A variable-size induction heating plate includes a plurality of windings (10a, 10b, 10c, 10′a, 10′b, 10′c) arranged in a cooking surface. The heating plate includes two sets (10, 10′) of a plurality of windings arranged side-by-side, each set (10, 10′) of windings being adapted in such a way as to form a heating plate, and control elements (12, 12′, 13) which are adapted in such a way as to control the operation of the sets (10, 10′) both in an independent manner and a synchronous manner. Each set of windings is fed by a single current generator (11, 11). The inventive heating plate can be used in an induction cooking surface.

1.Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a variable-size induction heating plate, and an induction cooking surface integrating such a plate.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present invention applies generally to the field of domestic induction cooking appliances, such as induction vitroceramic cooking surfaces.
An induction heating plate generally consists of a circular winding adapted to the dimension of a cooking vessel of given size.
It can equally consist of a plurality of concentric windings enabling adaptation to different diameters of vessels disposed on the cooking surface above the plate.
A heating plate can equally consist of a plurality of windings disposed side by side and supplied with power by independent generators, as described in patent application FR 2 758 994.
Also known are cooking surfaces comprising a plurality of small windings disposed in a cooking surface. One such cooking surface is described in the document FR 2 863 039 in particular. That document describes a set of circular windings disposed side by side so as to cover all of the area of the cooking surface. In this kind of set, the windings are magnetically independent and are controlled independently so that each heating plate is determined individually as a function of the position of the vessel on the cooking surface, facing the windings.
However, as a function of the position of the vessel on the cooking surface, it is not rare for a significant proportion of a group of windings not to be covered by the vessel, with the result that the power delivered by the induction winding is low.
The power delivered, by a particular heating plate depends on the electromagnetic matching between the induction winding and the vessel disposed above it. The vessel is seen as a resistive load by the current generator feeding the induction winding. In principle, induction heating devices are designed to optimize the electromagnetic matching and to maximize the power delivered when the vessel completely covers the area of the induction winding.


Embodiments of this application provide a dual-mode resonator, a filter, and a radio frequency unit. The dual-mode resonator includes a cavity and a dual-mode dielectric body coupled to an inner surface of the cavity. The dual-mode dielectric body includes a central part and four components that protrude from the central part, where the four components are disposed opposite to each other in pair and are in a cross shape. A first coupling groove and a second coupling groove are provided on the central part, where an extension direction of the first coupling groove is between two adjacent components, and an extension direction of the second coupling groove is between the other two adjacent components. The widths and/or the depths of the first and the second coupling grooves are different, and the extension direction of the first coupling groove and the extension direction of the second coupling groove are at a preset angle.

A resonator is a basic component of a filter in a communications system and is configured to provide, when a signal is input to the filter, a specified frequency response. A dual-mode resonator is a specific type of resonator. The dual-mode resonator has attracted much attention in the industry due to advantages such as miniaturization, a high Q/V (Q represents a quality factor, and a corresponding full name is quality; and V represents a volume, and a corresponding full name is volume) ratio, and high power.
However, an existing dual-mode resonator still has many disadvantages. For example, mutual coupling between dual modes is relatively complex, and it is difficult to independently control positive and negative coupling. Therefore, how to independently control positive and negative coupling of the dual-mode resonator is a difficulty in designing a dual-mode resonator.

Dual-mode resonator, filter, and radio frequency unit


A horological movement including a tourbillon or karussel frame carried by an arm subjected to the torque of a first energy source, and a second energy source driving a frame pitch mobile driving the frame, and, for periodically controlling a retrograde movement of the arm, a release mobile connected to the second energy source and cooperating at a pallet-stone with an interrupted cam that a cam mobile kinematically connected to this arm includes, to allow advancing the arm in a direct direction as long as the pallet-stone is resting on the cam, and to control a rapid retrograde return of this arm during a drop of the pallet-stone between two of its successive support surfaces on the cam.

Fans of horological complications are sensitive to a certain animation of the displays of a timepiece, which can be achieved by retrograde display mechanisms, or else by tourbillon mechanisms or the like, which in addition guarantee better insensitivity to positions.
A bursting of the displays is also appreciated, and allows providing a new physiognomy of the dial or the mechanism.
Retrograde displays are generally limited to driving hands, or more rarely discs.
The retrograde drive of a tourbillon or karussel frame has never been possible, because a frame cannot turn back on its fixed wheel, and must always turn in the same direction. If a disconnecting system, by a cam or the like, is introduced, to move the frame back, the running stops during the retrograde movement, which is not admissible.
Document CH709331A2 in the name of SEIKO INSTR. describes a display mechanism which comprises a frame unit comprising an escapement and a regulator, and an operating unit configured to differentiate the speed of displacement of the frame unit with the passage of time and to displace the frame unit in the direction moving towards or away from a first axis which is the centre of a particular display area, wherein the operating unit displaces the frame unit so that the movement path, reproduced when the frame unit displaces in the direction moving towards the first axis which is the centre of the particular display area, is in continuity with the movement path reproduced when the frame unit displaces in the direction moving away from the first axis which is the centre of the particular display area.

Timepiece retrograde tourbillon or karussel


A Method and Apparatus for identifying and distinguishing fluids and for recognizing contamination of a fluid, which method and apparatus utilizes spectrographic analysis of control samples of known fluids and then spectrographic analysis of unknown fluids to generate optical signatures, finger prints and/or profiles of data and processed data relating to the relative intensities of light at selected wavelengths; and then, through comparison of the various signatures, fingerprints and/or profiles, provides determinative information as to contamination or non-contamination of the unknown fluids; after which appropriate operation control is effected and/or exercised.

The bottling industry is faced with many problems in the control and maintenance of their bottling facilities and procedures; but specific problems or concern herein are problems related to the "contamination" of the bottled products. The term "contamination" is used herein as meaning that any substance other than the intended "non-contaminants" (for example, the pure product and non-contaminating cleansers) is being, has been or will be introduced into the bottle or other container distributed to the consumer. A look at two, typical bottling procedures will help identify more clearly some example problems.
A first procedure which gives rise to concern about contamination is the actual bottle filling procedure. Probably more than a few bottlers have experienced the wasting of many hundreds of gallons of product because a container was filled with improper product. For example, some bottlers will, in the course of a day, utilize the same conveyor and piping systems to fill bottles or cans of two, three or more products. The system will first be used, for example, to fill product 1 containers, then product 2, then product 3, and so on. For example, some beer manufacturers have procedures of utilizing the same conveyor and piping system to ultimately fill containers of premium beers, non-premium beers, and low calorie ("light") beers. If the wrong product is introduced into a particular container, then that product is "contaminated". This is one type of contamination problem. Such contamination can occur either by operator error, in which the operator simply directs product from the wrong storage tank into the piping system, or when there is "residue" from a prior product run remaining in the piping system.
A second procedure which gives rise to concern about contamination is the "refilling" procedure. This is a procedure in which the bottler collects used bottles, refills and reuses these bottles to contain fresh products. Usually these containers were used by consumers to simply dispense of the original product and were then returned to a collection facility. However, the consumer may have used the container to hold a substance other than the original product and then delivered the container at some later time to the collection center. A bottler must be concerned about whether an incoming container has been used to hold any substance which would affect the quality (i.e. taste or smell) of its product. This potential for contamination of "refillable" bottles is of particular concern when refilling plastic bottles. The concern of refilling plastic, refillable bottles is the possibility that contaminants have been absorbed into the walls of the bottles and then leach into fresh liquid product subsequently placed in the refillable bottles. Because of the absorption and leaching problem, a bottler would rather identify a plastic bottle that has been used to hold a contaminated foreign substance and discard that bottle, rather than attempt to clean and reuse that bottle.
For many years, the industry has sought to address the contamination problem mentioned above. With respect to the first bottle filling procedure mentioned above, some bottlers may have dealt with the contamination problem by, on the one hand, simply accepting the fact of human error and throwing away mis-filled containers; and on the other hand, utilizing excessive amounts of pure product or water to "flush" the pipeline of prior fluids. In this "flushing" technique, a great deal of waste results because the bottler is not positive of the point at which the system has been purged of prior fluids and, thus, purges excessive amount of pure product in order to be certain of clean lines.
In addressing the contamination of refillable plastic bottles, the industry has tested several techniques in the laboratory which have varying degrees of success or failure.

System of fluid inspection and/or identification


A system and methods are provided for distributed tracing in a distributed application. In one embodiment, a method includes observing a plurality of messages sent and received among components of the distributed application, generating a probabilistic model of a call flow from observed messages of the distributed system, and constructing a call flow graph based on the probabilistic model for the distributed application. Distributed tracing may include observing messages by performing the subscription-based observation techniques and operations to receive, message traces describing messages being communicated among components of the distributed application. In this regard, the tracing service may merge message traces from different instrumentation points with message traces obtained by observing message queues to generate a probabilistic model and call flow graph. A distributed application developer or other relevant user may benefit in efficiently and effectively tracking down a cause of an abnormal behavior or analyzing performance profiles.

The present disclosure relates generally to tools for program development, and more particularly to systems and methods for tracing distributed systems.
Tracing can be one of the most important tools for program development and debugging. Typically, a debugger allows for execution of an application to be observed, recorded and used to identify particular problems with the application. The problem with typical methods and programs for debugging is that traditional debuggers are meant to deal with one process only. As such, even multiple threads of control within a single process can be difficult to trace. While conventional tracing methods and debuggers exist, these methods and programs are not suited for tracing distributed applications. Architecturally, distributed applications can be built like middleware and as a distributed system where requests for work are routed through a system of central queues with a number of dispatcher and worker units at the edges of an application. Cross-process, cross-platform, and cross-machine tracing are difficult and still under-developed. What is desired is a system and method for providing distributed tracing and to provide for debugging of applications.
Conventional systems for debugging can allow for snooping on messages in a distributed system. However, these methods treat what goes across the distributed application as an isolated message. What is desired is further integration between tracing and process debugging.
Generation of a Markov chain according to one embodiment will now be described with respect to FIG. 14.
Referring now to FIG. 15, a block diagram is illustrated of a distributed tracing system 1500, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

Methods and systems of distributed tracing


A pressure reducing valve for use in a system adapted to deliver a breathing gas to a patient. The pressure reducing valve is structured to communicate a flow of breathing gas to such a patient's airway during an inspiratory phase. The pressure reducing valve is structured to discharge the flow of breathing gas and a flow of exhaled gas to atmosphere during the expiratory phase. The flow of breathing gas and flow of exhaled gas are discharged to atmosphere through a number of exhaust ports. Because the flow of breathing gas and flow of exhalation gas are discharged through the exhaust ports, less effort is required by a patient during the expiratory phase.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the delivery of a flow of breathing gas to the airway of a patient and more particularly to an apparatus and method for providing improved comfort for a patient receiving a flow of breathing gas.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are numerous situations where it is necessary or desirable to deliver a flow of breathing gas to the airway of a patient. For example, it is known to deliver a flow of breathing gas to a patient during at least a portion of the breathing cycle to treat breathing and/or cardiac disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, and other respiratory and/or breathing disorders.
While sleeping, a patient suffering from obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is prone to having their airway narrow and/or collapse due to, for instance, mechanical collapsing forces that result from the structure of the airway tissues, poor muscle tone, and body position. One method of treating OSAS is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. With CPAP therapy, a flow of breathing gas is supplied at a constant pressure of sufficient magnitude to splint the patient's airway open and to prevent the narrowing and/or collapse of the airway.
During a normal breathing cycle, however, the pressure gradient between the lungs and the exterior of the body is not constant. For example during inspiration, the pressure gradient (sometimes referred to as the "inspiratory pressure gradient") falls from zero at the start of the inspiratory phase to a peak negative value and then rises back to zero at the end of the inspiratory phase. During expiration, the pressure gradient (sometimes referred to as the "expiratory pressure gradient") rises from zero at the start of the expiration phase to a peak value and then falls back to zero at the end of the expiratory phase. Because the pressure gradient varies over the breathing cycle, ideally the pressure necessary to overcome airway collapse should vary accordingly over the breathing cycle. Thus, although CPAP provides a simple treatment solution for OSAS, the application of a constant splinting pressure to the airway exposes the patient to pressures that are higher than the pressures needed to support the airway for most of the breathing cycle.
Advanced therapies, such as bi-level positive airway pressure (bi-level PAP) therapies and proportional positive airway pressure therapies, seek to take advantage of the different pressure requirements and lower the pressure at certain instances during the breathing cycle. In bi-level PAP therapy, for example, a flow of breathing gas is supplied to a patient's airway at a first pressure during the inspiratory phase and a flow of breathing gas at a lower pressure is supplied to the patient's airway during the expiratory phase. These advanced therapies, however, may cause discomfort because the patient must still overcome the resistance created by the low pressure flow of breathing gas supplied during the expiratory phase.
Accordingly, a need exists for an apparatus and method for providing improved comfort for a patient receiving a flow of breathing gas which overcomes these and other problems associated with known systems.

Pressure reducing valve with flexible cuff


A general purpose mechanics toolbox that is able to withstand external environmental conditions and abuse is disclosed. Typically, the toolbox includes a main body having a front and top cover. Tubular gaskets run between the top and front covers and the body, thereby providing a watertight seal. The body is typically constructed of a high durability plastic. The toolbox can be closed and latched with a latch mechanism that can optionally be locked.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of toolboxes, and more particularly to highly durable and all-weather toolbox.
II. Description of the Related Art
Many professions require toolboxes for storing tools and other tool-related equipment. Toolboxes can come in a variety of forms ranging from toolboxes that can be carried to toolboxes that can be rolled on wheels. Toolboxes can also come in a variety of materials such as plastic and metal. Often times toolboxes can be subject to extreme environmental conditions in addition to much external abuse. These conditions and abuse tend to deform and damage toolboxes. For example plastic can break or deform and metal can rust, bend or break. In addition, many toolboxes do not insulate the contents from external moisture and dust, thereby damaging expensive and valuable tools inside the toolbox.
In accordance with the present invention and the contemplated problems which have and continue to exist in this field, the invention features a general purpose mechanics toolbox that is able to withstand external environmental conditions and abuse.
In general, in one aspect, the invention features a toolbox, including a main body, a top cover connected to the main body, a front cover connected to the main body, one or more drawers located within the main body; and a seal located between the front cover and the main body and between the top cover and the main body.
In one implementation, the toolbox includes handles depressed within a portion of the main body.
In another implementation, the toolbox includes feet connected to the bottom of the main body.
In another implementation, the toolbox includes depressions on the top cover.
In another implementation, the toolbox includes a telescopic handle connected to the main body.
In another implementation, the toolbox includes wheels connected to the bottom of the main body.
In another implementation, the toolbox includes compartments located on the front cover.
In still another implementation, the toolbox includes a latch mechanism connected to the toolbox, including a latch and a latch lock.
In yet another implementation, the toolbox includes a bracket formed when the toolbox is in a closed position, the bracket having an upper portion connected to the top cover and a lower portion connected to the front cover.
In another implementation, the latch mechanism is located within the bracket.
In another implementation, the latch is pivotally connected to the upper portion of the bracket.
In another implementation, the latch lock includes a substantially J-shaped body having a long portion and a short portion, an end cap connected to the end of the long portion and a spring wrapped around the long portion and located between the end cap and the lower portion.
In another implementation, the seal includes a ridged edge connected to the top cover and a ridged edge connected to the front cover.
In another implementation, the seal further includes a gasket located with in a trench that runs along a lip of the main body and a gasket located within a trench that runs along a lip of the front cover.
In another implementation, the ridged edge of the top cover is adapted to connect with and deform the main body gasket and the front cover gasket when the toolbox is in a closed position and the ridged edge of the front cover is adapted to connect with and deform the main body gasket when the toolbox is in a closed position.
In another implementation, the seal further includes a gasket located with in a trench having an additional ridged edge oriented in opposition to the ridged edges of the top and front covers, the trench running along a lip of the main body and a gasket located within a trench having an additional ridged edge oriented in opposition to the ridged edge of the front cover, the trench running along a lip of the front cover.
In another implementation, the ridged edge of the top cover and the ridged edge in opposition are adapted to connect with and deform the main body gasket and the front cover gasket when the toolbox is in a closed position and the ridged edge of the front cover and the opposing gasket are adapted to connect with and deform the main body gasket when the toolbox is in a closed position.
In another aspect, the invention features a latch lock including a substantially J-shaped body having a long portion and a short portion, an end cap connected to the end of the long portion and a spring wrapped around the long portion and proximate the end cap.
In another aspect, the invention features a latch mechanism, including a latch having a main body having inner protrusions and an outer protrusion and a latch lock adapted to engage and interlock with the latch.
In one implementation, the latch lock includes a substantially J-shaped body having a long portion and a short portion, an end cap connected to the end of the long portion and a spring wrapped around the long portion and proximate the end cap.
In another implementation, the long portion is adapted to engage on of the inner protrusions and the short portion is adapted to engage and lock with another one of the inner protrusions.
In still another aspect, the invention features a moisture seal for a toolbox having a cover comprising a gasket running within a trench running along a lip of the toolbox, and a ridge having a tip running along a lip of the cover wherein the tip is adapted to connect with and deform the gasket and the ridge is adapted to fit into the trench, the trench having an additional ridged edge oriented in opposition to the trench ridged edge, the additional ridged edge being adapted to connect with and deform the gasket.
In yet another aspect, the invention features a shatter resistant tool box, including a main body having spherical corners and one at least one cover connected to the main body, the cover having spherical corners.
In another aspect, the invention features a storage box, including a main body, a top cover connected to the main body, a front cover connected to the main body, one or more drawers located within the main body and a sealing mechanism, including a ridged edge connected to the top cover and a ridged edge connected to the front cover, a gasket located with in a trench that runs along a lip of the main body and a gasket located with in a trench having an additional ridged edge oriented in opposition to the top cover and front cover ridges, the trench running along a lip of the main body and a gasket located within a trench having an additional ridged edge in opposition to the ridged edge of the top cover, the trench running along a lip of the front cover, wherein the ridged edge of the top cover and the opposing ridged edge are adapted to connect with and deform the main body gasket and the front cover gasket when the toolbox and a latch mechanism connected to the toolbox, including a latch and a latch lock.
In another aspect, the invention features a general purpose storage box, including a main body having one or more covers, means for creating a seal between the covers and the main body and means for connecting and locking the covers to the main body.
One advantage of the invention is that the toolbox can withstand a wide range of temperatures without becoming weakened or damaged.
Another advantage is that the invention can be dropped from a wide range of heights without sustaining any damage.
Another advantage is that the toolbox can receive a large number of high force impacts and be subject to various external motions that do not damage the toolbox or affect the contents.
Another advantage is that the toolbox is water resistant.
Another advantage is that the invention provides compact and customizable storage.
Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings showing the preferred embodiment of the invention.


A processor performs line-rate filtering using hardware-assisted Patricia trees. A PCAP-style filter is converted into a form that can be inserted into a Patricia tree. The PCAP filter expression is parsed and converted into disjunctive normal form (DNF). Each DNF clause of the filter is inserted into a Patricia tree. The DNF clauses are checked for overlaps and the overlapping clauses are combined when possible.

Packet capture (PCAP) filters are commonly used in packet data networks to extract portions of live data traffic that are of interest to a user for further examination. This filter style is preferred in many cases due to its flexibility in terms of filter specification. Typical implementations of PCAP filters convert the expression into some form of a Berkeley packet filter (BPF). However, when monitoring high-bandwidth networks on the order of 10 Gbps or greater, it is almost impossible to apply a BPF without randomly dropping packets that match the filter.

Lossless real-time line-rate filtering using PCAP style filters and hardware assisted patricia trees


A method for fabricating a pixel structure includes providing a substrate having a pixel area. A first metal layer, a gate insulator and a semiconductor layer are formed on the substrate and patterned by using a first half-tone mask or a gray-tone mask to form a transistor pattern, a lower capacitance pattern and a lower circuit pattern. Next, a dielectric layer and an electrode layer both covering the three patterns are sequentially formed and patterned to expose a part of the lower circuit pattern, a part of the lower capacitance pattern and a source/drain region of the transistor pattern. A second metal layer formed on the electrode layer and the electrode layer are patterned by using a second half-tone mask or the gray-tone mask to form an upper circuit pattern, a source/drain pattern and an upper capacitance pattern. A portion of the electrode layer constructs a pixel electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for fabricating a pixel structure, and more particularly to a method for fabricating a pixel structure using a relatively fewer number of masks.
2. Description of Related Art
With the progress of modern visual communication technology, various types of displays have been widely adopted in display screens of consumers' electronic products such as cell phones, notebook computers, digital cameras, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Among these displays, the liquid crystal display (LCD) and the organic electroluminescence display (OELD) have become the mainstream on the market due to their advantages of lightness, compactness, and lower power-consumption. The manufacturing processes for both the LCD and the OELD include forming a pixel structure arranged in array on a substrate through a semiconductor manufacturing process.
FIGS. 1A through 1G are cross-sectional views depicting a process of fabricating a conventional pixel structure. First, referring to FIG. 1A, a gate 20 is formed on a substrate 10. Next, referring to FIG. 1B, a first dielectric layer 30 is formed on the substrate 10 to cover the gate 20. Thereafter, referring to FIG. 1C, a channel layer 40 is formed on the first dielectric layer 30. Afterwards, referring to FIG. 1D, a source 50 and a drain 60 are formed over the channel layer 40. After that, with reference to FIG. 1E, a second dielectric layer 70 is formed over the substrate 10 to cover the channel layer 40, the source 50 and the drain 60. Next, referring to FIG. 1F, a contact hole H is constructed on the second dielectric layer 70. Afterwards, as shown in FIG. 1G, a pixel electrode 80 is formed on the second dielectric layer 70. A part of the pixel electrode 80 is filled in the contact hole H and is electrically connected to the drain 60. As such, the fabrication of the pixel structure 90 is completed.
To sum up, the fabrication process of the conventional pixel structure 90 is mainly carried out by forming the gate 20 with use of a first mask, forming the channel layer 40 with use of a second mask, forming the source 50 and the drain 60 with use of a third mask, forming the contact hole H with use of a fourth mask, and forming the pixel electrode 80 with use of a fifth mask. Accordingly, the conventional five-mask process of fabricating the pixel structure 90 is rather complicated and time-consuming, which leads to higher possibilities of defects and lower yield of the pixel structure 90. In addition, with the complicated manufacturing process and long time lapse of fabricating the conventional pixel structure 90, the manufacturing costs arisen from the fixed costs of the machines and equipment or the material costs are then increased.

Pixel structure and method for fabricating the same


An electrical contact (110) formed as a monolithic element having three beam portions (114, 116, 124) and inherent springiness. The contact (110) is so configured that a relatively large deflection at a contact point (130) is transformed into a small deflection at the point (108) where the spring action is effective so that a relatively flat force/deflection characteristic is attained. A kinematic model and three embodiments of the contact are disclosed, as well as a method of formation thereof.

This invention relates to connector assemblies for integrated circuit chips and, more particularly, to an improved electrical contact for use therein.
When designing connector assemblies for use with integrated circuit chips, different requirements for the contact element, which provides an electrical path between the chip and a printed circuit board on which the connector assembly is mounted, must be met. One requirement is that the portion of the contact which interfaces with the chip carrier be able to sustain a relatively large deflection in order to accommodate manufacturing dimensional variations or tolerances between individual chip packages. It is not unusual, at the present time, to have a variation of as much as 0.030 inch between the minimum and maximum dimensions of component chip packages from different manufacturers. At the same time, the contact force over that range must not vary very much. Thus, a relatively flat force/deflection curve is desirable. By way of example, in the case when the electrical contact is tin plated, the contact force should be approximately 220 grams for the minimum deflection of the contact and approximately 400 grams for the maximum deflection of the contact. This imposes certain requirements on the spring which generates the contact force. However, the space in which a spring of such compliance is to be designed must be small for a number of reasons. A first reason is that the high cost of material requires economy of size. A second reason is that electrical requirements dictate a short electrical path to minimize self-inductance in the contact.
Opposing these requirements is the known physical effect that a large deflection of metal usually results in a permanent, or plastic, deformation of the metal. If, however, a straight beam, by way of example, is to be deflected the required distance and stay within its elastic limit (i.e., a deformation magnitude within which the part will totally recover to its original position after removal of the deforming force) such a beam would have to be relatively long and would not satisfy the electrical length or space requirements.
It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a contact of the type described wherein a relatively short beam is deflected and the relatively large deflection of that short beam, beyond the elastic limit of the beam, is changed into a small deflection at another location at which a spring is acting, thereby permitting the spring to stay within its elastic limit.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a contact as a monolithic element.


The invention provides a positional system intended to supplement positional information derived by means of a Global Positioning System (GPS), so as to provide positional data coverage in situations where the GPS data may be unreliable, for example due to local attenuation of satellite signals, in order to permit members of a group traversing difficult terrain to retain reasonably accurate information as to the whereabouts of the other group members should the GPS system fail. The positional system of the invention provides each group member with a readily transportable and relatively inexpensive inertial navigation system to generate approximate positional data and utilises radio location techniques to improve the accuracy of the approximate positional data.

This invention relates to positioning systems, and it relates more particularly to such systems as can be used to supplement positional information derived by means of a Global Positioning System (GPS), so as to provide positional data coverage in situations where the GPS data may be unreliable, for example due to environmental attenuation of satellite signals.
The invention finds especial, though not exclusive, application in circumstances where several members of a group of people, each having their own GPS, enter together terrain in which for some reason, for example as a result of its being thickly wooded or otherwise highly vegetated, heavily attenuates the satellite signals, receipt of which is necessary for the OPS to function. In the event of a loss of the GPS data, the members of the group can lose touch both with one another and, in certain situations, this can be hazardous, since one or more of the members may become disorientated and lost and they may stray into a dangerous or hostile environment. Moreover, should any of the people in the group become ill or injured, assistance may be delayed in reaching them because their whereabouts are not known, or are not known to sufficient accuracy.
It is feasible for each person in the group to track and store the absolute positional information, derived from GPS data, relating to all of the other members and, in the event of failure of the communication channels on which GPS relies, to extrapolate from the last known positions using data derived from an inertial navigation system, provided that all members of the group are equipped with such systems and the wherewithal to use the results so provided.
However, since inertial navigational systems are based upon measuring accelerations detected by an accelerometer, and such detected information has to be integrated twice in order to produce positional data, any measurement error associated with the accelerometer becomes multiplied by the square of the time. Thus, position errors accumulate exponentially with time.
Of course, the use of highly accurate accelerometers can mitigate this problem, to some extent at least, but such accelerometers tend to be bulky and expensive, thus impractical for use in the field by individual group members.
This invention seeks to address the above problem and, according to the invention from one aspect, there is provided a positioning system for indicating to each member of a group information indicative of the respective locations of other members of the group, wherein each said member is provided with relatively inexpensive and readily transportable inertial navigation equipment in order to provide positional information, active means to generate additional positional data, and means utilising said additional data to compensate, at least in part, for inaccuracies in the positional information provided by the inertial navigation equipment.
In one preferred embodiment, the inertial guidance equipment is based upon solid state micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) accelerometers, as such devices are light, compact and relatively inexpensive.
Preferably, the active means to generate said additional positional data includes a two-way radio system; the signals transmitted by all of the radio systems being distinguishable from one another. By this means, with relatively lightweight and inexpensive equipment, two or three-dimensional corrective data can be applied to the positional information as to the locations of the respective group members, provided by their inertial navigation systems.
In preferred embodiments, the radio systems and/or processing means associated therewith include means for determining the distance travelled by radio signals received from other group members.
The distance determination based upon the reception of radio signals may conveniently be based upon phase measurements of signals locked in phase to that of a carrier originally transmitted by a receiving radio. Alternatively, the distance measurement may be derived by correlating transmissions and receptions with an accurately synchronised time base or, as a further alternative, pulsed transmissions can be used.
It is further preferred that the radio signals are used to compute a mean position for the members of the group, against which the inertial navigational data can be related to effect said compensation.
In any event it is preferred that the group members are all provided with individual GPS equipments and the system of the invention is used to provide information as to the whereabouts of the group members during periods when GPS is inoperative.
The system may be actuated manually in response to observance of GPS failure. Preferably, however, the GPS failure is detected automatically and the system is energised automatically.
In some circumstances it is preferred that the system be energised periodically, even when the GPS system is functioning, in order to provide for a self-check and to monitor its performance against the GPS. In instances where inadequate performance is detected, an audible and/or visual warning is preferably provided to alert the user to the fact that the back-up system is under-performing, and that the system should be checked.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method for a group of mobile objects to determine the absolute position of each member of the group, the method comprising: using an inertial navigation system to generate data indicative of the absolute positions of the objects; receiving signals transmitted between the mobile objects and processing the signals to generate data indicative of the relative positions of the objects; processing the relative position data to generate corrective data; and correcting the absolute position data in accordance with the corrective data.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for use by a group of mobile objects to determine the position of each member of the group, the apparatus comprising: an inertial navigation system for generating data indicative of the absolute positions of the objects; equipment for receiving signals transmitted between the mobile objects and processing the signals to generate data indicative of the relative positions of the objects; and processing means for processing the relative position data to generate corrective data and correcting the absolute position data in accordance with the corrective data.


Aspects of the present disclosure provide a magnetic reader and methods for fabricating the same. The magnetic reader has a capping layer structure that can reduce or impede the corrosion and/or recession of a shield layer of the magnetic reader. In a particular embodiment, the capping layer structure includes a ruthenium (Ru) layer that is configured to impede oxygen interdiffusion between an IrMn antiferromagnetic layer and a Ta cap layer.

In a magnetic storage hard drive, a writer records data to one or more rotating disks or platters by changing the magnetic properties of the target portion on the disk or platter. To read the recorded data back from the disk or platter, a magnetic sensing element or reader transforms the magnetic field from a rotating disk or platter to an electrical signal. The writer and reader are typically included in a slider. A reader can be fabricated by layering various materials in a stack structure. Some examples of readers are tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) reader, giant magnetoresistance (GMR) reader, scissor reader, and heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) reader.

Apparatus and method for reducing corrosion in capping layer of magnetic recording reader


An elongated tubular housing enclosed on both open ends with housing end walls, and lengthwise horizontally disposed in use. Each housing end wall contains a small fluid discharge opening for elimination of fluid and paint residue. A living hinge attached door over an opening is provided in the housing to allow installation of a paint roller brush. A pressurized fluid receiving and fluid distribution system within the housing is affixed with a plurality aimed fluid emission nozzles which can be manually repositioned to rotate a roller brush first in one direction then another direction for improved cleaning. A removable rigid member extending perpendicular to the housing serves as a support brace which prevents rolling of the housing during use. The surface of the rigid member is affixed with a spring clip for securing the handle portion of a paint roller. Two transverse notches in the side wall of the housing serve to support the support rod section of a paint roller in combination with the spring clip in either one or the other of two paint roller holding positions.

1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to apparatuses for rinsing paint from the brushes of paint rollers. The paint roller rinser of this disclosure is attachable to a pressured cleaning fluid source such as a garden water hose, and is specifically structured to accommodate the two most common varieties of paint rollers currently in wide use in the United States. The invention provides two separate roller holding positions in a single elongated horizontally oriented housing, and also allows spinning of roller brushes in two different directions for improved cleaning.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Paint rollers, by their nature, are absorbent and retain a large amount of paint residue within the nap of the roller brush, even when apparently clean. Clean-up generally includes the user holding and scrubbing the roller under a running faucet until the water runs clear. This is not only messy but very time consuming. Several past art cleaning devices have been developed in an attempt to solve this problem. While these devices vary in their degree of effectiveness, they all possess drawbacks or disadvantages which have limited their popularity with the American consumer, as evidenced by the wide spread absence of these devices on the open market.
Herein disclosed are several past art paint roller cleaning devices for cleaning the rollers while attached to the support handles. These past art devices were examined in a search conducted at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and of those patents examined, the following were considered most relevant to my device:
Stevens et al, was issued U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,785, on Sept. 5, 1972, for a double paint roller cleaner comprised of a cylindrical metal housing having a series of spraying apertures affixed to a water discharge outlet. The spraying apertures are designed to direct a narrow stream of high pressure water onto the paint roller in such a manner as to cause rotation and centrifugal action which ejects paint from the roller. The water and paint residue is eliminated out the base of the housing.
On June 16, 1987, Brandt was granted U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,987, for a plastic single roller paint cleaner similar to the device described in the Stevens et al patent.
Shipman was issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,066, on May 23, 1989, for a hydro centrifugal paint roller cleaning aid, also similar in structure to the two previous past art devices.
Conley was granted U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,673, on Feb. 10, 1987, for a cleaning device also similar in structure to the previously mentioned past art devices which is designed for both paint rollers and paint brushes and contains dual spraying apparatuses.


An ignition coil, including: a center core; a primary coil wound around the center core; a secondary coil wound around the primary coil; a side core, which is arranged around the secondary coil, and is coupled to the center core to from a closed magnetic path; a case configured to accommodate the center core, the primary coil, the secondary coil, and the side core; and an insulating resin filled in the case, wherein the side core includes a wide portion having a larger width in a direction from the center core to the side core, and a narrow portion having a smaller width than the wide portion, and wherein the narrow portion is formed on a high-voltage side of the side core.

In an ignition coil for an internal combustion engine, as disclosed in, for example, Patent Literature 1, a primary coil and a secondary coil are wound around an outer periphery of the center core, and a side core is arranged on an outer side of the coils to form a closed magnetic path. Those components are accommodated in an insulating case made of a resin, and an insulating material such as an epoxy resin is filled in a space inside the case to secure insulation of the components. Further, an elastomer material is coated around the core for reduction of cold heat stress. However, when the entire side core is coated with the elastomer material, dimensions of the ignition coil are increased. In view of this, in the ignition coil disclosed in Patent Literature 1, an outer peripheral surface of the elastomer material being coated on the side core is removed to achieve downsizing of the ignition coil.


An actuator includes a sheet having dielectric elastomer layers and conductive rubber layers provided on the front and back faces of each dielectric elastomer layer. The sheet is wrapped and rolled about a coil spring. The actuator expands the rolled sheet along an expansion direction of the coil spring by applying a voltage to the conductive rubber layers on the front and back faces of the dielectric elastomer layer, and contracts the rolled sheet along a contraction direction of the coil spring by stopping the application of the voltage. The actuator further includes a fiber layer located between the coil spring and the rolled sheet wrapped about the coil spring.

The present invention relates to an actuator.
Conventionally, a type of actuator has been known that includes dielectric rubber layers (dielectric elastomer layers) and conductive rubber layers provided on the front and back faces of each dielectric rubber layer. This type of actuator is operated by executing and stopping voltage application to the conductive rubber layers so that the dielectric elastomer layers are expanded or contracted.
Such actuators are used for artificial muscles. More specific examples include an actuator disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-124875. The actuator is formed by wrapping a sheet having dielectric elastomer layers and conductive rubber layers about a coil spring, so that the sheet is rolled. Voltage application to the conductive rubber layers on the front and back faces of each dielectric elastomer layers of the sheet is executed or stopped, so that the rolled sheet is expanded or contracted along the direction of expansion and contraction of the coil spring.
The coil spring in the actuator urges the actuator along the axial direction of the rolled sheet. The actuator is urged along the axial direction thereof to minimize expansion of the actuator in directions perpendicular to the axial direction when the actuator operates to expand along the axial direction. Accordingly, the displacement (operational amount) of the actuator in the axial direction is maximized as much as possible.


A method for actively damping oscillations in a compression process, the method being performed by a controller. The method includes acquiring process data from a compression process, performing oscillation frequency estimation of any detected oscillations in the process data, generating a damping signal based on the oscillation frequency estimation, and providing the damping signal to an electrical drive of the compression process.

Compressors, such as centrifugal compressors, are widely used in extraction applications, processing plants and pipeline applications to compress and distribute gas streams. A common arrangement of a known compression system 100 for such applications is shown in FIG. 1, where typical components are visible.
The compression system 100 comprises a station inlet header 101 for receiving a medium and a station outlet header 102 for providing the medium after having been processed by the compression system 100. Between the station inlet header 101 and the station outlet header 102 there are provided two centrifugal compressors 103,104. The centrifugal compressor 104 is controlled by a variable frequency drive 105 and motor 106. From the station inlet header 101 the medium passes process and safety valves, one of which is referenced at 107, and scrubbers 108,109 before being fed to the centrifugal compressors 103,104. The medium compressed by the centrifugal gas compressor 103 is partially used as fuel gas in the gas turbine 110 to drive the gas compressor 110. On its way from the centrifugal compressors 103,104 the medium passes gas coolers 111 and 112.
Due to external as well as internal disturbances and interactions between different control layers, the components of the control system can suffer from oscillations during normal operation. This is generally undesired as the stability of the process is disturbed and the piping system and other components of the control system are put under stress.
The responsibility of control of centrifugal compressors is commonly shared by an anti-surge controller and a process controller. The anti-surge controller is responsible to keep the compression system in the stable operating region on the right side of the surge line, whereas the process controller regulates either the discharge flow, the suction pressure, the discharge pressure or the pressure ratio to the set point requirements coming from higher automation levels or human operators by manipulating the speed or torque of the driving system. Other control systems might be present depending on specific applications, e.g. a suction pressure controller manipulating an upstream valve. In the current industry practice these controllers are all using distributed proportional-integral-derivative (PID) loops which are typically not communicating with each other.
During normal operation it is often the case that small oscillations are present in the compression system. These oscillations can be caused by a number of effects. Some of these effects will be summarized next.
A mismatch between set point and real value written to the actuator (especially important for valves, which have usually inaccurate actuation/positioning systems) may cause oscillations.
Stick-Slip behavior of recycle valves and other process valves may cause oscillations. This is disclosed in "Modelling Valve Stiction" by M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury, N. F. Thornhill and S. L. Shah, Control Engineering Practice 13 (2005) 641-658, 2005.
Persistent or pulsating disturbances upstream and downstream of the considered application may cause oscillations.
Wet gas conditions may cause oscillations.
Not considered interactions between different control loops (e.g. two process controllers of two different machines oscillate against each other) may cause oscillations.
Badly tuned controllers in the compression system (e.g. the process controller) or outdated tuning (e.g. process conditions changed significantly) may cause oscillations.
Such oscillations are not desired due to the fact that they lower the lifetime of components and perturb the stability of the control system and the quality of the control performance.
Dead-time compensation and/or detuning of the control loops help to deal with oscillations at the cost of reduced control performance. Such mechanisms are passive measures that can help or improve process damping.
However, there is still a need for an improved damping of oscillations in a control process.

Active damping of oscillations in a control process


Cosmetic and household products containing volatile silicon compounds which provide good stability and performance are disclosed.

Volatile silicon compounds have found wide acceptance in a number of different types of products ranging from cosmetics to antifreeze formulations. Such silicon compounds are good solvents for a variety of materials and serve to give excellent feel on skin and hair.
The most common types of volatile silicon compounds are linear and cyclic siloxanes having from one to about seven siloxane groups. While these are the most common, there are other types which have been disclosed. Included among such other silicon compounds are those in U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,424, Winnick, issued June 10, 1980 ##STR1##
Additional disclosures of volatile silicon compounds are in U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,062, Wang et al., issued Oct. 19, 1982. Certain alkyl linear siloxanes such as ##STR2## are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,087, Poliniak et al., issued Mar. 8, 1983. Cyclic silicones different from those mentioned above are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,837, Pader, issued Dec. 21, 1982. Still other volatile silicon compounds are disclosed in Japanese unexamined applications JP 9108-046, Oct. 14, 1974; JP 1102-019, Sept. 7, 1976; JP 607-824, June 15, 1981; JP 6139-527, Oct. 31, 1981; and JP 7035-526, Feb. 26, 1982.
Although the references discussed above disclose a variety of volatile silicon compounds in a variety of compositions, there is still the need for cosmetic and household products which incorporate volatile silicon compounds.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide cosmetic and household products containing silicon materials which provide improved solvency and compatibility with other composition components.
This and other objectives will become readily available from the detailed disclosure below.
All percentages and ratios herein are by weight unless otherwise specified. Additionally, all measurements are made at 25.degree. C. unless otherwise specified.

Volatile silicons in household and cosmetic products


There is provided an image pickup apparatus that, even if image data has insufficient depth difference between an object and a background, accurately discriminates a region including an object and a region including a background. The image pickup apparatus includes a generation unit configured to generate image data, and a discrimination unit configured, based on first image data generated by the generation unit, when an in-focus position is at a first focal position at which an object is in-focus state or a second focal position on a short distance side of the first focal position, and second image data generated by the generation unit, when an in-focus position is at a third focal position on a far distance side of a focal position at which a background is in-focus state, to discriminate a first region including the object and a second region including the background.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus, a control method for the image pickup apparatus, and a storage unit. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus such as an electronic still camera or a video camera, and a control method for the image pickup apparatus, and a storage medium that stores a program for controlling the image pickup apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, many image pickup apparatuses such as digital cameras or digital video cameras are provided with functions for performing image processing on a region other than an object of interest. For example, as one of the functions, there is a function for giving a pseudo blurring effect to a background region of picked-up image data, for example.
Generally, if an image pickup apparatus has a large image sensor like a single-lens reflex camera, the depth of field becomes shallow by opening an aperture to make the focal distance longer, and it becomes relatively easy to pick up the image data that has a blurred background other than the object that is in focus as described above.
On the other hand, in an image pickup apparatus having a small image sensor such as a compact digital camera, even if the above-described method is employed, the depth of field tends to become deeper, and as a result, it is difficult to pick up the image data with a blurred background.
In view of this fact, it is known that even the image pickup apparatus having a small image sensor such as a compact digital camera can acquire image data with a blurred background, by discriminating an object region from a background region of the picked-up image data, and performing the filtering processing on the background region.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-124398 discusses a technique for acquiring a spatial frequency component from the picked-up image data, in order to discriminate an object region and a background region. That is, in the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-124398, a blur amount on the background side of the picked-up image data is increased by adjusting the position of a focus lens so that the object is positioned at rear end of the depth of field. Then, a spatial frequency component amount for each of a plurality of segmented blocks is calculated, and a block of which value is equal to or greater than a threshold value is discriminated as the object region.
However, in the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-124398, there is a problem that sufficient accuracy cannot be obtained if a blur amount on the background region side is small, since discrimination between the regions is performed from the space frequency component amount of one frame of the image data. In particular, in the image pickup apparatus having a small image sensor like the compact digital camera which is in widespread use in recent years, there is a tendency that sufficient blur amount is not obtained even when the above-described processing is performed. As a result, it is difficult to perform discrimination between the regions from the space frequency component amount of one frame of the image data.

Image pickup apparatus and image region discrimination method


A lithographic patterning process which produces a lift-off structure uses two separate layers, the bottom being deep ultraviolet patternable and the top being patternable at an appropriate wavelength other than deep ultraviolet and having low optical transmission properties at the wavelength used in a deep ultraviolet exposure step and characterized by decreased solubility and/or increased crosslink density after such deep ultraviolet exposure.

Color filter arrays are employed in combination with sensors to define color images or in combination with display devices to permit color images to be viewed. A common approach to producing color filter arrays has been to use organic dyes embedded in a layer which has been patterned by various techniques to render the appropriate filter pattern. This approach has two significant disadvantages. The spectral characteristics of the filter are controlled by the absorbance curves of the dye and layer materials. Altering the spectral characteristics, therefore, requires altering the dye or layer material, which can be a difficult and time consuming process. Furthermore, the dyes may be subject to fading with time especially under harsh environmental operating conditions such as high light.
An alternative, which overcomes the disadvantages of the organic dye approach, has been to produce color filter arrays from interference filters made up of alternating layers of two dielectric materials with different refractive indices. Various combinations of pairs of dielectric materials, deposition and patterning techniques have been used.
Lithographic techniques based upon removing unwanted areas using photoresist as an etch mask have been developed (M. T. Gale and H. W. Lehmann, U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,620, Aug. 13, 1985). For etch processes, however, there are a number of problems which must be overcome. Chemistries which will attack both dielectric materials at comparable rates are needed. Then a masking material must be found which is compatible with that etch. Additional lithographic steps may be required to pattern the masking material. Multi-step etch processes, necessary to produce different filters on the same device, will require an etch stop layer. The process of patterning by etching also does not lend itself readily to changes in dielectric materials or deposition techniques.
Another technique employs a "pseudo-lift-off" process for patterning of brittle, dielectric materials (W. M. Kramer and D. M. Hoffman, J. of Imaging Technology, V. 12, No. 5, October 1986). Conventional positive-working photoresists are lithographically patterned in the usual manner. The filter materials are deposited on top of the resist and onto the substrate through the openings in the resist. Immersion into a solvent removes the resist and unwanted filter areas by a cohesive failure mechanism. The technique relies upon the materials cracking along the edges of the resist pattern and is an inherently unreliable process.
Compared with etch processes, a lift-off process represents a good general purpose technique and offers some advantages in process simplicity. To achieve the maximum process control and resolution, it is desirable that a overhanging or reentry resist sidewall profile be generated. This more traditional technique has been used to pattern filters, however, this requires a resist lift-off process which can be coated thicker than the thickest filter. Typical thicknesses for dielectric stack filters are greater than 1 .mu.m and usually range between 2 and 4 .mu.m. Unfortunately, most lift-off processes which produce reentry sidewall profiles have been developed for metallization purposes where the resist coatings are 1 to 1.5 .mu.m thick.
These types of lift-off processes can be categorized into four groups. Some lift-off systems are based upon combinations of light sources and chemistries which photochemically result in retrograde resist edge profiles after development. Image reversal techniques produce similar profiles. In image reversal, exposed areas are chemically altered to decrease solubility. Unexposed areas are subsequently exposed and developed away. The most widely employed technique is known as the chlorobenzene process. By treating a resist coating with chlorobenzene it is possible to alter the dissolution characteristics of the surface such that the overhang structure is produced during development. Silylation techniques have also been used which modify the etching characteristics of a resist surface. Multi-layer resist technology is an area that has received much investigation. Consequently, many permutations using two or three layers of different materials have been reported. A review article by Frary and Seese, Semiconductor International, pages 72-88 (December 1981), discusses the various approaches that have been explored. Of particular relevance is the discussion of structures comprising two layers of positive-working photoresist. The application of one resist onto another suffers from intermixing of the two similar materials such that the development characteristics gradually change throughout the layers; consequently it is difficult to produce the desired overhang structure. Plasma etch or thermal treatment has been used to alter the surface characteristics of the bottom resist layer to produce a "buffer" layer which prevents intermixing. This process allows the top resist layer to be coated uniformly and maintains the distinction between the two layers. Two resist materials may be chosen such that they either exhibit different dissolution rates in the same developer or else they use mutually exclusive developers. In this case, an overhang structure can be produced. Depending upon the treatment conditions used to form the buffer, it may be necessary to use a two step development process with an intermediate etch step to remove the buffer layer. The use of a double resist lift-off process which provided an improved technique for patterning interference filters has been described in the above referenced Hanrahan patent application. Although this process is effective, the nature of the materials used, however, limits the deposition temperatures to less than 130.degree. C. The physical and optical properties of the final interference filters are optimal when deposited at higher temperatures so that a lift-off process capable of withstanding higher deposition temperatures is desirable.
In terms of ease of manufacturability, the technique used for patterning dichroic filters should be as simple and robust as possible. In other words, the number of processing steps and critical process controls should be minimized. In addition, there should be a wide margin in control factor settings which still result in acceptable product. Etching processes, as indicated previously, require specific etch chemistry and material choices. Suitable masking and etch stop materials must be found that are compatible with the aforementioned etch chemistry. This usually means a pattern transfer process just to produce the appropriate pattern in the etch mask material. Dry etching techniques also have many process controls that have to be monitored and maintained in a manufacturing environment.


Methods and systems for web page restoration are provided. A method for restoring web pages includes identifying a root node of a node graph, wherein each node of the node graph represents an object of a plurality of objects that form a last state of a web page, including DOM objects. The method also includes traversing the node graph to a next frontier node and determining an object identifier of the next frontier node. The method further includes storing the object identifier and associated properties into a queue of objects when the object identifier of the next frontier node is not found in the queue of objects. The queue of objects may be used to restore objects with object properties having values according to the last state of the web page. Scripting language objects may also be stored for later restoration.

Web pages viewed in a web browser may be closed voluntarily or involuntarily. Browser users often desire to return to the most recent state of a web page before it was closed or crashed. Though a user may reload the web page previously visited, a more complete restoration of the web page may be required. For example, a web browser is restarted and previously opened pages are re-opened. However, the state of the page is lost (e.g., filled in field values, state/position of any active objects on the page), making the restart noticeable to the user and potentially painful. The user may have entered some information into the web page and worked with scripting language objects on the web page. If the user wishes to work on this same state of the web page, the user will load the web page, but the form entries and progress within the scripting language object he or she was working in will have been lost. The user will have to painstakingly reenter any form information or reexecute and proceed to the last point in scripting language objects, in order to restore the web page to its last state. This may result in loss of productivity and user frustration.


A Fiber Channel or other high speed data transmission channel is provided to transfer movie files and other content between shared storage and screen servers to enhance content availability in a digital cinema system. In one embodiment a digital cinema system is provided that includes a first screen server coupled to a first digital projector. Additionally, the digital cinema system includes a memory for storing a digital movie, and a Fiber Channel communication link coupled between the first screen server and the memory. The Fiber Channel communication link is configured to transmit a copy of the digital movie from the memory to the first server for storage therein.

Movies are typically distributed to theaters on heavy reels of film. When received, a set of reels containing a movie is moved to a projector room of a theater, and there the film on the reels is spliced together. Pre-movie content such as advertisements, movie trailers, theater announcements, etc., is also spliced to the movie prior to showtime. The process of distributing, receiving and preparing a movie for presentation can be an expensive and labor-intensive process.
Movies and pre-movie content can now be distributed, received and shown in digital format. When received, digital movies and digital pre-movie content can be stored as files on a hard disk of a computer system (e.g., a server), which in turn is coupled to a digital projector. At showtime, digital content is read from the hard disk and shown on a screen by the digital projector.
FIG. 1 illustrates in block diagram form relevant components of an exemplary digital cinema system 10 in which digital movies and digital pre-movie content can be shown to an audience. The combination of a digital movie and digital pre-movie content (e.g., a defined set of trailers, advertisements, announcements, etc.) will be referred to herein as a "playlist." In digital cinema, a playlist is analogous to the final reel of film that a projectionist prepares for presentation, by splicing pre-movie content to a feature movie. As will be described below, digital cinema system 10 enables playlists stored in memory to be scheduled and shown at a certain time on a certain screen.
The digital cinema system 10 consists of a management server 12 coupled to a server database 24. The management server 12 is also coupled to content servers 20a-20c via Ethernet LAN 16. Digital projectors 24a-24c are coupled to content servers 20a-20c, respectively, via decoding processors 22a-22c. Digital projectors 24a-24c can show or project images onto screens 26a-26c, respectively. Digital cinema system 10 further includes a graphical user interface (GUI) 32 which is used to manage digital content, schedule playlists, and in general control components of digital cinema system 10 via Ethernet LAN 16. The GUI interfaces with a high resolution display 34 to implement functional features. The functional features include creating and scheduling a playlist.
A theater manager or other designated person may schedule when and where playlists are shown using GUI 32. More particularly, GUI 32 can be used to program into system 10 the start time and the auditorium where a playlist will be shown. When the scheduled time arrives, the management server 12 sends an instruction via Ethernet LAN 16 to the appropriate content server to begin showing the playlist stored locally within the content server. Before the playlist can be shown, however, the digital content of the playlist must be transferred from the server database 14 to local memory (e.g., a hard disk) of the content server via Ethernet LAN 16. As used herein, the phrase "transferring playlists" will mean transferring the digital content of playlists.
As one can appreciate, Ethernet LAN 16 is used to transmit playlists and instructions to, for example, initiate the playback of a playlist locally stored on a content server. The bandwidth of Ethernet LAN 16, however, may limit the ability to transfer a playlist or portions thereof from server database 14 to a content server's local memory or between local memories of a pair of content servers. The Ethernet LANs most commonly used in digital cinema systems provide transmission rates up to 10 megabytes per second (MBps). At 10 MBps, eight to nine hours is needed to transfer a 300 gigabytes playlist from, for example, server database 14 to one of the content servers 20a-20c or between the local memories of a pair of content servers 20a-20c. Moreover, the time it takes to transmit 300 gigabytes content of a playlist may be further delayed if the Ethernet LAN 16 is also used to transmit instructions, for example, to start movies previously loaded into content player servers.
The time needed to transfer a playlist using a 10 MBps Ethernet LAN may limit the ability to reschedule a movie on short notice. To illustrate, presume that a 300 gigabytes playlist is stored within a hard disk of content server 20a, and that the playlist is scheduled to be shown in auditorium 30a. Presume also digital projector 24a fails before showtime. In this situation, it would be desirable to move the playlist from content player server 20a to content player server 20b (or copy the playlist from database 24 to content player server 20b) via Ethernet LAN 16, and reschedule the start of the playlist for the same time, but in auditorium 30b. Unfortunately, if Ethernet LAN 16 is limited to transmitting data at a 10 MBps, the 8-9 hours it takes to properly move the playlist to content player server 20b may not allow theater management to reschedule the playlist in auditorium 30b at the same time the playlist was scheduled to begin in auditorium. Even if Ethernet LAN 16 operates at a 100 MBps data transfer rate, it may take 50 minutes to move the contents of a 300 gigabyte playlist to content player server 20b, a length of time that may not be conducive to rescheduling the start of the playlist to auditorium 30b.
In addition to their relative slow data transmission rate, Ethernet communication links of Ethernet LAN 16 connected to servers 12 and 20a-20c, provide a metal based medium through which electronic signals can travel. Historically, this medium has been coaxial copper cable, but it can also be a twisted pair. Electrical signals propagate along a metal based communication link very quickly, but they weaken as they travel, and electrical interference from neighboring devices (fluorescent lights, large auditorium air conditioners, fans needed to cool digital projectors, or the high current square-wave voltage used to run the Xenon arc projector lamps or content player servers, for example) can scramble the signal. Illegal downloading of digital movies is another disadvantage with employing Ethernet LANs in digital cinema systems. Most portable computers today come equipped with an Ethernet network interface card (NIC) that can be used to easily tap into Ethernet LANs. Once tapped into the Ethernet LAN, such as Ethernet LAN 16, the portable computer can download digital movies from memories of devices (e.g., content servers 20a-20c), or download digital movies while they are being transferred via the Ethernet LAN.

High speed transfer of movie files and other content between shared storage and screen servers to enhance content availability in a digital cinema system


A position input device is provided in which signals are transmitted from a position indicator, and signals transmitted from the position indicator are received by a position detector device. According to certain embodiments, an electrical double-layer capacitor, a charging circuit which charges the electrical double-layer capacitor, and a power transmission unit which relays and supplies to the charging circuit power supplied from a power supply unit external to the position indicator, are provided in the position indicator. In other embodiments the position input device has a built-in power supply unit, transmitting units, and a control unit for switching the transmitting units between energized and de-energized states. Also provided are position input systems and computer systems including the position input device, and methods of operating the position input device and the systems.

Position input systems, also known as pen tablets or tablet/digitizers, have seen widespread use as input devices for computers, for example. The position input system generally comprises a pen-type or stylus-type position indicator (also referred to herein as a position pointing device) for indicating a position on a tablet, and a position detection device. In such a position input system signals transmitted from the position indicator are received by the position detection device to detect the position on the tablet indicated by the position indicator. So far various technologies have been developed for detecting the position designated on the tablet. Of these various kinds of developed technologies, an electromagnetic induction system position detecting apparatus like the invention described in Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2-53805 is known for detecting the position designated on the tablet.
In recent years, position input systems have appeared which are integrated with a liquid crystal display device, and which enable operation of the position indicator on a display screen. Generally in such a position input system, electric waves are transmitted to the position indicator from the position detector device integrated with the display screen, and these electric waves are utilized to transmit signals from the position indicator. In such a position input system, because the signals transmitted from the position indicator to the position detection device are comparatively weak, the sensitivity and precision of the position detector device may be reduced in an environment of intense electromagnetic noise, such as may be generated by the liquid crystal display device or other sources. As a countermeasure, the signals transmitted from the position detector device may be strengthened. However, strengthening of the signals is problematic inasmuch as power consumption by the position detector device is increased.
It has been proposed to incorporate a battery into the position indicator, so that the transmission of signals from the position detector device becomes unnecessary. Using such a method, strong signals can be transmitted from the position indicator with low power consumption.
However, the use of batteries can also raise problems. In the case of the above-described position indicator, replacing the battery is time consuming and troublesome. Also, if the intensity of signals transmitted from the position indicator is to be increased, power consumption is increased and battery depletion occurs in a short length of time, so that the batteries built into the position indicator may need to be replaced frequently, causing further inconvenience. In addition, the weight of a position indicator incorporating a battery is increased significantly, and there is the further problem that operating properties are severely degraded.
Recently, it has been known to provide position pointing devices with tuning circuits at both ends of their pen-like bodies. The tuning circuit at the first end is able to transmit written information, and the tuning circuit at the other or second end is able to transmit other information, such as the erasing of information. See Japanese Published Patent Application No. 8-96350. It has been proposed to provide such position pointing devices with built-in power supply units and oscillation units to increase the magnitude of transmission output, and thereby improve accuracy in detecting position. See Japanese Published Patent Application No. 10-214148.
However, if a position pointing device possesses a built-in power supply unit (i.e., a battery) and a plurality of oscillation units instead of the above-discussed tuning circuits, then power consumption of the built-in power supply unit is increased by a multiple equal to the number of oscillation units in the position pointing device, e.g., if the position pointing device contains two oscillation units, then power consumption is doubled. Accordingly, the time period during which the position pointing device may be operated prior to consumption of all of the power in the built-in power supply is lessened correspondingly. As a result, the battery must be replaced or recharged more frequently, inconveniencing the operator.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Position input device and computer system


The present invention relates to a method for controlling a mobile phone loss prevention function by means of Bluetooth earphones. The method includes: a link loss determination step (S10) of measuring a sensitivity of a signal transmitted/received between a mobile phone and the Bluetooth earphone and determining occurrence of a link loss; warning sound generation steps (S20, S40, and S60) of, when the link loss has occurred, generating a warning sound, which warns of loss of the mobile phone, through the Bluetooth earphone in such a manner as to amplify a volume of the warning sound from a low volume to a high volume for each step; and warning sound stop identification steps (S30, S50, and S70) of determining whether a warning sound stop button has been operated by a user who has recognized the warning sound and selecting whether the generation of the warning sound is to be stopped.

Typically, a Bluetooth earphone is configured to wirelessly transmit/receive a voice signal to/from a terminal apparatus, such as a mobile phone or the like, on the basis of Bluetooth communication technology, and thus provides convenience, such as the removal of inconvenience caused by a cable connection configuration of an earphone. Accordingly, the use frequency of the Bluetooth earphone has been gradually on the rise.
Various controls required for the transmission/reception of a voice by a Bluetooth earphone can be mostly achieved by only the operation of the earphone that a user wears in his/her ear, and thus, the user typically keeps a mobile phone in a place, such as a bag or the like, distant from his/her body. However, in this case, a serious problem arises in that the user easily forgets the location of the mobile phone and thus, an incident of loss of the mobile phone frequently occurs.
According to the recognition of the above-mentioned problem, a product including a Bluetooth earphone having a mobile phone loss prevention function has recently been developed and provided. As an example, a configuration of a loss prevention apparatus and control method of a mobile phone using Bluetooth communication, which are known in Patent Registration No. 10-0353215, will be briefly described below.
A control method for preventing loss of a mobile phone in the mobile phone and an earphone which perform wireless communication by using Bluetooth communication includes: periodically measuring, by the mobile phone, a power level of a radio frequency received from the earphone; detecting a call state between the mobile phone and the earphone; transmitting a warning sound generation data to the earphone when a power level value of the radio frequency received from the earphone is less than or equal to a preset predetermined level value of the earphone in a state where the call state between the mobile phone and the earphone is detected; generating, by the earphone, a warning sound when the warning sound generation data is received from the mobile phone while performing Bluetooth wireless communication with the mobile phone; and generating, by only the mobile phone, a warning sound when the power level value of the radio frequency received from the earphone is less than or equal to the preset predetermined level value of the earphone in a state where the call state between the mobile phone and the earphone is not detected.

Method for controlling mobile phone loss prevention function by means of bluetooth earphones


An envelope, or envelope assembly, having a removable panel. The removable panel can be printed upon simultaneously while the envelope, or envelope assembly, is being printed upon. The removable panel can be removed from the envelope, or envelope assembly, and adhered to another surface. A protective panel and an adhesive coating partially or totally cover one side of the removable panel. Furthermore, the protective panel and the adhesive coating can partially or totally cover one side of the envelope assembly. The protective panel is preferably transparent or translucent, thereby enabling inspection of the contents of the envelope from outside the envelope once the removable panel is removed. Additionally, a tab can extend from a surface of the envelope for ease of identification and organization.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to an envelope, or an envelope assembly, having a removable panel with an adhesive coating on one side such that the removable panel can be separated from the envelope, or the envelope assembly, and adhered to another surface. The invention is also directed to an envelope, or envelope assembly, having a tab. The envelope, or the envelope assembly, can be fed through a printer, such as a laser printer, an ink jet printer, an impact printer, a thermal transfer printer, a direct thermal printer, a typewriter, or any other suitable graphic printing device.
2. Description of Related Art
Envelopes can be used to hold a wide variety of items, including letters, documents, compact discs, pictures, baseball cards, and the like. Quite often, it is desirable to have a label for adhering to items within an envelope. In order to label items and store them in envelopes, one must purchase the envelopes and the labels separately. Furthermore, an outside surface of the envelope usually must be labeled to indicate what the contents are inside the envelope.
An envelope having a window is one way to reveal the contents of an envelope, but labels must still be purchased separately in order to label the contents themselves. If the labels and the envelopes are separate items, they cannot be run through a printer simultaneously.
A further setback in envelope organization is difficulty in distinguishing one envelope from another. When envelopes are aligned in a row, they typically all look alike. Even when a surface of an envelope is labeled, one must usually sort through a number of envelopes, looking at an entire surface of each one, before finding the sought-after envelope.
Accordingly, a need exists for a new and improved envelope, or envelope assembly, that provides means for labeling the envelope and any contents within the envelope. A need also exists for an envelope that can be more easily identified and organized.


There is described an intermediary software module embodied on a computer readable medium and adapted to communicate with a reduced game application for a specific game within a gaming system, the intermediary software module interacting with non-game related hardware devices internal and external to the gaming system and having a decision making engine that has the ability to decide next steps to be taken as a function of a given state of the gaming system.

Casinos offer a variety of games of chance. One category of games offered includes gaming machines such as mechanical slot machines, video slot machines, poker machines, keno machines, etc. With the evolution of computers and new technologies, the diversity of games offered has increased significantly.
New games now run on computer technology, and players of these games ask for more complex animations, new features and more excitement for new games. These new games require faster computers and hardware on which the games run. For game developers, developing games on new hardware technology may represent a challenge.
In addition, legacy games are often developed for specific computer systems. Ageing electronic parts that run old legacy games can also become a problem for game manufacturers, casino operators and casinos. In some situations, replacement parts are no longer available. This situation forces game manufacturers to migrate their legacy games to new technologies.
Casinos, are also being asked to better manage their gaming machine environments, such as by having instant information available of all events that happen on the gaming systems. This request for instant accurate information requires central servers to manage gaming machines, query them, control them and produce management reports. This adaptation to existing games puts pressure on game manufacturers to implement standard communication protocols in their games. A game that doesn't have a specific communication protocol implemented will not be able to communicate with a casino server and may be refused in this casino.
These situations are examples of reasons why game manufacturers need to make new games or modify existing games. As in other industries, game manufacturers need to decrease their time to market for their products. Therefore, there is a need for improvements to existing technologies to help them achieve these goals.