A capsule charging apparatus for charging a hard gelatin capsule with a filling of powder, granule, or liquid continuously at every constant amount, in which operation processes such as receiving, holding, separating, charging with the filling, recoupling, and ejecting of the capsule are performed in order during one rotation of a turntable at plural positions defined by a predetermined rotation angle by which the turntable intermittently rotates, the turntable comprising a pair of rotary members disposed opposite to each other with a fixed space therebetween in the vertical direction of a vertical shaft, and between the upper and lower rotary members being interposed capsule guide members for connecting cap containing pockets with corresponding body containing pockets of the rotary members in order to separate the capsule into the cap and body and recouple them.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a charging apparatus for charging a hard gelatin capsule (hereinafter, merely called "the capsule") with a certain form of filling, and more particularly to a charging apparatus for charging the capsule with pharmaceutics or foodstuffs in powder, granule or liquid form, continuously in constant amounts.
2. Description of the prior art
As well-known, capsules charged with medicine as well as tablets and pellets are at present generally used as oral medicine in the field of medicament.
Such a capsule charged with medicine is obtained by charging the pharmaceutics in powder, granule or liquid form, at a predetermined amount into a small vessel made of gelatin, that is, an empty capsule, comprising a tubular body portion which is usually open at one end and domically closed at the other end and a cap portion which is the same in shape as the body portion and of a slightly larger inner diameter than an outer diameter of the body portion, the body and cap being coaxially coupled with each other (i.e., the open end of the body is inserted into the open end of the cap). The pharmaceutics are charged into the capsule at high speed and automatically in continuation by use of an apparatus usually called a capsule charging apparatus.
The capsule charging apparatus has hitherto been put in practical use in various models. Furthermore, various improvements have been proposed aiming at high speed charging (improved processing ability), improvement in charging accuracy and/or miniaturization of apparatus, which are disclosed in, for example, the Japanese Patent Publication No. 49-38813 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 61-213050. The well-known capsule charging apparatus of these prior applications are so constructed that in order to ensure a space for supplying filling onto the bodies of capsules in the charging process, separated caps are grouped into a plurality of members and each group is temporarily moved upwards from the bodies, or while keeping the caps as they are, the bodies are projected in the radial direction of a rotary member for containing them and temporarily separated from the caps.
Accordingly, the conventional capsule charging apparatus nearly always attains the object of charging the filling at high speed, but it is inevitable to make the apparatus large-sized as a whole, and it is largely inconvenient for over all maintenance to adjust the apparatus when the applied capsules are changed in the size.


In a recording device having one or more semiconductor memories mounted thereon, the number of semiconductor memories operating in parallel is restricted according to an available supply current of an accessing apparatus to which the recording device is attached.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to technology for accessing a semiconductor memory according to instructions of an accessing apparatus, in particular to technology for performing the access in accordance with the amount of current that can be applied by the accessing apparatus.
2. Background Art
Since being compact, light and slim and allowing easy manipulation, SD cards and other memory cards equipped with flash memories therein are widely employed in digital apparatuses such as digital still cameras. The storage capacities of commercially available memory cards are in general from 16 to 512 MB, and the recording rates are up to 10 MB/s or so.
For recording data with large storage space requirements, such as video and audio data in DV format, however, the above storage capacities and recording rates are not sufficient. In the case of data with a reproduction rate of 4 MB/s, for example, only two-minute's worth of data can be recorded, and the writing process takes about one minute.
In order to solve these problems, Patent References 1 and 2 disclose memory card drives capable of mounting multiple memory cards thereon. According to the disclosed technology, a large storage capacity is attained by using more than one memory card placed in a memory card drive. In addition, an improvement in the recording rate is achieved by writing data into multiple memory cards in parallel using striping, which is known as one of the RAID formats.
In the case of using such a memory card drive connected to a personal computer (hereinafter, "PC") or another electric apparatus, the amount of the current that the electric apparatus is able to supply to the memory card drive differs from one electric apparatus to another. When it comes to PCs, for example, the current that can be supplied by a PC to a memory card drive is defined in the PC card standard as 1 A. However, the available supply current practically varies among types of PCs due to their heat release characteristics and the like.
When two or more memory cards are operated in parallel using a memory card drive, the consumption current of the memory card drive increases in proportion to the number of memory cards in operation. Operating four memory cards each having a consumption current of 200 mA, for instance, claims a total consumption current of 800 mA. Accordingly, PCs applicable to this memory card drive are limited only to those feasible to supply 800 mA or more current to the memory card drive.
<Patent Reference 1> Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2002-189992
<Patent Reference 2> Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2000-207137

Recording apparatus receiving current supply from an accessing apparatus


A sheet feeding device including a roller to apply conveying force to one of a plurality of stacked sheets, a separator piece to apply conveying resistance to the stacked sheets and to nip the one of the stacked sheets in cooperation with the roller, a movable member being movable with respect to the roller, a pair of spring arms configured to contact the stacked sheets at an upstream position along a conveying direction with respect to a nipping position between the roller and the separator piece, and a bridge to bridge between the pair of spring arms, is provided. The bridge and the movable member are slidably in contact with each other at least when the sheet feeding device is in a conveyable condition.

1. Technical Field
An aspect of the present invention relates to a sheet feeding device capable of separating a plurality of stacked sheets individually and conveying the separated sheets one-by-one in a predetermined direction.
2. Related Art
A sheet feeding device, in which a plurality of stacked sheets are separated one-by-one by a roller and a separator pad and conveyed in a predetermined direction, is known. In the sheet feeding device, idle feeding of the sheets can be prevented by a pair of auxiliary blade springs, which press the sheets against the roller.


A method of transferring organic material from a donor element to a substrate includes providing a radiation source; and selecting the power of the radiation applied to the donor element by the radiation source to cause the transfer of organic material to the substrate wherein the time that one or more positions of the donor element receives radiation is greater than 1 millisecond.

In color or full-color organic electroluminescent (EL) displays, there is an array of colored pixels such as red, green, and blue color pixels (commonly referred to as RGB pixels). Precision patterning of the color-producing organic EL media is required to produce the RGB pixels. The basic organic EL device has in common an anode, a cathode, and an organic EL medium sandwiched between the anode and the cathode. The organic EL medium can consist of one or more layers of organic thin films, where one of the layers is primarily responsible for light generation or electroluminescence. This particular layer is generally referred to as the light-emitting layer of the organic EL medium. Other organic layers present in the organic EL medium can provide electronic transport functions primarily, such as the hole-transporting layer or the electron-transporting layer. In forming the RGB pixels in a full-color organic EL display panel, it is necessary to devise a method to precisely pattern the light-emitting layer of the organic EL medium or the entire organic EL medium.
Typically, electroluminescent pixels are formed on the display by shadow masking techniques, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,129. Although this has been effective, it has several drawbacks. There are problems of alignment between the substrate and the shadow mask, and care must be taken that pixels are formed in the appropriate locations. When it is desirable to increase the substrate size, it is difficult to manipulate the shadow mask to form appropriately positioned pixels. A further disadvantage of the shadow-mask method is that the mask holes can become plugged with time. Plugged holes on the mask lead to the undesirable result of non-functioning pixels on the EL display.
There are further problems with the shadow mask method, which become especially apparent when making EL devices with dimensions of more than a few inches on a side. It is extremely difficult to manufacture larger shadow masks with the required precision for accurately forming EL devices.
A method for patterning high-resolution organic EL displays has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,709 by Grande et al. This method is comprised of the following sequences of steps: 1) providing a donor substrate having opposing first and second surfaces; 2) forming a light-transmissive, heat-insulating layer over the first surface of the substrate; 3) forming a light-absorbing layer over the heat-insulating layer; 4) providing the substrate with an array of openings extending from the second surface to the heat-insulating layer; 5) providing a transferable, color-forming, organic donor layer formed on the light-absorbing layer; 6) precision aligning the donor substrate with the display substrate in an oriented relationship between the openings in the substrate and the corresponding color pixels on the device; and 7) employing a source of radiation for producing sufficient heat at the light-absorbing layer over the openings to cause the transfer of the organic layer on the donor substrate to the display substrate. A problem with the Grande et al. approach is that patterning of an array of openings on the donor substrate is required. This creates many of the same problems as the shadow-mask method, including the requirement for precision mechanical alignment between the donor substrate and the display substrate. A further problem is that the donor pattern is fixed and cannot be changed readily.
Using an unpatterned donor sheet and a precision light source, such as a laser, can remove some of the difficulties seen with a patterned donor. Such a method is disclosed by Littman in U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,551, and in a series of patents by Wolk et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,114,088; 6,140,009; 6,214,520; and 6,221,553). The latter patents teach a method that can transfer, by a change in adhesion, the light-emitting layer of an EL device from a donor sheet to a substrate by heating selected portions of the donor with a scanning laser light spot. While this is a useful technique, there are serious difficulties in applying it on a large-scale manufacturing of EL devices. To make an EL device that includes thousands—or even millions—of pixels in three colors in a reasonable amount of time (a few minutes) would require a laser spot that moves very fast in two dimensions. The need for rapidly moving machinery increases the demands in terms of dynamic structural stability. A failure to control the alignment between the laser source and the substrate due to machine vibrations will result in a decrease in display quality. A further disadvantage is that the rapid movement of the laser beam necessitates a very short dwell time on each spot to be transferred, which further necessitates a very high-powered laser.
Another method for patterning high-resolution organic EL displays has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,875 by Kay et al. and uses a multichannel laser thermal printhead with a donor and a receiver. The printhead is first aligned to the receiver, and the printhead then scans and exposes the donor in the regions desired for donor transfer to the receiver. Many channels allow an increase in dwell time at each donor pixel site, while maintaining productivity. However, devices made in a scanning mode often do not perform as well as standard evaporated devices.

Linear laser light beam for making OLEDS


A latch mechanism associated with one of a convertible top and a automobile component is provided. The latch mechanism is adapted to cooperate with an engagement member associated with the other of the convertible top and the automobile component. A hook, a first guide pin and a second guide pin are provided. The first and second guide pins are associated with the hook. A first guide slot is associated with the first guide pin and a second guide slot is associated with the second guide pin. A drive mechanism is associated with the latch assembly and adapted to move each of the first and second guide pins along its respective first and second guide slot to move the hook between a latched position and an unlatched position.

The present invention relates generally, to a vehicle roof latching device; and more particularly, to such a device for securing a convertible top, hard top, or cover to a vehicle body.
Passenger vehicles having removable or retractable roof components to open the passenger compartment to the sky (hereinafter referred to as a xe2x80x9cconvertible topxe2x80x9d) have been manufactured for many years. Recently, vehicles having convertible tops have become more popular with purchasers. Consequently automobile manufacturers are manufacturing a greater variety of vehicles with convertible tops. Latches used with these convertible tops, however, can be complicated and/or relatively large.
In accordance with the present invention, a latch mechanism associated with one of a convertible top and a automobile component is provided. The latch mechanism is adapted to cooperate with an engagement member associated with the other of the convertible top and the automobile component. In another aspect of the present invention, a hook, a first guide pin and a second guide pin are provided. The first and second guide pins are associated with the hook. A first guide slot is associated with the first guide pin and a second guide slot is associated with the second guide pin. Another aspect of the present invention includes a drive mechanism associated with the latch assembly and adapted to move each of the first and second guide pins along its respective first and second guide slot to move the hook between a latched position and an unlatched position.
In still another aspect of the present invention, a hook is associated with a guide slot and a guide pin. A drive mechanism is adapted to drive the guide pin along the guide slot. The drive mechanism has a pair of elongated pivot arms aligned, spaced apart and adapted to accommodate a drive link centrally located between the pair of pivot arms and attached to each of the pivot arms. The pair of pivot arms having a longitudinal axis which is substantially parallel to the axis corresponding to the path the hook takes when the latch mechanism is in the latched position.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, a hook plate including a hook, a guide slot and a pin opening is provided. A pair of pivot arms with each pivot arm having an end connected to an end of the pin to sandwich the hook plate between the pivot arms. A drive member is centrally located between the pair of pivot arms and connected to an end of each pivot arm opposite the end connected to the pin.
Thus, latches in accordance with the present invention can provide a latch mechanism having a thin package. Such latches can also provide a long reach to grab the striker. Additionally, such latches can be particularly well suited for use with low roof-to-header approach angles. These low approach angles are often found in hard top convertible roofs.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

Vehicle latch mechanism for convertible tops


An intelligent defect diagnosis method for manufacturing fab is provided. The intelligent defect diagnosis method comprises: receiving pluralities of defect data, design layouts and fabrication data; analyzing the defect data, design layouts, and the fabrication data by a defect analysis system, wherein the analyzing step further contains the sub-steps: segmenting and grouping the design layouts into pluralities of multi-pattern group cells to construct LPG cell based pattern groups; introducing the defect data; segmenting defect image into pluralities of defect and pattern contours; mapping the defect data to each multi-pattern group cell to form the LPG based defect composite pattern group; performing coordinate conversion and pattern match between image contour and design layout for coordinate correction; fulfilling CAA with defect contour, pattern contour and design layout, and obtaining corresponding defect yield; classifying the defect type of defect data through defect image classification analysis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a diagnosis method, particularly to a defect diagnosis method for implementation in semiconductor fab, flat panel display fab, solar cell fab, Printed Circuit Board (PCB) mask fab or LED assembly house.
2. Description of Related Art
The sophisticated manufacturing techniques in a fabrication process for integrated circuit dice includes film deposition, masking, photo lithography, etching, etc. During the fabrication process, defects may occur as a result of factors attributed from different sources, for example, equipment malfunction, facility leak, impurities of environment, and design layout problems or the like. These defects can generally be categorized into random defects or systematic defects. Regardless of the form of defect, defects in pattern size may affect the production yield, which in turn will translate into higher cost. In a fab (i.e. manufacturing factory), "Perform defect and image pattern metrology data analysis real time in manufacturing stage" becomes a key approach to yield enhancement and core innovation in this article.
First, we can perform defect data mining with automatic defect classification, killer defect (i.e. defect of material or device layout which is a reason for the catastrophic failure of the device) yield and pattern contour metrology data of all fab SEM (scanning electron microscope) and optical images, (reference is made to patent Ser. No. 12/318,974 automatic defect yield diagnosis system by the instant Applicant), fab in-line data, and Cp (Chip probe) yield test data. Current manual defect image review operations can not provide defect data mining techniques in defect analysis because of insufficient defect analysis data. So, defect data mining using information in the fab in-line data (which may include critical dimension, thickness, lot history, equipment run history, Fault Detection and Classification/FDC data, etc.), 100% automatic defect classification and killer defect yield, Cp test binning data, and all image (SEM or optical images) pattern contour metrology data analysis system, will offer innovative and quick solution to defect yield.
Second, the integration of all process steps' defect yield prediction data and product logistic WIP (Work-in-Process) data provides fab and design house not just the wafer quantity delivery data, but also good die delivery quantities prediction real time.
Third, the cumulative frequent failure defect layout pattern analysis across lots and products can be achieved through "Layout based defect composite pattern group" method (according to previous invention "Method for Smart defect screen and sample"). Defect pattern library collects those frequent failure defect layout pattern for Design-for-manufacturing (DFM) check and yield improvement.
Last, layout, and lithography simulation (ex. Optical Proximity Correction simulation) pattern analysis with all fab image pattern contours are composite overlapped with pattern match. Pattern contour metrology data are checked against layout pattern spec to identify systematic defect pattern and process defect pattern. The defect layout pattern can be from either mapping layout pattern of corresponding defect image pattern or pre-extracted design weak layout patterns of interest in Graphic Database System (GDS) or in Open Access Same-time Information System (OASIS). Those systematic defect or process defect layout pattern are saved in defect pattern library for DFM check and yield improvement.
Consequently, because of the above consideration resulting from the technical design of prior art, the inventor strives via real world experience and academic research to develop the present invention, which can effectively improve the limitations described above.


A device for reading measures of a body for making clothing in general includes an arm; measuring elements configured to take measurements of the clothing, wherein the arm is telescopic in such a way to result selectively extendable or retractable; and a system to fix the arm at a chosen length in a way to allow making, in correspondence of the chosen length, through the measuring elements, a reading of at least a measure of the body.

It is known how, after a piece of clothing is bought, the help is often required of a tailor or an operator to realize adjustments and adaptations of the same with respect to the body of the buyer. For example it is frequent and common to purchase garments in clothing shops. In such cases the client can anyway ask to have adjusted some measures of the acquired garment in order to adapt it to his own body. For example it could be asked to tighten the shoulders of a jacket, or the waist of a shirt. These are some of the examples of changes that can be asked to the shopkeeper.
Moreover, it is very frequent also the case where people are absolutely out of the ordinary standard measures of industrial type clothing. In such a case, it is necessary to buy custom-made clothing which, even if sometimes of a higher cost respect to the common industrially made cloths, offer substantial comfort when worn. Moreover, adapting perfectly to the specific measures of the person, guarantees a precious aesthetic result. Such need is required also in the realization of specific sport clothing. This is for example the case of diving suits which are always more frequently custom made.
In such situations, especially in the case of custom-made clothing, it is necessary that an operator with experience, or rather a tailor, takes all the necessary measures of the person in order to be able to make the garment. It is thus a common procedure to take directly on the body of the person the measures as for example the crotch of the trousers, the circumference of the waist and of the trunk, the height of the shoulders and other specific measures of interest. All these measures allow then the tailor to make trousers, jackets and garments in general with specific wearability for the person who will wear them. Also in the case of a simple adjustment of the purchased garment it is necessary that the tailor takes such measures on the person.
In both of the above mentioned cases it is thus clear how the operation of measuring is fundamental and how the final success of the garment depends on it. Any wrong measurements can cause a final wrong realization and consequently unnecessary costs for the purchaser, other than his dissatisfaction. Moreover, in the case of custom-made garments, it is necessary to take at least some fundamental measures of the body of the person, or it will possible to fail producing a garment of proper size.
It is thus clear how such operation, if made by inexperienced or careless operators, can cause economic damages to the purchaser of the garment who will have a custom-made garment different from his size, or even not made within the pre-established time limits because of some missing measures.
Nowadays, not all the shopping centers have specialized personnel and this would cause measuring results that are completely wrong. For example the manual operation for measuring the waist is commonly made by positioning the measuring tape around the waist of the person and reading the corresponding measure. However, in the case for example of large size persons, the operation is not easy and often the operator cannot surround with the measuring tape the body of the person in a precise way, especially if the operator is small-bodied. It is then frequent that the measuring tape does not perfectly surround the waist of the client but ends up being raised or dropped from it, maybe because it is not sufficiently tight. If the operator does not have much experience it is then frequent the case where the measure is not correct, causing an inaccurate final result and clothing that have measures that are not very precise.
Moreover, also in the case of experienced operators, nowadays such operation requires some time in order to be made precisely. This implies a sacrifice to the client that has to pose for a long time in order to allow completing the measurements.
At last, the measurement of the inner part of the leg, for example for the realization or adjustment of trousers, can create discomfort to both the operator and the client.
In order to resolve the above described drawbacks, different solutions have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,052,099 in the name of W. Litton, of which are available only the drawings, clearly represents an old device that allows taking different measurements directly on the person in order to realize a clothing. The proposed solution comprises a bar 3 projecting a graduated scale and supported by a supporting base 1. Different measuring arms (7, 8, 9) are assembled in a sliding manner on the bar thanks to the help of couplings 4. In such manner, by making the arms sliding along the bar until the desired height is reached, the relative height can be read and found. In addition, a measurement strip 22 can be assembled on one of such sleeves in such a way to bring it to the desired height and read the circumference measure.
However such device is very complex and has a bulky structure with a height that equals to at least a man of an average height. This makes it non transportable and thus not very easy to handle. This means that, in case of home works, the user will be forced to not use it. Moreover the device is perfectly suited for highly specialized persons and its structural complexity is such to make the operation even more complex than a normal measurement made manually, as in the tradition. Given its dimension and its structural complications, it can just be targeted for a specialized group of people and not to a large distribution where dealers are also found of industrially made clothing.
Moreover such structural complexity makes the same extremely expensive. It is thus clear how such technical solution does not simplify the work but, in the contrary, makes it more complex requiring therefore a high competence for the use of the same.
Other patents, as for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,753,293 in the name of Branda et Al., describe extremely complex and bulky devices where the extraction/retraction mechanism and raising/lowering movement allow activation of the measurement systems. However such devices imply the use of electronic and mechanical parts that are complex and expensive. They are also very difficult to use, hardly transportable and do not allow fast measurements. Moreover they require a continuous maintenance of the mechanical parts that is extremely demanding.


A channel response estimate is generated from a received signal that comprises two or more different pilot carriers in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communications system. This involves, for each of the carriers, determining a rotation amount that is at least in part a function of a frequency separation between two adjacent carriers, a delay spread of the channel, and a position of the carrier relative to other carriers within the received signal. The received signal is processed with a Fast Fourier Transform, thereby generating a processed signal. Prior to performing frequency interpolation as part of a channel estimation process, the processed signal is rotated by the rotation amount. The channel response is estimated by performing the channel estimation process at least in part on the rotated processed signal.

The present invention relates to digital communication where Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is employed. More particularly, the invention relates to channel estimation in an OFDM communications system.
OFDM is a method that has been increasingly popular for transmitting digital information. Currently it is, for example, used for Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) such as DVB-Terrestrial (DVB-T), and for some Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards like IEEE 802.11a and IEEE 802.11g. One of the reasons for using OFDM is that it allows for communication over highly time-dispersive channels using reasonable complexity at the receiver side.
In an OFDM system, a number of sub-carriers (henceforth referred to simply as "carriers") are independently modulated, each by its own data. The modulation can be in accordance with a number of well-known techniques, such as Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) or n-ary Phase Shift Keying (n-PSK). The baseband signal in an OFDM system is then the sum of these modulated sub-carriers. The baseband signal is then used to modulate a main radio frequency (RF) signal. An important aspect of demodulating such a signal (thereby retrieving the underlying baseband signal) involves processing it by a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT).
Whether a channel should be considered highly time-dispersive or not depends on the symbol rate that is used by the system. As a rule-of-thumb, a channel might be considered as non-dispersive if the root mean square (rms) delay spread of the channel is less than 10% of the symbol duration. Thus advantages of OFDM become more pronounced as the supported data rate is increased, which is exactly the case for most of the emerging systems.
The way to handle large delay spreads for a system based on OFDM is to make use of a guard interval (GI). The GI (also referred to in the literature as a "cyclic prefix", or "CP") is simply a copy of the last part of an OFDM symbol that is sent before the actual symbol. This is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, which shows a number of symbols. An exemplary one of the symbols 101 includes a last portion 103 that is transmitted as a preceding guard interval 105 (time flows from left to right in the figure). Other guard intervals are similarly formed from end portions of their immediately succeeding symbols.
It is well-known that for a system based on OFDM the effect of the time-dispersive channel, known as inter-symbol interference (ISI), can be avoided provided that the length of the GI, TG, is at least as long as the duration of the impulse response of the channel. The term Tm is henceforth used herein to denote the maximum delay spread, as opposed to, for example, a root-mean-square (rms) delay spread value. Because of the ability of an OFDM system to handle large delay spreads, it is very suitable for so-called Single Frequency Networks (SFN), which might be used for broadcasting. (In a single frequency network, geographically spaced transmitters operate on a same frequency. To reduce interference, they are time synchronized with one another.)
Suppose that the information carrying part of the OFDM symbol begins at t=0, and that the length of the guard interval is TG. If the channel has a maximum delay spread, Tm, the requirement on the start of the FFT window is given by−TG+Tm≦t≦0.  (1)
Thus, as long as Tm≦TG it is possible to avoid ISI if t is chosen according to equation (1). However, if Tm>TG the issue is to choose t such that the effect of ISI is minimized. For systems designed for use in a SFN, the guard interval is typically so large that the first situation is the likelier one.
Now, as discussed above, ISI free reception is possible whenever Tm≦TG. However, this requires identifying the start of the information carrying part of the signal. For this reason, OFDM receivers include arrangements for estimating the timing and frequency of the received signal.
To further improve performance, OFDM receivers typically include channel estimators, whose job is to dynamically determine the channel response. This information is then used to enable the receiver to process the received signal in a way that compensates for the time dispersion effects of the channel.
A conventional way of determining the channel response in an OFDM receiver is to dedicate certain ones of the carriers for use in conveying pilot signals. The pilot signals contain known information that permits the channel estimator to determine the channel response on that carrier frequency at that particular instant in time by comparing the actually received signal with an expected signal (i.e., one that the receiver would have expected to receive under ideal channel conditions). The carriers conveying the pilot signals are spaced apart in frequency by an amount that permits the channel response of carriers lying in-between the pilot carriers to be accurately estimated by interpolating the channel responses determined for the pilot carriers.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary OFDM receiver. An analog signal, r(t), generated by receiving and downconverting to baseband a radiofrequency signal, is supplied to an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 201. The downconversion from the radio frequency might alternatively be performed in several steps, so that the signal at the input of the A/D converter 201 is at an intermediate frequency (IF), and where the down-conversion from IF to baseband is done just after the A/D converter, prior to the further processing now to be described.
The digitized signal, r(k), is then supplied to a coarse timing and frequency estimation unit 203, which generates a coarse estimate of the timing and frequency offset of the received signal. (The frequency offset is the difference between the frequency of the transmitted signal and the frequency of the received signal.) This information is supplied to a frequency correction unit 205 as well as a GI removal unit 207. The GI removal unit 207 also receives the output of the frequency correction unit 205. Based on the best timing and frequency information available, the GI removal unit 207 removes the GI and supplies the information part of the received signal to an FFT unit 209, whose output is supplied to the remainder of the receiver, including a refined timing and frequency estimation unit 211, which is able to generate more accurate timing and frequency information from the FFT output signal. The more accurate frequency information is fed back to the frequency correction unit 205 to improve the receiver's performance. The more accurate timing information is similarly fed back to the GI removal unit 207 to improve the receiver's performance.
The output of the FFT unit 209 is also supplied to a channel estimator 213, which generates a complete estimate of the channel response, as explained above.
Although any value of t that fulfills Eq. (1) will ensure that inter-symbol interference (ISI) is avoided, the choice of t might still have an impact on a receiver's performance. Specifically, it can be shown that if the start of the FFT window is placed at ε samples too early (ε≧0), then the effect on the kth carrier at the output of the FFT,  will be=X(k)e−i2πkε/N,  (2)where X(k) is what the FFT output would be if ε=0, N is the number of samples corresponding to the duration of the information carrying part of one symbol, and k is an index representing the position of a carrier.
Thus, the different carriers will be rotated differently depending on their position, as represented by the index k. As a result, when interpolation is done in the frequency domain (i.e., when the channel response for carriers containing data is estimated using carriers containing pilots), performing the interpolation will become unnecessarily difficult. Consequently, although the same performance might be obtained even if the FFT window is placed ε samples too early, it usually comes at the expense of requiring a more complicated channel estimation procedure.
Since the effect of placing the FFT window ε samples too early is known, it can be easily compensated for simply by multiplying by ei2πkε/N prior to performing channel estimation. This is well-known, and described for instance in A. Palin and J. Rinne, "Enhanced symbol synchronization method for OFDM system in SFN channels," Globecom'98, Sydney, pp. 2788-2793. Thus, it is well-known that one might compensate for a non-optimal placement of the FFT window by properly rotating the signal before doing the channel estimation. However, given that ε is known, one might as well move the FFT window in the optimal position, and by that avoid the extra computations that would be required if the compensation were done after the FFT.
With an optimally chosen position for the FFT window, the required complexity for interpolating in frequency depends on the delay spread of the channel. Thus, if the delay spread of the channel is estimated, this knowledge can be used not only to design a (Wiener) filter, but it can also be used to determine how complicated the filter has to be. This is described in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/920,928, entitled "Channel Estimation by Adaptive Interpolation" by Leif Wilhelmsson et al. A conclusion made in U.S. Ser. No. 10/920,928 is that to design an optimum filter, it is not sufficient to estimate only the delay spread (for instance the rms delay spread or the maximum delay spread); the correlation function (in the frequency direction) for the channel is also required.
Since the channel estimation is one of the most critical parts in an OFDM system for obtaining good performance, it is very important for the interpolation performance to be of sufficiently high quality. In addition, since the channel estimation accounts for a significant part of the computational complexity, it is also important to reduce the complexity of the interpolation filters that are used.

Reduced complexity channel estimation in OFDM systems


A mouth piece supply valve control system which may be used in connection with mouth piece supply valve with a rebreather. An exemplary mouth piece supply valve control system may include a sensor operative to produce a sensor signal upon sensing a condition, a computer connected to the sensor that may produce a computer signal associated with sensor signal, a logic device operatively connected to the computer for receiving the computer signal, and an automatic actuator operatively connected to the logic device. The automatic actuator may be operatively coupled to a mouth piece supply valve that may be selectable between a first mode and a second mode and the automatic actuator may shift the mouth piece supply valve from the second mode to the first mode upon receipt of a logic device signal from the logic device.

The present disclosure is direct to self-contained breathing apparatus and, more particularly, to mouthpiece supply valves for use with rebreather-type self-contained breathing apparatus.
Rebreather devices may collect exhaled respiration gas from a user; store, clean, and/or re-oxygenate the gas in a respiration loop; and then present the same respiration gas to the user for inhalation. Rebreather apparatus may be classified as semi-closed rebreathers (SCR) or closed circuit rebreathers (CCR). Some rebreather devices allow the user to breath gasses supplied from an external source (such as a compressed gas cylinder) using a bail-out valve (BOV) if the re-breather fails to perform the necessary gas renovation functions, or when desired by the user.
The present disclosure is made in contemplation of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,127,398, 5,746,199, and 6,681,766, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0157669, and PCT WO 2007/126317 A1, which are incorporated by reference into this Background section.


A portable telephone comprises a portable telephone body, and a body cover for covering the portable telephone body. The body cover is formed of a transparent acrylic resin and has the back side with various colors applied to, whereby the portable telephone can be used corresponding to scenes where the portable telephone is used. The body cover includes a battery cover unit which is independently removable, whereby it is not necessary to disassemble the entire body cover for battery replacement.

The present invention relates to a portable telephone, such as general portable telephone, PHS telephone or others, more specifically to a display device which is fashionable enough to meet young generation's tastes.
Recently prevalence of portable telephones including PHS has explosively increased as prices of the portable telephones and telephone services become inexpensive, and the generation of their users tend to shift from workers who have been users of the conventional portable telephones to students who belong to the young generation. In accordance with this tendency, portable telephones of various designs have been marketed by the portable telephone makers to meet a wide variety of young people's tastes.
As designs of the portable telephones become thus various, it is expected that one person will want to own a plurality of portable telephones of different designs to change the portable telephones in accordance with various scenes.
For one person to own a plurality of portable telephones, a purchasing money and a basic service fee are necessary for each portable telephone, and the costs are unrealistically too high to satisfy the above-described desire. In consideration of the almost saturated state of the telephone lines, it is not preferable for one person occupy a plurality of telephone lines.
In view of such actual state the present invention has been made, and an object of the present invention is to provide a portable telephone which can meet a wide variety of tastes of the young generation and can have a different design in accordance with a scene where it is used.

Portable telephone having a removable covering


A true-time delay generator for multiple aperture optical beam steering devices. The generator comprises a spectrum spreading element, a dispersive element, and a plurality of tunable optical filters. The spectrum broadening element broadens the spectrum of optical pulses provided to the element. The dispersive element imparts a chirp to the wavelengths within the spectrum of the optical pulses. As a result of the chirp, the wavelengths acquire differing delays. The chirped pulses are then simultaneously sent to the plurality of tunable filters, where each filter is set to transmit only a single spectral component from each pulse. Since the spectral components have differing delays, the outputs from the filters are pulses with differing arrays. These delays are controlled such that when the pulses are sent to multiple apertures in an optical beam steering device, the pulses will be synchronized when received at a receive point.

The present invention relates to optical true-time delay generation. More specifically, the present invention relates to true-time delay generation for multiple aperture optical beam steering devices.
Optical beam steering is often required where information from an optical beam must be relayed from one location to another. High data rate, secure laser communications, target designation, and laser radar are a few of the applications in which optical beam steering is required. Optical beam steering may be provided by a single aperture, which directs a light beam in the desired direction.
Devices for single aperture beam steering are well known in the art. Single aperture beam steering can be implemented with electromechanical systems. Such systems generally consist of a mirror mounted on an electrical actuator. These systems provide relatively low losses for the strength of the reflected beam. However, such electromechanical systems are limited to low response frequencies up to the order of 1 KHz. The moving parts of an electromechanical system along with size and weight factors are considered to be major limitations of such a system.
Multiple aperture beam steering devices may be provided by compact arrays of non-mechanical beam deflectors, such as optical micro electromechanical system arrays (O-MEMS) or liquid crystal arrays. The optical signal provided to these devices is generally split into multiple optical signals. The array then actually consists of multiple optical apertures which act to steer and radiate multiple optical signals in a desired direction. However, the application of multiple aperture steering devices for fast optical communications and radar application require precise synchronization of the optical signals at the individual apertures for different pointing angles of the device. This is necessary to avoid signal scrambling due to mixing of non-synchronized outputs emerging from individual emitters.
Synchronization is required since the multiple apertures are generally deployed in a relatively flat plane. Thus, when an optical signal is steered to an angle other than exactly perpendicular to that plane, unsynchronized outputs from the individual apertures do not arrive at a receive point at the same time. This problem is particularly seen when the optical signal comprises pulsed signals. In this case, the optical pulse received from the radiating element furthest from the receive point will lag the pulse received from the closest radiating element. Performance of the optical transmitting system is improved when the individual optical beams are made time-coincident to create a time-coincident optical beam.
Applying a time delay to each optical signal before it is radiated provides the capability to generate an optical beam that is synchronized at a receive point. Controlling the delay of signals from individual transmitting elements is the principle behind beamsteered radio frequency phased array antenna systems well known in the art. Phased array antenna systems employ a plurality of individual antenna elements that are separately excited to cumulatively produce a transmitted electromagnetic wave that is highly directional. In a phased array, the relative phases of the signals provided to the individual elements of the array are controlled to produce an equiphase beam front in the desired pointing direction of the antenna beam. The premise of a true-time delay beamsteered phased array is to steer the array beam by introducing known time delays into the signals transmitted by the individual antenna elements. Accurate beam steering of a pulsed optical beam from individual optical elements similarly requires introducing time delays into the optical signals from individual optical elements to produce an equiphase optical beam front.
True-time delay for optical signal transmission may be achieved by purely electronic means by splitting an information carrying electronics signal into a number of channels equal to the number of optical apertures. The delay required for optical beam steering is then applied to each one of the channels separately. The properly delayed signals then drive electro-optic modulators that control the optical outputs of the corresponding apertures. This electronic approach to true-time delay for optical beam steering requires very sophisticated and fast electronics that increase the cost and complexity of the system.
Optical control systems for producing selected time delays in signals for phased array antennas are well known in the art. Different types of optical architectures have been proposed to process optical signals to generate selected delays, such as routing the optical signals through optical fiber segments of different lengths; using deformable mirrors to physically change the distance light travels along a reflected path before transmission; and utilizing free space propagation based delay lines, the architecture of which typically incorporates polarizing beam splitters and prisms. These techniques may also be used for providing the true-time delays required for optical beam steering. However, these techniques are also costly and complex.
A true time delay feeder for phased array antenna has been proposed by Corral et al. in xe2x80x9cContinuously Variable True Time Delay Feeder for Phased Array Antenna Employing Chirped Fiber Gratingsxe2x80x9d, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory and Tech., vol. 45(8), 1997, p.1531, and in xe2x80x9cTrue Time-Delay Scheme For Feeding Optically Controlled Phased-Array Antennas Using Chirped Fiber Gratingsxe2x80x9d, IEEE Phot. Tech. Lett., vol 9(11), 1997, p. 1529. In the system described by Corral et al., each element of the antenna is fed by an individually-tunable optical carrier modulated by the microwave signal. The carrier passes through a dispersive element, a chirped fiber grating, which introduces a delay. The delay for each antenna element is controlled by tuning the corresponding optical carrier. As indicated above, this technique for RF phased arrays can be applied for a multiple aperture optical beam steerer. The true time delay feeder described by Corral et al, however, requires a large number of independently tunable sources (equal to the number of elements in the array). Moreover, for some applications, just as many modulators may be required. Thus, an optical beam steerer according to the teachings of Corral et al. amounts to a complicated and cumbersome system.
Hence, a need exists in the art for a true-time delay generator for multiple aperture optical beam steering. Thus, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus for optical true-time delay generation that is relatively simple and easy to implement and assemble. In addition, it is desirable to provide such a true-time delay generator through the use of off-the-shelf parts and technologies.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for providing a true-time delay generator for multiple aperture optical beam steering. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a true-time delay generator that is simple and easy to assemble. It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a true-time delay generator that can be provided through the use of off-the-shelf technologies and parts.
Pursuant to the present invention, a true-time delay generator is provided by a single spectrum broadening element, a single dispersive element, and a plurality of tunable optical filters. The single spectrum broadening element and dispersive element allow a single laser source and modulator to be used to drive the true-time delay generator. The tunable filters are individually controlled such that the outputs of the filters comprise optical pulses with different delays. The pulses may be directed to a multiple aperture optical system, which transmit the pulses in a specified direction. Synchronization of the transmitted pulses at a receive point is achieved by controlling the delay applied to the pulses for each individual aperture.
A method of optical true-time delay generation according to the present invention is provided by the steps of: providing a stream of optical pulses; broadening each pulse in the stream in the spectral domain, preferably to a near top hat shaped spectrum; dispersing each pulse in the stream in the time domain; splitting the stream of pulses into several streams of pulses; and filtering each stream so as to select a different spectral component in each stream. Selection of different spectral components provides streams of pulses which have different delays with respect to each other. Control of the filtering provides control over the delays for each stream. The delayed streams of pulses may be amplified and radiated by a multiple-aperture optical radiator, or may be converted to radio frequency pulses for radiation by a multiple-aperture antenna.

True-time all-optical delay generator for array beam steerers


A radiation image projection apparatus includes an image acquisition unit for acquiring a radiation image obtained by capturing an image of radiation transmitted through an object and a projection unit for projecting the radiation image as visible light onto the object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus that is configured to project a radiation image and a method for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, film screen systems that combine an intensifying screen and a radiographic film are commonly used as X-ray imaging apparatus in medical facilities. According to this method, X-rays pass through an object, and an intensifying screen converts the X-rays into visible light corresponding to X-ray intensity. Then, radiographic film is exposed to the visible light, thus forming an X-ray image on film.
Physicians perform interpretations by viewing X-ray images formed on the film with a viewing apparatus called a film illuminator (Schaukasten). Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 05-064081 discusses an apparatus that uses an image intensifier, i.e., an image pickup tube that photographs X-rays. The apparatus captures an X-ray image by X-ray radioscopy and displays the X-ray image on a cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor.
Japanese Patent No. 3,066,944 discusses a high-resolution solid X-ray detector that uses a flat panel detector (FPD), i.e., an X-ray detector in a flat-surface form. An object is placed between an X-ray source and an X-ray sensor, and the solid X-ray detector converts X-rays that pass through the object into electrical signals. The X-ray image of the object is converted into electrical signals and captured as digital data. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-073354 discusses an apparatus that performs X-ray imaging by using a cassette-type portable sensor.
When performing medical procedures such as surgery on a human body at the location of medical treatment, it is sometimes necessary to ascertain an internal structure of the body, especially structures of internal hard tissue and soft tissue. For example, it is necessary to ascertain internal structures during diagnostic imaging of a temporomandibular joint, i.e., a jaw joint, in which a contrast medium is injected into an articular cavity of the temporomandibular joint, and an X-ray image is used for diagnosis. During diagnostic imaging of a temporomandibular joint, a contrast medium is injected by puncturing the skin surface of a patient with a puncture needle. Accurate puncturing with the puncture needle and delivery of the contrast medium to the intended articular cavity are important for performing proper imaging and treatment.
However, puncturing too deep may risk middle cranial fossa damage or penetration through the mandibular fossa capsule to the base of the brain. Due to the complexities regarding articular cavity puncture as described above, a surgeon is required to have extensive anatomical knowledge, experience, and skill.
Furthermore, it is necessary to as certain an internal body structure in other various surgeries as well. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-275198 discusses a method of ascertaining an internal body structure by projecting an X-ray image onto a half mirror and forming a synthesized image of an object image and the X-ray image on the half mirror.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-275198 discusses an apparatus wherein it is necessary to prepare an X-ray image in advance and set the X-ray image into the apparatus. A physician is required to look away from the object to view a half mirror to confirm a synthesized image of an object image and an X-ray image, which makes the operation complex.

Radiation image projection apparatus and radiation image projection method


Disclosed are various embodiments of systems and methods related to a golf alignment aid that focuses on providing repeatable ball positions for creating a more consistent, predictable, and solid golf shot. The golf alignment aid may comprise a planar element comprising a grid and a set of telescopic arms moveably attached to the planar element. The set of telescopic arms are configured to extend outwardly from the planar element along the longitudinal axis of the planar element.

Accuracy and consistency are two important factors in the game of golf. Golf swings frequently compensate from inconsistent and/or incorrect ball positions causing alterations in swing planes that produce poor contact with the ground and/or ball. Alignment and set-up are the foundation to a more balanced and fundamental swing for providing an accurate and consistent round of golf.


An endoscope assembly includes a housing having an outwardly extending tube with the free end adapted for insertion into a body cavity. A laser is contained within the housing which emits an output beam through the free end of the tube. A light sensor detects light in a predetermined color range which impinges upon the free end of the tube and generates an output signal representative thereof. A circuit disables the laser in response to the output signal from the light sensor.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope assembly for use in medical procedures.
II. Description of Related Art
There are many previously known endoscopes. Such endoscopes typically comprise a housing having an elongated tube with a free end. The free end of the tube is insertable into a body cavity while an optical system contained in the tube transmits light or other electromagnetic waves from the body cavity, through the tube, so that the interior of the body cavity can be viewed exteriorly of the body.
In order to obtain a view of the interior of the body cavity, it is necessary with these previously known endoscopes to transmit the light or other radiation, such as infrared radiation, (hereinafter collectively referred to as light radiation) through the tube and into the body cavity. The reflected light radiation then passes through the free end of the tube and the optical system contained in the tube for viewing exteriorly of the body.
While different forms of light sources may be used to transmit the light radiation into the body cavity, some modern endoscopes utilize a laser as the light radiation source.
A safety concern arises, however, with the previously known endoscopes which utilize a laser as the light radiation source. Specifically, due to the coherent wave emission inherent with a laser, the laser radiation may cause injury to the medical personnel in the operatory upon removal of the free end of the endoscope tube from the body cavity. Such injury can be particularly serious if the laser output is unintentionally directed into the eyes of the medical personnel.
While it is possible to avoid injury from the laser radiation upon removal of the endoscope tube from the body cavity by simply turning off the laser, mistakes can happen where the laser remains activated despite removal of the endoscope tube from the body cavity.
The present invention provides an endoscope assembly which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the previously known devices.
In brief, the endoscope assembly of the present invention comprises a housing having a tube with a free end adapted for insertion into a body cavity. The tube contains a conventional optical system to not only convey light radiation into the body cavity, but to also return the reflected light radiation from the body cavity and through the tube for viewing exteriorly of the body.
The endoscope assembly further includes a laser which emits a light radiation output beam through the free end of the tube. The laser preferably emits radiation in the infrared range, although lasers of different wavelength outputs may alternatively be used.
A light sensor is contained within the housing for detecting light of a predetermined color range, e.g. the color green, which impinges at the free end of the endoscope tube. Furthermore, when the light sensor detects light in the predetermined color range, the light sensor generates an output signal.
The endoscope assembly further comprises a circuit which receives the output signal from the light sensor as an input signal. The circuit, upon receipt of the output signal from the light sensor, generates an output signal to disable the laser. As used herein, disabling the laser means to prevent the light radiation from the laser from emitting from the free end of the endoscope tube.
Assuming that the predetermined color range is green, in operation once the tube is inserted into the body cavity the laser operates in the normal fashion to transmit light radiation into the body cavity while the reflection of that light radiation is returned through the endoscope tube for imaging exteriorly of the body. Furthermore, since the laser generates an output signal outside the predetermined color range, no light radiation within the predetermined color range is conveyed back through the endoscope tube for viewing exteriorly of the body.
Conversely, upon removal of the free end of the endoscope tube from the body cavity, the free end of the endoscope tube is exposed to light in the operatory. As a practical matter, light within the predetermined color range, e.g. green light, is common in operatories. As such, the light sensor detects the light within the predetermined range immediately upon removal of the endoscope tube from the body cavity thus activating the circuit to disable the laser.


Embodiments are provided for intelligent recommendations for program code. In some embodiments, a system can include a processor that executes computer-executable components stored in memory. The computer-executable components can include an evaluation component that determines that first program code pertains to a defined category representing a defined cost to execute the first program code by a cloud computing service. The computer-executable components also can include a recommendation component that generates a recommendation for second program code that satisfies a similarity criterion with respect to the first program code. The second program code pertains to a category representing a cost to execute the second program code by the cloud computing service, where the cost is less than the defined cost.

The subject disclosure relates to recommendations for program code. The program code can be embodied in a set of code instructions arranged in particular fashion to provide defined functionality. When compiled and executed, the set of code instructions can provide the defined functionality. In some cases, the program code can be embodied in a reusable segment of a few code instructions. The program code can access cloud computing services in order to provide the defined functionality. A cloud computing service can provide one or several computational tools to implement specific functionality, such as data storage, natural language processing, classification tasks, recommendation engines, search algorithms, or similar functionalities. For example, program code can use various cloud computing services to build a machine learning (ML) model or another type of software application (such as a business logic application) in a cloud or across multiple cloud landscapes.
Different forms of program code accessing one or several cloud computing services can be generated by different parties. As such, program code can use the cloud computing service to accomplish a computational task in a particular manner, and another program code can use the cloud computing service to accomplish the same computational task in a different manner. That computational task can include obtaining data from data storage, for example. Accordingly, a computing platform that provides the cloud computing service can receive various arrangements of program code. One of those arrangements can execute at a first level of efficiency and another one of those arrangements can execute at second level of efficiency. As such, a same computational task can be accomplished at different levels of efficiency depending on how the program code is arranged in order to access the cloud computing service.
For a given computational task, inefficient program code can result in unwarranted expenses of time and other types of resources. More importantly, inefficient program code can result in poor utilization of computing resources of the computing platform that provides cloud computing services. Poor utilization of those resources can create operational issues at the computing platform, such as network congestions, blockade of computing resources to other parties, extended processing unit time, a combination of those issues, or similar issues. Therefore, improved technologies for the identification or replacement, or both, of inefficient program code may be desired.

Intelligent recommendations for program code

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A method and marine seismic processing system including an interface for receiving recorded data, wherein the recorded data includes seismic data and bio-acoustic data; a seismic data processor for estimating a source signature from the recorded data, wherein the source signature is associated with a seismic source that emits seismic waves in water during a seismic survey; and a bio-acoustic processor that estimates a presence of a mammal generating the bio-acoustic data, based on a processed signal obtained by removing the source signature from the recorded data.

Technical Field
Embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein generally relate to methods and systems for collecting seismic data in a marine environment and, more particularly, to mechanisms and techniques for detecting the presence of marine mammals and mitigating their exposure to undesired sound levels generated by a seismic source.
Discussion of the Background
Seismic data acquisition and processing may be used to generate a profile (image) of geophysical structures under the ground (subsurface). While this profile does not provide an accurate location for oil and gas reservoirs, it suggests, to those trained in the field, the presence or absence of such reservoirs. Thus, providing a high-resolution image of the subsurface is important, for example, to those who need to determine where the oil and gas reservoirs are located.
For marine acquisition, a seismic acquisition system 100 includes, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a vessel 102 that tows plural streamers 110 (only one is visible in the figure) and a seismic source array 130. Streamer 110 is attached through a lead-in cable (or other cables) 112 to vessel 102, while source array 130 is attached through an umbilical 132 to the vessel. A head float 114, which floats at the water surface 104, is connected through a cable 116 to the head end 110A of streamer 110, while a tail buoy 118 is connected, through a similar cable 116, to the tail end 1108 of streamer 110. Head float 114 and tail buoy 118 are used, among other things, to maintain the streamer's depth. Seismic sensors 122 are distributed along the streamer and configured to record seismic data. Seismic sensors 122 may include a hydrophone, geophone, accelerometer or a combination thereof. Positioning devices 128 (also known as birds) are attached along the streamer and controlled by a controller 126 for adjusting a position of the streamer according to a survey plan.
Source array 130 has plural source elements 136 like air guns. The source elements are attached to a float 137 to travel at desired depths below the water surface 104. The source elements attached to float 137 form a sub-array. Source array 130 may have multiple sub-arrays, typically three. Traditionally, vessel 102 tows two source arrays 130 and 130′, which may be identical. During operation, vessel 102 follows a predetermined path T while source elements (usually air guns) 136 emit waves 140. These waves bounce off the ocean bottom 142 and other layer interfaces below the ocean bottom 142 and propagate as reflected/refracted waves 144, which are recorded by sensors 122. The positions of both source elements 136 and recording sensors 122 may be estimated based on GPS systems 124 and recorded together with the seismic data in a storage device 127 onboard the vessel. Controller 126 has access to the seismic data and may be used to achieve quality control or even fully process the data. Controller 126 may also be connected to the vessel's navigation system and other elements of the seismic survey system, e.g., positioning devices 128.
However, the frequency content of impulsive sources is not fully controllable and, thus, different sources need to be selected, depending on the needs of a particular survey. In addition, the use of impulsive sources can pose certain safety and environmental concerns, as will be discussed later.
Thus, another class of sources that may be used is vibratory sources. An example of a vibratory source is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 8,830,794, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. For vibratory sources, the source signal excitation is typically a sweep, a swept frequency sine wave excitation signal over a pre-determined sweep bandwidth for a predetermined time interval. Other excitation signals are possible, for example, band limited pseudorandom signals as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 8,619,417 that may be continuous or semi-continuous emissions.
Typically, after some instrument reset period and/or listen time, the sweep is repeated, to start a new recording for the new source/receiver position. Thus, a typical raw record includes both sweep and listen time. Correlation or source signature deconvolution may be employed to collapse the data to produce a record that is similar to what might be obtained using an impulsive source.
The technique of using a vibratory source followed by correlation to collapse the data is called in the art Vibroseis. The survey configuration is identical to that is shown in FIG. 1, except in this case source array 130 represents a vibratory source array.
When a conventional impulsive source (e.g., air gun) is fired, it generates a powerful underwater air bubble that oscillates for a couple of seconds, thus generating sound waves. Similar sound waves are generated by a vibratory source, with the difference that the various frequencies are generated sequentially in time and not all at the same time as for the impulsive source array. Also, a vibratory source generates sound waves with less peak intensity than the impulsive source.
These sound waves propagate through the water toward the ocean bottom as illustrated in FIG. 1. However, some of the energy associated with these sources propagates as a sound wave 150, substantially parallel to the water surface 104, with the potential of interfering with activities of a marine mammal 152 (also called "mammal" herein). To prevent this kind of situations, the seismic surveys are regulated by various national and international bodies that require that marine mammal activity is monitored and protected from harmful sound waves.
More specifically, international and national regulations in this regard and the recommendations of competent bodies encourage marine seismic operators to carry out, in parallel to their measurement campaign, continuous monitoring for detecting the possible presence of marine mammals in the exploration zone.
This monitoring is currently carried out either visually by one or more human operators and/or using an independent system of acoustic receiver or receivers fulfilling functions of passive detection, classification and geographical location of the marine mammal or mammals. In this regard, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,974,151 and 8,937,847, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference, disclose such mammal detection systems. Once a marine mammal is detected within an exclusion zone centered on the seismic source, current regulations require that the seismic source is stopped or moved away from the mammals.
These acoustic systems 160, commonly referred to as Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM), are also towed by the streamer vessel 102 as illustrated in FIG. 1. PAM system 160, which is also shown in FIG. 2 in more detail, includes acoustic receivers 122′ distributed along one or more antennas 110′ dedicated to this function. A telemetry system (not shown) transmits the data recorded by sensors 122′ to a remote controller (i.e., processing unit) 126, located for example on the seismic vessel. Alternatively, mammal sensors 122′ may be integrated with seismic sensors 122 into the same streamer 110 as shown in FIG. 2. In other words, the existing PAM systems are deployed together with, or in parallel to the seismic streamers.
However, these practices have the following possible disadvantage: if a vibratory source is used for generating the sound waves, the existing PAM systems may not distinguish the mammal's signature from the source generated sound waves because there is an overlap in the mammal spectrum, which is about 10 Hz to 200 kHz, and the seismic vibrator signals, which ranges from 2-200 Hz. Because both the impulsive source's signals and the vibratory source's signals may last for seconds, they may mask the entire mammal signature.
Thus, there is a need to improve or come up with a new PAM system that avoids the above noted disadvantages, and especially is capable of detecting mammals when a vibratory source is used.

Bio-acoustic sensing device and method for marine seismic survey


The apparatus disclosed here is a separator that is adapted for use in connection with aircraft waste tank systems. The apparatus separates air from entrained solid and liquid waste. It has a canister body that is mounted to the top of a waste tank, and a bowl enclosure received within the canister body, the latter providing a filtering chamber. The canister body's inner walls define a cylindrical space around the bowl enclosure. Projecting a certain distance upwardly into such space is an intermediate wall that divides it into outer and inner passageways. A plurality of inlets positioned around the base of the canister body lead into the outer passageway. After entering the inlets, air with entrained waste first travels upwardly through the outer passageway, bends around the upper end of the intermediate wall, and travels downwardly through the inner passageway into an area that is immediately below the bowl enclosure. The bowl enclosure has a bottom inlet that permits the air to thereafter pass upwardly through its filtering chamber.

Anyone who has ever made a relatively long flight aboard a commercial passenger jet is probably familiar with their toilets. Flushing these devices results in toilet fluids and solid wastes being drawn from a toilet bowl down a waste line. Unlike conventional toilets, where waste exits the toilet bowl via a circular water flow that carries the waste through a bottom outlet, the toilets in the most recent passenger jet models are vacuum toilets that rely upon suction for removing waste. This creates the familiar sucking sound that accompanies flushing this particular toilet. Older jets have recirculating systems where solid waste is essentially strained from toilet liquids, and the liquids are reused for later flushings.
The present invention relates to the more recent vacuum toilet systems. A common attribute of such systems is that a flushing airflow is created by venting toilets externally of the aircraft. This is accomplished by opening a valve, which creates an airflow path from a given toilet bowl to the outside or ambient atmosphere via a waste line and tank system. The pressure differential between the toilet cabin and the ambient is what actually generates the airflow At certain low elevations, where the pressure differential is not great (below 16,000 feet, for example), a vacuum blower is employed to assist or augment the natural pressure differential between inside and outside the aircraft.
Of course, the solid and liquid waste in the toilet is not simply dumped outside the aircraft. Instead, it is separated from the airflow, and deposited in a waste tank prior to venting the air overboard.
Typically, the airflow and entrained waste travel from the toilet to the waste tank via conventional pipes or lines. The conventional waste tank has one or more waste inlets configured to direct the flow circumferentially in a clockwise direction around the tank's interior, but at a level that is above and parallel to the level of waste already in the tank. As a result, a combination of centrifugal forces and gravity cause separation of much of the entrained matter from the airflow, and it simply drops downwardly into the tank. Some entrained matter remains with the airflow and is removed via a separator as it exits the tank. This device is normally positioned inside the top portion of the tank.
To function effectively, the conventional separator is dependent upon the above-described clockwise or circular airflow generated when it enters the tank. The conventional separator has inlets which face away from such direction, requiring the flow to first turn nearly 180.degree. in order to gain entry into the separator. This creates a sudden momentum change that helps separate heavier particles of solid waste and droplets of moisture in the flow prior to further processing inside the separator. A good example of this motion is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,912, issued to Parrick et al. on May 31, 1983. Such reference is illustrative of the operation of all separators presently used by The Boeing Company in its aircraft toilet systems.
The waste tank system described above has sensors for detecting the level of waste inside the tank. These sensors have faces that are positioned at a certain vertical height along the tank's inner wall, and provide an electrical signal indicating a full tank in response to contact with the waste as its level rises. In the full tank condition, the level sensors remove power from all toilets connected to that tank.
The above-described tank inlet arrangement, which creates a circular flow motion inside the tank, also creates a problem in that it tends to coat the waste level sensor faces with solid and liquid waste. This has been known to cause the sensors to emit signals falsely indicating a full tank, resulting in unnecessary shutdown of the toilet. This naturally results in a serious inconvenience for the passengers.
The typical waste tank system also has one or more rinse nozzles that protrude into the tank. These are connectable to an external source of clean water for periodically rinsing and/or cleaning the tank during aircraft maintenance intervals. They also tend to be coated by incoming waste from tank inlets which can clog them.
In addition to the coating and clogging problems just described, another problem associated with the conventional waste tank system is that its separator typically projects downwardly a significant distance into the tank. This consequently blocks or shadows portions of the tank's inner walls from the spray of the rinse nozzles, and has made it difficult to completely clean the tank, including coated sensor faces. It also decreases the maximum storable waste volume inside the tank since the separator itself takes up some of the space at the tank's top.
As will become apparent, the separator disclosed here provides an improved design for use in aircraft toilet systems that overcomes the above problems That is to say, a separator in accordance with the invention does not require creation of a circular airflow in one particular direction inside the tank, like the system described above. This enables more flexibility in arranging tank inlets in order to avoid coating sensors with waste matter. Further, a separator in accordance with the invention protrudes only slightly into the tank. This creates more space for waste, and eliminates the rinse blocking problem described above.

External separator for vacuum waste system


An image forming apparatus includes a print processing unit and a printing ratio determination unit. The print processing unit is configured to obtain a printing ratio of document data at a time of print execution of the document data, and associate printing ratio data indicating the obtained printing ratio with the document data. The printing ratio determination unit is configured to identify the printing ratio of the document data from the printing ratio data associated with the document data and determine whether or not the identified printing ratio satisfies a specified condition.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and a computer-readable recording medium storing a print restriction program.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical image forming apparatus forms an image on a sheet using a color material, such as toner or ink, for printing. As the color material is a consumable supply, a cartridge filled with the color material is mounted to the image forming apparatus. Then, the color material is taken out from the cartridge and used, and when the cartridge becomes empty, the empty cartridge is replaced by a cartridge filled with the color material.
In one image forming apparatus, when a certain amount of toner is consumed from a state that the toner cartridge is filled with the toner, a color print is restricted. With this image forming apparatus, until the certain amount of toner is consumed, printing can be carried out without restrictions.
Also, in another image forming apparatus, the toner consumption amount during a period of time specified by an administrator is calculated and displayed to the administrator. In this image forming apparatus, when the toner consumption amount is desired to be suppressed, a user intentionally restricts usage of the image forming apparatus.

Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and computer-readable recording medium storing print restriction program code


In some examples, a static part includes a static body and a first cylindrical extension extending from the static body, the first cylindrical extension including an open end with a cylindrical inner surface having a first diameter. A moveable part is moveable toward the static part by the magnetic flux of a solenoid. The moveable part may include a moveable body and a second cylindrical extension extending from the moveable body, the second cylindrical extension including a cylindrical outer surface having a second diameter, smaller than the first diameter, to enable the cylindrical outer surface to move within the open end. The second diameter is sized for the cylindrical outer surface to pass adjacent to the cylindrical inner surface to enable passage of a portion of the magnetic flux radially to reduce an energy of impact between the moveable part and the static part.

A solenoid-actuated valve may operate in a system to control the flow of a fluid, such as a liquid or gas. When a solenoid coil of the solenoid is energized with electricity, the solenoid coil generates a magnetic field that pulls one moveable valve part towards another static part. Thus, electric energy is converted to kinetic energy. The moveable part with high kinetic energy may impact the static part, resulting in a ticking noise, such as due to metal-on-metal impact. In some environments, this may cause a repetitive ticking noise that may be annoying and irritating to people. For instance, an audible ticking noise emanating from the solenoid valve of fuel pump in a vehicle when the vehicle is idling may be perceived by a person as being rough and unrefined, or may otherwise degrade the person's perception of the vehicle.


A tennis racket frame (1) strung with strings (2) under tension has two ends (4, 5) neighboring each other, joined in each instance by a flexible brace (6, 7) to a holding member (3), which ends can be spread apart or drawn together by tensioning means (22, 25, 26) so that the magnitude of the tension can be adjusted. So that relatively high spreading or drawing forces can be applied, the frame (1) has at least one shackle (8) joining the two ends (4, 5) of the frame to each other. Each shackle (8) has two legs in a V-shaped arrangement, joined together angularly movable at their one end and force-locked at their other end to the corresponding end of the frame (1). An adjusting element (22, 25, 26) acts on the shackle ends joined together transversely to the frame (1), so that their included angle is variable on the principle of a toggle.

The present invention relates to a frame strung with strings or the like under tension, and in particular to a game or tennis racket frame with adjustable string tensioning means.
A frame of the stated kind has been proposed in which the adjusting elements spread or draw the two ends of the frame more or less away from each other or towards each other. See, for example, German Patent Application P 38 13,872.7, which corresponds to the related U.S. patent application, whose contents are incorporated herein by reference. However, accommodation of a suitable adjusting element between the braces at the racket throat to apply sufficiently great spreading or drawing forces may present difficulties for the proposed frame.

Frame with adjustable string tensioning means


The present invention provides an image forming apparatus comprising recording electrodes to which voltage for recording is applied, a sheet-shaped recording medium arranged in confronting relation to the recording electrodes, a driving source for driving the recording medium, a toner accommodating container arranged transversely to a direction to which the recording medium is moved, toner conveying means to supplying toner between the recording electrodes and the recording medium, and power source means for driving the image forming apparatus. In the image forming apparatus, the power source means is arranged below the toner accommodating container to obtain a high quality image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a recording device, displaying device and the like, wherein an image is formed on a recording medium by electrostatically adhering developer to the recording medium.
2. Related Background Art
Nowadays, various image forming apparatuses in which an image is formed in accordance with image information have been developed and proposed. Some of them utilize powder developer such as toner to form the image by adhering the toner to a recording medium electrostatically.
For example, in a conventional copying machine, the charged photosensitive drum is selectively exposed in accordance with the image information, and the toner is electrostatically adhered to the exposed portion on the drum, thus forming the image.
Recently, as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,771, toner conveyed by a rotatable magnet is selectively charged by recording electrodes and the charged tone adheres to a recording medium to form an image thereon.
In comparison with the so-called thermal recording technique, such a technique that the toner is electrostatically adhered to the recording medium to form the image thereon has advantages that the recording speed is faster and that the image formed on the photosensitive drum or on the recording medium can be more easily erased and the image can be repeatedly formed.
However, when the toner is wet, the charging ability of the toner is worsened and the fluidity of the toner is reduced, thus often having bad influences upon the image formation.
To avoid this, a technique of providing heating elements to dry the toner contained in a toner container has been proposed; however, this technique has drawback that the whole apparatus is complicated and the number of parts is increased, which makes the apparatus expensive.


Water is first caused to flow through a first passage and rotate a first impeller. Rotation of the first impeller is linked to rotation of a second impeller, which is in fluid communication with a second, discrete passage. Vanes on the second impeller are constrained to move faster than vanes on the first impeller. Water is subsequently caused to flow through the second passage and to be more aggressively advanced by the second impeller.

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for intermittently boosting the amount of work performed by a given amount of water supplied at a given pressure.
Those skilled in the art recognize the desirability of supplying water at relatively high pressure and/or speed. Among other things, many commonplace tasks are rendered easier by water being sprayed at relatively high pressure. In recognition of this need, machines known as xe2x80x9cpressure washersxe2x80x9d have been designed and manufactured. Although such machines produce the desired effect, they are relatively expensive and bulky and thus, not well suited for the needs of the average consumer.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention switches water flow between first and second impellers to intermittently spray water at relative greater pressure. The resulting apparatus overcomes some of the disadvantages of pressure washers while performing a comparable function. Among other things, the apparatus is sized for grasping in a person""s hand and relatively less complex in construction. Additional features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the more detailed description that follows.


A gimbal pose correction method includes obtaining a first pose of a gimbal based on an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) arranged at a vertical compensation device configured to be coupled to the gimbal and compensate for movement of the gimbal in a vertical direction, obtaining a second pose of the vertical compensation device based on a vision device arranged at the vertical compensation device, and correcting the first pose according to the second pose.

Pose estimation is one of the key problems to be solved in robot control. The pose estimation refers to obtaining position, velocity, attitude, and heading information that satisfies requirements of control bandwidth, dynamic performance, stability, and accuracy according to data from various motion state sensors. A system providing instant pose information is called a navigation system. The navigation system generally includes an inertial navigation system, a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), a Doppler navigation system, a visual navigation system, and the like. Integrated navigation technology uses a plurality of different navigation systems to measure a same information source, extracts and corrects errors of each navigation system using measured values. Integrated navigation technology is one of the important applications in the field of multi-sensor information fusion state estimation.
Inertial-GNSS integrated navigation is one of the commonly used integrated navigations. Conventional inertial-GNSS integrated navigations use the north-east-down (NED) coordinate system as a navigation coordinate system, and hence need a north-pointing heading observation and generally use a geomagnetic sensor to provide a reference heading. However, the geomagnetic sensor is susceptible to interference from electric current and magnetic field. In addition, the conventional inertial-GNSS integrated navigations use latitude and longitude to represent the position, such that the GNSS needs to provide position measurement in the form of latitude and longitude. Therefore, the GNSS navigation cannot work in an indoor environment. Conventional single-point GNSS's generally have position and velocity measurement errors at m-level, but in some applications, the velocity control accuracy is needed to be mm-level, and hence, the inertial-GNSS integrated navigations cannot satisfy the accuracy requirements.

Gimbal pose correction method and device