269results about How to "Widen means" patented technology

Dynamic pricing models which facilitate efficient distribution of digital content online. Particular implementations of the invention dynamically base pricing for digital content on relatively current, aggregated information regarding Internet user behavior and preferences, such as search query and / or page hit logs. Some implementations of the present invention are directed to pricing digital content based on the inherent properties of digital content and the mechanics of how electronic files are typically distributed on the Internet.

A customer originated and directed dispatching system to provide direct coordination of requested service to service providers without the need for intermediary dispatching assistance. A database stores records each documenting needed services and customer and service provider profiles. Processing circuitry (which may be one or several networked computers) performs a dispatching process which reviews these records, locates records indicating a need for immediate service, locates the customer, identifies potential service responders, carries out an auction for the requested service and collects a list of potential service provides with their bids and profiles. The processing circuitry also performs a monitoring process which monitors service provider's activities by reviewing the records, and automatically obtained service provider's activity information, and records customer and service provider performance ratings to the database. Communications circuitry enables direct communication between the service provider and the customer as well as updates of the service provider's activity and review customer and service provider performance records.

An apparatus and method for the purification of contaminated water whereby the contamination level of the wastewater is automatically monitored and treatment self-adjusted and continued until the desired level of purification is reached. Specifically, if upon treatment a pre-set purification level is not obtained a water recycle control means completely precludes the uptake of additional contaminated water and recycles wastewater within the apparatus until the desired level of purification is obtained. The present invention more particularly pertains to an efficient, turn key, economical, movable, automatic and compact apparatus and method for treating a fluid with ozone comprising multiple pressurized contact columns which are arranged in a hybrid parallel and series column configuration, which utilizes a unique water recycle control system and piping arrangement to improve the efficiency of the mass transfer of ozone into the water and increase its solubility by increasing the contact time between the water phase and the gas phase. The apparatus and method of the present invention has the further advantage that it requires minimal installation and may be used to fulfill the clean and safe water needs of any hotel, resort, restaurant, hospital, light industry, commercial business, apartment complex or small city.

A centralized dispute resolution system for use in commercial credit or debit card transactions. The inventive system utilizes a common data storage, interfaces, processes, procedures, rules, and other elements of a dispute resolution system that are made available to cardholders, merchants, card issuers, payment processors, and other parties that may be involved in a dispute or in a process intended to resolve a dispute. The system may be implemented using a client-server architecture with communication between clients and one or more server elements provided by a communications network.

The invention comprises devices for noninvasively monitoring physiological characteristics of a patient's blood. Generally, probes having radiation emitters and detectors are used to determine absorbance of blood within the patient's tissue to determine various blood parameters. The device also has either a position sensor for determining the position of the probe with respect to the patient's heart or a movement generator for altering the position of the probe with respect to the patient's heart. The invention also comprises methods for noninvasively monitoring the physiological characteristics. In one embodiemnt, induced positional changes create differential hydrostatic pressures to facilitate measurement of blood parameters by absorbance. In a second embodiment, delays in pulse arrival times in coupled organs or members on opposite sides of the body are measured to determine cardiac output. The two methods are such that they can advantageously be used together.

An improved treadmill control system which adjusts the speed of a moving tread belt to follow user motions. Equipment includes a tread base supporting a moving tread belt upon which a user can run or walk, a motor assembly and motor driver to move the tread belt, a plurality of foot sensors, a tread belt motion sensor, a measurement system to estimate user motion based on foot and tread belt sensor signals, and a motor controller to adjust motor assembly speed based on estimates of user motion. The system is capable of making improved user motion estimates and of using them to provide improved belt speed control. In one embodiment, user position, speed, and acceleration are estimated at each user footfall while estimates are continually revised between footfalls. In one embodiment, foot sensors are capacitive proximity sensors which are effective, fully concealable, and economical.

This invention discloses advanced means for the formulation and preparation of solid-chemical compositions which provide sources of water-soluble nutrients, electron acceptors and other agents for agriculture and waste-treatment, in particular, the bioremediation of contaminated environmental media. The disclosed formulations and means of production of the slow-release solid-chemical compositions of the present invention utilize a novel and economical "biphasic" chemical-system technology which involves a combination of a first "nutrient" component (1) which comprises water-soluble nutrients and other biologically utilizable substances with a second component (2) which comprises an inorganic geochemical-binder system. The simplest embodiment of the geochemical-binder system comprises one or more salts of phosphoric acid. In the preferred embodiments of the present invention intended for the slow-release of the ingredients contained in the "nutrient" component (1), the geochemical-binder system of component (2) comprises a combination of one or more salts of phosphoric acid with a inorganic binder matrix preferably containing a mixture of low-solubility carbonates, carbonate minerals, phosphates and phosphate minerals. The different embodiments of the geochemical-binder system of this invention allows a wide variation of formulations of the nutrient component (1) to be prepared in both conventional and slow-release forms using an improved high-shear granulation process whereby the dangerous chemicals typically used in the granulation process are largely or completely replaced with water. The present invention discloses means by which such compositions can be economically prepared in large quantities so as to meet the specific needs of different sectors of the agricultural / agribusiness and phytoremediation / bioremediation markets. The disclosed solid-chemical compositions of the present invention provide improved, cost-effective means for slowing and controlling the release-rate profiles of water-soluble nutrients, such as nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich compounds, and improved means for enhanced and / or time-targeted nutrient uptake by plants and microorganisms. The present invention also provides improved means for the reduction of nutrient run-off from agricultural areas into surface waters and means of preventing or minimizing nutrient-contamination of ground-water aquifers.

The present invention relates to a method capable of making financial service information undergo the process of safety authentication in the electronic business. It is characterized by that it utilizes personal identity information stored and transferred to bank payment system by third party server and combines said personal identity information with user handset short-mail authorization and acknowledgement to implement safety authentication of bank payment service. Besides, said invention also provides the concrete steps of said method.

A computer system or computing device includes a display for displaying the visual output of any number of software applications. A computer-implemented method of selectively displaying a magnified rendering of a portion of the display screen is executed on the computer system or computing device. The method allows the user to select a portion of the display screen for magnification and then displays a magnified rendering of that portion of the display screen. The magnified rendering retains the functional and interactive aspects of the underlying, non-magnified source content. The method also provides a configurable means of controlling the amount of magnification in the magnified rendering. The method permits using the magnified rendering to pan around within the underlying, non-magnified source content.

A device for breaking a series of perforations or cuts to open a carton or otherwise separate materials connected by a frangible severance line includes a pair of fold lines that converge away from the severance line, a collapsible line perpendicular to severance line and between the pair of fold lines, and third fold line perpendicular to and intersecting the collapsible line. A tear in the severance line is initiated by applying pressure in vicinity of the intersection of the collapsible line and the third fold line, which causes the device to apply tension to the frangible line, which is further weakened by having an elongated perforation that it centered on the axis of tension, and neighboring perforations that are angled toward the axis of tension. The angle of each perforation with respect to the axis of tension preferably varies depending on its location relative to the axis of tension.

The invention comprises a financial management program and one or more databases containing information on merchants and their products. The program interacts with the databases containing the product information to return the prices and availability of goods located in a designated area. The program compares prices from various merchants and displays the results to the consumer. The program also allows the consumer to compare the prices with a household budget and financial data, while keeping track of trends in the consumer's spending and buying habits.

The invention relates to a gas shielded welding method and device of a narrow gap or a super-narrow gap impulse jet current consumable electrode controlled by electromagnetic of the heavy section part with middle and high strength. The invention uses a magnetic coil (3) to provide excitation current processed by an excitation source, which can generate an extra magnetic field. Under the conditions of narrow gap or super-narrow gap, high feed rate, fused drop spray transfer and impulse welding current, the process of the gas shielded welding of the rotating jet current consumable electrode with high-melting frequency pulse that is controlled by the electromagnetic for the heavy section part with middle and high strength can be realized. The device of the invention comprises the excitation source, excitation equipment, auxiliary equipment and a water cooling system. The excitation equipment is the magnetic coil (3) with or without a conducting core (5). The excitation equipment is fixed on a welding burner (6), which is positioned above a work piece (9). The excitation current provided by the excitation source (10) produces stationary or time-varying electromagnetic mixing magnetic field that has the combination control over the processes of arc welding, wire burn-off, drop transfer, melting bath flow and welding line coagulation, which finally forms the welding line of good quality.

A magnetically controlled welding method with consumable electrode features that a pair of exciting coils for upper and lower electrodes are arranged respectively above and under the workpiece to be welded, and an exciting power supply is used to provide the exciting current to said coils and generate an external vertical magnetic field for controlling and perform the welding to the workpiece protected by active gas or CO2. Its welding apparatus has exciting power supply, exciting unit and water cooling system.

An electrically heated water kettle comprises a vessel for holding a liquid for extraction of tea, coffee or other food material. The vessel includes a partially open immersible container sized to allow the passage of water between the walls of the vessel. The container is capable of holding the material while an opening in the container allows the entrance of water into the container upon immersion of the container in the water. The heated kettle incorporates structure to hold the container out of the water until the water reaches an appropriate extraction temperature and to immerse or withdraw the container into or from the water as is necessary to accomplish the extraction.

This apparatus and method for dispensing lids, such as plastic cup lids for drinking cups, one-by-one from a nesting stack of lids disposed slidable inside a vertically oriented elongated housing, such stack being initially supported from underneath the bottommost lid by a pair of lateral pivoting support plate members. Operating the dispenser by depressing a yoke-lever member urging a symmetrical outboard pair of resilient flat spring jaws laterally inward, engaging from opposing sides, flanged outer rim on such cup lid that immediately overlays the bottommost lid, causing the overlaying cup lid to be flexed, lifted, and ovally distorted. Such oval distortion wedges the overlaying lid between the resilient flat spring jaws and against the inner wall of the elongated housing vertically supporting the overlaying lid and all lids lying thereon. Further action of the yoke-lever will move the pair of support plates to an unsupporting position allowing bottommost lid to fall free, dispensed. Releasing the yoke-lever member to resting position sequentially restores the pair of support plates to a supporting configuration, and allows the resilient flat spring jaws to relax resting-releasing allowing the overlaying lid, and remaining stack of lids lying thereon to settle down supported underneath by the support plates, thus completing one lid dispense-recharge cycle.

An electrically heated water kettle comprises a vessel for holding a liquid for extraction of tea, coffee or other food material. The vessel includes a partially open immersible container sized to allow the passage of water between the walls of the vessel. The container is capable of holding the material while an opening in the container allows the entrance of water into the container upon immersion of the container in the water. The heated kettle incorporates structure to hold the container out of the water until the water reaches an appropriate extraction temperature and to immerse or withdraw the container into or from the water as is necessary to accomplish the extraction.

A method for self-testing notification appliances in an alarm system, including the steps of measuring ambient noise at a notification appliance, comparing the measured ambient noise to a threshold ambient noise level, and performing a self-test of the notification appliance if the measured ambient noise does not exceed the threshold ambient noise level. The method may further include the step of recording a fail result for the notification appliance if the measured ambient noise exceeds the threshold ambient noise level. Performing the self-test of the notification appliance may include the steps of activating a notification feature of the notification appliance, measuring output of the notification feature, comparing the measured output to a predefined value, recording a pass result for the notification appliance if the measured output exceeds the predefined value, and recording a fail result for the notification appliance if the measured output does not exceed the predefined value.

A tray for handling and retaining a plurality of small components comprising a rigid body portion with a plurality of pockets formed therein. Each of the pockets has an elastomeric contact surface for contacting and retaining a component. The contact surface may be formed from a thermoplastic material having a surface energy between 20 dyne / cm and 100 dyne / cm, and a surface electrical resistivity of between about 1×104 ohms / square and 1×1012 ohms / square. The material for the contact portion may be urethane, polybutylene terephthalate, polyolefin, polyethylene terephthalate, styrenic block co-polymer, styrene-butadiene rubber, polyether block polyamide, or polypropylene / crosslinked EDPM rubber. The body portion may be formed from acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, polycarbonate, urethane, polyphenylene sulfide, polystyrene, polymethyl methacrylate, polyetherketone, polyetheretherketone, polyetherketoneketone, polyether imide, polysulfone, styrene acrylonitrile, polyethylene, polypropylene, fluoropolymer, polyolefin, or nylon. The body portion may have a peripheral border region and a downwardly projecting skirt portion to facilitate stacking of multiple trays.

A medical chair provides a radiolucent backrest pivotally secured to a seat section. A pivoting push bar on the backrest pivots between an operative position, where it can be used to maneuver the chair, and a storage position where it does not compromise the radiolucent property of the backrest. The chair includes a leg support section, and the backrest and leg support section pivot between a chair structure and a stretcher structure. The pivoting of the backrest and legs support section are controlled by actuators that are positioned so as not to interfere with the radiolucent property of the backrest. A foot platform on the leg support section is connected to remain substantially parallel to the seat section as the leg support section is pivoted. A remote control allows for adjusting the configuration of the chair from points distant from the medical chair.

The present invention provides an electronic system and method that permits a responsible parties to determine whether services such as maintenance and repairs have been timely made on environmental equipment installations, such as homeowner wastewater treatment plants, to comply with regulatory requirements. The environmental equipment installations may be installed at different locations, operating on different inspection schedules, with different service companies, different owners, of different types, and be of different processing capacity. A personnel detector is preferably utilized to verify the actual physical presence of service personnel. In a preferred embodiment, the system provides a scheduler for service companies whereby information regarding service schedules and required repairs is available online. The scheduler is operable for generating service routes based on present requirements and / or for providing maps to locations for service personnel.

A hand held dispenser of hot water intended for weed control purposes has a handle containing a hose connection, a flow regulator, a heating tube, an exit tube, a nozzle and a power switch. The handle is connected to a tube which contains a main electric water heating element surrounded by a tube through which water can flow form the bottom of the wand towards the handle before being piped through an exit tube to the nozzle. A temperature sensor is positioned adjacent the handle to regulate the power supplied to the heating element.

A method, computer program product, digital device, network entity and system for enabling a first party operating a first device to transfer a text messaging conversation to a second party operating a second device are provided. In addition, a method, computer program product, digital device, network entity and system for enabling a user conducting multiple text messaging conversations on a first device to transfer only certain of those text messaging conversations for a second device are provided. In either case, the transferring of the text messaging conversation results in one or more text messages of the conversations being transmitted to and displayed on the subsequent device prior to continuing the conversation on that device.

To improve security and simplify financial transactions in electronic communications environments, a cryptographic Private Key is securely stored in a storage device of a user. A Public Key Certificate corresponding to the Private Key is also created and can be stored in an online repository for merchant access. The Public Key Certificate identifies a payment card of the user, and is signed by or on behalf of a financial institution issuing the payment card. When initiating a payment card transaction with a merchant, a data item is signed using the Private Key. The signed data item and the Public Key Certificate are conveyed to the merchant, which enables the merchant to authenticate the transaction without needing to communicate with the user's financial institution, and while avoiding the inconvenience and privacy issues associated with obtaining other card details and user details.