Did You Know...
...that the video game, Pong, was invented by a guy who graduated at the bottom of his engineering class? Nolan Bushnell spent more time running the games at a local amusement park than he did on his studies at the University of Utah. His dreams of working for Disney's amusement empire were dashed when the company wouldn't hire him. Taking a boring job, Nolan daydreamed about electronic versions of popular games. He invented Pong, the first video game, and went on to found Atari Co.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8102734 | High intensity focused ultrasound transducer with acoustic lens A high intensity focused ultrasound transducer includes an ultrasonic emitter having a surface that emits ultrasonic energy along a beam path, at least one low attenuation polymeric ultrasonic lens acoustically coupled to the surface in the beam path of the ultrason... | 01/24/2012 |
| 8059490 | Ultrasonic sensor An ultrasonic sensor having a diaphragm includes a heating element for heating the diaphragm. ... | 11/15/2011 |
| 8040756 | Resonance ultrasonic transducer The present invention provides a resonance ultrasonic transducer. The resonance ultrasonic transducer comprises an ultrasound source for transmitting ultrasound, and a reflecting unit disposed opposite to the ultrasound source. The ultrasound source and the reflecti... | 10/18/2011 |
| 8023360 | Seismic activity detector A system for detecting precursor seismic electromagnetic waveforms includes a transducer connected to the emitter of a transistor and arranged to conduct in response to an electromagnetic seismic precursor. Conduction by the transducer initiates a current in the tra... | 09/20/2011 |
| 8014231 | Digital capacitive membrane transducer A capacitive membrane is used as a digital sensor. Membranes act as binary devices, such as being in a collapsed or non-collapsed state. By providing drum heads (membranes and associated gaps) with different response characteristics, the drum heads of an element dig... | 09/06/2011 |
| 7929377 | Ultrasound sensor, in particular, a motor vehicle ultrasound sensor Ultrasound sensor (2), in particular motor vehicle ultrasound sensor, having a housing (4), having a diaphragm (6) which is mounted in or on a section (12) of the housing (4), and having a decoupling element (10) which exten... | 04/19/2011 |
| 7881157 | Pressure wave generator and production method therefor A pressure wave generator is provided, which has excellent output stability over time. This pressure wave generator comprises a substrate, a heat generating layer, and a heat insulating layer formed between the substrate and the heat generating layer. A pressure wav... | 02/01/2011 |
| 7804742 | Ultrasonic transducer for a proximity sensor An ultrasonic transducer assembly for use in sensing the location of objects in proximity to the transducer. The ultrasonic transducer assembly includes a substrate member, a piezoceramic resonator plate supported on a planar surface of the substrate member adjacent... | 09/28/2010 |
| 7791982 | Impact energy powered golf ball transmitter Electrical power can be generated from impact based energy, such as from a golf ball being struck by a golf club. One or more piezo-electric devices, which are embedded in the core of the golf ball, are stressed by the impact and generate energy. Each piezo-electric... | 09/07/2010 |
| 7599254 | Transducer static discharge methods and apparatus Light exposure may reduce the static charge inside a capacitive membrane transducer. For example, ultraviolet light shines on or in a cell. The light increases the energy of the charge carrier and/or ionizes gas in the cavity, allowing reverse migration or dissipati... | 10/06/2009 |
| 7580323 | Tunable optical assembly with vibration dampening An optical assembly is formed by one or more piezoelectric fiber composite actuators having one or more optical fibers coupled thereto. The optical fiber(s) experiences strain when actuation voltage is applied to the actuator(s). Light passing through the optical fi... | 08/25/2009 |
| 7522474 | Ultrasonic sensor having compressively deformed spring resiliently attaching sensor body and bezel An ultrasonic sensor has a sensor body and a bezel having a metal spring attached on a side wall thereof for installation on a vehicle component. A free end of the metal spring is positioned to protrude from a through hole of the side wall, is pressed by a portion o... | 04/21/2009 |
| 7477572 | Microfabricated capacitive ultrasonic transducer for high frequency applications The invention relates to an electro-acoustic transducer, particularly an ultrasonic transducer, comprising a plurality of electrostatic micro-cells of the cMUT type. The electrostatic micro-cells are arranged in homogeneous groups of micro-cells having the same geom... | 01/13/2009 |
| 7474590 | Pressure wave generator and process for manufacturing the same Even when compression stress is generated because a volume of a thermal insulation layer 2 is expanded due to oxidized by oxygen in the air, occurrence of cracks and fractures of the thermal insulation layer and a heating conductor 3 caused by the crac... | 01/06/2009 |
| 7428187 | Ultrasonic sensor A structure is used to prevent an ultrasonic sensor from being damaged by a spring member provided for a bezel. A metal spring is fixed in a groove in a bezel. By setting depth of the groove to be larger than thickness of the metal spring, the metal spring is positi... | 09/23/2008 |
| 7372777 | Sonic instrumentation apparatus and method for cement bond logging A longitudinally segmented acoustic transducer for a cement bond logging (CBL) tool having a plurality of adjoining PZT ring-like segments driven synchronously in parallel by one or more pulses and caused to vibrate in an anti-resonant mode, substantially below the ... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7368852 | Electrically conductive matching layers and methods Matching layers are provided, including: electrically conductive acoustic matching layers, methods for conducting electric current through matching layers, methods for manufacturing multi-dimensional arrays using conductive matching layers, and multi-dimensional arr... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7363811 | Measurement pickup A measurement pickup is provided offering a high measure of safety and having a measurement pickup housing, a sensor element arranged in the measurement pickup, at least one connection element closing the measurement pickup housing, and an excess-pressure protection... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7360427 | Coupling element with varying wall thickness for an ultrasound probe An ultrasonic probe is provided in which an elongate array of transducers is disposed within an elongate coupling element which is mounted for rotation about an axle. The profile of the coupling element is chosen so as to provide a substantially uniform contact forc... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7355322 | Ultrasonic transducer, ultrasonic speaker and method of driving and controlling ultrasonic transducer An ultrasonic transducer including: a fixed electrode; a vibrating film placed opposite to a surface of the fixed electrode and having a conducting layer; a member that holds the fixed electrode and vibrating film; the fixed electrode including a driving-use fixed e... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7350522 | Scanning method for applying ultrasonic acoustic data to the human neural cortex A method for creating sensory experiences operates by scanning the acoustical signal across the human neural cortex to create the desired sensory perceptions. The acoustic signal is scanned in a predetermined pattern. The pattern is then modified to fill in spaces i... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7349293 | Pressure control apparatus and rotation drive mechanism A pressure control apparatus according to the present invention is comprised of a magnetostrictive element section disposed between respective one ends of rotating rods which have the one ends thereof arranged on the same axis in a state connected to each other such... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7348712 | Ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus An ultrasonic probe includes ultrasonic piezoelectric elements that are arranged in a first direction at predetermined intervals and transmit and receive ultrasonic waves in a second direction substantially orthogonal to the first direction. The respective ultrasoni... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7336454 | Magnetoresistance effect device having a bi-crystal structure composed of main grains each having a plurality of sub-grains A base film of a hard magnetic film containing Co as a structural element has a crystal metal base film such as a Cr film formed on the main surface of a substrate and a reactive base film (mixing layer) formed between the substrate and the crystal metal base film a... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7332850 | Microfabricated ultrasonic transducers with curvature and method for making the same The present invention provides a microfabricated ultrasonic transducers with curvature. The curvature is made possible by thinning the substrate such that it is flexible enough to be mounted on an assembly with the desired curvature. In one aspect of the invention, ... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7332848 | Method of damping actuator and actuator An actuator includes a piezoelectric element, and a displacement enlargement mechanism which has a movable portion configured to be displaced as the piezoelectric element is displaced and enlarges an amount of displacement of the piezoelectric element. A restraint m... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7328497 | Incremental tuning process for electrical resonators based on mechanical motion A method is provided for adjusting the resonant frequency of a mechanical resonator whose frequency is dependent on the overall resonator thickness. Alternating selective etching is used to remove distinct adjustment layers from a top electrode. One of the electrode... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7327637 | Acoustic pulse actuator The invention provides an acoustic actuator, including an acoustic stress wave generator and an actuation material operatively positioned relative to the acoustic stress wave generator for delivery of acoustic stress waves from the generator to the actuation materia... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7325781 | Automatic bathroom flushers with modular design A bathroom flusher includes a flusher body, a valve assembly, an electronic control system, and a flusher cover. The flusher body includes an inlet and an outlet, and is designed to accommodate the valve assembly that controls water flow between the inlet and the ou... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7324096 | Touch panel device A plurality of excitation elements, each including an IDT and a piezoelectric film, for exciting, respectively, surface acoustic waves, each having a unique center frequency, are formed on one end of a non-piezoelectric substrate, a plurality of receiving elements, ... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7323807 | Multilayer electronic component A multilayer electronic component comprises a plurality of matrix layers and a plurality of inner electrodes. The matrix layers and inner electrodes are alternately laminated. The plurality of inner electrodes include first electrodes and second electrodes opposing ... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7313960 | Ultrasonic sensor assembly An ultrasonic sensor assembly includes an ultrasonic sensor apparatus, a holding member and a spring arrangement. The spring arrangement includes two spring portions, which are connected together by a connecting portion. The spring portions are partially secured to ... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7312556 | Ultrasonic probe and manufacturing process thereof The invention relates to an ultrasonic probe in which the array accuracy of lead wires, and heat resistance when connecting to a connector are enhanced, and a manufacturing method therefor. The ultrasonic probe of the invention is one in which a plurality of piezoel... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7309397 | Process for the manufacture of piezoceramic multilayer actuators A block of stacked green films provided with internal electrodes is laminated, at least one actuator is separated from the block, the actuator obtains its shape by means of a machining operation, is then sintered, and the sinter skin produced by the sintering is use... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7309942 | Piezoelectric transducer systems A transducer assembly has a generally planar resonator (12) (such as a disc) bonded on one face to a sheet of piezoelectric material (12B) and having a mounting flange (12C) (which may extend all around the periphery of the resonator) to mount t... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7309947 | Piezoelectric transducer including a plurality of piezoelectric members A piezoelectric transducer for an ultrasonic scan is provided. The transducer includes a plurality of piezoelectric members arrayed. The plurality of piezoelectric members have different compositions parts in a slice direction so that an ultrasonic beam is focused i... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7309948 | Ultrasonic transducer and method of manufacturing the same An ultrasonic transducer in which electrodes can be easily and positively joined to a multiplicity of micro-fabricated vibrators and electric wiring can be easily and positively provided. The ultrasonic transducer has a vibrator arrangement having vibrators provided... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7293462 | Isolation of short-circuited sensor cells for high-reliability operation of sensor array A device comprising an array of sensors and a multiplicity of bus lines, each sensor being electrically connected to a respective bus line and comprising a respective multiplicity of groups of micromachined sensor cells, the sensor cell groups of a particular sensor... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7290454 | Pressure flow sensor systems and pressure flow sensors for use therein A differential pressure flow sensor system comprises a disposable flow sensor which has upstream and downstream pressure sensing devices for detecting a differential pressure in a flow channel. Each sensing device comprises a diaphragm, a capacitor and an inductor e... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7288069 | Ultrasonic probe and method of manufacturing the same An ultrasonic probe is characterized in that a piezoelectric member 111 formed of solution-based single-crystal containing at least plumbum titanate is sandwiched between resin layers 113 and 115 having smaller acoustic impedance than the piezoe... | 10/30/2007 |
