System and method for capturing sales tax deduction information from monetary card transactions
Patent No. 9,418,386
Systems and methods are provided for managing sales tax information. The information may be generated, for example, in connection with transactions involving financial accounts, such as a credit card account. The sales tax information may be received electronically from, for example, a merchant or a point of sale device. A determination may be made whether there is any missing sales tax information. If there is missing information a request may be generated and sent to a source having the information. The source may receive the request, retrieve the desired information, and transmit it to the requesting entity. The sales tax information may be stored and later retrieved for presentation to a user, such as the account holder. The account holder may use the information in completing a tax return.
Inventors: Eric D. Fox (Richmond), Robert W. Gregory Jr. (Mechanicsville, Va.)
Assignee: Capital One Financial Corp. (McLean, Va.)
Aug. 16, 2016
Hyperhalogens and highly electronegative compositions
Patent No. 9,416,016
Hyperhalogens, a new class of highly electronegative species, are now invented. A hyperhalogen is a superhalogen-containing composition in which the electron affinity (EA) of the hyperhalogen is even larger than that of the superhalogens they are composed of. Novel production methods are provided in which highly electronegative species are produced by surrounding a central metal atom by superhalogen moieties.
Inventors: Puru Jena (Richmond), Gerd Gantefoer (Constance, Germany)
Assignee: Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond)
Aug. 16, 2016
Fiber-wrapped smokeless tobacco product
Patent No. 9,414,624
A fiber-wrapped smokeless tobacco product includes smokeless tobacco and a plurality of polymeric fibers surrounding the smokeless tobacco. The polymeric fibers can have a basis weight of 5 gsm or less and a diameter of less than 100 microns. In some cases, the polymeric fibers are melt-blown polymeric fibers. In some cases, the polymeric fibers are centrifugal force spun polymeric fibers. A method of preparing a fiber-wrapped smokeless tobacco product includes melt-blowing or centrifugal force spinning a plurality of polymeric fibers to create an polymer deposition zone and passing a body comprising smokeless tobacco through the polymer deposition zone. In some cases, an electrostatic charge can be applied to the plurality of polymeric fibers, the body, or a combination thereof. In some cases, a spin is applied to the body when passing through the polymer deposition zone.
Inventors: Andrew Nathan Carroll (Chester, Va.), Shannon Maxwell Black (Richmond, Va.), Yan Helen Sun (Midlothian, Va.), William J. Burke (Richmond)
Assignee: Altria Client Services LLC (Richmond)
Aug. 16, 2016
Molded articles (including automobile parts) and related filled thermoplastic polyolefin compositions
Patent No. 9,416,261
A molded article made from and/or containing a polymeric composition made from and/or containing a high melt flow rate polypropylene homopolymer composition, a compatibilizer, a polyethylene-based elastomer, and talc is provided. An automobile part, including bumper facias, body side-molding, instrumental panels, side pillars, and door trims, with improved coefficients of linear thermal expansion is also provided.
Inventors: Todd A. Glogovsky (Okemos, Mich.), Brent A. Mrozinski (Chesterfield, Va.)
Assignee: Equistar Chemicals LP (Houston, Texas)
Aug. 16, 2016
Automated mix in-cup apparatus and the method of operating the same
Patent No. 9,415,358
The present disclosure describes an automated blend in-cup apparatus and the related method of operation. The disclosure relates generally to the field of mixing consumable material. More specifically, the disclosure relates to a mixer that is automatically operable to lower a mixing blade into a cup or vessel that contains material to be blended/mixed. A carriage reciprocates on a frame. A pulley system is also located on the frame and a power cord is routed through the pulley system. A moveable pulley in the pulley system moves in the opposite direction of the reciprocating carriage. The apparatus further comprises a well with an inlet manifold and a drain and a fixed but removable cup-receiving holder. Overall, the apparatus is effective, fast, easy to operate, safe, and clean.
Inventors: Ernest B. Pryor Jr. (Maidens, Va.), Benjamin H. Branson III (Mechanicsville, Va.), Brian P. Williams (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: Hamilton Beach Brands Inc. (Glen Allen, Va.)
Aug. 16, 2016
Blister package with compartments
Patent No. 9,422,101
A package is disclosed comprising an outer blister portion and an inner blister portion, each blister portion having a flange, the flanges enclosed between paperboard cards, arranged so that upon rotation of the outer blister portion access is obtained to compartments within the inner blister portion. The compartments may hold product items.
Inventors: Meng-Chuan Wu (Richmond), Charlotte Hanks (Toronto, Canada), Alyssa Smith (Quinton, VA)
Assignee: WestRock MWV LLC (Norcross, Ga.)
Aug. 23, 2016
Clickable polyoxetane carrier for drug delivery
Patent No. 9,421,276
A polymer is provided, comprising a subunit having the formula: ##STR00001## wherein A, B, C, D, a, b, c, d, and p are defined herein. Compositions, methods of making, and methods of use are provided.
Inventors: Hu Yang (Mechancsville, Va), Olga Zolotarskaya (Richmond), Kenneth J. Wynne (Midlothian, Va.), Kristoffer Valerie (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond)
Aug. 23, 2016
Soft oral product
Patent No. 9,420,827
An oral product includes a body that is wholly receivable in an oral cavity. The body includes a polymer matrix and one or more flavorants and/or active ingredients embedded in the polymer matrix. The polymer matrix can include a copolymer of ethylene and one or more vinyl monomers or zein. For example, the polymer can be ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer and/or ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer. In some cases, the oral product can include tobacco and/or nicotine.
Inventors: Munmaya K. Mishra (Manakin Sabot, Va.), Georgios D. Karles (Richmond)
Assignee: Altria Client Services LLC (Richmond)
Aug. 23, 2016
Mat with removable information bearing section
Patent No. 9,421,730
A mat is formed from a first mat section and a second mat section where the second mat section is fastened to the first mat section in a cutout formed in the first mat section. The first mat section can have information placed thereon in one or more areas and can include a carpet-like material on an upper surface of an upper layer. The second mat section can be formed from an absorbent type material and can have information displayed thereon, including information displayed using a dye-sublimation print process so as to provide for multi-color high quality information. The mat is particularly suited for use in boxing rings and the like so as to prevent fluids associated with such activities from coming in contact with the floor of the boxing ring.
Inventors: Thomas J. Clohessy (Hicksville, N.Y.), Edwin Pettersen (Chesterfield, Va.)
Assignee: Billboard Mats LLC (Chesterfield, Va.)
Aug. 23, 2016
Polyester compounds suitable for hydroclaving
Patent No. 9,421,308
A compound suitable for hydroclaving is disclosed, comprising polyester, polysulfone, and an epoxy-functional styrene-acrylate oligomer. In order for successful repetitious hydroclaving to be possible, the compound must also have a polysulfone content of greater than 45 weight percent of the compound.
Inventors: Jing Liu (Avon, Ohio), Rahul Bhardwaj (Glen Allen, Va.)
Assignee: PolyOne Corp. (Avon Lake, Ohio)
Aug. 23, 2016
Storing network bidirectional flow data and metadata with efficient processing technique
Patent No. 9,426,071
A processing technique provides an improved indexing arrangement that enables storage, filtering and querying of metadata used to retrieve packets captured from a network and persistently stored in a data repository. A packet capture engine records the packets in packet capture (PCAP) formats from a network link at a substantially high packet transfer rate to persistent storage of the data repository in a sustained manner. Efficient filtering and querying of the metadata to retrieve the stored packets may be achieved, in part, by organizing the metadata as one or more metadata repositories. The processing technique uses the Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) language as an interface of a BPF engine to search or index the stored packets in response to queries. The BPF engine processes BPF expressions used as precursors to the indexing arrangement to enable access to the repositories when searching and locating stored packets matching the expressions.
Inventors: Randy I. Caldejon (Crozet, Va.), Dennis Lee Edwards (Crozet, Va.), Christopher Hayes Fauerbach (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: FireEye Inc. (Milpitas, Calif.)
Aug. 23, 2016
Composite action support structures
Patent No. 9,422,716
A composite action support structure for a bridge or other civil infrastructure includes an elongate member made of a plastic material and providing load bearing capability. A cover plate is made of a plastic material and extends along at least a portion of the length of the elongate member. A lower surface of the cover plate is mated to the upper surface of the elongate member. A plurality of panels made of a plastic material are arranged at an angle to the cover plate, and a lower surface of each of the panels mates with an upper surface of the cover plate. The elongate member, the cover plate and the plurality of panels form a structural unit. The plastic materials used can include virgin plastic, thermoplastic, recycled thermoplastic composite, recycled structural composite, combinations thereof, and the like.
Inventors: Vijay Chandra (Fairfax Station, Va.), John Sang Kim (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: PBC International Inc. (New York, N.Y.)
Aug. 23, 2016
Redeploying a baseline virtual machine to update a child virtual machine by creating and swapping a virtual disk comprising a clone of the baseline virtual machine
Patent No. 9,424,066
One or more techniques and/or systems are disclosed for redeploying a baseline VM (BVM) to one or more child VMs (CVMs) by merely cloning virtual drives of the BVM, instead of the entirety of the parent BVM. A temporary directory is created in a datastore that has the target CVMs that are targeted for virtual drive replacement (e.g., are to be “re-baselined”). One or more replacement virtual drives (RVDs) are created in the temporary directory, where the RVDs comprise a clone of a virtual drive of the source BVM. The one or more RVDs are moved from the temporary directory to a directory of the target CVMs, replacing existing virtual drives of the target CVMs so that the target CVMs are thus re-baselined to the state of the parent BVM.
Inventors: George Costea (Durham, N.C.), Eric Forgette (Mechanicsville, Va.)
Assignee: NetApp Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.)
Aug. 23, 2016
Pipette tip washing device
Patent No. 9,421,289
A washing device includes a top compartment capable of receiving a manifold dispenser. The manifold dispenser is coupled to a rack and comprises at least one liquid input and a plurality of liquid outputs that operably direct fluid to contact a plurality of laboratory consumables held by the rack. A middle compartment is attached to the top compartment and comprises a washing chamber capable of receiving fluid output by the plurality of liquid outputs of the manifold dispenser. The washing chamber has a floor comprising a material transparent to ultraviolet (UV) light. A bottom compartment is attached to the washing chamber. The cottom compartment includes a light source mounted thereto. The light source is capable of outputting UV light in the direction of the washing chamber and through the floor of the washing chamber. A method of washing laboratory consumables is also disclosed.
Inventors: Ali Safavi (Chester, Va.)
Assignee: Grenova LLC (Richmond)
Aug. 23, 2016
System and method for capturing sales tax deduction information from monetary card transactions
Patent No. 9,418,386
Systems and methods are provided for managing sales tax information. The information may be generated, for example, in connection with transactions involving financial accounts, such as a credit card account. The sales tax information may be received electronically from, for example, a merchant or a point of sale device. A determination may be made whether there is any missing sales tax information. If there is missing information a request may be generated and sent to a source having the information. The source may receive the request, retrieve the desired information, and transmit it to the requesting entity. The sales tax information may be stored and later retrieved for presentation to a user, such as the account holder. The account holder may use the information in completing a tax return.
Inventors: Eric D. Fox (Richmond), Robert W. Gregory Jr. (Mechanicsville, Va.)
Assignee: Capital One Financial Corp. (McLean, Va.)
Aug. 16, 2016
Hyperhalogens and highly electronegative compositions
Patent No. 9,416,016
Hyperhalogens, a new class of highly electronegative species, are now invented. A hyperhalogen is a superhalogen-containing composition in which the electron affinity (EA) of the hyperhalogen is even larger than that of the superhalogens they are composed of. Novel production methods are provided in which highly electronegative species are produced by surrounding a central metal atom by superhalogen moieties.
Inventors: Puru Jena (Richmond), Gerd Gantefoer (Constance, Germany)
Assignee: Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond)
Aug. 16, 2016
Fiber-wrapped smokeless tobacco product
Patent No. 9,414,624
A fiber-wrapped smokeless tobacco product includes smokeless tobacco and a plurality of polymeric fibers surrounding the smokeless tobacco. The polymeric fibers can have a basis weight of 5 gsm or less and a diameter of less than 100 microns. In some cases, the polymeric fibers are melt-blown polymeric fibers. In some cases, the polymeric fibers are centrifugal force spun polymeric fibers. A method of preparing a fiber-wrapped smokeless tobacco product includes melt-blowing or centrifugal force spinning a plurality of polymeric fibers to create an polymer deposition zone and passing a body comprising smokeless tobacco through the polymer deposition zone. In some cases, an electrostatic charge can be applied to the plurality of polymeric fibers, the body, or a combination thereof. In some cases, a spin is applied to the body when passing through the polymer deposition zone.
Inventors: Andrew Nathan Carroll (Chester, Va.), Shannon Maxwell Black (Richmond, Va.), Yan Helen Sun (Midlothian, Va.), William J. Burke (Richmond)
Assignee: Altria Client Services LLC (Richmond)
Aug. 16, 2016
Molded articles (including automobile parts) and related filled thermoplastic polyolefin compositions
Patent No. 9,416,261
A molded article made from and/or containing a polymeric composition made from and/or containing a high melt flow rate polypropylene homopolymer composition, a compatibilizer, a polyethylene-based elastomer, and talc is provided. An automobile part, including bumper facias, body side-molding, instrumental panels, side pillars, and door trims, with improved coefficients of linear thermal expansion is also provided.
Inventors: Todd A. Glogovsky (Okemos, Mich.), Brent A. Mrozinski (Chesterfield, Va.)
Assignee: Equistar Chemicals LP (Houston, Texas)
Aug. 16, 2016
Automated mix in-cup apparatus and the method of operating the same
Patent No. 9,415,358
The present disclosure describes an automated blend in-cup apparatus and the related method of operation. The disclosure relates generally to the field of mixing consumable material. More specifically, the disclosure relates to a mixer that is automatically operable to lower a mixing blade into a cup or vessel that contains material to be blended/mixed. A carriage reciprocates on a frame. A pulley system is also located on the frame and a power cord is routed through the pulley system. A moveable pulley in the pulley system moves in the opposite direction of the reciprocating carriage. The apparatus further comprises a well with an inlet manifold and a drain and a fixed but removable cup-receiving holder. Overall, the apparatus is effective, fast, easy to operate, safe, and clean.
Inventors: Ernest B. Pryor Jr. (Maidens, Va.), Benjamin H. Branson III (Mechanicsville, Va.), Brian P. Williams (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: Hamilton Beach Brands Inc. (Glen Allen, Va.)
Aug. 16, 2016
Blister package with compartments
Patent No. 9,422,101
A package is disclosed comprising an outer blister portion and an inner blister portion, each blister portion having a flange, the flanges enclosed between paperboard cards, arranged so that upon rotation of the outer blister portion access is obtained to compartments within the inner blister portion. The compartments may hold product items.
Inventors: Meng-Chuan Wu (Richmond), Charlotte Hanks (Toronto, Canada), Alyssa Smith (Quinton, VA)
Assignee: WestRock MWV LLC (Norcross, Ga.)
Aug. 23, 2016
Clickable polyoxetane carrier for drug delivery
Patent No. 9,421,276
A polymer is provided, comprising a subunit having the formula: ##STR00001## wherein A, B, C, D, a, b, c, d, and p are defined herein. Compositions, methods of making, and methods of use are provided.
Inventors: Hu Yang (Mechancsville, Va), Olga Zolotarskaya (Richmond), Kenneth J. Wynne (Midlothian, Va.), Kristoffer Valerie (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond)
Aug. 23, 2016
Soft oral product
Patent No. 9,420,827
An oral product includes a body that is wholly receivable in an oral cavity. The body includes a polymer matrix and one or more flavorants and/or active ingredients embedded in the polymer matrix. The polymer matrix can include a copolymer of ethylene and one or more vinyl monomers or zein. For example, the polymer can be ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer and/or ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer. In some cases, the oral product can include tobacco and/or nicotine.
Inventors: Munmaya K. Mishra (Manakin Sabot, Va.), Georgios D. Karles (Richmond)
Assignee: Altria Client Services LLC (Richmond)
Aug. 23, 2016
Mat with removable information bearing section
Patent No. 9,421,730
A mat is formed from a first mat section and a second mat section where the second mat section is fastened to the first mat section in a cutout formed in the first mat section. The first mat section can have information placed thereon in one or more areas and can include a carpet-like material on an upper surface of an upper layer. The second mat section can be formed from an absorbent type material and can have information displayed thereon, including information displayed using a dye-sublimation print process so as to provide for multi-color high quality information. The mat is particularly suited for use in boxing rings and the like so as to prevent fluids associated with such activities from coming in contact with the floor of the boxing ring.
Inventors: Thomas J. Clohessy (Hicksville, N.Y.), Edwin Pettersen (Chesterfield, Va.)
Assignee: Billboard Mats LLC (Chesterfield, Va.)
Aug. 23, 2016
Polyester compounds suitable for hydroclaving
Patent No. 9,421,308
A compound suitable for hydroclaving is disclosed, comprising polyester, polysulfone, and an epoxy-functional styrene-acrylate oligomer. In order for successful repetitious hydroclaving to be possible, the compound must also have a polysulfone content of greater than 45 weight percent of the compound.
Inventors: Jing Liu (Avon, Ohio), Rahul Bhardwaj (Glen Allen, Va.)
Assignee: PolyOne Corp. (Avon Lake, Ohio)
Aug. 23, 2016
Storing network bidirectional flow data and metadata with efficient processing technique
Patent No. 9,426,071
A processing technique provides an improved indexing arrangement that enables storage, filtering and querying of metadata used to retrieve packets captured from a network and persistently stored in a data repository. A packet capture engine records the packets in packet capture (PCAP) formats from a network link at a substantially high packet transfer rate to persistent storage of the data repository in a sustained manner. Efficient filtering and querying of the metadata to retrieve the stored packets may be achieved, in part, by organizing the metadata as one or more metadata repositories. The processing technique uses the Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) language as an interface of a BPF engine to search or index the stored packets in response to queries. The BPF engine processes BPF expressions used as precursors to the indexing arrangement to enable access to the repositories when searching and locating stored packets matching the expressions.
Inventors: Randy I. Caldejon (Crozet, Va.), Dennis Lee Edwards (Crozet, Va.), Christopher Hayes Fauerbach (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: FireEye Inc. (Milpitas, Calif.)
Aug. 23, 2016
Composite action support structures
Patent No. 9,422,716
A composite action support structure for a bridge or other civil infrastructure includes an elongate member made of a plastic material and providing load bearing capability. A cover plate is made of a plastic material and extends along at least a portion of the length of the elongate member. A lower surface of the cover plate is mated to the upper surface of the elongate member. A plurality of panels made of a plastic material are arranged at an angle to the cover plate, and a lower surface of each of the panels mates with an upper surface of the cover plate. The elongate member, the cover plate and the plurality of panels form a structural unit. The plastic materials used can include virgin plastic, thermoplastic, recycled thermoplastic composite, recycled structural composite, combinations thereof, and the like.
Inventors: Vijay Chandra (Fairfax Station, Va.), John Sang Kim (Midlothian, Va.)
Assignee: PBC International Inc. (New York, N.Y.)
Aug. 23, 2016
Redeploying a baseline virtual machine to update a child virtual machine by creating and swapping a virtual disk comprising a clone of the baseline virtual machine
Patent No. 9,424,066
One or more techniques and/or systems are disclosed for redeploying a baseline VM (BVM) to one or more child VMs (CVMs) by merely cloning virtual drives of the BVM, instead of the entirety of the parent BVM. A temporary directory is created in a datastore that has the target CVMs that are targeted for virtual drive replacement (e.g., are to be “re-baselined”). One or more replacement virtual drives (RVDs) are created in the temporary directory, where the RVDs comprise a clone of a virtual drive of the source BVM. The one or more RVDs are moved from the temporary directory to a directory of the target CVMs, replacing existing virtual drives of the target CVMs so that the target CVMs are thus re-baselined to the state of the parent BVM.
Inventors: George Costea (Durham, N.C.), Eric Forgette (Mechanicsville, Va.)
Assignee: NetApp Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.)
Aug. 23, 2016
Pipette tip washing device
Patent No. 9,421,289
A washing device includes a top compartment capable of receiving a manifold dispenser. The manifold dispenser is coupled to a rack and comprises at least one liquid input and a plurality of liquid outputs that operably direct fluid to contact a plurality of laboratory consumables held by the rack. A middle compartment is attached to the top compartment and comprises a washing chamber capable of receiving fluid output by the plurality of liquid outputs of the manifold dispenser. The washing chamber has a floor comprising a material transparent to ultraviolet (UV) light. A bottom compartment is attached to the washing chamber. The cottom compartment includes a light source mounted thereto. The light source is capable of outputting UV light in the direction of the washing chamber and through the floor of the washing chamber. A method of washing laboratory consumables is also disclosed.
Inventors: Ali Safavi (Chester, Va.)
Assignee: Grenova LLC (Richmond)
Aug. 23, 2016