The present disclosure discusses a method of and an arrangement for the lubrication of a controllable pitch propeller of a marine vessel. The lubrication is based on continuous lubricant circulation from the hydraulic powerpack to the hub and back to the oil tank, when the marine vessel is sailing ahead with propeller blades locked in a desired position. The lubrication is performed by maintaining, at least when the propeller blades are locked in a desired position, a pressure difference between the astern oil chamber and the lubricant chamber for circulating lubricant from the astern oil chamber via the lubricant chamber to the oil tank.

Controllable pitch propellers are becoming more and more popular in marine vessels. The pitch control gives the operator a chance to alter the speed of the marine vessel by changing the blade angle or pitch of the propeller, and more importantly, to change the direction of movement of the marine vessel by turning the propeller blades from ahead direction to astern direction, whereby there is no need to provide the vessel with such a gearbox that is capable of changing the rotational direction of the propeller, or need to reverse the rotational direction of the engine. Such controllable pitch propellers are arranged in a so-called hub. The marine vessel propulsion arrangement comprises an engine, a drive means, a drive shaft and the hub with the propeller blades. The drive means is normally a reduction gear or an electric drive motor, which is used to drive the drive shaft. The pitch of the propeller is controlled by means for turning the propeller blades. The propeller blade turning means comprise actual mechanical turning arrangement arranged in the hub, and means for actuating the mechanical turning arrangement. The mechanical turning arrangement comprises a crank ring for each propeller blade. The propeller blade is rotatably coupled and sealed to the body or casing of the hub by means of the crank ring. The crank ring has a non-central or non-concentric pin extending towards the inside of the hub. The pin is fitted in a groove provided on a member arranged concentrically in the hub body and moving in the direction of the axis of the propeller. The groove extends, preferably, in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the propeller. Now that the moving member is shifted in axial direction by means of the actuating means, the crank ring/s and the propeller blade/s are forced to turn, whereby the pitch of the propeller blades is controlled.
There are basically two types of actuating means, i.e. a mechanical one and a hydraulic one. The mechanical one comprises a rod extending along a central bore in the drive shaft from the drive means to the inside of the hub such that the rod is coupled inside the hub to the movable member, and at the drive means end of the drive shaft to means for moving the rod axially. With regard to the hydraulic actuating means, of which U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,004 may be presented as an example, the movable member inside the hub is arranged to work as a piston in a hydraulic cylinder. In other words, on both axial sides of the movable member there are chambers, so called astern chamber and ahead chamber, into either one of which, when pitch control is desired, pressurized oil is delivered depending on the direction the propeller blades are to be turned. If the pressurized oil is taken to the ahead chamber, the piston, i.e. the movable member, turns the propeller blades such that the propeller blades move the marine vessel in ahead direction. And if the pressurized oil is taken to the astern chamber, the piston, i.e. the movable member, turns the propeller blades such that the propeller blades move the marine vessel in astern direction. Naturally, in the intermediate positions of the piston, the propulsive force of the propeller is reduced due to reduced pitch of the propeller blades.
The pressurized oil is taken to the astern and ahead oil chambers via a central bore in the drive shaft and by providing the central bore with a concentric tube such that two separate oil passages are formed. The oil is provided in the oil passages by means of an oil distribution box arranged in connection with the drive means, i.e. the purpose of the oil distribution box is to deliver oil from stationary oil pipes to rotary oil passages in the dive shaft. The oil distribution box receives pressurized oil from a so called hydraulic powerpack such that the operator of the marine vessel controls, by means of a pilot-operated main control valve arrangement, into which oil passage the pressurized oil is directed, whereby the other oil passage acts as a return passage returning the oil to the hydraulic powerpack. In other words, the hydraulic powerpack receives oil from an oil tank, pressurizes the oil to a required pressure, and by means of the above mentioned pilot-operated main control valve arrangement delivers the pressurized oil to the desired application.
The propeller pitch control works normally such that when starting to move the marine vessel in ahead direction the operator moves the pilot-operated main control valve in the ahead position whereby pressurized oil is allowed to enter the ahead oil chamber in the hub and the oil in the astern oil chamber is allowed to escape the astern oil chamber so that the movable member may turn the propeller blades in ahead direction against the hydraulic pressure water subjects to the rotary propeller blades. When the propeller blades are in their desired position the pilot-operated main control valve is moved in a position blocking the flow in both oil passages, whereby the blades are maintained in their position by keeping the ahead oil path blocked and the blades creating a certain pressure in the ahead oil path. If no leakage would occur in any part of the piping, the propeller blades would be locked in their current position.
However, keeping the ahead flow path closed by means of the pilot-operated main control valve is not, in practice, possible, as, in the oil distribution box the oil flows from stationary oil pipes to rotary oil pipes, causing a significant leakage due to the nature of this type of seal (annular pressure seal). An option to solve this leakage-related problem would be to move the pilot-operated main control valve to compensate for this leakage, but this would be very energy inefficient and difficult to control. Therefore a blocking valve (pilot-operated non-return valve or similar), not discussed in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,004, is placed in the ahead rotary oil pipe. In the ahead rotary pipe because propellers are normally designed such that the blades turn automatically to their astern direction even if no pressure is introduced in the astern oil chamber. Oil flow from the ahead oil chamber to the pilot-operated main control valve is blocked (leakage of the blocking valve is minimal and can be considered insignificant with respect to keeping the propeller blades at their current position) and, in fact, to the oil distribution box, whereby the oil is pressurized between the piston and the blocking valve in the ahead oil path, effectively locking the propeller blades in their current position without any need of supplying additional pressurized oil from the hydraulic powerpack.
The blocking valve functions such that pressurized oil flowing from the pilot-operated main control valve towards the ahead oil chamber may pass the blocking valve, so as to be able to change the blade pitch towards ahead. The blocking valve is connected by means of a pilot line to the astern flow path such that pressurized oil flowing from the pilot-operated main control valve towards the astern oil chamber, when exceeding a certain pressure (determined among others by the pilot ratio of the blocking valve), is able to open the blocking valve thereby allowing oil to escape from the ahead oil chamber and therefore to allow the pitch of the blades to be changed to astern. Allowing pressurized oil to flow towards the astern oil chamber will cause the movable member to eventually be stopped by a mechanical stopper. In other words, when the propeller blades are in their "full astern" position the mechanical stopper will lock the propeller blades in their current position, not the blocked oil in either one of the oil chambers.
In addition to the hydraulic actuating means the hub needs oil for the lubrication of the mechanical turning or control arrangement. There are in fact two options for arranging the lubrication. A first one would be to supply oil to and from the hub through the stern tube. But, however, it is not a preferred option, as it would connect the hub lubrication system with the stern tube lubrication system, whereby a problem, for instance water ingress, in one system would result in the same problem in the other system, too. A second, preferred, option, discussed in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,004, too, is to use the central bore of the shaft as the safe route for the lubricant delivery into the hub. Therefore, the central bore of the drive shaft is provided with another concentric tube so that three separate flow passages are arranged within the drive shaft. The two innermost flow passages communicate with the astern and ahead oil chambers whereas the outermost flow passage between the moving member and the body or housing of the hub communicates the lubricant chamber.
The lubricant chamber is provided with oil from the oil tank by gravity. The oil tank is arranged above the waterline of a fully loaded marine vessel for safety purposes such that the hydrostatic pressure inside the hub remains always higher than the water pressure outside the hub, whereby in case of sealing failure in the hub water is not able to enter the lubricant chamber, but the lubricant leaks to the surrounding water.
However, practice has shown that water may enter the inside of the hub, i.e. to the lubricant chamber, by condensation, by leakage, or for some other reason. Thus, it was, at some point of time, considered that some kind of lubricant circulation is needed in place of the earlier practice, discussed in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,004, where the same lubricant remained in the lubricant chamber and collected water and any other impurities until specific measures were taken to replace the used lubricant with fresh one.
Naturally, the first suggestion was to arrange a third concentric tube in the central bore of the drive shaft, which would have required also changes in the oil distribution box. As such a construction was considered quite complicated and risky, it was, for the second suggestion, realized that the hub already has pressurized oil in their ahead and astern oil chambers at least while the pitch of the propeller was changed. To take this suggestion into use only meant that an oil flow channel should be arranged from one of the ahead and astern oil chambers to the lubricant chamber. Since such an oil flow channel is a static element without any need for repair or maintenance it was taken into use between the astern oil chamber and the lubricant chamber. The arranging of the lubricant channel to start from the ahead oil chamber is not possible as the ahead oil chamber has to be kept blocked and pressurized when sailing ahead. Naturally, the oil flow channel, as well as the lubricant circulation, was in use only when moving the propeller blades to their astern position, i.e. the oil circulation took place only occasionally for a substantially short period of time. However, at that time it was considered sufficient as the mineral oil that was used for both the hydraulics and lubricating the mechanical turning arrangement was capable of dealing with certain amount of water without damage to either the oil itself or the surfaces it was supposed to lubricate.
However, now the environmental requirements are about to change such that in all positions where there is even a minor risk of leakage of oil to the surrounding water such oil has to be used that degrades easily when in contact with water. This is, naturally, a good property for oil in view of environment, but not so desirable in view of lubrication, as such an environmentally acceptable lubricant has to be watched continuously, as it may lose its lubrication capability in days or weeks depending on the amount of water that has got into contact with the oil. Therefore, modern controllable pitch propellers have to be provided with an oil circulation, at least when sailing ahead, to ensure that water is not able to collect into the hub.

Method of arranging the lubrication of a controllable pitch propeller arrangement of a marine vessel and a lubrication arrangement therefor


User-input obfuscating techniques involving displaying multiple targets on a display device. A visual indication of the current user target moves to a first target at a first time in response to user input, and a first presentation of a visual or audio feedback signal confirming actuation of a target occurs at a second time, without a user input for actuation of a target received while the current user target has remained at the first target from the first time to the second time. The visual indication moves to a second target at a third time in response to user input. The second target is actuated in response to receiving user input for actuation of the current user target after the third time. Then, with the current user target having remained at the second target since the third time, a second presentation of the visual or audio feedback signal is provided.

Passwords are often used by systems as one step toward authenticating a user's access to a protected resource. Typically, a password includes a sequence of alphanumeric symbols known to both the user who is requesting access to the protected resource as well as to the system that has been configured to authenticate the user and grant the user access to the protected resource. Some examples of protected resources include a bank account accessed at a public automatic teller machine (ATM), personal digital files or electronic content, the contents of a locked cellular phone, access to a particular website, an email account accessed on a public computer, or an online service (for example, Netflix™ or Facebook™).
The level of security of the protected resource will depend heavily on the assurance that the user (or others who have a legitimate right to the resource) is the only one in possession of the password granting access. When an 'outsider' or third party that is not approved for such access identifies the password, they may damage or otherwise take advantage of the protected resource. Users often find themselves in situations where simply entering a password into a device is risky in that other parties may be observing the input. In such cases, the security of the resource may have to be reestablished by invalidating the compromised password. Users are forced to reinitiate the password authentication process and memorize a new password. Thus, there remain significant areas for new and improved ideas for the more effective and comprehensive protection of passwords.

Systems and methods of selection acknowledgement for interfaces promoting obfuscation of user operations


An image processing system which includes: a threshold table selecting unit for selecting one of a plurality of threshold reference tables in accordance with an angle of rotation for bit map data having an attribute of rotation to thereby generate a threshold; a gradation modulating unit for performing gradation modulation by use of the threshold generated by the threshold table selecting unit to thereby obtain gradation-modulated data; a buffer unit having a plurality of buffers and for storing the gradation-modulated data of the gradation modulating unit into the plurality of buffers; an addressing unit for designating respective storage addresses for the plurality of buffers of the buffer unit; a rotating unit for rotating the gradation-modulated data; and a storage unit for storing contents of the buffer unit into the addresses designated by the addressing unit and outputting the gradation-modulated data rotated by the rotating unit.

The present invention relates to an image processing system for performing gradation modulation and rotation of bit map data having the attribute of rotation.
The quantity of data in an image used in a printer has increased with the advance of coloration, resolution and gradation in recent years. On the other hand, print data have been often requested to be rotated in accordance with the needs for printing two pages on opposite sides of one sheet of paper, printing a plurality of pages on one sheet of paper, etc. Hence, the demand for increase of the speed of rotation on such a large quantity of data has become greater.
A background-art image processing system for performing gradation modulation and rotation of bit map data having the attribute of rotation will be described with reference to FIG. 13.
As shown in FIG. 13, a background-art rotating system 10 generated a bit map rotated modulated output in accordance with a request given from a CPU through the steps of: once storing a bit map data input in a storage memory 13; rotating the data by rotating means 11 before gradation modulation; writing the rotated data back into the storage memory 13; modulating the gradation of the data by gradation modulating means 12; and writing the modulated data back into the storage memory 13.
A large capacity of memory was, however, required for the background-art gradation modulation and rotation of bit map data having the attribute of rotation because the data was rotated before gradation modulation. Hence, increase of the processing time was brought about.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing system which can perform gradation modulation and rotation of bit map data at a high speed in spite of a small memory capacity.
In order to achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, an image processing system is configured to have: threshold table selecting means for selecting one of a plurality of threshold reference tables in accordance with an angle of rotation for bit map data having an attribute of rotation to thereby generate a threshold; gradation modulating means for performing gradation modulation by use of the threshold generated by the threshold table selecting means to thereby obtain gradation-modulated data; buffer means having a plurality of buffers and for storing the gradation-modulated data of the gradation modulating means into the plurality of buffers; addressing means for designating respective storage addresses for the plurality of buffers of the buffer means; rotating means for rotating the gradation-modulated data; and storage means for storing contents of the buffer means into the addresses designated by the addressing means and outputting the gradation-modulated data rotated by the rotating means.
Owing to the above configuration, the gradation modulation and rotation of bit map data can be performed at a high speed in spite of a small memory capacity.
Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, an image processing system is configured to have: threshold generating means for generating a threshold while controlling generation of a threshold reference table address in accordance with an angle of rotation for bit map data having an attribute of rotation; gradation modulating means for performing gradation modulation by use of the threshold generated by the threshold generating means to thereby obtain gradation-modulated data; buffer means having a plurality of buffers and for storing the gradation-modulated data obtained by the gradation modulating means into the plurality of buffers; addressing means for designating respective storage addresses for the plurality of buffers of the buffer means; rotating means for rotating the gradation-modulated data; and storage means for storing contents of the buffer means into the addresses designated by the addressing means and outputting the gradation-modulated data rotated by the rotating means.
Owing to the above configuration, the gradation modulation and rotation of bit map data can be performed at a high speed in spite of a small memory capacity.
The present invention provides an image processing system having: threshold table selecting means for selecting one of a plurality of threshold reference tables in accordance with an angle of rotation for bit map data having an attribute of rotation to thereby generate a threshold; gradation modulating means for performing gradation modulation by use of the threshold generated by the threshold table selecting means to thereby obtain gradation-modulated data; buffer means having a plurality of buffers and for storing the gradation-modulated data of the gradation modulating means into the plurality of buffers; addressing means for designating respective storage addresses for the plurality of buffers of the buffer means; rotating means for rotating the gradation-modulated data; and storage means for storing contents of the buffer means into the addresses designated by the addressing means and outputting the gradation-modulated data rotated by the rotating means. Accordingly, the apparatus has a function and operation that the gradation modulation and rotation of bit map data can be performed at a high speed in spite of a small memory capacity.
Further, the present invention provides an image processing system having: threshold generating means for generating a threshold while controlling generation of a threshold reference table address in accordance with an angle of rotation for bit map data having an attribute of rotation; gradation modulating means for performing gradation modulation by use of the threshold generated by the threshold generating means to thereby obtain gradation-modulated data; buffer means having a plurality of buffers and for storing the gradation-modulated data obtained by the gradation modulating means into the plurality of buffers; addressing means for designating respective storage addresses for the plurality of buffers of the buffer means; rotating means for rotating the gradation-modulated data; and storage means for storing contents of the buffer means into the addresses designated by the addressing means and outputting the gradation-modulated data rotated by the rotating means. Accordingly, the apparatus has a function and operation that the gradation modulation and rotation of bit map data can be performed at a high speed in spite of a small memory capacity.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An invention is provided for advanced service interaction for a mobile device. The system includes a user information system that stores user profile information based on a particular user, and a service information system that stores service description data describing a plurality of services available to the user. Also included in a ranker filter module that predicts a set of services from the plurality of services that the user is expected to utilize within a predefined period of time. The prediction is based on the user profile information stored in the user information system, such as user specific usage patterns (e.g. derived from past usage patterns). The system further includes a renderer that generates a display of the set of services on the mobile device using a ranking system. For example, the renderer can display services of the set of services in primary, secondary, and tertiary positions on the mobile device display. The system can include a service aggregator that combines at least two services into a linked aggregated service using the service description data. The linked aggregated service provides information from both services to the user in a pooled form.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to mobile devices, and more particularly to software, information systems for provisioning mobile devices, and advanced service interaction on mobile devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Although, cellular telephone systems have traditionally been utilized to provide voice data communication, additional data services, such as Internet access and scheduling, are being made increasingly available to mobile device subscribers. For example, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary cellular telephone system 100. The cellular telephone system 100 includes a mobile device 102, such as a cellular phone, which is in communication with a carrier network 104. The carrier network 104 supplies the network and other elements to enable the mobile device 102 to interact with the internal services 106 and external services 108 available via the carrier system 104.
For example, the carrier network 104 typically can include a number of fixed base station transceivers, which mobile devices 102 communicate with via radio channels. However, the number of radio channels that the operator is permitted to use is limited, and there generally is not enough for each mobile device 102 in the network to be carried on a different channel. Thus, the carrier network 104 reuses channels, that is, at any time many base stations may be transceiving on each channel. The coverage area of each radio base station is often referred to as a "cell."
As mentioned above, in addition to voice services, data services are being made increasingly available to mobile device subscribers. Thus, in addition to voice data services, such as voice mail, telephone call back, and three way calling, carrier networks 104 are beginning to provide additional electronic data to users in various ways. Exemplary data services can include calendaring facilities, book buying services, Internet browsing, and text messaging. As mobile devices 102 become more sophisticated, the mobile devices 102 can execute software applications, which can be front ends for data services.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the carrier network 104 may provide internal services 106, which are data services provided directly from the carrier network 104. For example, internal services can include calendaring facilities, instant messaging, and other services that the carrier network 104 provider is capable of providing to subscribers. To provide additional data services, the carrier network 104 can partner with third party providers of external services 108. Each external service 108 actually runs the service, and the carrier network 104 facilitates usage of the service to its subscribers by provisioning the service throughout the carrier network 104. In this manner, subscribers can interact with the external services 108 using their mobile devices 102, such as their cellular telephones.
Often Carrier Networks 104 are proficient at providing particular classes of data services, such as scheduling and instant messaging. For other services, the carrier network 104 relies on the external service providers 108. These external service providers 108 generally provide services to the carrier network 104, which can charge subscribers more for the services. The carrier network provider 104 is then charged, in turn, by the external service providers 108. These external services then appear as part of the carrier network services to the subscriber.
Unfortunately, full utilization of data services has not occurred, most notably because of the difficulty many users experience in using data services on a mobile device and a lack of data service management capabilities of carrier networks. For example, many high end cellular phones include an Internet browser. However, the startup time for the browser often is long. In addition, from the point of view of the user, the user is required to do a very technical operation in starting up the browser, going to a bookmark or remembering a URL, and typing all the required information into the phone. If the user is lucky, a text messaging service may be available through their carrier network. However, to use such a service, the user generally is required to close down the browser, navigate the various menus to find the messaging icon, and select the icon to begin the text messaging service. In addition, multiple external services often are difficult for a carrier network service. That is, carrier networks often experience difficulties in managing the various service relationships between services provided by the external service providers. Hence, aggregating the services that user will ultimately see on their mobile device is difficult for carrier networks to manage.
Thus, a major inhibitor to data service utilization is the lack of a seamless, intuitive, uniform, easy user experience with data service usage on the mobile device. That is, a user is required to have a relatively in depth technical knowledge of the phone and carrier capabilities to utilize the data services. For example, to utilize an external book purchasing service, the user is required to know that they must startup the Internet browser, select the appropriate URL, and navigate to the appropriate purchase section of the related web site.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for techniques that provide a seamless, intuitive, easy user experience with data services on mobile devices. The techniques should not require in depth technical knowledge on the part of the user. In addition, the techniques should facilitate service aggregation and management for carrier network providers.

System and method for advanced service interaction


A method and system of controlling an engine includes a control system includes an exhaust gas flow rate module generating an exhaust gas flow rate signal corresponding to a flow rate of exhaust gases. The control system further includes a temperature adjustment module that determines a temperature correction factor based on the exhaust gas flow rate and that determines a corrected temperature particulate sensor signal in response to a measured particulate temperature signal and the temperature correction factor.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Diesel engine operation involves combustion that generates exhaust gas. During combustion, an air/fuel mixture is delivered through an intake valve to cylinders and is combusted therein. After combustion, the piston forces the exhaust gas in the cylinders into an exhaust system. The exhaust gas may contain emissions such as oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO).
More and more exhaust hardware technology is being added to meet emissions on diesel applications. After treatment of exhaust gases includes the installation of multiple bricks, mixers and injectors for the exhaust stream. Because of the additional exhaust gas components, the flow is mixed in the exhaust conduits. Depending on the packaging, the after-treatment components allow the exhaust gases to swirl within the exhaust gas system. Sensors are typically placed in the exhaust gas system to provide feedback for various types of engine controls. Because of the swirling, differences in the readings for temperature sensors of a diesel particulate filter, for example, may not be accurate. Inaccurate readings of the temperature of the diesel particulate filter may lead to damage of the diesel particulate filter or not allow the diesel particulate filter to change the exhausted emission as designed.

Particulate filter temperature correction system and method


A method for enhancing the stability of a solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsion by pretreating the oil prior to emulsification. The pretreatment step can be accomplished by adding dilute acid to the oil, adding a lignosulfonate additive to the oil, sulfonating the oil, thermally oxidizing the oil, thermally treating the oil in an inert environment, and combinations thereof. The emulsion can be used in enhanced oil recovery methods, including using the emulsion as a drive fluid to displace hydrocarbons in a subterranean formation, and using the emulsion as a barrier fluid for diverting flow of fluids in the formation.

The present invention relates to a solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsion used for enhanced crude oil recovery. More specifically, the stability of the solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsion is enhanced by the method of pretreating the oil prior to emulsification. The pretreatment step can be accomplished by adding dilute acid to the oil, adding a lignosulfonate additive to the oil, sulfonating the oil, thermally treating the oil in an inert environment, thermally oxidizing the oil, and combinations thereof. The improved emulsion may be used either as a drive fluid to displace hydrocarbons from a subterranean formation or as a barrier fluid for diverting the flow of hydrocarbons in the formation.
It is well known that a significant percentage of oil remains in a subterranean formation after the costs of primary production rise to such an extent that further oil recovery is cost ineffective. Typically, only one-fifth to one-third of the original oil in place is recovered during primary production. At this point, a number of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) procedures can be used to further recover the oil in a cost-effective manner. These procedures are based on re-pressuring or maintaining oil pressure and/or mobility.
For example, waterflooding of a reservoir is a typical method used in the industry to increase the amount of oil recovered from a subterranean formation. Waterflooding involves simply injecting water into a reservoir, typically through an injection well. The water serves to displace the oil in the reservoir to a production well. However, when waterflooding is applied to displace viscous heavy oil from a formation, the process is inefficient because the oil mobility is much less than the water mobility. The water quickly channels through the formation to the producing well, bypassing most of the oil and leaving it unrecovered. For example, in Saskatchewan, Canada, primary production crude has been reported to be only about 2 to 8% of the original oil in place, with waterflooding yielding only another 2 to 5% of that oil in place. Consequently, there is a need to either make the water more viscous, or use another drive fluid that will not channel through the oil. Because of the large volumes of drive fluid needed, it must be inexpensive and stable under formation flow conditions. Oil displacement is most efficient when the mobility of the drive fluid is significantly less than the mobility of the oil, so the greatest need is for a method of generating a low-mobility drive fluid in a cost-effective manner.
Oil recovery can also be affected by extreme variations in rock permeability, such as when high-permeability xe2x80x9cthief zonesxe2x80x9d between injection wells and production wells allow most of the injected drive fluid to channel quickly to the production wells, leaving oil in other zones relatively unrecovered. A need exists for a low-cost fluid that can be injected into such thief zones (from either injection wells or production wells) to reduce fluid mobility, thus diverting pressure energy into displacing oil from adjacent lower-permeability zones.
In certain formations, oil recovery can be reduced by coning of either gas downward or water upward to the interval where oil is being produced. Therefore, a need exists for a low-cost injectant that can be used to establish a horizontal xe2x80x9cpadxe2x80x9d of low mobility fluid to serve as a vertical barrier between the oil producing zone and the zone where coning is originating. Such low mobility fluid would retard vertical coning of gas or water, thereby improving oil production.
For moderately viscous oilsxe2x80x94i.e., those having viscosities of approximately 20-100 centipoise (cP)xe2x80x94water-soluble polymers such as polyacrylamides or xanthan gum have been used to increase the viscosity of the water injected to displace oil from the formation. For example, polyacrylamide was added to water used to waterflood a 24 cP oil in the Sleepy Hollow Field, Nebr. Polyacrylamide was also used to viscosity water used to flood a 40 cP oil in the Chateaurenard Field, France. With this process, the polymer is dissolved in the water, increasing its viscosity.
While water-soluble polymers can be used to achieve a favorable mobility waterflood for low to moderately viscous oils, usually they cannot economically be applied to achieving a favorable mobility displacement of more viscous oilsxe2x80x94i.e., those having viscosities of approximately 100 cP or higher. These oils are so viscous that the amount of polymer needed to achieve a favorable mobility ratio would usually be uneconomic. Further, as known to those skilled in the art, polymer dissolved in water often is desorbed from the drive water onto surfaces of the formation rock, entrapping it and rendering it ineffective for viscosifying the water. This leads to loss of mobility control, poor oil recovery, and high polymer costs. For these reasons, use of polymer floods to recover oils having viscosities in excess of 100 cP is not usually technically or economically feasible. Also, performance of many polymers is adversely affected by levels of dissolved ions typically found in formations, placing limitations on their use and/or effectiveness.
Water and oil macroemulsions have been proposed as a method for producing viscous drive fluids that can maintain effective mobility control while displacing moderately viscous oils. For example, water-in-oil and oil-in-water macroemulsions have been evaluated as drive fluids to improve oil recovery of viscous oils. Such emulsions have been created by addition of sodium hydroxide to acidic crude oils from Canada and Venezuela. The emulsions were stabilized by soap films created by saponification of acidic hydrocarbon components in the crude oil by sodium hydroxide. These soap films reduced the oil/water interfacial tension, acting as surfactants to stabilize the water-in-oil emulsion. It is well known, therefore, that the stability of such emulsions substantially depends on the use of sodium hydroxide (i.e., caustic) for producing a soap film to reduce the oil/water interfacial tension.
Various studies on the use of caustic for producing such emulsions have demonstrated technical feasibility. However, the practical application of this process for recovering oil has been limited by the high cost of the caustic, likely adsorption of the soap films onto the formation rock leading to gradual breakdown of the emulsion, and the sensitivity of the emulsion viscosity to minor changes in water salinity and water content. For example, because most formations contain water with many dissolved solids, emulsions requiring fresh or distilled water often fail to achieve design potential because such low-salinity conditions are difficult to achieve and maintain within the actual formation. Ionic species can be dissolved from the rock and the injected fresh water can mix with higher-salinity resident water, causing breakdown of the low-tension stabilized emulsion.
Various methods have been used to selectively reduce the permeability of high-permeability xe2x80x9cthiefxe2x80x9d zones in a process generally referred to as xe2x80x9cprofile modification.xe2x80x9d Typical agents that have been injected into the reservoir to accomplish a reduction in permeability of contacted zones include polymer gels or cross-linked aldehydes. Polymer gels are formed by crosslinking polymers such as polyacrylamide, xanthan, vinyl polymers, or lignosulfonates. Such gels are injected into the formation where crosslinking reactions cause the gels to become relatively rigid, thus reducing permeability to flow through the treated zones.
In most applications of these processes, the region of the formation that is affected by the treatment is restricted to near the wellbore because of cost and the reaction time of the gelling agents. Once the treatments are in place, the gels are relatively immobile. This can be a disadvantage because the drive fluid (for instance, water in a waterflood) eventually finds a path around the immobile gel, reducing its effectiveness. Better performance should be expected if the profile modification agent could slowly move through the formation to plug off newly created thief zones, penetrating significant distances from injection or production wells.
McKay, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,014, discloses a method for producing heavy oil or bitumen from a formation undergoing thermal recovery. McKay describes a method for producing oil or bitumen in the form of oil-in-water emulsions by carefully maintaining the temperature profile of the swept zone above a minimum temperature, TcIf the temperature of the oil-in-water emulsion is maintained above this minimum temperature, the emulsion will be capable of flowing through the porous subterranean formation for collection at the production well. McKay describes another embodiment of his invention, in which an oil-in-water emulsion is inserted into a formation and maintained at a temperature below the minimum temperature. This relatively immobile emulsion is used to form a barrier for plugging water-depleted thief zones in formations being produced by thermal methods, including control of vertical coning of water. However, the method described by McKay requires careful control of temperature within the formation zone and, therefore, is useful only for thermal methods of recovery. Consequently, the method disclosed by McKay could not be used for non-thermal (referred to as xe2x80x9ccold flowxe2x80x9d) recovery of heavy oil.
A new process has recently been disclosed that uses novel solids-stabilized emulsions for enhanced oil recovery. U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,404 describes a method of using the novel solids-stabilized emulsion as a drive fluid to displace hydrocarbons for enhanced oil recovery. U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,243 claims a similar method of using a solids-stabilized emulsion, whose viscosity is reduced by the addition of a gas, as a drive fluid. U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,467 claims the novel solids-stabilized emulsion described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,243. U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,054 describes a method for using the novel solids-stabilized emulsion as a barrier for diverting the flow of fluids in the formation.
Preparing a solids-stabilized emulsion with optimum properties is key to successfully using the emulsion for enhanced oil recovery. Two important properties are an emulsion""s stability and its rheology. The solids stabilized emulsion should be shelf-stable, that is, the emulsion should be able to remain a stable emulsion without water or oil breakout when left undisturbed. In addition, the emulsion should be stable under flow conditions through porous media, i.e. in a subterranean formation. The emulsion""s rheological characteristics are also important. For instance, EOR methods for which this emulsion may be used include injecting the emulsion as a drive or barrier fluid into a subterranean formation. Accordingly, the emulsion should have an optimum viscosity for injection and to serve as either a drive or barrier fluid. In practicing EOR, and particularly with using the emulsion as a drive fluid, it is useful to match the rheology of the emulsion with the rheology of subterranean oil to be produced. Oil displacement using a drive fluid is typically more efficient when the drive fluid has a greater viscosity than that of the oil to be displaced. In addition to providing stability to the solids-stabilized emulsion, the invention described herein will allow the user to prepare solids-stabilized emulsions with a wide range of rheology to match that of the oil to be produced.
Because water and oil are readily available at most production sites, water-in-oil emulsions are a good choice for making the solids-stabilized emulsions for EOR. Some oils possess the chemical composition and physical properties necessary to make stable solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions with a wide range of solids. The added solids interact with components of oil, i.e., polars and asphaltenes, resulting in an increase in their effectiveness as surface-active agents. This interaction is specific to the type of solids and the composition of the oil to which they are added.
However, if the oil does not contain the right type and sufficient concentration of polar and asphaltene compounds, the addition of solids is ineffective because the solids are not adequately and suitably modified to function as stabilizers of the oil-water interface. Accordingly, some oils do not form stable solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions with any solids, or, some oils may form stable emulsions with some types of solids, e.g. silica, and may not form similar stable emulsions with other types of solids, e.g., clays and coal dust. The previously cited art suggests that asphaltenes or polar hydrocarbons may be added to these oils to improve their ability to form stable emulsions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,243, column 7, lines 6-10; U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,404 column 6, lines 44-47; U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,467 column 7, lines 3-6. However, this addition is not always successful because incompatibility between some oil components and the added asphaltenes and polars can result in phase separation or rejection of the added compounds. These cases limit the scope of the inventions disclosed in the U.S. Patents cited above.
To broaden the scope and improve the solids-stabilized emulsions described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,927,404, 5,855,243, 5,910,467, 6,068,054, an approach is needed that suitably modifies the oil composition so that it is responsive to the addition of solids for the preparation of stable water-in-oil emulsions. The present invention satisfies this need.
According to the invention, there is provided a method for enhancing the stability of a solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsion, said method comprising the step of pretreating at least a portion of the oil prior to emulsification.
In one embodiment of the invention, the oil pretreatment step comprises the addition of dilute organic or mineral acid to at least a portion of the oil prior to emulsification.
In another embodiment of the invention, the oil pretreatment step comprises the addition of a lignosulfonate additive to at least a portion of the oil prior to emulsification.
In another embodiment of the invention, the oil pretreatment step comprises sulfonating at least a portion of the oil prior to emulsification.
In another embodiment of the invention, the oil pretreatment step comprises thermally treating at least a portion of the oil in an inert environment prior to emulsification.
In another embodiment of the invention, the oil pretreatment step comprises thermally oxidizing at least a portion of the oil prior to emulsification.
Combinations of these embodiments may also be used. Further disclosed is a method for producing hydrocarbons from a subterranean formation, comprising:
a) making a solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsion with the pretreated oil;
b) contacting the formation with said solids-stabilized emulsion, and
c) producing hydrocarbons from the formation using said solids-stabilized emulsion.
Solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions have been generally described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,927,404, 5,855,243 and 5,910,467. Such emulsions are made by the process of combining oil with submicron to micron-sized solid particles and mixing with water until the solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsion is formed.
As disclosed in the above referenced U.S. patents, the solid particles should have certain physical properties. The individual particle size should be sufficiently small to provide adequate surface area coverage of the internal droplet phase. If the emulsion is to be used in a porous subterranean formation, the average particle size should be smaller than the average diameter of pore throats in the porous subterranean formation. Methods for determining average particle size are discussed in the previously cited U.S. patents. The solid particles may be spherical in shape, or non-spherical in shape. If spherical in shape, the solid particles should preferably have an average size of about five microns or less in diameter, more preferably about two microns or less, even more preferably about one micron or less and most preferably, 100 nanometers or less. If the solid particles are non-spherical in shape, they should preferably have an average size of about 200 square microns total surface area, more preferably about twenty square microns or less, even more preferably about ten square microns or less and most preferably, one square micron or less. The solid particles must also remain undissolved in both the oil and water phase of the emulsion under the formation conditions.
The present invention allows the formation of stable solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions from oil that would otherwise lack adequate polar and asphaltene compounds to form such stable emulsions. The oil needed to make a stable emulsion using the method described by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,927,404, 5,855,243 and 5,910,467, has to contain a sufficient amount of asphaltenes, polar hydrocarbons, or polar resins to stabilize the solid-particle-oil interaction. But, as noted, some oils do not have the sufficient type or amounts of these compounds to allow the formation of stable solids-stabilized emulsions. Pursuant to the present invention, the oil is pretreated to promote the formation of a stable solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsion.
The oil used to make the solids-stabilized emulsion of the current invention can be oil of any type or composition, including but not limited to crude oil, refined oil, oil blends, chemically treated oils, or mixtures thereof. Crude oil is unrefined liquid petroleum. Refined oil is crude oil that has been purified in some manner, for example, the removal of sulfur. Crude oil is the preferred oil used to practice this invention, more preferably, the crude oil is produced from the formation where the emulsion is to be used. The produced crude oil may contain formation gas, or formation water or brine mixed with the oil. It is preferred to dehydrate the crude oil prior to treatment, however, mixtures of oil, formation gas and/or formation brine may also be used in this invention.
Preferably, formation water is used to make the emulsion, however, fresh water can also be used and the ion concentration adjusted as needed to help stabilize the emulsion under formation conditions.
Solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions according to the present invention are useful in a variety of enhanced oil recovery applications generally known in the art, including, without limitation, using such emulsions (a) as drive fluids to displace hydrocarbons in a subterranean formation; (b) to fill high permeability formation zones for xe2x80x9cprofile modificationxe2x80x9d applications to improve subsequent EOR performance; and (c) to form effective horizontal barriers, for instance, to form a barrier to vertical flow of water or gas to reduce coning of the water or gas to the oil producing zone of a well.
Attached in Table 1 are detailed physical and chemical property characterization data for three different types of crude oils which are referenced as Crude Oil #1, Crude Oil #2 and Crude Oil #3. Crude Oil #1 and Crude Oil #3 possess properties that enable formation of stable water in crude oil emulsions with the addition of solids, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,927,404, 5,855,243 and 5,910,467. However, Crude Oil #2 does not form a stable solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsion when using the same method.
These differences suggest:
1. the surface-active species, i.e., asphaltenes and acids/resins, which are the key components essential for emulsification, are not readily available to stabilize the water droplets in Crude Oil #2, and
2. pretreatment of the oil to alter its physical properties and chemical composition is a potential route to enhance the stability of the emulsion.
Accordingly, the present invention describes a method of pretreating oil to increase the stability of the solids-stabilized emulsion. Several embodiments of this invention will now be described. As one of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate, an embodiment of this invention may be used in combination with one or more other embodiments of this invention, which may provide synergistic effects in stabilizing the solids-stabilized emulsion.
Pretreatment of Oil with Dilute Acid
One method of pretreating oil to enhance its ability to form a stable solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsion is to pretreat the oil with dilute mineral or organic acid prior to emulsification. This acid pretreatment results in modifications to the oil and surface of the solids: (1) The basic nitrogen containing components of the oil are converted to the corresponding mineral or organic acid salts. These salts are more surface-active than the basic nitrogen containing components themselves and thus contribute to improving the stability of the solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsion; (2) If the oil contains napthenic acids, the stronger mineral or organic acids displace the napthenic acids from the basic nitrogen containing compounds to which they are complexed thereby providing higher surface activity; (3) The protons from the acid act to protonate the anionic charged sites on the surface of the solids and thus modify the solids"" surface to improve its interaction with the surface-active components of oil (either preexisting in the oil or generated by the acid treatment); (4) If the oil contains calcium and naphthenic acids, the mineral or organic acids can displace the calcium and free the naphthenic acids, which are more surface-active than the calcium naphthenates.
Making the Solids-stabilized Water-in-Oil Emulsion Using Dilute Acid Pretreatment
To make this embodiment of the invention, dilute mineral or organic acid is added to the oil prior to emulsification. Solid particles can be added to the oil either before or after the acid pretreatment, but it is preferred to add the solids to the oil and then acid pretreat the oil with the solids. After the acid pretreatment and solids addition, the solids-stabilized emulsion is formed by adding water in small aliquots or continuously and mixing, preferably at a rate of between 1000 to 12000 rpm, for a time sufficient to disperse the water as small droplets in the continuous oil phase. It is preferred to have a water concentration in the water-in-oil emulsion of 40 to 80%, more preferably 50 to 65%, and most preferably 60%.
The acid is added to the oil with mixing, preferably for about 5 to 10 minutes at 25 to 40xc2x0 C. The preferred acid treat rate is between 8 and 30,000 ppm. The dilute acid may be mineral acid, organic acid, a mixture of mineral acids, a mixture of organic acids, or a mixture of mineral and organic acids. The preferred mineral acids are hydrochloric and sulfuric acid. However, other mineral acids can be used, including but not limited to perchloric acid, phosphoric acid and nitric acid. The preferred organic acid is acetic acid. However, other organic acids may also be used including, but not limited to para-toluene sulfonic, alkyl toluene sulfonic acids, mono di and trialkyl phosphoric acids, organic mono or di carboxylic acids (e.g. formic), C3 to C16 organic carboxylic acids, succinic acid, and petroleum naphthenic acid. Petroleum naphthenic acid can also be added to increase the surface-activity in the oil, or oils containing high naphthenic acid can be blended with the oils of interest to provide the increased surface-activity.
The solid particles are preferably hydrophobic in nature. A hydrophobic silica, sold under the trade name Aerosil(copyright) R 972 (product of DeGussa Corp.) has been found to be an effective solid particulate material for a number of different oils. Other hydrophobic (or oleophilic) solids can also be used, for example, divided and oil wetted bentonite clays, kaolinite clays, organophilic clays or carbonaceous asphaltenic solids. The preferred treat rate of solids is 0.05 to 0.25 wt % based upon the weight of oil.
After the emulsion is prepared, its pH can be adjusted by adding a calculated amount of weak aqueous base to the emulsion for a time sufficient to raise the pH to the desired level. It is desirable to adjust emulsion pH in the 5 to 7 range. However, adjusting pH is optional as in some cases it is desirable to inject an acidic emulsion and allow the reservoir formation to buffer the emulsion to the reservoir alkalinity.
Ammonium hydroxide is the preferred base for pH adjustment. Stronger bases like sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide and calcium oxide have a negative effect on emulsion stability. One possible explanation for this effect is that strong bases tend to invert the emulsion, i.e. convert the water-in-oil emulsion to an oil-in-water emulsion. Such an inversion is undesirable for the purposes of this invention.
In addition to increasing the stability of the solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsion, the acid pretreatment method results in an emulsion with lower viscosity compared to one produced without acid pretreatment. This reduced viscosity aids in enhancing the injectivity of the emulsion. Thus, one may decrease the viscosity of a solids-stabilized emulsion by suitably adjusting the amount of acid pretreatment. This ability to manipulate the viscosity of the emulsion allows the user to optimally match the Theological characteristics of the emulsion to that of the oil to be recovered specifically for the particular type EOR method used. As noted in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,855,243 and 5,910,467, gas may also be added to further lower the viscosity of the emulsion.
Another embodiment of this invention is to pretreat a slipstream or master batch of oil with dilute acid as described above and subsequently mix the slipstream with a main stream of oil prior to water addition and emulsification. This main stream of oil is preferably untreated crude oil, however, it may be any oil, including oil that has been treated to enhance its ability to form a stable emulsion or treated to optimize its rheology. If this slipstream method is used, the amounts of solids and dilute acid needed for the slipstream treatment are scaled accordingly to obtain the desired amounts in the resulting emulsion.

Solids-stabilized water-in-oil emulsion and method for using same


A scene recognition method includes acquiring an image and sensor data corresponding to the image and determining, in accordance with the sensor data, whether a scene of the image is a non-high-dynamic range (HDR) scene. The method also includes extracting an image feature of the image when it is not determined whether the scene of the image is the non-HDR scene and determining, in accordance with the image feature, whether the scene of the image is an HDR scene.

A high-dynamic range (HDR) scene is a scene whose scene dynamic range is greater than a dynamic range of a picture. In an HDR scene, an HDR synthesis algorithm needs to be adopted to synthesize an image so as to obtain a high-quality picture. Therefore, accurately determining whether a scene of an image is an HDR scene is of vital importance to formation of a high-quality picture in an HDR scene.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


In one aspect of the invention, a system for sharing resources in an ad-hoc peer-to-peer network is presented. The ad-hoc peer-to-peer network includes a host device that is associated with a resource. A security application of the host device allows the user of the host device to share the resource with other devices in the network. The security application also allows the user to establish access policies for certain known devices within the network. An access policy established for a known device specifies what rights the known device has with respect to accessing the resource. The access policy has the characteristics of inheritance. Thus, when a device requests to access the resource, the security application of the host device determines an access policy for the device based on access policies of one or more of the known devices.

The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
Advances in portable devices that are capable of directly communicating with each other via short range wireless technology (e.g., direct WiFi, Bluetooth®, infrared, etc.) allow devices to form ad-hoc peer-to-peer networks anytime and anywhere (see "Infrastructure for Peer-to-Peer Applications in Ad-hoc Networks" by Desai et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 8,520,979 issued to Conwell entitled "Methods and Systems for Content Processing", filed Nov. 14, 2008). These networks are formed when two or more portable devices are communicatively coupled to each other via short range wireless connections without depending on any pre-existing network infrastructure such as a server, an access point, etc. Once connected to the network, a device can potentially access content (e.g., documents, photos, videos, etc.) or resources of and/or connected to other devices (e.g., printer, camera, data storage, etc.) on the network. Conversely, the device can also share its content or resources to the other devices connected to the network.
However, these seemingly convenient peer-to-peer network architectures also raise new security issues that were not present in conventional network architectures. For example, since a peer-to-peer network allows devices to join the network and access resources in the network by merely connecting to any one of the devices that is part of the network, it is a challenge to devise a meaningful security policy for all of the resources within the network.
Efforts have been made in the area of providing better security to ad-hoc peer-2-peer networks. For example, the publication "A Trust-based Approach for Secure Data Dissemination in a Mobile Peer-to-Peer Network of aerial vehicles (AVs)" by Bhargava et al. discloses providing different access to different AVs within the network based on a trustworthiness score assigned to each AV. The trustworthiness score for each AV is determined by a set of factors such as history of interactions with that AV, location, distance, authentication level, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,907,934 issued to Naghian entitled "Method and System for Providing Security in Proximity and Ad-hoc Networks", filed Sep. 9, 2004, also discloses a method for providing security in a mobile ad-hoc network based on the location of the device requesting for access.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,149,697 issued to Parkkinen et al. entitled "System, Method, and Computer Program Product for Discovering Services in a Network Device", filed Jun. 26, 2008, discloses providing security in an ad-hoc peer-to-peer network based on degree of separation between the owner of the resource and the device that wishes to access the resource;
Other efforts that have been made in this area includes:    U.S. Pat. No. 7,613,426 issued to Kuehnel et al. entitled "Proximity Service Discovery in Wireless Networks", filed Dec. 20, 2005;    U.S. Pat. No. 7,974,574 to Shen et al. entitled "Base Station Initiated Proximity Service Discovery and Connection Establishment", filed Jul. 25, 1007;    U.S. Pat. No. 8,135,835 issued to Wilbrink et al. entitled "Hardware and Processing Request Brokerage", filed May 12, 2005;    U.S. Patent Publication 2007/0250482 to Yao et al. entitled "Method and Apparatus for Document Matching", filed Apr. 25, 2006;    U.S. Patent Publication 2012/0084364 to Sivavakeesar entitled "Scalable Secure Wireless Interaction Enabling Methods, System and Framework", filed Oct. 5, 2010;    U.S. Patent Publication 2013/0160076 to Morita entitled "Access Authority Generation Device", filed Feb. 26, 2013; and    U.S. Patent Publication 2013/0219285 to Iwasaki entitled "Mirrored Interface Navigation of Multiple User Interfaces", filed Feb. 21, 2012.
All publications identified herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
In some embodiments, the numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, properties such as concentration, reaction conditions, and so forth, used to describe and claim certain embodiments of the invention are to be understood as being modified in some instances by the term "about." Accordingly, in some embodiments, the numerical parameters set forth in the written description and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by a particular embodiment. In some embodiments, the numerical parameters should be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of some embodiments of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as practicable. The numerical values presented in some embodiments of the invention may contain certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measurements.
Unless the context dictates the contrary, all ranges set forth herein should be interpreted as being inclusive of their endpoints and open-ended ranges should be interpreted to include only commercially practical values. Similarly, all lists of values should be considered as inclusive of intermediate values unless the context indicates the contrary.
As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of "a," "an," and "the" includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein, the meaning of "in" includes "in" and "on" unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
The recitation of ranges of values herein is merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range. Unless otherwise indicated herein, each individual value with a range is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g. "such as") provided with respect to certain embodiments herein is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element essential to the practice of the invention.
Groupings of alternative elements or embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are not to be construed as limitations. Each group member can be referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with other members of the group or other elements found herein. One or more members of a group can be included in, or deleted from, a group for reasons of convenience and/or patentability. When any such inclusion or deletion occurs, the specification is herein deemed to contain the group as modified thus fulfilling the written description of all Markush groups used in the appended claims.
The publications listed above address only some but not all security issues in an ad-hoc peer-to-peer network. Thus, there is still a need for providing a more secured architecture for an ad-hoc peer-to-peer network.

Distance-modified security and content sharing


It is an object to provide a photoelectric conversion device with high photoelectric conversion efficiency. The photoelectric conversion device includes an electrode layer, and a light absorbing layer located on the electrode layer. The light absorbing layer is comprised of a plurality of stacked semiconductor layers containing a chalcopyrite-based compound semiconductor. The semiconductor layers contain oxygen. A molar concentration of the oxygen in surfaces and their vicinities of the semiconductor layers where the semiconductor layers are stacked on each other is higher than average molar concentrations of the oxygen in the semiconductor layers.

Some photoelectric conversion devices include a light absorbing layer comprised of a chalcopyrite-based Group I-III-VI compound semiconductor such as CIGS. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-156517 describes an example where a light absorbing layer comprised of a thin film of a compound semiconductor such as Cu(In,Ga)Se2 is located on an electrode formed on a substrate. Located on this light absorbing layer are a buffer layer comprised of CdS and a transparent conductive film comprised of ITO.
In this photoelectric conversion device, a vacancy generated in part of a chalcopyrite structure may lead to a defect. If such a defect is generated in the light absorbing layer, it becomes hard to extract a large current from the light absorbing layer.


Methods, systems, and devices are described for wireless communication at a wireless device having collocated radios employing different radio access technologies (RATs). For example, a second radio of the wireless device may receive a first scheduling message. The first scheduling message may include information relating to timing, priority, transmission power, and radio capabilities. Using this scheduling message, a determination of whether a first radio employing a first RAT and the second radio employing a second RAT can transmit in parallel may be made. A first transmission on the first radio may be coordinated with a second transmission on the second radio based on the determination of whether the first radio and the second radio can transmit in parallel. A number of data units may be aggregated into an aggregate frame to be transmitted by the second radio. The number of data units may be based on the scheduling message.

The following relates generally to wireless communication, and more specifically to techniques for coordinating wireless transmissions by collocated radios in a wireless device.
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power).
A wireless communications network may include a number of network devices, e.g., an access point (AP), that can support communication for a number of wireless devices. A wireless device may communicate with a network device bi-directionally. For example, in a wireless local area network (WLAN), a station (STA) may communicate with an associated AP via downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the AP to the station, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the station to the AP.
In many cases, a wireless device may have multiple coexisting radios for different radio access technologies (RATs). For example, a wireless device may use one radio to send and receive WLAN communications and another radio to send and receive Bluetooth (BT) communications. The close proximity of the radios to each other may result in unwanted interference, especially when both of the radios are operating at the same time. This interference may be exacerbated if the radios operate in overlapping radio frequency spectrum bands. Nevertheless, there may be occasions during which one radio may have data to transmit at a time when another radio is scheduled to receive a transmission. In such cases, it may be useful to have an efficient and effective scheme for resolving and avoiding conflicts between the different radios.

Transmission coordination for collocated radios


A stabilizer for chlorine-containing resins of the invention consists of a polyol mixture composed of pentaerythritol and condensates thereof, wherein, with respect to the total amount of the polyol mixture, the content of pentaerythritol having a degree of condensation (n) of 1 is 0 to 10% by mass and the total content of pentaerythritol and condensates thereof having a degree of condensation (n) of 1 to 3 is 5 to 30% by mass. A chlorine-containing resin composition of the invention contains, with respect to 100 parts by mass of a chlorine-containing resin, 0.01 to 10 parts by mass of the above-mentioned stabilizer for chlorine-containing resins.

Chlorine-containing resins, and particularly vinyl chloride resins, are known to have a drawback in stability against light and heat and tend to cause decomposition primarily due to dehydrohalogenation upon thermal molding or product use. Various attempts have been made to improve the stability of vinyl chloride resins by mixing various types of stabilizers, such as metal salts of organic acids, organic tin compounds, organic phosphite compounds, epoxy compounds, β-diketone compounds, antioxidants, and UV absorbers.
In recent years, the use of harmful heavy metals such as lead and cadmium, which are toxic from the standpoint of environmental protection, has come to be avoided and restricted. This has aroused a demand for replacement of such substances with nontoxic or low-toxic composite stabilizers, such as barium-zinc-based stabilizers, magnesium-zinc-based stabilizers, calcium-zinc-based stabilizers, and calcium-magnesium-zinc-based stabilizers.
However, in vinyl chloride resin compositions that include zinc-containing composite stabilizers, zinc chloride is produced as thermal decomposition begins, and the zinc chloride acts as a catalyst and advances degradation of the vinyl chloride resin. A method that is known for preventing this action is to use, in combination, a polyol compound to deactivate the zinc chloride through chelation. Examples of such polyol compounds include pentaerythritol and pentaerythritol condensates such as dipentaerythritol and tripentaerythritol.
Pentaerythritol, however, causes sublimation, which may give rise to problems such as contamination of processing devices and damage to the surfaces of products made of the vinyl chloride resin composition. Accordingly, it is necessary to keep the content of pentaerythritol at least equal to or below 10% by mass with respect to the total amount of the mixture of the above-mentioned polyol compounds, and it is preferable to keep the content of pentaerythritol equal to or below 1% by mass with respect to the vinyl chloride resin composition.
Pentaerythritol condensates such as dipentaerythritol and tripentaerythritol are compounds that are good in providing thermal stability to vinyl chloride resin. These compounds, however, have melting points higher than the molding/processing temperature of vinyl chloride resin and also have poor compatibility with vinyl chloride resin, resulting in poor dispersion within the resin. This leads to plate-out and results in problems such as insufficient effect of providing thermal stability and deterioration in transparency of molded products. Accordingly, various attempts have been made heretofore in order to solve these problems caused by poor dispersion.
An example of a method for resolving the above-mentioned poor dispersion is given in Patent Document 1, which discloses fine-grinding of pentaerythritol.
Patent Document 2 discloses a method of melting a mixture of ditrimethylol propane and dipentaerythritol to improve the dispersibility of dipentaerythritol.
Patent Document 3 discloses a partially-esterified compound produced by reacting pentaerythritol and at least one compound selected from a group consisting of monocarboxylic acids, polycarboxylic acids, esters thereof, acid halides thereof, and acid anhydrides thereof. Patent Document 4 discloses ester compounds such as a partially-esterified compound produced by esterification of pentaerythritol and a linear saturated fatty acid.
Patent Document 5 discloses a method of melting and mixing dipentaerythritol and ester compounds of pentaerythritols.
Patent Document 6 discloses a method of producing a stabilizer for vinyl chloride resin through dehydrative condensation reaction by esterification of pentaerythritol and a dibasic acid (or an acid anhydride thereof).
Patent Document 1: JP-A-10-7859
Patent Document 2: JP-A-9-268286
Patent Document 3: JP-A-56-57844
Patent Document 4: JP-A-7-97495
Patent Document 5: JP-A-2003-336064
Patent Document 6: JP-A-8-143704
Excellent properties/characteristics are required of current-day vinyl chloride resins, and there is a demand for further improvement in heat resistance (thermal stability) and in properties such as transparency. Accordingly, the current situation is that vinyl chloride resins containing conventionally-proposed stabilizers are no longer sufficient.
For example, the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 makes it possible to resolve the above-mentioned problem of poor dispersion by pulverizing the pentaerythritol compound to a particle diameter of 35 μm or less. This pulverizing process, however, requires a large amount of energy and thus gives rise to an increase in cost.
As for the method disclosed in Patent Document 2, ditrimethylol propane contained in the mixture of ditrimethylol propane and dipentaerythritol has no effect as a stabilizer. Accordingly, in the mixture of ditrimethylol propane and dipentaerythritol, the number of dipentaerythritol (the hydroxy groups), which is the primary effective component, is reduced, and it is thus necessary to use a large amount of the mixture to attain the desired properties/characteristics. Using a large amount of the mixture, however, gives rise to deterioration in the physical properties of the molded products and also causes plate-out on the surfaces thereof.
The partially-esterified compound produced by reacting pentaerythritol and at least one compound selected from a group consisting of monocarboxylic acids, polycarboxylic acids, esters thereof, acid halides thereof, and acid anhydrides thereof disclosed in Patent Document 3 and the ester compounds such as the partially-esterified compound produced by esterification of pentaerythritol and a linear saturated fatty acid disclosed in Patent Document 4 are inferior in heat resistance compared to pentaerythritol itself, and the number of hydroxy groups therein, which are the primary effective components, is reduced, thus being far from satisfying as a stabilizer.
The mixture produced by melting and mixing dipentaerythritol and ester compounds of pentaerythritols disclosed in Patent Document 5 is reduced in the number of hydroxy groups, which are the effective components as a stabilizer. Further, the molten mixture is taken out from a mold in the form of a large clump, and there is a need for an additional process of pulverizing the clump to a size/shape susceptible of use.
The condensate produced by esterification of pentaerythritol and a dibasic acid (or an acid anhydride thereof) disclosed in Patent Document 6 contains etherified compounds of pentaerythritol and is thus reduced in the number of hydroxy groups, which are the effective components as a stabilizer, thus being far from satisfying.
As described above, the various attempts made heretofore have not been successful in providing a satisfying stabilizer for chlorine-containing resins and a chlorine-containing resin composition using such stabilizer.

Stabilizer for chlorine-containing resins and chlorine-containing resin composition


A carton for storing a plurality of products includes a main body establishing an enclosure with an interior cavity for storing a plurality of products, with the enclosure being formed from a plurality of interconnected panels. A hingedly connected access flap, enabling access to the interior cavity, is formed from and extends across portions of at least two of the plurality of panels. The carton is provided with a handle assembly established, at least in part, by first and second openings, with the first opening being formed in the access flap and the second opening being formed adjacent the access flap in one of the plurality of panels. The handle assembly enables the carton to be readily grasped with one hand while simultaneously closing an access opening to the carton with the flap.

In connection with shipping various types of products, such as food products, from a manufacturer to a retail establishment, it is known to initially package the products in cartons. Although various materials could be used in making the cartons, the most common material employed is paperboard. In general, the paperboard is provided in the form of a blank which can be conveniently stored in a flat configuration or side seamed configuration but easily erected through a simple folding operation to establish a carton which can be filled with various food products and sealed, typically in an automated process, and then shipped through designated distribution channels to retail establishments, such as grocery or wholesale stores.
Cartons of this type are known to provide for selling products, such as snack food products like breakfast bars, in bulk, with the carton functioning, after being sold, to store the various products for selective dispensing. For instance, the carton can be placed in a household pantry and opened to provide selective access to the stored products.
In connection with the invention, it is desired to provide a carton of this type with both a handle assembly to enhance the ability of the carton to be grasped for transportation and positioning purposes and also a flap which can be selectively shifted between a closed position to prevent products from falling out during repositioning of the carton and an opened position wherein the internally stored products can be readily accessed and removed from the carton.


The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for processing multi-touch inputs. It provides a method for continuous recognition of multi-touch gestures performed by one or more users on at least one multi-touch input device. The invention in one aspect allows users to start interacting with one multi-gesture and subsequently perform any other multi-touch gestures, if they want it, without needing to lift all their fingers off the multi-touch input device between each multi-touch gesture.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to gesture recognition (GR), and more particularly to a method for implementing a continuous recognition of multi-touch gestures with multi-touch (MT) input devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most of modern computer systems (PC, Smartphones, etc) provide a similar core set of user interface commands, like drag-and-drop or cut-and-paste, that can be invoked using a mouse interaction (right-click, button, menu, etc) or keyboard shortcuts that are standardized across applications and partially across operating systems. Attempts to replace keyboard shortcuts with more natural interaction have led to gesture or handwriting recognizers (Graffiti alphabet, Microsoft Tablet PC Ink, etc) that activate these commands in response to glyphs drawn with a mouse, a pen or a finger. These recognizers have become commonplace in computer systems equipped with a stylus: PDA, smartphone/Pocket PC and tablet PC.
Over the last decades, there has been considerable interest in developing a new class of interactive devices, well-known as multi-touch devices an also referred as surface computing, which enable users to interact with computer systems in more natural ways, with a wider variety of interactions, than the more conventional input devices, such as keyboards, mice or simple touch screens. In 1984, Bell Labs was granted a patent for a touch-sensitive display with multi-touch capabilities (U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,179, filed in Dec. 23, 1981) and Lee S., University of Toronto, Canada, first implemented a capacitive sensor array capable of tracking multiple contact points simultaneously (Lee S., "A Fast Multiple-Touch Sensitive Input Device", M.A.Sc Thesis, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Toronto, 1984). In 1991, Dean Rubine demonstrated a multi-touch version of his GDP (gesture-based drawing program) application, called MDP (Multi-finger drawing program), at SIGGRAPH 1991 ("Specifying gestures by example", Proceeding of the 18th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and interactive Techniques SIGGRAPH'91. ACM Press, New York, N.Y., 329-337) using the Sensor Frame, a multi-touch input device invented by Paul McAvinney, University of Carnegie Mellon, that could detect up to three fingers. The MDP application illustrated a set of multi-touch gestures such as two fingers pinch gesture, two fingers rotate gesture or three fingers undo gesture i.e. three parallel Z (Rubine D., "The Autoimatic Recognition of Gestures", PhD Thesis, Carnegie-Mellon University, 1991). In 1992 SUN Microsystems released a concept movie of their vision of future computing in 2004, produced by Bruce Tognazinni, called "STARFIRE" showcasing a multi-touch gesture based user interface. This video is said to have inspired significant research in the area of multi-touch interaction, especially at corporate research labs such as Microsoft Research.
Gesture recognition methods have been identified in the art as being extremely valuable in the regard of multi-touch interaction. The availability of multi-touch input devices opens up the possibilities for new innovative gestures using multiple fingers which can be more intuitive and efficient through their proximity to actions used to manipulate everyday objects. Indeed, learning a small set of hand gestures for direct manipulation is/seems much easier than learning a slew of keyboard shortcuts.
Recently, multi-touch input devices have become more widespread thanks to advancements in the area of touch sensing technologies. For example, Jeff Han has popularized a low cost multi-touch device and multi-touch interactions with his publication "Low-cost multi-touch sensing through Frustrated Total Internal Reflection", Proceeding of the 18th Annual ACM Symposium on User interface Software and Technology (Seattle, Wash., USA, Oct. 23-26, 2005). UIST '05, ACM, New York, N.Y., 115-118. Multi-touch interactions, such as the two fingers "rotate, scale and translate" gesture to move, stretch and turn objects, are now available on commercial products such as Apple® iPhone™ or Macbook Air®. But their multi-touch gesture dictionaries do not provide a gesture for all core user interface commands. For example, "cut-and-paste" is not yet associated to a de-facto standard multi-touch gesture. Thus, a careful design of a standard multi-touch gesture dictionary that includes the core set of user interface commands is an important task to help people to switch from a conventional PC (mouse and keyboard) to a multi-touch interactive surface.
Currently available mono-stroke and multi-stroke gesture recognition frameworks, such as Microsoft® Ink, can not immediately be applied to interpret multi-touch inputs because they assume the existence of a unique orientation, i.e. a single directional viewing angle. Indeed, with multi-touch, we are entering an era where people can gather around a table (side by side, face to face, etc.) and interact with the user interface from any side: hence, there is not a single directional viewing angle or orientation that is ideal for everyone around the table. Thus, gesture recognition frameworks need to be adapted to support multi-touch gestures. They particularly need to handle one of the most prominent issues that arise for multi-users systems dealing with multi-touch gesture interactions: how to distinguish between individual gestures when they are performed concurrently. It involves determining when a gesture starts, when it stops and when to interpret the input data as a collection of isolated gestures rather than a single gesture. It is primarily an issue for multi-touch devices that can not distinguish users.
While there exists a variety of multi-touch gestures recognition engine, they can only recognize isolated multi-touch gestures and none of them addresses the issue of supporting a real continuous recognition of multi-touch gestures. A continuous recognition of multi-touch gestures involves at least two prerequisites. The first one is the recognition of dynamic multi-touch gestures, i.e. the ability to dynamically update parameter values of the recognized multi-touch gesture, once it is recognized, based on tracking of contact points, e.g. when a contact point moves. The second and most important one is the ability to interpret users input data as a sequence of temporally contiguous distinct multi-touch gestures, i.e. to allow users to start interacting with one multi-gesture and subsequently perform any other multi-touch gestures, if they want it, without needing to lift all their fingers off the multi-touch input device between each multi-touch gesture. Simply put, it means that the number of contact points can be changed (increased or decreased) while a user is interacting. Current multi-touch gestures recognition engines do not fulfill the second prerequisite. For example, Apple® and Synaptics® multi-touch trackpads do not allow a user to perform a continuous sequence of different multi-touch gestures, i.e. a sequence of temporally contiguous multi-touch gestures in which the user does not lift off all his/her fingers until the end of the last multi-touch gesture. Indeed, once a multi-gesture is recognized, the user can not perform another multi-touch gesture until he/she lift off his/her fingers and put back them down on the multi-touch surface. For example, if the system recognizes a pinch gesture performed with two fingers and the user puts an additional finger down after the pinch gesture is recognized, the system will not even try to recognize any three fingers gesture: the user will have to lift its fingers off the multi-touch input device and put back them again in order to perform a new gesture.
Accordingly, one of the objects and advantages of the present invention is to provide an approach to segment a sequence of user inputs into temporally contiguous elementary multi-touch gestures and hence performing a continuous recognition of multi-touch gestures. Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.

Continuous recognition of multi-touch gestures


A heat-sinking apparatus (62, 64, 66, and 68) containing a light-transparent pane (72) is configured in a way that enables the pane to be brought into contact with a device (40) such as a semiconductor device without significantly damaging the pane. A main spreader body (120) of a heat spreader (66) in the heat-sinking apparatus preferably consists largely of copper and is connected to the pane, preferably consisting largely of diamond, by way of a combination of metals that facilitates heat transfer from the pane to the heat spreader.

This invention relates to contacting devices, especially semiconductor devices during laser probing.
Semiconductor devices can be tested in various ways. One test technique involves probing a semiconductor device with light finished by a laser. During such testing, ohmic heating in the device causes its temperature to rise. Inasmuch as excessive heat can damage a semiconductor device, a heat sink is commonly provided for removing heat from the device. The heat sink can take various forms.
Referring to FIG. 1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,972 illustrates how an uncapped semiconductor device 10 provided with flip-chip packaging is conventionally probed with infrared (xe2x80x9cIRxe2x80x9d) light 12 provided from IR laser 14. Device 10 consists of semiconductor die 16, ball bonds 18, package 20, and pins 22 arranged as indicated in FIG. 1. Because device 10 is uncapped, only part of package 20 appears in FIG. 1. Incident IR light 12 strikes metallic part 24 of die 16. Portion 26 of incident light 12 is reflected off part 24 and detected by light detector 28.
During laser probing, heat is removed from semiconductor device die 16 by a heat sink consisting of thermally conductive IR-transparent pane 30 and heat spreader 32 that overlies and contacts one of the faces of die 16. Incident light 12 and reflected light 26 pass through pane 30 formed with IR-transparent material such as diamond. Heat spreader 32, typically consisting of copper or aluminum, is thermally connected to pane 30 generally along its outer lateral periphery. Heat produced in die 16 is transported through pane 30 to spreader 32 where the heat energy spreads out and dissipates.
IR-transparent panes, such as pane 30, are typically quite delicate, especially since they need to be relatively thin to transmit an adequate fraction of incident IR light. Such IR-transparent panes can readily be damaged when they are brought into contact with semiconductor devices that are to undergo testing, particularly laser probing. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a technique for contacting a semiconductor device with a delicate IR-transparent pane in such a manner as to substantially reduce the likelihood of damaging the pane. It would also be desirable to improve the heat transfer from the semiconductor device through the pane to an adjacent heat spreader.
The present invention furnishes an apparatus and associated method for bringing a device, such as a semiconductor device, into contact with a light-transparent pane in a way that can be readily controlled to substantially avoid damaging the pane. Light provided, for example, by a laser for probing the device can be directed toward the pane from opposite the device so as to pass through the pane and impinge on the device.
More particularly, an apparatus in accordance with the invention contains a contacting component, a pane component, a heat spreader, and an attachment mechanism. The contacting component contacts the device. The pane component includes a light-transparent pane for contacting the device. The heat spreader contacts, or is connected to, the pane component.
The attachment mechanism attaches the heat spreader to the contacting component across an adjustable spacing between the heat spreader and the contacting component. The attachment mechanism also adjusts the adjustable spacing between the heat spreader and contacting component, and three-dimensionally restricts movement of the heat spreader relative to the contacting component across the adjustable spacing. With the pane component positioned close to the device, the attachment mechanism is adjusted to reduce the spacing between the heat spreader and the contacting component so as to cause the light-transparent pane to contact the device.
As the adjustable spacing is being adjusted, the attachment mechanism exerts a primary force on the heat spreader toward the contacting component across the adjustable spacing. This causes the device to exert a corresponding force on the pane. The attachment mechanism preferably employs one or more springs in such a manner that the force exerted by the attachment mechanism on the heat spreader varies across a relatively small range. As a result, the force exerted by the device on the pane is limited to some maximum value. By choosing the force exerted by the device on the pane to be sufficiently small as the spacing between the heat spreader and contacting component is adjusted to bring the pane into contact with the device, the pane does not undergo significant damage due to contacting the device.
The heat spreader is preferably implemented as a main spreader body formed with copper and an overlying surface layer formed with gold. This combination of metals improves the heat transfer from the pane to the spreader. When the heat spreader is connected through indium to a surface region of the pane component, the indium and the gold of the spreader surface layer typically achieve a good thermal connection to further improve the heat transfer.

Apparatus and method for contacting device with delicate light-transparent pane