Electricity: measuring and testing inventions 09/08

20080231253 - Cumulative chemical/physical phenomenon detecting apparatus: A sensitivity of a cumulative chemical/physical phenomenon detecting apparatus is improved. Prior to transferring charges at a sensing section to a floating diffusion section, the charges remaining at the sensing section are removed from the sensing section by a potential barrier formed between the sensing section and a charge injection... Agent: Matthew K. Ryan Frommer Lawrence & Haug

20080231254 - Spectrum analyzer, spectrum analysis method and recording medium: A spectrum analyzer that measures a signal component for every frequency of an input signal includes a local signal generating section generating a local signal having a designated frequency, a multiplying section outputting a synthesized signal obtained by multiplying the local signal with the input signal, a band-pass filter through... Agent: Jianq Chyun Intellectual Property Office

20080231255 - Three-phase current sensor: A three-phase current sensor for measuring currents (IPH1, IPH2, IPH3) running in three conductors of a three-phase conductor system comprises a first magnetic measuring device (D1) and a second magnetic measuring device (D3). Each magnetic measuring device comprises a magnetic circuit provided with at least two interleaf gaps and a... Agent: Baker & Daniels LLP

20080231256 - Removable front panel control for oscilloscope: A test and measurement apparatus is provided including a control panel. The control panel is removable and user-replaceable with an alternate control panel. The control panel can be connected to the test and measurement apparatus or to a generic local computing device to control and interact with the test and... Agent: Lecroy Corporation

20080231257 - Method and apparatus for measuring the voltage of a power source: Various concepts and techniques are disclosed for measuring the voltage of a power source. An apparatus includes a voltage metering circuit and a transformer having a first winding coupled to the voltage metering circuit and a second winding for coupling to a power source.... Agent: Mcdermott Will & Emery LLP

20080231259 - Interlocking electrical test probes: A pair of interlocking electrical test probes, each probe having an interlocking end which mates or can be easily joined together with the other's end such that the pair of test probes can be operable with one hand when their respective interlocking ends are joined together. The pair of interlocking... Agent: Ralph E. Deflorio

20080231258 - Stiffening connector and probe card assembly incorporating same: A stiffening connector assembly and methods of use are provided herein. In some embodiments a stiffening connector assembly includes a connector configured to be coupled to a substrate; and a mechanism coupled to the connector and configured to restrict rotational movement of the connector with respect to the substrate when... Agent: MoserIPLaw Group / Formfactor, Inc.

20080231260 - Pusher for match plate of test handler: A pusher for a match plate of a test handler is disclosed which assists a tester to test the produced semiconductor devices. The pusher includes: a body part installed to an installation plate; and a pushing part that extends forward from a front side of the body part, for pushing... Agent: JeffersonIPLaw, LLP

20080231263 - Distance, orientation and velocity measurement using multi-coil and multi-frequency arrangement: The present invention relates to the field of orientation measurement by a magnetic field generating apparatus and a magnetic field receiver apparatus by using one or more coils, respectively. Said coils transmit or receive at least one magnetic field being modulated by a frequency, respectively; thereby said apparatus provides a... Agent: Oblon, Spivak, Mcclelland Maier & Neustadt, P.C.

20080231261 - Hall-type sensor for measuring linear movements: A Hall-effect sensor assembly (1) for measuring linear movements and a Hall-effect sensor (3) as well as at least one magnet (4) that moves relative to the Hall-effect sensor (3) or vice versa, where according to the invention two magnets (4 and 5) are provided at a predetermined spacing and... Agent: K.f. Ross P.C.

20080231262 - Indicator element for a magnetic rotation angle sensor: An indicator element for a magnetic rotation angle sensor having a field probe for generating a sensor signal in response to a geometric position of the indicator element relative to the field probe is disclosed. The indicator element has a permanent magnet with an annular cross-section having a plurality of... Agent: Barley Snyder, LLC

20080231264 - System and method for magnetic tracking of a sensor for interventional device localization: A system and method for determining the location of a remote object using a magnetic tracking sensor. The system and method include locating a magnetic core (132) asymmetrically disposed within an induction coil (130) and operably connecting a single DC electrical circuit (136) to ends defining the induction coil (130).... Agent: Philips Intellectual Property & Standards

20080231265 - Position detector with tilt sensor: A scale section is made of a magnetic material. A repeated pattern is recorded at a uniform pitch on the surface of the scale section. A sensor section is provided independently from the scale section. The sensor section is provided with a magnetic position sensor that reads the pattern, on... Agent: Osha Liang L.L.P.

20080231266 - Absolute encoder: A printed circuit board on which are laid out detection windings and an excitation magnetic flux detection winding formed of conductor patterns is disposed so as to be spaced a predetermined gap quantity from a binary cyclic random number sequence code plate which is rotatably disposed. A U-shaped exciting core... Agent: Osha Liang L.L.P.

20080231267 - Liquid level detecting device: A liquid level detecting device includes a rotative member having a bearing portion and a stationary member having an axis portion. The axis portion is fitted to a hole of the bearing portion, thereby rotatably holding the rotative member. The rotative member is integrated with a displacement member. The stationary... Agent: Nixon & Vanderhye, PC

20080231268 - Imaging method based on fractal surface-filling or space-filling curves: The present invention relates to an imaging method and device for nuclear magnetic resonance. On the one hand, the method provides an image coding by means of an additional field which has, for each point of a two-dimensional grating surface within the sample, a different field strength value that occurs... Agent: Pearne & Gordon LLP

20080231271 - Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and magnetic resonance imaging method: An MRI apparatus includes an imaging signal acquisition unit, a motion signal acquisition unit, a motion amount determination unit, a motion correction unit and an image reconstruction unit. The imaging signal acquisition unit acquires MR signals as imaging signals. The motion signal acquisition unit repetitively acquires MR signals having PE... Agent: Nixon & Vanderhye, PC

20080231269 - Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, magnetic-resonance imaging maintenance apparatus, magnetic-resonance imaging maintenance system, and magnetic-resonance apparatus inspecting method: A real-time system changes a combination of coil elements and channel assignations for each echo by using a pulse sequence, and collects data without performing phase encoding. A host system then calculates a correlation value of data reconstructed for each channel and reference data. When the correlation value is smaller... Agent: Nixon & Vanderhye, PC

20080231270 - Method for adjustment of a b1 field of a magnetic resonance apparatus: In a method for adjustment of a B1 field in a magnetic resonance apparatus, the position of the measurement subject relative to a coordinate system is determined from a plurality of measurement subjects with a morphological magnetic resonance measurement. Three-dimensionally associable measurement subject data are determined from the measurement subject.... Agent: Schiff Hardin, LLP Patent Department

20080231272 - Magnetic resonance imager:

20080231273 - Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, magnetic resonance imaging method and sensitivity distribution measuring apparatus: A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus which executes a scan for allowing an RF coil unit to transmit RF pulses to an imaging area of a subject in a static magnetic filed space and allowing the RF coil unit to acquire magnetic resonance signals generated in the imaging area, includes: a... Agent: Patrick W. Rasche (20459) Armstrong Teasdale LLP

20080231275 - Magnetic resonance method and apparatus for automatically determining objects that attenuate penetrating radiation: In a method and an apparatus for automatic determination of objects that attenuate high energy/penetrating radiation by magnetic resonance, the magnetic resonance apparatus scans and prepares MR images, and the MR images contain information about the T2 relaxation time constant. Subsequently, penetrating radiation-attenuating objects are determined in the MR images... Agent: Schiff Hardin, LLP Patent Department

20080231274 - Method to control a magnetic resonance system: In a method for controlling a magnetic resonance system having a radio-frequency antenna structure and a number of individually controllable transmission channels, respective parallel radio-frequency signals are emitted via the transmission channels for generation of a desired radio-frequency field distribution in at least one specific volume region within an examination... Agent: Schiff Hardin, LLP Patent Department

20080231276 - Magnetic resonance system with radio-frequency shield with frequency-dependent shielding effect: A magnetic resonance system has a basic magnet that generates a static basic magnetic field in an examination volume, and a whole-body antenna that emits a homogeneous radio-frequency field in the examination volume, the homogeneous radio-frequency field exhibiting an excitation frequency so that nuclei in an examination subject in the... Agent: Schiff Hardin, LLP Patent Department

20080231280 - Magnetic resonance apparatus, method and auxilliary coil element for manipulation of the b1 field: In a method and arrangement for local manipulation of a B1 field in a first region of an examination subject in an examination volume of a magnetic resonance system, a B1 measurement value that represents the B1 field in the sub-volume during an adjustment measurement is integrally determined, and in... Agent: Schiff Hardin, LLP Patent Department

20080231277 - Nmr spectrometer: The present invention provides a highly-sensitive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer which achieves a high Q factor using a superconductor, and concurrently which is provided with a probe antenna maintaining the magnetic homogeneity of the static magnetic field in a sample space. An antenna coil is fabricated by using a... Agent: Reed Smith LLP Suite 1400

20080231278 - Radio-frequency coil and magnetic resonance imaging apparatus: A radio-frequency coil has a first element and a second element both being adjacently arranged so as to nip a division/join portion. The first element has a first main loop portion provided along an arrangement plain surface and a first sub-loop portion provided along a surface substantially perpendicular to the... Agent: Nixon & Vanderhye, PC

20080231279 - Rf coil and magnetic resonance imaging apparatus: An RF coil includes: a first loop coil element including a first plane closed by a first coil line; and a second loop coil element including a second plane closed by a second coil line, in which part of said first plane and part of said second plane face each... Agent: Patrick W. Rasche (20459) Armstrong Teasdale LLP

20080231282 - On-coil switched mode amplifier for parallel transmission in mri: Example systems, apparatus, circuits, and so on described herein concern parallel transmission in MRI. One example apparatus includes at least two field effect transistors (FETs) that are connected by a coil that includes an LC (inductance-capacitance) leg. The apparatus includes a controller that inputs a digital signal to the FETs... Agent: Kraguljac & Kalnay

20080231281 - Rf coil assembly and method for practicing magnetization transfer on magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy systems: An RF coil assembly for an MRI system includes a resonator formed by a cylindrical shield and pairs of opposing conductive legs disposed symmetrically around a central axis and extending the axial length of the shield. One set of conductive leg pairs is tuned to operate at the Larmor frequency... Agent: Quarles & Brady LLP

20080231283 - Multi-frequency cancellation of dielectric effect: Measurements made with an induction logging tool are responsive to formation conductivity and permittivity. The effect of permittivity can be substantially removed by multifrequency focusing.... Agent: Madan, Mossman & Sriram, P.C.

20080231284 - Method and device for detdermining the ageing of a battery: Disclosed is a method for determining the ageing (SoH) of a battery (1, 2), such as a lead battery, a nickel metal hydride battery, a lithium ion battery or a capacitor for a vehicle. Several parameters (5.1 to 5.n) of the battery (1, 2) are detected or determined and two... Agent: Continental Teves, Inc.

20080231285 - Trailer lighting, control and signaling circuits tester: An electronic circuit tester is disclosed which is utilized for the testing and troubleshooting of the various lighting, control and signaling circuits required in the towing of a trailer, vehicle or other conveyance. The tester generally comprises an enclosure, which may be included as a part of a wiring harness... Agent: Quickpatents, Inc.

20080231286 - Wire abnormality detecting device: A sensor switch 111a connected to a constant voltage Vc via a breeder resistor 114a and dropper diodes 112a and 113a is connected to a microprocessor 120 that configures a wire abnormality detecting device 100, and the electric potential of the connection point between the dropper diodes 112a and 113a... Agent: Sughrue Mion, PLLC

20080231287 - Evaluation board and failure location detection method: An evaluation board, on which is mounted a chip to be evaluated is provided. Particularly, the evaluation board includes a monitoring window for monitoring a power supply part, a ground part, and a surface of the chip, a first signal input part for inputting signals to the chip, and a... Agent: Westerman, Hattori, Daniels & Adrian, LLP

20080231288 - Semiconductor package having projected substrate: A semiconductor package includes a bare chip which has a plurality of external electrodes, a land grid array substrate having an edge, a first surface and a second surface. The first surface includes a first portion apart from the edge and a second portion adjacent to the edge. The first... Agent: Mcginn Intellectual Property Law Group, PLLC

20080231289 - Clamping apparatus and a system and method for detecting defects in electrical wiring: A wire diagnostic clamp including a clamp body configured to receive multiple electrical wires is provided. The wire diagnostic clamp also includes a sensor disposed within the clamp body and being configured to detect a defect in the multiple electrical wires. The wire diagnostic clamp further includes a mounting component... Agent: General Electric Company Global Research

20080231290 - Capacitive position sensor: A capacitive position sensor has a periodic array of electrodes which form capacitors between pairs of the electrodes. The location of a dielectric inhomogeneity in the vicinity of the sensor is determined by comparison of the relative change in the capacitance of the capacitors. The comparison may be carried out... Agent: Alston & Bird LLP

20080231291 - Capacitive distance sensing in semiconductor processing tools: A sensor for sensing a gap between the sensor and an object of interest within a semiconductor processing chamber is provided. The sensor includes a housing, a power source inside the housing, wireless communication circuitry, a controller, measurement circuitry and a plurality of capacitive plate pairs. The controller and wireless... Agent: Christopher R. Christenson C/o Westman, Champlin & Kelly, P.A.

20080231292 - Device and method for capacitive measurement by a floating bridge: A device for capacitive measurement by a floating bridge, including: a sensor module including at least one measuring electrode and at least one guard electrode arranged close to a target connected to a general earth, at least one integrated circuit for capacitive measurement, provided with a guard to which the... Agent: Greer, Burns & Crain

20080231293 - Device and method for electrical contacting for testing semiconductor devices: A device and method for electrical contacting for the testing of semiconductor devices is disclosed. One embodiment provides for the electrical connection of the semiconductor device with a test system, including devices for the contacting of connection pins or contact pads of the semiconductor device to be tested. The devices... Agent: Dicke, Billig & Czaja

20080231294 - Structural health monitoring circuit: A structural health monitoring circuit apparatus and method are based on electrical impedance variations of a piezoelectric patch, which is attached to a structure to be monitored. The circuit compares a known good sweep of frequency-impedance pairs with a contemporaneous sweep to generate an alarm when an error bound is... Agent: John P. O'banion O'banion & Ritchey LLP

20080231295 - Device and method for electrical contacting semiconductor devices for testing: A device and method are disclosed for electrical contacting of semiconductor devices for testing. One embodiment provides for testing semiconductor devices or integrated circuits, including a probe card with contact tips for the electrical contacting of the semiconductor devices. The electrical connection of at least one contact tip to the... Agent: Dicke, Billig & Czaja

20080231296 - Test apparatus for the testing of electronic components: In the case of a test apparatus for testing electronic components which are present in an assembly, in particular in the form of strips, a slide-like contacting board supporting device (28), to which the contacting board (22) can be fastened, is mounted on the test head (15), wherein the contacting... Agent: Nixon & Vanderhye, PC

20080231297 - Method for calibrating semiconductor device tester: A method for calibrating a semiconductor device tester is disclosed. In accordance with method of the present invention, a timing is calibrated using a programmable delay device and calibration boards so as to remove a timing difference between channels and compensate a linearity of the programmable delay device for an... Agent: Sughrue Mion, PLLC

20080231298 - Inspection apparatus and method: An inspection apparatus for inspecting electrical characteristics of an inspection target object includes a movable mounting table for mounting the inspection target object thereon, a probe card disposed above the mounting table, and one or more displacement sensors, provided at one or more location of the mounting table, each of... Agent: Oblon, Spivak, Mcclelland Maier & Neustadt, P.C.

20080231301 - Inspection apparatus: An inspection apparatus includes a mounting table movable in X and Y directions and an alignment mechanism which performs an alignment of a target object placed on the mounting table. Further, the alignment mechanism includes an image pickup device which is movable in either one of the X and Y... Agent: Oblon, Spivak, Mcclelland Maier & Neustadt, P.C.

20080231300 - Method for detecting tip position of probe, alignment method, apparatus for detecting tip position of probe and probe apparatus: An probe tip position detecting method detects tip positions of a plurality of probes by using a tip position detecting device including a sensor unit for detecting tips of the probes and a movable contact body belonging to the sensor unit, the method used in inspecting electrical characteristics of an... Agent: Oblon, Spivak, Mcclelland Maier & Neustadt, P.C.

20080231299 - Vacuum chamber with two-stage longitudinal translation for circuit board testing: A circuit board tester that uses a dual-stage translation to bring a unit under test (UUT) into physical and electric contact first with a series of tall probes, then with a series of short probes. Initially, the UUT is mounted on a support plate, and spaced apart from both the... Agent: Altera Law Group, LLC

20080231302 - Wafer translator having metallization pattern providing high density interdigitated contact pads for component: A metallization pattern for a wafer translator provides a high density layout of interdigitated contact pads, suitable for component placement, along with larger contact pads suitable for connection to external equipment terminals. In another aspect, electrically conductive material may be added to, or removed from, the high density layout of... Agent: Raymond J. Werner

20080231304 - Apparatus and method for controlling temperature in a chuck system: An apparatus and method of controlling the temperature of a thermal chuck system are disclosed. The system includes a temperature controller which controls a temperature transition in a thermal chuck. The temperature controller comprises inputs that receive air and fluid from an air source and water source, respectively, and an... Agent: Mills & Onello LLP

20080231303 - Semiconductor device for electrical contacting semiconductor devices: A semiconductor device with a number of contact pads for the electrical contacting of the semiconductor device is disclosed. A padding layer, which is manufactured of a hard material, is provided at least partially below an upper layer of the contact pads.... Agent: Dicke, Billig & Czaja

20080231305 - Contact carriers (tiles) for populating larger substrates with spring contacts: An interconnection apparatus and a method of forming an interconnection apparatus. Contact structures are attached to or formed on a first substrate. The first substrate is attached to a second substrate, which is larger than the first substrate. Multiple such first substrates may be attached to the second substrate in... Agent: N. Kenneth Burraston Kirton & Mcconkie

20080231306 - Integrated circuit burn-in test system and associated methods: An integrated circuit burn-in test system includes an integrated circuit and a tester. The integrated circuit includes operating circuitry, a heater for heating the operating circuitry, and burn-in test circuitry for testing the operating circuitry while being heated. A package surrounds the operating circuitry, the heater and the burn-in test... Agent: Stmicroelectronics, Inc

20080231310 - Flexible on chip testing circuit for i/o's characterization: The present invention provides a flexible on-chip testing circuit and methodology for measuring I/O characterization of multiple I/O structures. The testing circuit includes a register bank, a central processing controller (CPC), a character slew module, a delay characterization module, and a character frequency module. The register bank stores multiple instructions,... Agent: Stmicroelectronics Inc. C/o Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C.

20080231309 - Performance board and cover member: A performance board which is attached to a semiconductor test apparatus and on which devices under test are mounted is provided. The performance board includes: a substrate; sockets which are attached to the surface of the substrate and on which devices under test are mounted; and an adiathermic cover member... Agent: Jianq Chyun Intellectual Property Office

20080231311 - Physically highly secure multi-chip assembly: A physically secure processing assembly is provided that includes dies mounted on a substrate so as to sandwich the electrical contacts of the dies between the dies and the substrate. The substrate is provided with substrate contacts and conductive pathways that are electrically coupled to the die contacts and extend... Agent: Fleit, Kain, Gibbons, Gutman, Bongini & Bianco P.l.

20080231312 - Structure for modeling stress-induced degradation of conductive interconnects: A structure representative of a conductive interconnect of a microelectronic element is provided, which may include a conductive metallic plate having an upper surface, a lower surface, and a plurality of peripheral edges extending between the upper and lower surfaces, the upper surface defining a horizontally extending plane. The structure... Agent: International Business Machines Corporation Dept. 18g

20080231308 - Sub-sampling of weakly-driven nodes: A method and apparatus for performing on-chip voltage sampling of a weakly-driven node of a semiconductor device are disclosed. In some embodiments, the node is a floating node or is capacitively-driven. In some embodiments, it is involved in proximity-based communication. Sampling the node may include isolating the signal to be... Agent: Robert C. Kowert Meyertons, Hood, Kivlin, Kowert & Goetzel, P.C.

20080231307 - Testing method using a scalable parametric measurement macro: Disclosed are testing method embodiments in which, during post-manufacture testing, parametric measurements are taken from on-chip parametric measurement elements and used to optimize manufacturing in-line parametric control learning and/or to optimize product screening processes. Specifically, these post-manufacture parametric measurements can be used to disposition chips without shipping out non-conforming products,... Agent: Frederick W. Gibb, Iii Gibb & Rahman, LLC

20080224686 - System and method for remotely identifying a connected rf cable: A system and method is provided for identifying, among a plurality of cables having respective first and second cable end portions, a connected cable connected to a selected antenna without interrupting service thereof. A signal emitter is connected to the respective first cable end portion, proximal the selected antenna, of... Agent: Franz Bonsang C/o Protections Equinox Int'l Inc.

20080224687 - Method and apparatus for monitoring fuel cells: Methods and apparatus are provided for monitoring a coolant conductivity of a fuel cell supplying power via positive and negative buses. The method includes measuring a first voltage of the positive bus, measuring a second voltage of the negative bus, applying a resistance between the positive bus and a reference... Agent: General Motors Corporation Legal Staff

20080224688 - Volumetric induction phase shift detection system for determining tissue water content properties: A method of determining the condition of a bulk tissue sample, by: positioning a bulk tissue sample between a pair of induction coils (or antennae); passing a spectrum of alternating current (or voltage) through a first of the induction coils (or antennae); measuring spectrum of alternating current (or voltage) produced... Agent: Gordon & Rees LLP

20080224689 - Phase measurement device using inphase and quadrature components for phase estimation: A phasemeter for estimating the phase of a signal. For multi-tone signals, multiple phase estimates may be provided. An embodiment includes components operating in the digital domain, where a sampled input signal is multiplied by cosine and sine terms to provide estimates of the inphase and quadrature components. The quadrature... Agent: Seth Kalson C/o Intellevate, LLC

20080224690 - Embedded directional power sensing: A module incorporates power sensors coupled to a through line through directional couplers, all of which are mounted on a board within a housing, for measuring transmitted and received power of a system under test.... Agent: Agilent Technologies Inc.

20080224691 - Method for testing rotation speed of fan: An exemplary method for testing rotating speed of a fan, includes the following steps: coupling a fan and a resistor in series to a power supply; coupling an oscilloscope in parallel with the resistor; plotting voltage across the resistor on a screen of the oscilloscope, and obtaining the period of... Agent: PCe Industry, Inc. Att. Cheng-ju Chiang

20080224692 - Method and apparatus for position detection: A relative position of two articles is determined by generating a magnetic field using a magnetic element of a first article and determining a first measurement value and a second measurement value using a sensor arrangement of a second article, with the first and the second measurement values correlated to... Agent: Harness Dickey And Pierce PLC

20080224693 - Abnormality detection apparatus for rotary type absolute encoder: In order to cope with many rotor diameters using a single type of stator portion, two stator portions, each having a built-in signal processing circuit for detecting absolute positions independently, are disposed in opposition at positions which differ from each other with respect to a rotational center of a rotor... Agent: Osha Liang L.L.P.

20080224694 - Semiconductor component and method for testing such a component: A semiconductor component on a semiconductor chip comprises at least one sensor element for measuring a physical quantity and an evaluator. The semiconductor component can be switched between a first and a second operating mode. In the first operating mode, the sensor element is sensitive to the physical quantity to... Agent: The Webb Law Firm, P.C.

20080224695 - Method of measuring a weak magnetic field and magnetic field sensor of improved sensitivity: A magnetic field sensor comprises a magnetoresistive element (10) biased with a current (i) in order to measure an external magnetic field (Hext). A magnetic modulation field (Hm) is applied to a sensitive region of said sensor and the sensor comprises a synchronous detection device (14) for measuring the amplitude... Agent: Lowe Hauptman & Berner, LLP

20080224696 - Nuclear quadrupole resonance logging tool and methods for imaging therewith: An instrument for investigating properties of an earth formation includes a body housing a nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) probe, the probe having at least one coil wound around a core material and an electronics coupling, the body being adapted for insertion into a wellbore within the earth formation. A method... Agent: Cantor Colburn LLP- Baker Atlas

20080224697 - Method and apparatus for enhanced magnetic preparation in mr imaging: The present invention provides a system and method of enhanced magnetic preparation in MR imaging. An imaging technique is disclosed such that k-space is segmented into a number of partitions, wherein the central regions of k-space is acquired prior to the periphery of k-space. The imaging technique also includes the... Agent: Ziolkowski Patent Solutions Group, Sc (gems)

20080224698 - Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and magnetic resonance imaging method: a scan device which executes the mask scan and the imaging scan, wherein upon execution of the mask scan, the scan device repeatedly executes scans for transmitting a spatial saturation pulse to a corresponding area containing the fluid flowing into the imaging area and thereafter sequentially acquiring the magnetic resonance... Agent: Patrick W. Rasche Armstrong Teasdale LLP

20080224699 - Magnetic resonance method and apparatus with nuclear spins type-specific signal suppression: A method in the form of a sequence for magnetic resonance imaging with which image data of a subject to be examined are acquired and with which signals of nuclear spins of a specific type are suppressed, includes the steps of (a) application of a suppression module to suppress signals... Agent: Schiff Hardin, LLP Patent Department

20080224700 - System and method for displaying medical imaging spectral data as hypsometric maps: A system and method for displaying MR spectroscopy data acquired using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system includes acquiring MR spectroscopy data from a region of interest using the MRI system. The MR spectroscopy data is processed to determine relative spectral amplitudes of each of a plurality of points in... Agent: Quarles & Brady LLP

20080224701 - Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and radio freqeuncy coil unit: A radio frequency coil unit includes a plurality of surface coils and a distributing/combining unit. The plurality of surface coils are arranged in a body-axis direction. The distributing/combining unit distributes and combines reception signals output from the plurality of surface coils to generate a new reception signal.... Agent: Nixon & Vanderhye, PC

20080224702 - Field distribution correction element and method for generating a magnetic resonance exposure therewith: A field distribution correction element for positioning on an examination subject in a magnetic resonance system for local influencing of the radio-frequency field distribution during a magnetic resonance acquisition has a system of electrically conductive dipole strips essentially running in parallel, arranged on a carrier element. In a corresponding method... Agent: Schiff Hardin, LLP Patent Department

20080224703 - Method and device for magnetic resonance analysis: A device for NMR spectroscopy is disclosed. The device comprises a sealed capillary having therein a lock material.... Agent: Martin D. Moynihan Prtsi, Inc.

20080224704 - Apparatus and method for detecting and identifying ferrous and non-ferrous metals: A metal detector using a linear current ramp followed by an abrupt current transition to energize the transmitter coil. The constant emf imposed on the target during the current ramp permits separation of transient voltages generated in response to eddy currents in the target and its environment from the voltages... Agent: Allan Westersten

20080224705 - Electromagnetic probe: An electromagnetic probe 1 measures the electromagnetic properties of a sub surface formation GF in a limited zone surrounding a well-bore hole WBH. The well-bore hole is filled with a well-bore fluid DM. The probe comprises a pad 2 having a first face defining a first area arranged to be... Agent: Schlumberger Oilfield Services

20080224706 - Use of electrodes and multi-frequency focusing to correct eccentricity and misalignment effects on transversal induction measurements: A multicomponent induction logging tool uses a nonconducting mandrel. A central conducting member including wires that electrically connect at least one of the antennas to another of the antennas. Electrodes disposed about the transmitter antenna form a conductive path through a borehole fluid to the central conducting member.... Agent: Madan, Mossman & Sriram, P.C.

20080224707 - Array antenna for measurement-while-drilling: An electromagnetic antenna for Measurement-While-Drilling (MWD) applications is disclosed. The antenna can include several array elements that can act alone or together in various measurement modes. The antenna elements can be disposed in tool body recesses to be protected from damage. The antenna elements can include a ferrite plate crossed... Agent: Wong, Cabello, Lutsch, Rutherford & Brucculeri, L.L.P.

20080224708 - Method and a device for detecting signal lamps in a vehicle: Provided are a device and a method of detecting signal lamps in a vehicle, in particular in a large vehicle, being provided with a plurality of signal lamps each being capable of switching between an OFF-phase and an ON-phase. The method includes the steps of during the OFF-phase of a... Agent: Wrb-ip LLP

20080224709 - Battery management system and driving method thereof: In a battery management system and a driving method thereof, the system includes a sensor and a micro control unit (MCU). The sensor senses a voltage and a current of a battery, and generates an estimation current of the battery using a result of cumulatively calculating the battery current by... Agent: Robert E. Bushnell

20080224710 - Heavy duty battery system tester and method: A systematic method and system for testing the charging and starting systems of a vehicle, which requires each individual test to pass before proceeding is provided. In addition, the invention incorporates an improved alternator test that determines whether the alternator belt is slipping using data read using a vehicle data... Agent: Dickstein Shapiro LLP

20080224711 - Ionization vacuum gauge: An ionization vacuum gauge includes a cathode electrode, a gate electrode, and an ion collector. The gate electrode is disposed adjacent to the cathode electrode with a distance therebetween. The ion collector is disposed adjacent to the gate electrode also with a distance therebetween. The cathode electrode includes a base... Agent: PCe Industry, Inc. Att. Cheng-ju Chiang

20080224712 - Non-contact cable state testing: A method of determining the state of a cable comprising at least one electrical conductor, uses a generated test signal and applies it to at least one conductor by a non-contact coupling transmitter. The resulting signal is propagated along the at least one conductor and a non-contact electrical coupling receiver... Agent: Allen J Hoover Wood Philipps Katz Clark & Moritmer

20080224713 - Device for measuring the loss factor: Disclosed is a device for measuring the loss factor and/or measuring the phase angle between a voltage and a current and/or recording a voltage decay and/or current decay and/or recording partial discharge processes and/or measuring the propagation time on test objects that are to be tested. Said device comprises a... Agent: Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack, L.L.P.

20080224714 - System and method of integrated circuit control for in situ impedance measurement: A system and method of integrated circuit control for in situ impedance measurement including a system with a plurality of functional partitions in a clocked logic type integrated circuit, the functional partitions having a communication controller and a modulation gate, the modulation gate receiving a clock signal and a modulation... Agent: Ibm Corporation (ve) C/o Volel Emile

20080224715 - Light-driving system capable of providing signal-measured calibration and a method for performing the same: This present invention discloses a light-driving system capable of providing an accurate calibration of signal measurement and a method for performing the same, including an automatic power control (APC) circuit which is pre-calibrated for a signal measurement process. By enlarging at least one measured pad of the APC circuit, multiple... Agent: Madson & Austin

20080224716 - Method and system for determining freshness and palatability and assessing organ vitality: A method and system to determine freshness and palatability (tenderness, juiciness, and flavor) of live foodstuffs (meat, fish, fowl, fruit and vegetables) including the steps of; utilizing bioelectrical impedance analysis in a biological subject model for measurement and composition analysis; and a system of using the results of the utilizing... Agent: Weiner & Burt, P.C.

20080224717 - Suspended nanowire sensor and method for fabricating the same: Provided is a suspended nanowire sensor having good sensing characteristics and suitable for mass production, a method for fabricating the suspended nanowire sensor. The suspended nanowire sensor includes: first and second sensor electrodes formed on upper portions of a substrate and physically separated from each other; and a nanowire sensor... Agent: Rabin & Berdo, PC

20080224718 - Battery ohmic resistance calculation system and method: An apparatus that estimates the ohmic resistances of N batteries includes voltage and current measurement modules that respectively measure the voltage and current of each of the N batteries. An ohmic resistance estimating module over N+1 time periods receives the voltage and current measurements of each of the N batteries... Agent: Harness, Dickey & Pierce, P.L.C

20080224719 - Diagnostic test device: A diagnostic test device comprising means for sampling a liquid biological sample, means for reacting the sample with at least one reagent to provide one or more visible indicia and an optical detector for detecting the presence of said one or more indicia, the device further comprising a releasable tether... Agent: Stephe B. Shear Church & Dwight Co., Inc.

20080224720 - Support member assembly for conductive contact members: Provided is a support member assembly suitable for use in a contact probe head comprising a support member formed with a plurality of holder holes for supporting conductive contact members in a mutually parallel relationship, and a reinforcing member integrally formed with the support member and extending in a part... Agent: Macpherson Kwok Chen & Heid LLP

20080224721 - Apparatus, unit and method for testing image sensor packages: The present invention relates to an apparatus, unit and method for testing image sensor packages, which can automatically test whether the image sensor packages are defective before they are assembled into camera modules. An apparatus for testing image sensor packages according to the present invention comprises a seating unit on... Agent: Marger Johnson & Mccollom, P.C.

20080224722 - Semiconductor integrated circuit: A semiconductor integrated circuit includes a clock generator which generates a first clock, a test data generator which modulates a phase of the first clock, and generates test data to which jitter is added by using the modulated clock, a data extractor which samples the test data and extracts recovery... Agent: Amin, Turocy & Calvin, LLP

20080224723 - Method for testing a semiconductor wafer and apparatus thereof: Reliability of results of a test such as a wafer burn-in test is raised. The present invention is a method for testing a plurality of semiconductor devices in a semiconductor wafer held in a cartridge. Each of the semiconductor devices has electrodes and the cartridge has a lower cartridge portion... Agent: Bruce A. Jagger

20080224724 - Photoconductive based electrical testing of transistor arrays: Apparatus for testing microelectronic components on a substrate, including a scanner operative to scan a light beam over a plurality of thin film transistors disposed on a substrate, one transistor at a time, so as to induce a photoconductive response in the plurality of transistors, one transistor at a time;... Agent: Sughrue Mion, PLLC

20080224725 - Test circuit, wafer, measuring apparatus, measuring method, device manufacturing method and display apparatus: There is provided a wafer on which a plurality of electronic devices and circuits under test are to be formed, where each circuit under test includes a plurality of transistors under measurement provided in electrically parallel, a selecting section which sequentially selects the respective transistors under measurement, and an output... Agent: Jianq Chyun Intellectual Property Office

20080218152 - Method for current sensing in switched dc-to-dc converters: A method for sensing the supply current of a switched DC-to-DC converter is discussed. The method sensing a first voltage that is proportional to the supply current, wherein the first voltage has first noise; outputting a second voltage that is based on the first voltage, and wherein the second voltage... Agent: Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner / Atmel

20080218151 - On chip duty cycle measurement module: A method and a circuit for measuring an on chip duty cycle. The circuit includes a capacitor, a switching circuit, a current source, a comparator circuit and a counter. The circuit receives a first clock signal and a second clock signal. The first clock signal has a 50% duty cycle... Agent: Stmicroelectronics Inc. C/o Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.c.

20080218153 - Power waveform harmonic analysis using summed samples: Provided are methods and apparatus for characterizing a power waveform. Some such methods include sampling the power waveform to generate a plurality of samples and, for each of the samples, recursively processing the sample to generate an aggregate signal energy value, processing the sample to generate a harmonic component signal... Agent: Myers Bigel Sibley & Sajovec

20080218154 - Integrated energy metering system: An integrated energy metering system having an energy meter including a voltage ADC for sensing voltage, a current ADC for sensing current, a microcontroller; a first memory device for storing program data for the energy meter; and a plurality of circuit blocks; a voltage monitor for monitoring a primary power... Agent: Iandiorio & Teska Intellectual Property Law Attorneys

20080218155 - Method for stabling voltage, pulse frequency modulating circuit and power supply using the same: A method for stabling a voltage, a pulse frequency modulating circuit and a power supply using the same are provided. The method includes the following steps. First, a comparing signal is provided. Then, set the comparing signal to be a first logic state when the voltage to be stabilized is... Agent: J C Patents, Inc.

20080218156 - Magnetic encoder including magnetic ring having roughness: A magnetic encoder includes a metallic reinforcing ring and a magnetic ring attached to the metallic reinforcing ring, and is composed of a mixture of an elastic element and a magnetic material. A front side of the magnetic ring is formed into a roughly uneven surface having a roughness of... Agent: Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack, L.l.p.

20080218157 - Magnetic particle flow detector: A ferromagnetic thin-film based magnetic field detection system having a substrate supporting a magnetic field sensor in a channel with a first electrical conductor supported on the substrate positioned at least in part along the channel gap and in direct contact with at least some surface of the magnetic field... Agent: Kinney & Lange, P.a.

20080218158 - Rotary position sensor: A rotary position sensor for sensing the position of a movable object. The sensor includes a housing that defines a pair of cavities separated by a wall. A magnet, which is adapted to generate a magnetic field, is positioned within one of the cavities. The magnet is adapted to be... Agent: Daniel J. Deneufbourg, Esq. Cts Corporation

20080218159 - Sensor system for determining a position or a rotational speed of an object: Magnetic field sensors may be used for determination of a position or of a rotational speed of an object. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a sensor system comprises a sensor unit generating a frequency output reflecting the rotational speed or the position of the object, wherein... Agent: Nxp, B.v. Nxp Intellectual Property Department

20080218161 - Magnetized pulsar ring, and rolling bearing device with sensor using the same: A magnetized pulsar ring of the invention is a pulsar ring fixed to an outer peripheral surface of a supporting member and including a ring body in which a number of magnetic poles are at predetermined intervals in a peripheral direction. The ring body 11a is formed of a plastic... Agent: Mcginn Intellectual Property Law Group, Pllc

20080218160 - Sensor magnet device, gear mechanism and speed reducing electric motor: In a speed reducing electric motor, a speed reducing gear unit has a sensor magnet device, which is fixed to a worm wheel and includes an inner ring magnet, an outer ring magnet and connecting portions. The inner ring magnet is placed along a predetermined first imaginary circle. The outer... Agent: Posz Law Group, Plc

20080218162 - Tomographic imaging method and associated arrangement: According to at least one embodiment of the invention, at least two excitation fields with frequencies capable of being differently prescribed act on the object in the examination space, with the gradient field approximately vanishing in the examination space. In another embodiment, an arrangement includes a Maxwell coil pair for... Agent: Harness, Dickey & Pierce, P.L.C

20080218163 - Magnetoresistive sensor device: According to the present invention, a magnetoresistive sensor device, which can be manufactured at a high yield and a low cost, is excellent in magnetoresistance characteristics and is reliable can be provided. The magnetoresistive sensor device comprises a substrate, a signal processing circuit formed on the substrate, a flattening film... Agent: Sughrue Mion, Pllc

20080218164 - Automated meter reader: A meter reader for reading a meter have a display portion displaying a total output of a quantity being metered and plural incremental outputs defining the total output. The meter reader includes a sensing mechanism for sensing one of the plural incremental outputs in the meter display portion, and a... Agent: Oblon, Spivak, Mcclelland Maier & Neustadt, P.c.

20080218165 - Microsensor device: The invention relates to a microsensor device like a magnetic biosensor (100). The microsensor device comprises an array of probe-sensors (10.1, 10.2, 10.3) for the measurement of a physical quantity, for example the concentration of molecules labeled with magnetic beads in a sample chamber. The array further comprises a reference-sensor... Agent: Philips Intellectual Property & Standards

20080218166 - Method and device for detection of the position of an examination person in a magnetic resonance system: In a method and arrangement for detection of the position of an examination person on a table in a magnetic resonance system, the examination person on the table is moved relative to the magnetic resonance system, RF pulses are radiated while the examination person is moved through the magnetic resonance... Agent: Schiff Hardin, LLP Patent Department

20080218167 - Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and magnetic resonance imaging method: A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus has a controller which controls an operation of a scan section in such a manner that the scan section executes a scan in an imaging sequence, based on the imaging sequence condition set so as to correspond to a slice tracking method by an imaging... Agent: Patrick W. Rasche (20459) Armstrong Teasdale LLP

20080218168 - Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and magnetic resonance imaging method: A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus includes a applying unit which applies a gradient magnetic field and a radio-frequency pulse to a subject placed in a static magnetic field, a radio-frequency coil unit which includes element coils to respectively detect magnetic resonance signals emitted from the subject, and outputs signals of... Agent: Nixon & Vanderhye, Pc

20080218169 - Methods for fat signal suppression in magnetic resonance imaging: The present invention is directed to methods for chemical species signal suppression in magnetic resonance imaging procedures, wherein Dixon techniques are enhanced by continuously sampling techniques. In the invention, k-space data is acquired during the entire period of read gradient associated with a gradient echo pulse acquisition scheme. The invention... Agent: Hahn Loeser & Parks, LLP

20080218170 - Aerial detection of threatening military devices: An aerial electronic system for detection of surface and underground threats comprises an electromagnetic (EM) gradiometer flown aloft over the possible ground and underground threats to a convoy. The EM gradiometer is disposed in a Styrofoam torpedo shaped pod that is towed in flight behind an airplane. An illumination transmitter... Agent: Richard B. Main, Esq. Patents Pending

20080218171 - Electronic ballast with lamp type determination: The electronic ballast with lamp type determination for an electronic ballast providing power to a lamp filament 208 includes a filament current sensing circuit 220 operably connected to the lamp filament 208 and generating a sensed filament current signal, and a microprocessor U2 receiving the sensed filament current signal and... Agent: Philips Intellectual Property & Standards

20080218172 - Potential measuring apparatus: A potential measuring apparatus has a detection electrode on which an electric charge is induced according to a potential of a detection object, and a modulator for altering the generated quantity of the electric charge. The detection electrode has at least one depressed portion on a surface opposite to the... Agent: Fitzpatrick Cella Harper & Scinto

20080218173 - Methods and apparatus for testing a circuit: In one embodiment, when a test program for testing a circuit specifies the application of a DC voltage to a particular node of the circuit, i) an operational amplifier of a circuit test system is configured to respond to remote feedback, wherein the remote feedback is responsive to a load... Agent: Gregory W. Osterloth Holland & Hart, LLP

20080218174 - Apparatus and method for identifying proper orientation and electrical conductivity between a semiconductor device and a socket or contactor: A semiconductor device with a semiconductor die thereon and a contactor board are electrically coupled when the electrically conductive elements on the semiconductor device and the contactor board are in physical contact. A continuous electrically conductive path is formed with electrically conductive elements involving both the semiconductor device and the... Agent: Texas Instruments Incorporated

20080218175 - Open-circuit testing system and method: The invention discloses a testing system and method suitable for determining the connection state of an electronic component in an electronic device assembly. In an embodiment, the testing system comprises a signal sensing unit configured to provide a sensed signal induced by capacitive coupling in response to the output of... Agent: Baker & Mckenzie LLP

20080218176 - Power supply device: A power supply device has a capacitor unit in which capacitors are interconnected in series, a charging unit for charging the capacitor unit at a constant current, a detecting unit for detecting voltage on the high potential side of each of the capacitors, a determining unit for determining the existence... Agent: Ratnerprestia

20080218177 - Contact insert for a microcircuit test socket: A system for testing a microcircuit having a center ground (CG) terminal has an insert for electrically connecting the CG terminal to a ground contact on a load board. The insert is held within a housing by compression and frictional interaction between a resilient projection carried by the insert and... Agent: Nawrocki, Rooney & Sivertson Suite 401, Broadway Place East

20080218178 - Testing apparatus, fixture board and pin electronics card: There is provided a test apparatus for testing a device under test including a pre-emphasis circuit. The pre-emphasis circuit emphasizes a predetermined component of an output signal of the device under test and outputs the resulting output signal. Here, the test apparatus includes a filter that eliminates an emphasized component... Agent: Jianq Chyun Intellectual Property Office

20080218179 - Test apparatus and test method: A test apparatus for testing a device under test includes a first timing comparator obtaining a device output signal output from the device under test at a timing designated by a first strobe signal, a second timing comparator obtaining the device output signal at a timing designated by a second... Agent: Jianq Chyun Intellectual Property Office

20080218180 - Apparatus, a system and a method for enabling an impedance measurement: The invention relates to an apparatus (1) for impedance measurement of an external substance, said apparatus comprising a plurality of resonant circuits with respective coil elements (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) and respective capacitive elements (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d), said resonant circuits operating at different resonant frequencies. The signals (S1, S2,... Agent: Philips Intellectual Property & Standards

20080218181 - Rotor blade system for rotor and rotor case inspection: The present invention relates to a system used for inspecting the position of a compressor rotor within a compressor rotor case. A compressor rotor blade is moved about the rotor blade path of the compressor rotor case, a probe holder attached to the rotor blade has a scanning device as... Agent: Mcdermott Will & Emery LLP

20080218182 - Controlling method for capacitive sensors: A controlling method for capacitive sensors in a vibrating mirror motor system includes a capacitive sensor, a subtraction circuit and an adder circuit connected to the capacitive sensor, a high frequency power supply providing power for the capacitive sensor, a D/A converter, and a gain stage adjustment device, wherein values... Agent: Fulbright & Jaworski L.l.p

20080218183 - Power-control device, electronic apparatus including the same, and method for activating electronic apparatus: A sensor unit is configured to have an insulating case covering a mobile phone, a conductive substrate provided on the inner surface of the case, and a sensor electrode fixed on the surface of the conductive substrate. When a part of the human body of a user, such as a... Agent: Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione

20080218184 - Nanopore platforms for ion channel recordings and single molecule detection and analysis: Chemical modification of a glass and fused silica nanopore surfaces results in surface properties that are ideal for localized bilayer formation over a nanopore and subsequent ion channel recording. With no surface modification, one may form a bilayer supported on the glass capillary extending across the nanopore orifice. Changing the... Agent: Diederiks & Whitelaw, Plc

20080218185 - Probe navigation method and device and defect inspection device: A probe navigation method, a navigation device, and a defect inspection device wherein in a charged particle beam system provided with probes for electrical characteristics evaluation, probing can be easily carried out regardless of the equipment user's level of skill are provided. To attain this object, probes and a test... Agent: Antonelli, Terry, Stout & Kraus, LLP

20080218186 - Image sensing integrated circuit test apparatus and method: An image sensing integrated circuit test device can include a plurality of conductive leads for making electrical contact with at least one integrated circuit device under test. A light directing structure can direct light onto the at least one integrated circuit device under test. The light directing structure includes a... Agent: Haverstock & Owens- Cypress

20080218187 - Probe testing structure: A calibration structure for probing devices.... Agent: Chernoff, Vilhauer, Mcclung & Stenzel

20080218188 - Jig for printed substrate inspection and printed substrate inspection apparatus: In a jig for inspection for inspecting a printed substrate in which a wiring part is formed on at least one surface, the jig comprises a base part which has a surface area larger than a surface area of at least the printed substrate targeted for inspection and is arranged... Agent: Drinker Biddle & Reath (dc)

20080218189 - Method and system for automatically managing probe mark shifts: Disclosed is a method and a system for automatically managing probe mark shifts. A determination is made from test data as to whether a die on a wafer is defective. A probe mark check on the wafer is made to determine whether a probe mark is shifted. Necessary recovery action... Agent: Haynes And Boone, LLP

20080218190 - Testing device: A printed-circuit-board testing device that tests an electronic component disposed on a printed circuit board includes printed-circuit-board-tilt measuring means for measuring tilting of the printed circuit board, measuring means for measuring tilting of an arm having a probe that comes into contact with and tests the electronic component, correcting means... Agent: Staas & Halsey LLP

20080218191 - Probe assembly with rotary tip: A probe which is cleaning-free, of which rubbing operation can be precisely controlled, and can be used for narrow-pitch pads, is provided. The probe assembly includes: a Z-deforming portion elastically deformable at least in a vertical direction; a tip contact element which includes a contact portion having a curved section,... Agent: Haynes And Boone, LLP

20080218192 - Methods and apparatus for translated wafer stand-in tester: A translated wafer stand-in tester (TWST), being a hybrid apparatus capable of emulating the form factor and some or all behaviors of a translated wafer under test, which is operable to store, quantify, encode and convey, either directly or remotely, data from a testing system, including but not limited to... Agent: Raymond J. Werner

20080218193 - Semiconductor device evaluation method and apparatus using the same: In order to provide a semiconductor device evaluation method and a semiconductor device evaluation apparatus for correctly detecting an error position and providing a substrate for observing a cross section without difficulties, a transport unit of a SEM apparatus moves a substrate on a stage. A detection unit detects electric... Agent: Sughrue Mion, Pllc

20080218194 - Stacked package screening: A semiconductor device in which a plurality of devices provided with mutually identical functions are stacked includes: a chip selection terminal by which the semiconductor device selects devices, a prescribed terminal for generating a second internal signal that is selectively switched from a first internal signal from the chip selection... Agent: Young & Thompson

20080218195 - Power supply noise measuring circuit and power supply noise measuring method: A power supply noise measuring circuit and measuring method are provided which are capable of evaluating a frequency component of power supply noise that affects performance and functions in a circuit by using a cross-correlation function. The power supply noise measuring circuit includes a SIN wave generating circuit which generates... Agent: Scully Scott Murphy & Presser, Pc

20080211480 - Method for the determination of a voltage limit of a clutch actuating motor: A method for the determination of a motor voltage limit, wherein a clutch actuator of an automated shift transmission remains motionless, including the steps of (a) raising or lowering a withstand voltage by an increment ΔU, starting from a current withstand voltage (Ucurr), and (b) determining whether the clutch actuator... Agent: Simpson & Simpson, PLLC

20080211479 - Threshold detection in back-up power supply systems: A threshold detection circuit includes, in one embodiment, a comparator having a first input connection for receiving a backup voltage from a backup power source, a second input connection for receiving a primary voltage from a primary power source, and an output connection for providing an output voltage; a first... Agent: Scientific-atlanta, Inc. Intellectual Property Department

20080211481 - Handheld spectral scanner: A handheld spectrum scanner has a radio module, a central processing unit (CPU), a display module, a power module for supplying power, and a switch setting module acting as controlling interfaces for inputting scan conductions. The radio module comprises an antenna, a filter amplifier, a transducer and a demodulator. The... Agent: Troxell Law Offices PLLC

20080211482 - Method and apparatus for measuring the frequency of a received signal: A method of measuring the frequency of a received signal comprising the steps of: generating a first phase signal by digitising the phase of the received signal; delaying the first phase signal by a predetermined amount to generate a second phase signal; calculating a phase difference between the first and... Agent: Howard & Howard Attorney PC

20080211483 - Electronic device with an amplifier output stage and an over-current detection means: An electronic device with an amplifier output stage (OS) and an over-current detection means (OCDM) for detecting an output over-current (IHS, ILS) of the output stage (OS) is provided. The over-current detection means (OCDM) comprises a level detection means (LDM) for detecting a level of the output current (10) exceeding... Agent: Nxp, B.v. Nxp Intellectual Property Department

20080211484 - Flexible current transformer assembly: A current transformer assembly includes at least one Rogowski coil having a first closeable loop with an electrically conductive coil member and a first pair of terminals. An integrator unit has respectively a cable connected across the first pair of terminals of a respective Rogowski coil. Each respective Rogowski coil... Agent: Stevens Davis LLP

20080211485 - Process for identification of compounds for modulating the activity of sodium/calcium exchange transporter: The invention refers to a cell free assay for determining the activity of a Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX) protein by means of a cell free electrophysiological sensor chip, a kit of parts comprising the sensor chip with a NCX protein as well as the manufacturing and use of the kit of... Agent: Andrea Q. Ryan Sanofi-aventis U.s. LLC

20080211487 - Apparatus, method, and computer program product for monitoring and controlling a microcomputer using a single existing pin: A method, apparatus, and computer program product are disclosed for monitoring and controlling a device using only one input/output (I/O) communication pin of the device. The pin is configured to be used to both transmit and receive data. Logical ones are generated using pulses that are a first length and... Agent: Ibm Corp (ya) C/o Yee & Associates PC

20080211486 - Auto-handler comprising pushers each including peltier device: In an auto-handler for use in conjunction with an IC tester including a plurality of sockets in which a plurality of target devices are inserted, the auto-handler includes a plurality of pushers corresponding to the plurality of sockets and a plurality of temperature sensors for detecting temperatures of the plurality... Agent: Sughrue Mion, PLLC

20080211489 - Inductive sensor: An inductive sensor has an electrically nonconductive substrate, at least one electrically conducting coil that is integrally joined to the substrate, with the mechanical rigidity of the substrate significantly greater than that of the conducting coil, a metal plate covering the conducting coil, with the substrate comprised by the metal... Agent: Striker, Striker & Stenby

20080211488 - Rotary manipulation type input apparatus: A rotary manipulation type input apparatus is disclosed. The rotary manipulation type input apparatus including a rotatable wheel; a magnet joined to the bottom of the wheel; a printed circuit board having one or more detection elements mounted thereon, the detection elements detecting a rotation of the magnet; a base... Agent: Staas & Halsey LLP

20080211490 - Magnetic detector and method for making the same: A magnetic detector includes a magnetoresistive element and a fixed resistor that are constituted from identical laminates. Hard bias layers are disposed on two sides of the fixed resistor each with a gap therebetween. The magnetoresistive element includes a magnetic layer, magnetization direction of which is variable; the fixed resistor... Agent: Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione

20080211491 - High sensitivity, passive magnetic field sensor and method of manufacture: A magnetic field sensor comprises one or more magnetic layers of magnetostrictive material that is mechanically bonded to one or more layers of electroactive material. When a magnetic field is applied to the device, it rotates the magnetization that is present in the in the magnetostrictive material thereby generating a... Agent: Rissman Jobse Hendricks & Oliverio, LLP

20080211492 - Magnetic impedance measurement device: The present invention relates to a magnetic impedance measurement device comprising an apply coil for generating an alternate magnetic field of variable frequency, a power source for the apply coil, at least one magnetic sensor means comprising a pair of magnetic sensors for detecting orthogonal vector components of a magnetic... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20080211493 - Rivet rotating probe: An eddy current probe adapted for detecting cracks in material directly beneath a raised-head fastener is disclosed. The probe comprises an eddy current coil and a support means for carrying the coil in an orientation suitable for introducing eddy currents into material directly beneath a raised-head fastener.... Agent: Law Offices Of James E. Walton, PLLC

20080211494 - Device comprising magneto resistive system: Devices (1) comprising magneto resistive systems (2) for detecting incoming magnetic fields and comprising first/second branches with first/second magneto resistive elements (21-22) having first/second resistance values depending on the incoming magnetic fields according to first/second response curves are provided with shifting means for shifting the first/second response curves of the... Agent: Philips Intellectual Property & Standards

20080211495 - Infinitely configurable rf receive coil: Described herein is a radiofrequency receive coil system for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system that includes an array of a plurality of individual coils arrayed around the outer limits of the imaging volume that is defined by a main magnet and a gradient coil, positioned tangentially down the length... Agent: Ulmer & Berne, LLP Attn: Diane Bell

20080211496 - Mri apparatus: An MRI apparatus for performing an MRI examination to an object by sequentially applying an imaging method group, which is constituted by time-sequentially arranging a plurality of different imaging methods, to each of the imaging methods, has an imaging method group setting unit, a performing order setting unit and an... Agent: Nixon & Vanderhye, PC

20080211497 - Mri apparatus: An MRI apparatus includes a navigator device for obtaining information of body motion produced by respiration of a subject by a navigator pulse sequence, and a respiration waveform display device for displaying a respiration waveform on the basis of the body motion information obtained by the navigator device.... Agent: Patrick W. Rasche Armstrong Teasdale LLP

20080211498 - Integrated system of mri rf loop coils plus spacing fixtures with biocontainment uses: When scanning a patient to generate an image thereof, radio frequency (RF) coil modules are scalably coupled to each other using a plurality of clips to form flat or polygonal coil arrays that are placed on or around the patient or a portion thereof. A user assesses the volume to... Agent: Philips Intellectual Property & Standards

20080211499 - Low power decoupling for multi-nuclear spectroscopy: In a magnetic resonance spectroscopy method, first nuclear species magnetic resonance is excited. A spin echo of the first nuclear species magnetic resonance is generated, and the spin echo is read out. The first and second nuclear species are decoupled during the generating of the spin echo but not during... Agent: Philips Intellectual Property & Standards

20080211500 - Detection and reduction of dielectric breakdown in semiconductor devices: Methods for detecting the breakdown potential of a semiconductor device having a thin dielectric layer are disclosed. The method includes measuring a spectroscopy of the thin dielectric layer and determining whether the spectroscopy exhibits the presence of a breakdown precursor (H2, H interstitial radical, H attached radical, and H attached... Agent: Loeb & Loeb, LLP

20080211503 - Method and control device for position determination of acquisition devices for a magnetic resonance system: In a method and a corresponding control device for automatic position determination in at least one spatial direction of at least two acquisition devices, wherein more acquisition devices than acquisition channels are present, a position measurement for one of the acquisition devices is implemented with an acquisition channel in a... Agent: Schiff Hardin, LLP Patent Department

20080211501 - Method and curcuit arrangement for operating multi-channel transmit/receive antenna devices: Methods and circuit arrangements for operating multi-channel transmit/receive antenna devices or arrangements especially for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems are disclosed, by which a fully independent control of complete multi-channel RF transmit and receive chains can be conducted in a flexible way and new options like RF shimming,... Agent: Philips Intellectual Property & Standards

20080211502 - Method for automatic coil selection in a magnetic resonance apparatus: In a method for coil selection of a magnetic resonance apparatus, a determination of coil positions of the multiple coil devices of the magnetic resonance apparatus is made and a determination is also made of a number of coil groups, wherein a coil group is composed of at least one... Agent: Schiff Hardin, LLP Patent Department

20080211504 - Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus: [MEANS FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS] A tabular gradient magnetic field generating unit is placed over each opposing surface of support member therebetween. A static magnetic field correcting unit for correcting the uniformity of the static magnetic field is placed between the static magnetic field generating unit and the gradient magnetic field... Agent: Cooper & Dunham, LLP

20080211505 - Sample analyzer and sampling system: A spectroscopic sample analysis apparatus includes an actively controlled, direct contact heat exchanger in serial fluid communication with a spectroscopic analyzer, and a controller communicably coupled to the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is disposed downstream of a fluid handler in the form of a stream selection unit (SSU), a... Agent: Sampson & Associates, P.C.

20080211506 - Helicopter electromagnetic prospecting system: An airborne electromagnetic prospecting system (10) is disclosed. The system (10) comprises a transmitter loop structure (12) hat is attached to, and arranged to be towed by, a helicopter (14). A transmitter (22) is fitted to the transmitter loop structure (12) for transmitting a primary electromagnetic field. A high drag... Agent: Lahive & Cockfield, LLP Floor 30, Suite 3000

20080211507 - Method and apparatus for gradient electromagnetic induction well logging: The method and apparatus for determining the conductivity of anisotropic formations surrounding a borehole. The method comprises measuring the gradient of the magnetic field by an electromagnetic logging tool in a borehole in the subsurface formation. The instrument comprises one or several closely positioned parallel receiver coils and one or... Agent: Gable & Gotwals

20080211508 - Load bank: A load bank that is used to test electrical connections. The connections are attached to the load bank, so that the switches are loaded during the testing. The overheating or underheating, of either switches or loads can be tested, evaluated, and used to determine faults and errors.... Agent: Law Office Of Scott C Harris Inc

20080211509 - Battery capacity monitoring system and method of displaying capacity thereof: A system for monitoring the battery capacitor is disclosed. The system comprises an ADC (analog to digital converter), a CPU, a ROM, a clock generator, a SMbus (smart management bus) interface. A series of RTC interrupt signals are generated by the clock generator and feeds to the CPU. When the... Agent: Birch Stewart Kolasch & Birch

20080211510 - Method and apparatus for measuring the temperature of a gas in a mass flow controller: A method and apparatus for measuring the temperature of a gas in a mass flow controller is described. One embodiment derives gas-temperature information from a mass flow sensor of the mass flow controller without relying on a separate temperature sensor. This embodiment supplies a substantially constant electrical current to a... Agent: Neugeboren O''dowd PC

20080211511 - Method of generating fault indication in feeder remote terminal unit for power distribution automation system: The present invention relates to a method of generating fault indication in a feeder remote terminal unit for a power distribution automation system. The method is performed in a distribution system that includes a plurality of feeder remote terminal units, which are installed in respective sections of a line and... Agent: The Webb Law Firm, P.C.

20080211512 - Test circuit arrangement and testing method for testing of a circuit section: The invention relates to a testing method and to a test circuit arrangement for testing a circuit section of a circuit, having a connection section connected to the circuit section used to conduct a current from or to the circuit section, and having a detector circuit; wherein a first tapping... Agent: Maginot, Moore & Beck Chase Tower

20080211513 - Initiation of fuse sensing circuitry and storage of sensed fuse status information: An integrated circuit includes at least one circuit trimming fuse. A fuse sensor circuit is connected to the trimming fuse and operates in response to a fuse sensing initiation signal to initiate sensing of a state of the trimming fuse and generate an output indicative of the sensed state. A... Agent: Stmicroelectronics, Inc.

20080211514 - Method and apparatus for determining the moisture of a running material web: In a method for determining the moisture of a running material web, in particular a paper web or paperboard web, the material web is scanned by way of a sensor including a microwave resonator, the resonance response of the microwave resonator is investigated, and the moisture in the material web... Agent: Taylor & Aust, P.C.

20080211515 - Method and apparatus for measuring scattering coefficient of device under test: A measuring method and measuring apparatus for vector-measuring a scattering coefficient of a device under test substantially using a scalar measuring instrument while enabling a reduction in the size of the measuring instrument and the cost. The measurement system includes a signal source that applies a signal to a device... Agent: Dickstein Shapiro LLP

20080211516 - Method and measuring instrument for measuring water content: For measuring the water content of a web in the wire section of a paper machine, at least one radiofrequency-operated resonator sensor forms an electric near field, in which a web affects the resonance frequency of each resonator sensor. The water content of the web is measured as a function... Agent: Hoffmann & Baron, LLP

20080211517 - Measurement arrangement for determining the characteristic line parameters by measuring scattering parameters: The present invention relates to a measurement arrangement for determining the characteristic line parameters by measuring the S-parameters as a function of the frequency of transmission lines. A voltage mesh and a ground mesh in a metal layer are connected symmetrically to a reference ground (RG) in the layer at... Agent: International Business Machines Corporation

20080211518 - Method and apparatus for measuring electrical conductivity: An apparatus (2) for measuring electrical conductivity in a material comprises a pair of electrically conducting elements (6), a first electrical conductor (9) coupled to the electrically conducting elements, the first electrical conductor coupling a first transformer core (10) and a second transformer core (12) to form a first current... Agent: Dilworth & Barrese, LLP

20080211519 - Capacitance sensor: A code-type sensor for detecting a change in capacitance includes a plurality of detection electrodes for detecting a change in capacitance, a shield electrode surrounding the plurality of detection electrodes so as to restrict a detection range of the capacitance and having an opening in a direction of detection, and... Agent: Osha Liang L.L.P.

20080211520 - Semiconducting nanowire fluid sensor: Nanowire fluid sensors are provided. The fluid sensors comprise a first electrode, a second electrode, and at least one nanowire between the first electrode and the second electrode. Each nanowire is connected at a first end to the first electrode and at a second end to the second electrode. Methods... Agent: Hewlett Packard Company

20080211521 - Moisture content sensor and related methods: A moisture content sensor comprising a signal source (400) arranged to provide a signal, a probe (9) arranged to inject the signal into a medium (6) in which the moisture content is to be measured, a complex impedance (4) placed between the probe (9) and the signal source (400) and... Agent: Carstens & Cahoon, LLP

20080211522 - Sensor for detecting the position of a movable magnetic object and a conveying device having the sensor: The sensor according to the invention for detecting the position of a movable magnetic object includes a resistance track and a contact electrode arranged thereon. Moreover the sensor includes a magnetic position transmitter, which is developed in such a way that it can follow the magnetic object, that it can... Agent: Mark D. Saralino (general) Renner, Otto, Boisselle & Sklar, LLP

20080211524 - Electrochemically fabricated microprobes: Multilayer probe structures for testing semiconductor die are electrochemically fabricated via depositions of one or more materials in a plurality of overlaying and adhered layers. In some embodiments the structures may include generally helical shaped configurations, helical shape configurations with narrowing radius as the probe extends outward from a substrate,... Agent: Microfabrica Inc. Att: Dennis R. Smalley

20080211523 - Inspection contact structure and probe card: In the present invention, an inspection contact structure is attached to the lower surface side of a circuit board in a probe card. In the inspection contact structure, elastic sheets with protruding conductive portions are respectively attached to both surfaces of a silicone substrate. The silicone substrate is formed with... Agent: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

20080211525 - Probe card assembly and method of forming same: A probe card assembly has a probe contactor substrate having a plurality of probe contactor tips thereon and a probe card wiring board with an interposer disposed between the two. Support posts contacting the probe contactor substrate are vertically adjustable until secured by a locking mechanism which is coupled to... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

20080211527 - Heat-resistant lens kit: A heat-resistant lens kit configured within the pogo tower of the wafer tester is disclosed. The heat-resistant lens kit has two parallel lenses and a main body with a through hole. The main body and two parallel lenses enclose a vacuum room within the through hole.... Agent: Sinorica, LLC

20080211526 - Wafer holder, heater unit used for wafer prober and having wafer holder, and wafer prober: By wafer holder including a chuck top for mounting a wafer and a supporter supporting the chuck top and having flatness of at most 0.1 mm, a heater unit for a wafer prober and the wafer prober using the wafer holder, a wafer holder and a wafer prober apparatus hardly... Agent: Mcdermott Will & Emery LLP

20080211528 - Inspection contact structure and probe card: In the present invention, an inspection contact structure is attached to the lower surface side of a circuit board in a probe card. In the inspection contact structure, elastic sheets with protruding conductive portions are respectively attached to both surfaces of a silicone substrate. The silicone substrate is formed with... Agent: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

20080211529 - Integrated circuit for being applied to electronic device, and associated testing system: An integrated circuit (IC) for being applied to an electronic device includes: a control circuit for controlling the electronic device; and a signal generation unit coupled to the control circuit for generating at least one signal inside the IC as an output signal and outputting the output signal to another... Agent: North America Intellectual Property Corporation

20080211530 - Integrated circuit testing methods using well bias modification: Methods for testing a semiconductor circuit (10) including testing the circuit and modifying a well bias (14, 18) of the circuit during testing. The methods improve the resolution of voltage-based and IDDQ testing and diagnosis by modifying well bias during testing. In addition, the methods provide more efficient stresses during... Agent: Hoffman, Warnick & D'alessandro LLC 14th Floor

20080211531 - Integrated circuit testing methods using well bias modification: Methods for testing a semiconductor circuit (10) including testing the circuit and modifying a well bias (14, 18) of the circuit during testing. The methods improve the resolution of voltage-based and IDDQ testing and diagnosis by modifying well bias during testing. In addition, the methods provide more efficient stresses during... Agent: Hoffman, Warnick & D'alessandro LLC