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Pet Toilet-Like Water Disk and Food Storage
One pet-friendly inventor patented "a device for watering pets, e.g., a dog or cat." The device, he helpfully noted, "has the general shape of a toilet."
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7446677 | Method and apparatus for optically detecting selections made on an input device Optics are utilized in an input device such as a mouse or keyboard, for example, to detect a condition of one or more selection indicators, such as whether a key or button has been depressed or a scroll wheel has been rotated. Depressing a key, clicking a button and... | 11/04/2008 |
| 7435943 | Color sensor with infrared correction having a filter layer blocking a portion of light of visible spectrum A light sensor that generates a first output signal indicative of an intensity of light received from a predetermined direction in a first band of wavelengths is disclosed. The light sensor includes a substrate having first and second photodetectors, a first filter ... | 10/14/2008 |
| 7423705 | Color correction of LCD lighting for ambient illumination Color correction of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) lighting in response to the color balance of ambient illumination. In response to the color balance of sensed ambient illumination, drive levels of light emitting diodes providing lighting to the LCD are changed. ... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7423677 | Color filter method and apparatus Method and apparatus for generating an output signal that represents light with a desired color profile. A first sensor is provided to receive light and based thereon to generate a first signal with a first color profile. A color sensor is also provided that receive... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7423633 | Apparatus for controlling the position of a screen pointer with low sensitivity to fixed pattern noise An apparatus for controlling the position of a screen pointer includes an at least partially coherent light source for illuminating an imaging surface, thereby generating reflected images. The apparatus includes a navigation sensor for generating digital images base... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7423296 | Apparatus for producing a spectrally-shifted light output from a light emitting device utilizing thin-film luminescent layers A lighting device provides a spectrally-shifted light output from a light source. The lighting device includes a semiconductor light emitting device providing a source light and a first thin-film luminescent material layer coating a surface of the semiconductor ligh... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7423227 | Apparatus for optical navigation An apparatus for optical navigation. The apparatus has a surface comprising an aperture, wherein the surface is configured to be moveable against an illuminated surface having a detectable texture. An optical motion detection circuit is integral to the apparatus and... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7420542 | Apparatus for capturing and analyzing light and method embodied therein An apparatus including an image sensor is disclosed. The apparatus includes a polarization filter, an image sensor, and a processor connected to the image sensor. The polarization filter is adapted to filter out light polarized in a first direction from a first scen... | 09/02/2008 |
| 7405433 | Semiconductor light emitting device A light-emitting diode (“LED”) device has an LED chip attached to a substrate. The terminals of the LED chip are electrically coupled to leads of the LED device. Elastomeric encapsulant within a receptacle of the LED device surrounds the LED chip. A second encap... | 07/29/2008 |
| 7404652 | Light-emitting diode flash module with enhanced spectral emission A light-emitting diode (“LED”) device includes a plurality of LEDs. Each LED in the plurality of LEDs is adjacent to at least one other of the plurality of LEDs. At least one of the plurality of LEDs has a radiation with a full-width-half-maximum greater than 50... | 07/29/2008 |
| 7399953 | Light source control in optical pointing device An optical pointing device includes a light source configured to respond to a drive current to provide at least partially coherent light to illuminate an imaging surface to thereby generate reflected images. A navigation sensor is configured to generate digital imag... | 07/15/2008 |
| 7400826 | Imaging device and method for producing a flash of light with pulsing An imaging device and method for producing a flash of light utilizes pulsing of one or more color lights, e.g., red, green and blue lights, emitted from light sources to produce the flash of light. The light sources may include light emitting diode dies configured t... | 07/15/2008 |
| 7400456 | Lens having seamless profile defined by cubic polynomial function A lens includes a surface that includes a seamless profile. The seamless profile is defined by at least one cubic polynomial function to provide a filtering surface that produces a controlled amount of spherical aberration. ... | 07/15/2008 |
| 7400407 | Meter for measuring the turbidity of fluids using reflected light A meter for measuring the turbidity of a fluid includes a light source for directing a light beam through a fluid under test towards a reflective surface and a sensor for detecting light reflected from the reflective surface and passing back through the fluid under ... | 07/15/2008 |
| 7400317 | Finger navigation system using captive surface An apparatus such as a wireless telephone is disclosed, the apparatus having a screen with an icon, and an input device for controlling the icon on the screen. The input device includes a sensor adapted to detect movement and a captive disc movably suspended over th... | 07/15/2008 |
| 7400269 | Coding element with integrated limit switch An optical encoder. The optical encoder includes a coding element, an emitter, and a detector. The coding element has a track with a track pattern. The track pattern includes a plurality of optically distinguishable sections. The plurality of optically distinguishab... | 07/15/2008 |
| 7399956 | Optical encoder with sinusoidal photodetector output signal An optical encoder includes an optical encoder pattern of alternating light elements and dark elements, and an optical unit, including an optical emitter providing light to the encoder pattern, and an optical sensor including a photo-detector receiving the light fro... | 07/15/2008 |
| 7399954 | System and method for an optical navigation device configured to generate navigation information through an optically transparent layer and to have skating functionality A method and system for an optical navigation device configured to generate navigation information through a transparent layer. Specifically, the optical navigation device includes a light source that is configured to illuminate a reflective surface through a layer ... | 07/15/2008 |
| 7394061 | Optical encoder with integrated index channel An optical encoder includes an encoder pattern having (i) an A/B pattern of first areas and second areas alternating in a first direction, wherein the first areas have a different optical transmissivity or reflectivity than the second areas, and (ii) an index patter... | 07/01/2008 |
| 7388283 | Method and device for integrating an illumination source and detector into the same IC package that allows angular illumination with a common planar leadframe An optical navigation device includes an integrated package. The integrated package includes a planar leadframe, a light source die mounted on the leadframe, and a sensor die mounted on the leadframe to be coplanar with the light source die. The integrated package m... | 06/17/2008 |
| 7385227 | Compact light emitting device package with enhanced heat dissipation and method for making the package A light emitting device package and method for making the package utilizes a first leadframe having a first surface and a second leadframe having a second surface that are relatively positioned such that the second surface is at a higher level than the first surface... | 06/10/2008 |
| 7385178 | Reflective encoders with various emitter-detector configurations Optical encoders having one or more of a number of disclosed features are disclosed. The features of the optical encoder in accordance with the present invention include a symmetrical (for example, circular) emitter; baffle between the emitter and a detector; double... | 06/10/2008 |
| 7382976 | Light source having a variable focal length A variable focal length light source is constructed using a tunable focus length lens which can be adjusted in synchronization to the focal length of a camera lens. In one embodiment, a deformable lens is used in conjunction with an LED light source to provide the t... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7382357 | User interface incorporating emulated hard keys An emulated hard key that emulates a key of a user-selected keyboard is generated on a reconfigurable keyboard. In one exemplary embodiment, the reconfigurable keyboard has an array of microchambers. Each microchamber is operable to change from a first height to a s... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7381942 | Two-dimensional optical encoder with multiple code wheels An exemplary Two-Dimensional Optical encoder (“2-D Encoder”) described herein includes a light emitter and a light detector array. The light detector array includes at least one band of light detectors arranged on at least one diagonal of an X-Y grid having an X... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7380722 | Stabilized laser pointer A pointing device having a laser in a handheld housing is disclosed. The laser generates a light beam that exits the housing. A beam steering assembly causes the light beam to move relative to the housing. The pointer includes a housing orientation sensor that measu... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7382935 | Homogeneous and plain surface detection in optical navigation systems One embodiment in accordance with the invention relates to detecting a homogeneous surface. A first surface image is received. A plurality of values are generated by performing a plurality of auto correlations with the first surface image and a copy of the first sur... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7379117 | Flash module, camera, and method for illuminating an object during flash photography A flash module includes a point light source, a lens assembly, an actuator mechanism, and a control system. The lens assembly includes a lens that is positioned in front of the point light source. The actuator mechanism enables adjustment of the distance between the... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7379049 | Apparatus for controlling the position of a screen pointer based on projection data A device such as an optical mouse includes a light source for illuminating an imaging surface, thereby generating reflected images. The device also includes an optical motion sensor for generating one-dimensional projection data based on the reflected images, filter... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7375312 | Planar fly's eye detector A fly's eye detector includes a planar imaging array and an optical system that directs light with different incident directions to different sensors in the imaging array. One embodiment of the optical system includes a curved reflector above the planar imaging arra... | 05/20/2008 |
| 7359041 | Method and system for optically tracking a target using a triangulation technique An optical position-tracking system comprises a first light beam steering device for sweeping a first light beam through a first angular range to cause a reflection of the first light beam by a target. Additionally, the optical position-tracking system further compr... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7358958 | Method for locating a light source relative to optics in an optical mouse An optical tracking assembly for an optical mouse includes a light source, an optical sensor chip, and an integral optics assembly. The integral optics assembly includes lenses and alignment features receiving the light source. The alignment features center the ligh... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7350933 | Phosphor converted light source A light source having first and second phosphor-converted component light sources is disclosed. The first component light source includes a first LED that emits light at a first wavelength and a first luminescent conversion material layer that converts light of the ... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7349822 | Slide pad system and method A method performed by a slide pad system is provided. The method includes generating a first direction measurement using a first capacitance measurement, generating a calibration measurement using a second capacitance measurement, and computing a first position usin... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7349588 | Automatic meter reading A meter is read. An image on a face of the meter is captured. Optical character recognition of digits of a digital display on the face of the meter is performed. At least one stored template is used to perform the optical character recognition of digits. ... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7349017 | Color sensor circuit with integrated programmable gain selection A color sensor is implemented on a single integrated circuit chip. The color sensor includes a plurality of color sensor circuits and a gain selection control. Each color sensor circuit in the plurality of color sensor circuits includes a light detector, an amplifie... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7348545 | System and method for optical encoding on two opposed surfaces of a pattern medium An optical encoder system is disclosed with a single pattern medium having a first coded pattern disposed on the first side, a second coded pattern disposed on the second side, a first optical encoder disposed toward the first side, and a second optical encoder disp... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7348949 | Method and apparatus for controlling an LED based light system A technique for controlling a Light Emitting Diode (LED) based light system involves driving individual light sources that make up the LED-based light system at non-overlapping intervals so that light source-specific feedback signals can be generated in response to ... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7339575 | Optical pointing device with variable focus A method and apparatus for focusing an image of a work surface on an optical sensor array in an optical pointing device. Light from a region of the work surface is captured by an imaging system incorporating an optical coupling system and the optical sensor array. T... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7331245 | Pressure distribution sensor and sensing method A spatial pressure distribution sensor comprises a sensor array and a processor. The sensor array comprises an array of pressure sensors. Each of the pressure sensors is operable to generate a respective pressure signal in response to pressure applied to it. The pre... | 02/19/2008 |
