Lawrence Welk, the bandleader who entertained millions of Americans over a generation of broadcasting his TV show, once received a patent: for a music-themed design of an ashtray.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7386364 | Operation control device for leg-type mobile robot and operation control method, and robot device A legged mobile robot gives up a normal walking motion and starts a tumbling motion when an excessively high external force or external moment is applied thereto and a behavior plan of a foot part thereof is disabled. At this time, the variation amount ΔS/Δt of th... | 06/10/2008 |
| 7372223 | Electric drive control apparatus and method An electric drive apparatus has an electric motor having a rotor and a stator; and a magnetic pole position detecting portion having a sensor rotor attached to the rotor, and a sensor stator that is adjacent to the stator, and that is fixed to a case, and that exten... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7365925 | Method of aligning optical elements A method of aligning an optomechanical assembly and an optomechanical assembly are described. ... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7362070 | Electric motor control system including position determination and error correction A system for controlling an electric motor includes a controller and a position indicator that provides position information regarding at least one motor component to the controller. The controller utilizes phase relationships indicative of the position information ... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7355360 | Method for operating a wiper system, and corresponding wiper system The invention relates to a method for operating a wiper system, especially an opposed wiper system or a butterfly wiper system, and to a wiper system comprising at least two motor units which are coupled to wiper blades and can be independently driven, a control app... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7319303 | Method and apparatus for estimating the position of a moving part of a linear actuator A method and an apparatus for estimating the position of a moving part of a linear actuator are provided. The method comprises the following steps. Move the moving part towards a target position. Receive magnetic signals generated by the magneto-resistive sensor of ... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7274166 | Apparatus and method for correcting position of mobile robot An apparatus and a method for correcting a position of a mobile robot includes a position notifying unit, installed at a predetermined position, that generates and transmits a signal indicative of the predetermined position. The mobile robot includes a position sign... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7259832 | Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method A method and a system for accurate positioning of an object are presented. An embodiment of the invention includes an electromagnetic actuator including a coil assembly. The coil assembly includes two coils that encloses a magnet assembly including a magnet that is ... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7199541 | Method of controlling an electric motor with oscillating output shaft, particularly for automobile wiper systems, and the arrangement of that electric motor A method for controlling an electric motor for an automobile wiper system includes a calibration curve in which data is converted into the angular value of the position of an output shaft and a correction is made depending upon a direction and magnitude of deviation... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7176677 | Stationary position detection circuit and motor drive circuit A stationary position detection circuit and a motor drive circuit capable of more properly detecting the rotor position are disclosed. The stationary position detection circuit supplies an alternating current to each phase load of the motor. The time during which th... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7148681 | Proximity sensor device that determines at least one physical characteristic of an item A sensor device includes the ability to determine part presence and at least one physical characteristic of the part. A drive coil and sense coil are arranged so that a voltage applied across the drive coil causes a response in the sense coil, which is influenced by... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7138782 | Motor control system and method of the same The present invention provides a motor control system and method thereof. The motor control system comprises a motor controller and a compensation device. The motor controller is used for generating a motor control output according to a reference signal and a first ... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7138783 | Actuator with control unit and method for operating said actuator The actuator and the method for operating the actuator comprise a drive unit and a drive mechanism with mechanical components that can be moved against each other as well as an electronic control unit. One of at least two components that can be moved against each ot... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7129665 | Control apparatus for feed driving system A control apparatus for a machine that can be operated at high precision in a stable control state is provided by driving a movable body with control parameters suited to the mechanical state. A control parameter calculation circuit is provided to obtain control par... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7119536 | Two-resolver deviation angle detector having serially connected output windings A deviation angle detector enlarges the application range by enlarging the detectable deviation angle range. The deviation angle detector has two resolvers, which have rotors, stators, and single excitation windings and multiple output windings that are coiled aroun... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7075290 | Tachometer apparatus and method for motor velocity measurement A method and apparatus for determining the velocity of a rotating device is described herein. The apparatus includes a magnet assembly affixed to a rotating shaft of a rotating device and a circuit assembly. The circuit assembly includes a circuit interconnection ha... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7064937 | System and method for fixing a direction of magnetization of pinned layers in a magnetic field sensor A spin valve GMR sensor configured in a bridge configuration is provided. The bridge includes two spin valve element pairs. The spin valve elements include a free layer, a space layer, a pinned layer, and a bias layer. The bias layer includes a first bias layer and ... | 06/20/2006 |
| 7038407 | Circuit arrangement and method for operation of an electric motor in a DC supply network The invention relates to a circuit arrangement and a method for operating an electric motor in a direct voltage source, in particular for operating a permanent-magnet-excited DC motor in the direct voltage network of a motor vehicle, having a rotary position transdu... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7016744 | Man-machine interface A man-machine interface is provided for a domestic appliance in which remotely sensed buttons, slider bars, marker pucks and a knob are used. The sensing coils for remotely sensing the positions of the buttons, slider bars, marker pucks and the knob are formed on a ... | 03/21/2006 |
| 7016163 | Magnetic field sensor A spin valve GMR sensor configured in a bridge configuration is provided. The bridge includes two spin valve element pairs. The spin valve elements include a free layer, a space layer, a pinned layer, and a bias layer. The bias layer includes a first bias layer and ... | 03/21/2006 |
| 7009385 | Flux compensated rotational position detector and operating methods therefor A flux compensated rotational position detector includes a rotating element having a plurality of magnetic poles extending over its entire periphery, and a fixed element having a plurality of protruding fixed-element magnetic poles with fixed-element magnetic pole t... | 03/07/2006 |
| 6998813 | Device for generation of a signal dependent on rotational speed for an electric motor, in particular for an electronically-commutated DC motor The invention provides a device to generate an rpm-dependent signal, or a tachogenerator, having a plurality of magnet elements with alternating polarity which are arranged and distributed around the circumference of the rotor shaft. The magnet elements preferably t... | 02/14/2006 |
| 6994179 | Children's ride-on vehicle A children's ride-on vehicle. The ride-on vehicle includes a frame adapted to support a child, and a drive assembly with a battery-powered motor assembly. The ride-on vehicle further includes one or more steerable wheels and one or more driven wheels. In some embodi... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6984954 | Diagnostic strategy for an electric motor using sensorless control and a position sensor A strategy to control and diagnose the operation of an electric motor using a sensorless control system augmented by feedback from a position and speed sensor is disclosed. The strategy can improve the robustness of operation and diagnose potential faults in electri... | 01/10/2006 |
| 6977594 | Inductive position detector Inductive position detector (10) is described which includes scale (20) having a longitudinal axis containing a train of magnetic balls (22), and a transducer (30) moveable relative to the scale (20). The transducer (30) inc... | 12/20/2005 |
| 6949925 | Proximity sensor device that determines at least one physical characteristic of an item A sensor device includes the ability to determine part presence and at least one physical characteristic of the part. A drive coil and sense coil are arranged so that a voltage applied across the drive coil causes a response in the sense coil, which is influenced by... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6949844 | High-speed precision positioning apparatus A high-speed precision positioning apparatus has a stage supported by a platen. The stage is driven by a plurality of drive motors that are co-planar with the stage and arranged symmetrically around the stage. The drive motors apply drive forces directly to the stag... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6803738 | Magnetic actuation and positioning Magnetic forces are used as a controlled actuation mechanism to move and position objects of interest. In one embodiment, a first spherical surface has at least one magnetic positioner attached. A second spherical surface is positioned to move relative to the first ... | 10/12/2004 |
| 6710353 | Actuator and transducer An actuator comprises a magnet yoke (10a, 10b) and a carrier member (2) movable relative to the magnet yoke. The magnet yoke (10a, 10b) has at least one permanent magnet (14) and the carrier membe... | 03/23/2004 |
| 6424148 | Apparatus and method for sensing and magnetically communicating physical parameters of rotating shaft A system and method for connectionless sensing of the physical parameters of a shaft that is capable of continuous rotation. The system involving placing a circuit assembly on the rotating shaft, powering the circuit assembly through energy transferred fr... | 07/23/2002 |
| 6377016 | Handlebar accelerator for an electrical bicycle A handlebar accelerator for an electric bicycle has a bar, a tubular grip, and a joint. The grip has a ring formed at a first end thereof, a sector notch defined in the ring, and two magnetic elements respectively formed at two ends of the sector notch. T... | 04/23/2002 |
| 6377005 | Drive device having an actuating drive A drive device, in particular a locking device, having an actuating drive for driving a moving element as well as a position detection device for detecting the position of the moving element, in which case the invention provides that the position detectio... | 04/23/2002 |
| 6329780 | Electromagnetic alignment and scanning apparatus An apparatus capable of high accuracy position and motion control utilizes one or more linear commutated motors to move a guideless stage in one long linear direction and small yaw rotation in a plane. A carrier/follower holding a single voice coil motor ... | 12/11/2001 |
| 6300736 | Low pin count DC-motor integrated drive circuit A DC motor drive circuit includes a switching circuit that drives the coils of a small permanent magnetic DC motor. The drive circuit is preferably implemented in an integrated circuit device, such as a silicon CMOS device. Integrated into the same integr... | 10/09/2001 |
| 6246228 | Non-contact linear actuator position sensor having a pid-compensating controller A position sensor or controller generates a response signal in existing armature windings of an actuator and detects the response signal to determine the position of the armature. To generate the response signal, the actuator includes a sensor excitation ... | 06/12/2001 |
| 6163125 | Drive device for a movable part that can be displaced between end positions in a vehicle and method for the production thereof An electric motor for moving or adjusting parts of vehicles such as windshield wipers and sunroofs have switching devices for shutting of the electric motor in at least one predetermined position of the movable part, for example also for shutting off the ... | 12/19/2000 |
| 6114820 | Power window apparatus having safety unit A power window apparatus is provided for detecting pinching in accordance with the opened/closed position of the window and a state of rotation of a motor, the apparatus having a position sensor which detects a safety-control suspension region of the wind... | 09/05/2000 |
| 6094255 | Projection exposure apparatus and method that floats a plate A projection exposure apparatus controls the position of a mask so that the mask is in a desired position without reducing throughput even if the size of the mask is increased. For example, a controller adjusts the pressure of air blown from air holes so ... | 07/25/2000 |
| 6091220 | Device for detecting rotor speed or position in a continuously excited electric motor In an electric motor, a Hall sensor (3) is arranged in the vicinity of the outer circumference of the rotor (2) and of at least one of the permanent magnets (4-7) provided for operationally exciting the electric motor. At least one of the permanent magnet... | 07/18/2000 |
| 5929588 | Electric motor control system for automobile wiper assembly An electric motor control system for a motor vehicle rear wiper assembly that provides OEM custom wiper features such as programmable wiper angle, speed and parking capabilities. The system includes a single Hall effect sensor, in combination with a gear ... | 07/27/1999 |