Bizarre Patents
Reward Candy Dispenser for Personal Computers
A personal computer peripheral, battery powered reward candy dispenser which immediately presents students with a single candy for each problem completed correctly.
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7327354 | Low power dissipation touch plane interface circuit A method of determining a type of touch plane operator input device comprises sensing the impedance across first and second terminals of a touch plane operator input device to distinguish the touch plane operator input device as being one of at least two different t... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7283377 | Method for controlling firing angle under line dip situations A method and apparatus for converting AC power into DC power are disclosed, where the method includes receiving the AC power, and converting the AC power into the DC power by way of a rectification device, where the rectification device is capable of being controlle... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7279865 | Method and apparatus for monitoring motor status using induced motor voltage A motor drive unit includes a controller, a voltage inverter, and a speed estimator. The controller is operable to generate at least one command signal for controlling a motor associated with the motor drive unit. The voltage inverter is operable to generate motor d... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7272456 | Position based machine control in an industrial automation environment A method and apparatus for controlling machine operations in an automated industrial facility including at least one machine, the method for restricting machine operation when a wireless information device associated with a facility user is within a restricted facil... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7268514 | Motor control for stopping a load and detecting mechanical brake slippage A method and apparatus for stopping an AC motor that is controlling a load while detecting mechanical brake slippage of a mechanical brake for holding the load against movement includes a controller for decreasing torque-producing current commands from the drive whi... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7253577 | Independent safety processor for disabling the operation of high power devices A drive for delivering a high-power signal to a load includes a power circuit and a drive circuit. The power circuit is operable to provide a high power signal to the load in response to a control signal. The control circuit is operable to generate the control signa... | 08/07/2007 |
| 7251535 | Location based diagnostics method and apparatus A method and apparatus for use with a component assembly that forms part of an enterprise and at least one processor, the processor programmed to perform at least one diagnostic process on the assembly and to at least periodically perform at least one summary proces... | 07/31/2007 |
| 7243173 | Low protocol, high speed serial transfer for intra-board or inter-board data communication A method and a circuit for converting parallel CPU information buses within circuit boards to serial data buses, while limiting overhead data to provide a low-level protocol and high rates of data transfer over distances up to forty inches. Larger scale parallel dat... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7237134 | Backup power module for industrial control and monitoring network A technique is provided for applying secondary or backup power to a networked device in the event of a loss or malfunction of network power. In a control and monitoring network. Various devices may receive both power and data signals from a network cable. In the eve... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7230344 | Apparatus and method for transient and uninterruptible power In accordance with certain exemplary embodiments, the present technique provides methods and apparatus for providing transient and uninterrupted power to protected loads. As one example, the present invention provides an induction device that operates as an inductio... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7227326 | System and method for transient-based motor speed estimation with transient excitation AC motor control systems and speed controllers are presented, including a transient-based speed estimation system that provides a rotor speed estimate based on a measured speed-related motor transient signal, and a transient excitation system which selectively modif... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7215339 | Method and apparatus for video underflow detection in a raster engine An improved raster engine adapted to render video data from a frame buffer to one of a plurality of disparate displays is disclosed which comprises apparatus for detecting one or more video underflow conditions. The raster engine includes a first in first out (FIFO)... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7215559 | Method and apparatus to reduce common mode voltages applied to a load by a drive A method and apparatus for reducing common mode voltage applied to a load by a drive, the drive including a rectifier linked between three AC supply lines and positive and negative DC buses that converts AC supply voltage to DC voltage across the DC buses and an inv... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7212391 | Grounded isolation system An system and method are disclosed for isolating and grounding a load device, where grounding only occurs after the voltage(s) on the load device have been reduced to acceptable levels. The system includes power and grounding contacts, a sensing device, and a contro... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7212407 | Electrical power converter method and system employing multiple output converters A support may receive one or more power electronic circuits. The support may aid in removing heat from the circuits through fluid circulating through the support. The support, in conjunction with other packaging features may form a shield from both external EMI/RFI ... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7212406 | Cooling of electrical components with split-flow closed-end devices A cooling system (11) is provided for electrical components (10, 90) in which passageways (21) are inserted in non-magnetic cores of the electrical components, and in which the passageways (21) provide both inflow and outflow of a cooling... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7208909 | Motor protection inhibit circuit A circuit for inhibiting a protection device of a motor includes first, second, and third comparators and an inhibit signal generator. The first comparator is operable to determine if a motor current signal associated with the motor exceeds a starting threshold to i... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7201345 | Reeled material splicing method and apparatus A system and method for splicing reeled media using operational feedback. According to certain embodiments, the method of operating a media production system involves sensing speed parameters of first and second reeled media, tracking an unwinding parameter of the f... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7197811 | Method for separating stator windings of an electric motor during manufacture A technique for separating the stator leads of an electric motor during the manufacturing process. The technique comprises a system having a lead gathering assembly, a lead separator, and a drive mechanism. The lead gathering assembly is adapted to gather together a... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7200502 | Dual connection power line parameter analysis method and system A method and apparatus is disclosed for determining the power line parameters of a system. Specifically, there is provided a method comprising perturbing a voltage waveform through a first connection, measuring a characteristic of the perturbation through a second c... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7193387 | System and method for motor speed estimation using hybrid model reference adaptive system Motor drives, motor speed controllers, motor speed estimation systems, and methods are presented for controlling motor startup speed and for estimating motor speed during startup, in which a speed estimate controller provides a rotor speed estimate based on a first ... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7191351 | Method and network for providing backup power to networked devices A network is configured to apply power and data signals to networked devices for operation of the devices. A backup power supply module is coupled to the source of network power and to a secondary power source. The secondary power source may have an adjustable volta... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7190382 | Real time system view method and apparatus A technique for generating a physical representation of networked components makes use of data stored within the individual components, which may be polled by a monitoring station. The data includes identification of the respective component, and data representative... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7187568 | Power converter having improved terminal structure A terminal structure for power electronics circuits reduces the need for a DC bus and thereby the incidence of parasitic inductance. The structure is secured to a support that may receive one or more power electronic circuits. The support may aid in removing heat fr... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7187548 | Power converter having improved fluid cooling A thermal support may receive one or more power electronic circuits. The support may aid in removing heat from the circuits through fluid circulating through the support, which may be controlled in a closed-loop manner. Interfacing between circuits, circuit mounting... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7184902 | Motor parameter estimation method and apparatus A system and method for establishing estimated values of electrical parameters of a motor. The electrical parameters may be established from motor databases, measured input electrical data, measured output data, and various estimations to account for unknown motor p... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7177153 | Vehicle drive module having improved cooling configuration An electric vehicle drive includes a thermal support may receive one or more power electronic circuits. The support may aid in removing heat from the circuits through fluid circulating through the support. Power electronic circuits are thermally matched, such as bet... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7177132 | Method and apparatus for determining a switching signal state A technique for controlling a switching circuit includes one or more sensing circuits that generate signals based upon the presence of an actuating object and upon a randomly applied strobe signal. The generated signals are sampled and are used as a for determining ... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7173345 | Multi-function integrated automation cable connector system and method The present technique relates to a power and data signal transfer assembly including a plurality of conductors. Through the transfer assembly, power and data signals may be distributed and transferred to a wide variety of devices and locations. Moreover, in one exam... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7173185 | Panel mounting system A mounting assembly for fastening a device housing onto a panel includes a housing and a clamp. The panel defines a front surface, a rear surface, and an opening extending therethrough for receiving the housing. The housing includes at least one wall sized to extend... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7164275 | AC power line impedance monitoring method and system A technique for determining inductive and resistive components of power line impedance. A measurement circuit switches a burden or drain resistor between power line conductors to cause a droop or sag in a voltage waveform. The voltage waveform is sampled prior to in... | 01/16/2007 |
| 7164243 | System and method for establishing motor efficiency during balanced or unbalanced operating conditions A system and method for establishing a plurality of operating parameters of a multiphase motor. The plurality of electrical parameters may be established from stator resistance data and electrical input data. The system and method may be used to decompose the electr... | 01/16/2007 |
| 7161104 | Trip-free PCB mountable relay configuration and method A method and assembly for use with a printed circuit board (PCB), the assembly comprising a relay assembly including a relay housing and a trip free reset assembly mounted within the housing and linked to other relay components mounted within the housing for manuall... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7158127 | Raster engine with hardware cursor An improved raster engine adapted to render video data from a frame buffer to one of a plurality of disparate displays is disclosed which comprises an integral bounded video signature analyzer, a hardware cursor apparatus supporting dual scanned displays, programmat... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7149064 | Multiphase reduced voltage starter with bypass relays, interphase electrical isolation and shared thermal mass A power conversion system and methods of power conversion and construction of such a system are disclosed, where the system includes at least two pairs of input and output bus bars, and two pairs of switching devices, with the switching devices of each respective pa... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7147926 | Corrosion-resistant and stain-resistant component and method for manufacturing same A multi-layer corrosion protection system and a method for applying the multi-layer corrosion protection system. The system comprises a corrosion-resistant layer plated onto a metallic substrate. The corrosion-resistant layer may be deposited using an autocatalytic ... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7142434 | Vehicle drive module having improved EMI shielding EMI shielding in an electric vehicle drive is provided for power electronics circuits and the like via a direct-mount reference plane support and shielding structure. The thermal support may receive one or more power electronic circuits. The support may aid in remov... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7140090 | Method of manufacturing an electric motor A technique for securing a conduit box to a housing of an electric motor is disclosed. The technique includes forming a hollow extension from a surface of the conduit box. The conduit box is placed on a motor frame so that the hollow extension is inserted into a hol... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7138892 | Method and apparatus for soft-fault tolerant circuit interruption In accordance with one embodiment, the present technique provides a circuit interrupter. The exemplary circuit interrupter includes conductive spanner that completes an electrical pathway between first and second electrical conductors. To facilitate a good electrica... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7135830 | System and method for identifying operational parameters of a motor A system and method for establishing estimated values of electrical parameters of a motor. The electrical parameters may be established from stator resistance data and motor data obtained at a single load on the motor. The electrical parameters also may be establish... | 11/14/2006 |
