Did You Know...
...that to encourage use of his new invention, the shopping cart, market owner Sylvan Goldman hired fake shoppers to push the carts around his store in Oklahoma City? Seems his customers were reluctant to give up their hand-carried baskets.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7968860 | System and method for measurement of degree of moisture stratification in a paper or board A measurement system for measuring a degree of moisture stratification in a flat sheet product, such as paper, board or other materials. The system uses a combination of a reflection gauge and a transmission gauge to provide output signals indicative of surface mois... | 06/28/2011 |
| 7586114 | Optical cavity system having an orthogonal input An optical system having a closed loop light path with a source for providing light in a direction parallel to the normal of an input to the light path. The light may be provided via a refracting mechanism to the input. The system may be a cavity ring-down sensor or... | 09/08/2009 |
| 7375348 | Micro UV detector A biological aerosol detector is provided. The biological aerosol detector uses a semiconductor optical source with an ultraviolet emission band to excite biological molecules in an aerosol sample. Filtering optics are configured to attenuate radiation from a second... | 05/20/2008 |
| 7369227 | Imaging fluorescence signals using telecentricity The present invention relates to the field of DNA analysis. In particular, the present invention is directed to a device for the parallel imaging of fluorescence intensities at a plurality of sites as a measure for DNA hybridization. More particular, the present inv... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7365303 | Optical sensor device to be installed on board a motor-vehicle for aid in driving and/or for automatic activation of systems provided on the motor-vehicle An optical sensor device that can be installed on board a motor vehicle for aid to driving and/or for automatic activation of one or more on-board systems according to the environmental conditions detected comprises a sensor module including an array of the CCD or C... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7342662 | Sample analyzer The adverse effect on measurement accuracy brought about by the transmission of light beams through portions of a liquid sample with different concentrations, i.e., a concentration distribution in the vertical direction of a container, is prevented by using semicond... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7336358 | Method and apparatus for determining particle size and composition of mixtures Method and apparatus for evaluating one or more materials in accordance with size of particles. The method includes evaluating a spectrum of light reflected from a first group of particles; evaluating a spectrum of light reflected from a second group of particle; co... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7259384 | Fluid level optical detector with float having opaque and transmissive portions Systems and methods for fluid level detection are disclosed. In one embodiment, a sensor assembly includes at least one optical fiber adapted to at least one of transmit and receive an optical signal, and a moveable float member. The float member is adapted to move ... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7221288 | Method and apparatus for using optical signal time-of-flight information to facilitate obstacle detection One or more optical signals (wherein at least some of a plurality of optical signals are at different angles of travel with respect to one another and are directed towards an area comprising a movable barrier-controlled point of passage) create reflections when stri... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7189960 | Optical moisture sensor A soil moisture sensor has a cylindrical body of transparent cyclic olefin polymer (COC). A pair of axially spaced cavities tapered toward each other are formed in the body. A light source is placed in one of the cavities, and a light sensor is placed in the other. ... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7184141 | Optical flow cell for tribological systems An optical flow is disclosed having a shell with a first portion and a second portion. The first portion provides a light entry aperture, and the second portion provides an imaging aperture. An inlet tube and an outlet tube are retained between the first portion and... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7170608 | Simplified analytical apparatus for field deployable measurements of molecular absorbance and florescence The invention simplifies the apparatus for the analysis of organic and inorganic compounds in solutions and atmospheres, or particulates in atmospheres. The apparatus supports molecular fluorescence and absorption analyses of trace environmental contaminants. The de... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7167099 | Compact particle sensor A compact particle sensor for detecting suspended particles includes a housing, a light source, a light receiver and a plurality of optical elements. The housing provides a test chamber and includes at least one opening for admitting particles into the test chamber,... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7134221 | Method of detecting lint A method of detecting lint in a clothes dryer is disclosed. Light is directed through a surface within the clothes dryer, the light being emitted by a light source. The light is received at a photocell if the light is reflected off the surface when lint covers the s... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7092084 | System and method for sensing a characteristic of a fluid and related apparatus An apparatus for intended use in measuring, sensing, or detecting a characteristic of a fluid, such as a liquid food product, is disclosed. The apparatus includes a body having a pocket for positioning adjacent to the opening in a pipe or like structure for receivin... | 08/15/2006 |
| 7075445 | Rapidly responding, false detection immune alarm signal producing smoke detector A smoke detector of an obscuration type has an effective light propagation path of substantially greater length than the light propagation paths of conventional obscuration-type smoke detectors to provide increased smoke detection sensitivity without increased backg... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7068362 | Expendable beam transmissometer The present invention provides apparatus for a beam transmissometer. In an embodiment, the beam transmissometer includes a LED signal source, collimating apparatus, a retroreflector that directs the projected beam, imaging apparatus that directs the beam onto a dete... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7019834 | Tribological debris analysis system A tribological debris analysis system includes a general purpose computer; and a tribological sensor system for generating data. The sensor system includes an optical flow cell a pump for pumping a fluid through the optical flow cell, a laser for illuminating the fl... | 03/28/2006 |
| 6970243 | Particle size distribution measuring apparatus A particle size distribution measuring apparatus which can enhance the precision and the reliability of measurements by eliminating the region of the particle size having inferior measuring precision and resolution is disclosed. In one embodiment, the particl... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6921899 | Gas cell with reflected light bundles The invention relates to a gas cell (2′) that includes a cavity (20) for a chosen gas volume, a light source (30), and one or more light bundle receiving units or detectors (21, 22, 23, 24, 25). The cavity (20) is formed by and d... | 07/26/2005 |
| 6876305 | Compact particle sensor A compact particle sensor for fdetecting suspended particles includes a housing, a light source, a light receiver and a plurality of optical elements. The housing provides a test chamber and includes at least one opening for admitting particles into the test chamber... | 04/05/2005 |
| 6803594 | Measuring system for optically determining concentration of turbid liquid samples Optical measuring system for determining the concentration, particularly of turbid liquid samples, comprising a measuring volume for taking up the liquid samples to be measured, a plurality of several photometric channels, each comprising a light source and a light ... | 10/12/2004 |
| 6801875 | Methods, systems, and software for performing measurements Methods of measuring widths of illumination spots and distances between two points, and predicting detected signal widths are provided. Systems, software, and kits for performing the methods of the invention are also provided. ... | 10/05/2004 |
| 6600559 | On-line method for detecting particle size during a milling process An on-line method for detecting particle size of a liquid during a process in which there is not a correlation between low absorbance with small particle size, the method comprises the steps of measuring a plurality of reference particle sizes each associ... | 07/29/2003 |
| 6509567 | Method and apparatus for detecting gases The apparatus for detecting the presence of a particular gas within a mixture of gases comprises first and second emitter means for emitting measurement and reference electromagnetic radiation beams respectively, which beams are activated in alternation, ... | 01/21/2003 |
| 6480276 | Enhanced photon-migration methods for particle sizing in concentrated suspensions A method and apparatus for determining particle size distribution in undiluted suspensions using spectral measurements of transport-scattering co-efficients using continuous photon-migration techniques is provided. Particle size distribution for concentra... | 11/12/2002 |
| 6411383 | Method for measuring the 2nd virial coefficient A method is described to determine the 2nd virial coefficient of an ensemble of molecules dissolved in a selected solvent. Two distinct classes are described: monodisperse and polydisperse molecules. If the molecules are monodisperse, they must... | 06/25/2002 |
| 6404494 | Measurement of the lidar ratio for atmospheric aerosols using a 180 degree-backscatter nephelometer An integrating nephelometer is modified to measure 180° backscattering from an aerosol. A laser is mounted outside a housing of the nephelometer and produces a coherent light beam that is directed into a sample volume of the nephelometer, substantially a... | 06/11/2002 |
| 6225910 | Smoke detector A smoke detector includes a housing defining a dark chamber admitting test atmosphere. A light receiver is disposed within the chamber. A scatter emitter is positioned within the chamber such that light strikes the receiver when reflected off particles su... | 05/01/2001 |
| 6219138 | Particle sizing technique The particle size within a given medium is determined using a single wavelength to confirm the known particles sizes within a dispersion, or determined from two wavelengths to calculate the unknown particle sizes of a dispersion. Three wavelengths may be ... | 04/17/2001 |
| 6198110 | Method and apparatus for the real-time characterization of particles suspended within a fluid medium This invention describes a method by which microparticles, typically in the size range from 0.3 μm to 100 μm, which are carried in a fluid suspension, may be rapidly detected and characterized. The method primarily relates to the measurement of atmosphe... | 03/06/2001 |
| 6191853 | Apparatus for measuring particle size distribution and method for analyzing particle size distribution An apparatus and method for measuring a particle size distribution comprising a light source directing a laser light to particles which are dispersed into a solvent and which exhibit Brownian motion, a detector converting an interference light caused by D... | 02/20/2001 |
| 6181419 | Method and apparatus for applying laser induced incandescence for the determination of particulate measurements The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for applying laser induced incandescence (LII) to determine a primary particle size of submicron sized particles. The present invention has found that in addition to volume fraction information, part... | 01/30/2001 |
| 6154277 | Absolute intensity measurements in laser induced incandescence The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for the determination of particle volume fractions with laser induced incandescence (LII) using absolute light intensity measurements. This requires a knowledge of the particle temperature either from a n... | 11/28/2000 |
| 6084519 | Multi-function light sensor for vehicle An apparatus and method for controlling the operation of the windshield wipers of a vehicle in response to the deposition of water on the exterior of the windshield; the operation of the air conditioning system in response to the formation of water conden... | 07/04/2000 |
| 6023070 | System and method to monitor for fouling A system and a method for monitoring fouling in a fluid stream are provided. A light source generates a light path directed to two distinct portions of a fluid stream, one of which includes a translucent conduit. The conduit experiences fouling on the wal... | 02/08/2000 |
| 5977546 | Self normalizing radiant energy monitor and apparatus for gain independent material quantity measurements Method and apparatus for measuring the quantity of sample materials which provides stable measurements for extended periods of time. A source beam containing measuring radiation and reference radiation is directed through a sample material. The measuring ... | 11/02/1999 |
| 5953145 | Multiple light path arrangement The present invention relates to an arrangement for a multiple light path, which may be used for a wireless optical audio and/or video communication system. Known systems use a direct wireless infrared connection. It has been found that such a connection ... | 09/14/1999 |
| 5872634 | Optical smoke detector operating in accordance with the extinction principle The smoke detector includes a light source (1), a measurement section (3) with a measuring receiver (5), a reference section (2) with a reference receiver (4), and an analyzer circuit (6) connected to the receivers. The receivers are of like construction ... | 02/16/1999 |
| 5831730 | Method for monitoring particulates using beam-steered solid-state light source An improved method of monitoring particulates in stacks or ducts utilizes transmissometer/particulate monitor of the type which has an optical assembly containing a solid state light source of visible light such as a light-emitting diode or a solid-state ... | 11/03/1998 |
