Locking differential with shear pin/spring assembly
US Patent 8,117,946
February 21, 2012
A clutch assembly for a locking differential includes driving clutch members engaged with driven clutch members in a preloaded configuration to provide a minimum amount of preload there between during low torque conditions. The driving clutch members are biased relative to each other with shear pin/spring assemblies located within bores of the driving clutch members. During assembly of the clutch assembly, the shear pin/spring assemblies may be positively locked down within the bores with a removable tool. In one embodiment, the removable tool is inserted into a small opening extending through the driving clutch member and the tool engages an annular groove on a shear pin of the shear pin/spring assembly. Further, the clutch assembly may include driving clutch members having drainage openings that may help prevent hydraulic lock during operation of the locking differential.
Multi-mode viewer control for viewing a series of statistical values
US Patent 8,117,557
February 14, 2012
Methods, systems, and techniques for presenting a series of values of statistical data using numeric data and interpretive information are provided. Example embodiments provide a stat viewer control that allows a user to toggle seamlessly between a numeric view of the data and an interpreted view, the interpreted view presenting value judgments associated with the data. In one embodiment, the interpreted view is based at least in part upon one or more rules for interpreting the numeric data as belonging to one or more zones, each zone corresponding to a background emanating from a ring of an archery target representation. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract, and it is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.
Rotary grater
US Patent D653,918
February 14, 2012
The ornamental design for the rotary grater, as shown.
Method for providing an efficient thermal transfer through a printed circuit board
US Patent 8,112,884
February 14, 2012
A method of heat sinking a surface mount device (SMD) component. In an example method through holes are formed in a printed circuit board (PCB), a first copper layer is electroless plated in the holes, a second copper layer is standard plated in the holes and surrounding surfaces of the PCB, a third copper layer is masked and pulse plated in the holes, the holes are filled with non-conductive material and then is sanded flush with the second copper layer. A fourth copper layer electroless plated on the PCB over the area of the holes, a fifth copper layer (or pad) plated on the PCB over the area of the holes, and a surface mount device is attached to the fifth copper layer.
Systems for infering hail and lightning using an airborne weather radar volumetric buffer
US Patent 8,111,186
February 7, 2012
A weather radar system for improving output of potential lightning and hail weather conditions. An exemplary system includes a processor that receives and stores the weather radar reflectivity values into a three-dimensional buffer, receives an outside air temperature value, and determines freezing level based on the received outside air temperature value. The processor generates lightning icon(s) when a reflectivity value stored at cell(s) of the three-dimensional buffer above determined freezing level is greater than a first threshold amount. Also, the processor adds 1.6 km to the determined freezing level
Vehicle position keeping system
US Patent 8,108,133
January 31, 2012
Vehicle position keeping systems and methods. The system reduces vehicle congestion by maintaining a position of a first vehicle relative to a second vehicle, determining guidance corrections based on a track state referenced to the second vehicle that take into account a tracking position error indicative of the error in the position of the first vehicle. The guidance corrections maintain desired spacing between the first vehicle and at least the second vehicle.
Business card and contact management system
US Patent 8,108,240
January 31, 2012
An Internet (or World-Wide-Web or other such public or private network) based business card and contact management system capable of conveying and managing advertising as well as traditional and other non-traditional business contact information. The invention is a system that: (1) accepts a Universal Contact Locator (UCL) as encoded on a business card in man and/or machine readable format and, when the Universal Contact Locator (UCL) is entered into a client program running on a client computer, (2) causes a web browser (or like program) and associated communications software to establish a communications session with a remote server computer which (3) accesses the stored contact and advertisement and news information of the card issuer associated with the Universal Contact Locator and (4) downloads the business contact and/or personal contact information and targeted advertisements and news items associated with the Universal Contact Locator to a client program running on a client computer which (5) loads the contact data into the Contact Management or Personal Information Management (PIM) system of the users choosing running on the users client computer and (6) stores the advertisements and news items downloaded from the server computer on the client computer’s secondary storage device (i.e. hard disk) and (7) causes the advertisements and news items stored on the client computer’s secondary storage device to be displayed to the user on a predetermined schedule in a portion of the client computer’s output device (i.e. CRT or LCD panel).
Systems and methods for adjusting landing gear alert envelope for offshore platforms
US Patent 8,098,176
January 17, 2012
Systems and methods for improving landing gear alerting on a rotary wing aircraft. An example system includes a user interface device that allows a user to set a bug altitude value and a radio altimeter that produces an altitude value, both of which are in communication with a processor. The processor receives a bug altitude setting, generates a landing gear alert altitude value based on the received bug altitude setting and a predefined additive, receives a radio altitude value for the rotary-wing aircraft, and generates a landing gear alert if the radio altitude value is less than the landing gear alert altitude value and the landing gear is not in a landing position. An output device in signal communication with the processor, outputs the generated landing gear alert.
Double clad fiber and fiber end processing method, and fiber-combiner connecting structure
US Patent 8,094,986
January 10, 2012
A double clad fiber includes a core, a first cladding provided so as to cover the core, and a second cladding provided so as to cover the first cladding. The second cladding has a plurality of pores extending in a length direction and arranged so as to surround the first cladding. In at least one fiber end, the second cladding has been removed by mechanical processing so that the at least one fiber end is formed by the core and the first cladding.
Mandoline slicer
US Patent D651,483
January 3, 2012
The ornamental design for the mandoline slicer, as shown.
