Bizarre Patents
A gun that fires a missile, powered by gas "discharged by the operator of the toy."
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 |
| 8185908 | Dynamic scheduling in a distributed environment A method and system is provided for assigning programs in a workflow to one or more nodes for execution. Prior to the assignment, a priority of execution of each program is calculated in relation to its dependency upon data received and transmitted data. Based upon ... | 05/22/2012 |
| 8176489 | Use of rollback RCU with read-side modifications to RCU-protected data structures A method, apparatus and program storage device for performing a return/rollback process for RCU-protected data structures is provided that includes checking a user-level state of a preempted thread having a RCU read-side critical section, and executing the critical ... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8171000 | Mounted filesystem integrity checking and salvage A method and system for conducting an integrity check of system and user metadata when the metadata is mounted. A filesystem reviewer is embedded within software of a server node. A mutual exclusion lock is obtained on the selected metadata. An automated verificatio... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8166094 | Coordinated quiesce of a distributed file system A process for quiescing a master and a plurality of subordinate computer systems in a cluster. An original or a pending state may be entered that is a quiesce or an online state. The master instructs the subordinates the quiesce or online state be made the pending s... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8161142 | Addressing node failure during a hyperswap operation A method, system, and article are provided to enable a Hyperswap operation in a clustered computer system. Each node in the system is configured with flash memory, with a hierarchical list of boot volumes therein. Following a Hyperswap operation, the current boot vo... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8137007 | Miniaturized turret-mounted camera assembly A lightweight camera mounting assembly allowing for tilt and pan of a camera through a significant portion of a spherical range of views with minimal parts, minimal weight, and a full 360 degree freedom of rotation. A combined retraction and extension assembly for t... | 03/20/2012 |
| 8135965 | Apparatus and method for distributed standby power provision An apparatus and method for providing standby power to a node of a distributed system of devices. The apparatus includes: a current manager operable to manage supply of current to a device at the node; a normal current supplier operable to supply normal operating cu... | 03/13/2012 |
| 8126916 | Priority based LDAP service publication mechanism A method and system are provided for directing a client to a preferred service instance. At creation of a service instance, the service binding attribute of the created instance is extended to include assigned domains and associated priorities. There are then two ph... | 02/28/2012 |
| 8125782 | Heat sink assembly A heat sink assembly mount is provided. Generally the invention has a frame clip and a spring clip. The frame clip has one or more inwardly extending tabs and two or more vertically extending side portions. The one or more tabs are sized to fit over and removably co... | 02/28/2012 |
| 8117496 | Detecting and recovering from silent data errors in application cloning systems A method, system, and article for resolving a silent error is disclosed. A primary program copy runs on a primary host, and a secondary program copy runs on a secondary host. The primary and secondary copies communicate to maintain synchronized execution. A third co... | 02/14/2012 |
| 8117394 | Consistency model for object management data A method and apparatus are provided for maintaining cache coherency of object management data in a computer system. The computer system is configured with a bit mask to represent changes in object management data. All changes in an object are reflected by setting an... | 02/14/2012 |
| 8107233 | Latching system for multiple nodes of a computer system A method and system to support simultaneous unlatching from a rack of two or more adjacently mounted and vertically aligned hardware components. One interface bracket is secured to one vertical rail of the rack, and a second interface bracket is secured to a second ... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8103824 | Method for self optimizing value based data allocation across a multi-tier storage system A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture are provided to support dynamic assignment of data from a continuous stream of data to one or more storage devices in a storage network. The storage network is configured with one or more tiers in a hierarchy, with at ... | 01/24/2012 |
| 8084878 | Fluid powered energy generator A power plant with one or more fluid operated generator unit(s) is provided to generate electrical energy. Each generator unit includes one or more rotational members responsive to fluid flow and in communication with one or more magnets and electrically conductive ... | 12/27/2011 |
| 8063485 | Electronics package with integrated lugs for cooling attachment A board mounted integrated electronics package assembly is provided with one or more securing elements to attach a heat dissipating device directly to the package. The securing element(s) is located along a periphery of the package and anchors a base of the heat dis... | 11/22/2011 |
| 8061860 | Illuminating utensil A utensil that emits light from a handle portion thereof for a limited period of time. The handle portion may be in the form of a chemiluminescent light stick. A head portion of the utensil has a hollow interior proximal end adjacent to a solid distal end. The hollo... | 11/22/2011 |
| 8056123 | Method, apparatus and program storage device for providing service access control for a user interface A method, apparatus and program storage device for providing service access control for a user interface is disclosed. A service secret is combined with a user access code, such as a user ID/password. A system can extract the service secret and determine whether acc... | 11/08/2011 |
| 8043886 | Methods for manufacturing a contact grid on a photovoltaic cell Processes for fabricating a contact grid for a photovoltaic cell generally includes providing a photovoltaic cell having an antireflective coating disposed on a sun facing side, the photovoltaic cell comprising a silicon substrate having a p-n junction; soft stampin... | 10/25/2011 |
| 8041919 | Storing data blocks to maximize the amount of storage space used in a storage device A method of storing data blocks onto sectors of a storage device comprises determining a specific number n of blocks, where n is greater than 1, storing n blocks consecutively onto consecutive sectors, such that each block begins directly after the previous block en... | 10/18/2011 |
| 8031466 | Thermal management of a personal computing apparatus A method and system are provided for thermal management of a portable computing apparatus. Accelerometers are provided to detect changes in attitude, and temperature sensors are provided to detect changes in temperature. A fan is used to cool the internal temperatur... | 10/04/2011 |
| 8019771 | Method for dynamically finding relations between database tables A method and system are provided for dynamically relating tables in a federated database based upon a data manipulation language in a query transaction. After the start of a transaction has been detected, a data manipulation language from the transaction is extracte... | 09/13/2011 |
| 8015566 | Attributing energy consumption to individual code threads in a data processing system A data processing system attributes energy consumption to individual program segments or threads includes a processor that executes a first thread during a first portion of a measurement interval and a second thread during a second portion of the interval. An energy... | 09/06/2011 |
| 8014779 | Wireless network connection switching management system and method A system and method for wireless network connection switching management is shown. The system notifies a mobile user that his portable terminal is within an area where it can be provided with local fast wireless communication service such as a hot-spot service versu... | 09/06/2011 |
| 8000588 | Miniaturized turret-mounted camera assembly A light weight camera mounting assembly allowing for tilt and pan of a camera through a significant portion of a spherical rang of view with minimal parts count, minimal weight and minimal weight in the rotated portion of the assembly. A retraction/extension assembl... | 08/16/2011 |
| 7996433 | NUMA system resource descriptors including performance characteristics A method and article for efficiently accessing resources in a multiprocessor computer system. Multiple resources are grouped into nodes and system resource descriptors are maintained as data structures. The method incorporates traversing one or more of the data stru... | 08/09/2011 |
| 7986323 | Two dimensional user interface for multidimensional data analysis Multiple two dimensional graphs are combined into a single two dimensional graph wherein correlations between dimensions are maintained. Dimensions in the graph can be superimposed on each other and displayed while maintaining the two dimensional format. This enable... | 07/26/2011 |
| 7979617 | Quad aware locking primitive A method and computer system for efficiently handling high contention locking in a multiprocessor computer system. At least some of the processors in the system are organized into a hierarchy, and process an interruptible lock in response to the hierarchy. The metho... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7975176 | Application failure recovery A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture to dynamically address and resolve an improper shut-down of an application. Internal state data of the application is stored in persistent memory. New internal state data is dynamically created and authenticated follow... | 07/05/2011 |
| 7971243 | Security module A method and apparatus for restricting access of an application to computer hardware. The apparatus includes both an authentication module and a validation module. The authentication module is within the trusted firmware layer. The purpose of the authentication modu... | 06/28/2011 |
| 7966146 | Force sensing apparatus and method to determine the radius of rotation of a moving object An apparatus having an arrangement of two or more identical accelerometers with aligned sensitivity axes. Each of the accelerometers senses motion over at least one axis. The accelerometer readings include a component corresponding to gravitational force that is the... | 06/21/2011 |
| 7955006 | Ball turret camera assembly A lightweight camera mount allowing tilt and pan of a camera turret through a significant portion of a spherical range is disclosed. The camera turret comprised of two hemispheres has a full 360 degree freedom of pan rotation and up to 140 degree of tilt rotation. T... | 06/07/2011 |
| 7952882 | On demand storage array A computer storage library is configured to include a plurality of storage media, with individual storage media housed in respective individual storage slots. Each of the storage media slots may communicate with a storage controller, which in turn may communicate wi... | 05/31/2011 |
| 7941706 | Autonomic resolution of system configuration A method and apparatus are provided to support autonomic computing for system configuration. Common base events (CBEs) are generated and, based upon system configuration, are employed to monitor system resources and to resolve system configuration conflicts prior to... | 05/10/2011 |
| 7941690 | Reliable fault resolution in a cluster A method and system for localizing and resolving a fault in a cluster environment. The cluster is configured with at least one multi-homed node, and at least one gateway for each network interface. Heartbeat messages are sent between peer nodes and the gateway in pr... | 05/10/2011 |
| 7934085 | System and method for passing data directly from application to BIOS Disclosed is an application program which can directly access a transmit buffer of a serial port. Data written into the transmit buffer by the application program is transferred into a receive buffer of the serial port via a switching element. The computer BIOS is e... | 04/26/2011 |
| 7930930 | Method for measuring the instantaneous flow of an injector for gaseous fuels The instantaneous flow of an injector for gaseous fuels is calculated by measuring the pressure and temperature of a test gas injected inside a measuring chamber connected to the external environment in a continuous manner through a given outlet section and using a ... | 04/26/2011 |
| 7925491 | Simulation of installation and configuration of distributed software Method and framework for identifying optimal allocations of computing resources in a complex, distributed data processing environment. A plurality of server models are established, with each server model including one or more server nodes and each server node having... | 04/12/2011 |
| 7921582 | Information organization product and method A method wherein an indicia is selected from one of diverse indicia sources. A holder may be selected from a holder source, and a display is selected from a display source. The indicia is placed in the display or the indicia and holder unit are placed in the display... | 04/12/2011 |
| 7920513 | Reestablishing communication by a mobile node upon recovery from an abrupt shut down When a mobile node suffers an abrupt shut down while operating in a foreign network and recovers in its home network, the present invention enables the mobile node to reestablish communication capability, without time delay, with the nodes that had established one o... | 04/05/2011 |
| 7917526 | Group-By result size estimation A method and system for accurately estimating a result size of a Group-By operation in a relational database. The estimate utilizes the probability of union of the columns involved in the operation, as well as the relative cardinality of each column with respect to ... | 03/29/2011 |
