...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 |
| 8189316 | Hydraulic valve control circuit and method for checking the function of a hydraulic valve control circuit A hydraulic valve control circuit of a hydraulic valve comprises an external voltage supply, an output stage having a voltage supply input and at least one output configured to actuate an actuator of the hydraulic valve, an overcurrent protective device disposed in ... | 05/29/2012 |
| 8159806 | Bistable electromagnetic actuator, control circuit of an electromagnetic actuator with double coil and electromagnetic actuator with double coil comprising one such control circuit A bistable electromagnetic actuator comprising a magnetic circuit comprising a magnetic yoke in which a shunt extends perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of said yoke and comprising a permanent magnet positioned between a first surface of the yoke and the shunt. ... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8154840 | Fuel injector control A method for controlling the displacement of a stack of a piezoelectric actuator adapted for use in a fuel injector in order to control the fuel injection rate and volume. The method comprises driving a varying current through the stack during an opening phase inclu... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8149556 | Power adapter and power supply method thereof A power adapter for an electronic device selectively works in different modes according to a working state signal of the electronic device. When the electronic device is powered off or on with a battery in a determined charge state, the power adapter controls a rela... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8107210 | Magnetic actuator system and control method thereof A control method of the magnetic actuator system includes the following steps. A first initial orientation step is to move a magnetic actuator to a first position in accordance with a first position signal, and generate a first position sense signal by a position se... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8102636 | Magnetic field generation device The present invention relates to a magnetic field generation device comprising a magnetic field generating element (101) and a limiter (103) for limiting a magnitude of a current through the magnetic field generating element (101). ... | 01/24/2012 |
| 8023242 | Circuit arrangement with a relay incorporating one field coil as well as switch contacts The invention is directed to a circuit array with a relay (K1; K12) incorporating a field coil (E) as well as a switch contact (1a, 1b), said switch contact (1a, 1b) being provided as a switch poi... | 09/20/2011 |
| 8018708 | Magnetic field compensation for vessels A method for magnetically compensating the magnetic field distortion occasioned by a ferromagnetic portion of the hull of a vessel includes providing a plurality of electromagnets at predetermined locations throughout the vessel replacing the conventional ship-sized... | 09/13/2011 |
| 7961448 | Drive control method and unit for micro machine device A drive control method for a micro machine device is provided. The micro machine device is made up of first and second electrodes opposed to each other and a dielectric layer disposed between them. The drive control method includes the steps of applying a control vo... | 06/14/2011 |
| 7936549 | State grasp device, and switching control device of power switching apparatus employing the state grasp device A state grasp device that needs no optical adjustment, and can be downsized. An exciting current waveform of an opening electromagnetic coil of an electromagnetic operating set functioning to drive a moving contact of a switching device includes an inflection point ... | 05/03/2011 |
| 7872845 | Control system One embodiment relates to a control system. In one embodiment, a control system is configured to drive a load based on a set-point of the load, a measured load characteristic and a supply voltage of the load. The controller is configured to determine a duty cycle ba... | 01/18/2011 |
| 7864499 | Switching power supply saving system A switching power supply saving system includes a power interface, a power converting circuit, a relay, a relay driving circuit, a trigger, and a timing sequence circuit. The power converting circuit is configured to receive the AC power from the power interface. Th... | 01/04/2011 |
| 7821760 | Counter electromotive force prevention unit A counter electromotive force prevention unit for batteries is provided that can prevent occurrence of noise due to the counter electromotive force generated by loads of a battery and turning on and off of the charging generator, that can suppress noise emanating fr... | 10/26/2010 |
| 7746619 | Soft start clutch controller A clutch actuator for an electromechanical clutch having a solenoid actuating coil initially provides power to the solenoid at a high rate by using a high duty cycle pulse with a modulated controller. When the initial engagement of the clutch elements is sensed by a... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7663857 | Load driver circuit and ignition device using the same A protection circuit can be prevented from malfunctioning due to the parasitic operation attributable to the unstable base potential of a transistor. In one embodiment, the protection circuit can be constituted by a reverse transistor system where the bases of trans... | 02/16/2010 |
| 7626800 | Bulk erase tool for erasing perpendicularly recorded media A bulk erase tool for erasing perpendicularly recorded media is provided. The bulk erase tool includes a first polarity erase magnet and a second polarity erase magnet offset from the first polarity erase magnet. In so doing, the offset between the first polarity er... | 12/01/2009 |
| 7612977 | Electrical supply circuit, switch activating apparatus and method for operating a switch activating apparatus An electric supply circuit is provided for a switch actuating device containing an actuator, an electromagnetic drive for displacing the actuator from a first switching position to a second switching position, and a mechanical return device for returning the actuato... | 11/03/2009 |
| 7567418 | Thermal isolating torque tube A torque tube assembly for transmitting rotational force from a first end to a second end includes a number n of concentric elongate torque tubes, where n is an odd integer greater than or equal to three. The concentric elongate torque tubes are connected for co-rot... | 07/28/2009 |
| 7564670 | Vacuum pump A magnetic bearing system for use in a vacuum pump including a motor provided with a rotary blade. The magnetic bearing system including a rotary shaft rotationally holding said rotor, a motor for rotationally driving said rotary shaft, a magnetic levitation section... | 07/21/2009 |
| 7548406 | Method for utilizing a bulk erase tool to erase perpendicularly recorded media A method for utilizing a bulk erase tool to erase perpendicularly recorded media is provided. A bulk erase tool having a first polarity erase magnet and a second polarity erase magnet is received. An offset is provided between the first polarity erase magnet and the... | 06/16/2009 |
| 7542261 | Device for driving and electromagnet, particularly for operating pumps A device for driving an electromagnet, for operating pumps, including a primary winding and a moving element, power switching electronic means, a control logic unit to control the power switching electronic means and to detect a value of an excitation current. A pow... | 06/02/2009 |
| 7525784 | Magnetic bearing device An electromagnet configured to contactlessly support a body includes an excitation amplifier configured to supply excitation current to the electromagnet, a carrier wave generation device, and a sensor configured to modulate the carrier wave and to output a sensor s... | 04/28/2009 |
| 7525783 | Monitoring method for an actuator and corresponding driver circuit The invention relates to a monitoring method for an actuator (CP), in particular for a piezoelectric actuator (CP) on an injection valve for an internal combustion engine, comprising the following steps: measurement of the electrical current (iR1), flowing th... | 04/28/2009 |
| 7508645 | Method and apparatus for operating a magnetic actuator in a power switching device A method and apparatus for operating a magnetic actuator in a power switching device by transmitting at least two different electrical current waveforms to the actuator. Both waveforms are sent to the actuator from a controller in the same direction to move an actua... | 03/24/2009 |
| 7443648 | Driver for inductive load A driver for an inductive load such as a solenoid coil 92 includes three FETs 4,6,8. Two of the FETs are reversely connected between battery and output terminals 16, 18, and one of the FETs is connected between output and ground terminals 16,... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7433170 | Apparatus and method of controlling the closing action of a contactor A contactor having a separable conduction path, an actuator, a magnetic stator and armature, and a controller, is disclosed. The actuator is in mechanical communication with the separable conduction path, and the magnetic stator and magnetic armature are arranged in... | 10/07/2008 |
| 7433171 | Fast current control of inductive loads A circuit arrangement for the fast dissipation of the stored magnetic energy in an inductive load controlled by a first switch, comprising a high voltage-drop energy dissipation path disposed across the first switch and a second switch by which a constant-voltage di... | 10/07/2008 |
| 7414822 | Current control circuit A current control circuit controls a current from a current drawing circuit to which a primary coil of a transformer is connected. A first N channel transistor has a source connected to the current drawing terminal and has a body diode that directs a current from th... | 08/19/2008 |
| 7403367 | Active vibration insulator An active vibration insulator includes an electromagnetic actuator, a control-signals generating device, a driver, a calculator, and a judging device. The electromagnetic actuator generates vibrating forces depending on electric-current supplies. The control-signals... | 07/22/2008 |
| 7403366 | Control circuit for an electromagnetic drive A control circuit for an electromagnetic drive includes first and second electronic switching elements, which in conjunction with a timing element subject the drive coil to a corresponding direct current in the starting phase or in the maintenance phase. A starting ... | 07/22/2008 |
| 7382598 | Means for controlling a coil arrangement with electrically variable inductance The invention relates to a special control for current-controlled inductors which allows inductance to be varied at a considerably faster rate than is the case in the prior art. The control presented in the invention can be employed for coil arrangements which carry... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7355833 | Magnetic bearing device A magnetic bearing device includes an electromagnet for supporting a member without contact; an excitation amplifier for supplying an excitation current to the electromagnet; a carrier wave generation device for generating a carrier wave; and a sensor device for mod... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7352553 | Magnetic bearing control device A magnetic bearing control device includes a rotation speed sensor for detecting a rotational speed of a rotating member supported on an axial magnetic bearing and a radial magnetic bearing without contact, and a displacement sensor for detecting an axial displaceme... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7352149 | Method for controlling the position of a movable object, a positioning system, and a lithographic apparatus A method of actuating a movable object in a first degree of freedom includes a) providing a first motor assembly including one or more motors of a first type and a second motor assembly including one or more motors of a second type, each of the first and second moto... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7349192 | Method of operating a device for controlling electric actuators with optimum actuation current distribution There is described a method of operating a device (1) controlling electric actuators (3), and having a pair of input terminals (4, 5) connected to an electric energy source (6, 10); a number of pairs of output terminals (7, 8), bet... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7321216 | Motor control apparatus and vehicle steering apparatus using the same This invention provides a motor control apparatus and vehicle steering apparatus capable of determining whether the motor control CPU is normal or abnormal with an inexpensive structure. A monitor circuit 70 of an ECU 50 outputs a trigger signal trg ba... | 01/22/2008 |
| 7312972 | Actuator driving apparatus An actuator driving circuit for driving an electromagnetic actuator, includes a boosting circuit which boosts a source voltage, and a boosted voltage controller which is connected to an output terminal of the boosting circuit, i.e., the downstream of the boosting ci... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7307824 | Magnetic pole insensitive switch circuit A switch which is magnetic pole insensitive is described. The switch includes a Hall effect sensor coupled to a threshold circuit which provides an output signal indicative of the proximity of a magnet, and hence a magnetic field, to the Hall effect sensor regardles... | 12/11/2007 |
| 7280339 | Operating device for inductive electrical actuators A power circuit provided with an operating circuit for each electrical actuator and including a set of switches controlled selectively to regulate the current flowing through the electrical actuator. The operating device includes a control circuit which can cause th... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7275517 | Intake-air control device for internal combustion engine An intake-air control device for an internal combustion engine in which a sensor member can be positioned further accurately is provided. A throttle position sensor includes magnetic field generating means and a magnetic field detecting assembly. The magnetic field ... | 10/02/2007 |