A method is for performing an angiographic measurement of a main measurement region of a patient via a magnetic resonance system. An embodiment of the method includes performing at least one overview measurement to generate overview-measurement data; defining, using the overview-measurement data, the main measurement region and a first measurement region, the first measurement region differing from the main measurement region; performing a first time-resolved measurement in the first measurement region defined to generate first time-resolved measurement data; detecting an injected contrast agent bolus in the first measurement region using the first time-resolved measurement data; determining a flow rate of the injected contrast agent bolus detected; setting at least one measurement parameter of the angiographic measurement according to the flow rate determined; and performing the angiographic measurement of the main measurement region of the patient in the magnetic resonance system using the at least one measurement parameter set.

In a magnetic resonance system, a main magnet is normally used to apply a relatively high main magnetic field, for example of 1.5 or 3 or 7 tesla, to a body to be examined of a person under examination, in particular of a patient. In addition, a gradient coil unit is used to output gradient pulses. High frequency RF pulses, in particular excitation pulses, are then emitted via a radio frequency antenna unit using suitable antenna devices, causing the nuclear spins of certain atoms, which have been excited to resonance by these radio frequency pulses, to be tipped by a defined flip angle with respect to the magnetic field lines of the main magnetic field. Radio frequency signals, known as magnetic resonance signals, are emitted when the nuclear spins relax, which signals are received by suitable radio frequency antennas and then processed further. Finally, the desired images can be reconstructed from the measurement data acquired in this manner.
An angiographic measurement in a magnetic resonance system is a known examination method for depicting the arterial and/or venous vascular system. Particular thought is needed for setting the measurement parameters, in particular the time sequence, of the angiographic measurement. One reason for this is that for the angiographic measurement, a contrast agent is injected that strengthens the signal from the blood vessels compared with the signal from the surrounding tissue, and that the dispersion of the contrast agent in the body is meant to be detected. Contrast agents containing gadolinium are usually injected. By acquiring measurement data before and after the injection of the contrast agent, the surrounding tissue can be practically eliminated by subtracting the images reconstructed from the measurement data. Therefore in the angiographic measurement it is necessary to start the angiographic measurement at an optimum time after the injection of the contrast agent bolus in order to achieve an optimum image contrast.
Various methods have been used to date in order to set optimally the measurement parameters of the angiographic measurement. In a first method, a patient is injected initially with a pre-contrast bolus, which comprises a small amount (for instance 1 mL) of contrast agent. A time-resolved measurement simultaneously represents a vessel close to the main measurement region to be examined. By analyzing the signal variation, in particular the contrast within a vascular structure over time, it is possible to determine characteristics of the pre-contrast bolus. Conclusions about characteristics of a main contrast agent bolus, which comprises a standard amount (for instance 8 mL) of contrast agent, can be drawn therefrom, and the measurement parameters of the angiographic measurement can be set accordingly.
In this first method, the patient must usually be injected twice with contrast agent. Moreover, the conclusions must be drawn appropriately; for instance a user must interpret the various characteristics, in particular the different enhancement between the 1 mL contrast agent bolus and the 8 mL contrast agent bolus, so that the measurement parameters, in particular the measurement start time, of the angiographic measurement can be set appropriately.
In a second method, a measurement region close to the main measurement region to be examined is measured continuously by a time-resolved measurement. In particular, a vessel through which an injected contrast agent bolus first flows is observed by the time-resolved measurement while the contrast agent bolus is being injected. As soon as the contrast agent bolus is detected in the vessel, the time-resolved measurement is stopped and the angiographic measurement is started.
This second method is substantially easier to perform than the first method but requires that the measurement parameters of the angiographic measurement are already set correctly in advance, so that the angiographic measurement can be started practically immediately. It is important here, for example, that as a result of medical conditions or other diagnoses, an assumed circulation time of the patient does not differ sharply from the "standard" circulation times assumed for the parameterization of the subsequent angiographic measurement. The circulation time can be used, for example, to infer a flow rate of the contrast agent bolus or the blood flow rate.
DE 10 2013 220 288 B4 discloses a method for acquiring magnetic resonance image data, an image-data acquisition unit, a magnetic resonance system and a computer program product, in which control commands for a magnetic resonance system are optimized and tested.
DE 10 2011 007 835 A1 describes a method for producing a magnetic resonance angiogram of a vascular structure of a region under examination, in which method, spins in the region under examination are saturated by applying at least one RF saturation pulse, and in the subsequent magnetic resonance signal acquisition for producing the magnetic resonance angiogram, have a lower signal intensity than spins that flow into the region under examination from a main artery via a supply artery and that are not saturated by the at least one RF saturation pulse and have a far higher signal intensity than the saturated spins.

Method for performing an angiographic measurement


A loading device for containers (C) comprises a pair of loading units (2), each having a telescopic column (4) supported on a bracket (3) so as to be swivelled about a common swivel axis (I). The telescopic column consists of a lower portion (9), an upper portion (11) and a column cylinder (17) moving the upper portion (11) with respect to the lower portion (9). Actuating cylinders (5) are connected to the lower portion (9) on both sides, and the upper portion (11) accommodates an extension arm (14) which can be swivelled about a swivel axis (III) parallel to the swivel axis (I) of the telescopic column. To expand the loading possibilities, the upper portion (11) carries a column head (12) which forms a slot-shaped swivel guide (18) with cam tracks (19) limiting the swivelling of the extension arm (14). The extension arm (14) has guide members (20) and is pivotally connected with a sliding piece (13) movably seated inside the upper portion (11) which opens towards the swivel guide (18), where a constriction (21) is provided between the cam tracks (19), so that the guide members (20) of the extension arm (14) aligned in a position stretched with respect to the telescopic column (4) simultaneously contact both cam tracks (19), and on the side of the upper portion the column cylinder (17) acts on the sliding piece (13) which can be moved upwards along a path limited by a stop.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a loading device for containers or the like, comprising a pair of loading units to be mounted on an undercarriage, which each have a telescopic column supported on a bracket so as to be swivelled about a common swivel axis extending in the longitudinal center of the undercarriage, which telescopic column consists of a lower portion pivotally mounted on the bracket, an upper portion movably guided in the lower portion, and a column cylinder moving the upper portion with respect to the lower portion, where actuating cylinders act on the lower portion on both sides, and the upper portion accommodates an extension arm which can be swivelled to both sides about a swivel axis parallel to the swivel axis of the telescopic column and has an abutment for connection of a load lifting means.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such loading device is known for instance from EP 0 705 179 A, and it is also well-tried because of its relatively simple and compact design, its sturdiness and its small space requirement as compared to the loading area. However, in the known loading device the extension arm of the telescopic columns can only be swivelled from one side to the other free from load, so that for a loading operation where a container must be moved from one side of the undercarriage to the other the container must be deposited on the undercarriage to relieve and swivel the extension arm, which is time-consuming and complicated. And under load, the extension arm can only be used in its stop-limited lateral swivel position, which involves a certain restriction of the loading possibilities.

Loading device for containers or similar


The present invention relates to a microprocessor controlled battery management system that optimizes the total electrical capacity of that battery. It uses localized cell power sources that correct the capacity of the individual connected cells to achieve the maximum capacity of the battery as it acts in a synergistic series connection of cells. The microprocessor retrieves data of battery load current, cell voltage, cell temperature, and battery charger current in timed increments. Through the application of the microprocessor's algorithms, after an initial cell profiling of individual cell capacities has been performed, individual cell DC/DC converters are enabled to correct the condition of the individual cells. In this manner the battery capacity is not affected by the capacity of the weakest cell.

Battery capacity is extremely critical in many industrial, commercial and medical situations but specifically in electric motorized propulsion applications. Since charging these larger capacity batteries can take considerable time, manufacturers strive to maximize the vehicle's range. Maximizing battery capacity is one of the goals of the battery optimization system.
A battery is a grouping of at least two series connected electrical storage cells. When storage cells are connected in parallel, they are still referred to as a single cell. Identical cells are only similar in their capacity, falling within their manufacturing tolerances. It is the correction of this inequality between the capacity in substantially similar cells in a battery that is the focus of this invention.
The capacity of a battery is that amount of energy measured in Ampere-Hours (AH) between the battery's fully charged state (that point where further charge cannot be put into the battery for fear of damage occurring to any cell), and the point where the battery voltage has dropped too low (below manufacturer's specified safe levels below which the cells may be permanently damaged.)
Since the electric potential or voltage (V) of a battery is the summation of the individual cells' voltages, when any cell's voltage drops, the voltage of the battery also drops by the same amount.
When charging the battery in the conventional manner with all cells connected in series, the same amount of current I flows into each cell. Assuming all cells have the same state of charge (SOC) before charging begins, once the smallest capacity cell reaches it's maximum storage capacity, or known as a 100% SOC, the charging operation must be stopped for fear of damaging that cell. The remainder of the cells never reach their 100% SOC. When operating the battery under a load in the conventional manner, the same amount of I is drawn from each of the cells until the weakest cell reaches the point where it's voltage drops or the cell has reached it's 0% SOC. When this happens the battery voltage drops to the point of inoperability and the remainder of the cells never reach their 0% SOC. Simply stated, the battery is limited in it's ability to be charged as well as it's ability to be discharged.
In theory, if all cells could simultaneously be at the same percentage of their individual capacity at all times (equal SOC's), all cells would reach fully charged at the same time and when under load all cells would reach fully discharged at the same time. In this manner, the fullest capacity of the battery could be realized. The battery would then truly be acting as a synergistic summation of the individual cells available energy.
Battery management systems having charging systems that address charging individual cells of the battery are known in the art. These monitor parameters of the individual cells during the charging mode, and when a cell reaches full (or in general any pre-determined) storage capacity, a resistive shunt is enabled, allowing the charging current to bypass that cell while the other cells remain in the charging circuit. The drawback of this system is that all of the charging current being sent to the bypassed cell is lost to resistive heat. Further, these battery management systems do not deal with equalization of the cells in the discharge mode.
This invention attempts to keep all cells of the battery at the same state of charge (SOC) at all times, whether charging or discharging under load. It performs an initial battery and cell profiling that determines the charge capacity of each cell. From that time on, the charge capacity of each cell is closely monitored and corrected as determined necessary by the main microprocessor. Unlike conventional systems, it does not attempt to do this by lowering the SOC of the highest capacity cells by shunting excess power through resistive heat losses. Rather, it uses DC/DC converters that are enabled in conjunction with a microprocessor that monitors various cell, battery and charger parameters, such that the summation of the individual cell's energies is distributed evenly between the cells and available for utilization by the battery under load. In his manner, all cells reach a state of discharge or a state of full charge at approximately the same time and the maximum capacity for a battery to do work can be realized despite the limitations of the weakest cells.
Unlike prior art systems, the balancing of energy in independent cells is not done by comparing only voltages between individual cells, but rather by equalizing the state of charge. A cell voltage in general is poor indicator of it's state of charge, although many battery management systems use it because of it's simplicity in measurement. Having different voltages within the string of cells with known different capacities may be a desirable and normal condition depending upon the cells, and equalizing the cell voltages alone may in fact render the cells out of balance of SOC. No cells are identical and if they exhibit capacity differences within their manufacturing tolerances, having different voltages after removing equal amounts of energy is natural, normal and desired, since their remaining capacities are also different. Again, equalizing voltages in such cases will unproductively disturb this balance.
Such design innovations as the present invention provides, overcome the pitfalls of the prior art and is a cost effective, simple solution that avoids the aforementioned pitfalls of the prior art.

Battery optimization system and method of use


Systems and methods are provided for improving compute job distribution using federated computing nodes. This includes identifying a plurality of independently controlled computing nodes which then receive a token such that they can each be identified as being authorized to participate in a federated computing node cluster. Metrics associated with the particular nodes are then received and based on the received metrics compute jobs are assigned to the particular node by assembling a compute job data packet comprising the one or more compute jobs and transmitting the assembled compute job data packet to the particular node. Other features are also described in which assigned compute jobs and/or unrelated compute tasks can be dynamically modified in order to optimize compute job completion based on the received metrics.

Hardware and software interfaces can also be utilized to allow computers to work together to share computing resources in order to solve large and/or complex computational problems. For example, processing requirements for technical problems such as encryption, artificial intelligence, machine learning, big-data processing and analysis, scientific research, and other modern computing needs are difficult to accomplish using standard computing resources.
Recently, block-chain technology has been applied to utilized decentralized tracking and verification of enormous amounts of data such as transaction information, inventory management, and other big-data problems. A key aspect of block-chain technology is the need to perform complex hashing algorithms. Such algorithms are complex enough that a common computing system might never successfully complete a single block verification within the useful lifespan of the system. However, by distributing the processing and computational load of such block verification processing across many machines, the computations can be successfully completed.
Operating such a system—for example a distributed processing environment potentially thousands or even millions of computing nodes—is enormously complex and difficult, not to mention expensive. Because of this, there are very few large-scale computing resources capable of completing computationally complex problems—such as block verification—at large scale.
Further, aside from the expense of a single entity controlling and operating such a distributed system, the technical complexity of configuring, maintaining, operating such a system may be prohibitive. Accordingly, such activities have been limited to users/entities that have the funds, programming knowledge, and advanced skill set to configure specialized mining or compute hardware. In one example, most people lack the required skill set, including lacking proper understanding to complete the setup process involved in setting up wallets, registering on cryptocurrency exchanges, tuning their hardware for efficiency, etc., that would be necessary to effectively complete block-chain verification computations.
At the same time, and as discussed above, computational resources are generally widely available. Cell phones, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablets, and even smart appliances all have processing capabilities that go unutilized during much of the life. For example, a user's home computing system may sit unused for 8 hours every day while the user is at work. Similarly, a corporation's computing resources may sit idly for the 16 hours a day that are outside of normal business hours.
Despite the many needs for large-scale distribute computing, and the immense amount of underutilized processing resources, there is still an ongoing need and desire to provide new and improved computer interfaces for utilizing existing resources for completing computationally complex processing.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Configuring nodes for distributed compute tasks


A self-anchoring cardiac harness is configured to fit at least a portion of a patient's heart and includes a tissue engaging element for frictionally engaging an outer surface of a heart. The engaging element produces sufficient friction relative to the outer surface of the heart, so that the harness does not migrate substantially relative to the heart. There is enough force created by the engaging element that there is no need to apply a suture to the heart in order to retain the cardiac harness. Further, the engaging element is adapted to engage the outer surface of the heart without substantially penetrating the outer surface.

The present invention relates to a device for treating heart failure. More specifically, the invention relates to a self-anchoring cardiac harness configured to be fit around at least a portion of a patient's heart. The cardiac harness includes an engaging element that provides a force to hold the harness onto the cardiac surface. In combination, the engaging elements hold the harness on the heart and resist migration of the harness relative to the heart during the cardiac cycle, without the need to substantially penetrate the heart.
Congestive heart failure ("CHF") is characterized by the failure of the heart to pump blood at sufficient flow rates to meet the metabolic demand of tissues, especially the demand for oxygen. One characteristic of CHF is remodeling of at least portions of a patient's heart. Remodeling involves physical change to the size, shape and thickness of the heart wall. For example, a damaged left ventricle may have some localized thinning and stretching of a portion of the myocardium. The thinned portion of the myocardium often is functionally impaired, and other portions of the myocardium attempt to compensate. As a result, the other portions of the myocardium may expand so that the stroke volume of the ventricle is maintained notwithstanding the impaired zone of the myocardium. Such expansion may cause the left ventricle to assume a somewhat spherical shape.
Cardiac remodeling often subjects the heart wall to increased wall tension or stress, which further impairs the heart's functional performance. Often, the heart wall will dilate further in order to compensate for the impairment caused by such increased stress. Thus, a cycle can result, in which dilation leads to further dilation and greater functional impairment.
Historically, congestive heart failure has been managed with a variety of drugs. Devices have also been used to improve cardiac output. For example, left ventricular assist pumps help the heart to pump blood. Multi-chamber pacing has also been employed to optimally synchronize the beating of the heart chambers to improve cardiac output. Various skeletal muscles, such as the latissimus dorsi, have been used to assist ventricular pumping. Researchers and cardiac surgeons have also experimented with prosthetic "girdles" disposed around the heart. One such design is a prosthetic "sock" or "jacket" that is wrapped around the heart.
What has been needed, and is at this time unavailable, is a cardiac harness that resists migration off of the heart without the need to apply a suture to the heart or substantially penetrate the surface of the heart.


A process is presented for the management and control of the 2-phenyl content in a benzene alkylation process. The process includes the use of multiple reactor beds, with benzene flowing through the reactor beds in a sequential manner. The olefin stream is split to two or more portions, and a separate portion is passed to the first reactor bed and second reactor bed. Control of the ratio of the olefin flow splits controls the 2-phenyl content.

Linear alkylbenzenes (LAB) are compounds that have significant commercial importance. Linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) compounds made by sulfonation of linear alkylbenzene are used in the manufacture of detergents and other products. Because linear alkylbenzenes are more easily biodegradable than branched alkylbenzenes, linear alkylbenzenes have essentially replaced branched alkylbenzenes in detergents and other products. In particular, linear alkylbenzenes with long alkyl chains, such as chains having about 10 to about 14 carbons, are commonly used. However, linear alkylbenzenes with longer chains and with shorter chains also are commercially important.
Linear alkylbenzenes often are made by alkylation of benzene with olefins. Positional isomers, such as 2-phenyl, 3-phenyl, 4-phenyl, 5-phenyl, and the like, result from this alkylation of benzene with long chain olefins. The distribution of the phenyl along the alkyl chain produces different products.
Historically, linear alkylbenzenes are manufactured commercially using classic
Friedel-Crafts condensation employing catalysts such as aluminum chloride, or by using strong acid catalysts such as hydrogen fluoride, for example, to alkylate benzene with olefins. In 1995, a solid bed alkylation process, the Detal™ process, using a solid non-corrosive acid catalyst was introduced. While such methods produce high conversions, the selectivity to the 2-phenyl isomer typically is about 30 percent or less. Linear alkylbenzenes with a high percentage of the 2-phenyl isomer are highly desired because such compounds when sulfonated have long tails that provide enhanced solubility and detergent properties.
The 2-phenyl isomer content of the product is process dependent. Solid alkylation catalysts, such as those used in the Detal™ process, produce products with 2-phenyl isomer content between 25 and 30 percent. HF-catalyzed processes typically yield a 2-phenyl isomer content less than 20 percent, and AlCl3 typically between 30 and 33 percent. The properties of linear alkylbenzenes and linear alkylbenzene sulfonate produced from these three processes have been disclosed by Berna and coworkers in the following publications. Journal of Surfactants and Detergents, Vol. 3, No. 2 (July 2000) pages 353 through 359, JAOCS, Vol. 72, No. 1 (1995) pages 115 through 122, and Tenside Surfactants Detergents 25 (1988) 4, pages 216 through 221.
Zeolite catalysts also have been used to obtain linear alkylbenzenes by alkylation of benzene with olefins. The 2-phenyl isomer content of linear alkylbenzenes obtained using such catalysts depends on the zeolite selected and can vary from about 20 percent to 90 percent. However, some zeolitic catalysts are quickly deactivated, and very high concentration of 2-phenyl isomer in linear alkylbenzene yields a linear alkylbenzene sulfonate that dissolves poorly in water. Most zeolites, with the exception of FAU, produce linear alkylbenzene with 2-phenyl isomer content higher than existing commercial processes.
The differences in linear alkylbenzene compositions produce different linear alkylbenzene sulfonate products. The products differ not only in composition but also in properties and characteristics. Some of the properties that detergent formulators need to consider are solubility, viscosity, detergency performance, foaming power, foam stability, hard water stability, and biodegradability. A number of these properties are dependent on the isomeric composition of the linear alkylbenzene sulfonate.
Thus, there exists a need for a method for controlling 2-phenyl isomer content of linear alkylbenzenes obtained by alkylating benzene with olefins.

Control of 2-phenyl content in alkylbenzenes during production


A method of improving the combustion of a fuel by adding a catalyst or combustion enhancer at an extremely low concentration, preferably in the range of 1 part catalyst per 200 million parts fuel to 1 part catalyst per 6 trillion parts fuel. The catalyst or combustion enhancer may be selected from a wide range of soluble compounds. The method may comprise the steps of an initial mixing of the catalyst or enhancer with a suitable solvent and then subsequent dilution steps using solvents or fuel. Suitable solvents include water, MTBE, methylketone, methylisobutylketone, butanol, isopropyl alcohol and other hydrophilic/oleophilic compounds.

Combustion of fossil fuels and in particular oil derived fuels such as gasoline and diesel is never completely efficient. The consequences of inefficient combustion range through high fuel consumption, a build up of carbon on cylinder heads and on pistons, variations in motor efficiency and production of excess amounts of noxious bi-products such as carbon monoxide, partially burnt hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides ("NOx").
Various fuel additives have been proposed to improve fuel economy and reduce combustion exhaust pollutants. Unburnt and partially burnt fuel represent both pollution of the combustion process and a financial loss to a purchaser of the fuel. The prior art has suggested adding combustion improvers for diverse types of fuel usages including flame burners, diesel engines, gasoline internal combustion engines and various turbine configurations. These prior art additives have been in various forms such as in a liquid state mixed with liquid carriers and some in a solid state as appropriate for the combustion system under review.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,421 to Webb discloses a catalytic fuel additive for use in engines or furnaces. The additive employs a solution of picric acid and ferrous sulphate in specified alcohol. An example shows the additive employed for use in gasoline engines at levels supplying around 10 parts per billion of the combined catalyst. The disclosure indicates higher but unspecified levels of use for heavy fuel oils. In all cases the catalyst, is fully dissolved in the fuel.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,402,427 to Miller and Liber discloses the use of broad groupings of diesel-fuel-soluble organic and organo metallic compounds as ignition promoters at concentrations of from 0.02 to 3% (ie. 200-30,000 parts per million).
Among the early patents on catalytic metal fuel additives, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,086,775 and 2,151,432 to Lyons and McKone disclose adding from 0.001 to 0.0085% (ie. from 10-850 parts per million) of an organo metallic compound or mixture to a base fuel such as gasoline, benzene, fuel, oil, kerosene or blends to improve various aspects of engine performance. Among the metals disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,086,775 are cobalt, nickel manganese, iron, copper, uranium, molybdenum, vanadium, zirconium, beryllium, platinum, palladium, chromium, aluminium, thorium and the rare earth metals such as cenum.
Those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,151,432 include solanum, antimony, arsenic, bismuth, cadminum, admeium, tellurium, thallium, tin, barium, boron, cesium, didymium, lanthanum, potassium, sodium, tantalum, titanium, tungsten and zinc. In both patents, the preferred organo metallic compounds were beta diketone and derivatives and their homologues such as the metal acetylacetonates, proprionyl acetonates, formyl acetonates and the like.
The Lyons and McKone disclosures state that concentrations of from 0.001 to 0.04% (ie. from 10-400 parts per million) are not effective to improve combustion efficiency as introduced, but may become so upon prolonged use as catalytically active deposits are built-up in the combustion chamber. The disclosures further state that about 0.01% (ie. 100 parts per million) of the organo metallic compound is usually sufficient, once the requisite amount of catalytically active deposits have been built up to perpetuate the amount of deposits by replacement of losses therefrom.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,891,050 and 4,892,562 to Bowers and Sprague disclose the use of fuel soluble platinum group metal compounds which were effective at what was labelled "extremely low concentrations" to improve fuel economy in gasoline and diesel engines respectively. In this context, extremely low levels were seen as being in the range of 0.01 to 1.0 parts per million of the platinum group metal compared to the fuel to which it was added.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,472 describes the use of 0.005 to 0.5 parts per million catalyst to fuel oil when the catalyst was measured as metal on a weight basis. The preferred range of catalyst was 0.02 to 0.06 parts per million (ie. 2 parts per 100 million to 6 parts per 100 million). It is apparent that the prior art teaches there is a lower limit at which catalysts cease contributing significantly to the combustion process. As noted earlier, the Lyons and McKone documents indicated that concentrations of around 10400 parts per million of catalyst were only effective once an adequate amount of catalytically active build-up arose.
Even U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,421 to Webb indicated a level of 1 part per 100 million as necessary to provide a significant effect. It would be of advantage if a method could be described to provide combustion enhancement at lower levels of additive than previously used.

Method and composition for improving fuel combustion


A ball game device comprising a body 10 adapted to receive a hand 24 and a wrist 25 of a user 26, the body 10 presenting two hitting surfaces 14 for hitting a ball 20. The body 10 comprises two panels 12 with a cavity 22 therebetween for receiving the hand 24 and wrist 25 through an opening 23. The device may also be supplied in kit form.

For a young child to learn a racket sport, the first obstacle to overcome is that of general co-ordination. The acquisition of the skills required to experience a racket sport as a fulfilling activity requires the development of a high level of neuromuscular co-ordination. Holding a racket and making it connect with a ball to project it with the desired direction and speed is a complex skill which is difficult to learn, especially for a young child. A child learning to do this needs to learn in a way that is not too advanced, which could lead to frustration, and also in a way that will be stimulating so that the child does not get bored.
At present, equipment for teaching children and allowing them to learn elementary co-ordination and racket skills includes miniature rackets, most commonly made of plastic and provided with soft sponge balls. These rackets feature short handles, which facilitate easier control of the ball than in an adult-size racket because the racket head is nearer the hand of the user in the case of miniature rackets.
Miniature rackets are also lighter than adult-size rackets, thus making it easier in some cases for children to use them. However, difficulties have been encountered with some of these rackets where a shorter handle has been combined with a racket head which is almost as large as that of an adult racket. This resulting imbalance or heaviness in the head impedes learning, in particular the correct learning of basic racket skills. The relative heaviness of the racket head leads a young child to "drop" the wrist, instead of keeping it in the "cocked" position, and to use rotation at the wrist joint to generate racket head speed during stroke execution.
There are many toy products on the market not based on traditional racket design but which require catching and hitting skills for their enjoyment. For example, an option on the market is an arrangement where two discs are supplied with a furry ball. One side of the discs is covered in VELCRO or "suckers" to which the ball adheres, and the other side is supplied with a strap for holding the disc to a hand on its palm side. This device helps a child improve basic catching skills.
The designs of these currently available learning aids have some shortcomings some of which have been noted above. Another disadvantage of a previously available learning aid is that a child still has to learn how to hold a miniature racket correctly whilst at the same time developing the skills of hand-eye coordination. It can be difficult to learn these skills simultaneously.
It is an aim of the present invention to facilitate the development of improved methods of teaching and learning general co-ordination and in particular stroke production skills for racket sports.


A foldable support for a table includes three or more pairs of leg members coupled together by three or more frame plates. One end of each pair of leg members is coupled by a bending member. A sleeve which is fixed to each end of the frame plates is provided between the bending member and the leg member. The sleeve is rotatable relative to the tube so that the frame plates are foldable relative to the leg members.

The present invention relates to a support for a table, and more particularly to a foldable support for a table.
Various types of tables are used today. Most of the tables are fixed and are not foldable. Some of the tables are foldable, but the table surface is generally fixed to two feet thereof which is not good for transportation and is not portable.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional table.


Disclosed is a method for repairing a receiving hook for guide vanes, wherein the receiving hook is arranged in a housing of a turbomachine. The method comprises removing first material in a region of the receiving hook, which region extends over the circumference of the housing and thereafter applying second material in or on a region which extends over the circumference of the housing. The application of second material is performed using localized heat.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for repairing receiving hooks for guide vanes.
2. Discussion of Background Information
In turbomachines, in particular in gas turbines, individual components such as guide vanes are regularly suspended or secured on mounting points in the housing. These suspension points may, over time, wear or exceed predefined tolerances, such that they have to be repaired.
It would be advantages to have available a method for repairing receiving hooks for guide vanes in turbomachines.

Method for repairing a receiving hook for guide vanes


A system adapted to install a child safety seat in a vehicle, comprising a child safety seat, a restraint system; and a tension device; wherein the restraint system includes at least one restraint belt, the restraint belt includes a restraint belt loose end, the tension device is connected to the restraint belt loose end, and, the tension device is adapted to generate tension on the restraint system through the restraint belt loose end to firmly secure the child safety seat with respect to the vehicle.

The present invention relates to installation of a child safety seat, and in particular to a System, Method and Apparatus Adapted to Install a Child Safety Seat in a Vehicle.
The field of the invention pertains to the installation of child safety seats in vehicles. The National Safety Belt Coalition reports that experts estimated that 80% to 90% of child safety seats are installed and/or used incorrectly in automobiles. As a result, every year many children are needlessly injured or killed during otherwise minor vehicular accidents because of the incorrect installation of the child""s safety seat.
Belts are commonly employed in vehicles to secure a child""s safety seat to the supporting vehicle seat. While belts are effective for security, as noted above they usually suffer from the disadvantage of having unwanted slack from incorrect installation. Slack in a belt decreases the effectiveness of the belt""s ability to secure and retain the child safety seat in place. An incorrectly installed child safety seat can be more dangerous to the child than no safety seat at all.
The law in many jurisdictions requires that all young children be secured in a child safety seat while travelling in an automobile. In some jurisdictions, car rental companies are required to temporarily secure a child safety seat in a rented car when the renter has a young child. The seat must be belted down so as to prevent any movement of the child safety seat relative to the automobile seat on which it is mounted. This requires that the installer exert a high degree of force on the child safety seat as it is being strapped in. Unfortunately, even the best efforts of the installer often fail and the child safety seat still has a degree of movement in the event of an accident.
There have been attempts to reduce or eliminate the inherent problem of slack in belts for retaining child safety seats. These devices often come in the form of clamping means or tightening and adjusting means with a mechanical assembly that engages a portion of the strap or, alternatively, two separate portions of the strap. Many of these devices, however, require that at least one end of the strap be passed through the device after the device is attached to another portion of the strap.
Belt shortening devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,047,451; 6,081,976; 6,105,211; 6,241,174; 6,273,353; 6,279,847 and 4,604,773, herein incorporated by reference. These devices attach to a section of a belt and remove slack by winding the belt around a ratchet mechanism.
A belt tensioning device is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,772, herein incorporated by reference. This device is comprised of two pieces of plastic pivotally connected together, such that clamping the two pieces together will result in a short belt length.
Many devices commonly require that a loose end of the belt be routed through the device to enable winding of the belt by the device to effectuate shortening. As can be understood, the foregoing devices are unsuitable for shortening vehicle seat belts because the belts are not capable of being routed onto commonly available ratchet take-up mechanism due to the presence of bulky buckles, both male and female endings, present on the loose ends of the belts. Other devices permanently incorporate the ratchet take-up mechanism directly on the belt itself.
Other belt tightening devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,092,869 and 6,247,208, herein incorporated by reference. These devices are adapted to be attached to a belt at a point along its length to take up slack.
Another approach to installation of a child safety seat is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,408, incorporated herein by reference. This approach involves a device that sits over the child safety seat and applies downward pressure generated by a lever. The installer tightens the seat belt that passes through the child safety seat while the child safety seat is pressed into the car seat. This device is bulky and poor access to the belt buckle may result is an incorrect installation.
A seat belt gripping device for use with seat belts with lap and shoulder portions is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,579,561 and 5,845,372, herein incorporated by reference. Another seat belt gripping device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,015, herein incorporated by reference. These devices secure the lap belt portion and shoulder belt portion together after installation of the child safety seat. These devices maintain the tension present in the restraint system at the time they are installed.
A ratchet mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,296, herein incorporated by reference. This type of a tension device is commonly used to secure loads onto trucks or on top of automobiles.
A few examples of child safety seats are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,322,143; 6,237,999; 6,183,044; 5,842,737; 5,733,003; 5,462,333, each incorporated by reference herein.
In view of the foregoing, there is a demand for an apparatus and method for installing a child safety seat securely in relation to a vehicle. There is also a need for child safety seat installation methods and devices that are compact, inexpensive, easy to use, and can be used in a variety of vehicle types and vehicles models with a variety of child safety seat models.
An aspect of the present invention provides a method adapted to install a child safety seat in a vehicle by generating tension on a loose end of the restraint belt with a tension device.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a system adapted to install a child safety seat in a vehicle. A tension device is adapted to generate tension on a loose end of a restraint belt to firmly secure the child safety seat with respect to the vehicle.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a child safety seat installation device comprising a clamp to grip a restraint belt loose end and a tension device with a mechanical advantage greater than 1, wherein tension device adapted to generate tension on the restraint belt loose end to firmly secure the child safety seat with respect to the vehicle.

System, method and apparatus adapted to install a child safety seat in a vehicle


A constant velocity joint includes a rotatable wheel hub for mounting a wheel of a vehicle which serves as the outer race of the joint. The hub is formed with a through bore that includes a part spherical surface at an inboard end of the hub. An inner joint is installed through the open outboard end and is formed with a plurality of ball grooves whose centers are offset with respect to the center of the joint, forcing balls within the grooves toward the installation end of the hub. A ball retainer device is disposed in the wheel hub bore to retain the balls and seal the joint.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to constant velocity joints and more particularly to those integrated with a wheel hub used for mounting a rotatable wheel of a vehicle.
2. Related Art
It has been proposed in the prior art to integrate a constant velocity joint of a wheel end assembly with the wheel hub of a vehicle, in which case the wheel hub serves as the outer race of the joint. Examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,372,628; 4,421,197; and 4,880,281. In each case, the inner race is installed within the inboard end of the wheel hub opposite the flanged end on which the wheel is mounted, and the torque-transmitting balls disposed in the aligned grooves between the wheel hub and inner race are maintained in a common plane by an intervening ball cage between the inner race and hub. Such assemblies present a rather complex joint configuration that is costly to manufacture and difficult to assemble.
A constant velocity joint constructed according to the present invention simplifies the construction and assembly of such integrated wheel joint assemblies.
A constant velocity joint for a vehicle according to one aspect of the invention comprises a wheel hub which serves as an outer race of the joint which is equipped with wheel mounting structure adjacent a first of its ends that is configured to mount a wheel of a vehicle. The wheel hub has an outer circumferentially extending bearing surface configured to support bearing balls for rotation of the wheel hub about its longitudinal axis relative to support structure of the vehicle. The wheel hub has a longitudinal bore disposed about the axis and including a part spherical surface adjacent an opposite second end of the wheel hub. An inner race is disposed within the bore of the wheel hub and has a part spherical outer surface directly engaging the part spherical surface of the bore and defining a joint center point of the joint about which the wheel hub articulates relative to the inner race. The part spherical surface of the bore extends toward the first end of the wheel hub no further than a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bore containing the center point of the joint. The wheel hub and inner race include a plurality of axially extending aligned ball grooves and a torque-transmitting ball in each of the grooves for transmitting torque while permitting relative articulation between the wheel hub and inner race. The grooves of the wheel hub have an associated groove center which is offset axially from the center point on one axial side thereof, and the grooves of the inner race have an associated groove center which is offset axially from the center point on the opposite axial side thereof, such that the balls are forced axially underload toward the first end of the wheel hub. The joint includes the ball retainer device which is disposed within the bore between the balls and first end of the wheel hub which applies a constant bias load to the balls toward the second end maintaining the balls within the grooves in a common ball plane during articulation of the joint.
The invention has the advantage of simplifying the construction and assembly of constant velocity joints integrated with the wheel hub of a vehicle.
The simplified construction includes the direct engagement of the part spherical outer surface of the inner race with the part spherical wall surface of the bore eliminates the intervening ball cage associated with the known prior art constructions.
The provision of the internal ball retainer device in lieu of the normal ball cage reduces the radial size of the joint as compared to known prior art devices and facilitates the assembly of the inner components through the outboard first end of the wheel hub, rather than having to manipulate the various components for installation through the inboard second end as with the known prior art.
According to further aspect of the invention, such a joint is easily assembled by simply installing the inner race and balls within the second end, where the part spherical surfaces engage and the balls are disposed in the ball grooves between the inner race and wheel hub, after which a ball retainer device is installed in the second end to retain the inner race and balls within the wheel hub. This simplified assembly process may be performed by hand or partially or fully automated, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process and reducing the cost of making such integrated wheel joint assemblies.


A method for storing information, the method includes: receiving information to be stored on a removable mass storage device; and storing a compact disc recordable (CDR) session representation on a non-optical re-writable storage area of the removable mass storage device; wherein the CDR session representation comprises the received information.

The use of compact optical data disks as a means for storing digital data is well known in the art of computer engineering. Relevant published standards include: ECMA-130 2nd Edition—June 1996, "Data interchange on read-only 120 mm optical data disks (CD-ROM)" and ECMA-168 2nd Edition—December 1994, "Volume and File Structure of Read-Only and Write-Once Compact Disk Media for Information Interchange"
The CD-ROM is characterized by an ability to launch a program that is stored on the CD-ROM upon mounting the CD on the host. This ability is typically supplied by an operating system on the host by means of an "Autorun" feature. In addition, the CD-ROM is a read-only media and the operating system prevents an application from writing data onto the CD-ROM.
These two features caused the developers of flash disk drives, such as the DiskOnKey™ available from M-Systems™, Kefar-Sava, Israel, to emulate the CD-ROM paradigm in removable storage devices.
These two features are important in such devices for the following two reasons: (i) The ability to include, in the flash disk drive, applications that are launched upon mounting is convenient and familiar to the user and facilitates supplying any necessary installation software on the device itself (ii) The lack of "write" command protects the programs and data that are not to be changed from erasure during normal operation of the device.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art removable mass storage device 22 with a non-optical re-writable storage area ("storage area") 20 that includes a read-only partition (CD ROM partition) 22 and a read-write partition (writable partition) 24. The non-optical re-writable storage area 20 can be implemented by Flash technology.
Generally, the partitioning is done during the manufacturing process of the removable mass storage device. It is convenient to present these partitions to an operating system by means of standard interfaces.
Non-optical re-writable storage area 20 is divided into a read-only partition 22 and a read/write partition 24. A controller 28 provides access to the partitions to a host computing device 34 and applications running on the host by means of standard interfaces: a CD-ROM interface 30 (as described in ECMA-168) and a mass-storage device interface 32. The physical interface to the host is by means of a link. Controller 28 is responsible for translating the standard interfaces presented to the host into the appropriate commands understood by the underlying flash memory.
There is, however, an additional requirement, which is to be able to update the content stored on the emulated CD-ROM. This content is updated using a separate API.
Updating the entire emulated CD-ROM is risky because data can be corrupted during the update. For example, a user can unwittingly remove the device while an update is in progress. In this case, the contents of the emulated CD-ROM are likely to become corrupted. As a result, the CD partition may be unusable, thereby rendering the device as a whole unusable. A second problem in updating is the potential lengthy amount of time required to replace the entire contents of the CD partition.
These two deficiencies do not apply to CDs because CDs cannot be rewritten.
FIG. 2 illustrates a prior art update process of CD-ROM partition 22 within a removable mass storage device 22. This update typically occurs after the manufacturing process is completed. A CD-ROM partition image 42, precedes a writeable partition 44, which together form the total capacity of the storage device. When the CD-ROM partition has to be updated (by a later version or by new content), an application (not shown) creates an updated version of the CD-ROM partition 40 and replaces 46 the old partition 42A by the new partition 40A. Typically, the new partition 40A is larger than the old partition 42, so the writeable partition 48 has to be smaller than the original writeable partition 44. The result is a CD-ROM with an updated partition.
It would be very useful to have a storage device comprising an incrementally and safely updatable CD partition that can be updated many times.

Multiple session accessiblity via a CD-ROM interface


A theobromine gene derived from Coffea arabica and the polypeptide it encodes are disclosed. The disclosed polypeptide catalyzes biosynthesis of theobromine using 7-methylxanthine as the substrate. Also disclosed are plants transformed with the theobromine gene as to increase or inhibit biosynthesis of theobromine, methods of producing such plants, and seeds obtained from such plants. Caffeineless coffee may be obtained from the disclosed plants, as theobromine synthase participates in the biosynthesis of caffeine.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to theobromine synthase polypeptide and the gene encoding said enzyme.
2. Prior Art
Coffee is a drink consumed all over the world with favorite and its utility is markedly large. On the other hand, it is known that excessive ingestion of caffeine, which is contained in coffee, causes harmful effects. Caffeine is one of xanthine derivatives and theophylline and theobromine are also the members of the xanthine derivatives. These xanthine derivatives are known to inhibit phosphodiesterase, thereby the amount of cAMP is increased. As the result, xanthine derivatives exhibit excitatory effect on the central nerves system and enhance function of the circulatory system. When they are ingested at a suitable amount, such effects of xanthine derivatives are useful for spiritual elevation. However, when the amount of digestion is excessive, they would cause harmful effects as mentioned above. Therefore, there has been a strong demand on production of a caffeine-less coffee all over the world.
To obtain caffeine-less coffee, attempts to obtain a gene involved in biosynthesis of xanthine derivatives have been performed, in the purpose to achieve artificial control of biosynthesis of caffeine. In FIG. 1 (cited from Advances in Botanical Research, Vol. 30, Academic Press (1999) p149), the pathway working for caffeine biosynthesis in coffee plants is shown. In FIG. 1, the arrow with solid line indicates the main pathway of caffeine synthesis and the arrow with dotted line indicates the minor pathway of caffeine synthesis, respectively. As shown in the second line of FIG. 1, the pathway operating for biosynthesis of caffeine from xanthosine via 7-methylxanthine and theobromine has been known, which is the main pathway for biosynthesis of caffeine biosynthesis in coffee plants. The latter half of the main biosynthesis pathway of caffeine is composed of three steps of N-methylation reactions. These N-methylation reactions have been known to be dependent on S-adenosylmethoinine. There also exists a pathway (third line in FIG. 1) in which caffeine is biosynthesized from 7-methylxanthine via para-xanthine, but it is known that contribution of this pathway is not significant. With regard to the first methylation reaction to synthesize 7-methylxanthine, a gene encoding an enzyme responsible for said reaction has been obtained and it has been already reported (International Laid-Open Publication No. WO 97/35960). However, genes involved in the second step methylation reaction and the third step methylation reaction have not been known yet. For effective and accurate manipulation of caffeine biosynthesis, more knowledge on genes that encode enzymes involved in caffeine biosynthesis should be obtained.
The first aspect of this invention is a polypeptide consisting of an amino acid sequence defined by amino acid numbers from 1 to 378 shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 in a Sequence List. A polypeptide consisting of an amino acid sequence exhibiting at least 90% of homology with SEQ ID NO: 1 is also within the scope of this invention, so far as the polypeptide has the activity to biosynthesize theobromine using 7-methylxanthine as the substrate. Such sequence may be obtained by making deletions, insertions, substitutions or any combinations thereof in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1.
The second aspect of this invention is a gene consisting of a base sequence defined by base numbers from 1 to 1298 shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 in a Sequence List. A gene that hybridizes with SEQ ID NO: 2 under a stringent confdition and a gene consisting of a base sequence exhibiting at least 90% of homology with SEQ ID NO: 2 is also within the scope of this invention, so far as the gene encodes a polypeptide having the activity to biosynthesize theobromine using 7-methylxanthine as the substrate. Such sequence may be obtained by making deletions, insertions, substitutions or any combinations thereof in the base sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2.
The third aspect of this invention is a transformed plant wherein expression of said gene is inhibited in the plant to decrease biosynthesis of theobromine and a seed obtained from the transformed plant. Preferably, the plant to be transformed is selected from the group consisting of Coffea arabica, Coffea canephora, Coffea liberica and Coffea dewevrei.
The fourth aspect of this invention is a transformed plant wherein said gene is introduced in the plant to increase biosynthesis of theobromine and a seed obtained from the transformed plant. Preferably, the plant to be transformed is selected from the group consisting of Coffea arabica, Coffea canephora, Coffea liberica and Coffea dewevrei.

Theobromine synthase polypeptide of coffee plant and the gene encoding said polypeptide

Nara Institute of Science and Technology


A roadway surface drain provided with a grating to detain trash but pass water, a hinged closure plate beneath the grating to close the opening in which the grating is fitted, and linkage to tilt the closure plate to open said opening when the rate of water flow is sufficient, while permitting flow of water and detaining trash when the rate of flow is acceptably slow.

Trash detention means between a roadway and a surface drain to close the passage of trash and to pass water at a slow rate, and to open to pass water at a faster rate, while then also permitting passage of solid trash.
Roadways must frequently be provided at low spots with drains to carry away surface water. These drains are horizontal openings, usually rectangular, which open into drainage systems. Generally they open into a catch basin that in turn enters into the drainage system that conveys the stream to a distant place.
These drains customarily are covered by a grating such as a grating of steel rods or bars that allow flow of water through openings between them. The problem with these arrangements is that, while water can readily be drained, solid trash can also pass through. Then it enters the catch basin where it must be cleaned out so the system does not plug up and potentially flood the area.
Still, the grating must be available to pass water at all times, and also to support vehicles and people at all times. What is lacking is a selective system which will support people, vehicles and trash and permit slow flow of water during relatively dry times, while excluding trash from the system so it can be picked up by surface means such as a sweeper when the flow is slow or zero. At times of heavy flow, it must open to permit the more rapid flow of water, accompanied by some residual trash that has not been swept up, while still supporting vehicles and people. It is an object of this invention to provide such a system.
Apparatus according to this invention is intended to be installed in a roadway surface drain. Such a drain will ordinarily be horizontal, and be placed at a low point in the roadway or shoulder. A grating is fitted in an opening into the drain with strength sufficient to support vehicles or persons expected to run or stand on it. It is an open grating with openings between its rods or bars to pass water through it. It is anticipated that solid trash, as well as water, will reach this grating.
Immediately beneath the grating is a pivoted closure plate, which when closed will permit slow flow of water past it while preventing passage of solid trash. This enables the trash to be swept up before it can enter the drainage system.
An actuator is provided which is linked to the closure plate in such a way as to open the closure plate to permit flow of water at a sufficiently high rate, but remains closed to trash in slow rates (or no flow), while still passing the water at the slow rate.
According to a feature of the invention, a counterweight linkage system holds the closure plate closed until a collector receives enough water to overcome the counterweight. A sufficient rate of flow will keep the closure open while the rate of flow remains sufficiently high.

Roadway surface grating with trash detention during drier conditions


The present disclosure relates to a printed circuit board including a first insulating layer; and a plurality of connection pads disposed on one surface of the first insulating layer, wherein the first insulating layer has a groove portion penetrating a portion of the first insulating layer in respective regions between the plurality of connection pads, and a display module including the same.

When a printed circuit board is connected through a bonding layer such as a display panel, a problem regarding bonding force between connection pads of each of the printed circuit board and the display panel is constantly being raised. In particular, due to pattern miniaturization of the connection pad, a pitch between pads may become smaller, and as the number of pads increases, an adhesive area of the insulating layer contacting the bonding layer decreases, and thus, adhesion to the bonding layer may be further lowered. In addition, when a flexible region of the printed circuit board is bent or folded, there is a problem in that detachment between the printed circuit board and the display panel may more easily occur due to a spring back phenomenon and may be separated from each other.

Printed circuit board and display module comprising the same


Systems and methods are described for a usage monitoring HVAC control system. A method, includes: providing a usage monitoring heating ventilation and air conditioning control system, the usage monitoring heating ventilation and air conditioning control system including a programmable digital thermostat with an on board memory, issuing personal identification numbers to each of a plurality of system users; associating each of the plurality of system users with at least one of a plurality of user types; storing the personal identification numbers in a first data structure in the on board memory; and linking each one of a plurality of entries in the first data structure by reference to at least one of a plurality of entries in a second data structure in the on board memory, the second data structure including a list of user types. A method, includes regulating user access to an interactive user interface of a programmable thermostat, each user identified by a personal identification number associated with a user type such as, for example, building owners, maintenance personnel, building tenants, and manufacturers.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of programmable heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. More particularly, the invention relates to energy saving programmable HVAC systems. Specifically, a preferred implementation of the invention relates to a usage monitoring programmable HVAC system.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems consume a large amount of energy. Commonly, heating and cooling operations are controlled automatically with a thermostat or plurality of thermostats which initiate these operations according to preset temperature limits. The thermostat can be located at a predetermined central local or the plurality of thermostats can be located at a predetermined plurality of locations. The thermostats are capable of detecting changes in room temperature. When the room temperature fluctuates outside the preset high and low temperature limits, the thermostats can trigger a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning unit to heat or cool the room, thus maintaining the room temperature between the preset limits. The thermostats regulate room temperature in this manner regardless of whether or not the building is occupied. Since many buildings may be unoccupied for certain periods of time, the continuous operation of such conventional HVAC systems would result in wastage of a large amount of energy. Attempts have been made to reduce energy wastage by including a timer that simply terminates HVAC system function during a preset interval. Such provision is often impractical since most buildings do not have regular occupancy patterns.
Another problem associated with conventional HVAC systems is the unavailability of personalized billing. Generally, all users of a conventional HVAC system have to pay an equal portion of fixed and variable costs associated with continued operations of the HVAC system. As a result, users often have to pay for HVAC services used by another user.
Heretofore, the requirements of energy conservation and personalized billing referred to above have not been fully met. What is needed is a solution that simultaneously addresses both of these requirements.
There is a need for the following embodiments. Of course, the invention is not limited to these embodiments.
According to an aspect of the invention, a method comprises: a method, comprises: providing a usage monitoring heating ventilation and air conditioning control system, the usage monitoring heating ventilation and air conditioning control system including a programmable digital thermostat with an on board memory; issuing personal identification numbers to each of a plurality of system users; associating each of the plurality of system users with at least one of a plurality of user types; storing the personal identification numbers in a first data structure in the on board memory; and linking each one of a plurality of entries in the first data structure by reference to at least one of a plurality of entries in a second data structure in the on board memory, the second data structure including a list of user types. According to another aspect of the invention, a method, comprises: receiving a request for an additional period of heating ventilation and air conditioning system services from a requesting system user, the requesting system user composing a plurality of system users; maintaining a data structure in an on board memory of a programmable thermostat, the data structure including a list of time entries, each time entry associated with one of the plurality of system users; and updating the data structure by adding a duration in units of time to the time associated with the requesting system user. According to another aspect of the invention, an apparatus, comprises: a microcontroller; a digital temperature sensor coupled to the microcontroller; a liquid crystal display coupled to the microcontroller; a set of cursor buttons coupled to the microcontroller; an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory coupled to the microcontroller; an upload capable connector coupled to the electronically erasable programmable read-only memory; a real time clock coupled to the microcontroller; and a back up power supply coupled to the real time clock. According to another aspect of the invention, a method, comprises regulating user access to an interactive user interface of a programmable thermostat, each user identified by a personal identification number associated with a user type selected from the group consisting of building owners, maintenance personnel, building tenants, and manufacturers.
These, and other, embodiments of the invention will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following description, while indicating various embodiments of the invention and numerous specific details thereof, is given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many substitutions, modifications, additions and/or rearrangements may be made within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such substitutions, modifications, additions and/or rearrangements.


A voltage regulator includes a feedback regulation loop and a drive transistor configured to source current to a regulated output. A transient recovery circuit is coupled to the voltage regulator circuit and includes a first transistor coupled to source current into a control terminal of the drive transistor, wherein the source current is in addition to current sourced in response to operation of the feedback regulation loop. The first transistor is selectively actuated in response to a drop in voltage at the regulated output. The transient recovery circuit further includes a second transistor coupled to sink current from the regulated output. The sink current has a first non-zero magnitude in the quiescent operating mode of the regulator circuit. In response to an increase in voltage at the regulated output, the operation of the second transistor is modified to increase the sink current to a second, greater, non-zero magnitude.

Voltage regulator circuits function to take a varying input supply voltage and generate a stable output voltage. For example, the varying input supply voltage may comprise a battery supplied voltage and the stable output voltage is used to power analog and/or digital circuitry in a battery powered circuit application. The usable operating voltage and current overhead required by the voltage regulator circuit is a critical design consideration. The usable operating voltage is often referred to as the "drop-out" voltage, and this refers to the difference between the varying input supply voltage and the stable output voltage provided by the voltage regulator circuit. The smaller the "drop-out" voltage the better the system operation. Additionally, because the battery can supply only a finite amount of charge, it is important for the voltage regulator circuit to have as small a quiescent current as possible. The combination of a small "drop-out" voltage and small quiescent current ensures a more efficient and longer system operation from limited resource of a battery supply.
In view of the foregoing, there is considerable interest in the art in so-called low drop-out (LDO) voltage regulator circuits. Such regulators advantageously can maintain voltage regulation of the stable output voltage even when the level of the varying input supply approaches that stable output voltage. Maintenance of the stable output voltage is a challenge in the presence of varying load conditions. This is especially true when the load being supplied from the voltage regulator circuit includes digital circuitry. Those skilled in the art recognize that digital circuits are noisy and present a frequently changing load condition. The voltage regulator circuit must respond to those changing load conditions in generating the stable output voltage. However, voltage regulator circuits with low quiescent current characteristics tend to have poor transient response characteristics.
There exists a need in the art for a voltage regulator circuit, in particular of the low drop-out (LDO) type, which exhibits better transient response to varying load conditions.

LDO regulator with improved load transient performance for internal power supply

STMicroelectronics (Shenzhen) R&D Co. Ltd


A network interface is presented that receives packet data from a shared medium and accomplishes the signal processing required to convert the data packet to host computer formatted data separately from receiving the data packet. The network interface receives the data packet, converts the analog signal to a digitized signal, and stores the resulting sample packet in a storage queue. An off-line processor, which may be the host computer itself, performs the signal processing required to interpret the sample packet. In transmission, the off-line process converts host-formatted data to a digitized version of a transmission data packet and stores that in a transmission queue. A transmitter converts the transmission data packet format and transmits the data to the shared medium.

Appendix A, which is a part of the present disclosure, is a microfiche appendix consisting of 2 sheets of microfiche having 114 frames. Microfiche appendix A includes a software program operable on a host processor in order to drive a hardware card shown in appendix B.
Appendix B, which is a part of the present disclosure, is a microfiche appendix consisting of one (1) sheet of microfiche having 26 frames. Microfiche appendix B includes circuit diagrams and chip design diagrams for an embodiment of the invention as implemented on a circuit board.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
This and other embodiments are further described below.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to receiving data from a physically shared medium in a network interface where a portion of the required signal processing is accomplished off-line, independent of receiving the data.
2. Background
Packet-switched communication networks are often used in the transmission of data over shared communication channels. Shared communication channels may exist on a variety of physical media such as copper twisted-pair, coaxial cable, power lines, optical cable, wireless RF (radio frequency) and wireless IR (infrared). A system that has found wide-spread commercial use is Ethernet. (see xe2x80x9cMultipoint Data Communication System With Collision Detection,xe2x80x9d U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,220, issued Dec. 13, 1977 to Metcalfe et al). A multiple-access technique is used in systems such as Ethernet to coordinate access among several stations contending for use of the shared channel. Ethernet is based on 1-persistent Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detect (CSMA/CD) using a collision resolution algorithm referred to as Binary Exponential Backoff (BEB).
A typical packet-switched network is shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, stations 102, 104, 105 and 106 are connected to a shared medium 101. Although only four stations are shown in FIG. 1, any number of stations may be connected to shared-medium 101. Shared medium 101 may be any of the variety of available physical media including copper twisted-pair, coaxial cable, power lines, optical cable and wireless (RF or IR).
Station 102 shows a network interface 103. All of the stations connected to common shared medium 101 have a network interface similar to network interface 103. Network interface 103 controls access to shared medium 101 from host station 102 and provides conversion between host station formatted data and data packets on shared medium 101.
FIG. 2 shows a typical Ethernet network interface 210 installed in a host station 220. See xe2x80x9cCarrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) Access Method and Physical Layer Specification,xe2x80x9d ANSI/IEEE Std. 802.3, Fifth Edition Jul. 29, 1996. Ethernet network interface 210 is a typical network interface 103 (FIG. 1) providing access to shared medium 101 from host station 220.
Typically, signal processing functions in network interface 210 are grouped into a physical (PHY) layer 200 and a Media Access Control (MAC) layer 201. Physical layer 200 (the lowest level layer of the interface) interfaces to MAC layer 201. Signals ReceiveBit (RB), TransmitBit (TB), collisionDetect (CD), and carrierSense (CS) are exchanged between PHY layer 200 and MAC layer 201. Media access control (MAC) layer 201 implements an access control algorithm and translates between a sample packet bit stream output from PHY layer 200 and a host formatted data packet bit stream compatible with host station 220.
In PHY layer 200, a hybrid 209 couples both receive and transmit elements of PHY layer 200 to shared medium 101. The receive elements include a CODEC/DEMOD 203 and a carrier sense 202. CODEC/DEMOD 203 in conjunction with Carrier Sense 202 detects the presence of a transmission on shared medium 101. Carrier sense 202 outputs the carrierSense (CS) signal indicating whether or not a data packet on shared medium 101 is detected. Further, CODEC/DEMOD 203 converts analog data packets received by hybrid 209 from shared medium 101 into the sample packet bit stream from PHY layer 200. Typically, CODEC/DEMOD 203 includes a controlled gain amplifier, anti-aliasing and receive filters, and an analog to digital converter. The anti-aliasing and receive filters of CODEC/DEMOD 203 carry out the symbol processing required to counter the effect that channel distortion by shared medium 101 has on a received data packet. Therefore, a majority of the signal processing required to receive and process data packets from shared medium 101 is accomplished in real-time in CODEC/DEMOD 203. CODEC/DEMOD 203 must be capable of processing data packets from shared medium 101 at the transmission rate of shared medium 101. The output of CODEC/DEMOD 203, the sample packet, is a nearly completely processed form of the received data packet and is substantially converted to host data format.
The transmit elements of PHY layer 200 include a CODEC/MOD 205. CODEC/MOD 205 typically includes a controlled gain amplifier, a digital to analog converter and reconstruction filters. CODEC/MOD 205 converts an output bit stream into appropriate transmit data packets which are transmitted on shared medium 101 by Hybrid 209. Collision detect 204 compares the transmit data packets being transmitted to received data packets to detect the presence of other transmissions from other stations. A data collision occurs when another station is transmitting a data packet during the time when station 210 attempts to transmit a data packet. Collision detect 204 generates the collisionDetect (CD) signal indicating whether or not a data collision has been detected.
Physical layer 200 outputs signal CD from collision detect 204 and signal CS from carrier sense 202 to MAC controller 206 in MAC layer 201. PHY layer 200 also outputs the receiveBit (RB) signal to RX Queue 207 of MAC layer 201 and receives the transmitBit (TB) signal from TX Queue 208 of MAC layer 201.
RX Queue 207 receives the sampled packet in a sequence of receiveBit (RB) signals from CODEC/DEMOD 203. When the sample packet is complete and stored in RX Queue 207, host processor 230 of station 220 is alerted and the sample packet is transmitted to processor 230.
Buffer TX Queue 208 receives a transmit packet in sample packet format from processor 230 in station 220. TX Queue 208 stores the transmit packet and, in response to a signal from MAC controller 206, alerts CODEC/MOD 205 of the presence of the transmit packet. CODEC/MOD 205 receives the transmit packet from TX Queue 208, converts the transmit packet to data packet format, and transmits the data packet to hybrid 209 for transfer to shared medium 101. Both TX Queue 208 and RX Queue 207 hold data that is substantially in host data format and the signal processing required for receiving data from shared medium 101 or transmitting data to physical medium 101 is accomplished in CODEC/DEMOD 203 and CODEC/MOD 205, respectively.
MAC controller 206 controls the timing of transmit data packets through TX Queue 208 to CODEC/MOD 205 of PHY 200. MAC controller 206 outputs a controller signal to TX Queue 208, the controller signal indicating to TX Queue 208 when it is desirable to transmit a data packet onto shared medium 101.
Implementations of CODEC/DEMOD 203 and CODEC/MOD 205 depend on the signaling and modulation format used in shared medium 101 and are strongly dependent on the required system performance and the overall channel characteristics. An industry trend has been to use more sophisticated modulation techniques to transport higher bit rates over more severely impaired channels, causing increasing complexity in implementation of CODEC/DEMOD 203 and CODEC/MOD 205.
In FIG. 2, interface 210 is shown implementing sophisticated baseband or passband signaling using high spectral efficiency signal processing. Prior practice has commonly been based on baseband signaling, with relatively simple physical (PHY) layer processing. In this case, FIG. 2 can be simplified with CODEC/DEMOD 203 replaced with a phase-lock loop and sample comparator and CODEC/MOD 205 replaced with a Manchester coder and output driver.
The complexity, cost, chip area, and power dissipation requirements of physical interface 200 grows with the symbol (or baud) rate and the signal processing required per symbol to filter, resample, equalize, demodulate, and recover timing on the received data. These functions of physical layer 200 are determined by the degree of impairment in the channel and the spectral efficiency desired of the modulation technique. For example, in systems transporting multi-megabit/sec signals over existing twisted pair wiring (telephone infrastructure) using 8 bit/baud 256-QAM modulation on a channel with an impulse response that extends over several baud times requires several hundred (xcx9c500) arithmetic operations per baud. A baud rate of 2 Megabaud requires over a billion arithmetic operations per second.
The level of complexity required to process data as described above may be appropriate for certain devices that require access to the full channel data rate of the shared medium. However, conventional interface methods also require low data rate devices, which only require a fraction of the channel data rate, to carry the burden, and expense, of a full-speed network interface such as the one described above.
According to the present invention, an interface that optimizes the allocation of hardware and software resources for a network interface using packet data communications with complex modulation formats is presented. The symbol processing functions are decoupled from the real-time media access functions, allowing much of the symbol processing to be accomplished off-line and independent of the actual receipt of data packets.
A data packet destined for a particular station, the host station, is received from a shared medium (such as Ethernet) and partially processed by receiver elements in the host station to obtain a sampled packet. The sampled packet is a sampled and digitized version of the data packet and has experienced little signal processing by the network interface itself, although in some embodiments portions of the signal processing tasks are accomplished within the network interface. The sampled packets are held in a buffer for later processing by other resources of the host station not involved in the actual receipt of the data packets.
Data from the host station to be transmitted to the shared medium is converted from host data to a transmit packet in sample packet format and buffered in a transmit queue. The transmit packet is transmitted to the shared medium by the network interface when the MAC controller allows access to the shared medium.
The signal processing rate of the system is therefore scaled to the data rates of the individual station instead of the potentially much higher transmission rate of the network connected to the shared medium. Furthermore, embodiments of the invention compensate for latencies caused by the scheduling of processor resources among other tasks, relaxing the real-time requirements for that processing. Furthermore, in an embodiment where the signal processing is performed by a shared computing element multiplexed with other tasks, the process load is reduced to just what is required for useful communication (goodput) and the shared processor is not loaded when the network is idle or carries data packets destined for other stations.
A packet-based protocol usable with embodiments of this invention is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/853,683, filed May 9, 1997 and assigned to the assignee of this application, entitled xe2x80x9cMethod and Apparatus for Reducing Signal Processing Requirements for Transmitting Packet-Based Dataxe2x80x9d, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Using this packet-based protocol, or other packet-based protocols, in embodiments of the present invention allows production of higher rate xe2x80x9csoftware modemsxe2x80x9d that utilize some of the processors present in the host computer. In addition to packet based data transmission, some embodiments are capable of recognizing the start of a data packet within a continuous transmission of bits on a shared medium.
In most embodiments, adequate buffering of sampled analog packet signals is provided so that momentary overload of the interface caused by packets arriving faster than the throughput capacity will not result in dropped transmissions. This buffering need only be provided for sampled signals that are destined for that particular station and not for the entire throughput of the shared medium. Often, the sample packet formed by the modem function, a sampled and digitized form of the data packet, is only slightly larger than the fully processed, host compatible digital packet. Buffering, therefore, may be accomplished by various means including memory on the same chip as the network interface, RAM chips attached to the network interface chip, First-in First-out (FIFO) memory attached to the network interface chip, or RAM shared with the host processor.
Network interfaces according to the present invention are easily upgraded for improved algorithms and implementation, for added compatibility with newer communication standards, and for scaleable communication performance resulting from increased host processor performance because-the signal processing is accomplished by central programmable processors. In addition, network interfaces embodying this invention can lead to lower power dissipation in the network interface electronics and occupy less chip area.
In some embodiments, different signaling and modulation formats are mixed on a single shared medium. The off-line processing identifies the data packet""s format and executes algorithms specific to that format. The resulting stream of heterogeneous packets in sample packet form are intermixed in the same queues and handled by the same physical interfaces. The dynamic per-packet signal processing has at least two applications: allowing the signal processing complexity to be adapted to the joint capabilities of sending and receiving stations; and allowing the signal processing to be adapted to unique channel characteristics between sending and receiving stations.
An alternative embodiment of the current invention provides multiple RX CODEC and TX CODEC units connected to the receive and transmit queues. This provides for a multi-channel interface that could be used for interfaces to multiple media segments or interfaces to multiple frequency division multiplexed channels on one media segment with lower complexity than that required to replicate the entire network interface.
Another embodiment of the invention includes partitioning of the signal processing function into an application-specific hardware accelerator coupled with off-line software in a general-purpose host processor. Certain computationally intensive sub-functions of the signal processing are allocated to the hardware accelerator for increased throughput of the combined system.
These embodiments of the invention are further discussed below with reference to the following figures.


An assembly that permits the compact packaging of PCI cards within a low profile chassis of, for example, a server. The assembly includes a framework having a central portion along which a PCI riser card is mounted in a generally vertical orientation. A pair of PCI cards are coupled to the centrally located PCI riser card in a generally perpendicular and opposing orientation. A lever system also is connected to the framework to permit the entire assembly to be lowered into a relatively small footprint and then levered laterally for connection into the overall device.

The present invention relates generally to a space saving configuration for a processor-based device, such as a server, and particularly to a space conserving PCI card assembly for use in a low profile chassis.
A variety of electronic devices, such as servers, have been made available in smaller physical sizes. For example, many servers are available as low profile servers, e.g. 1U servers. Accordingly, it has become increasingly difficult to package all of the necessary components within the chassis of the device. The relatively small size also creates difficulty in providing a feature rich server, unless the space occupied by the various components is reduced.
One of the components that typically requires space within the chassis is the PCI card or cards. Small servers, for example, have either limited themselves to use of a single PCI card or PCI cards having a reduced size as compared to the standard full length cards. However, such solutions limit the potential functionality of the device.
It would be advantageous to have a space saving PCI card assembly that permitted the use of at least two full size PCI cards in a low profile device, such as a 1U server.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a PCI card assembly is provided. The assembly includes a framework to which a PCI riser card is connected in a generally vertical orientation. The assembly further includes a first PCI card and a second PCI card each coupled to the PCI riser card in a generally opposed and perpendicular orientation. The assembly also includes a lever system that facilitates easy installation and ejection of the assembly to and from a space restricted area within, for example, the chassis of a server.
According to another aspect of the invention, a server is provided. The server has a chassis with a 1U profile, and includes a PCI card assembly designed to fit within the chassis of the server. The assembly comprises a framework that utilizes opposed and vertically staggered PCI cards to save space within the low profile chassis.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for conserving space within a low profile chassis of a processor-based device, such as a server. The method includes mounting a pair of PCI cards to a central riser card, and vertically staggering the PCI cards to permit space for connection to the riser card. The method also comprises providing a connector coupled to the riser card that is designed for connection of the PCI card assembly with the subject device, e.g., to the motherboard of a server.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An image scanning device has an image sensor including a plurality of arrayed light receiving elements; a light source for shining light upon a scanning object; a lens unit for guiding reflected light from a scanning object to the image sensor and having a plurality of rod lens arrays, in which a plurality of rod lenses are arrayed, joined together; and a correction unit for generating image data based on the output values from the light receiving elements of the image sensor and correcting the pixel values of pixels in the image data corresponding to a position of a joint section between rod lens arrays so that the pixel values become darker.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to an image scanning device that scans and performs shading correction in a document. The present disclosure also relates to an image forming device having this image scanning device. The present disclosure also relates to a method for correcting a pixel value in the image scanning device.
2. Description of Related Art
An image scanning device emits light from a light source, and sends light reflected off a document to an image sensor to obtain image data. An image scanning device may also be provided in an image forming device such as a multifunction peripheral, a copying machine, a FAX device, or the like. An image scanning device may also be installed with an attachable image sensor unit called a contact image sensor (CIS). This CIS unit may be provided with a rod lens array, in which rod-shaped lenses are lined up in a primary scanning direction. In such a case, the rod lens array must have the same length as the scanning width (primary scanning direction width). However, obtaining a special product to match the scanning width (a specially-ordered rod lens array longer than a standard product) can lead to high costs. As such, the practice exists of connecting a number of cut standard rod lens arrays in general use to create a rod lens array of a desired length. For example, in order to enable scanning of a tabloid-size or A3-size sheet, a rod lens array with a short width for scanning letter-size or A4-size sheets is cut, and a plurality of cut rod lens arrays are connected to obtain a tabloid-size or A3-size width rod lens array.
For instance, a technique such as that described below is known in relation to connecting rod lens arrays. Specifically, an image sensor unit is known that has a sensor substrate upon which a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements are mounted, a light source for illuminating a document, an imaging element for forming an image on the sensor substrate from light reflected off the document, and a frame supporting all of the above; wherein, in the imaging element, a plurality of rod lens arrays cut at at least one end in a lengthwise direction are connected to each other at the cut ends to yield a pre-determined scanning width; the frame has a retainer for retaining the rod lens arrays; and the retainer has a broad bottom surface at which the cut parts and/or connecting parts of the rod lens arrays are positioned, and has a burr recess provided along both walls of the retainer that reaches a higher end than the broad bottom surface. This configuration attempts to eliminate the effects of burrs, without the need to monitor the direction of the rod lens arrays before and after connection or to perform deburring, by providing clearance for burrs generated on the cut surfaces during cutting.
By cutting and joining together rod lens arrays, a rod lens array of a desired length can be inexpensively obtained. In general, the rod lens arrays are connected using an adhesive. However, gaps can form due to variations in adhesion or deviations during cutting.
Thus, ambient light other than the light reflected off of the document may reach the image sensor through these gaps. When the light source is lit, ambient light may be mixed with the reflected light from the document at light receiving elements within the image sensor located at the joints between rod lens arrays. Because of this, within the image data obtained from the image sensor, those pixels positioned at the joint sections between rod lens arrays becomes brighter by the amount of ambient light. The problem arises that when portions that are brighter than they should be continue into the secondary scanning direction, they may be perceptible as white or gray streaks (streaking).
A UV-curing adhesive may be used as the adhesive in order to fit the rod lens arrays closely together and bond them together immediately while maintaining them in a proper state. It is preferable that the adhesive cure within a short amount of time after being irradiated with UV light. Thus, a transparent UV-curing adhesive, which easily allows UV light to penetrate, is preferable. However, a transparent adhesive allows ambient light to penetrate.
In order to prevent ambient light from reaching the image sensor, the use of a non-transparent UV-curing adhesive is also conceivable. However, non-transparent adhesives may not readily harden upon UV exposure. Also, because a CIS-type image sensor unit has a shallow depth of field, the rod lens arrays must be strictly positioned, and there is a fixed limit on the amount of adhesive used, which may make it difficult to apply enough adhesive to fill all the gaps.
In the known image sensor unit described above, the possibility of ambient light entering through gaps and creating streaks also remains. When, for example, one attempts to introduce a sealant in order to fill all the gaps while avoiding any contamination of the rod lenses, the sealant must be introduced with great delicacy and accuracy, which requires more work and can lead to cost-related problems.

Image scanning device, image forming device, and method for correcting pixel value for pixel corresponding to position of rod lens array joint