An armrest provided with a writing surface for a seated user, such armrest being of narrow, elongate construction and having a rear end, a front end, an interior portion and an upper portion. A usable surface of elongate configuration is disposed in the upper portion of the armrest, with this usable surface being supported in a manner enabling the usable surface to be slidably withdrawn from the front end of the armrest, and thereafter to be returned at the option of the user to a retracted location in the interior of the armrest. The usable surface is unimpaired as a writing surface by virtue of the slidable mounting for this member being located on the underside of the usable surface. A tiltable writing surface may be hingedly mounted on the usable surface, with the tiltable writing surface having a device thereon by which writing material can be removably attached to the tiltable writing surface. An advantageous arrangement is provided for supporting the tiltable writing surface in a desired angular relationship to the usable surface, latter arrangement enabling the user to select the particular angle at which a writing pad or other such writing material can be maintained. A storage container may be utilized in the interior of the armrest, with a hinged lid forming the cover for the storage container. In the preferred embodiment, the usable surface is slidably mounted in the interior of the hinged lid.

The present invention principally relates to a usable surface designed to support a writing pad or the like, with this usable surface preferably being incorporated into an armrest utilized in a vehicle.
Often creative people, such as writers, inventors and some members of the noble professions, as they ride along in an automobile, visualize certain concepts and solutions to problems with which they are confronted, and in such instances, such persons need to have means for capturing those ideas, concepts and solutions, before they slip out of reach and become lost.
Other people riding in an automobile tend to think over the activities of the day or their financial obligations, and in doing so it becomes desirable for them to make a list of things to be done the next day, or later in the week.
I am aware that others have designed tables for use in automobiles, and one example is U.S. Pat. No. 2,797,739 to Orsini entitled "Combined Arm Rest, Table and Drawer for Vehicle Seats," which was issued Jul. 2, 1957. That patent taught the use of a table carried in a vehicle armrest, but rather unfortunately, the mechanism that patentee uses for the support of the slidably mounted table is configured such that it may well interfere with the use of a writing pad thereon. In addition, it is necessary for the table used by Orsini to be turned 90.degree. before it can be used.
The Kathiria U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,759 entitled "Floor Console With Latchable Sliding Tray" teaches an article-carrying tray member that can be slid forwardly out of a floor console located in the front passenger space of an automobile. The tray member is described as having two bores for receiving beverage containers. This patentee says nothing about having means for supporting a writing surface, nor is any storage space provided in the device. Also, the tray is slidable between upper and lower internal walls 34 and 36 that would prevent a writing pad from remaining on the surface of the tray after it has been pushed back into the console.
Another example of portable table for use in vehicles is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,326,446, which issued to H. Goings on a portable car seat tray formed from a single sheet of folded cardboard. The tray has legs provided with a seat matching contour and also has receptacles for food and beverage containers. U.S. Pat No. 3,632,158, which issued to A. Boothe, discloses a console designed to be supported on a vehicle seat, whereas U.S. Pat. No. 4,087,126 to L. Wynn discloses a console for van-type vehicles, with receptacles for beverage containers.
The Hawie U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,448 teaches a receptacle armrest requiring a recess or pocket in the backrest of the seat, to permit the armrest to be tilted. A tray with upstanding sidewalls is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,418, to A. Chappell, which discloses a car seat table capable of being stored under a car seat. The table of the Chappell patent is constructed from three sections connected to one another by hinges. The table is held in an upside-down storage position by guide runners centrally positioned in alignment on each table section and which slides along a track mounted on the bottom of the car seat for storage. The tray is provided with a plurality of apertures for receiving beverage containers and has a flat table top portion with opposed upstanding sidewalls.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,696, to H. Priesman, discloses a tray for use in an automobile which is fitted on its underside with folding legs, of a size which, when extended, mount the tray on the floor inside a vehicle over the hump of the transmission shaft. The tray has receptacles for accommodating food and beverage containers, and has a flat table top portion surrounded by upstanding sidewalls. U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,973 to H. Sturgeon, discloses a portable automobile desk for use in vehicles. The vehicle desk is provided with attaching brackets and straps to secure the desk to the wire frame of the underside of the seat.
The Barrett U.S. Pat. No. 2,016,571 relates to a desk having a top portion which is adjustably tiltable and which is forwardly and rearwardly adjustably slidable. The Barrett, however, does not teach a slidable drawer which may be tucked completely away when not in use. Also, the tiltable surface cannot be used as an armrest inasmuch as book supporting edge 46 would be an unpleasant obstacle upon which to rest an arm. Although a book could be rested on the tiltable surface of the Barrett device, this patent does not teach a tiltable surface upon which a writing pad could be conveniently secured, upon which the user could easily write.
All of these previous arrangements for providing a table that theoretically could be used in a vehicle have distinct disadvantages insofar as being an ideal writing surface.
There also exists a variety of cup holders or container holders utilized for supporting cups, cans and other beverage containers in a vehicle such that the vehicle occupants can support such beverage containers while in the vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,764 issued Nov. 29, 1983 is representative of one cup holder structure which is incorporated in the armrest of a vehicle and which can accommodate such containers. U.S. Pat. No. 3,326,445 discloses a disposable container holder for use on a car seat. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,497,076 and 4,040,659 also disclose cup holders which move from a storage position within a support structure in an automobile to a use position.
With regard to foreign art, German Patent No. 3,807,880 teaches an armrest with a slidable lid, but such is clearly not a tiltable armrest console.
Although such various cup holders are useful for single or limited sized containers, the system of the present invention is adapted to accommodate a variety of different sized beverage containers such as cans, coffee mugs, large cups and the like.
In addition to providing distinct improvements upon these prior art devices, other important objects of this invention are to provide a useful armrest configuration which may have one or more drawers to contain writing materials, maps, and the like, the attachment being highly integrated in construction and easily installed in a vehicle in a secure and comfortable position.
Further important objects and advantageous features of the instant invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein, for purposes of illustration rather than limitation, certain specific embodiments of the invention are set forth in detail.

Armrest writing surface having adjustable angle


Individual bug fixed messages for software users that includes determining an occurrence of an error in software executing on a user processor. A unique error report identifier is stored in a memory accessible by the user processor and the error is reported. The reporting includes transmitting the unique error report identifier and error data that describes the error to a developer server. The error data is analyzed to determine a fix to correct the error. A message regarding the fix to correct the error is stored in a fixed error database. The software is launched and it is determined that the error was previously reported. The fixed error database is queried by the software with the unique error report identifier to locate the message. Based on locating the message, the message is downloaded and displayed by the user processor.

The subject matter described herein relates in general to reporting errors in software, and in particular to providing individual bug fixed messages for software users.
Software applications that are tested by product developers can still experience errors when used by customers. This can be due to differences between testing and customer operating environments which can vary widely between customers. Some errors are only experienced by a subset of the software users and other errors are more widespread. Product developers generally encourage customers to report any software errors that they experience so that the problem can be analyzed and corrected via a software update, patch or work-around. The reporting of software errors can be supplemented by data such as memory dumps to aid the software developers in their analysis of the problem. A memory dump, also referred to as a core dump or system dump, includes a recorded state of the working memory of a computer program at a specific time such as when the program has crashed or otherwise terminated abnormally.
Software applications can include scan processing software that is executed on metrology devices, such as 3D laser scanner time-of-flight (TOF) coordinate measurement devices to generate three-dimensional (3D) representations of areas, such as buildings for example. A 3D laser scanner of this type steers a beam of light to a non-cooperative target such as a diffusely scattering surface of an object. A distance meter in the device measures a distance to the object, and angular encoders measure the angles of rotation of two axes in the device. The measured distance and two angles enable software executing on a processor in the device to determine the 3D coordinates of the target.
A TOF laser scanner is a scanner in which the distance to a target point is determined based on the speed of light in air between the scanner and a target point. Laser scanners are typically used for scanning closed or open spaces such as interior areas of buildings, industrial installations and tunnels. They may be used, for example, in industrial applications and accident reconstruction applications. A laser scanner optically scans and measures objects in a volume around the scanner through the acquisition of data points representing object surfaces within the volume. Such data points are obtained by transmitting a beam of light onto the objects and collecting the reflected or scattered light to determine the distance, two-angles (i.e., an azimuth and a zenith angle), and optionally a gray-scale value. This raw scan data, referred to herein as a point cloud (or point cloud data), is collected, stored and sent to a processor or processors to generate a 3D image representing the scanned area or object.
When software, such as scan software for example, terminates unexpectedly, contents of the error report and memory dump may contain data that is private to the customer but still important to analyzing the software error that caused the unexpected termination. In order to facilitate analyzing the software error, the contents of the error report and memory dump can be modified to remove identifying information so that the customer reporting the error cannot be identified. This may include for example, removing the email address that the error report was received from. This process of anonymizing the data removes the link between the customer reporting the software error and the error being reported and there is no way to directly report back to the customer that the error that the customer reported has been corrected. A customer reporting an error can review documentation associated with fixes, or patches, and/or new software versions that are communicated to all users of the software to see if it appears that the problem that they reported has been corrected.
Accordingly, while processes for reporting errors in software are suitable for their intended purposes, what is needed is a process for reporting software errors having certain features of embodiments of the present invention.


Provided is a protein contrast agent for enhancing an MRI image and comprising a polypeptide having a conformation presenting at least five oxygen atoms positioned to chelate at least one paramagnetic metal ion such as Gd3+, each oxygen atom being between about 2 angstrom units and about 5 angstrom units from the metal ion; the metal ion has at least one water molecule electrostatically interacting a distance of less than about 10 angstrom units a target-specific moiety conjugated thereto, at least one polyethylene glycol molecule, and a paramagnetic metal ion. Also provided is a method of obtaining an enhanced MRI image using the protein contrast agent to a T2/T1 or T1/T2 intensity ratio of the MRI image; and (d) obtaining an image of the T2/T1 or T1/T2 intensity ratio.

Cancer is a deadly disease causes more 500,000 deaths annually in the United States. Although huge effects have been made, the cancer therapy is restricted by still lack of effective and reliable methods for early diagnostics and evaluation of tumor biomarkers. Therefore, it is critical to develop an effective way to detect the tumor and its biomarkers in the early stage.
Multiple approaches are applied for the tumor diagnostics. These methods include screening blood circulating biomarkers, biopsy, and various imaging techniques. The blood circulating biomarkers hold great potential for the tumor diagnostics. In the current stage, however, it lacks sensitivity and specificity. For example, the PSA test, a standard for prostate cancer diagnostics, has a low correlation with prostate cancer staging. Biopsy is an informative method. However, this method is extremely invasive. The patients have to suffer from the great pain before the tissues are taken out from the body for the analysis. The "golden-standard" the evaluation of angiogenesis is the mean vascular density (MVD), which estimates the blood vessel density by IHC. However, tumor is usually heterogeneous, and MVD only quantify limited area in the collected tissues in the specific location of the tumor. Thus, the MVD of biopsy tissue can be misleading.64, 69 On the other hands, imaging techniques are used to detect angiogenesis. However, most of these techniques are not satisfied with the requirement for the tumor diagnostics. The fluorescence imaging lacks of the tissue penetration. The sensitive imaging techniques such as PET and SPECT are expensive, and the number of PET and SPECT scanner is limited. Besides, PET and SPECT imaging use radioactive isotopes, which could be potentially harmful to the patients.64
MRI is one of the promising techniques for the cancer diagnostics. Magnetic renascence Imaging (MRI) is an advanced diagnostic technique with high resolution, three dimensional properties. Limited by the low sensitivity, 30% of the MRI tests require the administration of MRI contrast agents to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and obtain tissue-specific images.26 With 7 unpaired protons, high magnetic moment and long election relaxation time, Gd3+ became the best metal ion function as contrast agents. Gd3+-based MRI contrast agents were applied for current clinically available diagnostics for over two decades.
The low sensitivity of MRI contrast agents limits the application of this technique for molecular imaging. To image the biomarkers with limited receptor number, MRI contrast agents must be incorporated with targeting moieties and have high relaxivity. Unfortunately, most of the current contrast agent only has relatively low relaxivity (less than 5 s−1 mM−1 for Gd-DTPA), and the lowest detection limits for these contrast agents are 0.1 mM. Therefore, it is hard to image the expression level of certain receptors when the receptor number is low. On the other hand, to targeting to the receptors, these contrast agents are usually conjugated to antibodies or peptides. Unfortunately, even single chain antibody has a large molecular weight and contrast agents conjugated with antibodies have low penetration to tumor tissue.34 Protein-based contrast agents have more than 10 fold higher relaxivity than that of the current clinically available MRI contrast agents. By conjugating to small peptides or affibody, ProCA1s is able to image biomarkers, such as HER-2 and GRPR.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Contrast agents, methods for preparing contrast agents, and methods of imaging

Georgia State University Research Foundation, Inc.


An audio signal processing method and an audio signal processing apparatus for synchronizing audio based on synchronization error between audio signals.

1. Field
Method and apparatuses consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to an audio signal processing, and more particularly to synchronizing audio based on synchronization error between audio signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
With advances in multimedia technologies and data processing technologies, a multimedia device may download an audio file and reproduce a corresponding audio signal in real time. Furthermore, a plurality of multimedia devices, such as audio systems (speakers), TVs, and mobile devices, may be connected via a network to receive and transmit audio data. However, audio reproduction problems, such as different reproduction timings or different reproduction lengths, may occur when the multimedia devices are not temporally synchronized with one another.
In this regard, precision time protocol (PTP) was established. The PTP is the IEEE 1588 standard time transport protocol that enables synchronization between networks. Much research has been conducted to provide protocols for synchronizing audio outputs between a plurality of multimedia devices. A representative protocol is a real time protocol (RTP) that supports real-time transmission of multimedia data.
However, due to scheduling for audio processing in a media device, a difference in RTP implementation schemes between multimedia devices, or the like, it may be difficult to achieve audio synchronization. Therefore, there is a need for solving the problem of audio output synchronization.
Furthermore, in order to realize an optimal sound combination between multimedia devices via a network connection, there is a need for an audio signal processing technology appropriate for purpose of usage, such as group mode reproduction, multi-room reproduction, or multi-channel reproduction, taking into account an audio signal reproduction technology and surrounding environment suitable for a role of each device based on synchronization.

Audio signal processing method and audio signal processing apparatus


A fixed or adjustable chain guide includes a captured shoulder bolt fastener. An adjustable chain guide such as a chain tensioner arm assembly includes a tensioner arm with a pivot bore defined about a pivot axis. The pivot bore includes an inner end opening through a rear face of the tensioner arm and an outer end opening through a front face of the tensioner arm. The tensioner arm further includes at least one resilient fastener retaining tab located adjacent the pivot bore. The shoulder bolt extends through the pivot bore and is engaged by the at least one resilient fastener retaining tab, and the at least one fastener retaining tab inhibits separation of the fastener from the tensioner arm. The fastener preferably includes an annular groove or other recess to be engaged by the one or more fastener retaining tabs in order to permit the tensioner arm to rotate relative to the fastener. New shoulder bolt fasteners are also defined, each including a shoulder region having at least one retaining feature such as an annular groove adapted to be engaged by a projecting portion of an associated component for axially capturing the fastener to the associated component while permitting rotation of the associated component relative to the fastener.

The use of captured fasteners is known to increase productivity by reducing assembly time during the manufacturing process, for example, when fastening fixed chain guides to an engine block. The time savings is achieved by pre-attaching the fastener(s) to the chain guide or tensioner arm to be later assembled and secured to an engine block, either manually or by the use of robotics. In the absence of sufficient and purposeful external forces, the fastener capturing arrangement serves to retain the fastener in a desired axial position within the bore. Once the fastener has been installed and axially retained to a chain guide or tensioner arm, the assembly can then be shipped or otherwise transported for later attachment to an engine block. Although its primary purpose is to retain the fastener during handling and shipping, the captive fastener arrangement must also allow for selective translational (axial) and rotational movement of the fastener within the bore as would occur during the bolt tightening procedure for securing the assembly to the engine block. And in the specific case of a tensioner arm for an automotive engine camshaft drive, the fastener retaining device must not inhibit free rotation of the tensioner arm about its fixing point during engine operation as required for chain tensioning.
U.S. Pat. Re. 36,164 (reissue of U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,194) discloses a bolt retaining apparatus that includes a separate component made from a resilient polymeric material and it is used extensively in many automotive engine applications to retain standard bolts. This prior art device will not permit proper functionality for many shoulder bolt fixing arrangements, however, and it also has the limitation of requiring the retaining device itself to be pre-assembled, thereby limiting overall savings to assembly time and cost.
It is therefore desirable to provide an improved cost-effective fastener retaining apparatus for shoulder bolt applications that integrates retention features to chain guide or chain tensioner arm components in order to increase manufacturing productivity for the installation of nylon chain guide brackets and tensioner arms used in many automotive engines.

Captive fastener apparatus for chain guide or tensioner arm


The lens device and the vibration-proof adapter include a lock mechanism with operational ease because a lock mechanism of a vibration-proof lens has a switch on a joint with a camera main body or a joint with the lens device. The lens device is connected by placing a hook, which is provided on a front end face of a camera main body, to a recess of a back end face. A slide pin is provided in the recess so as to slide, and is pressed inside by the hook. In synchronization with the slide pin pressed inside, a lock pin operates to move away from a holding member of a vibration-proof lens, and the vibration-proof lens is unlocked. The slide pin returns to an original protruding position to lock the vibration-proof lens again when the hook is detached from the recess.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lens device and a vibration-proof adapter and in particular to a lens device and a vibration-proof adapter that has a vibration-proof lens for correcting a blurred image resulted from vibration on a camera when a TV camera is used for a sports broadcast or on a scaffold outdoors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a camera having such a vibration-proof lens supports the vibration-proof lens movably inside a surface perpendicular to an image-taking optical axis in a lens barrel of the camera. When the camera is vibrated, the vibration-proof lens is moved by an actuator in a direction of canceling the vibration to correct a blurred image. Such a camera has a lock mechanism for fixing the vibration-proof lens onto the lens barrel to prevent the vibration-proof lens from being moved and damaged when the camera is conveyed.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-2901 discloses a lock mechanism in which a lens holding frame of a vibration-proof lens is clamped and held by rotating an operating ring to lock the vibration-proof lens onto a lens barrel. However, in this lock mechanism, when the operating ring is moved by mistake during conveyance of a lens device, the vibration-proof lens may be unlocked. Further, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-39638 discloses a lock mechanism in which a lens holding frame of a vibration-proof lens is pressed and held by sliding a lock ring to lock the vibration-proof lens onto a lens barrel. In this lock mechanism, since a lens cap is attached on the lens barrel, the vibration-proof lens is conveyed while being positively locked. However, when the lens cap fails to be placed thereon, it is not possible to guarantee a locking state of the vibration-proof lens.
Furthermore, in these lock mechanisms, every time the lens device is attached and detached to and from a camera main body, it is necessary to operate the operating ring and the locking ring to lock and unlock the vibration-proof lens. Hence, more operational ease has been demanded. Such a problem has been also found on a vibration-proof adapter placed between a lens device and a camera main body to correct a blurred image.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-189181 discloses an intermediate adapter (vibration-proof adapter), which is detachably attached between a camera and a lens device. The vibration-proof adapter has a variable vertex angle prism corresponding to a vibration-proof lens, a vibration detecting sensor, a variable vertex angle prism driving circuit, and so on therein. The variable vertex angle prism driving circuit moves the variable vertex angle prism and decenters an optical axis according to vibration information detected by the vibration detecting sensor. Thus, a blurred image is corrected.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-284900 discloses a usage pattern in which a lens device is connected to the front of a vibration-proof device (vibration-proof adapter) and a camera is connected to the back of the vibration-proof adapter.
However, Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 6-189181 and 11-284900 fail to disclose a connecting structure for connecting a vibration-proof adapter to a camera. A vibration-proof adapter is hard to hold because it weighs about 3 to 4 kg with a thin shape. Hence, it is necessary to connect a vibration-proof adapter to a camera or a lens device while putting a hand on a connecting surface with the camera or a connecting surface with the lens device. Thus, a hand may be caught between the vibration-proof adapter and the camera or between the vibration-proof adapter and the lens device.
The present invention has been developed in view of the above-described circumstances, and has as its object the provision of a lens device and a vibration-proof adapter that cause no operating error on a lock mechanism of a vibration-proof lens and achieve operational ease for the lock mechanism.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vibration-proof adapter connected to a camera or a lens device with safety and ease.
In order to attain the above objects, the present invention is directed to a lens device to be connected to a camera main body, the lens device correcting a blurred image resulted from vibration of the camera main body, the lens device comprising: a lens barrel; a vibration-proof lens movably arranged in the lens barrel, the vibration-proof lens being moved to correct the blurred image; a joint with which the lens device is connected to the camera main body; and a lock mechanism which locks the vibration-proof lens, the lock mechanism having a switch which detects connection and disconnection of the joint with the camera main body, wherein the lock mechanism unlocks the vibration-proof lens when the switch detects the connection of the joint with the camera main body, and the lock mechanism locks the vibration-proof lens when the switch detects the disconnection of the joint from the camera main body.
According to the present invention, since the switch of the lock mechanism is provided on the joint for the camera main body, the switch is operated in response to attachment and detachment of the camera to/from the joint. Therefore, since the vibration-proof lens is automatically locked and unlocked, it is possible to eliminate the inconvenience of operating the lock mechanism for each attachment and detachment.
Preferably, the switch is provided on a recess of the joint, and the switch is not operated by mistake when the lens device is conveyed.
Further, in order to attain the above objects, the present invention is directed to a vibration-proof adapter to be connected between a camera main body and a lens device, the vibration-proof adapter correcting a blurred image resulted from vibration of at least one of the camera main body and the lens device, the vibration-proof adapter comprising: a lens barrel; a vibration-proof lens movably arranged in the lens barrel, the vibration-proof lens being moved to correct the blurred image; a joint with which the vibration-proof adapter is connected to the camera main body; and a lock mechanism which locks the vibration-proof lens, the lock mechanism having a switch which detects connection and disconnection of the joint with the camera main body, wherein the lock mechanism unlocks the vibration-proof lens when the switch detects the connection of the joint with the camera main body, and the lock mechanism locks the vibration-proof lens when the switch detects the disconnection of the joint from the camera main body.
The present invention is also directed to a vibration-proof adapter to be connected between a camera main body and a lens device, the vibration-proof adapter correcting a blurred image resulted from vibration of at least one of the camera main body and the lens device, the vibration-proof adapter comprising: a lens barrel; a vibration-proof lens movably arranged in the lens barrel, the vibration-proof lens being moved to correct the blurred image; a joint with which the vibration-proof adapter is connected to the lens device; and a lock mechanism which locks the vibration-proof lens, the lock mechanism having a switch which detects connection and disconnection of the joint with the lens device, wherein the lock mechanism unlocks the vibration-proof lens when the switch detects the connection of the joint with the lens device, and the lock mechanism locks the vibration-proof lens when the switch detects the disconnection of the joint from the lens device.
According to the present invention, since the switch of the lock mechanism is provided on the joint for the camera main body or the joint for the lens device, the switch is operated in response to attachment and detachment of the camera main body or the lens device to/from the joint. Therefore, since the vibration-proof lens is automatically locked and unlocked, it is possible to eliminate the inconvenience of operating the lock mechanism for each attachment and detachment.
Preferably, the switch is provided on the recess of the joint, and the switch is not operated by mistake when the vibration-proof adapter is conveyed.
Furthermore, in order to attain the above-mentioned objects, the present invention is directed to a vibration-proof adapter which is connected between a camera and a lens device, the vibration-proof adapter being characterized in that a grip is attached on a part other than connecting surfaces for the camera and the lens device on a main body case of the vibration-proof adapter.
According to the present invention, the grip is attached on the part other than the connecting surfaces to be connected to the camera and the lens device. Thus, a hand is not caught between the vibration-proof adapter and the camera or the lens device, thereby improving safety.
Preferably, a gripping part of the grip is placed on a position shifted from a center of gravity of the vibration-proof adapter to the lens device or the camera. Thus, when the gripping part is held, the vibration-adapter is lifted while being inclined. Therefore, for example, when the vibration-proof adapter and the camera is connected to each other by engaging hooks, the hooks are readily engaged to each other due to inclination of the vibration-proof adapter, thereby making connection with ease.
More preferably, the grip is retractable in a receiving part provided at the main body case, and the grip does not become an obstacle or is not in contact with the lens device when it is not used.


The watch case (1) of this invention includes a caseband-bezel (2) of plastic material overlaid with a metal cap (5). The cap is a metallic leaf formed to match the relief of the bezel (15) and caseband (16) which it overlays. The cap is secured to the caseband-bezel by glue preferably located in a receptacle (33) provided within the thickness of the caseband and extending at least partially along the periphery of said caseband.

A watch case corresponding to the generic definition just given above is known from various prior documents.
In the patent document GB-A-102 641 the case is provided with a cap covering the caseband and including two loops. The cap is secured to the remainder of the case by fixing the strands of the bracelet in these loops. The drawbacks which such cases exhibit render them rather unattractive. Effectively, since the cap is not rigidly secured, it may readily be displaced on the caseband. Furthermore, the risk of having the cap torn off cannot be entirely eliminated.
The patent CH-A-558 040 describes a watch case including a protective cap of extra hard material. In this construction the cap is maintained in place by screws which are perpendicular to the plane of the case and which traverse the caseband-bezel and are retained in threaded studs attached under the cap. Here the cap exhibits a rather complex cross-section in view of these threaded studs. The caseband-bezel must be given a special form in order to be adapted to the cap which covers it.
Patent CH-A-517 963 (=US-A-3 242 664) describes a watch case including a caseband-bezel of steel surmounted by a cap formed of metallic carbide. Caseband and cap are fastened to one another by force fitting. The description in the patent at the same time mentions that in order to compensate for eventual variations in the dimensions of the cap it is preferable to glue the cap onto the caseband, the layer of glue thereby compensating any lack of precision.
Patent CH-A-307 046 suggests a cap of transparent plastic material covering the case, itself made of plastic material. The underside of the cap is covered by metallization the thickness of which may be very small (between 0.5 and 1 .mu.m) since protected by the cap. The cap thus coated is glued to the case. In addition to the fact that this is a difficult construction, it will be noted that the outer portions of the cap made of soft material are subject to rapid deterioration (scratches, etc.).
To applicant's knowledge, it has never been proposed to cover a caseband-bezel of plastic material with a metallic cap and still less to glue these pieces to one another. The gluing of plastic material onto metal has long suffered and continues to suffer from unfavourable prejudices, leading to avoidance thereof as much as possible and being replaced by mechanical means judged safer and more reliable such for instance as the employment of screws or hooking devices. It is true that the caps known to the present time are heavy and massive and proof thereof may readily be seen in the drawings illustrating the cited documents. In view of their mass, such caps could readily be detached from a caseband made of plastic if they were simply glued thereto. However, if the cap is light, made from a blanked and drawn leaf and if furthermore one is able to choose judiciously the materials to be glued and the glue itself, the applicant has discovered that securing the cap by gluing it to the caseband is very satisfactory vis-a-vis the forces and stresses which are produced during wearing of the watch.

Watch case overlaid with a cap glued to the caseband


An image reading apparatus includes a housing provided with a light passage, a transparent plate mounted on the housing, a light source for emitting light into the light passage, a lens array facing the image reading section on the transparent plate, a plurality of light-receiving elements arranged in an array extending in a primary scanning direction, and a light reflector formed on the transparent plate. The light reflector is offset from the image reading section in the secondary scanning direction, which is perpendicular to the primary scanning direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus, such as an image scanner, used for reading out images printed or drawn on an image-carrying medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional image reading apparatus is disclosed in JP-A-11(1999)-215301 for example. This apparatus, as shown in FIG. 8 of the accompanying drawings of the present application, includes a housing 91 upon which a transparent plate 90 is mounted. The housing 91 is made by molding awhile synthetic resin material. Inside the housing 91 is formed a light passage 92 defined by first and second wall surfaces 92a, 92b.
The conventional image reading apparatus also includes an insulating substrate upon which a plurality of light sources (light-emitting diodes) 93 are mounted. As shown in FIG. 8, light is emitted from the light sources 93 and may be reflected on the wall surfaces 92a, 92b. Thus, the light is led to the image reading section Se on the upper surface of the transparent plate 90. Below the image reading section Se, the housing 91 supports a lens array 94 for focusing the reflected light from the image reading section Se onto a plurality of light-receiving elements 95 mounted on the insulating substrate. In accordance with the amount of received light, each of the elements 95 outputs image reading signals.
As stated above, the housing 91 of the conventional apparatus is produced by molding resin. Specifically, referring to FIG. 9 of the accompanying drawings, use is made of two molding pieces, namely, an upper molding piece 96 and a lower molding piece 97. The upper molding piece 97 is provided with a downward (first) projection 96a, while the lower molding piece 97 is provided with an upward (second) projection 97a. As seen from the figure, the first and the second projections 96a, 97a cooperate to form the light passage 92 of the housing 91.
In this manner, however, it is impossible to cause the upper portion 92a of the first wall surface 92a to protrude to the right (see arrow N1) beyond the lower portion 92bxe2x80x2 of the second wall surface 92b. Thus, in the conventional apparatus, the uppermost width L1 of the light passage 92 is made unduly large. Consequently, as shown in FIG. 8 (see arrows n), part of the light emitted from the light sources 93 will go out of the light passage 92 without illuminating the image reading section Se.
This disadvantage can be overcome by using a light reflector 98, as shown in FIG. 10 of the accompanying drawings, which is prepared separately from the housing 91 (the light reflector 98 is also disclosed in above-mentioned JP-A-11-215301). The reflector 98 is provided with a light shielding portion 98a protruding to the right beyond the lower portion 92bxe2x80x2 of the second wall surface. Because of this structure, the light passage 92 has an uppermost width L2 smaller than the width L1 of FIG. 8.
While having such an advantage, the second conventional apparatus of FIG. 10 has the following shortcomings. First, the preparation of the reflector 98, which needs to be produced separately from the housing 91, may impair the production efficiency and increase the production cost. Second, additional positioning means is required for holding the reflector 98 in place within the housing 91.
Further, the conventional apparatus of FIG. 10 (and the apparatus of FIG. 8 as well) is disadvantageous in the following respects. Specifically, in the apparatus of FIG. 10, the plurality of light sources 93 are spaced from each other in the longitudinal direction of the housing 91. Part of the light emitted from each light source 93 indirectly reaches the image reading section Se after being reflected (scattered, to be precise) by the wall surfaces defining the light passage 92, whereas the other part of the light directly reaches the section Se, traveling straight from the light source 93 to the section Se, as shown by the arrow n1 in FIG. 10. The indirect light from the light source 93 can uniformly illuminate the image reading section Se, since the indirect light, scattered by the wall surfaces, will be distributed uniformly over the length of the section Se. On the other hand, the direct light from the light sources 93 is not subjected to such scattering. Thus, as shown in FIG. 11, the direct light is liable to produce a non-uniform illuminating condition in which relatively bright portions BP and relatively dark portions DP are disposed alternately along the section Se. Clearly, such non-uniformity in brightness makes it difficult or even impossible to achieve accurate image reading operation.
Still further, in the conventional apparatus of FIG. 10 (and the one of FIG. 8), the lens array 94 is simply fitted into a lens holding groove formed in the housing 91. Thus, the lens array 94 may be displaced in the groove or even come out of the groove. Also, the lens array 94 may be thermally warped in the vertical direction.
The present invention has been proposed under the circumstances described above, and its object is to overcome the problems encountered in the conventional image reading apparatus.
According to the present invention, there is provided an image reading apparatus includes a housing provided with a light passage, a transparent plate mounted on the housing, a light source for emitting light into the light passage, a lens array facing an image reading section on the transparent plate, a plurality of light-receiving elements arranged in an array extending in a primary scanning direction, and a light reflector formed on the transparent plate. The reflector is offset from the image reading section in a secondary scanning direction perpendicular to the primary scanning direction.
The light reflector may be a white material applied on the transparent plate or a white strip member fixed to the transparent plate.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the light reflector may cover the entire surface of the transparent plate except a predetermined region facing the lens array.
Preferably, the apparatus of the present invention may further include a light blocker for preventing light from traveling directly from the light source to the image reading section.
Preferably, the housing may be provided with a plurality of inner wall surfaces defining the light passage, wherein the light blocker may be located on a particular one of the inner wall surfaces.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the light source may be offset from the image reading section in the secondary scanning direction. In this case, the particular one of the inner wall surfaces may be located between the light source and the image reading section, as viewed in the secondary scanning direction.
Preferably, the light blocker may reflect light instead of absorbing light.
Preferably, the light blocker may be formed integral with the housing.
Preferably, the housing may be formed with a lens array fixing slit and an adhesive supplying bore communicating with the slit. Adhesive supplied in the adhesive supplying bore serves to hold the lens array in place.
Preferably, the apparatus of the present invention may further include a light absorber arranged to enclose the light-receiving elements. The light absorber may be provided with a contact portion held in engagement with the lens array, wherein the contact portion corresponds in position to the adhesive supplying bore.
Preferably, the adhesive supplying bore may be unopened toward the image reading section. With such an arrangement, a light-reflecting surface can be provided near the image reading section, whereby light is effectively directed toward the image reading section.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the adhesive supplying bore may be open in a direction going from the image reading section to the light-receiving elements.
Preferably, the housing may be formed with a lens array engaging member coming into engagement with a light-incident end of the lens array. In this manner, the lens array is reliably held in place or prevented from being thermally warped. In this case, the light absorber maybe provided with a contact portion held in engagement with the lens array, wherein the contact portion corresponds in position to the lens array engaging member.
Preferably, the light absorber may be dark-colored, in particular, black.
Preferably, the lens array may include an elongated holder and a plurality of lenses held together by the holder, wherein the contact portion of the light absorber may be held in engagement with the holder.
Preferably, the contact portion of the light absorber may be provided with a first contact surface and a second contact surface perpendicular to the first contact surface, wherein the lens array is supported by the first and the second contact surfaces.
Preferably, the contact portion of the light absorber may serve to prevent noise-causing light from reaching the light-receiving elements.


A printer including a cover plate with a plurality of ribs connected along the bottom surface thereof to guide that portion of a recording medium which has passed by a print head through the discharge port of the printer. A release assembly controls and is operable for varying the level of pressure exerted by a pair of plates against a platen. A guide plate formed from portions having different sloped surfaces is detachably connected through clips to a frame of the printer. The printer also includes a mechanism for automatically setting a timing belt to a predetermined constant level of tension.

This invention is directed toward a printer, and more particularly to mechanisms for feeding a recording medium through and for driving a carriage of the printer and to the construction and assembly of a frame to a frame plate of the printer.
A printer typically includes a guiding plate, pressing plate and paper bail for controlling the path of a recording medium such as a sheet of paper as the sheet of paper is advanced through the printer. The sheet of paper is initially inserted against the guiding plate which guides the sheet of paper to a position adjacent a platen. The pressing plate further directs the paper against the platen so as to properly position the paper for printing thereon. The paper bail then presses that portion of the paper which is advanced past the printing head against the platen to properly position the paper for discharge from the printer.
Assembly of the printer requires the guiding plate to be precisely positioned relative to the platen. Otherwise the paper will not be properly fed through the printer. Guiding plates made of polymer materials must be manufactured at a thickness greater than that of other materials such as, but not limited to, metals to maintain the guiding plate in a fixed position during operation of the printer. Due to the greater thickness required, guiding plates made of polymer materials are more expensive to manufacture compared to guiding plates made of metallic materials.
The pressing plate is generally made from metallic materials having relatively high frictional characteristics. Advancing the paper past the pressing plate therefore requires a driving mechanism which produces a relatively high torque. The pressure exerted by the pressing plate is maintained at a fixed level against the platen. Control in the level of pressure exerted by the pressing plate is not possible. Such lack of control is particularly troublesome when a continuous roll of paper is used. The continuous roll of paper has holes along one or both edges thereof and is advanced through the use of a sprocket or tractor. The excessive pressure exerted by the pressing plate against the continuous roll of paper inhibits the advancement of the paper by the sprocket or tractor. Accordingly, the holes in the paper become deformed. Such deformation results in the continuous roll of paper eventually being fed at an unacceptable pitch through the printer.
Operation of the paper bail is also somewhat complicated inasmuch as the bail must be kept from the platen surface until the paper has advanced between the bail and platen. Following discharge of the paper from the printer, the paper bail then must be repositioned away from the platen. In printers having a cut-paper automatic mode of operation, an automatic mechanism for opening and closing the paper bail is required which further complicates the structure of the printer.
Printing mechanisms can be clarified to include a principal scanner portion and a subsidiary scanner portion. The principal scanner portion includes the platen which defines the principal scanner portion and the paper guide. The subsidiary scanner portion includes the motor, carriage, printing head and timing belts and moves the printing head reciprocatably in the lateral direction along the paper (i.e. in directions perpendicular to the direction in which the paper advances).
The carriage on which the printing head is seated is driven in a reciprocating manner by the motor through a timing belt. Positional accuracy of the printing head is obtained by the tension provided from the timing belt. The carriage and timing belt are held in place by a frame plate which is typically made of a metallic material and is generally secured to the frame of the printer by screws to provide the mechanical strength required for reciprocating movement of the carriage and continuous rotation of the timing belt during operation of the printer. Assembly of the frame plate to the frame is often troublesome and time consuming due to the use of screws or the like required for assembly.
The motor employed in the carriage driving mechanism of a conventional printer is also fixed to one end of the frame by screws or the like. The timing belt wraps around the driving pulley which is fixed to a shaft providing the rotational output torque produced by the motor and an additional (i.e. following) pulley which is positioned near the other end of the frame. Consequently, the tension of the timing belt must be controlled by adjusting the torque (i.e. movement) of the motor or the position of the additional pulley.
It is therefore desirable to provide a printer having a guiding plate which need not be assembled within the frame of the printer with the precision demanded from commercially available printers. Guiding plates made from polymer materials should be produced at a cost at least comparable to those made from other suitable materials rather than at a higher cost. It is also desirable to provide a printer whose pressing plate exerts different levels of pressure against the recording medium.
Preferably, use of a paper bail should be avoided to simplify the structure of the printer. Assembly of the frame plate to the frame should be simple and accomplished in relatively little time. The correct tension on the timing belt should be automatically controlled to thereby eliminate the need to manually adjust the movement of the motor or position of a pulley.


A constant current regulator for airfield ground lighting is described herein. For example, one or more embodiments include a power converter configured to receive a signal from an alternating current (AC) mains, where the power converter includes a number of bi-directional switches, a transformer configured to isolate the AC signal from an airfield ground lighting circuit, and a rectifier configured to convert the signal from the AC mains from AC to direct current (DC), an inverter configured to convert the DC signal from the power converter and convert the DC to AC, an output filter configured to receive the AC signal from the inverter and send the AC signal to the airfield ground lighting circuit, and a controller configured to switch the number of bi-directional switches of the power converter to allow an input voltage and current of the signal from the AC mains to be in phase.

Airfield lighting systems are designed to provide visual cues and/or signals for aircraft utilizing an airfield (e.g., runways, approach areas, and/or taxiways of the airfield). Aircraft lighting systems are designed in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and/or International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards. A regulated alternating current (AC) source is necessary to comply with such standards, as well as to cater to modern light emitting diode (LED) light sources used for airfield runway lamps.
Constant current regulators may be utilized to regulate an AC source, such as an AC mains. A constant current regulator may be used to provide current in the correct range, as well as provide a dynamic load response for the airfield runway lamps. Additionally, a constant current regulator can provide isolation between the AC mains and the airfield runway lamps in the event of a lightning strike, preventing unwanted electrical surge.

Constant current regulator for airfield ground lighting


A portable intelligent communications device is provided which includes a cellular telephone and a computer-controlled touch screen display. The touch screen display is a high-resolution graphics display which acts as a graphical user interface. The touch screen display is provided with an area that displays various informative meter icons that sequentially switches from one icon to the next. This is very desirable since the touch screen display is rather small in size, and there may not be enough space to simultaneously show the user all the information required by various meters. Standard meters include: battery power, signal strength, print status, status of messages, and the like. The switching or "rotating" meters are controlled by a user selectable timetable, and one of the meters can take a higher priority in situations where the value displayed by the meter has changed state. In addition, the area around the rotating meter could be flashed with new information when something out of the ordinary occurs, such as a "New Mail" alert.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mobile communications equipment and is particularly directed to a cellular telephone of the type which includes a computer-controlled graphics display. The invention is specifically disclosed as a portable intelligent communications device that has a touch screen display in which the graphics user interface displays a switching meter icon at a given area on the display, and the switching or "rotating" meter displays various symbols that each represent information related to system performance of the portable intelligent communications device.
2. Description of Related Art
Various types of portable laptop computers have been available for many years, and their flat panel displays typically run in a Windows.TM. environment as the graphics user interface. Windows-compatible computer programs that execute on laptop computers typically use pull-down menus so the user can select from various choices to operate the executing program, and many times choices will be presented to the user using a drop down list in which the user can type in certain information, such as operating parameters or filenames. Windows-compatible displays frequently include one or more informative "meters" to indicate various system operating parameters, such as "battery life" (i.e., battery power remaining) or "print status," and the like. In a complex computer system, displaying all of the informative meters of interest to the user at one time may require an inordinate amount of display real estate, especially for portable computers with limited display sizes, such as in laptop computers. For portable computers having case sizes even smaller than laptop computers, the relatively small size of the associated graphics display will require some changes to the "normal" method of displaying system performance information.
Portable telephones, particularly cellular telephones, have also been available for years. Most such equipment is computer controlled, in which the cellular phone includes a microprocessor or other processing control unit, along with sufficient random access memory to store some of the parameters that can be selected by the phone's user. Some telephones include a relatively small liquid crystal display which can show various types of information, including the telephone number being dialed, and/or the telephone number of a call being received. Such displays are typically limited to alphanumeric characters, and do not lend themselves well to displaying graphical data or images.
It would be desirable to provide a portable telephone with a high-resolution graphics display in order to make better use of the processing power that is available when including a microprocessor within the portable telephone. Such a device could be configured to run computer programs that are comparable to Windows-type software in the form of word processors, spreadsheets, and other communications software such as a web browser.

Method and apparatus for displaying a rotating meter icon on a portable intelligent communications device


A cylinder of a combustor includes a cylinder body inside of which combustion gas flows, a jacket plate that covers the cylinder body from the outside and forms a fluid space into which high-pressure fluid flows between an inner peripheral surface of the jacket plate and an outer peripheral surface of the cylinder body, and a rib that connects the cylinder body and the jacket plate. The rib is connected to the cylinder body by a cylinder side end portion on the cylinder body side in a radial direction with respect to an axis of the cylinder body being welded from both sides in an axial direction of the axis. The rib is connected to the jacket plate by a jacket side end portion on the jacket plate side in the radial direction being welded from both sides in the axial direction.

In a gas turbine, air pressurized by a compressor is mixed with fuel by a combustor so as to generate combustion gas which is a high-temperature fluid, and the combustion gas is introduced into a combustion gas flow channel of a turbine in which vanes and blades are alternately arranged. In addition, the blades and a rotor are rotated by the combustion gas circulating inside the combustion gas flow channel. In this manner, energy of the combustion gas is output as rotational energy, and the compressor or a generator is provided with a rotational drive force.
In the combustor of the gas turbine, in order to supply the high-temperature, high-pressure combustion gas to the turbine, components such as a transition piece and a combustor basket are exposed to the high-temperature combustion gas. For this reason, the components used in the combustor have a structure which introduces cooling air or steam in order to cool the components which become hot.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a structure which allows the steam to pass through a refrigerant passage by disposing a cooling jacket in which the refrigerant passage is formed on an outer periphery side of the transition piece of the combustor. The cooling jacket has multiple ribs which suppress the deformation caused by the pressure inside the refrigerant passage being increased by high-pressure steam. In order to form the refrigerant passage thereinside, these ribs are formed integrally with a plate material which forms a wall surface of the cooling jacket. Therefore, when the ribs are connected to an outer peripheral surface of the transition piece, welding cannot be performed from the inside of the cooling jacket which is on the refrigerant passage side. Consequently, the ribs are connected to the outer peripheral surface of the transition piece by welding only the outsides thereof.

Cylinder of combustor, method of manufacturing of cylinder of combustor, and pressure vessel


The present invention mainly includes a valve cock and a valve cock cover to form a structure of check valve, of which a trepan boring is set on the cover to accommodate the valve cock, and a pressure guide hole is set on the cover body to connect the high-pressure and valve cock trepan boring. A blast groove is set on the binding surface of the valve cock cover and shielding seat to release refrigerant. The valve cock is pressed against the vent hole of the shielding seat under the effect of the high-pressure chamber, and then the high-pressure refrigerant is blocked from flowing back into the low-pressure chamber. However, the high-pressure refrigerant will directly eject upward against the valve cock when the rotating turbine and fixed whirl run mutually, in addition the high-pressure refrigerant will flow into the high-pressure chamber via the blast groove.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a check valve providing an effective structure to reduce abnormal voice caused by the impulse for pressing the refrigerant, and the noise derived from the valve sleet that fail to slide down to block the high-pressure refrigerant from flowing back when the machine is shut down, as well as stabilize the direction of the refrigerant flowing into the high-pressure chamber.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 is structure diagram schematically illustrating a common turbine compressor, and the basic structure of the whole compressor (A) includes a rotating turbine (A2), a fixed turbine (A1), a shielding seat (B) and a driving module; therein, interior airtight space of compressor (A) is separated by the shielding seat (B) into a bottom low-pressure chamber (R1) and an upper high-pressure chamber (R2) with refrigerant inlet (A3) and outlet (A4) on the sides of the chambers respectively, and a fixed turbine (A1) and a rotating turbine (A2) beneath the shielding seat (B) on one side of the low-pressure chamber (R1). Then the rotating turbine (A2) is driven to revolve by the driving module (C) inside the fixed turbine instead of spinning, thereby the volume between the fixed turbine (A1) and the rotating turbine (A2) is altered, and the refrigerant in the low-pressure chamber (R1) is absorbed and compressed to change the volume of refrigerant, thus the high-pressure refrigerant flow into the refrigerant pipe via the outlet (A4) after flowing across the vent hole (B1) of shielding seat (B), and subsequently the refrigerant will exchange heat between the refrigerant pipe and the compressor.
Because the high-pressure end and low-pressure end are located on both sides of the shield seat (B), then the high-pressure gas will flow back to the low-pressure side with noise created when the compressor stops working, it is necessary to set a check valve (B2) at the vent hole (B1) of shielding seat (B) to prevent the high-pressure refrigerant from flowing back quickly to the low-pressure side; however, the common check valve (B2) is in a structure of a valve sheet, which results in high-pressure refrigerant flowing back and noise thus produced in case the sheet actually fails to slide down to block the access when the machine stops working; additionally, FIG. 2 is another check valve structure in the market, whereby the high-pressure refrigerant is prevented from flowing back to the low side by a spool (E) positioned between the shielding seat (B) and the cock cover (D) while the bottom surface of the spool (E) is directly against the end surface of the shielding seat (B). However, when the rotating turbine and the fixed turbine spin mutually, impulse will be produced as the refrigerant is pressed into the high-pressure chamber (R2), then the check valve (B2) bumps up and down with tremendous abnormal noise resulted.
The present invention of the check valve with silencing cover mainly includes a valve cock and a valve cock cover to form a structure of check valve, of which a trepan boring is set on the cover to accommodate the valve cock, and a pressure guide hole is set on the cover body to connect the high-pressure and valve cock trepan boring. A blast groove is set on the binding surface of the valve cock cover and shielding seat to release refrigerant. The high-pressure refrigerant will directly push the valve cock upward when the rotating turbine and fixed whirl spin mutually, and accordingly the high-pressure refrigerant flows into the high-pressure chamber via the blast groove. When the machine stops working, the valve cock will be directly pressed against the vent hole of the shielding seat under the effect of the high-pressure chamber, hereby the high-pressure refrigerant is blocked from flowing back into the low-pressure chamber.
The other object of the present invention is to form a curve lead angle at the fringe of the vent hole, guiding the release of refrigerant by combining the lead angle and the end surface of the valve cock, and then noise derived from the refrigerant impulse is hereby reduced.
Another object of the present invention is to stabilize the flow direction of the refrigerant flowing into the high-pressure chamber while discharging the refrigerant evenly via the blast groove.
The fourth object of the present invention, improved structure of the check valve of the compressor, is to form an airway on the valve cock cover, then large volume of refrigerant flows into the high-pressure chamber via the airway instead of the blast grove merely hereof, and high-pressure refrigerant is released effectively and quickly.

Structure of check valve with silencing cover


A multi-axis roll-forming method includes simultaneously (a) spinning, about a rotation axis, a spin platter having placed thereon a ring encircling the rotation axis, (b) pressing at least one first roller against outward-facing surface of a first portion of the ring to press the first portion against an outward-facing surface of the spin platter, and (c) forcing a second roller against an outward-facing surface of a second portion of the ring to bend toward the rotation axis the second portion, so as to form a lip extending toward the rotation axis, wherein the step of forcing includes (i) pivoting the second roller against the second portion, and (ii) translating the second roller along the second portion toward the rotation axis.

The metalworking industry is striving toward producing metal parts that are stronger, lighter, more accurate, and cheaper. Roll-forming is one method that has proven advantageous in this regard. Roll forming uses a set of rollers to bend thin metal to achieve a desired shape. Most commonly, a coil of sheet metal is fed into a roll-forming machine that, as the coil is advanced through the machine, forces a series of rollers against the coil to change its shape. In a simple example, rollers are pressed against the sides of a coil to change the profile of the coil from planar to u-shaped. More advanced shapes may be imparted using other roller configurations. The roll-formed coil may be cut into sections of a desired length. In some instances, two ends of a section are joined to make a roll-formed ring.
Roll-forming may be entirely automated and performed at a high throughput rate, thus resulting in low manufacturing cost. In addition, since roll-forming works the metal in a cold state, the roll-formed parts are generally stronger than hot-worked parts made from metal of similar thickness. For example, roll-forming may be superior to extrusion in terms of strength of the finished part. As a result, a roll-formed part may be made from thinner metal and yet be as strong as a similar part made by extrusion, which leads to savings in material cost as well as lighter finished parts.

Multi-axis roll-forming methods, systems, and products


A party is alerted of an incoming telephone call using a caller-selected ring tone or other ring alert, which can be in the form of a data file streamed to the called party's phone as part of the call-setup process. The called party can be presented with options for purchasing the ring alert.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to providing user-selected telephone ring tones.
2. Description of the Related Art
The audible alert that a wireless mobile telecommunication device (also referred to as "user equipment"), such as a cellular telephone handset, emits to alert a user when the device receives an incoming call is typically referred to as a ring tone. A ring tone can be as simple as a single monophonic or polyphonic sound or as complex as a segment of a song or other musical segment, or a segment of recorded voice. Many wireless mobile telecommunications network service providers offer their subscribers (i.e., users of the wireless mobile devices) a service that allows a subscriber to select ring tones and wirelessly download them from the network to the subscriber's cell phone or other wireless mobile device. In this manner, the subscriber can have the device play, for example, a segment of the subscriber's favorite song upon receiving an incoming call. An example of such a service is the MEdiaNet™ service available from Cingular Wireless.
Using the cell phone or other device to which the subscriber has downloaded ring tones, the subscriber can associate selected ring tones with selected telephone numbers or groups of numbers listed in the device's electronic address book, such that when the device receives a call from an associated telephone number it emits a ring tone that is distinct from the ring tone it emits when it receives a call from other telephone numbers. The MEdia Net™ service also includes an Answer Tone feature that allows a subscriber to replace the standard ringing sound or tone that a calling party normally hears while waiting for the subscriber to answer the phone with a customized Answer Tone. An Answer Tone can include anything that can be used as a ring tone, such as a segment of a song or other musical segment, or segment of spoken voice. The MEdia Net™ Answer Tone feature also allows a subscriber to associate selected Answer Tones with selected telephone numbers or number groups, in a manner similar to that in which a subscriber can associate selected ring tones with selected numbers. However, unlike a ring tone, which is stored in the form of a data file on the subscriber's cell phone, subscribers' Answer Tones are stored on Cingular Wireless servers.
Advances in wireless mobile telecommunications network technology are also facilitating the use of wireless mobile devices as portable audio listening devices through which subscribers can select and listen to songs. The music can be wirelessly delivered to the device in the form of so-called streaming digital audio or, alternatively, downloaded to the device in the form of a digital file. The term "streaming" is used to refer to a process of delivering the data at a rate similar to that at which it is being played, such that a subscriber can listen for an essentially indefinite period of time. The streaming technology makes possible a radio station-like service through which a subscriber can listen to continuous music that a selected "station" is transmitting. The term "playing (a data file or something representing a data file)" is used in the art to refer to the process of transforming a data file (e.g., through decompression, decoding, conversion, etc.) into a form in which it is output for the user to hear (or view, in the case of a video medium).
It is desirable to provide telecommunication service subscribers with substantial flexibility in customizing ring tones and similar features. The present invention provides a system and method that addresses the above-described problems and deficiencies in the manner described below.


Embodiments of the invention relate to distribution of clocks to CPUs in processing cells of a multi-cell system. In an embodiment, each cell includes an interface, referred to as an agent. A plurality of interfaces, referred to as switches, together with the agents of the cells, connects the cells together. A clock source provides a clock to a switch, which replicates the clock and provides the replicated clocks to its ports. Each port of the switch, receiving a replicated clock, encodes this replicated clock and sends it over a link to each agent of a cell. Each agent of the cells, receiving an encoded clock, decodes this encoded clock, resulting in a decoded, or an extracted, clock. The agent then replicates the extracted clock and provides the replicates of the extracted clock to a plurality of CPUs of the cell. As a result, CPUs in all cells of the system receive clocks that all are synchronized to the clock provided by the clock source. Other embodiments are also disclosed including using the extracted clock as phase information, scaling, redundancy, etc.

A clock provided to various cells in a multi-cell computer system may be referred to as a single point of failure because, when the clock fails, all cells using the clock fail. Further, in situations where clock redundancy is desirable, distributing redundant clocks from a clock source to various cells can add expense, pin counts in a chip, etc. To solve such problems, one solution uses a clock source for each cell, resulting in independent clocks from different clock sources. However, because of different sources, the clocks are no longer synchronous, or drift. That is, they assert different periods. In critical applications, even a small clock drift is not acceptable, and synchronizing these independent clocks to eliminate the drifts can require complicated mechanisms.

Clock distribution in multi-cell computing systems

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


This invention relates to a process for recording an extension of guarantee of print for a system for franking mailpieces, comprising a display of an indication of “end of initial guarantee” at the level of the franking system; comparing a remaining volume of ink with a minimum volume of ink beyond which printing of the mailpieces is prohibited; if the remaining volume of ink permits, a display of an indication of “offer of extension of guarantee” at the level of the franking system; if this offer is accepted by the user of the franking system, linking with a server of the franking system distributor; and recording of the extension of guarantee in the distributor's server. The indication of the end of initial guarantee corresponds to the franking of a predetermined number of mailpieces.

Conventionally, as postal indicia represent a monetary value, the quality of print thereof on mailpieces is primordial in order to avoid any fraud or financial loss for the user in the event of the Postal Service rejecting the franking.
It therefore appears important to be able to guarantee for the users of franking machines, or more generally of all franking systems, conformity of the printed postal indicia to the technical specifications of the Postal Service.
At the present time, the specific postal ink cartridges are sold with a guarantee corresponding to a limited period of use, for example 12 months, or to a limited number of frankings, for example 20000. In the case of users such as dispatch or mail services proceeding with a very large number of frankings daily, it is obviously the second limit which is applicable, the maximum number of frankings being attained well before the limit relative to the duration of use provided for the cartridge. Now, at the end of the guarantee period, the ink cartridge is often not completely empty (particularly if the postal indicia is not overelaborate), and may therefore still allow a certain number of frankings. However, if the user decides to continue frankings, it does so at its own risk without any guarantee and therefore also without any recourse against its franking system distributor, its ink cartridge supplier, in the event of its mailpieces subsequently being rejected by the Postal Service.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome this drawback and to avoid any risk of rejection by the Postal Service, by proposing a system for guaranteeing the quality of print of postal indicia. Another object of the invention is to allow such guarantee to be obtained whatever the type of franking system, electromechanical or computer-related, used.

System for guaranteeing print of postal indicia


A first angular grinding wheel and a straight grinding wheel having rotation axes parallel to each other are arranged on a swivel slide that turns about a turning axis. A reference symmetry plane (MA) that is parallel to a grinding wheel rotation axis and that includes the turning axis and a reference perpendicular plane (MB) that is perpendicular to the reference symmetry plane and that includes the turning axis are defined. A grinding reference point (PA1) of the first angular grinding wheel (TA1) and a grinding reference point (PP1) of the straight grinding wheel (TP1) are arranged asymmetrical with respect to the reference symmetry plane. A distance from the grinding reference point of the straight grinding wheel to the reference symmetry plane is equal to a distance from the grinding reference point of the first angular grinding wheel to the turning axis.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a grinding machine in which a plurality of grinding wheels are mounted on a swivel slide.
2. Discussion of Background
In an existing art, there are disclosed various grinding machines that are able to perform various types of grinding on a workpiece by turning a swivel slide having a plurality of grinding wheels. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-095911 (JP-A-2009-095911) describes a grinding machine in which grinding wheels are arranged at front and rear sides of a swivel slide and the grinding wheels are arranged so that the direction of reactive force that occurs during machining is directed toward the center of a turning axis. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-101480 (JP-A-2009-101480) describes a grinding machine in which grinding wheels are arranged at front and rear sides of a swivel slide and the positions of the grinding wheel shafts are lowered to thereby make it possible to further improve stiffness. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 54-295 (JP-A-54-295) describes a grinding machine that has two types of straight grinding wheels, that is, a straight grinding wheel that grinds a journal portion of a crankshaft and a straight grinding wheel that grinds a pin portion of the crankshaft, arranged on a swivel slide and that has a structure for changing the grinding wheels by turning the swivel slide 180 degrees.
In the existing techniques described in JP-A-2009-095911 and JP-A-2009-101480, the swivel slide is turned by a direct drive motor, the swivel slide has a rotor and a stator inside, and, furthermore, the grinding wheels are provided at the front and rear sides of the swivel slide. For this reason, the swivel slide is thick, the size of the swivel slide is large when regarded as a casing, and the weight of the swivel slide is also heavy. Thus, the size of a drive motor that moves the swivel slide toward or away from a workpiece also increases, so that the size of the grinding machine increases. In addition, the grinding wheels are provided on the side surfaces of the swivel slide, so that the position of each swivel slide cannot be adjusted in a direction to approach the turning axis. In addition, when the swivel slide is turned in order to change the grinding wheels for grinding a workpiece, it takes time to turn the swivel slide a having large size and a heavy weight. This elongates the machining time.
When the swivel slide is formed in a plate-like shape and then grinding wheels are arranged on the swivel slide in order to reduce the size and weight of the swivel slide, it is possible to reduce the apparent size and weight of the swivel slide, and the flexibility of arrangement of the grinding wheels increases. However, it is necessary to arrange a drive motor, such as a servo motor, for turning the swivel slide so as to protrude upward from the swivel slide as in the case of JP-A-54-295. A ball screw, or the like, for moving the swivel slide forward or backward is arranged below the swivel slide, and it is considerably difficult to arrange a turning drive motor below the swivel slide, so that not only the height increases but also grinding wheels must be arranged around the turning drive motor. Furthermore, unless the plurality of grinding wheels are arranged at appropriate positions, after turning the swivel slide in order to change the grinding wheel that grinds a workpiece, a relative displacement between the swivel slide and the workpiece increases to thereby elongate the machining time. However, in the existing art, the arrangement of the grinding wheels is determined in consideration only of the balance as the swivel slide and interference with a headstock or a workpiece during turning.


A system comprises a first graphics controller adapted to couple to a first display, a second graphics controller adapted to couple to a second display, and a switch through which at least one of communications and power is provided to the second graphics controller. The system also comprises control logic coupled to the switch. The control logic causes the switch to preclude at least one of communications and power from being provided to the second graphics controller if the second display is not operatively coupled to the system.

It is generally desirable to reduce power consumption in computer systems. A notebook computer, for example, may operate from a battery. The less power the notebook consumes, the longer the battery will last. While battery-operated computers certainly benefit from a reduction in power consumption (in terms of longevity of battery charge), even desktop computers benefit from a reduction in power consumption. Desktop computers that consume less power generally do not become as hot and cost less to operate (in terms of energy costs).

System and method of controlling a graphics controller


A detachable table device includes a foldable leg device detachably connected to a table top and operable to support the table top when in an extended state and to separate from the table top when in a folded state. A circumferential portion of the table top has an inner annular surface formed with a radially and outwardly extending annular engaging groove. The leg device includes a pivot unit for interconnecting at least three leg members such that the leg members are pivotable relative to the pivot unit to be angularly equidistant when the leg device is in the extended state, and to be moved toward each other when the leg device is in the folded state. Each leg member includes an engaging end portion disposed movably in and engaging releasably the engaging groove in the circumferential portion of the table top.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a table device, and more particularly, to a detachable table device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a conventional table device with unfolded legs occupies a relatively large area when not in use. Therefore, it is inconvenient to store and carry. In addition, tools are required to assemble or disassemble such a table device.


A simulated vehicle tracking device is installed in a conspicuous location in a vehicle. The simulated vehicle tracking device outwardly resembles the appearance of a functional vehicle tracking device, including indicator lights which flash on and off in a pattern to simulate the operation of indicator lights on a functioning vehicle tracking device. An functional vehicle tracking device is installed in an inconspicuous location in the vehicle. A person inclined to disable vehicle tracking will remove or disable the simulated vehicle tracking device instead of the functional vehicle tracking device.

Knowledge of the location of a vehicle after it has been sold or rented is often desired. If the vehicle is financed by a loan for which the vehicle is collateral, the location of the vehicle should be known in case repossession becomes necessary. Traditionally, when repossession was necessary, lien holders or their representatives were forced to personally monitor the vehicle by venturing out to locate it. This method was inefficient and unreliable because the lien holder often had no reliable information about the vehicle's location, but rather relied on information provided by the buyer at the time of purchase. Additionally, due to the readily mobile nature of the collateral, obtaining an up-to-date and accurate location of the vehicle when a buyer was in default was difficult. In recent years, efforts have been made to simplify the task of tracking a vehicle for purposes of monitoring its location and for repossession. One such method that has drastically improved lien holder's ability to track vehicles is to equip the collateral (i.e. vehicle) with a mobile tracking device that can report the vehicle's location remotely.
However, as these tracking methods and devices have become more commonplace, a recurring problem has been that vehicle purchasers disable or remove them completely from the vehicle. The disabling and removal of the devices presents two problems for lien holders. Once the devices are disabled or removed, lien holders are again left with no information about the location of the vehicle. Furthermore, since the tracking devices are often integrated into the electrical system and connected to the body of the vehicle, the removal of the device by hasty or careless means often results in expensive damage to the device itself or to the vehicle.
What is needed, therefore, is an effective and inexpensive method of tracking vehicles while preventing the disablement or the removal of functional vehicle tracking devices from vehicles.

Apparatus and method for simulating a vehicle tracking device in a vehicle


A level machine information system is provided with an instruction register for storing an address of an instruction read out from an instruction memory, an instruction decoder for producing control signals complying with the instruction read out, a calculator for producing a new address of an instruction to be executed next on the basis of the address outputted from the instruction register, an instruction length code supplied from the decoder as the control signals, a plurality of first registers for saying the address outputted from the instruction register, a plurality of second registers for saving the new address, a controller and a selector for supplying the instruction register with the new address, the saved new address and fixed addresses each indicating the head of interruption programs in the instruction memory. The first and second registers correspond to all but the highest interruption priority level. Upon an acknowledged interruption request, the controller controls the first and second registers and selector to save the new address of the calculator and the old address of the instruction register in one of the first and second registers corresponding to the priority levels of an interrupted process, respectively. One of the fixed addresses corresponding to a process to be executed for the interruption request is transferred in the instruction register. If necessary, the contents of the first and second registers are referenced by the process to detect the reasons for the interruption.

This invention relates to information processing systems and more particularly to a level machine type information processing system having a group of general purpose registers respectively corresponding to interruption process levels and being able to respond to an interruption to rapidly switch a processing on one level to a processing on another level.
In handling a plurality of interruption levels in an ordinary information processing system, when an interruption occurs during processing on a certain level, the interruption is permitted to be executed if it has higher priority than the presently processed level. For execution of the interruption, an address of an instruction next to an instruction presently executed and the contents of a general purpose register presently used have to be saved. Accordingly, some main memory areas or a plurality of save registers are needed and the save processing adds to processing time correspondingly.
Contrary to this, in an information processing system dedicated to level processing, a group of general purpose registers corresponding to interruption levels are provided, a level is processed using a general purpose register corresponding to that level and when an interruption causes processing to shift from one level to another, a general purpose register corresponding to the destined level is used, thereby eliminating the necessity of save and recovery processing of the contents of the general purpose register to and from the main memory.
An example of prior art level machine type information processing system is described as a central controller (CC) in an outline book of HITAC H-8633-2/3 type Communication Control Processing System, 8080-1-007, 1983.
Such a level machine type information processing system has instruction address registers (IAR's) corresponding to levels and a single lagging address register (LAR) provided in association with the IAR's. During processing of a level other than the level of the highest priority, an address of an instruction which precedes by one an instruction designated by an IAR is stored in the LAR and the contents of the LAR is updated concurrently with update of the contents of the IAR.
Upon occurrence of an interruption toward the level of the highest priority to a processing on a level other than the level of the highest priority, an address of an instruction executed immediately before the occurrence of the interruption or an address of an instruction preceding that executed instruction is stored in the LAR and update of the LAR is stopped when the interruption toward the level of the highest priority occurs. This ensures that after start of a processing on the level of the highest priority, the address of the instruction processed immediately before the interruption can be determined from the contents of the LAR.
The above prior art system has, however, the following disadvantages.
In the first place, since the prior art system is such that only when an interruption toward the level of the highest priority occurs, an address of an instruction executed immediately before the occurrence of the interruption can be held in the LAR, an address of an immediately previously executed instruction can not be obtained from the LAR when an interruption toward other level than the level of the highest priority occurs. Therefore, the prior art system can not realize a hierarchial structure for a routine wherein a predetermined processing is carried out by referring to the state of a preceding process level which is pausing, for example, an error recovery routine. When taking a program interruption, for instance, an interruption due to an error of program is an abnormal phenomenon but an interruption due to page absence is not an abnormal phenomenon. Accordingly, it is desirable that these interruptions be processed on different levels. Preferably, the interruption process due to an error of program may be allocated to, for example, the level of the highest priority (level 1) and the interruption process due to page absence may be allocated to for example, a level which is second in priority (level 2). In the prior art system, when an error of program occurs and an interruption toward the level 1 takes place during a processing on a certain level, an address of an instruction, on the interrupted level, which raises the error can be known by examining the contents of the LAR during a processing on the level 1. But when the page absence occurs and an interruption toward the level 2 takes place, an address of an instruction, on the interrupted level, which raises the page absence can not be known during a processing on the level 2. Accordingly, with the prior art system, in order for an interrupting process routine executed during page absence to know an address of an instruction which raises the page absence, priority of the level 1 has to be given to the interrupting process routine, thus preventing hierarchy of interruption processes and realization of software simplified for preparation and maintenance.
In the second place, the EXECUTE instruction generally used in the general purpose computer can not be added to the instruction set of the prior art system and the instruction set can not be used in common for both the system for general purpose and system dedicated to level processing. This problem will be explained with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17.
In the prior art system, an EXIT instruction issued on the level of the lowest priority (level 5) is so prescribed as to be a supervisor call (SVC) toward or destined for a level which is higher in priority than the level 5 by one, that is, level 4 and accordingly, when an EXIT instruction 140 is issued at an A address 142 in a routine on the level 5 as shown in FIG. 16, an interruption occurs and the processing shifts to the level 4. An interruption decision circuit examines the contents of an interruption factor register to know that the interruption factor is the SVC. In this case, a B address (head address of parameter 141) 143 is recorded in an IAR corresponding to the level 5 and therefore the parameter 141 can be used during a processing on the level 4. Further, since the length of the parameter 141 per se is also recorded in the parameter 141, a C address 144 (=B address+parameter length) standing for a return address to the processing on level 5 can be known.
Assume now that an EXECUTE instruction is added to an instruction set. The EXECUTE instruction is defined such that when this instruction is executed, an instruction at an address designated within the EXECUTE instruction, that is, a target instruction is partly changed using a general purpose register designated within the EXECUTE instruction and then, the target instruction is executed.
The interruption toward the level 4 by the SVC may occur in either of mode (a) due to an EXIT instruction alone (see FIG. 16) and mode (b) due to a target instruction of EXECUTE instruction standing for an EXIT instruction (see FIG. 17) but the two modes can not be discriminated from each other.
The instruction length of the EXIT instruction is of 2 bytes but the EXECUTE instruction required to designate an address of the target instruction and an address of the general purpose register has a length longer than that of the EXIT instruction. Because of the difference in length between EXIT and EXECUTE instructions 151 and 150, in the mode (b), an A address 153 in FIG. 17 can not be determined from the contents of an IAR for level 5 (recording a B address 154 in FIG. 17) during a processing on the level 4. Accordingly, a D address 155 can not be determined, either, resulting in a failure to use a parameter 152 and it is undetermined whether the B address stands for a return address to a processing on the level 5.
For the reasons described previously, the EXECUTE instruction can not be added to the instruction set in the prior art level machine. However, the EXECUTE instruction has many applications and is exemplarily used when data of different lengths can be moved, with the procedure part of program inhibited from being written, by defining a target instruction of the EXECUTE instruction as a move character (MVC) instruction and designating a length of data to be moved according to the MVC instruction by a value in a general purpose register designated by the EXECUTE instruction. The variable length processing is frequently used in various software processings including a processing of fields having different lengths dependent on packets in a packet header, which processing occurs in software for communications (for example, address fields of X.25 layer 3).
Accordingly, when the EXECUTE instruction is not permitted to be used, the procedure part of program has to be rewritten each time movement of data of different lengths is effected and must not be inhibited from being written, which may cause runaway of the program.
In another application, the EXECUTE instruction is used in a program for tracing a program, that is, a tracer.
The tracer has the following four portions (a) to (d):
(a) Operation resembling instruction execution operation effected using hardware in the ordinary information processing system and including recognition and and inspection of an instruction code of an instruction, scheduled to be executed in a program to be traced, and of register and memory area used is carried out, the instruction code is recorded in order to record which instruction is executed, and other necessary information is recorded;
(b) The above instruction is actually executed under the direction of the EXECUTE instruction;
(c) After execution of the instruction, the contents of the general purpose register, memory area, condition code, and so on are recorded; and
(d) The contents of the register designating the address of the instruction is updated in order that an instruction to be executed subsequently to the above instruction can be traced, and the procedure is returned to the portion (a).
By using such a tracer, record of various kinds of information unavailable from a tracer based on hardware can be obtained to simplify preparation and maintenance of programs. However, when the use of the EXECUTE instruction is not permitted, the aforementioned tracer can not be prepared.

Information processing system with instruction address saving function corresponding to priority levels of interruption information