The gas discharge space into which microwaves are fed via a waveguide forms a laser housing in the form of a waveguide having a longitudinal ridge therein, the laser housing being preferably dimensioned such that its critical wavelength .lambda..sub.k is shorter than or equal to the wavelength .lambda..sub.o of the microwave frequency. The gas laser may advantageously be a CO.sub.2 gas laser.

1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a gas laser having microwave excitation, in which a laser housing and at least one waveguide serving the purpose of feeding the microwave form a gas discharge space in which an electrical field conforms at a selected frequency, in which the gas discharge space is closed off from a microwave generator via microwave window, in which the microwave window in a feed unit lies outside the laser housing or in a wall thereof, and in which at least one ignition element for igniting a plasma discharge is arranged in the discharge space.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The German published application No. 37 43 258 discloses a gas laser of the type set forth above. The German published application No. 37 29 053 discloses a high-performance ribbon conductor laser that is excited with radio frequency. The radio frequency is thereby coupled into a gap between bands of insulating material by electrodes that lie against the bands of insulating material.


An ESD bypass device for an emitter follower circuit includes a discharge device in parallel with the emitter follower circuit and control circuitry associated with the discharge device. The control circuitry is configured to prevent bypass current conduction through the discharge device in a normal mode of operation, and is configured to cause the discharge device to conduct bypass current during an ESD event. The control circuitry further includes a first transistor configured to pass input current to the discharge device for activating the discharge device during the ESD event, the first transistor further configured to prevent input current passing therethrough during the normal mode. A second transistor is configured to shunt leakage current, associated with the first transistor, from the input of the discharge device. The second transistor is further configured to prevent shunting of input current from the first transistor to the discharge device during the ESD event.

The present invention relates generally to electrostatic discharge (ESD) in integrated circuits and, more particularly, to an ESD bypass device for protecting bipolar emitter follower circuits.
Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) events, which can occur both during and after manufacturing of an integrated circuit (IC), can cause substantial damage to the IC. In particular, there are three general types of ESD events that have been modeled: the human body model (HBM), the machine model (MM) and the charged device model (CDM). The HBM and MM represent discharge current between any two pins on an IC as a result of (respectively) a human body discharging through a chip and a metal tool discharging through a chip. Whereas a human body discharge is relatively slow in terms of rise time and has a unidirectional current in the range of about 1-3 amps, a tool discharge is a relatively rapid event that produces an even higher, bi-directional current into and out of the pin (e.g., about 3-5 amps). In the CDM, the ESD event does not originate from outside the IC device itself, but instead represents the discharge of an IC device to ground. The IC device is charged through the triboelectric effect (frictional charging) or by an external field. The charging of the device substrate itself does not subject the IC to ESD damage, but rather the discharging. As is the case with the MM, the CDM is a very rapid event.
Because of this potential damage, on-chip ESD protection or bypass circuits for IC chips have become commonplace. In general, such protection circuits are characterized by a high failure threshold, a small layout size and a low resistive/capacitive (RC) delay so as to allow high-speed applications. An ESD event within an IC can be caused by a static discharge occurring at one of the power lines or rails. An effective ESD bypass device should maintain the voltage at the power line to a value that is known to be acceptable for the operating circuits, and that will not interfere with the operating circuits under normal operating conditions.
An ESD bypass device circuit is typically constructed between a positive power supply rail (e.g., VDD) and a ground plane, a ground plane and a negative power supply rail (e.g., VSS), or a supply rail and an external connection to the chip. The primary purpose of the ESD clamp is to reduce the impedance between the rails so as to reduce the impedance between the input pad and the rail, and to protect the power rails themselves from ESD events. In particular, bipolar emitter follower amplifiers present a difficult ESD protection challenge because they are biased into forward active operation during a negative ESD discharge when the reference pin is the power supply. To protect these circuits, it is therefore desirable to implement a bypass device that will conduct current in parallel with the emitter follower device during an ESD discharge, but does not conduct current in normal circuit operation.

Apparatus for electrostatic discharge protection of bipolar emitter follower circuits

International Business Machines Corporation


A hybrid cluster environment with a public cloud cluster having nodes storing data and a plurality of private clusters is provided, wherein each of the plurality of private clusters has nodes storing data. Registration data that indicates a customer identifier, a new private cluster, and a file transfer server is received. The new private cluster is added to the plurality of private clusters in the hybrid cluster environment. Input to design a job to process data in the hybrid cluster environment is received. It is determined that the job is to be deployed to the new private cluster. The job is deployed to the new private cluster using the file transfer server, wherein the job is executed at the new private cluster. Job status information and one or more job logs are received with the file transfer server.

More and more customers start to learn cluster computing technology, such as with an Apache® Spark® cluster, and leverage its power and ease of use with a consistent set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to do batch, interactive, and stream data processing. (Apache and Spark are registered trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation in the United States and/or other countries.)
Data that is stored in a cluster at a customer site may be referred to as data in an on-premise cluster. That is, an on-premise cluster is typically at the customer's physical location. The processing of data may require transferring data from the customer site to a cloud cluster, performing processing, and returning the data to the customer site. However, in order to protect data going into and coming out from the cloud cluster, a secure gateway needs to be configured first to transfer data with proper security protection.
This approach causes multiple issues. For example, data transfer is inefficient when working with a large dataset to move that data to the cloud cluster, perform data processing on the data, then send the data back to the on-premise cluster. In addition, there is a potential security issue, and to mitigate the risk, some systems have introduced data masking technology to mask key columns of the data, such as Personal Identification Information (PII) (i.e., social security number), and this introduces computational complexity.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Data processing in a hybrid cluster environment


Techniques for identifying an object are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, an object identification system includes a reference to an object acted on at a first time, an elector, and a elector manager. The elector is configured to provide an appraisal, at a second time, of whether a candidate object is the objected acted on. The elector manager is configured to determine whether the candidate object is object acted on based on a value of the appraisal.

In web applications, web pages and other documents are often represented using the document object model ("DOM") or a similar representation. DOM represents a document as a treelike hierarchy of object nodes that facilitates program and script modification of the document. In order to manipulate an object, a script or program must first locate the object to be manipulated.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The binding of addresses and port ranges is performed by a device, based on network usage conditions. The device may determine a port block size, indicating a quantity of ports, to allocate to client devices. The device may transmit a message including an Internet Protocol (IP) address and a port range. The message may indicate that the IP address and port range is to be allocated to the one of the client devices based on an order of a first port value and a second port value in the port range, where the port range covers a quantity of ports corresponding to the port block size.

In an increasingly networked world, more and more traffic, such as data, voice, and video, is transmitted over public and proprietary networks. Wireless networks, in particular, are becoming increasingly popular as networks through which subscribers obtain both voice services (e.g., telephone calls) and data services (e.g., email and web surfing). For data services, the wireless device may be connected, through the wireless network, to a data network, such as the Internet.
Network address translation (NAT) is the process of modifying network address information in datagram (e.g., packet) headers while in transit across a traffic routing device for the purpose of remapping one address space into another. One use of NAT is that it allows for a single Internet protocol (IP) address to be shared among a number of devices, such as portable wireless devices, thus increasing the effective number of addresses from which a service provider can choose when allocating addresses to the portable wireless devices.
In one type of NAT address sharing, in addition to allocating IP addresses, NAT may also be used to allocate a port range. Thus, a particular connecting wireless device may be assigned an IP address and a range of ports that are useable by the device. By allocating port ranges in addition to IP addresses, the effective address space that the service provider uses when assigning addresses to the portable wireless devices, may be increased significantly.

Adaptive network address translation binding for wireless networks


A combined fence and irrigation system is formed by a plurality of generally vertical spaced posts and a plurality of generally horizontal connecting rails. A countersunk circular aperture is formed through each face of the rectangular posts at a predetermined vertical level. Each of the posts terminates in a ground insertion spike and is of a tubular construction to allow fluid passage. An end face of each of the rails is provided with a central countersunk circular aperture. The countersunk apertures of the rails and the posts each have an inserted resilient bushing. A connecting tube has opposite ends provided with stepped frusto conical ridges for engagement within the resilient bushings to provide a mechanical and fluid connection between the posts and rails. A plurality of spray nozzles include similar frusto conical ridges and may be disposed at selected locations on the posts for irrigating a surrounding area. A screen may be installed on the fence by alignment with a plurality of grommets with selected countersunk apertures of the posts. Ornamental mounting studs may be utilized to secure the screen to the posts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fence systems, and more particularly pertains to a combined fence and irrigation system which provides an ornamental enclosure and an effective irrigation system for a garden or other enclosed area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of fence systems are known in the prior art. A typical example of such a fence system is to be found in Design U.S. Pat. No. 86,991, which issued to G. Beauchamp on May 24, 1932. This patent discloses a portable ornamental fence formed by a plurality of vertical posts and horizontal rails. Design U.S. Pat. No. 171,325, which issued to B. Yellin on Jan. 24, 1954, discloses an ornamental fence having a plurality of carved ornamental figures thereon and supported by a plurality of spaced vertical posts having pointed ground insertion ends. U.S. Pat. No. 2,670,182, which issued to W. Oberwerger on Feb. 23, 1954, discloses an ornamental fence formed by a plurality of vertical posts configured to resemble flowers. U.S. Pat. No. 2,799,480, which issued to R. Mead on Jul. 16, 1957, discloses an ornamental fence formed from a molded plastic material which resembles a row of flowers. Design U.S. Pat. No. 276,494, which issued to P. Novak et al on Nov. 27, 1984, discloses a plastic landscape edging unit configured to resemble a plurality of spaced tree stumps.
While the above mentioned devices are directed to various fence systems, none of these devices disclose a combination fence and irrigation system formed in a modular construction to allow convenient assembly and a wide variety of selected configurations. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of fence systems, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such fence systems, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.


An ovate vehicle support rack is provided and equipped with a plurality of carriages guidingly supported from the rack for movement along the outer margin thereof and with the carriages projecting outwardly of the rack outer margin. Each carriage supports an upstanding pull tower therefrom for angularly displacement relative to the associated carriage about an upstanding axis and each pull tower upper end includes pull structure for exerting a pull in a direction extending away from the rack and toward the pull tower with the direction of pull being angularly displaceable with the tower relative to the carriage. A lower portion of each pull tower includes a lift arm extending therefrom to a position disposed over the adjacent marginal portion of the rack and the lift arm is pivoted from the pull tower for angular displacement about a horizontal axis extending transversely of the lift arm with the free end of the lift arm being provided with structure for engagement beneath and lifting a vehicle supported from the rack. In addition, vehicle stands are supported from the rack for independent, adjustable transverse and longitudinal shifting relative thereto and are downwardly foldable toward the rack when not in use.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a rack up on to which a vehicle may be moved and from which the vehicle may be stationarily supported for frame, sub-frame and body panel straightening and aligning purposes. The rack defines an outer periphery within the boundaries of which an associated vehicle upon which straightening and aligning work is to be performed may be supported and the outer periphery of the frame includes work platforms supported therefrom for guided movement thereabout and from which pivotal pull towers are supported, which pull towers are basically constructed in the manner disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,417, but each are modified to include a vehicle lifting arm. Further, the rack is vertically adjustable while maintaining a horizontal attitude and lock structure is provided for maintaining the rack in selected vertically adjusted positions. Also, the rack is provided with foldably retractable vehicle stands.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various different forms of support racks including some of the general structural and operational features of the instant invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,313,335, 4,370,882, 4,398,410, 4,643,015, 4,700,559 and 4,794,783. In addition, pull towers are not only disclosed in the above mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,417 but also in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,475,716 and 4,658,627. However, these previously know devices do not include vehicle lift arm equipped pull towers, foldably retractable vehicle stands or racks which may be vertically adjusted and a locked in selected vertically adjusted positions.


A method for selecting, from a set of possible configurations, an optimized tire configuration for fitting a vehicle intended to run on a circuit following a predefined route, oriented in a single course direction and including bends. The method includes the steps of developing a physical model of the vehicle fitted with a first tire configuration, simulating the route course by the modeled vehicle, optimizing the speed of the vehicle, storing in memory the course time taken by the vehicle to cover the route at least once, comparing the course time to at least one reference time and producing a comparison result, and optionally selecting the first configuration at the optimized configuration as a function of the comparison result.

This selection, which is conventionally performed on the basis of tests and results of experiments, currently represents considerable investments in terms of time and money.
Nevertheless, even when it is possible to make these investments, this selection method involves the drawback that it can only be used after the tires used for the tests have been manufactured.

Method for selecting an optimized tire configuration for a road vehicle such as a racing car or motorcycle


The rigidity of a movable pulley half is enhanced by the rigidity of a cylinder fixed to a back surface of the movable pulley half and influences of a controlled hydraulic pressure and a centrifugal hydraulic pressure which are exerted in a hydraulic fluid chamber partitioned in the cylinder. On the other hand, an annular protruding portion having detection teeth for a rotation sensor is formed on a back surface of an outer circumferential portion of a fixed pulley half, whereby the difference in rigidity between both the pulley halves is reduced by the effect of the annular protruding portion to improve the rigidity of the fixed pulley half, thereby making it possible to allow the variation characteristics of a misalignment relative to a drive ration to approach a characteristic set in advance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a belt-type continuously variable transmission in which a metal belt is wound around a drive pulley and a driven pulley which are both variable in groove width.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a belt-type continuously variable transmission as shown in FIG. 7, a metal belt 03 is wound around a drive pulley 01 and a driven pulley 02. A fixed pulley half 04 of the drive pulley 01 and a fixed pulley half 05 of the driven pulley 02 are disposed at diagonal positions, whereas a movable pulley half 06 of the drive pulley 01 and a movable pulley half 07 of the driven pulley 02 are disposed at diagonal positions. Consequently, when the movable pulley halves 06, 07 of the drive pulley 01 and the driven pulley 02 move closer to and apart from the fixed pulley halves 04, 05, a center line La of a V-groove in the drive pulley 01 and a center line Lb of a V-groove in the driven pulley 02 come to be out of alignment with each other, producing a slight misalignment xcex1.
Known through JP-A-61-82060 and JP-A-63-106454 are belt-type continuously variable transmissions in which the drive ratio at which the misalignment between a drive pulley and a driven pulley is removed is determined from view points of the performance and efficiency of a vehicle.
Incidentally, the movable pulley half is hydraulically biased toward the fixed pulley half in such a manner that the metal belt is prevented from slipping, and therefore both the pulley halves are deformed in such a manner as to deflect axially outwardly with a reaction force exerted by the metal belt. As this occurs, in the event that the rigidity of both the pulley halves is identical, the amount of deformation thereof becomes uniform, and therefore there is no case where the magnitude of misalignment varies due to the deformation. However, in fact, since there exists a difference in rigidity between the movable pulley half and the fixed pulley half, the amount of deformation of both the pulley halves become uneven, affecting the magnitude of misalignment. In general, a cylinder is integrally formed on a back of the movable pulley half to partition a hydraulic fluid chamber thereat. Moreover, since not only a controlled hydraulic pressure for biasing the movable pulley half toward the fixed pulley half but also a centrifugal pressure generated in conjunction with the rotation of the pulley are exerted on the hydraulic fluid chamber, the rigidity of the movable pulley half becomes higher than the rigidity of the fixed pulley half.
Solid lines illustrated in FIGS. 6A to 6C indicate the variation of the misalignment relative to the change in drive ratio when the rigidity ratio of the fixed pulley half and the movable pulley half is 1 to 1. The amount of misalignment decreases from a positive value as the drive ratio increases and passes through zero to become a negative value. Thereafter, the misalignment amount increases and passes through zero again to become a positive value. The maximum and minimum values of the amount of misalignment are set such that absolute values (about 0.4 mm) thereof become substantially equal to each other.
A broken line in FIG. 6A shows a characteristic resulting when the rigidity ratio of the fixed pulley half and the movable pulley half is 1 to 1.5, and the characteristic is deviated downwardly when compared with a characteristic (refer to the solid line) resulting when the rigidity ratio is 1 to 1. A broken line in FIG. 6B shows a characteristic resulting when the rigidity ratio of the fixed pulley half and the movable pulley half is 1 to 2, and the characteristic is deviated further downwardly when compared with a characteristic (refer to the solid line) resulting when the rigidity ratio is 1 to 1. A broken line in FIG. 6C, which is shown by reference, shows a characteristic resulting when the rigidity ratio of the fixed pulley half and the movable pulley half is 1.5 to 1, and the characteristic is deviated upwardly when compared with a characteristic (refer to the solid line) resulting when the rigidity ratio is 1 to 1.
The invention was made in view of these situations and an object thereof is to make the variation characteristics of misalignment approach a characteristic set in advance by reducing the difference in rigidity between fixed pulley halves and movable pulley halves of a belt-type continuously variable transmission.
With a view to attaining the object, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a belt-type continuously variable transmission comprising a drive pulley comprising in turn a fixed pulley half and a movable pulley half adapted to move closer to and apart from the fixed pulley half and supported on an input shaft, a driven pulley comprising a fixed pulley half and a movable pulley half adapted to move closer to and apart from the fixed pulley half and supported on an output shaft, and a metal belt extended to be wound around the drive pulley and the driven pulley, wherein both the fixed pulley halves and both the movable pulley halves are disposed at diagonal positions, respectively, wherein hydraulic fluid chambers are formed in both the movable pulley halves, and wherein a number of detection teeth for a rotation sensor are formed in radial directions on a back of an outer circumferential portion of at least one of both the fixed pulley halves. The detection teeth for the rotation sensor are formed in an annular protruding portion provided on the back of the outer circumferential portion of the at least one of he fixed pulley halves.
According to the above construction, since the annular protruding portion is formed on the back of the protruding portion of at least one of the drive pulley and the driven pulley of the belt-type continuously variable transmission and the detection teeth for the rotational sensor are formed in the protruding portion, the annular protruding portion can be made to contribute effectively to the enhancement of rigidity of the fixed pulley half. Then, since the difference in rigidity between the fixed pulley half and the movable pulley half whose rigidity is increased by the provision of the hydraulic fluid chamber can be reduced by the enhancement of rigidity of the fixed pulley half, the variation characteristics of misalignment relative to the drive ratio can be made to approach the characteristic which is set in advance by making the amount of deformation of both the pulley halves uniform.
In addition, according to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a belt-type continuously variable transmission as set forth in the first aspect of the invention, wherein the detection teeth are formed by machining grooves in the annular protruding portion.
According to the above construction, since the grooves can be machined in the annular protruding portion, the detection teeth can easily be formed through the simple machining in which the grooves are spot-faced.
Furthermore, according to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a belt-type continuously variable transmission as set forth in the second aspect of the invention, wherein the grooves are each made to open in an outer circumferential surface and a side of the annular protruding portion and terminate at a position in the annular protruding portion just before the grooves reach an inner circumferential surface of the annular protruding portion.
According to the above construction, since the annular protruding portion is provided with the grooves which are each made to open toward the outer circumferential surface and the side of thereof and terminate at the position where the grooves do not reach the inner circumferential surface thereof, the annular protruding portion can be made to contribute effectively to the enhancement in rigidity of the fixed pulley half when compared with a case in which the grooves extend through the annular protruding portion from the outer circumferential surface to the inner circumferential surface of the annular protruding portion.

Belt-type continuously variable transmission


An application integrator that provides a user-interactive environment for integrating software applications having incompatible programming interfaces, such as production control and business enterprise systems. The application integrator generally comprises a configuration system that provides a user with a view of the software applications' name space and graphically represents user-determined associations between data units from each of the software applications. The graphical association represents a user-defined programmed interface, identifying which data units of the software applications to transfer and under what circumstances such transfers should occur. This information is stored by the configuration system in a configuration repository. A data server contains two distributed communication objects, each of which interfaces with a corresponding software application, and a mapping engine. The mapping automatically transfer data units between the two software applications in a transaction-oriented manner and in accordance with the user's preferences as specified in the configuration repository.

1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system for integrating software applications and, more particularly, to a user-interactive applications integration system that integrates software applications having incompatible programming interfaces.
2. Related Art
Historically, computers have had a profound effect upon the manner in which companies conduct business. Initially, computers were only used at the highest levels of large corporations. They were typically used, for example, to run business software to manage business functions such as payroll, scheduling, and inventory. These software systems were generally referred to as business enterprise systems. As the cost of computing decreased, the use of computers expanded to support other areas of the organization. Of primary importance is the evolution of production software to automate factory-floor production.
Although this automation has typically led to improved efficiency and increased productivity, automation of large businesses and factories has often been conducted on a piecemeal basis due to the cost of such automation. For example, different portions of an assembly line are often automated at different times and often with different computer equipment. This is a result of the varying capabilities of the computer systems available at the time of purchase. As a result, when computers first appeared on the factory floor, they were generally isolated systems dedicated to automating selected steps in production. Accordingly, these isolated systems are often referred to as "islands of automation." In such organizations, different functions in the overall process are automated but do not necessarily communicate with one another. As a result, it has been difficult and expensive to control an entire factory floor process for a large manufacturing facility from a central location except on a piecemeal basis.
While business software was generally solving large company-wide problems, production software attempted to solve smaller, more isolated problems. Furthermore, while business software was more transaction- and batch-oriented, production software was more real-time in nature. These differing needs caused the two fields of computing to diverge. In addition, a third field of computing evolved with the introduction of low-cost microprocessors. Specialized factory-floor microcontrollers implementing such microprocessors have been used to automate even more factory-floor tasks than production software and include, for example, programmable logic controllers (PLC's) and other "smart" plant-floor devices. Thus, there are generally three fields of computer technology supporting activities at a different functional layer of an organization. Enterprise business systems support business management functions; production systems support factory floor operations; and microcontrollers support specialized factory floor functions.
Over the last decade the market-place has become increasingly dynamic. Businesses have had to adapt more quickly to changing market conditions. This has forced business enterprise systems to suffer constant modification and adopt more real-time behaviors, and has simultaneously forced production computers to become more flexible. This in turn has increased the frequency and volume of data that is transferred between the business and production systems, and between each of the many production systems. Thus, while industry's historical focus has been on the optimization of computer technology to address the special needs of each field of computer technology, the current trend is to make computers at all functional layers of an organization intercommunicate via electronic data transfers.
There has always been a requirement to transfer data between computers in an organization, both horizontally between computers in the same functional level of the organization, and vertically between computers in adjacent organizational levels. In the past, manual data re-entry was an often-used approach. Hardcopy printouts generated by the business enterprise systems would be provided to an operator who manually entered the information into one or more production systems. Although this may have been an acceptable approach in the past, such an approach is not sufficiently responsive in today's dynamic business environment. As a result, the demand for electronic data transfer capability between the various business management and production level computers has increased significantly.
Computer products have always provided minimal support of electronic data transfers between software applications residing in the same functional level of an organization. On the business management level, for example, integrated business enterprise software products are commonly used to effect electronic data transfer between the software applications in the integrated package. Organizations that have not acquired a single, integrated business software package typically have developed custom software to effect the necessary electronic data transfer. While electronic data transfer capability can be implemented using custom software, the market place dynamics that have caused the enterprise business and production systems to suffer constant modification also force electronic data transfer software to be constantly reworked. This continued modification forces companies to either maintain in-house programming expertise, or repeatedly hire software consultants to implement the needed changes. As a result, custom software is not only expensive to develop, but in a changing market place, it is also costly to maintain.
With respect to the factory floor, software programmers have also been employed to develop custom data transfer solutions which allow the different "islands of automation" to communicate with each other. For the reasons noted above, this has been found to be difficult and expensive. In addition, such an approach is rather inflexible and assumes that the overall system remains static. When further equipment and application software is to be integrated into the overall system, the software programmers must be tasked with rewriting the code for all applications involved and to prepare additional custom code for interface purposes. As a result, electronic data transfer capability is usually limited to transfers between equipment/software from the same manufacturer.
For electronic data transfers between adjacent organizational levels there are numerous problems in such integration of existing applications because of the differences in hardware and their associated operating systems and because of the differences in the software applications themselves. For example, data from applications running on computers having proprietary hardware architectures and operating systems is often not usable on another system. In addition, different applications use different data types according to their specific needs. Moreover, incompatible data structures often result because of the different groupings of data elements by the applications. For example, an element with a common logical definition in two applications may still be stored in two different representations. In addition, applications written in different languages usually cannot communicate with one another since data values are often interpreted differently. For example, C and Fortran interpret logical and boolean values differently.
What is needed, therefore, is a system for automatically integrating applications having incompatible programming interfaces at the same or different functional levels of an organization in a fast, efficient and cost effective manner.

User-interactive system and method for integrating applications


Wavelength division multiplexing devices, and methods of forming the same, include a coupling lens and a waveguide, the lens being positioned over a mirror formed in a transmission path of the waveguide. The mirror reflects incoming light signals out of the transmission path through the lens and further reflects light signals coming from the lens and into the transmission path. An optical chip is positioned near a focal length of the lens. The optical chip has an optical filter configured to transmit a light signal at a first wavelength and to reflect received light signals at wavelengths other than the first wavelength.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to wavelength division multiplexing and, in particular, to lens arrays used in conjunction with micro-mirrors to realize a low optical loss structure with good misalignment tolerance.
Description of the Related Art
One option for increasing the aggregate data rate in an optical system is to use wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) to transmit multiple signal channels in a single waveguide core. This increases the channel density, allowing substantially more information to be sent using the same number of fiber cores.
Recent efforts have been focused on integrating polymer waveguides with opto-electronic chip arrays (VCSEL and photodiodes) to increase the bandwidth density of an optical transmission system. Low cost fabrication techniques for high volume are being developed.
However, there are challenges in implementing WDM with conventional fabrication methods. Typically, micro-mirrors using a total-internal reflection mechanism or a gold metal coating are used to couple the light from the VCSELs into the waveguide cores and from the waveguide cores to the photodiodes. However, these micro-mirrors have no wavelength selectivity in the relevant spectral range and cannot be used as filters with light signals having multiple wavelengths. Therefore new optical layouts are needed that are easily fabricated at low cost, have a low optical loss and are compatible with a high core density in polymer waveguides and with multiplexing schemes. This is of particular importance for receivers, where several light channels having different wavelengths in the same core need to be de-multiplexed efficiently. Fabrication errors and irregularities leading to optical misalignment can substantially increase loss and bit error ratio, which is detrimental in an optical link. Moreover, to reach a high bandwidth, photodiodes arrays with small active regions and a low capacitance are needed.

Optical components for wavelength division multiplexing with high-density optical interconnect modules


An IV hanger providing a portable adjustable hanging attachment for conventional intravenous equipment comprises an attachment method, a pulley system, and a hanging bracket. The attachment method comprises a plurality of attachment means for attaching the apparatus to an elevated structure. The attachment method is integrally connected to a pulley system which allows a user to selectively adjust the height of the hanging bracket relative to the frame. The hanging bracket provides a plurality of attachment hooks for support of IV equipment. The apparatus is particularly adapted for veterinary field calls where ground-based support system are prone to damage or disturbance by animal patients.

Many animals require intravenous treatments or medications which further require appropriate equipment to suspend the treatment while in use. Placing the intravenous equipment on a ground surface is an irresponsible choice when dealing with the unpredictable characteristics of animals. Also many stalls or similar accommodations for animals are cramped and lacking of sufficient elevated support options. Various ways to suspend intravenous are known. They include makeshift structures and persons retaining intravenous equipment during treatments; each of which retains intravenous equipment.
Various attempts have been made to provide portable IV hangers. Examples of these attempts can be seen by reference to several U.S. Patent No. 2004/0,222,341, issued in the name of Breda et al., describes an intravenous infusing equipment hanger assembly comprising a mounting plate for attachment onto a wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,784,145, issued in the name of Lawrie, describes an adjustable intravenous bottle pendant assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,632, issued in the name of Johnson, describes an apparatus for suspending articles overhead.
While these attempts may fulfill their respective, particular objectives, each of these references suffer from one (1) or more disadvantages. Many are not suited to provide adequate suspension to intravenous equipment. Others are limited and provide a permanent suspension to items.

Portable intravenous device and hanger therefor


Methods and arrangements for identifying failed sensors in a system of interconnected devices. A contemplated method includes: utilizing at least one processor to execute computer code that performs the steps of: receiving data from a first plurality of sensors, each sensor being operatively coupled to a device within a system of interconnected devices; associating the data received with an activity; comparing the data received with previously stored data associated with the living activity; detecting, based on the comparing, an anomaly associated with at least one of the first plurality of sensors, wherein the anomaly indicates a problem with the at least one of the first plurality of sensors; and recording, at a data storage location, the anomaly, wherein the data storage location stores data associated with previously identified anomalies. Other variants and embodiments are broadly contemplated herein.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has significant practical implications in many everyday settings. Consumers can benefit from devices (e.g., home-based appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners, televisions, lights, lamps, etc.) that may have actuation, communication, and sensing capabilities to reach or identify a desired state. The devices may allow another user, from a remote location, to identify if a device is being used.
With the devices and sensors connected to the devices being interconnected, a remote user may be able to identify an activity being performed by a user living within the home (e.g., cooking, moving, sleeping, etc.). This activity identification may then allow the remote user to determine if the person living within the home is behaving normally and as expected. Upon notification that the user is not performing particular activities, the remote user can then determine whether a person should be dispatched to check on the person living within the home. In order to ensure accurate identification of a problem, the system must identify that the sensors are behaving correctly and providing accurate data.

Identification of failed sensors in a system of interconnected devices

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A necktie with fixing device embodies a simple, self-contained, convenient and more economic way to maintain a necktie in place. The fixing device comprises an anchoring member that is secured to the rear surface of the wide end of the necktie, an elastic member secured to center of the anchoring member, a small magnet that is secured to the end of the elastic member opposite that secured to the anchoring member, and a hook extending from the magnet. The elastic member is long enough to allow the magnet to engage a zipper, belt buckle or other metallic fastening element of a clothing article, and allow the hook to removably engage fastening elements of clothing articles such as zippers, belt buckles and buttons. The combined securing action of the magnet and hook allow the fixing device to maintain the wide end of a necktie in place. The hook, when inserted in the aperture in the zipper handle of a fly-type trousers closure, also insures that the zipper will not inadvertently open, thereby preventing the embarrassment of the wearer associated therewith.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a necktie, particularly to a necktie having a convenient and efficient fixing device having a hook and a magnet connected to the lower rear side of the necktie. A wearer of the necktie of the present invention can use the fixing device to both maintain his tie in place and secure the fastener of his pants. Use of the necktie and fixing device of the present invention eliminates the need for tie clips, pins and tacks, which can be both expensive and easily lost.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The necktie is an accessory that figures prominently in male formal dress, in both social and professional contexts, and has the ability to accentuate an otherwise nondescript outfit.
However, when a necktie is worn, the lower part of the necktie swings back and forth, or even around to its backside or the necktie is flipped over the shoulder and back of a wearer. The tendency of a necktie to move about in this fashion can make it an inconvenient and distracting item of apparel.
To solve this problem, the lower part of a necktie is fixed to a shirt by using accessaries such as a tie pin tie clip, or tie tack to prevent the excessive movement of the necktie.
However, such accessories are often expensive, and can easily be lost while worn. Furthermore, tie pins, clips and tacks may damage both the necktie and the shirt in wear.
An additional problem that occurs in men's attire is the inadvertent opening of the zipper "fly" closures of trousers in public. A neglected or accidental opened fly zipper can be the source of embarrassment, shame and ridicule in public.


A supplementary roller is disposed on the end of a disk guiding section 71 so that the outer face 72c of the cylindrical shaped section 72b of the supplementary roller is placed on the conveying roller 73 side by the protruding section 71a formed on disk guiding section 71.

The present invention relates to a disk device comprising a conveying unit for conveying a disk inserted into the chassis from a disk insertion aperture to a playing unit, conveying the disk which has been conveyed by the conveying unit from the playing unit to the disk insertion aperture and expelling the disk to the outside of the chassis.
Firstly a disk device mounted in an automobile will be outlined. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a disk device for use in an automobile. In FIG. 1, 1 is a disk device, 2 is a chassis disposed in the interior of the automobile, 3 is a playing unit for rotating the disk D and reading information recorded on the disk D, 4 is a conveying unit which conveys a disk D inserted into the inner part of the chassis from the disk insertion aperture formed in the chassis to the playing unit 3, which then conveys a disk D which has been once conveyed to the playing unit 3 from the playing unit 3 to the disk insertion aperture and which expels the disk to the outside of the chassis 2. 5 is a flexible member such as an oil damper which prevents the transmission of automobile vibrations to the playing unit when the disk D is being played. The flexible member is provided between the lower face of the chassis 2 and the playing unit 3.
In the playing unit 3, 11 is a playing unit base storing the motor which displaces the motor or pickup which rotates the turntable. 11a is a rotation shaft of a pressure arm and is provided in the playing unit base 11. 12 is a turntable on which the disk D is mounted and which rotates the disk D. The turntable 12 is provided in the playing unit base 11. 13 is a pressure arm which rotates in the direction a-b about the rotation shaft 11a provided in the playing unit base 11. 14 is a disk gripping body which grips the disk D on the turntable 12 by rotating the pressure arm 13 towards the turntable side 12. The disk gripping body 14 is mounted on the pressure arm 13. 15 is a pickup which reads the information recorded on the disk D and which is provided on the playing unit base 11.
In the conveying unit 4, 21 is a disk guiding section which is fixed onto the upper plate of the chassis, 22 is a conveying roller which grips, with the guiding section, a disk D which is inserted into the interior of the chassis 2 from the disk insertion aperture. The conveying roller 22 then conveys the disk D to the playing unit 3 by rotating it in that state, grips the disk D which has been conveyed to the playing unit 3 with the disk guiding section 21, conveys the disk D to the insertion aperture by rotating it in that state and expels the disk D outside the chassis 2.
In FIG. 1, the cam plate is not shown. However it will be briefly explained as follows. The cam plate displaces the conveying roller provided on the conveying unit and the pressure arm provided on the playing unit and fixes and releases the playing unit 3 by sliding displacement in the direction of disk insertion and disk expulsion.
Next the operation of the invention will be explained.
At Time of Disk Insertion
When a disk D is inserted into the interior of the chassis 2 from the disk insertion aperture, the disk D is tightly held by the disk guiding section 21 and the conveying roller 22. The disk D is conveyed to the playing unit by the rotations of the conveying roller 22. The disk D which has been conveyed to playing unit 3 is tightly held by the turntable 12 and the disk gripping body 14 due to the pressure arm rotating towards the turntable side 12 and so is mounted on the turntable 12. At this time the playing unit base 11 which had been fixed by the cam plate is released. The playing unit base 11 is supported by the flexible member 5, the information recorded in the disk D is read and in other words the disk D is placed in a playable state.
At Time of Disk Playing
When the disk is mounted on the turntable 12, is in a stationary position and the playing of the disk D commences, the disk D is rotated by the rotations of the turntable 12. The information contained in the disk D is read by the pickup 15. At this time, the vibrations of the automobile are absorbed by the flexible member 5 which prevents those vibrations from being transmitted to the playing unit 3.
At Time of Disk Expulsion
When the playing of the disk is finished, the disk D is held by the turntable 12 and the disk gripping body 14. When the disk D is in a stationary position and disk D expulsion commences, the pressure plate 13 rotates in the direction of separation from the turntable 12. As a result of these rotations, the disk D is lifted from the turntable 12 and held by the disk guiding section 21 and the conveying roller 22. The disk D is conveyed to the disk insertion aperture by the rotations of the conveying roller 22 and expelled to the outside of the chassis 2. At this time, the playing unit base 11 is fixed by the cam plate.
The disk device for use in an automobile has been explained in a simple way up until this point. Hereafter the constituent elements of the conventional disk device for use in an automobile will be explained in detail.
FIG. 2 is a figure showing the playing unit of a conventional disk device. FIG. 2 shows the playing unit as seen along the direction X of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 shows the initiation of disk insertion for a 12 cm disk. In FIG. 2, the 12 cm disk D is shown by the broken lines. FIG. 3 shows a disk stopper in a conventional disk device. FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view along the line Ixe2x80x94I of FIG. 2. In FIGS. 2 and 3, 141 is a playing unit for reading the information recorded on the disk D. 143 is a flexible member such as an oil damper which prevents the transmission of automobile vibrations to the playing unit while the disk D is being played. 144a-144c are first to third positional determination shafts provided in the playing unit 141.
151 is a playing unit base which stores the motor or the like which displaces the pickup or the motor which rotates the turntable. 151d is a rotation shaft of the pressure arm and is provided on the playing unit base 151. 154 is a pressure arm which rotates about the rotation shaft 151d provided in the playing unit base 151. 155 is a disk gripping body which tightly holds the disk D on the turntable by rotating the pressure arm 154 to the turntable side and is mounted on the pressure arm 154.
161 is a disk stopper which is pushed by the disk D inserted in the interior of the chassis and displaces in direction B (the direction of disk insertion). 162 is a lever stopper which moves together with the displacement of the disk stopper 161 and rotates. The lever stopper 162 is provided on the upper surface of the pressure arm 154. 163 is a slide lock which rotates together with the rotations of the lever stopper 162, and which, when the disk D is not inserted in to the interior of the chassis, determines the position of the disk stopper 161 and which, when it rotates together with the rotations of the lever stopper 162, slidingly displaces the operational lever, discussed below, in direction A (the direction of disk expulsion). The side lock 163 is provided on the lower surface of the pressure arm 154. 165 is a support member for mounting the gripping body 155 on the pressure arm 154. 166 is a first spring connected to the lever stopper 162 and the slide lock 163. 167 is a second spring connected to the pressure arm 154 and the slide lock 163.
In the disk stopper 161, 161a is an abutting section onto which the disk inserted in the interior of the chassis abuts. 161b is an engaging member which engages with the guide hole formed in the pressure arm 154. 161c is an engaging pin which engages in the engaging hole formed in the lever stopper 162.
In the lever stopper 162, 162a is a rotation shaft of the lever stopper 162. 162b is a connecting section to which the first spring 166 is connected. 162c is an engaging hole with which the engaging pin 161c which is provided in the disk stopper 161 engages. 162d is a regulating hole which supports the regulating pin provided in the slide lock 163. 162e is a first regulating section forming the regulating hole 162d. 162f is a second regulating section forming the regulating hole 162d.
In the slide lock 163, 163a is a pressured section pressured by the front arm. 163b is a pressuring section which pressures the operational arm discussed hereafter. 163c is a regulating pin which is supported by the regulating hole 162d which is formed in the lever stopper 162. 163d is a connecting section which is connected to the first spring 166. 163e is a connecting section which is connected to the second spring 167. 163f is a slide hole which supports the rotation shaft 162a of the lever stopper 162.
In the pressure arm 154, 154a is a connecting section to which is connected the second spring 167. 154b is a guide hole which engages with the engaging section 161b provided on the disk stopper 162 and which pierces the guide hole 154b which guides the disk stopper 161 which is pressured by the disk D inserted into the interior of the chassis. The guide hole is formed along the conveying direction of the disk D in approximately the central section of the pressure arm 154. 154c is an engaging section insertion hole formed to engage the engaging section 161b provided on the disk stopper 161 with the guide hole 154b. 154d is a through hole formed to support the regulating pin 163c provided in the slide lock 163 with the regulating hole 162d formed in the lever stopper 162.
In the support member 165, 165a is a support section which supports the disk gripping body 155 while pressuring the upper center projection 155a of the disk gripping body 155. 165b is a covering section which covers the engaging section insertion hole 154c formed in the pressure arm 154.
In the conventional disk device, when the disk D is not inserted in the chassis interior, the position of the operational lever is fixed. As a result, the position of the slide lock 163 is determined. The position of the lever stopper 162 is determined due to the fact that the regulating pin 163c provided on the slide lock 163 is positioned on the first regulating section 162e which forms the regulating hole 162d which is formed in the lever stopper 162. Hence the position of the disk stopper 161 is determined. In the conventional disk device, when the disk D is not inserted in the interior of the chassis, the engaging section 161b provided in the disk stopper 161 is adapted so as not to abut with the support member 165.
FIG. 4 shows a conveying unit in a conventional disk device. FIG. 4 shows the conveying unit as seen from the direction Y in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 displays the situation when a 12 cm disk is being conveyed. In FIG. 4, the 12 cm disk is shown by the broken line. FIG. 5 shows the disk guiding section in a conventional disk device. FIG. 5 shows a disk guiding as seen from direction Z in FIG. 1. In FIGS. 4 and 5, 132 is a chassis disposed in the interior of an automobile and 133 is a disk insertion aperture formed in the front plate of the chassis 132.
171 is a disk guiding section fixed to the upper plate of the chassis 132. 173 is a conveying roller which conveys the disk D which has been inserted into the interior of the chassis 132 from the disk insertion aperture 133 to the playing unit by holding the disk against the disk guiding section 171 and rotating it in that state. It then holds the disk which has already been conveyed to the playing unit against the disk guiding section and rotates it in that state, conveys the disk to the disk insertion aperture 133 and expels the disk to the outside of the chassis 132. 174 is a conveying unit base.
In the disk guiding section 171, 171a is a protruding section which projects from the central section towards the periphery and approaches the conveying roller 173. The protruding section 171a is formed vertical to the direction in which the disk is being conveyed.
In the conveying roller 173, 173a is a shaft of the conveying roller 173 which is inserted into a round hole formed in the conveying unit base 74 so as to face the vertical direction to the direction in which the disk is conveyed. 173b is a rubber roller into which the shaft 173a of the conveying roller is loosely inserted and which increases in radius towards the end from the central section.
In this conventional disk device, when a disk D is conveyed, it is tightly held by the protruding section 171a formed on the disk guiding section 171 and the conveying roller 173.
FIG. 6 shows the camplate and related parts in the conventional disk device. FIG. 6(A) shows the camplate and related parts as seen from direction X in FIG. 1. FIG. 6(B) shows the cam plate and related parts as seen from direction P of FIG. 6(A). FIG. 6(C) is an enlarged view of the section Q encircled by the broken line in FIG. 6(B). FIG. 6 shows the disk in the early stages of being conveyed. FIG. 6 represents the right side plate of the chassis as being encircled by the wavy line b. In FIG. 6, 178 is a set of reduction gears which transmit the rotations of the motor to the conveying roller 173 in order to rotate the conveying roller and which is provided on the chassis 132.
181 is a camplate which slidingly displaces in the direction A-B and which, when it slidingly displaces in direction B, displaces the pressure arm in the direction in which the disk is not tightly held by the turntable and the disk gripping means. Then the cam plate displaces the conveying roller 173 in the direction in which the disk is held tightly by the disk guiding section and the conveying roller 173. When it slidingly displaces in direction A, it displaces the pressure arm in the direction in which the disk is held tightly by the turntable and the disk gripping body. The camplate displaces the conveying roller 173 in the direction in which the disk is not held tightly by the disk guiding section and the conveying roller 173. The camplate is provided between the right side plate of the chassis 132 and the playing unit. 182 is an operational lever which slidingly displaces in the direction A-B along the guide groove formed in the chassis 132. The camplate 181 is slidingly displaced in the direction A-B as a result of that displacement. The operational lever is provided on the camplate 181. 183 is a first linking member for securing the playing unit when the camplate 181 slidingly displaces and which is provided between the chassis 132 and the camplate 181. 184 is a fourth spring which connects the chassis 132 and the operational lever 182.
In the camplate 181, 181a is a slot which engages with a key shaped hook which is formed on the right side plate of the chassis 132 and which guides the camplate 181. 181b is a Z shaped hole which supports the displacement shaft 174c provided in the conveying unit base 174 and which guides the displacement shaft 174c together with the sliding displacement of the camplate 181. 181c is a horizontal hole which supports the first positional determination shaft 144a provided in the playing unit and guides the first positional determination shaft 144a together with the sliding displacement of the camplate 181. 181d is a horizontal groove which supports the second positional determination shaft 144b provided in the playing unit and which guides the second positional determination shaft 144b together with the sliding displacement of the camplate 181. 181e is a release hole which releases the support of the first positional determination shaft 144a due to the horizontal hole. 181f is a release groove which releases the support of the second positional determination shaft 144b due to the horizontal groove 181d. 181g is a rotation shaft of the first linking member 183 inserted into the round hole provided on the first linking member 183. 181h is an inclining section which abuts with the right side bent section 154e provided on the pressure arm 154 (refer to FIG. 2) and which slopes downwardly from direction A to direction B. 181i is an indented section formed on the top of the camplate 181. 181j is a through hole into which the reduction gears are arranged.
In the operational lever 182, 182a is a protruding section which is disposed in the indented section which is formed in the camplate 181 and which slidingly displaces the camplate 181 in the direction A-B together with the sliding displacement of the operational lever 182 by pushing the indenting section 181i. 182b is a rack which displaces the operational lever 182 by engaging with the gears of the reduction gears 178.
In the first linking member 183, 183a is a displacement shaft which is supported by the Z shaped hole formed in the right side plate of the chassis 132. 183b is a round hole into which the rotation shaft 181g of the first linking member 183 provided on the camplate 181 is inserted. 183c is a gripping member which grips the first positional determination shaft 144a which is provided in the playing unit when the camplate slidingly displaces in direction B.
In the right side plate of the chassis 132, 132d is a Z shaped hole which supports the displacement shaft 183a provided in the first linking member 183 and which guides the displacement shaft 183a together with the sliding displacement of the camplate 181. 188 is a first abutting section with which the indented section 181i formed in the camplate 181 and the protruding section 182a formed in the operational lever 182 abut when the operational lever 182 slidingly displaces in direction A. 189 is a second abutting section with which the indented section 181i formed in the camplate 181 and the protruding section 182a formed in the operational lever 182 abut when the operational lever 182 slidingly displaces in direction B.
In this disk device, the pressure arm rises and the disk is lifted from the turntable due to the fact that the bent section 154e on the right side face, which is provided on the pressure arm 154 rises along the inclined section 181h provided on the camplate 181, rises when the camplate 181 slidingly displaces in direction B. On the other hand, the pressure arm 154 lowers and the disk is mounted on the turntable due to the fact that bent section 154 on the right side lowers along the inclination of the inclined section 181h when the cam plate 181 slidingly displaces in direction A.
In this conventional disk device, when a disk is inserted, the operational lever 182 displaces in direction A and the rack 182b which is formed on the operational lever 182 engages with the gears of the reduction gears 178. Due to the motive force of the reduction gears, the operational lever 182 is slidingly displaced in direction A. The protruding section 182a formed on the operational lever 182 abuts with the indented section 181i formed on the camplate 181 in the first abutting section 187 and pressures the indented section 181i. As a result, the camplate 181 slidingly displaces in direction A together with the sliding displacement of the operational lever 182.
Furthermore in this conventional disk device, when the disk is expelled, the reduction gears 178 rotate in the inverse direction and the operational lever 182 slidingly displaces in direction B. The protruding section 182a formed on the operational lever 182 abuts with the indented section 181i formed on the camshaft 181 in the second abutting section 188 and pressures the indented section 181i. As a result, the camplate 181 slidingly displaces in direction B together with the sliding displacement of the operational lever 182. Due to the motive force of the reduction gears 178, the operational lever 182 slidingly displaces in direction B. The rack 182b formed on the operational lever 182 disengages from the reduction gears 178. Hence after the rack 182b formed on the operational lever 182 disengages from the reduction gears 178, the operational lever 182 is returned to its original position due to being pulled by the force of the fourth spring 184 in direction B. At this time, the protruding section 182a formed on the operational lever 182 pressures the indented section 181i formed on the camplate 181 and the camplate 181 too is returned to the original position.
FIG. 7 shows the playing unit base in a conventional disk device. FIG. 7(A) shows the playing unit base as seen from direction X in FIG. 1. FIG. 7(B) shows the playing unit base as seen from direction P in FIG. 7(A). FIG. 7 shows a 12 cm disk being raised from the turntable. In FIG. 7, the 12 cm disk is shown by the broken line. In FIG. 7, 151a is an inner lateral face which is a face opposite the disk insertion side of the playing unit base 151. 152 is a turntable on which a disk is disposed, which rotates the disk and which is provided on the playing unit base 151.
Since the conventional disk device is constructed as above, when the disk is conveyed, the disk is tightly held by the conveying roller and the protruding section formed on the disk guiding section. As a result, when the disk is conveyed, a large force is acting on the disk in the direction opposite to that in which the disk is being conveyed. Hence the problem arises that insertion or expulsion of disks becomes impossible.
The present invention is proposed to solve the above problems. It has the object of providing a disk device which can prevent the inconvenience of the insertion or expulsion of disks becoming impossible due to a large force acting on the disk in the direction opposite to that in which the disk is being conveyed when the disk is being conveyed.
The disk device of the present invention comprises a conveying unit which is provided with a supplementary roller provided with a rotation shaft and a rotation section. The rotation shaft is mounted on the disk guiding section so as to vertically face the direction in which the disk is being conveyed. The outer face of the rotation section is disposed on the end of the disk guiding section so as to be positioned on the conveying roller side by the protruding section formed on the disk guiding section.
In this way, when a disk is conveyed, since the force acting in the opposite direction to that in which the disk is being conveyed is reduced, it is possible to convey the disk smoothly and ensure the insertion and expulsion of disks. The disk device of the present invention has a disk guiding section which is provided with a blade spring section which pressures the rotation shaft of the supplementary roller in the axial direction.
In this way, the supplementary roller does not wobble and the generation of unwanted sounds can be prevented.
The disk device of the present invention has a supplementary roller which is disposed so that it approaches the conveying roller as the outer face of the rotation section goes from the center to the end.
In this way, when a disk is conveyed, damage to the information recorded on the disk surface is prevented as only the outer peripheral edge of the disk contacts with the supplementary roller.


A vehicle power transmission device includes: an input shaft; a planetary gear type speed reducer disposed concentrically to the input shaft to reduce and output rotation input to the input shaft; and a differential gear device disposed adjacently to the input shaft in a shaft center direction, the differential gear device being rotationally driven by the speed reducer to transmit a drive force to a pair of axles disposed on the shaft center while allowing a rotational difference between the axles, the speed reducer including a sun gear that is fit with a shaft end portion of the input shaft in a relatively non-rotatable manner, the sun gear being prevented from relatively moving toward the differential gear device by an annular snap ring fit and attached to an annular snap ring groove formed on an outer circumferential surface of the shaft end portion of the input shaft on the differential gear device side of the sun gear, the differential gear device including a differential case having a cylindrical end portion formed on the sun gear side or a member fixed thereto that is extended to the outer circumferential side of the snap ring, the differential case having a radial distance of an annular gap formed between the cylindrical end portion or the member fixed thereto and the snap ring set smaller than a groove depth of the snap ring groove.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle power transmission device and particularly to a technique for retaining in a snap ring groove a snap ring fit and attached to an input shaft for preventing slip-off of a sun gear of a speed reducer fit with the input shaft.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicle power transmission device is known that includes a cylindrical input shaft, a planetary gear type speed reducer disposed concentrically to the input shaft to reduce and output rotation input to the input shaft, and a differential gear device disposed adjacently to the input shaft in the shaft center direction and rotationally driven by the speed reducer to transmit a drive force to a pair of axles disposed on the shaft center while allowing a rotational difference between the axles. The device is described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-39179, for example.


A duplex printing method in a printing apparatus having a duplex printing function printing incoming print data on both sides of a print sheet includes sequentially converting the incoming print data into images corresponding to respective pages and storing the images of the pages, determining whether there are the images having two side pages to be printed on both sides of a single sheet among the images of the pages, if it is determined that there are the images having the two side pages, forming a dual queue having both odd page image related information and even page image related information corresponding to the two side pages, variably scheduling a printing sequence of the pages to be printed using the dual queue and performing the duplex printing function, and repeating the above operations until all of the incoming print data are completely received and printed. Therefore, a memory can be efficiently used, and the scheduling of the printing sequence of the pages to be printed can be simplified.

This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2001-79716, filed Dec. 15, 2001, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a duplex printing method of a printing apparatus such as a printer or a copier, and more particularly, to a duplex printing method in which a sequence of pages to be printed is determined using a page backup algorithm in a state of a printer engine error, such as paper jam or paper empty, in order to print print data on both sides of a print sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
A block diagram of a typical printing apparatus having a duplex printing function is shown in FIG. 1. The printing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes an interface unit 10, a controller 12, a memory 14, an image forming unit 16, and a sheet handler 18.
The controller 12 converts print data received from an external source through the interface unit 10 into images, stores the images in the memory 14, and transmits the images corresponding to respective pages to be printed to the image forming unit 16 in a predetermined printing sequence. The image forming unit 16 prints a received image on a sheet picked up by the sheet handler 18. The image forming unit 16 and the sheet handler 18 are parts that actually perform a printing function and are collectively referred to as a printer engine.
The controller 12 includes a scheduler (not shown) determining the printing sequence of the respective pages to be printed, an interpreter (not shown) processing the received print data, and a video controller (not shown). The image forming unit 16 forms an image on a corresponding sheet. The sheet handler 18 handles sheets and includes a duplex loop (not shown) for a duplex printing function.
Generally, the printing apparatus having the duplex printing function is provided with the duplex loop so that the duplex printing function can be implemented under the control of the controller 12. The duplex loop is an apparatus handling (processing) sheets for the duplex printing function.
The duplex loop is denoted by a reference numeral 28 shown in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,069,704 and is also shown in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,458 as a duplex loop path denoted by a reference numeral 13. Thus, a description about structure and operations of the duplex loop will be omitted.
Scheduling methods of determining the printing sequence of the pages to be printed for the duplex printing function in the printing apparatus such as a printer are different from each other depending on the number of sheets handled by the printer. That is, the scheduling methods are different from each other depending on the number of sheets which can be accommodated (disposed) in the duplex loop of the printer at a time, i.e., the number of sheets accommodated in the duplex loop during a period from the picking-up of the sheets to the printing out of the sheets. The number of sheets accommodated and handled in the duplex loop at a time indicates the number of sheets which can be processed in accordance with the duplex printing function in bulk and is hereinafter simply referred to as a duplex loop capacity.
The duplex loop capacity varies with a length of the duplex loop and the size of a sheet. As an example, it is assumed that sheets of the same size are accommodated and handled in the duplex loop. However, the present invention is not limited to the sheets of the same size.
If the duplex loop capacity of the printer is N, the video controller of the printer must be provided with 2N pages. For example, in a case where the duplex loop capacity is 5, when 10 pages are to be printed, the pages to be printed would be scheduled in order of second pagexe2x86x92fourth pagexe2x86x92sixth pagexe2x86x92eighth pagexe2x86x92tenth pagexe2x86x92first pagexe2x86x92third pagexe2x86x92fifth pagexe2x86x92seventh pagexe2x86x92ninth page. Here, if there are only nine pages to be printed, the position of the tenth page should be skipped and processed as a null page. If there is a continuous printing job following the above printing job, the skipped part should be minimized to minimize a duplex cycle and the like. The method of scheduling the printing sequence of the pages to minimize a duplex cycle is disclosed in a U.S. Pat. No. 6,069,704.
However, the continuous printing job is sometimes interrupted or abruptly terminated. There may occur a processing error, such as paper jam or toner empty, in terms of mechanical characteristics of the printer or copier or a physical error such as paper empty in terms of a capacitive limit of a paper cassette.
In the above case, the printer can operate at a full speed only after the controller 12 generates image data corresponding to respective ones of the pages in the form of a bitmap or a similar form such as a display list or a compressed bitmap throughout the ten pages.
If the processing on the fifth page is delayed after completing the processing on first through fourth pages, or if a memory overflow occurs, it is needed to print just four pages in advance. As described above, the page scheduling needs to be changed depending on circumstances due to a capacity limit of the controller itself and a physical limit of the printing apparatus.
All cases which the errors can occur while the duplex printing function is performed in the printer will be reviewed. As an example, it is assumed that the duplex loop capacity is 2 in all of the following cases.
1. Continuous Duplex Printing or Fast Duplex Printing Mode
For example, when 8 pages are printed on both sides of 4 sheets, the printing sequence may be 2xe2x86x924xe2x86x921xe2x86x926xe2x86x923xe2x86x928xe2x86x925xe2x86x927. Here, the numerals, such as 1 and 2, indicate page numbers. That is, numeral 2 indicates a second page.
In the fast duplex printing mode, at the moment that a next page to be printed is determined immediately after printing of the second page is completed, the fourth page should be prepared in the form of the bitmap or the similar form such as the display list or the compressed bitmap.
This mode allows a maximum engine efficiency in the printer having the duplex loop capacity of 2 to be accomplished.
2. Normal Duplex Printing or Normal Duplex Printing Mode
When 8 pages are printed, the printing sequence may be 2xe2x86x921xe2x86x924xe2x86x923xe2x86x926xe2x86x925xe2x86x928xe2x86x927. This printing mode can occur in the following state.
First, it occurs when the third and fourth pages are not prepared at the moment of printing of a next page after the second page is completely printed, due to very complicated data or an insufficient capacity of a memory.
Second, it occurs when sheets are used in the printer engine having the duplex loop capacity of 2. In other words, long sheets may not be allowed by the duplex loop having the duplex loop capacity of 2 in terms of characteristics of the printing apparatus.
3. Continuous and Normal Duplex Printing Mode
When 10 pages are printed, the printing sequence may be 2xe2x86x921xe2x86x924xe2x86x926xe2x86x923xe2x86x928xe2x86x925xe2x86x927xe2x86x9210xe2x86x929.
This mode occurs when processing of the third and fourth pages and processing of the ninth and tenth pages are delayed or when the size of the sheets is large. In other words, this occurs when only the normal duplex printing mode is performed in the printing apparatus.
4. Duplex Printing Mode after Instant Engine Stop
For example, there may be three cases of the printing sequence.
Case 1: 2xe2x86x92engine error and stopxe2x86x922xe2x86x924xe2x86x921xe2x86x926xe2x86x923xe2x86x928xe2x86x925xe2x86x927
Case 2: 2xe2x86x924xe2x86x92engine error and stopxe2x86x922xe2x86x924xe2x86x921xe2x86x926xe2x86x923xe2x86x928xe2x86x925xe2x86x927
Case 3: 2xe2x86x924xe2x86x921xe2x86x92engine error and stopxe2x86x924xe2x86x926xe2x86x923xe2x86x928xe2x86x925xe2x86x927
In the case 1 where the printer engine stops due to an engine error after the second page is printed, only the second page of a pair of the first and second pages has been printed, so the printing function restarts from the second page.
In the case 2 where the printer engine stops after the fourth page is printed, a pair of the first and second pages and a pair of the third and fourth pages have not been completely printed, so the printing function restarts from the second page.
In the case 3 where the printer engine stops after a pair of the first and second pages are completely printed, the printing function restarts from the fourth page.
In the above cases, the printer engine stops instantly after the paper jam. In the case 1, the paper jam occurs on the fourth page. In case 2, the paper jam occurs on the first page. In case 3, the paper jam occurs on the sixth page.
5. Duplex Printing Mode after Delaying Engine Stop
For example, there may be three cases of the printing sequence.
Case 4: 2xe2x86x92engine errorxe2x86x921xe2x86x92engine stopxe2x86x924xe2x86x926xe2x86x923xe2x86x928xe2x86x925xe2x86x927
Case 5: 2xe2x86x924xe2x86x92engine errorxe2x86x921xe2x86x923xe2x86x92engine stopxe2x86x926xe2x86x928xe2x86x925xe2x86x927
Case 6: 2xe2x86x924xe2x86x921xe2x86x92engine errorxe2x86x923xe2x86x92engine stopxe2x86x924xe2x86x926xe2x86x923xe2x86x928xe2x86x925xe2x86x927
In the case 4, the engine error occurs after the second page is printed, and the printer engine stops after printing the first page paired with the second page on a picked-up sheet.
In the case 5, the engine error occurs after the fourth page is printed, and the printer engine stops after printing the first and third pages paired with the second and fourth pages, respectively.
In the case 6, the engine error occurs after a sheet on which the fourth page is printed is picked up and the first page is printed, and the printer engine stops after printing the third page paired with the fourth page.
In the above cases, when the engine error occurs due to the paper empty or toner empty, the printer engine stops after a next page paired with a previously printed page that has been printed on a picked-up sheet is printed.
As described above, when a duplex loop capacity is greater than 1, the scheduling and determining the printing sequence of the pages to be printed varies in accordance with a state of the video controller, a printer engine, or print data.
However, the conventional duplex printing methods are performed only in a fixed (unchangeable) mode, so the mode cannot be changed between the fast duplex printing mode and the normal duplex printing mode, thereby decreasing efficiency of managing the memory.
In other words, when the scheduler of the controller 12 waits for a next print command to print a next page according to a predetermined order in the fast duplex printing mode according to the conventional duplex printing method, a first side page of a sheet printed in response to a previous printing command must be maintained in a memory until the print data corresponding to a second side page paired with the first side page to print both sides of the sheet in response to the printing command are converted into an image corresponding to the second side page, so the memory cannot be efficiently managed.
In this case, it is necessary to print the first side page for which the printing command has been made as soon as possible in order to securely provide a greater memory area and to thus increase the efficiency of managing the memory for the next page. However, according to the conventional duplex printing methods, since the duplex printing function is performed only in a fixed mode, the efficiency of the memory decreases. As a result, the printing efficiency decreases.
Moreover, according to the conventional duplex printing method, the printer is operated only in the fixed mode even if the error occurs, so the duplex printing function cannot be optimally performed in a variety of circumstances.
To solve the above and other problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a duplex printing method in a printing apparatus having a duplex printing function in which two pages to be printed on both sides of a single sheet are stored in a single queue. An even page is discriminately processed from an odd page in order to variously schedule a printing sequence of the pages to be printed according to circumstances so that an optimal duplex printing function can be performed.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
To achieve the above and other objects according to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a duplex printing method in a printing apparatus having a duplex printing function printing incoming print data on both sides of a print sheet. The duplex printing method includes sequentially converting the incoming data into images in units of a page and storing the images corresponding to respective pages, determining whether there are images of two side pages to be printed on both sides of the single sheet among the images of the pages, if it is determined that there are the images of the two side pages, forming a dual queue including both odd page image related information and even page image related information for the two side pages, variably scheduling a printing sequence of the pages to be printed using the dual queue and performing the duplex printing function, and repeating the above operations until all of the incoming print data is completely received and printed.
According to an aspect of the present invention, in the scheduling of the printing sequence, when the pages to be printed are complex because the pages have a great amount of data or when an image of a page to be printed next is not prepared due to an insufficient memory, another page whose image has been prepared is printed.
According to another aspect of the present invention, in the scheduling of the printing sequence, a fast duplex printing mode or normal duplex printing mode is variably selected according to circumstances, and a page of the dual queue to be printed is determined according to the selected duplex printing mode before performing the duplex printing function.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, in the scheduling of the printing sequence, when the size of a sheet is allowed in the normal mode duplex printing mode only, the page in the dual queue to be printed is determined according to the normal duplex printing mode.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, in the scheduling of the printing sequence, in a case of an error, the printing sequence of the pages to be printed is rescheduled to a new printing sequence to newly print pages which have not been completely printed due to the error before performing the duplex printing function.
According to still yet aspect of the present invention, the duplex printing method further includes determining whether the two even and odd pages related to the dual queue are completely printed, releasing (erasing the pages of the dual queue from) a memory related to the dual queue and repeating the above operation when it is determined that the two pages are completely printed, and scheduling the printing sequence when it is determined that the two pages are not completely printed.
According to also another aspect of the present invention, in the forming of the dual queue, the dual queue includes a dual queue page ID indicating the dual queue including the two pages, even and odd page IDs indicating even and odd pages, respectively, of the dual queue, and even and odd copy values indicating the numbers of copies of the even and odd pages, respectively, of the dual queue.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided another duplex printing method in the printing apparatus having the duplex printing function printing the incoming print data on both sides of the print sheet. The duplex printing method includes sequentially converting the incoming print data into images in units of a page and storing the images corresponding to respective pages, determining whether there are the images of two side pages to be printed on both sides of a single print sheet among the images of the pages, if it is determined that there are the images of the two side pages, forming a dual queue including both odd page image related information and even page image related information for the two side pages, variably scheduling another printing sequence of the side pages to be printed using the dual queue and performing the duplex printing function, determining whether the two even and odd pages related to the dual queue are completely printed, releasing (erasing the side pages from) a memory related to the dual queue when it is determined that the two side pages are completely printed, and performing the scheduling of the printing sequence when it is determined that the two side pages are not completely printed.
The duplex printing method further includes after operations of forming the dual queue, scheduling the printing sequence, determining whether the print data is being received, and performing the converting of the incoming data into images in units of a page when it is determined that the print data is being received, and when it is determined that the print data is not being received, determining whether the printing is completed, ending the duplex printing function when it is determined that the printing is completed, and repeating the scheduling of the printing sequence when it is determined that the printing is not completed.
According to an aspect of the present invention, in the forming of the dual queue, the dual queue includes a dual queue page ID indicating the dual queue including the two side pages, even and odd page IDs indicating even and odd pages, respectively, of the dual queue, and even and odd copy values indicating the numbers of copies of the even and odd pages, respectively, of the dual queue.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the scheduling of the printing sequence includes determining the dual queue each page of which is to be printed according to a predetermined scheduling method, determining whether to print the odd or even page of the dual queue based on the even and odd copy values, determining whether the error has occurred, and repeating the determining of the dual queue when it is determined that an error has occurred, when it is determined that the error has not occurred, determining whether to pick up a new sheet according to the determined odd or even page, printing the determined odd or even page on the newly picked-up print sheet, and reducing the even copy value by one when the determined even page is printed and reducing the odd copy value by one when the determined odd page is printed.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, in the determining of the dual queue, when pages to be printed are complex due to a great amount of data of the pages or when an image of a page to be printed next is not prepared due to the insufficient memory, it is determined that the page whose image has been prepared is printed.
According to yet another aspect to the present invention, in the determining of the dual queue, the fast duplex printing mode or normal duplex printing mode is variably selected according to the circumstances, and the dual queue each page of which is to be printed is determined according to the selected duplex printing mode.
According to still yet aspect to the present invention, in the determining of the dual queue, when the size of a sheet is allowed in the normal mode duplex printing only, the page in the dual queue to be printed is determined according to the normal duplex printing mode.
According to also another aspect to the present invention, when it is determined the error has occurred, in the determining of the dual queue, the even or odd copy value of the page which has not been completely printed due to the error is increased by 1 to newly print the page.
According to also another aspect to the present invention, when only one copy of the even and odd pages is needed, it is determined that the even page is printed when the even copy value is the same as the odd copy value, and it is determined that the odd page is printed when the even copy value is 0 and the odd copy value is 1.
According to also another aspect to the present invention, in a case where at least two copies of the even and odd pages are needed, it is determined that the odd page is printed if (the odd copy valuexe2x88x92even copy value) greater than =2 or the even copy value is 0, otherwise it is determined that the even page is printed.
According to further another aspect to the present invention, in the determining of whether the error has occurred, a first error in which a printer engine instantly stops is discriminated from a second error in which the printer engine stops after the printing function is performed on a sheet already picked up, and in the determining of the dual queue, the printing sequence of pages to be printed is variably determined according to the error.

Duplex printing method of printing apparatus having duplex printing function


Detection of skew in an on-demand database services environment is provided. A request is generated to scan a multitenant database for skew indicated by relationship depth exceeding an expected limit. A database crawler calculates skew for tenant identifier for a particular table in the database. Any skew that is detected is identified for later resolution.

In conventional database systems, users access their data resources in one logical database. A user of such a conventional system typically retrieves data from and stores data on the database using the users own systems. The user system may remotely access one of a plurality of server systems that in turn accesses the database system. Data retrieval from the system generally occurs via the user generating a query from the user system to the database system. Traditional database systems process the query for data requests and send information relevant to the request back to the user system. In implementations with one logical database, issues related to storage and access of user data, as well as allocation of database system resources are handled specific to the user preferences. According to user preferences, there may be assumptions about access or resource use related to the user's access to the database system.
If the assumptions do not match the actual implementation of the database system for data access by the user, performance degradation can easily occur. It is possible for associations of data in the database to consume more system resources than anticipated for the database, which can degrade database access performance.
Descriptions of certain details and implementations follow, including a description of the figures, which may depict some or all of the embodiments described below, as well as discussing other potential embodiments or implementations of the inventive concepts presented herein. An overview of embodiments of the invention is provided below, followed by a more detailed description with reference to the drawings.

Methods and systems for detecting skewed data in a multitenant database environment


An antipilferage tag (10) includes an acoustic resonator chamber (12) which has a membrane (1,2) formed of a layer of magnetostrictive material (2) as well as a system which may incorporate such tags. The system has a generator for generating an alternating magnetic field and a tag capable of interacting with the alternating magnetic field to generate an alarm tone, characterized in that (i) the alarm tone is generated by a tag which includes an acoustic resonator; and (ii) the generator for generating an alternating magnetic field and the tag are so arranged that an audible alarm tone is generated by the tag when it is subjected to the alternating magnetic field.

This invention relates to antipilferage tags and to systems using such tags.
Antipilferage tags or markers are applied to articles of commerce in order to protect them from theft at the point of sale premises. Typically, the tag is a magnetic medium which is deactivated when a shop assistant carries out the routine procedure at the time of effecting a sale. Such deactivation prevents detection of the magnetic tag when it (and the article to which it is attached) passes through a detection system, typically in the form of a walk-through framework which emits an alternating matnetic interrogation field. This field is designed to interact with a tag and to respond by, for example, emitting a warning signal in the event that detection of a non-deactivated tag occurs.
Instead of arranging for the interrogation gate to emit a warning signal in the presence of a tag, an alternative system is to use the tag itself to generate an alarm signal, e.g. a high frequency tone. This can theoretically be achieved if the tag contains the circuitry required to detect the interrogating field and to respond to that field. This approach requires the incorporation of fairly sophisticated technology into what would otherwise be a relatively small and inexpensive article, the end porduct being termed a "smart tag" or an "active tag".

Antipilferage tags having an acoustic resonator chamber