Did You Know...
...that Robert Adler has the dubious distinction of being the Father of the Couch Potato? Back in 1955 Adler was employed by what was then Zenith Radio Corp., where he was charged to invent something that would allow viewers to turn down the TV volume without leaving their chairs. After a series of flops (such as a wired contraption that people tripped over), Adler hit on the idea of using sound waves. Thus the Remote Control was born...
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8179071 | System and method for cooling using counter-rotating fans A system includes two counter-rotating electric fans. A cooling controller is configured to run the fans at first and second operating points responsive to a measured value of a parameter. The first and second operating points correspond to first and second differen... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8022653 | Method and circuit arrangement for the electrical control and/or regulation of the movement of an electrically driven unit Disclosed is a circuit arrangement for electrically controlling and/or regulating the movement of an electrically driven unit (2), especially a window lifter or sliding roof of a motor vehicle, and to a method for operating said circuit arrangement. According... | 09/20/2011 |
| 7969110 | Compensation actuator for a rotorcraft flight control The invention relates to an actuator having an (auto)synchronous rotary electric motor and a reversible speed-reducing gearbox coupled to the motor to be driven in rotation thereby An outlet shaft is coupled to the speed-reducing gearbox to be driven in rotation the... | 06/28/2011 |
| 7919945 | Synchronized vibration device for haptic feedback The present invention relates to synchronized vibration devices that can provide haptic feedback to a user. A wide variety of actuator types may be employed to provide synchronized vibration, including linear actuators, rotary actuators, rotating eccentric mass actu... | 04/05/2011 |
| 7888898 | Container with automated lid feature Embodiment of the invention relate to a container. In one respect, embodiments of the invention provide a container that is useful in advertising because of its distinctive shape and faux pull ring, and/or because it is configured to output a jingle or other stored ... | 02/15/2011 |
| 7400106 | Method and apparatus for providing torque limit feedback in a power drill A battery-powered tool indicates to an operator that a torque limit has been reached. The tool comprises a driver circuit for generating motor interface driving signals, a motor interface circuit coupled to a motor to selectively couple power to the motor in accorda... | 07/15/2008 |
| 7397211 | Motor control apparatus A motor control apparatus includes a first FG pattern for generating a first induced voltage attendant upon rotation of the rotor of a motor; a second FG pattern for generating a second induced voltage due to noise; a differential amplifier for differentially amplif... | 07/08/2008 |
| 7242162 | Apparatus and method for retracting awning An apparatus and method for retracting an awning. A sensor detects an awning acceleration caused by wind impacting the awning, and generates a signal having an amplitude corresponding thereto. When the signal exceeds a certain threshold, the awning is retracted. The... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7196611 | Barrier movement operator human interface method and apparatus Improvements in human interaction with barrier movement operators are disclosed. A controller of the barrier movement operator is capable of a number of learning modes in which the controller cooperates with a user to learn operating parameters. The controller guide... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7187142 | Motor drive with velocity noise filter A drive unit for controlling a motor includes a position feedback device and a velocity noise filter. The position feedback device is operable to generate a position signal relating to a position of the motor. The velocity noise filter is coupled to the position fee... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7154377 | Movable barrier operator compressed information method and apparatus In a movable barrier operator, data that corresponds to force requirements to effect desired movement of a movable barrier is compressed and stored for later retrieval. Multiple compression schemes and/or compression rates can be made available. Selection of a given... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7154241 | Wiper control method and wiper control device There are provided a wiper control method and a wiper control device in which unnecessary wiping operation is not performed. When a fixed amount of water passing through a detection area 4, the water being carried by the wiping operation of a wiper 5 | 12/26/2006 |
| 7141974 | Active-passive electromagnetic shielding to reduce MRI acoustic noise The present invention provides an apparatus for reducing acoustic noise in a magnetic resonance imaging device including passive shielding located outside the actively shielded gradient winding elements in order to reduce the magnitude of fields that spread outside ... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7109670 | Motor drive with velocity-second compensation An apparatus for use with a signal generator and a motor controller includes a velocity compensator, an adjustor, and a velocity regulator. The signal generator provides a reference velocity signal, and the motor controller receives an output signal and uses the out... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7034485 | Vehicle liftgate control system A powered system to selectively position a vehicle liftgate at a multiple of positions intermediate a fully open and a fully closed position. A controller receives commands from a remote, such as a key fob, and/or from a selector located within the vehicle to select... | 04/25/2006 |
| 6963184 | Adaptable spatial notch filter A spatial notch filter is described that adapts in accordance with changes to an angular velocity of a rotating component within a manufacturing system. In a manufacturing system, noise may appear in feedback signals due to spatially distributed physical features in... | 11/08/2005 |
| 6927550 | Device and method used to automatically compensate for synchronous disturbance To eliminate unwanted vibrations caused by synchronous disturbances, such as synchronous disturbances caused by an imbalance, for example, the invention proposes a compensation device for closed loop compensation of a synchronous disturbance in a rotating machine co... | 08/09/2005 |
| 6904371 | Method and apparatus for measuring rotor unbalance A method and related system for measuring rotor unbalance comprises rotating a rotor about an axis at a range of rotating speeds; generating a reference signal indicative of the instantaneous rotational frequency of the rotor; detecting the vibration of the rotor wh... | 06/07/2005 |
| 6859005 | Garbage container with automatic door operator A garbage container includes a base section for collecting garbage and a lid section attachable to the base section. The lid section includes an access door pivotally operable therewith. The garbage container further includes a sensor connected to the top surface of... | 02/22/2005 |
| 6765358 | Electric motor A variable motor (1) having reduced audible noise. This advantage is achieved by reducing or eliminating ripple torque by making the individual phase torques follow a certain profile, so that when the torques are summed, they are substantially constant. There... | 07/20/2004 |
| 6667591 | Method and device for increasing the allowed motor power of a motorized garage door operator A door operator for moving a door includes a motor for moving the door between opened and closed positions, an operator for controlling the operation of the motor, and a switch, such as a wired wall station or a remote transmitter, for enabling the operat... | 12/23/2003 |
| 6621241 | System and method for reducing oscillating tool-induced reaction forces A system and method for reducing reaction forces induced in a machine frame by an oscillating tool employs a counterforce assembly which is driven to move along linear slides mounted to the machine frame. The counterforce assembly is driven with a drive s... | 09/16/2003 |
| 6600283 | Device and method for a controlled generation of vibrations The device for the generation of vibrations comprises an external casing provided with means of connection to a support structure and at least one mobile internal mass housed in the casing. The device is also provided with magnetic means of guidance of th... | 07/29/2003 |
| 6585253 | Feeder with vibrating separating device A paper feeder for use in an image forming apparatus is disclosed. The paper feeder applies vibration to paper sheets being paid out together to thereby reduce an adhering force acting between them. The paper feeder therefore reduces the simultaneous feed... | 07/01/2003 |
| 6555979 | System and method for controlling electrical current flow as a function of detected sound volume A system and method for selectively controlling an electrical component is claimed. The system contains an audio detector, such as a microphone, that receives sound energy and converts the sound energy into a corresponding electrical signal. The content o... | 04/29/2003 |
| 6548978 | Suppression circuit A suppression circuit, in particular for suppressing the noise of the wiper motor of a motor-vehicle, is provided with at least two capacitors (4, 5), which are situated between one common (1) terminal and two separate terminals (2, 3), and it is provided... | 04/15/2003 |
| 6473562 | Method for low-speed operation of brushless DC motors A method to operate an electronically commutated DC motor driving a centrifugal pump and comprising a stator fitted with at least one winding and a rotor fitted with permanent magnets, said method including a monitored stepping operation within which one ... | 10/29/2002 |
| 6445149 | Vibrator controlling method and vibrator A reference pulse signal P is produced which is synchronized in frequency with a pulse signal S derived from a vibration source and has a predetermined duty ratio. Then, a control signal C is produced by providing at least one or more off intervals ³... | 09/03/2002 |
| 6429610 | Method and system for reducing motor vibration by controlling flux producing current The flux producing current limit of the motor control is adjusted to control the vibration of a motor. The flux producing current may be profiled in relation to the speed of the motor to compensate for excessive motor vibration.... | 08/06/2002 |
| 6414460 | Low cost 1/8th, 1/16th micro-stepping motor drive system The invention is a low-cost stepper motor drive system comprising a microstepping motor and a logic circuit. The logic circuit includes two integrated circuits for controlling one or more phases of the microstepping motor. Each one of the integrated circu... | 07/02/2002 |
| 6400112 | Bi-directional pass-point system for controlling the operation of movable barriers An operator for opening and closing movable barriers such as garage doors comprising a pass-point limit system which is a component of an operating head. An operator for a rolling shutter or gate can be installed on either side of the opening. A dual pass... | 06/04/2002 |
| 6388410 | Apparatus and method for monitoring a closed-off interior space of a motor vehicle An apparatus invention relates to an apparatus and method for monitoring an interior space which is closed off by a locked and/or manually non-unlockable door, flap, sliding sunroof or the like, for example a passenger compartment or luggage compartment o... | 05/14/2002 |
| 6384563 | Method and apparatus for load torque detection and drive current optimization The load torque applied to the shaft of a synchronous motor is estimated based upon a correlation established between load torque and a calculated integral of a drive current value, utilizing the measured current that is applied to drive the motor. The es... | 05/07/2002 |
| 6259224 | Electronic cancellation of DC motor noise An active attenuation system for a DC motor which yields global vibration reduction of slot or other motor induced tonals at the plate on which the motor is mounted without modifying the construction of the motor. The system comprises one or more vibratio... | 07/10/2001 |
| 6169379 | Power driven venting of a vehicle An obstruction detection apparatus is provided for use in closing a power driven vent, such as a window, that is located in an opening. When the vent includes a first closing edge that moves as the vent is closed and the opening includes a second closing ... | 01/02/2001 |
| 6144176 | Method for reducing acoustic and vibration energy radiated from rotating machines A method and apparatus for substantially reducing tonal noise and or vibration generated by a rotating machine. The power supplied to the rotating machine or motor drive signal is modulated as a function of time so that the shaft rate of the rotating mach... | 11/07/2000 |
| 6133703 | Bi-directional pass-point system for controlling the operation of movable barriers An operator for opening and closing movable barriers such as garage doors comprising a pass-point limit system which is a component of an operating head. An operator for a rolling shutter or gate can be installed on either side of the opening. A dual pass... | 10/17/2000 |
| 6111380 | System for detecting abutment and blocking in a stepped motor A stop and jamming detection system in a stepping motor determines a parameter from the profile of an instantaneous motor variable and compares it to a reference value. A signal for the stop and jamming detection system is generated therefrom. Provided fo... | 08/29/2000 |
| 5990645 | Mechanical vibration detector and vibration damping controller Provided is a mechanical-vibration detecting apparatus in which not only adjustment is easy but also mechanical vibration can be taken out with high accuracy, and a vibration-reduction control apparatus by which reduction of mechanical vibration can be ac... | 11/23/1999 |
| 5963000 | Object sensor system for automatic swing door A object sensor system for a swing door includes swing-side and approach-side sensors. Each of the sensors includes light-emitters and light-receivers which are mounted on a swing door. The light-emitters emit light toward a floor, and the light-receivers... | 10/05/1999 |
