A concrete formwork spreading device includes a tie rod including opposing ends, and a pair of end caps connected to the opposing ends of the tie rod. Each one (1) of the pair of end caps includes a contacting face, wherein the contacting face is flat. Each one (1) of the opposing ends of the tie rod is one (1) of permanently connected or removably connected to an associated one (1) of one (1) pair of end caps. The contacting face of each one (1) of the pair of end caps is spaced apart by a distance, the distance is equal to a thickness of a concrete wall formed using the device. The distance between the contacting face of each one (1) of the pair of end caps is one (1) of fixed or adjustable.

In general, concrete construction often requires a formwork to maintain the specified shape and dimensions of the concrete structure, such as a concrete wall, during the pouring of the concrete. In order to maintain the required shape and specifications, the formwork must be properly reinforced because the weight of the wet, flowable concrete can alter the shape of the walls of the formwork without such proper reinforcing. In certain applications, adequately reinforcing the formwork with external bracing can be expensive due to the cost of the additional materials and labor. Additionally, often there is inadequate space around the forms to provide proper reinforcing and structural support to hold the concrete forms.
To prevent the forms from moving outward away from the concrete, ties are generally used to resist the outward forces of the concrete by pulling the forms inwardly. These ties are generally permanently embedded within the concrete and cannot be removed once the concrete has been set. These types of ties often pose problems when the completed concrete walls are indented to be sealed to prevent water from seeping in or out of the completed concrete wall.
Further, to prevent the concrete formwork from bowing inwardly, the forms must either be externally reinforced or have a spreader installed within the formwork to push outwardly on the formwork. One (1) disadvantage of the current method for spreading the form is that the spreading devices sometimes interfere with the fabrication of the reinforcing structure of the concrete wall. Additionally, spreaders can often pose problems with sealing the concrete wall from leaking water from or into the concrete walls.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a concrete formwork spreader that addressed the disadvantages described above.


The present invention provides a method of producing the composite comprising: a) melt blending the matrix with the fibers to produce a melted composite, b) injecting the melted composite into a mold and allowing the melted composite to solidify and, c) removing at least a portion of the outermost layer of a composite such that the fibers protrude from the surface of the composite. Also provided is composite produced by the methods of the invention comprising soft and hard fibers embedded in a soft rubber-like matrix, wherein the fibers protrude from the composite's surface. In specific embodiments, the composite comprises carbon fibers and poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole) (PBO) fibers in a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) matrix, wherein the fibers protrude from the composite's surface. Slip-resistant product comprising the composite are also provided.

Polymer-based composite materials are a rapidly growing class of materials due to their capacity to demonstrate properties unachievable in monolithic materials. The tailorable structure of this material allows tuning of their properties for a prescribed value via using customized component content, distribution, degree of crystallinity, morphology as well as structure. Owing to this strong tailorability, composite materials are attractive substitutes to monolithic metallic materials in various industries and constitute most commercial engineering components. The recent advent of synthetic composite materials have found an extensive use as tribiological components, including cams, breaks, bearings, because of their superior wear-resistance properties and self-lubrication performance. This is expected, considering the significant economic effect of wear and friction and as a result the extensive production of dry lubricants and plastic bearings. In particular, there has been a recent interest in the use of novel composite materials for footwear outsoles which have been shown to grip ice better than existing conventional materials.
Generally, polymeric materials demonstrate higher coefficient of friction (COF) compared to metallic material contacting hard surfaces (modulus ˜100 GPa). This could be related to the softer nature of this material because of their lower modulus (˜0.1 GPa), that enables them to mold against asperities and pair with hard substrate underneath, thereby ensuring a large contact area as well as adequate mechanical traction. In addition, viscoelastic properties of polymeric materials cause them to exhibit strong hysteresis upon deformation which results in grip being maintained even if the load is reduced or removed. However, traction on ice is far more challenging than a typical solid substrate due to the polar nature of water molecules. Polar water molecules expose disordered dangling hydrogen bonds at the surface that manifest themselves as a quasi-liquid layer, thereby acting as a lubricant and define the dominant mechanism of friction.
Biomimetic surface texturing is a potential solution to improve ice friction properties as evidenced in the setae and spatula structural hierarchy in gecko's feet. The bulges created during the texturing process promote anti-slip surface tension by penetrating to the substrate underneath, yet limit the durability and useful lifetime of the material due to their susceptibility to wear. Synthetic approaches are one of the most commonly used technologies to create surface texturing, in which subtractive process are employed to impart micro-/nanometer-sized structures on material surfaces. Some example of subtractive process include ion beam, photolithography, plasma etching, chemical etching as well as laser surface texturing. The drawback with some of these subtractive processes is their complexity to create compositional heterogeneity across the surface, which limits their application when such feature is desired. Further pre- and post-processing steps are required to create textured surface with different composition as that of the substrate. This makes these process complex in nature and adds the high cost to the final product.
To address these shortcomings, a methodology that utilizes the phenomenon of fiber de-bonding and pullout process to expose the fibrous phase from the matrix surface was developed. Using this method, a textured surface was created without the need for any further post processing utilized by other alternative texturing technologies. This method comprised the following steps: melt blending the matrix material with fibers; injecting the blend into an injection mold which was bar shaped and allowing it to solidify; cutting the solidified bar into strips to expose the embedded fibers inside the matrix and reorienting the cut strips and refusing the strips (see FIG. 12). It was found that Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) composites of carbon fiber and PBO exhibited high Coefficient of Friction (COF) before and after simulated wear, respectively.
However, there is a need in the art for better methods for creating a better combination of slip-resistance and wear resistance properties and products produced from such materials. Moreover, a further simplified method which may be more amendable to being scaled up for industrial manufacturing.
This background information is provided for the purpose of making known information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.

Methods of manufacturing a high friction composite material for footwear


A future event that is likely to occur in a production SDI at a future time is forecasted by analyzing operational data from the production SDI. Using a repository of correlation records, a set of configurations is forecasted likely to change in response to the future event. Corresponding to a configuration from the forecasted set of configurations, an instruction is constructed for a testing SDI. The testing SDI is caused by the instruction to initialize a test VM in the testing SDI, where the test VM is specifically configured to test a change in the configuration from the forecasted set of configurations, and where the test VM is ready to test the change when the future event occurs at the future time.

A data processing environment comprises a variety of hardware, software, and firmware components. A physical network, also called a data plane or an underlay, is a network of physical components where actual networking operations are performed and computational workloads are executed.
Techniques are available presently to construct a logical network, also known as a software defined network (SDN) overlay (hereinafter interchangeably, "SDN" or "overlay"), from the components of an underlay. Essentially, networking components and data processing components are abstracted into corresponding logical or virtual representations, and the abstractions are used to define the SDN. In other words, an SDN is a logical network formed and operated using logical representations of the underlying physical components.
Once the virtualization of compute and storage elements is achieved by SDNs, larger and more complex infrastructures can be built using the underlying virtualized elements. Such infrastructure built in code using elements of SDN combined with large-scale compute and storage functions, such as cloud computing infrastructure, is referred to as a Software Defined Infrastructure (SDI).
In SDI, a workload's configuration is described in terms of functional and non-functional requirements in code. The code description of the workload or workload's configuration resolves into physical and/or virtual resources from whatever type of underlying network might be in use. For example, a configuration change in code in an SDI may cause a virtual server to be configured in the underlying SDN. The provisioning of the underlying resources is abstracted to code in the SDI in this manner.
Software Defined Environment (SDE) refers to operational automation using the SDI or SDN elements as code components. Automated installation and configuration of software and compute or storage resources is a fundamental feature of SDE. As it exists today, SDE features further include cross-domain integration, orchestration and coordination. Cross-domain integration means that deployments are more than just instantiations of Virtual machines (VM, plural VMs). Owing to the SDI underlying the SDE, deployment of a workload in an SDE is encoded as the collection of VMs that makes up the workload. This deployment can include domains like load balancers, application servers as well as database nodes and many other elements all forming a single workload deployment unit. Deploying collections of servers also requires some level of orchestration in order to configure and deploy not just a single VM instance, but many. Also, some of the information needed to complete the orchestration are not known until the workload is being deployed. IP addresses, user credentials as well as other security information such as certificates are generally installed as part of the deployment process. In an SDE, all of these activities are orchestrated, in many instances across VMs.
The various components in an SDI are configured using code. A 'configuration' as used herein refers to code that represents a component in an SDI. Accordingly, the various components in the SDI are managed, modified, and manipulated by performing configuration changes, i.e., code changes.
This code manifestation of SDI components allows automated configuration management systems to manage and operate various components in a given SDI. A configuration management system (CMS) uses a CMS-specific programming language which mimics a conventional higher-level programming language, such as an object oriented programming language or an interpreted programming language. Using such a language, a CMS allows automated methods to create, manage, or modify software-defined components in an SDI. When a change is to be made to a component in the SDI, the CMS facilitates the manipulation of a configuration and deploys a new or modified configuration in the SDI to effectuate the change in the SDI.
A monitoring system (MS) is a tool that monitors or observes the operations and performance of a collection of systems in a data processing environment. An MS can be used with a physical data processing environment or an SDI. When operating with an SDI, the MS observes the operations of the various SDI components, collects performance metrics, detects alarms and events, provides notifications to administration personnel.

Rapid testing of configuration changes in software defined infrastructure

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


The process disclosed relates to the preservation of shellfish products so as to extend their shelf-life. A thermally conductive mixture which forms a liquid barrier upon heating and a gel upon cooling is introduced to the shellfish container for packaging. Specific steps of heating to kill bacteria and other undesirable microorganisms and subsequent rapid cooling are required. Ultimate refrigeration of the packaged product is undertaken for long-term storage. In a second preferred embodiment, the gel-forming mixture is added to the shellfish product in the container to a height of approximately 83% of the can height, a vacuum is applied, and the can is sealed. The sealed can is heated in a retort to kill all microorganisms and to partially cook the shellfish to attain a shellfish product which is shelf stable without requiring refrigeration.

Shellfish, such as crab, shrimp, lobster and the like have a number of unique characteristics. Shellfish meat has a characteristic taste and texture. Shellfish are typically cooked in a manner different than that of other meat or fish products. Shellfish tend to spoil relatively quickly in storage due to the usual presence of spoilage bacteria, such as Listeria monocytogenes. In addition, such microorganisms as infectious Staphylococcus, Salmonella and other potentially pathogenic microorganisms are frequently present.
There have been attempts to improve the storage life of shellfish which have resulted in various degrees of failure. Although freezing deters spoilage, freezing also results in deterioration of shellfish texture and taste. Shellfish meat removed from the shell may be effectively pasteurized, but such method has not been usable on meat in the shell because when done in water, the meat becomes saturated and when done in air, the meat is cooked. Saturated shellfish meat loses both taste and texture due to cell rupture or degradation. Cooking is not desired in this process because the consumer usually wishes to purchase a fresh, uncooked product, or, if the shellfish product is to be purchased after cooking, pasteurization causes overcooking of the already cooked shellfish.
Because of the ineffectiveness of prior attempts to extend shellfish shelf-life known in the industry, the acceptable shelf-life of shellfish in the shell under refrigeration is a maximum of 7-10 days. Storage of shellfish without refrigeration has not been possible. This means that a restaurant or retail store which sells shellfish must obtain fresh supplies of shellfish at least weekly, and must dispose of the older product.
The short shelf-life of in-the-shell shellfish products also requires the consumer to be wary of the possibility of purchasing a shellfish product that is at or near its expiration time and, if the shellfish product is purchased in good time, to use the shellfish fairly quickly. The shelf-life problem is substantially similar whether the shellfish are fresh or cooked.
As used herein, the terms "shellfish" and "shellfish product" are used interchangeably and refer to either the entire shellfish or to the shellfish meat portions removed from the shell.
Therefore, an objective of the invention is to provide a process for extending the shelf-life of shellfish.
An additional objective of the invention is to provide a process which retains the natural flavor and texture of a shellfish product.
A further objective of the invention is to provide a process which is effective with either fresh or cooked shellfish.
These and other objectives of the invention disclosed will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description below is understood.

Process for extending the shelf-life of shellfish products


A system that remotely controls a mobile body includes a guideway (i.e., balanced feeder line) for guiding the mobile body to its destination, and a coupling device provided on the mobile body for transmitting and receiving control information to control movement of the mobile body along the guideway. The coupling device includes a first loop antenna and a second loop antenna that are cross-connected to each other. A distance from the center of the balanced feeder line to the center of the first loop antenna is less than a distance from the center of the balanced feeder line to the center of the second loop antenna. The system can operate with an extremely low power of emission with a weak electric field intensity of a radio wave for controlling the movement of the mobile body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote control system for remotely controlling movement of a mobile body along a guideway.
2. Description of the Related Art
Use of various automated operating machines for laborsaving is prominent in recent years in manufacturing facilities of semiconductor circuits, which require ultraprecision machining, and in factories of various machine parts. Transfer boots, dollies, and other mobile bodies that automatically move to a predetermined destination are used to convey materials for operating machines, processed products, and various machining tools.
Most of these mobile bodies have an antenna (i.e., a coupling device) for noncontact wireless communications through electromagnetic induction coupling between the mobile body and a guideway arranged in a factory or warehouse.
The antenna of the mobile body allows bidirectional communications between the mobile body and a fixed control apparatus. More specifically, various control signals for controlling the mobile body are output by the fixed control apparatus, transmitted via the guideway, and received by the antenna of the mobile body. Also, various radio-frequency waves that have been modulated by a signal of the mobile body are output on the antenna and received by the fixed control apparatus connected to the guideway.
Japanese Patent Application Publication S61-224735 discloses a conventional communications system. The conventional communications system includes: (a) a mobile body having a loop antenna, and (b) a guideway. More specifically, a balanced cable, which serves as the guideway, is arranged on the floor, and the mobile body is slid along the guideway through electromagnetic coupling or electric field coupling established by its loop antenna for communications between the mobile body and a fixed apparatus connected to the guideway.
Japanese Patent Application Publication 2005-045327 discloses a coupling device for communications between a mobile body and a ground-side guideway, where communications are made mainly through inductive magnetic field coupling.
FIG. 12 of the latter document schematically illustrates a conventional remote control system for controlling the mobile body using the coupling device. The guideway 1 may be arranged on a surface of a floor or hung from a ceiling. The guideway 1 is a balanced feeder line with two parallel wires 1a, 1b held and supported by a dielectric material 1c.
Also, the coupling device 2, which serves both as a receiving device and as a transmission antenna, is disposed at a predetermined portion of the transfer dolly 3. The coupling device 2 has one electrostatically shielded loop antenna in a shape of a loop for receiving a radio-frequency wave that goes out of the feeder line 1 and transmitting information from the transfer dolly 3.
In general, the strength of an electromagnetic field given rise to by a wave source can be divided into components that change depending upon a distance R from the wave source to a radio equipment. The components can be schematically classified into a quasi-electrostatic field component (1/R3), that is inversely proportional to the cube of the distance R, an induced electric field component (1/R2), that is inversely proportional to the square of the distance R, and a radiation electromagnetic field component (1/R), that is inversely proportional to the distance R.
As shown in FIG. 13, although the 1/R3 component and the 1/R2 component attenuate rapidly as the distance R becomes larger, the 1/R component can travel a relatively long distance.
The conventional mobile body remote control system shown in FIG. 12 employs inductive magnetic field coupling for communications between the balanced feeder line T and the coupling device 2 that are proximate to each other.


A thermostatic expansion valve includes a valve housing having upper and lower passages. In the lower passage a valve member urged by a spring toward a valve seat of a valve port formed therein is provided. At the top of the housing a driving unit for driving the valve member to open and close the port is attached. The unit has a housing partitioned by a diaphragm into upper and lower pressure operating chambers. A diaphragm driving fluid is filled in the upper chamber, and the lower chamber is connected to a refrigerant circulating pipe between an evaporator pressure regulator and a compressor while the upper passage to the pipe between an evaporator and the regulator and the lower passage to the pipe between the evaporator and an condenser. In the housing a valve member driving rod extends from the diaphragm to the port and crosses the upper passage. The top end of the rod is hermetically fixed to the diaphragm and the lower end abuts the valve member against the spring. In the rod a chamber extends from the top to a portion corresponding to the upper passage and has an opening at the top. Adsorbent or porous member is contained in the chamber. An O-ring is attached to a driving rod penetrating opening of a partition wall between the lower chamber of the unit and the upper passage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermostatic expansion valve, particularly to a thermostatic expansion valve which is suitable to be used, for example in an car air conditioner not only being needed to be small and light but also being subjected to vibration, centrifugal force, acceleration and deceleration, and more particularly to a thermostatic expansion valve which is suitable to be used in combination with an evaporator pressure regulator in the car air conditioner.
2. Description of the Related Art
The thermostatic expansion valve is used in a refrigeration cycle and FIG. 3 schematically shows a structure of a well-known refrigeration cycle. In the well-known refrigeration cycle, a compressor 10, a condenser 12, a reservoir 14, a thermostatic expansion valve 16 and an evaporator 18 are connected to one another in this order by a refrigerant pipe 20. The compressor 10 compresses refrigerant gas flowing into it and send the compressed refrigerant gas to the condenser 12. In the condenser 12, the compressed refrigerant gas is changed into refrigerant liquid because heat is taken off from the compressed refrigerant gas by air blown to the condenser 12 by a fan 22. The refrigerant liquid flown out from the condenser 12 is temporarily stored in the reservoir 14 and then flows into the thermostatic expansion valve 16, by which its pressure are rapidly lowered so that its temperature is also lowered. The refrigerant liquid pressure and temperature of which has been lowered takes heat off from air around the evaporator 18 so that it is gasified in the evaporator 18 and then flows into the compressor 10.
The thermostatic expansion valve 16 has a thermal bulb 16a for its valve member driving unit, and the thermal bulb is in contact with the refrigerant pipe 20 just after a refrigerant outlet of the evaporator 18. Further, an external pressure equalizing pipe 16b extending out from the driving unit to resist gas pressure supplied from the thermal bulb 16a is connected to the refrigerant pipe 20 at a downstream of the thermal bulb 16a.
The driving unit of the thermostatic expansion valve 16 drives a valve member by a pressure difference between a pressure of gas, generated in the thermal bulb 16a to corresponding to the temperature of refrigerant gas flowing just after the refrigerant outlet of the evaporator 18, and a pressure of the refrigerant gas introduced from the refrigerant pipe 20 through the external pressure equalizing pipe 16b. In this way, the thermostatic expansion valve 16 controls the amount of the refrigerant liquid which flows into the evaporator 18. More specifically, the thermostatic expansion valve 16 increases the amount of the refrigerant liquid flowing into the evaporator 18 when heat load in the evaporator 18 is increased so that the gasifying of the refrigerant liquid in the evaporator 18 is promoted and a difference of the temperature of the refrigerant gas flowing out from the refrigerant outlet of the evaporator 18 and an evaporation temperature of the refrigerant liquid in the evaporator 18 (that is, a degree of super heat) becomes large. In contrast thereto, the thermostatic expansion valve 16 decreases the amount of the refrigerant liquid flowing into the evaporator 18 when heat load in the evaporator 18 is decreased so that the gasifying of the refrigerant liquid is not promoted in the evaporator 18 and the temperature of the refrigerant gas flowing out from the refrigerant outlet of the evaporator 18 becomes substantially equal to the evaporation temperature of the refrigerant liquid in the evaporator 18. With such an operation, heat exchange efficiency in the evaporator 18 keeps at the highest level by controlling the amount of the refrigerant liquid flowing into the evaporator 18 on the basis of the magnitude of the heat load in the evaporator 18.
When the heat load applied to the evaporator 18 is small, moisture in the air is sometimes condensed and frosted on an outer surface of the evaporator 18. When the outer surface of the evaporator 18 is frosted, the heat exchange ability of the evaporator 18 is lowered. To prevent this, an evaporator pressure regulator 24 is attached to the refrigerant pipe 20 between the refrigerant outlet of the evaporator 18 and the refrigerant inlet of the compressor 10. The evaporator pressure regulator 24 serves to prevent an evaporation pressure of the refrigerant liquid in the evaporator 18 from becoming lower than a predetermined value so that the evaporation temperature thereof which corresponds to the evaporation pressure is prevented from becoming lower than a predetermined value and the above-mentioned frosting of moisture is prevented. The evaporator pressure regulator 24 is arranged in the refrigerant pipe 20 between the thermal bulb 16 and the pressure equalizing pipe 16b. With this arrangement, when the evaporator pressure regulator 24 closes the refrigerant pipe 20, the pressure difference between the pressure of the gas generated by the thermal bulb 16a which is positioned upstream of the evaporator pressure regulator 24, and the pressure of the refrigerant gas flowing from the external equalizing pipe 16b which is positioned downstream of the evaporator pressure regulator 24, is increased to make the thermostatic expansion valve 16 open. Therefore, the amount of the refrigerant liquid which flows into the evaporator 18 is increased, so that the temperature lowering of the evaporator 18 can be effectively prevented.
The above-described thermostatic expansion valve 16 having the thermal bulb 16a, however, is not suitable to be used in a car air conditioner because the independent thermal bulb 16a is connected to the thermostatic expansion valve 16 through a capillary tube. The thermal bulb 16a with the capillary tube makes the attachment of this thermostatic expansion valve 16 to a predetermined position in the car air conditioner in an assembly line thereof being difficult. In addition, the thermostatic expansion valve 16 is likely to be damaged because cars are susceptible at all times to vibration, centrifugal force, acceleration and deceleration.
In car air conditioners, a thermostatic expansion valve having such an arrangement as shown in FIG. 4 has been widely used. In a valve housing 30 of this thermostatic expansion valve, a first passage 32 and a second passage 34 are formed so as to be separated from each other in a vertical direction. The lower first passage 32 is arranged in a part of the refrigerant pipe 20 which extends from the reservoir 14 located downstream side of the refrigerant outlet of the condenser 12 to the refrigerant inlet of the evaporator 18 and the second passage 34 is arranged in a part of the refrigerant pipe 20 which extends from the refrigerant outlet of the evaporator 18 to the refrigerant inlet of the compressor 10.
A valve port 32a is formed in the first passage 32 to make the refrigerant liquid supplied from the refrigerant outlet of the reservoir 14 perform an adiabatic expansion. A center line of the valve port 32a extends a longitudinal direction of the valve housing 30. A valve seat is formed in an inlet of the valve port 32a, and a valve member 32b is urged toward the valve seat by urging means 32c such as a compression coil spring.
A valve member driving unit 36 is attached to a top of the valve housing 30. The unit 36 has a pressure-operating housing 36d an inner space of which is hermetically partitioned into upper and lower pressure-operating chambers 36b and 36c by a diaphragm 36a.
The lower pressure-operating chamber 36c of the pressure-operating housing 36d is communicated with the second passage 34 through a pressure equalizing opening 36e which is concentric with the center line of the valve hole 32a. A pressure of a refrigerant gas or vapor flowing from the refrigerant outlet of the evaporator 18 into the second passage 34 is applied to the lower pressure-operating chamber 36c through the equalizing opening 36e.
A valve member driving rod 36f is coaxially arranged in the equalizing opening 36e, and extends from a lower surface of the diaphragm 36a to the valve port 32a in the first passage 32. The valve member driving rod 36f is supported freely slidable in the vertical direction by an inner surface of the lower pressure-operating chamber 36c in the pressure-operating housing 36d and by a partition wall between the first and second passages 32, 34, and a lower end of the valve member driving rod 36f contacts the valve member 32b. A sealing member 36g is attached to a portion on an outer peripheral surface of the driving rod 36f, the portion corresponding to the partition wall between the first and second passages 32, 34, to prevent the refrigerant from leaking from the first passage 32 to the second passage 34 and vice versa.
Well-known diaphragm driving fluid is filled in the upper pressure-operating chamber 36b of the pressure-operating housing 36d. To the diaphragm driving fluid, the heat of the refrigerant vapor flowing from the refrigerant outlet of the evaporator 18 into the second passage 34 is transmitted through the diaphragm 36a and the valve member driving rod 36f exposed in the second passage 34 and the equalizing opening 36e communicated with the second passage 34.
The diaphragm driving fluid in the upper pressure-operating chamber 36b is gasified in response to the heat transmitted thereto and applies its pressure to an upper surface of the diaphragm 36a. The diaphragm 36a deflects in the vertical direction by a pressure difference between the pressure of the gas of the diaphragm driving fluid applied to the upper surface of the diaphragm 36a and a pressure applied to the lower surface of the diaphragm 36a. The pressure applied to the lower surface of the diaphragm 36a is a total of the pressure of the refrigerant vapor flowing from the refrigerant outlet of the evaporator 18 into the second passage 34, and an urging force of the urging means 32c applied to the valve member 32b in the first passage 32.
A displacement movement of the diaphragm 36a in the vertical direction is transmitted to the valve member 32b through the valve member driving rod 36f to make the valve member 32b approach or move away from the valve seat in the valve port 32a.
In this conventional thermal expansion valve, when the heat load in the evaporator 18 is increased and the degree of superheat (difference between a temperature of the refrigerant vapor and an evaporation temperature in the evaporator 18) of the refrigerant vapor flowing from the refrigerant outlet of the evaporator 18 into the second passage 34 is raised, the pressure difference increases in response to the rise of the degree of superheat so that the center portion of the diaphragm 36a is moved downward to move the valve member 32b away from the valve seat by the valve member driving rod 36f.
When the heat load in the evaporator 18 is decreased and the degree of superheat is lowered, the center portion of the diaphragm 36a is moved upward to allow the valve member 32b approach or sit on the valve seat by the urging force of the urging means 32c.
The conventional thermostatic expansion valve shown in FIG. 4, however, is not suitable to be used with the evaporator pressure regulator. The reason is as follows. If the evaporator pressure regulator is arranged in the refrigerant pipe 20 between the outlet of the second passage 34 of the thermostatic expansion valve and the refrigerant inlet of the compressor 10 as shown in the conventional example of FIG. 3, the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant vapor in the evaporator 18 can be prevented from lowering when the evaporation pressure of the refrigerant in the evaporator 18 is lowered to a predetermined value and the evaporator pressure regulator 24 is closed. Therefore, the pressure of the refrigerant vapor in the lower pressure-operating chamber 36c which corresponds to the pressure of the refrigerant vapor in the evaporator 18, and the pressure of the diaphragm driving gas in the upper pressure-operating chamber 36b which corresponds also to the temperature of the refrigerant vapor in the evaporator 18 are prevented at the same time from lowering, so that the difference of these both pressures is kept unchanged. The distance of the valve member 32b relative to the valve seat in the valve port 32a, therefore, is not changed greatly from that at the time when the evaporator pressure regulator starts its operation. This means that the amount of the refrigerant liquid flowing into the refrigerant inlet of the evaporator 18 through the valve port 32a is not changed greatly from that at the time when the evaporator pressure regulator starts its operation. Therefore, the temperature of the evaporator 18 cannot be rapidly prevented from lowering, and the frosting on the outer surface of the evaporator 18 cannot be effectively prevented.
A thermostatic expansion valve which is compact like as that shown in FIG. 4 of this application and can be used with the evaporator pressure regulator, is disclosed in FIG. 2 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,939 issued to Thornbery et al. In the thermostatic expansion valve, a valve member driving rod which extends from a diaphragm in a pressure-operating housing of a valve member driving unit on a top end of a valve housing to a valve member in a first lower passage and crosses a second upper passage, is hollow. This hollow portion in the valve member driving rod is closed at a bottom end thereof but opened at a top end thereof to communicate with an upper pressure-operating chamber in the pressure-operating housing.
Further, in the thermostatic expansion valve in FIG. 2 of the above described U.S. patent of Thornbery et al., a lower pressure-operating chamber in the pressure-operating housing is communicated with a refrigerant pipe through a pressure equalizing opening in downstream of an evaporator pressure regulator connected to an outlet of the second passage. In addition, a valve member driving rod penetrating opening which is formed in a partition wall between the lower pressure-operating chamber and the second passage is sealed by a combination of urging means and a sealing member both of which are arranged in the lower pressure-operating chamber.


A rotary compressor has a compression mechanism including main and sub bearings closing the ends of a cylinder bore and supporting a crankshaft having an eccentric portion on which a rolling piston positioned in the cylinder bore is rotatably mounted. Oil grooves are formed in the shaft holes of the bearings to receive lubrication oil from spaces defined by the rolling piston, the crankshaft eccentric portion and the main and sub bearings. The eccentric portion and the sub bearing are sized and shaped such that the oil groove in the sub bearing is always prevented from opening to the space adjacent thereto. The drawing force generated in the oil groove in the sub bearing by the rotation of a balancer attached to the lower end of the crankshaft is thereby prevented from acting on the space, thereby avoiding cavitation abrasion of the members facing the spaces.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to rotary compressors and, more particularly, to a rotary compressor which is designed as a sealed casing type for use in air conditoners, and which has improved durability in a high speed operation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art related to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 7 to 14.
In a rotary compressor shown in FIG. 7, an electric motor 1 and a compression mechanism 2 are housed in a sealed casing 14 and connected together by a crankshaft 10.
The electric motor 1 is housed in an upper portion of the internal space of the sealed casing 14. The electric motor 1 has a rotor la and a stator 1b. The crankshaft 10 is fitted into and fixed to the rotor 1a to drive the compression mechanism 2.
The compression mechanism 2 has a cylinder block 3 fixed to the sealed casing 14, a rolling piston 4 rotatably mounted on an eccentric portion 10a of the crankshaft 10 positioned in a cylinder bore 3a formed in the cylinder block 3, a vane 5 reciprocally movable following the revolution of the rolling piston 4, main and sub bearings 6 and 7 which close the cylinder bore 3a at the upper and lower ends thereof, respectively, and which support the crankshaft 10, a discharge valve 9 provided on the sub bearing 7, and a cover for the discharge valve 9.
As balancing weights (hereinafter referred to as "balancers") for cancelling the force produced by the eccentric rotation of the rolling piston 4, balancers 11-1, 11-2, and 11-3 are provided. The balancer 11-1 is attached to the end portion of the crankshaft 10 adjacent to the sub bearing 7, and the second and third balancers 11-2 and 11-3 are attached to the lower end and the upper end of the rotor 1a, respectively. A cover 12 is provided for the first balancer 11-1.
FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the compression mechanism 2.
A longitudinal hole 21 is formed in the crankshaft 10 to enable lubrication oil 13 reservoired at the bottom of the internal space 14a of the sealed casing 14 to be supplied to the sliding members through an oiling piece 20. Small lateral holes 22-1, 22-2, and 22-3 are also formed in the crankshaft 10 so as to communicate with the longitudinal hole 21, thereby enabling the oil to be supplied to oil grooves 23-2 and 23-1 respectively formed in the inner circumferential surfaces of the main and sub bearings 6 and 7.
In the structure of the conventional compression mechanism, as shown in FIG. 9 which is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IX--IX in FIG. 8, a gap 26 is formed between a shaft hole 25 of the sub bearing 7 and a thrust surface 24 of the crankshaft 10 because the thrust surface 24 is eccentric with respect to the shaft hole 25.
This type of structure is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. 59-107984.
In the above-described prior art, the changes caused by the rotation of the first balancer 11-1 in the pressures in spaces 26-1 and 26-2 defined between the rolling piston 4, the eccentric portion 10a of the crankshaft 10 and the sub and main bearings 7 and 6 were not taken into consideration. The conventional mechanism will be described below in more detail with respect to this point.
FIGS. 11A to 11D show the movement of the gap 26 shown in FIG. 9 caused by the rotation of the crankshaft 10. Hatchings in FIGS. 11A to 11D indicate the thrust surface 24.
In the position shown in FIG. 11A, the thrust surface 24 does not cover the oil groove 23-1 at all. In the position shown in FIG. 11A, the crankshaft 10 is rotated clockwise to cause the thrust surface 24 to start covering the oil groove 23-1. In the position shown in FIG. 11C, the thrust surface 24 completely covers the oil groove 23-1. In the position shown in FIG. 11D, the thrust bearing 24 starts opening the oil groove 23-1.
FIG. 12 shows changes in the area (opening) of the oil groove 23-1 not covered with the thrust surface 24 during one revolution of the crankshaft 10. As can be understood from FIG. 12, the oil groove 23-1 is opened and closed one time during one revolution of the crankshaft 10 and this cycle is repeated.
FIG. 13A shows changes in the pressure in the space 26-1 shown in FIG. 8 during one revolution of the crankshaft 10 in a low speed operation, while FIG. 13B shows changes in the pressure in the same space during one crankshaft revolution in a high speed operation. In the low speed operation, as shown in FIG. 13A, the pressure variation .DELTA.P.sub.Q1 is comparatively small. In the high speed operation, as shown in FIG. 13B, the pressure variation .DELTA.P.sub.Q2 is substantially large.
The reason will be explained below with reference to FIG. 10. As the crankshaft 10 rotates, the first balancer 11-1 acts as a centrifugal pumping to move the lubrication oil 13 in the cover 12 in the directions of arrows A. By this movement, the lubrication oil in the spacer 26-1 is drawn downward through the oil groove 23-1 by the first balancer 11-1 as indicated by arrows B in FIG. 10 when the thrust surface 24 opens the oil groove 23-1 as shown in FIG. 11A and 11B. The lubrication oil in the spacer 26-1 is not drawn by the first balancer 11-1 when the thrust surface 24 closes the oil groove 23-1 as shown in FIG. 11C and 11D. Consequently, each time when the oil groove 23-a is opened by the thrust surface 24, the lubrication oil flows in the space 26-1. As the rotational speed of the crankshaft 10 is increased to a speed of about 8000 rpm or higher, the drawing force of the first balancer 11-1 abruptly increases. Accordingly, the pressure variation .DELTA.P.sub.Q2 increases relative to the pressure variation .DELTA.P.sub.Q1 exhibited during low speed operation.
As the pressure in the space 26-1 is repeatedly greatly changed alternating stresses are caused in the members which define the space 26-1, resulting in the occurrence of a phenomenon i.e., cavitation abrasions in which the materials of the members are partially removed. A surface 28 of the sub bearing 7 facing the space 26-1 was damaged by cavitation abrasion. This surface 28 was observed with an electron microscope. Striation patterns peculiar to fatigue failure were found in the inner surface of a recess formed by the removal of the material. The occurrence of cavitation abrasion was also observed in a surface 29 of the main bearing 6 which faces the space 26-2.
The main bearing 6 is formed of graphite flake cast iron while the sub bearing 7 is formed of sintered iron alloy. The occurrence of cavitation abrasion in the surface of the main bearing 6 indicates that the variation in the pressure in the space 26-2 on the side of the main bearing 6 is substantially large. It is thought that the variation in the pressure in the space 26-1 adjacent to the sub bearing 7 influences the pressure in the space 26-2 adjacent to the main bearing 6 through the oil groove 23-3.
As described above, the conventional compressor structure is deigned without any consideration of pressure variations caused by the operation and therefore entails a problem in terms of durability during a high speed operation.


The invention relates to a heating element for a room in a building having a flat support which includes carbon nanotubes and a plurality of contacts, wherein the carbon nanotubes can be excited to infrared emission by connecting an electrical voltage to the contacts. The invention further relates to a method for producing such heating element, the support thereof being attached to a wall of the room. In order to simplify the heating element, according to the invention the support includes a flexible textile material in which the contacts are embedded and to which the carbon nanotubes are applied in an aqueous dispersion and the water is evaporated.

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are very small carbon tubes which conduct an electrical current when a voltage is applied wherein their conductivity significantly exceeds a conductivity of copper. When current passes through the CNT are energetically excited and emit thermal radiation in a far infrared range with an energetic efficiency of over 95% when falling back to their original condition. CNT are thus particularly suited for heating rooms since humans react quite well to this type of heat radiation.
DE 20 2010 009 208 U1 discloses a room of the general type recited supra with a CNT based heating element configured as a paintable wall paper.
In order to produce a CNT based heating element DE20 2011 001 126 U1 proposes to provide the carbon nanotubes in an emulsion of an evaporating solvent with a curing plastic material directly onto an accordingly prepared wall of the room as a flat carrier and to optionally provide the carbon nanotubes on the room side with a textile reinforcement to protect them against abrasion.
CNT based heating elements with a separate flat carrier which includes carbon nanotubes and a plurality of contacts wherein the carbon nanotubes are excitable to provide infrared emissions by applying an electric voltage to the contacts are furthermore known from DE 10 2009 008 967 B4, DE 10 2009 034 306 A1, DE 20 2006 007 228 U1, DE 20 2007 014 328 U1, DE 20 2005 014 678 U1, DE 20 2008 007 815 U1, DE 20 2009 000 136 U1 and WO 2007/089118 A1. The carriers of these CNT based heating elements are rigid so that the heating elements can be mounted as separate components in front of a wall of a building.

Heating element and method for producing a heating element


An application control device according to an embodiment of the present invention has an acquisition unit that acquires image data of a skin; a division unit that divides the image data into a plurality of segments each smaller than or equal to 200 μm; and a calculation unit that calculates, from a value of one or a plurality of segments of the image data, an application amount of a cosmetic material to be applied to each portion of the skin.

Natural makeup is one of the attractive makeup methods to give a finish leaving a texture like a bare skin, which is supported by many women of all ages. The basic technique of natural makeup is to apply a thin layer of foundation. Since aging causes age spots, freckles and color unevenness, however, natural makeup becomes difficult with aging.
Accordingly, a method that uses a high-concealable concealer or applies more foundation to a portion having an age spot or a freckle, or the like is used.
However, applying a cosmetic material such as concealer or foundation to only a specific portion of the skin such as a portion of an age spot is of a very difficult scheme, which is problematic because such technique is extremely difficult for general users. Because a cosmetic material such as concealer or foundation is applied on the skin directly or by using a makeup tool such as a brush or a sponge or using a finger, the boundary between an applied region and a non-applied region becomes unnatural and noticeable. Accordingly, to eliminate the unnaturalness of such a boundary, a method in which the application amount of the cosmetic material is gradually reduced across the boundary between an age spot and a bright region (a region without an age spot) is widely used. However, when the applying cosmetic material is spread thinly, the concealing capability at a position to be concealed may become insufficient, and on the contrary, when many layers of the cosmetic material are applied on the age spot, an excessive amount of the cosmetic material may also be applied to the surrounding bright region of the bare skin in which the application is not necessary.
Therefore, while there is a high demand for natural makeup, significantly high application accuracy and much time to perform an accurate application process are required to eliminate unnaturalness of the boundary between a region where the cosmetic material is applied and a region where the cosmetic material is not applied and finish the makeup beautifully, and it is therefore problematic that it is very difficult for general users to do natural makeup on a daily basis.
Further, in addition to an age spot or a freckle, when a cosmetic material is applied to conceal any local difference in brightness on the skin, for example, such as a white spot at which a portion of the skin becomes whiter compared to the periphery, there is the same problem as in the case of an age spot or a freckle.
To address such problems, Patent Literature 1 discloses a method in which an applying object is formed on a skin or a lip so as to have an optical property closer to the optical property of a predetermined location which is closer to the predetermined location and substantially eliminate the boundary to provide natural impression. Further, Patent Literature 1 discloses that the applying object can be formed by using an ink-jet scheme.

Application control device, application control method, program and storage medium that naturally conceal a local difference in brightness on skin


A head wearable device includes a headpiece, a housing attached to the headpiece, a luminaire attached to the headpiece, the luminaire including a luminaire housing and at least one light source located within the luminaire housing, a duct system connecting the luminaire to the housing, a ball joint rotatably connecting the duct system to the luminaire, and an air moving device configured to induce a cooling air flow through an inlet in the luminaire housing, through the heatsink, through the ball joint, through the duct system, and out of an exhaust in the housing attached to of the headpiece.

Existing surgical headlights require a significant amount of light to provide sufficient illumination for the surgeon during a typical case. Surgical headlights are also preferably lightweight so that neck and head fatigue of the surgeon is minimized. LEDs are semiconductor devices that emit light by application of electrical power (watts). LEDs are a feasible light source for a surgical headlight luminaire. However, the problem is that LEDs generate heat. One of the major challenges LEDs pose in many applications is removing the heat from the LED. Excess heat must be removed so that the semiconductor junction temperature does not exceed recommended maximum temperature. In addition, as the junction temperature of the LED rises, the efficiency also drops. LED light output is limited by its maximum heat junction temperature, so to increase light output without damaging the LED or reducing its operating efficiency, heat must be transferred quickly and efficiently.
There remains a need for LED surgical headlights which allow efficient transfer of heat energy from the LED so that the LED is sufficiently cooled and retains its light output performance and reliability.
Furthermore, surgical headlights are worn by healthcare professionals to provide illumination to aid visualization during surgical, diagnostic, or therapeutic procedures. Headlight devices typically include a headband, a luminaire, and other components and accessories, which could cause discomfort or neck and head fatigue in the wearer, particularly when worn in a long procedure. Thus, there remains a need for surgical headlight devices and systems that provide enhanced comfort when worn by a wearer (e.g., a surgeon) for an extended period of time.


As disclosed herein, a new and improved method and apparatus provide for fine tuning the position of a servomotor used to drive a transducer mounted on an ultrasound probe to a desired position. This improvement is accomplished by processing the analog quadrature output signals of an incremental optical encoder, coupled to the servomotor. The improvement uses the positional information derived from the analog quadrature output signals. The analog quadrature output signals, defined as sine and cosine, are converted to digital square waves. The digital square waves are decoded to produce digital position quadrants, wherein each quadrant represents a specific motor position. The corresponding digital square waves are also decoded by a logic array device and coupled to the select input of an analog switch. The analog quadrature output signals are also coupled to an analog device that converts the output signals to four phase shifted sinusoidal wave forms, having a linear portion within a digital position quadrant. The select signals from the logic array device select one of the four phase shifted wave forms. The output of the analog switch is then compared to a reference signal. The resulting output from the comparison is an analog error signal. This analog error signal forces the motor towards the zero crossing within a digital position quadrant.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a position control loop using a servomotor to control the movement of a transducer in mechanically scanning probes, and more specifically, to a method of using an analog quadrature output of an incremental optical encoder to precisely servo the motor at a given command position.
2. Description of Related Art
In a conventional position control loop, the motor position is compared with a requested position. The comparison or difference between the two positions is used to create a position error signal. The magnitude and polarity of this position error signal is then used to drive the motor towards the commanded input, thus, reducing the position error signal to zero. In this manner, the motor is directed to a specific position.
The motor position can be sensed in a number of different ways, yielding either an analog or a digital output signal representative of the motor position. Typically, a standard servomotor produces a single output signal from the shaft encoder. The output signal is generally in the shape of signal pulses or steps. When the operator commands the servomotor to move to a specific position, for example a position defined by 3000 counts, an up/down counter counts out 3000 pulses. The output of the up/down counter is compared to the count representing the present position of the motor and the counter causes the motor to move up or down depending on the present position of the motor. Theoretically, the motor stops when the counter reaches a count of 3000.
However, the momentum of the motor may cause the motor to move beyond the requested position, for example to a count of 3003. The present motor position is then compared with the requested position and the motor is directed to move in the appropriate direction.
For example, if the difference between the requested position and the present position of the motor is a positive difference, the motor is directed to move in the forward direction. On the other hand, if the difference between the two positions results in a negative difference, the motor will move backwards. As a result, the accuracy of the position of the motor is controlled by the resolution of the shaft encoder.
To improve the accuracy of the position of the motor, an incremental optical encoder with analog quadrature (sine and cosine) output signals is used to sense motor positions. By overdriving a comparator and limiting the output of the comparator, the analog output signals are converted to square waves. The quadrature square waves are then decoded into "quadrants" by any number of well-known prior art circuits to produce a digital counter representing absolute motor position. These quadrature signals are referenced to an index signal that is also converted to a square wave. The digital motor position is then compared to the digital input command signal to produce a digital position error signal.
It is advantageous to use an incremental optical encoder for this application, since no encoder calibration is required. Furthermore, the outputs of the encoder are compensated and result in repeatable motor position outputs, in addition to improving the resolution of the motor position. However, since the position signal is digital, the maximum resolution of the motor position obtainable is determined by the width of one "quadrant."
However, the maximum resolution of a single quadrant width gives rise to an inherent disadvantage of using an incremental optical encoder. When the motor stops and remains within the quadrant defining the requested position, external forces on the motor do not cause a position control loop to generate any position error signals. However, when the motor moves across a boundary as defined by combinations of rising edges and/or falling edges, that is, from one quadrant to the next higher or lower quadrant, an error signal is generated. This error signal forces the motor back into the proper quadrant.
As the motor is forced back into the proper quadrant, it may overshoot into the lower adjacent quadrant, that is, in the other direction. Again, an error signal of the proper polarity is generated, forcing the motor back into the proper quadrant where it again may overshoot. This repetitive overshooting in either direction causes "dithering" of the motor between adjacent boundaries of the desired quadrant. This dithering can be a contributing source of error in ultrasound measurements, particularly when the transducer of an ultrasound sensing probe is operating in Doppler mode or M-Mode.
Therefore, what is needed is a method of generating a motor position signal within the desired digital quadrant position itself. This method of generating a position signal will precisely locate the servomotor in the middle of the quadrant when the motor is requested to stop at a given quadrant position.

Method and apparatus of fine tuning the position of an ultrasonic sensor probe using analog motor position signals


An automatic classifying system in a dining environment includes a picture uploading module implemented in an electronic device for transmitting a set of pictures via the Internet, and a server for directly or indirectly receiving the set of pictures. The server has a picture analysis module for classifying one of the pictures according to at least two classifications and generating an analysis result to a web-platform system so as to display the picture and the analysis result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a picture classifying system and, more particularly, to an automatic picture classifying system in a dining environment.
2. Description of Related Art
With development of portable devices, Internet is getting more and more important to the life of human beings. Food and beverage (F&B) weblogs on the Internet have become one way of knowing restaurants in everyday life. Thus, it is frequently seen that people take pictures in a restaurant and upload it to the blog for sharing the contents of the restaurant with others. However, such an operation mode needs a user to manually classify the pictures and, in case of a large number of pictures photographed by the user at one time, the classifying behavior wastes lots of time and thus is inconvenient and likely to encounter a classification mistake. Furthermore, the restaurant's information cannot be known immediately by others at such an operation mode, and instead a search is required for finding the blog, which also leads to an inconvenience.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an automatic classifying system with a rapid and automatic classification to a user and with a more convenient interface to others for easily obtaining a restaurant's information provided by the user, so as to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.

Automatic picture classifying system and method in a dining environment


A high-strength martensitic stainless steel excellent in corrosion resistance and stress corrosion cracking resistance, the composition of which comprises: under 0.03% carbon, 1% or less silicon, 2.3-7.0% manganese, 8-14% chromium, 0.005-0.2% aluminum, 0.005-0.15% nitrogen, and the balance of iron except incidental elements. The stainless steel can contain nickel, molybdenum, tungsten, copper, vanadium, titanium, niobium, zirconium, tanatalum, hafnium, calcium and rare earth elements under the fixed conditions in addition to the above elements. Heat treatment of the stainless steel comprises: the step of austenitizing at temperatures of 920.degree. C. to 1,100.degree. C., the step of cooling at a cooling rate equal to or higher than the air cooling rate, the step of tempering at temperatures between 580.degree. C. and A.sub.cl point, and the step of cooling at a cooling rate equal to or higher than the air cooling rate.

This invention relates to high-strength martensitic stainless steels that are excellent in corrosion resistance, stress corrosion crackin resistance and to a method of heat treatment of the steels. More particularly it relates to high-strength steels that have high corrosion resistance and cracking resistance in environments containing wet carbon dioxide and wet hydrogen sulfide, for example, in well drilling for and transportation and storage of petroleum and natural gas, and to a method of heat treatment of the steels.
Petroleum and natural gas produced recently contain much wet carbon dioxide in increasingly many cases. It is well known that carbon steels and low-alloy steels corrode greatly in these environments. For this reason, corrosion inhibitors have so far been added to prevent the corrosion of casings and tubings, which are called as Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) in general, used for production of petroleum and/or natural gas and of steel line pipe used for transportation. However, corrosion inhibitors often lose their effects at high temperature and besides the cost required for the addition and recovery of corrosion inhibitors is immense in off-shore oil wells and submarine pipelines; therefore, corrosion inhibitors cannot be used in many cases. For this reason, the necessity of corrosion-resistant materials that do not require the addition of corrosion inhibitors has recently become very great.
The application of stainless steels with good corrosion resistance was first examined as corrosion-resistant materials for petroleum and natural gas containing much carbon dioxide. For example, as in L. J. Klein, Corrosion/'84, Paper No. 211, martensitic stainless steels containing 12 to 13% chromium, such as AISI type 410 and 420 steels, began to be used widely as steels that have high strength and are produced at relatively low costs. These steels, however, have the disadvantage that they do not show satisfactory corrosion resistance and exhibit large corrosion rates at elevated temperature of more than 130.degree. C., for example, or at high concentrations of C1.sup.- ions even in an environment of wet carbon dioxide. These steels have another disadvantage that when petroleum and natural gas contain hydrogen sulfide, their corrosion resistance deteriorates greatly, thus causing general corrosion and localized corrosion, and further even stress corrosion cracking (in this case, sulfide stress cracking, hereinafter referred to as SSC). Therefore, the use of the above martensitic stainless steels has so far been limited to a case where the environment contains an ultratrace amount of H.sub.2 S, for example, the partial pressure of H.sub.2 S is not more than 0.001 atm or the environment does not contain H.sub.2 S in the least.
The steels described in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Nos. 60-174859 and 62-54063, for example, have been proposed as martensitic stainless steels in which the resistance to the cracking by hydrogen sulfide is improved. However, the cracking by hydrogen sulfide is not completely prevented in these steels. In addition, these steels have the disadvantage that the cost is high because nickel, which is an expensive alloying element, is used in large quantities.

Martensitic stainless steels excellent in corrosion resistance and stress corrosion cracking resistance and method of heat treatment of the steels


A system enables a single WiFi access point to localize clients to within tens of centimeters. Such a system can bring indoor positioning to homes and small businesses which typically have a single access point. A key enabler underlying the system is a novel algorithm that can compute sub-nanosecond time of flight using commodity WiFi cards. By multiplying the time of flight with the speed of light, a Wifi access point computes the distance between each of its antennas and the client, hence localizing it. An implementation on commodity WiFi cards demonstrates that the system's accuracy is comparable to state-of-the-art localization systems, which use four or five access points.

This application relates to estimation of radio frequency propagation time ("time of flight") between radio transceivers, and more particularly relates to sub-decimeter range estimation between two wireless local area network ("WiFi") transceivers.
Radio frequency transmissions propagate at approximately 3×108 meters per second. Therefore, in order to use a propagation time to estimate a propagation distance to an accuracy of 0.1 meters (a decimeter), the time must be known to an accuracy of greater than 0.3 nanoseconds. That is, sub-nanosecond accuracy is necessary for such an approach to distance estimation.
Prior approaches have been presented to resolve time of flight to approximately 10 nanoseconds using the clocks of WiFi cards or other related methods. However, the accuracy of such approaches is insufficient for decimeter range accuracy.
One use of propagation time or distance estimation is localization. Others have attempted to use WiFi transceivers for sub-meter accuracy of localization. However, such prior approaches have not directly measured propagation time or distance between transceivers. For example, multiple reference transceivers are needed to infer a location of a target transceiver using differences in propagation time between different reference transceivers and a transceiver at an unknown location, rather than absolute propagation times, may be used to infer a location of a target transceiver. For example, such differences in propagation time may be used to determine direction of arrival, which in turn is used to determine the target location by triangulation.
State-of-the-art systems may achieve an accuracy of tens of centimeters, even using commodity WiFi chipsets. Such systems generally target enterprise networks, where multiple WiFi access points can combine their information and cooperate together to locate a target device. However, the vast majority of homes and small businesses today have a single WiFi access point and therefore such multiple-access-point approaches are not applicable.
There exist non-WiFi systems that can accurately measure the absolute time of flight, and hence localize using a single receiver. Such systems generally use specialized ultra wideband radios that span multiple giga-Hertz. Because time resolution is inversely related to the radio bandwidth, such devices can measure time of flight at sub-nanosecond accuracy, and hence localize an object to within tens of centimeters. In contrast, directly measuring time with a 20 or 40 mega-Hertz bandwidth equivalent to a WiFi radio transmission would result in errors of 7 to 15 meters using such techniques.
Prior work has failed to recognize and/or provide effective solutions to overcome effects that make it difficult to make accurate over-the-air propagation time estimates between two WiFi transceivers. These effects include:                Limited transmission bandwidth        Carrier frequency offset between transceivers        Unknown packet detection delay at receivers        Sampling frequency offset between transceivers        Multiple propagation paths between transceivers
There is a need to improve available technology for distance estimation, and in particular to overcome one or more of these effects to achieve improved time and/or distance accuracy.


The invention relates to seismic imaging where complex geologies are likely to create data that is confusing or ambiguous for a conventional matrix of source points and receiver locations. With some understanding of the geological substructure, the source points and receiver locations that optimize the imaging may be found by using two-way wave equation propagation coupled with a quality geologic model. With this, the source points and receiver locations that optimize the imaging may be selected and used to better resolve the substructure and avoid the inclusion of data that obscures understanding of the substructure.

In the process of exploring for hydrocarbons, there are many types of formations that are known for trapping hydrocarbons. It is not uncommon that formations for trapping hydrocarbons are beneath complex geologic structures. Complex geologic structures may only be complex in that it is difficult to resolve the complex structure using seismic imaging or difficult to resolve what is beneath the complex structure using seismic surveying, or both. A simple structure that is complex from a seismic imaging standpoint is one that has gas in it. Gas attenuates compressive waves and, to the extent any compression waves are reflected back to the surface, they are noisy and essentially undecipherable. Big gas deposits may actually create seismic "black holes" hiding or obscuring large areas that could hold significant hydrocarbon deposits.
Salt domes, especially where there are large overhangs, are an example of other relatively simple structures that create complex seismic images. The overhangs caused by iso-static forces at the sides of salt domes tend to be very interesting to hydrocarbon producers because the up-thrust of a salt dome tends to seal the adjacent formations that are lifted above their surrounding plane. Substantial amounts of hydrocarbons may end up trapped at the interface of a salt dome and a hydrocarbon bearing formation, especially where the interface is under the overhang of a mushroom-shaped salt dome. The overhang may take the shape of a mushroom or an anvil or a curling wave in the ocean. Since compression waves travel relatively slow through rock, but comparatively fast through salt, seismic energy that has passed through a salt formation, especially a salt formation with an irregular or complicated shape appears scattered in ways that are not easily resolvable into a coherent image.
Ray tracing techniques have been tried, unfortunately simple ray tracing techniques cannot adequately image the data without severe errors in propagation. Techniques based on one-way wave equation (usually called wave equation in convention) (e.g., Xu, S. and Jin, S., 2005) have inherent problem/limitation in amplitude/energy accuracy and in wide-angle travel time accuracy of the wave propagation especially in models with sharp velocity contrast, e.g. the sediment-salt interface.
Conventional techniques of survey modeling and survey design are not particularly well suited for complex geological situations or for the problems mentioned above. Conventional techniques are primarily ray trace modeling that envisions the seismic energy assuming a straight line path through the earth and reflecting to the seismic receivers. The problem is that the ray trace methods assume that the rays are traveling through homogenous media and reflect or refract at the bed interfaces. Ray trace modeling follows direct lines and does not handle compaction curves cleanly. Ray tracing also does not handle anisotropy well and does not allow accurate representation of dispersion. The advantage of ray trace methods is that they are relatively simple and may provide a coherent image of complex geologic structures. However, full wave equation modeling is far more accurate in its portrayal of seismic energy, and could provide far more accurate images, but computer resources and coding has heretofore been unavailable for reasonably sized acquisition or imaging modeling projects.

Two-way wave equation targeted data selection for improved imaging of prospects among complex geologic structures


Described are systems and methods notifying a recipient of use of a communications device. A communications device is configured to include a parameter that indicates a condition for generating a notification. A state of the communications device is determined. The state of the communications device and the condition are compared. The notification is provided from the communications device to the recipient in response to the comparison.

Communications devices such as cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop computers, and the like, are becoming increasingly popular, especially as mobile computing technologies continue to advance. Many communications devices such as mobile devices are sufficiently small to allow users to carry them in their pockets or purses when not in use. However, small mobile devices are prone to loss or theft.
Many hotels, resorts, cruise ships, and other travel destinations loan mobile devices, for example, mobile phones, as a service offering to guests during their stay. It is not uncommon for guests to take hotel property with them when leaving the premises, especially small items such as towels, bathrobes, television remotes, etc. Mobile phones are particularly vulnerable to theft or loss due to their size and value. This is commonly referred to in the hospitality industry as a "walk-away." The time and expense associated with recovering or replacing walk-away mobile phones can be considerable.
To address this issue, hotels typically require a deposit, which is retained if the mobile phone is not returned. Deposits are generally insufficient in recovering the full cost of the lost or stolen phone.
Electronic devices can be attached to a mobile phone to activate an alarm when a guest leaves the premises with the mobile device. Alternatively, a mobile device can be rendered nonfunctional by disabling service to the device's network provider if a walk-away occurs. These approaches can lead to guest frustration. For example, a guest may inadvertently leave the hotel property with her borrowed mobile phone, and not realize her error until she is a considerable distance from the hotel. These approaches may also be ineffective in recovering borrowed mobile phones. For example, it is often difficult for the hotel to locate a guest with a walk-away mobile phone after the phone has been disabled.
Reference will now be made to exemplary embodiments illustrated, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended.

Systems and methods for notification of mobile communications device use


A plant shelter (10) is provided which surrounds a plant (P) and provides a microclimate (M) surrounding the plant (P) for enhanced growth of the plant (P). The plant shelter (10) is formed from a film (20) rolled into a cylindrical wall (25). The film (20) has selective absorption characteristics resulting in the film (20) shielding the plant (P) from ultra-violet radiation (U) and visible radiation which is not of a wavelength corresponding to blue light (B). The shelter (10) can be closed partially on a top edge (22) thereof to further isolate the microclimate (M) from conditions of the climate (C) outside the shelter (10).

Shelters have long been in use for the protection of plants from various hazards during their period of early growth. For instance, shelters can prevent animals from eating or trampling the plants and extreme wind and other elements are prevented from breaking or uprooting the young plants.
More recently, shelters have been constructed which provide a barrier which completely surrounds the young plant except at the top. These shelters are characterized by having an ability to transmit light somewhat therethrough and yet prevent wind from blowing horizontally through the shelter. In this way, a microclimate is established surrounding the young plant. This microclimate is characterized by having low wind speeds and a somewhat shaded interior. By reducing the wind adjacent the plant, dehydration of the plant through evaporation is slowed down. This allows the plant to be better nurtured and increases the likelihood that the plant will survive into maturity as a strong and healthy plant.
However, young plants are not entirely protected by these existing shelters and even when the plants survive, they are not as large and as strong as they could be if additional measures were taken. Specifically, research has shown that ultraviolet radiation is harmful to plant growth and can damage DNA of the plant. Furthermore, recent scientific evidence has shown that certain portions of the light spectrum are more photosynthetically active than others. Blue light has been shown to help repair damage caused by ultraviolet radiation by activating a repair enzyme.
Accordingly, the applicant has provided a plant shelter that is constructed of a material that absorbs ultraviolet light while transmitting most of the blue and photosynthetically active radiation therethrough. These shelters thus provide the plant with the specific portions of the light spectrum required for maximum plant growth and strength, yet filters out ultraviolet light and other portions of the light spectrum not photosynthetically active.
X-ray film typically utilizes a radiation transparent substrate upon which radiation sensitive matter (e.g. a silver emulsion) is adhered. Heretofore the substrate had only limited other uses and could not be recycled efficiently. Moreover, with only a limited secondary market, flawed or used X-ray film provides an ecological disposal problem. The film substrate has been found by the inventor to beneficially affect plant life.
The following prior art reflects the state of the art of which applicant is aware and is included herewith to discharge applicant's acknowledged duty to disclose relevant prior art. It is stipulated, however, that this reference does not teach singly nor render obvious when considered in any conceivable combination the nexus of the instant invention as disclosed in greater detail hereinafter and as particularly claimed.


A bidirectional wait control system for controlling data movement between a slower-speed host module and a faster-speed slave module by means of a bus interface, comprises: a first wait control signal generating means in the host module, capable of generating a first wait control signal synchronizing with that of the bus interface; a second wait control signal generating means in the slave module, responsive to the first wait control signal, capable of generating a second wait control signal synchronizing with that of the bus interface; and means, upon each module having been presented with the wait control signal from the other module, for terminating data movement between the host module and the slave module.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a wait control method such that the slower-speed host module can cope with the faster-speed slave module in the bidirectional wait control to control the slave module so as to correctly execute data movement and to terminate the movement cycle.
2. Description of Related Art
In a conventional system, when there are two modules (host and slave), for example, the host module is the central processing unit (CPU) and the slave module is the memory, when the host module requests the slave module to move data, it can assert a movement cycle start signal, such as CS#, ADS#, . . . signals to inform the slave module. At this point, since the speed of the host module is higher than that of the slave module, the host module can arbitrarily wait for the slave module to assert a READY signal to respond to the host module. For example, after the READY signal is sent in response to the host module, the data movement cycle is terminated. In the design of this well-known system, this function is limited because only the host module is allowed to wait for the slave module, but not vice versa.
Conversely, when the slave module receives (for example) the movement cycle signal CS#, the slave module can quickly respond to the host module with a prepared READY signal. In other words, when the execution speed of the slave module is higher than the response speed of the host module, a problem will exist, namely, that the host module is not able to receive this READY signal in a normal movement cycle.
For example, in a modularized system the interaction between the host module and the slave module is conducted via a 35 MHz synchronizing interface bus (refer to FIG. 1A), the operating frequency of the host module is 20 MHz, but the operating frequency of the slave module is 33 MHz, which is synchronizing with the frequency of the interface bus. First, the CPU of the host module executes at a speed of 20 MHz. When the host module asserts a CCS# (CPU cycle start signal) intending to read out data from the memory of the slave module, the host module should first convert in a synchronized manner the CCS# into a synchronized HCS# (host cycle start signal) with the 33 MHz interface bus. Then the signal HCS# is sent to the memory (slave module) via the synchronizing interface bus. When the memory (slave module) sends a 33 MHz slave READY signal (SRDY#) indicating the ready state of the readout data to the host module. The host module should convert the SRDY# to a CRDY# such that the 20 MHz CPU can accept it. Thus, a normal wait operation is completed. But a situation may exist in which the slave module speed may be higher than the host module speed.
It is customary to solve the problem of the speed of the memory, the slave module, being higher than the host module CPU speed; for example, generally a latch device in the host module latches the readout data moved from the faster-speed memory (while the CPU reads out data from the memory) until the termination is possible for the readout cycle of the host module CPU, then from the latch device with which the readout data is latched this data is read out to formally terminate this readout cycle.
In the method of solution in which the latch device latches the data in the case when the slave module speed is higher than the host module speed, although this problem of speed disparity between the host and slave modules in moving a single block of data in the data readout cycle of a single CPU can involve latch of data, however, when the memory module applies a pulse train during the movement readout cycle (this is also referred to as the data movement method with a burst cycle), the latch device is unable to effectively latch this continuously emerging data.
In FIG. 1A, for example, in the customary modularized system, the interaction between the 20 MHz host module CPU and the 33 MHz slave module memory is frequency-synchronized through a 33 MHz synchronizing interface bus. However, if in the state with a pulse train burst cycle for readout data as shown in FIG. 1B, a 33 MHz HCS# is asserted after 33 MHz synchronizing conversion of CCS# transmitted by the 20 MHz CPU in the host module; after this HCS# is presented to the slave module from the synchronizing interface bus, data transmission with pulse trains begins. In the situation of not knowing the slower speed of the host module for continuous data movement, such as movement of two data blocks accompanied by two continuous slave-asserted signals SRDY# to notify the host module for data readout, after 20 MHz synchronizing conversion by the host module, the first SRDY# asserts a 20 MHz CRDY# to the 20 MHz CPU. In FIG. 1B, it is clearly at that time that the 20 MHz CRDY# will overlap the 30 MHz second SRDY#. Now, if the above mentioned conventional method of solving the single data block problem is used with a latch device to latch the first data block (D1), then after the readout of the first data block (D1) by the host module CPU, the second data block (D2) continuously generated by the slave module memory will be lost, thus it is unable to latch (for example) the second data block (D2) continuously moved by the block stack.
A purpose of this invention aims to smoothly solve the problem by using a pulse train to read out and move data when the slave module speed is higher than the host module speed.
Another purpose of this invention is to solve the problem of dissimilar termination times of data movement cycles between different speeds of host module and slave module by using a wait control circuit of the host module.
Yet another purpose of this invention is to solve the cycle matching problem in which the speed at which the data is read out from the host module is slower than the speed at which the data is written into the slave module.

Bidirectional wait control between host module and slave module


A method for causing a user agent to release at least one of uplink and downlink semi-persistent communication resources in a mobile communication system, the method comprising the steps of, at the user agent receiving a downlink communication via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), using a semi persistent scheduling radio temporary network identifier (SPS-RNTI) assigned to the device to decode a control message on physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) which may include downlink control information (DCI) in a plurality of DCI fields arranged in a DCI format and where the data from the at least one of the DCI fields is identical to a fixed SPS release value, releasing at least one of the uplink and down link semi-persistent communication resources.

The present invention relates generally to wireless communication devices and more specifically to a method and apparatus for causing a wireless communication device to release semi-persistent uplink and/or downlink communication resources.
As used herein, the terms "user agent" and "UA" can refer to wireless devices such as mobile telephones, personal digital assistants, handheld or laptop computers, and similar devices that have telecommunications capabilities. In some embodiments, a UA may refer to a mobile, wireless device. The term "UA" may also refer to devices that have similar capabilities but that are not transportable, such as desktop computers, set-top boxes, or network nodes.
In traditional wireless telecommunications systems, transmission equipment in a base station or access device transmits signals throughout a geographical region known as a cell. As technology has evolved, more advanced equipment has been introduced that can provide services that were not possible previously. This advanced equipment might include, for example, an E-UTRAN (evolved universal terrestrial radio access network) node B (eNB), a base station or other systems and devices that are more highly evolved than the equivalent equipment in a traditional wireless telecommunications system. Such advanced or next generation equipment may be referred to herein as long-term evolution (LTE) equipment, and a packet-based network that uses such equipment can be referred to as an evolved packet system (EPS). As used herein, the term "access device" will refer to any component, such as a traditional base station or an LTE eNB (Evolved Node B), that can provide a UA with access to other components in a telecommunications system.
In mobile communication systems such as the E-UTRAN, the access device provides radio accesses to one or more UAs. The access device comprises a packet scheduler for allocating uplink and downlink data transmission resources among all the UAs communicating with the access device. The functions of the scheduler include, among others, dividing the available air interface capacity between the UAs, deciding the resources (e.g. sub-carrier frequencies and timing) to be used for each UA's packet data transmission, and monitoring packet allocation and system load. The scheduler allocates physical layer resources for downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and uplink shared channel (PUSCH) data transmissions, and sends scheduling information to the UAs through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The UAs refer to the scheduling information for the timing, frequency, data block size, modulation and coding of uplink and downlink transmissions.
Several different data control information (DCI) message formats are used to communicate resource assignments to UAs including, among others, a DCI format 0 for specifying uplink resources and DCI formats 1, 1A, 2 and 2A for specifying downlink resources. Uplink specifying DCI format 0 includes several DCI fields, each of which includes information for specifying a different aspect of allocated uplink resources. Exemplary DCI format 0 DCI fields include a transmit power control (TPC) field, a cyclic shift demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) field, a modulating coding scheme (MCS) and redundancy version field, a New Data Indicator (NDI) field, a resource block assignment field and a hopping flag field. The downlink specifying DCI formats 1, 1A, 2 and 2A each include several DCI fields that include information for specifying different aspects of allocated downlink resources. Exemplary DCI format 1, 1A, 2 and 2A DCI fields include a HARQ process number field, an MCS field, a New Data Indicator (NDI) field, a resource block assignment field and a redundancy version field. Each of the DCI formats 0, 1, 2, 1A and 2A includes additional fields for specifying allocated resources. The access device selects one of the downlink DCI formats for allocating resources to a UA as a function of several factors including UA and access device capabilities, the amount of data a UA has to transmit, the amount of communication traffic within a cell, etc.
After a DCI formatted massage is generated, an access device may generate a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) for the message and append the CRC to the DCI formatted message. Next, the access device may use a Cell-Radio Network Terminal Identifier (C-RNTI) or Semi-Persistent Scheduling Radio Network Terminal Identifier (SPS-RNTI) that is uniquely associated with a UA to scramble the CRC prior to transmitting the message to the UA. When the message is received at the UA, the UA calculates the CRC from the received message, uses the C-RNTI or SPS-RNTI to scramble the CRC and uses the scrambled CRC to ascertain if the message was received accurately. If the CRC check indicates that the message was not intended for the UA (i.e. the CRC derived at the UA does not match to the CRC attached to the received message), the UA ignores the message.
Whenever control information has to be transmitted between an access device and a UA, the resources required to complete that transmission cannot be used to transmit other information such as voice or application information. For this reason the communications industry is always searching for ways to reduce the amount of control data required for controlling communications.
Two general types communication scheduling include persistent and semi-persistent. In persistent scheduling, as the label implies, communication resources are pre-allocated for a specific UA until released regardless of whether or not the resources remain in use during an entire scheduled period. For simple persistent scheduling this means that persistently scheduled resources are not available to other UAs for communication even when a UA that the persistent resource is assigned to is not using the resource.
In semi-persistent scheduling, a resource is assigned to a UA and is used on an on-going basis until the access device decides to stop using the resource and instructs the UA to stop using the resource. Thus, for instance, in the case of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), a typical communication sequence may include interleaved "talk spurt states" and "silence states" where data corresponding to a UA user's speech is communicated during talk spurt states and no data except comfort noise information is communicated during silence states. During times of UA inactivity (e.g., silence states), the allocated uplink and downlink resources associated with a UA may be released so that the resources can be allocated to other UAs. Here, the uplink and downlink resources are persistently allocated in the sense that the resources remain allocated at long as the resources are being actively used to communicate information. Once resource use ceases, the resources are released. After resources are released, when a next talk spurt is to occur, the access device transmits one or more additional DCI formatted messages to the UA to commence a new SPS resource allocation to support the next spurt. Hereafter the phrase "SPS resources" will be used to refer to resources that are semi-persistently scheduled. In order to control SPS resource assignment, SPS-RNTI is used.
In the case of SPS resources, the communication industry has settled on ways to reliably activate and reconfigure SPS resources. Unfortunately, the industry has not developed a reliable way to cause a UA to release SPS resources.

Semi-persistent resource release by wireless communication device