text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Mar 29, 1988
|Filing date
|Oct 22, 1985
|Priority date
|Oct 22, 1984
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Cornelis van der Lely
|Original Assignee
|Lely Cornelis V D
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (29), Non-Patent Citations (6), Referenced by (33), Classifications (27), Legal Events (3)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
The present invention relates to a computer, portable and transportable by a person and provided with at least one housing constructed so that the computer can be used in an operating condition on a table.
Such known computers are disadvantageous in that they are designed for use in office spaces and buildings only so that, for entering data, such tables, statistical data and similar applications belonging to the state of the art, the use of the computer is limited to the stationary disposition mentioned. Data must be recorded elsewhere and afterwards entered into the computer.
An object of the invention is to extend the possibilities of application and to prevent loss of time.
This is achieved according to the invention in that the computer can be installed in at least one second operating position in which said computer is coupled with at least one easily detachable support.
The scope of the application of the computer is thereby considerably extended as it then becomes suitable for operation by the driver of a vehicle, such as an agricultural tractor. The computer can be used when the driver, e.g., plows a field and has to drive over a distance of one or two kilometers before he must devote his attention to turning the tractor. The computer can also be used by land surveyors, supervisors and inspectors of outdoor work. The computer can even be operated on the seat (e.g. the rear seat) of a car in motion or at rest.
In this manner the computer can be used directly in the place of work where the data are determined and/or where the computer results are needed; these are mostly places where the possibility of a stationary disposition by means of a table or the like is lacking.
The invention will now be described with reference to the drawings listed below.
FIG. 1 is a side view of a computer, mounted on a support according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a view taken in the direction of arrow II in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the computer along line III--III in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a side view of an alternative possibility of attaching the support according to FIG. 1 to the computer;
FIG. 5 is a top view of an agricultural tractor fitted with a computer according to the invention;
FIG. 6 is a side view of the tractor according to FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a side view of a car fitted with one or more supports for a computer according to the invention;
FIG. 8 is a top view in the direction of arrow VIII in FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a side view of a truck fitted with a computer mounted next to the driver's seat;
FIG. 10 is a front view of a computer placed on a table and consisting of three detachable parts which, however, can be attached one to the other;
FIG. 11 is a side view of the disposition according to FIG. 10;
FIG. 12 is a side view of a computer mounted in a vehicle according to a following embodiment;
FIG. 13 is a view taken in the direction of arrow XIII in FIG. 12;
FIG. 14 is a cross-section along line XIV--XIV in FIG. 13;
FIG. 15 is partially a cross-section and partially a view along line XV--XV in FIG. 14;
FIG. 16 indicates in a side view an application in a tank truck;
FIG. 17 indicates in a side view an application in a combine harvester;
FIG. 18 indicates in a top view an application in an agricultural tractor;
FIG. 19 indicates in a side view an application in the case of a fertilizer distributor drawn by a tractor and
FIG. 20 indicates in a side view an application in a truck.
The invention is based on known computer types provided with a keyboard for entering a program and data, a screen and possibly a printer coupled with the computer for recording its data output; if present, such a printer is regarded as part of the computer. In addition to these known computers other designs are known where another input device is present besides the keyboard for switching on certain programs or program parts and for entering data, this device being connected with the remaining part of the computer mostly by means of a junction cable. Such a separate manually operated input device is known as a "mouse" and is used, e.g., under the trade name Apple Mackintosh, but the invention is not restricted to this system and can also be applied on the basis of other brands on the market.
FIG. 1 shows a side view of a computer 1, mounted on a support 2 which is fastened to the floor or the bottom plate of a vehicle such as an agricultural tractor, car, truck, vessel, airplane or similar mobile unit. The computer 1, which may in principle be in the form of a parallelepiped, is enclosed in a housing 4 with a recess 5 in its top surface, bridged by a handle 6 by means of which the computer 1 can be easily carried. The computer housing 4 is about twenty-five centimeters in width, about twenty-five centimters in length and about thirty-five centimeters in height; the weight of the computer 1 is about ten kilograms.
The housing 4 encloses a screen 7 and a control unit 8 provided with a keyboard 9 for entering programs and/or data. There is an input opening 10 at one side of the housing 4 for the insertion of cassettes such as cassettes with data and/or programs stored therein. Three connectors are placed next to each other on the same side of the computer for coupling it to an electric power supply--one connector 11 designed for connection to a 220 V A.C. supply, one connector 12 for connection to a 110 V A.C. supply and one connector 13 for connection to a 12 V or 24 V D.C. supply. The 12 V connection is intended in particular for feeding the computer from an electrical storage battery when it is placed in a vehicle, such as an agricultural tractor, a car or the like.
The circuits present in the computer are presumed to correspond to those of the known personal computers, for which many programs are obtainable.
A part of a universally movable spherical input device 14, provided wtih triggering means and having a function corresponding to that of the aforementioned "mouse" protrudes from an opening, recessed in the side wall of the housing 4 visible in FIG. 1. A push-button 15 situated near the sphere 14 has a function corresponding to that of the push-button, attached in known computers likewise to the "mouse". The movements and the position of the sphere 14 can be entered in the computer system by means of sensors placed near the sphere. The push-button 15 is mounted in a boundary surface or wall portion 16 of the housing 4 which, regarded in the viewing direction A starting from the lower edge of the screen 7 (which extends approximately to the top of the housing 4) is directed over the whole width of the housing 4 slantingly downward and forward and terminates near the back of the fixed keyboard 9. The keyboard 9, starting from this lower edge of the surface 16 which, viewed from the side, is preferably curved downward to provide sufficient space for a hand controlling of the keyboard, is inclined rearward and terminates near to or, relative to the direction A (FIG. 1) which points to and is normal to the screen, behind a plane 17 which comprises the front of the screen 7. Viewed in the direction A, the keyboard 9 and the control device 8 thus lies entirely or nearly entirely behind the face of the screen, so that the computer does not have any protruding parts. Portabililty is thereby improved and the chance of damaging the computer during transport reduced. The location of the sphere 14 (by means of which, in combination with the push-button 15, certain programs stored in the computer can be indicated on the screen and activated, and drawings and diagrams displayed on the screen) is such that it can be controlled by the forefinger of a user in front of the computer, while the thumb of the same hand can control the push-button 15 situated near the sphere for recording the functions or drawings indicated by means of the sphere 14.
An adjustable cap 18, U-shaped as viewed in the direction A, is mounted near the screen 7 and extends at least in part along the outer sides and the edges lying near the screen 7 of the lateral sides and top of the housing 4. The cap 18 swivels by means of two hinges about a horizontal axis directed normal to the direction A, a hinge 19 being provided for this purpose on each side and near the front of the housing 4. The swivel axis defined by the hinges 19 lies near the lower side of the screen 7. As viewed from the side (FIG. 1), the shield 18 is in the main triangular in form. The swivel axis of hinges 19 is situated near the downward pointing tip of this triangle; the rear (as viewed in the direction A) boundary line 20 of the cap 18, shown in FIG. 1 in the swung-out position, is parallel to the screen 7, whereas the front boundary line 21 points slantingly upward and, viewed in the direction A, rearward. The cap 18 is mounted along the boundary line 21 with a buffer edge 22. The cap 18 can be swung about the hinges 19 in the direction B from its operating position shown in FIG. 1 to a position wherein the boundary line 21 lies parallel to the screen 7; this position is intended for transportation, whereas the position shown in FIG. 1 is intended to facilitate reading from the screen, in particular when the angle of incidence of the light, e.g. on a field, is such that it disturbs the observation of the screen. The cap 18 can be swung manually about the hinges 19; the friction in the hinges is such as to prevent the cap from being displaced in an undesirable manner by shocks.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, at least two--but in this embodiment three--upwardly directed tubular recesses 23 are provided in the base of the housing 4. Viewed in a section parallel to the base, the recesses have the same polygonal--in this embodiment quadratic--cross section. The center lines of the recesses 23 lie in a common plane normal to the direction A; the distances between the recesses 23 and the distances between the outermost recesses and the side walls of the housing 4 are approximately equal. The center of gravity of the computer 1 lies approximately in the plane passing through the center lines of the recesses 23. The recesses 23 are bounded by infoldings of the wall of the housing 4. The depth of each of the recesses 23 is from about five to eight centimeters. FIG. 4 shows an alternative arrangement of the recesses; these are in the form of recesses 24 in vertical ribs 25, the material of which is integral with the material of the housing 4. The recesses 24 are also polygonal--in this case quadratic--in cross section, but the depth of the recesses 24 can be considerably greater than that of the recesses 23, in this case from about twenty to twenty three centimeters. In the embodiment according to FIG. 4, there are likewise three recesses 24 one next to the other and these are also uniformly distributed over the width of the housing 4.
The computer 1 is supplemented with a support 2 which, though detachable from it, can be regarded as in essence belonging to the computer as the support considerably extends its fields of application.
The support 2 comprises a base plate 26 (FIG. 1) which, in top view, can be quadratic or polygonal in outline and is detachably fastened to a floor plate 28 by three bolts 27. The floor plate 28 can be the floor plate of a vehicle, such as a car, an agricultural tractor, a truck or the like for applications to be explained later in detail. A reinforcing plate 29 provided at the base of the floor plate 28 is clamped by the bolts 27 together with the base plate 26 against the floor plate 28. The base plate 26 is covered by the floor-covering 30 of the vehicle. In the middle of the base plate 26 there is a hole in which a tube 31 is placed, connected with the base plate by welds around its periphery. The center line of the cylindrical tube 31 points upward, e.g., normal to the floor plate 28. The height of the tube 31 is preferably such that it hardly protrudes above the floor covering 30. The tube 31 encloses a cylindrical pipe 32, sealed on top slightly spherically to facilitate the installation of a remaining part of the support to be still described, but which can be open at its base. The center lines of the tube 31 and the pipe 32 coincide. The parts 26, 31 and 32 form a holder which can be fixed in the vehicle.
The pipe 32 pointing upward is welded at its base to the base of the tube 31, but it can in principle also be placed loosely in the tube 31. The pipe 32 is from about five to fifteen centimeters in total length and protrudes over most of its length above the top of the tube 31. The pipe serves to center and laterally brace a pipe 33, which pertains to the support 2. The center line of which coincides with the practically vertical center lines of the tube 31 and the pipe 32. The pipe 32 is tightly enclosed by the pipe 33 which, when installed, rests with its base on the upper surface of the wall of the tube 31.
However, the pipe 33 can easily be slipped off the pipe 32 in the upward direction. The pipe 33 can be provided at its base with a boss 34 protruding downward into a recess in the top of the wall of tube 31; the boss 34 prevents the pipe 33 from turning relative to the tube 31. The total length of the pipe 33 is from about sixty to seventy centimeters. The pipe 33 is provided on its periphery over its whole length with a screw-thread 35 and is enclosed, at least over a part of its length, in a pipe 36, provided with an internal screw-thread 37 which fits the screw-thread of pipe 33. The top of pipe 36 protrudes in general above the top of pipe 33. Owing to the presence of the screw-threads 35 and 37, pipe 36 is axially displaced relative to pipe 33 when the former is rotated about its center line.
The pipe 36 is fitted at its upper end with two parallel lugs 38 and 39 spaced one from the other (FIG. 2) and each provided with a hole so that the holes are in line. A clamp in the form of a threaded bolt 40, passed through these holes, is fitted with a locking knob 41 in the form of a wing nut. The screw-thread on the bolt 40 fits the screw- thread in a projection 42 fixed on the lug 39 so that the lugs 38 and 39 are bent toward each other when the locking knob 41 is tightened. The bolt 40 passes through a hole in a clamp block 43 of rectangular cross section, placed between the lugs 38 and 39. The clamp block 43 is provided at its top, in a place above the tops of the lugs 38 and 39, with a supporting face in the form of a collar 44, designed to support the weight of the computer 1. A peg-shaped prop 45, polygonal--in this embodiment quadratic--in cross section, is arranged on the top of the collar. The prop 45 is an extension of the clamp block 43 and forms with the collar 44 a top portion of the support of one piece of material. The prop 45 extends freely upward. The clamping means 40, 41 forms a lockable hinge, the approximately horizontal center line of which crosses the direction A at right angles. The prop 45 is dimensioned so that it closely fits one of the recesses 23 shown in FIG. 3 or--in the alternative embodiment of FIG. 4--one of the recesses 24. The length of the prop 45 is in the latter case considerably greater than in the case of the recesses shown in FIG. 3 (and likewise shown in FIG. 1).
The computer can be slid, as desired, with one of the recesses 23 over the prop 45, so that it can be placed without any assembly work in the spot most favorable from the view-point of the user. The same applies to the embodiment according to FIG. 4, but the contact face between the prop and the corresponding rib 25 is here larger to shore up the weight of the computer. The depth of the recesses 23 and 24 respectively is such that the prop 45 placed in them is slightly shorter than the length of the recess, so that the weight of the computer rests on the supporting face of the collar 44, or on a supporting face 46 (FIG. 4), for this embodiment mounted on and forming part of the clamp block 43.
With the aid of the support 2 described above, a computer 1 installed in a vehicle can then be easily adapted to the restricted space available and to the location of its user. If the computer is installed in a car, in front of the rear seats or in front of the front seats, the eye height of the user with respect to the floor of the vehicle is relatively small. To ensure that the center of the screen 7 lies at about eye height, the pipes 36 and 33 which are rotatable one relative to the other are turned with respect to one another until the computer arrives at the desired eye height owing to the axial displacement of these pipes. If the clamping means 40, 41 are loosened, the direction in which the prop 45 protrudes relative to the direction of the pipes 33 and 36 can be adjusted so that the computer is tilted forward or backward relative to the floor 28 to adapt it to the wishes of the user. As already mentioned, the computer can be moved sideways relative to the support 2 and relative to the user by selecting the appropriate one of the holes 23 and 24 for the insertion of the prop 45. The computer mounted with the support is installed without assembly work.
If the computer is installed in an agricultural tractor where the distance between the eyes of the driver/user and the floor is usually greater than in a car, the support 2 can be extended by moving the pipe 36 upward relative to the pipe 33 by turning these pipes with one respect to the other. The pipes 33 and 36 are dimensioned preferably so that the center of the screen 7 can be adjusted to distances of from one hundred to one hundred sixty centimeters above the floor.
FIGS. 5 and 6 represent two views of the units 1, 2 (computer and support) installed for use in an agricultural tractor. Provision is made in such a case for two possible arrangements, the choice depending on the preference of the user/tractor driver which, in its turn, can depend among other factors on the direction of the incident light. In a driver's cab 47, with a driver's seat 48 and a steering device 49, the base plate 26--mounted with the pipe 31 and possibly the pipe 32 (FIG. 1)--is screwed to the floor plate 28 of the tractor cab at both sides of the steering device 49. In this embodiment, the base plate 26 is used to the right of the steering device 49 and the computer is installed by sliding the pipe 33 of the support 2 simply over the pipe 32, adjusting it to the desired height by turning the pipes 33 and 36 one with respect to the other and then placing the computer 1 on the prop 45. The screen can then be adjusted more accurately by means of the clamping means 40, 41.
The agricultural tractor constitutes a relatively important part of the conduct of the business and of the production results of plowland farming and forms a considerable expense item. It is mainly for these reasons that an optimization is aimed at of the work to be performed by the tractor (e.g. the number of hectars plowed per hour). The tractor is therefore provided according to FIGS. 5 and 6 with sensors 50, 51 and 52 for receiving data designed to determine the fuel consumption per unit time, the distance covered per unit time or the slip of the driven wheels--data which are worked out in a processing unit included for this purpose in the computer. These data are stored in the memory and made available eventually by means of a printer. The tractor is also fitted with an aerial 53 for television reception, so that the driver can take note on his screen 7 of weather reports, teletext data and the like.
The car illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 is similarly mounted with at least one base plate 26, fastened to the floor plate of the vehicle. In the embodiment shown, a first base plate 26 is attached to the floor near a front seat 54 placed next to the driver's seat, a second base plate 26 being fixed on the floor of the car near the vertical plane of longitudinal symmetry of the vehicle directly in front of a rear seat 55. The computer 1 provided with the support 2 can therefore be placed as desired in a simple and reliable manner on an appropriately selected pipe 32 without any installation work and can be removed just as simply. This application is of importance for entering and processing data during business trips and field measurements (e.g. by land surveyors, supervisors and inspectors of outdoor work, such as performed by the building industry), the recording of the number of man-hours worked and the like. The installation of a unit of computer 1 and support 2 in a truck, such as disclosed in FIG. 9, finds a similar application, the unit being mounted in front of the seat situated next to the driver's seat. With this application it is possible to consider the recording of delivery times, type of delivery, amounts delivered, time spent in driving, but also of data resulting from surveying, the graphic working out of such results, and the like.
After the return of the vehicle the computer 1, with or without the support 2, can be removed from the vehicle by means of the handle 6 and can be placed in the home or at the office on a table, whereupon further processing can be performed. A printer can be connected here to the computer to record the desired data on paper, but the computer 1 as such can also be provided with a printer.
The invention also extends to a unit of computer 1 and support 2 where the computer 1 is made up of various main parts which can be separated from each other and where the computer comprises a printer. Such an arrangement is illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11, where the computer 1 comprises a keyboard housing 56 with the major portion of the electronic circuit, a screen housing 57 and a printer 58. As appears from FIG. 10, the width--as viewed in the direction A (FIG. 11)--of the housing 56 which comprises the keyboard is the greatest so that the screen 57 and the printer 58 can be placed preferably one next to the other on the upper surface of the housing 56 without protruding on either side beyond this housing. The screen housing 57 and the printer 58 are detachably mounted on the housing 56. The base of the screen housing 57 and that of the printer housing 58 are for this purpose mounted with a recess 59 having the same cross-sectional dimensions as two recesses 60 provided in the top of the housing 56. The two recesses 60 in the top of the housing 56 are spaced one from the other (FIG. 10), one of the recesses 60 lying in the working condition in the continuation of the recess 59 of the printer 58 and the other recess 60 in the continuation of the recess 59 in the screen housing 57. The recesses 59 and 60 are polygonal--e.g., octagonal--in cross-section. To interconnect the three main parts so that they cannot be shifted sideways, a closely fitting peg 61 of polygonal (e.g., octagonal) cross-section is inserted in each of the two recesses 60 in the housing 56. These pegs protrude above the upper surface of the housing 56 to such an extent that they fill the recess 59 in the printer 58 and the recess 59 in the screen housing 57 to nearly their entire depth. The screen 57 and the printer 58 can therefore be optionally mounted, relative to the center line of the corresponding peg 61, in angularly different positions with respect to the housing 56 and can be removed only by lifting.
In the base of the housing 56 or next to its back wall, recesses are provided analogous to the recesses 23 and 24 shown in the FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively. Handles 62, integral with the material of the corresponding housing, are provided on the back sides of each of the housings 56, 57 and 58 so that each of the three main parts of the computer 1 can be carried separately. If the computer 1 shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 installed on a table (e.g., in an office) is to be placed in a vehicle, the screen 57 and the printer 58 are removed from the housing 56 by simply lifting them off the later, each of the pegs 61 sliding out of the recesses 59 in the parts 57 and 58. The support 2 is then slid over the pipe 32 of the holder in the vehicle and the housing 56 is placed on the prop 45 of the support 2, making use of one of the recesses 23. The screen 57 is then placed in the described position, laterally immovably, on the housing 56 by means of the peg 61 protruding from the top of the latter and inserted in the recess 59 in the housing 57; the housing 58 of the printer is handled analogously. The combination of the computer parts shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 can thus be used in each of the applications described above. The holders 26, 31 and 32 mounted in the vehicle do not restrict (without the computer mounted on them) the sitting- or floor space.
The computer 1 is in general a normal personal computer for which many standard programs are available, but the invention is also applicable to computers designed for special purposes.
The possibilities of application of a computer can in this manner be considerably extended as the known computers can be used in essence only on a table in a stationary working environment (home or office) and all the facilities offered by the computer, such as the editing of texts, the compilation of overviews (e.g., with the aid of tables derived from the computer), the production of statistical data and the composition of drawings are tied to this stationary placement. Data collected elsewhere must be brought to the computer and data produced by the computer must be conveyed to the place where the results are applicable; the loss of time involved results in extra costs. The application of the computer can now be considerably extended in accordance with the invention if this is applied in vehicles such as agricultural tractors, cars and trucks so that data obtained in the field can be directly entered in the computer without loss of time, while the computer results originating therefrom and possibly obtained in combination with data previously entered are likewise directly available and can be utilized. This applies in particular to the use by the driver of an agricultural tractor during his work on the field, but also to applications for surveyors, supervisors and inspectors of outdoor work when the computer is installed next to a seat in a car or truck so that it is possible not only to operate the input devices, such as a keyboard, but also to make use of a screen and a printer in a mobile arrangement without being tied to an office space or the like.
The addition of a support and the adaptation of the computer housing to this support results in a simple manner in the considerable enlargement of the number of places where the computer can be used and in the exclusion of loss of time and unnecessary man-hours.
In FIG. 12 an embodiment is shown in side view of a computer 101 which as a whole rests on a support 102 attached to the floor or bottom plate 103 of a vehicle, such as an agricultural tractor, a car, a truck, vessels, airplanes or similar mobile units. The computer 101 has a housing 104 substantially in the shape of a parallelepiped and provided on its upper surface with a recess 105 bridged by a handle 106 by means of which the computer 101 can be easily arranged and displaced. In the case of this embodiment the housing 104 is likewise about twenty five centimeters in width, about twenty five centimeters in length and about thirty five centimeters in height, the weight of the computer 101 being approximately ten kilograms.
The housing 104 encloses the edges of a screen 107 and a control device 108 for entering programs and/or data, provided for this purpose with a keyboard 109. At one side of the housing 104 there is an input opening 110 for the insertion of cassettes such as diskettes with data and/or programs stored therein. The computer 101 can in this embodiment be likewise fed preferbly by three alternative power supplies; there is a connector for 220 V A.C., a connector for 110 V A.C. and a connector for 12 V or 24 V D.C. The latter connector is designed in particular for the supply of the computer from an electrical storage battery while it is installed in a vehicle, such as an agricultural tractor, a car or the like.
The circuits present in the computer are presumed to correspond to those of the known personal computers for which many programs are obtainable.
The front of the computer is occupied near its upper surface to a considerable extent by the screen 107. The front continues from the lower edge of the screen in the form of a boundary surface or wall portion 111 of the housing 104. Regarded in the viewing direction B (FIG. 12), the wall portion 111 starting from the lower edge of the screen 107 is directed over the whole width of the housing 104 slantingly downward and forward and terminates near the back of the fixed keyboard 109. Starting from the lower edge of the surface 111 which, viewed from the side, is preferably curved downward to provide sufficient space for a hand controlling the keyboard 109, the keyboard continues rearward and terminates near to or, relative to the direction B, just behind a plane 112 which comprises the front of the screen 107.
Viewed in the direction B, the keyboard 109 and the control unit 108 thus lie in this embodiment likewise entirely or nearly entirely behind the upper edge of the screen, so that the computer does not have any protruding parts. Portability is thereby improved and the chance of damaging the computer during transport reduced.
A control member 113, which has a function analogous to that of the afore-mentioned control unit 108, is placed next to the keyboard 109. By means of this control member 113 it is possible to indicate, by an arrow displayed on the screen 107, computer programs or functions, but with the aid of this input device it is also possible to display drawings or figures on the screen 107. This indication of programs or functions and the display of figures on the screen is effected by rotating a sphere 114, provided with triggering means, about its center. The sphere can be swivelled in all directions and is surrounded over a large part of its surface by sensors (FIG. 14) which register the movements of the sphere; this registration can be stored subsequently in the computer memory. The sensor 115 and the greater part of the sphere are inside the computer housing. The sphere 114 is mounted with a lever 116 rigidly connected with the sphere and pointing upward. The lever is mounted on its top with a push-button 117. In case the sphere 114 was moved about its center by means of the lever 116 and this movement was displayed on the screen, and if thereby a program or function indicated on the screen was pointed out, this choice can be stored in the computer memory by depressing the push-button 117. This also applies to drawings produced on the screen 107 by the rotation of the sphere.
Since the input member 113 is mounted as a whole fixedly with respect to the housing 104 and is nevertheless provided with the possibility of moving the sphere in the desired manner about its center, the user is not tied to the presence of a flat surface such as the top of a table to roll the sphere over it. Owing to the firm placement of the input member 113 as a whole, the user is not disturbed during its operation by acceleratios which could unfavorably affect the movement of the sphere in case the computer is installed by means of the support 102 in a moving vehicle. The manually effected movements of the lever 116, transferred to the sphere 114, can be performed without disturbance if the user lets another part of his hand rest on the edge of the keyboard or of the housing 104.
The design of the support 102 is shown in detail in FIG. 14. The support 102 comprises a base plate 118 which, in plan view, is rectangular or polygonal in contour and in this embodiment is fastened detachably to the floor plate 103 by means of a number of bolts 119. The floor plate 103 can be the floor plate of a vehicle, such as a car, an agricultural tractor, a truck or the like for applications to be later explained in detail. The base plate 118 is covered by the floor-covering 120 of the vehicle. In the center of the base plate 118 there is a hole in which a tube 121 is placed, connected with the base plate 118 by means of welds around its circumference. The center line of the pipe 121 points upward, preferably normal to the floor plate 103. The tube 121 protrudes preferably only a little above the floor covering 120. A small plate 122 of spring steel, placed against the inside of the tube 121 in the space enclosed by the latter, is attached near its bottom to the inner wall of the tube 121, e.g. by point welding, and is directed upward from this point of attachment. The plate 122 rests near its upper end against the collar of a locking button 123 which protrudes outside the tube 121 through an opening in the wall of the latter.
The tube 121 is enclosed in the assembled state by a supporting pipe 124, the bottom of which extends to the top of the base plate 118. The center line of the supporting pipe 124 is preferably normal to the floor plate 103. In the supporting pipe 124 an opening is provided at the height of the locking button 123 through which the latter can protrude. When the supporting pipe 124 is slipped over the tube 121 and pushed downward, its bottom will push the locking button 123 inward against the spring tension of the plate 122; when the bottom of the supporting pipe 124 reaches the base plate 118, the opening in the supporting pipe 124 will have just arrived at the height of the locking button 123 so that the latter can, under the effect of the spring tension of the plate 122, pass outward through the opening in the supporting plate 124 and the latter will be secured against both axial displacement and rotation relative to the tube 121. The total length of the supporting pipe 124 is from about sixty to seventy centimeters.
The upper portion of the supporting pipe 124 is tightly enclosed by a carrying pipe 125 which can be shifted axially relative to the supporting pipe 124. The center lines of the two cylindrical pipes 124 and 125 coincide. A clamping means 126, mounted with a manually operated wing nut 127, is provided near the bottom of the carrying pipe 125. The latter can be secured by means of the clamping means in several axially different positions relative to the supporting pipe 124. The mutual shiftability of the pipes 124 and 125 is indicated by the arrows 128.
A helical compression spring 129 is mounted in the space enclosed by the pipes 124 and 125, with its lower end bearing against the top of the pipe 121 and with its upper end against a lid 30 of the carrying pipe 125. The compression spring 129 tends to displace the pipe 125 upward relative to the pipe 124 and serves as a weight-relieving spring to facilitate the mutual displacement of the pipes 124 and 125 under the weight of the computer when the clamping means 126 is in an inoperative state. Between the lid 130 and the top of the tube 121 there is a stop in the form of a flexible cord 131 which in its stretched state has a length such that the pipe 125 cannot be slid off the pipe 124 by mistake; with the cord 131 in its stretched state, the pipe 125 overlaps the pipe 124 to such an extent that it can still be propped by the latter in a stable manner.
A part of the periphery of the carrying pipe 125 situated near its top is encircled by a tubular portion 132 of a holder or swivelling arm 133. This tubular portion 132 is, viewed axially with respect to the carrying pipe 125, fixed by means of a pin 134 placed tangentially relative to the portion 132 and to the carrying pipe 125. The pin 134 lies with part of its side facing the carrying pipe 125 in a circular groove 135 in the part of the carrying pipe lying inside the tube 132. The tubular portion 132 can therefore be rotated through an angle of 180� relative to the pipe 125, but cannot be shifted axially. A cylindrical portion 136 of the swivelling arm 133, integral with the tubular portion 132, projects sideways horizontally with respect to the tubes 124 and 125. The end of the cylindrical portion 136 opposite the pipe turns into an upward pointing tubular portion 137 of the holder 133, spaced from the pipe 125.
The center line 138 of the cylindrical portion 136 intersects the center line of the two pipes 124 and 125, indicated by the reference number 139, at right angles. The center line 141 of the tubular portion 137 of the holder 133, provided with a bore 140, coincides with the center line of the bore 140 which is parallel to the center line 139 and intersects the center line 138 of the cylindrical portion 136 at right angles. The upper end of the portion 137 of the holder 133 is tubular and is upwardly open. This upper part encloses in a suitable manner the tubular bottom part of a clamping piece 142 which forms parts of a swivelling arm or carrying piece 143 of the support 102.
The clamping piece 142 is provided with a bore 144 which forms in the assembled state an extension of the bore 140 in the tubular portion 137. The clamping piece 142 of the carrying piece 143 is integral with a cylindrical portion 145 of the carrying piece 143 formed similar to the cylindrical portion 136 of the holder 133. The center line 146 of the cylindrical portion 145 intersects the center line 141 of the bores 140 and 144 at right angles.
The cylindrical portion 14 of the swivelling arm 143 turns on its side opposite to the clamping piece 142 into a bearing 147. The inner surface 148 of the bearing 147 is spherical and encloses part of a sphere larger than half a sphere. The inner surface 148 turns at its top into an upwardly diverging conical surface 149.
The inner surface 148 surrounds with a tight clearance a footstep 150 of steel or plastic in the form of the larger part of a sphere. The footstep 150 turns on top into a cylindrical rod 151, the diameter of which is selected so that, when the spherical footstep 150 swivels about its center, the rod 151 can swing over an angle of from about 10� to 20� from the vertical before its outer surface touches the conical surface 149 linearly. The rod 151 is integral not only with the footstep 150 but preferably also with a supporting plate 152 at the end of the rod 151 opposite the footstep. The supporting plate 152 extends in a direction at right angles to the center line 153 of the rod 151 and has a cylindrical outer surface 154 coaxial with the center line 153. The upper surface of the supporting plate 152 opposite the footstep 150 abuts an upwardly curved portion 155 of the base plate 178 of the housing 104 of the computer 101. The supporting plate is enclosed on its side facing the keyboard 109 as well as on its edges contiguous with the latter side and over the greater parts of its base by a holder 156 in the form of a beaded plate, attached outside the periphery of the supporting plate 152 by means of bolts 157 to the part 155 of the computer base plate 178. As regards the form of the holder 156, reference is also made to FIG. 15. As appears from the latter, the portion of the holder 156 lying at the base of the supporting plate 152 has a recess 158 in the part of the holder plate 156 lying in front of the rod 151 as viewed in the direction B. This recess has a width such that the rod 151 can be slid out of the holder 156 from the position shown in FIG. 15. However, in the arrangement shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 the rod 151 is prevented from sliding out of the holder in the direction B by a leaf spring 159 mounted, as viewed in the direction B, in front of the supporting plate 152 and abutting with its edge 160 against the outer surface 154 of the supporting plate 152. the spring 159 is rigidly fixed with its end distant from the edge 160 to the bottom side of the portion 155 of the base plate 178 of the computer housing 104.
The portion 155 of the base plate lying directly above the spring 159 is recessed upward in such a manner that, when the spring 159 is bent against its resilience upward into this recess, it comes to lie entirely about the upper surface of the supporting plate 152 and the latter, together with the rod 151, the sphere 150 and the support 102, can be slid out of the holder 156 so that the computer 101 is detached from the support 102. The recessed portion 155 of the base plate 178 of the housing 104 is curved upward with respect to the remaining part of the base plate in such a manner, that the base of the holder 156 lies above the plane of this remaining part. This flat remaining part extends to the front of the computer and on both sides to the portion 155 so that the computer can rest on a table in a stable manner.
The bores 140 and 144 in the tubular portion 137 and in the clamping piece 142 respectively enclose a clamping means in the form of a rod 161 (FIG. 14). An annular pressure block 162, abutting against the bottom of the tubular portion 137, likewise encloses the rod 161 and has a cylindrical recess 163 in its lower part, through which the rod 161 protrudes downward from the pressure block 162. The rod 161 is provided at its lower end with a handle 164, rigidly connected with the rod. The uppermost end of the rod 161 lies in a recess 165 provided in the upper end of the clamping piece 142 and surrounding the center line 141. This uppermost end of the rod 161 is provided with a screw-thread. A nut 166 screwed onto this thread is narrowly enclosed by the boundary of the recess 165 so that it cannot turn with respect to the clamping piece 142.
A conical clamping piece 167, surrounding the rod 161, is placed inside the tubular portion 137 at the height of the center line 138 in the bore 140 and is loaded at its lower end by a compression spring 168 which abuts against a shoulder of the rod 161. A conical clamping piece 169 is placed at the height of the center line 146 and inside the bore 144 in an analogous manner and forced upward by a compression spring 170. This compression spring abuts with its lower end against another shoulder of the rod 161. Each of the two clamping pieces 167 and 169 has a conical outer surface converging upward. Both clamping pieces enclose the rod 161 with a narrow fit.
Bores 171 and 172 provided about the center lines 138 and 146 respectively emerge on the one hand in the bores 140 and 144 respectively and on the other hand in the outer circumference of the uppermost part of the carrying pipe 125 and the footstep 150 respectively. Each of the bores 171 and 172 contains a cylindrical sliding piece 173 and 174 respectively, fitting the corresponding bore and at one end fittingly abutting against the clamping pieces 167 and 169 respectively and at their other ends fittingly abutting against the outer circumference of the carrying pipe 125 and the footstep 150 respectively.
If the handle 164 is operated so that the rod 161 is screwed upward with respect to the nut 166, the clamping pieces 167 and 169 will be pushed upward via the compression springs 168 and 170 respectively. The axial sliding pieces 173 and 174 fittingly abut against the conical outer surfaces of the corresponding clamping pieces 167 and 169 respectively. If these clamping pieces are pushed upward by the rod 161 moving upward, the sliding pieces or fixing means 173 and 174 are forced toward the carrying pipe 125 and the footstep 150 respectively. The carrying pipe 125 as well as the footstep 150 is thus by a single action fixed by friction with respect to the holder 133 and the carrying piece 143 respectively. Owing to the force of reaction, the fixing means 173 and 174 press likewise against the clamping pieces 167 and 169 which are in their turn pressed against the rod 161 so that the swivelling arm 133 and 143 are fixed one with respect to the other. If the rod 161 is screwed downward with respect to the nut 166, both the lockings mentioned are released simultaneously. The presence of the springs 168 and 170 makes it unnecessary to position the clamping pieces 167 and 169 very accurately.
The swivelling arms 133 and 143 are rotatable about the center line 141 one with respect to the other. During the swivelling action the holder 133 and the carrying piece 143 remain in contact along a face between the two. A pin 175, lying in part in the uppermost tubular portion 137 of the holder 133 and in part in an annular groove 176 in the lowest tubular portion of the clamping piece 142 prevents the holder 133 from shifting axially with respect to the carrying piece 143 but permits mutual swivelling about the center line 141.
If, as described above, the rod 161 is screwed upward with respect to the nut 160, the clamping piece 142 is forced in a direction parallel to the center line 141 against the tubular portion 137 at the annular contact face 177 between these parts. The swivelling arms 133 and 143 are thereby likewise fixed with one respect to the other. The contact face 177 is preferably roughened.
It follows that by tightening or loosening the handle 164 not only is the swivelling arm 133 clamped with respect to the carrying pipe 125 and the swivelling arm 143 clamped with respect to the footstep 150, but also the holder 133 is clamped with respect to the carrying piece 143. The operation of the handle 164, in other words an axial shifting of the rod 161, thus results in a threefold action. With the rod 161 rotated so that it moves downward, the carrying piece 143 can be swivelled about the center line 141 with respect to the holder 133 as the contact pressure at the face 177 is reduced. The center lines 138 and 146 remain in parallel planes situated at right angles to the center line 141.
To sum up, when clamping means 126 is loosened, the carrying pipe 125 (and thereby the computer 101 mounted on the support 102) can be shifted up and down with respect to the supporting pipe 124. By operating the clamping means 161, 164, 167, 169, 173 and 174, with the rod 161 being screwed downward, it becomes possible:
1. to swing the swivelling arm 133 with respect to the carrying pipe 125 about the center line 139 (first hinge),
2. to swing the swivelling arm 143 with respect to the holder 133 about the center line 141 (second hinge),
3. to swing the footstep 150 and thereby the whole computer 101 with respect to the swivelling arm 143 (third pivot).
The three swivelling possibilities of the hinges are cancelled by operating the handle so that the rod 161 is screwed upward, the mutual positions being fixed in the desired manner by frictional forces.
In addition, with the leaf spring 159 moved upward the computer 101 can be slid out of the holder 146 in the direction B and thereby detached from the support 102.
The support 102 is dimensioned so that the carrying piece 143 and the holder 133 do not project beyond the periphery of the computer 101 in the positions of the support 102 most frequently considered. The computer 101 can be moved to its most extrem position with respect to the tube 121 by swinging the swivelling arm 143 from the position shown in FIG. 14 about the center line 141 over an angle of 180� with respect to the swivelling arm 133.
The support 102 thus offers a universal possibility of adjustment of the computer 101 with respect to the tube 121; these possibilities are of importance especially when the computer is installed in the restricted space of a vehicle, so that all possibilities are present to adjust the position of the keyboard 109 and the screen 107 to the position of the operator (who sits in the driver's seat or in another place in the vehicle).
The hinges of the support 102 and the shiftability 124, 125 offer four degrees of freedom for this purpose, and by the presence of the spherical bearing 147, 150 essentially more than four degrees of freedom.
The support 102 is made at least in part of a flexible plastic. Especially the swivelling arms 133 and 143 can be made of a resilient, tough type of synthetic resin so that the computer will be less subject to acceleration peaks caused by shocks or vibrations of the vehicle.
Besides installing the computer in the vehicle by means of the support 102, it remains possible to use it on a table in an industrial plant or in an office. In this connection it should be noted that the upwardly curved portion 155 of the base plate of the computer housing 104 occupies only a restricted part of the base plate indicated by reference numeral 178. As appears from FIG. 15, the flat part of the base plate 178, by which the computer can be supported on a table, extends not only over the portion underneath the keyboard 109, but also to both sides of the holder 156 up to the back of the computer 101; the base of the holder 156 lies at a shirt distance above the base of the base plate 178.
As a possibly disturbing effect of light incident on the screen 107 can play a considerable part when the computer is used in vehicles, the picture screen is positioned in this embodiment tilted downward and forward with respect to its upper edge by an angle of about 20� and lies, viewed in the direction B (FIG. 12), in front of a protruding edge 179 of the housing 104. Viewed in the vertical direction, the screen 107 lies nearly right above the keyboard 109. The protruding edge 179 lies nearly right above the edge of the keyboard 109 facing the user.
The computer 101 can be mounted with a preferably built-in printer for recording the data obtained in the vehicle and entered in the computer. These data can be obtained by means of sensors still to be described.
As an undesirable excessive heating of the computer can be caused by incident sun light while the computer is used in the field or in a vehicle, it is suggested that the computer housing, in particular the upper wall of the computer, be provided with an insulating layer mounted on the impact-resistant housing of synthetic resin. However, this insulating layer can also be mounted on the side walls and the rear wall. Such an insulating layer is of importance especially because the temperature to which the electronic components may be subjected is limited.
Parts of the housing 104 are preferably likewise provided with a resilient layer, mounted in particular on the edges of the housing and also around the handle 106. As the computer is operated in a vehicle in a restricted space, the chance that the operator or another person knocks against it is relatively great, to the detriment of both the computer and the person. In this connection it should be noted that, with a right choice of material, the afore-mentioned insulating layer and the resilient layer can be combined in a single type of material. Reference is made here to known foam plastics used in particular as base layers for roof coverings and combining both properties.
An application of the computer mounted on the support 102 in the cab of a truck is shown in FIG. 16 for a tank-truck 180 delivering or fetching liquids, the computer being installed in the cab 181 of the truck. A sensor 182 for measuring the quantity of liquid passed per unit time or the total quantity of liquid passed can in this case be placed near the discharge opening of the tank, but a sensor 183 can also be considered for recording the changing weight of the tank with content as loading the rear wheels 184. The sensor 182 and/or 183 is connected to the computer enabling the driver to ascertain by means of the screen 107 or the printer the in-flowing or out-flowing quantities or weights of the load. The print-out can serve as proof of delivery and as bookkeeping voucher; however, the data are also retained in the computer memory at the disposal of the cartage contractor's accountancy. As a matter of course, this method of use is also applicable to trucks with variable load. In case the computer 101 is installed by means of the support 102 in the cab 185 of a combin harvester 186 (FIG. 17), the weight of the grain in the storage space can be measured by means of a sensor 187, but the losses of grain near the end of the tractor can also be measured by means of a sensor 188 and registered in the computer in order to determine the efficiency of the thrashing process.
If the computer 101 is installed by means of its support 102 in the cab of an agricultural tractor (FIG. 18), a sensor 190 can be placed near each transverse end of a soil working implement, in this case a harrow with tooth-like tools rotating about vertical axes. Such sensors 190 in the form of known soil humidity detectors can be used with advantage in this case. The sensors 190 are mounted near the front--as viewed in the direction of travel C--of the soil-working implement. While harrowing in the direction of travel C, the sensors 190 are in contact with the soil not harrowed as yet and having at its surface a humidity lower than the directly adjacent strip of soil already harrowed. By driving the tractor so that one of the sensors 190 registers and shows on the screen of the computer 101 as far as possible alternately a lower or higher humidity, the driver can steer accurately along the strip of soil previously harrowed.
In case a fertilizer distributor 192 is coupled to an agricultural tractor (FIG. 19), one or several sensors 193 can be installed in a place where the weight of the fertilizer container rests on the wheels 194 of the distributor. In this manner the sensor 193 measures continuously the reduction of weight in the container and thereby the quantity of fertililzer distributed. These data can be entered in the computer and form part of the seed-bed preparation cost. These cost can be worked out after return by detaching the computer 101 from the support 102 and placing it on a table in an office for further calculations.
In the application according to FIG. 20, an optical reading device 195 is placed near the unloading opening of a truck, the computer 101 mounted on the support 102 being installed in the cab 196 of the truck. When loading or unloading objects such as crates or boxes 197, the device 195 can count the number of boxes loaded or unloaded. The optical reading device can also detect the data of a stripcode on the objects 197, whereby the nature of the freight being handled can be entered in the computer. The computer 101 can be detached from the support 102 after return, and the data entered can then be worked out, e.g., likewise for costing purposes or for loading checks, on a table placed in an office.
The foregoing description is for clearness of understanding and no unnecessary limitations should be concluded therefrom for modifications and equivalent structures will be obvious in view of this disclosure to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the inventive concepts, as set forth in the following claims.
|Cited Patent
|Filing date
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|Nov 20, 1935
|Jun 2, 1936
|Fairchild Harry C
|Mar 29, 1954
|Aug 27, 1957
|Harold F Jewett
|Automobile camera stands
|Jun 2, 1960
|Apr 24, 1962
|Blair Johnny E
|Parallel serving tray support
|Jan 12, 1961
|Oct 30, 1962
|Prefina G M B H
|Drawing table
|Oct 2, 1968
|Sep 20, 1971
|Joseph C Young
|Book holders
|Jan 11, 1973
|Nov 20, 1984
|Title not available
|Feb 27, 1974
|Apr 15, 1975
|Rca Corp
|Voltage supply system
|May 6, 1974
|Oct 7, 1975
|Carlo Baitella
|Jointed stand for dial gages
|Jul 17, 1974
|Feb 24, 1976
|Fascination, Ltd.
|Amusement device
|Jun 8, 1977
|Sep 12, 1978
|Paul Coriden
|Collapsible electronic calculator stand
|Mar 17, 1977
|Sep 25, 1979
|Tektronix, Inc.
|Cabinet for electronic apparatus
|Nov 20, 1978
|Jan 15, 1980
|Copher Joseph E
|Adjustable bracket
|Oct 13, 1978
|Sep 9, 1980
|International Harvester Company
|Digital memory depth tillage system
|Aug 13, 1979
|Jan 26, 1982
|Fitzgerald J Vincent
|Motor vehicle map display system
|Oct 11, 1979
|Dec 28, 1982
|Compagnie Du Roneo
|Computer terminal station for data input and output
|Apr 13, 1981
|Jul 26, 1983
|Tandberg Data A/S
|Device for the setting up of a data display device on a work surface
|Feb 5, 1982
|Sep 6, 1983
|Mitutoyo Mfg. Co., Ltd.
|Articulated device for service component
|May 3, 1978
|Aug 14, 1984
|C. Van Der Lely N.V.
|Weight indicator for material container of agricultural distributing device
|Jan 7, 1982
|Sep 4, 1984
|Atari, Inc.
|Controller unit for video game
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|Mar 12, 1985
|Alps Electric Co., Ltd.
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|Sep 24, 1981
|May 7, 1985
|Lely Cornelis V D
|Tractor having guidance system
|Feb 7, 1983
|Nov 5, 1985
|Dickey-John Corporation
|Modular vehicular monitoring system
|Oct 19, 1984
|Apr 22, 1986
|Harrison Elden D
|Amusement and information system for use on a passenger carrier
|Feb 1, 1984
|Dec 16, 1986
|Robert Bosch Gmbh
|Vehicle data acquistion and dashboard display system
|Jun 8, 1984
|Jan 20, 1987
|Mattaboni Paul J
|Autonomous mobile robot
|Dec 24, 1984
|Jan 27, 1987
|Milliken Research Corporation
|Video display arrangement
|Sep 20, 1980
|Apr 29, 1982
|Manfred Troeger
|Visual aid for visual data display screens - has upper and lateral independently hinged flaps with intermediate flaps
|Title not available
|Title not available
|Disclosure identified as May 6, 1982, vol. 6, No. 70 (P 133) 1948 .
|Disclosure identified as May 6, 1982, vol. 6, No. 70 (P-133) [1948].
|IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 22, No. 4, Sep. 1979.
|IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 26, No. 7B of Dec. 1983.
|IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 27, No. 4A, Sep. 1984.
|IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science of Feb. 1973 at the Nuclear Science Symposium.
|Citing Patent
|Filing date
|Publication date
|Jan 8, 1991
|Jun 30, 1992
|Pryor Products
|Stable support stand adapted for flat storage
|Feb 28, 1997
|May 12, 1998
|International Business Machines Corporation
|Docking station for a portable computer providing rotational movement of the computer's viewable screen in three different planes
|May 13, 1996
|Jan 12, 1999
|International Business Machines Corporation
|Docking station for portable computers
|Jun 25, 1997
|Feb 9, 1999
|Compal Electronics, Inc.
|Base for liquid crystal display having receptacle for accessories
|Jun 17, 1997
|Mar 30, 1999
|Claas Kgaa
|Mobile on-board computer system with operation units for machines
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|Dec 26, 2000
|Gamber Johnson
|Quad-motion device
|May 7, 2001
|Aug 15, 2006
|Ditzik Richard J
|Desktop device with adjustable flat screen display
|Dec 7, 2006
|May 12, 2009
|Deere & Company
|Locking mounting assembly
|Jun 6, 2005
|May 11, 2010
|Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
|Display apparatus
|Sep 27, 2006
|May 18, 2010
|L3 Communications Corporation
|Ruggedized mobile computing device
|Nov 1, 2011
|Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
|Display apparatus having adjustable supporting unit
|Sep 21, 2009
|Jan 3, 2012
|Suddarth Wesley Allison
|Vertical display mounting device
|Apr 17, 2012
|Larry Holmberg
|Device mounting system for a weapon
|Aug 14, 2012
|Larry Holmberg
|Range finder for weapons
|Dec 29, 2010
|Feb 25, 2014
|Larry Holmberg
|Universal device mount
|Oct 4, 2011
|Feb 25, 2014
|Larry Holmberg
|Accessory mount
|Jul 23, 2012
|Feb 25, 2014
|Larry Holmberg
|Range finder for weapons
|Jul 26, 2010
|Apr 22, 2014
|L&P Property Management Company
|Mounting device
|Aug 22, 2011
|May 6, 2014
|Larry Holmberg
|Rail mount
|Oct 12, 2011
|May 6, 2014
|Larry Holmberg
|Camera for mounting
|Mar 3, 2011
|Aug 19, 2014
|Lino Manfrotto + Co. S.P.A.
|Support head for an optical or video-photographic apparatus
|Apr 7, 2014
|Sep 22, 2015
|Larry Holmberg
|Camera for mounting
|May 7, 2001
|Aug 30, 2001
|Ditzik Richard J.
|Desktop device with adjustable flat panel screen
|May 3, 2005
|Nov 24, 2005
|Hwang Kwang-Sung
|Display apparatus
|Mar 10, 2006
|Aug 24, 2006
|Ditzik Richard J
|Desktop device with adjustable flat screen display
|Sep 27, 2006
|Mar 29, 2007
|Hatten Tony D
|Ruggedized mobile computing device
|Sep 27, 2006
|Apr 12, 2007
|Pierce James R
|Mobile computing device with modular expansion features
|Dec 8, 2006
|Sep 20, 2007
|Andrew Mills
|Telescopic monitor support post
|Dec 7, 2006
|Jun 12, 2008
|Deere And Company
|Locking mounting assembly
|May 29, 2009
|Oct 15, 2009
|Larry Holmberg
|Range finder for weapons
|May 29, 2009
|Oct 15, 2009
|Larry Holmberg
|Device mounting system for a weapon
|Sep 21, 2009
|Mar 24, 2011
|Suddarth Wesley Allison
|Vertical display mounting device
|Mar 3, 2011
|Sep 9, 2011
|Lino Manfrotto + Co. S.P.A.
|Support head for an optical or video-photographic apparatus
|U.S. Classification
|248/124.1, 248/122.1
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Sep 27, 1991
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 4
|Sep 27, 1995
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 8
|Sep 22, 1999
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 12


text:
GIS News 2006-07
Professional, student-led GIS Club established at UWM
Founding members Brian Thayer, Kyle Noll, Rama Mohapatra, and Greg Rybarczyk have been successful in creating a new student organization "which would help unite anyone enrolled at UWM who shares a common interest in pursuing GIS as a career."
The club's first item of business is to create some flyers to distribute during GIS Day and take a leadership role in providing lab assistance to the nine workshops taking place that day. They have also made arrangements to have a table set up during the vendor demonstrations where a poster will highlight the multidisciplinary nature of GIS. It is hoped this approach will help generate interest among students who have not been exposed to some of the potential applications of the technology. Brian goes on to say, "We hope the [membership] list grows considerably in the coming months."
Membership forms and flyers will be available at GIS Day.
Mike Kumbera's Article in ArcNews
In MUP and Certificate student Mike Kumbera's article in the Winter 2006/2007 issue of ARCNEWS, Symbiont and the City of Milwaukee were recognized for innovative use of geographic information system (GIS) and global positioning system (GPS) technologies as part of a remedial excavation project performed by Symbiont at a brownfields property located in Milwaukee. ARCNEWS is published quarterly by the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), and is the largest GIS publication in the world, with an estimated global readership of more than 600,000 professionals.
Mike says his internship project "was a brownfield site in Milwaukee that needed to be excavated to be in compliance with residential soil standards. We used a GPS to collect topographic data on the site as well as manage the depths of the excavation. We used GIS to manage the GPS data collected on site, identify coordinates to stake-out the excavation areas, perform cut/fill's to calculate"
Link to Online Article---

subset: commoncrawl


text:
In the beginning there was no such thing as term limits for president or for members of Congress. On the other hand, members of the judiciary were given a lifetime appointment.
The president and members of Congress could theoretically hold onto their offices for life too, as long as they could win re-election to one successive term after another.
George Washington, the first president elected under the Constitution of the United States of America, began a precedent of sorts when he declined to seek a third term in office.
Some historians believe he did not seek a third term so as not to lend an air of sovereign reign to the American presidency. Others points to language in his farewell address that suggest Washington simply felt he was too old for the rigors of a third four-year term.
Thomas Jefferson, in 1807, first broached the subject of term limits for the office of the president. Jefferson suggested either the Constitution had to set term limits or those who served in the office would have to restrain themselves after serving two terms.
For 140 years Congress took no action to limit the terms a president could serve. During that span of time four presidents unsuccessfully sought a third term, beginning with Ulysses S. Grant in 1880. Grover Cleveland (1896), Theodore Roosevelt (1912) and Woodrow Wilson (1920) also sought third presidential terms, but all failed. Cleveland and Wilson did not come close to receiving their party's nomination, while Roosevelt ran on a third party ticket and finished second to Wilson, who won his first term in 1912.
In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was successful in winning a third term. Historians credit Roosevelt's work in stabilizing a weak economy at home and the winds of war blowing in Europe as reasons for him breaking precedent and seeking a third term in office. Then, in 1944, America was knee deep in World War II and this fact, some historians believe, gave justification for Roosevelt to seek a fourth term In office, which he won.
In 1947 Congress proposed the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution to limit a president to two-four year terms. Also, a president could serve no more than a total of 10 years in office, in situations where a president was elected after completing the term of another president.
The proposed amendment was ratified by 18 states in 1947. It then lost steam picking up three states in 1948, two in 1949 and only 1 in 1950. However, in 1951 12 states ratified the proposed amendment, bringing the total to 36 states, the total needed to adopt, In 1951, Alaska and Hawaii were not states.
The 22nd Amendment became the law of the land on February 27, 1951. In 1985, several Republican congressmen, caught up in the Reagan Revolution, sought to repeal the term limits amendment in an effort, to extend President Ronald Reagan's tenure in office. Their efforts failed.
However, in recent years, several Democrats including Senator Harry Reid, Reps. Barney Frank, Howard Berman and Jose' Serrano have introduced joint resolutions to repeal the 22nd Amendment. Each resolution has never made it out of its respective committee.
Serrano (D-N.Y.), who represents the largest Latino district in the country, has introduced a joint resolution each term of Congress since 1997. His most recent attempt to repeal the 22nd Amendment was filed on Jan. 4, 2013 as House Joint Resolution 15. This bill is not sponsored by any other member of Congress and is resting in committee.
This week, President Barack Obama hit another proverbial 3-2 slider out the park. In the face of a ricin threat on his life and bloody terrorists on the loose in Boston, he flew into Beantown and participated in a memorial service for victims of the worst terrorist attack on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001. He preached a message of hope to America, urging his constituents to stay the course, to have no fear and to maintain a discipline mind. He looked into the cameras and told those responsible that they would be found and brought to justice. Before midnight Friday, Obama had made good on that promise.
It seems that the problems of governance have thrown Obama a mixture of sliders, curves and two-seam fastballs beginning with inheriting the worst economic crisis the nation had faced in nearly a century. While tackling the economy, Obama has had to wind down two unpopular wars abroad and he has had to make good on a pledge made by former President George W. Bush to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.
The world is a dangerous place, much as, it was when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president. And like Roosevelt reminding America that it has nothing to fear "but fear itself," Obama has been a reassuring voice in troubling times.
If the terror in Boston this week has taught us anything, it taught us that America is not likely to get any safer any time soon. There are enemies on the right and on the left who do not mind killing and maiming innocent American people - men, women and children - to advance their ideology of what America is to them. Scenes of snipers on rooftops, armored personnel carriers loaded with America's finest, communities on lock-down and sirens screaming through downtown business districts are becoming the new normal.
In times like these should the country stay the course with a trusted leader, one not given to timidity, but with love and compassion for humanity, and a sound, disciplined mind that stays with a problem until it is solved?
There can be no good reason to limit the term of the president when there are no corresponding limits on the other two branches of government. Perhaps Rep. Jose' Serrano should get busy. The time may have come for Joint Resolution 15 and the repeal of presidential term limits.
If you like to write about US politics, enter Allvoices' "The American Pundit" political writing contest. Allvoices is awarding four $250 prizes each month between now and Nov. 30. These monthly winners earn eligibility for the $5,000 grand prize, to be awarded in December. If you do not already have a free account, sign up here.
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Hi! My name is Gary
I am an American Shorthair from Lawton, OK
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Make this Lighted Cruise Ship the focal point of your nautical themed event!
This Midnight Lighted Cruise Ship Standee features three deck levels and four smoke stacks and is lighted around the outside. Our 7 feet 4 inch high x 19 feet 2 inch wide free-standing Cruise Ship Standee is made of cardboard and is printed on one side only. Assembly required.
Please allow ample time for delivery. Our ship date for this product is noted in your shopping cart. Many items are shipped separately, so please allow extra time for these items to arrive. Shipping charges are based on the value of the merchandise and not the number of shipments. For additional shipping information, contact our Customer Service Department at (firstname.lastname@example.com or 1-800-227-2789).
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Wall mounted the ship. Made the party! Lights added that extra something.
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We used this large cruise ship as part of our annual formal dance decor. It is quite large and helped fill up our very large room. It is a very realistic and impressive piece. The directions could have been more specific, but once we had it figured out, it went together fairly quickly. It seems to be stable enough and should not tip over too easily.
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was nice
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We bought this product for a church fundraiser and it was AWESOME! Great quality, we will get a lot of use from it!
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Denmark's economic prospects are improving, but further reforms are needed to maintain the country's high living standards and ensure the well-being of all citizens, according to a new report from the OECD.
Danes enjoy high living standards and wellbeing, not the least because of the reform willingness of their governments. Yet, the economic recovery has been fragile and GDP per capita is still below its precrisis levels, although Gross National Income has received a boost from favourable term of trade developments.
The 2015 edition of National Accounts of OECD Countries, General Government Accounts is an annual publication, dedicated to government finance which is based on the System of National Accounts 2008 (SNA 2008) for all countries except Chile, Japan, Korea and Turkey (SNA 1993). It includes tables showing government aggregates and balances for the production, income and financial accounts as well as detailed tax and social contribution receipts and a breakdown of expenditure of general government by function, according to the harmonised international classification, COFOG. These detailed accounts are available for the general government sector. Data also cover the following sub-sectors, according to availability: central government, state government, local government and social security funds.
The data in this publication are also available on line via www.oecd-ilibrary.org under the title OECD National Accounts Statistics, General Government Accounts (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/na-gga-data-en and http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/na-gga08-data-en).
English, PDF, 96kb
This country note from Going for Growth 2015 for Denmark identifies and assesses progress made on key reforms to boost long-term growth, improve competitiveness and productivity and create jobs.
Surveys suggest that Denmark ranks close to or slightly above the OECD average in terms of student and adult skills, even though Denmark spends more than many OECD countries on education, labour market policies and adult learning. Sluggish productivity growth over the past two decades raises the question of how to develop better skills and use them more efficiently to achieve stronger and more inclusive growth.
Danish productivity has grown only weakly over the past two decades, both historically and in relation to other countries, despite sound policies and institutions. Denmark needs to continue its efforts to reap the benefits of globalisation, which would contribute to invigorating productivity growth.
Denmark's green growth strategy focuses on moving the energy system away from fossil fuels and investing in green technologies, while limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
OECD at the UN Climate Change conference in Copenhagen "COP15"The impact of climate change is defining our lives, economies, and security.
The OECD's latest economic survey of Denmark, to be published on Thursday 5 November 2009, looks at the impact of the global economic crisis on Denmark and offers policy recommendations for reform.


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April 12, 1861 probably isn't a date that is instantly recognized by the majority of Americans, but it should be.
Unlike Dec. 7, 1941 and Sept. 11, 2001, that April day nearly 150 years ago, doesn't "live in infamy," but just like the more recent dates, that day was followed by a dark time of turmoil for the United States and its citizens.
On April 12, 1861, the Confederate troops fired cannons on Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C. and the Civil War began.
Columbiana County, and Lisbon in particular, were heavily involved in the Civil War. One of the war's staunchest opponents - Clement Vallandigham - was born in Lisbon, or New Lisbon as it was known then.
Lisbon, Wellsville and Salem all had homes which were stops on the Underground Railroad that helped slaves escape into Canada and freedom.
A branch of the Fighting McCooks, an Ohio family whose members reached prominence as military officers during the war, was located in Lisbon.
One of John Brown's raiders, who died at the raid on Harper's Ferry, was Edwin Coppoc of Salem.
Secretary of War Edwin Stanton had been a circuit lawyer and worked out of the Jacob Picking Building in Lisbon. Civil War Gen. William T.H. Brooks was a native of Lisbon.
And of course, as every local history buff knows, Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan was captured near West Point, the farthest point north reached by Confederate troops.
Those are but a few of the stories of Civil War participants and events with a Columbiana County connection.
Beginning today, the Morning Journal is publishing a monthly series to retell the Civil War stories many of us are familiar with, as well as a few that may have been long forgotten. Clement Vallandigham is the subject of our first installment, which can be found on Page 1C of today's Journal.
The Journal is not alone in its plans to commemorate the war between the states.
The Lisbon Historical Society is planning a four-and-a-half-year program on the Civil War and Lisbon's participation in it. Because Lisbon sent more men to the Civil War than any other area of Columbiana County, the local society, ably directed by Curator Gene Krotky, is certain that there must be artifacts and stories to share. The society is looking for stories, photographs, diaries, or discharge papers from local ancestors who served in the military or communicated from home and other places.
The society is especially looking for family stories that can be verified. "The experiences of the 1860s citizenry will greatly enrich the current awareness of the community's history," Krotky said in a press release announcing the project.
In addition, at the historical society's Train Station on East Washington Street, there will be changing displays of the artifacts either owned by the society or shared by descendants and inheritors of veterans and their families.
The society is asking that artifact owners, share these items with the public. They are not asking that they be donated, so no one is being asked to give up priceless heirlooms and family treasures. If anyone is willing to share items with the society, please e-mail Krotky at firstname.lastname@example.com.
The Journal is also inviting readers and local historical societies to share any information they may have about Columbiana County's participation. Be it local relics or family stories, old newspapers or photographs. And since so many Columbiana Countians and residents of surrounding counties went off to fight in the war, we'd welcome stories from local Civil War soldier descendants who have traced their ancestors' war records, too.
Those with Civil War information to share can email the Journal newsroom at firstname.lastname@example.com or call the newsroom clerk at 330-424-9541, ext. 297. Information can also be mailed to Morning Journal, 308 Maple St., Lisbon, OH 44432.


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Manufacturing ultimately has two bottom lines, not one. Profits are all-important to business survival, growth, and health. But unless they're accompanied by happy customers, profits are nothing but a short-term boon. Earning high customer satisfaction while maximizing profitability requires a customer-driven strategy and careful oversight.
Fully implemented in many HACCP-certified environments, Ross ERP enables all standard processes to be documented and all operations and results to be tracked in order to support your most stringent reporting requirements. The Ross ERP Food & Beverage solution helps monitor and manage your critical manufacturing processes and supply-chain activities according to good manufacturing practices (GMP).
With powerful capabilities in end-to-end traceability, specification management, quality assurance and control, and change management, you have the technology you need to detect and address exceptions at any stage in your operations. With Ross ERP, you get the end-to-end visibility required across purchasing, inventory, manufacturing, and sales to accurately determine the actual profit on each product you sell. With co-product and by-product tracking, as well as the ability to link all costs of trade promotions and channel incentives back to finished goods, you now have the insight to focus your business efforts on your most valuable products.
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Gain flexibility to support your business. With built-in features to handle disassembly, catchweights and more, Ross ERP handles the toughest challenges.


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Reggae artists, biographies, discographies, new releases, photos, videos, music samples.
Get the Flash Player to listen to I Kong mp3.
Interview: I Kong (Part 1)
I Kong and Lee Perry in Paris
I Kong - A Little Walk
I Kong - A Little Walk (2015)
© 2007-2016 United Reggae. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited. Read about copyright
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DePaul rolls past Allegheny women
DePauw 73, Allegheny 56: At Meadville, Savannah Trees' game-high 17 points helped top-ranked DePauw breeze past Allegheny in an NCAC game at the David V. Wise Center.
DePauw (11-0 overall, 2-0 NCAC), the defending national champion, opened up a 20-point lead early and cruised in the second half.
The Tigers outscored Allegheny 39-17 over the final 15 minutes of the first half to take a commanding 46-23 lead at intermission.
Ali Ross and Alex Gasaway also added 14 and 11 points, respectively, for DePauw.
Emma Pellicano scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Gators, who outscored DePauw 33-26 in the second half.
Allegheny (7-5, 1-2) has lost three of its past four games.


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Yeah, spices are hard. DH loves super spicy (and hot). Mom can't tolerate heat. I like mostly anything.
The three hits so far: pesto chicken (super easy to make...I can't eat it with the dairy, but that's okay:)); "bbq" beef ribs; and chicken tikka masala.
I find it easiest to let the protein be the crockpot recipe -- it's easy to add veggies (and starch, if needed).


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Rent The Denial; or, the Happy Retreat a Novel by the Rev James Thomson in Two Volumes the Second Edition Corrected Volume 2 1st edition today, or search our site for other textbooks by James Thomson. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by BiblioBazaar.
Need help ASAP? We have you covered with 24/7 instant online tutoring. Connect with one of our Linguistics tutors now.


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Event listings include those organised by BN and other bodies, both in Bristol and beyond.
If you wish to include an event in these listings please email email@example.com.
The Bayesian Brain Reading Group gathers in the philosophy library in Cotham house every Wednesday at 2pm. Anyone interested in attending should contact Max Jones or Chris Burr for more details.


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Best route map between Santa Cruz, CA and San Rafael, CA. This route take about 92 Miles.
The distance and estimated time is placed on the right depending on the status of the road.
, 08:14
* You can see Santa Cruz, CA and San Rafael, CA photos above. We provide this photos from Google Panoramio service.
* Santa Cruz, CA weather as celsius: °C
* San Rafael, CA weather as celsius: °C
* Weather information on route, provide by Open Weather Map.
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sharad jauhri Started The Discussion:hi to all find the attached Trade Union Actt,1926 ppt. Reagrds, sharad
27th August 2007 From India
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The NGC Universal ID is a four digit alphanumeric that groups coins based on a unique combination of date, mintmark, denomination and striking process (MS, PF, or SP). These IDs are a simple organization of all coins prior to variety attribution and grading.
The mintage for Philadelphia half dollars was recorded as 934,000 pieces in 1892, and many were saved as the first of their kind. After all, it had been since 1839 when the half dollar had seen a major design change. Apparently, this new Barber design was well received by the public. Nevertheless, time and attrition take their inevitable toll and very few of these early Barber half dollars remain in Gem condition.
Mint Director J. P. Kimball placed his considerable influence behind the passage of what became the Mint Act of September 26, 1890. This Act specified that coin designs could be changed after they had been in use 25 years. Minor silver coinage came up for possible change in 1891. A circular requesting proposals was sent to 10 of America's premier sculptors which failed to produce the desired results. Thus, the Treasury opened the competition to the public, but one of the judges was Mint Engraver Charles E. Barber. 300 entries were submitted, but none were thought worthy of a prize, and only two received Honorable Mention. Barber submitted his own design, which was adopted for coinage in 1892, on dimes, quarters and half dollars. The obverse depicts Liberty as a mirror image of the current Morgan silver dollar, with a laurel wreath on her head, and her hair tucked up under her cap instead of cascading onto her shoulders as on the silver dollar. Barber adapted the reverse design from the Great Seal, very similar to what Robert Scot had done 91 years earlier on silver and gold coinage. The only change was in the array of stars over the eagle's head, randomly placed instead of in the shape of the Star of David pattern from the Great Seal, or in rows as Robert Scot had done on the Draped Bust coinage. Barber's design continued for 25 calendar years, when the new Walking Liberty half dollars were released in late 1916.
Description and Analysis courtesy of Heritage Auctions and may not be republished without written permission.
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Rolling Stones in China: the Outside Story
When a well-connected friend in Shanghai told me he could score some really excellent tickets for the Rolling Stones long-awaited debut concert in China on Apr. 8, I was in a state of rock 'n' roll nirvana. "These are really V-V.I.P. tickets," he assured me a week before the concert. It looked like I was the beneficiary of China's deeply ingrained business and personal networking phenomenon called guanxi.
Just about any foreign executive who hits the ground on the mainland these days has heard something about guanxi. Unless you invest a lot of time cementing relationships with suppliers, retailers, bankers, and above all, government officials, it is tough to work through the myriad official and unofficial barriers that govern commercial activity in China, or so the conventional wisdom goes. Even in the personal sphere, connections matter greatly, especially if you want coveted tickets to see Mick Jagger and the lads strut their stuff at a sold-out gig in Shanghai.
As it turns out, my position in the great guanxi pecking order wasn't as exalted as I thought. When I arrived at the Shanghai Airport a few hours before the show, I learned that my VVIP tickets had gone to a dreaded VVVIP. I was shattered.
Undeterred, I started making calls to other nodes on my personal guanxi network. I tried a friend of a friend who worked for one of the show organizers, but she couldn't help. I'd called too late, and there wasn't much to do except hit the cash machine and brace myself for Shanghai's scalpers, a notoriously tough bunch. The only connection that matters with these guys is the size of your wallet.
The 8,000-seat, Grand Stage venue in Shanghai had sold out, and scalpers were selling tickets for as much as $480 a piece. That might not sound like much to diehard rock fans in the West, but it's more than most Shanghai denizens make in a month. Indeed for all the talk of the cultural significance of the Stones bringing their brand of bad-boy concert antics and renegade music to China, the concert crowd was dominated by Westerners.
(Chinese Stones fans unwilling to part with that kind of cash to see the band live will be able to watch a free broadcast of the concert to be aired by the Chinese state-owned broadcaster, CCTV, in mid-April.)
I was running into foreigners from all over Asia who had flown in for the concert. There was an old American friend and his wife from Saigon, another guy in from Bali, and one inveterate fan in his 60s who arrived straight from Chicago, taking a limo straight to the Shanghai stadium. One Japanese businessman had flown for his 29th Stones concert.
No wonder Sir Mick had quipped to the international press that the show was being staged mainly for the benefit "of expat bankers and their girlfriends." That comment probably didn't go over terribly well with Deutsche Bank, the show's main sponsor.
One of those girlfriends was Zhong Feng Ying, a twenty-something native of Shanghai who arrived at the concert on the arm of a Western man many years her senior. Sporting high heels and a traditional high-collared silk Qi Pao dress with a daring slit, Zhong said, "The Rolling Stones are the best rock 'n' roll band in the world." Could she name any songs? Well, no actually. How about the second best band, I queried. "Ray Charles," she replied.
To be fair to Zhong, access to Western music of any kind is a very recent phenomenon made possible by the Internet and music downloads. International record companies have long been constrained in the number of CDs they can release into the Chinese market, and rampant counterfeiting has made it difficult for music labels such as EMI and BMG to penetrate the market.
As Zhong sashayed into the stadium clutching her VIP ticket, the scalper scene outside started heating up. If anyone still needed convincing of China's full embrace of the market economy, there's nothing like a rock concert to bring out those fabled capitalistic animal instincts. The first tout offered me a $375 ticket for $500. Five minutes later premiums gave way to discounts, with a $225 seat offered for $150. Prices were going up and down faster than the Shanghai stock exchange.
Suddenly the scalpers went into a huddle to form a cartel. When they emerged, prices went back up to a 30% premium. Soon the buyers -- virtually all of whom were foreigners -- were circulating the latest market prices among themselves. Word got around that a lot of the tickets were actually counterfeits, especially the VIP tickets with no price on them.
Market chatter gave way to more convivial talk, and people were sipping beers bought from a Chinese man who showed up with a couple of cases to sell to the ticket-hunters. One fan, a Russian named Anastasia, who works in sales and marketing at Nasdaq-listed flat screen advertising seller Focus Media (FMCN), joked "this is a great place for networking."
When the Stones finally kicked off the show an hour late with "Start Me Up," the remaining tickets got snapped up by a quick-moving few, while the rest of us watched. I spotted a teary 17-year-old named Zhu Ye Xiao leaving with her mother. A scalper had offered her the very last ticket for $100, at a 33% premium and then yelled at her for not being able to pay as much as the foreigners could, a major loss of face for the woman.
Were the Stones really worth it to the teen? "I don't know the Rolling Stones very much," she replied. "I just like rock and roll."
Meanwhile, I tried to rationalize my own failure to get in to the Stones concert, which I later learned featured a cameo appearance of Chinese rock legend Cui Jian, who was invited on stage to sing "Wild Horses" with the band. I took some comfort knowing that the Chinese censors had nixed some of my favorite tunes, including "Brown Sugar," "Honky Tonk Women," "Beast of Burden," and "Let's Spend the Night Together."
But later that night, when I caught a clip of the show on CNN in my hotel room, I couldn't help feeling disappointed that I'd come so close to witnessing history. I felt even worse the next day when I called a friend to see how she'd enjoyed it. "What, you didn't go? I thought you had tickets." When I explained my travails, she said. "Why didn't you call me? My husband helped organize the show and we had backstage passes." The guanxi fates can be very cruel.


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Last week, I was ridiculously jealous of the ladies I knew who were headed to the Madonna concert at the Pepsi Center.
Her "Immaculate Collection" CD is one of my standby favorites and I just knew after all these years her show would be one greatest hit after another.
But then I heard about the actual show.
It's always disappointing when a celebrity behaves so ... well, celebrity-ish. And it doesn't sound like Madge did anything but serve her own interests. Considering the experiences I've gathered from those I know who were in the audience, I'd like to submit this letter to Madonna and her crew:
Dear Madonna,
Please consider this note as an application for a highly paid position on your communication strategies team. After what I heard about your show in Denver this last week, I believe you need my help. Here are some suggestions I would have made prior to the show that may have made it more enjoyable for the people who paid so much money to come watch you perform.
The majority of your problems lie in a lack of something called "audience analysis." Let me elaborate:
1. It was a really bad idea to include guns shooting into the audience. Though this is probably true everywhere, it is especially true in Colorado after the kind of summer we've had. I know this criticism made national headlines, but it's worth mentioning here again.
2. Your use of time ("chronemics" is what we call it in speech teacher world) was insulting to your audience. I understand that you did not take to the stage until 10:50 p.m., and the concert was supposed to begin at 8. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of your audience members were 35 and up. A Thursday night concert means they likely had to get up and go to work the next morning or be home to function with kids. Not beginning the show until 11 p.m. means they probably didn't get home until at least 2 or 3 a.m. - and a 6 a.m. wake-up call comes very quickly after an evening like this.
3. I understand most of your set list was songs from your most recent albums. Another analytical misstep, in my opinion. If indeed most of your audience was 35 or older, they were not at the show to hear the new stuff. They would have wanted the old stuff. It's too bad they paid hard-earned money for tickets to a show that didn't take into consideration their preferences and life stages.
On second thought, I don't think I want to work for you. I hope that you and your team will consider a more thorough audience analysis for your next tour.
Allyson Zadeh
Allyson Zadeh is married with two children and another on the way. Read her weekly on Greeley Moms.


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For a season necessarily limited to six works, Houston Grand Opera's just-announced 2010-11 lineup seems a reasonably varied mix.
Works ranging chronologically from 1786 (The Marriage of Figaro) to 2000 (Dead Man Walking.)
Composers as different as Mozart and Jake Heggie, Puccini and Benjamin Britten, Donizetti and Richard Strauss.
A couple of merrierl works (Figaro, Ariadne auf Naxos) to offset the tragic aspects of Madame Butterfly, Lucia di Lammermoor, Peter Grimes and Dead Man Walking.
Three are bread-and-butter favorites, while Ariadne, Grimes and Dead Man represent somewhat more venturesome choices.
Of course, the time span doesn't reach back to the earliest extant operas; Monteverdi and Purcell just aren't as popular as Puccini. And there's no world premiere to add that extra frisson of excitement and risk. HGO has long been admired as one of the most enterprising opera companies in terms of launching new works. But everybody's exercising a little caution these days…
Still, this six-show package registers as a substantial, interesting-enough array. Especially amid the current economic challenges.
I can't help wondering what opera fans – usually individuals with strong opinions about everything, especially opera – think of HGO's 2010-11 menu.


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Boston deals with tight security day after explosions at Boston Marathon
Photo: John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe
Injured people are treated near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15, 2013.
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