Pivotable shelving system
US Patent 8,333,158
December 18, 2012
A shelving system includes shelves pivotally coupled to stanchions. The shelves are coupled to braces used to support the shelves in a working position. Further, the shelves include recesses for receiving the braces when the shelves are in a stored position. The shelves of the shelving system may be arranged such that all shelves may be moved from the working to stored position without interfering with an adjacent shelf. In one example, the shelves couple to the stanchions with spring loaded barrel bolts and rotate along a common bolt axis.
Location-aware distributed sporting events
US Patent 8,333,643
December 18, 2012
Various embodiments facilitate location-aware distributed competitions. In one embodiment, a system facilitates a distributed sporting event that includes multiple players traveling over courses that are remote from one another. The system includes a manager that receives state information, such as location information, from client devices used by each of the players. The manager then transmits location information for each of the players to the client devices, which are each configured to present a graphical representation, such as a map annotated with the locations of each of the players. The manager asserts a course to each of the players, by providing specific instructions to travel along a particular path. The client devices provide the players with the appearance of competing over the same course, even though they are all actually competing over courses remote from one another.
Single-antenna FM/CW marine radar
US Patent 8,330,651
December 11, 2012
A high resolution, low power marine radar for use in applications such as the newly mandated barge/river radars that are to be used in very confined spaces such as canals. An example radar system includes frequency-modulated/continuous-wave (FM/CW) radar that uses very low transmitter power (a fraction of a watt) and has an exceptionally short sensing range of a few feet or even inches if needed.
Viewing device to minimize parallax
US Patent 8,328,357
December 11, 2012
A viewing device usable by a surgeon to make an accurate corneal mark during an eye surgery procedure may be a face or head-mounted device to free the surgeon’s hands. The device incorporates a light producing apparatus, such as an LED, that may be positioned to be coaxial or otherwise substantially co-aligned with a line-of-sight of the surgeon’s dominant eye, and thus match the patient’s line of sight with the surgeon’s line of sight. The device include polarizing filters that cooperate with the light to minimize or even eliminate parallax viewing of a corneal light reflex by the surgeon’s non-dominant or other eye. Further, the device may also include magnification lenses to enhance the view of the eye as seen by the surgeon.
Cleanable touch and tap-sensitive surface
US Patent 8,325,141
December 4, 2012
A touch sensitive surface having touch-capacitive and vibration sensors. This surface allows the user to rest their fingers on the keys and type as they would on a regular keyboard. As the user places their fingers on the keys, the touch capacitive sensors (one per key) report the signal strength level of each key touched to a processor, but no keystroke is issued by the processor until a corresponding “tap” (ie. vibration) is detected. When a tap is detected, the processor references the status of the touch capacitance sensors before, during, and/or immediately after the moment in time the tap occurred.
Collapsible chair
US Patent 8,322,784
December 4, 2012
A collapsible chair constructed of tubing and fabric that is for use at the beach, camping or outdoors where portability is important to the user. The chair included folding support members that allow the chair to fold up into a small package.
Housings for electronic components
US Patent 8,324,515
December 4, 2012
Housings for electrical or electronic components made using braid or woven fabric sheets having multiple sections treated with different materials as well as processes and materials for making such housings are disclosed.
Systems and methods for predicting locations of weather relative to an aircraft
US Patent 8,319,679
November 27, 2012
Systems and methods for predicting when a weather anomaly (e.g., convective cell) will intersect with an aircraft. Direction of movement and velocity information for at least one weather anomaly are received at a processor from a radar system. An intercept point for the at least one weather anomaly is determined based on the received location, direction of movement and velocity information and location and current speed information for the aircraft. Then, a first indicator based on the intercept point is displayed on a display device.
Offset blade grater
US Patent 8,308,091
November 13, 2012
A food grater having an improved cutting surface in which cutting teeth are configured with cutting edges that are inclined in alternating directions. In various embodiments, the cutting surface is incorporated into a hand-held, box, pyramid, or other grater.
Construction of evidence grid from multiple sensor measurements
US Patent
November 13, 2012
A system includes at least one sensor device configured to transmit a first detection signal over a first spatial region and a second detection signal over a second spatial region. The second region has a first sub-region in common with the first region. The system further includes a processing device configured to assign a first occupancy value to a first cell in an evidence grid. The first cell represents the first sub-region, and the first occupancy value characterizes whether an object has been detected by the first detection signal as being present in the first sub-region. The processing device is further configured to calculate, based on the first and second detection signals, the probability that the first occupancy value accurately characterizes the presence of the object in the first sub-region, and generate a data representation of the first sub-region based on the probability calculation.
