Computing system and method for leveraging aggregated information to determine a unified purchasing solution
Patent No. 11,430,031
A computing system and method leverage aggregated information regarding historical medication usage and medication availability to efficiently determine a unified purchasing solution. In a method, an order is received for a quantity of a medication. For a covered entity, a portion of the quantity of the medication that is able to be satisfied pursuant to a 340B program is determined based upon information regarding historical usage of the medication for outpatients and prior purchases under the 340B program. The method also includes determining the portions that are separately able to be satisfied pursuant to a group purchasing organization (GPO) program and a wholesaler/prime vendor program. The method further includes determining a proposed purchasing solution and to cause information regarding the proposed purchasing solution to be provided including information regarding savings based upon the prices of the medication for a respective period of time that was provided by the supplier.
Inventors: John Stump (Carrollton, Texas), Christopher Shain (Fenton, Missouri), Andrew Wilson (Richmond), Kevin Scheckelhoff (Richmond), Gregg Niemiec (San Antonio, Texas), Matthew Bates (Alpharetta, Georgia), Jennifer Luker (Justin, Texas)
Assignee: McKesson Corp. (Irving, Texas)
Aug. 30, 2022
Urination prediction and monitoring
Patent No. 11,430,245
A system for predicting and detecting urination events of users is disclosed. The system can include any number of wearable devices, mobile devices, hubs, computing devices, and servers to collect, share, process, and interpret data, as well as to provide stimuli to users and caregivers. Biometric and/or environmental data associated with a user can be collected and applied to a urination model to determine a predicted urination time. The user or a caregiver can be provided with direct or environmental stimuli conveying information about predicted urination times. Ongoing biometric and/or environmental data collection can be used to identify, and provide stimuli warning of, imminent urination events. Voluntary and involuntary feedback of actual urination events, as well as continued biometric and/or environmental data collection, can be used to train individual and collective urination models.
Inventors: Steven Zyglowicz (Leesburg, Virginia), Tim Baker (Beaverdam, Virginia), Jon Coble (Glen Allen, Virginia), Israel Franco (Chappaqua, New York)
Assignee: GoGo Band Inc. (Ashland, Virginia)
Aug. 30, 2022
System and method for managing restrictions on collection activities
Patent No. 11,430,056
A collection management system includes a collection server, a telephone dialing system, and a restriction features server. The collection server includes a memory having records, a debtor database and a local restrictions database. The telephone dialing system is connected to the collection server and is configured to access a telephony network and automatically dial a plurality of telephone numbers. Access to the telephony network by the telephone dialing system is restricted based on the information in the local restrictions database. The records of the collection server retain instances of restricted access to the telephony network by the telephone dialing system. The restriction features server is configured to connect to the collection server and update the restrictions database.
Inventors: Amy Kennedy (Midlothian, Virginia), Megan Jones (Muncie, Indiana), Beth Waters (Muncie, Indiana), Dwayne Lott (Farmland, Indiana), Chris Repp (Pendleton, Indiana)
Assignee: Ontario Systems (Muncie, Indiana)
Aug. 30, 2022
Doser assemblies, apparatuses including a doser assembly, and/or methods of making the same
Patent No. 11,427,364
In an example embodiment, a doser assembly includes a hopper assembly configured to receive plant material, a bracket assembly connected to the hopper assembly, and a roller in a hopper opening defined by the hopper assembly extending through the hopper assembly. An interior surface of the hopper assembly may define the hopper opening. The bracket assembly may include a shaft extending across a portion of the hopper opening. The roller may be in the portion of the hopper opening of the hopper assembly and may extend between a first part and a second part of the interior surface of the hopper assembly. The roller may be connected to the shaft and may be configured to rotate with rotation of the shaft.
Inventors: Jarrod Wayne Chalkley (Mechanicsville, Virginia), Loren Theodore Duvekot (Goochland, Virginia)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Aug. 30, 2022
E-vaping device cartridge with internal conductive element
Patent No. 11,425,937
A cartridge for an e-vaping device includes a conductive element extending through an interior of a dispensing interface to which a heating element is coupled. The conductive element may have a greater temperature coefficient of electrical resistivity than the heating element. The dispensing interface may include a fibrous wicking material, and the conductive element may be woven through an interior of the fibrous wicking material. A temperature of the dispensing interface may be determined based on monitoring an electrical resistance of the conductive element. An amount of pre-vapor formulation may be determined based on an electrical resistance of the bridge electrical circuit to an electrical signal between the heating element and the conductive element through the dispensing interface.
Inventors: Barry S. Smith (Hopewell, Virginia), Ed Cadieux (Mechanicsville, Virginia), Patrick J. Cobler (Nashua, New Hampshire)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Aug. 30, 2022
Medicament delivery devices for administration of a medicament within a prefilled syringe
Patent No. 11,426,520
An apparatus includes a housing, a medicament container and a movable member. The medicament container is movable within the housing between a first position and a second position in response to a force produced by an energy storage member. A proximal end portion of the medicament container includes a flange and has a plunger disposed therein. A first shoulder of the movable member exerts the force on the flange to move the medicament container from the first position to the second position. A portion of the first shoulder deforms when the medicament container is in the second position such that at least a portion of the force is exerted upon the plunger. A second shoulder of the movable member exerts a retraction force on the flange to move the medicament container from the second position towards the first position.
Inventors: Eric S. Edwards (Moseley, Virginia), Evan T. Edwards (Charlottesville, Virginia), Mark J. Licata (Doswell, Virginia), Paul F. Meyers (Fishers, Indiana)
Assignee: kaleo (Richmond)
Aug. 30, 2022
Cartridge for e-vaping device with open-microchannels
Patent No. 11,433,192
A cartridge for an e-vaping device includes a reservoir configured to hold a pre-vapor formulation and a channel structure that includes a channel surface with one or more open-microchannels. An open-microchannel in the channel structure may be in fluid communication with the reservoir and may transport pre-vapor formulation from the reservoir to a heating element based on capillary action of the pre-vapor formulation through the open-microchannels. The heating element may vaporize the pre-vapor formulation drawn through one or more open-microchannels. The cartridge may be independent of fibrous dispensing interfaces, including one or more wicks. Fabrication of such a cartridge may be simplified, faster, cheaper, some combination thereof, or the like relative to fabrication of a cartridge that includes a fibrous or soft dispensing interface to draw pre-vapor formulation from a reservoir to a heating element.
Inventors: Raymond W. Lau (Richmond), Ali A. Rostami (Richmond), Eric A. Hawes (Midlothian, Virginia)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Ultra-low profile wireless flow sensors to monitor hemodynamic alterations in the vascular system
Patent No. 11,432,731
The invention relates to endovascular medical implant devices, systems and methods that including a sensing device and a flow diverter device, which are effective to monitor intra-/post-operative hemodynamic properties in the location of a cerebral aneurysm and, hemodynamic alterations following placement of the system for treating ischemic diseases in carotid, coronary and peripheral arteries. The sensing device includes wireless, non-thrombogenic, highly stretchable, ultra-low profile flow sensors.
Inventors: Young Jae Chun (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Brian T. Jankowitz (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Sung Kwon Cho (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Yanfei Chen (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Woon-Hong Yeo (Glen Allen, Virginia), Yongkuk Lee (Richmond), Connor Howe (Richmond)
Assignee: University of Pittsburgh-Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) & Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Method of forming heating elements that are coupled together to a voltage source
Patent No. 11,432,592
A heater for heating an aerosol-forming substrate includes a plurality of elongate heating elements arranged in an elongate array. The elongate array has a support end with a first dimension, a heating end with a second dimension and a middle portion with a third dimension. The array is arranged to heat the substrate to form an aerosol. The third dimension is greater than the first dimension and greater than the second dimension. An electrically heated aerosol generating system can include the heater.
Inventors: Olivier Greim (Villars-Burquin, Switzerland), Felix Fernando (Berkshire, Great Britain), Charles Higgins (Richmond)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Electronic vaping device having pressure sensor
Patent No. 11,432,591
At least one example embodiment discloses a section of an electronic-vaping device including a pressure sensor configured to measure a current ambient pressure, the pressure sensor further configured to output the current ambient pressure measurement in accordance with a read request frequency, and a controller configured to determine a mode of operation of the electronic-vaping device, control the read request frequency based on the determined mode of operation, and detect a threshold pressure change based on the current ambient pressure and a baseline pressure.
Inventors: Geoffrey Brandon Jordan (Midlothian, Virginia), Phillip Diana (Richmond), Sean Sundberg (Richmond), David Bennett (Richmond), Christopher S. Tucker (Midlothian, Virginia), Barry S. Smith (Hopewell, Virginia), Edmond J. Cadieux (Mechanicsville, Virginia), Douglas A. Burton (Glen Allen, Virginia), Paul Butler (Methuen, Massachusetts), Jarrett Keen (Richmond), Patrick Cobler (Andover, Massachusetts), Kai Cao (Somerville, Massachusetts)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Capsule containing a matrix, device with the matrix, and method of forming the matrix
Patent No. 11,432,581
The capsule includes the matrix with one or more portions of a filler material. The filler material is a plant-based cellulose material. The one or more portions define interstices. A containing structure contains the matrix. A consumable substance is infused within the filler material. The consumable substance is nicotine, a flavorant, a pre-aerosol formulation, a combination thereof, or a sub-combination thereof. The device includes a heating section with the capsule.
Inventors: Munmaya K. Mishra (Manakin Sabot, Virginia), Danielle Crawford (Chester, Virginia), Dwight David Williams (Richmond), Eric Hawes (Glen Allen, Virginia), Terry Bache (Richmond), Raymond W. Lau (Richmond), Shaoyong Yu (Glen Allen, Virginia)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Cured leaf separator
Patent No. 11,432,580
A leaf removal assembly including a frame comprising a front plate having a feed opening, a leaf stripping assembly mounted on said front plate in front of said feed opening and an upper sprocket wheel comprising a plurality of upper socket grippers extending radially outward of the upper sprocket wheel and being disposed behind the front plate. The leaf removal assembly further includes a lower sprocket wheel comprising a plurality of lower sprocket grippers extending radially outwardly of the lower sprocket wheel and being disposed behind the front plate. At least one of the upper sprocket wheel and the lower sprocket wheel may be adjustably attached to the frame. A process for separating a leaf from a stalk comprising at least one leaf is also included.
Inventors: James David Evans (Chesterfield, Virginia), Ashish Jain (Glen Allen, Virginia), Loren Theodore Duvekot (Goochland, Virginia), David C. Haller (Richmond)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Methods, systems, apparatuses, and devices for providing durable forward confidentiality during communications between devices
Patent No. 11,438,315
Disclosed herein is a method for providing durable forward confidentiality during communications between devices, in accordance with some embodiments. Accordingly, the method may include receiving an ephemeral entropy source identifier and a bit range identifier from a first user device, encrypting the ephemeral entropy source identifier and the bit range identifier, generating a ciphertext, transmitting the ciphertext to a second user device, receiving the ciphertext from the second user device, decrypting the ciphertext, obtaining the ephemeral entropy source identifier and the bit range identifier, identifying an ephemeral entropy source and a bit range, capturing a content from a stream of the ephemeral entropy source, generating a secret key using the content, identifying the ephemeral entropy source and the bit range, capturing the content from the stream, and generating the secret key using the content.
Inventors: Lawrence Liu (Chesterfield, Virginia)
Assignee: N/A
Sept. 6, 2022
Systems and methods for email-based card activation
Patent No. 11,438,164
Example embodiments of systems and methods for data transmission between a contactless card, a client device, and one or more servers are provided. The contactless card may include one or more processors and memory, which may include one or more applets. The client device may include one or more processors and memory. The client device may be in data communication with the contactless card. One or more servers may be in data communication with the client device. A first set of information may be transmitted from the contactless card to the client device. The first set of information may include one or more links to activate the contactless card via a designated email program. Upon validation of the first set of information by the one or more servers, the contactless card may be activated.
Inventors: Jeffrey Rule (Chevy Chase, Maryland), Melissa Heng (Glen Allen, Virginia), Wayne Lutz (Fort Washington, Maryland), James Ashfield (Midlothian, Virginia), Colin Hart (Arlington, Virginia), Rajko Ilincic (Annandale, Virginia)
Assignee: Capital One Services (McLean, Virginia)
Sept. 6, 2022
Contextual tapping engine
Patent No. 11,436,887
Various embodiments for contextual tapping engines. For example, an application executing on a computing device may authenticate credentials associated with an account and detect a tap of a contactless card to the computing device. The application may receive, from a communications interface of the contactless card, action data used to determine an action associated with the tap of the contactless card to the computing device. The application may determine a context of the application based on a current output of the application. The application may determine, based on the action data, the determined context, and data associated with the account, a first action associated with the tap of the contactless card to the computing device, the first action associated with at least one of the application and an operating system (OS). The application may initiate performance of the first action based on the tap of the contactless card.
Inventors: Jeffrey Rule (Chevy Chase, Maryland), Daniel Herrington (New York, New York), Colin Hart (Arlington, Virginia), Melissa Yoemans Heng (Glen Allen, Virginia)
Assignee: Capital One Services (McLean, Virginia)
Sept. 6, 2022
Hinged lid packaging
Patent No. 11,434,043
A pack for consumer goods includes an outer packaging container and an inner packaging container. The outer packaging container includes a lower box portion with an upper lid portion hingedly connected thereto. The inner packaging container includes a dispensing opening with a resealable closure, a front panel, a back panel, a top panel, a bottom panel, and opposing side panels; each side panel having an inner panel and an outer panel, the inner panel having a first width defining a width of the inner packaging container, and the outer panel including at least a portion having a second width defining flanges having a width greater than the first width. The inner packaging container is insertable within the outer packaging container such that the flanges extending from the back panel of the inner packaging container exert a biasing force on the hinged lid of the outer packaging container to assure lid closure is maintained.
Inventors: Robert T. Mitten (Glen Allen, Virginia), Christopher J. Hession (Mechanicsville, Virginia)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Re-sealable cigarette pack
Patent No. 11,434,066
A container for consumer goods includes a rigid outer box, an inner package, an inner frame and a pull tab. The outer box has a hinged lid configured to provide access to an inner volume of the outer box. The inner frame is paperboard having a pre-cut opening configured to provide access to an inner volume of the inner package. The pull tab covers the opening with a first adhesive that releasably adheres an edge portion of the pull tab to the inner frame and a second adhesive that permanently adheres the pull tab to the inner package and the outer box.
Inventors: Stephen Bellamah (Midlothian, Virginia)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Bill pay service with federated directory model support
Patent No. 11,436,577
A method, system, apparatus, and computer program for conducting a real-time payment settlement transaction. The method receiving a request for endpoint data, and, in response to receiving the request, determining whether one or more directories, among a plurality of directories, can provide the endpoint data requested in the request. The method also includes identifying at least one directory, among the directories determined to be able to provide the endpoint data requested in the request, as a selection for providing the endpoint data, and obtaining the endpoint data from the at least one directory identified in the identifying. In one example embodiment, the endpoint data includes an account number of a payee account and a routing number of a payee entity. A payment message or a request for payment message can be routed using the obtained endpoint data.
Inventors: Peter Davey (Powhatan, Virginia), Stephen Ledford (Winterville, Georgia)
Assignee: The Clearing House Payments Co. (New York, New York)
Sept. 6, 2022
Computing system and method for leveraging aggregated information to determine a unified purchasing solution
Patent No. 11,430,031
A computing system and method leverage aggregated information regarding historical medication usage and medication availability to efficiently determine a unified purchasing solution. In a method, an order is received for a quantity of a medication. For a covered entity, a portion of the quantity of the medication that is able to be satisfied pursuant to a 340B program is determined based upon information regarding historical usage of the medication for outpatients and prior purchases under the 340B program. The method also includes determining the portions that are separately able to be satisfied pursuant to a group purchasing organization (GPO) program and a wholesaler/prime vendor program. The method further includes determining a proposed purchasing solution and to cause information regarding the proposed purchasing solution to be provided including information regarding savings based upon the prices of the medication for a respective period of time that was provided by the supplier.
Inventors: John Stump (Carrollton, Texas), Christopher Shain (Fenton, Missouri), Andrew Wilson (Richmond), Kevin Scheckelhoff (Richmond), Gregg Niemiec (San Antonio, Texas), Matthew Bates (Alpharetta, Georgia), Jennifer Luker (Justin, Texas)
Assignee: McKesson Corp. (Irving, Texas)
Aug. 30, 2022
Urination prediction and monitoring
Patent No. 11,430,245
A system for predicting and detecting urination events of users is disclosed. The system can include any number of wearable devices, mobile devices, hubs, computing devices, and servers to collect, share, process, and interpret data, as well as to provide stimuli to users and caregivers. Biometric and/or environmental data associated with a user can be collected and applied to a urination model to determine a predicted urination time. The user or a caregiver can be provided with direct or environmental stimuli conveying information about predicted urination times. Ongoing biometric and/or environmental data collection can be used to identify, and provide stimuli warning of, imminent urination events. Voluntary and involuntary feedback of actual urination events, as well as continued biometric and/or environmental data collection, can be used to train individual and collective urination models.
Inventors: Steven Zyglowicz (Leesburg, Virginia), Tim Baker (Beaverdam, Virginia), Jon Coble (Glen Allen, Virginia), Israel Franco (Chappaqua, New York)
Assignee: GoGo Band Inc. (Ashland, Virginia)
Aug. 30, 2022
System and method for managing restrictions on collection activities
Patent No. 11,430,056
A collection management system includes a collection server, a telephone dialing system, and a restriction features server. The collection server includes a memory having records, a debtor database and a local restrictions database. The telephone dialing system is connected to the collection server and is configured to access a telephony network and automatically dial a plurality of telephone numbers. Access to the telephony network by the telephone dialing system is restricted based on the information in the local restrictions database. The records of the collection server retain instances of restricted access to the telephony network by the telephone dialing system. The restriction features server is configured to connect to the collection server and update the restrictions database.
Inventors: Amy Kennedy (Midlothian, Virginia), Megan Jones (Muncie, Indiana), Beth Waters (Muncie, Indiana), Dwayne Lott (Farmland, Indiana), Chris Repp (Pendleton, Indiana)
Assignee: Ontario Systems (Muncie, Indiana)
Aug. 30, 2022
Doser assemblies, apparatuses including a doser assembly, and/or methods of making the same
Patent No. 11,427,364
In an example embodiment, a doser assembly includes a hopper assembly configured to receive plant material, a bracket assembly connected to the hopper assembly, and a roller in a hopper opening defined by the hopper assembly extending through the hopper assembly. An interior surface of the hopper assembly may define the hopper opening. The bracket assembly may include a shaft extending across a portion of the hopper opening. The roller may be in the portion of the hopper opening of the hopper assembly and may extend between a first part and a second part of the interior surface of the hopper assembly. The roller may be connected to the shaft and may be configured to rotate with rotation of the shaft.
Inventors: Jarrod Wayne Chalkley (Mechanicsville, Virginia), Loren Theodore Duvekot (Goochland, Virginia)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Aug. 30, 2022
E-vaping device cartridge with internal conductive element
Patent No. 11,425,937
A cartridge for an e-vaping device includes a conductive element extending through an interior of a dispensing interface to which a heating element is coupled. The conductive element may have a greater temperature coefficient of electrical resistivity than the heating element. The dispensing interface may include a fibrous wicking material, and the conductive element may be woven through an interior of the fibrous wicking material. A temperature of the dispensing interface may be determined based on monitoring an electrical resistance of the conductive element. An amount of pre-vapor formulation may be determined based on an electrical resistance of the bridge electrical circuit to an electrical signal between the heating element and the conductive element through the dispensing interface.
Inventors: Barry S. Smith (Hopewell, Virginia), Ed Cadieux (Mechanicsville, Virginia), Patrick J. Cobler (Nashua, New Hampshire)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Aug. 30, 2022
Medicament delivery devices for administration of a medicament within a prefilled syringe
Patent No. 11,426,520
An apparatus includes a housing, a medicament container and a movable member. The medicament container is movable within the housing between a first position and a second position in response to a force produced by an energy storage member. A proximal end portion of the medicament container includes a flange and has a plunger disposed therein. A first shoulder of the movable member exerts the force on the flange to move the medicament container from the first position to the second position. A portion of the first shoulder deforms when the medicament container is in the second position such that at least a portion of the force is exerted upon the plunger. A second shoulder of the movable member exerts a retraction force on the flange to move the medicament container from the second position towards the first position.
Inventors: Eric S. Edwards (Moseley, Virginia), Evan T. Edwards (Charlottesville, Virginia), Mark J. Licata (Doswell, Virginia), Paul F. Meyers (Fishers, Indiana)
Assignee: kaleo (Richmond)
Aug. 30, 2022
Cartridge for e-vaping device with open-microchannels
Patent No. 11,433,192
A cartridge for an e-vaping device includes a reservoir configured to hold a pre-vapor formulation and a channel structure that includes a channel surface with one or more open-microchannels. An open-microchannel in the channel structure may be in fluid communication with the reservoir and may transport pre-vapor formulation from the reservoir to a heating element based on capillary action of the pre-vapor formulation through the open-microchannels. The heating element may vaporize the pre-vapor formulation drawn through one or more open-microchannels. The cartridge may be independent of fibrous dispensing interfaces, including one or more wicks. Fabrication of such a cartridge may be simplified, faster, cheaper, some combination thereof, or the like relative to fabrication of a cartridge that includes a fibrous or soft dispensing interface to draw pre-vapor formulation from a reservoir to a heating element.
Inventors: Raymond W. Lau (Richmond), Ali A. Rostami (Richmond), Eric A. Hawes (Midlothian, Virginia)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Ultra-low profile wireless flow sensors to monitor hemodynamic alterations in the vascular system
Patent No. 11,432,731
The invention relates to endovascular medical implant devices, systems and methods that including a sensing device and a flow diverter device, which are effective to monitor intra-/post-operative hemodynamic properties in the location of a cerebral aneurysm and, hemodynamic alterations following placement of the system for treating ischemic diseases in carotid, coronary and peripheral arteries. The sensing device includes wireless, non-thrombogenic, highly stretchable, ultra-low profile flow sensors.
Inventors: Young Jae Chun (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Brian T. Jankowitz (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Sung Kwon Cho (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Yanfei Chen (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Woon-Hong Yeo (Glen Allen, Virginia), Yongkuk Lee (Richmond), Connor Howe (Richmond)
Assignee: University of Pittsburgh-Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) & Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Method of forming heating elements that are coupled together to a voltage source
Patent No. 11,432,592
A heater for heating an aerosol-forming substrate includes a plurality of elongate heating elements arranged in an elongate array. The elongate array has a support end with a first dimension, a heating end with a second dimension and a middle portion with a third dimension. The array is arranged to heat the substrate to form an aerosol. The third dimension is greater than the first dimension and greater than the second dimension. An electrically heated aerosol generating system can include the heater.
Inventors: Olivier Greim (Villars-Burquin, Switzerland), Felix Fernando (Berkshire, Great Britain), Charles Higgins (Richmond)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Electronic vaping device having pressure sensor
Patent No. 11,432,591
At least one example embodiment discloses a section of an electronic-vaping device including a pressure sensor configured to measure a current ambient pressure, the pressure sensor further configured to output the current ambient pressure measurement in accordance with a read request frequency, and a controller configured to determine a mode of operation of the electronic-vaping device, control the read request frequency based on the determined mode of operation, and detect a threshold pressure change based on the current ambient pressure and a baseline pressure.
Inventors: Geoffrey Brandon Jordan (Midlothian, Virginia), Phillip Diana (Richmond), Sean Sundberg (Richmond), David Bennett (Richmond), Christopher S. Tucker (Midlothian, Virginia), Barry S. Smith (Hopewell, Virginia), Edmond J. Cadieux (Mechanicsville, Virginia), Douglas A. Burton (Glen Allen, Virginia), Paul Butler (Methuen, Massachusetts), Jarrett Keen (Richmond), Patrick Cobler (Andover, Massachusetts), Kai Cao (Somerville, Massachusetts)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Capsule containing a matrix, device with the matrix, and method of forming the matrix
Patent No. 11,432,581
The capsule includes the matrix with one or more portions of a filler material. The filler material is a plant-based cellulose material. The one or more portions define interstices. A containing structure contains the matrix. A consumable substance is infused within the filler material. The consumable substance is nicotine, a flavorant, a pre-aerosol formulation, a combination thereof, or a sub-combination thereof. The device includes a heating section with the capsule.
Inventors: Munmaya K. Mishra (Manakin Sabot, Virginia), Danielle Crawford (Chester, Virginia), Dwight David Williams (Richmond), Eric Hawes (Glen Allen, Virginia), Terry Bache (Richmond), Raymond W. Lau (Richmond), Shaoyong Yu (Glen Allen, Virginia)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Cured leaf separator
Patent No. 11,432,580
A leaf removal assembly including a frame comprising a front plate having a feed opening, a leaf stripping assembly mounted on said front plate in front of said feed opening and an upper sprocket wheel comprising a plurality of upper socket grippers extending radially outward of the upper sprocket wheel and being disposed behind the front plate. The leaf removal assembly further includes a lower sprocket wheel comprising a plurality of lower sprocket grippers extending radially outwardly of the lower sprocket wheel and being disposed behind the front plate. At least one of the upper sprocket wheel and the lower sprocket wheel may be adjustably attached to the frame. A process for separating a leaf from a stalk comprising at least one leaf is also included.
Inventors: James David Evans (Chesterfield, Virginia), Ashish Jain (Glen Allen, Virginia), Loren Theodore Duvekot (Goochland, Virginia), David C. Haller (Richmond)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Methods, systems, apparatuses, and devices for providing durable forward confidentiality during communications between devices
Patent No. 11,438,315
Disclosed herein is a method for providing durable forward confidentiality during communications between devices, in accordance with some embodiments. Accordingly, the method may include receiving an ephemeral entropy source identifier and a bit range identifier from a first user device, encrypting the ephemeral entropy source identifier and the bit range identifier, generating a ciphertext, transmitting the ciphertext to a second user device, receiving the ciphertext from the second user device, decrypting the ciphertext, obtaining the ephemeral entropy source identifier and the bit range identifier, identifying an ephemeral entropy source and a bit range, capturing a content from a stream of the ephemeral entropy source, generating a secret key using the content, identifying the ephemeral entropy source and the bit range, capturing the content from the stream, and generating the secret key using the content.
Inventors: Lawrence Liu (Chesterfield, Virginia)
Assignee: N/A
Sept. 6, 2022
Systems and methods for email-based card activation
Patent No. 11,438,164
Example embodiments of systems and methods for data transmission between a contactless card, a client device, and one or more servers are provided. The contactless card may include one or more processors and memory, which may include one or more applets. The client device may include one or more processors and memory. The client device may be in data communication with the contactless card. One or more servers may be in data communication with the client device. A first set of information may be transmitted from the contactless card to the client device. The first set of information may include one or more links to activate the contactless card via a designated email program. Upon validation of the first set of information by the one or more servers, the contactless card may be activated.
Inventors: Jeffrey Rule (Chevy Chase, Maryland), Melissa Heng (Glen Allen, Virginia), Wayne Lutz (Fort Washington, Maryland), James Ashfield (Midlothian, Virginia), Colin Hart (Arlington, Virginia), Rajko Ilincic (Annandale, Virginia)
Assignee: Capital One Services (McLean, Virginia)
Sept. 6, 2022
Contextual tapping engine
Patent No. 11,436,887
Various embodiments for contextual tapping engines. For example, an application executing on a computing device may authenticate credentials associated with an account and detect a tap of a contactless card to the computing device. The application may receive, from a communications interface of the contactless card, action data used to determine an action associated with the tap of the contactless card to the computing device. The application may determine a context of the application based on a current output of the application. The application may determine, based on the action data, the determined context, and data associated with the account, a first action associated with the tap of the contactless card to the computing device, the first action associated with at least one of the application and an operating system (OS). The application may initiate performance of the first action based on the tap of the contactless card.
Inventors: Jeffrey Rule (Chevy Chase, Maryland), Daniel Herrington (New York, New York), Colin Hart (Arlington, Virginia), Melissa Yoemans Heng (Glen Allen, Virginia)
Assignee: Capital One Services (McLean, Virginia)
Sept. 6, 2022
Hinged lid packaging
Patent No. 11,434,043
A pack for consumer goods includes an outer packaging container and an inner packaging container. The outer packaging container includes a lower box portion with an upper lid portion hingedly connected thereto. The inner packaging container includes a dispensing opening with a resealable closure, a front panel, a back panel, a top panel, a bottom panel, and opposing side panels; each side panel having an inner panel and an outer panel, the inner panel having a first width defining a width of the inner packaging container, and the outer panel including at least a portion having a second width defining flanges having a width greater than the first width. The inner packaging container is insertable within the outer packaging container such that the flanges extending from the back panel of the inner packaging container exert a biasing force on the hinged lid of the outer packaging container to assure lid closure is maintained.
Inventors: Robert T. Mitten (Glen Allen, Virginia), Christopher J. Hession (Mechanicsville, Virginia)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Re-sealable cigarette pack
Patent No. 11,434,066
A container for consumer goods includes a rigid outer box, an inner package, an inner frame and a pull tab. The outer box has a hinged lid configured to provide access to an inner volume of the outer box. The inner frame is paperboard having a pre-cut opening configured to provide access to an inner volume of the inner package. The pull tab covers the opening with a first adhesive that releasably adheres an edge portion of the pull tab to the inner frame and a second adhesive that permanently adheres the pull tab to the inner package and the outer box.
Inventors: Stephen Bellamah (Midlothian, Virginia)
Assignee: Altria Client Services (Richmond)
Sept. 6, 2022
Bill pay service with federated directory model support
Patent No. 11,436,577
A method, system, apparatus, and computer program for conducting a real-time payment settlement transaction. The method receiving a request for endpoint data, and, in response to receiving the request, determining whether one or more directories, among a plurality of directories, can provide the endpoint data requested in the request. The method also includes identifying at least one directory, among the directories determined to be able to provide the endpoint data requested in the request, as a selection for providing the endpoint data, and obtaining the endpoint data from the at least one directory identified in the identifying. In one example embodiment, the endpoint data includes an account number of a payee account and a routing number of a payee entity. A payment message or a request for payment message can be routed using the obtained endpoint data.
Inventors: Peter Davey (Powhatan, Virginia), Stephen Ledford (Winterville, Georgia)
Assignee: The Clearing House Payments Co. (New York, New York)
Sept. 6, 2022