Pharmacy benefits management method and apparatus
Patent 8,296,164
A pharmacy benefits management system and method. A processor server has claim information relating to pharmacy benefits claims, and information relating to a claims processing formulary stored therein. A provider server has pharmacy benefits plan structure information stored therein. A management server has price information relating drugs in various classes and a processing module for correlating the claim information with the benefits plan structure information and the formulary information to identify drugs dispensed to patients, expenses associated with the drugs in accordance with the pharmacy benefits plan structure information, alternative drugs in the same class as the drugs and expenses associated with the alternative drugs.
Inventors: Robert S. Oscar (Richmond); John E. Dietz (Richmond); Bryan W. York (Mechanicsville); Dean T. Ousterhout (Williamsburg); Rob Hauser (Richmond); Matthew Rokenbrod (Richmond); Ilia Brusilovsky (Richmond)
Assignee: RxEOB.COM, LLC (Richmond)
Oct. 23, 2012
UV-VIS-IR imaging optical systems
Patent 8,289,633
Imaging optical systems having good transmission and that are well corrected over the full 315 nm-1100 nm ultraviolet-visible-infrared (UV-VIS-IR) wavelength band are disclosed. A wide variety of apochromatic and superachromatic design examples are presented. The imaging optical systems have a broad range of applications in fields where large-bandwidth imaging is called for, including but not limited to forensics, crime scene documentation, art conservation, forgery detection, medicine, scientific research, remote sensing, and fine art photography.
Inventors: James Brian Caldwell (Petersburg)
Oct. 16, 2012
Methods for incinerating sludge in a combustor
Patent 8,291,842
A method controls mass and heat loading of sludge feed into a fluidized bed combustor (FBC) controlled via regulation of a polymer dosage or a sludge feed rate including: continuously monitoring at least one performance characteristic of the FBC; producing an input signal characteristic; analyzing the input signal and determining a first rate of change of the characteristic; generating an output signal based on the first rate of change to control addition of polymer to the FBC; generating a second output signal to control addition of sludge feed to the FBC; and determining a transition point between the addition of polymer and addition of sludge, which transition point is an upper limit of a first rate change to maintain flow so that the value of the characteristic is maintained proximate at the upper limit.
Inventors: Ky Dangtran (Richmond); Robert F. Kelly (Chesterfield)
Assignee: Infilco Degremont, Inc (Richmond)
Oct. 23, 2012
Diesel fuel additive for reducing emissions
Patent 8,292,976
A fuel additive and method for reducing emissions from an engine combusting a middle distillate fuel. The fuel additive contains a synergistic combination of (a) a cetane improver and (b) a mineral oil co-additive.
Inventors: Jon A. Regrut (Richmond); Scott D. Schwab (Richmond); Lawrence J. Cunningham (Mechanicsville)
Assignee: Afton Chemical Corporation (Richmond)
Oct. 23, 2012
Lubricity additive for fuels
Patent 8,287,608
The present teachings are directed toward a lubricity additive for fuel compositions that is a mixture of an amine having at least one alicyclic group and a monocarboxylic acid having up to 22 carbon atoms.
Inventors: Scott D. Schwab (Richmond)
Assignee: Afton Chemical Corporation (Richmond)
Oct. 16, 2012
Blender control apparatus and method
Patent 8,292,490
A blender control apparatus and method includes monitoring the operation of a blender motor as a measure of monitoring the quality and results of blending. By connecting a feedback sensor to the motor, it is possible to determine whether a blend process is complete. It is also possible to identify when cavitation is occurring or about to occur. In another aspect, the blender controls are directed to an improved method for portion blending. The method includes a two-step query to the user to determine both a predetermined blender cycle and the number of portions to be blended.
Inventors: John Robert Bohannon Jr. (Richmond); Brian Paul Williams (Midlothian)
Assignee: Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc. (Glen Allen)
Oct. 23, 2012
Composite laminate for a thermal and acoustic insulation blanket
Patent 8,292,027
This invention is directed to a composite laminate comprising in order (a) a flame retardant polymeric moisture barrier (b) an inorganic platelet layer and (c) a flame retardant thermoplastic film layer The invention is also directed to a thermal insulation and acoustic blanket comprising a core of fibrous material or foam surrounded by the above composite laminate wherein the thermoplastic film layer of the composite laminate contacts and encapsulates the core.
Inventors: Llewellyn Bentley Richardson III (Chesterfield); Warren Francis Knoff (Richmond); Jian Wang (Shizuoka, Japan)
Assignee: E I du Pont de Nemours and Company (Wilmington, Del.)
Oct. 23, 2012
Software factory readiness review
Patent 8,296,719
A computer-implemented method, system, and computer-readable medium for determining if a software factory is ready to take on a software project is presented. In a preferred embodiment, the computer-implemented method includes the steps of: receiving a software project proposal including a custom software description describing a specific project type of the software project; determining, by a computer processor, that the software project proposal is qualified for acceptance by a software factory, utilizing a scorecard for the specific project type, wherein the scorecard provides a maturity assessment of resources required and identifies any potential choke-points for the specific project type; and in response to a determination that the software project proposal is qualified for acceptance by the software factory, the software factory undertaking the software project proposal.
Inventors: Jarir K. Chaar (Tarrytown, N.Y.); Ronald D. Finlayson (Blythewood, S.C.); Thomas A. Jobson Jr.; (New Paltz, N.Y.); Naomi M. Mitsumori (San Jose, Calif.); Francis X. Reddington (Richmond)
Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, N.Y.)
Oct. 23, 2012
Underdeck drainage
Patent 8,291,677
Drainage under a deck can be performed by a structure that includes hanging components and corrugated panels. For example, a hanging component can have connected first and second portions, with the first portion being connected to hang from one of the joists and extending downward to where it connects to the second portion, which is below the joist. The second portion can be connected to support of at least one of the panels from above. The upper surfaces of panels are sloped so that drainage occurs from a high part to a low part. The direction of slope and the direction of corrugations are not perpendicular, and can be approximately the same. The hanging components can, for example, be L-shaped brackets, U-shaped, or inverted T-shaped, and can be integrally formed by extrusion of plastic or can be metal. The panels can be corrugated plastic or metal sheets.
Inventors: John D. Adair Jr. (Vail, Colo.); L. Paul Nelson II (Richmond)
Assignee: Onduline (France)
Oct. 23, 2012
Parallel cigarette filter combining techniques with particle filling of cavities
Patent 8,291,916
Apparatus and method for forming cigarette filters comprise a single or multiple hopper system for forming filter components of single or multiple sizes. The filter components with spaces therebetween are partially wrapped and then conveyed to at least one media applying wheel where media is deposited into the spaces between the filter components. A cover cap is formed and placed over the partially wrapped filter components downstream of the media wheel to thereby completely wrap the filter components. Subsequently, the completely wrapped filter components are joined to tobacco rods with tipping paper.
Inventors: Marc D. Belcastro (Glen Allen); Loren Duvekot (Goochland)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA Inc. (Richmond)
Oct. 23, 2012
System and method for remote deposit system
Patent 8,296,230
Described is a method and system for a remote deposit system. The method comprises receiving facsimile data corresponding to facsimile of a plurality of checks, constructing digitized images of the checks as a function of the facsimile data, gathering check data from each of the digitized images, and processing the check data according to a check processing procedure to settle transactions referenced by each of the checks.
Inventors: Steven Davis (Ossining, N.Y.); Stephen A. Schutze (Midlothian)
Assignee: EFT Network, Inc. (Hawthorne, N.Y.)
Oct. 23, 2012
Systems and methods for offset-free model predictive control
Patent 8,295,951
Techniques, systems and methods for designing, implementing, and operating model predictive controllers that can deliver perfect tracking of set points and that can reject the effect of disturbances when steady-state operation is reached are disclosed. High performance is achieved through the incorporation of set-point tracking costs, integral costs, and velocity costs, as well as the adoption of incremental model systems for prediction purposes. Embodiments can deliver offset-free performance for tracking set points with constant final values, set points of a ramp type, and set points of a parabolic form, while rejecting disturbances that have a constant final value. The approach reduces the complexity of model predictive control design, delivers improved performance, and requires modest computational power. An Incremental Model State Estimator (IMES) is disclosed that reduces the computation load required for producing estimated values for the unmeasured star vector of a model under the presence of unmeasured disturbances.
Inventors: Oscar D. Crisalle (Gainesville, Fla.); Ricardo Gomez Gonzalez (Monterrey, Mexico); Christopher S. Peek (Midlothian)
Assignee: The University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc. (Gainesville)
Oct. 23, 2012
Ballistic-resistant panel including high modulus ultra high molecular weight polyethylene tape
Patent 8,287,987
A ballistic-resistant panel in which the entire panel or a strike-face portion thereof is formed of a plurality of sheets of high modulus high molecular weight polyethylene tape. The sheets of high modulus polyethylene tape can be in the form of cross-plied laminated layers of tape strips or a woven fabric of tape strips. The strips of UHMWPE tape include a width of at least one inch and a modulus of greater than 1400 grams per denier. The ballistic-resistant panel may include a backing layer of conventional high modulus fibers embedded in resin. A wide variety of adhesives were found acceptable for bonding the cross-plied layers of high modulus polyethylene tape together for forming the ballistic-resistant panels of the present invention.
Inventors: Fielder Stanton Lyons (Phoenix); Kenneth C. Harding (Midlothian); Lisa Owen (Charlotte, N.C.); Joseph Mitchell (Concord, N.C.); Gene C. Weedon (Richmond); Jeffrey A. Mears (Chandler, Ariz,); Peter Anthony Russell (Wilmington, Ohio)
Assignee: BAE Systems Tensylon H.P.M., Inc. (Monroe, N.C.)
Oct. 16, 2012
Pharmacy benefits management method and apparatus
Patent 8,296,164
A pharmacy benefits management system and method. A processor server has claim information relating to pharmacy benefits claims, and information relating to a claims processing formulary stored therein. A provider server has pharmacy benefits plan structure information stored therein. A management server has price information relating drugs in various classes and a processing module for correlating the claim information with the benefits plan structure information and the formulary information to identify drugs dispensed to patients, expenses associated with the drugs in accordance with the pharmacy benefits plan structure information, alternative drugs in the same class as the drugs and expenses associated with the alternative drugs.
Inventors: Robert S. Oscar (Richmond); John E. Dietz (Richmond); Bryan W. York (Mechanicsville); Dean T. Ousterhout (Williamsburg); Rob Hauser (Richmond); Matthew Rokenbrod (Richmond); Ilia Brusilovsky (Richmond)
Assignee: RxEOB.COM, LLC (Richmond)
Oct. 23, 2012
UV-VIS-IR imaging optical systems
Patent 8,289,633
Imaging optical systems having good transmission and that are well corrected over the full 315 nm-1100 nm ultraviolet-visible-infrared (UV-VIS-IR) wavelength band are disclosed. A wide variety of apochromatic and superachromatic design examples are presented. The imaging optical systems have a broad range of applications in fields where large-bandwidth imaging is called for, including but not limited to forensics, crime scene documentation, art conservation, forgery detection, medicine, scientific research, remote sensing, and fine art photography.
Inventors: James Brian Caldwell (Petersburg)
Oct. 16, 2012
Methods for incinerating sludge in a combustor
Patent 8,291,842
A method controls mass and heat loading of sludge feed into a fluidized bed combustor (FBC) controlled via regulation of a polymer dosage or a sludge feed rate including: continuously monitoring at least one performance characteristic of the FBC; producing an input signal characteristic; analyzing the input signal and determining a first rate of change of the characteristic; generating an output signal based on the first rate of change to control addition of polymer to the FBC; generating a second output signal to control addition of sludge feed to the FBC; and determining a transition point between the addition of polymer and addition of sludge, which transition point is an upper limit of a first rate change to maintain flow so that the value of the characteristic is maintained proximate at the upper limit.
Inventors: Ky Dangtran (Richmond); Robert F. Kelly (Chesterfield)
Assignee: Infilco Degremont, Inc (Richmond)
Oct. 23, 2012
Diesel fuel additive for reducing emissions
Patent 8,292,976
A fuel additive and method for reducing emissions from an engine combusting a middle distillate fuel. The fuel additive contains a synergistic combination of (a) a cetane improver and (b) a mineral oil co-additive.
Inventors: Jon A. Regrut (Richmond); Scott D. Schwab (Richmond); Lawrence J. Cunningham (Mechanicsville)
Assignee: Afton Chemical Corporation (Richmond)
Oct. 23, 2012
Lubricity additive for fuels
Patent 8,287,608
The present teachings are directed toward a lubricity additive for fuel compositions that is a mixture of an amine having at least one alicyclic group and a monocarboxylic acid having up to 22 carbon atoms.
Inventors: Scott D. Schwab (Richmond)
Assignee: Afton Chemical Corporation (Richmond)
Oct. 16, 2012
Blender control apparatus and method
Patent 8,292,490
A blender control apparatus and method includes monitoring the operation of a blender motor as a measure of monitoring the quality and results of blending. By connecting a feedback sensor to the motor, it is possible to determine whether a blend process is complete. It is also possible to identify when cavitation is occurring or about to occur. In another aspect, the blender controls are directed to an improved method for portion blending. The method includes a two-step query to the user to determine both a predetermined blender cycle and the number of portions to be blended.
Inventors: John Robert Bohannon Jr. (Richmond); Brian Paul Williams (Midlothian)
Assignee: Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc. (Glen Allen)
Oct. 23, 2012
Composite laminate for a thermal and acoustic insulation blanket
Patent 8,292,027
This invention is directed to a composite laminate comprising in order (a) a flame retardant polymeric moisture barrier (b) an inorganic platelet layer and (c) a flame retardant thermoplastic film layer The invention is also directed to a thermal insulation and acoustic blanket comprising a core of fibrous material or foam surrounded by the above composite laminate wherein the thermoplastic film layer of the composite laminate contacts and encapsulates the core.
Inventors: Llewellyn Bentley Richardson III (Chesterfield); Warren Francis Knoff (Richmond); Jian Wang (Shizuoka, Japan)
Assignee: E I du Pont de Nemours and Company (Wilmington, Del.)
Oct. 23, 2012
Software factory readiness review
Patent 8,296,719
A computer-implemented method, system, and computer-readable medium for determining if a software factory is ready to take on a software project is presented. In a preferred embodiment, the computer-implemented method includes the steps of: receiving a software project proposal including a custom software description describing a specific project type of the software project; determining, by a computer processor, that the software project proposal is qualified for acceptance by a software factory, utilizing a scorecard for the specific project type, wherein the scorecard provides a maturity assessment of resources required and identifies any potential choke-points for the specific project type; and in response to a determination that the software project proposal is qualified for acceptance by the software factory, the software factory undertaking the software project proposal.
Inventors: Jarir K. Chaar (Tarrytown, N.Y.); Ronald D. Finlayson (Blythewood, S.C.); Thomas A. Jobson Jr.; (New Paltz, N.Y.); Naomi M. Mitsumori (San Jose, Calif.); Francis X. Reddington (Richmond)
Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, N.Y.)
Oct. 23, 2012
Underdeck drainage
Patent 8,291,677
Drainage under a deck can be performed by a structure that includes hanging components and corrugated panels. For example, a hanging component can have connected first and second portions, with the first portion being connected to hang from one of the joists and extending downward to where it connects to the second portion, which is below the joist. The second portion can be connected to support of at least one of the panels from above. The upper surfaces of panels are sloped so that drainage occurs from a high part to a low part. The direction of slope and the direction of corrugations are not perpendicular, and can be approximately the same. The hanging components can, for example, be L-shaped brackets, U-shaped, or inverted T-shaped, and can be integrally formed by extrusion of plastic or can be metal. The panels can be corrugated plastic or metal sheets.
Inventors: John D. Adair Jr. (Vail, Colo.); L. Paul Nelson II (Richmond)
Assignee: Onduline (France)
Oct. 23, 2012
Parallel cigarette filter combining techniques with particle filling of cavities
Patent 8,291,916
Apparatus and method for forming cigarette filters comprise a single or multiple hopper system for forming filter components of single or multiple sizes. The filter components with spaces therebetween are partially wrapped and then conveyed to at least one media applying wheel where media is deposited into the spaces between the filter components. A cover cap is formed and placed over the partially wrapped filter components downstream of the media wheel to thereby completely wrap the filter components. Subsequently, the completely wrapped filter components are joined to tobacco rods with tipping paper.
Inventors: Marc D. Belcastro (Glen Allen); Loren Duvekot (Goochland)
Assignee: Philip Morris USA Inc. (Richmond)
Oct. 23, 2012
System and method for remote deposit system
Patent 8,296,230
Described is a method and system for a remote deposit system. The method comprises receiving facsimile data corresponding to facsimile of a plurality of checks, constructing digitized images of the checks as a function of the facsimile data, gathering check data from each of the digitized images, and processing the check data according to a check processing procedure to settle transactions referenced by each of the checks.
Inventors: Steven Davis (Ossining, N.Y.); Stephen A. Schutze (Midlothian)
Assignee: EFT Network, Inc. (Hawthorne, N.Y.)
Oct. 23, 2012
Systems and methods for offset-free model predictive control
Patent 8,295,951
Techniques, systems and methods for designing, implementing, and operating model predictive controllers that can deliver perfect tracking of set points and that can reject the effect of disturbances when steady-state operation is reached are disclosed. High performance is achieved through the incorporation of set-point tracking costs, integral costs, and velocity costs, as well as the adoption of incremental model systems for prediction purposes. Embodiments can deliver offset-free performance for tracking set points with constant final values, set points of a ramp type, and set points of a parabolic form, while rejecting disturbances that have a constant final value. The approach reduces the complexity of model predictive control design, delivers improved performance, and requires modest computational power. An Incremental Model State Estimator (IMES) is disclosed that reduces the computation load required for producing estimated values for the unmeasured star vector of a model under the presence of unmeasured disturbances.
Inventors: Oscar D. Crisalle (Gainesville, Fla.); Ricardo Gomez Gonzalez (Monterrey, Mexico); Christopher S. Peek (Midlothian)
Assignee: The University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc. (Gainesville)
Oct. 23, 2012
Ballistic-resistant panel including high modulus ultra high molecular weight polyethylene tape
Patent 8,287,987
A ballistic-resistant panel in which the entire panel or a strike-face portion thereof is formed of a plurality of sheets of high modulus high molecular weight polyethylene tape. The sheets of high modulus polyethylene tape can be in the form of cross-plied laminated layers of tape strips or a woven fabric of tape strips. The strips of UHMWPE tape include a width of at least one inch and a modulus of greater than 1400 grams per denier. The ballistic-resistant panel may include a backing layer of conventional high modulus fibers embedded in resin. A wide variety of adhesives were found acceptable for bonding the cross-plied layers of high modulus polyethylene tape together for forming the ballistic-resistant panels of the present invention.
Inventors: Fielder Stanton Lyons (Phoenix); Kenneth C. Harding (Midlothian); Lisa Owen (Charlotte, N.C.); Joseph Mitchell (Concord, N.C.); Gene C. Weedon (Richmond); Jeffrey A. Mears (Chandler, Ariz,); Peter Anthony Russell (Wilmington, Ohio)
Assignee: BAE Systems Tensylon H.P.M., Inc. (Monroe, N.C.)
Oct. 16, 2012