGINE - An engine assembly includes a two-cylinder engine, an intake assembly, and an air-oil separator. The two-cylinder engine defines a first cylinder bore, a first combustion chamber, a second cylinder bore, a second combustion chamber, and a crankcase volume. The engine further includes a first piston disposed within the first cylinder bore, and a second piston disposed within the second cylinder bore. The intake assembly includes an intake manifold in fluid communication with each of the first and second combustion chambers, and the air-oil separator defines a separator volume and in fluid communication with each of the crankcase volume and the intake manifold. A reciprocal, synchronous motion of the first and second pistons is operative to exhale gas from the crankcase volume through the separator volume and into the intake manifold. | 09-11-2014 |
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| 20120151377 | ORGANIC PROJECTS - A collaborative project management system is provided to create a project workspace linking together various work-product items including e-mails, documents and tasks based on the identification and association of related information contained in such items. A new project workspace may contain groups of documents, correspondence such as emails, instant message and web chatting, tasks, and other data types linked together by common content topics. The system may initiate a new project workspace based on information contained in an initial correspondence, such as an email conversation, by identifying items that are related to the email conversation such as tasks or documents that a user creates or shares subsequent to receipt of an email or message, and automatically inferring an association based on their contents. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120151379 | SHARED ATTACHMENTS - When an outgoing communication sent to one or more recipients contains a supported attachment type, a shared workspace that contains a shared version of the original attachment is provisioned. A modified version of the original outgoing communication is delivered to internal recipients including both a link to the shared document and the original attachment. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120284639 | SIMULTANEOUS EMAIL AND ATTACHMENT VIEWING - Systems, methods and computer program products for facilitating the simultaneous (e.g., side-by-side or via a “sliding” animation) displaying and viewing of email messages and any attachments to such email messages are disclosed. Such systems, methods and computer program products allow a user of a computing system to simultaneously view the textual portion of an email along with the contents of any attachments within one application, and without the need to switch between at least two software applications—the email reader application and the native (productivity) application used to create such attachment (e.g., a word processing software application, a spreadsheet application, a presentation application, a database application, a portable document format reader, a Web browser and/or the like). | 11-08-2012 |
| 20130198179 | TECHNIQUES FOR HIERARCHY VISUALIZATION FOR ORGANIZATIONS - Techniques for hierarchy visualization for organizations are described. An apparatus may comprise an information retrieval component and a profile construction component. The information retrieval component may be generally operative to retrieve information regarding a plurality of individuals from a plurality of data repositories. The profile construction component may be generally operative to create a plurality of profiles from the retrieved information, wherein each profile combines information regarding an individual from the plurality of data repositories. Other embodiments are described and claimed. | 08-01-2013 |
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| 20120321073 | GOAL-BASED ESTIMATED WAIT TIME - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. The contact center proposed herein provides the ability to, among other things, determine an estimated wait time for contacts waiting to be serviced by resources of the contact center without relying on the traditional First-In-First-Out behavior of contact centers. | 12-20-2012 |
| 20130022194 | AGENT SKILL PROMOTION AND DEMOTION BASED ON CONTACT CENTER STATE - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. The contact center proposed herein provides the ability to, among other things, selectively promote and demote agent skills to respond to various changes in contact center conditions. This enables the contact center to respond to unexpected changes in processing conditions without significantly impacting the overall performance of the contact center. | 01-24-2013 |
| 20130083915 | INTERRUPTING AUXILIARY AGENTS - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. The contact center proposed herein provides the ability to, among other things, selectively interrupt a contact center agent in an AUXILIARY state. This enables the contact center to accommodate sudden influxes of work items without substantially increasing customer wait time. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130083916 | ANALYTICS FEEDBACK AND ROUTING - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. The contact center proposed herein provides the ability to, among other things, dynamically and in real-time utilize contact center analytics feedback mechanisms to adjust parameters that are used in making work assignment decisions. The adjusted parameters may correspond to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for agents of the contact center rather than skill values for the agents. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130085791 | SWITCHING ROUTING ALGORITHMS TO OPTIMIZE SATISFACTION OF LONG-TERM COMMITMENTS - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. The contact center proposed herein provides the ability to, among other things, monitor workload distribution to one or more sub-contractors and predict whether a contractual obligation will be met (or not) and based on such a prediction automatically switch routing algorithms within a contractual period of time to ensure that costs associated with a contract are minimized. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130166274 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING AVATARS - A system and method for managing an avatar is provided. The method comprises receiving an initial input from one or more communication interfaces, processing the initial input using one or more processors, determining one or more initial characteristics based on processing the initial input and providing instructions to generate and display the avatar with one or more initial avatar characteristics in response to the one or more initial characteristics. | 06-27-2013 |
| 20130212205 | TRUE GEO-REDUNDANT HOT-STANDBY SERVER ARCHITECTURE - A server configuration provides a geo-redundant server that is ready as a hot-standby to the primary server in another location. This architecture can be easily implemented in a distributed contact center environment or any other server deployment where services provided by the primary server are mission-critical. One exemplary configuration provides a single active master server. This single active master server is responsible for making all service-based decisions, receiving and processing client requests, etc., as long as it is operational. A second server is provided at the same geographic site or location as the single active master and a high bandwidth active LAN connection is established between the two. The second server maintains synchronization with the single active master. The second server is also connected with a third server via a WAN. The second server provides the third server with the state information for synchronization with the single active master. | 08-15-2013 |
| 20130223608 | CONTEXT-BASED DYNAMIC ADJUSTMENT TO PACING ALGORITHM - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. The contact center proposed herein provides the ability to, among other things, assess contextual information and adjust an outbound dialer's pacing algorithm based on the assessment thereof. The contextual information may be obtained from sources that are inside the contact center and outside the contact center. | 08-29-2013 |
| 20130223610 | ADJUSTMENT OF CONTACT ROUTING DECISIONS TO REWARD AGENT BEHAVIOR - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. The contact center proposed herein provides the ability to, among other things, reward positive agent behavior and performance by providing the agent with rewards and incentives. The rewards and incentives are provided to the agent by altering one or more aspects of the routing logic in the contact center. | 08-29-2013 |
| 20130223611 | BREAK INJECTION AT WORK ASSIGNMENT ENGINE OF CONTACT CENTER - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. The contact center proposed herein provides the ability to, among other things, include a break-type work item in a work pool that also contains traditional work items. The break-type work item comprises attributes that enable the break-type work item to be routed to one or more resources in the contact center with a work assignment engine that routes the traditional work items. | 08-29-2013 |
| 20130223612 | DYNAMIC ADJUSTMENT OF MULTI-DIMENSIONAL ROUTING RULE - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. The contact center proposed herein provides the ability to, among other things, support the ability to flexibly apply a plurality of different work assignment algorithms simultaneously, weight work item routing decisions received from each work assignment algorithm, and then make a final work item routing decision based on a weighted combination of the work item routing decisions. | 08-29-2013 |
| 20130223617 | CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAMING - The present disclosure describes various ways of providing agents with a configurable mechanism by which they may bid on training opportunities with contacts in a given contact center. Specifically, an architecture providing a team of agents and agents-in-training to service a contact or set of contacts and methods of employing that team architecture are described. The bids of one or more agents may be collected and evaluated to determine at least one winning agent that will team together with at least one subject matter expert, qualified agent, or team in handling a contact for the purposes of training. | 08-29-2013 |
| 20130223619 | ADAPTIVE ESTIMATED WAIT TIME PREDICTOR - Systems and methods for providing adaptive estimated wait time predictions for work items are provided. More particularly, a processor-enabled module may select a best estimated wait time algorithm from among a plurality of estimated wait time algorithms that meets the accuracy and calculation resource conditions of a contact center based on rules. Furthermore, the conditions of a contact center may change at times and as a result the selection of which estimated wait time algorithm is considered best will adapt to suit the contact center change. In addition, the selected best estimated wait time prediction can be provided to client communication devices. | 08-29-2013 |
| 20130268546 | QUALIFIER SET CREATION FOR WORK ASSIGNMENT ENGINE - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. The contact center proposed herein provides the ability to, among other things, define, in real-time, qualifier set combinations for work items. Thus, the contact center can create a dictionary of combinations of work item attributes that may be defined as work items are introduced to the system. The definition of the combinations allows for large qualifier sets without the large expenditure of resources to define all possible combinations of attributes for the contact center. | 10-10-2013 |
| 20130272565 | AGENT MATCHING BASED ON VIDEO ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER PRESENTATION - Systems and methods for routing and/or servicing contacts using video analysis of one or more video streams are provided. The systems and methods are particularly applicable to a contact center. | 10-17-2013 |
| 20130279685 | MULTI-TASKING RELIEF - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. The contact center proposed herein provides the ability to, among other things, determine performance efficiencies/metric associated with one or more multi-tasking agents and provide relief to agents based on rules. This multi-tasking relief may be provided to the one or more agents via reducing an amount of multi-tasking work, inserting breaks into the agent's work flow, and/or directing work items to other resources. | 10-24-2013 |
| 20130287202 | WORK ASSIGNMENT DEFERMENT DURING PERIODS OF AGENT SURPLUS - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. The contact center proposed herein provides the ability to, among other things, support deferring work item routing decisions for a predetermined amount of time even when agents that are technically qualified to handle the work item are available. The deferment of work item routing decisions helps to achieve better matching and, therefore, increases contact center efficiency even though decisions are delayed. | 10-31-2013 |
| 20140161248 | QUALIFIER SET CREATION FOR WORK ASSIGNMENT ENGINE - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. The contact center proposed herein provides the ability to, among other things, define, in real-time, qualifier set combinations for work items. Thus, the contact center can create a dictionary of combinations of work item attributes that may be defined as work items are introduced to the system. The definition of the combinations allows for large qualifier sets without the large expenditure of resources to define all possible combinations of attributes for the contact center. | 06-12-2014 |
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| 20140079209 | AUTOMATIC CALL NOTIFICATION GROUPS - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. Work assignment methods are disclosed that push notifications to one or more resources about available work item opportunities. The one or more resources can pull the work item from the notification groups to handle the work item. Moreover, the pushed notifications can be added to a traditional work assignment scheme to aid in the answering of work items and/or offer training to a plurality of resources. | 03-20-2014 |
| 20140079210 | RISKS FOR WAITING FOR WELL-MATCHED - A contact center which provides the ability to, among other things, support deferring work assignment decisions while simultaneously assessing the risks associated with such a deferred decision. The intelligent deferment of work assignment decisions helps to achieve better matching without losing the opportunity to timely assign work to an agent. | 03-20-2014 |
| 20140079211 | SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING EFFECTIVENESS OF ADVANCED CALL CENTER ROUTING ALGORITHMS - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. The contact center proposed herein provides the ability to, among other things, simultaneously execute two different work assignment algorithms on the same work flow either in real-time as the work flow is received or in a simulation environment. The differences in the way that each work assignment algorithm handles the same work flow are compared and contrasted to help describe the differences in the work assignment algorithms. | 03-20-2014 |
| 20140081687 | MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS CONTACT CENTER OBJECTIVES - Methods, devices, and systems are provided such that multiple contact center objectives can be simultaneously analyzed and normalized by a single algorithm. A solution is provided for executing an algorithm that is able to consider multiple objectives simultaneously rather than serially. By considering multiple objectives in parallel when making work assignment decisions instead of considering single objectives, decisions and contact center adjustments are made with more efficiency and with a minimal use of resources. | 03-20-2014 |
| 20140081689 | WORK ASSIGNMENT THROUGH MERGED SELECTION MECHANISMS - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. In particular, work assignment methods are disclosed that are configured to utilize multiple selection mechanisms in determining an optimal work assignment. By analyzing data relating to agent selection, queue information, and state information, of one or more contact centers, a work item may be efficiently assigned to achieve a work item optimal solution. In some cases, the optimal solution for a work item may be contrary to an optimal solution for a particular contact center. However, the primary goal of efficiently handling the work item via one or more resources can be achieved by merging selection mechanisms and intelligently assigning work items on a system-wide basis. | 03-20-2014 |
| 20140082179 | SCARCE RESOURCES MANAGEMENT - A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. In general, methods are disclosed that are configured to analyze work assignments to determine one or more scarce resources for further management. By analyzing the attributes, that are common to a number of work assignments made over a period of time, resources possessing those attributes may be classified as scarce. These scarce resources may be managed in accordance with their demand and business rules. To efficiently handle work items associated with valued customers, the scarce resources may be removed from traditional work assignments and held in reserve. The reserved scarce resources may be applied to the valued customers' work items. | 03-20-2014 |
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| 20100036670 | Premises Enabled Mobile Kiosk, Using Customers' Mobile Communication Device - A contact center is provided that can service customers on premises via a mobile kiosk. The mobile kiosk may be carried by the customer or by an on-site customer service representative. The mobile kiosk may be enqueued in the contact center contact queue such that enhanced customer service can be provided through interfacing with the enterprise database, vendor databases, as well as assigning an appropriately skilled contact center agent to the customer contact. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100121672 | System and method for identifying and managing customer needs - The system monitors the activity of customers, agents, and industry-experts in a network for new topics relevant to a business and the interests in those topics. A determination is made automatically if there is enough interest to warrant adding a skill. If there is not enough interest, the system continues to monitor for topics and interests. If there is enough interest, the system automatically projects a resource needed for a skill. The system monitors internal resources and the network to determine if the resource needed for the skill exists in an internal resource. If the resource needed for the skill exists in an internal resource, the internal resource is reallocated. If the resource needed for the skill does exist in the internal resource, the system monitors the network for an external resource that has the skill. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100296646 | INSTANT MESSAGE CONTACT MANAGEMENT IN A CONTACT CENTER - The present invention is directed to a method for servicing a transaction in a contact center. When an instant message communication associated with a transaction is suspended prematurely, special treatment may be provided to the transaction initiator. The special treatment includes: (a) maintaining the assigned service priority for the transaction for assignment to a subsequent communication; (b) scheduling a subsequent outbound instant message to an external endpoint associated with the transaction initiator; (c) assigning to the transaction initiator a favored service priority when the subsequent inbound instant message is received by the contact center; and (d) maintaining previously selected item(s) in memory and providing the item(s) to the transaction initiator in a subsequent communication. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20120084111 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ADAPTIVE MULTIPLE CONTACT ASSIGNMENT - Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a system and method for adaptively assigning multiple contacts to an agent determined by that agent's current metrics data or effectiveness measure. In one embodiment, there is provided a method for adaptively assigning multiple contacts to an agent in a contact center, comprising providing a reporting engine containing an agent's metrics; providing an assignment engine for assigning multiple contacts to the agent based upon the agent's metrics received from the reporting engine; storing each contact being served by the agent with at least one agent metrics element to be measured by the reporting engine; updating the agent's metrics in the reporting engine based upon the measured at least one metrics element; comparing the agent's updated metrics with stored target metrics; and assigning multiple contacts to the agent when the agent's metrics is within the target metrics. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120084217 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RESPONDING TO CHANGING CONDITIONS IN CONTACT CENTERS - Embodiments of the present invention relate to a business continuity system and method where conditional profiles and processes can be set for multiple contact centers with a set of object types while each contact center object is capable of responding uniquely to a changed condition. In accordance with one embodiment, there is provided a contact center management system for managing conditions in a contact center, the system comprising a computer system database for storing conditional profiles, each conditional profile corresponding to a set of varying types of objects associated with a contact center; a condition monitoring unit for receiving condition notifications from the contact center; and a response unit for responding to a received condition notification with a corresponding conditional profile having the set of objects associated with that conditional profile, wherein multiple object types in the set of objects are capable of uniquely responding to the received condition. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120183131 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DELIVERING A CONTACT TO A PREFERRED AGENT AFTER A SET WAIT PERIOD - A method for assigning a contact to undifferentiated agents is provided, comprising: describing substantially each undifferentiated agent using at least one agent attribute to produce a set of agent attribute values; describing a contact using at least one contact attribute to produce a set of contact attribute values; relating the sets of agent and contact attribute values to produce at least one preferred agent; determining an expected wait time for substantially each of the at least one preferred agent to produce a set of expected wait times; determining a wait tolerance for the contact; if the expected wait time for at least one preferred agent is less than the wait tolerance, then assign the contact to the at least one preferred agent; and if the expected wait time for the at least one preferred agent is greater than the wait tolerance, then assign the contact to an undifferentiated agent. | 07-19-2012 |
| 20130013359 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SCHEDULING BASED ON SERVICE COMPLETION OBJECTIVES - Provided herein is a system and method for determining a service agent start time objective for a customer contact and matching agents and customers based on meeting that objective. The method may include: receiving a customer contact to request service; determining a service completion objective for the customer contact based upon a service-level agreement; determining a handling time limit based on a historical elapsed handling time; and subtracting the handling time limit from the service completion objective, to produce the service agent start time. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130041838 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANALYZING CONTACT CENTER METRICS FOR A HETEROGENEOUS CONTACT CENTER - Provided herein is a system and method to produce a composite rating using context information. The method may include: measuring a first and a second metric in a first and a second context respectively, to provide a first and a second contextual measurement, respectively; transforming the first contextual measurement to a first plurality of semantic context values by use of a first plurality of pertaining functions; transforming the second contextual measurement to a second plurality of semantic context values by use of a second plurality of pertaining functions; combining one or more of the first plurality of semantic context values and one or more of the second plurality of semantic context values, by use of one or more fuzzy logic rules, to produce a plurality of semantic distributions; and calculating a centroid of a merger of the plurality of semantic distributions in order to produce the composite rating. | 02-14-2013 |
| 20130058475 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING SERVICE BY A FIRST AGENT WHILE WAITING FOR A SECOND AGENT - System and method for servicing a contact by a first agent while searching for a second agent to service the contact is provided. At least one agent attribute is used to produce a set of agent attribute values, and at least one contact attribute is used to produce a set of contact attribute values; relating agent attribute values to contact attribute values in order to search for at least one available first agent having at least a first predetermined level of matching attributes; delivering the contact to the first agent; relating agent attribute values to contact attribute values in order to search for at least one second agent having at least a second predetermined level of matching attributes, wherein the second predetermined level is greater than the first predetermined level; waiting until the second agent is available; and replacing the first agent with the second agent to service the contact. | 03-07-2013 |
| 20130223618 | INSTANT MESSAGE CONTACT MANAGEMENT IN A CONTACT CENTER - The present invention is directed to a method for servicing a transaction in a contact center. When an instant message communication associated with a transaction is suspended prematurely, special treatment may be provided to the transaction initiator. The special treatment includes: (a) maintaining the assigned service priority for the transaction for assignment to a subsequent communication; (b) scheduling a subsequent outbound instant message to an external endpoint associated with the transaction initiator; (c) assigning to the transaction initiator a favored service priority when the subsequent inbound instant message is received by the contact center; and (d) maintaining previously selected item(s) in memory and providing the item(s) to the transaction initiator in a subsequent communication. | 08-29-2013 |
| 20130254233 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTEXT-SENSITIVE ADDRESS BOOK - System and method to provide a self-organizing, context aware address book, the method including: receiving sensor data about a status of a user; receiving external data about a status of predetermined contacts of the user; data mining the external data based upon the sensor data and entries within the address book; calculating a respective likelihood value to at least a portion of the entries within the address book; determining a prominence for the portion of entries within the address book; and displaying the portion of entries within the address book with the prominence. | 09-26-2013 |
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| 20090236252 | Blanks And Methods For Forming A Beverage Carrier From The Blanks - A beverage carrier including at least two cartons and a tray having a retractable handle for holding the cartons is provided. The cartons and the tray are each formed from blanks of sheet material. Each carton includes a first and second side wall, a top panel, a bottom panel, and first and second end walls, wherein the side walls, the top panel, the bottom panel and the end walls are interconnected to form the carton. The tray includes a first and second side panel, a first and second bottom panel, a first and second divider panel, and a first and second end panel. The tray includes an$ opening through which a retractable handle is placed. The retractable handle is configured to move between a recessed position and an extended position. The tray is configured to hold at least two cartons for easy transport and storage. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20100308104 | Carton With Display Header - More than one embodiment of a blank and carton are provided. In one embodiment, a blank forms a carton with an opening flap that forms a display header for the carton. The opening flap is defined along a tear line pattern in a side panel and an overlapped and adhered end flap configuration, with the overlapped portion defined along a fold line. The opening flap is foldable along the fold line to dispose interior surfaces of the overlapped end flaps in facing relationship with one another. A portion of the opening flap extends into the carton interior, and can be received into two tuck-in flaps formed in another side panel. A display header is formed of the exposed portion of the opening flap when the opening flap is oriented in a display configuration. In another embodiment, only one tuck-in flap is included. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20110315750 | CARTON WITH REINFORCED CORNER - A carton for containing a plurality of articles. The carton comprises a bottom panel, a first side panel foldably, and a second side panel. At least one end flap comprises a first portion foldably connected to the one of the first side panel and the second side panel, a second portion foldably connected to the first portion, and a third portion foldably connected to the second portion. The carton has at least one reinforced corner that comprises a reinforced end panel and a reinforced portion of one of the first side panel and the second side panel. The reinforced end panel comprises the second portion and the third portion of the at least one end flap. The reinforced portion comprises the third portion of the at least one end flap and a portion of the one of the first side panel and the second side panel. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20120138667 | CARTON WITH DISPENSER - A carton for containing a product. The carton comprises a plurality of panels that extends at least partially around an interior of the carton. The plurality of panels comprises a first end panel, a first side panel, a second end panel, and a second side panel. At least one top flap can be respectively foldably connected to a respective panel of the plurality of panels. The at least one top flap comprises at least an end top flap foldably connected to the second end panel. A dispenser can comprise at least a portion of the end top flap, a tear feature extending at least partially across the end top flap, and a dispenser pattern extending in at least a portion of the end top flap and the second end panel. The dispenser can be positionable between a dispensing position and a closed position after tearing the tear feature. | 06-07-2012 |
| 20130256392 | CARTON WITH TRAY - A carton for containing a plurality of articles arranged in at least a first layer and a second layer above the first layer. The carton comprises a plurality of panels that extends at least partially around an interior of the carton and an opening feature for accessing the articles in the carton. The opening feature extends in at least one panel of the plurality of panels. A tray is disposed at least partially in the interior of the carton. At least a portion of the tray can be positioned between the first layer and the second layer. The tray can be for supporting the articles in the second layer to allow removal of the articles in the second layer after activation of the opening feature of the carton. | 10-03-2013 |
| 20130302130 | CARTON WITH HANDLE - A carton for containing a plurality of articles. The carton comprises a plurality of panels that extends at least partially around an interior of the carton. A handle extends in at least one panel of the plurality of panels. The handle can comprise a handle grip and at least one handle opening. The at least one handle opening can comprise a main portion extending adjacent the handle grip of the handle and an expanded portion that is for being generally aligned with a respective space at least partially defined by at least two adjacent articles of the plurality of articles. The expanded portion can allow access to the respective space via the at least one handle opening. | 11-14-2013 |
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| 20090306691 | CUTTING AND CORING ATHERECTOMY DEVICE AND METHOD - The invention provides a rotational and/or axially translatable atherectomy system, device and method comprising a flexible, elongated drive shaft or catheter comprising an expandable and collapsible conical coil with a cutting edge on the coil's large diameter proximal end. When retracted, the coil's sections are collapsed around each other, held together in the retracted position by a sheath that, when distally retracted, allows the coil to automatically expand. The coil is expanded at a point distal to the occlusion, then pulled proximally to cut the occluding material near the lumen wall. The proximal pulling force may be combined with low-speed rotation and/or translation and/or axial vibration at low to ultrasonic frequency. | 12-10-2009 |
| 20100121361 | DIRECTIONAL ROTATIONAL ATHERECTOMY DEVICE WITH OFFSET SPINNING ABRASIVE ELEMENT - The invention provides a rotational atherectomy system, device and method comprising a flexible, elongated, rotatable drive shaft with a pre-curved abrasive section disposed within a catheter that deforms the abrasive section to a substantially straight profile and, when the abrasive section is moved distally out of the catheter, the abrasive section resumes its pre-curved profile. Directional ablation is achieved by rotation of the drive shaft along its pre-curved axis as the abrasive section is urged against a portion of the lumen wall. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100145343 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SCULPTING THE SURFACE OF A JOINT - Methods and devices for sculpting bones, particularly in preparation for implanting prosthetic devices to replace articulating bone joint surfaces. Improved bone removal devices including burr mills driven by gears and loop drives are provided. Reciprocating cutters and belt cutters are also provided. Some devices have either integral or removable expandable portions to vary the force and bone resection depth. Devices can have irrigation ports and plenums to remove bone fragments. Some cutters are dual cutters, adapted to remove bone in two or more regions, such as the knee joint, simultaneously. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20110270258 | METHOD FOR SCULPTING THE SURFACE OF A JOINT - Methods and devices for sculpting bones, particularly in preparation for implanting prosthetic devices to replace articulating bone joint surfaces. Improved bone removal devices including burr mills driven by gears and loop drives are provided. Reciprocating cutters and belt cutters are also provided. Some devices have either integral or removable expandable portions to vary the force and bone resection depth. Devices can have irrigation ports and plenums to remove bone fragments. Some cutters are dual cutters, adapted to remove bone in two or more regions, such as the knee joint, simultaneously. | 11-03-2011 |
| 20120046600 | HIGH-SPEED ROTATIONAL ATHERECTOMY SYSTEM, DEVICE AND METHOD FOR LOCALIZED APPLICATION OF THERAPEUTIC AGENTS TO A BIOLOGICAL CONDUIT - The invention provides a system, device and method for localized application of therapeutic agents within a biological conduit. A preferred biological conduit comprises a blood vessel. A preferred device comprises a high-speed rotational atherectomy device having, in various embodiments, a flexible, elongate non-rotatable therapeutic agent delivery sheath having a lumen therethrough and a flexible, elongated, rotatable, drive shaft with at least one flexible eccentric enlarged abrading head disposed within lumen of the delivery sheath. The operator may actuate a controlled amount or dose of one or more therapeutic agents to release from the distal end of the delivery sheath lumen during high-speed rotation of the drive shaft. The therapeutic agent(s) is thus released into a turbulent fluidic environment resulting from high-speed rotation and orbital motion of the eccentric abrading head, which aids to drivingly urge the therapeutic agent(s) radially through the boundary layer of fluid flow in the conduit and into the target region of the conduit wall. | 02-23-2012 |
| 20150080795 | DEVICES, SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERFORMING ATHERECTOMY AND SUBSEQUENT BALLOON ANGIOPLASTY WITHOUT EXCHANGING DEVICES - The present invention is directed in various methods, devices and systems relating to providing a balloon on a sheath in combination with orbital atherectomy in order reduce the number of steps in the procedure. In certain embodiments, the balloon comprises adjunctive low pressure balloon for prevention of vessel trauma during dilatation. | 03-19-2015 |
