High lap shear strength, low back face signature UD composite and the process of making
Patent No. 10,562,238
Fabrication of ballistic resistant fibrous composites having improved ballistic resistance properties. More particularly, ballistic resistant fibrous composites having high interlaminar lap shear strength between component fiber plies or fiber layers, which correlates to low composite backface signature. The high lap shear strength, low backface signature composites are useful for the production of hard armor articles, including helmet armor.
Inventors: Thomas Yiu-Tai Tam (Chesterfield, Virginia), Brian Waring (Chester, Virginia), Henry Gerard Ardiff (Chesterfield, Virginia), Bradley Grunden (Midlothian, Virginia), David A. Hurst (Richmond), John Armstrong Young (Midlothian, Virginia), Ralf Klein (Midlothian, Virginia), Brian Duane Arvidson (Chester, Virginia)
Assignee: Honeywell International (Morris Plains, New Jersey)
Feb. 18, 2020
Electronic smoking article
Patent No. 10,561,177
An electronic smoking article includes a liquid supply region including liquid material and a heater-wick element operable to wick liquid material and heat the liquid material to a temperature sufficient to vaporize the liquid material and form an aerosol. The heater-wick element is formed of a carbon or graphite foam.
Inventors: Susan E. Plunkett (Richmond), David B. Kane (Richmond)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Feb. 18, 2020
Systems and methods for data access control and account management
Patent No. 10,567,375
Embodiments of systems and methods for data access control and account management are described. In an embodiment, a server can apply flags to user accounts identified as requiring the user to perform an action or, in the case of potentially compromised access credentials, to offer the user the opportunity to authenticate and create new credentials. A user account database and an access report database can store access credentials, flags, and other relevant information for use by the server to perform various administrative, authentication, and protective actions on user accounts.
Inventors: Lara Mossler (Farmville, Virginia), Baskar Dilli (Austin, Texas), Melissa Heng (Glen Allen, Virginia), Aravindhan Manivannan (Henrico, Virginia)
Assignee: Capital One Services (McLean, Virginia)
Feb. 18, 2020
Automotive driver health monitoring and response system
Patent No. 10,561,357
A method of monitoring a health condition of a driver of a vehicle includes activating a wearable device that is configured to provide a driver health signal and receiving the driver health signal at a controller. The method outputs for display a warning responsive to the driver health signal being indicative of at least one of an impending driver health event or current driver health event.
Inventors: Keyur R. Patel (Saginaw, Michigan), Patrik Ryne (Midland, Michigan), Joachim J. Klesing (Rochester, Michigan), Ashish C. Patel (Glen Allen, Virginia)
Assignee: Steering Solutions IP Holding Corp. (Saginaw, Michigan)
Feb. 18, 2020
Expansion module system
Patent No. 10,568,227
A system and approach that may connect communication modules together in a daisy chain fashion as an expansion bus. A communication module may be connected with a data bus and a voltage bus to a baseboard having a controller. The communication module may have a multi-port universal serial bus hub connected to the data bus from the expansion connector, an electronic device connected to the hub and the voltage regulator. Another communication module having a similar structure as the first communication module may be connected to the first communication module via a data bus between the multiport hub of the first expansion module and a universal serial bus hub of the other communication module, and may have a voltage bus connected to the voltage bus of the first communication module. More communication modules may be connected in a daisy chain or serial fashion to a preceding module, and so on.
Inventors: Jim Triplett (Midlothian, Virginia)
Assignee: Honeywell International Inc. (Morris Plains, New Jersey)
Feb. 18, 2020
Systems and methods for cryptographic authentication of contactless cards
Patent No. 10,565,587
Example embodiments of systems and methods for data transmission system between transmitting and receiving devices are provided. In an embodiment, each of the transmitting and receiving devices can contain a master key. The transmitting device can generate a diversified key using the master key, protect a counter value and encrypt data prior to transmitting to the receiving device, which can generate the diversified key based on the master key and can decrypt the data and validate the protected counter value using the diversified key.
Inventors: Kaitlin Newman (Washington, D.C.), Kimberly Haynes (Reston, Virginia), Charles Nathan Crank (Henrico, Virginia), Andrew Cogswell (Midlothian, Virginia), Colin Hart (Arlington, Virginia), Jeffrey Rule (Chevy Chase, Maryland), Lara Mossler (Farmville,Virginia), Latika Gulati (Vienna, Virginia), Abdelkader Benkreira (Washington, D.C.), Sarah Jane Cunningham (Arlington, Virginia), Sophie Bermudez (Washington, D.C.), Michael Mossoba (Arlington, Virginia), Wayne Lutz (Fort Washington, Maryland)
Assignee: Capital One Services (McLean, Virginia)
Feb. 18, 2020
Preparation and use of aminoalkylphosphonic acid dilakyl ester compounds in a lubricant for antiwear, friction reduction, and/or micropitting prevention
Patent No. 10,563,146
In accordance with the disclosure, one aspect of the present application is directed to a lubricant additive composition. The lubricant additive composition includes a component or mixture of components selected from (a) an aminoalkylphosphonic acid dialkyl ester; (b) a cyclized product of an aminoalkylphosphonic acid dialkyl ester; and a mixture of (a) and (b). Preparation and use of the additive composition in a lubricant for antiwear and/or friction reduction are also disclosed.
Inventors: Helen T. Ryan (London, Great Britain), Bevin W. Parks-Lee (Midlothian, Virginia), Jeffrey J. Soden (Midlothian, Virginia), Stuart Wickson (Leeds, Great Britain)
Assignee: Afton Chemical Corp. (Richmond)
Feb. 18, 2020
Apparatus for filling cartridges of e-vapor devices
Patent No. 10,562,748
An apparatus for the automated filling of cartridges of e-vapor devices may include a filling drum configured to receive at least one cartridge of an e-vapor device. The apparatus may additionally include a needle assembly including at least one hypodermic needle. The needle assembly is configured to transition between a lowered state and a raised state. The lowered state is where the hypodermic needle is moved down into the cartridge, while the raised state is where the hypodermic needle is lifted up and away from the cartridge. The apparatus may further include a pump assembly configured to pump a pre-vapor formulation into the cartridge when the needle assembly is in the lowered state. The pump assembly may include a variable amplitude cam system configured to adjust an amount of the pre-vapor formulation for pumping to the cartridge without changing start and stop times for the pumping.
Inventors: Travis Martin Garthaffner (Midlothian, Virginia), Jeremy Jay Straight (Midlothian, Virginia)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Feb. 18, 2020
Cellular telephone case
Patent No. 10,574,284
The cellular telephone case is configured for use with a personal data device. The cellular telephone case is a rigid structure. The cellular telephone case forms a protective structure that contains the personal data device. The cellular telephone case comprises a protective case and a lanyard mechanism. The protective case forms the protective structure of the cellular telephone case. The personal data device inserts into the protective case. The lanyard mechanism is a retractable cord contained within the protective case. The lanyard mechanism allows the protective case to be attached to an object.
Inventors: Stephanie Winston (Richmond)
Assignee: N/A
Feb. 25, 2020
Systems and methods for authenticating potentially fraudulent transactions using voice print recognition
Patent No. 10,572,876
Methods and systems are disclosed for providing fraudulent transaction processes. In one embodiment, a method is disclosed for performing fraudulent transaction processes that may include receiving an indication that a payment transaction has been identified as potentially fraudulent, the payment transaction involving a payment account associated with a user. The method may also include receiving a candidate voice print and comparing the candidate voice print to a user voice print that is associated with the payment account. The method may further include determining, based on the comparison, whether the candidate voice print matches the user voice print, and providing an indication whether the candidate voice print matches the user voice print, the indication configured for use to determine whether to approve or deny the payment transaction.
Inventors: Nikhil Murgai (Providence, Rhode Island), Leonard D. Roseman (Richmond)
Assignee: Capital One Services (McLean, Virginia)
Feb. 25, 2020
Compositions and methods for analyzing immobilized nucleic acids
Patent No. 10,570,442
The present invention provides methods of detecting a nucleic acid analyte in a sample. The methods generally involve modifying immobilized nucleic acids from a sample onto an insoluble support in a substantially elongated configuration, where modification generates an identifying feature that identifies the analyte; and detecting the identifying feature(s) using scanning probe microscopy, to detect the analyte. The present invention further provides a method for assigning a profile of a feature to a nucleic acid. The present invention further provides a computer program product for use in a subject method. The present invention further provides a system for detecting a nucleic acid in a sample; and a system for assigning a profile of a feature to a nucleic acid. The present invention further provides a method for immobilizing a nucleic acid onto an insoluble support; and further provides insoluble support having nucleic acid(s) immobilized thereon. The present invention further provides a method of diagnosing a disorder or condition in an individual, where the method involves use of a subject method for detecting a nucleic acid analyte.
Inventors: James K. Gimzewski (Topanga, California), Bhubaneswar Mishra (New York, New York), Jason C. Reed (Richmond)
Assignee: New York University (New York, New York) & The Regents of the University of California (Oakland, California)
Feb. 25, 2020
Carton and carton blank and a handle structure therefor
Patent No. 10,569,947
A carton includes a first panel and a second panel in overlying relationship with each other so as to form a composite wall and a handle structure formed in the composite wall. The handle structure includes a first end portion formed from the first panel, a grip portion extending from the first end portion into an access opening in the composite wall and a second end portion disposed under the first panel and coupled to the grip portion.
Inventors: Nathaniel B. Ball (Richmond), John W. Cash III (Dallas, Georgia)
Assignee: WestRock Packaging Svstems (Atlanta, Georgia)
Feb. 25, 2020
Flavor capsule for enhanced flavor delivery in cigarettes
Patent No. 10,568,356
Improved delivery of additive materials to cigarettes is provided through the use of one or more capsules containing additive materials, such as flavor components, in the filter section of a cigarette. The sealed capsule or capsules are subjected to an external force, such as squeezing, by a smoker prior to or during smoking of the cigarette in order to release at least a portion of the additive material from the one or more capsules and expose the additive material to mainstream smoke passing through the filter. The sealed capsules provide a barrier between the additive materials and other cigarettes components, such as sorbents or filter materials, in order to reduce additive material migration into the other cigarette components prior to desired use.
Inventors: Georgios Karles (Richmond), Martin Garthaffner (Richmond), Richard Jupe (Richmond), Diane Kellogg (Ashland, Virginia), Ila Skinner (Colonial Heights, Virginia), Jose Nepomuceno (Beaverdam, Virginia), John Layman (Blacksburg, Virginia), Constance Morgan (Richmond), Jay A. Fournier (Richmond)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA Inc. (Richmond)
Feb. 25, 2020
Dissolvable films impregnated with encapsulated tobacco, tea, coffee, botanicals, and flavors for oral products
Patent No. 10,568,338
A process for preparing an orally-enjoyable film of encapsulated plant material includes combining particles of finely divided plant material, a first coating material, and a second coating material, then inducing gelation to form a gel matrix of the particles coated with the first coating material embedded in the second coating material, followed by forming a film from the gel matrix. Also disclosed is a film of coated particles of finely-divided plant material, made of a gel matrix of plant material at least partially surrounded by a first coating material and embedded in a second coating material.
Inventors: Tapashi Sengupta (Barrington, Illinois), Munmaya K. Mishra (Manakin Sabot, Virginia), William R. Sweeney (Richmond)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA (Richmond)
Feb. 25, 2020
Mobile tobacco receiving station
Patent No. 10,572,920
A system, method, computer program product, and mobile receiving station for receiving and processing leaf tobacco at a location of a tobacco farmer, including processing the tobacco leaf at the location, including means for weighing and grading of the received tobacco leaf and, optionally, determining moisture content and transmitting information relating to the optionally determined moisture content, the weight, and the grade of the received tobacco leaf to a tobacco product manufacturing facility over a communications link.
Inventors: Hal L. Teegarden (Chesterfield, Virginia), David Scott Ray (Chesterfield, Virginia), John Stewart Livesay (Chesterfield, Virginia), Isidro Gomez (Midlothian, Virginia)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA (Richmond)
Feb. 25, 2020
Bead feeder
Patent No. 10,569,969
A bead feeder serially delivering beads to a downstream location comprises a bead supply wheel connected to rotate about a vertical axis. The bead supply wheel includes a bead supply bowl and a plurality of radially and outwardly extending bead passageway connected to rotate with the bowl and dimensioned to receive a single line of beads. A plurality of openings in the bead supply bowl is spaced around a lower portion thereof with the openings in alignment with the radially and outwardly extending passageways each of which has an outer exit end. A metering plate is connected to rotate about the same vertical axis as the bead supply wheel, and metering plate has a plurality of equally spaced apart openings directly below the outer ends of the passageways for receiving the lowermost beads in the passageways. The metering plate rotates at a slightly slower or slightly faster speed than the bead supply wheel so that vertical alignment of an outer exit end of a particular passageway and an opening in the metering plate only occurs once for each revolution of the bead supply wheel. A drop off is provided for the removal of beads away from the metering plate.
Inventors: Martin T. Garthaffner (Chesterfield, Virginia), Dwight D. Williams (Powhatan, Virginia)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA (Richmond)
Feb. 25, 2020
Automatic transaction processing failover
Patent No. 10,574,657
Transaction authorization systems may include a transaction processor and an authorization server system. The transaction processor obtains transaction requests authorizations for those requests from the authorization server system. The transaction processor may require an authorization be provided within a threshold time; otherwise, the transaction may be processed without authorization. The authorization server system may be hosted using one or more nodes in a distributed system. Degradation of the performance of the distributed system may cause the performance of the authorization server system to fall below the required performance threshold and transactions may not be authorized before automatic processing. Transaction authorization systems may monitor the health of the individual nodes and/or the distributed system and automatically adjust the routing of authorizations based on current and/or future performance degradation. The transaction authorization system may also allocate additional resources and/or reroute authorizations to a separate distributed system to avoid performance degradations.
Inventors: Lavangana Govil (Glen Allen, Virginia), David J. Hicks (Glen Allen, Virginia), Harinath R. Nallabolu (Glen Allen, Virginia), Ranvirsinh Raol (Glen Allen, Virginia), Srinivas Alladi (Glen Allen, Virginia)
Assignee: Capital One Services (McLean, Virginia)
Feb. 25, 2020
Systems and methods for initiating payment from a client device
Patent No. 10,572,869
The disclosed embodiments include a mobile client device for automatically performing a mobile financial service function, including a memory storing software instructions, the software instructions including a mobile financial service application configured to perform financial service processes. The system may also include and one or more processors configured to execute the software instructions to detect a physical action performed on the mobile client device, and determine a first financial service function to perform based on the detected physical action, wherein the first financial service function is a function provided by the mobile financial service application. The one or more processors may also determine whether verification of a user is required, verify the user if verification of the user is required, and automatically initiate the first financial service function.
Inventors: Lawrence Douglas (McLean, Virginia), Paul Moreton (Glen Allen, Virginia)
Assignee: Capital One Services (McLean, Virginia)
Feb. 25, 2020
Flexible shaft for transfer of rotary motion
Patent No. 10,569,396
A flexible shaft, having a first end and, a second end and capable of being bent about its axis while transferring rotary motion from a device to tool is disclosed. The shaft, manufactured from a rigid material, has at least one flexible segment having two sinuous slots ascending in a helical path from a common start point in opposite rotational directions. In other segments the slots can be a single helical slot, double helical slots, parallel or crossing, or circumferential. The helical paths can vary within each segment or from segment to segment.
Inventors: William R. Krause (Charlottesville, Virginia), Garland Edwards (Midlothian, Virginia)
Assignee: N/A
Feb. 25, 2020
High lap shear strength, low back face signature UD composite and the process of making
Patent No. 10,562,238
Fabrication of ballistic resistant fibrous composites having improved ballistic resistance properties. More particularly, ballistic resistant fibrous composites having high interlaminar lap shear strength between component fiber plies or fiber layers, which correlates to low composite backface signature. The high lap shear strength, low backface signature composites are useful for the production of hard armor articles, including helmet armor.
Inventors: Thomas Yiu-Tai Tam (Chesterfield, Virginia), Brian Waring (Chester, Virginia), Henry Gerard Ardiff (Chesterfield, Virginia), Bradley Grunden (Midlothian, Virginia), David A. Hurst (Richmond), John Armstrong Young (Midlothian, Virginia), Ralf Klein (Midlothian, Virginia), Brian Duane Arvidson (Chester, Virginia)
Assignee: Honeywell International (Morris Plains, New Jersey)
Feb. 18, 2020
Electronic smoking article
Patent No. 10,561,177
An electronic smoking article includes a liquid supply region including liquid material and a heater-wick element operable to wick liquid material and heat the liquid material to a temperature sufficient to vaporize the liquid material and form an aerosol. The heater-wick element is formed of a carbon or graphite foam.
Inventors: Susan E. Plunkett (Richmond), David B. Kane (Richmond)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Feb. 18, 2020
Systems and methods for data access control and account management
Patent No. 10,567,375
Embodiments of systems and methods for data access control and account management are described. In an embodiment, a server can apply flags to user accounts identified as requiring the user to perform an action or, in the case of potentially compromised access credentials, to offer the user the opportunity to authenticate and create new credentials. A user account database and an access report database can store access credentials, flags, and other relevant information for use by the server to perform various administrative, authentication, and protective actions on user accounts.
Inventors: Lara Mossler (Farmville, Virginia), Baskar Dilli (Austin, Texas), Melissa Heng (Glen Allen, Virginia), Aravindhan Manivannan (Henrico, Virginia)
Assignee: Capital One Services (McLean, Virginia)
Feb. 18, 2020
Automotive driver health monitoring and response system
Patent No. 10,561,357
A method of monitoring a health condition of a driver of a vehicle includes activating a wearable device that is configured to provide a driver health signal and receiving the driver health signal at a controller. The method outputs for display a warning responsive to the driver health signal being indicative of at least one of an impending driver health event or current driver health event.
Inventors: Keyur R. Patel (Saginaw, Michigan), Patrik Ryne (Midland, Michigan), Joachim J. Klesing (Rochester, Michigan), Ashish C. Patel (Glen Allen, Virginia)
Assignee: Steering Solutions IP Holding Corp. (Saginaw, Michigan)
Feb. 18, 2020
Expansion module system
Patent No. 10,568,227
A system and approach that may connect communication modules together in a daisy chain fashion as an expansion bus. A communication module may be connected with a data bus and a voltage bus to a baseboard having a controller. The communication module may have a multi-port universal serial bus hub connected to the data bus from the expansion connector, an electronic device connected to the hub and the voltage regulator. Another communication module having a similar structure as the first communication module may be connected to the first communication module via a data bus between the multiport hub of the first expansion module and a universal serial bus hub of the other communication module, and may have a voltage bus connected to the voltage bus of the first communication module. More communication modules may be connected in a daisy chain or serial fashion to a preceding module, and so on.
Inventors: Jim Triplett (Midlothian, Virginia)
Assignee: Honeywell International Inc. (Morris Plains, New Jersey)
Feb. 18, 2020
Systems and methods for cryptographic authentication of contactless cards
Patent No. 10,565,587
Example embodiments of systems and methods for data transmission system between transmitting and receiving devices are provided. In an embodiment, each of the transmitting and receiving devices can contain a master key. The transmitting device can generate a diversified key using the master key, protect a counter value and encrypt data prior to transmitting to the receiving device, which can generate the diversified key based on the master key and can decrypt the data and validate the protected counter value using the diversified key.
Inventors: Kaitlin Newman (Washington, D.C.), Kimberly Haynes (Reston, Virginia), Charles Nathan Crank (Henrico, Virginia), Andrew Cogswell (Midlothian, Virginia), Colin Hart (Arlington, Virginia), Jeffrey Rule (Chevy Chase, Maryland), Lara Mossler (Farmville,Virginia), Latika Gulati (Vienna, Virginia), Abdelkader Benkreira (Washington, D.C.), Sarah Jane Cunningham (Arlington, Virginia), Sophie Bermudez (Washington, D.C.), Michael Mossoba (Arlington, Virginia), Wayne Lutz (Fort Washington, Maryland)
Assignee: Capital One Services (McLean, Virginia)
Feb. 18, 2020
Preparation and use of aminoalkylphosphonic acid dilakyl ester compounds in a lubricant for antiwear, friction reduction, and/or micropitting prevention
Patent No. 10,563,146
In accordance with the disclosure, one aspect of the present application is directed to a lubricant additive composition. The lubricant additive composition includes a component or mixture of components selected from (a) an aminoalkylphosphonic acid dialkyl ester; (b) a cyclized product of an aminoalkylphosphonic acid dialkyl ester; and a mixture of (a) and (b). Preparation and use of the additive composition in a lubricant for antiwear and/or friction reduction are also disclosed.
Inventors: Helen T. Ryan (London, Great Britain), Bevin W. Parks-Lee (Midlothian, Virginia), Jeffrey J. Soden (Midlothian, Virginia), Stuart Wickson (Leeds, Great Britain)
Assignee: Afton Chemical Corp. (Richmond)
Feb. 18, 2020
Apparatus for filling cartridges of e-vapor devices
Patent No. 10,562,748
An apparatus for the automated filling of cartridges of e-vapor devices may include a filling drum configured to receive at least one cartridge of an e-vapor device. The apparatus may additionally include a needle assembly including at least one hypodermic needle. The needle assembly is configured to transition between a lowered state and a raised state. The lowered state is where the hypodermic needle is moved down into the cartridge, while the raised state is where the hypodermic needle is lifted up and away from the cartridge. The apparatus may further include a pump assembly configured to pump a pre-vapor formulation into the cartridge when the needle assembly is in the lowered state. The pump assembly may include a variable amplitude cam system configured to adjust an amount of the pre-vapor formulation for pumping to the cartridge without changing start and stop times for the pumping.
Inventors: Travis Martin Garthaffner (Midlothian, Virginia), Jeremy Jay Straight (Midlothian, Virginia)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Feb. 18, 2020
Cellular telephone case
Patent No. 10,574,284
The cellular telephone case is configured for use with a personal data device. The cellular telephone case is a rigid structure. The cellular telephone case forms a protective structure that contains the personal data device. The cellular telephone case comprises a protective case and a lanyard mechanism. The protective case forms the protective structure of the cellular telephone case. The personal data device inserts into the protective case. The lanyard mechanism is a retractable cord contained within the protective case. The lanyard mechanism allows the protective case to be attached to an object.
Inventors: Stephanie Winston (Richmond)
Assignee: N/A
Feb. 25, 2020
Systems and methods for authenticating potentially fraudulent transactions using voice print recognition
Patent No. 10,572,876
Methods and systems are disclosed for providing fraudulent transaction processes. In one embodiment, a method is disclosed for performing fraudulent transaction processes that may include receiving an indication that a payment transaction has been identified as potentially fraudulent, the payment transaction involving a payment account associated with a user. The method may also include receiving a candidate voice print and comparing the candidate voice print to a user voice print that is associated with the payment account. The method may further include determining, based on the comparison, whether the candidate voice print matches the user voice print, and providing an indication whether the candidate voice print matches the user voice print, the indication configured for use to determine whether to approve or deny the payment transaction.
Inventors: Nikhil Murgai (Providence, Rhode Island), Leonard D. Roseman (Richmond)
Assignee: Capital One Services (McLean, Virginia)
Feb. 25, 2020
Compositions and methods for analyzing immobilized nucleic acids
Patent No. 10,570,442
The present invention provides methods of detecting a nucleic acid analyte in a sample. The methods generally involve modifying immobilized nucleic acids from a sample onto an insoluble support in a substantially elongated configuration, where modification generates an identifying feature that identifies the analyte; and detecting the identifying feature(s) using scanning probe microscopy, to detect the analyte. The present invention further provides a method for assigning a profile of a feature to a nucleic acid. The present invention further provides a computer program product for use in a subject method. The present invention further provides a system for detecting a nucleic acid in a sample; and a system for assigning a profile of a feature to a nucleic acid. The present invention further provides a method for immobilizing a nucleic acid onto an insoluble support; and further provides insoluble support having nucleic acid(s) immobilized thereon. The present invention further provides a method of diagnosing a disorder or condition in an individual, where the method involves use of a subject method for detecting a nucleic acid analyte.
Inventors: James K. Gimzewski (Topanga, California), Bhubaneswar Mishra (New York, New York), Jason C. Reed (Richmond)
Assignee: New York University (New York, New York) & The Regents of the University of California (Oakland, California)
Feb. 25, 2020
Carton and carton blank and a handle structure therefor
Patent No. 10,569,947
A carton includes a first panel and a second panel in overlying relationship with each other so as to form a composite wall and a handle structure formed in the composite wall. The handle structure includes a first end portion formed from the first panel, a grip portion extending from the first end portion into an access opening in the composite wall and a second end portion disposed under the first panel and coupled to the grip portion.
Inventors: Nathaniel B. Ball (Richmond), John W. Cash III (Dallas, Georgia)
Assignee: WestRock Packaging Svstems (Atlanta, Georgia)
Feb. 25, 2020
Flavor capsule for enhanced flavor delivery in cigarettes
Patent No. 10,568,356
Improved delivery of additive materials to cigarettes is provided through the use of one or more capsules containing additive materials, such as flavor components, in the filter section of a cigarette. The sealed capsule or capsules are subjected to an external force, such as squeezing, by a smoker prior to or during smoking of the cigarette in order to release at least a portion of the additive material from the one or more capsules and expose the additive material to mainstream smoke passing through the filter. The sealed capsules provide a barrier between the additive materials and other cigarettes components, such as sorbents or filter materials, in order to reduce additive material migration into the other cigarette components prior to desired use.
Inventors: Georgios Karles (Richmond), Martin Garthaffner (Richmond), Richard Jupe (Richmond), Diane Kellogg (Ashland, Virginia), Ila Skinner (Colonial Heights, Virginia), Jose Nepomuceno (Beaverdam, Virginia), John Layman (Blacksburg, Virginia), Constance Morgan (Richmond), Jay A. Fournier (Richmond)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA Inc. (Richmond)
Feb. 25, 2020
Dissolvable films impregnated with encapsulated tobacco, tea, coffee, botanicals, and flavors for oral products
Patent No. 10,568,338
A process for preparing an orally-enjoyable film of encapsulated plant material includes combining particles of finely divided plant material, a first coating material, and a second coating material, then inducing gelation to form a gel matrix of the particles coated with the first coating material embedded in the second coating material, followed by forming a film from the gel matrix. Also disclosed is a film of coated particles of finely-divided plant material, made of a gel matrix of plant material at least partially surrounded by a first coating material and embedded in a second coating material.
Inventors: Tapashi Sengupta (Barrington, Illinois), Munmaya K. Mishra (Manakin Sabot, Virginia), William R. Sweeney (Richmond)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA (Richmond)
Feb. 25, 2020
Mobile tobacco receiving station
Patent No. 10,572,920
A system, method, computer program product, and mobile receiving station for receiving and processing leaf tobacco at a location of a tobacco farmer, including processing the tobacco leaf at the location, including means for weighing and grading of the received tobacco leaf and, optionally, determining moisture content and transmitting information relating to the optionally determined moisture content, the weight, and the grade of the received tobacco leaf to a tobacco product manufacturing facility over a communications link.
Inventors: Hal L. Teegarden (Chesterfield, Virginia), David Scott Ray (Chesterfield, Virginia), John Stewart Livesay (Chesterfield, Virginia), Isidro Gomez (Midlothian, Virginia)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA (Richmond)
Feb. 25, 2020
Bead feeder
Patent No. 10,569,969
A bead feeder serially delivering beads to a downstream location comprises a bead supply wheel connected to rotate about a vertical axis. The bead supply wheel includes a bead supply bowl and a plurality of radially and outwardly extending bead passageway connected to rotate with the bowl and dimensioned to receive a single line of beads. A plurality of openings in the bead supply bowl is spaced around a lower portion thereof with the openings in alignment with the radially and outwardly extending passageways each of which has an outer exit end. A metering plate is connected to rotate about the same vertical axis as the bead supply wheel, and metering plate has a plurality of equally spaced apart openings directly below the outer ends of the passageways for receiving the lowermost beads in the passageways. The metering plate rotates at a slightly slower or slightly faster speed than the bead supply wheel so that vertical alignment of an outer exit end of a particular passageway and an opening in the metering plate only occurs once for each revolution of the bead supply wheel. A drop off is provided for the removal of beads away from the metering plate.
Inventors: Martin T. Garthaffner (Chesterfield, Virginia), Dwight D. Williams (Powhatan, Virginia)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA (Richmond)
Feb. 25, 2020
Automatic transaction processing failover
Patent No. 10,574,657
Transaction authorization systems may include a transaction processor and an authorization server system. The transaction processor obtains transaction requests authorizations for those requests from the authorization server system. The transaction processor may require an authorization be provided within a threshold time; otherwise, the transaction may be processed without authorization. The authorization server system may be hosted using one or more nodes in a distributed system. Degradation of the performance of the distributed system may cause the performance of the authorization server system to fall below the required performance threshold and transactions may not be authorized before automatic processing. Transaction authorization systems may monitor the health of the individual nodes and/or the distributed system and automatically adjust the routing of authorizations based on current and/or future performance degradation. The transaction authorization system may also allocate additional resources and/or reroute authorizations to a separate distributed system to avoid performance degradations.
Inventors: Lavangana Govil (Glen Allen, Virginia), David J. Hicks (Glen Allen, Virginia), Harinath R. Nallabolu (Glen Allen, Virginia), Ranvirsinh Raol (Glen Allen, Virginia), Srinivas Alladi (Glen Allen, Virginia)
Assignee: Capital One Services (McLean, Virginia)
Feb. 25, 2020
Systems and methods for initiating payment from a client device
Patent No. 10,572,869
The disclosed embodiments include a mobile client device for automatically performing a mobile financial service function, including a memory storing software instructions, the software instructions including a mobile financial service application configured to perform financial service processes. The system may also include and one or more processors configured to execute the software instructions to detect a physical action performed on the mobile client device, and determine a first financial service function to perform based on the detected physical action, wherein the first financial service function is a function provided by the mobile financial service application. The one or more processors may also determine whether verification of a user is required, verify the user if verification of the user is required, and automatically initiate the first financial service function.
Inventors: Lawrence Douglas (McLean, Virginia), Paul Moreton (Glen Allen, Virginia)
Assignee: Capital One Services (McLean, Virginia)
Feb. 25, 2020
Flexible shaft for transfer of rotary motion
Patent No. 10,569,396
A flexible shaft, having a first end and, a second end and capable of being bent about its axis while transferring rotary motion from a device to tool is disclosed. The shaft, manufactured from a rigid material, has at least one flexible segment having two sinuous slots ascending in a helical path from a common start point in opposite rotational directions. In other segments the slots can be a single helical slot, double helical slots, parallel or crossing, or circumferential. The helical paths can vary within each segment or from segment to segment.
Inventors: William R. Krause (Charlottesville, Virginia), Garland Edwards (Midlothian, Virginia)
Assignee: N/A
Feb. 25, 2020